India Bistro owner/chef Kamal Mroke and manager Jose Madappilly. Photo-Tim Pawsey
Inviting India spices up Davie Village
India Bistro
1157 Davie St.
604-68INDIA (684-6342)
Reviewed by Tim Pawsey
A golden rule of the restaurant biz: make sure the place looks busy even when it's not. Put a table in the window and fill it first. Nobody wants to sit in an empty room. Friends of mine who own Stratford's Old Prune added their own particular splash of creativity. A small table in the corner was always occupied with a life-sized dummy. When the room was almost empty (and even at other times) the owners made a point of "serving" the quiet, mysterious lady in the corner-a quirky touch for sure, but also a clever ploy to make people feel welcome.
That wasn't the case with India Bistro's predecessor, a dark mystery behind curtained windows with little incentive to venture in. But that's all changed now, thanks to the new regime under owner chef Kamal Mroke (who launched the original Dawat and now steers West Van's Handi and le Soleil's fusioned Copper Chimney).
Kamal also knows a thing or two about making people comfortable. So when Gerry Gaugin came looking for a job as a host, Kamal jumped at the chance. Well versed in hospitality himself, Gaugin started Hamburger Mary's in 1979 and turned it into one of the West End's most successful restaurants ever.
It's hard not to walk by India Bistro's open doors, especially given the face lift that's turned the dark lounge into a welcoming escape. Add to the mix Gaugin's friendly personality (he not only greets but cues the kitchen and makes sure to take time at the end to say "thanks") and it's hard not to be lured inside.
Sit down and you'll be handed one of the city's more innovative menu cards, with everything listed on two large pages in swaths of bold, coloured boxes. Easy to understand, it also makes for a more updated look and adds nicely to the bistro feel.
Plates-straightforward, generally uncomplicated classics-run the gamut from chicken, lamb, vegetarian and seafood, a respectable tandoori list and the de rigeuer line up of small plates. The latter even includes calamari, now apparently a Davie Street staple, albeit here with a chick pea batter.
Doubtless there are as many mulligatawny soup styles and spice levels as there are bouillabaisse recipes. Mulligatawny means "pepper water," and Kamal's smooth but satisfyingly fiery rendition more than lives up to its promise ($4.95). Equally enjoyable (and a welcome foil to October's monsoon just steps away) was a pungent, deeply spiced tomato and ginger offering with lashings of ginger that should keep us healthy for weeks to come ($4.95).
Even though we briefly coveted our neighbour's sizzling half chicken as it arrived, we opted for the murgh malai tandoori kabab. Marinated in pur‚ed cashews and cream, it arrived perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned throughout, gently singed on the outside, smoky and moist within ($9.95).
From the curry side of things, lamb rogan josh yielded tender nuggets of meat swathed in a smooth, deeply spiced sauce redolent with ginger, onions and garlic ($9.95) that made for perfect sopping with puffy garlic and basil naan bread ($2).
Next time we'd likely linger longer, perhaps over a martini, specifically a pepper gin concoction with Bombay, Vermouth, olives and black pepper.
Wines are smartly priced and globally sourced-although we'd like to see more B.C. Gewurz and other aromatics, so good with spicy plates-but Gehringer's '04 Riesling stood up very well. Service was occasionally bumpy but always gracious-but we would like a chance to taste the wine and suggest that plates should be cleared only when both parties at the table have finished.
This cozy room is devoid of over-the-top Indiana that can be so suffocating. Instead, colour and interest comes from striking watercolour portraits, while the heavy beamed ceilings and red brick walls glow in the soft light from oil lamps suspended in beaded shades.
With its modern style and accessible interpretations, India Bistro is a winner-an affordable, taste-packed haunt that may even require us to withdraw last week's mutterings about Davie Village being a dining wasteland.
Courier reviews are conducted anonymously.
published on 10/05/2005