Noshwellmenu

[rating: 3]

After getting to a really slow start on a Saturday morning Tre and I are tying to decide where to go eat. At first we were going to hit the The Diner. But we were so distracted by a conversation we were having, we ended up on Kingsway, travelling towards Knight Street. Since we were headed in that direction, the first thing that came to mind was dim sum at Dai Tung, but then we passed by this place on the corner of Kingsway and Knight called House of Dosa’s. We’ve been to this place before when it was previously another South Asian restaurant under a different name. The food was delicious back then, but since then new owners took over, we’ve been reluctant to try our luck. A couple of our friends had tried the House of Dosa’s recently and recommended it, we decided to give it a try.

The decor is isn’t anything to rave about, but it feels kind of homey. We found the tables were set up kind of strangely making it awkward to seat a larger number of customers. There were so many yummy items to order on the menu, we were having a hard time deciding. After seeing the size of the dosa at the table next to us, we decided it would be a better idea for us to share the dosa. For those who are unfamliar with dosa’s, they’re sort of an Indian crepe stuffed with rice and various spices. You have your choice of meats or veggies or if you’re the adventurous types like we were, then you just point to a number on the menu.

We decided on the Chef’s special Masala Crepe. I get worried when ordering chef specials. It could be good or it could be seriously bad. You never know what kind of surprise you might get in there especially when the waiter or waitress slips you a sly smile. At the recommendation of our waiter, we also ordered a Chicken 65 — WTF is with the numerical name, I don’t know. We rounded it out with an order of Chai tea. If you’re an avid reader of Anthony Bourdain’s book, he warns you of the Chef’s special. Usually it’s the stuff they’re trying to get rid of for the day. But for some reason, we had a good feeling about our waiter. He seemed like a nice man.

The Chicken 65 comes first and the first thing you’ll notice is the intense red colour. It’s a somewhat sweet and spicy chicken. It was really tasty. Score one for waiter man. It’s similar to a sweet and sour chicken but Indian style. As were devouring the chicken, I’m thinking to myself, what’s taking the tea so long? Were they handpicking the tea leaves themselves? Tre tells me they have to brew the tea and to wait patiently, so I do. Finally the Chai teas arrive and I must say it’s the best Chai Tea we’ve tasted. Second only to a best friend’s homemade Chai tea. It had creamy like texture with light hints of licorice and spices.

Finally, our Chef’s special Masala Dosa arrives. It’s pretty huge so we were pretty glad we were sharing. Its a Masala mixture of mashed potatoes and cheese. I find this one to be a little bit weird for me. A little bland and boring. Honestly, I’m not liking this one too much. Tre, however likes it. The crepe was good. I think I would prefer meat or vegetables in the crepe. So its all about preference. In the end Tre and I had a good experience and would definitely come back and try others.

The Details

1391 Kingsway, Vancouver [ map ]
604.875.1283

— ♠ —