This place is awesome! Super cute and on Whyte Ave. I went in the evening and was surprised to see they had a buffet on at dinner! So cool. It smells amazing- and I heard a rumour their naan is vegan. Need to confirm but so awesome!! read more

Daawat Authentic Indian Restaurant - Indian Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

Amazing Indian food! After having some very disappointing food in the city, I was hoping to curb the craving and this place did the perfect job. They have the option of buffet or a la carte. The location is a bit awkward i.e. it is located in a deserted mall and the decor is alright with indian music in the background. The service was prompt and very helpful. The food was excellent. They had 3-4 meat dishes and the same number of vegetarian options. They have over a 100 beers to choose from as well. I loved this place and is definately recommended. read more

4/5 because the chicken for the butter chicken was firm when it should have been tender. Food is really good though, the place is very comforting. The naan bread, Mmm it's so good. The server will ask you what kind you want, butter, garlic, coconut, plain. I got garlic and it was really good and plenty. I would go back. read more

I had been ordering delivery from Dawaat for around 3 years. Its unfortunate that thier poor customer service was the deciding factor for me when choosing to no longer order from them. A regular delivery driver whom I never saw smile once, asked me to tip him in cash next time. After I tipped him generously. When I sent a private, well worded email explaining the situation, they didn't even have the decency to reply. The food is ok, the wait is long, and the customer service leaves much to be desired. With the amount of choice of different Indian restaurants, you're better off trying somewhere else. read more

One of my favourite places to eat on Whyte! Love love love their naan bread! Nice decor and excellent service. Cheers

I called to get information and they were quite rude on the phone! This is quite bad as this builds up the whole experience. The food wasn't too bad and we paid about $15/person minus the groupon for a buffet. There might be better Indian restaurants around town. read more

Food: poorly made with cheap ingredients. Canned mushrooms, no real vegetable and they even watered down things instead of making it right. Seriously couldn't afford enough lentils? The only thing that seemed good was the mango chutney and it had a tin-like take to it. Service: awkward! Can we sip our water without the servers coming by to refill it every time? We were also argued with regarding food choices. It's fine to try but I wouldn't go back. read more

Great food, great service and great bang for your buck. Need I say more? Also, they deliver! read more

LOVE this place! The service is flawless and the staff attentive, the food is consistently delicious and hot, and the restaurant itself is cute and always clean - this is hands down my favorite restaurant on Whyte ave. I've taken friends, family, and coworkers here many times, and I've yet to have a negative experience. read more

I have been here on numerous occasions over the last six years or so. Twice I have come with members of my family with the most recent being this past Sunday evening. We had a reservation for 6 and were seated immediately after arriving in the back section somewhat separated from the rest of the restaurant, but a minor downside was we were right beside an entrance to the kitchen. It seemed quite quiet this night with only a few other diners but often it's a bit busier. Sunday maybe? Everyone chose the buffet and of course every kind of naan available. Our server was very attentive throughout the meal regularly refilling water glasses, offering other beverages (some took him up on their chai tea and of course that naan bread. He was also on top of removing plates and used dishes promptly. More than one person commented the in-house music was at just the right volume... enough to notice but not intrusive. My goto dish was the butter chicken and the chunks of chicken were positively huge. Possibly because they won't dry out as fast? Not sure, but they could be cut a bit smaller. Some were quite a mouthful. Is there anything better than rice with saffron? I don't think so; I love knowing I'm eating the most expensive spice (or so I've read; according to Wiki roughly $2000/lb on a good day in bulk). The other things I tried were some kind of battered fish - interestingly the most spicy thing I had and it wasn't too too spicy just enough to notice. I also tried the tandoori chicken (very good) and somehow missed the beef dish (it was beside the butter chicken - I had my blinders on... butter chicken!). All my co-diners enjoyed our meals immensely and my dad - initially thinking he had chosen something with tofu - was relieved that paneer is actually a kind of cheese. He was also pleasantly surprised at the syrup soaked balls he had for dessert were not overly sweet as at some places he's been. A minor downside are the odd placement of the bathrooms outside the restaurant as one co-diner didn't want to ask for the key. Thankfully, no accidents! And that one gripe of all buffets... you can't take it home!!! I would love to try more things, but if you take too many they all start tasting the same. Sadly, I'm a one plater + a small plate of fruit for dessert and watch enviously others who can pack away more. Daawat has a love of all things Indian and is definitely a quality restaurant that for me has yet to disappoint. This review could apply to every time I've been here with the only differences being my co-diners, the place seated and the server. Hopefully my next time I'll be able to try some of the adult beverages! read more

As a vegan it's actually a bit tricky to eat Indian food as they use a lot of "ghee" (clarified butter) - but this place is always extremely accommodating and quick to point out what I can or cannot eat. The buffet is great and I always seem to find at least a few great vegan dishes, they have even made something special on the side for me on multiple occasions when the selection was lacking, at no additional cost. The naan is also included in the buffet and I swear it's unlimited, you can get coconut, garlic, plain or buttered naan. Since we're vegan we would just get the plain naan but the fact you could get fresh naan throughout your buffet was awesome. The service is great, the food is awesome, and I will definitely be coming back whenever I want Indian food - word to the wise, stay away from the house wine, it's definitely the boxed kind. read more

I don't understand how Daawat received so many good reviews - another one bites the dust, I'm now way warier of Yelp reviews as this may have been the first and only time I have ever left a buffet not even finishing one plate. The dinner buffet is $18.95, and I am not exaggerating when I say that all I've eaten were 3 pieces of coconut naan - the only good thing that was there. The restaurant itself is quite well-decorated.They bring you naan to the table, which is included in the buffet price but you have to ask for it. We asked for coconut, but when I dug in I realize it was just basic butter naan, and so the (peeved) server took it away and replaced it with the right order - THEN PROCEEDED TO GIVE OUR BUTTER NAAN TO ANOTHER TABLE. Yes, the butter naan that we've already smeared our fingerprints with, yes, okay. I found everything at the buffet to be either completely dry or devoid of any flavour. Come on, I can do better than that. The servers were quite friendly, however a server with a permanent frown attached to his face rudely told me to "sit up straight because this is a fine dining restaurant." A friendly lady who worked there came up and asked us how everything tasted, and I didn't have the heart to tell her anything. My first and only plate was full of food though, so perhaps that'll give a hint. read more

I absolutely love this East Indian Restaurant, its comparable in quality and flavors to Khazana's and very reasonably priced. Always quick an friendly service, and a very amazing menu to choose from. Our favourite spot on Whyte Avenue. read more

Daawat Authentic Indian Restaurant - We order everything hot and it was perfection. Best: Chicken Jalfrezi, Aloo Gobhi, Chana Masala, Biryanis, and naan or roti.... - Indian Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

I have never had butter chicken as good as this place makes it. I would journey across middle-earth for this stuff. Seriously. A ring into Mount Doom? How about butter chicken from Daawat into my mouth. 10/10 would go here again. And the servers are like the best boy/girlfriend you could have; Attentive, but not too clingy. Just perfect. read more

Had the buffet, and it was great food. Decent service friendly environment. I recommend this place to anyone who is looking for good eats.

In short - Westernized, not worth the price tag. Grabbed their regular groupon and sat for a two top buffet on a Tuesday night around 8pm. Restaurant was half full, service was excellent. Decor was nice. Coconut naan and garlic naan are part of the buffet and are made to order. I'd recommend the garlic, it compliments the flavourless cream dishes. Both kinds are delicious and a nice change to the norm. Tastes like they're basted with an infused ghee prior to being tabled. As for the actual food? In a word, westernized. -Small cold salad section. I saw some olives and a Caesar salad, I laughed. -Good variety of pakoras, kormas and curries but none really stood out. -Dishes were well prepared in the sense that the meats remained moist on the buffet line but most of the food was just meat swimming in cream with no flavor. Sweet rice, regular rice, and tandoori chicken were dried to a crisp but the buffet closes at 9pm so I guess I can almost-not-really forgive them. Overall, the mains lacked good flavour and were very bland. Dessert (included) was the standard rice pudding and Gulab jamun. The gulab tasted boxed... Mushroom pakora was good. Restaurant is vegetarian friendly with many meat-free options. Not worth the $22/person price tag, I'd personally recommend Punjab Sweets or some of the other joints along 34th Ave for authenticity. Also, they have an annoying security feature where the (loud) doorbell rings every time the back door opens. I'm assuming they do a lot of delivery? Won't be back. read more

The Dum Chicken Biryani for dinner tonight was far too wet and oily, the chicken is overcooked and hard. On the menu, there were mentioned almonds and cashews as ingredients but actually, these were absolutely missing as ingredients in the dish tonight. Although $11.95 was the price for chicken/lamb/veg on the Daawat online menu website tonight, when I came the actual cost I had to pay was $14.95. Misguided. It tries to save cost without the fine ingredients, and yet charges more and the quality and taste suffer. There are far better quality and price of the Biryanis elsewhere in the city. read more

I ordered from this restaurant tonight for the first time. It will be the last time unfortunately. I ordered the butter chicken with saffron rice, garlic naan, beef samosas, and a coconut milkshake. The butter chicken sauce was really bland and had no spice to it at all (could basically be served as baby food it was so bland) and the chicken was so dry, like it has been cooked repeatedly. The garlic naan had no garlic on it at all, and it was the worst naan I have ever had. It was like eating rubber, as it was so chewy as if the dough was horribly overworked before being cooked. The samosas were also terrible. The fryer that they used must not have been cleaned for a long time as they were visibly affected by dirty, disgusting oil. When I got them, they were covered in grease and shiny. I picked one up and black oil poured out of it. As for the milkshake, it tasted good. Except that it was more like coconut water and had the consistency of such. When I think milkshake, I think thick and creamy. I don't think there was even ice cream added here. This experience was so bad I went out of my way to create a yelp account just to make this review. Please do not order from this restaurant. There are so many better options in Edmonton, I can't even fathom how this place is still open. read more

I have been quite disappointed with my last 2 delivery orders from them. I received stale naan with one order and I a wrong dish with the wrong type of naan with the most recent one. The food is just average so I will be looking to order from a different Indian restaurant in the future. read more

Went there with a Groupon but was happy with the result. We took the buffet. The options are good. I particularly liked the paneer plate. One thing is that often in these buffet, the meat is overcooked and dry. It was not the case here. All of the meat was cooked to the right level. Not dry but moist enough. The only downside was the Naan bread. It was crispy and really thin. They tasted not like they were just out of the oven because they had just been cooked. They tasted more like they had just been reheated. read more

This is some of the best Indian good I have tried. I ordered the Rogan Josh and they gave it just the right amount of spice. The portions were great for the price. The naan bread was made in the restaurant I always love that and it was very well done. The over all quality of the food was what you would expect from traditional Indian cuisine. They had a fully stocked beer fridge you help yourself to and they bring you a glass. They have a lot of great international choices. They only down side to this restaurant was the service, this particular day anyways. When we were greeted it was like we were being turned away for service because the Buffett was closing at 2. However we stayed not even knowing about the Buffett and as we watched we learned a lot of customers come for the Buffett and don't realize it closes and we saw a lot of people leave because of this. However, I understand this my be an annoying issue but is still rude to greet customers by, "Um Buffett closes at 2" read more

Daawat Authentic Indian Restaurant - yummy Rogan Josh - Indian Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

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This place has been a favourite date spot for me & my fiance for quite some time. We usually come here for the buffets, which are awesome! They're average-priced and have a pretty good variety of foods, which includes dessert :) The staff are friendly, and the decor is really nice- colourful, classy, with a bit of that Indian flair :) read more

I've actually never been inside here, but I've ordered delivery several times. I can't speak for all the dishes but the few I had were quite tasty. To be honest, I'm not much of a fan of Indian food, but I don't know if I can't claim that anymore after trying their Butter Chicken. It had the perfect seasonings and amount of spice; combined with the coconut rice I ordered, it was blissful! Do yourself a favour and order some of that doughy goodness they call Naan Bread (I ordered the Garlic Naan and use it to lap up all my extra Butter Chicken sauce). Mmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. One dish I would not recommend is the fried/battered cheese bits (The name escapes me but it is an appetizer dish). They sounded delicious but were dry and relatively flavourless. read more

In the search for the perfect dish of butter chicken in Edmonton I visited Daawat one day after a stint of shopping at Mayfield Common. It was the closed I'd come yet, and I thought I had arrived. Daawat is a lovely intimate space with an exotic Eastern living room feel. The staff are extremely pleasant, and the food is very authentic tasting. No cutting on special ingredients to fast-food the recipe. It's all authentic. The butter chicken was amazing. Although I have to note, I've since found a new personal favourite - Haweli - but it's right downtown, parking can be a pain, and it's the kind of place you'll want to dine in because it's beautiful inside and the buffet is fabulous. At Daawat, there's a slightly smaller version of an Indian buffet. You can sample different meat and veggie dishes, salads and desserts. But I'm only ever really interested in the butter chicken. To me, it's the meter of how good of an Indian restaurant they are. There are three Daawat's around the city. I've never been to the others, but the one on Whyte has been there for a really long time. The Mayfield one's only been there for a little over a year. Still, if you're in the area, feast on this butter chicken! read more

Daawat Authentic Indian Restaurant - Amazing food. - Indian Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

Food is delicious...and you get SO much for so little money. I order delivery from here every so often and it always comes incredibly quickly, and the delivery person is always very friendly. read more

Always feel somewhat bad for judging a place on the strength or weakness of their take-out, but we rarely "go out" for Indian, preferring to have it delivered. We ordered from Daawat on Saturday and were DEFINITELY satisfied. Chicken Curry, Baigan Bharta, some potato masala dish, coconut rice, kachumber salad, and a slew of naan made for a great, great meal. Spot on flavours, good acidity, deep smokiness in the eggplant, fresh snap in the kachumber salad (although I found it strange there was lettuce but no carrots?). Bread was hot, buttery, and perfectly chewy. We were happy enough to now think Daawat has won our top spot choice for delivery over Khazana. The food was better in my opinion and CERTAINLY cheaper. I think it's better than New Asian Village as well. The pricing is excellent and the food is AWESOME. read more

Delicious! We ordered for delivery on a Friday night and were very pleased with everything. Plain naan, veggie pakoras, paneer makhani, and vegetable jalfrezi. All vegetarian friendly, and all really, really good. There are plenty of vegetarian options on the menu. There was enough food for two people for dinner and lunch the next day, and it only cost about $40 (free delivery on orders over $30). They also gave us two free gulab jamun (dessert), a nice touch. We will be ordering again! read more

I went to the place with my husband once for a dinner. The decor is nice and their food was good, but I did not find their food to be anything out or ordinary. We had buffet and it was about $25, which was roughly same as Origin India on Whyte. I found their fried dishes a bit soggy and they were not great, but curry was good. Service was also good. read more

I wandered in here with my boyfriend about 3 weeks ago when we found a coupon for 1/2 off one buffet when you buy 2 buffets + 2 drinks (if you mention you saw the deal in the Sun or Examiner, they'll give it to you, but we took it with us just in case). We hang out on Whyte Avenue a lot, and we love Indian food. But this place is located in the more run-down side of Whyte Ave (east of the train tracks), so we never noticed it, despite the giant sign. We went for lunchtime on a Saturday or Sunday, but there was no one when we got there for the lunch buffet. The decor is very warm, with some traditional Indian elements, but it's also very modern, and trendy. The chai tea was wonderfully made, as it was very rich, creamy, and mellow, but not on the spicy side with too many peppercorns. The buffet featured about 12 dishes, only 2 of which contained meat. As vegetarians, me and my man actually quite appreciated that. But I have to admit the quality of an Indian restaurant can often be judged by how many meat options it has, because it is a sign of how cheap (or generous!) they are with the quality of food. I quite liked the mixed vegetable dish (literally, that's what they called it!), and the pakoras (vegetables coated in a chickpea flour and spice mixtured, and then deep-fried). But the chana masala (chickpea curry), palak paneer (spinach and cheese dish), as well as many others were lacking. I was surprised that despite obviously maintaining a cheaper buffet by having less meat (which, truly is more traditional for Indian food anyway), they also seemed to cut back on the variety of spices and even vegetables featured in each dish. The naan, for me, is always one of the most important parts of a meal, and often defines how much I enjoyed my dining experience. Like many restaurants, they freshly make and provide the naan for you while you are there. No one took the time to tell us that we were even getting naan though! We had not seen it amongst the buffet selections, and we were already on our second plates when a small basket with one large piece of freshly made naan cut into pieces appeared. Unlike traditional naan, this one reminded me of a strange hybrid between a freshly made tortilla and a traditional naan. It was ridiculously flat, and not fluffy inside like it should be. It was also brushed in butter, which made it a lot messier to handle. After having a regular naan, we asked for garlic naan and they were happy to make it. But when it arrived, it also disappointed me! Perhaps I have been spoiled by some of the more authentic restaurants I've been to, and even by my own upbringing (being raised by two Hare Krishnas will sure expose you to a lot of Indian cuisine!)... but a garlic naan made with garlic powder instead of actual chopped or minced garlic, doesn't really seem like real garlic naan! Also, don't expect a good variety of popular Indian desserts. You will find no gulab jamuns, or even traditional ras malai here. They only have fruit salad, carrot halwa (which actually was pretty good, but also a very cheap preparation), and a strange ras malai that's very light and extremely spongy more than anything else. The food quality aside... They had a broad range of alcoholic beverages available, which makes it a great pit stop for those who like alcohol with their dinner. And although the food was sub-par, it was almost made up for by the wonderful service. Despite the naan coming very late, they were otherwise very hospitable and friendly. The manager (who I presume may also be the owner), came back to refill our tea multiple times, even though he left the pot with us and we were more than capable of refilling it ourselves. He also checked back frequently to see how we were enjoying the different dishes, and the meal as a whole. In fact, he was so warm and kind, that I felt bad about not liking the food! All in all, I think this is Indian cuisine for those in Edmonton who don't mind if the food isn't necessarily traditional. It would be fantastic for vegetarians (not vegans though, I would say, as it seemed every dish dripped with creamy sauce or a traditional ghee), and even those with spice palettes on the very low side. My boyfriend doesn't have a very high tolerance for spices, and it was one of the few times he didn't comment on any of the dishes being spicy. But for most, who are in search of authentic cuisine and an overall fantastic dining experience, I recommend you head over to Indian Grill or any of the other wonderful Indian restaurants in the city. I know I will! For a restaurant called "Daawat" meaning, "the Invitation" they are inviting indeed. But they should work on the "it" factor that actually keeps people coming back! read more

I just called in and even though I am out of the parameters of their delivery, the man was kind enough to oblige after hearing I hit a moose and can't drive down to pick up. Great service! Also an hour and a half is standard for their delivery. They've never been dishonest about delivery times, so as long as I know how long it'll be... it's up to me to decide if that works for tonights dinner or not. Chicken Tikka, veggie raita, saag, butter chicken and plain naan are the usual, and have never disappointed. read more

Ordered take away from here, it took approximately 50 mins which was a bit slow in my opinion. The food was pretty good, I ordered the lamb rogan josh and found the lamb to be slightly fatty. I also got the naan bread which I wouldn't recommend, the beef samosa was quite tasty. Overall I would go back and would recommend to others. read more

Omg the food was an absolute blessing thank you so very much , authentic Indian spice and flavour .finally .

Ok food but horrible service. We popped in once before and the buffet was fresh and filling. Today we came in a 2pm and the waiter rudely told us we were not allowed to eat. They buffet was still out, they had simply taken the heaters out from pounder the trays. We said we didn't mind and that we know we were coming in last minute. But no! They told us we couldn't buy a buffet. The restaurant closes at 4pm! What was the problem? Why are they turing away business in a near empty restaurant? We left and don't intend to return! Boooo! read more

I really liked this place! The service was good and food was good too. We used our Groupon and the waiter gave us really good suggestions. The lamb rice is absolutely yummy! Will go there again. read more

I used skip-the-dishes to order chicken seekh kabab, tandoori roti, and vegetable samosas from the restaurant. The kababs were ok (wouldn't call the taste 'authentic Indian', although taste is so personal so this is only my opinion), and the food was warm when delivered. However, the order delivery speed was VERY slow. Skip-the-dishes phoned me and told me that the restaurant needs more than usual time to prepare the food. I had to wait for about 1.5 hours for the food. On top of that, the samosa filling was stale!!! Quite disappointed overall... read more

I love this place. The food is great, the service is friendly and helpful and the ambiance is lovely. My go-to place in my neighbourhood.

I am sitting in Daawat having a scrumptious meal. My new favorite Indian buffet. I have been to many, hands down the best in town.

dawat is a good place. I have tried it many times. always look for lamb/goat...lots of places you find only bones and fat...here they have nice cut of meat ...staff are polite and I heard the chef is from Nepal! but all in all its a good restaurant ! read more

Amazing Indian food. Tons of vegetarian options, amazing service, affordable prices and has NEVER let me down. Honestly, probably one of my favourite restaurants in Edmonton. read more

The offerings on the lunch buffet were fresh and plentiful. Salads, soups, veggie dishes and curries were all spot on. Naan was made to order. On the other hand, the service was quite the opposite, rude and unwelcoming. However, $13.50 for a very tasty lunch, I can over look the gentleman's poor attitude-it is Monday after all. read more