My wife and I tried Saffron for the first time and we're glad we did. First of all, there were a…read moremyriad of choices on the menu and we stuck with chicken biryani and chicken tikka madala. The biryani came with yogurt chutney (bachadi) and we ordered a basmati steamed rice to go with the tikka masala. Pro Tip: there is enough steamed rice for 3 normal people. We ordered medium heat, even though we're used to the hottest because our waiter, Fenil, recommended it. He was right--it was sufficiently hot for us. The food was seriously delicious and I highly recommend you give this place a visit. They also have takeout. The ambiance is casual, quiet (even with the well-behaved children who were there, and the seats were very comfortable. Oh, and the service was great--although Fenil felt more comfortable dealing with my Indian wife when we ordered. Nice demeanor and pleasant experience. I really think you'll enjoy it. With tip and without drinks or dessert, the bill only came to around $66. Go for it; I think you will like it.

From the owner: "Saffron Indian Restaurant Ottawa is authentic north Indian restaurant in Ottawa. Your destination…read morefor an exquisite North Indian culinary experience in the heart of Ottawa. Our passion for authentic flavors, rich spices, and traditional cooking techniques shines through in every dish we serve. Discover the true essence of North Indian food as our skilled chefs craft a menu that pays homage to the diverse culinary traditions of the region. At Saffron, we are committed to using only the freshest, high-quality ingredients to create dishes that will tantalize your taste buds. Whether you're a fan of creamy Indian curries, surprising sizzlers vegetarian and Non Veg. delights, our menu offers something for everyone."

What a nice spot! I never would've tried this place if my colleague hadn't insisted on bringing us…read morehere tonight. Noodle burgers usually aren't my thing, but I tried one tonight and it was so good. The veggie patty is probably the best I've ever had. It was fresh, soft, and you could tell it wasn't frozen. Their steamed momos are also my new favourite in Ottawa, and the chili potatoes were something else! Honestly, we loved every dish. I'd definitely come back. Such an interesting and tasty spot!

TLDR: Excellent Indian food with generous portions. They are in an unassuming strip mall where…read morePookies Thai used to be. I always like to start off the new year on a positive note, so my first review of 2024 is a 5-star review for The Sarangi, Cuisine of India. I was poking around on UberEats looking for new restaurants when I came across a restaurant called The Sarangi. I looked it up and recognized the address as where Pookies Thai used to be. I looked up the restaurant website to find out more about the business and discovered they just opened on November 30, 2023. I also discovered they were having a 50% off everything on their menu, except alcohol, the weekend of their opening. A quick look at their prices also showed that their prices at the restaurant are lower than on UberEats. I always prefer to order directly from restaurants to save them the extra fees, if prices are the same (sometimes UberEats has wicked deals though and I can't resist, lol). So obviously in this case, I called the restaurant directly to place my order for pick up. I got the Non-Vegetarian Dinner for 2 (regularly $57.99, but only $28.99 with the 50% off opening special deal). You get 3 vegetable samosas, an order of basmati rice, a naan, 4 pieces of Gulab Jamun and you get to choose 2 drinks (I got a lychee juice and a mango lassi), and 2 curries (I got the Beef Korma and Chicken Kadhai). You also choose your spice level, I got medium. The portion sizes were amazing. Lots of proteins in the curries. The Chicken Kadhai had bell peppers in it in addition to huge pieces of boneless lean chicken. It was my first time having this dish. While I enjoyed it, it did have some black seeds in it that I wasn't crazy about. The Beef Korma had huge cubes of tender lean beef and the sauce was so rich and creamy. This was my favourite dish. I couldn't get enough of it. So good. The rice was nicely steamed and was soft and fluffy. The naan was blistery and had the right amount of chew and soaked up that delicious Korma sauce so well. The samosas were a bit on the oily/greasy side but they were good. The potatoes were mashed instead of cubed and there were peas inside as well. I was impressed with the lychee juice which had a potent lychee flavour and although it was very sweet, it did not taste artificial at all. The mango lassi was thick, rich, sweet and had a good mango flavour. They were also well packaged and didn't leak in transit. The Gulab Jamun were good for what they are. They were also very sweet. These are not my favourite dessert, but they were well made and I'm sure anyone who likes Gulab Jamun would enjoy these. I spoke with Ukesk (sorry if I got the spelling wrong) who was very nice. He told me they just opened November 30, 2023 and were mostly just doing takeout and UberEats orders at the moment. Their dining room was set up but he said they didn't have their decorations up yet. I also noticed they didn't have their exterior sign yet. They just had a temporary paper sign in the window. He told me this is their second restaurant, their first is Ramakrishna Indian Restaurant on Rideau St. We had a nice chat. I'm thrilled to have a great Indian restaurant nearby. I will be back to try their other items. Their medium was spicy, but I think I'll go one level up next time (which is medium-hot). They are in a strip mall with free parking in the shared lot with other businesses. Note that if you are going westbound on Carling you cannot turn into the strip mall because of the median. I recommend turning south at Woodroffe and then turning west onto Fox and following Fox until it hits Carling. Then take Carling eastbound and you'll be able to turn into the strip mall. This is better than overshooting the restaurant going westbound on Carling until you can do a U-turn. (1)

We were so happy that this place opened in our neighbourhood. We were BIG fans of Ramakrishna on…read moreRideau St which is the sister restaurant. This is BETTER. The food is amazing and the service sublime. I only regret that when it's found out by the foodies that reservations may be required

This is a rare find for South Indian food in Ottawa. The only knock on them is they don't take…read morecredit cards. So cash or debit card only. Great inconvenience for travelers I got the mini-tiffin combo and the filter coffee. It was pretty tasty. Akin to home cooked food. Sundari Mami and her hubby were pretty friendly. The staff was fantastic. Decor is minimal. I would certainly love to try the other items on their menu.

From the owner: Dosa, Idli, Thali, Veg.Biryani, Chicken Biriyani,Idiyappam, Aapam. sevai, Paniyaram and much more…read morewhich you can’t find in any Indian Restaurants in Ottawa..all sumptuous South Indian Dishes all made fresh from scratch. NO additives, NO Preservatives, NO MSG, NO artificial flavour’s. Recently won FACES Award 2022 for Best Wedding Caterer and 2021 Community Votes Gold award winner of Indian Restaurant Category and Platinum award for Home cooking Category.

TL;DR/The Short Version: Tasty kebabs at this Pakistani…read morerestaurant. Great prices too. The Long Version: I ordered takeout and the food was great. I called in my order and they said it would be 20 minutes. I arrived after 30 minutes and my food was packed and ready to go. I ordered the Chicken Kebab Platter ($11.99). It consisted of 2 kebabs, lots of rice, and a bit of iceberg lettuce topped with a few slices of cucumbers. I also got a small container of raita. The kebabs were tasty and had the slightest spicy kick. They were so flavourful. They tasted like ground chicken with some sort of pulse like lentils or chickpeas, ground up vegetables like carrots and onions, and lots of spices. I enjoyed them. The rice was soft and fluffy and had a strong cumin aroma. There was a lot of rice. It was a combination of long grain basmati rice and broken pieces of rice. I don't know if this is the style, but there was lots of broken rice. The lettuce and cucumbers had a creamy dressing drizzled on top. There were a few pieces of fried onions as well. Overall, it was a really filling meal, tasty and also great value. Although I would have liked a bit more salad and less rice. Service was courteous and efficient. The restaurant is in a converted old house. It's where The Green Papaya was, and prior to that Mandarin Court Restaurant. There is free parking on site in their small private parking lot. There are a few stairs at the entrance. I am looking forward to returning and trying Haleem for the first time as I saw it on their menu :) Review #22 (2025)

Terrible Terrible Terrible...I ordered two orders of halwa puri and two extra puris..four plain…read moreNaan butter chicken and an order of beef paya. They were short two Naan and two puris..the payable was just a shallow container of gravy missing any payable.. looked more like leftovers from last night or a previous customer..I drove fifteen kms from kanata..when I spoke to the manager he ridiculed me instead of apologies.. In a score of ten I give them zero..never again

I've eaten twice at Aahar and have found the food to be superb, probably the best Indian restaurant…read moreI know. I had their Ki Thali meal, once with chicken and once with lamb. It is served with several small spicy dishes, all very flavoursome, naan bread, rice and a small dessert. Our server Monica was attentive, helpful and friendly. I'll be back often! Mike

I had lunch at Aahar recently with my brother and it was great. It was my second time there. My…read morefirst time was almost 10 years ago when they first opened, it was also with my brother, and I remember it being just ok, so I liked it much better on my most recent trip. I had the lunch buffet both times. The cost for the lunch buffet on our most recent visit was $14.95 a person. The restaurant is in a little converted house and the buffet is small, so don't go expecting something huge like Tandoori Flame in Brampton, lol. The main buffet had 10 dishes: vegetable pakora, peas pulao (rice with peas), mixed vegetable curry, chana masala (chickpea curry), matar paneer (paneer cheese and peas), dahl (lentil curry), butter chicken, chili chicken, tandoori chicken and naan. The supplemental buffet had pappadam, raw onions and cucumbers, raita, various sauces and chutneys, watermelon slices, and Gulab Jamun. The food was hot (in temperature), rich and flavourful. However, nothing I had was spicy. The tandoori chicken was really moist, not dry at all, which is the case at some restaurants. The butter chicken was rich and creamy, and I liked the pieces of almonds that were in the sauce. I was pleasantly surprised to see chili chicken on the buffet. It was a bit oily, but still good. The chickpea curry was labeled "black chana" and was in fact black. I actually thought it was black beans when I first saw it. I had never had "black chana" before, but it tasted like regular chana masala to me. The paneer with peas was so good. Really rich and full of flavour. The vegetable pakora were crispy, as were the pappadam (which were broken into smaller pieces). The naan was hot, freshly made, and so good. They brought us a basket and we pretty much ate the whole thing. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't any kheer for dessert. The only dessert they had was watermelon and Gulab Jamun, which I'm not a fan of, but my brother is and he liked it. I would have loved some Barfi or Jalebi. Oh well. Service was very nice and attentive. Our waters were refilled automatically without us having to ask. The restaurant is small and cozy. My only complaint is that it was uncomfortably warm in the restaurant (it was a September afternoon). There are a limited number of parking spots at the front of the restaurant, but they are on Churchill, slightly north of Carling, so getting out of the parking lot may be tricky. There is street parking on some side streets nearby (look at the signage because some streets do not allow street parking during the day on weekdays). They have the lunch buffet 7 days a week from 11:30am-2pm. They have a second location on Alta Vista near Industrial, which I have not been to.

Royal Paan is a chain from the GTA (specifically, Malton, ON). I was super excited when I saw that…read morea location was opening up in Ottawa. I went recently and got a Mango Falooda ($6) and it was pretty good. Most places that sell Falooda, only have the traditional Rosewater flavour, but I like that at Royal Paan, you can get Mango, Pistachio, Chocolate, Black Current, and Kesar Badam (which I would describe as a milky, nutty, saffron and cardamom flavour) in addition to Rosewater. It usually has basil seeds in it, but I asked for them to hold the basil seeds, so I think I got extra vermicelli instead, because I got so much vermicelli, it was so awesome, lol. It had mango puree, ice cream, and sliced almonds in it too. I liked it. So the restaurant is where Central Bergham used to be. And it was a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) before that. There's a small private parking lot with free parking. They only open at 2:30pm, and I went shortly after opening and the place had a huge lineup. This place is very popular, especially among the Algonquin College students nearby. Most people were ordering drinks, but they also have food (which I have not yet tried). The menu looks interesting. It's mostly Paan and Indian street food. I will have to return to try their food. Staff were nice, but a bit disorganized. I ended up getting a receipt that wasn't even mine, lol (which I didn't realize until I got into my car). There are not a lot of places in Ottawa that sell Falooda. In fact, the only other place I know of in Ottawa that sells Falooda is Brampton Authentic Indian Food (yeah, the owners moved to Ottawa from Brampton, ON so another GTA relation, haha), which incidentally is not far from Royal Paan. So even though Ottawa was in Phase 3 of re-openings during the COVID-19 Pandemic when I visited, Royal Paan chose not to allow indoor dining and still had their indoor seating cordoned off (from a public health standpoint, I actually support this move from the business, so they get bonus points from me. I mean, the re-openings favour the economy at the cost of public health, so if businesses can flourish while protecting public health, more power to them!). Royal Paan does have some seating outside, but I just took my drink and drank it in my car on the go. Looking forward to trying more items on their menu.

So glad this opened up in Ottawa!!…read more This place specializes in vegetarian indian street food. We happened to be in college square and popped in since they were opened. I got a paan and the vada pav Mumbai style. The paan was just like you'd expect. The vada pav was a great treat as well, the potatoe patty and all the chutneys put into the sandwich reminded me of how it tastes in India. We ended up getting more of them to go, the only downside was we weren't able to get a lot of the other items because they were sold out.