Mother's Day's dinner 2026. Amazing service from Miquela. Ask for her…read more Amazingly good food. So many flavors!! Our local friends adore this place. I can see why. Right by the harbor. Reservations recommended. Next level Indian food. Truly magical!! You must try it.

It was the highlight of our BC Bites & Sights tour. I wish we could have stayed longer to try more…read moreof their Malabar coastal cuisine. Our group arrived some time after 9pm on a Friday evening. I knew we were in for a treat as soon as we opened the door. There was an amazing aroma of spices that was waiting for us inside. The service was great! We were immediately sat at a large table near the entrance. We had a great view of the entire restaurant. Every table was taken, and I'm assuming it was their last dinner seating since it was past closing time. We were given samples of a pilsner from the local Hoyne Brewing Company as our guide was telling us about this unique restaurant with Kerala cuisine. It was so smooth and light. It actually pairs well with spicy food. The experience became magical after receiving this beautifully plated fish/rice ball. I love the presentation with the curry leaf on top. It's like a cross between an arancini and a fish curry. This was a flavor bomb. Absolutely delicious! It was crispy on the outside, and packed with a yummy filling of minced fish and curry spices on the inside. I've never had anything like it. I would go back to Victoria just to eat at this restaurant. It was that wonderful! I wish we had more time here. We were only in port for 3.5 hours. Fortunately, it was enough time to take this tour. I'm not sure we would have found it otherwise. I feel so fortunate that Cafe Malabar was one of the stops. The restaurant location is new to Mermaid Wharf. It was previously located in Victoria Public Market. I predict lots of good things happening for them in the future. The hype is real!

Overall very good. A bit pricey compared to some other Indian spots we've tried - take-out order…read more(no beverages) with a modest tip was over $100 and was just barely enough for four of us. The Biryani chicken dish was disappointing - almost entirely rice with only a few pieces of chicken (including two bone-in pieces). The shrimp, lamb roogan-josh, and dal were very goodbut (again) not very big. Fortunately, we added an extra order o rosemary naan.

Do we have TEN STARS??? This is the most delicious dahl curry and vegetables I evere had. They've…read morealways been exceptional, but I don't know how they've managed to make it even better. I am so impressed as well with the cooks. It was super busy with tons of take out orders but the chefs do everything perfectly, as did the team getting it ready. I say ten stars out of five. Thank you so much. You are the best ever!!!!!!!i'll be dreaming of your food if I'm not actually eating it.

The food is very tasty and authentic. we ordered dal maharani and paneer tikka masala. both tasted…read moreout of this word. The staff is very friendly. The atmosphere is serene and enjoyed our dining experienc.

Doing a walking loop around the block and past Varsha was enough to make me circle back. Greeted…read moreright at the door by courteous and friendly people. Seated prop promptly and all questions answered. The non-alcoholic ginger lemonade iced tea is very good. You can order extra ginger for it too! No complimentary refills on it sadly... While waiting for the noms (and naan) to arrive, I took in the subtle charm that of Varsha. It's clean, organized, bright from natural light but not overly. Lunch was at first view kitchen of small, but that was my brain vs. stomach. While there could have been more protein in the main dishes, I did leave satisfied to the point I couldn't eat any more. And every bite was delicious. I'm looking forward to visiting Victoria again and thinking Varsha will be another delicious lunch stop. Check them out. Authentic and delicious.

Mantra was a great find as we cycled past it on the protected bike lane and could smell the spices…read more When we arrived, the nicest server ever greeted us and we enjoyed a laugh when a robot brought our naan on its tray! We ordered Rogan Josh lamb in a perfect med hot spiced sauce and my hubby had the tandoori chicken, expertly done! Everywhere in Victoria is serving mint chutney as a yogurt now? (it's ok,.. but I miss regular mint chutney of the past.) Naan is really good here too. I liked the decor/ambiance and really nice waitress! A great stop on the way back from the art gallery!

We ordered delivery for dinner and it did not disappoint! We ordered a lot of vegan food - all…read moresuper yummy Kachumber Salad Gobhi Garlic Garlic Naan Onion Bhajia Papdi Chaat Navratan Korma Vegetable Coconut Curry Everything was the perfect spice level! Now we are very full with some leftovers too.

We wanted to try some Indian food while in Victoria. We love the spices and found Sizzling Tandoor…read moreon Yelp. Mostly five star reviews so we decided to give it a go. We had a high bar because we had just gone to an Indian restaurant in Chicago that was over the top good. Sizzling Tandoor met that bar. It was just as good as Chicago. Many reviews mentioned the Rogan Josh Lamb so we ordered that and balanced it off with Chicken Tikka Masala. We each ate half of each entree. A side of plain Naan completed the meal. We like hot food and we're going to order hot, but our server, Muskan, convinced us to get medium hot. It was perfect. Muskan was attentive but didn't hover. She engaged us in a nice convo after our meal and was very pleasant. The most difficult part was deciding which we liked better. The lamb won, but only by a small margin. Both were excellent.

We really liked this place. Our food was wonderful and servings were generous. It's a very good…read morelooking restaurant. Service was slow and that probably is a kitchen problem. They weren't very busy on Sunday evening but only one server was working and she had to bus the tables also. Apparently they don't answer the phone. We had butter sauce with chicken, navratan korma and naan. The charge was C $46 plus tax and tip. That's about US $33.54. Street parking only.

Good food, bad service is my short summary. Once seated, it…read moretook about 15 mins till I flagged a hostess to take our order. Main course arrived first for a couple of us, then the appetizers. One order was incorrect, but we ate without complaining as it will take even longer for these people to fix it. Food was delicious. Damn.... Mango lassie was more mango juice pulp and not creamy (not much yogurt added) These kind of places thrive on one off transient tourists rather than local regulars. Oh well...

Staff is way too slow in serving and taking oi orders. I saw them misbehaving with drivers as well.read more

Had the mango lassi, the butter naan and the chicken tikka. While the restaurant itself is very…read moreplain, the food was excellent, freshly prepared and had great flavor.

=== 1. VERDICT/VALUE Based solely on a single takeout…read moreexperience: worth a try if you've got a hankering for Indian cuisine when in the area - I will visit again and try more dishes! === 2. FOOD Lamb Curry Takeout Special ($15.99) Don't let the small bag / containers fool you - see my pics. What looks like a small portion of food expands to a good-sized meal that should feed all but the ravenous! There was a decent amount of lamb meat and it was nice and tender. The curry was flavourful without being overpowering and the single piece of naan bread split into two was fresh and great for dipping. === 3. SERVICE A man and a women served me on two occasions during the same visit and they were both as professional as can be expected for a takeout order. === 4. ENVIRONMENT They've done a great job of improving the state of the restaurant since the Korean fried chicken vacated the place. The walls, flooring, and tables/chairs are all new it seems - it's much more pleasant than before. The size of the place has not changed and so small groups (2-6 people) are the only ones who could dine in still. Baby strollers and wheelchairs would fit comfortably inside. Parking is still up to your luck in how busy the shopping complex lot outside is when you arrive!

This place is lovely!! My local friend took me to Dosa Paragon where he and his wife love the dosa…read more I had not had southern Indian cuisine very much and only one dosa before. The food here is great! The dosas were lovely. Dosas are like thick crepes made from chickpea flour so it's great for gluten free people. We had the South India combo and the butter chicken dosa. Both were very nice. We also ordered the beef madras which was my favorite. I like a good curry and the ladder was very nice and not too hot at a medium spice level. We also had sukka coffee with a nice ginger flavor and tasted like a wee bit of sugar in it. My friend, fancies it and it was delicious. We had asked for that to come out before dinner and it came out about halfway through. But that takes a while to make and better ill-timed coffee than cold food. The food as it was was delicious and piping hot. The staff here is very sweet and helpful. Very kind with explanations of the meals and Indian geography and history. We got a little lesson, which we both loved. I would absolutely return to Dosa Paragon!

The amazingly large window with a view of the water is so nice, but you have to try hard to ignore…read morethe large streaks of bird poop that covers the whole thing. That should have been a warning, but we didn't take heed. First we got a dosa which was REALLY good! A spicy chutney with potatoes. We were off to great start. Wooohooo! Then came a curry with a delicious cashew sauce trying its very best to save the awful rubbery vegetables floating in it. Though the sauce made a valient effort, I am, in the end, absolutely convinced that those were frozen carrots and green beans...either that or they were actually rubber. Then, we hit rock bottom with the "green salad". Some badly chopped tasteless vegetables lined up like they are ready to be stir-fried and no dressing. I guess you were supposed to squeeze a lemon on them. Yum, yes please, I would love thick slices of raw onion with some lemon squeezed on it, who wouldn't? So take a dosa to go is my advice. Or go somewhere else. Fake flowers on the table, so maybe those carrots and green beans were made of rubber.