KUNG-FU FIGHTING

Ever since coming back from my trip to India, I've been lamenting about the lack of dosa places that could rival my experience there. Sure, places like Dosa Thali in Bloorcourt are good but they aren't great and the decor is pretty...well, let's just say traditional.

No one has taken the decor up a notch yet offer a good product. When I heard about Madras Pantry at 877 Queen St. West, I had to check it out. Madras Pantry is opened by some of the same folks responsible for Kultura & Nyood. I really like Kultura so decided it was worth giving it a try.

The place was simply and tastefully decorated with a mini electric/battery (?) powered ferris wheel in the front. Cute. You can't help but notice the ceiling height tarp drawing of a sword eater covering a good portion of the exposed brick wall. A communal wooden plank dining table took up the middle of the room. The other wall was filled with Indian spices and ingredients for sale. The kitchen and order counter are located in the back.

There were a couple of people eating at the table but it was mostly empty except for the 3 staff. They were friendly enough. We ordered a Mango Lassi, Szechuan beef dosa on recommendation from the female staff at the register and the traditional Masala dosa-all to go. The food didn't take long to arrive.

First came the Lassi. I love this stuff. Tasty and good for you... at least the yoghurt part is! The Lassi was good but it could've used a bit more tang and a tad more sugar. Comparable to what you get in the city. So far so good. I was getting excited about the dosa.

The dosas came wrapped like a burrito but with the top open. The dosa wrap looked about right but lacked the slight crispiness I'm familiar with. They looked nice with a good amount of filling. We tried the Masala dosa first (first photo of dosa). This is the most traditional of the dosa and it's entirely vegetarian. Mine came filled with potatoes, tomatoes, fresh spinach. The first few bites was pure raw garlic! Yuk! I love garlic but not like this. I threw the rest out. The Szechuan beef dosa tasted better than the Masala but only marginally. At least it didn't have the explosion of raw garlic (it took me a couple of hours to get rid of the taste). We were told that 3 sauces came with each dosas order but we couldn't find them in the brown paper bag our order came in. Where's my curry chutney?!

During my 3 weeks in India, I had dosas for breakfast almost every day so I know what they should really taste like. The stuff served at Madras Pantry doesn't even come close but they are new so maybe they will improve. For now there are better options in the city. I won't be rushing back any time soon.