Ottawa Foodies

4

I really like this place, the location, and the service is great.

Unfortuneatly, I have to mention that after picking up a few take out veggie samosas, onion bajiis and some naan to accompany a mung bean curry that was simmering on my stove .. well, that night I was up all night due to my sensitivity to MSG :-/

Also, at these prices I would expect fresh naan and not the heated prepackaged stuff they provided for the takeout.

I will give this place one more try and specify no MSG, and hold off on the naan because the service is so personable and the fish curry was good.

Andrew

Went to Shafali in the Market tonight for a quick dinner. Nice atmosphere, pleasant service. Decent menu, reasonable prices I thought. Had one of the combo platters. Food was largely disappointing: All three curries (mutter paneer, butter chicken, and goan seafood curry) tasted rather similar, and all were really, really sweet as someone noted below. All sauce and rather little meat. I won't be back.

2

Went to the new location in the glebe today for a quick lunch with my dad. He has the chickpea curry, while I had the chicken one, with a side of Naan bread.

I have got to say, it was perfect. Beautifully seasoned (a bit spicier than I normally eat, but in a good way, so I may need to increase my spice), and the chicken was so tender. The naan was fluffy, and delicious, and the rice has improved and was a real treat to eat. I really enjoyed it, and probably will be back again.

1

Date of Visit: July 25, 2012

My wife and I visited this place some 6 years ago and really enjoyed a couple of Thali platters together. On this most recent visit to Ottawa, I wanted to try them again but, after perusing the online menu and the dinner menu at the restaurant, I found no mention of Thali plates at all and started to think I had maybe confused this restaurant with another. I soon discovered, however, that Thalis are only available on the lunch menu and, though being a little disappointed, I stayed and happily ended up enjoying a very good dinner indeed …

The Dishes
Mussel Ka Surwa ... Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapati ... Rating: 4 out of 5
Onion Bhaji ... Rating: 5 out of 5
Sheek Kabab ... Rating: 3 out of 5

Overall
Given the sweetness of the Mussel curry and the dipping sauce for the Bhajis, I have a general sense that Shafali has deviated from its roots somewhat in order to appeal to western palates. I don’t think they can be too harshly criticized for that, however and, ultimately, I was impressed with the place and enjoyed a good dinner. It is definitely worth trying.

See a full pictorial review at: sybaritica.me

3

Went to Shafali a few months back and have to agree with Johnny English - really not very good. I'm from the UK too and had the worst Indian meal I've ever had outside of the UK in this place.

Really my dishes were just tomato sauce and meat. The spicier dishes I guess they squirted in some chilli sauce. No sign of any marinading, extended preparation or complexity of taste - all things you get in good Indian food.

I suspect we're spoiled in the UK and probably we've come to appreciate a distinct offshoot of Indian food. Maybe it's unfair to expect the same in Canada.

Poor food would be bad enough but the service here sucked too. I think it took us 3-4 hours from arriving to finishing our food and we ate quick! Waitress had an "oh, I forgot!" moment with our appertizer order and the owner has math issues which led to a 20 minute process to come up with an accurate bill. Luckily we were a lighthearted group and had a good laugh but I'd have been disappointed if this was a big night out or a special meal.

Sorry, but this is a long way from good Indian food or even a great experience. Maybe I've been spoiled but please, go find some good Indian food in Ottawa before going here so you really have something to compare against.

I hit up the takeout section today in the market building on my way to class and had the Lamb Curry. I forgot to order Naan, but when I saw the price, I was glad I didn't. With two pepsi's, it came out to about $16. That's a fair bit pricey, but that's not why I'm writing this. To the Meat (hehe) of the review, the curry!

I liked it. The Lamb was nice and tender, and juicy, which was nice. The sauce had a bit of spice, but not too much, except for the spice pod I found and accidently bit into. The Salda was okay, and the dressing was nothing special. The rice, to be blunt, kinda sucked. It was hard in bit, and very mushy in others, and didn't have that much flavour.

Overall, a bit too expensive for me. It tasted good, but, at the same time it wasn't much.

I stopped in at the byward market stall location today to pick up some indian food - with the plan to hopefully have enough left over for lunch tomorrow. I ordered the Channa Masala meal, the mutter paneer meal and a peice of naan. Thinking I would be buying a good quantity of food, I didn’t mind the 21$ price tag for this.

1

While I was being served, the owner was bragging about how his restaurant has better chefs then the 5 star restaurants in the vicinity (what ever that means), and he explained that his food was the best Indian food in Ottawa.

I will say, the food was very tasty. But unfortunately, this place is very stingy. One little spoon full of rice, two and a half (I counted) spoons of curry, and a tiny bit of ice burg lettuce for about 10 bucks. I was planning on slitting the meal in half, and eating the remainder at work tomorrow. Not happening! The contents of both containers fit on one plate. So much for leftovers..

1

The naan was not made fresh to order. Although it was tasty after I re-toasted it in my oven, it was likely made in the morning and had been sitting around for a while. There were literally 4 pieces of paneer in my mutter paneer. It was tasty, but totally not worth it. The channa was pretty good, but it was almost akin to a southern/chili type baked beans, albeit with chickpeas. Very tasty, but not what I would call authentic channa masala.

I thought the food was tasty, but the value poor. Ultimately I will not be back. Now that Moni Mahal is off limits, the only Indian place I know of that offers a fairly decent value for a la carte food is Mukut. But even there it is expensive.

Why is Indian food so expensive when it is virtually the cheapest food to prepare? I did grow up in Brampton so I guess I have been spoiled with authentic, readily available and cheep Indian food. (the way it aught to be lol).

3

Last night I met up with an out-of-town friend at Café Shafali on Dalhousie. She loves Indian food and asked for recommendations. Café Shafali was at the top of my list since it is perhaps my favourite Indian restaurant in Ottawa.

The waiter came by to take drink orders to start. They have a pretty decent selection of wines by the glass so my friend ordered a glass of Italian Pinot Grigio. I was less than impressed with their beer selection (Coors, Keith, and Sleeman Honey Brown) but they had Kingfisher available so I ordered a bottle.

My dining companion ordered vegetable samosas to start. She let me sample one and they had a lovely spicey flavour with a nice crisp pastry. I ordered the seafood curry soup to start and the waiter brought two spoons so my dining companion could sample. This soup was truly the most awesome soup I have ever had and all other soups have now been ruined for me. I am looking forward to a return visit to Café Shafali soon for the soup alone-;)

My dining companion ordered butter chicken and a rice dish - I "think" it was a biryani - and it had rice, lamb, and sautéed vegetables. The chicken was melt-in-your-mouth tender and the rice was nicely seasoned. I ordered the tandoori lamb which came with rice and vegetables - all of which were very tasty. We shared and order of naan.

All in all dinner was fantastic, the waiter was knowledgeable and attentive, and my friend seemed to really enjoy her meal. Café Shafali is highly recommended.

Among the best veggie samosas that I've had in this fair city. Nice and spicy, and they dose the pastry with nigella seeds, which increases the deliciousness manyfold.

My son and I enjoyed sharing a veggie samosa at the Shafali Bazaar in the Byward Market Square. His review, "This is spicy. I like spicy!"

In addition to the traditional potato and peas it also contained diced carrots and corn. Not normal but still a nice tasty snack!

Had the Vindaloo chicken with a side of naan and a side of raita. The menu and the waitress both warned me this item was "HOT hot" and they weren't kidding! My mouth was burning, my nose was running but it was so tasty! Rich, spicy sauce; big tender chunks of potato and chicken; topped with a bit of cilantro - delish! Small portion (compared to our society's standard) but was full when I finished. A tad pricey for the portion size but it was so tasty I didn't mind too much. Will be back!

I went to Shafali Bazaar on a recent lunch time visit to try the chicken tikka wrap. I believe it was reviewed in the Citizen awhile ago and it has been recommended by friends. I loved the naan and the chicken was very moist however I didn't like the sauce at all. It was too sweet and they put waaaay too much sauce in the wrap. Next time I will stick to the butter chicken or a curry instead.

chicken tikka wrap from the shafali bazaar in the market = ultimate satisfaction. so good I want to curse :)