ottawa foodies

Ordered take-out last night and was informed that the restaurant will be closing on Sunday. Was also told that a new Indian restaurant will open in its place in a month. No idea if it's new owners or just a face lift.

I was disappointed to hear the news but happy I caught them in time for one last order. This was my go-to place for Indian food.

Let me start by saying that this restaurant is awesome.
While their Mulligatawny is nothing to write home about,
the main dishes are.

Now the reason I am writing this comment, and the reason I actually registered is, that I felt that people who are about to eat/order here need to know the following:

BEWARE OF THE VINDALOO SPECIAL.
I mean it says "hot" on the menu, but dear god, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into.
my throat was literally on fire and I started sweating like a racehorse during a marathon on a VERY HOT day.

... and I am hungarian, if anyone should be able to stomach spicy, it's me.
OK, I need to go shower. I hope I saved someone's life with this.

This is the best Indian Food in the City by Far. The owner is really nice and knowledgeable and will make you anything that you request whether on the menu or not. I recommend this restaurant to anybody and everybody. Delicious!

I've noted here before how much I like the food. I went back again last week to get some vindaloo to burn the cold out of my throat. It's consistently fantastic, but what stands out the most about this place is the service! Best I've ever had, hands down.

We went here last Sat. night for a friends' birthday dinner. This was the first time I had been there and the reviews from this site were all right! The service is very helpful and they do go out of their way to make you feel special and appreciated. The lady who was filling our water (excessively I might add!) was really sweet and even if you didn't need your water refilled, you still let her refill it ;)

The owner (I believe) was very informative and was happy and willing to help us out with any questions we had about Indian food and changes we'd like to make to our dishes. The four of us who went had all had Indian before and we consider ourselves to be an adventurous group foodwise but we still kept saying throughout the meal that someone who hadn't tried Indian food before or who might not be as adventurous as others, Nagina would be the place to go for the first time! The food is sooo amazing and flavourful (see pics below) and he even gave our friend a complimentary Indian dessert with a sparkler (without us asking) and the other friend a mango juice because she hadn't ordered a drink!

So for four appetizers (aka tantalizers), four mains, 6 beer, 2 orders of naan, and an order of rice, the bill came to under $110 before tip!

*BYOW....he let us know this a few times! Next time we will bring our own wine.

I completely agree with your comment regarding the service. We have always been treated as if we were their favourite customers. The owner, in particular, has always gone to great lengths to make every visit special. This used to be our favourite Indian restaurant in the city, until we discovered Moni Mahal on Laurier Ave. Their service is also very decent but, it is their buffet selection which really captured us. It is quite simply "huge". And, as we are both vegetarians, we find the overall selection to be about the best in the city.

Went to Nagina the other nite for a family birthday. The owner was very friendly and made a big deal of making my 79-year old mother enjoy her evening. Buffet was very reasonably priced and the food was good, if not spectacular. Next time I'll try à la carte because the choices on the buffet are pretty limited. For the price (I was paying), Nagina was well worth it. E.

Best indian in the city!!! Order from the menu & you will be VERY pleased. Buffet, not as good.
Also if you become a regular, the food gets specially made for you & will blow your mind.

I'm not a huge fan of buffet, but if you want to go that route, Nagina is the place to do it. Good prices and even better food. Splurge and grab an order of puri (deep fried Indian bread) with dinner. It's to die for.

I haven't tried their a la carte, but I would love to.

I had never tried Indian food before last weekend, so I decided to order some in - If I didn't like it, I could always make something else. So I called Nagina - because they were close to my house, and because I'd been told they were good! They have an online menu, which made it easy for myself and my friends to order what we wanted. It seems we all wanted lamb vindaloo! Anyways, when I called, the gentleman on the telephone was so understanding, explaining how spicy it would be, and that he always uses the best lamb for this dish. I also ordered lots of naan! Anyways, the vindaloo was delicious! Very flavourful, and was certainly not overpowering for a first-timer. It was right at my spice level as well - the sweating, but not dying - heat that I always search for in my food. I am definitely going to try eating in sometime soon!