Palki Indian Restaurant: Hidden Find on Commercial Drive

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by the owners to try out their restaurant. I brought along 3 friends to really keep this review as unbiased as possible! This review does not guarantee 100% similar service you might normally get from this restaurant.

Palki Indian Restaurant is located on Commercial Drive. Their first location has been running for the past 12 years in North Vancouver. In the past year, they opened up their second location on Commercial Drive. From the outside, it doesn’t look much, but they have some amazing Indian food. All their food is authentic and made by their skilled chefs from India.

At first, when I was walking by, this sign really doesn’t do this restaurant justice. I would probably keep on walking. They have plans to redo their exterior, so this will change in 2012.

The interior is very elegant and I was very impressed. There are 2 levels in the restaurant – one is the regular dining area and the 2nd is this funkier bar area.

Surprisingly, this place was packed for a Tuesday evening. Even though there is not a lot of online presence by the restaurant, they have an amazing amount of loyal customers that keep coming back.

Mango Lassi is a drink you should be ordering. It’s a yogurt based drink with mangoes. I’ve always loved drinking mango lassi and this one was good. It’s non-alcoholic so it’s perfect for kids and adults. They also have an alcoholic version on their menu too if you felt like boozing it up.

If you plan on ordering spicy food, I find it a good drink to cut the spice because of its creamy texture.

The Peacock is made of kiwi, lime, lemon, blue curacao, melon liqueur and soda. It was nice and fruity and not too alcoholic. Everyone was eyeing Gmoney’s drink since it did look pretty cool.

Goa Sunrise contains mango, ginger, white rum with malibu and grenadine. J thought it was good, but she still preferred the Peacock since it was more fruity.

KingFisher Beer is a beer from India. It has a very light crisp taste.

Onion Bhajia is deep fried battered onion. The batter is bright red, but it is in no way spicy at all. The color is all natural and gets it’s red color from the paprika. J loved this dish and couldn’t get enough. The onion is nice and savory with it’s crunch batter.

Chicken Pakora was mixed in there as well. It’s a deep fried battered boneless chicken with Indian spices. It has the same bright red exterior. I liked it! The chicken was juicy and well flavoured.

These two items were probably my favorite appetizers.

Vegetable Pakora is deep fried fritters of garden fresh vegetables. It was alright, but it didn’t suit my tastes.

Vegetable Samosa has spiced vegetables stuffed in a savoury pastry. The filling was mostly potatoes and Im not a huge fan of starchy foods.

The appetizers come with two sauces – cilantro mint sauce and a tamarind sauce. I liked the cilantro mint sauce because of its strong pungent flavours. I just loved dunking the appetizers in it! The tamarind sauce was alright, but I preferred the other sauce.

Curried Mussels ($11.95) has mussels cooked in a curry sauce. There was lots of sauce to accompany the mussels, but I felt the mussels could be a bit more plump. You do get a lot of sauce left over, so it might be good to grab some naan for it.

Butter Chicken ($11.50) has boneless chicken in a butter and cream sauce. This is their most popular dish! 50% of the curries they serve is this dish. It’s probably because it’s a fairly common dish.

The curry tasted really good and even though it’s not very large, when you order rice or naan with it, you will get full.

Lamb Vindaloo ($11.95) has boneless lamb with garlic, ginger, vinegar, potatoes and some Indian spices.

It another one of their popular items, but I wasn’t a big fan of the lamb. They also have a beef version too, so that might be good.

Kofta Dil Bahar ($10.95) has minced paneer– Indian fresh cream cheese and mixed vegetable balls stuffed with dry fruits and served in a mild cream sauce.

I loved this dish even though it’s vegetarian. It’s not spicy and has a good flavour to it.

Tandoori Naan ($1.85) should be ordered with the curries. Perfect for dipping into it.

More Tandoori Naan.

Onion and Cilantro Naan ($3) was very colorful and seemed like pizza instead of naan. I’ve never had anything like this. Good, but when you have this with the curry, it doesn’t let the flavour of the curry shine through.

Spinach And Paneer Naan ($4) is stuffed bread with homemade cheese and spinach. I’ve never experienced anything similar to this. It’s quite unique, but it still doesn’t taste that great alone. It still tastes better with the curries.

Pulao ($3) is basmati rice . It’s a good chice to accompany your curry.

Im probably more of a traditionalist, so I would prefer the original naan and the basmati rice to accompany the curries. This is not to say the other naan arn’t good, I just like the original simple stuff.

Overall, I think it’s a great addition to the Drive! Lot of choices on their menu and its a nice place to dine at with affordable prices.

Words of Wisdom:

Large amount of curries and Naan
Best to stick with the original Naan
Some parking available in the residential areas or pay parking in front
Good prices and good atmosphere
Onion Bhajia, Chicken Pakora, Butter Chicken and Kofta Dil Bahar are highly recommended

We Rate Palki Indian Restaurant: