King Mahal Restaurant is an Indian restaurant on Hastings Street in North Burnaby serving authentic Northern Indian cuisine.
The Heights Merchant Association is holding this 3-day event (April 24 – April 26, 2012) called “Crave” to showcase some of the restaurants in North Burnaby. Since I live in North Burnaby, I thought I would check out some places I would not normally go dine at. I have to admit, a few of these restaurants do not look very pretty on the outside, but $15 for a 3 course meal is a good price. Never judge a book by its cover!
The interior isn’t pretty at all. Fake flowers are quite tacky.
M and I got one of each appetizer. We were quite surprised that so much came.
Vegetable Pakora has fresh vegetables, potatoes, cauliflower, onions and spinach mixed with spices and graham flour, then deep-fried. I loved the pakora! It was crispy on the outside and had a fragrant taste on the inside.
Vegetable Samosa are crisp patties stuffed with potatoes, peas and dash of Indian spices, then its deep fried. I wasn’t very impressed by it since it was a bit flat and not as plump as some other places in town.
Butter Chicken has boneless chicken marinated in ginger, garlic, yogurt, vinegar and spices, made with fresh tomato sauce,
butter and cream. They give you the option of amount of spice – mild, medium or hot. M decided to get hot since he loves the extra kick in flavour and heat. It was little too spicy for my taste, but he loved it so much that it’s his new favorite butter chicken.
Rogan Josh Lamb is a specialty of Kesh, chunks of meat cooked in traditional spices with saffron. We got this very spicy as well. The flavours were good, but I still prefer the butter chicken.
With each entree, you get the choice between rice or naan. We just got both since we had 2 entrees.
Naan was a little bit thick, but still remained quite crispy, which I liked.
Rice Pudding (Kheer) is made with special rice and milk. It was good especially after eating the curry, it neutralizes the strong tastes.
Gulab Jamun is made with dry milk and cottage cheese balls, deep fried and dipped in sugar syrup. It was a bit too sweet for me since the sugar syrup did seep all the way into the ball.
At the end of the meal, you receive some Candied Fennel Seeds and toothpicks. In a way, you can say the fennel seeds are like mints that taste like licorice.
Overall, the food is pretty good, but the decor and exterior of the restaurant are just horrendous. If you love good affordable food and not care much about aesthetics, you should go here. In total, everything can out to be $35 after tax for M and I. We still packed half our meal to go too.
Words of Wisdom:
- Very Affordable
- Ability to choose level of spice
- Daily Groupon Now deals ($19 and you get an appetizer and 2 entrees.)
- Delivery/Pick Up Services
We Rate King Mahal Restaurant: 
Address:
4051 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC
Website:
www.kingmahalrestaurant.ca
