I'll second the vote for Ceylonta as an interesting and tasty alternative to typical Indian restaurant fare.

Haveli (in the Byward Market area) has good food and is a bit fancier than most.

The Light of India on Bank St. is not too far from where you'll be and is not bad if you order from the menu (the buffet is dreadful). Also on Bank, a bit further south, is Taj Mahal. I used to really like it there but stopped going years ago because the menu never changes. As a vegetarian, I had eaten the 3 or 4 options on the menu many times and just got bored.

That explains it! I was wondering why olives had started to go bad in the last few years. I hadn't twigged that the deli used to store them in brine and they stopped. I'll definitely try asking for some brine, thanks!

It's a pretty old thread so I fear you'll never get an answer from MCHL too. For what it's worth, I have a berbere recipe that uses 1/2 cup cayenne, 1/3 cup paprika, and about 1/4 cup of all the other spices combined.

I love spicy food, but I personally find it too spicy. I think this particular cayenne is especially hot. Still, next time I may leave out the cayenne from the berbere entirely and add it separately to whatever dish I'm making. Or I may play with fresh chilies instead. That way I can easily boost the intensity of all the other lovely spices without worrying about making it too hot.

I went to Chevrier Buckland asking for this cheese based on these recommendations. I was delighted! It's absolutely one of the best cheeses I've had. The young fellow serving was thrilled to know his cheese was on the internet -- I even overheard him excitedly telling the shopkeeper in the next booth as we were walking away.

Thanks for the recommendation!

I ate at Pushap in spring 2010. It was quite tasty and incredibly cheap, but very dirty. I am quite tolerant but I'm very glad I didn't see the kitchen. We got a box of sweets to go, also very cheap. The gulab jamon was among the best I've had, but the other sweets were generally chemically or with a bad texture. I would go back if I was broke and in the area, but definitely would not go out of my way for this.

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Pushap Restaurant
4777 Boul Des Sources, Pierrefonds, QC H8Y3C6, CA

Pushap
1661 Av Dollard, Lasalle, QC H8N1T7, CA

Hi Moosemeat,

We just returned from a 3 day stay in Vancouver. Here's my take on Vij's, and a couple of other tips. I don't know your travel dates; hope you aren't back already!

Vij's is a very popular Vancouver restaurant. No reservations, so arrive an hour before you want to eat, put your name down and have a drink at the bar. The $9 cocktails were a bit pricey, but they were both flavoured with Indian touches (garam masala in mine) and quite tasty. Staff will circulate with free snacks (lentil pakoras and Indian-spiced fried potatoes), but try to resist as you'll spoil your dinner.

We found the portions too large. After two tasting spoons of the Dungeoness crab (delicious) and a couple of starters (lentil pate with date chutney, and jackfruit in black cardamom masala), we'd had enough. The appetizers were amazing, inspired, novel, and beautifully presented.

The main courses were also tasty, but far more ordinary. We had the eggplant and papaya curry with black chickpeas and roasted almonds, and the cabbage, potato, and bell peppers in coconut, blueberry and cilantro with crispy noodles. This all sounds quite novel, but the flavours of all the vegetarian dishes are similar and all medium spicy; also they were all kind of soupy/saucy. More contrast of flavours and textures would have been nice.

For vegetarian dishes, we found the mains overpriced at roughly $23 each. Their whole menu is online at vijs.ca, so you can decide if the prices are reasonable to you.

Banana Leaf -- There are multiple locations. We ate at the one on Denman. The food was good but not great. I had the gado gado salad, which was a big mess of diced potato and bean sprouts drowned in peanut sauce. They forgot the boiled egg, and when I asked they brought three thin slices of egg that had a grey ring around the yolk (amateur cook who didn't cool them properly?). My main dish was a very tasty eggplant & green bean dish. My husband had a seafood soup to start, which was very tasty. His main dish was mixed seafood in coconut curry broth, which was tasty but the seafood was gritty. The banana fritter for desert was perfectly done, very crisp and big enough for sharing with a nice dollop of ice cream. The atmosphere was cosy/crowded. They don't appear to have any tables for two as we were seated beside another couple at a table for four. If you like your privacy, this is not for you.

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Vij's Restaurant
1480 11th Ave W, Vancouver, BC V6H1L1, CA