King Mahal Restaurant

Some of the best Indian cuisine I have had in the Burnaby area. Not cheap with the chicken in the butter chicken. Fast delivery. I would recommend this place for sure.

Best Indian food I’ve had in the city. Great prices too! Always quick with take out and order is always correct and quality never waivers. I moved from Burnaby and still drive into town just to get food here. The people here are so nice and always brighten my day. Highly recommended!!!

Best Indian restaurant at Burnaby heights. Food was delicious, service was awesome! Definitely my go-​to for Indian food!!!

Went here with my family for sunday dinner, it was great! As other reviewers have posted, the butter chicken isn’t too rich, but is really quite delicious. We also had chicken tikka, which came sizzling to our table, chili chicken, lamb curry, and prawn vindaloo. We all shared everything, and with 1 dish per person, there was still a small amount left over. All dishes really were fantastic. We’ll be going back!

Love it, love it!!!
Nice atmosphere! Very fast service! Amazing taste!!!

My go to place for mums comfort food! Very friendly service, simple setting. My favourites so far are their naan is a little different, but so good. Chicken curry and saag paneer. I’ve had their pakoras and veggy jalfrazee. Just hits the spot when you really need a comfort zone fit.

We haven’t tried anything off the menu but the buffet is a disaster. It was cold, and tasted terrible. I should have been suspicious by the fact that there was only one other diner in there. Meanwhile, I watched a horde of people going to the Chinese Restaurant next door. I was actually jealous.

We have only been here once, but plan on going back.
Extremely nice people. That alone makes me want to return!
Now keep in mind and I hate to admit, but I am a scaredy cat kind of eater. I know what I like and don’t want to try anything new. Boring, but it works for me. The husband on the other hand is not. He enjoys diversity and tries his best to broaden my dining horizons.
We decided to give King Mahal a try when we had vegan guests in town. Not only did they have vegetarian options, but they went out of their way to accommodate the vegans at the table. And they took it very seriously. It was lovely.
I was so pleasantly surprised to have been able to enjoy all of my dishes and then some. And I’m happy my husband was able to have something other than pasta or salads while out with me!
Please check King Mahal out.

This is a neighborhood restaurant with great international quality. Don’t let the modest décor mislead you. The food was delicious — real authentic fare made very well. My wife had chicken tikki masala and I had the signature lamb dish. A very enjoyable conclusion to a day of sightseeing in Vancouver.

Pretty good.
Butter chicken is very tomato-​y and not creamy; different and good.
Lamb rogan josh was good, but I wouldn’t pair it with butter chicken (since they are both tomato curry).
King vegetable was okay.
I didn’t like the palak paneer much.
I ordered everything mild except the butter chicken and wouldn’t recommend it. Go for at least medium-​mild so you get at least a bit of spice — it still won’t be spicy. (Don’t worry, they also have Indian hot if you want a challenge.)
Meals come with rice and you can pay a dollar to upgrade each to naan.
Full order (3 naan subs) was $ 66.

A friend and I were thinking about getting together for lunch. I live in Coquitlam, he lives in Vancouver. We agreed on finding an Indian buffet somewhere in the middle. I did some looking around online and found King Mahal. Never been there before, neither had my friend, but there were some good reviews, so we decided to try it. Well, I don’t think I would be in a hurry to go back. Excellent service – I need to say that up front. But the food was below par. Way below par. For a lunch buffet, having only six items to choose from seemed somewhat parsimonious. Poor selection was compounded by blandness. Nothing here really tasted like Indian food. Or put it this way, if you can imagine butter chicken coming put of a can… Then, even worse, the food was cold. I love Indian food and have been to plenty of buffets, but this one was dreadful. Maybe just an off day? Or maybe there’s a reason for the place being so empty during the lunch hour.

My girlfriend and I have ordered a couple of times for delivery at this restaurant because she really likes it. We usually order a curry and always end with Gulab Jamun, which is like a small doughnut drenched in sugar. For the most part, the food was pretty good and they give free rice for delivery.
We have also tried their lunch buffet for $ 10 and we thought it was alright, it was nothing special but certainly wasn’t bad either.
Tonight, my gf and I went to King Mahal for dinner and ordered chicken korma, shahi paneer and gulab jamun. First two dishes were delicious but the gulab jamun ruined the experience for me at least. It wasn’t because it tasted bad, it was because they give you less of it when you dine in.
For $ 4, ***$ 4*** they give you only 2 balls… And when you order take out or delivery, they give you 4. I wasn’t pleased with this and asked the waiter why. He said there’s just a bigger cost to dining in. I just wish they gave the same amount of food. And also, rice cost 2.5 for eating in but free for eating out.
If I do ever eat from this restaurant again, I will just order for pick because you can get 10% off, free rice and also more of anything they decide to serve less when dining in.
The service was good though. I won’t take that away from them. If they just offered me two more of those balls, I would have left as a happy customer.

I can’t believe I haven’t wrote a review yet for this joint.
My first time when when they just opened for business a couple years back. I moved out of the neighbourhood, but I often see myself wandering back.
Background: My husband and I love Indian food and have travelled from N. Van (Indian Fusion, Vaades), Van (Chutney Villa, East is East, Vij, House of Dosa, Akbar’s Own, etc), Burnaby (Saffron, Agra Tandoori, etc.) Richmond (Ginger, Tandoori Kona, etc), Delta (Tasty Indian Bistro, Mirch Masala, etc) and Surrey (Mahek, Rasoi, etc) to try different Indian restaurants. So I would say we are intermediate-​versed in Indian cuisine. Our review is based on the other restaurants we have been.
My husband and I decided to have late dinner at the restaurant yesterday.
Service: Excellent. Server was attentive, polite and helpful with the menu. My cup was always refilled with water with consistency. I would say compared to all the indian restaurants I have been to, this is WAAAAAY better than any other place. Our plates even came in warm!
Ambiance: Soft Indian music in the background. Not loud like East is East. Walls are lined with beautiful Indian tapestry. Don’t expect the modern décor of Tasty Indian Bistro though.
Cleanliness: One of the cleanest Indian restaurants I have been. Washroom is clean, tables and linen are all clean.
Food: We ordered two dishes – Lamb rogan josh and chicken tikka masala, and two orders of naan.
Taste:
1) Lamb rogan josh ($ 15): lamb was soft, we asked for medium spice and it packs a little bit of a kick. The sauce was at the right consistency. Compared to other Indian joints there is an average amount of lamb in the dish. The sauce just lack a little bit extra spice in there. The color is a nice orange (not bright orange).
2) Chicken tikka masala ($ 15): The chicken is cooked to tender. The sauce was at the right consistency. The color is a beautiful red like other restaurants. There is an average amount of chicken-​to-​veggie ratio. The flavour is wonderful!
3) Naan ($ 2/​order): The naan was fresh. It was warm and clearly just cooked when we ordered it. The taste is about the same as other places.
Portion: About 20% bigger than average. We can’t finish the dishes and had to pack them to go. Naan size is about the same as other places.
Value: The lamb and naan are about the same pricing as other restaurants. The chicken is about $ 2 – 3 dollars more than some restaurants. Other than that, dessert is about the same prices, their beer is cheap ($ 4−5/bottle).
Overall: My impression is that they got better at cooking than before and I will likely return to this place again.

The food here is excellent, and i have eaten Indian food at Many places in Metro-​Van.
The staff are friendly, usually a father-​son team in the dining area.
The décor is mediocre, but i dont go here to look at the walls.
I dont think i’ve ever been for the lunch buffet but i would imagine they dont get to much business from lunch and therefore may not put full effort in. Just a guess.
We go here frequently for dinner and have never been let down.
Pakora is always crispy, never soggy or greasy.
The curries are perfectly spiced, fresh, full of vegetables.
Can’t get enough. We usually pay just under $ 40 with an appetizer, 2 entrees, extra naan bread, rice, and maybe a beer.

I’ve been to many East Indian restaurants in the past for both buffet and ordering off the menu, so I think I have a basic understanding of what East Indian cuisine is.
Until I’ve met King Mahal Restaurant in Burnaby. I began to question.
I’ve never been to a restaurant, where I was dining and questioning the food that I was eating at the same time. For $ 10/​person for their lunch buffet, I didn’t really have high expectations coming in, I can overlook the scarce selection of food, didn’t expect great customer service, nor care for the general décor of the restaurant. My only expectation is that the food should taste the way it suppose to be.
There were 8 food items (minus the salad bar). All of the dishes failed miserably. They looked like the dish its intended to be but tastes like nothing you’ve had at another Indian restaurant. The food was so bad that it made the Indian food at food court taste gourmet. I literally had one go, took a bit of everything, paid for the meal and left. It was God awful. Butter chicken is the most popular Indian dish and they even manage to screw that up, where it tasted sour.
I certainly won’t be going back again nor will I recommend anyone else to go. Any Indian buffet in Vancouver would be better than this place.

Good food, good pricing, good service but I’m being nice too for its atmosphere — pretty laid back, not pretentious so it’s pretty casual.
Also have a lunch buffet, $ 9.99.
I’ve been able to work here for a few hours while they’re open for lunch, no problem.
Plus free parking in the front too.
And they’re willing to deliver all the way to Nanaimo St./33^rd Ave!

So I finally had a chance to try the $ 10 lunch buffet. It’s actually not bad at all.
Selection is a little on the scarce side — there are some 10 entrée items, and some 8 «side/​dessert» items. It’s not bad for what you pay for though.
Tandoori chicken — nice moist pieces. Special mention here, as most places dry out the chicken pretty badly.
Vegetable biryani — reminded me of Chinese style fried rice for some reason, but more plain. But this isn’t a problem as you can easily add some sauce from another entrée.
Eggplant — normally I’m not a fan, but this one actually wasn’t bad either.
Palak paneer — this is an acquired taste for sure, but I found this one pretty enjoyable.
Butter chicken — a bit on the salty side, but otherwise fine.
For the sides, there are some «salads» available (for lack of a better description). Nice to add some veggies to the mix.
As for the dessert, there is mango pudding — again, this tasted like something straight out of a Chinese restuarant.
For beers, they have both Cobra and Kingfisher. I personally like them both, so take your pick. Keep in mind that Kingfisher is like the Molson Canadian of India. Except they also have an airline.
Sure it’s not the world’s largest selection, but the food is quite decent. I left happy.

2.5 stars. Dropped in for the lunch buffet on a weekday and found the owner/​waiter of the restaurant to be very friendly and hospitable. I was even offered a complimentary chai :-) The curries, thought were a bit bland and like another reviewer said, tasted a bit watered down. Perhaps they used less oil, butter or cream, but when I go out for Indian I must admit I do enjoy the rich, bold flavours.
Even though Bombay Beat’s lunch buffet is $ 0.50 more, I think the food is tastier.

I actually feel bad writing a lukewarm review when the people here seemed so nice. We didn’t even know this restaurant existed until we saw the Groupon Now and realized it was on the way home. Located on Hastings near Gilmore, a busy corridor, it is easy to miss this restaurant.
Groupon had a deal. $ 19 for 1 appetizer and 2 entrees, which sounds pretty darn good, especially if you are hungry, like East Indian food, and/​or looking for a deal in this end of town. In our case all of the above applied so we decided to give it a try.
We arrived around 6:00pm and were the only people in the restaurant and were promptly seated. I presented our voucher and we were informed that because we had the voucher rice was not included, which was fine with us.
We ordered the chicken pakora, naan, basmati rice, butter chicken, and the mixed tandoori grill. They gave us complimentary chips with what seemed like some sweet/​spicy chutney. The food tasted pretty good, especially the butter chicken – not too creamy and it had delicate flavours that went well with the fluffy basmati rice and not-​too-​thick naan. It was presented simply and what seemed like traditional homecooked style. The restaurant is very casual, which was fine with us.
The only thing keeping this restaurant from being a solid 4 – 5 stars is the value. The bill came up to $ 15 on top of my $ 19 voucher price. In the end that is $ 34 for two people, which seems like a lot considering the portion sizes and casualness of the restaurant, and especially considering that this was with a deal voucher that I had purchased. The regular prices were around $ 13.99 per entrée and includes the rice ($ 3.50 if you use the voucher). I can lay part of the blame on the dreaded HST, but I think in order for King Mahal to take off in this area of town they have to forgo these deals and just stick to a value-​priced menu. I see that they have a $ 9.99 buffet at lunch M-​F, and that to me sounds pretty good.
I really believe in supporting the smaller, local businesses in Burnaby and I am hoping that this restaurant is here to stay. The food was good, and the service was friendly. If this place was more budget friendly and in the $ 20 range for two people I can see an increase in numbers.

It’s simple and good. Lunch Buffett includes Naan bread and chai tea. They have a quality buffet vs. quantity buffet. This is good value for less than $ 10.00. The tandoori and butter chicken is particularly good and so is their pudding. The owner used to be the head chef at Saffron, so if you loved the Saffron on Kingsway of the past, come here.