India Bistro Vancouver

One of my top choices for Indian in town. What I really enjoy about this place is its nonchalant feel and take on things. As soon as you come in you are always greeted and welcomed warmly whether you are alone heading to the bar of with a party of five. You cannot go wrong with the staples here — chicken tikka, naan and aloo gobi. Fresh at any time of the day and year. Delivery can take a little longer than usual sometimes but the quality is not compromised.

Took my mom and dad for dinner last week. They had chosen this place on Davie and since I just wanted them to choose their way through Vancouver I obliged (plus, in all fairness, I’d rather let them choose where they wanna go and not have to hear them complaining about the place I picked out later).
We parked in the back (free parking) and headed in. The interiors were nice and it was a semi-​formal kind of place so I felt right at home in my casual wear. The appys were good and the sauces even better. My mom really liked the samosas and disappeared in record time. So fast, I couldn’t even try them out myself.
For the main courses, we had a variety of things. Chicken vindaloo, rice, naan, fish masala and aloo gobi. The vindaloo was a great call, especially if you are a fan of spicy food. The chicken itself was just fantastic. Service was exceptional; the waiter was like a team, hovering around us to make sure nothing went wrong. I was really impressed.
I’ll definitely be coming back for more.

India Bistro
Understanding that this isn’t a 5-​star restaurant, in it’s class, it is definitely 5-​star.
Perhaps I am drastically unqualified to rate Indian food. I have never been to India. I’ve been to two Indian weddings and I can honestly say I’ve never been so full in my life. Regardless, I spend half my life eating out and I stand behind India Bistro as the best Indian food in Vancouver taking into account value, price, convenience, and consistency.
Yes, yes, yes — I’ve tried VJ’s. Yes, yes, yes — I know his food is world renowned. Yes, yes, yes — I know he’s good enough to have a cookbook. Let’s stop buttering this man’s chicken. He is great. But not the be all and end all of Indian in Vancouver.
The flavours at India Bistro are rich and tempered. They consistently provide me with flavours that blow my mind. Their butter chicken could stand up to anyone’s butter chicken on this planet, I would safely say. I sometimes wonder why they don’t sell the sauce as its own dish. Butter Chicken Broth — it’s essentially my favourite part about finishing the chicken and having only the bright orange awesomeness to finish with a spoon.
The mixed meat platter is also phenomenal and is usually my go-​to. I have a fairly strict diet that is very protein focused. The mixed meat platter is perhaps one of my favourite meals any given night of the week as it speaks directly to my needs as a carnivore.
The value is there, also. I promise you, you won’t leave feeling bent over or hungry. You will almost certainly leave with leftovers.
I don’t eat grains but I will eat naan from India Bistro. You owe it to yourself to order one of every naan they have. The one with dates and nuts is practically a dessert naan but still complements any dish you ordered.
Convenience — there is something to be said about immediate seating or very short wait times on any given night, let alone Thursday/​Friday/​Saturday. There is only so far a long-​ass wait will take me down the path of «This Restaurant Is Worth It». I’m simply not a fan of going for dinner at 7 to sit down at 9.
If I feel like I don’t really want to eat much and that watching my guests drink for 90 minutes in a packed lounge before my meal is not my idea of an awesome Friday night, I WILL enjoy the spoils of eating at an ungodly hour after an ungodly wait surrounded by some of Vancouver’s most entitled, but it is an evening I need to mentally prepare for.
India Bistro — your humility, flavours, honest approach to Indian food, the value, the convenience. THIS is why you are 5-​stars in my book.
Seriously — you want Indian? Anywhere else is a waste of time.

Living in the West End and having so many options a lot of which are noodles makes choosing dinner difficult. Love coming here with the plethora of options and even the lunch buffet. The food is excellent and the presentation is really good, so you feel like you’re actually having a dining experience. Samosas are delicious as an appetizer and I really haven’t strayed too far from that because they do tasty. Main courses are packed with flavour whether you ordered lamb, chicken or even the spinach. Really great food that is quite filling. Service can be hot or miss since some days the servers are super attentive and other days you really have to flag them down for a refill of water from the stonecold gaze. Overall I like to come back and experience something different if only for the cutlery (I don’t know what it is, I just love the cutlery) but I can see getting bored of the food if I were to come too often.
The verdict:
The good: so many great choices and I’ve yet to be disappointed on what I’ve eaten.
The bad: don’t rely on this as a go because you will probably overdo it.
The ugly: service isn’t super consistent.

I’m Indian, I know great Indian food world wide & it seems like some corners are being cut at this place. The prawns were so salty and lacked substance. Mass produced somewhere else, the samosas were poor.
It’s lost its charm and the flavours are sub par. Nice server, decent prices. Not amazing, but certainly not garbage either.
There’s always room for improvement? ;)

After a long walk through downtown I needed lunch and as I love indian food I choose this place as it noffer a all you can eat buffet which is really cheap. They offered vegetarian as well as meal with different meat so that everybody can choose his style. What surpsrised me was the fact that naan bread and papadams are as well inclueded in the offer which I haven’t had any place else.
The food was fresh and delicious and the staff was friendly and helpful.
I felt like a special guest and this is a great thing.
Thanks guys for this great meal and keep on, you’re a good place to eat!

Solid five stars for the quickest delivery imaginable!
I found this place on Unilocal,and saw they they delivered, but it was fifteen minutes until closing time on a Friday night so my expectations were slim.
However I called expecting India Bistro to deny our request, and instead a bubbly voice on the other end confirmed our order would be delivered post-​haste, no problem!
No joke, ten minutes later our food was ready, warm, fresh and packaged with care… Indian culinary wizardry MAGIC.
Order came to $ 39 with two entrees, naans and rice. We ordered paneer tikka masala, eggplant bhartha, garlic and nut/​fruit naan. Everything was flavorful deliciousness!

I have eaten here about a dozen times now and even though I ate an order of vegetable pakoras all to myself this afternoon, I find myself wanting to go back for dinner. The food is amazing, but what got me in the door is that they clearly mark vegan and gluten-​free choices on the menu. No confusion. I tried this place for that reason and literally can’t stop going back.
You know what’s even better? Free delivery. Oh my, when I found this out I realized it was all over. Now when the issue of maybe ordering in for dinner comes up, I will not hear talk of pizza ever again. Sorry pizza, I want pakoras and pappadum and chana masala.
I have popped in with my partner at various times of the day, once we had the tasty lunch buffet (lots of veg choices!) and other times we’ve had an early dinner, midafternoon snack, or later evening feast. The service has always been welcoming and prompt. As is delivery, by the way. Not long to wait for pakora gratification. :)

I’m an American, so I don’t know what is *truly* authentic but I do eat a lot of Indian food and have some grasp on what is a good Indian restaurant. This place has really yummy food, and for a good price. We get take out from here regularly. I don’t know if it’s the most romantic place or what the dine-​in service is like, but it’s definitely our go-​to when we’re craving Indian food. Great butter chicken, chicken jalfrazie, and eggplant bhartha are amazing. The pakoras are a bit on the salty side, but they’re tasty and my salt-​happy friend loves them.

Review is for their lunch buffet.
It is a very solid Indian lunch buffet. They have about 8 food hot items, with a decent selection salad bar. They also serve condiments as well with papadom. They have about 4 veggie currys (changes daily), and 4 meat dishes (butter chicken, tandoori chicken, chicken curry, etc). Service is good, and u get a great view of Davie St., if you get a window seat. There’s also outdoor seating if you’re into that. The quality is fairly good, though it lacks selection, which is great cause quality is always better than variety for me. Plenty of street parking in the front, but there’s also free customer parking in the back. Would definitely be my staple and I’ll visit again soon (in a few days). :)

Ate here yesterday for the $ 12 buffet lunch with my fiancé. When we walked in, we were greeted right away. After choosing where we wanted to sit, we went straight to the buffet to get some food. I found the options were limited but there was still enough to choose from. When we sat down, we were given water and fresh roti. I was impressed by the service.
Then we started eating, and that’s where it went downhill. As I was eating my butter chicken, I found a short black hair that definitely wasn’t mine (my hair is brown with blonde streaks). My fiancé told the manager who said, «Okay, so you can grab another plate.» That was it. No apology. Nothing. Plus, it makes no sense to grab another plate from the buffet, since the hair came from the buffet!
After we complained about the hair, the service went downhill. I was really disappointed and won’t be eating here again.

Went here last night. Butter Chicken an excellent tasty stand-​by that will not fail to please. Lamb Shahi Korma delightfully seasoned, not a huge amount of meat but what is there is of good quality. Tandoori Roti a solid whole wheat base to the flavourful sauces, Garlic Naan is good for those wanting a more buttery textured bread under their food. Mango Lassi is okay, nothing remarkable. Waitress was very pleasant and helpful, checked on us with just the right amount of frequency and was attentive whenever we needed anything. All in all a great experience. Pro tip: Entertainment Book 2015 coupon for buy-​one-​get-​one entrée up to $ 13 off.

Went here for lunch with my son and were greeted very kindly by the musician setting up for the evening, then the manager came. Boy was he unfriendly. I asked for a menu but he looked at me and he said «we have a buffet but i guess its up to you (buffet being high profit)».
I wanted to order enough so i could take some to-​go for my wife at home, something you cant do with the buffet. He was visibly annoyed and we had to flag him down for napkins and cutlery. All this while watching other patrons getting water refills (which we never got once) and assistance .
The warmers our food was in had burned out so all the food was cold. I had had enough so asked for the bill and left .
Food was decent but the service was appalling. Avoid at all costs

Food is OK.
Service is below average.
When we were with our son and he started crying just a little the manager asked if we want yo box our order before brining it.
Forgot to bring a high chair, didn’t confirm the order originally, I can keep adding here.
Do not recommend.

We came here with some friends for the lunch buffet and were promised it was going to be even better than Judge’s, across the street.
The buffet was lacking (read: fourish items), and nothing was at all spicy. I feel like the difference was that this was definitely an indian restaurant geared more toward north american palates — it was almost like they were afraid that ANY spice would be overwhelming.
The tandoori chicken was fantastic and smoky and you could tell they used a real tandoor to cook it. The naan was super good too, but I think for rich flavourful, spice-​laden indian I’d definitely still choose to go over to Judge’s.
Also as a heads up — there’s a sign on the top of the buffet where the bottom is conveniently hidden by the sign holder — The hidden part says that if you don’t finish all the food on your plate you’ll be charged an extra $ 5.00 for food wastage — Kind of a good thing to be made aware of!
Price wise, I can’t say as we were treated to our meal but I think it’s around $ 12 a person for the buffet.
Not bad indian food, but definitely not the best I’ve had.

Back again to a great little Indian restaurant on Davie St. Classic selection of dishes to nosh on. Check in early if you don’t like busy restaurants. Best before 6pm to have lots of table choices. Try the butter chicken.

For $ 12 this is a pretty good deal if you’re looking for Indian food and a full tummy! I was so full after and could barely walk! There wasn’t a wide variety of Indian food but all the basics were there! If you’re s vegetarian, this place is probably not for you!

I’ve been here several times. It’s my go-​to Indian restaurant… All of their curries are absolutely delicious. Try their Butter Chicken or Lamb Rogan Josh. Amazing. There are lots of veggie options too so it works for couples who has one vegetarian amongst them (note that the meat eaters may steal a bunch of the vegetarian’s foods though as it is equally awesome). I’ve been going here for two years and it is consistently great. Price wise it’s great too. I always feel I have gotten more than what I paid for.
You can also get a very decent lunch buffet here too on the cheap.
I should mention too that I’ve brought numerous friends and family here. Each time they give the place a very enthusiastic thumbs up… And this comes from some highly critical people. So whatever you are doing India Bistro, keep doing it.
As for the service, everytime I’ve called to reserve a table the staff has been very accommodating. I don’t know the names of the servers but two of them really shine in their attitude and are very friendly and know the menu very well when I ask them for recommendations.

Seriously WHAT are the other reviewers talking about. Unfortunately my boyfriend and I agree that our meal from here was possibly the worst Indian food we’ve ever had. His butter chicken tasted like BBQ sauce and had absolutely no spices in it (we ordered medium). I orders palak chana and it had zero flavor, was cold and made of canned chickpeas. Canned! The naan was certainly nothing to write home about either. Oh — and they got our order wrong also then couldn’t find it then had to deliver 3 naan to correct it. We didn’t finish our meal and won’t be having leftovers tomorrow.
We both travel internationally for work and always look for a good Indian place in each city we go to. This was a definite miss and we are concerned that it has 4 stars and so many reviews. What’s going on Vancouverites? We depend on Unilocal a lot while we travel, but not sure what happened here. A dud.

After a long walk along the seawall on a sunny Sunday, my friend and I decided to get our tummies filled with lots of delicious food so couldn’t resist the buffet sign.
Now I’m a self proclaimed buffet hater but as I was hungry, couldn’t say no to lots of food.
The décor is middle east meats india which works with the ambience and location of this place. The staff was friendly and showed us to the area where we could pick any table.
The quantity was great, with more vegetable options than meaty ones! The butter chicken was good and so was the Naan. The rest of the options not so memorable, but a good price for the quantity of food.