India Palace
257 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Indian
Date visited: January 2011
So I was craving Indian food and thought we might deviate from our usual spot of Little India. There's a small cluster of Indian restaurants around the area so we decided to check out the menus of a few of them. This one caught our eye with the $2 salad lol.
Food: 4.5/5
The food was YUM. We started off with 2 salads (way too much in addition to the mains). Quite a decent sized plate of salad for $2! I don't remember what I ordered for my main but it was kind of a buttery paneer dish. By jove was it delicious! I like eating something in between butter chicken and vindaloo and this really hit the spot. The bf ended up getting a really nice spicy chicken curry and it was really good as well. The naan was hot and fresh (if you plan to order 2, order 1 at first and when you're near finishing, ask for another. Nothing beats eating piping hot naan). I had to order rice of course and you get a pretty generous portion. I ended up doggie bagging the rest of mine. The second time we went I think he got something he didn't quite like (it was too "sweet"). I ordered a masala chai and was not a fan. But my paneer did not disappoint.
Service: 4.5/5
I find that the service here is a tad better than at Little India. The waiters are a bit friendlier and are quite quick to tend to your needs.
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
India Palace has a nice Indian feel to it (I should hope so). The place is rather small (expected), but everything from the chairs to the table cloths to the colours to the dishware are very Indian like. The tables can get rather crowded with all the food you order! A table for 2 can baaaarely fit your water/beer, a plate of rice, two plates, two curries, and a basket of naan. But I guess that's just the nature of the food .. prob the same thing happens at a Chinese restaurant too where you might share dishes or have separate plates for this and that. I don't remember using the washroom but I think it is downstairs.
Price/Value: 4/5
The food here is reasonably priced (at least, compared with the other Indian places on King st). It's about $10 for a dish of curry and then another $2-3 for naan or rice. . Throw in a beer and it's about $40 for two people, which is quite reasonable. The portions look small but after you get through half of it you realize that the small little bowl of curry is more than enough.
Overall dining experience: 4/5
I really enjoyed my paneer dish (it's the only thing I get at Indian restaurants). The second time we went back I had to get it. The decor is nice and the staff are friendly. They're good at topping your water and quick to notice if something needs to be taken away from your table. We've already returned and I think we'll be returning again!
