Dosa & Curries
114 Gloucester St., 613-231-6550, dosaandcurries.com
Open
: Monday and Wednesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 5 to 11 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., closed Tuesday
Prices
: dosas $11 to $16.50, curries $12.50 to $17.50
Access
: steps to front door
Before I first made the acquaintance of Vijay Krishna Rangarajan and his modest Centretown restaurant Dosa & Curries, I expected his business would have suffered mightily during the first few phases of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Rangarajan and I spoke in December 2020, about a year after Dosa & Curries opened. His restaurant had survived the emptying of downtown, which left other restaurants just blocks away gasping for revenue. Rangarajan told me that, while his eatery’s dine-in sales naturally sank, increased delivery sales nearly compensated. Net sales had only dropped about 10 per cent compared to Dosa & Curries’ pre-pandemic business, Rangarajan told.
I filed away this relative success story until just a few weeks ago, when it occurred to me that I should sample some of the food that had won Dosa & Curries its takeout-based following.
Not that Dosa & Curries’ menu made choosing dishes easy. As its name hints, the restaurant offers a striking range of dishes that represent the breadth of India’s regional cuisines. Items from India’s south, where tangy, crepe-like dosas rule, get top billing. But the menu also lists a striking assortment of curries, both vegetarian and meaty, as well as tandoori dishes, Indo-Chinese dishes, breads, desserts and more.
Before I describe the highlights of my orders from Dosa & Curries, I should mention two warnings. First, when I ordered by phone, I was never given an option to order dishes more or less spicy. In the end, that was fine, as the food definitely set our mouths thrumming with spicy flavours without incapacitating us. But other palates might want their food toned down, if possible.
More significantly, some of the dishes and chutneys from Dosa & Curries that we hit upon in our limited ordering contained nuts, but were not so designated, either on the menu or by the people who took orders. Clearly any nut allergies should be raised while ordering.
Back in pre-pandemic times, I thought that dosas were best enjoyed as fresh from the kitchen as possible, piping hot and texturally impeccable. The dosas I had to go from Dosa & Curries did not change my thinking, although I was still very glad to have to tried the restaurant’s onion rava masala dosa, which, despite being too crisp and seemingly overcooked, packed a big flavour punch due to its caramelized onions. Less interesting was a mushroom dosa, due to mushrooms that got lost in the proceedings. That said, the menu lists almost 40 more types of dosas — I’ve scarcely scratched the surface of what’s offered in this category.
From the menu’s page of dosas, our favourite item was a vegetable uttapam, which in South India is more of a breakfast item. This fluffier, tangier pancake made with rice flour and black lentils — one of a dozen uttapams available — seemed to degrade less during its trip to my dining table and better retain its tasty integrity.
With all of the dosas that we tried, one constant was the quality of the boldly flavoured chutneys that came on the side, as well as the sambar soup that was perfect for dipping.
The biggest revelation for us was a serving of ven pongal, a porridge-like combination of rice and lentils that was as tasty as it was humble, made buttery and irresistible by its drizzle of ghee and garnish of cashews.
The restaurant’s curries and other dishes were all extremely generously portioned, generating leftovers that stretched on for days and seemed to us more hearty than refined.
Chicken Chettinad teemed with meat in an earthy gravy and was enjoyable, although I feel that I’ve had more nuanced versions of this dish elsewhere. Crab curry was earthier still, and of course a challenge to eat tidily. But we didn’t mind getting our hands and faces dirty while we extricated the meat from its shells, and we felt well-rewarded for our efforts.
Eggplant curry seemed more ordinary and was a bit of a letdown. A curry of lamb and pureed spinach struck us with its oddly sweet note.
Hyderabadi chicken biryani, which some regard as the ne plus ultra of Indian rice dishes, was powerfully seasoned and loaded with what seemed like at least a half a tandoori-cooked chicken. It was satisfying in a rugged way, but I’ll say as I have before that the best version of this dish in town is served at Vivaan on Preston Street, which aspires to put a fine-dining spin on Indian cuisine.
Chicken kothu parota, a stir-fry of shredded South Indian bread and other good things, had a rustic, rib-sticking feel to it.
Despite having had many meals from the two orders I made from Dosa & Curries, I feel I’ve only scratched the surface of what the restaurant offers. That’s not so surprising given that Rangarajan told me months ago: “W e have everything on the menu.”
I do want to try more of the food from his kitchen, although for the dosas in particular I’ll wait until the business’s dining room opens.
phum@postmedia.com
