House of Dosas

House of Dosas
1391 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC

It was one of those late nights where I am driving through Vancouver where that usual question pops… Hungry, food… Where??? By sheer coincidence, I was in Kingsway when I remember a restaurant said to be open 24 hours. Whether that is actually true or not I did not double check; but I was hungry and it was open when I arrived. That was good enough for me!

I must mention I did have some hesitation when I arrived. For the most part, the reason I do not go to Indian restaurants is that it is better to go in a group to be able to share different dishes. If you go by yourself, you are mostly limited by the one dish you might end up ordering. Of course, you could go to a buffet but…

One interesting note I must mention about House of Dosas is the fact they advertise themselves as Southern Indian cuisine, whereas it seems most other Indian restaurants in Vancouver happens to be from Northern India. I asked an Indian friend about a more precise difference given they carry similar dishes (curry, anybody?). The answer given to me was somewhat obfuscated but it boil down to type of ingredients used; for example, coconuts (in the South), dairy (in the North) and so on. And, then again, some dishes specific to the region, like tandoor (North) and dosas or sambar (South). OK, anything to try something different!

I started with mango lassi. To be direct to the point, this is among the worst lassi I ever had, not to mention the size/price ratio is also among the worst. Sure, it had that homogenized, almost artificial mango taste, like most lassi I have had (regardless if it is here in Vancouver on in the US!); however, it wasn’t too cold and the consistency was quite thin. Now, I did not expect an ice cream like consistency, at least I wanted something thick. A pass for me.

As an appetizer, I ordered medhu vadai mostly out of curiosity. When I asked about it, I was told fried item, shaped like a doughnut though savoury. Fried stuff? Sign me in! Now, I did not ask whether this was lentil based or potato based; if I had to guess, it was not doughy like gnocchi, instead it was a bit crumbly so I will assume it is lentil based. As for taste… Well, not sure what would be the best way to describe it. I had a hard time finding any particular taste. Fortunately, the two chutneys that came along managed to do something for it. In the case of the red one, which was tomato based, provided a slight hint of acidity while the white one, which was coconut based, provided both nuttiness and sweetness.

My main item. Before I made my order, I was observing a six cover table where everybody ordered dosa. The way it was shaped was a really thin layer folded in a cylinder with some filling in the middle. To eat them, they folded it and eat it like a crepe. It looked interesting and I am sure it would have been a really good subject for some interesting pictures. With that in mind, I ordered their Madras Masala Special Dosa (?) and this is what I got. Feel free to call it “ordered the wrong item”! OK, just kidding, I guess I should have asked first, hehehehehe. Anyway, it came with the same two chutney as the vada which in a way was disappointing. I mean, give me something contrasting!

I should blame myself for this one: the filling was vegetarian, as in potatoes, some spices (I ordered hot) and may be some lentils. However, this is one of those things I should have asked so I won’t blame them for it. As for the taste, well, it felt a somewhat blank palette followed by some potato taste and then the spices kicked in. I can’t say I was able to distinguish which spices were used as the heat started to kick in (this is despite I tried to “cool” that burning sensation with the lassi). Fortunately, they did not overpowered the chutneys so the end result wasn’t one dimensional.

Despite I had some hard time distinguishing some of the flavours, I will have to say it was an interesting late dinner. Some dishes might not be worth it but, for the dosas alone, I will come back – Specially on Mondays as they have a $6 special on all dosas. And, of course, a break from the “usual” Indian fare.

Tagged under: Indian • Vancouver