Banjara Indian Cuisine

Banjara is one of my favourite Indian restaurants and really convenient as it has it's own parking lot which is an added bonus in my eyes! In addition, it's always a good sign when Indian people are eating at tables in the restaurant too!

My colleagues Steph, Lily and I decide that it was perfect weather for Indian as it was cold and rainy and we were looking for some warmth and comfort so we drove up to Banjara.
As soon as we sat down - they served us a plate of crispy papadums which were a very welcome snack for our table as they were fresh, crispy and full of flavour.
Banjana has great combination platters that you can get for a great deal full of a variety of curries, dalhs and saags. The chicken combo would be most popular - which comes with butter chicken or chicken tikki masala with a veg, salad and dessert for $8.99 at lunch but we were very hungry and decided to order full portions off the menu to satisfy our cravings!
I get a little carried away when I look at the menu as there are so many different flavours profiles in Indian cuisine and I'm up to trying it all.
We settled on a butter chicken which is MY very favourite dish - and they do it so well here with a perfect blend of creaminess and smooth buttery flavour and tender morsels of chicken chunks. We ordered 2 vegetarian dishes- the daal curry which is lentils that with different spices and herbs and the paluk paneer which is indian soft cottage cheese in cubes in a creamy spinach sauce. The daal was a tangy and spicy dish, bursting with flavour every time you spooned the soft lentils into your mouth. The paneer was milder and richer and the texture of the cottage cheese almost resembled soft tofu.
We also ordered the beef masala cooked in a tomato stew of onions and peppers. This was definitely a heartier dish and the beef was very tender. To pair with this, we ordered rice and 2 buttery naan breads which were sooo delicious.
Of course our eyes were bigger than our appetites and we struggled to finish our lunch off even though we stopped our conversation to revel in the goodness of the food. I highly recommend you give it a try if you haven't stopped in before!
**** stars
Banjara 796 Bloor St. West (West of Christie Pitts) 
416 963 9360

Hours:

Mon-Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Lunch for 2- $30 with tip