Adventures on Northmount Drive

Northmount Drive starts in the community of Thorncliffe and ends somewhere near Dalhousie. I have no idea if there’s any reason for the residents of Thorncliffe to drive to Dalhousie, but I bet this is how they’d get there if they needed to.  Those lucky enough to travel this historic thoroughfare pass by a number of curry houses along the way. This week, we tried to unravel the mystery and intrigue surrounding these restaurants and promote business along this misunderstood part of town. (matty)

Strike 1: DJ’s Pizza and Hot Pot Curry

Ren’s idea was to get take-out from this shady strip mall at the corner of Northmount and Charleswood. I got there early to find 3 men outside shooting the breeze. Assuming they worked there, I asked them for a take out menu. They quickly ushered me into their barbershop next door to DJ’s Pizza and offered me a haircut. I actually did need a cut but since we don’t have an award winning blog about barbershops, I had to decline. (matt)

We also don't have an award-winning blog about curry joints....although I think this is more due to a lack of awards than to a lack of quality in our writing. (ren)

When Ren arrived we examined the take out menu. Disappointedly, it only had Tandoori Chicken Pizza. Luckily, the board above the cash register also read “Veg/Meat curries and samosas, which Ren tried to order. The owner explained that he only had Ham and Pineapple pizza because he had just purchased the restaurant the day before and was changing the menu. Disappointing. The menu will be Afghani within the next couple weeks and I can only hope the residents of Charleswood are fans of Afghani, or it will no doubt be a tough go for the young man. Maybe he can run a 2 for 1 deal with the barbers next door. We’ll review it sometime. (matt)

Strike 2: Delice Café

Just 1-2 minutes east of DJ’s Pizza is Delice Café. This, in all certainty, started out as a bakery, specializing in Baklava and other Turkish delights. They now appear to have diversified into East African and Indian cuisine. If they start renting movies, you know they’re in financial trouble. We walked in to order take-out, only to be informed they were closing early so that the owners could break their daylight Ramadan fast. I guess that’s reasonable. But it didn’t leave us with much in the way of curry. (matty)

Success: Puspa

After Northmount Drive takes a bizarre turn north towards Thorncliffe you’ll find Puspa at 40th Ave. Almost every white person (except me) in the Northwest has eaten at Puspa and always raves about the food. Indeed, on entering the place the owner seemed to know some of his clientele on a first name basis.  (matt)

Even I've eaten at Puspa before. I had the chicken madras....it was hot and tasty. (ren)

Even though we were only a party of 2, we were seated in a professional manner at a table for 4; the owner quickly whisking away the other two place settings to give us more space. Shortly afterwards, we were presented with a complimentary pappadum. A nice touch for sure. It would have been nice to have a sauce for dipping but we can’t complain. We can however complain about the lassis. They were perhaps the worst we’ve ever had. While we are aware that the process of making lassis requires sour milk, neither of us were very pleased to see massive curds in our drinks. (matt)

Mmmmm...the chunky, floaty bits make it extra-tasty.  Ok, actually....it was just not quite right....kinda like when you were 17 and tried to mix paralizers yourself and ended up with a nasty mix of creamy coke-like liquid and paneer.  Except this was mango flavoured....I don't know if thats a good thing or not.  (ren)

I ordered Chicken Dhansak in hopes that my experience at Chutney would be repeated. The menu advertises the Dhansak as “fairly hot”. I would concur. My nose was running like an Ethiopian at an Olympiad. Except it wasn’t wearing track shorts or a number.Or being chased by Kenyans. In the end, the dish was spicier than I wanted it to be. Is this how its suppose to be cooked? I really have no clue. I just know that the dish at Chutney was more Dhal-like and less spicy. The naan and rice were okay. Ren’s dish wasn’t all that impressive either. (matt)

Since I'd had the madras chicken before and was aware of its heat level, and not wanting to repeat the intense sinus draining that it caused I decided to try something new and had the Bhoona chicken.  Description played it out to be a more-or-less standard curry dish but with pimento in it.  Since I've never actually had a pimento that didn't originate inside a tasty olive I decided to give it a shot.  Apparently depending on what culture is referring to it “pimento” can mean anything from a fairly hot chile pepper to the olive stuffin that we're used to.  It was fairly tasty but nothing special....and I can't really say that the pimento was anything special.  Matts dish was hot.  The menu said “fairly hot” which is what they also say about the madras dishes.  Matty had an appropriate amount of sinus drainage. (ren)

We debated heavily about the score again this time. Originally, we decided on a “6” but then thought this would be too harsh; and so decided that a 7 would be a better score. At least this way, all the white people we work with who love Puspa and keep telling us it’s the best Indian restaurant in the NW won’t castorate us. (matt)

I think matt means castrate....cause I don't know what the hell castor oil and its extracts have anything to do with this. (ren)

Screw it. We don’t want kids anyways. And the lassis sucked ass.

6 Edematous Feet/10

Not at the Restaurant/ Most Bizarre Love Triangle Ever:

1. Kareena Kapoor (Bollywood actress)
2. Condoleezza Rice
3. Tie Domi

Rating: