By Kamilla Singh
Vancouver: Kitslano is the home of the some of the best restaurants in Vancouver and surrounding areas. The main draw of Indian restaurants is undoubtedly cost, Indian food like Chinese is appealing since one can’t eat plenty for about as much as a good bottle of wine at an upscale restaurant. Judging by the eclectic crowd at a visit to Atithi, I got the impression Indian food also appeals to adventurous gourmet.
Atithi is the Hindi word for guest, and according to an old Indian belief, looking after each guest with warmth and friendliness is an important as praying. Atithi restaurant believes in following that same wonderful tradition today. In their restaurant customers are presented with a range of regional Indian dishes with modern influences. Considerable care is taken by Roy and Lopa, the owners, and their team to ensure that traditional flavors remain central to each dish. To set off consider starters that includes Frankie this is their house specialty.
The Décor at Atithi is a true synthesis of the complex and colorful and the simple and elegant. Its ambience often leaves the dinners speechless, joyfully and surprising. This is an upscale restautant by every imagination.
Roy the owner/chef of the restaurant said, “I owned the operated a restaurant in Seattle, but when I moved
here I worked at other restaurants, after many years of working in the culinary business, I felt that this is right time for me to go into my own passion which is cooking, as soon as a place came available. I moved right into my passion where I left off.”
If there’s one cuisine that’s difficult to critique, it’s Indian. Not only does the style of food very from regions to regions on the vast subcontinent, but also it vary from restaurant to restaurant. Flavoring is based on personal preferences. The Indian cook will argue endlessly over the inclusion of exclusion of particular spices or herbs. So what about the issue of authenticity? I wouldn’t go as far to check out every dish and the ingredients, but on the whole the food is fantastic. I noticed most people during the lunch hour were going for the buffet, the buffet items were quite a few, biggest draw is the cost of the buffet, where can you eat buffet in Kitslano neighborhood for $9:95, I can’t imagine how they can cover the cost for such a cheap buffet.
“What I see so far, I am very pleased with our clientele, lunch time is very busy time for us, we are extremely busy, we make sure that our prices are reasonable and people have a chance to try different dishes, we also have daily specials which also are very popular and one week-ends we have brunch, in our brunch we have quite a few new items which is not part of the lunch menu, We also have a separate Bengali menu which is also very popular” Roy added.
Service at Atithi is friendly professional and most importantly, well informed. I was seated in a well lighted area, I took a moment to browse around the buffet, the buffet was quite tempting, but I didn’t want to each that much. To ensure that I don’t foolishly order the wrong entrée I did some consultation with the waitress who guided me to try Chicken Chettiad, (marinated chicken in chettinad paste and coconut). All their entrees come with rice, bread and salad. The food is innovative, freshly prepared and with a clean fresh taste, as you can tell, I like the food very much and so I re-visited them a further couple of times. The food is excellent, the chicken dinner that I ordered I didn’t have a clue what the dish is all about, but this is the best chicken dish I had in a long time, the spices that I was craving for. In summery this is an excellent place with great food, great service and above all you will be treated like Royals.
Open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Eat in, take out or get the food delivered. They are fully licensed. Located at 2445 Burrard Street in Vancouver, give them a call at 604-731-0221 or visit their website at www.atithi.ca.
If you would like us to come and visit your restaurant and write a review, give us a call 604-597-7749 or email me at news@swmediagroup.ca. and kamillasingh@gmail.com
