Budget-Friendly Bites: India Garden

In Edmonton, India Garden (4820-76th Ave) in the industrial area near Capilano is my go-to place for East Indian cuisine. The combination of quality food and reasonable price is always appealing to me due to my Asian blood.

India Garden also owns the Meridian Banquet Hall next door which is generally used for weddings and the like. The actual restaurant isn't that big (about 12-14 tables or something), but it normally isn't very full since they do a lot of take-out and catering. The staff are always very friendly and willing to take your requests for refills on naan bread!

The location does seem a little bit sketchy due to its industrial surroundings, but I assure you that the food tells a different story. I have taken a few friends here now between this past summer and last night, and I think it safe to say that they've all enjoyed themselves!

India Garden at daytime (during the summer). 

Last night, some friends, P, and I went to India Garden for the dinner buffet. The dinner buffet is identical to the lunch buffet, except it's nighttime, and they charge a little bit more, but not much. It's still quite a steal. Lunch buffet is something like $11-12, and dinner buffet is $15. So, dinner for 2 is $31.50 including tax! This includes unlimited naan bread, a salad bar, buffet of curries, and a dessert buffet. Drinks other than water would of course have been extra. Sometimes, they have a 2 for 1 deal where the only condition is that everyone at the table purchases a drink like juice, pop, alcohol, coffee, or tea. 

India Garden at night. (We got to be one of the last customers for the day, so it was closed when we left.)

Interior...I wanted to take a picture of the front entrance area, but there were people and they seemed kind of self-conscious when I was pointing my phone camera in their direction.

The buffet is in the background, along with all the East Indian musical instruments propped up on the wall.

Best naan bread in Edmonton. YUM...

To date, I have yet to find a place with better naan bread than here. They make them by order, starting from when you walk into the restaurant, so that it's fresh and hot every time. I like eating the naan bread as soon as it arrives at the table when it's piping hot. When you bite into it, the texture is lightly crisp on the outside, but soft and cloud-like on the inside. I usually end up burning my hand or tongue or both in the process, but it is sooo worth it. 

My favourites include the shahi butter chicken and the goat curry. I always grab the tossed salad from the salad bar to complement the curries. There is something so good about the cooling sensation of cucumber in between bites of the various curries interchanging naan bread and basmati rice. The other time that P and I went, they had this really yummy mushroom thing, but I forgot the name of it. I'm sorry for being such a noob blogger. :( But, I am a very big fan of mushrooms, and it was delicious. They also had various fried and battered things, but I'm not very into that stuff.

P's first plate. Just an unorganized pile of curries :P He had a salad of cucumbers, with yogurt and dill that he said was quite good.

Plate #1 for me: India Garden salad (tossed lettuce, cucumber, and tomato), basmati rice, coconut beans, aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes),  goat curry, and butter chicken!

Plate #2: More salad, aloo gobi, goat curry, and butter chicken. No rice this time, so I could go full out on naan like a real CBC.

The dessert bar is quite consistent each time, but I always go for their rice pudding and fresh fruit, well, cantaloupe  While they have a seasonal variety of fruits available, I have this strong affinity to cantaloupe. It's sweet and juicy, but acts as a very nice palette cleanser at the end of such a flavourful meal. 

So those of you with cravings for Indian food whilst in Edmonton, skip New Asian Village, and that Saffron place in the West Edmonton Mall food court, and make your way to India Garden for some real naan! I am most definitely coming back for some ;)

-M