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This was within walking distance of our hotel and had great reviews on Yelp. Oh my gosh, it was wonderful! Ambiance was great, the hostess greeted us warmly and sat us at a beautiful corner table. Service was excellent, so many items on the menu to choose from that sounded delicious. My husband and I shared a pear/avocado/radish/arugula salad with walnuts. I would never put those items together but it was so tasty and refreshing. Then we ordered spinach & cheese stuffed Nan, butter chicken and rice. We loved all of it. Portions were large enough that we have enough leftovers for tomorrow's dinner. Our server checked on us often and the owner, Deepak, came by also to check on us and to chat. We are from Sacramento area in California but if we are back in Vancouver we will definitely come back for another incredible meal. We highly recommend Desi Indian Lounge!!!!
Ambiance/Atmosphere (4/5) Stylish with a bit of glam/modern mix, very refreshing and cozy at the same time. It's not a large space, but large enough not to feel cramped, yet intimate. This is a perfect spot for a night out and especially for date night. Food and Drinks (5/5) Incredible flavors, creative presentation, and well executed. We almost never revisit the same place twice while traveling, but had to come back for Thali at lunch, before leaving town. The "thali" is more of a sampler (common outside India), perfect for a light lunch and trying so many different flavors. Service (5/5) The two sisters a sheer joy. They have natural hospitality skills and just warm, friendly, down-to-earth, and clearly passionate about what they've built. Felt like we were being hosted, not just served (sorry had to steal this line from a friend). Spent good amount of time talking to them and makes it tough to decide whether the food or service is the best thing about this place. Cleanliness (5/5) Spotless. Location and Parking (4/5) Being from Illinois and a little out of our element, first visit we parked right out front, second time took a little more effort. More about us being unfamiliar than the location itself. Value (5/5) Perfect portions and top-notch quality. The thali was a great lunch option and the meals are reasonably priced. Considering it was the only place we visit twice during our week in the city, that has to tell you something. Without a doubt. They are a "must-go" place every time we're in Vancouver.
UPDATE: I have updated this review to 4 stars after the owner reached out to me regarding my initial visit. I came back with a friend. We came around 4pm and had a couple of drinks from the regular menu plus the Kerala pepper chicken the momos and the veggie fritters. Again, the food is very good and the prices were reasonable. I will have to come back late night to see if the happy hour issue is rectified at that time as I see the menu is still the exact same as before. ********* Came here after hearing about the recent celebrity visit. First of all, the food is very good the portions are also decent and the prices are reasonable. I would have liked to have come back here for the lunch special as it's walking distance for me, but my visit left a bad taste in my mouth, which I will detail below. The dishes are inventive. There are the usual suspects, but also some that aren't often see at most Indian restaurants in Metro Van. The staff is also very attentive and friendly. The cocktails are pricey, but interesting. The decor is trendy. The bathrooms have an interesting sink feature that I have not seen before. If you're into social media, there's definitely some photo opportunities here. The service is a bit weird as there isn't really a dedicated server for the table. So, basically, we had all sorts of different people taking our drink and food orders, bringing us food, refilling our water and checking in on us. On the plus, it means that you are checked on a lot. On the minus, it is a bit inconsistent because there isn't one single person who knows what is going on with the table, but more a revolving door. For instance, one staff member came and took our drink order, however the wrong drink ended up being made and brought to me by the bartender, even though the drinks had been extensively discussed with the original server. So there's definitely communication issues. My biggest gripe with this restaurant is that we were denied ordering from the happy hour menu by the manager. I did not want to argue about it at the time as the bartender was told in front of us to deny us the happy hour menu, from which we wanted to order some cocktails. At this point, we had already ordered several menu items (in fact so many that the server had advised us we had more than enough food and that we did not need to order an additional dish we were considering) plus full priced cocktails. So it's not like they weren't making money off our table. The reason we were given, which I believe was told to the bartender (to be clear, I do not believe the bartender was at fault, but simply the messenger in this situation), was that the happy hour was only a summer thing. Again, we visually saw the manager instruct the bartender to tell us these things -- they were literally standing in front of our table, less than 5 feet away. This was not only unprofessional, but I found it incredibly dishonest. It was mid-December when we were at the restaurant, 3.5 months after summer had ended. The happy hour menu is literally the first page in the menu book. If a restaurant doesn't want to honour their own happy hour menu, it costs very little to simply reprint the happy hour menu, remove that page completely, or cross it out, if they really want to be cheap. At minimum, they should have honoured the menu for patrons that they gave it to and then rectified the situation for future. For this reason, I cannot recommend this establishment even though the food was very good and I would have otherwise come back and supported this small business.
Wow, what a gorgeous room! The whole place is beautifully decorated - the lounge/bar area, the quieter dining area and even the bathroom is gorgeous! I went for a lunch on a Monday and had their lamb thali combo - wow, that is real naan bread! Everything was delicious. The lentil curry and lamb curry were really good, and was what I would call "mild" in terms of chilis. They give you a generous amount of rice. The "pickles" were more like fresh veggies. Extremely excellent value for what you get. I am looking forward to coming back soon to try out their dinner menu.
The ambiance, the food, the drinks everything here is so good. Chef bal makes great indian food and never disappoints. The service was nice and the good is modern indian with aWesternised twist to it
Incredible Indian restaurant lounge in downtown Vancouver. They just opened 6 months ago, and are working on serving draft beers, but for now have bottled. There is a bar by the entrance where you can sit, along with several different seating sections. I love it all! The decor, the bathrooms, even the plates with their name on it. This is the kind of restaurant that you can have a casual meal at with friends, family, or just yourself, but it's also a nicer setting where you can dress up and bring a date. It's the perfect spot for any occasion. Now to the food! The Aloo Gobi, Tandori Chicken, Basmati Rice, and Garlic Naan were all excellent! We always order our dishes mild, and their mild spice level was exactly what we wanted. It didn't leave us needing to drink water after every bite, but it also did have a little bit of heat. And the Indian Lager, which has some citrus notes, is a perfect beer to go with any plate. We really hope to dine here again while in town.
The simplest way to say it is this restaurant makes me feel happy. I tried it for the first time tonight with my mother and everything about it made me feel warm and happy. From the beautiful room, to the kindness of the staff, the warmth of their hospitality, their unique cocktail list, and delicious comforting food. Everything about this place is simply wonderful, cozy, comforting and just... feels happy. Their signature cocktail list is quite special, with each cocktail designed to represent a different region of India. I had the City of Dreams, which was made with Sour Mango, Soda and a special Chai infused Vodka. It was like nothing I've ever had before, and definitely recommend it if you're a Chai lover. We tried the tandoori chicken momos which were also very special as I've only had them steamed before. I was happy our hostess recommended we try them this way. Their papadam is wonderful, and comes with 2 different sauces. We also ordered naan, steamed rice butter chicken (mom's favorite) and mango chicken (my favorite). Everything was truly fantastic. The whole menu looked so delicious it was hard to choose, we were too full for dessert unfortunately (hopefully next time!) and still had lots of left overs. Even their to go containers are nice, with separate compartments for the different dishes. Also, the location is fantastic and central, walkable from most locations downtown on a nice night. I definitely recommend this beautiful place to anyone that loves Indian food and enjoys warm hospitality and beautiful aesthetics. I look forward to returning soon.
Everything about the dinning experience was perfect. And I mean everything to the design and ambiance, the great staff that was able to answer and recommend items and of course the food. Our group of 6 was able to try a lot of different items and I can say it was all perfect. Even the lamb which I normally do not like was delicious, maybe I need to rethink my opinion on lamb.
Went for a drink and appy as it's close by where we work. We had their jalapeño and / or tamarind margaritas, had a nice indofusion to a spicy marg. I'm always on the hunt for a great spicy marg and this fit the bill. As for appys, I tried their shimala kebab and they were kind enough to bake it as all of their HH appys are fried (as most places) as more cost effective but as I am trying to avoid fried food, find myself challenged to find HH appys that are a healthy alternative, they checked with the kitchen and they could bake these. They were good as the chutneys helped but bit too salty, I but wouldn't repeat as bit too healthy (my own doing) it probably would have tasted better if they made it how it's meant to be fried. My colleague raved about their pakoras and vegan kheer and another colleague got one of their fried chicken appys but forgot since this is yet another overdue post. Would like to try their other menu items but if it's wasn't for working nearby, the location is a bit obscure on Hornby, but lucky to have it so nearby as a HH option.
Top-quality Indian food with plenty of vegan options, and a head chef who used to work at Sula. Highly recommended. My wife & I stopped in for dinner during the week and ordered the following: -Aloo gobi ($19). Very creamy potatoes, perfectly cooked cauliflower, and a nice masala spice blend. Top-notch classic dish. -Kadai vegetable (comes with soy chaap) ($20). This came with bell peppers, onion, and fantastically textured soy chaap with deep complexity and everything in perfect balance. -Vindaloo (comes with soy chaap) ($20). We asked for this one to be hot, as traditional vindaloos are typically made, and we weren't let down. Very tomatoey, tangy, spicy vindaloo with the same awesome soy chaap as in the kadai. ... and we got some roti ($3 each) to go with it. Extremely friendly, helpful and hospital staff, who go out of their way to make your experience enjoyable. They are knowledgeable about what can be vegan. And the environment is very comfortable and well-designed. We will definitely be back soon.
I love everything about this restaurant and prices are very reasonable. Great food, great services, great place.
This restaurant is so beautiful! The interior has a modern tropical feel and the presentation of the food was very well done. I would also describe the food as modern since there are some cool fusion dishes such as the mango burrata (I didn't end up ordering this but I wish I did!) I love lamb biryanis and this place has the most colorful and aesthetic lamb biryani I've ever seen. The samosas were also plated with a lot of creativity and artistic touches. Overall the food was very flavorful. I'm already thinking about my next bowl of biryani! read more
4 months ago
My first time at Desi Indian Lounge and surely won't be my last! This is such an amazing spot for good Indian food and their interiors also give it a very elevated dinning experience. I want to start this review by giving a big shoutout to Pemba who was our server, he was so kind and took such good care of us and recommended really good items based on what we wanted. Everything I tried from here was 10/10! Some stand out items - :: Bombay pomfret fry - OH! The masala and coating on this was sooo good we were sucking on the bones till the very end. Such a great appetizer! :: Lasooni palak burrata - I was a little apprehensive about this at first because burrata and palak didn't seem like something I would want to try but I was wrong! This was one of my favourite dishes. It was such a delicious fusion item. For dessert, I would recommend getting their soan papdi malai khwaab and their malai ghewar. Not too sweet, just perfect. For drinks, aam pana with gin is the way to go. I really cannot wait to come back and order everything again! read more
I started a "dinner club" with two good friends, and I got to choose the first place to dine at. Our aim is to explore new restaurants and/or new cuisines, and since I've heard great things about this Indian restaurant and I'm unfamiliar with this cuisine, I chose Desi Lounge as our inaugural place. I made reservations for us for 4pm, so as to take advantage of their Happy Hour. We went earlier today (a Wednesday) and the place was empty at 4pm. I think it fills up later, for dinner. (I still advise making reservations as you never really know if it's going to be busy). Right off the bat, we were blown away by the interior. It is gorgeous! Small, but gorgeous. The murals, the chandeliers, the bar....and omg, the bathrooms. If you visit, you MUST check out the bathrooms. They have the most fabulous sinks I have ever seen. They didn't have a large selection of HH offerings, unfortunately, but what they did have was amazingly good. My friends who were extremely knowledgeable on Indian cuisine ordered for us, and we shared 3 different small plates (tandoori vegetable momos, cochin cauliflower bites, and some sort of delicious fried onions), and 2 desserts (soan paid malai khwaab, and foxtail millet pudding). And just...wow, everything was SO SO good. The three appetizers were so flavorful and the desserts, unlike anything I've ever had before and simply delicious. We also had drinks (but, of course!). One friend had a mango lassi which she loved, one friend had a high ball which she loved, and I had a mango mojito which I loved. (See a pattern? lol). All was great. Our server, Leesa (not sure of spelling) was so incredibly personable and lovely, and a gentleman I gather is the owner came by twice to make sure everything was okay. We felt like VIPs, with all the care and attention we got. Seriously, the folks here could not be nicer. I'm already planning on bringing my two daughters here. I know they'll love this place. Heck, anyone would love this place. My friends and I all plan on returning. Great great place! read more
1 year ago
This was within walking distance of our hotel and had great reviews on Yelp. Oh my gosh, it was wonderful! Ambiance was great, the hostess greeted us warmly and sat us at a beautiful corner table. Service was excellent, so many items on the menu to choose from that sounded delicious. My husband and I shared a pear/avocado/radish/arugula salad with walnuts. I would never put those items together but it was so tasty and refreshing. Then we ordered spinach & cheese stuffed Nan, butter chicken and rice. We loved all of it. Portions were large enough that we have enough leftovers for tomorrow's dinner. Our server checked on us often and the owner, Deepak, came by also to check on us and to chat. We are from Sacramento area in California but if we are back in Vancouver we will definitely come back for another incredible meal. We highly recommend Desi Indian Lounge!!!! read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Michelle,…
Ambiance/Atmosphere (4/5) Stylish with a bit of glam/modern mix, very refreshing and cozy at the same time. It's not a large space, but large enough not to feel cramped, yet intimate. This is a perfect spot for a night out and especially for date night. Food and Drinks (5/5) Incredible flavors, creative presentation, and well executed. We almost never revisit the same place twice while traveling, but had to come back for Thali at lunch, before leaving town. The "thali" is more of a sampler (common outside India), perfect for a light lunch and trying so many different flavors. Service (5/5) The two sisters a sheer joy. They have natural hospitality skills and just warm, friendly, down-to-earth, and clearly passionate about what they've built. Felt like we were being hosted, not just served (sorry had to steal this line from a friend). Spent good amount of time talking to them and makes it tough to decide whether the food or service is the best thing about this place. Cleanliness (5/5) Spotless. Location and Parking (4/5) Being from Illinois and a little out of our element, first visit we parked right out front, second time took a little more effort. More about us being unfamiliar than the location itself. Value (5/5) Perfect portions and top-notch quality. The thali was a great lunch option and the meals are reasonably priced. Considering it was the only place we visit twice during our week in the city, that has to tell you something. Without a doubt. They are a "must-go" place every time we're in Vancouver. read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Steve,…
9 months ago
UPDATE: I have updated this review to 4 stars after the owner reached out to me regarding my initial visit. I came back with a friend. We came around 4pm and had a couple of drinks from the regular menu plus the Kerala pepper chicken the momos and the veggie fritters. Again, the food is very good and the prices were reasonable. I will have to come back late night to see if the happy hour issue is rectified at that time as I see the menu is still the exact same as before. ********* Came here after hearing about the recent celebrity visit. First of all, the food is very good the portions are also decent and the prices are reasonable. I would have liked to have come back here for the lunch special as it's walking distance for me, but my visit left a bad taste in my mouth, which I will detail below. The dishes are inventive. There are the usual suspects, but also some that aren't often see at most Indian restaurants in Metro Van. The staff is also very attentive and friendly. The cocktails are pricey, but interesting. The decor is trendy. The bathrooms have an interesting sink feature that I have not seen before. If you're into social media, there's definitely some photo opportunities here. The service is a bit weird as there isn't really a dedicated server for the table. So, basically, we had all sorts of different people taking our drink and food orders, bringing us food, refilling our water and checking in on us. On the plus, it means that you are checked on a lot. On the minus, it is a bit inconsistent because there isn't one single person who knows what is going on with the table, but more a revolving door. For instance, one staff member came and took our drink order, however the wrong drink ended up being made and brought to me by the bartender, even though the drinks had been extensively discussed with the original server. So there's definitely communication issues. My biggest gripe with this restaurant is that we were denied ordering from the happy hour menu by the manager. I did not want to argue about it at the time as the bartender was told in front of us to deny us the happy hour menu, from which we wanted to order some cocktails. At this point, we had already ordered several menu items (in fact so many that the server had advised us we had more than enough food and that we did not need to order an additional dish we were considering) plus full priced cocktails. So it's not like they weren't making money off our table. The reason we were given, which I believe was told to the bartender (to be clear, I do not believe the bartender was at fault, but simply the messenger in this situation), was that the happy hour was only a summer thing. Again, we visually saw the manager instruct the bartender to tell us these things -- they were literally standing in front of our table, less than 5 feet away. This was not only unprofessional, but I found it incredibly dishonest. It was mid-December when we were at the restaurant, 3.5 months after summer had ended. The happy hour menu is literally the first page in the menu book. If a restaurant doesn't want to honour their own happy hour menu, it costs very little to simply reprint the happy hour menu, remove that page completely, or cross it out, if they really want to be cheap. At minimum, they should have honoured the menu for patrons that they gave it to and then rectified the situation for future. For this reason, I cannot recommend this establishment even though the food was very good and I would have otherwise come back and supported this small business. read more
1 year ago
Wow, what a gorgeous room! The whole place is beautifully decorated - the lounge/bar area, the quieter dining area and even the bathroom is gorgeous! I went for a lunch on a Monday and had their lamb thali combo - wow, that is real naan bread! Everything was delicious. The lentil curry and lamb curry were really good, and was what I would call "mild" in terms of chilis. They give you a generous amount of rice. The "pickles" were more like fresh veggies. Extremely excellent value for what you get. I am looking forward to coming back soon to try out their dinner menu. read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Veronica,…
1 year ago
The ambiance, the food, the drinks everything here is so good. Chef bal makes great indian food and never disappoints. The service was nice and the good is modern indian with aWesternised twist to it read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Apoorva,…
2 months ago
Great food, great drinks .. tried momos and some sort of gunpowder kebab extremely good and well presented. The mains were great as well. Tried ghevar malai cake for dessert that was super yum! The pricing was great they have happy hours at night when we arrived read more
1 year ago
Incredible Indian restaurant lounge in downtown Vancouver. They just opened 6 months ago, and are working on serving draft beers, but for now have bottled. There is a bar by the entrance where you can sit, along with several different seating sections. I love it all! The decor, the bathrooms, even the plates with their name on it. This is the kind of restaurant that you can have a casual meal at with friends, family, or just yourself, but it's also a nicer setting where you can dress up and bring a date. It's the perfect spot for any occasion. Now to the food! The Aloo Gobi, Tandori Chicken, Basmati Rice, and Garlic Naan were all excellent! We always order our dishes mild, and their mild spice level was exactly what we wanted. It didn't leave us needing to drink water after every bite, but it also did have a little bit of heat. And the Indian Lager, which has some citrus notes, is a perfect beer to go with any plate. We really hope to dine here again while in town. read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Roselia,…
The simplest way to say it is this restaurant makes me feel happy. I tried it for the first time tonight with my mother and everything about it made me feel warm and happy. From the beautiful room, to the kindness of the staff, the warmth of their hospitality, their unique cocktail list, and delicious comforting food. Everything about this place is simply wonderful, cozy, comforting and just... feels happy. Their signature cocktail list is quite special, with each cocktail designed to represent a different region of India. I had the City of Dreams, which was made with Sour Mango, Soda and a special Chai infused Vodka. It was like nothing I've ever had before, and definitely recommend it if you're a Chai lover. We tried the tandoori chicken momos which were also very special as I've only had them steamed before. I was happy our hostess recommended we try them this way. Their papadam is wonderful, and comes with 2 different sauces. We also ordered naan, steamed rice butter chicken (mom's favorite) and mango chicken (my favorite). Everything was truly fantastic. The whole menu looked so delicious it was hard to choose, we were too full for dessert unfortunately (hopefully next time!) and still had lots of left overs. Even their to go containers are nice, with separate compartments for the different dishes. Also, the location is fantastic and central, walkable from most locations downtown on a nice night. I definitely recommend this beautiful place to anyone that loves Indian food and enjoys warm hospitality and beautiful aesthetics. I look forward to returning soon. read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Devon,…
7 months ago
I really liked the ambience and the food. It was bit on the expensive side but the food was totally worth it. Especially loved the Kolhapuri mushroom paneer and the lachcha paratha! read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Gorisha,…
Everything about the dinning experience was perfect. And I mean everything to the design and ambiance, the great staff that was able to answer and recommend items and of course the food. Our group of 6 was able to try a lot of different items and I can say it was all perfect. Even the lamb which I normally do not like was delicious, maybe I need to rethink my opinion on lamb. read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Joe,…
3 months ago
Went for a drink and appy as it's close by where we work. We had their jalapeño and / or tamarind margaritas, had a nice indofusion to a spicy marg. I'm always on the hunt for a great spicy marg and this fit the bill. As for appys, I tried their shimala kebab and they were kind enough to bake it as all of their HH appys are fried (as most places) as more cost effective but as I am trying to avoid fried food, find myself challenged to find HH appys that are a healthy alternative, they checked with the kitchen and they could bake these. They were good as the chutneys helped but bit too salty, I but wouldn't repeat as bit too healthy (my own doing) it probably would have tasted better if they made it how it's meant to be fried. My colleague raved about their pakoras and vegan kheer and another colleague got one of their fried chicken appys but forgot since this is yet another overdue post. Would like to try their other menu items but if it's wasn't for working nearby, the location is a bit obscure on Hornby, but lucky to have it so nearby as a HH option. read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Min,…
Top-quality Indian food with plenty of vegan options, and a head chef who used to work at Sula. Highly recommended. My wife & I stopped in for dinner during the week and ordered the following: -Aloo gobi ($19). Very creamy potatoes, perfectly cooked cauliflower, and a nice masala spice blend. Top-notch classic dish. -Kadai vegetable (comes with soy chaap) ($20). This came with bell peppers, onion, and fantastically textured soy chaap with deep complexity and everything in perfect balance. -Vindaloo (comes with soy chaap) ($20). We asked for this one to be hot, as traditional vindaloos are typically made, and we weren't let down. Very tomatoey, tangy, spicy vindaloo with the same awesome soy chaap as in the kadai. ... and we got some roti ($3 each) to go with it. Extremely friendly, helpful and hospital staff, who go out of their way to make your experience enjoyable. They are knowledgeable about what can be vegan. And the environment is very comfortable and well-designed. We will definitely be back soon. read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Matt,…
11 months ago
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Meg,…
1 year ago
I love everything about this restaurant and prices are very reasonable. Great food, great services, great place. read more
1 year ago
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Robin,…
5 months ago
10 months ago
We went to Vancouver BC to get away from Thanksgiving in Seattle and found Desi Indian Lounge. The restaurant is a comfortable walk if you're staying downtown and the food is certainly worth the walk. We enjoyed a delicious salad to start with pears, yogurt, greens and spices that was both beautiful and delicious. Our main courses of chicken and lamb were perfectly spiced and your naan is both crispy and soft..a perfect browning. Thank you for your kind hospitality and I wish you luck in this new business venture of yours. read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Tony,…
10 months ago
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Bill,…
1 year ago
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Dareen,…
1 year ago
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Sean,…
1 year ago
We are here from out of town and were looking to celebrate our anniversary and our last night on vacation. We are vegetarian and were looking for a place that could accommodate to our diet. We found this through yelp and took a chance. This place is amazing. The decor is beautiful and adds to the ambiance. The food has fusion options and traditional options. I would have liked to try more but another time. The signature cocktails are unique and interesting and taste great. My picky kids gave it two thumbs up!! Highly recommend this place!! read more
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Neeta,…
9 months ago
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Jane,…
1 year ago
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Monique,…
1 year ago
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Mark,…
1 year ago
Business owner information
Deepak K.
Dear Steve,…
1 year ago
More info about Desi Indian Lounge
1355 Hornby Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 2C1
Canada
Downtown
Directions
(604) 681-2131
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https://desilounge.ca
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