I tried the Karara chain for the first time in 2011 (it was the Barrhaven location) and I was not impressed. Everything was too salty and the portions were stingy so I avoided the chain. Twelve years later, in 2023, I saw that they were on UberEats under 2 names, Karara, and "Biryani by Box." The latter listed some buy one get one free (BOGO) specials. Y'all know I love the BOGOs, lol. They had Chicken 65 Biryani. I love Chicken 65 so decided to give them another chance. Besides, they opened a location in Westboro, not far from my house, so I could easily walk there for the pick up. Thankfully, the food wasn't too salty this time, but the taste was only satisfactory, in my opinion, and I found the advertising a bit misleading. The Chicken 65 Biryani ($23.98) was listed as coming with a salad, raita and dessert. Well, the dessert was half a piece of Gulab Jamun. Really?!? Not even one full piece? And the salad was a sprinkling of lettuce and cucumbers on the Biryani, look at my pictures. The raita was runny, like water and didn't have any vegetables in it. It was just watered-down spiced yogurt.
I did like that you can select what type of Biryani you want and they had several types (among them Hyderabadi, which is what I got, Lucknowi, and Thalassery). You can also choose the spice level. I got medium and I would say it was on the milder side of medium, but that's ok, once you know a restaurant's spice scale you can order accordingly.
The Biryani itself had good flavour and the rice was soft and fluffy. The Chicken 65 was a bit disappointing though. The batter was rather mushy. It kind of tasted like warmed up leftovers to me. Each portion came with a hard boiled egg.
With the BOGO special the price was acceptable to me, but had I paid $23.98 for only one portion, I would have been unhappy.
The time from order to ready for pickup was quick, and service was efficient.
It's kind of slim pickings for Indian food in Westboro. And maybe some of their other items are better. Your mileage may vary. As for me, maybe I'll try them again in another 12 years. read more