I was really excited about trying out Ishina's lunch buffet, but I am sad to report that overall I…read morewas very disappointed :(
They mostly do catering and their restaurant is only open Monday-Friday 11:30am-2pm, for their lunch buffet, so fairly limited hours, so unless you work nearby, it's difficult to try it out. At the time of the writing of this review, their website advertises the buffet as being $11.99, but I was actually charged $12.99, so I think they raised the prices without updating the website.
Anyway, I was able to try out Ishina on a Thursday afternoon. I got there about 5-10 minutes after opening because I was afraid it would be really busy. I was the first customer! I love being the first to dig into a buffet, lol. In fact for the 30-40 minutes that I was there, I was the sole customer (buffet or takeout). I was greeted as soon as I walked in by a man who came out from the kitchen. I said I was there for the lunch buffet and he said I could sit anywhere I wanted. He poured me some water and asked me if I wanted some naan. I said "yes, please!" And he disappeared into the kitchen and I dug into the fresh untouched buffet!
The selection was very small. They had a tomato soup, which I didn't try, but it looked like just watery tomato sauce with spices in it (no meat, chunks of vegetables, pasta, rice, etc.). They had some garnishes like chili peppers, some pickled items, and some chopped raw vegetables. I didn't try these either. I did try the chickpea raita, which tasted like chickpeas in a sour yogurt. The mains included a lentil curry, which was very watery, but flavourful and my favourite dish at the restaurant. There was a mushroom curry which was unremarkable IMO, an eggplant curry which I did not try as I'm not a fan of eggplant, then a beef curry which was also watery and the beef cubes were tough and chewy, and finally chicken tandoori (all drumsticks and thighs) which were well seasoned, but the chicken tasted a bit old to me, like the way my leftover chicken tastes when I reheat it 2 days later. There was also plain rice which was a little clumpy, and broken up pieces of papadam, which were ok.
The most disappointing thing was the naan! Naan is not at the buffet, but the man brought it to me from the kitchen, so I was expecting fresh soft delicious naan. The naan was hard, dry, and tasted stale to me. You can see the pictures I posted. The top side that was face up during presentation looked promising as it had those blisters that I love on naan, but the underside was just sad, like my face when I broke off a piece of the naan and put it in my mouth :(
I was left to my own devices during most of my time there, which I actually didn't mind because it meant I could take all those pictures for y'all, haha. All staff were in the kitchen. The man did pop out to refill my water once and clear away my first plate.
The only dessert was a fruit custard. It was satisfactory. It was essentially pieces of peaches/apricots, pears, and grapes in a vanilla custard.
After I was done, I stood at the cash register for a while and no one came. So I looked through the window of the "employees only" door leading to the kitchen until I saw the man and waved at him. He came out and I settled my bill, which like I mentioned was $1 more than I expected. I wasn't going to quibble over a dollar, especially since it would likely be my last time there anyway, so I paid and left. He did thank me and wished me a good day.
Apparently they have been in business for over 20 years. I think they supply food for stores. I specifically remember their branding on the samosas at the now defunct Market Organics. I think they supply the samosas for Natural Food Pantry, but I'm not entirely sure. I know that Herb and Spice also sells their food.
I was really disappointed that there was no butter chicken and no parkoras. I think their buffet selection changes, so maybe I went on an off day. As I always say when I leave a not so stellar review, your mileage may vary!
Free parking in front of the restaurant. It's in an industrial park like area.
