A deeply underwhelming dining experience at Namaste Indian Cuisine, highlighted by heavy execution…read moreflaws across classic dishes. * **Mattar Paneer:** Ordered with zero spice as a custom request. It was decent, providing a mild and edible baseline, but nothing memorable. * **Kadhai Paneer:** Marketed as a house specialty, yet it completely missed the mark. The dish was a total mess featuring an overly rich, heavy-handed gravy that swallowed any authentic flavor, completely missing the signature crisp bell peppers that define the dish. * **Baingan Bharta:** Suffered from an identity crisis, containing far too many peas rather than focusing on the smoky roasted eggplant base. * **Naans:** Dense, rubbery, and a sorry excuse for traditional Indian flatbread. Save your appetite and skip this restaurant entirely.

Tasty Indian Food, But Beware Of Spiciness…read more My wife & I went here for lunch after a long drive down from Ucluelet. Here's what we ordered and how I'd rate each item on a scale of 1 - 10, with 10 being best: Tandoori Naan Butter (6): More greasy than buttery, and not very flavorful. Garlic Cilantro Naan (7): Subtle garlic flavor, but tasty. Gobhi Garlic (8): Recommended by the waiter. Very tasty, with a great texture, though I could've used a bit more garlic flavor. Chicken Tikka Masala (7): Good flavor, but not enough chicken. Also, despite asking for the mildest spiciness, it still made my scalp sweat. Butter Chicken (9): Delicious! Tasted exactly the way it was supposed to, with a rich, thick creamy tomato sauce. Highly recommend. I'm giving them 4 stars because I'm rounding up from what I think they deserve, which is 3 1/2 stars. Overall, their food was good, service was prompt & friendly, and their prices were very reasonable making them a good value.

Great food and service and casual ambiance. We did a…read moretakeout during our stay at sooke. Honestly my expectations were pretty low, however, the food was great. Getting authentic North Indian food in the remote corners is definitely a comfort not easily available in USA. The sitting area is well maintained and clean and I wouldn't mind visiting them for a quick stop. The portion size were good and the food comfortable served me twice. The highlight of the day was getting those flavors of home after hiking in the rainforest is pretty cool.

The chicken on the plate is the tandoori chicken, the yellow sauce is Chicken Korma, and the darker…read moresauce in the bowl is Mutter paneer. All three of these were excellent, and the Tikka sauce that came with the tandoori chicken was perfect. All of the chicken was juicy and tender, and the nutter paneer tasted fresh and had some light herbal notes. The garlic naan was delicious. We loved every bite and if we lived here we would eat here frequently.

Absolutely spectacular food! I consider myself something a bit of a connoisseur of Indian cuisine,…read moreand Spice Valley Indian is a stand out among the best! Not only were the spices, complex and authentic, but the portions were enormous, and the price was affordable. Highly recommended!

We were staying in the area and decided to try this restaurant, so glad we did. The food was…read moreoutstanding, the prices were very reasonable and the service was outstanding!! We wii definitely be back next time we are staying in the area.

Best Indian restaurant in Victoria, hands down, and probably the best one I've tried in a while. We…read morehad the palak paneer and Indian style butter chicken which were both packed with flavor, spice, and tase. The papdi chaat was good and the sweet lassi was very taste. Service was fast and place offered both indoors and outdoor seating. Highly recommend!!

Some of the best Indian food we have ever had! Butter chicken medium spicy was the perfect choice…read more It was a creamy tomato base with huge chucks of chicken! You get your money's worth at this place. Also, I appreciated that our food came out piping hot and continued to stay hot throughout the course of our meal. My husband got the same dish but "Indian spicy" and he was dripping beads of sweat, just how he likes it! Lol. 10/10 would come back if we were in the area again. *Hard to see off the main street but follow the signs by the stairs and you should find your way.

Nice little Indian eatery in the heart of downtown Victoria. The restaurant serves both vegetarian…read moreand non-vegetarian dishes. There is street parking available. The restaurant is tastefully decorated. Excellent design and comfortable sitting. We ordered the vegetable samosa. It was amazing as was the chutney. We also had some Amritsari Kulcha. The Kulcha was not quite as tender as expected, but it had been overcooked, and the Chana (chickpeas) had not been properly cooked, since they nevertheless remained tough. We would, however, give this restaurant another shot. The service could also be improved. There was only one waitress that were looking after three other tables. Great ambiance as they played some Indian Bollywood songs on tv, which was enjoyable. If I had to select one drawback, it would be that the restrooms require some attention, and that they be kept clean because they were unclean!

Stopped here for lunch with some friends after a Saturday morning rehearsal. The server steered us…read moreto the buffet rather than the menu and there was a variety of options available. They even had hot chai at the buffet, and the server made sure to get us some fresh rice and naan. There were 4 in our party. I was seated in the corner next to the wall, making it harder to get out and to the buffet so I don't think I ate enough for the price, but the food was very tasty and everyone else in our group was quite satisfied with the experience.

A Great little place! The food was very tasty. My fiancé ordered chicken tikka masala and I had the…read moreMali kofta. To go with our meal we ordered garlic naan. We will return.

After my second visit to Bijus today, I can honestly say it's one of the best restaurants I've…read moreeaten at! I sampled the stuffed aloo tikki, palak paneer, mango lassi (omg delish)! Its meal surpasses the one we had a week ago. Biju you are a wonderful chef, human and business owner. Thank you again for your amazing food and hospitality. Without a doubt, the best Indian Food we have ever had. Do not hesitate to try their coconut drink, it was delicious and spot on!! The food/flavours dishes we had were bursting with flavour, the heat excellently balanced and the taste was just phenomenal. Biju, the owner, was absolutely amazing and gave us recommendations and served us with the upmost respect and wonderful demeanour. Please have patience when heading to Bijous, they are short-staffed and with only 2 people working the restaurant (the wait time for food is longer then normal BUT IT IS SOOOOOOO WORTH IT) We had the butter chicken, lababdar and tikka misala for our main and he we shared the fish pakora - which were just mind blowing. Seriously, you have to try Biju's! ignore the 1**star reviews on Google from multiple people on the same day.... You can tell that they are authentic and were written to be cruel to Biju. https://www.bijusindiancuisine.com

"Are we going to have leftovers?" That was the plan, but we enjoyed it so much that it almost…read moredidn't happen. We ended up here after a short walk from our short-term rental. The hosts recommended it and we made a date night of it. Mango lassi was delicious and the Kingfisher beer hit the spot, too. Then we were ready for the meal. Naan and garlic naan were both hot and tasty. Palak Paneer was our favorite, with Aloo Gobi and Chicken Tikka Massala tied for a close second. Service was helpful and attentive. Ambiance overdelivered. I'm sorry we're leaving town tomorrow, or I'd be tempted to check out the lunch buffet. On the next visit, I'll be back.

Really friendly service. My son really wanted curry. I was a bit nervous about if the food would be…read moretoo spicy (i am not brave with spice). Asked the server for recommendations and settled on tandoor chicken. It came out sizzling and was delicious! Especially enjoyed the nice mint sauce for it too. My son really enjoyed his chicken curry too. We also had some naan bread - nicely made with garlic and basil. My son opted for the take out samosa which was nicely mixed and full of flavour and came with a nice sweeter sauce. We finished the meal with rice pudding and a chai tea. Definitely plan to return. It is so nice that they have mild, (truly mild!!!), medium and hot for those far braver than me! (My son had medium ). Thank you for a cozy meal!

NO MORE BUFFET ! Totaly shocked the buffet is no longer…read moreavailable ! They are now offering a combo meal in its place ! Butter chicken with two (yes 2 small pieces of chicken) standard rice and naan bread ! A few unedible add ons like raw onions and plain yogurt ! Terribly disappointed , as a pensioner I had looked forward to going once a month when I received my pension ! This was my last visit to the Mantra ! There are other buffets in Victoria who will now get my business ! I am sure this was a cost cutting decision but I doubt the loss of customers will compensate for the savings !

It's located in a seedy strip mall but don't let that put you off. The food is so good its…read more'almost' worth busting a tire in one of the mammoth pot holes in the parking lot. I was not there for the buffet but went for dinner and everything was fantastic. I absolutely loved the butter chicken and their naan is the best! My only critique was the papadum tasted like it was made the day before. I ordered a Chardonnay and I recommend you don't. Stick to the beer.