First Visit: Vij's Rangoli

Barb and I tried out the five week old Vij's Rangoli (1488 West 11th Avenue, 604 736-5711) on Sunday and it was an excellent 'lucky dip'!

Not only do they have vacuum packed gourmet takeaway (and if rumours are true, soon, Vij's version of spice mixes like garam masala) from about $5-7 (buy two take them home, dunk them in boiling water, add a salad and rice or bread and you have a gourmet meal for two!), but they also serve lunch from 11a.m.-4p.m.

And that's what we tried. For $10, we split a grilled chicken (mild tamarind flavour with chili) which comes with naan, rice, salada and dal. The chicken breast was perfectly grilled and delicious. Not dry, which is unfortunately the case with most grilled chicken breast. I'd come back for that! But that wasn't the highlight of the meal. The accompanying dal was even better!

This was the best dal I've had in my life. A perfect balance of garlic, onion, aroma and chili with a nice spicy end note. I could have eaten a whole bowlful of this.

This bodes well for future visits and for the two vegetarian lunch choices.

We'll definitely be back to try their other lunch choices. And we look forward to being able to get a takeaway version of that incredible dal! If you go, be sure to check out their bathroom which has a tiny screen with Bollywood videos!