Monday, August 19, 2013

Chillies – a new Indian restaurant in Barrhaven – highly recommended …

So Jon and I tried a new restaurant this evening in Barrhaven. It is called Chillies, although there may be more to the name than that. It is located in the Sobey’s strip mall on Greenbank north of Strandherd. The restaurant is near the Quiznos restaurant, about half way down from the grocery store.

This was only their 3rd day open and there was definitely some traffic, not bad for a Monday in a new restaurant. They do take out, but the sit in service is very good and the décor is nice. A kind of modern feel with separators between most tables for a small level or privacy.

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I forgot to bring a camera (we did not start out going here, but Jon remembered it at the last minute and we changed direction) so I had to shoot what little I could on the Galaxy S3. It did an adequate job, though, as the décor comes out quite clearly.

I started with a Mango Lasse, which I try in every restaurant. Theirs is quite nice, although the more milk-shake like thickness and stronger flavour at Haveli’s still has that one as the top Lasse for my taste. Still, I drank every drop so it was perfectly tasty.

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What really shone, though, was the food. We did not get creative, wanting instead to try two dishes we’ve had in many places to get a good comparison. We had Vindaloo Beef and Butter Chicken. We also asked for two Naan bread and of course the complementary Basmati Rice.

Well, we were blown away.

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The Vindaloo is an off menu item, but as soon as we mentioned it he said that they could do it. And I am very glad they did. Thick and rich with a generous portion and a fair bit of “kick” … just how we like it. We like it better than our other local favourite – Karara. The Butter chicken was also a treat, although Jon is not a fan in general. I have always liked butter chicken so long as it was not overwhelmed by cream (as it is sometimes at The Clay Oven in Winnipeg.)

It was tough to get through it all, but we soldiered through Smile

I have to give this place a very high recommendation. Great food, prices are good, service is very good. Unfortunately, I cannot find an online reference so if you did not receive a flyer in your mail box (I don’t recall getting one) then you might just have to drive there to try it. It will be worth it …