Dawat is located at 60 Overlea Blvd. in Toronto’s east central East York borough. Lunch and dinner buffets are offered. Dawat has a pleasant and brighter interior with nice background music; there is also a raised carpeted area for traditional dining. We went for weekday lunch and there were a moderate amount of customers. Pop is $2.50 canned not AYCD, but we stick to water at Middle Eastern places as we’ll inevitably encounter spicy heat that needs a higher volume intake than cans can provide!
Chicken Karahi was delicious and nicely seasoned without being too hot. Mishy said that the chicken tandoori had not been baked long enough in the tandoor, so to her did not have smoky flavour and was just like regular roast chicken with red spice. I tried it and enjoyed it, but it was not like other chicken tandoori, pretty much as Mishy noted. However the butter chicken made up for it and she said it was excellent. Kabuli pulao was delicious, and I think the meat may have actually been mutton minus the gamey flavour, but whatever it was I liked. Mishy she said that the naan bread was too salty; it’s kept out rather than being delivered on demand. Palak (no paneer) we both loved even though it is just spinach as the seasoning was so good and it brought out the flavour very well. Baingan eggplant is one of the first times I enjoyed eggplant without reservation as its flavour is excellent and hides the “eggplantiness”.
Veal nihari is a slow-cooked veal stew which has little else in it but veal and gravy, and sadly it was quite delicious... sorry, calves. Tawa keema masala was a bit oily and I think it contains mutton as it is a mixed mincemeat dish, but that is the way it's supposed to be and it was tasty in an exotic way. Chana masala had different flavours than a completely Indian place would have it, and had some afterburn, but was very good. Beef with chickpeas korma was excellent and blended its flavours well.
I was surprised to find French fries, but I usually am in places that they wouldn't be expected as they are so universal; they were very well-made, seasoned so that they were interesting and not bland. Mishy enjoyed the fish pakora and I did as well as it was well spiced. Samosas are very good, although they probably are from elsewhere in consignment but nevertheless were enjoyable. Chicken biryani was delicious and I enjoyed it very much, it had plenty of nice seasoning and seemed quite traditional. Bhindi, which is an okra-based dish, was quite good and had plenty of okra flavor. Lobia kidney beans are almost like chili... it’s indicated to be cooked with onions and spices, but I could almost taste something tomatoey.
Chicken manchow soup was made very similarly to hot-and-sour soup, but without bamboo or noodles; instead there are chicken pieces and mushrooms, and it was very good. Butter chicken was excellent, comparable to or better than most places, with a little heat and plenty of other flavours. Chicken korma was a fantastic combination of gravy with cardamom and other spices that blended together well. Creamy white chicken was mildly seasoned but nonetheless enjoyable.
For dessert, unfortunately Mishy was not impressed with the gulub jamun indicating that they were cold and soggy even though they were in sauce; I noticed that, unlike at Indian restaurants, they are not heated in a steam tray from beneath, so as she noted it is at room temperature. They were still good, though I agreed not as much as as the Indian heated ones, and one thing lacking is there is no serving spoon in the tray to put honey sauce on one's bowl of gulub jamon with. Rabri kheer is lightly sweetened rice pudding judging by the flavour, with hints of cardamom and other spices, and was very enjoyable. Weekday lunch is $22 and this is very good considering the offerings, minor shortcomings aside. We certainly enjoyed our lunch there.
Rating: 9 / 10 + 0.5 value adjustment = 9.5 / 10
