Brar’s Grand Buffet is at 199 Advance Blvd. in Brampton, which is just to Toronto’s northwest. It’s about a ten minute bike ride from Bramalea GO station which is how we go there. Brar’s is all-vegetarian, which I did not know until I arrived but don’t mind... good food is good food. We went for weekend lunch. AYCD pop from a self-serve fountain is included which is a welcome relief from the price. There is even a AYCD self-serve strawberry milkshake and iced coffee. Brar’s is a very large place with a large buffet and plenty of patrons, brightly lit with nice decor.
Fries were very nicely seasoned making them more interesting than usual. Tandoori aloo was good but a little too hot for our liking. Tandoori soy was slightly less hot, but Mishy didn't like the flavour. Pasta is plain old penne alfredo and was delicious and one of Mishy's favourites. Spring rolls were excellent and had a very nice BBQ chip flavor.
Rasan soup was delicious with a citrusy flavor and coriander. Sambhar soup was a little more porridgy and delicious with a wonderfully different mix of spices. Even the cheese pizza had a citrusy flavor which I thought was nice, a good addition and made it more authentic. Sweet potato chaat is a cold dish and was very tasty with a sweet spicy sauce coating.
Kabob outwardly resemble potato medallions or deep-fried scallop, but are spicy and filled with potato or something similar. Mishy loved the naan bread and said it was amazing. As would be expected for a signature vegetarian dish, the samosas were fantastically seasoned. Malai paneer tikka was a bit sweet for my liking but still quite good. Kadai paneer was excellent and very well seasoned. Chili garlic soya chaap was fantastic with an amazing flavour and texture, and never had this before.
Chana masala was excellent, although a bit hot. Min veg, whatever that is, was quite good. Butter paneer was quite tasty and a good substitute for butter chicken. Daal soup was “daalicious” and had a unique flavour which I enjoyed. Manchow soup had an odd flavour, which at first was weird and planty, but then almost immediately grew on me and I ended up loving it. I will have to see what is in this.
Daal makhni was excellent and fresh and very well spiced, as was moong daal; both were beautifully seasoned. Aloo gobi was very good. Aloo puri was delicious as it had a sauce that featured fennel which went very well with it. Kadai paneer was quite good but seemed to feature the paneer as a sauce versus actual pieces. Manchurian something, just manchurian... I don't know what, but seems to be vegetable nuggets with an absolutely amazing gravy-like sauce which was quite delicious.
For dessert, unfortunately Mishy did not like the highlight of rasmalai saying that it did not have as much flavour because it was mango rather than the usual. When I finally got to dessert I didn't mind it at all and I thought the mango flavour was quite good. There is tiger tail ice cream which Mishy loved but I thought it tasted odd, perhaps it was homemade... for once Mishy preferred something to what I thought of it; the orange really didn't taste like orange nor the licorice like licorice. Thankfully there was no mistaking the pistachio ice cream which like the Mumbai Grill’s was fantastic. Butterscotch ice cream was also very good and not freezer-burned, and similarly was cookies and cream.
I'd never had a chocolate fountain dessert, so I coated pineapple and something else in it and it was delicious and Mishy agreed the chocolate was very good. There were several types of little cakes, which unfortunately were not labelled, but they were all very good. One of them appeared to have silver leaf in it and another was a tiny orange cube that was flavoured with rose water and probably butter. It was $34.99 for weekend lunch; Mishy balked and indicated this was too much for vegetables and would not have gone if had known in advance. I agree it’s anywhere from a few to about five dollars too much, even with as good as everything was and the decor, etc. The included drinks must be taken into consideration. I think it’s only worth half a point off, and the food was almost without exception excellent.
Rating: 9 / 10
