As our earlier review was several years old, Gautama just reopened and its pricing and selection have changed, we thought we'd give it a re-evaluation. The interior has changed, and the buffet moved further back and to the opposite side and is smaller. There was an unused buffet there as well, but there were hardly any customers unfortunately.
For appetizers, onion pickle was quite good but very spicy. Carrot pickle was quite good as well. Coleslaw was very good, delicious and creamy. Mango chutney was also very good though probably commercial from a bottle.
Tandoori chicken tasted quite off through numerous reheats, and Mishy could not finish it. I don’t like wasting food so did finish both, but didn’t enjoy it at all... (“Stop eating that dog food!” entreated Mishy.) Naan bread was very good, smoky and savoury with a chewy consistency. Chana masala was excellent, very well spiced and delicious... worth having seconds. Butter chicken Mishy described as fabulous, and I agree it was very good and possibly excellent. Chicken tikka masala was very good with an earthy sauce.
Red bean rajma was delicious and not too hot. Dal makhani was also very good and well seasoned. Vegetable korma suffered too many reheats and was getting a bit stale. Aloo gobi likewise had an odd flavour so may have been also due to too many reheats or the spicing; I could not discern, but it was reminiscent of cod liver oil so was rather unpleasant. Aloo baingan very good and much fresher, and I am not usually an eggplant fan. Vegetable pakora was excellent; was advised it’s usually eaten with the available mint or tamarind sauce and it was good with the mint, though unexpectedly hot. Yogurt khadri was quite good although I think it would go off soon. Saag paneer was good, especially the paneer cubes.
For dessert, gulub jamun were quite good even though a bit soggy from many reheats. Chocolate ice cream was excellent with plenty of bitter chocolate notes and richness and was not freezer-burned. Vanilla and strawberry ice creams were also quite good and not freezer-burned. What I thought was mango ice cream turned out to be orange-pineapple but was good anyway. Weekend lunch is $21.99. This is slightly too expensive (about half a point worth) given the offerings even without the freshness issues. While I sympathize that the customer base may be too low for enough turnover to prevent staleness, this a primary management responsibility through timing to prevent bad food from making it to the customers. Hoping that Gautama can remedy this ASAP.Rating: 6 – 6.5 / 10
Original review:
Gautama is located in Toronto's eastern downtown Little India district at 1416 Gerrard St. E., west of Coxwell Ave., near a few other AYCEs I have enjoyed and reviewed. Incidentally it was paired with the nearby Siddhartha (which went completely vegetarian) and had the same owner, but it appears the other was sold and moved to Queen St. It has a pleasant and brighter interior with three walls of windows at the front. I went for the lunch menu.
For starters, the veg. pakora was delicious, fresh and not dried out at all. Dal was delicious, dark and spicy; possibly the best I have ever eaten. Cabbage was... well... cabbage; not too exciting compared to the rest (I guess it should be eaten with sauce from the other offerings.) Aloo gobi was good but not up to the level of its predecessors. However jeera aloo (spiced potatoes, also with peas) was better; quite delicious with a nice herbal flavour. Veg. biryani was delicious with vegetable flavours nicely permeating the rice. Chana peshwari (not masala) had al dente chick peas and was very good.
Butter chicken was also very good and fragrant, tandoori chicken was excellent, tender and smoky. There was also enough of it and it was quickly replenished when it ran out. Gautama also has unique desserts which I have seen at no other Toronto Indian AYCEs: semolina was in the form of tasty, slightly sweet orange cubes, golub jamun (the usual milk balls) were very good, however I didn't care for boondi, which is a chick pea dessert which I found too sweet and had an odd flavour. Chocolate, vanilla strawberry and mango ice creams were also available and very fresh in new containers (and none of this one scoop nonsense... eat your fill!)Gautama was quite good, but pricey at $13.99 for lunch ($15.99 dinner) compared to the other Indian AYCEs in the area with similar menus. Enough of Gautama's offerings were stand-out enough that it wasn't a bad deal, and I enjoyed my lunch there.
Rating: 7.5/10
