The spice is right

>> India Beau Village wins with affordable, authentic eats

by SARAH MUSGRAVE

TI’m willing to go pretty far for a good, cheap Indian meal, especially these days, when the real thing at the right price can be hard to find. So, on a tip from a reader, I recently headed to a snowy stretch of road near Jarry Park to check out India Beau Village.

It’s not the most convenient location and it’s not much to look at either: fluorescent lighting, a couple of booths with flowered upholstery and a few inexplicable Dutch ornaments on the walls. Yet somehow the atmosphere is very inviting—the spicy aromas of fresh cooking wafting through the air, patrons singing along to Hindi tunes, and an incredibly courteous waiter who really cares that the food is to your liking.

The menu features a lot of the standard dishes like butter chicken, saag paneer and biryanis. More remarkable is that most offerings hover around the $5 or $6 mark—even beer will only set you back $2.50. The kitchen cooks almost no beef and only a couple of seafood dishes, but at lunchtime, they serve vegetarian and non-vegetarian thali, a taste plate of curries and other concoctions ($6). There’s also a selection of “traditional Indian breads,” made with different types of flour and a variety of fillings. The list includes whole-wheat rotis, kulchas, garlic naan and stuffed parathas. We tried keema nan ($2) because my friend wanted to see what white-flour bread “studded” with ground beef would look like. It turned out to be dense, spongy dough “stuffed” with a delicious, savoury meat.

For an appetizer, we shared alu tikki ($1.50), two moist and soft potato patties topped with chopped tomatoes, onions and cilantro, for a slightly sweet, tangy taste. The real topper was a dense, creamy, fluffy yogurt that the waiter told us, with a smile, was homemade.
We ordered four main dishes, two vegetable and two meat. The lamb shahi korma consisted of tender chunks of boneless meat in a thick rich sauce of cream, nuts and spices ($6). The hint of heat and the consistency of the plentiful golden korma was perfect. The chicken tikka ($6), which came to the table on a sizzling platter, was a bit of a surprise. The meat had the typical reddened exterior of Tandoori cooking, but was served stir-fry style along with sliced onion, pepper and lettuce. It tasted great, but unexpectedly reminded us of fajitas.

The vegetarian entries were delicious too. The dry okra baji ($5) makes a good accompaniment for any saucy curry dish. The seared okra gives it a nice texture, and the flavour is a wealth of onions, ginger, garlic and fresh tomatoes. We also wanted to try malai kofta ($5), grated cheese balls and vegetables in a butter sauce, but instead got homemade paneer (cheese) in a korma sauce. Good, if a little heavy.

Finally, Beau Village has a whole display case of sweet treats to choose from. Whether it’s candied pumpkin, stuffed brown ovals, white balls or yellow squares, I find it hard to wax poetic about Indian desserts. In my mouth, they’re all just varying degrees of sweetness, from slightly saccharine to super sucrose, to instant cavity. For next to nothing, we bought a bunch to take home anyway.

While it’s definitely low-budget dining, I’d pay this resto’s fare a high compliment: it tastes like homecooking someone’s loving mother would make, a quality not easy to find in more pricey Indian eateries. And just like doting parents, the staff will happily pack up enough leftovers to make sure you eat well the next day. :

Feedback? restoagogo@hotmail.com

India Beau Village
Address: 752 Jarry W.
Phone: 272-5847/272-2400
Hours: Sun–Thurs 11am–11pm; Fri & Sat 11–midnight; closed Mon
Best features: cheap, fresh,
genuine Indian meals
Alcohol: yes
Vegetarian friendly: yes
Credit cards: cash only
Wheelchair access: two steps up
Price: $10/person before tax, drinks or tip
Rating: HHH out of HHHH