Curry in a hurry

>> Restaurant Shaheen shells out tasty, quick and cheap Indian eats

by SARAH MUSGRAVE

The box of Kleenex on every table pretty much sums up the Shaheen experience: it may be a little short on style, but it’s long on thoughtfulness. Little touches like this—along with budget-friendly prices, warm service and extremely fresh Indian and Pakistani fare—might just earn this unassuming restaurant a place on your heavy-rotation list. In fact, according to the owner, most of the customers are regulars who come in more than once a week, and have been doing so since it opened eight years ago.

Just a few steps from Beaubien metro, it could easily be mistaken for a diner from the outside. However, the moment you get through the door, you can smell the simmering of all those wonderful spices brought to you by the letter C: cumin, cardamom, cayenne, chilies, cinnamon and coriander.

The small whiteboard above the counter is where you’ll find the daily specials. A full meal—including soup, main course, rice, dessert and tea or coffee—starts for as low as $6.25 in the evenings and an astonishing $4.95 at lunchtime. There are always one or two vegetarian selections among the five or so dishes on the list.

The specials begin with a plain lentil soup. It’s nothing spectacular in terms of taste or texture, but it’s simple, healthy and mild. You may also want to start with an appetizer from a fairly interesting range offered on the regular menu. Chaatt ($2.99), for instance, is an intriguing blend of apples, potatoes, chickpeas, herbs and raisins in yogurt, served with chapati (basically a thinner version of nan). The samosas, fresh and soft to the point of melting in your mouth, are accompanied by a sharp green chutney ($1.99). There’s also a selection of stuffed parathas, a layered, pancake-like bread that’s grilled and buttered and filled with anything from ground beef to spicy mashed potatoes ($2.75).

Among the specials I’ve sampled, the kofta (around $8) was one of the best. It consisted of tasty and tender balls of ground beef served in a fragrant gravy that was thick without being creamy. At lunch, I’ve enjoyed eggplant cooked with tomatoes, bell peppers and onions in a spicy sauce ($6.95), and alu mottor, a drier dish that pairs potatoes and peas ($6.75). The main courses come with basmati rice in a rainbow of colours.

Like the specials, the mains from the regular menu all include soup, rice, dessert and coffee/tea. For around $10, you can get butter chicken, creamy kormas, tikkas and curries, as well as baltis, aromatic stir-frys that originated in the Himalayas. One of the newer house dishes is the chicken Kashmiri, chicken cubes with fresh apples, papayas, almonds and raisins cooked in mango juice ($15.99).

For all meals, you choose your level of heat. If you say spicy, the waiter may want to know what you really mean by that. Indian spicy? Medium spicy? “Some people say they want it spicy, but when they get it, they can’t eat it,” he warned me when I asked for hot. I settled on “medium plus” and he checked later to see how it was. I’ve now got a standing challenge to up the heat next time.

The homemade desserts are far less saccharine than a lot of Indian sweets. I’ve had a green pudding that looks like lime but tastes like pistachios and coconut, and a white, almond-flavoured pudding with what looks like vermicelli in it—both good.
Shaheen also has take out or delivery options. But if you like your Indian or Pakistani food on the spicy side, eat in—the free tissues on your table will definitely come in handy. :

Restaurant Shaheen
Address: 758 Beaubien E.
Phone: 904-0156
Hours: daily 10am–10:30pm
Best features: bargain specials,
fresh ingredients
Alcohol: BYOB
Vegetarian friendly: yes
Credit cards: cash only
Wheelchair access: two steps up
Price: $9/person before tax, drinks or tip
Rating: HHH out of HHHH

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