Restaurant Review: Suvai Dosa's

SUVAI DOSA'S 445 Parsons Road Instagram: @suvai.dosas Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew

Truth be told, I'd been feeling somewhat disillusioned with the Indian food in Edmonton lately. The butter chicken stopped being as good at the place where I used to love it and every restaurant that I'd try was starting to taste the same. For a city that actually has a ton of Indian food available, I really needed to shake things up and to try something new. Enter Suvai Dosa's, named Best Indian Restaurant 2023 in EDify Magazine. I'd never heard of them before but eagerly headed down to Ellerslie Industrial to taste everything that I could. And boy am I glad that I did. The location isn't much to look at. It's in a strip mall and the windows are covered in brightly-coloured images of their food. Entering the little restaurant, you are not met with a space of fine decor or grandeur. It's honestly more like a hole-in-the-wall cafeteria and I was truthfully filled with feelings of doubt. There are booths along the circumference of the room and the walls are brightly painted in lime green, orange and red. I did, however, appreciate the TV showing only Bollywood music videos and the great Indian music that was continuously playing. We were able to sit wherever we wanted on the Saturday evening of our visit but the restaurant was also steadily occupied with other patrons. Our server was helpful enough but also seemed slightly perturbed by our questions and entire existence? She also disappeared entirely toward the end of the meal and we had to go up to the counter ourselves for further service. Regardless, the food turned out to be good enough for me not to care about any of that. As always, I started with a Masala Tea ($2.75), which is a traditional chai.

This version was excellent. They serve it with sugar but I never add anything to it and am happy to drink it straight. As good of a masala tea that I've had anywhere else, this chai tastes real. It's not the too-sweet coffee chain chai latte made with syrup - it's the real thing. Simmered spices that create a warm, flavourful cup. The cuisine at Suvai Dosa's is specifically South Indian food. I'm not an expert (nor am I pretending to be) and I'm not familiar with which dishes originate from which regions. But what I do know is that this food was unlike any of the Indian food that I've had in the past. Had I previously been eating Northern Indian food? Or just a North American white-washed version of Indian food? I'm not sure. All I know is that something different happened at Suvai Dosa's and it has changed my previous perception of what Indian food is supposed to be quite a lot. We started with the Tiffin section which means a "light meal" or "snack." (Not to be confused with the Starters, which are different.) I wanted to try a bit of everything so the Idly (3pcs) Vada (2pcs) Combo ($12.49) seemed like the best way to achieve a full experience.

I didn't know much about what I was ordering but was so ready to learn and to try things. Right away, I loved that the chutneys (dipping sauces) were the colours of the Indian flag. I'd never seen any of these items before. Idly (the warm, white spongy pillows that reminded me a bit of Wonder Bread) are a type of savoury rice cake made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented urad dal (lentils) and rice. It's absorbent and made to sop up sauces, hence the array of chutneys that it was served with. I loved the white chutney that tasted like coconut! The bread is cooked in specially designed molds and comes out perfectly formed. With a delicately earthy lentil flavour and a fermented kick, this was enjoyable to eat. Next was the vada, which looked similar to a pakora to me. These are essentially savoury Indian donuts - fritters made of urad dal (lentils), onions, and spices and fried until golden and crisp. Fun and easy to eat, these tasted great dunked into the sambar (a lentil-based vegetable stew) that was also served on the side. In the Starters section I was extremely close to ordering the Chicken Lollipop (they looked really fun!) but changed it to the Masala Fried Fish ($16.99) at the last second. I am so glad that I did!

Marinated with spices and Tawa Grilled.

If I had to pick my favourite dish of the whole meal, this would be it. Wow! Two big pieces of fish crusted in the most flavourful array of spices. The outside was slightly crisp with amazing caramelized edges, while the inside was incredibly moist and meaty. Plus there was a big spicy kick for anyone who loves some heat! I will have to order this every time I visit because this dish was gorgeous and the execution was perfection. I've certainly never tasted anything like this at another Indian restaurant before. Of course we needed to try the Suvai Special Dosa's especially since it's the namesake dish of the entire restaurant! Going into this, I had never tried dosa before and wasn't sure what to expect. Interestingly, Suvai Dosa's does NOT serve naan. I found this slightly shocking. But then I started to wonder if the dosa was meant to take its place? Dosa is a South Indian crepe made from fermented rice and urad dal (lentils). When you see pictures of dosa the scale of its size gets lost and I was picturing something similar to a French crepe. This is not the case. We ordered the Ghee Dosa ($11.49) and were excited for the experience.

Crepe coated with clarified butter.

This thing was astonishing! It was HUGE and at least two feet long!! Practically the width of the table! Served with the same three kinds of chutney and sambar... I was amazed. (They also make a "Family Dosa" that is four feet long!! I really want to order it just to see it!) Made with fermented rice and lentil flour batter, cooked into a vanishingly thin crepe on a griddle glistening with ghee, and rolled into an oversized tube... It's a sight to behold. The crepe is crispy but also a bit chewy in some spots. The delicious buttery flavour of ghee was ever-present in each bite. And I was very happy to rip off bits and dunk it into just about anything/everything on the table. I loved this. Not only does this item seem novel but it's also truly delicious. Where has this been all my life? They also serve smaller versions of dosa stuffed with various items more like a wrap. I think that would be really interesting to try as well. The other item on the menu that appeared to be a restaurant specialty was the Suvai Special Ambur Dum Biryani. I went for the Goat Biryani ($19.99).

A specialty dish known for its richness in aroma, flavour, and taste. It uses the traditional method of steam cooking meat, basmati rice, and spices in a sealed vessel. Served with raita and pickle.

I really enjoy curries (etc.) made with lamb and goat tastes almost exactly the same. It's a perfectly acceptable alternative option. No need to be scared of it! The flavour of meat is more dominant in ambur-style biryani (compared to other types) due to fewer spices used. Up until this point, the best biryani that I've ever had was at Lahore Tikka House in Toronto but this one was a pretty good candidate for second place. Incredibly aromatic, the tender rice and succulent pieces of meat created a beautiful combination. I would have liked for it to be a hint more curry-like but the overall flavour was very full-bodied and wonderful. I enjoyed using the cooling raita (a creamy yogurt) but was a little lost with the other accompaniment included. The menu described it as "pickle" but it was certainly more like a chutney. It looked a bit like sambar but was something different. None the less, it tasted good and I poured some of it on top... Which I hope was the correct thing to do. Probably the most "typical/basic" thing to order, I wanted to try Suvai Dosa's version of Butter Chicken Masala ($17.49).

Baked chicken cubes cooked in creamy tomato and butter sauce.

I mainly needed to try this because as previously mentioned, I am in the market for a new favourite butter chicken. We added some Plain Rice to this dish to create a bed for the curry. Rich and flavourful, I thought that this butter chicken was quite excellent and the tender pieces of chicken within were very good. The spice profile was expertly prepared. But you know what? You don't need butter chicken. There are better things to order and moving toward less expected items is more where I'm headed these days. While I certainly felt gleefully full, I was excited to try a dessert. I asked for whatever their best dessert is and was given Rava Kesari ($6.99).

I'd never had anything like this before and I loved it! Served warm, it sort of reminded me of cream of wheat in texture except with a much more interesting and floral flavour profile. And the colour! A traditional South Indian dessert, it's made with semolina, sugar, ghee, nuts, and raisins. It's smooth but also fluffy. It was great to try something new and for it to be so delicious! This meal had been full of brand new experiences. There's also a Sunday Brunch Buffet and I am extremely curious to find out what that is all about! I've never considered Indian food for breakfast/brunch and I would love to start. My visit to Suvai Dosa's was full of surprises. At every turn I was met with dishes that I'd never seen before. The overwhelming feeling was that the food was incredibly authentic - as if we were eating real Indian food - and that maybe some of the other restaurants in the city aren't really doing it to the same level. Many Indian restaurants in Edmonton are expansive, ornately decorated... And serve mediocre food. Suvai Dosa's is none of those things and their food far surpasses anything else that I've tried. It's a classic "don't judge a book by its cover" situation. I do believe that this is the best Indian food available in the city. You won't even miss the naan.