1st Review: Sweet Mahal in Rexdale - $-$$

Hello and welcome back to SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com...Hopefully you're following this blog, and now can keep track of when new blogs are posted! As the title of this post indicates, this is the very first review on SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com... The titles of all posts will include the food establishment name and dollar signs to indicate price points in case anyone was wondering... So let's get to it :)

The first review was done on the cuisine found at the restaurant Sweet Mahal. As the title of this post suggests Sweet Mahal (SM) is located at the intersection of Rexdale blvd. And Humberline Dr. In a fairly large plaza. SM is a fairly new establishment, severing Indian cuisine and are moderately priced - also indicated by the title of this post. They offer take-out, dine-in and catering options, and serve mainly vegetarian cuisine though they have recently introduced meat options through their catering menus.

Being a fan of Indian food myself I was excited to try out the dishes at SM, given the reviews a quick google search had rendered. Upon first pulling into the plaza where SM was located, I noticed adequate parking- making SM a great choice for large groups or a party of people, and a large lit sign above its' entrance- allowing this restaurant to be highly visible and hard to miss from the bustling of the main road the plaza borders.

Entering SM I first noticed plenty of seating and huge pictures portraying what I might assume life in rural India might look like. They also had 2 large flat screen televisions positioned in two visible areas of the restaurant portraying popular Indian songs at a respectful volume, which I found helpful in setting nice atmosphere. Their menu could be found on place cards on each table, and was also highly visible on lit displays above the main counter area.

To order one's meal is a little different at SM. You must first approach the counter, place your order and sit wherever you'd like. They usually come by and ask for your beverage order, and bring that along with the order you placed. I found this helpful as I was unfamiliar with the names and pronunciation of every dish available, however, they have all their main courses made in huge batches, under a glass display, with heat lamps to keep the batches fresh and warm, and you can point out what you'd like to order, then take your seat.

The proprietors at SM only took roughly 10 minutes to bring over my meal which is another point I liked about this establishment as it's a feature not often accomplished by many other restaurants. When placing an order for a "taali" or your dish, you're able to choose 3 different curry options, and a dessert option. Your order comes with a mixed vegetable salad and a cold yogurt dressing/condiment referred to as "raita".

The items I chose were the palak paneer (spinach cooked into a sauce-like mixture with small chunks of cheese), mattar paneer (peas and cheese in a spicy, sweet curry sauce), and shahi paneer (cheese in a creamy tomato sauce). I had these with naan (an indian flat bread). In a nutshell the food was warm and gratifying. It wasn't overly spicy for my personal preferences, however if you're a not a huge fan of spices, Indian food altogether may not be the best option for you. It definitely was some of the better Indian food I've had, though not the best I've had. My favourite dish was the shahi paneer by far, and the naan was also very delicious though it was a little too burnt for my liking. The best part of this meal was the dessert option- I chose to have a Gulab Jamun (warm, sweet dough ball soaked in a sugar syrup) and it was the perfect ending to this satisfying meal. It wasn't overly sweet, had a nice texture was a great ending to this experience.

The service provided by SM was also good. The servers were attentive and friendly- though somewhat pushy, at one particular moment when the server suggested a few different items for me to try and I kindly declined, she kept suggesting other items and rolling her eyes. But overall that was perhaps the one downfall of the entire experience. Still this restaurant is definitely a great one to try with your family or a group of friends looking to try something a little different. They also have a large selection of sweets which I did not try at the time, but may definitely be worth a try upon my next visit, and I do intend to visit this restaurant again.

SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com - Overall Rating (out of 5 stars) for Sweet Mahal:

Service:    ¶¶¶  

Food:                     ¶¶¶¶

Experience:         ¶¶¶¶