YVR Cockroach

Maurya is an upscale Indian restaurant in Vancouver which surprisingly has fairly affordable prices.

I went here for lunch buffet (very popular at $9.95 - with $2 p.p. until 15 August). Selection was small with pappadoms, a small salad selection with 4 dressings + a yoghurt one, rice, 3 vegetarian and 2 meat curries. The curries of the day were lentil, chickpea, cheese, lamb/mutton and butter chicken (touch overcooked and not too rich as is traditional). Nice spicing. No MSG (doesn't feel like there was any). A basket of naan is served.


http://www.mauryaindiancuisine.com/z...emes/41/media/

FlyinHawaiian

Thank you for posting these; I am looking forward to my visit this weekend, and hope to try at least one of these places.

akhullar

AS far as indian restaurants go - Vij´s http://www.vijs.ca/ is amongst the best restaurants in North America.

FlyinHawaiian

Thanks again - I am uploading all of the YVR restaurants listed on this thread into my GPS for this and next weekend.

FlyinHawaiian

We (three hungry fishermen) dined at Maurya on 8/17.

For starters, we ordered the Paneer Pakora and Crab Tikki.

Our entrees were the Lamb Chops, Lamb Korma, and Goa Chicken Curry.

We enjoyed all aspects of the meal; a fine location, good service, and well-prepared food. Our only complaint was that the wine list, while very complete, was a bit on the expensive side and not well matched to the food. We ended up with a $70 CAD red that was quite drinkable by itself, but was obliterated by the spicy foods.

Note - I should have checked, but I was not aware that the metered parking on Broadway was enforced on a Sunday. Luckily, the staff at the restaurant was nice enough to let me know the meter readers were coming, so I could feed the meter.

Thanks, terenz for this recommendation!

YVR Cockroach

Wine here is always expensive. The restauranteurs only get a 5% discount on wine to what is paid by consumers at the liquor outlets (there's no such thing as wholesale discount).

Just wondering what you ordered at any rate? I don't think any wine really goes well with curry despite the local wine industry trying to promote gewurtraminers and other off-drys.

Glad you enjoyed the meal otherwise.

YVR Cockroach

My partner and I came here for a wonderful wine tasting dinner last month. 6 courses paired with 6 wines from Mission Hill winery. Bargain at just CAD 65 p.p.

The food was very delicious but also very rich (the chefs use home-made stocks and not fats/oils to richen up the food) with very generous portions. The poultry and 2 fishes (all tandoor cooked) were a bit dry (due to cooking in a tandoor).

Surprisingly, the wines all were more than a match for the food except for the 1st wine, a riesling that was overpowered by a mere potato croquette. The 2002 Seelct lot Merlot was one of the most robust red wines I've tasted in a while. More like a classic big South Australian shiraz or cabernet sauvignon than a merlot!

If anyone wants to look at the menu, PM me.

gglave

>My partner and I came here for a wonderful wine tasting dinner last month

Love Maurya - It's my second-most-favourite Indian restaurant in Vancouver. (First place is Bombay Bhel - http://www.bombaybhelrestaurant.com/)

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada

YVR Cockroach

Went to Maurya for dinner last week before a play. The 1,000 point OpenTable bonus was an attraction. There's a (very) new menu.

Pappadums and two types of chutneys are served with this.

We shared the CHILLI SEEKH KEBAB appetiser which was a huge portion. Very spicy hot and very tasty. Fresh naan was offered though it didn't come with the dish.

My partner had CHICKEN CHETTINAD and I had the PRAWN MALAI CURRY. Portions are much more generous than your average Indian restaurant and the sauces are wonderfully rich in flavour (they claim to use 5 stocks vs. 1 for most restaurants.). The accompaniment was a lovely rice pilaf, more naan, and roasted vegetables which were divine.

We couldn't eat everything and asked it to be doggy bagged. They actually put everything into separate containers!

Regretfully no room for desserts. I'll try their lunch buffet again soon.

gglave

>I'll try their lunch buffet again soon

If you find yourself out in the 'burbs, check out Bombay Bhel.

Cheers,
Geoff

YVR Cockroach

Looking at the website, I thought all the locations were in Metro TO. Anyway, even though its a mere 4-5 blocks outside of Vancouver, it's still in Deepest Darkest Burnaby to some of us.

gglave

>it's still in Deepest Darkest Burnaby to some of us

Anything worth doing takes some effort

...and FWIW, I live @ Main & 19th

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver Proper

YVR Cockroach

Well, we went to deepest darkest Burnaby to give Bombay Bhel a whirl. I won't comment on service as it seemed understaffed, but my partner's and my basic impressions were we were underwhelmed with it. We ordered the chicken tikka masala and the tandoori platter. The former was good but very unidimensional compared to the sauces Maurya have which are rich and definitely very complex. The tandoor platter was good and seemingly very fresh (they just opened at 1pm for lunch?) but the halibut was ruined by too much salt in the seasoning mix. The naans were hot and fresh too but just didn't compared to Maurya's.

Maurya may seem more expensive but the portions are bigger and are accompanied by rice, naan and the wonderful roasted vegetables (all generous portions). Papadums and chutney are also complimentary, as are the naan often. Not to mention the fact that the preparation is superior.

Taiwaned

Its been a couple of years since visiting Maurya. I have to agree that the food is very good and I love the decor.

The food can be at times hit and miss. My wife and I prefer Vij's for the food but if we want a nice time we would pick Maurya's anyday.

Being out here in Taiwan for so long, I crave good Indian food. I miss home.

gglave

>my basic impressions were we were underwhelmed with it

That's a shame to hear. The last time I was there (4 months ago?) the food was OUTSTANDING. I'm sorry to hear it has gone downhill.