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Al-Watan Tandoori
Categories: Restaurants Middle Eastern Restaurants Indian Restaurants Pakistani Middle Eastern, Indian, Pakistani
6084 Fraser StreetVancouver, BC V5W 2Z7
Neighbourhood: Sunset
(604) 324-6378
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
13 reviews for Al-Watan Tandoori
13 reviews in English
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Review from Kevin B.
12/25/2011
This place has friendly staff, fast service, and delicious food.
I came in for the lunch special and it was well worth the $6.99 I payed for it.
Chicken, naan, rice, 3 types of curry and a very short wait for the food!
Also a BIG plus for Indian restaurants is when they refill your water before you run out and this place has staff who remember to keep coming by to refill water. Probably since this place is so small, I almost missed it while driving down Fraser.
I will definitely be coming back to this Indian place the next time I'm in Vancouver!
5 stars since it is now my new favorite Indian place that isnt a buffet in Vancouver! -
Review from Namit M.
Wow. This is the kind of hole-in-the-wall I have been seeking. Great specialties like the Nihari (beef stew) and Haleem (lentil based stew). excellent naan bread. All at a price that is affordable. Not a whole lot of ambiance, but the food makes up for it.
I want to try to lunch special and the biryani on my next visits. -
Review from Marc D.
Vancouver, BC
Updated - 2/23/2009
I visited again for lunch and still really love this place. The lunch special is an absolute steal at $6.99. It includes a piece of succulent tandoori chicken, flavourful chicken curry, refreshing subzi, hearty daal, piping hot naan, cooling raita, and fluffy rice. What a satisfying meal!
Really the perfect hole-in-the-wall. (As a matter of fact, the rug they have hanging on the wall may actually hide a true hole in the wall!)Listed in: Mary had a little lamb, and I…, Vancouver South Asian Food
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/5/2008 First to Review
Ok, Al-Watan is my definition of the perfect ethnic hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant that is… Read more »
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Review from Spring B.
Vancouver, BC
10/22/2011
Zero star! Worst south asian food everrrr..............tried the lunch special and it was inedible!!
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Review from Raza M.
7/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
For any Pakistani restaurant, impressing me is really different, and this place wasn't any different. The food was ok at best, but there are thing I really liked. One it's cheap, apart from naans which I think are overpriced. They offer "Brain Masala" which is at least one dish that I haven't found elsewhere is Vancouver. The service was good and the staff was friendly. On the down side, it doesn't meet my very high taste expectation.
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Review from Jöravár X.
Vancouver, BC
5/21/2010
had lunch here on 5/20 good service, friendly. CLOSED MONDAY'S
Had the daily lunch special a thali which consisted of:
a huge naan
(1) piece if tandoori chicken
some jasmine rice
chick pea/lentil dal
chicken curry
vegetable dal
all this for $6.99!! and guess what...it was yummy!
judging from the amount of actual Pakistani people eating here...it's safe to say the authenticity and deliciousness are REAL! -
Review from Louise G.
9/11/2009 1 photo
I really really love this place. Its a secret little gem on Fraser right by the library. Decided to try it out a few years ago and have been back many times since.
One of the first things that did catch my attention years ago was their specialty dish. Brain Masala. I thought to myself: "Well that certainly does sound unique". Like somehow unique and authentic are the same thing... The second thing I thought (in a zombie voice) "Braaaaainsssss."
I've never been brave enough to try the brain. But I have tried many of their other dishes and I've never been disappointed. On a scale of spicy-ness, I think they get it right on. Mild IS mild. It is suitable for babies/young children, scaredy-cats, visiting mother-in-laws and other wusses. Medium is medium. It is flavourful with a decent heat. Don't be scared. Their hot has a lovely burn. If you are unsure, start at a lower heat. You will enjoy it so much, you can try hotter the next time. Or get a combination of dishes mild/medium/hot and sample as you go.
Portions are very generous but we've gotten so caught up in eating it that we devoured what we had and ordered more for take-away. Even still the pricing is ridiculously low. Fed (STUFFED) four healthy adults for $35 including a decent tip.
Highly recommendedListed in: Healthier Choices
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Review from Kat S.
4/19/2010 1 photo
This place deserves your attention. It may not look like much from the outside (or the inside), but it is so good, and so very affordable.
It's a pretty simple menu, and they don't have beer or alcohol, and no paneer or samosas, but you'll find plenty that you like. I got some takeout last night, and they were super happy to put my food in the Tupperware containers I brought myself. Some places don't like to do that but they thought it was a great idea. I thought the take out portions were a wee small, and it wasn't because of my container size, but the price is so good, that it wasn't really a big deal.
Eating in looks fun because they were bringing out dishes on sizzling hot plates and the naan was huge and fluffy.
The Chicken Tikka is awesome and so tender! The naan was good, and the rice was fluffy and saffron flavoured. I liked the Aloo Palak a lot, too. I love spinach dishes, but I get so disappointed when they are runny. This one was perfect, with huge chunks of perfectly coked potato pieces. Yum!
I will for sure be coming back here when I have Indian food cravings! And the staff are very friendly and sweet, so how can you not love it? -
Review from Mya N.
Langley, BC
8/26/2010
I really really wanted to like this place. My friend took me here yesterday and as a fan of hole-in-the-wall places, I was game. Unfortunately, the food was not great, portions were small, and thus it was not good value for your money. Other reviewers have raved about their lunch menu and since I came at dinnertime I didn't get to try it. However, it's now $7.99, and I'll bet the portions are smaller too.
We had chicken curry, butter chicken, spinach palak, and garlic naan. There were literally only 3 drumsticks in the curry and a small handful in the butter chicken. So disappointing! The butter chicken was runny and tasted like a can of tomato sauce. Not impressed.
On the bright side, the spinach palak and garlic naan was really good. Would've taken a star away had it not been. Something's changed here. I don't know if it's the recession or the HST... but this restaurant has definitely lost its touch. It was prime dinnertime and we were the only ones there. It's really sad when restaurants have to raise prices and cut portion sizes just to stay in the game. -
Review from Zubair K.
5/27/2011
Worst Pakistani/Indian restaurant I have eaten at anyplace in the world. Dirty, tasteless food.
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Review from marc m.
Vancouver, BC
7/2/2009
Would probably never tried this place if not for Yelp. It's not that there is anything wrong with it. Just looking at the board, the $6.99 lunch special and the lack of decor I would have guessed it served sub-par Indian food. Well, I am happy to say that you can't judge a book by its cover.
Where to start? Looking for dinner one night, and as we have been splurging a bit wanted something close to home and inexpensive. Wow, what a good choice. As the lunch special was already finished (at 3:30 pm), we had the tandoori plate. The portions were large, the flavours were good, and much more like the food I've eaten in India than most places in Canada. We went back the very next day for lunch (so much for saving!) -
Review from R J.
3/26/2009
I ate at this place today after hearing from my friends that it was worth trying if you are in Vancouver. To be honest, it did not live up to its expectations. I ordered Seekh Kabab and the lamb karahi. The karahi was good but I have definitely had better and the kabab to me tasted it if had just been warmed up. It was stale and very salty. Added to the meal by having a mango lassi which was also not so bad. The naan was decent as well. The only thing that kept me from giving it a 4 was the kababs. You can usually tell when a Pakistani or Indian restaurant is good when their tandoori items are good.
I was very excited to try this place because I am a sucker for whole in the wall joints. Which leads me to say that I wasn't expecting much of a impeccable service experience so I did not include that in my rating.
Not saying that I wouldn't go back just maybe try something else. -
Review from Mots A.
12/7/2009
After having many disappointing experiences in Vancouver with Halal food, my husband and I were impressed and delighted to enjoy such satisfying Pakistani food. We ordered the chicken tikka and the seekh kebabs. We LOVED the kebabs though we thought the serving size was very small for the price. The chicken tikka was tasty, not the best but I would order it again.
