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Ambiyan
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 5 pm - 10:30 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
10 reviews for Ambiyan
10 reviews in English
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Review from Rob M.
Markham, ON
5/22/2012
Markham had been sorely lacking quality Indian food for a while. No more! Ambiyan has all of your Indian favourites, from Chana Masala and Aloo Gobi to Dal Makhani and Saag Paneer (can you tell I'm vegatarian?). Those who have gone with me have also raved about some of the more carnivorous dishes.
Atmosphere is great, but depends on what you are looking for. Inside is quiet dining, while in the summers the patio is great to people gaze and catch up with friends. The only caveat I will add is that it is close to a 4-way stop so there's some street noise, but if you are that uptight you have other problems. -
Review from Edwin A.
6/5/2011 ROTD 3/30/2012
It was a busy time went we went to try Ambiyan. There was a Downtown Unionville festival happening on the weekend. We were seated on the patio.
To start we ordered a unique house specialty brie filled pakora - that was fantastic with the accompanying tamarind sauce, ooey gooey goodness. :)
Also had
Butter chicken - very fresh pieces of chicken breast but could use a hint more spice.
Rice - served is a nice vase container.
Naan - excellent wouldn't change a thing
Aloo Gobi - excellent wouldn't change a thing
I've eaten at my fair share of indian restaurants and I'd say
Ambiyan is a pretty solid choice. The quality of ingredients, presentation, freshness and taste all rank high.Listed in: Edwin's Reviews of the Day
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Review from Darren S.
Markham, ON
4/26/2011
Oh lovely lovely lovely.
Great food, friendly servers, and wonderful location in Main Street Unionville.
I was really skeptical of having Indian food in Unionville, which I have always associated with European food (but that's another story). But I was proven wrong. Ambiyan has now firmly supplanted The Host as my favourite Indian restaurant.
The prices were a little high, but the butter chicken is the best I've had in Lord knows how long, with high marks for the palak paneer and the chicken korma. The whole experience was just wondeful, though I honestly cannot vouch about how "authentic" the food is, as I'm not Indian (duh).
Highly recommended for dates or social gatherings, just remember to get your reservations in as it's very busy on weekends. -
Review from Leanna F.
Scarborough, ON
10/18/2011
We held a surprise birthday party for my husband at Ambiyan and I am so glad that we chose this venue for his special day. Starting from the conversations on the phone to seeing the restaurant and then most importantly on the day of the party - I was thoroughly impressed with the hospitality, service and the food. The serving staff that was assigned to our party of 30 were very attentive, efficient and friendly. The food was excellent and there were many compliments offered by our guests, many of them who are Indian as well. The room was private for our function and it offered a nice, warm atmosphere.
I would highly recommend this restaurant for an intimate dinner or for a party, it is definitely become a favourite. -
Review from Catherine K.
12/1/2010
Takeaway has never been so complicated. Alas.
On a cold near-winter's night I rang up Ambiyan, having heard good things about it. The very-youthful-sounding girl on the line wasn't sure about the things I was ordering, and I had to repeat each item. Her voice wasn't confident she knew the menu. Oh dear. Equally disappointing, the lass didn't have a price ready once I'd placed my order; upon asking, she went to check & *poof* I was inadvertently hung up on. Thank goodness I'd provided my number -she did ring me back, let me know the price, and confirm the order.
Twenty minutes later, I went in to Ambiyan to pick up my food. My order was smartly packed in a flat-bottomed paper bag with a handle. The food was in sturdy, reuseable, biodegradeable containers. Very posh, very practical. Alas, it wasn't so easy to just pay and walk off with my nice bag full of heavenly-scented Indian goodies.
A server -the same I assumed who asnwered the phone -didn't note I was paying with interac (despite my confirming over the phone that they took it & telling her when I handed over the card) -and she kept returning to me saying, "It's expired." Ummm. Try again. Soon it was discovered their interac line was down (?!). It took a full 20 minutes to resolve.
During this time I was not offered anything, nor was any apology given.
It was a bustling Friday night, true, but surely servers at a professional establishment should be able to handle the traffic volume? I counted at least four servers, plus the bartender, on that night. And the restaurant wasn't full. This makes me wonder if Ambiyan's staff isn't quite as experienced as they need to be. The bartender thankfully got the wireless technology in order, but not before saying "It's been doing this all day." Really? They why leave it to fix on a busy Friday night? It was kind of shocking, and reflects badly, I think, on the restaurant. That's a shame. Their food is quite good.
When I finally did get to the contents of my nice posh bag, everything was near-cold, of course. But after a quick heat-up, it was the perfect thing to fend off the late-November chills. Dhal Makhani was rich, gingery, and had a nice texture with creamy lentils and veg. Saag Paneer, one of my all-time favorite food dishes, was considerably more runny (and spicy!) than I'm used to it being, but it had a good spicy-spinach taste and generous chunks of tender paneer. Eggplant Bharta was chalk-full of veggie chunks and had a nice ginger-garlic zing to it. Kudos to the kitchen for very nice (if safe) spicing.
The naan seemed rushed -it was not fully cooked but puffed up very nicely with five minutes or so in the oven on high.
Ambiyan's food is good, not great for the price, but solid, and certainly a nice introduction for those not used to eating Indian. I would caution Ambiyan to those who a/ use interac; and b/ phone their orders in; c/ have a really low tolerance for incompetent service. A bit of training, a bit more professionalism, perhaps a slightly more experienced (and educated) wait staff... and a less timid hand in the kitchen would all work in Ambiyan's favor.Comment from Dana M. of Ambiyan 1/29/2011
Thank you very much for your comments. We have noted the… More » -
Review from Rafi N.
Toronto, ON
7/22/2011 2 photos
Ambiyan is a trendy looking restaurant that mixes modernity with traditional Indian decor. The food is good and the the service is great. The pricing for dine-in is okay. I came here for dinner with family.
*** FOOD ***
The food here isn't very spicy. Indian food uses a lot of oil. Even though the dishes may not be very spicy, the oil can make the food go through you like a hot knife through butter. The portion sizes could be bigger. After eating, I felt that I could still eat more.
* Pekoras | $7.00 *
This is a nice fried snack. It's like onion rings, except with different vegetables and not in a ring. It comes with tamarind sauce which is sweet and helps offset the saltiness and oiliness of the pekoras.
* Kachumber Salad | $2.50 *
This is a very light salad. The cucumber is diced and there are small pieces of red onion, tomato and herbs. It's tastes good and has a nice vinaigrette in it but it's too small. The salad portion size could fit in the palm of your hand. It seems wasteful for $2.50.
* Aloo Gobi | $11.00 *
This is a tasty dish. Potatoes and Cauliflower and cooked together in curry. The curry isn't very spicy, but there are spices in it. There is no heat from the spice. The vegetables are thoroughly cooked. The potatoes are tender and the cauliflower is limp, but still gives some crunch when you bite into it.
* Butter Chicken | $16.00 *
This is my favorite dish. It was very rich and creamy. Well cooked big chunks of chicken breast swam in a pool of sauce. I think they should have put more pieces of chicken in it. The dish isn't spicy. They should put some more heat into it.
* Basmati Pilaf | $3.50 *
This is the rice that we ate the Butter Chicken and Aloo Gobi with. It's very well flavored with cardamom seeds and I think saffron. The rice has a bit of a sourness. The rice is well cooked and not sticky. The rice is loose and you can chew the individual grain. Well cooked rice.
* Passion Fruit Mousse | $7.00 *
This was the best dessert I had at this restaurant. There is chocolate mousse inside, but it has the passion fruit mousse outside. The dessert is not too sweet, very light and creamy.
* Molten Chocolate Cake | $7.00 *
Chocolate desserts are quite run of the mill, but they're still good. This was a nice dessert. The cake was a bit dense and the chocolate sauce within the cake was hot. It comes with whipped cream on top. This is a much sweeter dessert, but for chocolate, it wasn't too sweet.
*** SERVICE ***
Service is great! The servers are very polite, informative and interactive. A lot of the wait staff are young teenage looking people. They do a great job. They're social and aren't afraid to make small talk. Food takes about 10-15min to come after ordering, but it's being made fresh. They're only open for dinner from Tuesday to Sunday from 5-9pm. They serve lunch on Saturday and Sunday from 1-3pm.
*** ATMOSPHERE ***
Ambiyan is a house turned into a restaurant. The front lawn is the patio area and inside is the dining area and kitchen. It's located in the historic area of Unionville and has a lot of patrons. The decor is modern, but has elements of traditional India. The light fixtures and ceiling decor is trendy but there are pictures on the wall that are more traditional. The dishes that they serve the food in is metal, which is typical of India since they produce at lot of iron and steel. The seating inside is both booth and table. The noise level in the restaurant gets too high when it's busy to the point that you can't hear the person beside you. The clientele is mostly Caucasian people 25 years and older. A very nicely designed restaurant.
*** PRICE ***
Some of the dishes are very pricey for the portion size. The best deal is when you order from the take-out menu.
* Pekoras | $7.00 *
* Aloo Gobi | $11.00 *
* Butter Chicken | $16.00 *
* Kachumber Salad | $2.50 *
* Basmati Pilaf | $3.50 *
* Passion Fruit Mouse | $7.00 *
* Molten Chocolate Cake | $7.00 *
** Total (AT&T) | $75 **
*** EAST MEETS WEST ***
Ambiyan is a nice restaurant that combines modern western style with traditional Indian cuisine. The decor is very trendy and the service is great. The pricing on the take-out menu is a lot better than dine-in. The food isn't what I would expect from an authentic Indian restaurant. The dishes are tasty but not spicy. Combining spicy food with flavor is something that Indian cuisine does exceptionally well. It's a shame that it's not done here. People who like Indian tasting food but do not like spiciness should definitely try Ambiyan.Listed in: Curry Favor
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Review from Andi B.
Markham, ON
7/22/2010
This is the best indian restaurant i've been to. And I've frequented very many indian places but the service, atmosphere, location and food puts this one at the very top.
The staff is NICE and makes good recommendations, there on top of everything, including filling up your water glass cause the food can get spicy.
I've had pretty much everything on the menu and apart from a few things, I liked it all. All the chicken dishes are yum (chicken korma, and tikka masala) and im not a huge fan of beef but they have some good ones.
All the apps are absolutely delicious.
I recommend this place wholeheartedly. -
Review from Kam M.
Toronto, ON
1/7/2012
This restaurant gets 2 stars only because if it's ambiance. From an authentic indian food taste quality, it certainly is a poor one. Despite ordering a hot and spicy what I got was a bland tasteless food. It is not an authentic indian food.
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Review from Rudy W.
2/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
good food, good service.
the place don't look like your typical indian place. they play who's bad (MJ) music.
I ordered a standard indian dishes, butter chicken and Beef Tenderloin Vindaloo (extra spicy) but it turned out the beef wasn't spicy enough.
but it was good nevertheless. the chicken on the other hand is too dry. but the curry was quite nice. So the dish left with Chicken only. (lol)
side of garlic nan.
the food come out in 5 min (very fast), but again, probably most of the food has been cooked anyway. (typical curry).
the mango lassi was thick and sweet.
great place, but need to find another better restaurant. -
Review from Genevieve M.
10/6/2010
Delicious food. Ordered it for takeout and dreamed about it for weeks after! Loved the butter chicken, Korma, Tikka Masala. Will order again for sure!
