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Canada Dosa Corner
- Hours:
Mon 5 pm - 10 pm
Tue-Fri 10 am - 10 pm
Sat-Sun 10 am - 11 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
9 reviews for Canada Dosa Corner
9 reviews in English
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Review from Sabahat N.
Calgary, AB
The real reason I went here was because a little bird told me they have 'Kothu Roti'. If you dont know what it is, go and try it. If you do know what it is, yes, Canada Dosa Corner has it!!
This place is perhaps best known for its Dosas, but like I said, I had an ulterior motive. After my terrified realization some months back that there were no Sri Lankan restaurant in Calgary that serves 'Kothu Roti', I was quite ready to write off this delicacy as a chapter in my life that would stay buried in my past (read: Montreal) forever. But then I heard of Canada Dosa Corner, and heard it was Sri Lankan... With fire in my eyes and rumbling in my belly, I jumped on my computer to see their menu, and lo and behold! They had my beloved 'Kothu Roti' listed under their 'Specialities'! And 4 different kinds at that!!!
Can you imagine my joy?!
So off I went last night! It was a small, modest establishment just off International Avenue. As we sat down, we knew exactly what we wanted. We opted for the Chicken Kothu Roti, the Chilli Chicken (another fond favourite - but for those of you not good with spices, stay FAR away) and the Goat Dosa. We figured we might as well try the Dosa since it was what the restaurant was known for. The Kothu Roti came first. We dug in. It was a bit different from what I had before, but it was DELICIOUS nonetheless! Kothu Roti is a Sri Lankan dish made from chopped pieces of bread, vegetables, meat and egg and flavoured with mouth-watering spices. One bowl (they served it in a bowl) was enough to feed two people. Then came our goat Dosa. The Dosa was perfectly made, and the goat curry it was stuffed with was once again, delicious. The Dosa was served with 3 different dipping sauces. Once again, a huge portion that would leave one person sufficiently stuffed. Then came the Chilli Chicken with a bowl of steamed rice. Goodness, they dont mess around with their chilli! This dish was SPICY! The sauce almost had an Asian taste to it. I might say this was my least favourite dish of the three, but was still REALLY tasty!
When we were nearing the end of our meal, Mary - the owner - started telling us the story of her life and how she got to Canada Dosa Corner from Sri Lanka. I won't divulge any details, but let me tell you - that is one heck of a heart-wrenching story.
All in all, the food here is amazing. The price is reasonable. The owner is friendly. And to top it all off, they serve AMAZING Kothu Roti. If I still have not convinced you to go try it, I should probably just stop writing reviews altogether. -
Review from Kirstin L.
Calgary, AB
4/15/2012
I would love to give this place more stars but the past two times I've been there, the service has been absolutely appallling.
The food is excellent, don't question that for a second. I love their mixed vegetable Dosa and the curry dipping sauce is wonderful. I also really enjoy their pakoras and Mango Lassi. My family is a mix of vegetarians and meat-eaters and we are always able to find something on on the menu that suits our individual tastes.
However, this all hinges on the question of if your food even makes it to your table. It shouldn't be a question but in my expereince, you're likely to ask for your food mulitple times. Last time, we were provided with no water and waited until the meal was almost over to get our drinks. This is a bit of an issue when you're eating very spicy food and need a drink on hand to help control the fire in your mouth. If you order appetizers, they will likely not arrive until after your food. We ordered our appetizer, saw the waitress write it down and then waited until the meal was almost over. We finally asked her where it was and she admitted she hadn't ordered it. We got it when the meal was over and we were begining to pack up to go. You will likely get your Dosa in a reasonable amount of time but nothing else will come on time. The service seems extremely disorganized, there is a major language barrier between the staff and customer and well, the staff in their haste to "fix" things, really don't listen to the customer. It's a very long and frusterating experience and just not worth it, no matter how delicious their food it. Sadly, we will not be going back. -
Review from Kent V.
I also came here based on a review by You Gonna Eat That (a Calgary food blogger).
It is absolutely amazing. Forest Lawn doesn't get enough love, and people will be surprised to discover many more gems in the area similar to Dosa Corner.
The menu has a mix of common indian dishes (butter chicken, masalas, etc), and unique Sri Lankan dishes. Everything we tried was impressive. I usually don't care about butter chicken (its like the gateway Indian dish, similar to fried rice for chinese food & california rolls for sushi), but their's stood out. The eggplant curry was great. And the dosa we ordered was huge. It could be ordered on its own and would do well as a meal for one. I only learned yesterday that the dosa bread is made of pure dal (lentils), which surprised me because it had a potato consistency. The lamb dish was not bad either. It was really spicy, so i'm glad they didn't dumb down their dishes for "non brown people" like my friends and I.
The owner came out and chatted for a bit. She said that everything is made fresh and not prepared in advance. And I think thats why I enjoyed the butter chicken more than I usually do. It wasn't stored in a pot a week beforehand.
Dosa Corner will satisfy those who are familiar with indian cuisine, as well as those who want to try sri lankan dishes or something new altogether. -
Review from Ian B.
Calgary, AB
Oh the dosa - I love your golden and crispy outside and soft white insides. dipped in the authentic south indian chutneys and sambar. I felt like I was back in a small dosa hut in Mysore.
It was a 7pm dinner, and we had the place to ourselves and we had a great chat with Mary the owner. Once this place gets discovered, it will be very busy. Yes, they have other things on the menu, but the dosas are what my family came for. Seeing my little one (4 yr old) was having trouble with the little spice there was in the masala dosa, Mary brought her some less spice masala filling on the side.
She also brought us some complementary veg pakoras and even a free refill on the mango lassi. holy cow, you don't see that these days
We could not finish all 4 dosas, and will eat them for lunch tomorrow. The prices are also very reasonable.
The decor is typical indian, with a few nice touches, but on the whole it feels like south India - other than the -20C outside.
Well worth a try if you like dosas -
Review from Mia T.
6/16/2011
Heard about this little place in FFWD last year. Have since been back twice with other friends and family. There arent enough words to describe how amazing the food is, and you can tell its cooked with love. The staff are friendly are so accomodating, and the prices better than any other Indian/ Sri Lankan restaurant Ive visited. Its a small and simple restaurant which is exactly why its so appealing. Only clincher is the crappy parking, but its worth the few block walk, if you cant find any in front of the restaurant. Cant wait to go back again!
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Review from Kameron H.
Winnipeg, MB
9/14/2011
Amazing food with great flavour; such a great experience. I had the Mysore masala dosa with a sweet lassi; wow.
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Review from Merry K.
5/28/2010
Thanks to a post on You Gonna Eat That, I decided to try out Canada Dosa Corner. I'm always looking for new "hole in the wall" type places in the NE to try. Definitely head over to her blog to get the full back story scoop on this restaurant.....now on to the food.
I had never been to a Sri Lankan restaurant before so I wasn't sure what to expect. The owner was very helpful in giving recommendations about what to order. Unfortunately, the menu doesn't have any descriptions or pictures so you are kind of lost unless you get help or know Sri Lankan food. I've eaten their twice and both times I got ulundu vadai to start with string hoppers with chicken korma and korthu for the main course. The ulundu vadai is like a savory deep fried donut served with a spicy sauce. String hoppers are vermicelli noodle nests that you spoon the korma (curry) over. Korthu is a chopped dish that has onions, bread, egg, meat and ????. It's kind of like a hash. It's spicier than you would think since it's not saucy at all.
Overall the food is very, very good. I find it very inexpensive for all the food you get. It is quite spicy. I think the spice is nice but my Canadian friends have mentioned that is quite spicy to them. The owner is very nice as well and very appreciative of the business. It seems to be her & one other lady working there so if you walk in & no one comes to help you, you should let them know you are there. The food is very fresh & is made to order. It is not super fast but you can get in and out for lunch in 1 1/2 hours.
One thing to mention....I found that the food was very different the two times I visited. Great both times but not the same. I was okay with that but it might bug some people. It's also hard to get exactly what you had the time before b/c they will often throw things in & then when you ask for it they're not exactly sure what you are asking for.
Sorry for the long review. I would definitely recommend you give this place a try!Listed in: Favorite Lunch Places in…
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Review from Sarah T.
Updated - 3/21/2011
Visited this place again, with my clan, for my mom's birthday, and now it's been officially confirmed as their new favorite Indian restaurant as well. Or maybe that's just because we're in the same family, we have the same tastes, but whatever, try it out aleady!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/23/2011
Oh Forest Lawn you get such a bad rap, that people miss out on amazing ethnic restaurants like… Read more »
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Review from Shannon H.
Calgary, AB
7/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
So something must have changed between when we came here and the rest of the reviewers, because this is the *first time in my life* I've ever walked out on a meal before they finished serving. Let me describe my experience.
Service:
There was one other table when we came in, and although they had 2 servers working they never once came to our table to refill drinks or see how things were without us calling them over. The water tasted like it had chalk in it - not sure if the glasses weren't clean or they are bringing in their own water source; I've tasted Calgary tap water, it doesn't taste that bad. All 4 people at the table ordered bottled drinks after one taste of the water. They would only bring one thing out (to a table of 4!) at a time, with a 5-10 minute gap between EVERY dish. I asked if he could take our dinner order THREE TIMES and he actually refused. He told me to wait until he'd brought all the appetizers before we were allowed to order the main course. Of course this meant a 20 min wait between the last appetizer and first main course. The server NEVER ONCE cleared away dirty dishes or cups, so by the time we got to the main course we had a couple big piles of dishes stacked up on the end of our table. I had to ask him to take them away, and even when I did that he ONLY took away one pile, the other one was still there when we abandoned ship.
Food:
Of the three appetizer dishes the first one was actually decent but every subsequent dish went downhill from there. The remaining appetizers were over fried, lacking in filling and bland. The first Main course was served alone, with over a 10 min wait until the next one, so the table passed the one plate around and everyone had a bite. Again, bland, uninspired and the crepe-like bread was so large that it rested on the table on either side. When the second main dish came out (some kind of fried rice) we all had a taste and everyone agreed that it was the worst we'd had. After tasting it you immediately got an aftertaste of rancid fat in your mouth, so the dish basically sat untouched. We left before trying the third.
While waiting the requisite 10 minutes for the next main to come out we all kind of stared at each other and decided we needed to go somewhere to wash the taste out of our mouths, so we paid (full price, even for the dishes that didn't get delivered!!) and walked out.
Ambiance:
I don't mind a little run-down charm, but this place was a joke. The one sign on the outside had the words 'EVEREST RESTAUARANT(sic!) SRI LANKAN FILIPINO' with the EVEREST and FILIPINO coloured in with a sharpie, so evidently they changed their menu but didn't bother to change the sign. The one over the door is a worn out sagging banner. The music was a bollywood film that would freeze for about half a second every 3 seconds, but I never got to ask the server to fix it because by the time he emerged from the kitchen after taking our appetizer order (20 min later) the film had finished and was showing test pattern. The plates were a mix of dollar store plastic and the prison 'individual food compartment' tin serving trays.
This restaurant was so far beyond terrible that I'd rate it a -5 if I could. The only thing good about the experience is that it was desperately terrible for everyone that we could do nothing but laugh about it.
DO NOT GO HERE unless you are a food masochist.
