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Guru Restaurant and Bar
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am - 11 pm
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
11 reviews for Guru Restaurant and Bar
11 reviews in English
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Review from Mitch L.
Edmonton, AB
2/25/2012
The food here is amazing. If you're at all a fan of Indian cuisine, you owe it to yourself to give Guru a try. Their butter chicken is definitely among the best I've had, and the naan bread is pretty good too, although the garlic naan was a bit crunchy for my liking.
The service was excellent. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive and didn't make any mistakes with our orders. In addition to his excellent service, a chef and a man who I assume was the manager also asked how our meal was. They clearly feel that the quality of each and every customer's dining experience is of the utmost importance, and it's a very nice touch.
Be warned that Guru is a little pricey. I'm normally not one to complain about price if the quality is commensurate with the cost, and it definitely is at Guru, but on the other hand $5 for a dish of rice is a bit offensive. (The entrees don't come with rice or naan, so you have to order those separately, which makes the menu look deceptively cheap when you just glance at it.) If Yelp had half-star ratings I might dock half a star for that, but since it doesn't I'll round up. At any rate, it's a minor complaint; just know what you're getting into and you won't be surprised or disappointed.
In summary, Guru is excellent. I would love to go back again, and I think anyone with a taste for Indian food will be pleased by their menu. -
Review from Fred K.
Edmonton, AB
4/14/2012 1 Check-in Here
For my first time going there, I would say it was quite nice...well the food anyways...portion sizes were quite nice...had the butter chicken wrap and I must say it was very tasty and I was nicely satisfied at the end of it.
One thing that wasn't so great was the waitress we had...at the end of it we needed change from a 20$ and she asked us if we either wanted the change back first or how much she should bring us back...we were quite shocked she even asked that...
Besides that the staff was quite attentive (probably helped that there was us and 1 other table at the time)...as I think the chef and maybe the manager also came to ask us how our meals were...and one thing that really impressed me...I asked for a straw for my friends son...and the waiter brought it and handed it to me on a napkin...very fine dinning =)
I would recommend coming here between 1-3pm for lunch as it wasn't busy at all...great for a quick lunch or a business/working lunch. -
Review from Lea A.
OK. So. I liked it. But...
...I didn't fall in love with it, especially not for the price. Maybe we didn't order the "right" things -- veggie samosas, saffron rice, garlic naan, lamb curry and beef vindaloo -- but it was only "all right" to me.
Don't get me wrong, the naan bread is probably the best naan I've ever had. Ever. I also really enjoyed the veggie samosas and the presentation and sauces that came with it. Still, my palate thinks the down-home taste of Shafi's samosas are the best in the city (until I taste something different).
I think where things started to just go "okay" for me was the curries. They were tasty. Just not $21 worth of tasty. If I were paying that much money for one dish, I want it to make my eyes roll back in my head. It didn't.
The interior is beautiful and the service attentive. Definitely a date place, classy, and I appreciated the head chef coming out to the tables to see if everything was all right. That added an extra level of class to the place, in my opinion.
Maybe we should've ordered one of the tandoori options or something else, but overall, while I liked my experience, it tasted good... I would take my fine dining dollars elsewhere.Listed in: Drop A Pretty Penny
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Review from M K.
Edmonton, AB
3/19/2012
Went to Guru for my husband's birthday last night and overall it was a very mixed experience.
Starting with the bad. Our server, to put it politely, was kind of an idiot and incredibly inattentive for how empty the restaurant was. I know some people are not meant to be servers, myself being one of them, but please just do your damn job correctly. For example
- do not bring the bill before you have asked if we want desert/coffee/tea/etc
- do fill up our drinks more than once during our meal
- when someone says they will have a pepsi or coke...you do not need to say "we carry coke products".....awkward pause...."I will have a coke then"...it is in fact inferred that the person will have a coke since they already gave you that option. Other negative in my mind was portion size: too small for the amount you pay.
On to the good. Food was excellent excellent excellent! And the chef was very diligent once he learned that my husband had a tomato allergy. It turns out much of the menu was tomato based so my husband's options were very limited. The chef gave suggestions on the best tomato-free menu options and when my husband was not fully satisfied with these options, made him something that was not included on the menu. Talk about sensitivity to allergies and excellent customer service! As far as food goes, it was definitely some of the best Indian I have had.
Unfortunately, I don't think we will be back due to the cost to food ratio. If you have a pretty penny to spend, definitely a restaurant to visit. -
Review from Aditya R.
10/25/2011 2 Check-ins Here
You heard me!
Guru is serious Indian food made with taste, quality and an appreciation for the aesthetics of plating. I came here with a friend. I had a $40 groupon that I had to use up, so why not - I thought. We went with two orders of kababs to start. One was the adraki seekh kabab or in layman's terms a minced beef kabab flavored with ginger. The other was a chicken breast kabab flavored delicately with herbs and garlic. Both were tremendous in taste and created quite an awesome taste explosion in our palates.
We went on to get naans and two really delicious curries. One paneer based and one chick peas based (remember we had had quite a bit of meat already). Delicious food, great atmosphere, pricey I suppose, but really meant for the serious diner. Guru is an interesting example of fine fare. Don't expect the food to be cheap.
Bill comes to roughly $100 for two people with drinks, but is so worth it! It's the best Indian food I've had in Edmonton. They don't do buffets (thank you LORD) either. I'm tempted to go ahead and say that it's quite authentic too. (I'm invoking the "I'm Indian after all" card)Listed in: Green massacre
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Review from Kent M.
11/21/2011
I had been recommended Guru by several people, so I decided to book my office Christmas Party here. It was a big hit, and despite the fact that some of the guests do not have overly exotic palettes, it was appreciated by everybody!
Working with Jeet to organize the dinner was a great experience. He set us up in a private room that was very quiet, intimate and comfortable. There were ~11 of us in total. Jeet collaborated with us on the menu, as we did not want to use one of the preset combinations. He was very accommodating.
The service was great - it did not take long to get drinks refilled, and the food was very quickly prepared. Our dedicated server was nice, attentive and knowledgeable about the dishes offered on the menu.
The food was delicious. Although the appetizers didn't do much for me (I tried the shrimp pakora, and the vegetable fritters), the mains and dessert were excellent. The mutton curry, beef vindaloo, and chicken tikka were especially tasty! They provided several varieties of buttery, flavorful naan to accompany the mains and soak up all of the flavourful sauces. The dessert of gulab jamun served with a sweetened-condensed milk sauce was rich but SO yummy, and its texture was perfect.
I was definitely impressed at the quality of the food at Guru, as well as the service. Often, when bringing in a large group, the service and speed for the meal can be compromised, but Guru was prepared, and everything went perfectly. I'll be back to eat here again! -
Review from Maggie D.
Edmonton, AB
1/22/2012
Its such good food...I absolutely love their butter chicken and naan. Its so delish!
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Review from Karen M.
Edmonton, AB
4/1/2011 ROTD 4/22/2011
I tried out this restaurant the other night with my husband. My first time trying Indian food. The experience was great! The staff was friendly and the service was great. We even had the chef come out and talk to us with some suggestions for our next visit on how to pair some of the dishes together.
I will definetly be back! -
Review from Paula K.
4/10/2010
Guru is a different kind of Indian restaurant. Instead of offering the usual all-you-can-eat buffet with an a la carte menu, Guru offers gourmet meals thought up and prepared by an executive chef who obviously takes a lot of pride in his work. The lunch menu are combo plats that include naan bread, vegetables, and rice, while dinner is totally a la carte.
We stopped in for lunch. After perusing the selection of appetizers which include chicken tikka and butter chicken samosas, we decided to go straight for our meals. He chose the butter chicken while I opted for the Guru Daal, a combination of five different kinds of lentils in a creamy sauce. Daal is actually my favourite vegetarian choice at an Indian restaurant and I wanted to experience Guru's take on it.
Our extremely friendly hostess did a great job of explaining everything about the menu and our choices. While we waited for our meals, we looked around at our very elegant surroundings. Low lights, warm colours, with a windo into the kitchen adding some light and connection.
Both of us were taken aback by the artful presentation of our meals. I tasted the butter chicken - rich, with just enough kick in the sauce. My naan daal was yellow-based (it is usually served in a brown butter sauce) making for a much lighter meal. A scoop of white, long-gran rice adorned our plates as well (which did not have any flavour to it, in and of itself), as well as an assortment of grilled vegetables in a light seasoning. I should add at this point that I hate brussel sprouts. The two that faced me went down as easily as the rest of the vegetables, which included potato, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrot ("We like to serve English vegetables with the meals," our hostess explained). My dish had the addition of fried okra, slightly salty and very crispy.
My lunch date loved his butter chicken and enjoyed the mildness of it. We ordered an additional piece of naan ($3) to make sure we did not miss any drop of sauce. It was served by the Executive Chef himself who told us a bit about his philosophy when it came to spices. Dessert options would have been mango or bread pudding, but we found the portion sizes to be absolutely perfect and did not want to overdo it.
The Guru Daal was $12 while the butter chicken was $15. Most of the lunches were in the $12-$18 range and included tandoori chicken, beef kebabs, and a few other vegetarian dishes. While it is true one can get a buffet for around the same price, the quality of Guru's meals is stellar. As well, I am someone for whom portion size can be an issue and did not feel like gorging myself.
Guru is a classy place to enjoy a classy meal - a definite must-try in the west end. -
Review from Beth M.
Edmonton, AB
7/22/2011
Went to Guru for the first time last Sunday. The atmosphere was very nice and our server was great! Had the vegetarian samosas to start and they were delicious especially with the tamarind sauce. I had the beef vindaloo which was just the right amount of heat and my husband had the butter chicken which was the best we've ever had! So tasty and the chicken was very tender and moist. The fresh hot naan bread was awesome! Would totally go back again.
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Review from Natalie M.
Edmonton, AB
9/28/2010
I went to Guru a little while ago, but totally procrastinated in writing a review for it. So I am finally writing one now. I was meeting a friend for lunch and the place was really quite, meaning there were not too many people. Walking in I felt a little out of my comfort zone because the place looks so high end. If the deco don't make you feel like you are in a high end restaurant than the prices sure will. There main dishes were about $15 and up. I got the butter chicken and my friend go the Rajasthani Lamb Curry. When the dishes came out there didn't seem like there was very much on the plate considering you were spending a lot of money. The butter chicken was very good... I am really good. Nice rice and excellent sauce. I ended up having trouble finishing my dish. My friend enjoyed her dish too but wished the portions were larger for the price. If I had lots of money I would eat at Guru more often than I actually do (once every 4 months, if I'm lucky) considering I'm just a poor student. It's a great place to bring a date if you want to make a good impression.
