- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Coffee & Tea |
- All
Jambo Grill
Category: Restaurants African African [Edit]
3219 KingswayVancouver, BC V5R 5K3
Neighbourhood: Renfrew-Collingwood
(604) 433-5060
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am - 11 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Street, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
12 reviews for Jambo Grill
12 reviews in English
-
Review from Kathleen L.
Vancouver, BC
1/27/2012
Delicious food. I can't honestly say I've had much( if any) East African food prior to Jambo, so I don't have much to compare to but I have loved what I've eaten thus far. I've been here three times now and have no complaints.
Pili Pili Masala Mogo is a great dish for an appetizer. I love the lamb Biryani for my main. My dining companion adores the chai tea and the refills.
The staff is wonderful and always very helpful. The place has an air of comfortability when you walk in the door.
I highly recommend trying this place out. -
Review from Isabelle G.
Vancouver, BC
12/20/2011
It's difficult for me to give a constructive review on the service considering that my mom is very popular and she is a regular. I tried my best to judge if I was there for the first time by observing the service of other tables. Nothing stellar, but nothing spectacular from what I was observing.
The food is Indian, however, not the Indian style that most of the city is accustomed to. It is African Kenyan style food, very similar to the style my mom makes. The combination of spices was dead on mimicking my mom's cooking. The Nylon Potatoes as an appetizer was awesome. I ate these like chips.
The prices seemed decent on some items, however, were way too expensive in comparison to the portion size. My date ordered steak which was $15 and when it came out, the plate was an appetizer size for one. It was kinda insulting really. If they used a A+ cut I can understand the cost, however, this wasn't a prime cut.
The atmosphere is nothing glamorous but thankfully the food makes up for it. -
Review from Zafira N.
Burnaby, BC
2/11/2010
I love this restaurant, it is one of my favourites. It's very much a fusion african/indian restaurant with a solid theme of Ismaili flavour. The owners, Nash and Yasmin are like my mom's 8th cousins, or something, (so they have no idea who I am), but the food is always delish and Nash makes a point of coming to each and every table and checking in with guests. They're a bit slow for bringing food out and the bill (this is ok unless you're in a rush). In fact, it just means everything is FRESH!
My dad loves the fried beef kabab - great value, and yummy, and I adore the biriyanis and the unlimited chai...my boyfriend on the other hand just likes the "yummy fries" - ahh the gringo - he means mogo, the cassava fries. Which you can get in piri piri or regular:) I actually ADORE the lollipop chicken but it's no good for sharing cause I want it ALL!
a warning, it can get crowded and also cold, so dress for the weather!
~The Diva -
Review from Clara S.
Burnaby, BC
8/4/2010 1 Check-in Here
Mmmmmm.... endless cups of chai. :D
Seriously, I go here with my best friend at least once a month, and the servers know us as the two girls who come to giggle as they gossip and drink LOTS of chai (free refills, woot! but I suggest not drinking more than 4 cups because you'll be up all night -_- Trust me; I learned this the hard way)
The food here is not your typical Indian food as this is more like Indian food with an African influence. I love the chicken biryani, the cassava fries (which you can get spicy, yay!), the garlic naan, and these other deep-fried sliced potato thingies which I can't remember the name of. Their curries are awesome, as well! Mmmm... now I want to go back and eat their yummy food again @_@
My best friend also buys their chai spice mix and makes her own chai at home. It's really good! -
Review from Monica H.
Vancouver, BC
2/8/2010
Painfully delicious. Meaning that there's no way I've discovered to keep from overeating here - it's just too delicious.
Try the Lolipop Shrimp with an extra order or Garlic Naan. Bliss.
Also prices are pretty good. -
Review from Kassim D.
3/7/2010
was at the jambo grill the other night...and while it wasn't horrible, I've had better.
We walked in around 9pm, and waited for 5 minutes to get noticed at the door. We were seated promptly after however without menu's.
The service was a little scattered, one guy came and set down empty glasses and one plate, another person removed those two glasses and brought two glasses with water and plates. A little random...and funny actually
We had the butter chicken, mogo, and ribs...mogo was fantastic and fresh. I've had better ribs and butter chicken - see my review on Simba's and Saffron
The drink selections were fantastic - you can get a Litre of Lassi or Pop, just fantastic.
Overall, not a bad place to get your fix but can't give it top marks. -
Review from Ketan J.
Vancouver, BC
1/30/2011
This place is one of the best for Indian food in Vancouver. It's an African/Indian mix, It's authentic and it's affordable. I'm a huge fan as some of my heritage are Indian and from this part in Africa where this type of food originated. The atmosphere isn't very appealing though but it's small and local. Cups of chai, chicken tikka and butter chicken are so good. Be specific with the butter chicken as I like mine spicy so you'll need to let them know. This place has a little tv always playing Indian movies which is pretty awsome too. All in all local place with some legit Indian food.
-
Review from Sara B.
Vancouver, BC
5/15/2011
Jambo Grill is an East African restaurant in the Collingwood area. This place is really cool and totally different. There curries and butter chicken are not indian style, they are Kenyan style..so they might not be what you are used to at indian restauarnts. Regardless, they are fantastic!! Soo much better than Samosa Garden (barf). The Chicken Tikka is amazing here and the Jungle ribs are to die for. The chai is a little pricey, but you get endless refills so I guess it makes sense.
SERVICE: the service is usually friendly, however, there are friday/saturday nights when the staff are a little frazzled due to understaffing, but they seem like they do try as best they can with such a large number of clients.
OWNERS: owned by a married couple, both relatively friendly. However, they should consider making portions a little bigger or prices a little cheaper. Also, ive heard from others that they can be really rude to their staff at times, in front of customers..
AMBIANCE: really cool and interesting and really unique. This place has a genuine warm African feel to it. It is not your typical bland modern atmosphere. It really is a new experience.
Overall, its a great place. It can be a little slow at times but the food and atmosphere is worth it. -
Review from sarah r.
Vancouver, BC
6/25/2011
Jambo Grill serves up a combo of East African and Indian food. I am from Portland, Oregon, where Ethiopian restaurants are the norm, and other African food is rather limited. That said, I have no previous experience with East African Indian Cuisine, so I have no way of knowing if it is top notch or not. But, I do know that I enjoyed the food, that the staff were great at explaining everything, and it was exciting to try something totally new among friends. To get the whole experience, we all shared a bit of everything, but I especially loved the Pili Pili Masala Mogo, which are basically fries with a dipping sauce. Loved both the chicken and the lamb Biryani, and the garlic naan was also great. The only dish that our group was a bit disappointed with was the goat curry, since it seemed to be made mostly of bone and very little meat. But, to be fair the waitress tried to warn us that it was mostly a "marrow" dish and that we might not be used to it. Anyway, this is the perfect place to go and share amongst friends. It ended up being really a memorable night!
Listed in: For Portlander's who visit…
-
Review from Walt L.
Vancouver, BC
8/15/2009
Stopped off here for lunch on a few occasions. Some of the best butter chicken I have ever had. Good place for lunch as it's not usually too busy so you can always get a decent table. Good, friendly service and fantastic food! I haven't tried any of the African dishes yet but their curries are awesome!
-
Review from Hope Y.
Vancouver, BC
9/11/2009
Maybe me, but first time there I needed an explanation for just about everything on the menu - and they were accommodating. Masai, Kabob, prawn lollipop, etc.., tried most of the menu /w lunch time crowd. The food was good, price was just a little bit too high. Real value is in the daily lunch specials.
-
Review from T M.
Burnaby, BC
9/6/2009
For 13.95 a great combo plate for 1 includes: Garlic Naan, Lettuce/Carrot salad, raita, 1 slice of Kuku Choma chicken, 1 Lamb Kabob, 2 thick pieces of Masai beef ribs and Masala Fries.
I am not a big lamb eater, but the kabob was deeee-licious. The ribs were juicy (yeah. read "fatty" but hey ...that's what makes beef so tasty and tender) and went perfect with the tamarind sauce provided.
For dessert I had the Homemade Kulfi (which the menu said was "an Indian creamy textured ice cream topped with pistaccios and nuts") and chai tea. A small plastic cup was placed in front of me. It contained rock solid ice cream. I had to let it sit for a bit hoping it would become "creamy" ...but I have no patience when I want dessert. I dug in, scraping and scraping until I finished it. I think next time (YES there's going to be a NEXT time) I'll order one of the non-frozen desserts.
BTW the place is clean and the service was friendly and efficient. I was there at the beginning of lunch and most of the other tables held groups of 8-10 people. Only the owner and one server but they made sure there was water and chai re-fills. The owner took the time to chat with each table yet stayed in the "background" to also allow for privacy if wanted.
Now excuse me while I change into my fat pants...
