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Maroli
Categories: Restaurants Indian Restaurants Diners Indian, Diners [Edit]
630 Bloor St WToronto, ON M6G 1K7
Neighbourhoods: Koreatown, Palmerston, Seaton Village
(416) 483-5393
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 4 pm - 12 am
Fri 4 pm - 1 am
Sat-Sun 12 pm - 3 pm
Sat 5 pm - 1 am
Sun 5 pm - 12 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
John F. said: "We ate here due to a Grupon coupon that we purchased, as it is a bit far from out West End home. But we will certainly come back. The large room is comfortable and accommodating, with indented black upper walls to cleverly give the…" read more »
21 reviews for Maroli
Review Highlights
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"...day, advertising the weekly special on the Malabar Chicken." In 4 reviews -
"Egg curry, please get yourself familiar with my belly." In 3 reviews -
"You can also get Appam, which is a rare find in the city." In 2 reviews
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21 reviews in English
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Review from Vicky W.
North York, ON
1/9/2012
Went to there Malabar Food Festival a few years ago and was blown away.
It was a huge buffet for $25 and I had never tasted Indian food like it before. I was super impressed.
Went again for lunch a year later and a few weeks ago, I used a groupon I had purchased a few months ago that was going to expire.
Food: Indian Food from the province of Karali. Someone knows what they are doing in the kitchen in regards to spice.
Atmosphere: not much
Service: Friendly and efficient.
I noticed they are no longer open for lunch. I asked why and he replied "not enough business". I truly hope these guys survive. -
Review from Edwin A.
It's saving grace was the 10% off Yelp check in offer and the Malabar chicken we came to try, tasted liked some spicy curry coated deep fried chicken fingers. Heart palpitating yum!
It was eerily empty that night which was not a good sign. And yeah the flies. Oh well. -
Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
We decided to come to Maroli for dinner, not because of all these 4/5 star Yelp reviews, just because Maroli promised authentic Malabari cuisine.
Don't come to eat at Maroli if you not used to fruit flies circling you or your food while you eating!! I was waving my hands non stop through out dinner trying to make them go away... No I am not crazy, it was not my imagination!
Food was OK... not bad... but nothing memorable.... like I would want to come back to eat again... since there are tons of Indian restaurants in GTA... tons and tons!!
I did request Indian spicy... not knowing that one of the Yelpers cannot handle spicy...but turned out Indian spicy is as usual not Indian spicy.. we all survived.
Usually I remember all the food I ate... but here at Maroli I don't remember much.... only the flies.... and oh the 10% first time discount if you use your Yelp App to check in.
But at least I have good companions... oh who were I eating with?! Let me think....Listed in: India and Sri Lankan eateries…
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Review from J Y.
Toronto, ON
3/20/2012
I came here with a groupon voucher with a friend. I was excited to try some of the chicken, since I've never had Malabar chicken, but they were celebrating some sort of food festival at the time (for two days). I happened to come by during that festival, and their regular menu was unavailable.
The food was passable. Maybe it wasn't as good to me because I really wanted to try that chicken. I wouldn't order it again though.
The mango lassi wasn't very good either. The waiter serving us made it sound like a mango smoothie, but it was too sour to be considered that. That was a major let down too, but perhaps that's just what a lassi is (I don't know, I've never had it before that). All I know is I won't be ordering that again, here or at any other restaurant. -
Review from Janna S.
8/25/2011
The food here is decent but I probably wouldn't come out of my way to dine here. I shared orders of the Maroli salad, Beef Syrian, palak paneer, roti, and naan bread. The server seemed really keen to make sure we ordered naan bread, which was strange since it's not one of their specialties. It was pretty oily and tasted more like Bannock, an old-fashioned style of Pioneer/native American bread. Very heavy but not bad.
The best dish was the salad by far! The dressing definitely had coconut oil in it but the taste was really wonderful. Crunchy and fresh. I don't normally order salad with Indian food but I'm glad I did here. The beef syrian was also good and not too dry. It had plenty of flavor and spice for my liking, but the palak paneer lacked something I usually associate with this dish. The roti was good, albeit a bit dry.
The atmosphere here is very laid-back and casual. I liked the low lighting and the decor - not too shabby at all for what some might call a "hole in the wall". This place really stands out in a neighborhood surrounded by Korean food, so if you're in the area, it's worth a try.
Pricing seems pretty much on par with any other Indian restaurant, but it's a lot more than the cheap Korean places nearby, so keep that in mind. -
Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
11/25/2011 1 photo
More so than the Food, there was a consistent image in my mind 'til now.
From Meal start-to-finish, I was hoping to see that image dissipate.
It never went away and this simply proves one simple THEORY...
Treat each Customer as if they were your last(or as Family).
By no means were we not properly served, just the service lacked Enthusiasm.
Lacked warmth, welcome, all those connections to make it complete.
Originally I thought to face-off the Malabar Chicken to Southern Fried Chicken.
After a quick observation of texture and flavour components, it's not reasonable.
I will rather compare it to another Indian style Chicken dish instead{1}.
Malabar Chicken vs. Chawla Cream Chicken
($9.99) ($14.99)
A version of Chicken Shish Kebob I A version of Campbell's Cream Chicken
Add'l coating of spices outside I Add'l spices in the Cream/Milk Sauce
A variation of Tandoori Chicken I A non-curry variation of Butter Chicken
Dark Meat perfectly cooked juicy I Dark Meat perfectly cooked tender
Mediocre hot-spicy at best I Not meant to be hot-spicy at all
$1.00 per bite. $$$ I $1.50 per bite. $$$$
~~Winner~~
Malabar Chicken
(by a beak)
------------
{1} Not to be taken too seriously, just a fun concept(Face-off dishes). -
Review from Shakila H.
Toronto, ON
2/5/2012
Amazing fish vattichattu, beef samosas, fried chicken and everything else. I order delivery so never been to the restaurant, but always friendly service.
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Review from Ben S.
8/22/2011
I've been spending a lot of time in Toronto recently, without a a kitchen, so I've eaten out at a bunch of restaurants in the last month. This is one of only two that I've been to that I would say I would come back to.
We had the fish vattichathu and the vegetable curry dish that had a coconut milk sauce, and an order or roti and basmati rice. The fish in particular was excellent. Spicy, but flavorful. I recommend it highly.
The interior was nice, clean and upbeat, and they are open late. The wait staff was friendly and attentive, without being overbearing. They explained what would be a malabari vegetable option to us, and also recommended we switch fish dishes, which I think was the right choice. Overall a very nice experience.
The only reason I am not giving it a 5 is that it ends up being a bit on the pricey side. Meal ended up being about $40 bucks with tax and tip. I'm simply not used to paying that much for Indian food - in the US rice, and even bread, are often included and those things add up quickly.
Anyway, definitely enjoyable and I would come back again. -
Review from Erin B.
7/17/2011
Holy cow! Was this place ever a treat! A friend dragged my hungry ass here between Fringe shows this past Friday. I wasn't expecting much and I was very pleasantly surprised.
It's a hole in the wall, to be sure. But the food was spectacular and the chef (or at least a very personable fella wearing a chef's jacket) took the time to explain each and every step involved in making parantha, which left us feeling like he actually knew a thing or two about cooking.
We ordered rice and bread along with four dishes to share: the egg curry, the beef Syrian, the chana massala, and the kadai vegetables. All of them were tasty. The egg curry and the kadai veg were particularly spicy and delicious. The beef was a tich on the dry side. Still yummy, but could have been better.
The beer selection was bottle of bland blonde beer, bottle of bland blonde beer, bottle of bland blonde beer or bottle of creemore. Underwhelming, to be sure, but I'd been aching for a beer since about ten minutes before we got in line for the last fringe show, so the fact that they were all served cold and with a clean glass was more than enough for me.
The room was small, cozy and quirky, which was comfortable enough until the family of ten with the screaming children sat behind us. From then on the room seemed cramped, disorganized, and loud. Not really the fault of the restaurant, but definitely impacted my dining experience.
The food was so great, though, that I'll find any excuse I can to go back. -
Review from Tina H.
2/11/2011
Pretty decent. Nothing amazing but good. Butter chicken is good. I got my order for take-out.
Toronto is not short of good Indian restaurants. This place is pretty good but not amazing. I'd get take-out from here again if I were in the area and needed take-out. -
Review from Ramanan S.
Toronto, ON
7/15/2010 1 Check-in Here
If you are judging Indian restaurants based on their butter chicken, i'm sorry to say you are doing it wrong.
I quite liked Maroli. There are so few choices in the city for Indian food that isn't North Indian in the city, especially downtown. Maroili serves the sort of Southern Indian food you'd find in Kerela. They have Chapatti's and Paratha, rather than the Tandoor oven Naan's you find all over the place. You can also get Appam, which is a rare find in the city. (I like Sri Lankan style Appam much more.) The dishes can be pretty spicy, though you can order them mild if you like. Their Malabar Chicken is pretty good, as fried chicken goes, but my friends and I all enjoyed their mussels dish the best. The stewed Beef Syrian was soft and flavourful.
The service was excellent. The staff are really friendly.
This place is definitely worth checking out if you want to try something different when it comes to Indian food. -
Review from Rachel L.
Toronto, ON
12/26/2009
Christmas. Two Jews. One refuses to eat Chinese (WHAT?) and every sushi place is closed or doesn't do delivery (WHAT?). So we went down the slightly less traditional route and found that Maroli delivers on Christmas. We deem this a Christmas miracle.
We ordered butter paneer and butter chicken, both of which are good. The rice was INCREDIBLE, the raita was good, and the roti tasted like Moroccan m'semen, which is good but I wish we could have ordered naan. My friend inhaled his samosas.
If this were under circumstances, I think I would have given the meal four stars because it was good (although the rice alone is worth five), but they really did save our Christmas.
The service, however, was impeccable. When I called to see if they deliver, no one picked up, but a moment later they called me back to say hello! And the woman on the phone was careful with all of the information and the delivery man was wonderfully friendly.
Thank you, Maroli! -
Review from Catherine M.
ON
11/11/2008 5 photos
I went to Maroli on Bloor St. West back in April and am just now getting around to writing this review! I really enjoy Maroli and have stopped in more than once since.
I first noticed Maroli's flashy advertising, which openly mocks the KFC a few doors down (the strategy being the contrast between their delicious Malabar Chicken and the Colonel's "bland" variety). I had also been somewhat desperately handed fliers on my walk home every day, advertising the weekly special on the Malabar Chicken. Take a guess what I ordered? Who says advertising doesn't work?
The Malabar Chicken doesn't really come with much, I ordered an extra side of Malabari roti. The waitress was very concerned that this would be too dry and asked me if I wanted a side dish (I think she offered lentils). I told her no, I thought it would be fine, and we bantered back and forth about how spicy the chicken was. I sat back and waited in the near-empty restaurant and read a book of spices they had at the front.
When the food came, I was not disappointed. A hearty serving of rice with the deep red boneless chicken pieces, crispy fried and coated in spice. There were a few meek raw veggies underneath but they seemed to serve as garnish more than anything. The bread was chewy, warm and pleasantly oily, a nice (though yes, dry) contrast to the juicy chicken chunks. The waitress underestimated my tolerance for spice and I vowed to get it "really spicy" next time. She laughed and said it's hard to gauge what people think spicy is.
Overall the food was good and the ambience decent. The wait was long but the food was obviously fresh cooked and therefore worth the wait. I noticed happily that the place is licensed, although I did not indulge on that visit. I vaguely recall some mixup with my order but it was sorted out pleasantly and obviously wasn't worth jotting down in my notes. I paid with a card but I can't recall if it was debit or credit. The atmosphere is relaxed so it would be a nice casual place to take friends. Most entrees are between $8 - $12. -
Review from Rose Ü.
Toronto, ON
7/11/2011
I found the food quite good. The Vegetable Biryani was especially nice with lots of vegetables and not too much oil. I got take out, but I would go back and eat there. The staff were very friendly.
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Review from Shari M.
Toronto, ON
1/12/2010
Really, really, really disappointed by this place.
For a place that is to have some of the best butter chicken in Toronto, it was a great let down. The butter chicken was okay. Not even that good, just okay. They use large chunks of white meat. The meat is very dry and bland.
The roti tastes very similar to Irish potato cake, not roti. The beef chili was horrid. We didn't even eat it. The basmati rice, nothing special. I could have made better at home.
The best thing was actually the pakoras. Very fresh and not greasy at all.
If you are in Little Korea and are craving Indian (odd location for this place, btw), pop in. You can get a lot of food for the price. I just found the food was really lacking in flavour and complexity.Listed in: For the Love of the Annex
Comment from Naveen p. of Maroli 2/4/2010
We at Maroli was really sorry to hear about your experience… More » -
Review from Gautham H.
1/11/2009
Its been a while since Ive been on Yelp. i used to live in San Francisco (and worked a couple of blocks from the Yelp HQ), but for the longest time they didnt have Yelp in TO. Now that they do, I couldnt think of a better place to start my re-reviewing than Maroli.
To start with I just wanted to say that I had this food delivered to us, so I cant really speak to the restaurant's decor or service. I will say that since I had mentioned that this was a special going away dinner for my friend, the owner called me up personally the next day to ask how it was, and I was amazed by this simple gesture.
The food was great overall, with a slightly different menu from your standard North Indian fare. They do have butter chicken, but they also have fish moilee, and other coconut based dishes, which are typical of southern Indian cooking.
What we had:
Channa Masala, Kadai Vegetables, Dal Fry, Mutton Biryani, Butter Chicken( I had to), Fish Moilee, Malabari Roti, and Appam
For those of you expecting naan, this is not your type of place. The rotis here are completely different in texture and taste, and I personally like that. Also, for a taste of something totally southern, I would recommend the rice flour based "bread" called Appam. The thing I liked most about Marolis food, besides the flavors, was that it wasnt greasy. Many of the Indian restaurants that I have ordered from in the past tend to have more grease than curry in their dishes(and I mean you Biryani House), and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the containers that the food came in were not soaked through with grease.
I give the food 3 1/2 stars and a 1/2 bonus for attention to detail and service. -
Review from Nick A.
Toronto, ON
8/31/2009
I came to Maroli with a friend of mine after the place we had wanted to go was closed. It ended up being one of the best meals I've had in a while. This place first caught my attention with its snarky signs directed towards a neighboring KFC. I had certainly given KFC enough tries, I might as well try this I thought.
I tried the Malabar chicken, which the menu claims is their specialty and my friend had the butter chicken. The Malabar chicken was bright red, spicy, and crispy pieces of chicken served with a sauce similar to Sriracha sauce. It was the perfect level of spiciness and was very flavorful. My friend claimed that his meal was the best butter chicken he'd ever had.
The atmosphere in the restaurant was comfortable and pleasant and our waiter was nice and thankfully attentive with water refills. All in all a great place with some of the most flavorful Indian food I've had. -
Review from Connie T.
Toronto, ON
Updated - 11/22/2008
Wow. Talk about the power of Yelp. The kind business owners at Maroli got in touch with me through this site, expressing their concern about my previous salty dish experience and would make all attempts to clear that up in the kitchen on my next visit.
The fact that this entrepreneur is interested in getting in touch with customers, even for average reviews, is really uplifting. I would've come back to this restaurant, as mentioned in my review, but this is one more reason to support them again.
Egg curry, please get yourself familiar with my belly.Listed in: Toronto: Meals under $10! (And…
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/20/2008
My mom's from India, and one of my favourite dishes was her boiled egg and meatball curry. When I… Read more »
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Review from andrew a.
2/7/2011
Uh, i was expecting alot more as so many great reviews and a mention on some list somewhere about them having some of THE best wings. Thought I would really wow my friends with my wing order from an indian place, gotta say, they were A-Ok but not A-MAZING! going back to try something else next time, maybe something a bit more indian
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Review from Ed L.
10/21/2010
Just came back from dinner with my wife at Maroli, and we both enjoyed it immensely. Not a deep menu, but very good food, fresh, well-prepared, home-made chutneys, and attractive presentation in an updated dining room. Friendly, efficient staff. Most of the clientele appeared to be from the Indian sub-continent, and seemed very happy to be there.
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Review from Alan K.
London, ON
11/18/2011
A charming little place that serves Indian food, predominantly from the state of Kerala (in the south of India) although they do have some northern dishes too. I've always wanted to try food from Kerala and so dinner here was quite the treat for me. When I first opened the menu, I was a little dismayed to see how high the prices were. It's not that they were overly outrageous or anything but they were definitely higher than I had anticipated. But when I received my food, I could see that the portions were plentiful and thus, there would be a lot of leftovers (or enough for 2 people). I tried their pakora (bit plate full!) which came with a vindaloo sauce rather than tamarind chutney. The pakoras were beautifully fried and the vindaloo sauce had quite a bit of kick to it. For my main course, I tried their beef syrian, mixed vegetables and rice. The beef syrian was definitely quite a bit different from any other Indian meat dish I've tried as the spices were a bit different from any North Indian dishes I've tried and it had a distinct coconut taste to it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the meat was nicely moist. The vegetables were amazingly fresh and surprisingly not too mushy. Service was pleasant and efficient which is something I appreciate. A nice change of pace from the regular Indian fare.
