Over winter break, I went on a road trip with my family to Toronto, Ontario. While we were there, we had the unique opportunity to eat at an extravagant Indian buffet-style restaurant called Brar’s. The best part of this experience was that this restaurant was 100% vegetarian. With over 16 selections of appetizers, 12 different traditional North Indian curries, 10 South Indian selections, 8 Indo-Chinese options, 10 Indo-American choices, 12 salads, and 16 desserts… it was certainly difficult to figure out how to try everything. 

1st Course: Appetizers 

Pictured in this image are some dahi batata puri and behl puri from the appetizer section of the buffet. Dahi batata puri is a popular type of chaat (Indian street food) that originates from Mumbai, India. This chaat has its name dahi batata puri, since dahi (yogurt), sev (fried thin gram flour), batata (potato) and puris (thin crispy shells) are used to make this snack. From the toppings bar, I added some chutneys (sauces) and the toppings to put together this appetizer. 

Behl puri is similar to dahi batata puri in that it is also a popular chaat item and contains many of the same toppings/ingredients. The key difference is in the base layer—puffed rice and flatbread chips—that can be eaten by the spoonful.  

2nd Course: Main Meal (Part 1) 

Pictured in this image is my plate from the Indo-Chinese section of the buffet. Pictured are chili paneer, gobi manchurian, hakka noodles, veggie fried rice, a veggie spring roll, Thai mango salad, bhaji, and some chutney. 

Chili paneer is a dish that basically involves stir-frying Indian cottage cheese (paneer) with various vegetables in a curry of soy sauce, green chili sauce, and spices. Gobi manchurian is a dish that is filled with crispy cauliflower florets tossed in a spicy, sweet and tangy manchurian sauce which is a brown tangy sauce with chopped ginger, garlic, soy sauce, coriander, and spices.  

Hakka noodles is a Chinese preparation where boiled noodles are stir fried with sauces and vegetables. The Thai mango salad was made of sliced mangos in a sweet and tangy dressing. Bhaji is a traditional Indian snack that is made by frying or baking potato-stuffed mild chilies in a basin mixture. This was in the Indo-Chinese section as there was some chili-soy sauce in the potato mixture, giving the traditional dish a little twist. 

This was by far my favorite part of the buffet so far. However, at this point I ran into a little dilemma—I was getting full. But, I decided to continue trying the other selections in the buffet, in smaller quantities. 

3rd Course: Main Meal (Part 2) 

My third plate was from the traditional North Indian curry section—As I was getting full, I decided to prioritize trying the dishes I do not normally get at home/other Indian restaurants. As I am South Indian, and get the opportunity to eat this cuisine on a daily basis at home, I decided to try the North Indian curries and skip the South Indian section of the buffet. I chose to sample a teaspoon-full of 9 of the different curries with rice in the middle of the plate—a true mini-thali (small portions of multiple dishes in one platter) style.  

4th Course: Dessert 

As you can probably expect, at this point of the meal I was way beyond full. But, with an array of desserts that were so beautiful, I had to at least sample a few of them. Pictured in my plate are jalebi, mango rabdi, rasmali, and rose kheer. 

Jalebi is a dessert that is popular throughout South Asia and West Asia, probably originated from Iran or India. It is made by frying a flour batter in pretzel or circular shapes, and later soaked in sugar syrup.

Mango rabdi is a popular North Indian sweet made from milk. Basically, rabri is thickened sweetened milk having layers of cream in it. It is traditionally flavored with cardamom, saffron, and dry fruits and pistachios. This restaurant’s rabdi in was a unique take on the traditional dessert, with a mango flavor. Rasmali is similar to rabdi, but does not have the mango flavor—instead, it is the traditional cardamom and saffron flavor base. The flavors of these spices in the cream made for a delicious, rich base. 

Rose kheer was the most interesting of the desserts—flavored with rose extract, an extensively used extract in candy making and Mediterranean cooking, rose extract adds a unique flavor to pastries and desserts. This dessert was definitely an experience in itself—all the flavors were incredible.  

The Final “Course”: Coffee 

Of course, there is no better way to end a meal than with a nice cup of coffee. This dining experience was an experience like no other. I highly recommend that Indian food lovers (or buffet lovers in general) eat at Brar’s at least one time in their lifetime, as there is truly nothing that compares to both the quality and variety of options in a buffet.