NO-FRILLS INDIAN FARE
Tastes worth returning for
It never fails. From behind the divider that separates the kitchen from the cash at Guru’s Inspired Food Bar, I hear a succession of slapping sounds, and all I can think of is the piping hot, impeccably made naan that’s to touch down soon at my table. If I were a dog, I’d be wagging my tail.
During four recent visits, not everything has been as worthy of anticipation at this tiny, nofrills, Indian eatery and takeout counter, which opened last fall in Hintonburg. But along with that fantastic, garlicky flatbread, I’ve sampled enough punchily flavoured and even intriguing fare that I’ll continue popping by for quick, casual meals, despite a few duds and minimal ambience.
Located where the Wellington Sandwich Shop — a Hintonburg fixture for almost three decades — had been, Guru’s seats fewer than 20 at spartan wooden tables amid green and yellow walls, and doles out food in takeout containers, on disposable plates, or wrapped in tin foil.
The menu, which is more geared to giving each customer a plate of food rather than encouraging family-style sharing, is surprisingly large and interesting. While there are practical limitations — proteins here are limited to chicken, shrimp, fish, eggs, tofu and paneer (Indian cheese) — the menu includes not just familiar favourites such as butter chicken and tandoori shrimp, but also wraps and pastas drawing on Indian flavours, plus a few IndoChinese Hakka dishes.
While Ottawa doesn’t yet have a restaurant that serves a wide range of that interesting hybrid fare — Toronto, I observe with frustration, does — Guru’s is one of a handful of Indian eateries in town that offers a few Hakka dishes. At Guru’s, I’ve had the best Hakka noodles that I’ve tasted in Ottawa. They were properly textured, captivatingly flavoured with a hot-and-sour-and-salty mix of soy, ginger and Indian spices, and dotted with tender shrimp or chunks of chicken.
Spicing here can be brusque and significant, as it was with a serving of tandoori shrimp that set my mouth jangling, but in a good way. Less potently flavoured, but very enjoyable, was a kebab of haryali chicken, still moist thanks to its yogurt marinade. The kitchen here also treats paneer with the same green, savoury sauce.
In India, a “Frankie” is a flatbread-based street food that wraps, meat, egg, vegetables and chutney in bread for an easy grab-and-go meal. Guru’s serves two Frankies, one with chicken tikka and the other with paneer, assertively grilled to bring panini to mind. The bites that I tried of my fellow diner’s “Poulet Frankie” left me wanting more. Wraps and Frankies here have come with crisp fries with a bit of spicy seasoning, but nothing as fiery as I’d expected given the menu’s mention of peri-peri.
Chicken tikka pasta was dauntingly portioned, with a tray filled to the brim with large tubes of pasta and chicken that bobbed in a thick, heavy sauce. If any dish cried out to be shared, it was this one.
Other dishes were not nearly as impressive, including two more Hakka items. The bright orange shrimp fried rice was less complex in flavour and could have used more vegetables. Chili shrimp was mostly sauce, and very much short on shrimp and vegetables. A vegetarian curry platter was a pretty pedestrian dish that relied on frozen veg.
With the platter dishes that came with basmati rice and salad, the salad seemed pretty perfunctory. Given that, a better way to go might be to order some items from the “extra dish” category, bring them home, and share them.
Three inexpensive desserts are available, of which I’ve tried some gulab jamun, kindly offered on the house. The syrup-soaked milk and dough balls hit the spot.
The restaurant is not licensed, but sweet, salty and mango lassi drinks are offered, as are turmeric lattes.
Everyone has a different definition of what a good restaurant is. Is it one with nothing but flawless dishes? Is it one that consistently serves a few fine items worth returning for? If the latter definition is meaningful for you, you might find Guru’s, thanks to its naan, noodles and Frankies, to be a good option in Hintonburg.