Brampton resto serves up joyful Punjabi tandoori
Diners in colourful party clothes stream into Brampton’s King Tandoori at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night. A security guard joins them. The uniformed guard stands just inside the 24-hour restaurant that attracts late-night crowds with its sizzling tandoor plates and homey cooking.
Since switching to an all-hours format last year, King Tandoori has had to call police “two or three” times for weekend night altercations. So it hired a security firm four months ago.
“It’s safer for everyone. Sometimes we have customers who are a little rowdy, a little drunk. We need someone to keep them in check,” says co-owner Karan Anand.
A security guard is just one remarkable element of King Tandoori; I know of no other restaurant to employ one.
The other is the joyful, exuberant Punjabi food. King Tandoori’s stuffed flatbreads, complex curries and oven-blasted meats have earned the Star’s first four out of four-star review of 2019.
King Tandoori is a family restaurant with five GTA locations. Jalandhar-born chef Surinder Anand started it in 2009 and still oversees all the kitchens.
The slick and well-staffed Kennedy Rd. location wastes no time sending out a plate of raw vegetables to clean the palate between bites: white radish, red onions and carrots compellingly dressed in anise and onion seeds.
“It’s salad for Indian people,” says regular customer Nitin Dadar, popping in for a 9 p.m. snack of tandoori quail ($4.99 each).
Also from the clay tandoor oven: Tightly curled tiger shrimp ($14.99) splashed with tangy red sauce and fragrant minced chicken kebabs ($9.99).
Oily aloo gobi ($9.99) disappoints but reshmi kebab ($9.99) is as perfect a chicken breast as there is out there.
King Tandoori marinates its meat for at least 24 hours and it shows here: Tender, yes, but also slightly smoky, like Narinder Biba singing Punjabi folk songs.
The food is even better one kilometre away at King Tandoori’s Rutherford Rd. location. This is the original restaurant, where founder Anand works.
During the day, it does steady business in construction workers and businessmen; takeout is big.
Despite the bare-bones decor — the restaurant is partway through a renovation that will replace the bare fluorescent lighting — this is where King Tandoori truly earns its fourstar rating.
Chili- and herb-flecked fish pakoras ($9.99 a pound) puff and crunch brilliantly. Chicken legs ($2.99 each) are roasted to order and garnished with marinated cilantro and white cabbage.
Blistered naan ($1.99) is wonderfully pliant.
Health-conscious diners can order their curries “noncreamy,” although a side-byside comparison of chicken tikka masala ($9.99) with and without dairy proves that cream elevates the sauce from primitive to primo. And why deny oneself the delicious richness of mattar paneer ($9.99), garlicky dal makhni ($9.99) and clove-scented saag with lamb ($9.99)?
Then there is the Amritsari kulcha ($7.99), a meal on a metal tray.
A pat of butter slowly melts atop the paneer-flecked flatbread.
Inside are mashed potatoes, melting onions and many coriander seeds. Tray compartments hold thin yogurt, tamarind relish and a serving of chana masala, or chole in Punjabi. These chickpeas are as soft as a Kashmiri shawl but pack a chili wallop.
Taken altogether, it’s a marvel: crisp yet floppy, dry yet greasy, spicy yet cooling. Every element has a counterpoint.
Back at the Kennedy Rd. location, a sign near the wellstocked bar reads: “No alcohol will be served after 1:50 a.m.” Security guard Sahajpal Mann, whose shift ends at 4 a.m., explains why his presence is important.
“It will deter 80 to 90 per cent of altercations,” the police foundations student says.
Faced with trouble, Mann will issue two calm warnings to leave; after that, it’s considered trespassing and the restaurant will call 911.
Mann also makes sure no one drives home drunk; he calls a cab or Uber after getting the owner’s permission to leave his or her car overnight in the parking lot.
“Yes, it gets stressful,” Mann says.
So enjoy King Tandoori any time.
Just behave.