With one week to go for Burnaby’s celebration of food and drink: Bite of Burnaby, we headed to Kurrywala for their amazing meal deal.
Available until March 31st, 2026 Kurrywala has a four course, choose your own set menu for only $30. And honestly, you get so much food, and so much variety of food, that I thought this is a terrific deal worth taking advantage of.
Not part of it, but a lovely start is a cup of their chai. They do it authentically, made to order and not batched in a thermos. We were able to chat with the chef and he regaled us with stories from his childhood and how he learned from his mother to not have this milk based tea sitting, lest you get stomach problems after. Be warned there is a 15 minute wait for a cup, but its warm embrace is worth it.
As for the Bite of Burnaby menu, I recommend coming with a friend, to be able to try multiple options. The first course was between Gol Gappe or Papri Chaat. I thought the portion size for this and the rest of the courses well measured. Just the right amount of food to have it little more than too much.
The former are crispy-fried puffed balls that are filled with potato, chickpeas, onions, and spices; and served with flavoured water. I have never had this when I had to break into the ball myself, which turned out to be the fun part of this build-it-yourself appetizer. Next you fill the fragile hollow ball with the soften potato and chickpea mix, topping it with some tangy tamarind sauce, before filling the ball with as much or as little cilantro flavoured water as you like, for a literal flavour bomb. This was as fun to eat as it is to build. Crispy and juicy, tangy and sweet, there is nothing else like this popular Indian street food.
Papri Chaat is crispy fried dough wafers, topped with chick peas, diced boiled potato, and yogurt. And finished off with a tamarind sauce and mint sauce. This was like Indian style nachos, but with crunchy pita-like chips. More heavy toppings than baked chips, it had a similar tangy and bright flavour profile as the above. Both great to get the appetite going.
The second course had us choosing between Panner Tikka and Dahi Kebab or Afghani Chicken and Fish Tikka. Either choice gives you two dishes in one, and with two of us dining in today, we got to try all four.
Panner Tikka Sunheri is Indian style cottage cheese marinated with spiced yogurt and saffron, then roasted in tandoor. I liked this one the most between the four, for the enjoyable squeaky chew of the cheese. It was satisfying to have your teeth slide against its thick cut chunks. Its sauce was thick like gravy, and a little sweet like butter chicken sauce. There was enough flavour to want it and have it with rice. Not part of the set, but an add-on I recommend, given how it felt like it needed a base to help sop up some of the extra sauces.
With it we got a couple pieces of the Dahi Kebab. These are delicately spiced and fried rounds of hung yogurt and cottage cheese. Fragrant with the scent and flavour of green onions. These crispy discs were tasty bites as is, but a cilantro-based dipping sauce was available for additional dipping into too.
The second appetizer option had Afghani Chicken, which is tender spring chicken marinated with the chef’s special blend of spices, before getting roasted in tandoor. This sauce was on the punchier and spicer side, which I liked, but I wanted the large chunks of chicken more tender, I found them to be hard and dry nuggets. Thankfully all the sauce it was smothered in helped to soften and add in needed moisture. Although, once again, as is it felt like it needed a starch to help balance out some of the extra spice. And here, the rice played an important role again.
The Fish Tikka it came with was however tender and soft. Each piece easily flaked apart. This was cubes of basa fish marinated in yellow chilli, yoghurt and then roasted in tandoor. It had a tangier seasoning, and felt more fresh alongside the bright coloured peppers.
The third course was our main. Served like a platter with a side of raw veggies, your choice of naan or roti, and an order of Paneer Lababdar. The latter is more cottage cheese cubes sautéed with hints of chopped of onion and capsicum, and left soaking up a tomato and onion gravy. This was a slight variation from the appetizer paneer: less smokey and more light with a curry-like spice; once again the texture was the drawn-in.
Your choice comes from your second dish. There are two different vegetable and meat options to choose from, we went for both of the latter.
Their Butter Chicken is Dhaba style chicken prepared in tomato gravy with plenty of butter. Sweet and creamy, I have the same critique for the chicken here as above. However, I was in it for the sauce and to have it with my crispy naan, and for that I was happy.
I found the Rarha Gosht on the edge of being unbearably salty for my taste. This was a fact that I did mention to the chef, who was attentive, and did come out to check on how each table was liking their food. This was a combination of chunk and minced mutton in a bold blend of spices. I liked the base flavour and found the chunks of meat tender, so thought it was such a shame that this came out as salty as it did. I couldn’t even enjoy it with the rice or bread as a buffer.
And for dessert you have two choices. The Kheer and Gulab Amun was described as a carrot pudding by our server. This was basically a ground up and mashed boiled carrot and softened whole almond salad. There was no mistaking the flavour of the carrot with a faint essence of pistachio. This was my first time trying this, so I was surprised that it wasn’t sweet for an Indian dessert. I likened it more to baby food, and thought that this isn’t what I would expect from a dessert.
The Gajar Halwa is more in-line with what I know Indian desserts to be. This was like rice pudding sweetened with condense milk and fragrances with rose water. A large contrast from all our savoury and rich dishes above, this was definitely meant to be a palate eraser.
In short, I am impressed by how much food and variety you get to try for $30. Truly an amazing deal as a part of Bite of Burnaby, and only available until March 31st, so be sure to take advantage of this one soon.
Kurrywala Indian Restaurant Burnaby
7660 6th St, Burnaby, BC V3N 3М7
(604) 906-0222
kurrywala.net
