Mahek Restaurant & Lounge

ain't no place bettah for butter chicken...

Location: Surrey

Food:

Started off with 3 appies: Vegetable Samosa w/ Mango Chutney, Onion Bhaji (rings) as well as the Garlic Chicken Wings - all 3 of which were fantastic.

Vegetable Samosas - 2 per order; stuffed with potatoes and tasty esp. with the accompaniment of the mango chutney
Onion Bhaji (rings) - nicely battered, good portion size
Garlic Chicken Wings - lovely; marinated and drowned in nice, thick, curry - it was a pleasant surprise

The appies fared well in our books, but the real highlights of the night were the entrees. We ordered the Butter Chicken and the Shaki (lamb ) Korma. Both of which were sublime - excellent flavours, ample portions and they both came out piping hot! :) The latter deserved an extra 2 brownie points in our books as dishes are typically served hot, but never piping hot. Yes, it makes that much of a difference! We had also ordered rice and naan bread separately.
The butter chicken was, undoubtedly, one of the best I’ve ever tried, and the lamb korma (under the recommendation of a friend) did not disappoint. ** Note: Shahi Korma: Lamb cooked in a milky, creamy gravy of spices.

Mango Lassi - Great, haven’t had a disappointing mango lassi...yet.
Fuzzy Navel (cocktail) - Good but nothing special. Didn’t skimp out on the alcohol or anything (a lot of places tend to do that)

Service:
Good. Average service. Nothing to rave about although the owner did come by a few times to check up on things. He was friendly and approachable.

Value:
3 drinks, 3 appies and 2 entrees = $65 sans tax and tips. Definitely worthy of your money given the fine quality of the food. Portion sizes were ample and relatively generous (compared to other indian food establishments) as well.

Ambience:
One of the first indian restaurants that also served as a “lounge”. It definitely had that loungey-feeling: dim lighting, loud -but reasonably volumed- music, as well as several spacious booths, although I would say about 50% of their patrons were families.

Overall: 8.5/10

Yay: Definitely a go-to/must-try if you're itchin' for some REALLY go indian food...esp. butter chicken....*drool...

Nay: For us Vancouverities, Mahek is relatively far - a good 20-25 min. far - but definitely worth the trip :)

** Interesting note: Mahek was listed in the Vancouver Eating & Drinking Guide as one of the few restaurants in Surrey worthy of a visit.




Posted by: J

*Scoe's Perspective:
Mahek was a phenomenal experience! The food was delivered promptly and to my liking - it was flaming hot (and i LOVE flaming HOT foods!) like a Flaming Moe from the Simpsons. Firstly, the flavours in every dish were very exquisite and mouth watering. It was like a bhangra in my mouth. In additon, the Indian music and environment fired off a nice ambience. From the pats on the back to the jokes, the service was very upbeat and friendly. They even recognized me from my first visit! Furthermore, it was not too expensive. I still had a nickel to floss my teeth with. I had gone to Mahek twice in one week and in both instances, I was VERY VERY satisfied, if not, over-satisfied. Overall, I give this restaurant a 10/10, as I believe it is the best Indian Restaurant in the Lower Mainland!