house of dosas

i don't usually write reviews about restaurants, but i was so upset with this restaurant that i felt the need to tell other wishing to dine in there. my friend and i had went to enjoy a good dinner from this place since we've heard many good things about this place but our experience turned out the complete opposite to what expected. we got seated in a long table setting (with little tables connected to eachother), so we had one of the little tables to ourselves. others that were sat next to us were literally so close we were touching elbow to elbow. it was so awkward. we had ordered two appetizers (the masala dosa and idly) and then 2 lassi (mango lassi and sweet lassi) as well as our main dishes to come after the appetizers. we were seated before the other two couples sitting next to us and they had gotten their drinks and utensils before we had. we obviously understood it was a rush and kindly let them know we were waiting on our drinks as well. later, both the tables got their appetizers and we were just here patiently waiting for our own, because we aren't the type to bug the waiters while they're working. i myself work in a restaurant and was more patient because of how i've experienced busy days. it was a busy day, but they were plopping people anywhere they could find a place so they could give them coldfoodand shitty service and then expect tips in the end. going back to our dinner, we finally received 1 out of the 2 appetizers and i had also asked the waiter if the other one was one its way as it had already been 25 minutes for us just waiting on our appetizers. she had assured me it was coming soon so we decided to wait for its arrival before we start eating, since i didn't want to be rude and start eating before the person i had came with had gotten their appetizer. it was 10 minutes already waiting for the second appetizer so we ended up sharing the one that we had in front of us. at this point we've been waiting 35 minutes for the second appetizer and we were quite annoyed that it hadn't come and neither did our lassi drinks that we had ordered. the waiters came by with our main dishes and we were confused as to why the second appetizer hadn't come. one of the waiters told me that they could "leave thefoodin the kitchen until our appetizer comes" and this is where they were exceeding my tolerance. i told the waiter that we've been waiting 35 minutes for our drinks and an appetizer and we'd just take thefoodfor now. they gave us our drinks in the middle of us almost having finished dinner and then the manager came with the dosa and said it would be on the house. we were not looking for free food, just getting ourfoodon time would've been nicer than watching the people next to us eat and leave already. the manager tried putting it on our table but there was no room for the dosa whatsoever and he slid it on to the table next to us, who were very upset themselves as they had no room for their dishes either. when the table had left, the waiter came to clean the table and took our utensils along with theirs and had mixed our water glasses so we had to get new glasses(which took 5 mins to reach us). we had asked for two more roti which came to us in 15 minutes. this was absolutely the worst service i have ever had. when it came time to leave, we asked for the bill and the waiter (who was rather rude and impatient) told us to go to the front, and i had said that i would just like to see it and he said go to the front. no manners and no etiquette. we went the front and when we got the bill, the dosa that was supposed to be on the house was still on the bill, and then i had to verbally explain to the cashier that their manager had put it on the house. when he heard it, he was giving so much attitude towards my friend and i. i did not feel the need to tip as the service was terrible, very terrible. i do not recommend this place to anyone.

i rarely ever go out for indianfoodbut i've heard so many things about house of dosas that i just had to try it! i've never had a dosa before but i'm quite the crepe lover so i knew that i would love it. they had so many varieties to choose from that i had trouble settling on one because they had so many vegetarian options but i finally decided to go with  the masala dosa which was filled with a flavorful, spicy potato mixture. it also came with a few dips to go with it. i would definitely come back and now that i know about their $6 monday special? definitely coming back on monday next time!

best dosa. this place has some of the best south indianfoodaround!

don't worry bout the decor or the service thefoodis great!

monday's all dosa's are 5.99!

we ordered gunpowder dosa and madras dosa (both chef’s special). both were accompanied by tomato chutney, coconut chutney, sambhar, vada and idli. the portion size were large andfoodwas fresh and served hot. the good thing about the place is it’s open late nights. in terms of taste thefoodwas average as i have had better dosa’s in past. but i would like to go back and try something else.

stumbled upon this place by accident and were surprisingly pleased with what was on offer. the variety in their menu struck us and their daily specials looked enticing as well.

we started with the basic idli, vada and plain dosa. thefoodwas excellent and quite tasty, relative to the standards back in india. it was nostalgic to experience the limca soft drink experience here.

for the main course, we decided to go with the crab curry special that day. it was served along with rice, a special type of bread (malabari paratha) and the gravy was damn delicious.

service was fast. staff were courteous and willing to help. ambience was minimalistic and the focus was firmly on making it a memorable experience for their guests through their food. highly recommended for authentic south i dian and sri lankan cuisine without burning a hole in your pocket.

food: 5/5
service: 4.5/5
ambience: 3.5/5
value: 5/5

i think this is a great place for indianfoodand it has become a spot for indians to hangout .. and most importantly it is open till 3 in the morning.

2.7. the quality offoodhas slipped over the last couple of years. when we went they seemed to be understaffed as there were only two servers for the entire restaurant. they were very friendly, but it took awhile to get to us which was expected. we had gone back a couple of times, but unless things start to change we will not be returning.

what a fantastic place for dosas, they’re also open later than most restaurants and they have the most yummiest south indianfoodi have tried! so much to choose from and each dish, each preparation tastier than the last. love it, can’t wait to go back!

it's seems like a small family run place. we ordered chicken 65, a lamb dosa and a fish vindaloo dosa. they asked us how spicy we wanted and we told them very spicy. the chicken 65 was well fried and the chicken was tender but it was not really chicken 65, the chicken 65 is always tossed in ginger garlic- curry leaf based- masala which this one was not. 
anyways the biggest disappointment turned out to be the dosas. the dosas were really below average. we used to get better dosa at our college mess compared to this. first everything was missing salt, two other people asked for salt so it was not just us. the sambar, if you could call it that, was just flavored water. the chutneys were just meh. the lamb dosa had tons and tons of potatoes with few small bits of tough lamb mixed in. you could feed that seafood dosa to a vegetarian and he would never guess that they had fish cuz the fish was blended in with the potatoes if we didn't know that we ordered seafood vindaloo dosa we would have never guessed cuz you couldn't tell fish apart from all the potatoes. also vindaloo is a very spicy vinegar based curry which this was not. the potatoes mix for both the dosas tasted same (just like mashed potatoes) . we asked for spicy but everything was just plain bland.

i guess this place is more for non indian people who have never had a good dosa before, but as an indian this is a average dosa at best. having said that it is cheap and affordable and tastes ok so if you like cheap fillingfoodthen you can try this.

i’ve only had dosas twice before, so i am not a dosa expert, but i do know tasty. the dosa was crisp and light. the fillings savoury, flavourful and fresh. the coconut based condiments refreshing. the staff was efficient and friendly. ourfoodcame quickly, but we did not feel rushed. we has the eggplant and cauliflower/potato; both delish. i would go back again and again and again. hope you like it too.

great food. i got the experience of having my food, straight from my grandmother’s kitchen. the pure authentic south indianfoodin the city of vancouver. the kind of service here is really very good. the restaurant staffs over here, keep their customers happy and satisfied. special thanks to wasam and shilpa, they are one of the staffs in this restaurant. their service and approach are par excellence, no more words to say about them. house of dosas is totally meant for itsfoodand hospitality.

we ordered chicken dosa, medu vadai and chicken biryani here on our visit today. it was very crowded, and there was a long queue of people waiting. luckily a table for two was there and we got it. thefoodwas served pretty quickly despite being so crowded.

thefoodwas decent, the chicken dosa could have been crisper on the outside, and the chicken masala inside wasn't up to the mark. it had a bland taste, no salt or no spice. medu vadai was decent, it was not at all crispy on the outside as it should be. the sambar and the chutney was okayish too, can be improved a lot i felt.

only saving grace was the spicy chicken biryani, which was yummy, the chicken pieces were succulent, tender and moist. the rice was beautifully mixed with the spices, and the chicken. the additional curry and the raita that was served with biryani age adds flavor to the dish.

overall 2 for the efforts / service and the ambience + 0.5 for the chicken biryani


edit: i found it’s good to visit these place when it’s less crowded.i ordered rava dosa and veg pakora this time which was quite good to what i ate last time. so i am changing the rating to 4.

update:
after a pretty rough experience at the restaurant earlier this week, where issues in the kitchen resulted in some extreme delays (scroll below to my original review for details), i received a message from the owner apologizing for the bad experience and inviting me back to the restaurant for a complimentary meal. i took him up on that offer, and returned to the restaurant for lunch on wednesday. since i've already had their famous dosas during my previous visit, i wanted to try something else off of their menu, and ordered the chicken biryani (details on the dish below). the dish was delicious (and they are serious when it comes to heat), as was the dosa that i had tried earlier in the week. the staff was incredibly friendly and attentive. what really got me though was the owner's graciousness and dedication to his customers. following this visit, my perception of this restaurant has completely done a 180. i would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for good indian food, especially if you enjoy heat.

chicken biryani ($13.99):
4.5/5
this is the first time that i've actually had biryani before, and i've got to say, if all restaurants had biryani like this, then i really should order this dish more often. i really liked the basmati rice, which was a bit firmer and had more texture than the type of rice that i'm accustomed to. it was filled with various herbs and spices, and was very flavourful and fragrant. there was a generous amount of juicy, boneless chicken (i'm delighted by the fact that they use dark meat) that was well-seasoned and very flavourful, and also a small whole egg. now, you get to choose the spice level for your dish. i initially requested the dish to be as spicy as possible, but chickened out (no pun intended) and asked for the 2nd highest level of spice instead. i had seriously dodged a bullet: the dish at the 2nd highest level of spice was already seriously hot. in most restaurants when i ask for myfoodto be spicy, i usually get something that's just mildly tingly; here, i was actually tearing up and had to drink a lot of water and also use the raitha that they served the dish with to numb the pain (i wouldn't have been able to handle the highest level). they seriously don't pull any punches here, and i'm impressed.

original review:
i really don't like writing negative reviews, but i've honestly had the worst dining experience in recent memory at this restaurant. i visited the place on a monday, which is when they have a special where all of their dosas and uthappams were priced at only $5.99. unable to resist such a great deal, i decided to order two dosas: their meat & mixed vegetable dosa (with chicken) and their cheese garlic uthappam. thefoodtook over one hour to arrive. i'm not exaggerating: i ordered before 1:30 pm, and it was well past 2:30 by the time my dosas arrived. i've never walked out of a restaurant before, but i seriously came close. i have no idea what happened, whether this was just a rare, unfortunate misshap or something common to this restaurant, but i was seriously ticked off.

the food, when it did finally arrive, did taste pretty good (details below), but honestly at that point anything probably would taste good to me. although the staff members at the front of the house were relatively friendly and kept my water glass filled, and the prices are an absolute steal on mondays, i'm seriously quite put off by my experience and will not be returning any time soon.

meat & mixed vegetables dosa (chicken, $5.99 on mondays):
4/5
this consisted of a long, thin crepe enclosing a filling of potatoes, peas, carrots (and some other vegetables) and chicken, and was served with three separate chutneys. the crepe was soft, slightly chewy, and quite tasty on its own when dipped into chutney (my favourite is the red one). there was a generous amount of filling, which was also very tasty: thefoodwas well seasoned, with a slight bit of heat, and the pieces of chicken were very tender and moist.

cheese garlic uthappam ($5.99 on mondays):
3/5
this is an indian-style pizza that's topped with garlic and cheese. unlike western pizzas, the crust was more fluffy and tender than doughy. i was quite surprised by the amount of garlic that was present; there were large pieces covering the entire top of the pizza, and the flavour did become a bit overpowering. i would have preferred more cheese (you can never have enough cheese) and a bit less garlic.

'house of dosa' a name which stands its value. if you are in live with this particular dish, you will find a variety in this place. we need to wait for 10 mins as it was crowded. it is better if if you have a reservation.foodquality is really good and value for money. their biriyani preparation was brilliant.

no doubts, thefoodis really good and a decent place where we can go eat midnight. but the last few incidents which happened in the past, i would like to share one of them.
so what happened we called the restaurant at around 11pm and asked if they're open , which they replied they were open till 2am. we went there at 12:45 and they were like we're closed. either don't give your words or manage how to run a business. we specially drove for 40kms to have it but they turned it down. and plus they never apologized for this and again when it comes to customer satisfaction, staff is pathetic. they need to improve on it. total waste of time.