rasoi

great indian food, excellent services, and reasonable prices. we had the lentil soup, onion baji, and beef kababs as starters. for our main course we enjoyed the butter chick ( rich, sweet and sophisticated) and lamb korma ( delicate yet savoury ) . great wine selection and eclectic ambiance. high end indian fusion par excellence.

i had nan of it and loved all of it

rasoi monteal. soul music, cocktails and indian food! what a perfect trifecta!

delicious!

this place was amazing! my girlfriend and i came for valentines ! the service was exceptional and the food was delicious!!!

simple and relaxing. to start off, know that i am by no means a critic of great caliber, nor do i consider myself finicky. that said, i'll sum up my experience at rasoi: succulent, with more layers of flavor than i expected.

appetizers: venison samosas. while i am not a fan of samosas, as i find them bland, the they prepared it with some kind of beet/berry sauce to dip or spread with the samosas. the dip really accented the taste of the venison and it was to my liking. accompanying the samosas was a little simple salad with a light creamy sauce, twinge of spiciness to it enough to remind me that i was indeed at an indian themed establishment, and helped bring the ambiance of the food to come.

table d'hote: i had butter chicken (fusion, right?) and korma d'agneau.
salad to accompany our meals. simple salad. balsamic/pepper/oil. not filling, nothing special, but appreciated in anticipation of a main course.
nan? garlic nan. good quality nan, not too much garlic, just enough to give it the flavor i was looking for in my garlic nan. a plus in my book (i had bad nan before, i didn't even think that was possible, but yep it is. so good on rasoi for good nan.)
basmati rice was better than most, rice wasn't too dry, not overly cooked, and not oily. great to go with the main course.
so. butter chicken. wow. usually butter chicken is so north american that there's no real way to get other flavors into it easily as its main taste is very overpowering. well, i could tell there were some added spices which i really liked, and it gave another layer of taste to the butter chicken i wasn't expecting, and was rather fond of. no idea of which spices, due to not being too food savvy, but now all other butter chickens i will try will pale in comparison :'( .
korma d'agneau. i didn't know what to expect - i love lamb so that's what i wanted. so it was, as the butter chicken was, in a little dish that was put over a small candle to keep warm (a good idea really). the lamb was tender and fell to pieces easily, yet not overly cooked. there was some hint of mushroom it seemed, yet no mushrooms themselves. i am not a mushroom fan, but the sweetness wasn't fighting the dish, it complemented it.
it came to my surprise that i almost liked the korma d'agneau more than the already delectable butter chicken. all in all, the 2 dishes were side to side in terms of tastyness.

i recommend rasoi to anyone who wants to eat indian food, that is westernized, then re-easternized (fusion i guess). hard to describe. it's delicious. if i had more space at the end of the night i would have delved into the desserts, but alas, i was thoroughly full.
they doggy-bagged our leftovers and now i'm looking forward to you, friday lunch!

disappointing attempt at indian fusion food. my friend and i went in with great expectations, as we love trying out indian food at different restaurants. the ambience is great, so we took that as a positive. however, the food was the actual negative - we ordered the potato cakes and fish pakoras as the appetisers, and the paneer and fig pizza as the main. the potato cakes and the fish pakoras were not fusional - the cakes were basically the 'aloo tikki' that you find in indian cuisine, however it wasn't as tasty as the 'tikki' should be, and the fish pakoras were good, but they were more like fish fingers (like fish and chips, without the chips) and not representative of indian cuisine at all.
we were skeptical after the appetisers, but came to the conclusion that the pizza actually sounded good, and that nothing much could go wrong with it. but we were wrong. the paneer on the pizza had been melted rather than being left as chunks, as if it were similar to mozzarella and not feta, but we were more-or-less okay with that. however, the pizza sauce was almost disgusting. it was unbearably sweet - some sweet sauce had been added to the cheese, and the reason why we had a problem with this was because the pizza already had figs. you cannot add a sweet sauce when there are already figs! when we told the server about our issue with the pizza, he said that it is meant to be sweet. but you know, when you order a pizza with salty items like paneer and basil, you do not expect the pizza to be sweet - you expect a good contrast between these salty items and figs. the only innovative thing that was interesting about the pizza was that it was on a naan bread - we found that creative and interesting.
furthermore, it was expensive in terms of the price-quality relationship. yes, there are some nice restaurants like pizzeria geppetto and limon in that neighbourhood, but the way for rasoi to push into that niche market there is to produce good food to compliment its high prices.

4/5 for rasoi. we ventured to a bit of a different area of town than we're used to to try rasoϊ, as it is located in saint-henri in the borough of le sud-ouest. it certainly seemed like an area that is experiencing a gentrification, as there is about a 50/50 mixture of vacant, run-down store fronts mixed with flashy, beautiful new businesses. rasoϊ is one of these businesses. named as one of the top new restaurants in canada 2013 by urbanspoon, this place found itself on my hit list.

i had made a reservation in advance and the place did fill up completely throughout the evening, so i would recommend doing so. entering the restaurant, i was dazzled. this space very well might be the most beautiful, vibrant room that i had ever feasted my eyes upon. i'd never seen anything like it. this experience was like dining within a piece of art. jewel-toned cushions, exposed brick with ornate mirrors and picture frames adorning the walls, deep woods, and the ceiling! the entire ceiling is a gorgeous, bright floral mural. you could find something beautiful to see in every direction that you look. the menu is written on a chalkboard, and it could be assumed that the items available might alternate regularly. our server was especially friendly and helpful, answering any questions that we might have had.
the drink menu listed a few yummy-sounding cocktails, so i decided to begin my experience with the la belle femme (lillet blanc, gin, mango juice, soda, basil & cinnamon - $10.00). this was nice and fresh and tasted tropical and sultry all at the same time - actually, that might be the perfect way to describe indian food altogether. only this restaurant is definitely going for a more hip take on indian food, and not necessarily trapping themselves into a traditional and authentic box.

i am beginning to learn a lot about "table d'hôte" and that many restaurants, even sometimes lower-end ones will offer it here. it's not a new concept; it's a multi-course meal with only a few choices and is charged at a fixed total price. we would normally call something like this a "set menu." this is offered at rasoϊ, where you can turn most of the main dishes into a table d'hôte for a higher price, of course. we decided to do this, but began with an appetizer first: pakoras de poisson ($9.00). these were nice. while the batter was far from authentic, the flavour was delicious and i loved the presentation. the batter was very crunchy and grainy, but again, they are doing things their own way. the fish inside was moist and tender, and the raita for dipping was perfect. although i would have liked to have received a second dipping sauce of tamarind on the side. not the best fish pakora that i've ever had, but a really nice interpretation.

by going with the table d'hôte our meals came with either a soup or salad. the soup was lentil that day, so i selected that. the amount of soup in the bowl was deceiving! it almost seemed bottomless! a really nice and thick soup that managed to be light and mild while packing a spicy punch at the same time.
for the main event we chose two dishes to feast upon; the poulet de beurre ($25.00) and the korma d'agneau ($30.00). because we were doing the multi-course meal, these dishes were also served with naan bread, basmati rice, and cucumber raita. these are all things that we would have ordered to accompany our meal anyway, so it made a lot of sense to go the route of having them automatically included.
the entire spread was quite incredible. the butter chicken had a bit of a different flavour than i'm used to, and was a little bit more yogurty - and i loved it. the pieces of chicken were large and juicy. i like putting raita on my butter chicken and curries, and it possessed the desired tangy zip. the rice was mainly standard, but still created the bed for the rest of my food to lay atop. the lamb korma was something different because i'm accustomed to having vegetable korma instead. i also usually like to order lamb curry, so this plate was the perfect combination of two of my favourite dishes. the bowl (kept warm by a candle burning underneath) was refined and the pieces of lamb were cooked to a savoury perfection. i also really loved their naan, which was just a little bit chewy and completely pliable.

to cap off the meal, i asked for a cup of masala chai. they make each cup to order, so it takes a little while. normally real indian restaurant chai is my favourite thing in the world, but i found this warm beverage to be just a little bit too spicy and bitter for my tastes. don't get me wrong, i enjoy my chai straight and without sugar, but i felt that this chai was a bit overdone.
the spices and depth of flavour of india are abound at rasoϊ! they don't offer buffet, so if you're of the indian buffet persuasion, this is not the place for you. it is worth the visit simply to experience their stunning dining space - but the food satisfies as well.

for the first main dish, we opted for a great indian classic : the butter chicken. in a small chafing dish, we get a generous portion of juicy chicken pieces in a tasty traditional butter sauce. you can choose the side dishes you like; we decided on a bowl of basmati rice and a naan bread to dip in the sauce. there was no way we wouldn’t finish it to the last drop!

c’est par un vendredi pluvieux que j’ai décidé avec ma copine d’aller essayer ce nouveau restaurant indien cuisine fusion du sud ouest. il se situe au 3459 notre-dame ouest, c’est juste à côté du marché atwater. avant de commencer, si vous voulez juste savoir si vous devez y aller ou non : vous devez y aller . pour les autres, je continue avec ma critique. pour ceux qui ne le savent pas, j’aime bien l’indien. j’ai essayé le cari mela dans le coin qui était pour moi un choix sûr. par contre, je dois dire que rasoï est dans une classe à part du cari mela, c’est beaucoup plus de qualité. en entrant, vous pouvez déjà y voir une atmosphère différente. pris sur la page facebook c’est fait pour être plus zen. ma banquette avait des petits coussins sur celle-ci, on ne trouve pas ça partout. le menu est assez simple, mais offre beaucoup une dizaine de choix. tous, sinon presque tous, les mets sont indiens. il y a le grand classique du poulet au beurre et tandoori. nous avons commencé avec une e

a+ over all. great first experience! the service is friendly and efficient, alot of thought was put into the decor and its adorably eclectic, but best of all the food was fantastic, great taste combinations for all the dishes our table was served. as an added bonus the menus (both food and drink) are varied enough to fit everyones tastes!

great restaurant!. went to rasoi for a girls night with 5 other ladies!!
the menu is extremely varied, good for meat-lovers and vegetarians alike. the meals are great for sharing or for leftovers the next day.
the service was attentive and the bubbly waitress did everything to accommodate our tastes and explain the menu to us.
rasoi is a modern fusion restaurant with elegant décor, great food, and an amazing experience!

wonderful experience. the food was fresh and delicious. the service was friendly and efficient. can't wait to come back. what great addition to the neighbourhood.

excellent food, great service. i was very impressed with my first experience at rasoi. our waitress was bubbly and had great suggestions for what we should order. we ordered the fig & paneer pizza, and the mango salad. the pizza was delicious, i love that it was on a naan crust. the mango salad was the perfect balance between sweet and spicy. we went on a friday night and the restaurant was busy and booming, but our waitress remained attentive to us which refreshing in what seemed to be such a fast paced environment.

eat here. this place was amazing! the atmosphere was fun and young, the drinks were delicious! my favourite drink is the bollywood baller and my favourite food is the fig and paneer pizza!
it was awesome, our waitress was lively, attentive and entertaining. i can't wait to go back!