Mezbaan Fine Indian Fusion (Vancouver)

Butter chicken…. Hum… Butter chicken… Somehow I just felt like having butter chicken with naan. Perhaps it was the cold weather tempting my palate to have something that would be filled with spices. Coincidentally, there has been an Indian food place that we wanted to go for a while. Since we were nearby and it was open, I got to curb my butter chicken craving.

Located on Kingsway just over Boundary, Mezbaan has a small store front where you’ll likely pass by without noticing. Not that the sign wasn’t bright enough, it’s probably because there no other stores/restaurants around. They serve buffet on Mondays and Wednesdays, yet we were able to get buffet on a Saturday night too. Compare to Saffron, the dinner buffet price was very cheap - $10.95 per person.

Butter Chicken

Finally – butter chicken! Despite being buffet style, the butter chicken was very well done. The flavour as a whole was well balanced and the creaminess was also just the right amount. It was so enjoyable that I couldn’t remember how much I ate with the naan.

Mutter Paneer

This was a vegetarian curry where green peas were mixed with cheese curd. It has a bit of yogurt taste but wasn’t overly thick.

Lamb Roll / Tandori Chicken

Lamb Roll
The curry flavoured lamb roll looked like a regular spring roll. I thought the skin was a bit thick and chewy. As for the taste, it was alright.

Tandori Chicken
The tandoori chicken drumstick was well marinated. Perhaps it was on the warmer for a while so it wasn’t very juicy. Still, it was quite tender (at least for the one I got).

Garlic Naan

The garlic naan was freshly made and served at your table. When freshly out of the oven, it was the perfect combination with butter chicken. Although it was garlic flavoured, it wasn’t too garlicky. On the flip side, it complimented the curry dishes well.

Vegetable Biryani (Sorry... no single shot)
This was flavoured rice with vegetables. I only had a little of it since I was eating naan most of the time. With the amount, I couldn’t tell whether it’s good or not.

There were a couple other types of curry – for example, there was the coconut shrimp curry which had a sweeter tone. The vegetable curry was quite strong in flavour, particularly from tomatoes. Aside from rice, you could also get papadi (or Indian chips) which I was quite addicted to.

I wouldn’t say there were a lot of selections but the butter chicken won over my heart. Not only did I not curb my butter chicken craving, it left me wanting more.  I guess you can say it’s a good sign and I wouldn’t hesitate to head back even just for the butter chicken and fresh naan.