Narayanni’s

Narayanni’s has been around for 9 years but I’ve only encountered it recently. Last month, I was invited down to their restaurant off Whyte Ave to try out their Indian food, which has South African influences. They have recently begun offering a four course lunch buffet in addition to their current dinner buffets. Their lunch buffet is only $12 while dinner buffets are $25. Definitely a great price considering the authentic quality and tastiness of the food. The interior of the restaurant is vibrant and spacious. It’s family owned and very family oriented. “Mamma” Selva cooks the food while dad Daya is in charge of desserts. Daughter Youmashni Naidoo acts as host. The name of the restaurant, Narayanni, means Indian Goddess of abundance and is also the name of Naidoo’s first granddaughter. 

The restaurant prides itself on using locally sourced ingredients as much as possible, while avoiding MSG. In house spices are also created such as hand-ground masala and chai spice mixes, chili chutney, and lemon pickles. There are gluten-free options and a vegan buffet offered on Tuesday nights. Basically, Narayanni’s caters to a variety of different dietary needs.

I was offered a cup of homemade chai latte which uses housemade spices. There are only two milk options, regular or almond. Unfortunately, I can’t drink regular milk so I went with almond milk. I’m not the biggest fan of almond milk in general so I felt that it really overpowered the chai spices. There were still hints of vanilla and cinnamon with each sip though. If there was a different milk offering, such as soy, I would’ve been more satisfied with my chai. For pistachio lovers, a pistachio chai is also offered. 

Roti bread is offered with their lunch buffet for an additional cost. It’s made to order. The pan-fried bread was flaky and tasted excellent with their vegetable curry soup. I enjoyed using the soup as a dip for the bread. 

The featured soup at the lunch buffet was a vegetable curry soup. It was very light and mildly spicy. The soup, along with the roti bread, was the perfect appetizer before I enjoyed my hearty and filling lunch.

Their salad offering was a traditional wedding salad. It was my first time trying anything like this but hopefully in the future I will be able to taste it at an actual Indian wedding! The salad was a combination of shredded vegetables in a flavourful dressing. It was a refreshing addition to the meal as I would eat it in between bites of the savoury food.  

The main courses that day was potato curry, chicken curry, butternut squash, and green beans. It was accompanied by basmati rice. The potato curry was my favourite but that’s because I love anything with potatoes! It had a mild spice level as well so I was able to bear it out. The chicken curry on the other hand was very spicy. It was delicious though so I had to bear the pain (yes I’m very weak when it comes to spice!). The chicken pieces were huge and tender. I enjoyed the chicken curry mostly with the rice to kind of ease the spiciness. Their vegetable offerings were butternut squash and green beans. 

Dessert was a cinnamon infused rice pudding. Absolutely delicious! It was a comforting end to my spice filled meal. The rice pudding was warm and with the right hint of spices from the cinnamon. It was a perfectly sweet ending. If I hadn’t been so full, I would’ve definitely had seconds of this! 

I definitely want to return to try the dinner buffet. If you’re new to Indian food, like me, the lunch buffet is a great way to venture off into something out of your comfort zone! The food was authentic, heartwarming, and comforting. I had an awesome food adventure here!