Naan-O-Licious

I am shocked at how downhill this restaurant has become. I dont know if they have new owners or what but something has certainly changed. I started going to Naanolicious when it first opened and loved the food, service, and abience of the whole place.
My friend and i were craving their butter chicken poutine after not being back there in a while and were shocked at how much the restuarant has changed. What use to be a niceley decorated restaurant with lots of handicrafts on the walls and open veiwing of the kitchen has now been replaced by this tacky white wallpaper and massive out of place Styrofoam looking divider by the kitchen. The floors looked like they havent been swept in a week and my cutlery still had dried food on it.
The menu has changed for the worst. I cant comment on whether the food has changed since we only ordered 2 of the same dish. However, my butter chcik poutine came out with like 10 fries and the rest of it all curry while my friend got the opposite and had tons of fries and limited curry. My dish was more like curry topped with some fries than the other way around. I told the waitress, who was friendly but uncomfortably loud and chatty with a table of people she knew, about my lack of fries and her response was «oh ya I tell him not to do that because its too much but he says that people like all the sauce. I always tell him but he never listens.» And then goes back to chat loudly with the other people. Umm, okay thanks, you compleatly missed my hint.
Anyways, it ended up being one if those uncomfortable meals where you and your dining partner exchange wide eyed glares at eachother because you are dissapointed by the food and appauled by the service and cant wait to get out if there. Needless to say, something has unfortunately changed with what once was a great little restaurant and I wont be returning.

Started this review in Jan 2015 — and it was Freezing! Even in the back after moving away from the doors. Brrr.
We’ve been here a few times now, both with and without a groupon and found it doesn’t seem to affect food or service — will discuss the service a little further on. On this occasion we ordered the Fish bites, phyllo chicken, coconut mussels. All were delicious and mostly gluten free. As we dine with «regular» consumers of gluten, their dishes are theirs to eat, and they can review them since we can’t render an opinion.
Onion blossom gluten free? Yes please! It is a delicious treat to share with the table.
I agree with Hans’ review — myself and my table companions noticed that sometimes the cooks «over cook» and char the spices — maybe it adds a little «something» to the dish, but it wasn’t an overly pleasant aroma for the guests. Maybe the fume hood doesn’t have enough draw to take care of it all.
Service has been inconsistent over the times we’ve visited, sometimes quick and prompt, and other times, we got our water and waited 30 minutes to order. And this last visit we wore our puffy parka coats for the entire meal. Yes it was cold out, but we don’t think it shouldn’t have been that cold at the back of the restaurant especially with an open working kitchen and tandoor. We also noticed that there were papers and «stuff» all over the tables at the back of the restaurant… I understand that the back table has been replaced with a Chai bar now, so we’ll have to go visit and try that out.
Don’t forget to ask if there are Specials for the evening.

I’ve had take out from here a couple of times and have been very impressed both times. The naan is fresh and even after I get it home is very soft and yummy. The stuffing is always delicious and flavourful. This time I got the stuffed naan — one with paneer and one with chicken. Really for just over $ 6 a piece they are a great deal. A great snack for after school which is what we had. The last time we had the pananis and they were fantastic. My son has also stopped in on his own and had the Chana Wrap which he loved.
The woman who is serving is very friendly and chatty, which I like. The atmosphere is casual and the chai bar looks interesting — I’m a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to chai but they offer all sorts of fun combinations. Last time we were in they had candy cane chai?! I didn’t try it but it seemed popular. I did get a chance to try the chai slushee and yes it was GREAT! Like I said, I’m a chai traditionalist (I make my own version at home) but wow, this was great. Even in the winter which is saying a lot for me…
I can’t wait to actually come in and sit down for a meal with the whole family and eat the naan fresh from the stove instead of when they have sat in a box for 20 minutes. I’m sure the meal with be even tastier than when eaten at a curling rink!

I wish I could give zero stars. Absolutely horrendous service. There were 2 of us and we waited to be seated for quite some time without anyone acknowledging us. Once we were seated, we waited again. It took more than 20 minutes for our server to come take our drink order. It then took about 15 minutes for him to come with our drinks but he didn’t take our food order. Once we were finally able to place our order, the food came quite quickly but unfortunately our appetizer came out after everything else and we were never asked how everything was. They then added 15% gratuity to our bill but did not tell us they had done this (remember, there was only 2 of us). Thankfully we noticed and told them we would not pay the gratuity because of the terrible service. I was surprised that no one apologized when we explained about our experience.
Food was just okay. We will never go back.

I’ve been here twice in the last couple of weeks– the first time being a far better experience! I was out on my lunch break looking for something quick. After browsing at the menu I asked the hostess if I could just have a naan wrap with butter chicken inside. She was happy to put the order in for me and I sat outside to wait. Unfortunately it was an extremely long wait, but well worth it. The butter chicken was absolutely amazing. Very messy in wrap form, but who cares!
I came back with my partner last night to get the same wrap again. It was a bit of a strange experience– the water was on the warm side, and our server walked away literally halfway through taking our orders to deliver food to other tables and came back about 10 minutes later. I explained to him clearly what I wanted, confirming that they weren’t putting anything extra on the wrap. He assured me it would be just butter chicken.
Our meal took a very, very long time to arrive and once it did, my wrap was nothing like last time! Full of veggies and a different sauce from the delicious butter chicken my partner was eating across from me. And our waiter was nowhere to be found during our meal so I could notify him of the mistake. Not too sure how I feel about this place anymore!

My feelings are mixed about this interesting, unique place that’s serving tasty food at a good price. First impressions mean a lot to me in food service, so let me tell you about it.
I went with my whole family for dinner, we had a Groupon, and it was a busy night. We called ahead, as always with a groupon. First, they sat us at a booth & table at the very back of the shop (which was not an issue) but someone’s stuff was on one of the palaces, a booklet and some notes. Looked like maybe a staff member was sitting there before it got busy. The owner lady moved the stuff over, but the table was never cleaned for us. In the corner near the long wall farthest from the hall to the facilities was some boxes, an old sign or painting or something and some recycling on the floor. It was just messy, and looked unkempt.
We received our menus and water, but had to wait a bit before giving our order, as I said they were busy. The food is cooked in what used to be a central bar, in the open in the middle of the place. Every time the chefs fried the curry a bit too much, the smoke rose past the hood exhaust and into the tables at the back which were up a few steps above the rest. It was choking to smell burning spices, not an experience I would recommend. Our food took over 30 minutes to arrive, our waters were empty by then and we were hungry and choking beside the junk in the corner. That was the bad. Apparently another table jad made a complaint similar, and the owner was addressing it. Now for the good, the food was amazing! We really enjoyed the chana wrap, the bowls and plates we ordered were great, although we found it all had too much salt. We eat take out all the time, so I don’t think my taste buds are sensitive, it was just very salty.
I just loved it all so much it almost overshadowed the really poor customer service and table service. First impression was overall mediocre.
We actually left feeling confused and conflicted by the mismatch between food and service.
Yes, we went back, during the day, with another groupon. It was quiet, and we sat near the doors. I dislike when a large table is made by sidling two small uneven tables are put together, naturally this is what we got. I was getting grumbly bear already, right off I was having a flashback. Thankfully it ended there. The water came and kept coming. We ordered a lot of food, appetizers, entrées, drinks, you name it. Food arrived hot, in order eith entrée first, and there was ni plume of cough inducing burning curries to attack our eyes and throats. Upon using the facilities I noticed the junk in the corner was gone, so it was not a habit. All of the dishes were delightful. We swapped and shared our wraps and rice dishes, and loved it.
Next test will be on a full night, busy as heck, to see how they do when overloaded. I’d like to see if they fixed the bugs or not. I’ll update after my next visit.

I am a regular at NaanOlicious and love their food. My favourite is the Mango Butter Chicken. Their Butter Chicken Poutine and Panaanis are delicious too.
But this review is about their new Chai Bar. They built a chai bar where their long communal table used to be. What a great idea and addition to Whyte Avenue!
They offer a long list of Chai flavourings. It is just like latte flavourings added to your chai. I had the cinnamon (yeah, I am adventurous) and my hubby had the caramel. Both were so tasty! They offer many different Monin syrups to choose from, including chocolate, white chocolate, almond, hazelnut and more!
They also offer lattes, cappucinos, etc. There is a list of yummy desserts as well. We tried a naan sundae and were very pleased with our choice.
I highly recommend you stop by for chai, a snack or go for the gusto and enjoy a whole meal!