Jambo Grill

Was here again today, because hey maybe i was wrong the first time?
Turns out, I wasn’t.
The service was average and the food tasted worse. Very stale.
Kind of shows how having pictures of famous people by your main door doesn’t mean that your food is good.
Final verdict: I wouldn’t recommend this place to my worst enemy.

Never tried East African food but HOLY MOLY! This place jams so many flavour down your piehole, your head might explode.
Seriously – really good food here. We had Nylon Bhajia, Tandoori Chicken, Pili Pili Chicken, Jungle Ribs, Samosas, wings… everything was DELISH! Even the chai is on point. Can’t wait to try their curries next time.
Staff is friendly and they use an efficient POS system to ensure accuracy. Was impressed. My only critique was it took a while to be served and clear nearby tables. It’s not a big deal as it was due to the fact they were so busy. See you again Jambo!

Fast service and great food. I was here last week with my family on x-​mas and thank god it was open. We ordered the following
Appy Combo, Kuku Poussin, Grill Platter andMasala Chai.
We enjoyed all the food and couldn’t really pick favourite. My parents were quite impressed with Mogo Fries and said how delicious it was. Masala Chai was the perfect drink to finish our food. Staff were helpful and friendly. I’d love to go back for the lunch specials.

I wasn’t sure what to expect because the reviews were so mixed. But I had a bad cold and was in the mood for spicy food, so I phoned for delivery. The restaurant itself doesn’t deliver, they use a 3^rd party delivery service called Skip The Dishes. So I ordered online, and I’d forgotten to specify one of the (free) side dishes, so the restaurant phoned me to confirm — which I appreciated! I had the Masala prawns and the African chili chicken and they were both SO GOOD! Absolutely bursting with flavour. The prawn dish had potatoes in it too, and they were so delicious I’ll order a side of masala potatoes next time too. I can’t comment on the service in the restaurant because I wasn’t there (but the person on the phone was very friendly and helpful). I will definitely order from here again!

I’ve been here twice, once for eat in and once for take out, and both times was amazing.
For eating in — it was a good mix of casual dining and yummy food. The server was pleasant, refilling water and stopping by to check on out table. As for the food, I had the tandoori chicken with masala fries and it was great. The server asked how hot I wanted it (mild) and it was just right. My only complaint would be that I wish there was a vegtable side instead of just salad. That said the salad is actually pretty good.
For the take out — fast service and really friendly, I had the tandoori chicken Tikka this time with masala fries. It was also great, the chicken was tender and the salad was good.
Overall I really liked the Jambo Grill. The service is good and the food is great. I’ll definitely go back again.

food waws good would have been much better if it was hot otherwise not bad
had the puri and the egg and potatoes as i say without disrespect it could be a 4 star just heat the food

High quality food and excellent customer service! Platter for 2 — great value for your money. Ali provided us with an exceptional service! Will definitely come back here.

I am on the fence whether to give this place a 2 or a 3 star rating. I went with a big group on a Friday night and the service was extremely slow… like an hour and half wait for your food to arrive, slow. Not to mention that I had to wave around repeatedly to get my chai refilled. To their credit, the server was friendly and was trying their best. They should definitely hire more people.
As for the food, I ordered their Pili Pili Ribs. Even though the ribs might not be the best cut, they were definitely spiced right. The potatoes as the side dish was so delicious! I also loved their chai, which, in my opinion was one of the best chai in Vancouver.

Their curries are always fresh with lots of spices. Atmosphere has improved since their renovations and usually quite packed on weekends and evenings. I’ve been going here for several years and find that their food has a lot more taste and species than other Indian places that tend to have more yogurt. The owner loves to come around and great you which adds a special touch. Service is variable, usually very friendly and fast but lately the new group of staff is rather forgetful as I had to ask for extra sauce or chai at least three times before I received it. I highly recommend their chicken curry which comes with rice or naan for $ 14 or their kadai gosh beef curry for $ 15. They also serve African dishes like mishkaki. They also have Thali Thursday all you can eat, which serves unlimited lassi, several meat and vegetarian curries and also varying choices of dessert. Comes with unlimited rice and naan and roti and puri. I highly recommend this over buffets as the staff comes around with the food rather than have it sit in a warmer like most Indian buffets. So you always get fresh soft naan unlike those bark like naan at buffets that has been sitting there for hours. I think it’s totally worth the $ 15.95. They told me it wasn’t available anymore in July, but I saw it back on their menu so hopefully they brought it back. I’ve brought friends who have never had Indian food and they loved it, so great place to introduce your friends to yummy curries!

Jambo Grill is a fairly large restaurant with quite a bit of Africa-​inspired décor. Try to somehow go during a quieter time for a better experience and to enjoy the décor more: We went on a Saturday night and it was busy till 9pm, line-​up at the door till at least 8pm, and what appeared to be a line-​up near the kitchen for takeout. They take reservations, however.
We were a large party in a full restaurant, so I expected our food to come out slowly – but still not take over 1 hour and with some persons getting theirs very, very late. Pretty much all the food came cold. Wait staff were friendly and always smiled whenever they came to a table, so they were doing their best under the circumstances.
TIP: Do your Unilocal check-​in BEFORE ordering. The server refused to accept it and had to call over a manager to OK the free Chai at the end of the meal. ALSO, for parties of 6+, you must present your check-​in at the start of ordering in order to get the free appetizer.
TIP: Masala Chai is $ 2.50 and BOTTOMLESS. You can keep asking for it!
Nylon Bhajia ($ 8) Crispy potato slices lightly battered in chickpea flour with spices and fried until golden. Served with coconut chutney.
–Were not really crispy. Very salty.
–TIP: Ask for a small spoon to help scoop up the chutney onto your potato.
Patra ($ 7) A savoury steamed leaf roll, made from arbi or colocasia leaf. Spicy, tangy, and slightly sweet.
–Interesting to try but not that tasty.
–There is some sort of paste (?) in between the leaves.
–Spicy-​hot aftertaste, but not too much.
Lamb Biryani ($ 16) Meat cooked with tomatoes, yogurt, fried onions, saffron, herbs, and spices. On a bed of saffron basmati rice. Served with a side of kachumber, an indian salsa.
–Good sized plate, probably one of the more filling options without having to order carbs separately.
–Biryanis are $ 2 cheaper on Saturdays.
–Will probably be a different experience from what you get at any other Indian restaurant. From the small sample I got, it seemed to have a sour aftertaste. I’m too used to Indian curries to personally like this style.
Mishkaki Choma ($ 10 for 5oz, $ 16 for 10oz) Uganda style choma (grilled meat). Tender sirloin beef marinated in tandoori spices, served with masala potatoes and salad.
–I asked for 10oz but I don’t think it was really 10oz.
–At the time you order, you can choose between masala potatoes, fries, or naan bread to be your side.
–Very dry and rather tough. At least it seemed well-​coated in spices. Possibly kitchen error in how dry it was.
Ice Paan ($ 1.50) Betel leaf, spread with sweet rose syrup, packed with sweets and spices like fennel seeds, daal, coconut, rose extract, and betal nuts
–Paan is apparently bad for you. See the wikipedia article for references.
–For $ 1.50 you get a cold wrap of betel leaf in foil. The triangular paan is about 3 inches long. See pictures below for the paan wrapped and unwrapped.
–I’m not good with anise, so I definitely wasn’t good with the amount of fennel. I therefore found this unpalatable and couldn’t sample more than a bit. The leaf itself is also bitter.
Some things have very good pricing, like the bottomless Masala Chai. Appetizers also seemed priced fairly. But mains were on the pricey side. Combined with a very slow kitchen that evidently can’t keep up when the restaurant is full, and mediocre taste, this was a disappointing dinner.

Didn’t feel like cooking and ended up here. As a first time diner here I started with Keema Chipatti and bottomless masala chai. For the main my hubby and I shared the Briyani chicken, this dish was a good portion to share.
Not enough room for desert but will try the homemade Kulfi.
Would recommend based on my first time dining here. Owner and staff friendly.
Edit: I tried take out and it was cold and over cooked. Wouldn’t recommend

5 stars for excellent Service if i could give 10 stars I would !
4 stars for food.
Bhel Puri — Excellent 5 stars fresh with great texture.
Habari Wings — Excellent 5 stars amazing flavour !
Kuku Poussin — ³⁄₅ stars great flavour just a little on the dry side.
Chili Prawns — Excellent 5 stars because of flavour, little oily but not enough to take away a star.
Lamb Biryani — ⁴⁄₅ stars very complex flavours overall very good.
Jungle Ribs — Excellent 5 stars the flavour was amazing.
Bharta eggplant — ³⁄₅ .its eggplant. what can i say…
Free Chai tea all around ! probably the best chai tea I have ever had, they made a fresh pot for us… which was really appreciated.
Very Very attentive staff, the food was good but the service was exceptional, water and tea was always topped off, plenty of napkins. They must have checked on us a total of 8 – 10 times.
Overall Experience 5 out of 5 !
It’s a day later and ate the left overs… maybe because there was only 3 items left but OMG the flavors really stood out… the eggplant the night before was ok but overnight wow I really appreciated the complex flavors. The lamb Biryani Wow … Yum …even the Poussin tasted better.
Everything now is all 5 stars because my appreciation of the leftovers. When you have a bunch of items too eat some flavors get lost… well…it was found the next day.

The meat is amazing — anything with meat. I like the African dishes better than the Indian dishes.
The service is consistently terrible.

I came here for your Thursday Daily Special. It’s Thursday and you’re telling me that it’s only the 1^st Thursday of the Month? Then that should be a Monthly Special. Arrgh.
My friends had previously come here for dinner and knowing my love of cassava fries told me to come here. We enter, with a sign by the door that says there is all you can eat Thali on Thurdays. Done. No, not done, because even though the menu says it, the meek little waitress who has nothing to do with the fact that they’ve stopped All You Can Eat Thursdays says we can’t have it. But your menu says it? Nope, still no. Hmm, maybe I’m asking wrong… my next friend comes to join us and she asks the waitress to explain the AYCE Thursday deal. She says there isn’t one, and that it’s just one Thursday a month. My friend tries to offer her a pen to cross it off their menu. The waitress kind of nervously laughs. She must be tired of this… Other patrons keep coming in and asking about the deal and they all get the same answer. You should probably edit your website too before making the change. As of now, I heard they crossed it off their menus with sharpies. Their website is down, so maybe they’re changing it now.
My hubby and I order the grill combo. It has an assortment of different meats (skewers and tandoori chicken) and different sides (mogo fries, fries and salad). It’s a great item to share and taste a little bit of each thing they have to offer. It came with the cassava fries, so that’s a win. The food is really flavourful, but I still can’t get over the AYCE Thali. It’s enough food, but do I feel satisfied? I would have ordered another serving of mogo, but my friends gave me their share. I kept hearing Lionel Hutz in my head: are these the actions of a man that has had all that he could eat? I’ll probably come back another time to get more mogo.

Oh Jambo grill you little gem in my backyard!!!
I stumbled upon this restaurant on a lazy Wednesday when I could not decide what I wanted to eat. To be honest, their menu was a little overwhelming as they have a little bit of everything on it. I settled for the choma platter– the meat was seasoned very well, absolutely delicious! The masala potatoe was also very good. The platter was enough to share between 2. I need to go back to try their other menu items!
Its a pity this place is not downtown or along the drive. I went on a Wednesday night around 7 and there was only one other couple there. The restaurant is fairly big too, the owner kept saying ‘everyone is still coming.’ They never came.
The restaurant is licensed so yaaay to alcohol! The owner was also very friendly, he came over and had a brief chat with us!
4 stars only because the service was slow for an empty restaurant.

Indian-​african cuisine, wifi, free underground parking, service is excellent, huge place, neat and quite. decors were awesome, african safari inspired theme, the hard copy of menu is so neat and unique, accept cash/​cards, good for group, family and kids. foods are great aswell, i had chicken curry and fish pakora. yummy, im very satisfied… ill visit again sometimes…

A value-​added 3.5 stars, it’s definitely one of the nicer, non-​Chinese restos in the Joyce area lol. Nice change for sure.
Been here for decades, and can vouch for their $ 10 lunch specials, tandoori chicken comes with 2 pieces with potatoes and salad, forget about super-​sizing that McDonald’s. Not your typical Indian restaurant, a bit nicer.
In terms of décor, you can certainly be confident of bring a client, also discrete enough as tables not too close. Bench seating along the wall on the left.
Yet date worthy as well.
Neat that when you walk in the foyer, the owner has pics on the wall with famous people, even the Prime Minister has been here.
Amex good ;)

I love this place.
It has completely ruined me for any other Indian restaurant in Vancouver. The North African style of Indian food is so flavourful and spicy — even the butter chicken is spicy — and I just can’t eat the sweet ketchupy tasting stuff anymore.
I’ve only had one bad experience regarding the service here and we had a party of 20+ people at the time and they were most certainly understaffed. Most of the time the food is prompt and hot and delicious. We are often served directly by the owner who remembers the names of my kids even though we aren’t in for long stretches of time.
My personal favourites: the butter chicken, the fish pakora, the nylon bhajia (sp?), the lamb curry and the chicken tikka salad. The chicken samosas are amazing — no potato! Just filled with ground meat and spices and fried to perfection. Order the chai and you won’t be disappointed. Tasty and non stop.
If you want to try a bunch of different things, go on a Thursday night for their version of buffet style Indian. Nothing is sitting under a heat lamp, it’s all brought around fresh to each table and includes a lassi.

Dreadful.

Our server messed up almost all our orders and still overcharged. The server brought 4x the amount of meat and rice we ordered. The server tried to blame us for the mistake.
I ordered the Grandville Pale Ale Beer but our competent waiter kept on returning saying «I can’t serve you the beer, I don’t have a license». (Why the hell do I care? I just want the drink not a huge explanation). I suggested he get the bar tender or someone else to who has a license. He came back again and said they were busy so I couldn’t get my beer. I thought to myself, is this guy joking? Eventually a woman who was licensed brought it over.
He forgot to place the main dish. Told us not to worry because the extra 4 plates he brought out were only $ 1.00 each, they were $ 3.75 each on the bill.
Place was cold, we were served last even though we got there first, very disorganized. The food was Indian, not African.
Honestly, the worst service I’ve experiences in ten years.
If you want African food that tastes like East Indian food and want to monitor and baby sit the servers so they do things halfway properly, then by all means try our the Jambo grill. Never returning.

Went with a group of friends for my friends birthday. Dinner was pretty good, it was pretty much a mix of Indian and African food but it mostly all looked like Indian to me. The dishes were tasty, good portions and if you check in you get either a free chai tea or if you’re with a group of 6+ you get an appy for free. The appy was actually pretty good and I enjoyed the tea as well even if I’m not a big fan of chai.
The service was good, they checked on us regularly, food came at a good pace and they can accommodate big groups because there was about 11 of us.
Overall the food was pretty good but didn’t blow me away, if the prices were $ vs. $$ I’d probably go more often and try a few other dishes.