Cafe Malabar Restaurant & Bar

Superb South Indian food! Chicken, fish yum. I think that just about everything was gluten free. Unbelievable quality for market food.

Cafe Malabar is a South Indian restaurant. This restaurant is quite unique in their offerings. While its common for Indian restaurants to serve naan, Malabar Cafe has multiple different types of breads. Flaky buttery flatbread (parotta), soft spongy pancakes (appam), crepes (dosa), savoury donuts and more. Many of their dishes are naturally gluten free and they have lots of vegetarian, meat and seafood options. We ate the tasting board for two. We opted for the puff pastry filled with a savoury masala and a boiled egg. Next we chose a saucy, creamy, coconut goat stew. And as a contrast, not saucy Kerala pepper beef and fried chicken. Yes, THREE main dishes in the Tasting Board! This came with a plain rice, which I was delighted with because it's a grain I've not had before. And another rice with fried onions, cashews and raisins. Parotta and appam breads added even more variety. All this is complimented by an array of condiments and citrus green tea. Everything on the board is intricately spiced. Also, their spice heat levels are good for Western palettes. Some dishes are not spicy-hot at all and some have a bit of a kick. On a different day I had the mushroom malasa with two breads. Many different types and sizes of mushrooms were stewed in a spiced creamy coconut gravy. *Chefs kiss!* Chefs Kiran Kolathodan and Karma Tenpa grew up in Southern India. They celebrate the tastes of Kerala, which is on the Malabar Coast. Malabar Cafe has been deemed in the top 5 best new restaurants in Canada and Victoria by different magazines. Instead of having a few favorites I eat every time, I'm likely to eventually try everything on the menu. It's that good!