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| - Adrak is a newcomer on the GTA Indian food scene; in two visits here this place shows promise but requires a little polish to reach glorious heights. I've tried the lunch thali and several dishes in a group setting for dinner. Off the bat I would definitely recommend dinner as I found lunch to be a bit overpriced and nowhere near as flavourful as the dinner dishes.
Our large group arrived for dinner on a Saturday night and the place seemed to have a decent buzz. There is no doubt that the décor here is chic, upscale, and modern; perfectly straddling the line between East and West. Our group of 6 decided to order one dish each so we could taste a few things. My favourite dishes were the Malai Kofta and the Baingan Bharta. The Malai Kofta was perfectly creamy, with a rich sauce and great nutty flavours from the dumplings. The baingan was out of this world good, great smokiness from the eggplant with a nice kick from the spices. Chicken tikka masala and lamb vindaloo where good but not great, the lamb while quite spicy was a bit greasy. The Punjabi daal makhni (spiced lentil dish) was not good, pretty bland and definitely my least favourite dish on the night. It is important to note that each dish is available in 4 spice levels so one can adjust to their tolerance. The price was slightly higher than what I'm used to at similar establishments but the larger portions and astounding ambiance justify this.
The service was, in a word, clumsy. What our server lacked in finesse he certainly made up for in persistence, constantly asking if we wanted alcohol and being seemingly disappointed that the answer was a unanimous "no." However he soon moved from alcohol to dessert only to be dismayed that we were simply here for dinner. Although I appreciate that he has to try and push alcohol and dessert as that's where the real profit margin is, some training about how to do this properly needs to be implemented. Despite the few bumps along the way (and the proclamation that our waiter hates eggplant, after we ordered an eggplant dish) the service was efficient and attentive. They also have an extensive cocktail menu and in house "mixologist" which is a nice touch.
Overall will I be back, probably in the distant future but this place certainly has promise as long as they can iron out the kinks.
*Our one Gluten free diner was attended to by the chef and proper accommodations were made with ease
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