Festival of South Asia

After getting off the bus, my friend Jess and I followed the crowd. We were all headed to the same place – The TD Festival of South Asia! I could hear drums in the distance and excited chatter as I walked onto the streets of Gerrard East (closed off between Coxwell and Greenwood Ave). I had arrived between 6-9pm on Saturday because I wanted to catch the SAGT (South Asia’s Got Talent) competition. Performers showed off their skills through bollywood, bengali and belly style dancing/singing (among many other styles, too). A great show!

After watching a bit of the show, I noticed a small group of people gathered around a booth. I curiously approached and found a few girls getting henna designs tattooed temporarily onto their skin. Beautiful foot and arm artwork.

The creativity didn’t stop there. Colours were all around me with the traditional linen dresses, beaded jewelry, sequined slippers, Muslim caps and of course, in the tasty food. First, I tried a vegetable samosa (a classic) which had potatoes, peas, onions and spices inside it. Only $1. It’s served with a dipping sauce called “imli ki chutney” prepared with tamarind. Other options on the surrounding menus were butter chicken, channa and beef tikka to name a few.


As we walked through rows and rows of tables set up for food, I noticed a busy, bustling tent. I walked under the intricately designed silk fabric (made of orange, pink, blue, green and red) to find people enjoying food at their tables. You ordered at the front and the servers delivered your meal to your table. I thought this would reduce the chances of me wearing half my meal! Amongst all the commotion, I was lucky to find a table for two.

The place, Lahore Tikka House, served halal Pakistani cuisine and had a very reasonably priced menu. I was craving some fish, so I ordered fish biryani (rice) and some tarka dal (lentils) with two round pieces of till (sunflower seed) naan on the side.
I’m happy I didn’t order more than that! The portions were quite generous. The biryani dish ($10.99) included large chunks of King fish (not deboned), basmati rice, tomato, broccoli, green/orange/red peppers, cilantro, chopped onions and garlic. The marinade consisted of chili powder, paprika and turmeric powder. Mildly spicy.

The tarka dal ($8.25) reminds me of a very thick, hearty soup – the kind that leaves you oh-so-satisfied. The lentils are cooked in spiced oil, with added turmeric, chili powder and ground coriander to soak up the flavour. Cumin, cardamom, onion and garlic are also added to give it that extra kick. Especially amazing while being scooped up in a handful of till naan bread.

We must have had very appreciative looks on our faces, because our server went above and beyond to make our experience at Lahore Tikka House that much more special. Ashraf sent over his nephew, Wasim, with a gigantic drum strapped around his shoulder. He told him it was my birthday. The heavy beat began and the entire restaurant had their eyes on our table, clapping along and taking photos. Such a great surprise! The entertainment and great service, along with the authentic and flavourful food has guaranteed that I’ll be back again. Highly recommended!


www.lahoretikkahouse.com