Location: 7126 Airport Road, Mississauga
Website: http://www.sweetindia.com/
Remember when I was saying that a nicer-looking restaurant and a clientele that doesn’t match its ethnicity were both tell-tale signs that a place like this might not be all that great? Well, here’s a definite exception to that rule: Sweet India is both very nicely designed and, when I went at least, around halfway full of people who looked like they’d fit in comfortably with the cast of Friends.
It was also one of the best meals I’ve had since starting this blog.
The restaurant is laid out like any number of food court joints; they’ve got food in warming trays, and you can pick what you want. I went with the vegetarian thali, which comes with your choice of three different dishes, raita (a cold yogurt-based cucumber salad), rice, and a basket of naan bread.
I think it’s hard to tell from the picture what an obscene amount of food that is, but seriously: look at the fork and knife for scale. The plate is about the size of a cafeteria tray, and it was crammed with food. Not to mention the basket full of naan, and the generous serving of dessert.
Suffice it to say, after eating all that I was ready to lie down and go into a food coma. And for less than ten bucks, it’s a pretty amazing deal.
The three dishes in the top row of that tray are: aloo baingan, a flavourful mixture of eggplant and potato; chana masala, a chickpea curry; and aloo methi, a potato dish cooked with methi leaves (also known as fenugreek).
It was all really good, though with its fragrant intensity, the aloo baingan was clearly the star of the show. It was a flavour bomb in the best way possible. It helps that the accompanying ultra-fresh naan was superb; it was the perfect combo of lightly crispy outside and chewy inside.
The dessert was moong ka halwa, a creamy, pudding-like dish made mostly from lentils. Indian desserts tend to be a bit of an acquired taste, and I was so full at that point that I was kind of hoping I wouldn’t like it so I could take one bite and throw the rest out. But it was so good. So of course I had to eat the whole thing, food coma be damned.
If I had one small complaint, it would be that while everything was fairly spicy, it does feel like the spice level has been toned down to accommodate the aforementioned Friends-like clientele. A bit more of a fiery kick would have been nice, but everything was so amazingly tasty that it really didn’t matter.
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