Flame Indian Bistro

The place is small, cosy I'd say, and seems to do a good take out trade. Problem is when you walk in you are immediatey faced with a serving counter with a glass front wherein you can see all forms of food pre-made and waiting to go, including the samoosas. This should have been the warning sign that we shouldn't expect fresh food.

The ambience is great, especially because of the ethnic music playing and the tables are tastefully decorated for a bistro. The service was also very good and we ordered the vegetarian samoosas ($5.50) to start with. They were unfortunately some of the worst I have ever had. Soggy and tasteless, as if they had been microwaved but I think they had just been sitting in the serving counter for way too long. They came with a basic salad which I found unusual, some dipping sauce would have ben better I think and perhaps would have detracted from the poor quality. For mains we had the Beef Tikka Masala ($15.50), which I hoped would be more tender and tasty than it was, and the Bhindi Masala ($14.50) which was quite enjoyable. You get ample rice to go with these and we ordered some roti ($2.00) which was quite dissapointing. All in all, an OK experience but I think this place has the potential to do better given the ambience and service. However, they really should avoid serving up those old, mushy samoosas. Not so sure I'll go back though.   (Alan - March, 2008)