Best Indian 2015

Best Indian winners of Vancouver Magazine’s 26th Annual Restaurant Awards

• Gold: Vij’s
• Silver: My Shanti
• Bronze: Rangoli
• Honourable Mentions: Dosa Corner, Sachdeva Sweets

 Our Chef of the Year, Vikram Vij, has long been assured at least two wins in this category, but the opening last year of his third bricks-and-mortar establishment (not including his acclaimed Railway Express truck; see Best Food Cart) brought him an unprecedented hat trick. Vij’s (Gold) is still the crown jewel, no one complaining about its no-reservations policy when food, wine, and service remain so consistently flawless. (“ ‘Lamb popsicles’ are now part of the Vancouver vernacular,” says one judge, affectionately referencing the signature dish.) When My Shanti (Silver) arrived last summer in, of all places, a Surrey strip mall, it instantly acquired destination status for food that is “bolder and deeper than Vij’s,” “a culinary travel diary of visits to his homeland that glories in the diversity and originality of regional Indian cuisine, both high and low”—including “insane” oyster pakoras and “vegetables that pay proper tribute to their importance in most of India.” Meanwhile, next-door neighbour Rangoli (Bronze) continues to offer lunchtime crowds the same delicious standards as its sibling restaurants, the considerably lower price points compensating for “pintsize chairs and tables” we’re still learning to settle into. Honourable Mentions: Dosa Corner, Sachdeva Sweets