My Shanti - South Surrey

On our drive to South Surrey, I sheepishly mentioned to my partner that My Shanti did not have Butter Chicken on the menu....What!?!  Well, Butter Chicken, while delicious, is a bit ordinary ...What!?!...Well, they  have all these amazingly creative dishes on the menu from all over India. If we all walked in and ordered Butter Chicken like we do everywhere else, what would be the point?
My partner spotted the sign first and we laughed out loud! I have been an admirer of Vickram Vij since he opened his first restaurant, Vij's in 1994. It changed the way we think about Indian food. My Shanti, his latest endeavour is conveniently located (convenient for us) in South Surrey. The interior is chic and yet warm and comfortable. We had reservations but be aware that they only take reservations from Monday to Thursday using Open Table. Plan for that and don't whine. It means everyone has a chance and can enjoy their meals at their own pace.
On Mondays and Tuesdays they have a smoking deal. It is $25 per person for a minimum of 2 and you can try a bunch of different things "tiffin" style (little stackable tins that are used to deliver hot lunches to workers in India) which is good because I was in menu overload as everything looked so good. Also, the menu lets you know from what region your dish originates. Totally cool!
Before we even got to that special menu, we went off the track and ordered the Grey Cod Pakora (Goa) which came with a tomato based dipping sauce to my surprise. These were crisp and hot, the way fish pakora is meant to be! With just a mild heat and some jalapeno and cilantro garnish, we were off to a good start.
The real fist course was a Sprouted Lentil Salad (Jalandhar - I had to look it up...its a city in the Punjab). A nice combination of greens, sprouted lentils, almonds, tomatoes, dried apricot and masala vinaigrette. Very nice! The came our 4 choices:
Daily Sabji - Sweet Potato and Kale
Jackfruit Curry
Beef
Lamb
The daily sabji namely kale and sweet potato, Jackfruit Curry, Lamb (Kashmir) and Beef (Collcut). I particularly enjoyed the jackfruit. It is surprisingly meaty and could support the strong tasty curry. The lamb is described as a Mughlai-style stew with green cardamom and fenugreek cream curry. Complex! Delicious! The beef also was amazingly tender, braised in coconut milk with curry leaves and saffron. And the kale and sweet potato was the definition of comfort food, warm and filling!
Cumin Rice
Naan
Of course the meal comes with Cumin Rice and Naan. I loved the layered rip apart Naan with just a nice little char. Desert was Gulab Juman (committed a food blogger sin and forgot to take a photo!) and an excellent Rice Pudding with Toasted Almonds.
Rice Pudding

I have to admit that as the tiffins arrived, I though there was not a lot of food but they are very deceiving being small but deep! We easily would have been satisfied without the fish pakora (but I love fish pakora!). My partner did not miss her Butter chicken one bit! Service bordered on spectacular! Attentive but not too much and we wanted for nothing! I love the home style Indian food we get on Scott Road but My Shanti ( still what I would call home style) demonstrates how varied it can be. Try this place!



My Shanti Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Are you guys eating again? At some point Marie and I became the kind of people who take pictures of everything we eat, whether in a restaura...