Amaya Express

Had the butter chicken poutine. Was ambitious. But lacked a lot. I think this place is over priced. Lots of fries. Lots of gravy. Very chintzy with their meat portion. I will not be a repeat customer

I had a coupon that I bought a couple months ago and just could not wait to try this place with my friend! We decided to dine in for lunch.
*Glow (positive points):
–Fantastic lunch deal: one appetizer of the day, one meat/​poultry dish, one veggie dish, a bowl of rice and one naan bread.
–Quality of food: The appetizer of the day was pakoras. There were six pakoras and they were oh-​so-​crunchy! They were excellent!
Butter chicken (that my friend ordered) had chunks of chicken and the sauce was thick, just the way it should be!
Aloo Ghobi (veg dish that I ordered) had generous amount of chopped potatoes, cauliflowers and spices.
–warm and friendly staff: when my friend and I were visiting, there was a kind lady serving us food.
*Grow (suggestion points):
–We noticed that there were some dusts on our plates. Since it was just a couple of light dust particles, we just wiped them off with napkins. However, the cutlery was clean. I think the staff should check to make sure that this doesn’t happen for future customers.
–The menu is a sheet of paper with names of the dishes. For take-​out, looking at the names of the dishes is fine, but for those who dine in, it would be great if there was a menu on a laminated paper/​folder– just more enjoyable to look at!

I had a groupon coupon where I paid $ 15 and could order up to $ 45. It was a fantastic deal and we ordered a lot of food.
The Food:
It came with the daily chef’s appetizer, which I believe was the leek parsnip fritters. That was very good and we enjoyed it very much. For the main dishes, we ordered the butter chicken and the curried spinach. I love butter chicken. Whenever I go to an Indian restaurant, I simply have to order it. However, this tomato-​based curry version wasn’t to my taste. The naan we ordered was really good as was the rice. I also ordered the mango and fennel lassi. The fennel was a surprising ingredient and made the drink stand out. I enjoyed it a lot.
The Place:
The restaurant is very small with only a few tables. Honestly, when you walked in, it looked like it used to be a Pizza Pizza or something with a dining area added in next to it. However, it was clean and the décor was simple and modern.
The Service:
The service was fantastic. The waiter was very polite and attentive.
The Verdict:
The only things that stood out for me were the leek parsnip fritters and the mango lassi so I probably wouldn’t come here again. I’m on the hunt for the perfect butter chicken. Any recommendations?

OK my fridge was empty and I just grabbed take out from Amaya on Davenport for the first time on July 22, 2013. I never go that way on Davenport; but it is literally downstairs from my building. The only way it could be any closer and more convenient for me is if it were actually in my building. I just have to traverse this little alley from Scollard to Davenport beside the house that looks like Easter threw up on it, and I’m there. I called to place my order in advance while perusing the menu online and I opted for the «Royal Platter» in honour of the British Royal family’s «crowning» achievement today. In hindsight, Indian food also seems historically apt for this momentous occasion in the commonwealth.
The lady on the phone told me that it would be ready in about 10 — 15 minutes.
The menu did look a little pricey upon first glance; but my order ultimately wound up being a fair value. For $ 14.95 I got what I would consider a half order of butter chicken, a half order of lamb masala, a ¾ order of channa masala and enough basmati rice pilaf and fresh naan bread for 2 people or 1 really hungry person with a King-​sized appetite (at 5’9′ and 165-​ish lbs, I consider myself to have an average appetite).
I’m no pro on Indian cuisine; but I did work in an office full of connoisseurs on Indian food at my last job. What I learned from my old coworkers is the sauces and spice mixes are what it’s all about, and these were very flavourful and rich. The selection in my order were obviously on the mild side (I had an angry spicy caribbean jerk chicken roti for lunch today and needed to calm things down a little for supper).
As I type this, I can’t help but feel a little food pregnant with the Royal Platter and ready to take a nap in the fetal position.

I love the food from here– but man does it add up. I don’t know how– but on average when I pick up for two people it’s about $ 65
However– it’s delicious and I love it.
The service is good too.
I only do takeout– not a fan of their dine in area… Seems like a bit of an afterthought…

The food is not the same quality as the Amaya on Bayview, or the Bread Bar at Yonge and Lawrence, but for a cheaper and take out option, it is pretty good!
My favourite dish by far is the Lamb Rogan Josh and the Beef Vindaloo if you can handle the fiery heat!
The dinner for 2 is a good deal for what you get.

The food is okay. The cook seems to take a lot of care with his food and the ingredient quality is very good. Had the lamb biryani and the lamb was excellent. The rice was okay, but flavours were lacking.

Used a $ 15 off $ 45 coupon, and ordered take-​out.
It was o.k. but I’m bothered that the same tomato-​based curry seems to have been used for 3 out of 4 curries.
Also, I had been to the Amaya’s Bread Bar (3305 Yonge St.), right beside another Amaya Express. The quality at Amaya Bread Bar restaurant was pretty good. Not sure why the food from this location was drastically different from the Bread Bar. I thought they’d be related, since they are both «Amaya».
~~~
What we ordered…
sweet and sour eggplant– good-​enough tasting.
spicy chicken curry — I didn’t try any of this, but my companion was happy with it. Good level of heat.
Matar Paneer, Peas with homemade cheese — good-​enough, on the savoury side. Nice, fresh paneer. This was the only curry that didn’t have a tomato base. (off the menu)
Kale Jackfruit curry — o.k. spicy. prob. not my fave.
~
Next time, I’d rather order from another restaurant, just to find some gem dishes, not generic ones that overuse the same curry sauce.

I ordered delivery and while I was not blown away I was satisfied.
I found that the dishes were all on the sweet side and lacked developed flavors.
I would order from here because the ingredients seemed like they were of decent quality and the meal was satisfying. Not my top pick.

I ordered delivery from this place because a new Amaya Express opened in our neighbourhood on king east just past Sherbourne. After waiting for over 2 hrs after being promised the food in 1.5 hrs, we found out the food was coming from this location. To our dismay, it was pricey, cold, small portions and the chicken was so undercooked it was bleeding. I never take photos of food nor have the time to do so but I decided to this time to warn potential customers of the health hazards of this place. Trust me, my stomach is feeling it. I called Amaya Express back and demanded a resolution, and even suggested driving the chicken back to the location if proof was needed. I will never go back to this restaurant again and I hope nobody else has to go through what I just went through

Very decent portion sizes from a wide menu with quick delivery times make this my go to Indian delivery place. A little pricier than most places but when I order delivery I’d rather pay a little extra for the quality.
The curried onion pakora is just amazing.

This was our sixth time ordering from this restaurant. Normally we order from them through JustEat, but this time we had a Groupon so i went and picked it up. This restaurant is usually 4.5 stars. The food is delicious and the portion sizes generous. It’s a bit pricy when all is said and done, so we usually stick to Spring Rolls (which never fails us).
The reason for the three stars is that this visit was a 2 star. My criticism is that unlike every other time when the containers were pretty much filled right up, this time they were barely half full. I really hope that this had nothing to do with the fact that we had a groupon, as that is not a way to make and keep new customers. We will try Amaya again, but if there is anymore inconsistencies in portion size we’ll have to pass and look for another place to get our Indian food fix.

Pretty decent Indian food. I ordered Amaya through the online delivery service
.
It said it’d come in an hour but it arrived in half an hour.
Nice and spicy.
The veggie samosas and their sauce were quite bland.
Garlic naan was pretty good too.
The butter chicken was dried out. The sauce isn’t as good as at other Indian restaurants (namely Banjara). There were hardly any pieces of chicken – it was mostly sauce. I felt a bit cheated.
The chicken tikka was tasty and better than the butter chicken. If you order from here, go with this one, over the butter chicken anyhow.
Overall, decent, but I’d suggest ordering from Banjara instead.

Amaya Express is my go-​to take out place for quick Indian food. I’m not a fan of spicy food at all, so I am always cautious when ordering cuisine known for being spicy. Lots of then Indian restaurants I’ve ate at promised mild but the dish still came out spicy. What can I say? I’m a wuss. The menu has been toned down for a Canadian palate, which is the reason I like it. I’m Canadian and the only spice I grew up with was Mrs.Dash. Not to say that they don’t offer spicy dishes for those that like them, the menu still offers classic spicy dishes, like the chicken tikka masala.
Portion sizes are big; 2 people could split one order and be full. I always order the butter chicken (all white meat!) and garlic naan, both of which are great. You need to spend a minimum of $ 30 for delivery but with the prices seeming slightly higher than average that may be easy to accomplish.

Convenient, quick, excellent service.
Delivery or pick-​up, this place has very palatable Indian food.
While I will admit, I believe it has been ‘toned down’ so to speak, to better appeal to the Canadian palate, I still think it maintains its integrity.
The portions are quite generous, and while the price is probably slightly higher than comparables, it’s also tastier.
The garlic Naan is a MUST!