Annapurna Restaurant

Avoid it if you can ! There’s plenty of good food options around on 4^th street closer to this place.
Their sorry excuse for a lunch buffet consisted of about 4 vegetarian dishes, which took forever to get refilled. It seemed like they only had one cook — who was in charge of making fresh dosas and also refilling and warming up the dishes — so it took ages to get any food.
The food itself was just ok. Very bland and flavorless.
Definitely will not be returning here.

Pakoras? TASTY.
Pompadoms? Too greasy to eat. Insert extremely sad face.
Crazy pea filled bread? TASTY, but slightly greasy.
Corn Soup? TASTY, but not as filling as I had assumed.
Service was good, our waitress was friendly enough and helped us dispose of our gift exchange carcasses. The atmosphere is a little odd — I think it needs some work.
I will definitely be back to try some of the bigger dishes as they all sounded amazing. For you vegans out there… they don’t have soy milk. I found this incredibly disappointing as I desperately wanted a chai… buuuuut I’m over it.

Check it out, Annapurna’s in a new location now. According tot he server, they’re also under new management. I’d say that’s a huge improvement. I work very close by and had never been here before because it was always closed! Not anymore!
I had the lunch buffet for $ 9.95 today. I’m a vegan and I was overjoyed to have more than half the buffet as options. Everything was so tasty, too. There were identifiable pieces of fresh herbs in just about everything, too. I really love that. The vegetables were all fresh, not reheated frozen stuff and the sauces were clearly homemade. While this isn’t the best Indian food I’ve ever had, it was really good. The host/​server was very polite and friendly, the place was clean and the food was fresh and delicious.
If you’ve gone here before with the old management, maybe give Annapurna another shot. I’m hoping people start going here again, it’s definitely an improvement. I can’t wait to go for dinner!

I’m a bit stumped as to how this place has gotten so many good reviews…
Went here for lunch today at their new location which is decorated in a confusing mix of asian-​inspired furniture and wall-​décor. I recall the other location being quite cozy and inviting… this was just a bit sad — the fact that we were the only people in the entire place didn’t help either.
The food was over-​priced with meager portions and tasted a bit like pre-​packed indian fare at best. Don’t think I will return for another taste, there are just way too many other decent indian places to go to.

For that ever important milestone — the 100^th review! — I’m reviewing the place that I went to for my birthday recently. It may not be as impressive as the other Unilocalers who got to 500 recently, but it’s feels so special!
Anywho…
When we walked into the new location, my first thought was «I bet this place used to be a sushi joint.» There are Japanese restaurant style booths to the right, and a bar with the typical sushi prep area and what looks like Japanese tableware that the previous owners left behind. Oh Anapurna, how you’ve changed — but I still love you!
Our waiter was friendly, and the service timely. Every one of our two appetizers and five entrees was brought out at just the right moment, with fresh naan and nicely cooked rice. Of course, that can’t have been difficult since we were the only ones there. A few other people came in, but they left after looking at the menu. Perhaps they were expecting something with meat?
As for the food itself, I can’t remember all the names of the dishes, but they were all delicious. It converted my bf to the tasty side, he who is notoriously picky and usually says that curry reminds him of some very impolite things indeed.
The only reason I’m holding off on the fifth star is the décor. The bathrooms looked like they were painted and decorated by a twelve year old, and the rest looks like they were too lazy to change things from the previous tenants’ design. Time for an update!

In the spirit of Lakshmi, the goddess of many things (but most importantly generosity), I bestow 3 stars upon Annapurna, mostly for coming through with a decent meal at an ok price when we needed it.
This little hole in the wall offers vegetarian (and some vegan) Indian food in a very no-​frills setting. A glance at the menu results in a bit of sticker shock for basic family style Indian — many dishes were in the $ 11-​and-​up range (whereas at a similar place in, say, SF, you’d be paying in the $ 8-​$ 9 range at most). The dish options read like your average Indian place. Fortunately when I visited, we had quite a few folks at the table, so we were able to order and sample a decent number of things.
Most all of the food offered to us was good but not great. About what I’d find on average in Portland, a town decidedly lacking in good Indian food. For these prices, however, I’d be expecting either larger dishes, more frills (aka atmosphere), or better quality, and really, Annapurna did not deliver on any one of those three. The saag was okay, the aloo gobi was… for lack of a better term, just okay as well, and the naan was small and expensive. It was again, about average quality, but not really for the price.
The major reason to write this otherwise malaise-​driven review is to warn you from ordering the papri chaat. This is a dish that’s normally comprised of crispy crackers served with some tamarind chutney, mint chutney, and raita, all for dipping. Here, they took cardboard-​like thick bread (seriously, it tasted incredibly stale and chewy — like maybe some of yesterday’s naan?) and chopped it up and drowned it in a puddled mix of the two chutneys and yogurt. It was a soupy mess with hunks of «chewy.» Imagine taking very stale, chewy saltines and drenching them in a thin sauce and serving that on a plate. It was inedible (again, I’m being generous here) and all but a few bites of the dish ended up on the plate headed back to the dishwasher. For a group of adventurous eaters, that’s saying a lot.
Other than that monstrosity, the rest of the meal was simply… okay, with the bill being more expensive than it should be. This could definitely be an oasis for vegetarians in an otherwise meat-​driven city (we were thankful to have a break from pork belly madness), but as a destination, I would look for something better.

After a long week of meat-​heavy meals — Annapurna saved the day!
Some friends and I popped in here after a long day on the town. Tired and hungry we plopped ourselves down and decided on some great dishes to order up. It wasn’t the best Indian I’ve ever had but it was certainly tasty. The service was quick, the prices were reasonable and best of all — we felt full! In a matter of 30 minutes we sat down, ate, and left. I’m not in BC a lot but I’d consider re-​visiting if I’m in the area and have a hankering for some yummy garlic naan.

What do you do when you’re hanging out with a vegan friend and you’re hungry?
Search «vegetarian» on Unilocal.
And what do you say when your vegan friend marvels at the menu because when she goes out there’s usually only ONE vegetarian option that needs to be modified?
You say «Thanks for the helpful reviews about Annapurna!»
And what do you do when your vegan friend really wants the chai tea but they don’t have soy?
You get her to pick another drink. Chai tea without the yummy creaminess, just isn’t the same. :-)
Yummerific vegan options that we both shared left me feeling quite happy and satisfied. There wasn’t anything left over of our allo gobhi (cauliflower and potatoes) or the baigan bharta (eggplant). We opted for the tofu paratha (whole wheat bread stuffed with tofu). Next time, I’d get one order of the paratha and some rice.
Our server was very sweet and friendly. And I quite liked the paper lanterns and wood finishes.

I am an indian fanatic. love the food, the culture, etc. Our first time going to this restaurant. right off the bat felt like it was a restaurant attempting to be modern with their décor, was not succeeding in anything but looking like a large dining room at ikea. Even by looking at the menu — it was not authentic by any means. We had a few typical dishes… asparages fritters, which were actually really good. best thing all night for sure. Chick peas which were totally flavourless, and the butter chicken which was watery and still had large chunks of coriander, and if you have ever bitten into a piece of coriander, you know it is not the best thing. Naan bread was good. and the beer was good, because it was Granville Island Lager. Atleast i got 1,000 Open table points! :) Would be taking a miss on this one for next time though.