Robson All India Bar & Restaurant

I am not sure how to rate this. I went there a few months ago and the food was quite good. At the end of my meal the server told me that management took his tips from him so don’t tip him. I can’t say that made me want to go back! Just a surreal experience.

I used to buy tamarind sauce here when the place I order delivery from would forget it (this happens frequently, but their samosas are so good I simply accept it) I live on the same block as All India Bar but I was never inspired by the décor. so I didn’t have a chance to eat there. Long story short, they’ve gone under as of about three weeks ago now.

Had a lot of Indian food in my day, and this place was not at the bottom. That said, Vancouver is almost legendary for Indian food, so don’t settle for less than a 4 star place when you’re here.
Price was fair (I think we paid $ 16) for a couple of lunch buffets.
Food was underspiced, and naan was undercooked. Bartender wasn’t there at lunch, so no martini, which also irked me.

delicious Indian food and nice service

Just awful in every imaginable way. We were given menus and promised water, but our waiter — who had maybe two other tables — ignored us for 20 minutes, spending his time attending to other patrons and clearing tables. We finally asked another member of the wait staff to help. She was marginally more efficient, though still quite rude. The food took forever to arrive. And, frankly, it was terrible. The pakoras appeared to have been prepared many hours earlier — very dry and resembling something from the grocery frozen foods section. The naan was burnt and dry and tough. The main courses — a chicken dish and a lentil dish — were bland and seemed to lack standard Indian spicing.
It is possible that I would dine here again. If I were told that I must do so in order to save the lives of many innocent small children, I would consider it. Not otherwise, though.

Great little hole-​in-​the-​wall type of place. Easy to miss on the street if you’re not looking carefully though. It is on the second floor, so the frontage is minimal.
For lunch they have a small but well-​rounded buffet. Some Tandoori chicken, butter chicken, two types of rice, lamb curry and more. Everything was tender and well seasoned. The plain nan was good — though made me wish I had gotten butter or garlic.
The staff seemed a little overwhelmed by two groups of 5+ people and the buffet got quickly wiped out. This could have been a one-​off thing, since otherwise they seemed pleasant and competent.
If you’re looking for a cheap, quick, buffet style lunch with Indian food, you can’t go wrong here.

Awesome food ranging from spicy to mild. Good sized portions and very filling. Meat and vegetarian dishes. Quite affordable, though I have noticed that the prices went up the last few months.

I’ve had delivery from here many times. This is another Indian restaurant that, for Vancouver, is only average but would stand out in San Francisco.
Their chicken vindaloo is good. If you ask them, they will make it very spicy. At times, the potatoes will be overcooked but not to the point of distraction. The chicken has been slightly tough a couple of times. However, their spice blend makes up for it. I’ve never ordered another main from here.
Their samosas are also good. They get the crispiness of the shell right. There have been a couple of times when I thought they were a touch overcooked or maybe the oil wasn’t super fresh. But, once again, they get the spice mixture right and they are very tasty.
Their naan is middle of the road. It doesn’t really stand out. I think it misses a little of that super fresh garlic taste flavor I like.
Their delivery will usually take about 45 minutes. They are always prompt, professional, and polite. You can order from the restaurant or via
.
Overall:
While I pointed out some negatives, I have eaten from here many times. I consider them a good option for delivery. Overall, their food is good. and they get high marks for their use of spices.

Fantastic! Spicy!
You can order online, their menu is huge (and if you don’t see it, you can request it no problem), they have free delivery or 10% off take out, the staff is super friendly and the food is tasty. And only a few blocks from my apartment, way too easy for the likes of lazy me.
Ordered take-​out, so I have no idea what the buffet or in-​house service is like. But what service I did get was fast and friendly. They have a cute little 3 stool bar too. The food was still hot by the time I got it home and very very fresh. Entrees do not include rice. Prices are average (about $ 17 – 21 per person for entrée, rice and naan, with some leftovers).
My only tiny grudge is that I ordered mild and it definitely was upwards of medium. This poor American girl is a wimp when it comes to heat! Perhaps because I ordered a traditional Indian entrée that wasn’t on the menu, they assumed I would want more spice.
Next time, and oh boy will there ever be a next time, I will emphasize the ‘mild’.
Side note: What is it about garlic naan that makes you eat 10x the normal amount of food? It’s an appetite accelerant!

Curries, curries, and more curries OH MY! As a vegetarian, I loved this place and you know a place is good when someone who calls India their home takes you to it.
The food is set up buffet style (lunch costs approx $ 13?!) so the minute you get there, it’s eating time! I must’ve gone up 2 – 3 times and I probably would’ve gone up a couple more times but I’m a lady (not really)…and my food baby was reaching 7 months status. There were 8 mains and a salad bar. This is definitely 10 times steps up from another Indian Restaurant I went to (which shall not be named) where fruit flies were swarming the food.
The Restaurant is really chill and practically vacant which works for me! More food for my belly (can you tell I’m hungry?!). In the background they play bollywood/​english music to create an interesting ambiance.
For non-​Indian food frequenters like myself, don’t forget to try the «mouth freshener» at the front. I thought they were decoration because they resemble bird seeds but you’re supposed to take a dime-​sized amount in your palm and eat it. Natural and tastes like licorice.

We used to love this place, but it has taken a serious nosedive recently. The food at the buffet had been declining for a while, but it was the final straw when last time we went there the «butter chicken» didn’t even resemble the real thing. It tasted more like canned Italian food than the enchanting rich Indian dish I was used to. The selection is terrible now as well. What kind of Indian restaurant serves spring rolls instead of pakora? I’m done. I would recommend Salaam Bombay or India Bistro instead.

Oh what an interesting experience. Went there a few weeks ago with my girlfriend and a friend. We were the only ones there so it seemed natural to them that everyone working there should be serving us. we had 3 (!) people serving us. my friends ordered a half litre of wine right away while i wasn’t quite sure about what i wanted to drink. then we waited for the menus. one of the waiters (i think he was the owner) finally grabbed them and walk over to our table but then he stopped in front of the tv and stood there for what seemed to be about a minute. we were pretty hungry and wanted to order quickly but seemed like he got a little distracted and forgot that he was on his way to bring us our menus. when we finally got them and were ready to order i first told him i decided on a drink and ordered a double tall vodka diet coke. i thought he’d just write it down with the rest of our order but he went back to the bar to get me my drink.
the tall glass that i requested was tiny. i got a little carafe of coke on the side which i totally needed cos it sure was a double. if not a triple. it tasted like pure vodka! if you don’t mind that you should come here to get wasted cos the drink was only $ 5.50 if i remember it right. maybe $ 6.50 but definitely not more than that…
well THEN we finally ordered our foooood!
we got:
— veggie pakoras
— the aloo gobi
— the eggplant bhartha
— the paneer makhani
— 2 orders of naan bread
— 1 order of spinach naan
and then had to decide wheather to get 1 or 2 orders of rice. we decided to get one cos it seemed like we got a lot of bread. the owner recommended to get 2 orders of rice for 3 people but we said one should be enough.
as a little snack they gave us those indian crackers (i have no idea what they’re called) with the green and brown dip. yummy.
then we got the pakoras. HUGE. usually you get like 6 of them but i think we got about 12 with onions on top and some other stuff. very delicious and a really good deal. twice as much as you usually get for about the same price! we didn’t get any mango chudney so we asked for some. the guy said we got chudney right there (the dip from the crackers which we already almost finished) and that those dips are what you usually eat with your pakoras. if that’s the case you should at least get more of the stuff with your pakoras.
he then decided to bring us some mango chudney by the time we were almost done eating the pakoras. hmm…
then we got the rest of our food. huge portions again! way too much naan and wait… is that 2 orders of rice??? didn’t we say one will be enough? oh well
we ate… and ate… and ate… soooo good and soooo full about half way through the dishes. holy moly. way too much. but delicious.
i was still struggling with my triple vodka while my friend was enjoying his wine refill.
the waiter then saw my girlfriend’s glass was empty and poored her another glass from the carafe. he split the rest of the carafe between the 2 glasses (one empty, one already refilled)
i hate when waiters do that! they don’t know how much each of them had or how much more they want. he didn’t even ask. just spli it ⁵⁰⁄₅₀.
oh well. we tried to eat some more but weren’t very successful so we asked if we could take the rest to go.
they grabbed everything we wanted to take home and we waited for the bill and the food to be packed up while sipping on our drinks.
seemed like he lost our bill cos he was talking to everyone trying to fugure out what we had ordered. it took him a while…
another waiter came over to clean off our table. he asked if he could take this and this and that… obviously we we’re done eating and i don’t need empty baskets or carafes on my table.
still waiting for the bill. already got our packed up food tho.
the waiter came back to wipe our table with a wet cloth. he made us life our glasses and personal belongings. uhm. rude?
i was kinda surprised they didn’t set up the table for the next guests before we even got up. the whole time we were there only one couple came in and they left before we did. every other table was empty so why in such a rush. don’t you wanna save some work for when we leave and there’s nothing else to do?
oh well. we finally got our bill. they made us pay for the 2^nd order of rice which the owner decided to order for us and left the place giggling.
we couldn’t believe what we just experienced!!!
4 stars for the food + only 1 star for the service = 2.5 stars
2 would be unfair cos the food is great. delicious and the portions are huge for a very decent price!
3 stars and i recommend: ORDER FOR TAKE OUT!!!