It’s hard to squeeze in a decent lunch even on a full hour break. By the time you get to a restaurant, sit down and order, there goes 15 minutes. Then you wolf down your meal, throw down some cash, and run back to the office. Enough to ruin any good meal.
That’s why the Indian buffet ($13) at Haweli was perfect for lunch with the ladies at my former office. Haweli is quite a lovely place, soft draperies and soothing walls. A nice downtown respite in the middle of a workday.
The best part though – as long as you were smart enough to reserve a table – is you can head straight for the goods:
- beef curry
- saag paneer: cheese cubes cooked with minced spinach and cream
- tandoori chicken
- vegetarian pakora: fried fritters of potatoes, spinach, onions and cauliflower
- butter chicken
- dal: lentils
- aloo gobi: potatoes and cauliflower cooked in onions, garlic and ginger.
Business is brisk so nothing sits for long. The pakoras especially stay crispy and fresh. My favourite butter chicken is moist (it’s mostly dark meat) and hard to stop at just one helping.
There’s a small salad bar with cold veggies and yogurts and chutneys. Baskets of naan bread are brought straight to your table, fresh from the tandoor or clay oven. If you’ve got room in the end, there’s usually rice pudding and gulab jamun, a dough ball soaked in syrup.
Top it off with a Kingfisher Indian beer, just in time to return to the cubicle and a nap.
The lunch buffet is incredibly popular. Make reservations especially for a large group. I’ve been here for dinner, ordering off the menu, when the atmosphere is quieter and more romantic. The food is just as good at night.
Haweli, 10220-103 St., Edmonton, Alberta, (780) 421-8100.
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