Few people can say they have a close friend they could run a restaurant with. Even less have actually done it.
But pals Anurag Sharma and Abhay Joshi recently became part of that exclusive group when they opened a Daal Roti location in Georgetown South.
The Indian restaurant franchise's name translates to “lentils” and “bread,” but the menu is far more extensive than that.
“We knew (before opening that) there are some essentials like butter chicken that have to be there, tandoori chicken has to be there, naan has to be there,” Sharma told HaltonHillsToday.
The food choices are very inclusive of different tastes. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes - like cashew paneer and chicken vindaloo - provide a wide range of options for the discerning customer. Veg pulav and multiple biryani types (chicken, vegetable and mutton) round out the rice offerings, an Indian must-have.
The kitchen contains a real tandoor oven, meaning the naan bread is pillowy-soft.
Even though Daal Roti is a franchise restaurant, the owners have a high degree of freedom to design the business in their image. This was welcome news as it allowed them to shape the restaurant for their customers' changing tastes.
The owners have room for more esoteric dishes that may even be a rarity for some Indians, like paan kulfi. It's an amalgamation of paan - betel leaves filled with aromatic ingredients meant to be chewed - and the milky, ice cream-like dessert of kulfi.
Sharma is particularly proud of chilli paneer and recounted how a customer sang the praises of his restaurant’s take on it.
“The guy loved it so much. He said five or six years back, he was in Vancouver and that's the last time he had good chilli paneer.”
The restaurant’s interior is divided into two spaces, the dining room and what will go on to become the sports bar area.
The use of green and orange in the dining room is meant to invoke the colours of the Indian flag, while the sports area is more of a contrast between black and gold.
The owners expect to receive their liquor license by the end of the month. Once in hand, they will be putting on NHL, NFL, soccer or even cricket games on the television for all to enjoy.
"A lot of South Asian people love cricket. They play cricket; I play cricket myself," Sharma said.
He and his buddy Abhay Joshi met on the cricket pitch in 2019. The year before, Sharma had moved to Canada from India after his boss ordered him to do so. Joshi moved to Canada around the same time too.
The pair had lunch at a Daal Roti location, which Sharma says was the first Indian restaurant he tried in Canada. They sampled others since then, but nothing quite measured up to Daal Roti. They began discussing opening their own restaurant.
Joshi moved to Georgetown not long after and Sharma soon followed.
“It was coincidentally on the same street where he lives,” Sharma said.
Once the location at 378 Mountainview Rd. S. became available, they jumped at the chance to make their dream come true.
For information on their menu and catering services, visit DaalRoti.ca/Georgetown.
