A Taste of Pakistan at Al Watan Tandoori
Posted on 05/11/2011
Address: 6084 Fraser Street, Vancouver
Scouting restaurants for the men of Royal Vancouver Curry Club seems to be an added duty for this food blogger, and taking tips from the group's more adventurous members can yield outings to establishments that verge on the edge of obscurity -- for a reason perhaps. Such a place is Al Watan Tandoori eating house of Fraser at 45th.
Although I must say that when it comes to culinary challenges involving Asian eateries, I have always been keen to be up to the summons.
Located along an unflattering stretch of Fraser Street, Al Watan is ignominiously nestled between a Pizza Hut and a greasy-spoon diner -- all of which are surrounded by either dollar stores, Fraser-style fusion restaurants (think Filipino-Chinese cafe) or mini-mart/video/ethnic-food hybrid convenience stores.
Before even setting foot inside this rather out of view Hindustani hide-away, one could be forgiven for being a little suspicious as to the quality of cuisine at this smallish eatery.
As I walked toward the place, I noticed that the proprietor past or present had seen fit to pronounce on the giant burgundy canvass awning the words "Gourmet Restaurant." I wondered what delights lay hidden within...
Lamb Biryani. Basmati rice cooked with lamb, onion, green & red pepper and exotic spices. $8.50
I have tried Biryani rice in Yangon and have to say that perhaps various regions make this dish differently? The biryani rice here is a bunch of steamed basmati rice with a bit of tumeric for colouring, piled on top of lamb meat with sauce. I thought the rice in this dish had to be a little bit oily rather than just plain steamed rice? Perhaps I need to travel to say Iran, Turkey or elsewhere in Central Asia to get a better feel for biryani.
Paya. Beef foot with spices soup. $8.99
An absolutely miserable and oily excuse for beef trotter soup. For nine bucks, you get a small bowl of spiced, greasy water with a few paltry bits of hoof collagen and skin. Although yes, it is hot and yes, it is spicy, the lack of meat is such a ripoff for nine bucks. Maybe I'm missing the point of paya. Perhaps paya is supposed to be this way? If so, and if this is a good indicator of Pakistani food, I won't be eager to try more Pak cuisine anytime soon, unfortunately.
Brain Masala. Brain cooked with special herbs and spices. $9.50
I like how they keep the brain as mystery meat. The menu simply advertises "brain masala". But we are sure it is cow brain. After all, who would bother to get sheep or goat brain and then not advertise the fact? As for the taste, this dish is well laden with spices. It has a very strong but not overpowering taste. For the adventure gourmet, this is an interesting and recommended exotic dish.
Overall, this Pakistani eating-house is really a South Asian greasy-spoon hardly worth the effort to go. Its redeeming quality that doesn't seem to make up for its unclean feel and unremarkable food is the special herbs and spices used in some of their dishes.