After visiting Sweet Olenka’s for an ice cream break, we drove along Queen Street West into the Parkdale area. I noticed as my husband was driving that the area had many Indian restaurants. What was interesting to me was that many of them advertised roti dishes like chicken tikka masala roti and butter chicken roti. To me, roti is the Indian flat bread so I would think a curry roti meant curry with roti on the side. After doing a quick research on my phone, I learned about Toronto delicious roti scene. According to Toronto.com, a roti is defined as “a handheld wrap of roti bread, thin and chewy, swaddled around a portion of savoury curry.” The article also named Mother India in Parkdale as a popular place for roti with a legendary butter chicken. Because of that, we decided to go there for our first Toronto roti experience.
Rotis, Rotis, and Rotis
Mother India’s menu includes a tasty selection of vegetarian ($7 – $11) rotis, non-vegetarian rotis ($9 – $13) and curry with rice dishes ($9 – $13). Their menu is also posted online.
Roti To Go
Mother India is a sister restaurant of Gandhi, another restaurant leader in the Downtown Toronto roti scene. When we got inside the restaurant, I noticed that the interior seemed very basic and it did not feel particularly inviting. The lighting was dim and the dining area appeared to be quite far back because of the long narrow walkway from the entrance. It was late in the afternoon and there were no customers dining inside at that time. There was no staff visible when we arrived but one staff member quickly came out to greet us. We then made our order at the counter/display case near the entrance. Since it was named as a must-try at Mother India, we ordered the butter chicken roti ($12) as takeout. The order took about 15 minutes and we walked around the neighbourhood during that time.
What We Tried
When we got back to our hotel, we eagerly unraveled the takeout container and inspected the roti. Mother India’s roti didn’t seem like a handheld wrap as defined by Toronto.com but rather required a knife and fork. The roti kind of reminded me of a lasagna with the layers alternating with sauce.
As for the taste, the roti was delicious with a sweet and creamy butter chicken sauce. The chicken pieces were nicely moist and tender. The roti dough did end up a bit soggy from being in the takeout container but was still tasty. I did think that there was proportionally more potato than chicken. The overall size of the roti was enough for an individual serving, but I personally would find it too much to finish in one sitting. It worked out well by sharing the roti with my husband and son.
Overall Impression of Mother India
I enjoyed Mother India’s butter chicken roti even though it seemed to have more potatoes than chicken. Takeout seems like a plausible option as the interior and ambiance did not feel too inviting. I would be interested in visiting Mother India again next time I am in Toronto. Rating: 3.5/5
Website: www.motherindiarestaurant.ca