The Best Dosa in Toronto
Dosas may not be ubiquitous in Toronto, but from Mississauga to Little India they're not tough to find. For the uninitiated, dosas are a typical South Indian staple consisting of crepes made from fermented rice and lentils, accompanied with sides such as sambar (a tangy lentil soup with vegetables) and various kinds of chutney (coconut, tomato, tamarind, mint). Outside of the restaurants themselves, they often make an appearance at summer festivals at Harbourfront and the annual Masala! Mehndi! Masti!
Here are the nine best restaurants in Toronto to get dosa, as voted by the readers of this site.
Writing and photos by Mishal Cazmi
Madras Dosa Hut
This Albion location of Madras Dosa Hut is without a doubt one of the finer looking dosa restaurants around. From Monday to Friday, the bright red restaurant offers unlimited dosas for $8.99. The unusual offering of dried fruit masala dosa is a pleasant surprise with a spiced potato stuffing and crushed dried fruit glazed on the crepe from within. All dosas come with four chutneys and a generous serving of sambar. Suburbanites need not venture far because the restaurant has a second location in Mississauga. More...
Udupi Palace
Found in Little India, Udupi Palace’s front entrance boasts clipping after clipping of restaurant reviews, almost all raving about its quality dosas. For an extra dollar, you can upgrade a chilli cheese dosa to a chilli cheese masala dosa by asking them to add the potato filling. The restaurant wins hands-down for the tastiest sambar- light and flavourful with just the right seasonings it can also be equally savoured as a soup. A refreshing (and an incredibly tasty) falooda is the perfect way to wash down a savoury meal here. More...
South Indian Dosa Mahal
The recently relocated South Indian Dosa Mahal is certainly an eye-catcher with its bright pink walls and matching decor. For those with a large appetite, there are several thali options including the vegetable and dosa thali that comes with four plain dosas, sambar, chutney and three different curries - vegetable, potato and eggplant. The latter’s sambar is forgettable but the curries are well worth the order. Bonus! After filling up on dosa don't forget the take-out. Get 3 samosas for $1 or 10 samosas for $3.00. More...
Madras Masala
Madras Masala has an incredibly diverse range of dosas. Even after its dosa festival, items from its festival menu (off–the-menu items) continue every Tuesday for $4.99. The rest of the week, it offers the typical dosa fare, starting from $6.99 up to $10.99. In addition to its South Indian menu, the restaurant cooks up an equally vast selection of North Indian and Indo-Chinese items such as Hyderabadi Lamb Biryani and Gobi Manchurian. More...
Dosa Dosa
To the undiscerning eye, Dosa Dosa can easily be mistaken for a commercial fast-food restaurant. Located right beside a Pizza Pizza on The Danforth, it looks exactly the same both inside and outside. While Dosa Squared doesn’t have the largest selection of dosas, what it lacks in choice it makes up for in quality. The incredibly cheap prices range from $2.99 for a plain dosa to $4.99 for its keema dosa stuffed with curried ground beef. The keema dosa is savoury, spicy and seasoned to perfection. It makes up for the mediocre and small serving of sambar and goes great with the coconut chutney. More...
Saravanaa Bhavan
On weekends, families flock to this restaurant for its weekend vegetarian buffet. On other days, people still drop in, usually for dosas. As someone who always gets masala dosas (with potato filling as opposed to a standalone crepe), this is the only restaurant where I’d think of forgoing the masala because the dosa and chutneys are oh-so-good. The dosa is as a dosa should be - crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. The tri-colour chutneys - tomato, coconut and mint - even as a smaller side, pack plenty of flavour and so to choose a favourite would be like asking to choose a favourite kid. More...
Dosa City
This suburban restaurant has been open for a little over a year yet it confidently touts itself as “the best dosa place in town.” The dosas are served with sambar and four different kinds of chutney - coconut, tamarind, spicy tomato, and coriander. It has very reasonable prices ranging from $6.19 to $8.49 for incredibly large dosas that consume over half the table. More...
Rashnaa
This South Indian and Sri Lankan restaurant in Cabbagetown makes a lot of good food, but nothing quite as popular its masala thosai (dosa). For a light lunch, the masala thosai is $5.95 with sambar and coconut chutney. During warm weather, it's nice to have the option to indulge in dosa on the restaurant's patio. More...
Dosa Darbar
Dosa Darbar is a relatively small dosa place on Albion located fairly close to Madras Dosa Hut. The restaurant is a good option for those on-the-go who’d like to pop in and out for a quick lunch. There are several daily dosa specials such as the Darbar Crazy Dosa for $7.99, a combination of four toppings - cheese, onion, rava, and mysore. For a lighter snack, there's also a baby dosa for $2.99. While the ambiance may be forgettable, the food is not. The accompanying sides (the sweet mint chutney are particularly a standout) and the potato filling are top notch. More...
Comments (6)
If you guys are including Mississauga in this mix then you need to check out Guru Lukshmi (used to be called Dosa Corner) http://www.gurulukshmi.com
Best dosas ever.
This list is clearly missing some of the best south indian / dosa places in town.
Anjappar Chettinad (www.anjapparcanada.com) is the other one that comes to mind. They have two locations in GTA - one in Scarborough and the other in Brampton. They are a chain of restaurants from India, featuring Chettinad cuisuine, with many locations overseas just like Saravanaa Bhavan.
Nilgiris - foodpages.ca/nilgiris.ucomments (Markham & McCowan)
Udupi Madras Cafe - 265 Enfield Pl Mississauga
Madras Palace - www.madraspalace.com
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