Guru Kitchen + Bar isn’t just a restaurant, it’s an experience. The fine dinery takes inspiration from Indian culture and lifestyle which emphasizes eating delicious food, drinking and enjoying life. The menu, curated by General Manager Gurjeet Khaira and his culinary team, includes Indian street food, tandoori oven classics and innovative dishes inspired by India, the rest of Asia and the globe. The menu is vast, making it hard to choose, but you can never go wrong with the Guru Butter Chicken. The creamy and slightly spicy dish of tender chicken breast covered in Guru butter sauce is mouth watering. It’s a staple at Guru Kitchen + Bar. Worth mentioning is Guru’s menu of craft cocktails made from local and traditional spices. – Katrina Turchin
#108, 10111 104 AVE. NW, 780-399-8210, GuruRestaurant.com
When it comes to dining out or ordering in, I judge a lot of books by their covers — that is, I will often order an item if the chef has blessed the dish with an intriguing name. The rise of the Momo — an Indian/Nepalese dumpling — is quickly becoming a full-on food trend in Edmonton, and Swagat offers a Kathmandu Chicken variety. How can you not order something named for the capital of Nepal? We ordered them in for the office, and the praise was unanimous for the peppery chicken inside the dumpling, served with a sauce that doesn’t take any prisoners when it comes to the heat. If you like spice in Indian food, you will find that food inspired by the Himalayas kicks it up another notch. But, there’s more to love — the beef vindaloo packs another punch, and look for dishes that mix Indian and Chinese influences. – Steven Sandor
9737 118 AVE. NW, 780-479-8838, SwagatIndianBar.com
When I picked up some Namaste India for lunch, it was closed to indoor dining, which was a shame. Not only for the obvious reasons, but also because I could tell the people who run it are true restaurateurs in the sense that they love to serve — I’ve never felt such gratitude for just accepting a neatly tied to-go bag before.
Whenever I order from a new-to-me Indian restaurant, I resist ordering the butter chicken, because that seems…unadventurous. So I ordered the Chicken Kadai, which it turns out is a lot like butter chicken, but with sautéed onions, bell peppers and tomatoes. It was spicy, so I was glad I ordered the Mango Prawn to offset the heat. Then I mixed it together for my own spicy-sweet Indian lunch adventure. – Cory Schachtel
10023 107 AVE. NW, 780-540-0100
10354 82 AVE. NW, 780-441-1111
10070 163 ST. NW, 780-757-7550
16741 100 ST. NW, 780-473-0234, NamasteIndiaCA.com
This article appears in the March 2022 issue of Edify
