Menali Restaurant

One of the best meals I’ve had in ages. Menali has an extensive menu that I look forward to exploring. Today I started simple with chili chicken (medium heat), garlic rice and mountain hariyali momos. Every dish was a home run. The chili chicken was delicious and well spiced and the garlic rice was wonderful with bits of flavourful garlic mixed through. The momos were probably the highlight. Beautifully presented, they were delicious and came with two accompanying sauces (mild and very hot—both very good). My taste buds were dancing. The service was excellent and I enjoyed chatting with the friendly server who promised to recommend some delicious Indian dishes on my next visit. This family run business offers up incredible meals--I’ll be back again soon. A real gem on the Danforth.

We stopped by Menali a few weeks ago for a date night dinner on the weekend. The restaurant is well rated and has a good amount of variety in Indian (and Hakka) cuisine on the menu. The restaurant is a lovely space. There's plenty of seating here. The staff are very helpful and friendly. We ordered a variety of dishes. Starting with chilli fried Momos, which was not enjoyable as they seemed a bit overdone. Momos are generally light and fluffy. In this case, the outer crust was crisp but then the Momo as a whole was quite chewy. The 'chilli sauce' is quite flavourful and savoury, while a little on the salty side. Not a bad starter but I would avoid the fried version. For our mains we ordered tandoori shrimp, saffron rice and an eggplant curry. The shrimp were a miss. They were overcooked and chewy. The mint sauce however is quite good. The eggplant curry is a little on the sweeter side but we both enjoyed it. It's creamy, savoury and spiced nicely. Paired with rice or naan this was excellent. Lastly the naan and rice here are pretty good. Saffron pilav was good but again not worth the price imo. Overall, this is a pleasant restaurant for a nice meal but if you're looking for good Indian food, Menali might disappoint.

I recently dined at Menali Restaurant with friends, and it was a fantastic experience from. The atmosphere is cozy and the staff were attentive and friendly. Speaking of the food, it was delicious! The menu offers a great variety, fresh, flavorful, and beautifully presented. Everything tasted incredibly authentic. I’ll definitely be back soon! The mountain momo is amazing!

Run to this place! I'd never had momos before and the lady behind the counter walked me through the choices. She was so helpful and kind! They were so delicious. Can't wait to go back.

TLDR: This place offers Nepali momos, Indian/Hakka cuisines, and great service. The portions are generous, and the pricing is reasonable. Would make another trip back to try more of the menu! -[MASALA CHAI] $3.29 🫖 This is black tea steeped with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves 🫖 It is also has milk in it when served, and is typically pre-sweetened for you 🫖 Now that I am no longer allergic to cinnamon, I am trying chai everywhere it is offered on the menu so I got one here! -[JOOL MOMO - CHICKEN] $16.99 🥟 These are their steamed momos served in a rich broth made with vegetables like onions, and tomatoes 🥟 The broth they were served in was delicious but remember they are served fresh so they will be steaming hot! 🥟 Super tasty if you ask me -[MOUNTAIN HARIYALI MOMO - CHICKEN] $17.99 🌿 The sauce for this one is why it was ordered - the sauce was made out of green herbs, yogurt, mint, and spices 🌿 I don't know how to describe it but it worked so well together in terms of the combinations of flavors 🌿 Highly recommend you give this a go! -[PALAK PANEER] $15.49 🌿 Tender cottage cheese in a blended creamy spinach sauce that is super flavorful 🌿 I always order palak paneer because I actually prefer this compared to dishes with meat because of how delicious it is 🌿 Despite it being a vegetarian dish, I promise it is extremely filling -[GARLIC NAAN] $4.99 🧄 Always something I order when I want naan, and this did NOT disappoint 🧄 The naan portion is quite large so two orders of naan is well above what you will probably need if you ordered the way I did haha -[KEEMA NAAN] $6.99 🐑 Naan stuffed with seasoned minced lamb 🐑 I'm not 100% sure what the seasonings were but something in it was not my favorite flavoring - it was still good but I think I would have preferred a cheese naan for next time! 📝 Even after all that food, the bill was only less than $40 because it was split between two people. It almost felt like we robbed them 😵‍💫 The food was honestly so good, and our server was kind enough to help us with deciding what to order too