Sutra Modern Indian - Vancouver, BC

Platypus is about to have a baby Platypus at any moment so Mimi Harvey and wanted to have one last supper with her before we lost her to the abyss known as motherhood.  As Ms. Platypus is 15 months pregnant, we decided to go somewhere within waddling distance and that somewhere happened to be Sutra Modern Indian. I was really undecided about going somewhere labelled "modern" but when this Piglet read they had chocolate samosas for dessert, I was there faster than you could say "platypup".

Sutra claims to be traditional Indian flavors with a variety of cooking techniques...  what does that even mean?  They also claim to support local farmers but I didn't see any claims of local ingredients on their menu or descriptions of dishes...  Hm, maybe they use all local ingredients?  I don't know.  We're here, I'm hungry, we're eating.  I don't care where the ingredients come from.

Empty save for one table on a Wednesday night (there was also a playoff game on so bear with me)...  it stayed relatively empty for the rest of night, probably topping out at about 4-5 tables being occupied.  The decor and ambiance is quite nice and the servers and host is very friendly.  We're off to a good start!  Now let's see about the food...

 Onion Bhajis - Free

Gluten-free batter with spices and tamarind dip

Served on the house - I like free food and this wasn't bad.  Crispy on the outside, hot soft batter of spices and onions on the inside.  Not a bad start.  The only thing I didn't like was being told it was vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free and cholesterol-free.  It's deep-fried.  There's no way it could cholesterol-free - come on, who are you trying to kid?

Butter Chicken - $16
Veggies, rice, naan and our famous curry sauce

Don't even dare tell me this is dairy-free.  LOL.  Good thing she didn't because I'd just have to get up and walk away.  This dish was quite good but not as creamy as I've had at other Indian restaurants.  I do appreciate there are veggies in the sauce and it tasted well with the chicken.  The accompanying rice was good and went with the sauce really well as it was nicely spiced.  It's just too bad the portion size is quite small - maybe half a chicken breast on the plate.  Pricey for half a piece of chicken.

Boneless Lamb with Vindaloo Sauce - $21
Original spicy curry

Nicely spiced and again went well with the rice.  The lamb was cooked ok and the sauce is tasty and just spicy enough for all the diners.  Have I had better?  Yes, but this is not bad.  Is it worth $21?  No.

 

Kofta Balls with Korma Sauce - $14

This dish arrived to our table with broccoli and carrots in a deep red sauce (no balls to be seen!) so we thought we received the wrong dish.  When a server was alerted, he apologized and claimed that the korma sauce with balls was supposed to have been poured overtop.  That's weird.  Two sauces just poured atop one another?  When they did arrive, I did not like them - they were sweet soft chewy dough with raisins in them, a complete mismatch with the coconut curry sauce the server had recommended since it was also quite sweet.  Mimi only ordered this dish because she thought their name sounded cool.  LOL.  Oh Mimi.  Platypus didn't even bother whereas I finished one and had enough.  SKIP!

Chocolate Samosa - $1.00 (???  We charged $2 for one so now I'm unsure)

We had to try these, no matter how much we'd already eaten!  The server tells us the chocolate samosas are a dollar each - what a steal!  Mimi and I decide to share one as Ms. Platypus had already filled up whatever little stomach space she had left with our entrees.  It arrives and....  it's the size of a wonton.  Seriously.  Look at it.  Let's give you some perspective...

Yeah, it was comically small.  Why didn't our server tell us how small it was when we ordered it and asked if we could share?  Had we known we would've ordered 50 of them so they could add up to the size of a normal samosa.  Ok, nevermind the tiny size, how did it taste?  Like dark chocolate in a wonton wrapper deep fried.  Nothing special, it wasn't even that crispy.  This is one disappointed Piglet.  The mango sauce that covered most of the plate was very good though, too bad there was nothing to eat with it.  Needless to say, this chocolate samosa is going to be our running joke for a VERY long time.

I'm just going to come out and say it: I hate "modern" food.  Just stick to the basics of something that's already fundamentally awesome and place it in a modern setting!  Indian food is already so flippin delicious, why mess with it??  The servers and host were super nice and super helpful but I don't think it's enough to save the food.  With the tonnes of delicious and successful Indian and Indian-fusion restaurants in and around the Lower Mainland, I see no point in coming back.  I'm sorry Sutra, but I'm gonna have to say sayonara!

Pros:

• Friendly and helpful staff
• Attentive service

Cons:

• Small portion sizes
• Expensive for what you get compared to other Indian restaurants
• Food itself was only ok