29Amaya

For too many years Toronto's idea of Indian food was acrid curries floating in moats of grease. In theory that has changed, thanks to a plethora of nominally upscale Indian restaurants. But compared to Amaya they're of no interest. Amaya takes Indian cuisine to a level previously not found in Toronto. First off they use the class of ingredients not normally found in curry houses. Then they cook with advanced passion. Their chaat app is a crisp mountain of sweet/sour excitement (wheat crisps and crispy puffed rice with sprouted beans in tamarind, coriander, mint and pomegranate sauce. Huge shrimps barely cooked swim in fab green curry with a hint of sour (tamarind) and sweet. Tandoori duck breast is where the French and the Indian chef meet, the duck red and juicy, the sauce orange-scented.