259 Host Fine Indian Cuisine

Last night on a cold December night, I ventured out to celebrate a friend’s birthday over at the Host Fine Indian Cuisine.  There are 2 locations in downtown Toronto however we decided to choose with 259 Host on Wellington Street.  We were in the mood for some nice authentic curry dishes and since one of my friends was Indian and they had a Groupon coupon, we decided to head out there and take advantage of the situation. 

We had reservations for the evening and were ushered to the top level of this three storey restaurant.  We sat down and although there were only approximately eight tables on the top floor, it had taken 3 requests and about twenty minutes before we were even given our glasses of water.  When we finally ordered, we went with five different dishes. 

Our first dish was a Samosa Sampler.  There were four different types of samosa on the plate.  Honestly I couldn’t really tell what two of the samosas were.  They were bland tasting and was actually more oily more than anything else.  The last two, the regular samosa and the avacoda samosa were the best ones of the bunch.  They had a strong flavor to them with the regular samosa a bit on the spicy side. 

Chicken Tikka

After the sampler came, there was a long wait for our main course dishes.  It was almost 40 minutes before our entrees arrived and when they did, they screwed up one of the dishes where we were given an incorrect dish.  One of the dishes that arrived correctly was the butter chicken.  Apparently this is their signature dish here at the restaurant.  It sure did not disappoint.  If I was to just have this dish alone, I would have given this place a 5 out of 5.  The juicy chicken mixed with a tomato butter sauce made this a must have dish if you do go this place. 

Samosa Sampler

Next to arrive was the Bharta Eggplant.  This roasted style eggplant came in what looked like a UFO plate.  The dish however wasn’t roasted as well as we would have liked.  In reality, it was actually quite bland and really lacked a strong taste to it.  It had a rough mushy texture to it, almost like eating oatmeal. 

Next to arrive was the chicken tikka.  It is basically chicken that has been marinated with sun dried tomatoes.  Although the chicken was of a drier variety, it was quite rich in taste and tasted quite nicely. 

Butter Chicken

We also had ordered the beef tenderloin.  Unfortunately when it arrived it was actually lamb or chicken meat inside the curry sauce.  We flagged the waiter down who took it back and got us the beef tenderloin.  Although I might not have taken notice, one of my friends believed strongly that all they did was take the old meat out and added the beef on top.  As a result, the beef was not very well marinated and was actually quite bland.  Furthermore, although the meat was supposedly medium cooked, it was very tough to chew on.  One had to use quite a bit of force to chew the meat and swallow it. 

We made three orders of nan which is almost like the equivalent of pitas and a saffiron rice which allowed one to mix it with the curry sauce in the beef tenderloin and the sauce in the butter chicken. 

Beef Tenderloin

Bharta Eggplant

Overall it was a decent night although my Indian friend said that the Host up in Richmond Hill was much better.  Furthermore, the service here surely had its quirky moments.  From the forty minute wait on food to a waiter somehow throwing my own spoon into one of the dishes, it sure made it an interesting night.  If I didn’t have the beef tenderloin, I probably would have given it higher marks.  The curries itself in both dishes were not spicy at all.  Again the butter chicken was a definite must have if you do end up going.  Overall I give it a 3.5 out of 5.   

259 Host Fine Indian Cuisine

259 Wellington Street
Toronto, Ontario
Phone: 416-599-4678