Darbar Restaurant

My favorite place.
Always a good service

I have been coming to this restaurant since it opened many years ago and have never been disappointed. The service has always been excellent. They have a wonderful daily lunch special, appetizers like the Onion Bhaji are also great and it is the only restaurant in town I would trust to make me a lamb korma. Mine only complaint is it is sometime difficult to get parking in the area. Well worth you checking out

Overall: not great, but not terrible. I’m not from here and was in the mood for some Indian food — so, off a friends recommendation, we tried «Darbar». We ordered: Chana Masala, Butter chicken, Aloo Gobi, naan, and rice. The Chana masala was certainly a low point; it tasted strongly of vinegar and lacked the texture and consistency one would hopefully find. The butter chicken was interesting — It was an unorthodox curry. Rather than the typical tomato based cream sauce, it was a yellow cream sauce — tasting of sweet corn. However, it wasn’t bad; it was just unexpected. The Aloo gobi was lacklustre. Nothing special at all. It seemed a little re-​heated from either lunch or a precious dinner service. The naan was quite good, but the rice was nothing special.
Will I be returning? Only if none of the other Indian options in Kingston are available.

Terrible food. Pilau rice tastes like dish soap and the madras tastes like vinegar.
Hands down the worst Indian food I’ve had.
Portions were generous, I will say that, but the food was horrible.
Servers were rude, and parking non existent.

Very impressed with Darbar — excellent service, ambience and atmosphere is wonderful, décor has definitely been updated since the previous reviews (though it might not seem like it from the outside). The food came very fast, which was nice, and was presented so beautifully. My curry was more sweet than hot, and my friends commented that their food was more on the savoury/​sweet end of the spectrum as well — personally I prefer this but it’s very much an individual preference thing. A bit pricey, but I did thoroughly enjoy my experience. Try the chef’s secret soup!

I’ve brought visitors here many times, to my favourite spot for Indian food in Kingston. It usually goes something like this… Upon entering, they look around, gaze at the admittedly dated décor, sketchy carpet, and give me a look that silently asks (are you SURE about this place?). An hour later they’re amazed. The food has always been excellent, the service very good, and another great experience and good time at Darbar.
That being said, I know some people who don’t like Darbar. Let me explain why.
1. It’s not «Indian» like some folks may be accustomed to if they have had lots of Indian food in other cities. Darbar is Bangladeshi. That translated into sweeter dishes than other regions, lots of sweet yoghurt, raisins, and sweeter sauces. The hot dishes are very hot, but everything is a bit on the sweet side. There is very little of the pungent cumin taste that marks the Indian food served in other cities. Personally, I love the flavour at Darbar.
2. The ambiance is dated, particularly the carpet which looks like it hasn’t been changed since the 70s. Curry Original downtown has the best in ambiance and décor, but the food at Darbar is much more to my liking.
3. The wait staff are all southeast Asian and sometimes there’s a communication barrier. I’ve never had any problems, but I have seen some customers struggle a bit.
So there you have it. With a spruce-​up and a new carpet, I think Darbar would easily hit 5 stars in just about anyone’s book. As a final note, the naan is absolutely awesome. So try Darbar; don’t let the funky décor hold you back from checking out one of the best Indian restaurants in Eastern Ontario!

My go to for Indian food in Kingston for years. Great food and service, despite the dated décor and appearance. Try the butter chicken (sweet and creamy, not traditional) and onion bajjia! Not cheap but it is delicious!

Despite the 1976 signage, this place is the real thing. They will turn up the heat upon request… and hot is HOT.