Indian Rice Factory

Restaurant: Indian Rice Factory
Cuisine: Indian
Location: The Annex
Address: 414 Dupont St
Price Range: $ 10~
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very Good 5: Excellent
Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 4
Extra information:
* Closed Mondays
* Vegetarian option avail
* Open for lunch and dinner
* Backyard patio
* Takes reservation
Thanks to my friend who introduced me to this hidden gem in The Annex– I now have a new favorite Indian restaurant. Indian Rice Factory isn’t located in the most busy area, therfore a little hard to find. But with your iphone and a exact address, it shouldn’t be too hard. There is some street parking around the corner if you decide to drive to the restaurant.
Once I walked in, I was pleasantly surprised with the modern and bright interior of the restaurant. With a giant chalkboard on one side and a full coffee bar at the front of the restaurant, it almost looks like a nice coffee shop.
It sort of rained on the day I went, but at the back of the restaurant they have a nice patio which would be awesome on a nice, hot day.
After few questions were answered by our friendly server about the menu, we decided to order the following.
Ordered: Sweet Lassi ⁵⁄₅
* Sweet yogurt shake with aromatic spicing for $ 3.95
* Perfect with Indian food, smooth and creamy lassi cools down your mouth in between
* One of the best lassi I’ve had
Ordered: Samosa ⁴⁄₅
* Hand made pastry, spiced fresh vegetables with Amar’s tamarind chutney for $ 3.95
* We were served 3 small samosa, made crispy outside bursting with Indian flavors
* A lot of mass produced samosas tend to be too doughy but this was light and perfect
Ordered: Pakora ⁵⁄₅
* Vegetable fritters, seasoned local miled gram flour batter with tamarind dip for $ 5.95
* This was different from vegetable fritters I’ve had in the past
* There wasn’t much batter and it was mostly vegetables which I liked
* Tamarind dip was sweet and went perfectly with the deep fried pakora
* This is a much get and I would order this again
Ordered: Royal Thali Platter ⁵⁄₅
* Served with vegetable of the day, lentils, raita, chutney, papadam, rice, naan, green salad and dessert and your choice of main for $ 24.95
* My friend and I ordered 2 platter, one with butter chicken and one with Palak Paneer
* Palak Paneer is in house made Indian ricotta, seasoned spinach curry
* I loved this platter where we got to taste little bit of everything
* Butter chicken was rich and flavorful, naan was fluffy and served hot
* Palak Paneer was creamy with just the right amount of seasoning
* Unless you are going to AYCE Indian buffet, ordering individual dishes at a decent Indian restaurant can be pricey, but with this platter it was def bang for your buck
* My friend and I couldn’t even finish everything
* I enjoyed every component of this platter and would def order it again
Summary: Overall I really enjoyed my dining experience at the Indian Rice Factory. Flavors were found where it was suppose to be and all of the dishes were made with care. Royal Thali Platter is the dish to order if you want to try little bit of everything and I would def go back to the restaurant and would recommend it to others who wants to expand their Indian taste buds.

You know, if I could rate this 3.5 I would but unfortunately will be leaning more on the lower side of three.
First off, I want to say that the food quality and taste is above average and worth the flavour. I enjoyed some of the dishes and their service but I have to say this place is a bit overpriced and the portions are smaller than other bowls at other Indian restaurants with more depth.
The flavours of curry are good, the garlic naan, yogurt dip and basmahti rice were all great side/​base flavours.
I do like the place but I’m afraid I’ll likely going to go home without leftovers and bigger chunk out of my wallet than wanted.

This little neighbourhood gem has recently opened a chai bar. The chai and snacks are perfect for an afternoon with a friend. The service is superb, and their summer patio is beautiful and atmospheric.

Had dinner here with my sister because she’s visiting Toronto. We were both jonesing some Indian food so we decided to check out Indian Rice Factory.
There is a lot of street parking around IRF — I was able to park right in front of the restaurant. We ordered butter chicken (very sweet’n’creamy) and aloo gobi (quite spicy imo) as our mains with the garlic naan and plain rice to accompany it. The Cave Springs Riesling also made it to our order — a delicious Ontario white wine.
Food is pretty good, great ambiance, and fantastic service.
Good for: first dates, fancy night out

I’m surprised at the other positive reviews. It was a terrible experience for me.
Arrived at 5pm and let the waiter know we needed to be out of there by 6:20. Still, it took 10 minutes to get drinks ordered and 10 more for the food order.
The waiter started off overly familiar by saying he knew some of us and welcoming us back. None of us had been there. Very awkward. Despite us being a party of of 6 mostly around the same age (some of us clearly couples) he did not ask if we required separate bills. If I am not asked, I’m going to assume it’s not a problem.
The restaurant was a bit overheated to the point where it became uncomfortable. There is a frosted glass partition that separates the front door from the dining area, but inexplicably the corner has a 6″ gap running from the floor to the ceiling so every time someone opened the door we got a blast of cold air. So we either roasted or froze — especially annoying when the host had an extended conversation with a customer who had the door propped open.
Some of our party ordered several dishes to sample, making alternate choices when they told some were sold out (at 5pm?). Others chose a few appetizer sized items (marked as «Small Dishes» on the menu) adding nan etc to make them into more of a meal. I ordered the butter chicken. I sat nursing a single glass of water (room temp — not even ice water, and not refilled until just before I left) trying not to spill it as the table wobbled and shifted about, and watched some drama unfold through a window into the kitchen where various unhappy employees could be seen getting a strip taken off them.
The waiter serving was not the one who had taken the order and had no idea where anything went so he gave up guessing and set everything in the middle. Frequently he didn’t even identify what the dishes were (in the dim light the shrimp and chicken were indistinguishable shapeless lumps in red sauces). The dishes arrived individually, one at a time about 5 minutes apart leaving other members of our party feeling awkward and not wanting to eat until everyone was served. That took a long time. Dishes that had been ordered by more than one party at the same time arrived oddly spaced — an order or nan then 10 minutes later another one, etc. Accompanying dishes arrived long after with no pattern or explanation for the delay.
For $ 17 you’d think maybe rice or even nan came with the «Large Plate» (single-​serving) butter chicken? Nope — just the chicken in a bowl that was far too large for it. This is a choice, but I am used to the server recommending a side to go with a main served on its own — as both a gentle way of letting the customer know but also to make better sales. Nope. Also no garnish or interest in the presentation. Nan was an extra $ 4 (a single piece cut into wedges served plain and cold). The Small Plates were tiny portions even for an appetizer and served with no garnish or plating to speak of.
Over an hour after we arrived, I still had no food. The waiter said that two dishes of butter chicken had been ordered for our table (again, he had no idea by whom) which was correct — but only 1 had ever arrived. He pointed to one of the dishes which I explained was the shrimp. He scurried back to the kitchen. Meanwhile the butter chicken that had arrived for a different member of our party was growing cold (as was the shrimp) because the rice that was ordered to go with it hadn’t arrived. In frustration, our friend said to just bring whatever rice was ready right away instead so they cold start — that took 10 minutes.
I finally got my butter chicken 15 minutes later, leaving me just minutes to eat. Its unfortunate the waiter didn’t think to bring a serving spoon so I had to wait longer until for the first time someone refilled the water glasses. The nan came 5 minutes after that (cold). Ridiculous. The chicken was unremarkable — almost tough. Not the tender, melt in your mouth butter chicken I love. The sauce was bland and too thin. By this point half of our party were packing up and and leaving bills on the table because they were going to be late. I was scarfing down the food so I could join them shortly.
When I went to pay I was told I should have asked for a separate bill and that despite the presence of a debit machine, they only accepted credit cards. True — I could have double checked when ordering but honestly — it’s Toronto in 2013. GET DEBIT. I had to make a trek in the cold rain to a gas station 4 blocks away to get cash. By the time I had got back only 2 of the party were still there and I was late. No one came by the table to ask how things were at any time — I’d certainly have let them know.
The final cap to the evening was finding out that we had been billed for 3 butter chicken and the original rice. Given the service, we should have been comped for it — and with an apology.
It may have been an off-​night or new staff, whatever — but the experience was awful just the same.

Croyez le ou non ma 1ere expérience de gastronomie indienne aura été vécue au Canada, pourtant c’est pas ce qui manqué à Paris. L’Indian Rice factory est un resto situé à 5 min à pieds de Dupont Station. Le cadre est idéal pour un diner en amoureux ou avec son cercle d’amis proche. La qualité de la nourriture est raffinée et les serveurs très aimables mais bon dieu que le service est long! 30 min pour 3 plats, peut mieux faire!
PS: ils n’acceptent pas la debit card donc pensez a amener du cash!
Believe or not this is my first experience of indian cuisine even though there are a lot of indian restaurants in Paris I’ve never tried until now. The Indian Rice factory is located 5 minutes walking from Dupont Station. This is a very good location to bring your date or your circle of close friends. The quality of the food is great and staff is friendly but god the waiting time is so long! 30 minutes for 3 dishes, it can get getter guys!
PS: they don’t take debit so bring some cash!

We were a very happy table of three last night at the Indian Rice Factory.
First of all, the service was impeccable. The staff was friendly, they let us know our options for substitutions, what the chef did best, etc and was always making sure we knew what we were getting. And our coats were hung. VERY nice touch. And all on a Saturday night.
Because the service was so good I was PRAYING the food would not disappoint, since good service is not enough to make a restaurant a place you want to revisit. I’m happy to say they did not let me down. We started with the Paneer Tawa Tikka. The flavour was well balanced (not to spicy, not at all bland) and the texture was just right. The Butter Chicken was the best I’ve ever had –meat perfectly cooked and sauce perfectly seasoned. JUST enough kick. The Channa Masala was the surprise of the evening. If they’re not ground up into hummus, I usually don’t care for chick peas. But once again, it was a perfectly seasoned, interesting and delicious dish.
It was hard to make decisions on anything from the menu, especially with such helpful staff fawning over each recipe. When staff can do such an impressive job with their service and product on a busy Saturday night, you know that the restaurant is performing at a high calibre. On top of this, the atmosphere was a perfect place to commune by sharing food and conversation for an excellent Saturday evening.
I shall be returning without hesitation.

Came here for a UYE hosted by the awesome Burrito Whisperer.
Nestled away in the annex, steps away from Dupont station, this place tries hard to distinguish itself from other indian restaurants.
It was upscale, nicely decorated, but I would say way over the top for an indian restaurant.
We sat down, and had:
1. The Paneer Tikka — Easily the highlight of the night. It was delicious. I could’ve eaten like 5 of there. Large chunks (cut like tofu) of Paneer with spices and tamarind sauce. The tamarind was a different change, but I liked it.
2. The Butter Chicken — The portion was a bit too small for my liking, and the sauce was really sweet compared to other butter chickens I’ve grown up with. I liked it, but it wasn’t the best.
3. The Chicken Vindaloo — Okay. So this item split the table. The «nonauthentic» eaters (Imma just say it out. the white people) at this table found it to be not to spicy and delicious. My «authentic» friends and I (aka the actual indians) found it to be crazy spicy. My mouth was vibrating at one moment. I loved it. I grew up eating chili and I don’t know how. I’m confused. Maybe my whole life is a lie.
4. The Aloo Gobi — nothing special. It was pretty dry too.
5. The Garlic Naan — sorry to say, but it dissapointing. I was hoping for better. But its okay. I still ate alot of it too.
6. The Deserts:
6 A) The Gulab Jamun though expensive was awesome. Personally, I’m not a big fan of Indian Sweets, but they did it justice in my opinion.
6b) The Ras Malai — awesome too, though usually it’s served floating in the malai (cream) but it was plated dry with a light drizzle.
6c) The Pistachio Kulfi — this was horrible, sorry. It tasted like bubblegum. Don’t bother.
SIde Notes:
A gin and tonic for 10 dollars?
A glass of house wine for 10 dollars?
Service was really bad.
I would say that this restaurant is kinda the epitome of white people indian food.
White People will love it here.

In general I’m against eating at places with the word Factory in the name. It seems wrong, so this place should change their name, because they’re pretty good.
Their Chicken Vindaloo was perfectly balanced hot and sour and the paneer, on it’s own as an appetizer, was scrumptious. They didn’t have samosas or mutter paneer, which are admittedly white people Indian food, but I hey, I’m a small white girl and sometimes those just hit the spot. Others were all about the Butter Chicken, and it was definitely decent.
The service was slow, but I’m not going to go into detail about it, because it really didn’t ruin the evening whatsoever.
PEPPER PROPS: To Chris P for organizing a fab evening. It was a cornucopia of flavors and jest.
PEPPER’S PISSED: Cash or Visa only. No debit. 4 blocks to the gas station. Not cool.
²⁄₃₀

We visited Rice Factory on 6^th July, 2012 during the day time. We were not knowing that they are open only during evening and night time for dinner etc… we just went there based on their Zagat Rating. That was our first day in Toronto and we were tired from our visit of Casa Loma. But the greedy owner asked us to get in there and have lunch. As this was our first day in Toronto-​we got in there. We were sitting in some random area — which is definitely not the customer area to have food. For the price of $ 12 — they offered us — 200 gms of steamed rice, Dal and one subzi (aloo gobhi). Food was so little in quantity that even my kid (around 5.5 yrs) couldn’t feel stuffed. There were no other options — yes no menu, no other options apart from what they gave us. When we asked for extra naans — they charged per naan $ 3. Even for water we need to get up and get it on our own. Worst ever Indian restaurant experience in North Americas for us. I will advice anybody going to Toronto — never ever step into this restaurent — this is more like snacks place where you can order and carry the stuff… not for your regular meals and that too at this price. There is no parking place — so you will end up paying for street parking at the rate of $ 2 per 30 minutes.
It seems the Zagat Rating is being purchased by them and if the Zagat Rating is true-​we should stop trusting it at all.

My kids begged us to go for Indian food and this was a recommendation from friends and relatives so we gave it a try. The result was disappointment as the menu comes from a hitherto unknown Indian province known as Nouveau. This may be the place if you are looking for something that is a departure from the typical korma’s and vindaloos. We were not.

I really feel bad giving this a one star as I don’t want them to go out of business because of bad reviews and I usually never give one. Being of Indian background who grew up in Brampton, I KNOW my INDIAN food. As I walked by the restaurant, the aroma of the food just got to me and I was planning on going to banjara that evening anyway but I convinced my other half to give this place a shot. We checked the menu and were a little alarmed at the prices but since I live in the hood, I still wanted to give it a shot. We orderd an appetizer and decided to split the butter chicken. I am not sure how anyone can get butter chicken wrong but this place did! It almost tasted like the butter chicken had been sitting in tupperware forever and they heated it up. There was no freshness in the spices. Secondly, it did not taste like butter chicken at all. I was really disappointed since this place is located in me neighbourhood and they have so much potential. I hope they read this review and get their act together as there are a lot of young, well travelled people moving into the area.

This place is pretty nice in the sense that the flavors and combination are very unique.
The elk curry, chicken curry, and daal were beyond excellent — simply excellent. However, my issues (and hence the omitted one star) are with the whitefish curry and the butter chicken. The whitefish curry was a bit bland and the butter chicken was… really sweet. (Imagine chicken in a rather sweet tomato cream sauce).
The desserts were good. The naan was great. The rice sides were tiny.
$ 200 for food + wine for two very stuffed people.

Indian Rice Factory effortlessly (and thankfully) deviates from the one– gravy-​fits-​all-​curries model of the quintessential Indian restaurant in TO.
IRF in an unusual locale: in a residential portion in the Annex (we were wondering what it must have been like when Mrs Patel opened the place there, years and years ago), but the food hits all the right spots!
Spices and atypical food items are paired to great effect in surprisingly awesome ways! We loved the tawa fish: pan seared tuna with Murraya koenigii leaves (a spice characteristic of south indian dishes). The tuna was delicately done, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside; the fresh green leaves were an inspiring addition! Never thought of this combo before but will henceforth serve when showing off in front of family and friends! The Elk Shikahri (admittedly not a very indian dish) was similarly delicious.
The naan was so soft and just the right amount of gooey that we ordered more to polish off stuff from our takeaway boxes while in the restaurant itself!
The ras malaai (flattened pieces of semi-​firm cottage cheese in a milky/​creamy base) which we ordered for desert was michelin 3 stars worthy. For those who weren’t brought up on this delicacy, it might be an acquired taste but I’ve never had any better outside of India.
My final words: a small restaurant (great summer patio though) with authentically quirky Indian flavors. A great place for people to learn more about fine Indian cuisine. It’s in a class by itself.

Simply the best Indian Food I have ever had. It’s all subtlety of taste.
The lamb shank with spinach is something you go back for over and over. In fact they took it off the menu a while ago and received so many complaints from regulars, they will prepare it for you on demand if you ask for it!
Summertime is a real bonus. It has to be _​the_​most pleasant patio (more of a garden) in Toronto dining.
If I had to say something bad it would be that it can get quite noisy on weekends, with large parties. That and the art is a little disturbing. But in a good way.

I heard about Indian Rice Factory years ago and go back often. It’s pretty nondescript as far as restaurants go. In fact, if you’re driving on Dupont, it’s pretty easy to miss it entirely. That being said, well worth looking for it and having a delicious meal.
My boyfriend and I have gone several times for various occasions. It’s one of the top Indian restos we’ll go to in the city. The food is prepared and presented in a very clean way (read: not soaking and dripping in oil) and the service has always been timely and attentive (even during a packed Friday night dinner service).
No, the prices are not on the cheap side, but the quality of the food reflects that and we have no issues paying a little more for great quality and taste. Don’t get me wrong, I love cheap Indian food too but when I want something of substance, I’ll go here.
The last time we went back, a couple of months ago, it had been after they revamped their menu and matar paneer was no longer on the menu. We were able to custom order it with no hassles and it was a great dish! The entire meal (2 apps, 2 mains, naan, basmati rice, 2 desserts) came to $ 80 tax and tip in.
All in all, one of the best Indian restaurants in Toronto.

Excellent food. Yep you may pay a little more but… the flavours in the food are not the typical fast food type of Indian food found in many places. Hey you get what you pay for. Check it out.

The Indian Rice Factory has been around for 40 years, has a great reputation… but is off the beaten track and often forgotten. After years of walking by, my (much) better half and I finally stopped in on a whim the other night.
First things first: this is not your typical cheap curry joint. Prices are 50−80% higher than at the likes of Banjara and Nataraj. But the menu is WAY different. There are no items such as «Jalfrezi — chicken, beef or lamb» — indicating that random protein is simply dipped in a big vat of sauce. Instead there is an interesting selection of vegetarian, fish and meat dishes, including such things as whole fish and braised elk. (OK, they do offer vindaloo with choice of three proteins, but I’ll forgive them for the time being.) There’s a small but excellent selection of beers, including local microbreweries, and a short list of Ontario wines, which clearly have been carefully selected.
So far so good. But how’s the food? Pakoras are nicely crispy and non-​greasy — yum! Braised elk is delicious — lean meat, interesting spicing. But the real star is the channa masala — the best I’ve ever had, with ginger adding a really nice zing. Naan is outstanding — next time I may skip the rice and just order more naan. By the end of this we’re pleasantly stuffed, and waddle slowly home.
Looking forward to my next meal there.

Finally got a chance to try out this place, as I’ve heard a lot about it and it’s not far from my house.
The wife and I went around 8:00pm on a Sunday night and it was empty. Literally. Not a soul in there. It was a bit weird at first, but within 5 mins another couple came in as well. But that was it.
The interior and atmosphere of the place was perfect, nice and cozy, great for a date night, and it smelled amazing as soon as you walked in.
We ordered the Elk Shikari and the Chicken Biryani, and shared them between the 2 of us.
Notes:
1)Flavors were amazing. Subtle spices, nothing overpowering, but the more you ate, the more you realized how bang on everything was. Just amazing food.
2)Huge portions. Good christ. We polished off the Elk but had to get most of the Biryani to go, we were so stuff. Honestly if you got an app to start, those two dishes could easily feed 4 people.
3)It was a bit pricey, but the portions are so big and the food so flavorfull, it’s worth it to treat yourself.
4)The wine menu was pretty lacking, I’m not a big fan of VQA wines, which is all they have. I had the Shiraz which was better than I thought it would be but I would have liked more selection, especially for that price.
5)The staff were very nice, but kind of slow, especially considering there were so few people in there.
Overall it was a great experience and I’m sure I’ll be going back. A few nit picks here and there (my wife complained that the women’s bathroom was really cramped but I thought the men’s bathroom was really nice) but overall… highly recommended.

Very good Indian food. Quite expensive for Indian food but very delicious. Definitely go if you like good quality Indian food.

THIS IS MY FAVOURITE INDIAN RESTAURANT.
This unique little gem is nestled on Dupont St, near Casa Loma. It’s off the beaten path, but is the most authentic, delicious, savoury Indian cuisine I’ve ever tasted.
I believe you can usually rate an Indian restaurant’s quality by its breads. In that case, Indian Rice Factory is Number 1! I prefer the lightly-​fried parantha bread over the naan, but the naan is outta sight as well.
The butter chicken is über-​rich, yet delicate and sweet. Everything at IRF takes just a little longer to prepare, but is always worth the wait. You can’t rush perfection.
Try the butter chicken or your favourite with an ice-​cold beer. I think its the only way to fly.