By Dessa Bayrock (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: September 18, 2013
Suite 10-33555 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford
Price range: $8-$15
Mon–Sat: 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Sun: noon – 9 a.m.
Lunch buffet: 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. daily
If you’re trying to stick close to campus while grabbing a bite to eat, options seem to be sadly limited. Would you like fries? Would you like another Tim Horton’s bagel? Would you like fries?
Luckily for me, this week I discovered a veritable font of flavour at Zaika, an Indian food buffet and restaurant hiding near Five Corners in Abbotsford. It’s a little more of a jaunt out than if you were going to, say, Finnegan’s, but it’s still close enough to eat your fill over an hour’s lunch break between classes and still get back to campus in time to find parking.
Finding an Indian buffet relatively close to campus seemed too good to be true, and I warily approached. “Have no fear!” it seemed to say as I drew closer and spied a sandwich board advertising the lunch special. “Can I offer you butter chicken and naan for only $7.99? Will that assuage your doubts?”
Yes, Zaika, it will. As a frugal student, your promise to deliver lunch at under $10 will go a long way.
I had my mind set on the special, but only until the waiter greeted my lunchmates and I and asked if we were interested in the buffet.
Buffet?
It was a hard choice, but quickly made when we spied the hot and pristine buffet table standing to our right like a siren. Our waiter casually mentioned that the buffet was $12, tax included with naan made fresh to order, and the deal was done. There were no regrets.
The buffet was as delicious as it was beautiful. It boasted two meat dishes, four vegetarian, two kinds of rice, samosas and other sides, sauces, chutney, and a sweet almond pudding desert. The colours of the meals were gorgeous, ranging from deep orange to sweet green and hitting all the autumn tones in the middle. The food was hot and fresh, and the waiter carried baskets of fresh naan to us as promised. All of us went back for second heaping plates of butter chicken and paneer, which I had never tried before but now highly recommend – Zaika, you had me at “freshly-pressed cheese”!
Although I was expecting a casual lunch, the atmosphere was almost intimidatingly classy with high artsy chandeliers and dark wood tables and matching chairs. Despite my nervousness and the sudden awareness that I was wearing a hoodie and jeans, the waiter made us feel right at home without judging my typical student outfit.
True to its claims, Zaika is a taste of India in the heart of Abbotsford. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, I’m sure you’ll find yourself in need of a decent, hearty, non-judgemental meal at some point in the semester – and Zaika should be first on the list to fulfill that desire.
