East is East (Main St): The Silk Route Feast

Many moons ago, I recall reading about the Silk Route in Social Studies. Truthfully, I don’t remember much about it. But if it tasted as good as our visit to East is East, maybe I would have remembered more.

I’ve been to East is East in Kits previously and decided to bring my sweetie to their Main Street location. Walking into this restaurant is a bit like walking into a Rudyard Kipling story as you’re transported to some far away eastern land.

They’ve got this little stage area in the corner that has lights that change colours.

We decided to try the Silk Route Feast ($22 per person). You start off by ordering 2 dishes and it includes dhal soup (three different lentils, cauliflower, spinach, herbs and spices), organic salad, boulani (a traditional Afghan whole wheat roti stuffed with potato, green onions and herbs and served with chickpeas, dehydrated yogurt, beets, and sprouts), roti, Afghan and basmati rice. Then you can order more dishes until you’re full.

First off, I ordered the Eastern Shake Ganges Nectar with frozen yogurt, honeydew, pineapple, lychee, rosewater, and cardamon.

I started out with the Baby Okra (sautéed with tofu in a sun-dried tomato and chipotle sauce) and South Indian Fish Curry.

We also had the Chicken Masala (chicken in a creamy masala sauce with herbs) and the Mango Butternut Squash (cooked with coconut milk, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and curry leaves).

We also ordered the Minced Beef Kebab (pan-fried with mushrooms), Afghan Eggplant (baked eggplant sautéed with herbs, tomato, onion, and garlic), and the Chaka Masala (with chickpeas, onion, tomato, herbs and spices).

The food was really good and I quite enjoyed how tender the baked eggplant was. I also really enjoyed the boulani but this fills you up quickly. While the Silk Route Feast is AYCE, I found that it was very difficult to get the most out of this deal since the food is very rich and filling. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t offer the garlic pickles anymore and service was a bit on the slow side (although friendly).

4433 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

www.eastiseast.ca