REVIEW | 5th Elementt - gourmet & modern Indian fusion on Queen West

Our taste buds were asking for some Indian food, so without hesitation, we headed over to 5th Elementt Restaurant on Queen Street. I've been to 5th Elementt for Summerlicious in 2011 and had such a good experience that any excuse to return was a good one.

Aloo Baingan

 They have an extensive menu here ranging from traditional gourmet Indian food to modern fusion Indian dishes.  With so many choices, it could get tricky to choose, so ask your server for a recommendation.  They've always been really helpful and informative every time I'm there.  If you're feeling too shy to ask, try any of their Signature dishes, which are proven to be customer favourites.

To start, of course we had to get some Butter Naan, traditional oven-baked Indian flatbread. I suggest you get just one to share as they do cut them into 4 large pieces that you can dip in your main entree sauce or enjoy by itself as appetizer.  They also have Garlic or Rosemary Naan.

We got two appetizers.  The above is Samosa & Papri Chaat with puffed rice, onion, tomato, yoghurt and mint chutne.  The samosa is cut into pieces her making ti easier to eat.  All the ingredients combined into a delicious dish.  I recommend taking a piece of samosa and layering on some of the veggies and sauce in one bite!  It's a bit spicy fyi.

The other appetizer we got is Prawn Pakora, which is Chick Pea Battered Prawn with plum chutne. The prawns are juicy and it went really well with the chutney.

To satisfy our Indian food craving, we ordered quite a lot of entrees.  

All mains were served with Basmati Rice Pilaf

First, for my vegetarian sister, we were worried there wouldn't be much on the menu for her.  To our surprise, there's a vegetarian section on the menu with many options.  She decided on the Aloo Baingan - eggplant and potato slowly cooked with aromatic spices.  This was very lovely.

Clara got Chicken Biryani, which is cooked in saffron, aromatic spices and Basmati Rice.  The portion was quite big (she took leftovers home).  This was like eating stirfry rice but way better - you can taste the different spices and aroma with every bite!  The rice was also cooked perfectly.

I got one of their Signature Dishes - The Butter Chicken! Who can say no to that, right? The Chicken was cooked perfectly again, and I really appreciated how much of that creamy butter chicken sauce there was in the plate.  Enough for my rice and for the Naan! 

I would come back here just for this alone.  Sometimes, Butter Chicken can be too heavy, but this had enough creaminess without making you feel like a sloth after.

To finish, our server recommended that we try the Orange Mango Cheesecake.  We're so glad we took his advice because this piece of dessert was heavenly.  Light and fluffy (even though it's a cheesecake) with just the right amount of sweetness, it was the perfect finish to our meal.

Summerlicious is coming up, so I really recommend that you give this place a try!  They also offer takeout & catering services.