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OF THE WEEK
d LOST + FOUND CAFÉ in Vancouver is looking for a new direction. The Downtown Eastside coffee shop founded by traveller, photographer, and philanthropist Kane Ryan has been listed for sale. Lost + Found has been operating for almost nine years at 33 West Hastings Street. As chronicled by cafeyvr.com, the coffee shop and gallery space opened on January 28, 2013. Lost + Found is on the ground floor of the Chelsea Inn building. On its website, Lost + Found notes that the location “attracts locals and tourists, painters and writers, photographers and... anyone looking to get lost in a comfy corner of the vast, bohemian space”. The sale is being handled by realtor Jean Seguin’s Restaurant Business Broker agency. The listing notes that the 3,900-square-foot café near Gastown provides a “great opportunity for a nightclub or a pub”. The business is listed for $49,500. g
by Carlito Pablo
FOOD
New-look Raja menu pleases vegetarians
O
by Charlie Smith
ne of Vancouver’s oldest Indian restaurants is also one of the most contemporary. Raga (1177 West Broadway) underwent a makeover during the pandemic, with newly upholstered furniture complementing a more chic interior. The owner of the 40-year-old establishment, Raj Sharma, has also added an extensive selection of vegetarian specialties to the menu in response to consumer demand. “I don’t know if it’s trendy or for health, but they’re asking for it,” Sharma told the Straight during a recent visit. The revised Raga menu includes two eggplant and eight paneer entrées, as well as three curries with potatoes. That’s in addition to standard vegetarian classics such as saag paneer and bhindi masala, along with other dishes. Sharma said that after including desserts and naan, there are about 30 vegetarian offerings on Raga’s menu. The meals in some Indian restaurants can be jarringly spiced and heavy in the gut, but not at Raga, where the cooking is subtle: the dishes are skillfully flavoured and exceptionally low on grease, and you won’t leave the room with your mouth on fire.
The venerable Raja revamped its menu along with the decor recently, adding vegetarian dishes such as the Bhojan feast (above), featuring black dal, vegetable curries, rice, naan, and dessert.
That was apparent during my visit, when I enjoyed a sumptuous feast. The Raga Vegetarian Bhojan ($20.95) featured black dal and two vegetable curries, along with pulao rice, raita, fresh naan, and dessert. If you’re starving, vegetarian, and in need of a good, warm dinner on a rainy night, this will do the trick. For centuries, the soul of Indian cui-
sine has been vegetarian. Sharma pointed out that even nonvegetarians in his home country often eat meat only on weekends or special occasions. But in recent years, the popularity of butter chicken and tandoori chicken has created a misleading impression in the West that Indian cooking is all about the meat, when it’s not. It’s the opposite, actually. g
FRESH BETWEEN TWO BUNS FFRESH FRE R E S H LOCALLY L O CA L LY SOURCED SO O U R C E D INGREDIENTS INGREDIENTS
fresh st. market • vancouver house • 1423 Continental St.
take out or dine-in • Open Everyday 11am-6pm NOVEMBER 4 – 11 / 2021
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
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