Willows Park Grocery

Address: 2405 Eastdowne Rd.
Phone: (250) 590-3835
Website: http://willowsparkgrocery.com/
Price: $10 for a meal
Notes: Authentic Indian take-away

I have been hearing about the Indian food at the Willows Park grocery for a few months now, but I finally had occasion to stop by just before the New Year as I was running some errands. The little corner store which, as their website fascinatingly documents, has been serving the community for 100 years now, is more than your typical corner store. In addition to the Indian food they also have typical small grocery items that harken back to my own corner store service days. It is nice to see some corner stores still thriving!

The shop is under relatively new ownership, a couple from England, which makes total sense as take-away curry from a corner shop is such a familiar model there! The couple are working hard to create a sense of community for the store, with new branding and a clear vision for communicating and connecting with their customers. The Indian food is found at the back right corner, with both frozen items at a discount or fresh curries, cooked in big batches several times a week. I find curry just gets better after a few days, so even though they advertise the fresh days I would be just as happy to visit any day of the week! Their menu can be found on their website daily, and you can order ahead if prefer.

Food:

December 30, 2013

Containers pre-assembly

I ordered two chicken samosas, butter chicken, rice, daal and a mango mousse. My total came to $21.50, which was just enough for two people. Next time I might get a slightly larger butter chicken, both because it was delicious and I was a little bit hungry after, but that might have been because I had had an early lunch and was starving by the time dinner got settled! 

Half serving

Here's half of the food from the containers plated up - so as you can see, quite a generous portion! Everything was very delicious! The rice was perfectly cooked, the butter chicken was heavenly and rich with amazing flavourful spices, and I loved the daal! The samosas didn't fare too well in the microwave, so I might try toasting them up next time... or warming them separately from the rest of the plate. The mango mousse ingredient list was: mango puree and whipping cream! It was so incredibly light and fluffy and had a fabulous mango flavour. I forgot that my partner-in-food-and-life is lactose intolerant, and so was forced to eat the majority of the pudding myself. 

Service:
December 30, 2013
I have rarely had more friendly service, especially in a corner store (working in a corner store for 4 years made me hate people!).  The woman explained all the options for food choices, and let me sample the two selections that were available that day. She also advised me on how much to get, and despite the friendly chit chat I was still in and out in ten minutes! Very welcoming and accommodating feeling.