My husband and I decided to forego our usual lunch choices and try something different, so we headed to Main Street, parked south (no meters!) and walked north perusing menus when posted and whether or not places were busy. It being a rainy Sunday, most places were pretty hopping, but nothing appealed to us food-wise. When we walked past East is East a very pleasant young woman offered us samples - eggplant Roti rolls, grilled stuffed Roti, mango/pistachio and coffee/chocolate smoothies - and we were instantly hooked by the amazingly delicious food. I don't know how any hungry person could walk past this place after sampling some of their dishes. We took a bit of time over the menu choices, and finally opted for sharing a platter, as we were both pretty full from all those samples! And about those samples - they just kept bringing us more and more. The two dishes we chose for our platter were coconut lime salmon and saag paneer, but over the course of our meal our server also brought us a dish of chicken masala and lamb, as well as chai, and we had to turn down additional food 'cause we were stuffed.

If you're not a huge eater, opt for sharing, which brings the $17 cost of the platter to a more than reasonable lunch choice. Next time we're going for the double Roti (I've GOT to have that eggplant dish again) which includes salad and rice as well as two Roti rolls for $13 or so.

A lovely atmosphere, exceptionally welcoming (and generous) servers, and a marvelous selection of outstandingly flavourful food make this a solid choice. Highly recommended.

This was my second time to East is East, and i find the food is very yummy. I had the platter feast with chicken masala and the saag paneer. Both were very tasty. For $16.50, the portion size is pretty filling. I really like the ambiance, very traditional middle eastern decor with the persian rugs. I do need to get used to the low sitting position of the wooden crafted chairs and table. It could get uncomfortable after an hour or so.

I liked this place cause it is not like your average sit in a booth and and eat your food place. I sat at a low table, on a low seat. Kind of interesting. I ordered Masala and some other stuff that I can't remember. You get to order about 3 things off the menu and they put it all on a plate for you. It comes with complimentary chai tea while you wait. It's $17 for that. But, the best part is, when you are done your food, someone comes and asks if you would like more!!! SWEEET! So, they will refill your plate at no extra charge! Good stuff! Awesome service too. And live Middle Eastern music as well. So, I think you should go.

I went there last Friday night and was plesantly surprised. We went around 7pm and had no problem getting a table. The ambiance was very warm and inviting with the candlelight lighting and rugs on the walls. We sat at a very low table which was interetesting because we were eating at the same table as some other customers. That night they had an amazing trio playing live music for us. My friend and I shared two eastern plates which were delicious and filling. These plates come with soup, roti, salad, rice and two sides. We had lamb kebab, chicken masala, mangobutternut squash and cauliflower. YUM! I will be coming back for sure....

We live in Langley but every once in a while we make the trek to Vancouver and try to stop here whenever possible!! If we haven't gone here in a long time we start to crave it!!

The chai tea is the most wonderful blend of spices i've ever had. It's very strong and has quite a bite but it's real and unlike any i've ever had.

The smoothies are also great; you have an option of yogurt, ice cream, or soy yogurt / ice cream which I LOVE since i'm a vegetarian & try to consume as much soy as possible. I personally like the ones with Cardamom and Rose Water since they're exotic and hard to find anywhere else. The mango smoothie w/ cardamom & pistachio is to die for!!!

The wraps combos are probably small to some people but being a small vegetarian, one wrap is enough to fill me. The flavours are wonderful, so exotic and bursting wtih flavour. For a normal person, I would definitely definitely recommend going for the 2 wrap combo.

The ambience is very rustic; you can tell there was alot of thought put into making the restaurant. I've never been to Afghan, but the personality of the staff + the ambience definitely makes me want to visit. All in all, i love East is East, so glad we found this little gem on Main, and come back as much as we can!!!

A friend recommended this based on her experiences with the other East Is East. I'll stick to the facts:

a) the waitress took far more time on her cellphone, texting, than she did in helping us.
b) We ordered two mains and an appetiser. The mains were a joke: about four mouthfuls each for $13 each. At the end of my $20 meal, I was starving. Thank God McDonalds is just up the street.
c) Chai was unavailable because "we don't make it ourselves." Black tea-- water + teabag-- was also unavailable. When I pointed out how ridiculous this was, black tea (Twinnings tea bag) came. The waitress' cell-phone, however, was certainly available to her.
d) The ridiculous tables mean you cannot sit facing each other-- can you say "neck cramps"?
e) The food was...twice the price you'd pay in Surrey for Indian food, half the quantity, and about equally tasty.
f) In India, the lowliest chai-vallah cooking with charcoal on the street can produce a magnificently spicy and thick glass of black or milky chai. This restaurant barely managed to throw a teabag into a cup of water.

Well one thing I can tell you is don't go there if you're hungry. HALF of a wrap with a hand ful of undressed Costco greens and and thimble full of lukewarm unseasoned lentil soup will set you back over $10.

I have been here a few times as I have a friend who loves this place and Chai tea. Now as I don't like chai tea or fruit smoothies there is little to tempt me in that department. The wraps are ok but seriously I have had ones just as good at a local coffee shop. Plus I find I still burp up the spices hours later. The roti bread is good. I have not had a platter but would maybe try that if I had to go again. They are good about coming around with free samples.

I's say the ambiance is totally cool and great for one time but after that the food has to win me over. I'm not a huge eater, and I feel like I still need something when I leave. So try it once and then you decide.

I've been to this location a few times, as it is one of my friend's favourites. The food here is usually quite decent. Fairly inspired dish combinations. I always thought it was a little overpriced, but now that I know about the free refills thing it makes a little more sense.

Their milkshakesare usually quite good, except for the one I had last time. It was supposed to be pineapple, coconut, banana, and something else, but I could only taste the banana. $5 for a blended banana is a little much.

The service usually good, though last time we were there the server walked right past us to bring our food to another table (the only other people there), then got confused and brought it back to the kitchen. A few minutes later came back out and realized we were there. But we all make mistakes. Probably her first day.

Ambiance is where this place truly shines. It has a very eastern feel to it. The walls are very nicely embroidered. The tables are all rustic and low to the floor with stools to sit at them. The music is very fitting, and there is often live sitar music. When I took my parents here they didn't want to leave because of the music.

For Afghan food, I would surely recommend giving this place a shot. Just don't get the banana shake ;).

I had past by this little hole-in-the-wall quite a few times and thought at first it was only a kiosk for quick take out and tea. A friend called to invite me here so we gave it a go.

I really did like the decor, but it will take a few minutes to become apparent as your eyes become accustomed to the darkness. In fact, you may want to bring some lighting with you so you can read the menu! The seats are really benches and wooden stools, so take advantage of the cushions (or bring one) or you will suffer 'plank-ass' in record time. I think they really should have considered floor seating with big cushions in the first place.

Our waitress was, shall we say, a bit spacey but seemed competant enough to get the order right. Perhaps she was indulging in a back room "bang lassie". Unlike other posts here, she told us while we were ordering that you could get a refill on the main dishes, but not the rotis. The chai is excellent, but it's quite steeply priced if you order a glass - not worth it for the serving size (around $3.50 per).

The mains are worth it IF you get the refills - they are also overpriced at $17 considering the ingredients used. I orderd the rotis and they were excellent as were the accompanying sauces. I can't comment on the lassies as we didn't order them.

So overall, I would go back when really hungry to get the refills. I would recommend East is East to friends as well.

The menu has two main choices: 1) roti wrap, $11.95 or "double" for $14.95. Alternatively, you can get an entree plate with your choice of two entrees and some side dishes such as a bean soup and a salad, and a chai tea.

If two people share a entree plate ($17) they don't mention the free refills that are mentioned in other reviews here. $17.00 with tax is $17.85 - if you give $20, the tip is therefore 13%. The restaurant could be considered romantic due to the darkness, except that you sit looking directly at another table. The live music is nice. You face other tables directly and sit at a coffee table. They provide two 100 mL sauces - a tamarind sauce (very tasty) and a chili sauce (heinz chili sauce, like ketchup?)

The mango squash and eggplant are delicious. The food was generally a bit too salty, but the portion is so small that this is a good thing. The spicing of the food is really fantastic. Everything is very tasty - very strong flavours.

Service is rated Poor because I wasn't told about the free refill of the plate - but they were quite friendly and helpful and would overwise get a rating of Solid. The overall rating is only Decent because of the poor value for money, darkness, and strange furniture.

This is more of an Indian restaurant than an Afghan restaurant.