Went to Vij after being scared off by line-ups during previous attempts. Got one of the last seats for the first sitting at 5pm. Service is definitely outstanding including the free snacks.

We had the beef tenderloin and lamb popsicle entrees while starting with the portobello mushroom appy. The lamb was perfectly and the sauce was excellent. My partner's beef tenderloin was slightly over-cooked but the sauce was still great. The meal came with rice and naan. Food wise, everything lived up to our expectations.

Ambiance of the room needed a change; it looked a bit dated. The bar at the back reminded me of lining up for the restroom at a club.

Will visit again but perhaps only once every six months or so.

After our meal, we visited Rangoli's for the pre-packaged meal (one package of chicken and beef each). Don't do this as its over-priced and under-delivers. We made the meals a couple days after purchase and anticipated a quality meal but were surprised to find small portions with very little sauce. Consequently, the protein was chewy and less then appetizing. For the money paid, you are better off just to have it at the restaurant.

I've been there twice and it's been excellent both times. Seriously. I took my family there and they love it as well. The service is great as well. Vij came to say hi and he was pretty friendly. His food incorporates other tastes (other than typical indian food) with the indian spices. The best bet is to try a few dishes for sharing. I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.

They don't take any reservations so be there early. If you don't make it in the first seating, they will take your name down for the second seating and they give you free appies whilst you wait. You can try out their drinks and have some appies and you'll have a great time.

It was a special day for us and we could not think any where other than going to vijs.So mentally we got prepare to wait for 45 mins and so we did .But the snacks never stop coming ,those carom seeds puris were excellect.
I don’t know who trains those servers very knowledgeable even with a other cuisine.
We had mutton kebab with Bengali curry …amazing even your body will feel it.
As for entrée we ordered spot prawns and Rajasthani goat curry. No complains but really wonder how he gets boneless goat .
About the ambience it always get better when the restaurant are full .
Oh for sure we will be back as we know how much passion vijs have.
When you choose the best you need to pay price.

I ate at Vij's restaurant this evening with my boyfriend who works full time as a chef. We had recieved a gift certificate for Christmas for this restaurant and had heard it was incredible. We are both huge fans of Indian Cuisine, so we thought this place better be good! I honestly, was amazed...I have celiac disease and find it incredibly difficult to go to a restaurant and have people who actually care about your allergy and will do just about anything to make you comfortable. Vij's did it all! My boyfriend had naan bread and they brought me some wheat free naan bread, which was absolutely delicious! I've been to tons of restaurants and this is the first one I have ever had the need to write about how great it was. The people are great, the service was great, and the food is unbelieveable! I know sometimes there is a bit of a wait, but you know when there is a wait, you are at the right place! Anyways if you haven't tried this place, please try it!

I came here for the first time the other night with a few others and saw that the place was so packed on a cold and rainy night, we had an hour and half wait! I thought to myself this place better be good if i'm going to be waiting this long. We sat in the small, but cozy lounge/bar area and shared some wine while the servers always brought delicious appetizers around for everyone! What a great idea!

When we finally were seated, everything we ordered was absolutely delicious! It's pretty dark in there so i kind of found it difficult to even make out my friends faces, but either than that the place seemed pretty neat. Service was fabulous with constant chai refills, rice top ups and fresh nan bread. Will definately be back and recommend this place to anybody.

Went with 4 friends. All got different dishes and shared. I loved the "ragistan? goat curry" --one of the best I have eaten, and I grew up in S. Asia. The curry had a fantastic collection of spices that blended so well with the meat, which must take hours to cook since its goat. The lamb popsiscles were good, so was the pork. The sablefish was very tender and well cooked, but my wife and i did not care for the sauce. Service was good, except it took quite a while to take our drinks order.

A restaurant owner who i enjoying the success of a hit restaurant with line-ups out the door and people willing to wait for long periods to experience his cuisine has to be praised for continuing to produce great food. The three people in our party shared the coconut curried vegetables, the lamb popsicles, and the grilled pork. There was no disappointment with respect to any of the three dishes. I thought the pork tenderloin was spectacular, my companions thought the lamb to be exemplary. The coconut curried vegetables were good, but nothing to rave about, and didn't warrant the $24 price tag.

Given the popularity of the restaurant, it's not surprising that the tables are all very close together, but I had to go on a bit of a hike around and through a number of tables to get to "my side" of the table, while my companions went off in another direction to get to theirs. The tight quarters made it difficult for the servers to get to some of the tables: one poor server dropped a dish near our table, while trying to shimmy through a very cramped space on the way to the destination table. Notwithstanding the tight quarters and the buzz of activity, the servers were all very pleasant, and very capable.

My companions and I all agreed that the food was wonderful, but we felt that the portion sizes were a little too small, and the prices charged were a little too high. I must admit that I (the male in our group of three) was still a little hungry when I left the restaurant.

Okay, my fifth time. Got there at 5:15pm, and were seated when the doors opened at 5:30pm. I love this restaurant so much... the owner is so warm and charming, I really appreciate his effort to make guests feel welcome. The cocktails were okay, the wine was really nice (and VERY reasonably priced), the appies (heart attack and samosas) were so flavourful. The lamb I ordered was tender and de-lish. Dessert was also up to par with the rest of the food - some pistachio/mango ice-cream. The prices are really great - considering the quality/portion. I also like the chai and the million of other appies the staff rotated around the restaurant.

While standing in a lineup with the girlfriend Saturday night, waiting for Vij’s doors to open, the guy queued behind us asked what the big deal was with the restaurant. He said he passed by often, and was curious why there was always a crowd waiting to get in, what type of food was served, etc. I was a little surprised by his questions, as I’ve always considered Vikram Vij and his namesake restaurant to be relatively famous Vancouver entities. Nonetheless, I was happy to advise him that he could expect really good (albeit not entirely authentic, at least according to a South Asian friend who refuses to eat there – it’s her loss) Indian food. I’ve been to Vij’s a number of times over the years, and this most recent visit was probably the best yet.

After being shown to one of the last tables in the house (much to our relief – the people a few spots behind us were advised they’d have to wait 45 minutes to an hour), and a small debate over the menu, we decided to get things started with an order of samosas. Without exaggerating, they were some of the best samosas I’ve ever eaten. Crunchy/flaky pastry on the outside, savoury meat on the inside, and a sweet sauce with a dab of coconut as accompaniment … absolutely delicious. Both the girlfriend and I agreed that we would’ve been perfectly happy if dinner consisted of nothing but a dozen more. But we moved on. For her main, the girlfriend chose a dish of halibut and spot prawns in curry, while I went with grilled sablefish and zucchini in a mango reduction. The halibut and prawns were excellent – the fish held up well to the moderately spicy sauce. And as for the sablefish, simply put, it was out of this world. I’ve eaten a lot of sablefish dishes recently, and Vij’s, by far, has been my favourite preparation. The girlfriend tried a little and agreed that it was outstanding. To finish, we shared an bowl of … some sort of frozen pistachio dessert. The girlfriend called it ice cream, while I thought it resembled granita. Whatever it was, it was very good, and a refreshing way to end dinner.

Despite the fact that there’s a bit of a revolving door approach, service was top notch. There was never any confusion or delay with the orders, and every server who approached our table was polite and professional. Vikram Vij – the consummate showman and host that he is – greeted guests personally at the door upon opening, and was a perpetual man in motion during dinner. He even spooned curry sauce onto my girlfriend’s rice. Awesome! Ambiance-wise, the small, dark room is cozy and intimate, yet the atmosphere within is lively. The ‘no reservations’ policy actually adds to the restaurant’s charm – it's a guilty pleasure to sit inside and eat wonderful food, while the lineup of hungry patrons grows outside on the patio. Finally, in terms of value, considering the quality of food served, the charming ambiance and the spot-on service, Vij’s is definitely worth extra. It remains among my top picks.

loved it the first time but hated the no reservation policy, so we had never been back. It was my wifes birthday and her good friend suggested Vij's because she loved the food. The food she loved was what we had made for her from the Vij's cook book. The date planned was a Saturday night and I thought we had no hope for 5 people at 7:30 without waiting in line forever, but...I phoned and was told that if we arrived at around 5:30 we could put our name in and leave and be told when to come back! We arrived at 5:30 and was told to come back at 7:00 so we walk to a wine bar and came back on time and were treated to a few free appies and were seated witkin 20 mins. Dinner was better than before and the waiter was great! We ordered family style( shared platters) we asked how many we should order and he suggested 4 which surprised me, he didnt try to over sell. We needed 1 more dish and it came fast. Fabulous dinner try the short ribs and lamb. Wine list could use a lot of help tho! poor selection of affordable wines ( under $50).