Hearing all the hype about this place, we had to give it a try. Went on a weeknight as a party of six, were lucky to get in and get a table. There was a lineup before it opened and I felt bad for those who didn't make it in because they were in for a long wait. First impressions - cramped seating, dark lighting, and very, very loud. The free appies and chai are a nice touch, since it takes a while for the food to arrive. I could hardly see the person I was talking to the lighting was so dim, and we had to yell to be heard.

We ordered dishes to share since two of our party have not had Indian food before and we wanted them to taste different things. We had the mutton kabobs and portobello mushrooms to start. Both were tasty. For mains we had lamb popsicles, beef shortribs, trout & lobster, saag paneer. It was all very tasty, although the paneer was a little disappointingly bland. The problem was between the six of us, we each literally only got one bite of each dish. I realize that these entrees may not necessarily be made for family style dining, but it would be nice if they had been just a little more substantial. The service was decent, our water was filled regularly and we did not feel rushed by the staff despite the line up of patrons waiting to get in.

The word 'pretentious' did pop up in describing this place. The food is tasty, but the long waits and uncomfortable atmosphere really did nothing to make me want to return.

I haved dined at Vij's for many years and it is always great. You go to Vij's for only one thing; the Food. The food is incredible. The service is the best I have experienced. The staff seem to anticipate everything. If you do not like waiting or must have a reservation then this is not for you. My only complaint is that one of my favorite dishes (Sablefish in a mango reduction) is no longer on the menu. Hopefully it will return.

My sisters and niece were in Vancouver for a visit. We got to Vij's at 6pm and there was already a big wait. We didn't mind soaking the late afternoon sun and the service was very gracious that the wait didn't seem that terrible. They were serving us complimentary appetizers. All very good!! We would be excited every time the server came out with something different to try. When we got our table we weren't grumpy from the wait and had a very pleasant dinner. Lamb popsicle was amazing. Believe the hype :)

Dining at Vij's was a much-anticipated thrill but the reality of the wait to be seated -- it's appalling and even though the food was exquisitely ambrosial, I will never dine there again. Three generations of my family (there were nine of us) decided to celebrate at Vij's on a Saturday evening -- obviously a busy night so that was mistake number one. My brother went to the restaurant at 4:45 and put our name on the list. He waited outside Vij's the whole time and kept the rest of us posted via phone -- finally we were told to get down there ASAP for a 6:30 seating. We arrived and waited another 45 minutes before being escorted into the restaurant at 7:15. While we waited, the servers brought drinks and a tray of appetizers but it was cold outside, my 80-year-old parents had some difficulty with the wait, etc. -- 45 minutes on top of the initial 1 hour and 45 minutes!! When we were finally seated, our group of nine was not even able to sit together: our two tables were on opposite ends of the restaurant and due to serving time differences, half of our group had to leave long before the rest of us were finished with our meal -- we were like ships passing in the night. The wait certainly gives you ample time to ponder why the owners insist on such an inhospitable way of managing their guests' dining schedule! I get it that it's probably an ego-rush for the owners to see all these people lining up in desperate hope of a chance to dine, but seriously -- it's just absurd to expect people to put up with such a ridiculous process. I was sitting at a table near the door and over and over again I heard Vij explain to a bewildered would-be customer that a typical wait is 2 to 2.5 hours to dine at Vij's. Maybe if you're a 20-something it adds some cache to the experience (wow -- I waited 2.5 hours for my meal...so extreme)?? I'm happy that Vij and Meeru have produced cookbooks so we have a chance to try and create some of the food ourselves at home -- I will certainly never, ever go to Vij's restaurant again. Not only is it unpleasant and exasperating to wait for so long, it's disturbing to think the owners care so little about their customers -- it's a mystery to me that they don't simply take reservations.

I came here with my friends a couple of weeks ago. I've been here before a while back and everything was excellent. The only reason I haven't been back sooner is because they don't take resos and I don't really like waiting. This time my friends waited in line and being a nice summer day they didn't mind too much. Vij was there as always greeting people and offering appys (more like an amuse bouche) to the people waiting for their tables. We shared some samosas to start which were really good. We also had the halibut and spot prawns and the goat curry, everything was amazing. Service was very professional as well. One of my favorite restaurants for sure!

Ok, I'm born here and I've never heard of Vij's before. Am I nuts? Last month when I was in LA airport, a tourist (whose Amercian) was telling me how great Vij's is in Vancouver. He said we'll thank him once we tried it. So...last week we went to try it out. Hm...I think he hyped it a little bit too much for us. I must admit, the service was incredible. Once we sat down, we got our water and menu and then a lady approached us w/ some complimentary fries. Few minutes after that, we were offered fried potatoes. A moment later, we were offered some chai tea which I've never tried before. It was actually pretty good! Other reviewers were right; we were constantly getting our water refilled. I thought that was pretty cool. As for our orders, we ordered 2 spoons of dungess crab to start. I couldn't explain the taste but it was good and had some Indian spice(s) in it. As for entres, we ordered beef tenderloin & chicken breast. The chicken was flavorful, you could tell it was marinated for a long period of time. As for the beef, I only had a bite and I wasn't impressed. My bf thought it was good but we wouldn't go back to Vij's again. The bill + tips came up to $65. I'll stick w/ butter & tandoori chicken next time. Ok ok, I know Vij's is totally different from traditional Indian Restaurants BUT the flavor did not meet my taste, that's all.

Never got around to trying Vij until this past Sat.. We were in line @4:50 thinking it opened its doors at 5/5:30. Well, it was the latter, but we weren't the first ones there... By the time it came closer to opening, the line grew to the point where a few parties had an approx. 1.5hr wait.

Vikram Vij, the host, was amazingly w/o airs. I had expected by now, his popularity would have spoiled the man like those who run lesser/newer spots, but that wasn't the case at all! That alone just about made it a new favourite, but of course, it's w/ the help of the lamb popsicles that helped grab the spot! I almost never have lamb b/c I absolutely HATE the gameyness of it, but wow, there was just a bare hint while remaining juicy--literally, finger-licking good! Wanted to suck up all the yellow curry sauce it was served in. The grilled duck dish was less impressive. The meat itself was tender & made well, however, the flavours were lacking. The curry for the duck seemed quite watered down to the point of being non-descript. The house naan is good for sopping up all the sauces of your apps/mains. The rice that came for us to share was preferable over the rice that was soaked under my duck since I never care for oversauced rice/bread. The 2 of us couldn't finish that bowl of fragranted rice as we had to make room for dessert!

I quite enjoyed the jackfruit appetizer. That went really well w/ the bread. I didn't much care for the mutton skewers--too gamey but wanted to taste it just 'cause it's there.

Loved the subtle clean flavour of the rice pudding w/ the fresh almonds adding a nice contrast in texture to it. The mango "ice cream" was more of a sorbet--lots of mango-goodness.

The room is definitely less crowded than it used to be when I walked in one late night to purchase a gift certificate about 2 yrs ago. The tables seem better spaced & prepped for parties of 4/5 rather than mostly just for 2's.

It's the daunting lineup that kept me from trying for so long!

absolutely delicious food. good service. perfect ambience. not too pretentious, the humble owner himself pops around to see you;re enjoying yourself. it really is simply wonderful, i'm so glad this place is around. vikram obviously really cares and that is the reason that his place is so consistently great. it's a passionate place.

After having mistaken the Rangoli for the actual restaurant, and knowing before hand that there were no reservations to be made, I expected the wait for a table to be longer than it was. I had waited for about ten to fifteen minutes, I believe. Perhaps, however, it is the entertainment of having conversation, beverages, and non-alcoholic drinks in the back bar, while waiting for the wait to seem quite short. Regardless, the ambience was “a-buzz” with contemporary music and somewhat modern interlaced with traditional Indian themes, with the elephant lighting was dimmed quite substantially. Keep in mind that we had dined at the restaurant quite late, which is a necessary component of the discussion. The service was diligent and friendly, as one would expect from any restaurant. I must admit though, having stayed as late as myself and companions had, they were quite considerate, it is possible we had stayed slightly past midnight, even though the kitchen had closed at ten. For the table, I had ordered the sablefish and lamb, the attendant then brought to the table naan bread and delicious rice. The naan was quite tasty, soft and complemented the other dishes rich curry and sauce. The lamb was tasty and smoky although perhaps more so cooked than I usually appreciate, with the potatoes cooked well, and the curry was also spicy. I hope to develop my taste in spices soon enough. The presentation was quite appropriate and appealing in both dishes colors and mixtures of tastes. The sable fish was divine, cooked absolutely perfectly with the soft and flaky texture any fish should have. In complete collaboration, I would dine at Vij’s again simply to have the sable fish another time. The rest of Vij’s was satisfactory, although perhaps not as renowned as expected, although it is a definite place to feast at least once.

What an excellent experience. So yummy. Because I regularly read this site (just started adding to it) I knew to go early.
So we went on Monday night last week around 5:30 and were sat right away -so I think that's the trick!
It was really good food and really good service. mmmm, just thinking about it makes me smile.
I didn't find it typical indian fare (and I love indian food) but that isn't why I went there- most high end places you don't get leftovers, so I was expecting something a little small but really good and that's what I got.

The server and owner were gracious -perfect.

I think this is a place that everyone should try -at least once.
I won't be a regular as it's a little pricey and by 6 o'clock there was an hour long wait -on a monday -(we ran into some friends that were going to wait once they took a look at our food).

Overall a great place!