Jolly’s Indian Bistro

Jollys is my favourite spot for Indian in Vancouver. The dishes are cooked fresh daily, and the flavours are on point.
I highly recommend the lamb curry, which is flavour mania! The chicken curry and house-​made samosas are also unreal. I never go here without ordering their masala chai, which is super clovey and aromatic, a whole experience of it’s own served in a unique silver teapot.
The garlic naan is delicious, and I love that all of the main courses are served with a starter salad, garlic naan and basmati rice. The mango salad dressing is also noteworthy, blended up using fresh mangoes daily (yum!).
So we have established that the food is unreal. Two other aspects that rank Jolly’s as 5 stars in my mind are the amazing atmosphere and the high level of service.
The room is ornate and beautifully decorated, with a silk canopy hanging from the ceiling and fluffy pillows lining the seats against the wall. At night, they light a bunch of candles, giving the room a cozy feel.
The service is also extraordinary, and I always leave with a smile. You’re killing it on every level Jolly’s.

Great ambiance, mediocre food, price only justifiable with a 20%Off Groupon. Used to be better, still a nice place to go for the ambiance.

Jollys is my favourite Indian restaurant because not only is it completely delicious but it is very price conscious and very vegan and vegetarian friendly. With an entrée you get a salad and a piece of naan with a delicious garlic oil spread. It was a very pleasant surprise to find the oil spread was vegan!

Avoid their Groupon at all costs because it is a scam! I’ve been to Jolly’s a few times in the past but will never go back again.
First, let me add that the food quality is mediocre at best and the price is extremely marked-​up probably because of their frequent promotion on Groupon. It also took forever to get our food.
My bf bought their «$ 23 for $ 40 for four people» Groupon, which was advertised as being 45% off. However, this was all just a trick to get people to come in to their restaurant so that they can rip you off. When we tried to redeem our Groupon, the staff did not honour the deal, saying that the Groupon had to be used for exactly four people. Because we went as a couple, they were unwilling to give us the deal. The fine print did not mention anything about requiring 4 people to be present. This, to me is a clear scam. If you look at their menu, every entrée is close to $ 20, so it is impossible to get $ 40 worth of food to feed 4 people. All my previous experiences with Groupons is that the restaurant would honour the VALUE of the Groupon (ie. you get $ 40 value for the $ 23 you paid) regardless of how many people present.
Our bill came up to $ 47, and they would only let us redeem $ 20 instead of $ 40 value, even after we had already purchased a $ 23 Groupon! We were then given a voucher which lets us redeem $ 20 off our next visit, but who would go back after being treated so poorly?!? After doing the math, we paid $ 43 for $ 47 worth of food! What a terrible deal!
This to me is very poor business practice as the owners have no regard for the restaurant’s reputation. They would rather make the extra few dollars by tricking the customers rather than trying to create a loyal customer base.

Service: ¹⁄₅
Food: ³⁄₅
Value: ¹⁄₅
The food is decent, but definitely not authentic, and all of the sides taste stale, and the «salad» does NOT fit in with the rest of the meal. Spinach and mango sauce? Seriously?
I asked for my dish to be «very spicy». It was medium at best. We never got our waters refilled, and didn’t get service until 20 of waiting.
We used a Groupon, and honestly, I wouldn’t even come back even with it. A meat entrée is $ 18, which is ridiculous for the quality of food.

The food was just ok. Naan was the better part of food then main dish. Not my favourite. The rice was so small part of dish. But the drink!!! It was so good. I had alibaba drink which was so good. When I went to wash my hands accidentally I saw inside the kitchen. Oh I shocked. It was super dirty. The pans and pots were covered in dirt and oil and food. Oh my Goodness. I just kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want my mom feel worse than what she had after eating the food.

A few weeks ago, I went to Jolly’s on a warm Saturday evening.
The restaurant was small, more of a café than a restaurant in size. When I got in, Immediately smelled the aromas of Indian spices. The restaurant was decorated with portraits, and drapes, but the ceiling wasn’t covered enough to block out the ugly grey.
The waitress was a hit and miss. We were seated quickly, and got our drinks ordered. After 10 minutes, we got our drinks, and started ordering.
We ordered.
Vegetable Samosa
Butter chicken
Punjabi Bhoona Lamb
Malabari Chicken
Lamb Saag
All curries come with basmati rice and naan, which is a bonus, because normally you need to pay extra for those.
The wait time for the dishes were EXTREMELY long. Almost an hour. And no apology?!
The food was mediocre. There was sufficient amount of meat, but it wasn’t traditional.
THEY QUOTED…
«Inspired from traditional North to South Indian recipes, and enhanced by his culinary skills, Jolly’s creations are rich in flavour and aroma, using fresh ground specially handpicked spices from India to ensure a traditional taste to every dish.»
They didn’t TASTE traditional…
Well, here’s the deal.
Food: Mediocre
Service: Mediocre
Quality: Mediocre
Wait time: TERRIBLE
I don’t recommend this restaurant
Didn’t leave Jolly

THIS is my Indian go-​to. Jolly… you sly dog, you make some fiiiinne cuisine.
First things first, the food (duh). Butter chicken & lamb rogenjosh are probably two of my favourites. But I’m just a basic white person, and that’s how we roll. I’m not ashamed. Ok… a bit. Nothing is too spicy, I find some places in town will cook up a biryani that will melt your intestines
Quality is very comparable to other places I’ve been to, but what really seals the deal for me is the house made Chai, and the naan. The chai is sweet and delicious, but with a really pronounced ginger taste that gives it some wicked spice. The naan comes standard with butter, garlic and rock salt. I could eat like 10 of these. And I plan to.
The atmosphere is really nice and peaceful, with candles and cool drapes hanging everywhere. Great escape from the cold winter, with a really warm vibe. Jolly (the one and only) is a totally awesome guy too. Super friendly and warm, he’s the kind of guy who runs a business you feel really good about supporting.
I think the only thing that prevented me from giving this place a 5 star rating would be the price. Not overly expensive, but all meat dishes are $ 18. Which for lamb makes sense, but butter chicken. That being said, their lunch butter chicken special is wicked… I think it’s like $ 10 or something.
Jolly…I love you man, I’ll be back again and again and again.

We went because of a groupon. The service was quick and friendly. The décor was nice. The food was pretty good — we had a samosa, pekoras, butter chicken and lamb kebabs. My only real complaint was portion size for the price. Yes, rice and naan is included but only a small amount of meat in each entrée. If not for that I’d rate the place 4 stars instead of 3. I don’t get the super negative reviews.

The food at Jolly’s was okay but way too overpriced for a restaurant of its caliber. I’ve been to the restaurant once paying normal price and 3 other times with 50% groupons. In my opinion this restaurant is only worth going with at least 50% off groupons because the food and service is no at par with other indian restaurants in its price range. Had food portions been more in terms of rice and naan it might be a bit more worth going (naan and rice are not refillable).
Beware though, they try to trick you when purchasing a groupon by listing groupons as «$ 30 for $ 60 worth of food for 6 people» but do not specify in the Fine Print that 6 people are REQUIRED to use this groupon. Keeping that in mind, if a group of six people were to use that groupon each customer would only get $ 10 dollar value to use. As nothing on the menu is below $ 10 you are almost certainly going to pay more when going to this restaurant with a Groupon which is very different from a lot of my other groupon experiences where in a lot of cases I do not have to pay more once I get to the restaurant. Do not make the same mistake I did.

Great Indian food and a real neighbourhood gem. It is one of my go to restaurants when I don’t feel like cooking and it never disappoints, and is a great choice for take out. I love that every entrée comes with a fresh side salad and naan and the flavours always delicious. You’ll definitely be «jolly» at Jolly’s!

Very surprised by tough Helpers here, this is a sure winner in Kits if you want Indian-​fusion.
Healthier than most: no msg and everything except the bread is gluten-free…though with advanced noticed, GF Naan is possible.
Known for their lamb, and their $ 9.99 lunch special can’t be beat.
Nice décor, date worthy with table cloths and linen. Classy.
When not too busy, owner will come out to greet you.
Free parking everywhere.
Amex good.

The best vegetarian Indian food in town! I’ve loved Jolly’s for years but never fully appreciated how great it was until I went to Vij’s (which was disappointing to say the least). Jolly’s food is reasonably priced and great quality. The ginger lemonade and the chai tea are fantastic. So are the pakoras and samosas. But my favourite is their shahi paneer. I encourage everyone to go try it out for themselves!

Quite surprised to see the range of reviews! In short: food and service were both great on the day we visited.
We stopped in here on a whim, just passing by. Late lunch/​early dinner sort of thing. They seated us even though they weren’t quite open. We weren’t really in a rush and enjoy eachother’s company. I wasn’t really watching the clock but didn’t feel anything was overly slow. The check was quite reasonable.
Food was quite tasty all around. Loved the kofta– though different than I’ve tried elsewhere. Overall, everything was a hit, if a bit on the sweet side.
PSA #1: the vegi thali was plenty for two to share. We added an order of the veggie kofta and a paneer dosa, ate to bursting, and took lots and lots of leftovers home.
PSA #2: The naan was on the tiny side and the amount of rice included in the meals was fairly minimal.

Worst Indian cusine I’ve ever had. Honestly. I can’t believe people dine here.
We ordered the pakoras, samosa, butter chicken, malai kofta with rice and naan, as well as a piña colada and a bellini.
The pakoras… Basically an onion and potatoes chopped in to a few huge pieces, breaded and fried, with a ton of mediocre sauce and chick peas. And a boat load of cilantro stems (not the leaves) dumped on top.
The samosa was OK. Quite big, but you only get one and it’s once again slathered in the same sauce as the pakoras, with chick peas and a ton of cilantro (this time we got the actual leaf)
I’ve never seen such a small amount of chicken in a butter chicken dish. We shared it, and we each got 2.5 chunks of chicken. I’ve never seen that before. The flavor was OK but I’m pretty sure the junk Pataks you get at Save-​On is better. Which says a lot.
Oh, the malai kofta… One of my favorite Indian dishes. I’ve never seen it like this. We got 2 big dumplings, that we basically huge chunks of potato with a chunk of paneer coated in some seasoning and sauce with broccoli and carrots. It tasted unlike any malai kofta I’ve ever had. Such a disappointment.
Anddd the rice. Oh my god. You get a small lump of saffron rice that was cold and soooo pungent I couldn’t taste anything else.
The meal comes with a bizarre green salad with a completely gross dressing on it. As well as garlic naan. The naan was Ok, but very crunchy and salty. If you want to scoop up your sauce with it, good luck to you because it’s hard and doesn’t bend.
If you want a cocktail go for drinks elsewhere, Please. Our drinks were not blended with ice as per usual for these types of drinks, they were simply the liquid ingredients with a few ice cubes in them. No sangria in the bellini either. They might be cheap, but they’re pathetic.
As for the experience… We were told to pick whatever table the couple in front of us didn’t choose. We waited 40 minutes in between appetizer and main, and we watched the kitchen turn out at least 5 to-​go orders while we waited for our food. We also asked for no cilantro in our meals, and everything, including the naan had copious amounts of cilantro in it. I can’t even believe we wasted $ 57 here last night.

I’ve been to Jolly’s several times. The food is generally very good. The service is usually not. The waitstaff tends to get overwhelmed, even though the restaurant is very small. The quality of service suffers immensely.
Today (Aug 13), I met my wife at Jolly’s on our way home from work. When we got there, the place was busy, but there were 2 tables open. I waited for 8 minutes to be seated. Nobody did anything about that. I’m a tall guy (6’4″) so I know they knew I was there. Besides, both of the waitresses working walked by me several times, not acknowledging my existence. After standing there for 8 minutes, we finally decided to go elsewhere. I will not be returning to Jolly’s.

I’ve always walked by this place in my new neighborhood… Came with a groupon but decided not to use it in order to try the «Complete Meal», was and is the most amazing meal for $ 20 in Vancouver!!! Quality of food is very good, service is sufficient. A good neighborhood date night or family dinner… I will try the takeout as well because my leftovers were delicious cold too!! a very solid choice for my new go-​to Indian.

Very disappointing. I love Indian food, even when it’s not great, it’s still good. But Jollies was way below average.
The interior is as lazy as you get, and with too many tables I’m too small a space. That wouldn’t be too bad, but the service is soooo slow that you feel like a visit takes an eternity.
Having eventually got our food, portions were small, naan bread was cold and the rice was nowhere in sight!
As for taste, nothing terrible, but by no means anything great either. And for around $ 50 for two, it’s just not worth returning. Plenty more dishes to try.
Did not leave Jolly.

My girlfriend and I went to this place for dinner. When we arrived, I was surprise this little place survive in the middle of the residential area, but I guess it’s more of a local dine and wine place. I was correct. When I was seated and looked at the kitchen, the chef were preparing for take-​out. That night we ordered the Punjabi Eggplant Masala and the Kashmiri Lamb Rogenjosh. Overall, the dishes tasty great, but compare to other Indian cuisine, it less spicy than usual. Likewise, the portion of the rice and naam was little small (even for me). Anyways, it was an interesting taste of India and I do recommend for a new exploration.

I visited Jolly’s last night and having been a long term customer I was excited. Unfortunately, we won’t be going back there anymore. I requested a vegetarian curry and when I was eating it there were shreds of chicken in my meal. I was not a happy woman. I was disgusted. I kindly asked the waitress to switch my dish and as she told Jolly the issue he yelled at her in public. It was not her fault (bless her soul) and no one should be treated in that manner in front of customers.
We tipped the waitress well and told her it wasn’t her fault and that she was doing a great job. Yargh, talk about uncomfortable.
The food just isn’t great anymore. The Naan will always be the highlight but the food lacks flavour. This is Indian for the Westerner and Jolly has lost his passion. The salad is probably one of the worst sides that comes with the course. It’s straw like and is screaming for a bit of salt… The rice is just a no go too.
It’s just too bad. His food used to be so good and hopefully he can get his s&*^ together.
PS — Jolly, don’t yell at your staff! Take responsibility for your errors.