Halwai’s brings the vibrant flavours of authentic Indian street food to North Bay with a modern fusion twist, introducing a unique culinary experience that is still relatively new to the local food scene,
Brother-in-laws Anubhav Mahajan and Sahil Savara, one a mechanical engineer, the other a computer engineer, share a love of cooking.
In April the pair opened a new Indian street food restaurant in North Bay called Halwai’s, the Desi Chef.
“Halwai’s brings the vibrant flavours of authentic Indian street food to North Bay with a modern fusion twist, introducing a unique culinary experience that is still relatively new to the local food scene, explained Mahajan.
The menu offers everything from grilled sandwiches and channa kulche to momos and Indian sweets.
“Our goal is to offer residents a taste of India’s famous street culture while adapting it for the Canadian palate,” shared Mahanjan.
“We’re excited to contribute something different to North Bay’s growing food market and create a place where people can experience bold flavours, fresh preparation, and a new style of casual dining.”
The mix of flavours is also evident in their snacks and sweets.
“So, with the street food, we can get you sandwiches, burgers, and we have poutine as well. We have a mix, a fusion of Canadian and Indian poutines. So, you can get butter paneer poutine, veggie poutine, and classic poutine here. And we have loaded fries and loaded nachos.”
Their big sellers right now are the Bombay style grilled sandwich and the noodle burger.
The classic Bombay sandwich is loaded with mozzarella cheese, boiled potato, cucumber, tomato, onions, and mint chutney, finished with butter and grilled to crispy perfection.
The noodle burger is a fusion burger with a crispy noodle layer and a spiced aloo patty, served in a soft bun with cabbage, onions, ketchup, mayo, schezwan, and a handful of cooked noodles.
Other burgers include paneer zinger, a crispy paneer patty served on a bun with cabbage, onions, ketchup, mayo, and a hit of schezwan brought together with a rich butter sauce.
Another option is the potato patty burger; a crispy spiced aloo patty in a soft bun with cabbage, onions, ketchup, mayo, and a hint of scherzwan.
Mahajan says his restaurant menu fills a void in the community.
“We are the first and only Indian restaurant that is 100 per cent vegetarian. We can make most of it vegan as well.”
The decision to go vegetarian was a personal one.
“My mother came here, and whenever we wanted to go out, we could not find any options for her because she is a pure vegetarian. She doesn’t even want any utensils from non-veg to touch her food when she is going out. So, that is the mentality,” shared Mahajan.
“So, when we opened, I kept that in mind. Everything we make would be vegetarian, even our sauces are made vegetarian.”
Mahajan says there is more to Indian food than curry.
“That is the mentality we want to change here. Indian food is not all about curry. We have all kinds of Indian food. North Bay knows that Indian food can have more flavours as well. It is not only buttered chicken and rice,” Mahajan pointed out.
“We do sell puffs as well. Here in Canada, you have the sweet puffs-turnovers- like raspberry and strawberry. We make a masala one, like potato turnover, pizza turnover, and noodle turnover. We make all kinds of turnovers here,” explained Mahajan.
Co-owner Sahil Savara is proud of their homemade options.
“We prepare chutneys. People come in and ask us for more chutneys,” he said with pride.
“We have Indian food, but mostly, we are here to serve more of the flavours from all around the world.”
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., the lunch crowd starts to roll in around 11:30 a.m.
“We are busy with them until 2 p.m. And we get busy in the evening hours, like after 5 when people get free from their work, and during the night,” stated Savara.
Another option is their $3 summer menu with items like Jr. Bunn Channe, bun samosa, bun tikkiand wada pav.
Customers have the option of calling ahead to place an order to eat in or take out.
“We have a partnership with Skip and Uber and are in conversation with DoorDash,” said Savara.
To find out more about Halwai’s, go to www.halwais.ca
The restaurant is located at 407 Ferguson Street, just up the street from Canada Post.