Charisma Of India

I used to come here years ago, when I was younger, and always really enjoyed my experience. I am glad to say that covid has not caused the quality of Charisma to decline. If anything, it's even better than before. I always go for the all-you-can-eat buffet, which for 25$ for dinner is a very reasonable price, considering 16-20 options of dishes are available. The flavours are divine and I can hardly stop myself from going back for seconds, or even thirds! Naan is provided with the meal, and there is a little dessert section included in the buffet. Service has improved and is kind and polite. They will check on you periodically but for the most part service is done through the front kiosk. A wastage fee is incurred if you leave food on your plate, to help cut down on food wasted and costs. It is anywhere from 3-10$ if you don't eat it all. Drinks are reasonable prices as well, with lassis and milkshakes going for 3$ each or 4$ with mango. They have domestic and import alcohol as well, all at the lowest prices I've ever seen alcohol selling for in a restaurant. Customers were ethnically diverse, showing that its something that everybody can enjoy! Atmosphere is pleasant and classy-casual. Charisma offers delivery, takeout, catering, and even rent of the space as a wedding or event venue! Manager was kind and jovial, and checked in on us to ensure the quality of the food was to our liking. I will ABSOLUTELY be back soon!

I have gone to a different Indian buffet in Toronto. Least to say, Charisma was a huge disappointment. First things first, the food. The food was very bland tasting and did not have any significant spice. It was like boiled chicken put into the sauce. There was no infusion of the spice into the food. A little marinade would have gone a long way. The naan was also subpar. It tasted like naan that you get from a grocery store, warmed up, and then with cheap butter. No ghee. Butter chicken was the only item I would say would be average. The vegetarian options were very obviously using canned ingredients rather than fresh ones. The rice was also quite cold. The dishes themselves were quite dirty and we had to tell them to send it back and get us plastic containers instead. This applied to the spoons as well. The rice pudding was thoroughly disgusting. Very watery, with hard brown rice, it tasted bad. I did not finish my portion. The other desert (brown balls in sugar) was wayyy too sweet. I had to immediately drink water after. It tasted like liquid sugar. Like the very early stages of a carmel. I would not recommend this buffet and will not coming back here in the future. One other thing that irritated me was the general absence of Indian workers. It was mostly Bangladeshi so it was hard to tell them how the food was not to basic restaurant standard. I think that this restaurant has suffered a lot through the pandemic -- the food quality shows.