The Best Thing I Ate All Week: Chicken Roti at Baby Dhal Roti Shop

In one corner, it’s me—a fairly messy eater more than willing to get my hands dirty.

In the other, it’s the Curry Chicken Roti from Baby Dhal Roti Shop, a new eatery at the south end of Commercial Drive.

In the end, I think we both came out winners.

Make no mistake; this was not a clean knockout. Instead of the wrap I was expecting, the Roti came in a choose-your-own-adventure takeout scenario, with a hefty helping of deliciously spiced chicken curry and potatoes along with a layered, extremely tender and buttery flatbread that absolutely puts Naan and pita to shame. 

This Trinidadian dish is called “Buss up shut” and apparently refers to a tattered and torn up shirt. So yeah, it wasn’t exactly easy trying to roll the curry into what was basically a delicious leftover shirt from a white-t party.

But it also didn’t matter, because it was incredibly tasty. Half the joy became trying to roll up the contents into the bread and getting the best bites possible while occasionally failing spectacularly. It also allowed me to put to rest any lingering paternity questions I may have had about my six-month-old son, who performed only marginally worse than me in eating his meal of deconstructed (mashed to bits) carrots.

It isn’t exactly cheap ($15 for chicken, $16 for beef and shrimp, $17 for goat and $14 for veggie), and the takeout container itself could barely hold its contents, but I got two delicious meals out of the deal—that’s an exchange I’ll take any day.

It’s safe to say they’ll be plenty more rounds coming.