TKRE – The Kathi Roll Express

Was looking for a place to eat lunch near work and passed by this place. Walked in, sat down and the server came over with menus. He asked if this was the first visit then went over the menu and explained some of their more popular items.
The presentation of the food was clean and served to the table on a plastic tray. Ordered the butter chicken egg wrap, it was spicy and that was about it. Was lacking the flavour and spices of a good butter chicken. The egg wrap was bland but held all the fillings well. After finishing the food, walked up to the front counter to pay. While waiting to pay, saw the cook scoop rice into a plastic container and put it in the microwave. Wasn’t very impressed with that, not sure the quality of the other food after seeing that.
Overall, won’t be back for the food.

This place is a great find. I’ve been coming here since it opened. The rolls are great and it’s overall some really great Indian food. The butter chicken and lamb rolls are stand out. Hey have Indian cola and beer. It takes about ten minutes to make it but it’s worth it!

TKRE was a great find — wandering on Yonge St and decided on it for dinner. Was glad that happened!
TKRE serves Indian food, but not what you’d find as easily in many other Indian restaurants. The owner (very friendly, and came to visit our table!) explained that the cuisine is specifically Indian Street food. This particular variation stems from the last 100 years, when a need for having ‘food on the go’ came about. He was more than willing to explain the history of the cuisine, which was cool to learn.
The food had great flavor, and again offers to the city a different ‘spin’ on Indian cuisine. If you’re already a fan of Indian food, TKRE is a great place to have a new experience on a fave.

From the outside the restaurant us so much ads making u want to go and gets your attention. When you go in the décor is nice and the order and service was fast as well. The food however wasn’t the best. The butter chicken Roti had too much rice and was way to dry for my liking. I would probably come here again but I would try something else. Expect to pay about 6 $-12 $ for a meal.

Had the chicken seekh kabab. Was delicious! I had never had one before but came with a friend who has been many times to TKRE and recommended the chicken kabab. The staff were very friendly and personable.

I visited this restaurant recently and I was very impressed to find this hidden gem on Yonge street. Great food with unique flavours and excellent service all at very fair prices.
I would definitely recommend this restaurant to others. I can’t wait to go back!

Had a nice shami roll {lamb} and chicken roll today along with authentic Limca and Thums-​Up. Top notch lamb i can say. The flavor of the chicken roll was also quite great. The atmos inside is really cool and makes you feel like you’re really sitting inside a roadside dhaba in India. Although the service was a bit slow, I loved the food.

Great service, amazingly delicious wraps, the butter chicken and naan were full of flavor and very delicious/​fresh, fair prices, clean bathroom, very friendly staff.
Definitely will be coming back to this restaurant!
The reviews are quite all over the place on Unilocal,but if you’re looking for tasty Indian street food. This is the place!

While reading some of the other reviews for this restaurant, I am left wondering if I even attended the same place. However, the experience I had was absolutely awful.
First, upon walking in, my boyfriend and I were told to grab menus and seat ourselves, and the waiter (?) suggested the patio out back. As the restaurant was stuffy, we decided to try out the patio. The patio is just out the back door of the restaurant, and looks as though it might be nice, given some TLC. The major downfall, however, is the fact that there is a large dumpster/​garbage dumping area right next door, so half of the tables get to sit right in garbage fumes. The garbage doesn’t stop there, though. Most of the patio (abandoned when we walked out) seemed to be garbage or storage space. A few feet from the tables were two large garbage/​recycling bins, and there were piles of dirt and litter on the ground. This should have been a sign to us, but we were hungry, and didn’t want to subject ourselves to the heat inside, so we stayed.
There we would sit, waiting, for another 10 minutes. When we had walked in, there was only one other customer in the store, so we knew they weren’t too busy. We walked in to order our food at the front, as we assumed we had been forgotten. We were greeted by an extremely outgoing man, who explained some of the dishes to my boyfriend in great detail. My boyfriend ordered a beef kathi roll, but we were told they were out, so chose chicken instead. He also asked for chick peas as well, but was told it would taste «absolutely awful». I ordered a butter chicken burrito.
Not too much later, my boyfriend’s food arrives, and I am told mine will be another few minutes. A few minutes later, instead of my food arriving, I am told that they aren’t actually able to make my burrito at all, and that they have instead changed my order to a butter chicken kathi roll. At this point, my boyfriend has started eating, and I’m still hungry, so I shrug and agree. 15 minutes later, when my boyfriend’s food (which was not chicken) has been long finished, mine finally arrives. Halfway through eating, we are approached again by the talkative waiter/​manager/​owner (?). He asks how the meal is, and we tell him our complaints. He agrees not to charge us for my meal, but won’t stop asking us how we enjoyed it. (We didn’t.) At the cash, we were charged $ 25, and actually had to argue that we had spoken to someone about it already, so that it would be brought down to $ 15. (The kathi rolls are $ 7.99)
Overall, I would NOT recommend this place to anyone, unless they were a health inspector.

UPDATE — Jul 30 – 15
The owner responded to my review below. He kindly offered a roll on the house and wanted me to come back and visit. I declined but wanted to let you all know that I appreciated the offer. They have a lot of repeat business so they must be doing something right.
REVIEW — Jul 29 – 15
So I went to TKRE when they first opened as I have had kathi rolls in India. Kathi rolls are a street food. hey are basically a wrap containing a filling & scrambled egg enfolded in an Indian roti (flat bread).
I was so excited to try this place when they first opened but was very disappointed. I wanted to give another try so went back last week on a Thursday for lunch. I was sorely disappointd again!
I ordered the butter chicken roll. It was so small, I had to eat somewhere else after. Please see my review for Como En Casa. The flavor was not good and the supposedly butter chicken gravy didn’t even taste like butter chicken gravy. It was too tomato-​y.
Nimboo pani is a version of lemonade. I had it and it was very good but almost $ 3! A rip off!
Needless to say I will not be going back.

I’ve had the papri chaat on multiple occasions. What frustrates me is the inconsistency in serving size. Sometimes they heap your plate up and others they barely give you a few bites.
The butter chicken roll is tasty however they don’t cook the chicken in the tandoor as authentic butter chicken is supposed to be done. This left me missing that lovely char flavour/​taste.

I hate to say it, but what scares me about going to a lot of Indian restaurants is leaving smelling like the restaurant. For days (well, my coat does anyways). No such problem here though — the place was tastefully decorated, well ventilated, and very pleasant in general (ok, maybe the table wobbled — but I nitpick.). We sat inside though they also have a quaint back patio that will be nice for warm summer days/​nights — will have to come back to experience that soon.
On to the food. We shared the butter chicken kathi roll and tikka chicken kathi rolls, along with the Indian nachos.
The rolls were phenomenal — the butter chicken was a real surprise as it wasn’t just drowned in orange soup like it is many other places. This particular sauce was a hybrid marinara-​style sauce that’s worth coming here all on its own. The ‘medium’ spice requested for the tikka chicken roll was just right, and gave a pleasant balance of spice and flavour. Both these rolls were terrific. And quite filling — but don’t be afraid of them, it’s a good full.
The Indian nachos were interesting though honestly I’m not as much of a fan. They were a cold dish, which is fine, though I wasn’t a fan of the sauce — a little too tangy perhaps. Then again, perhaps this is exactly how it’s supposed to taste — it’s my first time trying it so as an Indian nacho virgin I didn’t know what to expect.
The server was friendly and quite knowledgeable, and took time explaining the menu and what the items meant, which was quite nice. I also really appreciated the authenticity of a lot of the dishes — it’s always nice to get something real and not overly compromised for Western tastes.
If I can offer any suggestions to the owners, it may be to provide some translation on the menu (I imagine when it’s busy here that they can’t describe everything as well as they did to us [we came at a less busy time]), and also to let people know to pay at the cash whenever they’re ready (an issue with many restaurants — you often never really know whether to wait for your bill, flag a server for the bill, or pay at the counter).
I’ll be back for sure — need to try some more rolls, plus the curry dishes. This is going to be my go-​to place for Indian for the next while whenever I’m in the city.
ps. Check in with the Unilocal app for a free pop with your meal (sweet!)

Okay so as cool as this place was décor wise (especially since I just got back from India) the food was too expensive and not all that good.
It was confusing to order and I feel like we ordered more than we thought we did.
Ended up getting indian nachos, which was a sort of chip with a yogurty sweet coriander sauce. We got the curry wraps. I didn’t really care for the egg inside but the sauce was decent.
Ended up being way too full for hours. We should have read better!

My first time with my friends. The décor is amazing with some Bollywood touch to it. It reminds you of Indian streets. Ordered butter chicken and chicken tikka kathi roll. Enjoyed butter chicken. Initially wanted shammi kabab roll but the owner/​manager said they didn’t have lamb meat. They also have a bar, and a cocktail pitcher for $ 8.99 but again were told they didn’t know how to prepare it as the bar tender was not there. Was a little disappointed because it was a Friday night and you would think all this would be available. Overall food was good hence a 4 star rating.

Strolling by on a lunch break and wanted to grab something quick before heading back to my hole (er, I mean, office), I stopped in at TKRE.
I ordered the mumbo sized chick pea masala roll ($ 3.99) and eyed the pre-​packaged desserts while I waited. I enjoyed my roll and found it to be on the small size. Next time, I will upgrade to the jumbo size.

The handful of low scores here is a travesty. This place is ha-​MAZING. My wife an i crave kathi rolls on a regular basis. We always get the butter chicken roll. i’ve strayed from the path twice before (once with a butter chicken curry, and once with their Mexican roll) and have been disappointed, because that butter chicken roll is so darned good.
The rolls are on the pricy side, and do not include any sides or veggies, but they are extremely filling, and dangerously delicious. The owners are pleasantly nervous, and you can tell they’re really eager to please. They’ll give you a loyalty stamp card if you ask.
The décor is awesome — a total India street food served-​out-​of-​a-​truck crossed with Bollywood vibe. They have a cozy back patio.
Whenever a friend visits me, i always take him or her to TKRE, and we always leave happy and full. Go there!

SUNDAY ADVENTURE: also first time at this place (just adjacent to House of Lords) and you get a free regular can if pop you use the app.
THE Butter Chicken Kathi Roll ($ 11.29) is wrapped in a paratha and thin layer of egg. the sauce is thick like tomato sauce. The spices are just right, pleasant — sweet and tangy just the way I like it. 8 minute wait. Recommended on a cold, windy day b/​c it hit the spot. Staff explain what it’s in it when you order, is great and bollywood music is at a great volume. A1 THOUSAND PERCENT!

Have walked by this place many times and never thought much of it…“another yonge st dive”, well I was wrong…“def a yonge st gem”!!
The guy who owns it is super friendly and accommodates with a smile… food was fantastic and I will def be back again to try some of the other genuine Indian Street Food Kathi Rolls.
If your in the area or not, I highly suggest that you make a stop into TKRE!!! You won’t be disappointed!
Tip: the paratha is made to order so understand that there is a little wait as it’s all fresh made

REALLY GOOD kathi rolls. I don’t know if it was the mood I was in or the actual love for this roll, but I felt this place is better than Kati Roll Company in NYC.
I ordered the shami kabob roll (minus the fried egg) and LOVED it. From the flavorful meat to the bread it’s wrapped in, the whole roll was finger-​licking good.
My husband tried the pepper chicken roll which was also phenomenal.
Prices are reasonable. Go for the food, not the service (take-​out is best)
Remember to get a TON of napkins because things will get a little messy.

Great service for a take-​out/​fast food place.
The owner was nice enough to go over the entire menu with me.
They serve street style Indian food.
I got the Shami Kabab (lamb) roll this consist of minced lamb, chickpea, lentil and bound with egg. This roll came with a mint basil sauce.
The roll was great.
I also found the Indian music videos playing in the tv very entertaining.