Went in on a Monday during lunch time. Waited 35 minutes for my lunch to show up. Lady who came just before me ate and left before my food was even served. Asked for napkin when I first sat down and never came. Not coming back. Better ways to spend my money and time elsewhere. Edit: I found this black plastic thing in my egg after my initial review and left immediately without finishing my food. Stay away!

We were in the area and stopped by to have nyama choma. We ordered it with mogo & it was good! The meats were well marinated and tender; the mogo was crispy, not greasy. Only minor complaint is that there was no salad included in the price, but I suppose we could have paid extra to have salad separately. Also had lassis and an ismaili style falooda for dessert - I had never tried this type of falooda before and it was not bad, with a strong saffron taste.

Very decent and tasty food good stuff very friendly just a little bit pricey

They use to have the BEST Butter Chicken I've ever had! But last month and today, the butter chicken tasted like tomato sauce. I was hoping last month was an accident but unfortunately the new butter chicken recipe is here to stay 😕 Time to search for best butter chicken again ... Staff is nice and friendly though!

Will not visit again. Long wait for food, dirty restaurant and lack of customer service. Owner was talking on the phone with speaker on in the restaurant. Like seriously.? Couldn't wait to be done and leave. Food wasn't good either.

This place is great for indianish food! Worth the wait but great to order it out via foodora. Awesome presentation and delicious! The Biryani has cassava/mihogo which is a great twist for a change. I got a sampler salad which is good so i know to order- i think it was complimentary. Otherwise the food tasted great! Portion sizes are good but slightly on the higher end ($$)

Incredible food and service! The food was fireeeee! Highly encourage anyone who hasn’t tried this place to give it a try. You won’t regret it!

The food is amazing at James Street! I had chicken Bombay biriyani, it was so delicious. My Aunt had Butter chicken, she really enjoyed it. However the most extraordinary fact about this restaurant, is how kind they were! Our family member had a medical incident while dinning. The owner and staff were incredibly attentive. We are forever grateful to them! Sincerely, Mark & Renee Hill

James Street Cafe has always been a bit of a mystery to me. The restaurant doesn’t actually sit on James Street and seems far from a typical cafe. We visited early one February morning for breakfast… something that they are supposedly well known for. Walking into this somewhat spacious dining establishment, you realize that this is more like a full-scale restaurant instead of a tiny cafe. The menu offering is highly eclectic with a mix of western, Indian, and East African dishes. As we arrived when they first opened, the sounds of what I presume was morning prayers (Ismaili perhaps given the close proximity of an Ismaili community centre?) punctuated the restaurant, followed up shortly thereafter with light jazz music. I opted for the Brunch Special ($15.95) which consisted of a veggie omelette with masala potatoes, kheema (ground beef) curry, bharazi (pigeon peas in coconut curry), and puri (a fried Indian flatbread that’s light and airy). Let me tell you… there’s a lot of food in this dish! Loved the kheema curry but I found the bharazi to be a bit too watery. They also serve a traditional English Breakfast ($14.95) with baked beans, sausages, bacon, eggs, potatoes, and toast. Talk about hearty! The standout here has to be those thick, plump, juicy sausages which had a nice crackling to the bite. I would definitely come back just to have those sausages again. If you’re in the mood for a mix of western/Indian/East African dishes, James Street Cafe has you covered.

EXCELLENT SERVICE! Delicious food! We went on a weekend. Place was a bit busy. Our server, ( whose name is) TD, was very friendly, yet respectful. He made good suggestions and took the time to explain the food and taste. He made sure we were never lacking in anything, and anticipated our needs before we even asked! What a great guy! We ordered the ground beef samosas (ground mild spicy beef in triangle pastries that are deep fried) and daal Wada (lentil fritters) for snacks. Quite filling! For main, we had the Beef Akni, a blend of delicious Basmati rice, potatoes, and beef cooked in a very special way with special spices, garnished with caramelized onions and cilantro.It comes with pickles, and an Indian salad called “kachumbar” - cucumber, onions, tomatoes in vinegar. We ordered yoghurt with it. A very generous portion! And delish! For drinks, we ordered the masala chai (Indian spicy tea, made with ginger and spices) with our meal. In all, a very pleasant and satisfying experience. Makes all the difference when you have a great server! Thank you, TD! Going back next week!

This place is one of the best places I have been too. The food is amazing, the staff is amazing, and the owners are just really service oriented. I would definitely recommend them to everyone to go and try their delicious food. Thank you for such a great hospitality and service.

I ordered to go pick it up and when I got to the restaurant I ordered chocolate cake which they put in a take away box. I got home and there was a strong incense smell and I couldn’t even swallow the cake. I called them to let them know and they told me it’s the candle they burn. I wanted my refund so I told them am coming to drop it off and get my refund. They were very rude and started swearing at me on the phone and in the restaurant. The manager is very rude and’s swearing at customers. Am never ordering from them again.

An OK place to eat, but none if the dishes we had really stood out. Curry was OK but not the best I've had. Burgers were probably from pre made patties based on their shape, which tasted fine. Not somewhere I would go out of my way to get, but not the worst choice if you are in the area.

The food is definitely great here. I had the beef ribs with a special spicy seasoning (can't remember the name of the dish). It was fantastic! The potatoes as a side dish were different and tasty too. Not cheap, but not too bad either. The establishment is a bit antiquated but that gives it charm and personality. Not everything needs to be modern right? It was clean too. Service was fine and attentive. I will definitely return if I have the chance to.

We ordered as we usually do ribs choma. For $26 we got a few ribs and half potatoes. What a joke. When we called they said the manager isn’t in when I picked it up from the manager. NEVER go to this place, go to any other African grill in Burnaby even if it’s more of a drive. Don’t support this rip off.

Had the chai, curry chicken with rice and naan, it was delicious. Large pieces of chicken in the curry. Chai was so good, the server was so friendly and gave me an extra cup! Would come back here to support local restaurants.

Ordered the fish and chips was told it came with 2 pieces of fish. Actually came with 3. They were actually small fish sticks similar to the frozen ones from Costco. All 3 might have equalled 1 piece of fish from an actual "fish and chips" shop. Reminded me of a kids meal. Chips were okay. Beware of the salt and pepper shakers as they are adjustable and if you don't check you will get a very unpleasant surprise. My coworker had the sandwich with the Pili Pili chicken and enjoyed it, however due to the salt shaker incident he was unable to enjoy his fries. In house menu different from online menu.

We were looking for a coffee shop and came across this place, it was a little before opening time, but we were invited in anyway. The Benny was amazing, and the potatoes were also fantastic. Very friendly staff and old school attentive service.

I love this place! My friend introduced me to this place and I come at least once a month. The food, service and atmosphere is great. I love the patras and bhajia, my favourite! I've bought many of my friends here and will continue to do so.

We dinned in here and ordered butter chicken and burger. As you can see I am giving them 5 stars because the portion was really great that I had to take half of it to go because it was very filling. I accidentally spilled some of my food because of how full it was and I asked our server (I think he is also the owner or co-owner) to give me some tissue so I could clean up my mess but he insisted on cleaning it himself and told me not to worry about it as it happens more often than I think 😂. I felt bad but I’m glad he was nice and very accommodating. This was our second time coming here because the first time was during pandemic when they used to open around 11 am. So glad we enjoyed the food. I totally recommend.

Today I ordered from skip to pick up a burger from this place. I have no idea how they have a 9.3 rating on skip. The fries were clearly old and microwaved. The bread was re-used? From the picture you can see that the corners of the bread were missing. Ended up throwing the food out. This is just insulting.. i will make sure to get a refund from skip and will never order from here again

The Missus and I had a craving for spicy food on a rainy Friday evening. We had eaten at James Street Cafe many years ago when it was located on Joyce Street. The food was only okay and nothing spectacular. We asked for medium spice but it was more at the very spicy level. The lone waiter (from Nepal) was friendly, offered suggestions and served our food promptly. However, the restaurant lacked any ambience as there were no other dining customers for a Friday night. This led us to wonder how fresh the food was without any turnover. We will be trying other Indian restaurants in the area for a more rounded dining experience.

Food ordered was excellent quality and good prices. Family owned business excellent customer service.

It was my second time having Indian Food with my Indian Friend. We had a lunch at James Street Cafe & Grill. My friend is an Indian. She knew the staffs who work there and how to order the food. James Street Cafe & Grill is located on Canada Way Burnaby. The location is not very convienence for people to find, but it has a decent Indian Food. The restaurant is middle size, divided by patio and inside restaurant two parts. Traditional Indian Culture decorations design inside the restaurant. The staffs were very friendly and helpful. Service was great. My friend ordered all the traditional Indian food for us. The food was very fresh and tasty. We also had hot Chai Tea, which was fantastic. It was a great experience to have an Indian Lunch at James Street Cafe and Grill.

Overall experience was decent, service was quick enough but did forget to bring utensils, called ahead of time so the food would be ready, and it was ready. Ribs were decent, not the most tender cuts, and the falooda was good but missing something. Personally food wise I prefer Jambo Grill still.