What people are saying.

  • So excellent, family run small business offering an absolutely fantastic variety of beautifully spiced dishes. Such a welcoming and serene atmosphere!

    — Amy Cox

  • Great service and great food. I feel like not enough people know about this place

    — Der Bruchpilot

  • Food was great netsuke about robot serving 😋

    — Lisa Dillon

  • The Indian food is great and authentic, the cat robot is even better, but the elevator music is terrible. Wish they'd play some classic Indian music, or Bollywood pop stuff, or anything else instead of what's always playing. That said, anytime I want Indian in Victoria, I go here.

    — Todd Lyons

  • Child friendly , great food 😋

    — buwanne buwanne

  • Always delicious. Some of the best Indian food in Victoria. Nice buffet selection. Highly recommend, you won't be disappointed.

    — Mark Whalen

  • Excellent authentic Indian food. Had the butter chicken, tandoori chicken and the coconut curry and all were fantastic and to the spiciness level we wanted. The various different flavours of traditional naan were excellent. Enjoyed mango lassi. Service was very friendly. Even have a cool robot to service the food, which was a hit with the young girls. Will be back.

    — Jason V.

  • The taste 👅 is amazing if you enjoy the flavor

    — Hong Xu

  • We we’re looking for a new (to us) place to have dinner this evening and decided to give The Mantra a try. We order glasses of Shiraz wine and Hoyne Pilsner beer while we perused the menu. A plan soon was hatched to order enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. We chose mild-medium heat for most things except a couple we chose medium. We’re not really brave when it comes to the spice level of food but we would comfortably choose medium for everything next time. Every dish we had was excellent and the server who was working her first day was really great. Everything was delivered by Robbie, except for the tandoori fish that someone carried out sizzling madly (the fish not the server)! We will be back for sure!

    — Helen Edley

  • Amazing food with immaculate service. They even had their delivery robot sing for our daughters birthday ❤️

    — Mike Ha

  • Wonderful food. I went to the Buffett with my family and we had really good time and delicious food.

    — Fawaz Maarouf

  • Delicious food and friendly staff v

    — Mark Watts

  • Your Mulligatawny is the best! It tastes like one I had years ago from a restaurant that has since closed down. I have been trying to find that taste ever since... I only wish the bowl was bigger. I didn't notice until I got it home. So I still have to make dinner tonight. LOL Still, I will be back for that soup! You should update the prices your website though.

    — Cheryl Sullivan

  • I love everything I've ordered from here!

    — Vanessa Leah

  • Great lunch buffet, and friendly, well organized service. Vegetarian options: Lots of yummy plant based options

    — Barbara Wilkinson

  • Great food and special chicken dishes!!

    — Ankur Mahajan

  • The service is good. Intermittent- some servers are excellent. Others are good. The food is very good. The tikka masala is likely the best I've ever had. Wonderful flavours and great texture.

    — Michael Maurer

  • Great food. Always available for takeout. Great portions and always hot. Tandoori prawns are the best. You can ask to be served by Robbie the robot! Robbie will even sing happy birthday! Always lots of takeout coming and going. You wont be disappointed.

    — wes b

  • We have eaten here a few times. The food is consistently good. They have a robot which carries your food to your table. It is kind of cute. All of the curries that I have had have been very good. There are options for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. We will keep going back.

    — Evan Harley

  • Great experience with great customer service their buffet was great specially with masala chai. Price is quite decent for buffet with different varieties of food. 😋😋

    — Manpreet

  • Great Indian food and excellent service. The butter chicken is amazing

    — Paul Walker

  • My favourite restaurant. Must try the malai kofta and mango cheesecake. They are the best. Can’t wait to go there again .

    — priya r

  • Really good food in the heart of downtown.

    — Lucky Singh

  • The food was absolutely delicious and two thumbs up for gluten free naan, would have been perfect except for tin foil in my food!

    — rhiannon gordon-smith

  • We had the Amristari Kulcha and it was good!! Did not try the Buffet…

    — Ron A

  • Very good food. , they accommodated us in a very short period as we told them that we have a return ferry in next 45 min . Food was great. Value for money . Thx

    — Lalit Jadeja

  • Not only is the food great, the robot helper is very fun too (note not taking away a human job, just helping with the messy dishes so the server can distance and improve level of service). My takeout was as fresh and hot as always.

    — Veryan Angus

  • All palatable dish, robot server, convenient location. Vegetarian options: I choose buffet style and foods and drinks were showing description about the items. If someone is vegetarian could pick from the option.

    — Arifa Nazneen

  • Always a good time here. Staff is excellent, food is always fresh and tasty (mid spicy), prices are decent. I keep going back for the chole bhature

    — Tirtha Thakkar

  • Came for dine in around 9:15pm just 10 minutes before closure on July 27,2022 . The girl at the counter said can only provide take out at that time. The food I got was beyond my expectation. Was sooo delicious, yummy, fresh, hot overall excellent. Hospitality of that girl( sorry didn’t ask her name) was so nice, humble. Price wise it’s economical. Thanks for making our trip nice by your food. Hope to see you sometime again n future 😊

    — Manpreet Saini

  • Goat curry is the best

    — Puneet Bhasin

  • We lunched here twice on separate trips and Mantra delivered both times. Lots of delicious vegetarian options in the buffet. Their Kadhi (fritters in chickpea flour and buttermilk gravy) is excellent. Great service too. The Naan-delivering, dish-running kitty robot is amusing. This may have become our Victoria tradition.

    — Sandy S

  • Good indian restaurant

    — Maninder Kaur

  • Must try - Amritsari Kulcha and Channe were good. Bhature were quite oily. Overall - Fair

    — Puranjit Singh

  • Amazing Indian Buffet at a very reasonable price!! I love that they bring out fresh naan bread to go with their amazing assortment of curries. Staff is very friendly and it's really fun to see the cute moving robot they use to bring out trays and dishes!

    — SafyrisofCanada

  • Would highly recommend this place. Good food, ambiance and service.

    — Wilbert Barboza

  • Their food was excellent. Robot brings you some of the tastiest naan I have had.

    — Nahiyan Haq

  • I've eaten at The Mantra Downtown many times and the food is always delicious. The lunch buffet is great value while also high quality and the dinners are very tasty. Highly recommend!

    — Reid

  • The best value Indian in Victoria. Simple buffet with quality ingredients all of the dishes are well done. The Nan bread is excellent and the robot is the icing on the cake. Chai is also included which is above and beyond from my experience in other cities.

    — Brad Gaulin

  • Great restaurant, wonder food (had the buffet) everything was fresh, and vibrant. A small robot (looks like a cat) brings your food and takes dirty dishes. Will go again :)

    — Sammy Tyson

  • Delicious food and friendly service. What more could you want?

    — Martyn Richards

  • The girl who served us was so polite and friendly. The food was awesome and taste so good.

    — Haireen Kaur

  • Excellent place with absolutely amazing food. Never been disappointed there. And if your not sure what to order just ask the owner and he will give you all kinds of great recommendations.

    — Tyinthesky

  • Very innovative restaurant they have robot to deliver food from kitchen to our table. Followed instruction

    — Kevin Tanna

  • My best friend recommended this place while I was in town so we met up with my cousin and enjoyed the buffet lunch before I left town. It was absolutely delicious - some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had and for the price/value it cannot be beat. I will be returning every time I am in town. Service was extremely friendly and the atmosphere is so lovely. Decorated extremely well. Love the robot too; it took us by surprise! Not sure what the pistachio/coconut type pudding was but both me and my friend were obsessed!!

    — Lauren Jarvis

  • Very good Indian food and a robot server

    — Mary Pat Thompson

  • Went with my wife and sibling on Sunday and everything was great ! Didn't have a bad bite of food and the robot was a great touch ! Also was impressed with how clean it was 100 percent will be back thank you !

    — Dan Ramage

  • Food is delicious. The samosas are the best I've had to date.

    — Callira

  • Great food, good portions and tasty dishes 😊

    — Cree Gissi

  • Delicious flavourful Indian buffet. Great food, great value. Very nice staff!

    — G M

  • The food is delicious! And Robby made date night extra fun. Thank you

    — SteveandChristy

  • This is my favorite Indian place in town!

    — JJ G

  • Always great service, friendly staff and one of the most delicious buffet!!

    — Marjorie Geraldi

  • Delicious Chicken tikka masala

    — Harmeet Gill

  • Ooh this place is delish! Amazing butter chicken and samosas are classic. Nice spice levels on other dishes too. My boyfriend and I like spice and they can deffs deliver on that. Will be ordering again.

    — Myndha Gray

  • Amazing. Mantra is my go to!

    — tylor mather

  • Well prepared food on the buffet. A robot brought us the food to the table which made for an unique experience.

    — Shankha Bhattacharya

  • good well light upbeat but not noisy

    — Daniel Eisen

  • Delicious food and friendly ambience Fish tikka and cashew curry is our favorite wrapped with Golab Jamun and masala chair, ow God! 😋

    — Pegah Taj

  • The food we ate yesterday was delicious and honestly prepared with love and full of spices. The customer service was amazing. I recommend this place.❤️😊

    — Harleen Kaur

  • Today at Mantra downtown we came to enjoy the buffet. The service and food was amazing. The ladies were doing excellent job. They were so busy but I would give another star for there best service and amazing food. Will visit next time to see robbie✨

    — PRABH HEER

  • Delicious food

    — neeraj joshi

  • I'm writing a review specifically about the takeout. The hot curries are always provided in a plastic container. This is not healthy at all and almost all places have moved away from this. I'd be willing to pay additional for containers if that was an option. I just can't eat hot food from plastics. I'll update my review to 5Star if this changes even for additional charge. ** UPDATE (Nov'21): Recently noticed they are no longer giving hot curries melting in plastics containers. Appreciate them switching to paper containers!

    — L R

  • We really enjoyed our dinner at Mantra! All the food we ordered was good and I especially enjoyed the Naan bread, best I have ever had. It was done perfectly and not to thick or doughy. Service was good and we thought the robot waiter was pretty cure bringing food to the tables.

    — Gayle Wigmore

  • Food is excellent, staff is friendly, area is clean, and they have a cat robot that serves different items! Food items are also halal

    — Sarosh Arunkumar

  • Nice buffet variety, must try

    — Dnyaneshwar Wagh

  • Was good food, service was good including the new busboy robot!

    — Dean B

  • Perhaps the best Indian food I've ever eaten. Ordered delivery, and the food was just incredible. The pakoras were spiced perfectly, the Aloo Tikki Chaat was amazingly flavorful, it immediately became one of my new favorite foods. A must-try. The naan was so fresh, and chewy/doughy, almost like it was freshly baked from dough just after we placed our order. The Karahi Chicken was also a hit, a brilliant blend of spices with a nice touch of heat (chili) and a great balance of sweetness against the many vibrant spices. I also suggest ordering the pickle for a little extra slice and intense flavor to add to some of your mouthfuls. A nice little touch to add some more excitement to the incredible flavors. My next visit to Victoria will definitely include an order from here!

    — Rick Massie

  • The best butter chicken in Victoria. Hands down! I’m obsessed. Been ordering from Mantra way back when. I’ve tried every Indian restaurant in the city & nothing compares. 👌🏼🕌

    — lynn

  • It's important that a restaurant provide not only good food but great service too. This was my experience at The Mantra. We were overwhelmed by the service provided by Manjot as well as the delicious taste of the food. Highly recommended. Thank you Manjot!

    — Sunny Pahooja

  • Ok so I truely feel that this is the best Indian cuisine in Victoria. I have been several times and I've never been even a little bit disappointed. I have weekly date nights and I try to experience something new on this menu, and it's always amazing. Please try the chicken lababbdar-likely not the right spelling but they will know what u mean. Butter chicken lovers, there's next level with this dish. Trust me!Any questions on desserts or appies, let me know! Also fantastic service from Megha!

    — Andrea Knadle

  • Me & my friends decided to visit Mantra yesterday for a lunch and we were delighted to meet Megha one of your team members. She was not only a professional but also exceptional in her customer service. We had little chat about the city as I am new to Victoria and she suggested to choose Kadhai Paneer and Chicken Biryani. I will definitely visit Mantra with friend’s again. A must go place for Indian delight !

    — Prapti Yadav

  • The robot bring my naan was neat, but I love their curries. The buffet is the real attraction for a nice lunch.

    — Jasmine Snyder

  • Absolutely delicious food, and super cool to see Robbie the Robot server.

    — Amanda

  • You have to experience their food if you come to Victoria

    — Herb Connors

  • Loved the food.

    — Balanced libra

  • Love the place a lot... Lovely food...impressive hospitality...♥️. Keep growing guys...♥️

    — PRITI CHAUDHARY

  • First time for brunch and will be back for more of the same. good choices well priced, and I loved the Robot serving our naan bread to the table very delightful. putting the fun back into dinning out.

    — Alan Hodgson

  • They have a robot!

    — Matthew D

  • Good place..they also have Robo server

    — rydan dsouza

  • Food was good, nice interior, service was pleasant and they have a little robot server that is pretty neat.

    — Allison Wilson

  • Great food nice atmosphere. I will come back.

    — Paul Hartman

  • Great customer service by dharna.

    — Nishtha Prashar

  • A wonderful surprise on our first visit. Three of us, each ordered different dishes. We all give a 95% rating to the food on taste, amount and presentaion. The server was friendly, attentive and informative. The servers assistant was a delightful surprise - a robot!

    — Janet Greenwood

  • Absolutely delicious! I came in with my family, 14 of us altogether. We ordered various dishes, each perfectly prepared. The service was excellent, we got our food within minutes. Served by a very welcoming and friendly staff, we decided to come in again the next day! They also had a very cute robot! The restaurant was very beautiful and nicely decorated inside as well. Very much recommend!!

    — Harkirt Butta

  • Absolutely delicious food I had after long while, Great place and friendly service. Thank you.

    — HM TULACHAN

  • Very tasty food

    — parul patel

  • no words to describe. Awesome service . Food was great , i wish i can tap 6 star on reviews for this restaurant. Will be happy to visit for the next time Thanks for the great service :)

    — aman chandi

  • Buffet was great and a good price. Service was above and beyond 😁 was busy and there was only one waitress, and she did great serving the customers and restock the buffet 👍

    — Jacqueline Rufus

  • Awesome place, great flavors, good service. Very highly recommended this restaurant.

    — Taras Loshakov

  • Food is awesome especially Amritsari kulcha and chole bhature. Great ambience.

    — AKASH SINGH

  • Food was so amazing and specially amritshari kulacha and even sercvices was great kudos to Prerna 👍🥂

    — Ashutosh Sankhala

  • What a great find. I went for the lunch buffet. They have a variety of delicious vegan dishes. I love their vegan Indian food. They even have a robot server!

    Sheila Xie

  • reat Indian Cuisine. Great Staff. Perfect Place by all terms. Just went to Mantra today on my visit to Victoria went to this great place in downtown Victoria. The customer service was great, the taste was just marvelous. The staff was really friendly and engaging. What else do you need? Made my day. I hope everyone tries their great food. Even have a rc robot delivering food, fancy. Thank you....!!! 😊

    — dhruvraj raulji

  • Visit this restaurant for food is must if ur in Victoria their gol gappe are the best. Rest of the food item are also delicious and reasonable price with very good staff. We had dinner and buffet next day which was also great.

    — Jeevan Virk

  • Awesome! I would rate the buffet 4/5, but the dinner food was so good that I give it a 5!

    — Pouya Shiri

  • Hands down to the best Indian food in Victoria!! Whenever I visit the island, I have to stop by the Mantra.🇮🇳 They serve authentic Indian food and Indian street food which are the best. The service is amazing. They also provide the option to eat through a buffet where you get to eat and try more dishes. My favorite dishes from the Mantra are the Gol Gappey, Kulcha and Chole Bhature. They’re so full of flavour, spicy and delicious. Can’t wait to go back again. You will not be disappointed and will leave with a happy belly!!😊

    — Yoj

  • Excellent food, the buffet is affordable. Always order from here due to the location and reliability. Has some great gems on the menu!

    — Kristof Szojka

  • Amazing food, great atmosphere, incredible value. I've been here several times as the pandemic has allowed and plan to return soon.

    — Forrest Trenaman

  • Very good service food was amazing, had musicians visiting from out of town and they loved the taste.

    — Sanj Mahmi

  • Last week I ordered take out from The Mantra and went to pick it up at their restaurant on Fort Street. When I arrived, we realized I had accidentally called their Tillicum location ... so that’s where my food was waiting! As I live close to Fort St. downtown, and I had my hungry family waiting at home, I really didn’t want to drive over to the other location across town. They were very understanding and kindly made the food for me and did not charge me for the order I mistakenly made at the other location. The butter chicken and naan were hot and so delicious ... I can’t wait to have it again! I wholeheartedly recommend The Mantra for amazing food, excellent customer service and a fantastic culinary experience.

    — Carol Morrison

  • Good variety buffet, excellent quality. Food was fresh and buffet was quickly replenished when needed !

    — Steve Gudgin

  • The lunch buffet was amazing! For 13$ (if I am not mistaken) you are offered salads, hot meals and a dessert! I highly recommend “butter chicken” with cream and tomato and a fresh mango drink (it’s originally Indian - lassi with yogurt and cinnamon and cardamom)

    — Ekaterina Moiseeva

  • Amazing experience with this restaurant. We stayed in victoria for two days and ended up eating our lunch here everyday. The food is delicious. Special shout out to the soft tandoori rotis and panner lababdar sabji. The service is quick and the owner is very friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend it 👍

    — Isha Sood

  • Just enjoyed a delicious meal from Mantra which was delivered with a smile by one of their own restaurant staff. If you order directly by phone you can avoid having to use a corporate delivery service. Our go to order is lamb rogan gosh and mixed vegetables but anything we’ve ever had has been excellent. When you have a craving for Indian food Mantra never disappoints.

    — Kate Saunders

  • Indian taste revisited! Best is having a quick samosa chaat!

    — grey wandster

  • Anyone who is in Victoria and is craving Amritsari Kulcha should definitely go to this place. I had a super delicious kulcha after a long long time!!! Totally loved it! The service was amazing and customised to your taste with authentic punjabi flavours!

    — Sarbjit Chhina

  • My favourite place for Indian food in Victoria. I order from here frequently. My only suggestion is to double check your order (had issues a couple times), but it wont stop me from going there again. Delicious food that I crave over and over. Recommended!

    — G K

  • I liked the place and the staff. They offer delicious Indian dishes with a reasonable price. They’re polite and professional. I recommend visiting this restaurant. I definitely will go and try more foods.

    — Alih

  • Decent food, clean space and friendly staff. We dropped by there last night when almost all nearby restaurants were closed but they even offered us to stay longer.

    — yaser mohammadi

  • Small indian restaurant but the ambience is pretty normal and chill. A lovely place to get food or dine in for indian food with not lots of disturbance. Plus its just 5 mins walk from Downtown. Thank you!

    — Maezurheim Faith

  • Fresh, flavourful and always delicious! The best naan bread in town & the most flavourful yellow Dahl curry I’ve ever tasted! This is my go to Indian restaurant in the city. This location is by far better than the Tillicum location

    — Yam Yam

  • Food was soo good. Different taste than other restaurants i have been to. I liked it and would recommend it.

    — Sahil Ohri

  • Lamb biryani and Amritsari Kulcha is to die for.

    — Cooking with Darna

  • I wouldn't be lying if I say that mantra is One of the best Indian restaurants in Victoria. Very good service and amazing food. I would recommend anybody who is visiting Victoria to try this restaurant.

    — amin kang

  • Incredible food😘

    — Ashneet Kaur

  • Excellent customer service with great variety of food. Recommend, I will definitely come back again

    — Mina Al

  • Very delicious food, excellent service and girl serving here is also very nice and polite 😊

    — navneet kaur virk

  • Really good and tasty food

    — prashant kumar

  • By far my favourite Indian food in Victoria! I have been ordering take out from the Mantra on Fort for about 2 years now on a regular basis, and it is always consistent, with quick service. My favourite dishes are Papdi Chaat, Chicken Korma, Coconut Curry Vegetables, and the Saag paneer. All of the curries I've had are delicious, the naan is always fresh. I always order the coconut rice and get a piece of naan as my side choice for the curry. Thank you for continuing to make delicious food during these tough times for the service industry!!!

    — Cassie LeBlanc

  • Amazing experience with good food and great service. Definitely recommended place.

    — Manas Jana

  • Really nice people and fantastic food at a reasonable price. What else can you ask for

    — Terry V

  • I had a pleasant experience with this location, ordered through Doordash, and placed an order for Paneer saag and Goat Curry, i must say, this was the best goat curry they made in town. Also would like to appreciate Rebecca, for her assistance over the phone. Thank u chef 👨‍🍳

    — Neeraj Sharma

  • Very good! Everything we ordered was delicious. Celiac friendly.

    — Caroline D.

  • Great food. Good service. Highly recommended My favorites Chicken Tikka, Eggplant Bharta, Veg vindaloo, Channa Massala and whole wheat Rotis

    — D Behr

  • I have been to many indian restaurants but being an Indian and a food lover I can tell this restaurant serves authentic indian food unlike other Indian restaurants. Best hospitality but the owner himself. Definitely going again.

    — Jeewanjyot Handa

  • Very professional service and great flavor Ginger tea was awesome Would recommend to everyone whoever visit Victoria....

    — Gurinder Singh

  • Amazing experience with this restaurant! The food is excellent and the service is quick and good. We just got married and we decided to hold our very small reception at Mantra and they were very accommodating and friendly. A+++ experience, and as a nice surprise they bought me a bouquet! Food has always been good, never anything I’m disappointed with. Can’t say enough great things about this place. Definitely worth the visit or a Skip to your house.

    — Kristen Bacler

  • Delicious 😋 food I have eat ever here Must try samosa chaat

    — rampal ankush

  • I rarely go out to eat or get takeout aside from fast food as I'm regularly disappointed. Mantra is amazing I can't rave this restaurant enough!!! Hooked and in Love

    — Michelle Popoff

  • The food and the service is excellent

    — Gurdarshan Singh

  • Delicious food, courteous waitresses

    — akhil prabhu

  • Food was amazing. Paneer Tikka masala was great

    — Brinda shah

  • Great authentic Indian food with a large variety of dishes. Always love eating here and consistently get amazing service

    — A Calder

  • Amazing Food! My wife and I like to go to lunch buffets, even though we are Vegan, there is still usually 4+ dishes to choose from, and fresh free Naan always delightful ( ask without butter ) . The value is honestly not possible to beat, you won't be disappointed.

    — James Bruce

  • Wow!!! The food here is amazing! Perfectly spiced and fragrant! Also, the staff are so welcoming and efficient! This has become a regular spot for our family! 5 stars

    — Melissa Friesen

  • I'm no expert on Indian food by any means, but the tikka masala was delicious!

    — Mitchell Koch