It was a sad day when Tich closed … but a glimmer of hope when they announced that a new curry house would replace it. The Brits in Toronto crew loved Tich so it was time to see how the new one lived up to high expectations.

It’s called Koshaa and it’s located on Lakeshore (2314 Lakeshore Blvd West = Lakeshore/Burlington Street).

Usually we go for the “fancy” specials but wanted to get back to basics, so ordered the Home-Style Chicken Curry (extra spicy of course!), Baigan Bhartha, Pakoras, Raita and Mixed Pickle.

The home-style dish consisted of chicken morsels cooked in aromatic curry, infused with fenugreek, onion and tomato-based sauce. This was the kind of gravy that we really like … thick, meaty … could eat a bowl of the gravy by itself.

Have to say the chicken was a tad dry but not a huge dealbreaker overall. Would order this dish again.

The veggie main Baigan Bhartha is roasted mashed eggplant, cooked with green peas and house-made spices. This had a nice smoky taste to it and we enjoyed it. The dish carried over well to lunch next day too, but we warmed it up in a frying pan and didn’t nuke it in the trusty microwave. (Actually, we do that with all our leftover curries as they have a nicer consistency and don’t dry out.)

Stars of the show were the pakoras: fritters of sliced onion and spinach dipped in a batter of gram flour and deep-fried. They were chewy and crunchy at the same time and we got a lunch and another dinner side out of them, so very good value.

The Raita (house-made yogurt infused with cucumber) was nice and creamy but the Mixed Pickle was the kind we’re not keen on, no fault of the restaurant, just a personal preference … they were more towards the “hard, green sour kind” but we’re being picky.

Overall, summing up everything, we’re going to go back to Koshaa for some other dishes and give it a solid Brits in Toronto 4/5 stars.