Curry Delight is a Farmer’s Market favourite, and has been for 4 years strong now. They’ve built their brand, buzz, and following. Now that loyal following, alongside a wider audience, will have access to their famous fare outside the Market’s hours.

They’re setting up shop in Mt. Pearl, in the old Chilly Willy’s building. Anyone from The Pearl knows right where that is (125 Park Avenue). Part of the reason they’re opening a storefront is because demand for their food is so high they need their own commercial space for prep.

Curry Delight specializes in Pakistani and Indian food. Afiya and Nasir, who operate Curry Delight together, explain that Karachi, their home city (of 24 million people!), is South Asian, and has a lot of variety and variations on different cooking styles and dishes.

“All of the dishes that we make are made from scratch, and the recipes have been passed down from generations. We don’t use any preservatives or mixes, just raw spices and herbs. And of course the most important secret ingredient is ‘love.’”

Like many immigrants, they started a career in food because no one else was selling the kinds of dishes they loved and missed from back home.

“When we moved to St. John’s, we would really crave our authentic food from back home,” says Afiya, “and we couldn’t find anything that would resemble the flavours specific to our city.”

They’d cook what they loved for themselves at home, and share it with friends. Friends who encouraged them to try selling their product at the St. John’s Farmer’s Market. So they did, and it became an immediate, word-of-mouth hit. The rest is history.

“We love cooking, and specifically, we love the smile on our customers’ faces when they taste our food. Especially for the first time, or when we are successful in breaking stereotypes of Pakistani/Indian food being all spicy. You may not like one variation of this food, but may love the other. We have a good conversion rate, haha!”

It helps that they “love experimenting with new flavours, traditional recipes, and combinations,” hence the ever-changing nature of their menu specials.

If you’re wondering what to try when they open, Afiya says “we have a huge selection of regular dishes and specials, but so far our Butter Chicken, Spinach Potatoes, Lentil and Chickpeas curries are the most loved. We do lots of vegan, and gluten-free or celiac-friendly, and other allergen friendly dishes as well, which are also well received.”

Why Mt. Pearl, you may ask? They have a customer base spread out across St. John’s, CBS, Mt. Pearl, and Paradise, so they went looking for a new spot to call home in all 4 municipalities. But the space they found in Mt. pearl “had so much personality, and such great potential for scale and growth.”

In addition, like many new businesses opening in Mt. pearl, they say “the City of Mt. Pearl has been very helpful in helping us start up, and supporting us throughout our renovation journey, which is very much appreciated.”