Curryish Tavern's spicy curry challenge offers $100 and a free meal to those who finish

Curryish Tavern on West Queen West is turning up the heat with the "Hot as Fack" curry challenge, a searing test of spice tolerance that offers the meal free, a $100 gift card, and bragging rights to winners.

Miheer Shete, the owner and chef, opened Curryish Tavern in August 2022 after running a successful pandemic pop-up. He trained as head chef at Oliver & Bonacini's Jump, where he developed a taste for seasonal Canadian ingredients that now define his contemporary Indian menu. Four years into the brick-and-mortar venture, Shete wanted to celebrate the milestone while showcasing rare chilies he'd recently sourced from India.

"We realized nothing like this has ever been done before, and we wanted to turn up the heat in Toronto," Shete said. "As a restaurant, we do a lot of serious stuff, like tasting menus, wine dinners and collaborations, but very rarely do we just get to have fun. This is it."

The challenge runs through the end of August. Participants have 10 minutes to finish a curry made with Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper) and Carolina Reaper—all without taking a single sip of any drink. The dish consists of the rare chilies, a choice of chicken or cauliflower, and a flavourful blend of onion, ginger, garlic, dry coconut, cilantro, and Shete's house spice blend. Contestants must be 18 or older and cannot have medical conditions that could be aggravated by the spicy meal.

Successful finishers receive the $24 curry dish free of charge, a $100 Curryish Tavern gift card, a cooling mango lassi or glass of milk (consumed only after the bowl is empty), and an official "Hot as Fack" certificate hung on the winners wall.

Shete and his staff have tested the challenge themselves. "It was insane. My mouth, face and head were on fire and it felt like I had steam blowing out of my ears," Shete said. "I couldn't finish it." To date, only one Curryish team member has come close to completing it.