You may have noticed an absence of reviews recently. This is in part due to sheer laziness.  More accurately, it’s related to dyspepsia. It appears curry is systematically destroying my body. While cream sauced curries have been clogging my arteries for years and inflaming my rectal mucosa the next day on a regular basis for some time now, my stomach has typically held out well. Until now.  (matt)

It started innocently enough. There I was eating a Patak’s in my kitchen, when I felt the scourge of a garden claw ripping my stomach apart. No big deal. Then it progressed to not being able swallow water without crying out in pain.  “That’s when I asked my doctor about Losec.” Thank God for direct-to-consumer drug advertizing.  While I was there, I also asked him if I had something called “Acute Coronary Syndrome” and asked to be put on something called “Plavix”.  Anyways, I’m all better now and can once again review dodgy Indian restaurants. (matt)

Actually....if anything, the lack of reviews has been due to change.   Our webmistress Chelsea has moved from Ottawa to Winnipeg and that has been a big challenge for getting reviews up.  Also, I've decided to completely overhaul my entire life.  Got a new job, Ang and I have gone our separate ways, selling our house and buying a new one.  I think the next step is the hormones and then I get the emasculation surgery.  Er....no.  Also in the spirit of change, Matty decided to change his undies August first instead of just his usual “flipping them inside-out” technique.  (ren)

What better way to test one’s stomach (and fresh undies) than tackling a Forest Lawn Special? (Depending on the circle of people, you need to be careful using the term “Forest Lawn Special”. For the purposes of this website we will assume it to be a tasty curry.  Other people may use the term to describe the act of shiving your neighbor over a bad crystal meth deal). We decided we would attempt to eat at Sheesh Mahal.  (matt)

The good thing about heading out to Forest Lawn for food is that there is no shortage of scenery on your way.  Unlike heading for curry in Saskatchewan for example. (ren)

On the way to the restaurant, we drove past a group of beat cops interrogating two “ladies of the night”. The clock on my dashboard read 6:34 PM.  Maybe they had the afternoon/evening shift. (matt)

Another good thing about going for food in Forest Lawn is that there are numerous ethnic restaurants in a relatively small area....just in case your first choice doesn't work out.  Also...unlike heading for curry in Saskatchewan. (ren)

Sheesh Mahal was very much closed and it soon became obvious that we would need plan B. Which is very much different than saying we needed “Plan B™”.

We quickly decided to make our way north up 52nd Street towards Rundle. Before arriving at Rundle, we stumbled upon Pembrooke Plaza.  Wagering that we would find a curry house in this teal roofed strip mall, I detoured off 52nd and into the parking lot. Almost immediately, after passing a “stockist” (whatever that is) of garments, Shaa-Ne-Calgary Sweet House and Restaurant came into view. (matt)

Checking in my dictionary, I discovered that a Stockist is a retailer or distributor that stocks goods.  Interesting.  Not a word you see used very often.  Probably because we've kinda come to this assumption that when we go to a store looking for a particular product (especially one they specialize in) the store will actually stock the product rather than taking your money and moving locations and changing the name on the door. (ren)

It’s not exactly obvious what the relationship of this restaurant is to the original Calgary Sweet House, or the Calgary Sweet House that is now Apna Punjab Restaurant; but given the fact that the signage had “Shaa-Ne-“ in small lettering , I bet somewhere along the line there was a lawsuit over the name. That, or an arranged marriage.  The sign on the door said they were only open until 7PM but when we saw 4 or 5 people walk in, we decided to give it a go. (matt)

Showing up at 6:59 to a restaurant that closes at 7 and being told that its no problem is always a good thing.  Much better than the usual in this town....show up at 9pm to a restaurant that closes at midnight and being told the kitchen is closed.  But you can order drinks if you'd like.  No mark-up on drinks so dive in kids. (ren)

Right away, I knew there was something different about this place. Something special. It had all the hallmarks of a really good dive-curry house.  There was 70s style lighting. Tables scattered all over the place in no particular order.  Various renegade newspapers strewn about.  The white people who were there didn’t look out of place. They were there because they loved curry and were faithful to the establishment.  As we sat waiting to see if we could still get food, a Caucasian woman in her early forties entered and hugged the burka-wearing Islamic waitress. It was her birthday and she came to say hello to her good friend. It was beautiful.  Say what you will about the crime and poverty associated with this part of town, you’re never gonna see something like that happen at say, the Tandoori Hut, in Kensington.  (matt)

Personally I was most impressed that they had about 10 of the same horrid yellow and beige hanging lamps that my parents used to have over their pool table.  While waiting I perused one of the little neighbourhood mini-magazines that are almost always lying around in Indian restaurants.  Often these can be great for getting leads on new places to eat.  They are also usually good for getting summaries of your favourite Bollywood soaps, and tracking down Indian lawyers, realtors and various types of mystics and alternative healers. (ren)

Despite being nearly closing time, the waitress/owner was more than willing to serve us. Ren went with butter chicken and I tried the Shahi Paneer. The meals took a good 20-30 minutes to prepare. A sure sign of quality.  While we waited, we discussed the prescribing practices of an adjactant medi-clinic and briefed through some of the available reading material while enjoying mango lassis out of plastic beer cups. They were pretty much perfect lassis.  Consistent with our other voyages to this part of the city, our meals were served on Styrofoam/paper plates.  This time however, the paper plates were further supported by gold spray-painted serving trays. Classy. The food was very good although perhaps a little on the scarce side.  Enough to satisfy on most occasions but we might have had room for dessert.  Both of our dishes were adequately spiced but it was the naan that was probably the star of the show. It wasn’t Lady Pool Road/elephant ear sized but it was bigger than Ren’s head (almost). (matt)

The butter chicken was pretty good.  Not the best ever.....but as our frequent readers may have noticed, this is a dish that I find is prepared so incredibly inconsistently around town that its nice to get a good one.  The naan was fantastic, definitely no complaints.  (ren) 

We were impressed. This is another one of those hidden gems in Calgary. If you’re lucky or adventurous enough to find this place, go in. Hug the waitress and order some food.

Score: A solid 8.

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