So, feeling a little down after our miserable Clay oven failure we decided to head to another spot.  This time the backup plan was the Bombay Sweethouse & Restaurant in the Castleridge area.  I've honestly had takeout from there in the past and it was good....but never eaten in. 

We walked in and were impressed to see a sign offering $1 paneer samosas.  These would be on our order we decided.  Got to our seats and started the people watching.  The restaurant is divided into an eating area which is relatively peaceful and a takeout area which is kinda like a highschool cafeteria line....but with better goods at the end.  And fewer random wedgies.  This place was doing a hopping takeout business for food and sweets.  One bunch had about 20kg of sweets on the scale that we noticed. 

For food Ang had butter chicken, I had the Shahi Paneer (is this my new favorite dish....maybe), and matt had the Chilli Chicken.  We started off with a couple of the paneer samosa's which came with a nice chick pea curry thingy as well as the usual sauce and relish.  They were very good, basically veg samosa's but with a little bit of different texture to keep it interesting.  (unfortunately when the bill came they were not $1 each...but rather $3.99 for 2...but hey...still tasty and huge).   My shahi paneer was tasty.  Rich and creamy and just a hint of heat.  Yum yum.  Ang's butter chicken was amazingly good.  To me this is what butter chicken is supposed to taste like.  She has declined to review at this time but she said it was good however not the best she'd had.  Matts chilli chicken was tasty.  I tried a little piece of chicken and it started of almost sour but then a rush of heat comes about 3 seconds later.  Very flavourful and interesting.   However, I had a taste of the tomato and pepper fixin's after the chicken was all gone and it was really hot.  Still tasty but I could definitely understand the tears coming from mattys eyes. 

We had a bit of confusion with the ordering, the menu states that each entree includes 1 naan, so ang and I ordered rice with our meals (in addition to the naan we thought) and matt asked just for naan.  When the meals came ang and I recieved rice with our meals and the table got a basket with some naan in it.  After some thinking (and confirmed when we got the bill) the 3 pieces of naan in the basket were actually 1/3 of matts 1 naan and ang and i got rice INSTEAD of naan.  A little disappointing cause I really liked the corner i stole....but oh well. 

Now....matts turn to present his compostition titles "Tastes Like Burning"

Ren’s turn to pick the place. His pick was the Clay Oven. For background on the Clay Oven, see the Archives. This time we phoned ahead to make reservations. Only problem: The Clay Oven was closed for renovations. It didn’t say anything about that in the CBC restaurant guide.  

Rating: Reservations Recommended and if possible go when NOT CLOSED for renos. 

So once again, we changed our plans. This time ending up at the Bombay Sweet House in the heart of “Calgaristan”. 

Décor: Really not much to comment on. Like many sweethouses, a good chunk of the restaurant is devoted to the candy cabinet (if you can call Chum-Chum candy). I’m always amazed by the number of Indian people who just pop into a sweethouse to get treats on their way home or to a friend’s house. Ren and I don’t really understand it (see our previous review of Indian desserts from the India Restaurant and Sweethouse). 

Appetizers: The sign in the window said: “Paneer Samosas $1”. The thoughts in our heads said: “Sign us up”. In all honesty, the best samosa I’ve eaten. Not greasy, plenty of flavour and the cheese provided you with a consistency not found with regular beef or potato samosas. Ace! 

Main Entrée: I ordered the Chili Chicken. No misnomer here. You get chicken bathed in the seeds of hot pepper. Those of you who enjoy Chinese-style Hot and Sour Soup, but who are discouraged by the soupiness of that dish, are sure to love Chili Chicken. Additionally, it can probably be classified as a drug. Therapeutic Indictations for Chili Chicken: Nasal Congestion, Dry Eye, Poor Circulation, Colonic Immobility. Contraindications: Bleeding stomach ulcers and recent hemorrhoid surgery. Also, avoid removal of contact lenses after eating this dish. I think I burnt my cornea. 

The down side of the Bombay Sweet House was the service. The place was really busy and they were probably understaffed. There was obvious confusion about how much complimentary naan you get, but hey, this confusion is only a fraction of what is experienced on the subcontinent.  

Three People Not at the Restaurant

1. Rick Astley
2. Omar Portillo (my grade 9 lab partner)
3. Donovan Bailey

Overally....kinda slow service, but very tasty and decently priced (even with the samosa price confusion).  The food would be an 8 on its own but the service makes it a 7. 

Rating: