After deciding that I didn’t want to work the last part of my shift, I found myself at home at 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon with nothing to do. Not wanting to waste my new found freedom, I ventured out to see if I could make the most of the afternoon while my colleagues in the pharmacy were stuck working for “the clampdown”.  Shortly thereafter, I found myself with beer and newspaper in hand at Shuckalucks pub.  I’ve been to Shuckalucks about 3 times and it’s always the same. Today would be no different.  I had barely finished the front page of the paper when 4 vulgar construction workers came in and high-fived the bar tender. They proceeded to F-bomb the pub into oblivion while drinking Corona and Molson Canadian.  It was obvious that I would need a heavy dose of culture if I was gonna make this afternoon a success. That meant curry. (matt)

I'm always up for a curry. Heck, I'd just gone for curry at the dodgy little cafeteria in the north tower at the Foothills hospital for lunch and I was ready for more.  Matty and I really have to review that place sometime.  They serve butter chicken every thursday, and it has a special secret ingredient in it.  And no, its not love. (ren)

Through a series of text messages, it was decided that I would get Indian take out and bring it over to Ren’s house after he was done listing his house on the market. In the meantime, I would have to kill about an hour. That’s when I remembered my friend Loran’s suggestion of checking out curry at the Calgary Farmer’s Market. (matt)

I can’t remember the last time I was at a farmer’s market.  I guess I find the idea a little “granola”; targeted towards people who eat only organic food. (FACT 1: All food is made of carbon. Therefore it’s all organic. Why pay more for this lettuce just because it has a stamp on it. FACT2: Pesticides are our friend. Before DDT was outlawed, anopheles mosquito- transmitted malaria was nearly eradicated. Some scientists have estimated that 1 out of every 2 people who have ever lived, have died of malaria. Take that Heart Disease!) That being said, I found the Calgary Farmer’s Market fascinating.  Sure, there were organic touting hippies. But there was also fresh Cornish pasties. Steak and Kidney pie. Wasabi peas. Soft foccacia bread. Bison,Elk and Ostrich burgers.  And tucked in the back, in what appeared to be the market’s “food court”, Shef’s Fiery Kitchen. (matt)

Shef’s is a smaller booth. Today it was being run by Brian (or maybe his name was Brent.  One of those Sutter names), a white man. Spotting me struggling with the menu, he came out from the kitchen where he was doing some prep work. At first, I didn’t recognize any of the items on the menu. I was getting worried. Then I spotted the Massuman curry and it all instantly made more sense.  The Massuman is my favorite Thai curry and tastes like curried Irish stew.  Unlike anywhere else we’ve reviewed, Shef’s  does both Indian and South-East Asian (read:Thai) curries. These two regions do curry very differently. The Thais rely more heavily on coconut milk and their curries are usually spicier. The resultant dish’s sauce is usually quite a bit thinner then the curries found in India, particularly North India. Thai curries are also not reviewed by this website, so they suck balls.  (matt)

If we ever run out of Indian joints we're moving on to midnight Shawarma.... and then maybe when we're done with that, we can try Thai.  Even though we both like it, we don't review it so it must therefore suck balls.  (ren)

The Indian dishes consisted of primarily of 2 options. Butter Chicken. And Goat Curry. There may have been one or two veg options also.  For me, having a goat curry on the menu gave Shef’s instant credibility. Plus I admire their moxie for doing this dish in Southwest Calgary. It’s the kind of meal that is prevalent in Falconridge or Rundle, not in Lakeview or Garrison Woods. I chose 2 goat curries for Ren and I, while Ang would eat the butter chicken. Each curry was served with rice in a see-through plastic deli tub. Additionally, I added 2 naan and 3 veg samosas for a total of $13 per meal.  While I eyed the lassis, I determined that they would be difficult to carry as take out. Instead, I walked across the parking lot to a building shared by Wild Rose Brewery and Webb Wine Merchants and found a bizarre 6 pack of beer.  HE-Brew Beer’s Messiah Bold Ale. Certified Kosher Standard, Rabbi approved goodness.  It was probably also made of carbon.  (matt)

When Matt called to tell me he was getting food from “Chef's” i was pretty excited.  I was sure it was either gonna be Chef from South Park, or this guy......

Probably for the best, it was neither.  (ren)

Having spent a small fortune on food (including $15 on Wasabi peas), I was ready to make my way back to Ren’s. When I arrived, the house was empty so I walked in and made myself at home. Anywhere else, it might have felt like an intrusion or home invasion. But not here. After all, I had lived in Ren and Ang’s spare bedroom for two years, where, they would feed me table scraps and let me out every once and a while to pee on the lawn. It’s a beautiful house and as I stood alone in the kitchen a slight sadness fell upon me. Soon, a new family would be standing in the same place where Ang routinely made chocolate chip cookies or where Ren threatened to stab me with the musketeer sword I had bought him for Christmas one year.  (matt)

Angela and I were out walking Daisy the Wrestledog to reward her for not eating the realtor.  Also we were hoping to tire her out a bit so that she wouldn't pester Matt and jump all over him while he tried to eat.  Unfortunately this did not work. (ren)

 When Ren and Ang finally showed up, we plated up the curries and sat down to watch some of Ricky Gervais’ Extras and drink Jewish beer.  It was the perfect combination.  To quote a patron of Shuckalucks, the curry was “fxxkin’ good”. We really couldn’t find anything wrong with either the goat curry, butter chicken or the samosas. They were perfect.  But just when I thought we were going to hand out this website’s second perfect score ever, we tried the naan. Oh, the naan!  The naan had been wrapped in a plastic bag (as opposed to tin foil) and had probably been sitting out for hours. We fed the majority of it to the dog.  (matt)

Nothing like punishing Daisy for jumping all over matt by feeding her bad naan.  Of course I don't think she could tell the difference between good and bad naan even if a good naan took her for walks every day and the bad naan kicked her.  She'd just eat em both and leave no crumbs.  The Hebrew brew was fantastic.  As was the goat curry.  Nice big chunks of meat. Lots of spice.  Not too many esophagus tearing little bone-splinters.  Why do they always seem to split up goat with a sledge-hammer rather than using a knife like with most animals?  The butter chicken (from the little sample i stole from ang's dish) was extremely good as well. (ren)

Shef’s was a real pleasant surprise. We definitely recommend going here. And if you can’t make it to the Farmer’s market, Shef will come to your house. She hosts Indian and Thai cooking parties. Novel idea. Check her website out.

We give our experience a solid 9/10. Too bad about the naan.

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