It’s the August Long weekend and the Riders are
in town. We took in the fun as the 25-30% of Calgarians who have some
link to the wheat province celebrated coming from the most futile place
in the land (after maybe Manitoba; but at least the Bombers have more
then 3 championships in 70 years). Aside from the predictable score line,
it was a good time running into old friends, flames and acquaintances
from the green province. Which is to say, Ren and I drank too much, he
puked in my toilet, woke up the next day and decided that curry was the
only cure. (matty)
No better way to counter-act two nights of twitchy-sphinchter
from overindulging in scotch and ale than to go out for some stomach-settling
dodgy curry. (ren)
 Getting curry on a Sunday proved to be a bit of challenge
as many of the places were closed or had already been reviewed on this
site. Perusing the phonebook, I noted Skylark restaurant was under the
Indian food section. A strikingly un-Indian name, that’s for sure.
I had to confirm by phone that they actually served curry and that their
name wasn’t short for something like Taj Skylark or Skylark Palace
and Sweethouse. A check on the address showed it to be in Forest Lawn.
Given our previous trip to Forest Lawn (at Darbhar Restaurant) had resulted
in our only failing score (3/10), I was slightly hesitant but still willing
to give it a go. (matt)
Before, during and after our visit I indulged in much
speculation about the skylark name. I came up with what I thought were
3 viable hypothesies.
- The Skylark just happens to be a bird that is native to india (as
well as seemingly 3/4 of the world)
- Some other (honky) restaurant went out of business and these guys
took over the space and kept the name in order to keep the loyal customers
(obviously VERY loyal since the first place went under)
- Upon immigrating into Canada the proprietor and his family were short
on cash and had to live in a Buick Skylark for 6 months and the restaurants
was named after their happy memories of these simpler times.
Er...ok...maybe i shouldn't think so much. (ren)
 Skylark is located next to a handmade “Sari
and Suite” store (I can only assume they mean suits, but maybe they
also make suites). I arrived to find a “Forest Lawn Special”
(ie. Toyota Corolla with a giant smashed windshield, rusted hood, and
radiator coolant tank visible from the front of the car) parked in front
of the restaurant. Ren decided to park the most expensive car he owns
next to it for juxtaposition. (matty)
Well...I figured if we came out of the restaurant and
the Camaro was vandalized then we could add 1 dodgy point to the score.
If the camaro was stolen we could add two points, and finally if the camaro
was stolen but was still in the parking lot and being used as a storefront
to sell counterfeit rolex's and fake gucci purses it would earn the skylark
3 points. However, the car was fine...so no bonus points. The joke's on
them. (ren)
It’s not inherently obvious that Skylark is a
restaurant when you go in. They have a sweet counter and there are a number
of east Indians milling about. I tried to bust through the adjacent saloon
style double doors (to what I assumed was the dining room) on my own,
but was scolded and told to wait before proceeding into the restaurant.
I’m not sure why that was. You sort of got the feeling that maybe
they were trying to cover something up. “No sir, wait here. We’re
still cleaning up the stabbing from lunch time” or “They’re
not quite done filming the dance scene from our new bollywood film”.
(matty)
Upon being admitted to the dining hall we marvelled
in the atmosphere of skinny strip-mall space. There was some fairly standard
looking indian artwork on the walls and a buffet set-up in the back corner.
Also a tv was tuned to CNN's coverage of the israel/lebanon war/conflict/skirmish/tradgedy/asskicking/overreaction/whatever
they're calling it today. Didn't use the bathroom but it seemed to be
about the size of a closet and opened directly into the dining area with
no hallway or second door to obscure the sights, sounds and smells.(ren)
We were left questioning our waiter’s euthymia
(big words make you look smart) when his demeanor changed from scowly
to overly personable upon presenting us with the menus. The menu is fairly
standard with the exception of the bizarre inclusion of a Hungarian Chicken
dish. Probably a good idea to provide non-curry lovers “an out”
but this is usually best done by simply giving one of your dishes the
unintimadating name of “Shish Kabob”. If your gonna do a Hungarian
Chicken, you should also have dumplings (not present in this case). (matt)
I think there were also chicken fingers and fries on
the menu. I guess this way you can take your bratty children who don't
like indian food out for supper. Very odd. (ren)
I ordered a mango lassi and for some odd reason, a
chai tea. The tea was nowhere near sweet enough but the lassi was perfectly
delicious. My entrée selection was Mutton Korma after it was pointed
out last week that I never eat lamb or sheep and should explore this option
more often. All the dishes come with rice (always good). Our waiter asked
us how hot we wanted our meal. Chancing it, I decided to go with “hot”.
Ren chickened out and pulled a “medium”. I think it turned out
well in the end, as the hot was certainly not overly insulting and made
for a beautiful dish. The mutton was a bit a stringy (though not too bad)
and I might try a lamb or chicken Korma in the future. (matty)
 Due to my tricky stomach I decided to play it safe
and order the butter chicken. I got it medium spiced and I thought it
was perfect. Just hot enough to make me sweat but not to the point of
silliness. Just the right balance of creamy and spicy. The butter chicken
was more of a yellowish tint than what you usually get here (but all the
butter chicken in london seemed to be yellowish) which tends to be very
red with the tomato base. The lassi was very nice and the naan was perfect.
Fluffy enough and not too doughy. Mmmm. I'll probably check this place
out again. Maybe I'll even take your mother; if she asks me real nicely.
(ren)
Overall, while we felt that our waiter might benefit from a mood stabilizing
drug, we were content with our experience especially given the price.
We’re giving Skylark 8 ELEPHANTITIS FEET OUT OF 10. Thank you for
restoring our faith in Forest Lawn. Or at least our faith in Indian restaurants
in Forest Lawn.
Not at the Restaurant:
- Eleanor Rigby
- Mike Menzies (stalwart defenceman on my tier II Atom team)
- Art Drysdale (Spokesman for the Garden
Claw)
Rating:
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