Ren decided that we would try Wattan Sweethouse and Restaurant. I know exactly what many of you are thinking right now: Is it possible that Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Method Man and the rest of the most formidable force in mid-90’s hip-hop music, have opened an Indian Restaurant in the dodgiest part of SE Calgary? No. It is not possible. Do not confuse “Wattan” with “Wu-Tang”. Besides, Ol’ Dirty died in 2004 at the not so Ol’ age of 35. (matt)

I remembered seeing this place the day we went to the Anapurna Curry Pot (a year ago this month in fact). If you recall or look back, you'll know that we left that place wishing we'd tried Wattan instead. (ren)

I pulled up in front of the restaurant to find Ren and our friend Mr. Ryan Jones cowering at door, away from the rain/sleet/almost snow. After noting the cardboard “NO Public Washrooms” sign, we wasted no time getting inside and out of the miserable weather. The inside of Wattan is really the epitome of dodge. For all I know, the word Wattan may be a direct translation from Hindi or Arabic for “Dodgy”. Unless you’re trying to get dumped, do not bring a date to Wattan. No woman of reputable stature would want to be seen here. (matt)

This place definitely scores high on the dodgy scale. Firstly, its in forest lawn. Normally thats enough, but in this case it also has the added bonus of having a "Payday Loans" place right next door. Nice touch. (ren)

Needless to say, the three of us were loving it from the start. The first impression was classic. Four or five guys hovered around the debit machine, all trying to tell each other how to load it with paper. Classic Indian. There is a sign on the TV advising you that the guy next door can hook you up with a sweet-ass deal on satellite Bollywood programming. They also have free Ramadan calendars for their Muslim guests as a reminder of when and when not to eat at Wattan during the religious period. (matt)

After waiting for the debit-machine repair crew to finish up we ordered at the sweets counter. Pretty sparse menu, but that just means they do those few dishes amazingly tasty...right...right?...right? The menu acutally had two sections for food...a regular one and a Sat/Sun one. I went with the Chicken curry and naan combo. You got to pick your own drinks out from the cooler at the side. Superb selection of presidents choice pop and juice and some shady fruit nectar drinks. I went with Mango. (ren)

You should be prepared to “call shotgun” on your dish of choice if dining with someone else and wanting to not duplicate orders or you may be left eating Mutter Keema (Peas and Ground Beef) like I was. Truth be told, I was eyeing up the Goat Curry but that bastard Jones is too quick and ended up stealing my thunder. In the end, with the addition of the provided hot sauce, my dish turned out being okay. Ren had the chicken curry which was quite flavorful and non-insulting. We all had bizarre juice nectars from Egypt, as there are no lassis available. (matt)

We all started out with some samosas. We were each served on styrofoam plates with our own batches of cholle and yogurt. The samosas were big, tasty, and cheap. I loved them. While we were waiting and throughout the meal the staff kept trying to change the channel from the wonderful indian programming to something they thought we'd like better. We kept hollering for them to change it back and leave it alone as the TV kept getting flipped over to "The Shaggy Dog" instead of a fantastic music video show starring some crazy singing chick and DJ Sharwood. In between the videos the chick would talk about how wonderful the singer was while DJ Sharwood would roll his eyes. Then she'd sing him a song herself while making the best puppy-dog eyes ever at him as he sat there and seemed to be barely resisting the urge to punch her in the tits. (ren)

85 cent veg samosas!!! They were not overly greasy and were packed to the roof with potato and spice. They serve them on plastic plates (same with all the other food) with a delightful Cholley (chickpea) salsa. If you go on a Saturday or Sunday you can get the Puri Cholley as a dish. It would be well worth it. (matt)

Matts dish was kinda boring, but really...it would be boring no matter where you ordered it. I guess no one ever told him that you are allowed to order the same as your buddies when you go out. My chicken curry was brilliant. Not-too spicy but enough heat that my nose was running. Tonnes of flavour though. My only possible complaint was regarding the chicken pieces. They were simply cut-up chunks off a whole chicken. I had a rib-cage piece and a pelvic bone as well as some nice breast and leg pieces. I pretty much had to eat it all with my fingers to avoid choking to death on little bones. Pretty small complaint in the end though (ren)

Overall, with the caveat that the unadventurous or curry newbies might not be suited for Wattan, we would recommend this place. Sure it’s dodgy as hell, but if you want authentic food, you need to eat at places like this. It definitely beats eating at Anapura Curry Pot (located in the same mall). Lastly, our thanks to Mr. Jones for joining us and for feeding us beer at his pad after the meal.

Score: 8 Elephantitis Feet on 10

Not at the Restaurant

1. Jeanne Dupuis (Avid reader of our site; we have no idea who she is. Thanks and spread the word!)
2. Mr. Roper (Three’s Company)
3. Earl Gray (Inventor of tea)

Rating:

Comments:

Matt, Thanks for the opportunity to tag along on the Dodgy Currie review experience.  Right from the get go, this place fit the bill for a Dodgy Currie review.  By being the resident of the NE for many years I was able the take many short cuts, and cut about a ½ hour of the rush hour drive to the Wattan Sweet house. With ½ hour to spare I popped into the local drinking establishment a few doors down for a quick Pilsner before the First Dodgy Currie experience.  If this was a review for Dodgy forest lawn pubs I could do a whole write up on that, WOW what a place.  Wattan fit the bill to a tee for ethnic food stores in the NE with the exception of not offering shaddy  long distance phone cards  to call your friends and family back in India.  The curry goat was super tasty with just enough zip to get the sinus moving.  the heat of the curry did not over power the flavor of the curry goat. The veggie samosas were packed with flavor and they were nicely folded as so they did not fall apart as you ate them.  I was impressed in the ability of the store owners to save of  the cost of  dishes and dishwashers. By serving the dine in customers with super store Styrofoam plates. Due to the peer pressure from Ren and Matt I felt forced to disobey on of my cardinal rules of dinning out at  Dodgy  Ethnic  places and that is, Not to drink the weird colored stuff from some far off land.  I did dare to try some nectar cocktail from Egypt.  The drink was full of fruit flavor but I think it was bottled with an immense amount of gelled sugar.  Maybe nex time I will use a fork to drink my drink.