We’ve been absent from the Calgary curry scene for a few weeks now. One reason for this is that we’ve been busy doing research. What type of research? The type not requiring lab coats. Or test tubes. Or slide rules. We’ve been busy looking for hot tips on new and undiscovered places to eat. Thanks mostly to Ren’s Sherlock Holmes type investigative work, we were able to field 15 new leads. Ren tried to convince me that since Crimestoppers pays cash rewards for tips leading to arrests in unsolved crimes, I should pay him, if his said tips led to a tasty curry. (matt)
I’m not sure how we’ll keep the tips and payment anonymous, since we’re openly discussing it on the interwebs….but we’ll work something out. No animals were harmed in the course of my research; however I may have gone through a bit of paper. For future “research” we may need human volunteers so drop an email to the comments line if you like the sounds of that. (ren)
Armed with our list of potential curry houses to review and eager to see if we could find a hidden gem, we set out with Ren’s GPS, towards Marlborough in the Northeast. First stop: The Roti Hut. Despite being named after chapatti, the Roti Hut was West Indian fare. And since we only do East Indian and East African reviews, we kept driving. I was about to do the gang sign for “EAST SIDE” when I realized where I was. Never use unnecessary sign language in Marlborough. Your PLC chart will list GSW as an Admitting Diagnosis. (matt)
Of course matt’s decision to wear as much red as possible marked us as a potential threat and for most of our tour we thought we were being followed by a crips gunship. It actually turned out to be a Calgary transit bus. Whoops. Silly us. (ren)
Next up on our list of potential places to eat was a non-descript joint called FOOD IN EAST. We admitted to ourselves that it was probably not an Indian restaurant but that its name was far more East Indian than say, Skylark, which actually is Indian. In the end, when we drove by, it turned out to be Chinese. Time for Plan C. (matt)
Our list of potential places has been shrinking (I guess that’s good, mean’s we’ve covered most of the city) so we were grasping at less and less likely leads. We’ve had a fair bit of luck with the pizza and donair type shop lately so we checked a couple of those out next. (ren)
Plan C was a new place run by East Indians called Silver Spoon Pizza and Donair. Again, while the name didn’t seem like curry, we were hopeful that the owners would throw in some of their own ethnic touches to the menu. Also, Ren is a massive Ricky Schroder fan and he insisted we go and check it out. I walked into Restaurant C to find the painting staff hard at work and the owners making a pizza. They presented me with a menu and while they did have samosas, the rest of the menu was Italian food like lasagna. Gah. (matt)
I really wasn’t a huge fan of Silver Spoons. I hated that little punk kid for having that big fancy house with all those toys and not really seeming to appreciate them. I also didn’t really like their emphasis on “message” shows covering topics like teenage drinking, bullying, kidnapping and bizarrely treason via computer hacking. I was more of an Air Wolf and A-Team fan, jumping right over the more kid-appropriate shows that most people watched between the ages of “Sesame Street” and “Hardcastle and McCormick”. Pretty much anything with cars, guns, explosions etc. Maybe that’s why I don’t watch too much mindless action cinema nowadays….got my fill before I was 10 years old. (ren)
Moving down the list of available options, we came to a place called Preet Sweets and Pizza. Preet is a common Indian name and anytime you see a place referred to as a “Sweet house” you know you’re on the right track. When we pulled up, we got very excited. It had all the making of a classic dodgy curry venture. Some clues: Located next to a decrepit walk-in medical clinic; country kitchen style chairs in the dining room; giant print of some revered religious leader (from some Eastern faith they didn’t teach me about in Catholic school. Damn nuns!) pasted on front door. (matt)
This was it. The jackpot. The holy grail. The fountain of youth. Heck…just a source of curry for a couple starved reviewers on their 4th attempt of the night. We were a bit confused since the name on the sign says J's Pizza and Sweets but their food inspection listing says Preet Pizza and Sweets. There was a sign mentioning that it was veg only, and even that seemed promising. A very large portion of Indian places divide their menu’s into Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian sections, deeming the differences between various types of meat to be insufficient enough to demand separate sections for chicken/lamb/beef/goat/manatee. Mmm…sea-cow. (ren)
When we walked into Preet Sweets and Pizza, the owner took one look at us and his first words were, “We only do Vegetarian”. Ah, Yeeeah. Last time I checked, www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com doesn’t list “eating only meat”. I think we’ll be okay. Actually, come to think of it, Ren does list “eating only meat” under “Interests” on his resume. Maybe the owner was right to cast us off. In the end Preet Sweets and Pizza only had Sweets and Pizzas. No entrees of curry. We left dejected. (matt)
Noting our disappointment the owner came over to ask what we were looking for, and said they could prepare curry given 3-4 days notice, however we really didn’t think that was appropriate to the needs of our readers or to our level of starvation so we took a pass. Onwards! (ren)
By this time, we just decided to make our way to the Curry District and eat at a place Ren knew of near the Shoppers Drug Mart. Unfortunately because it was Tuesday, India Palace and Restaurant was closed for religious reasons. (matt)
I don’t know why we do it to ourselves. A very high number of curry places are closed on Tuesday but we always seem to go out for our reviews on Tuesdays. Smarten up curry guys. However the location does look promising so we will check it out in the near future. (ren)
Next up was the Hungry Sultan, which predictably turned out to be Persian. This was followed by a disastrous drive through the Westwinds Automobile Repair Park, looking for a curry-like eatery. And while we did find M&N Pizza, which was run by a South Asian man, it didn’t have any more options than Preet’s. But for what it’s worth, M&N is sandwiched between the Pakistani Cultural Center and the Philippines Cultural Center. We imagined a giant E-Plant-like battle occurring between Pakistan and the Philippines in the parking lot between Singh’s Transmission Shop and the U-Haul Dealership. (matt)
I would propose that the Cultural Center battle should actually be a P-Plant, since the E stands for engineering. University of Saskatchewan peeps, you know what we’re talking about. The rest of you just wish you knew. Basically it was an annual event at the U of S where the engineering students would basically crucify one of the high-ranking Agriculture student council members (preferably president) on a giant E on a hill, and then defend their trophy as the Agros stormed their position and tried to rescue him. Rules were poorly defined and much of the entertainment came when the participants would venture into the crowd and “pants” an unsuspecting commerce or arts student. This is what passes for fun back in Saskatoon. (ren)
We remembered that there was a place on our list on Westwinds Drive….but we didn’t bother to write down the address since we had so many places ahead of it on our list. We never thought we’d go this far without finding a meal. I think our previous record was 2 failures. So this was unheard of. We nearly gave up and went to Taco Del Mar when we found Bubly’s tucked in behind Calgary’s new Mega-mosque. (ren)
CHAPTER 2: THE ACTUAL REVIEW OF BUBLY’S THAT YOU WERE THINKING YOU’D NEVER GET TO READ.
We walked into the restaurant and were surprised about how clean and fresh the place looked. We later found out from the very exuberant and young owner, that they had been open for a sum total of 2 weeks. They have a nice large and bright menu board which is easy to read and very complete. Pretty much any dish you want at a curry shoppe, they have. They even do Hakka Cuisine. We might have to try their Chili Chicken in the future. (matt)
Hakka if you don’t remember is kind of like a fusion between Indian and Chinese cuisines. Flavours and cooking styles from both regions are blended together to make magic. However, we’d searched long and hard for this curry and if we were gonna go for Chinese, we could have stopped at Food In East. (ren)
Even though they are a neophyte curry house, they are quite busy and we get the sense that the Punjabi community has rallied around this young owner. As we were ordering, one of the attendants had to answer the phone and jot down a takeout order. It was a little bit unprofessional to do while we were ordering, but he apologized, so we’ll chalk it up to opening jitters. (matt)
It was quite impressive really. There were 3 groups waiting in-house for food and a steady stream of phone calls, which seemed to have a high proportion of Punjabi speakers on the other end of the line since the person taking the order could often be heard asking “han ji” which I’ve been told translates as “yes” but seems to be used as more of “pardon me” or “excuse me” type phrase. Either way, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a white dude on the other end of the phone getting han ji’d. Given all the competition in the neighbourhood, having this level of interest is a very good sign. (ren)
They only do takeout and delivery which is not entirely obvious since they have 3 large tables for sitting at while you wait for your order. The furniture is posh and new and gives the waiting area the mystique of a partial dining room. Had we known it was only takeout, we wouldn’t have ordered drinks. And we definitely wouldn’t have ordered drinks had we known there would be no lids on the takeout cups. That being said, my lassi was excellent. Ren had an odd shake that the owner was very excited about. He made sure that we knew it was his specialty and that “it’s very good for you”. Hmm. (matt)
The drinks came out in a pair of small paper cups. Just your standard paper water cup. Not too impressive. And pretty small. Mine was called the Bubbly Shake, and for $4.50 I was expecting something amazing. Or big. It was good, but not amazing, and it certainly wasn’t very big. Given the list of ingredients that were mentioned when I asked about the shake it probably is pretty good for you. From what I can remember it has mangos, cherries, orange (I think), and a bunch of different chopped-up nuts. The tiny straw was constantly plugged. It was very tasty, but I don’t think I’d recommend it. (ren)
For entrees, Ren ordered a butter chicken. It tasted like butter chicken. I got the Shahi Paneer which tasted like they had used 3 bulbs of garlic in the sauce. It was a fantastic dish. While Ren’s shake was anecdotally advertised as being “good for you”, the health benefits of garlic have actually been studied. Some of these benefits have included lowered cholesterol and blood pressure as well as fending off vampires and bad dates. When I awoke the next day, all I could smell was garlic contaminating the air in my bedroom. I debated calling the Alberta Environmental Protection Agency. Basically, if you love garlic and don’t have anyone you need to impress for the next 36 hours, this is the dish for you. (matt)
You might be thinking that matt means cloves of garlic, not bulbs of garlic. Nope. He means bulbs. It was garlic-ed to the point where it was actually “hot”. Very tasty. My butter chicken was very good. Incredibly rich and creamy, and very flavourful. The portions were ample as well. Matt didn’t eat all of his and I struggled through mine and immediately regretted my fullness level. The rice was fine. It soaked up sauce and went into my tummy just like it’s supposed to. The naan was good. Maybe a little on the thin side, but it was cooked perfectly and had a nice sprinkling of cilantro despite being labeled “plain” naan. (ren)
One reason to go Bubly’s is their ridiculous pricing on samosas. You get a good size veg samosa complete with paper bag eating grease for only 75 cents. And certainly no compromise in taste. Decent for sure. We got some saffron rice and 3 naan, which were good. (matt)
As we were leaving Bubly’s the proprietor asked that we pass the good word if we enjoy their food. At that point Matt passed over one of our business cards, and said that we certainly would. (heh heh). We left them in the usual haze of confusion that our business card drop-off usually inspires. Most of the places that have asked us to spread the word have ironically gotten pretty poor reviews, however we would have no problem recommending Bubly’s. They have a website listed on their menu but as of this writing it doesn’t seem to be up and running. (ren)
Despite the epic journey to reach Bubly’s, we found that they made fresh food with distinctive flavours. It’s well worth investing the time to take the C-train to the end of the NE Line and walking across Superstore’s parking lot to Bubly’s. That being said, we were so hungry from our journey that Ren wouldn’t even drive back to his place. He made us eat out of the back of U-Haul van while we waited for the Westwinds P-Plant to start.
This was it. The jackpot. The holy grail. The fountain of youth. Heck…just a source of curry for a couple starved reviewers on their 4th attempt of the night. We were a bit confused since the name on the sign says J's Pizza and Sweets but their food inspection listing says Preet Pizza and Sweets. There was a sign mentioning that it was veg only, and even that seemed promising. A very large portion of Indian places divide their menu’s into Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian sections, deeming the differences between various types of meat to be insufficient enough to demand separate sections for chicken/lamb/beef/goat/manatee. Mmm…sea-cow. (ren)
I would propose that the Cultural Center battle should actually be a P-Plant, since the E stands for engineering. University of Saskatchewan peeps, you know what we’re talking about. The rest of you just wish you knew. Basically it was an annual event at the U of S where the engineering students would basically crucify one of the high-ranking Agriculture student council members (preferably president) on a giant E on a hill, and then defend their trophy as the Agros stormed their position and tried to rescue him. Rules were poorly defined and much of the entertainment came when the participants would venture into the crowd and “pants” an unsuspecting commerce or arts student. This is what passes for fun back in Saskatoon. (ren)
As we were leaving Bubly’s the proprietor asked that we pass the good word if we enjoy their food. At that point Matt passed over one of our business cards, and said that we certainly would. (heh heh). We left them in the usual haze of confusion that our business card drop-off usually inspires. Most of the places that have asked us to spread the word have ironically gotten pretty poor reviews, however we would have no problem recommending Bubly’s. They have a website listed on their menu but as of this writing it doesn’t seem to be up and running. (ren)
