Matty and I have been doing these reviews for over a year now, and the most common question I get is "what is dodgy". Followed by "why?" Well the definition is easy. Google give you "chancy: of uncertain outcome; especially fraught with risk". How does this translate into curry restaurants? Well, most commonly it has to do with the surrounding area. For example, the Moughal Mahal restaurant. Pawn shop and liquor stores next door. Check. Martial arts school upstairs... check. General concern about well-being of vehicle while dining....Check. They did not have vagrants out fron harrasing matt for money, or they would have possibly gotten one of our highest dodgy ratings ever, strange considering that its not really in that bad a neighbourhood. Huzzah for keeping it dodgy!!!! Unfortunately Moughal Mahal does nothing to help answer the "WHY?" part of my favourite questions. (ren)

I frequently will get text messages from Ren announcing that he “needs a curry”. Nay, scratch that. Usually I get texts from him commanding me to bring him a curry. And usually it’s at the most inopportune time (ie. during an emergency appendectomy or 6AM on a Tuesday). And so it really came as no surprise that while being mangled between geological engineers and street people on a crowded C Train car on my ride home, I was summoned by Mr. Ren. He agreed to meet me at my place. Once again, Ren’s choice of vehicles was questionable. While both of us were starving, Ren decided to take his scooter from Tuscany to Oakridge. Two hours later, we would decide on where to eat. (matt)

It wasn't really 2 hours. And seriously, with the amount of construction on the normal route of Crowchild to Glenmore that I would take to get down there...I probably saved time by taking the back-way on my scoot. (ren)

Moughal Mahal was selected only because we randomly saw it in the phone book and neither of us knew anything about it. Don’t be fooled by the address or the name. There are two Indian “Mahal” restaurants on 17th (Moti Mahal being the other). Moughal Mahal is located in the dodgy part of 17th, in Killarney, next to a pawn shop and Korean ESL school. They appear to have painted over the SUNRISE RESTAURANT PARKING ONLY sign and replaced it with Moughal Mahal PARKING ONLY. The paint does not match the sign. Decorated with wood paneling, the interior of the place is no better. While we couldn’t actually see holes in the ceiling, there are mysterious rugs half-assedly and sporadically stapled to ceiling tiles. In the end, none of this really matters of course if the food rocks out (See India Sweethouse and Restaurant). (matt)

Matts right, the inside was pretty much as dodgy as the outside. Neither of us tried the washroom, but i'm sure it was zestfully clean. They have a buffet stand across the entire front window basically preventing them from having any good vantage points to watch the hooligans part out your car. Kickback? Could be. No buffet on this night but I did notice that there was a substantial stack of poppadums on a plate by the buffet. This really didn't concern me until a couple of poppadums came with my meal. (ren)

We were seated adjacent to a group of 8. In a small restaurant like this you can pretty much hear everything that is going on at the next table. It certainly didn’t help that the one dude liked to hear himself talk. Within 10 minutes, I learned that he lost his virginity in Grade 9, he had once been surfing in Malaysia and supposedly stung by a Portuguese Man of War and that he was the executive assistant to Dave Taylor MLA. When he ordered food for everyone at the table, I knew he was a jackass. I don’t know what party Dave Taylor represents but I’m never voting for him simply based on listening to his obnoxious assistant. (matt)

More dodginess, the back of the menu offered two wonderful deals. Free delivery for orders of $3000 or more and also 10% take-out meals of over $3000 or more. We believe this was a type because it appeared that someone had tried to make a decimal point to make it $30, but it was done with white-out on a black menu...so who knows. The menu did have a nice variety of traditional dishes with a couple combo meals and a few different dishes thrown in. (ren)

I decided on the Pakistani Squash Tinda. Squash curry is usually quite nice; especially in soups (See Foothills Hospital Cafeteria on Fridays). The sponginess of the cooked squash usually allows the spices to penetrate the gourd, resulting in a much more flavourful experience than normally found with squash. (Yes that’s right. I just wrote, “penetrate the gourd”. Saucy!) Ren decided on the Meal for one. As always, mango lassis for both of us. (matt)

As matty mentioned, I had the combo meal for one. I figured it would be a good way to get a nice sampling of a couple of their dishes and appys without having to order 3 entrees for myself. It came with pappadums, veg pakors, veg samosas, some kebab chunks, tandoori chicken, veg curry, dhal, beef curry and naan. Pretty much looking like a brilliant mix for anyone from curry noobie to veteran.(ren)

When our server, a boy of no more then 16, brought us 2 Tiger beer (a violation of Alberta Liquor Laws) obviously meant to go with the 6 other Tiger beer at the table of 8, we raised an eye. Further confusion resulted when Ren’s platter of food came out and was presented to him, followed by a second dish being presented to him moments later. Ren’s meal for one was turning into a buffet. Then nothing happened. After waiting for my food to arrive we eventually realized Ren had been served both of our meals. Bizarre. Mistakes like that cost lives in our line of work. “Here you go Mrs Wilson, here’s you medication. Oh, and here’s the next guys drugs too.” In the restaurant business it only results in you being ridiculed on C-level restaurant blogs. (matt)

It was especially poor since we even asked the young man if the one platter was mattys and he insisted it was mine. Unacceptable. As for my food. Pappadums ....not too bad, despite concern over recycling. Pakora. Very crispy, bordering on burnt even. Samosa...Decent size, bit doughy, not a lot of flavour. Kebab pretty good, not too dry. Tandoori chicken-skinless so a little different, very tasty. Figured at this point that things were looking up. On to the main courses. Veg curry. Cauliflower/okra mix. Very spicy, not very much flavour. Quite possibly the only Okra/Gobi Vindaloo I will ever consume. Dhal - not bad, fairly tasty, very spicy for dhal though. Beef curry seemed to be in the same sauce as the veg. Fricken vindaloo. but greasy from the beef.Very hot and mostly flavourless...the meat burned mouth even more than sauce did. The naan was crispy and burnt in spots. (ren)

My dish was ringer stinger hot. It was a disgrace to squash curries everywhere. Ren’s combination platter was no better. Except instead of 1 spicy flavourless dish he had an entire combination platter. It was like they decided to make all their dishes using Vindaloo or Phal sauce. Horrid. In retrospect, this place is doing nothing to disseminate the wonder of Indian cuisine. If I wanted to try Indian food for the first time, I’d probably try a combination platter. And in this case, the platter would only end up propagating the common white person myth that Indian food is too spicy to eat. (matt)

We cannot in all sincerity recommend that anyone eat at this restaurant. Our experience only made us question the "Why?" of our dodgy curry quest. We can however, draw wisdom from the seemingly out-of-place placard on the wall: “It is easier to pull down than to build”. Perhaps they should.

SCORE: 4 Feet out of 10.

Not at the Restaurant:

1. Juanita A. Bushcutter (subject of a documentary on Access TV about spousal abuse in rural Nebraska)
2. Roman Polanski (Film director, widower, pedophile, fugitive)
3. Dave Taylor (Former LA King. Not the politician.)

Rating: