The new Yellow Pages arrived last week. Nobody reads the phonebook. Nobody that is, except for us. In the age of Google searches, we still find the Yellow Pages to be the most reliable source of discovery for new Indian restaurants. After all, it’s not like we can just poach information from another Calgary based curry review. Briefing through the restaurant section of the phone directory can be extremely tedious and is usually done from the throne of American Standard. Inevitably this exercise (the phonebook search, not the toileting) will result in at least 2 or 3 new hits. Take for example my discovery of Kabab Hut this weekend. (matt)
Yep....the cornerstone of our search for new restaurants. Well, besides the Calgary health region's restaurant closures list. However, since they've folded all the health regions in the province into one mega-region....I haven't been able to find that site anymore. So it's back to the yellow pages and reader tips. (ren)
The ad for Kabab Hut stated: “Don’t Cook at Home when it costs you less at…Kabab Hut”. Hmmm. The menu in my 2009-10 phonebook showed meat dishes for 10 dollars and veg dishes for 8 dollars. Saffron rice $2.50, naan and pop $1.25 each, mango lassi $3.00. That seems pretty decent and pretty much in line with what you should pay in the curry district. Probably worth a review. (matt)
If I only ate filet mignon, foie gras and escargot at home as prepared by my very own personal chef, I could be sure that this was going to be a much more economical option than my home cooking. However, since I am a practicing freegan I don't actually spend much on food so Kebab hut was going to have a real up-hill battle proving their claims. (ren)
The cheapest meal I ever had was on Indian Railways. Dhal, rice, chapati, veg curry, chai: 18 cents. Now, I don’t expect Kabab Hut to match those prices but any restaurant making a statement about being a cheaper option than home cooking is really just asking to be shown up. How do they know what I eat at home? Oakridge Co-op routinely has meal ideas for a family of 4 for under $20. I don’t have a family of 4, but this doesn’t stop me from buying into their suggested meal ideas and feeding myself plus the 3 homeless men who live on my porch. That’s right, I’m righteous bee-atch! (matt)
I routinely dress in old clothes and hang out around matt's house just waiting to get one of his fantastic free meals. That is when I'm not busy going stealing patient meal trays from the hospital. (ren)
I met Ren at his house. We got into his car and drove towards the curry district. On the way, he asked me to be in his wedding party. I was honored since this was coming from the same guy who once left feedback on our own website stating that I smelled of Drain-O.
We arrived at the Westwinds Industrial Park to find that Kabab Hut occupies the same address as one of our previous reviews, Bombay Café. As many of you (i.e. two of you) remember, that was a poor experience for us. We tried to keep an open mind as we walked through the doors of Kabab Hut. We were amazed at the transformation that the new owners were able to carry out. It was stylish. It was classy. It looked like they had been on Restaurant Makeover. I looked around to see if Igor and Massimo were at Kabab Hut eating curry. No such luck. Mind blowingly, the owners had put in a staircase to a second storey which didn’t exist the first time we visited the premises. (matt)
It was quite the change. Instead of the boring white walls with white tile trim, the walls are a rich red and greenish beige two-tone with tile and brick trim. It also looked like everyone involved in running the restaurant had taken care of their manicurial needs before coming to work for the day. BRAVO!! (ren)
The staircase is central to the new concept of the restaurant. A poster suggests that the second floor is reserved for women with children. It also mentions that the restaurant assumes no responsibility for accidents involving falls from the loft. Interesting. An adjacent NO ALCOHOL sign reminded us that we were in a Muslim-run premises. But really, outside of Britain, it’s not as if you would ever drink alcohol at a proper curry house anyways (see Lovely Sweets and Restaurant). When a woman dressed in a full burka came in moments later, we knew we were in the right place. It’s a real shame that more Calgarians don’t venture into the NE, it’s always so culturally interesting. (matt)
Like we've always said, for a new restaurant to be successful in the curry district, it has to do something better than anyone else. There's too much competition in the neighbourhood for just another "me too!" with the same menu items, same decor and same prices to bust in. Some have done it by just being that damn good, and apparently Kabab Hut is trying to do it by serving the needs of the orthodox muslim family better than anyone else. I will admit to not completely understanding all of the ins and outs, but I would assume it's a real pain in the ass to try to eat with only your eyes showing from your head-covering. And we didn't go upstairs to check, but it seemed that perhaps the upstairs was set aside so that the lady in burka was able to go upstairs and eat in privacy and dignity without having to stay home. I have to say, I like that. (ren)
The menu is nicely displayed on the wall in front of the order counter. It’s descriptive and easy to read. CAVEAT EMPTOR!! Unfortunately, it’s different from the pricing found in the 2009-10 CanPages. Average price for an entrée is 13 dollars. Pop and Naan are actually $1.50 and $2 respectively. And that $3 Mango Lassi? Try 5 dollars. Worst of all, is the pricing for rice at $6, which we later found out is actually $8, if shared between two people. Where is my Indian Railways pricing on rice? (matt)
I wasn't feeling very adventurous and was in serious need of a good curry, so I got the butter chicken. Matt, always reluctant to order an extra entree instead of an appetizer, had us get the samosa plate to share. (ren)
I ordered Chicken Chana (Chicken and Chickpeas) while Ren got his Butter Chicken. We each ordered a naan and a Cream Soda flavoured Fanta. Our side of rice was unnecessary, as was the complimentary salad with the smallest limes you’ve ever seen. I imagined Verne Troyer drinking his own specially made Corona. The most interesting thing about our visit to Kabab Hut was the appetizer dish we ordered. We decided to get the Samosa Dish. When it arrived, we thought they brought us the wrong thing. We’ve never seen samosas served like this. It was like a Mexican-Pakistani fusion dish. The two samosas were baked in a pasta tray and covered with a mountain of Pico de Gallo. It was a meal in itself. The potato and chick peas inside the samosas were zippy and spice-loaded. Notice to curry restaurateurs everywhere, if you don’t really believe in the quality of your own samosas, this modified “Mexistan” dish may be a way to improve the taste. (matt)
Hah hah...the joke was on matty. The appy dish really was the equivalent of an extra entree. And we are by no means implying that Kebab Hut's samosa's were in need of adulteration to be tasty. They would have stood up fine on their own, however the whole package was very impressive. My butter chicken was quite tasty and really hit the spot. Not the best I'd ever had, but very good. Matty's chana dish was delicious though. Fanta cream soda is always delish. The rice was definitely disappointing given the cost....should have just gotten naan, which was good. (ren)
As we sat there eating, a young skirted high school girl with her mom walked in, fresh off the field hockey pitch, to order a curry. She ordered the kabab sizzler. We were impressed and probably looked like dirty old men as we checked out the tandooried meat on their table. The mom gave us the protective stink eye. Sometimes it’s the reviewers who are dodgy. (matt)
Our bill with tip came to $47. Realistically, I can feed a minivan full of homeless men for that but we won’t hold that against Kabab Hut. We give it an 8.
Score = 8
Not at the Restaurant
The Three Homeless Men on My Porch
The Three Army Surgeons (The most bizarre German Fairy tale of all time)
I met Ren at his house. We got into his car and drove towards the curry district. On the way, he asked me to be in his wedding party. I was honored since this was coming from the same guy who once left feedback on our own website stating that I smelled of Drain-O. 
