 The least original name you can think of for your pub is Cheers. This is followed by maybe something quasi-Irish sounding (ie. starts with “Mc” and ends with “Anigans”) as a close second. The pub we had in Saskatoon violated the rule twice, being originally opened under the moniker Cheers Brew Pub and then later changing its name to McGuires. I am here to implore our readers thinking of opening a pub never to violate these rules again. Also, mark today and take up arms (be it pitchfork or be it catapult) against all those rip off 90’s style wannabe Irish pubs. They are a sickly commodity, often poorly mass produced, staining the craic for which the genre was originally based upon. (matt)
It's just as bad as the two choices out of the Boston Pizza catalog (sports memorabilia all over the place, or horrible Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe murals). It gets pretty old heading out to a pub and they all have the exact same dark wood trim over plastered walls. Big guinness signs and mirrors. Glass cupboards and bookshelves full of 80 year old antique knick-knacks and hat boxes and tricycles and James Joyce novels. I guess a new pub has to have some decorations, but instead of trying to buy themselves history and legitimacy, maybe they should try being open a few years and sponsor a few local sports teams, or chess clubs and just see what ends up getting stuck to the walls over time. (ren)
The owners of Africana Eatery clearly recognized people’s desire to visit pubs. Located on the edge of an industrial park near the airport, they attached a pub to their restaurant hoping to entice the blue-collared-Johnnys of Canada-Post or the Bob and Dougs from Rick’s Air Conditioning. Don’t forget about Steve, Andy and Mick, they’ll meet you there for happy hour (Alright fellas, let's go!). Realistically, what pure-bred-Calgary Sun-reading Canuck would want to visit an East African place on its own? Probably not a lot of them. Luckily, we don’t read the Sun. Or write for them either. When we found out about Africana Eatery, we rearranged our schedules for a lunch curry. (matt)
I actually got the impression that the pub side has maybe been around for a while and the restaurant side has rotated. We didn't go through the swinging door to investigate but I would assume they have a bunch of VLT's, some bad music on the radio, and a bunch of "north american" menu choices first and foremost and a few african/indian ones afterwards. (ren)
We walked in to find an eager host waiting to show us to our table. As he directed us to pick any table or booth of our choice, I recalled that Ren had told me that Africana Eatery is the offspring of a breakup involving the owners of Safari Grill. The menus and the signature zebra skin hanging on the wall were all too familiar from our visit to that establishment. (matt)
 Not wanting to pick at fresh wounds, we didn't inquire about the business arrangements... however the tipster that I spoke with about the restaurant made sure to mention their connection to Safari Grill. Since we were fairly impressed with our dining experience there, we were hoping for the same or better from Africana. (ren)
We quickly ordered an appetizer, the Peli Peli Mogo (pepper sauced cassava) which was quite tasty. They served the cassava with the Usual Suspects of sauces (ie. lime pickle, tamarind, chili, raita, Kevin Spacey). As we chowed down on our appy, a man walked in looking for, nay, demanding a smorgasbord. For only the second time in our curry reviewing career I thought we were going to witness a fight between a proprietor and vagrant coming in off the street, when the owner said they don’t do buffet. At the end of it, they laughed it up and things ended peacefully. (matt)
Hence my theory that the restaurant has changed but the overall premises has remained mostly the same. While I would have been quite interested in a tasty lunch-time buffet, matty of course was glad that we could only order off the menu. (ren)
It’s not unusual for us to overhear things coming from the kitchen while we are dining. Nine times out of 10, it’s incomprehensible shouting in a language we don’t speak. We had no trouble on this day when the server busted into the kitchen to kick some ass.
“Let’s get the food going boys!!”
I can’t decide if he was upset because the kitchen staff was slacking off by playing cards or if he was trying to rally his team’s enthusiasm, like a baseball manager trying to spur on a 9th inning comeback win. Regardless, we had a good laugh about it. (matt)
There were lots of choices on the menu, and you could get chicken, beef, lamb and I think shrimp in pretty much every sauce. The prices included rice and naan, which is nice since most places charge about $2-$3 each for those. There were also a couple thali's, the Indian thali which came with 1 meat and 1 veg curry and the Africana thali which came with 2 and 2. (ren)
Africana Eatery features East African, East Indian and Western fare. They have a lunch menu with various specials. Our server had recommended the Indian Thali. It was clear from its price in the lunch menu along with our server’s suggestion that they are looking to feature this menu item as their calling card. It’s an 8 item Thali, although 5 of the items are raita, spicy pickle, gulab jamun, roti and rice. Ren went for the 10 item africana thali and seemed content. I’ll let him tell you about it. If you want to see a photo of what it looks like, read our review of Safari Grill. (matt)
The thali was good. It had some tasty, moist, fresh tandoori chicken, a chicken curry, a beef curry, a dhal dish, and an aloo ghobi. The chicken curry was ok. Maybe a bit thin, but tasty. The beef curry was one of the best I've ever had, nice and tender, with a tasty tomato-ey curry sauce. I'm not a huge fan of aloo ghobi, but it was ok, and the dhal was dhal. It was as inoffensive as dhal should be. (ren)
I went with the Lamb Rogan Josh. It’s a little on the pricey side for a lunch meal at $16, but comes with rice and naan. The sauce was amazing. Not overly tomatoey and topped with adequate fresh cilantro for my liking. The lamb was a little too fatty for my liking but I was happy with my pick for the most part. The naan was high quality. (matt)
While the pricing of the curries is a little on the higher side, the quality of the food is there. We were happy with our experience at Africana Eatery and Cheers Pub. We give it an 8/10.
Not at the Restaurant
- George Wendt
- Kelly Gaines (Woody’s wife)
- A pair of K-Swiss tennis shoes (The brand with the extra stripe)
Rating:
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