Royal Ganesha for New Year's Eve
Bryan and I didn't make any formal plans for New Year's Eve but I thought it would still be nice to at least get out of the house for a good meal. We haven't been for Indian food in ages, it seems, so when I found Royal Ganesha on Open Table, I thought it might be a nice place to try. The reviews for this restaurant are all great, so I figured it seemed like a great opportunity to get back into my exploration of Calgary restaurants. Plus, I LOVE Indian food so I was really excited to try this!
Located in the west end of downtown Calgary, amid the never-ending quantity of high-rise, overpriced condo buildings, Royal Ganesha is situated within an old (presumably) home that has managed to survive fate of the bulldozer like most other buildings in the area. Parking was very easy for us, as there was a spot on the street out front, but I am not sure whether there is other parking nearby with the lot across the street stating it's being designed into (you guessed it) more condos.
Inside, much work has gone into laying out the restaurant for tables and ease of access yet the renovations seem to have retained some of the original appeal of the building. The dining area isn't huge, but this gives the place a lovely friendly and cozy atmosphere, perfect for an intimate date night out or a casual gathering of friends. Split into two levels, the dining area offers some alcoves and a mezzanine for privacy, as well.
Bryan and I were seated at one of two tables for 4 on the mezzanine, which is surrounded on 3 sides by windows. Though not much to view that evening as it was dark outside, I can see this being a great place to sit in the daytime; the river would be visible to the north and you could watch people or traffic going by. However, it's up high enough that you feel disengaged from the activity at street level. The only problem with this seating area was that who ever was seated directly below us in the area open all to the way to the ceiling above us was extremely loud and their voice carried so badly into our area that we had a difficult time hearing each other!
The menu offered many different choices: vegetarian, chicken, beef, seafood, rice and dessert. Bryan and I figured, we have such a tough time deciding what to order that we would just order too much and take the leftovers home for another day of scrumptious Indian food! So, we ordered the okra vegetarian dish (Okra Masala), the Kadai Paneer, Butter Chicken and Chicken curry, all requested at a medium spice level.
Our waiter was very attentive, and at times we had two helping us out, and both kept stopping by to make sure we had everything we needed and that the food was cooked correctly. I think at first the restaurant was pretty quiet, which is why we received this level of service, but even after more people arrived, the service remained great.
We had hardly even touched our drinks when our food arrived, it was that quick! The vegetarian dishes were my choice and both looked so delicious that it was tough not to just dive right in and scoop it all up myself! Those little Indian copper dishes they serve the food in are deceptively large though.
Anyway, the food was fantastic, definitely meeting my craving for Indian food! We found that the vegetarian dishes were spiced to what I've come to expect when requesting medium-level spice: our mouths were wonderfully on fire without us needing to gulp down gallons of water to feel comfortable. The two chicken dishes, however, were much milder; I expected that with the butter chicken since it's cream-based (and cream or yogurt will modify the spice level to a lesser degree), but I was surprised that the curry dish wasn't spicier. Everything tasted amazing, though, so we didn't feel disappointed or anything. Judging by how much of this food we ate, I think we can safely say we rather enjoyed every dish! (There were leftovers, though...)
Definitely check out Royal Ganesha if you're ever in the area or looking for a new Indian restaurant to try out. I would definitely return to try out some of their other offerings.
Located in the west end of downtown Calgary, amid the never-ending quantity of high-rise, overpriced condo buildings, Royal Ganesha is situated within an old (presumably) home that has managed to survive fate of the bulldozer like most other buildings in the area. Parking was very easy for us, as there was a spot on the street out front, but I am not sure whether there is other parking nearby with the lot across the street stating it's being designed into (you guessed it) more condos.
Inside, much work has gone into laying out the restaurant for tables and ease of access yet the renovations seem to have retained some of the original appeal of the building. The dining area isn't huge, but this gives the place a lovely friendly and cozy atmosphere, perfect for an intimate date night out or a casual gathering of friends. Split into two levels, the dining area offers some alcoves and a mezzanine for privacy, as well.
Bryan and I were seated at one of two tables for 4 on the mezzanine, which is surrounded on 3 sides by windows. Though not much to view that evening as it was dark outside, I can see this being a great place to sit in the daytime; the river would be visible to the north and you could watch people or traffic going by. However, it's up high enough that you feel disengaged from the activity at street level. The only problem with this seating area was that who ever was seated directly below us in the area open all to the way to the ceiling above us was extremely loud and their voice carried so badly into our area that we had a difficult time hearing each other!
The menu offered many different choices: vegetarian, chicken, beef, seafood, rice and dessert. Bryan and I figured, we have such a tough time deciding what to order that we would just order too much and take the leftovers home for another day of scrumptious Indian food! So, we ordered the okra vegetarian dish (Okra Masala), the Kadai Paneer, Butter Chicken and Chicken curry, all requested at a medium spice level.
Our waiter was very attentive, and at times we had two helping us out, and both kept stopping by to make sure we had everything we needed and that the food was cooked correctly. I think at first the restaurant was pretty quiet, which is why we received this level of service, but even after more people arrived, the service remained great.
We had hardly even touched our drinks when our food arrived, it was that quick! The vegetarian dishes were my choice and both looked so delicious that it was tough not to just dive right in and scoop it all up myself! Those little Indian copper dishes they serve the food in are deceptively large though.
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| Our Spread! |
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| Kadai Paneer |
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| Okra Masala |
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| Chicken Curry and Butter Chicken |
Anyway, the food was fantastic, definitely meeting my craving for Indian food! We found that the vegetarian dishes were spiced to what I've come to expect when requesting medium-level spice: our mouths were wonderfully on fire without us needing to gulp down gallons of water to feel comfortable. The two chicken dishes, however, were much milder; I expected that with the butter chicken since it's cream-based (and cream or yogurt will modify the spice level to a lesser degree), but I was surprised that the curry dish wasn't spicier. Everything tasted amazing, though, so we didn't feel disappointed or anything. Judging by how much of this food we ate, I think we can safely say we rather enjoyed every dish! (There were leftovers, though...)
Definitely check out Royal Ganesha if you're ever in the area or looking for a new Indian restaurant to try out. I would definitely return to try out some of their other offerings.
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