Guru Restaurant & Bar

1 Tahiti Treat $7.00  (no, not the soda pop)
2 Cobra Beer $12.00
1 Guru Sparkler $7.00
1 Butter Chicken Samosa $11.00
1 Fish Pakora $13.00
1 Lamb Vindaloo $18.00
1 Chana Masala $14.00
1 Coconut Rice $6.00
1 Saffron Rice $7.00
1 Paneer Naan $6.00
1 Rabri Gulab Jamun $8.00
1 Gajar Halwa $8.00
1 Kulfi $8.00

***

Chef's note: all prices in CAD. while I would normally give the entire menu description of my food choices, I just felt that providing a link to the restaurant site would be more efficient. Translation: I'm too f@cking lazy to type them all up.

I had first seen this restaurant late in the summer, back when I was driving to and from my work battling communism. It had only been about three weeks since my last visit to an Indian restaurant, but with nary a dinner date with my food friends for months and their recent move to St. Albert, I thought something on the west side of town would be appropriate. So I set the reservations for Friday evening and we were off!

The decor was quite nice - dark browns and nice lighting. Very clean. We also got a table near the naan ovens - and I with a direct view of the naan chef and said ovens.

The service was quite friendly, and for the most part quick and knowledgeable - just not very quick with the description of the Guru Sparkler, which my friend's wife had ordered.

First up - our drinks and appetizers! The beer was fine, nothing to write home about, but I was quite impressed with the Fish Pakora (not fishy at all) and even more so with the Butter Chicken Samosa. Honestly, I could have eaten those samosas all night. They were packed full of buttery chicken goodness, and cooked just right. While enjoying our apps, one of the chefs came out to check on us. Impressive.

The entrées came soon thereafter. The coconut rice was surprisingly good and sweet. Honest chunks of coconut and not just shavings were contained therein. The saffron rice, however, was a little disappointing. Maybe we were all just expecting too much? It was fine, but the flavour was quite faint. Probably a good thing so it could accompany and not over power the Lamb Vindaloo and Chana Masala (vegetarian dish). The lamb was seasoned and cooked just right, and the dish was quite spicy (you may notice that I had to have 2 Cobras....). The vegetables (chickpeas, onions & tomato) was also in a gravy, and was surprisingly hot as well. A friendly disagreement broke out between my friend and his wife over which dish was hotter. Using my quick wits and diplomacy, I was able to diffuse the situation by mentioning Nigella Lawson and her boobs... Not really - we just talked about how much of a crapbucket of a show "Village on a Diet" is. Again, the same chef came out to check on our food. Most impressive.

We had more than enough food, and I was certainly glad to not over eat. Our desserts comprised of: Gajar Halwa - shredded carrot mess (my dessert), Kulfi -frozen mango stuff (Chantelle's) and Sean had the Rabri Gulab Jamun - dumplings. At least that's what our bill says. I'm not so sure that's what he got... Regardless, saying I was disappointed with my dessert would be akin to saying that the Chargers' were disappointed with this guy. Yeah... I paid the price for getting something new, for going outside the box. Poor decision. The gajar halwa wasn't nearly sweet enough for a dessert, and the texture was very couscous-like - not my favourite. I shouldn't really say it was a poor dessert, rather I should say that my palate and my expectations were clearly too refined this evening.

The evidence:

Here's the Guru Sparkler.

The main courses:

Check out the Svenson elbow! You think those strips on the Lamb Vindaloo are bamboo shoots? So was I, but it's actually ginger.


Very good meal indeed. I'd give it a solid 8.1 out of 10. No question I would go back.