Spices East Indian Dining

Amazing Indian food! I wanted something different, so that’s where we went. Samosa’s are the BEST I’ve ever had, anywhere. You can tell that they use quality spices and ingredients; not the cheap ground curry from Safeway. Highly recommended, and will be going back regularly from here on out.

Okotoks is one of those places that I only visit because I have friends there. It’s a separate town but is really no farther than some of the newest neighbourhoods in Calgary and actually takes me less time to get there. The town of Okotoks has certainly grown since the days I used to go fishing in the river, just off what was the one and only Main Street. Today it boasts a Costco and a population of over 26,000. Gone are the days where you couldn’t even find a MacDonald’s or Wendy’s for a quick meal. Today it is home to many restaurants ranging from fast-​food, family oriented to ethnic ones.
Spices, East Indian Dining, is currently the only East Indian restaurant in Okotoks. The décor is warm and quite lovely in shades of earth tones. There is only one server there but he greets you enthusiastically and with a warm smile. The menu is broken down by Appetizers, Chef Specialities and then Traditional Dishes categorized by levels of spiciness, .tandoori, biryani, vegetarian dishes, and then rice and pulao and breads. Each Traditional dish in each level offers a choice of meat: lamb, chicken, beef, king prawn, and paneer. The restaurant states that their chefs come from New Delhi.
We decide to try a couple of the Chef Specials and opted for Chili Chicken and Beef Kofta, and chose a vegetable dish: Navratan Korma. The Chili Chicken is actually a Hakka Indian dish reflecting the influence of the Chinese who have settled in India. It is fried chunks of chicken breast and then covered in a spicy sweet soya chilli sauce. I found the outsides of the chunks of chicken tough and had to use a knife to cut through. The sauce was tagged as spicy (i.e. the hotness) and had a nice heat to it but I would consider it mild for those of us accustomed to spicy food.
The beef kofta were elongated beef meat balls in a curry sauce. I enjoyed the beef but the sauce needed a better balancing of flavours, it was a little too heavy in either tamarind or some other spice that I couldn’t place. The Vegetable Korma was mixed vegetables in a thick creamy sauce. It was good but nothing to get too excited about. The sauce was a little too thick to my liking.
Overall, as a Calgarian with access to many East Indian restaurants, I would rate Spices as average. The food was decent but certainly not worth a drive down just for the food. The prices were a little too high for the portions served. The average was about $ 15 – 16 for the classic dishes and $ 12 for vegetable dishes.
The basmati rice was authentic basmati that is longer grain than the basmati most of us buy and the naan was very good.
Service was efficient and excellent. The waiter was very helpful and since we were undecided as to levels of spiciness, he had the kitchen do up the three dishes in three levels of spiciness so that we could get a taste of each.
Free Parking is plentiful as it is in a strip mall with a private lot.