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- Hours:
Mon-Sat 5 pm - 11 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
5 reviews for Sultan's Tent
All Reviews
Sultan's Tent
10/20/2009
I love Moroccan food. I always wanted to try Sultan's Tent when it was on (or near) 17th Ave, but never had the chance. When they moved to Kensington and became my neighbors, I had no excuse. My fiance, who is a huge fan of middle eastern food, agreed without hesitation.
As mentioned in other reviews, both here and on other sites, the atmosphere in Sultan's Tent is nothing short of amazing. It's very authentic and it does feel like you've walked into another country. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing the belly dancers, but I'm due for another visit.
The food, in my opinion, is excellent. I've sampled Moroccan cuisine from a few places and the food here is top notch. But, it's not for everyone. Moroccan food can take some getting used to. Several of their dishes are very sweet, almost like desert, which I enjoyed immediately but my fiance had to adjust to. One good example is B'Stilla. The simplest way I can describe this; take an apple turnover, remove the apple, and replace with chicken. Delicious, but might taste strange at first.
Moroccan food uses couscous instead of rice. It's somewhat similar to rice in texture, but is much more dry and bland. However, it does a better job of absorbing the taste of whatever it is being served with.
One warning with Sultan's Tent and most Moroccan restaurants. The food takes a very long time to prepare and most restaurants will only have one or two people working in the kitchen. Expect to wait at least an hour for your main course and at least half that for an appetizer. We made the mistake of going hungry once and won't do that again.
Parking is tough here. There is parking available (literally a few spots) that is shared with other tenants as well as the people living in the condos attached to the building. In all likeliness, you will need to find a place somewhere in Kensington and walk.
But trust me, the walk is worth it.
Sultan's Tent
8/19/2010
The food here is excellent. The decor is fabulous. The service is great. But the prices. Way way overpriced. Fine dining prices for what is really a casual experience. There is nothing about this place that screams fine dining, yet they charge those prices.
I can recommend the place definitely, but expect to feel overcharged.
Sultan's Tent
7/18/2010
I have no idea why there is so many glowing reviews for this restaurant. I went with a party of 8 in the last few days (16th July 10). Yes, the service is excellent, congenial, menu well explained, atmosphere is nice, cozy, seating comfy, and the Moroccan music is unobtrusive. Yes the food itself is competently done, and beer/wine menu has nice import choices on it.
However, either most of the reviewers have not experienced genuine North African restaurants and just take it as that how it is, or perhaps they are satisfied with paying top dollar for INCREDIBLY small amounts of food.
Having been to North Africa, I know that restaurants give you a really good deal on a large helping of food. And it's very reasonable price wise.
Perusing the menu sitting amongst the party, the urge to have a jaw dropping expression looking at the cost amounts was just about contained for myself.
You can pick a la carte, individual items, or a wallet stunning $51 dollars for 'The Sultan's Feast'. Which evokes giant lashings of food and couscous until you burst. But, lucky I didnt pick that...as you will find out.
$8.75 for pork Briq??! Almost $19 bucks for the vegetable tangine?! I was thinking that the portions have to be MASSIVE for those eyewatering prices. I picked the veggie tangine, as it was the cheapest main on the menu at $18.75. Curiously, most of the others picked the same. Perhaps they felt sticker shock too, but in a large party, one doesn't want to complain about the prices, as one doesn't want to look cheap.
Well...imagine how insulted and ripped off I felt when I was presented with the starter, the Briq (filo pastry deep fried with a filling, tuna is popular in North Africa).
(I should mention...the food coming was SLOOOOOWWW. We were starting to joke that they must have fed exed the food from Morocco! Seriously, it must have been 50 mins. Another reviewer states that this seems to be the norm for Moroccan restaurant's. Maybe it's the norm in Calgary, but In Tangiers it was faster. Just because it seems to be the norm, does not make it excusable. If they only have 2 chefs in the kitchen, too bad, get more chefs.)
A PITIFUL size. I was thinking it had to be perhaps a bottomless plate. But no. All I got was 2 finger sized, maybe 4.5 inches long by 3/4 in wide briq portions, with a few slices of veggies. Well whoop de do. This has gotta be a joke right? The waiter was gonna bring me more? No.
Not a good start. The main course? A 6 inch shallow bowl of veggies, string beans, carrots, that kind of thing. It's usually kinda stir fried or sometimes baked. It had a usual aromatic spicy (not hot spicy) thin sauce.
Shallow bowl. As in about in inch deep. Again, whoopee. $19 bucks for a handful of sliced glorified steamed veggies. I could have got a bag of frozen mixed veg from my freezer, zapped it in the microwave and added diluted hot sauce for largely the same thing.
In conclusion, everything is nice about this restaurant, but the value is staggeringly poor. Even the beer menu has astronomical markups. $5 for a bottle of Fruli, when it costs $2.69 at the liquor store.
Other irritants is the revelation when the staff say that it's traditional to eat with ones hands in Morroco, so no utensils are provided. One gets a hand towel and the hand rinsing bowl. Sure, wonderful and all that to be 'authentic' but it's the 21st century and maybe just leaving some forks next to the bread baskets would have been nice for people that don't want to eat like cavemen. Even the restaurants in Tangiers have knives and forks.
Thankfully soup spoons were provided to spoon out the serving of watery spicy (not unlike swiss chalet) sauce, so I used that to eat my pitiful amount of food.
I didn't complain about the amount of food as did not want to embarrass the others, but I will certainly never go back here again and will warn my friends.
I hadn't eaten much all day and was so looking forward for a belly busting Moroccan portion. Go to Teatro, that's $80 for two people, including drinks and dessert! Hell, I was tempted to go to Denny's! Sure, some 'foodies' may turn their noses up at Denny's but for $8.75 you can get a huge starter, and $19 you can get a 13oz Tbone steak and eggs!
Sultan's Tent
9/28/2009
Okay, so here's the deal.
In terms of decor, atmosphere, entertainment and experience, The Sultan's Tent gets 5 stars, HANDS DOWN.
In terms of food though, I'm gonna be honest. Three to four stars. NOT the best middle-eastern food I've ever had.
It's true though, just stepping foot into The Sultan's Tent makes you feel like you've been transported half way across the globe. It's AMAZING. I LOVE that on weekends they have stunning belly-dancers who shimmy their way around the room. I LOVE everything from the imported decorations, the art pieces and the statues, all the way to the lighting.
But I'm stickin' to my case, the food is alright. Not excellent, just alright.
If you've never been, it's definitely worth it to go once and undergo the cultural experience.
But I have been once in Calgary and once in Toronto and although both evenings made for a remarkable night, the conclusion was the same. The food is just alright.
Sultan's Tent
6/27/2009
I went to this place about 10 years ago so things may have changed. However, when I went, it was absolutely terrific. Great food, an appropriate ethnic atmosphere, including the music. A thoroughly enjoyable experience.
I recommend without hesitation.
