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Sultan's Tent
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 5 pm - 11 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
9 reviews for Sultan's Tent
9 reviews in English
-
Review from Chelsea W.
Calgary, AB
11/6/2011
Having not yelped in a rather long time due to school obligations, I just had to write a review about the Sultan's Tent where I definitely am a big fan for it. My boyfriend and I had celebrated our 4 year anniversary together where we wanted to go to a restaurant that was special for the two of us. With us both loving ethnic food, whether it is East Indian, Chinese, Greek, or Japanese, we both wanted to go somewhere that was romantic, as sappy as that sounds. After some humming and hawing we jumped onto Yelp to check out the reviews for the Sultan's Tent where we made reservations ASAP.
Having never been to the Sultan's Tent, I knew that the restaurant was known for diners eating with their hands. However being a kid in an adult's body, I was rather excited to eat with my hands.
With the Sultan's Tent being located in Kensington, you can be faced with the challenge of getting good parking. After business hours (evening), parking is usually free along the road and more accessible to get; if you know the area well, there are other parking lots quite close to the restaurants. On busy nights however, do be prepared in parking some distances away and walking.
Walking into the restaurant, you're seemingly taken away into another country across the world. With dim lighting, soothing music, and very beautiful decor, the place just oozes an ambience of intimacy and comfort, making it seem like you are literally inside a sultan's tent. We were seated immediately in a low booth complete with pillows and surrounded by veiled curtains. Unfortunately those curtains seem to give people the illusion that no one can see them because my boyfriend and I were totally spying on a couple that had some pretty good PDA moments...lol.
Uhh, ANYWAYS, the menu itself can be a little pricey, where the main course itself ranges from $18 to $27. We both skipped the appetizers as we're rather light eaters where he ordered the beef vegetable tangine, while I ordered the vegetable tangine. For those that have never eaten Moroccan food, the flavours and spices may take some time during the meal in getting used to as some entrees can have a sweeter or "lighter" taste, depending on what you order. For first timers to the Sultan's Tent, do be prepared in eating with your hands as it is customary so don't try and ask for a fork and knife. Although it can be a little awkward eating a full entree with your hands, let the experience add to the flavours of your meal and the atmosphere of the restaurant. Using your hands helps create a slower pace in eating which allows you to socialize with the people you are eating with. Aside to eating at a slower pace, do be warned (as other reviewers have said) that the time to receive your food can take a while. With that being said, do leave the evening open if you can. And not to worry first-timers, before and after you eat, the waiters are there to help wash your hands! :)
Being thoroughly impressed with the restaurant, I would definitely love to come back as I had a wonderful experience. Despite the meal being rather expensive, both my boyfriend and I were happy in spending the money as it was worth it for a great meal and wonderful experience. -
Review from Kimberley H.
Calgary, AB
12/2/2011
The Sultan's tent has very nice food, and we have been numerous times. We have had the sultan/sultaness feast, the lamb, and always ensure to get the moroccan mint tea! But let's be honest, the time required for the food, is far too long. Albeit, the atmosphere is suited to comfort and expect to spend some time waiting for your food, times 3.
The service was fine, the problem is the costs! One just cannot justify the costs for such small portions of food and the amount of time to cook it. I am torn here because the food is indeed very nice, but honestly, the menue prices make going there more often prohibitive. Parking is quite tricky also, and I am very glad there is a venue such as this to rate these restaurants, as eating out in Calgary is a culture of small portions of food for large amounts of money, and we as a group need to change the culture.
If you go to Sultan's tent, give yourself plenty of time, budget for it, and be patient with parking, and you will enjoy.
K -
Review from Joey N.
Calgary, AB
3/11/2011
I just went there tonight, this is my very first time trying Moroccan food so I have nothing to compare to. I had the Sultaness feast and there was quite a lot of food. I particularly like the bread, the salad and the B'stilla. The B'stilla was very nicely done, and tasted great with the icing sugar and cinnimon. For entree I had beef couscous, not bad, but didn't stand out. Vanilla ice cream with mango sauce was good, and also the mint tea (it was sweet!)
I agree that it was pretty expensive, $39 for the feast, I was gonna get a drink too but $7 is a bit much. Even single entree it was about $20-26. Service was excellent, I didn't have to ask them once to refill my water (I must've had like 5-6 glasses throughout the meal). But the food came reallllll slowwwww. We started ordering our food at 6-ish, and finished at 9pm. I'm glad we had a party of 5 if it were just my fiance and me we might get pretty upset. -
Review from Helene R.
Calgary, AB
2/26/2011
I love Moroccan food. I love food in general but I have to say that the Sultan's Tent was just ok. I found that The Casbah had a better menu, the restaurant itself was a lot nicer and the portions were waaaay bigger.
We were a fairly large group, about 10, and I was well aware that the food would take long because Moroccan food is an art and can't be rushed and all that jazz, I get it! But it took about an hour for the appetizers and another hour for the main, and we ordered the family style platters which were self serve. The appetizers were rather small for the price points and the platters had a larger couscous to meat and veg ratio that I found odd. The waiter even told us that the wait would be longer than usual because they ran out of chicken! WTF? How do you "run out of chicken?" I'm sorry, does this menu not consist of primarily chicken? I guess they had to make a run for the Safeway just up the street.-sigh-
The service was incredibly slow and it took half an hour to get the bill. At about $400 for 10, no booze and an 18% automatic gratuity, and most of us were still hungry, we felt really screwed. For $40 a pop, it was not worth the money.
For the food quality and taste I give the Sultan 4, the service and portion sizes I give him a 2, for the dismal parking situation I give him another 2 and for running out of chicken during dinner I give him a very disappointing 1. All in all a 2.5 star rating and a "won't be returning anytime soon" from this foodie. -
Review from Michael H.
Calgary, AB
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. -
Review from Sapna G.
Calgary, AB
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. -
Review from Moez T.
Calgary, AB
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. -
Review from Pete B.
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. -
Review from K M.
Calgary, AB
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!
