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Tango Bistro
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 am - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 11:30 am - 12 am
Sun 4:30 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
20 reviews for Tango Bistro
20 reviews in English
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Review from Tristan B.
Calgary, AB
1/9/2012 1 Check-in Here
Tango and lunch, sounds like a spectacular day to me! All in all? Pretty close to that mark!
I went to Tango with a friend, just a "quick catch up" and was very pleasantly surprised for my first visit. The staff was extremely friendly and very prompt with service throughout our stay.
Little niceties such as garnished water (and I do not mean your typical lemon slice wedge either, my glass was adorned with lovely floating cranberries and lemons, perhaps I am strange for enjoying this explosion of color?) and perfect portioning combined with an excellent "lunch" menu are cause to rejoice in this city as far as I am concerned.
The food, as I mentioned, was portioned perfectly in our lunch orders, the bisque was magnificent, though a hair overcooked... My glazed salmon was thoroughly enjoyable, it was not undercooked, nor overcooked, which is somewhat rare with fast lunch service. My friend had the lamb burger and thoroughly enjoyed it, and she remarked that it was moist and friendly on her palate.
With the prices what they are, and the food what it is, I will certainly return again and again when I am in the area for lunch! -
Review from Sergey S.
5/24/2012
I was struggling to decide whether Tango Bistro is a joke or an insult... and finally settled on an insult, though a neat one.
Seriously, look: Four thin round slices of baguette from nearby superstore, slightly roasted, covered with salad leaves and a hint of ground beef for 10+ dollars a portion, plus tax? Smells like ROI and tastes like a profit margin to me. Delicious!
I mean, when you order something that costs ten bucks a plate, can you honestly hold your laugh looking at two toothpicks protruding a coin-size fraction of cow meat, wrapped in a shade of bacon? And that stuff is called something like "steak" in their menu?
Nah, can't be a joke, it's a smart insult. Kinda, you snob, you can pay whatever for a tiny-mini piece of food called a "plate to share" and still keep your face serious, like you understand something the rest of us humans don't.
People like that deserve to be charged well, I can only applause the owner of Tango Bistro for an excellent business model.
Still wanna give it a try, my dear hipster? Come on, eh! -
Review from Sarah T.
3/17/2012
I saw the reviews and had higher expectations of this place.
We arrived 15 minutes before our reservation and it took the hostess 5 minutes to figure out that we were who we said we were.
We sat down and our server promptly gave us water...which is great except there was a chard of glass in its, but she replaced it quickly.
We started off with the shortrib risotto. Risotto can go extremely well, or horribly wrong, but this turned out really good. It was rich and creamy and the shortrib was perfectly cooked.
Second up was the cheese fondue, and it was far from cheese, or fondue. It was more like clarified butter in consistency. The items included with the cheese fondue were pickels (??) two kinds of charcuterie meat (?) and a small piece of bread that was slightly stale.
After was the mixed grill. This had venison sausage, which was good, a small steak, which was lukewarm, There were also the ribs, and those were good, but a bit cold.
Then we got dessert. The desserts there aren't priced like normal restaurants at this level, which is normally $8, these were $4.5 each for most. I had the chai bread pudding - looove bread pudding. This was stale, and had butter at the bottom, no chai flavoring at all. Like Notable - they do a great bread pudding, which is soft and not too moist that it breaks apart in much. This one at Tango was hard and it broke apart in dry chunks.
Sigh, after that our waitress took a $20 from us and took 15 minutes to come back to us for our change. We both got the feeling she wanted us to tip her the whole $20 and was waiting us out, it was very uncomfortable. She also didn't listen very well, because when she repeated what I said, she kept getting things wrong. I heard her do it to another table as well, and when she responded they both gave her quizzical looks.
Anyways, I feel like Tango could be a good restaurant, but it needs to tweak a few things. I give it a 2.5 in all. -
Review from Melissa W.
Calgary, AB
4/4/2012
Now I'm not much of a dancer, being more clumsy than I am co-ordinated but I love Tango!
Me and one of my main girls headed here to hit the menu one more time before it changes in May mainly because we luv, luv, luv that pear and gorgonzola flatbread and spend at least 15 minutes plotting how to recreate it in our own kitchen lairs every time we have it, haha, ya right, that'll happen! But it is so simple and simply delilsh every time, can't rant about it enough. RANT!
We also had the pulled pork poutine this time around which when served was not quite right. The point of poutine is that the cheese curds are ooowie and stringy and gooey, amirite? It was not. But they took it away and remade it. Then it was all good, crispy perfect fries, gooey cheese and tender meatiness. And the waitress was very patient with me considering when I complain I can be pretty specific about how I want things corrected, but I really love it when people are on their customer service and suffer my impertenance without getting annoyed. What a treat!
We also had a salad with goat cheese and a pomegranate compote that had some really nicely balanced flavours and considering we were just feeling a little snacky, we ate a lot of food and had a grand time.
They did kind of forget about us after we paid the bill an we could have used some more water near the end there but then again they might have just been afraid that we might have ordered more wine. :| Oh well. -
Review from Wendy P.
Tango, you're a cozy little bistro. Modern decor, a crackling fire place in the far corner, hard wood floors, semi round booths and an array of different tables and seating arrangements.
I love that I was greeted promptly at the door (though it was 530 and still rather early for dinner) and that our server (thanks Ian!) gave us a little spiel about how a tapas place is meant for sharing, so nothing comes out in full meal sizes.
Service and decor, Tango's got that spot on. 4.75 stars all the way.
What I wasn't as impressed with was the food. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it was 3 star good, like ok food trying to be fancy just not quite making the cut.
What you need to try: the wild mushroom soup. I am a lover of mushroom soups. Since I was 3 yrs old, my favourite meal has been a bowl full of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup. Well, this little bowl full of awesomeness blew that out of the water any day. That's saying a lot for my favourite food of the last more than twenty some years.
The wonton crusted prawns. They were big, they were just battered enough and I enjoyed the sauce they came with.
What was just ok: The poutine. It was a big beautiful bowl full of fries, cheese curds, and mesquite chicken. Instead of gravy, it was supposed to be mesquite sauce. Something needs to change with that sauce. I felt like all they did was pour a bunch of BBQ sauce over the fries. If you're trying to do something different with a classic like poutine, you'd better blow me out of the water. This didn't.
The gnocchi. Call me spoiled, the first time I ever tried gnocchi was in Italy. I usually don't eat it if it's not a super food snob Italian preparing it. This reminded me why. Again, it's not that it was bad, it was actually quite flavourful and I loved the bits of sausage on top. The pasta itself though, waaaaay too squishy. Yes, it was squishy. Gnocchi should not be squishy.
Come on Tango, step it up. You're three quarters of the way there, I feel like you're the smart kid in class who knows they're smart and is coasting on through on a B- when they've got the makings of an A+ valedictorian. -
Review from Yvonne P.
Calgary, AB
4/13/2012
just a few tweaks - I would give it 3 1/2 stars if I could - went after the premiere of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (won tickets, great, funny movie), restaurant was vitually empty still sat in front of door. Server was pleasant and knowledgeable but unfortunately the menu wasn't. Had the unvanilla martini, not to my taste but I think that was personnel. Asked to start with the pear and gorgonzola pizza then the tournedos with crab, shrimp and lobster with hollondaise and the sea bass. Tournedos and sea bass came out first with the pizza trailing far behind. Tournedos were a very generous size, good toppings - only complaint was that there was pesto on the plate not mentioned in the menu which hubbie didn't think paired well with the hollondaise, I thought it was okay. Sea bass was lovely, and loved, loved the mushroom quinoa risotto. Pizza on the outside pieces were yummy but inside was soggy, over cheesed (and I love blue cheese) and there were lots of pine nuts on it, again not mentioned on the menu. We both really like pine nuts so happily munched away but it's an expensive ingredient not to mention on the menu. Definitely full after these three generous plates although the server had recommended at least four I would order sparingly and order more as needed. For three plates (on the expensive side on the menu) and the martini $55 including tax and tip well worth it, easily four start when they fix the minor gripes with service and menu.
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Review from Marg J.
Calgary, AB
3/25/2012
Nice environment! Staff was very friendly!
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Review from Mike R.
4/23/2011
We went to tango tonight for a family dinner and it was great. The new decor is a bright light (literally) from the dark cave like atmosphere of smugglers. The food was all really amazing, our favorites were the seared scallops with mushrooms and parsnip purée & the bacon wrapped chorizo stuffed dates.
If you're looking for a nice place to grab some drinks and a light snack or a full meal Tango is a great choice.
The one and only downside is with 4 restaurants in the one building there is a severe lack of parking. -
Review from Adam R.
5/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
They say it takes two to Tango, and this is definitely the case a Calgary's Tango Bistro.
This trendy tapas place is all about sharing. The portion sizes are small, the ingredients and experiences positively decadent.
Our server gave us a few recommendations on glasses of white wine. I had a glass of Main Divide Sauvignon Blanc -- full-bodied with a clean finish -- and my girlfriend had a glass of an Italian Pinot Grigio.
With our wines, we had the apple and baby beet salad (which had a fantastic shaved Spanish cheese on it, served with arugula), wild boar bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin (which was unreal), and a pear, gorgonzola and pesto flatbread (droooooool).
The food was great -- perfect for sharing -- and our server was terrific. He made great recommendations and was attentive, though not intrusive.
If you're looking for something light, and the opportunity to sample many different dishes, you need to go to Tango. And make sure you bring a dance partner too. -
Review from Sapito V.
10/26/2010
This was our first time at Tango Bistro. Had bought the $20 dollar coupon via Groupon and thought, "what the heck!".
Loved all six dishes we ordered in this order: Wonton Crusted Prawns, Roasted Baby Beet and Apple Salad, Warm Pecan Crusted Goat Cheese, Calamari Fritta, Pear and Gorgonzola Flatbread, Braised Lamb Shoulder. Excellent dishes using only fresh ingrediants -- wow, we are definitely going back to try more. Also, for dessert we had the pumpkin with chocolate mousse...yummy! Definitely try this dessert if you love pumpkin. They make this dish fresh each morning. -
Review from Travis S.
Calgary, AB
1/23/2011
I really liked my first visit to Tango Bistro. Service was impeccable. The tapas were good although what holds me back from giving Tango Bistro 5 stars is the Pulled Pork Poutine fell a little flat for me. The dish was smoky from chipotle peppers but the combination of smokiness, pork and curds did not work for me. I found the Poutine was too dry as well. We loved the other tapas and our drinks. The bill came to a little over $60, which I thought was good value for what we got.
I would go back to Tango Bistro but wouldn't go out of my way to get there. -
Review from Kaeleigh E.
Calgary, AB
1/21/2011
I came to Tango on a staff function and since everything on the menu is shared and there was about 17 or 18 of us, I had the good fortune to be able to try many of their menu items.
The tomato bocconcini salad + the pecan crusted goat cheese salad were our first course. Both were very good and great size for sharing between two people. Next we had flatbreads; pear + gorgonzola, capicola + pineapple and Sicilian chicken. They were all tasty but the Sicilian chicken was by FAR my favourite. They really take time to cook the chicken nicely, and put all the best ingredients on top. Very very good.
Then we had the wonton crusted prawns (I don't eat seafood but my date thoroughly enjoyed them) and the boar bacon wrapped beef tenderloin. I would have preferred the tenderloin was a little more rare but I understand not everyone likes rare meat, it was still tender anyways.
We then had pulled pork poutine which was out of this world, and will probably be the item that I'm most eager to go back and have again.
For dessert we all had our own little shotglass of something sweet. Being a person with a mighty sweet tooth I really wanted MORE dessert but my key lime + pineapple pie was fantastic, just too small!! I mean it comes in a shot glass so you can imagine the size.
I really like the idea of all the share plates, it was great for a staff function cause it really got people talking and interacting. It was fun to dish everyone up a plate and pass them along and whatnot.
I'm sure I'll be back to try the other dishes I didn't get a chance to sample at the party. Nice interior too, very warm and cozy I like the funky fireplace in the middle of the restaurant by the entrance. Very cool! -
Review from Adam B.
Calgary, AB
I was here last week for lunch with my sister, she had been here a few times before and really liked it.
This is a tapas restaurant, but unlike some I have been to, I found the portions bigger than normal, which for someone like me is a good thing.
We both ordered off of the lunch special where you got to choose 3 different items from each section of the lunch menu. I ordered the Naan with 2 different dips, bread was warm and lovely with 2 dips a hummous and a tapenade.
I also ordered the paparadelle with wild mushrooms and cream ( delicious, but the pasta could have been a bit warmer).
As well I had a lovely baby green salad with roasted yellow beet chips.
All of that came to just 15 dollars. Great price.
Our server was friendly and the decor was very cool.
Strangely though on 2 different occasions people came in to eat, checked the menu and then left. I guess they either dont understand the concept of tapas or just didn't like the menu. Either way they were missing out on some tasty food.
I was there on a Saturday and it was pretty dead, which is surprising considering my experience and the experience of others on here. Check it out, it would be a shame to lose this gem. -
Review from Fiona F.
Calgary, AB
2/22/2011
We went there as a result of their Valentine's day promo on Facebook. It was limited (especially for non-wine drinkers) compared to the whole menu, so we just ordered off that. Overall the food was great and the wonton shrimp was a nice twist. We ordered a pineapple/flatbread dish that we didn't care for but to each their own. The chocolate truffles at the end were amazing! Still want to back a few times to firm up an opinion.
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Review from Merry K.
7/15/2010 ROTD 1/21/2011
Tango Bistro is a tapas restaurant that has been carved out of the Smuggler's complex. It is a very clean and modern room very different from it's past life as part of Smugglers. The small plates concept is done very well with many to choose from. We had a large-ish group of 12 so we asked the server is she would pick for the table. We told her of one plate that we definitely wanted & one that we did not want and she did the rest. We were very happy with the overall quality of the dishes and the service. We also found the pricing quite reasonable as dinner for 12 with alcohol was $440 before tip. I will definitely be returning!
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Review from Steven D.
Calgary, AB
Nice atmosphere, very clean restaurant. Food was very flavorful. Had the Gnocchi, Braised Short Rib, Salmon, and parmesan frites. Gnocchi was slightly overcooked, but the flavor of the dish was great. Braised short rib and salmon cooked perfectly. Parmesan frites...nice!! Drinks were made very well. Will be going back very soon.
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Review from Steve M.
Calgary, AB
6/18/2011
Great food! They do a great job Indicating potential allergic concerns. They have a number of gluten free dishes that were really tasty.
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Review from Kelvin L.
Calgary, AB
1/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
What a change from Smugglers, its now modern and clean. Greeted by the hosts desk that fronts a nicely displayed glass wine case, we were seated in front of the centrally located fireplace. An LCD TV occupied a corner...yay...you catch a glimpse of the Flames game. Theres a nice selection of Tapas that decent in size. Had the tagliatelle pasta, which was big enough as a main dish for one on its own. Mushrooms were yummy and the sauce creamy. Grilled steak flatbreak was yummy as well. The pulled pork poutine was um....yummy! Cant argue with poutine right? The seared scallops was done to perfection too. Not undercooked not overcooked....seared to a golden brown on the outside and soft but not quite raw on the inside. Um...they were yummy! Maybe I was hungry...but everything was yummy and will certainly come here again in the near future. Pssst...try the Viru beer because of the wierd looking bottle. :) Cheers !
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Review from Jerry P.
Calgary, AB
4/10/2011
What can I say about this place, other than it's just perfectly outstanding ! This restraunt was highly recommended by my boss. I decided to give it a shot ,man was I impressed. Dont let the small portions fool you, all dishes a packed full of amazing flavors and yes I did get full surprisingly. Wicked awesome place. Would recomend to everyone.
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Review from Tina S.
Calgary, AB
2/15/2011
I have been back to this restaurant 2 in the past two weeks.I LOVE IT. the atmosphere is fun and classy. The food it to die for. Awesome value for your money and wine menu is excellent and not overpriced. A great palce for great service and amazine food. Can't wait to go back.
