Prime Tandoori House

The butter chicken pizza is fantastic. My only quibble is I’d like a thin crust option. But all in all a great pizza.

I really didn’t like this restaurant so much… The area is not fancy, and the food is not special at all… I was very under-​impressed about this restaurant. I think I was expecting the food was at least ok. But it was nothing really good… The only thing I liked was the cheese naan. But everything else, I think would be better in any other Indian restaurant… I wouldn’t go back to this place.

So dissapointed with myself for not updating this sooner!
In the past few months, Prime Tandoori has undergone a bit of a facelift… seriously, it looks great inside! I had become accustomed to the unassuming, modest appearance of Prime Tandoori House’s aesthetic, habitually grabbing takeout and bringing my food home. However, they have taken on a few renovations, slapped some fresh, vibrant paint on the walls. Makes me want to sit down and stay awhile.
That said, they have also registered with
to make your ordering experience simple and comprehensive.
I have become a take out regular here, still preferring to call in to remind them of my vegan ways. The last order I had, was an order of vegetable pakoras, aloo ghobi, mixed vegetable curry, saffron rice, and roti with no butter. I always remind them that I require no dairy in my vegetarian meals, and they gladly accommodate. Never takes more than about 20 minutes to half an hour either. I shared with my brother, and this order that rang in around $ 20 lasted us two meals. As someone who cooks a lot, very rarely do I order take out and feel alright with the pricetag as I can make most things at home. However, this is one of my exceptions and I am so happy to see Prime Tandoori House thriving. The other day I was driving down Edmonton Trail and saw them PACKED. Yay!

I love the food here — it’s so good! The prices are good too considering the location. We used to have this brought in for lunch at work all the time until they stopped opening for lunch (or was it delivering for lunch?). This is one of the Indian joints in town I get cravings for (the only one that’s not sit down).
The place itself is nothing to look at — but it’s more of a hole in the wall you pick up from. It can be busy and one bonus is it’s open late. I’ve never had a drunken Indian food craving… but maybe some people do???
Go here for delicious Indian food in Calgary — enough said.
Review 16 of 30 in Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge

Went here with two vegan friends and we all loved it! The food is delicious and seems like it’s made right when you order it. The one negative thing is the styrofoam dinnerware and plastic cutlery.
So as I mentioned, I went with two friends who are vegans, which means I get the meat dish all to myself! Muahahaha. We got veggie samosas which where brought out while piping hot accompanied by two sauces. We could have stopped eating after those, but of course we didn’t.
The rest of the food was just as fantastic. I had a lamb dish (Saag Gosht) and it was sooo good! nice juicy pieces of lamb in a great curry sauce. The Bharta we ordered was devoured by us all! Chappati is also a nice alternative to naan. Very similar, but not as heavy.
One dish my friends ordered and forgot to mention no dairy, since cream was used and they had no problem taking it back and making another one at no cost!
I think I may have found my indian takeout place for awhile.

Based on past reviews I was hoping and dreaming for an amazing curry experience. It was just OK… my biryani was disappointing to me personally as it was just rice and some prawns… not very authentic but for $ 12 I guess I got what I paid for.
The chicken balti curry was much better and the garlic naan was good — but slightly burnt. The veggie samosas were very good and very small. Very small. I should have gotten two orders. I will try this place again and order different curries and maybe the butter chicken pizza everyone raves about!

Wow. Really? Read this if you want to understand why I just gave a 3 star rating for a 1 star meal.
Prime Tandoori has been for me, one of my most pleasant take outs for years. When there were nights that I had a hankerin’ for a curry, I would pick up the phone and make the 20 minute drive to get me a combo #4 (the $ 50 one… but it’s enough indian food for 3 – 4 meals!!!) and enjoy and feast for a few days.
In recent times, as I’ve been exploring Calgary’s many other ethnic cuisines, I still looked forward to my indian comfort dining from Prime Tandoori, whose food often matched or exceeded the tastes and quality of many of Calgary’s better indian places like Tandoori Hut and so on.
This time around, after a one year break (sorry Prime, but there’s been sooo many awesome new restaurants and food trucks…), I decided to treat myself to another Indian dining shot of delight just after leaving a Unilocal get-​together at Diner Deluxe. After all, just a the British know, after a bit of drinking with beer and shots, nothing is better than saying howdy to my inner starving lager lout and going off to fancy a curry.
Well…
I was incredibly underwhelmed… even despaired. I’m sooo hoping I got them on an off night or something (especially since I noticed some of my fellow Unilocalers have given it great reviews recently). I had a butter chicken that was actually worse than instant mix. The butter chicken was hard, chewy, and basically tastes like it was either over-​boiled and then tossed into the sauce just minutes after the order as opposed to being marinated and cooked inside the sauce, soaking into the meat and enrapturing my taste buds. Instead, I was gnawing on pieces of totally tasteless breast meat in a sauce that wasn’t too much better than instant. The biryani rice had the right colours, but way more spiced than usual and found 2 tamarind seeds inside. The Nan was passable, but unusually thick and chewier than usual. And the veg samosa… it was huge… and almost entirely deep fried dough. Yes, there was the traditional veg and potato filling, but the proportion was something like 1 part veg to 4 parts fried dough… just not very appealing. All in all, it was a meal that if I had eaten inside a restaurant, I would have walked out.
Now, I really really hope this was an off night, and that’s why I’m giving it a 3 star star rating instead of a brutal 1 or 2 star rating… purely out of nostalgia. I’m still willing to give Prime another chance, maybe on a weekend, but if it doesn’t improve the next time also, Prime will become a fond memory to me but really not much more. One of those, «remember when Prime was…»

So after seeing these reviews and never getting a chance to eat here, last Friday, me and a few girls decided to try it out — at my request.
When they all showed up, everyone commented on the very basic look of the restaurant. I admit it looks a bit borderline unclean. However, i told them the reviews said not to judge on the décor.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an extensive menu at this type of restaurant, which made our decision much harder.
The owner — who took over the place from his father — was kind enough to explain teh menu and offer suggestions. We ended up with the Shah Paneer, a creamy tomato based sauce with cottage cheese, which was gret, and sweet tasting. Two chicken kormas, which interestingly enough they had two kinds, a spicy kind, that i had, and a sweet kind that one of my gf’s had. The spicy one was manageable, and it wasn’t a cream based sauce like the sweet one was, which had coconut in it to achive that flavor. Both were great. Another gf had a beef dish with eggplant, although i can’t recall the name. We had two rice, and one naan each. The naan were huge and i couldn’t finish mine, and the rice was only half eaten. I have to say, they do serve substantial potions. This also includes the main dishes themselves. I’m not sure what type of chicken they use, because the pieces are bigger than the ones used at other places. I have a feeling this is cheaper meat — though still pretty good, and you left feeling full, and not because you filled up on the side dishes that are all carbs.
The only reason I didn’t give this a 4, excluding the fact that the meat is of a different quality — therefore a bit of a different taste, is the fact that every dish, cup and utensil was strofoam, and that’s hardly good for teh environment. We saw a lot of take out orders placed, and I imagine that this adds up to hundreds of styrofoam plates/​cups in teh ladnfill each week. Lastly, the service was slow. We got in at 745pm and left at 930pm. I do know they’re busy, and the owner said they were opening up another location closer to central downtown, but i think they needed more staff.
The owner comped us our naan, probably because our service was slow, but he was very friendly and kind and helpful. I’ll be going back for the specialty pizzas for sure.

ZOMG! Yeah, it’s an OMG with a Z. We just ordered takeout from Prime Tandoori. Three people, Combo #2 and an exra order of lajawab all for just under $ 50 including GST. Yeah, I know! So cheap and so good. and the takeout order was ready in under 20 minutes.
We got our order as «medium spicy». It was just spicy enough to taste it, but not enough to make my nose run. If you like your dishes spicy, go for spicy. The guy at the counter said it was about an 8.5÷10 on the spiciness scale at that level.
Take a close look at the menu. For orders over $ 30, you can get a free order of rice… but you’ve got to ask for it. Seriously, it says «by request only» right next to the special.
Next time you need take-​out yumminess, you’ll be wanting to pop into Prime Tandoori.

Oh man, I had the best pizza here yesterday. Like cheap, greasy, large and delicious with toppings overflowing.
We originally went to Prime Tandoori because when walking to OEB last weekend, I saw a picture of a kebab roll plastered on the glass walls of this store, and man it looked good.
So last night we decided to go and order some kebab rolls and pizza (judging from the reviews here). The place itself is modest at best. A few tables, and absolutely no decorations whatsoever. What the heck, we thought, might as well eat here anyway. The guy taking our order was helpful, and recommended the ‘Shahi zeera’ pizza. We got that in a medium, a kebab roll, some curry called ‘Lajawab’ (which means maginificent in english), and some paneer pakoras (cheese fritters).
All the food was served on paper plates. Literally. The cheese fritters were alright, but the accompanying sauce was great. When the pizza came, we dug in and was NOT disappointed. It was greasy, gooey, hot, crispy, and holyamazingdelicious! LOVED IT! The kebab roll and Lajawab curry with the naan was pretty good too, but the pizza truly overshadowed everything for me.
I am glad this place is a 10 minute drive from my house because it is the PERFECT place for takeouts! Easy location, good service, great food and great prices. Those medium pizzas are EASILY big enough for 2 people, but the main reason is because I am still craving it after an entire 24 hours. Mmm mm mmmmm…

We went for dinner here after reading the reviews on Unilocal.When we walked in we were not sure if we had made the right choice. We were a group of 8 on a Saturday afternoon. This is primarily a take out place and I am not sure they are geared toward dine in on a regular basis. The service was okay, but the quality of the food more than made up for that. We ordered 6 different dishes and shared with the table and every one of the dishes was great. We tried one of the chef’s specials, vindaloo, masala, butter chicken, tikka and one other I can’t remember. I would definitely recommend this place but maybe not for dining in, especially in the evening if you want to enjoy a glass of wine with your meal as I don’t think they are licensed. It is definitely one of those hidden gems, looks are deceiving. The food is great and exceptionally priced.

Absolutely authentic Pakistani food. Amongst the best in Calgary! Try the Parahta — the only restaurant in Calgary that I know off that makes this authentically.

Many writers have missed the main fare of this restaurant even though they all agree this place is a well kept secret among Indo-​Pakistani restaurants. I recommend that you leave the idea of pizza or donair at the door the next time you visit, none of them being Pakistani food, and try the best masalas and tikkas you have every tried.
First and foremost this restaurant is a Pakistani one. That means curry, tandoori chicken, seekh, tikka, and mouth watering masalas, not donair or kebab rolls. You will not find better food at any Indian or Pakistani restaurant in the city, just ones that charge more, some much more.
My personal favourite is the Goat Karahi, which is chunks of goat on the bone simmered in a moderately spiced masala and served in a karahi (iron wok) at your table. Accompanied with Naan or Roti and Tarka Daal and you have a traditional Pakistani dinner just the way they eat it in Lahore. The meat literally falls off of the bone when you pick it up with your bread. Eat like they do, leave the knives and forks at the end of your table. A spoon is acceptable if you order rice; nobody uses a fork for rice in India or Pakistan except to push it on to the spoon.
The Chicken Tikka is always well spiced and oh so tender. When ordering Karahi Chicken do not order the boneless. Traditional Karahi is served on the bone and uses thigh or leg which have enough residual fat to keep it from drying out. That they do best. The boneless uses breast which dries out and becomes stringy.
Butter chicken is not Pakistani food so if you expect an authentic experience, then I recommend this item not be ordered.
The grilled lamb chops are equally fabulous as the Goat Karahi.
For those who want food the way it is served in South Asia, then this place is one of only four or five in the city that do it properly. This and one other (Mirchi) are the only ones that are centrally located. Forget the trendy Downtown and Kensington establishments; their prices are high, the portions small, and not prepared using traditional recipes (i.e. not authentic). The Mirchi on 12 Ave. SW is the lone exception but is slightly more expensive than Prime Tandoor.

We decided to order a feast of curries, donairs, and yes, the butter chicken pizza. We called from the king’s yard (or whatever that pub across the street is called), ordered, then went over to pick it up a half hour later. 2 huge orders of rice, 3 curries, a large pizza, and a donair, more than enough for 6 of us came to $ 60 all in.
The donair was amazing. The pita is made in house. Enough said. The butter chicken pizza did not disappoint, and the curries were good, although the curry that the dude warned was «extra spicy» had the spiciness of green tobasco (i.e. not much).
Yes, this place is a dive, but the only good food in this city seems to come from dives. Because rent in this city is a rip off, there is the classical calgary dilemma of «nice looking v. nice tasting». You can’t have both unless you pay lots of $$$. We would have dined in but we had an apartment a block away with downloaded movies that had to be watched. I don’t know what everyone else is freaking out about.

I stopped in here today and had the kabob roll. I got the small size for $ 6.98. It was huge. Had 2 really big kabobs with cucumber, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and donair sauce. The kebabs were so flavorful, one of the best I’ve had. You could taste all kinds of wonderful spices. It wasn’t just a couple hunks of grilled meat. The naan bread it was wrapped in was soft and tasty, perfect. They have a smaller size that you can get with a pop for $ 4.99, just make sure to ask for that deal and not the regular sized one.
My order did take a while to prepare but I thought it was well worth the wait. I’m planning on going back to try some other Indian dishes and if they’re anything like the kabob roll, I’ll be very happy. As for the pizza, I might give that a try in the near future too since they have very reasonable prices. It does seem like a weird combination of foods here: Indian and pizza. Would never have put them together but if it works, then who cares.

This place is kind of hit and miss, mostly it is open, a couple of times I have passed there and it wasn’t. With no sign or back in ten minutes warning you don’t know whether to stay or go.
If you do however get a chance to enter it when it is open, you can get butter chicken, beef or chicken vindaloo, lamb curry or vindaloo, veggie dish with naan or rice for under 11 dollars to go. There are also 10, 12 and 14 inch pizzas for less than 12, and dozen veggie or beef somosa packages at 9 and 11.99. These prices are more than reasonable and the food is pretty good.
But they have to be more consistent and keep the place open or at least invest in paper and a jiffy marker and some tape.

I’ve only popped in to Prime Tandoori a couple of times, and even then it was mostly for takeout. I can’t speak to JR T.‘s experience, which sounds a lot better than mine. The first time I came in was at about 3 on a Monday — the place was empty but they quickly took my order of butter chicken and garlic naan. The butter chicken was decent when I got home, but the naan was burnt and so garlicky I was a walking stink bomb for the next day in a half. It almost blew my face off, and I love garlic.
The second time, I ordered wings and pizza for delivery (the weirdly diverse menu reminds me of restaurant makeover where they always yell at the chefs to focus on one thing and do it really well). They were dry and mediocre and a little lacking on the sauce. I declared myself done, but after reading JR T’s review, I feel like maybe I was a little hasty. Evidently I should try their strong foods and ignore the others, no matter how appealing they might be. I’ll update you all the next time I check it out.