"2011-12-04T00:00:00"^^ . . "2"^^ . . "2"^^ . "Want to eat Indian food and sit on a see-through chair? Well then, you need to traverse Calgary's treacherous one-way streets and hallowed parking garages to find yourself at Mango Shiva on Stephen's Ave.\n\nWe had our company Christmas party here yesterday night. I had no clue what to expect, because shockingly enough I've eaten Indian food maybe three times in my entire 24 years of life. (Yikes, that's sad!)\n\nThe layout of this place is pretty swanky, as per my aforementioned see-through chairs. I liked the tube-y lights that came down from the ceiling above our table like little mechanical arms trying to get a bite of my delicious butter chicken. \n\nBut before we get to the food, I need to comment on how awesome it is that they have an open kitchen concept and you can see giant plumes of fire shooting out every so often. There was also a delightful man with a glorious mustache whipping up the Naan bread with giant metal bars. I had no idea you needed giant metal bars to make Naan bread, but I was impressed nonetheless by his mustache, concentration, and ultimately the final product of his labors.\n\nANYWAYS, on to the food. We started off with calamari in a curry sauce. It was delicious - the calamari was a little bit tough, but maybe I just haven't had calamari in awhile. Either way, loved this dish and the curry sauce contrasted nicely with the salty breaded rings.\n\nThen out came a whole bunch of dishes - prawn curry, butter chicken, naan bread, cauliflower with something that must have been deep fried squid and rice. These were all delicious, but my favorite far and away was the butter chicken. \n\nThe butter chicken should have been delivered to our table by a host of angels singing in chorus and floating the plate on a magic carpet. It was that good. We all played nice and let each other get initial servings, but then the battles were one to gobble up the rest of the dish. Naan bread quickly made short work of any sauce left over.\n\nPrawn curry was pranwy and curry-y. The cauliflower dish was rich and zesty. I'm running out of taste-related phrases and simultaneously making myself hungry so I'll cap it off by saying the food was really quite delicious.\n\nThe other highlight of the night was my long island iced tea. I decided I'd put aside the beers for a bit and pick up one of these, because heck, at company Christmas parties the name of the game is being liberal with your drink choices. My long island was limey and wonderful. It made my taste buds praise the good lord like a Tabernacle Choir.\n\nOur service was impeccable. Drinks came quickly, dishes came hot and the waitresses were polite and quick on the draw. \n\nOn the whole, based on my limited experience with Indian cuisine I have no idea whether this was authentic or not - I'm leaning towards not. But it WAS a delicious meal for a large group and if you're looking for one of those, it's top notch.\n\nI try not to give away an overabundance of 5 stars, but this place definitely earned it in my mind."^^ . "5"^^ . "5"^^ . .