Nirvana Restaurant and Lounge
• 1009-5075 Falconridge Blvd. NE | Calgary, AB | T3J 3K9
Average User Rating:
6.48/10
6.48/10
Recommended by:
50%
50%
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"Nirvana: A state of being free from suffering; hardly. "
Greg
September 2009 — "I have been seeing reviews of Nirvana for the past couple of years. The reviewers have all been glowing in their praise of the restaurant and consequently I was very excited to visit. I was surprised that my wife agreed to try to find it on very short notice one Saturday evening so we could finally experience Nirvana. Unfortunately for us (and our evening out), we actually found it.
The service was poor.
No menus, only water to drink (nor offered anything else), Naan bread came out when we were finishing our first plate of food, one server for the entire restaurant.
Food
The buffet was about about 12-15 items at most. Many of the items were low/out. The food was not stand-out in any way. When I asked about the sweets (after five minutes of standing at the bar) I was told that they were separate from the buffet (see below on price).
Ambiance
The decor was beautiful. Clearly the owner has spent a lot of money on the decor. Unfortunately, the decor alone did not provide any sort of atmosphere. The boxes and wrappers that the sweets came in were strewn all over the place and the sweets themselves were stacked up on folding tables in the middle of the room. Some were on the floor squished into the tile. The tables of sweets surrounded the quaint fountain that I had heard so much about in the reviews. It was as I was leaving that I realized that it was a FOUNTAIN under all the disarray. That actually aptly describes the ambiance. Disarray.
Price
None of the reviews had anything to say about the price except that it was very reasonable. It may have been reasonable if the service, atmosphere and food were even close to par. But they were not. Consequently when the server told me that the bill was $20 per person (remember what I said about there being no menus?), I was surprised and not in a good way. This is afterall, $40 for the two of us for a simple buffet that was so unexceptional that neither of us had a second helping. Also the price did not include sweets or any sort of soda to drink. Buffet only, folks.
Would I recommend this restaurant? No.
Regrettably, it was far from Nirvana.
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User Rating
2.17/10
2.17/10
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"Birthday feasts"
Nicole
April 2009 — "My friends and I came here for my husband's birthday and we were treated like sultans! They have a "private" area with authentic seating that we sat and drank Indian beer and had really really great nan bread. Some of us had the buffet which was really great and have the best butter chicken EVER! The things that I would say about the buffet is that nothing is marked, which is fine if you are adventurous but some of my less adventurous friends didn't want to try the stuff that we did not know what it was. Also when you don't know what the items are called you can never order it at other places or tell people that you had really good something or other at Nirvana's. The other thing about the buffet is that it is not as spicy as I would prefer. The people who ordered the food off the menu said that the food was really spicy! Great service and great authentic ambiance."
User Rating
9.33/10
9.33/10
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"ok food, horrible service"
Carissa
July 2008 — "tried Nirvana for the first time yesterday, and was appalled by their lack of customer service skill every step of the way. I called in a delivery order, and had the phone put down twice for the waiter to engage in shouting conversations with someone else at the restaurant before even starting my order. The line itself was crackling to the point I could barely hear the waiter through the whole conversation. To top off the experience the waiter was carrying on their side conversation with someone else during the whole phone call, and frequently missed what I was saying as a result. After finally finishing my order I was told the food would be ready in about half an hour and they would send someone over with it right away, and to expect it in about 35 mins. After waiting for an hour and a half I finally called the restaurant back wanting to know where my food was, and -with NO apology what so ever about the wait- was told it was on it's way now because the driver was late. The restaurant had taken down my name and phone number during the order, and could have called me to inform me of the delay, but obviously does not care about its customers enough. The food, when it finally did arrive was ok (although it should have been free), but I will personally never give my business to a place which treats its customers so awfully. It was truly one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had in Calgary. "
User Rating
1.67/10
1.67/10
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"Great food, poor drinks"
Sally
June 2008 — "Really great buffet, it had a wonderful selection that made you go for a third round! When we placed our order for drinks we soon noticed they were coming out one by one. It took nearly 30mins to bring 3 beers, make 1 martini, and 3 cocktails. We asked what was taking so long which they responded that their owner makes all the drinks and he wasn't there so they were consulting the 'How to menu'. All and all it was great food, a nice server, but slow on drink orders."
User Rating
7.50/10
7.50/10
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"AMAZING"neda
January 2008 — "Nirvana Restaurant is THE BEST east indian restaurant my family and I have been to in a long time! not only is the ambience amazing, but the food and the service was great aswell! I heard of Nirvana through the Herald, and everything which is written in the paper is true! I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone that enjoys good east indian food, great ambience and awesome service!"
User Rating
9.67/10
9.67/10
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"Expensive + Bad food"
PJ
November 2007 — "The decor was great but the food was horrible. We had the supper buffet and the food was stale. Service was average. Pricey ! You can get a way better deal across the street.
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User Rating
5.50/10
5.50/10
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"Great decor...and that's about it"Groggyfrog
September 2007 — "I was impressed by the surroundings and layout when I first entered this restaurant I had heard so much about. It was a Saturday evening and we were happy when it only took about 10 minutes to seat our party of 6. Unfortunately, the rest of the experience was much less favourable. First of all, we were informed that because the restaurant was so busy that night, we were restricted to the buffet only, rather than choosing from the menu. The items at the buffet were of average quality but frequently not replenished. One of our waiters was quite rude to us after a member of our party mentioned that the beer he had ordered was barely half a glass full. The service was among the worst I've ever experienced. We were not brought naan until we requested it and our water glasses went unfilled. The price of the buffet was $19.99 per person which is definitely overpriced considering the mediocre quality and sometimes lack of food at the buffet table. "
User Rating
4.83/10
4.83/10
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"Excellent food"
Arvind
September 2007 — "Excellent food. Service was not so great but who cares when you are having buffet and the food is so good.
They had some issues about menu planning - I gave them some suggestions - will check if they have improved on that on my next visit.
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User Rating
7.17/10
7.17/10
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"Poor Service "Sridhar
July 2007 — "I do not recommend this restaurant.
I was visiting Nirvana Restaurant and Lounge from out-of-town with a very high expectation. However, I was shocked to see the behavior of its staff. We waited in the front for close to 10 minutes but no one cared to attend to the customer waiting in front.
A waiter passed by couple of times serving food to a very few customers sitting inside, saw us waiting in front and decided to ignore. When I went inside to tell that we have been in front waiting for somebody to attend, the fellow replied rudely wait in front and he will get us from there.
We decided to leave the restaurant immediately. We went to small-scale East Indian restaurants in the neighbourhood and their customer service was far superior to this restaurant.
The owner should better let his staff know how to behave.
The restaurant seemed to have a good decor. "
User Rating
1/10
1/10
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"Excellent Food Ever"
Patel
May 2007 — "I am new in Calgary and tried almost all of the Indian restaurants but no one lived up to my expectations as Nirvana did. It’s a romantic place to dine in as they have booths and perfect lighting makes our mood with good music. The food is fantastic, reasonably priced and served in a comfortable setting. Staff was really nice and helpful. Not any single restaurant can bit the test of Nirvana in Calgary"
User Rating
8.17/10
8.17/10
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"THE BEST EAST INDIAN RESTAURANT IN CALGARY!"ricky
April 2007 — "I heard about this place from the calgary sun, when i went there as soon as i walked in the front door it blew my mind the ambience and decor of this place was amazing nothing like this is Calgary forsure!! The food was awesome, the prices were exermly cheap compared to the restaurants in downtown. I recommend everyone who enjoys east indian food to check this place out."
User Rating
10/10
10/10
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"Nice Place BAD FOOD"Jessy
April 2007 — "Very well designed, horriable service and disgusting food. "
User Rating
3.83/10
3.83/10
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DescriptionFor authentic East Indian food try the Nirvana Restaurant and Lounge, featuring a bar and banquet hall. Located in northeast Calgary, Nirvana's decor is a blend of imported Indian furniture and contemporary style.
Location Information1009-5075 Falconridge Blvd. NE
Calgary
AB
T3J 3K9
