Safari Grill

Whether you’re going for a take out or dine in, hands down this restaurant has the one of the best customer service. We ordered several things from their menu, and all their food was amazing, but PLEASE do try their ribs! Definitely the best one in Calgary. It’s such a beautiful restaurant, so if you’re looking for something different to try in the city, Safari Grill is the answer. The convenient location was also a plus, especially for those who take the transit as the restaurant is walking distance from Franklin LRT Station. Planning to take our out of town guests here soon!

Up until now, the only exposure I’ve had with African dining has been Ethiopian. Given this, I was happy to discover a restaurant in Calgary offering a different style of East African cuisine.
Safari Grill is located at the edge of NE and SE Calgary just a brief walk from the Franklin LRT station. The restaurant specializes in grilled meats and curries with authentic East African flavours. The menu is large and varied, with options to satisfy everyone including a wide range of vegetarian dishes.
On my first visit, I wanted to try as much as possible so I (along with my guest) opted for the Forodhani Platter which contains beef short ribs, a half chicken, and skewers with prawns, beef, and chicken.
Each of the five components was flavoured differently using various dry rubs. To complement the meats, we were provided a quartet of sauces including yogurt, chutney, a brown sweet sauce, and hot sauce. I most recommend the beef short ribs, which are tender and savory.
The platter did not come with any sides, but there are many available a la carte. With this, we tried the spicy corn and the garlic naan. I was happy with the naan, which was large and nicely grilled, but I was disappointed in the somewhat bland corn.
On a future visit, I’d like to try a curry dish with which they recommend ugali, a traditional corn based dish not unlike mashed potatoes.

The best food around. We’ve eaten here several times and have never been disappointed. I highly recommend.

Definitely visit this beautiful restaurant with authentic East Indian African food. I lived in East Africa a few years ago and this place reminds me of the beautiful times I had.
Here you get fried cassava, called Mogo, sprinkled with chili powder and served with truly authentic green chili tamarind and coconut chutneys.
The beef ribs here are awesome. The flavor is great, right on the money. It’s a strong paste of spices but it’s not overpowering. Especially when you balance the ribs with staple dishes like the cassava, rice or ugali.
Which brings me to my next point. Ugali is a staple that you get in certain parts of East Africa. It’s meant to be eaten with a fried savory masala fish, spicy boiled greens or meat. It’s nice to see it on the menu.
The food here has always been fresh, delicious and a real treat. Everything I’ve ever ordered here has been good, kababs, samosas, ribs, tandoori and Mogo.
Definitely visit this lovely restaurant with great authentic East African food. Plus the service is always excellent too.

The ribs are great, we usually get a few plates of suicide ribs (my eardrums are burning just thinking about them), the chicken curry is great also and I love their 4-​variety sauces that they place on our table.
If you want the hottest (and best) ribs in the city, stop by Safari grill and try them.

The food is very flavorful and the staff is friendly. If you are looking for an everyday run of the mill you will not find it here. Prices are reasonable for what you get.

Have to get the medium beef ribs and beef mishkaki skewers!!!
This place has been a staple for my family for as long as I can remember and we regularly go here and recommend this restaurant to our family and friends.

Visiting here from Toronto with the family. We heard good things about Safari grill. We ordered spicy mogo, ribs, and a couple of other items. Food was good. 4 star for sure. Service however was not so good. I wasn’t impressed that the bill already included a 15% tip. I usually tip based on the quality of service from 10−20%. I didn’t appreciate this part especially since we were only 6 people. I can justify a tip for a large crowd but not for 6 peiple at 3:30pm. If the food was out of this world, we could perhaps overlook this.

The food here is really flavourful and authentic. Service is good and friendly. Price is decent with good portion. Overall highly recommended!

This restaurant was one of the best. Food was amazing, hot and fresh. They come out as they are ready so you can start. Instead of having the dishes wait and get cold. A definite must try!

Nice décor and service was good. My wife had the BBQ chicken, with masala fries, it would have fed us both and it was nicely spiced. I had the coconut chicken curry with rice and naan the sauce was delicious, slightly different than standard east Indian curry. Would definitely return.

I would have to say this place is really great. You definitely have to be open minded and want to try something new.
My boyfriend and I went here to try something new we had no idea about the menu or type of food that they served. We were at a loss looking at the menu when our waitress showed up and explained what everything was her opinion on the flavour and she couldn’t of been more helpful. She was sweet, attentive and the food was delicious! The décor is great as well as the view. I recommend the coconut curry chicken dish and the lamb vindaloo! Portions look small but they are definitely not! The fries are tasty as well.
Check it out you will be surprised how much you like it!

We have been coming here for years because of the spicy beef short ribs. If you like spicy you will love this dish. We normally don’t stay to eat we take out. The owner and staff are extremely friendly. I would recommend this place to all my friends and family.

Came for lunch randomly today, and I’m very glad we did!
the décor is pretty wild (animal print everything — love it!) and it’s bigger than I expected — lots of room, nice & bright with lots of windows. even though it was an odd time of day, there were lots of other tables seated.
The menu was a bit crazy, so many items, but we chose a couple dishes to share — Afrique Mishaki with pili pili chips (a platter of chicken skewers and corn and amazing fries, $ 18) and Viazi Na Koliflaa (roasted cauliflower with vegetable rice and roti, $ 12) and there was definitely enough food for the both of us! So good! All of it was delicious.
Service was friendly & attentive, and our server was great with explaining dishes and was kind enough to let us know the cauliflower dish came with rice so we shouldn’t bother ordering another rice dish! that was nice!
Can’t wait to go back and try more!

The food is great, but the service is atrocious.
I had made reservations for a very special holiday 2 weeks in advance. I asked them repeatedly if they could accomodate us and the significance of the special occasion. They assured us they could. Then after everything was planned, Safari Grill called me on the EVENING of to cancel. They said they were closing early that day and they couldn’t accomodate us. Moreoever, the manager did not seem in the least bit worried or apologetic. He rudely said «we can’t take you. sorry»
I will not be going back there again.

Perfect food! I had Masala Mogo, Hot Ribs, Simba’s platter. Everything is sooooo EXECELLENT! I can’t wait for next time XD Also all stuff and decoration in restaurant are awesome I felt like in africa. Thanks safarigrill!

Good food. Was a little surprised that it seemed to be mostly Indian food. We went expecting something a little different and ended up just ordering one of the thali dishes. It was quite tasty.
I would have given it four stars but the bathrooms were a bit funky, which always makes me question the condition of the kitchen. But the service was great and the food, as I said, was very tasty.
I didn’t find it as different and creative as I had hoped when I went in looking to try African food. But I would definitely go back if I’m ever in this part of the world and want good Indian food.

I was visiting my brother in Calgary and this place was recommended to him by a friend. It was excellent! We used to live in Kenya and this place is the best East African place in North America that I have found. We went twice in the short time I was visiting Calgary. We tried some curry dishes, samosa, ribs, bhajias, and the ugali. It was great. It is the real deal for East African food. I wish this place was in LA! So if you live in Calgary or are visiting, check out Safari Grill, you will not be disappointed!

So you want Indian food, but perhaps a bit more than just ‘butter chicken’ and want to try something different? Head over to Safari Grill!
This East African restaurant is amazing. It serves Tanzanian /​Kenyan food, which is very similar to Indian food. It looks like a safari in there, with its zebra tablecloths, and exotic dishes. We tried their masala mogo, goat curry, okra and other delicacies. Everything was well-​spiced, expertly prepared. Nothing was overly spicy, or overly greasy. They were served in pretty platers and we ate everything up, needless to say.
The restaurant was big, so it looked like it would hold big groups well.
It has made it onto my ‘regular’ list of ethnic restaurants! So much more on that menu I want to try!
Review #22 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012

Review #7 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012
I love it when restaurants stay open passed a normal lunch hour. It means that when a friend invites me to partake in short ribs at 2:30 in the afternoon, there’s a place for us to meet! Thanks Safari Grill.
How does a girl describe this place? Zebra print. EVERYWHERE. Wallpaper, table clothes… and turquoise napkins. Yep. Zebra print and turquoise. Even the spotlights right under the bar were turquoise. Right down to the grass hut roof hanging above the bar, the décor is aptly themed for a place named Safari Grill.
On a Wednesday at 230, it wasn’t busy. Maybe 2 other tables in the entire place. In such moments, you’re either destined for good service because no one else is around, or you’re destined for crap service because whoever’s on shift really couldn’t give a flying-​yelp about being there with so little traffic coming through to earn them their tips. Safari Grill is of the destined for good service service. We were well taken care of and no one forgot about us because they got busy taking care of other things in the mean time.
Onto the food… I was headed out for dinner that evening, so I stuck with two appys. The short ribs are highlighted as the best item on the menu, with shoutouts to a few local celebrities who’ve also claimed to love them. And since this is the dish I was invited out to come try, I thought I’d better order it. You could easily share a platter of the short ribs with another, there’s enough there. You can order them in a variety of flavours and levels of spiciness. I mustn’t have read the fine print, because I didn’t specify anything here. Just asked for the ribs. I’m not sure exactly how to describe the flavour other than what the description suggests — a mixture of African spices and sauce. I also ordered the bhajyas — fried potato scallops in a special house batter. These were great to try with all of the different little sauces that came out with our appys. I also nibbled a bit of the masala mogo — deep fried cassava with crushed tomatoes and spices. Enjoyable.
I was too full to opt for any entrees or dessert. The only other item that fit itself between the appys was some chai tea. Nothing like a little warmth on a blustery winter day to fill the cracks between digesting food.
Prices are incredibly reasonable for what you get. Food’s tasty and plentiful. It’s a safe bet to conclude I’ll be sampling more from Safari Grill’s menu… like from the Safari BBQ!
Also, it’s extra cute that Safari Grill uses quotes from local reviewers to shout out some menu favourites :).