open sesame

poor service, inconsistent food, not at all pleased. 6 of us went for lunch at open sesame today, 3 of usorderedthe 20 dollar thai bouillabaisse, which is supposed to come with shrimp, scallops, and mussels. we allorderedthem extra spicy. the dish is supposed to come with shrimp, scallops, and mussels. one of the three orders had 9 scallops, 4 mussels, and no shrimp. another had 5 mussels, 2 scallops, and no shrimp. the third was actually balanced, with 4 mussels, 4 scallops, and 5 shrimp. only one was spicy, so we had to order a dish of dry red peppers to help it out. when one of us accidentally dropped a chopstick, the waiter apparently thought it was funny and laughed at my guest. when we mentioned the poor food, he again just laughed, and made no effort to discuss or remedy the situation. i recommend you dine elsewhere as this was a terrible experience. we will not be returning.

we went here based on the good reviews, looking for a place that had veggie options. we were so disappointed and couldn't believe the relatively high rating! one of us took the stir fry option, one of us got a buddha bowl and one of us got the butter chicken. the buddha bowl came with no mushrooms (unlike as described) and crunchy burned noodles. the chicken in the butter sauce was almost black - not burned, just mottled grey meat? the spring rolls were nicely seasoned but cost $4 each and were not worth the price. weorderednaan with the stir fry but it was more like a dense, soggy pita. none of us enjoyed our meals, and we left hungry. a limited menu with poor quality dishes.

went there last evening with 4 friends. excellent and attentive service from our server. appies were great. three of us had the stir fry and loved them. twoorderedoff the menu and were happy with choices. waaay too full to try one of the interesting desserts offered. will be back to try something else!

i was intrigued to try open sesame after seeing the high ratings on zomato. when we arrived we had a reservation, but we still had to wait for a really long time to be seated, even though the restaurant was not very busy. that aside, service was, on the whole, very friendly and efficient. the restaurant is nicely decorated and feels fairly inviting for such a large space. we started off with an order of imperial spring rolls ($8). the exterior was nicely crisp, but i found the filling to be too mushy and was not a huge fan of the mango dipping sauce. the fact that you can make your own stir fry is an interesting dimension to the restaurant, but we all decided to try dishes already on the menu. iorderedthe vietnamese combo ($15), and my friends selected the pad thai ($16.5) and the buddha bowl ($13.5 with added chicken and shrimp for a total of $18). our food arrived quickly, and portions were decently generous. the vietnamese combo had charbroiled chicken and pork, both of which had a nice flavour but contained way too much gristle for my liking. the vermicelli noodles were a little limp and the dish had a very sad selection of vegetables. the same dish at any good vietnamese restaurant would be about half the price, twice the size, and infinitely better. unfortunately, the pad thai was absolutely horrible. you can get better at a mall food court. the sauce was strangely dark tasting and unlike any pad thai sauce i've had, as if it was almost entirely soy sauce. the rice noodles were extremely thin and limp, there were very few toppings, and the bean sprouts were bitter and soggy (as they were on the vietnamese dish as well). i didn't try any of the buddha bowl, but my friend was also very disappointed with his meal. the next time you're in the mood for asian food? i'd say skip open sesame and head to a good vietnamese or chinese or thai restaurant where they can do these cuisines justice.

just average - the atmosphere at open sesame is great - cozy, comfortable and great for couples or groups. the service was also exceptional - attentive without being too much so. i especially liked that our server didn't put the pressure on to leave when we finished our meal (and were busy chatting and catching up!) unfortunately the food was only just adequate. we started w/ the calamari which was heavily, heavily battered. like many, iorderedthe stir fry. there were lots of vegetable choices, but many of them were on their last legs and looked like they had been sitting out for many hours. perhaps we happened to arrive at the veggie bar right before a switch over? the stir fry itself was tasty when all was said and done (although i added too much sauce!) i liked how many choices there were for starch and proteins. weordered2 desserts for sharing. i'm not sure how the banana wontons were supposed to be, but they were barely warm and seriously chewy. i wouldn't order them again. i would consider going again, but would stick to the stir fry!

very disappointed. we have gone to open sesame several times and up until this last visit have been pretty satisfied. on this last visit, iorderedthe build your own stir fry with shrimp and could not believe all i got was 5 shrimp. i complained to the waitress and she said that was a full portion (cooked that comes to 1 1/2 ounces, most portions for an adult would be 4-5 ounces). her comment was i could pay and get another portion added. my friendorderedthe same dish with chicken and she only got 5 pieces of chicken. i think it's time to rethink our "go to" dinner place.

weird asian fusion. iorderedthe pad thai and it tasted kind of weird, the noodles had this weird seasoning which had hints of cilantro and citrus, with some floral traces as well, which really threw me for a loop. i would be willing to go there again, but i think i'll order the butter chicken next time since my friend really enjoyed that dish.

weorderedthe crab wontons as an appetizer and they were soo salty. i got the vermicille bowl and it was pretty bland. the only good thing about the place is the atmosphere.

overpriced. iorderedoff the menu, and my simple meal, no drinks, no dessert came to almost 30$... which included the mandatory 15% tip for the poor, slow, inattentive service our small group received. (i might haveordereda drink.. if the server had ever come around to ask...) i detest places that have a mandatory gratuity - won't be back.

it was horrible and i probably wont go back. quite possibly, you have to order from the bistro there instead of the menu, but what weorderedoff the menu was bad. perhaps the kitchen was in a hurry to get home, but our food was aweful, worst meal in calgary in a long time. weorderedtom yum soup which i couldnt even eat (and i love tom yum). it was so disgustingly salty and fishy (seafood all tasted old and fishy) and it wasnt even spicy at all (tom yum is supposed to be spicy - this soup was all wrong and tasted horrible). the mo shu wraps were okay. our mains were both horrible. my open sesame bowl vegetables were ok but the shrimp tasted old and the noodles were barely cooked. my boyfriends butter chicken was the worst butter chicken ive ever tried. neither off us are picky eaters but we both left hungry. the only thing good about the experience was the server, he was great but felt bad for him working at such a crappy restaurant. maybe it would be worth goin back for the bistro but im totally turned off after seeing how little effort they put into those menu items.

i perhapsorderedwrong items...japanese steak...didn't click to my taste....beef smelled aweful and the sauce did not help. my hubbyordereda chicken noodles
.he liked it but under estimated the level of spiciness lol. may have to return to tryother items.

good, but not enough food. iorderedthe create your own stir-fry. the selection of ingredients was awesome, and my food was well cooked and tasty, though i was still hungry after filling my bowl to overflowing. i probably would order something else next time.

bad experience!!. iorderedmake your own stir-fry. i got my dish back really fast. it looked more like a soup then a stir-fry; it was swimming in sauce (and i did not put that much it). the vegetables i picked out were still raw. the chicken was clearly per-cooked: it was very dry, bland (tasted nothing like the sauces i've picked out). the top half of the food in the bowl was cold, the bottom was scorching hot.

average. it was an okay meal but nothing spectacular. i liked the way we could fill a bowl with any vegetables we wanted. however, the meat serving size was quite small. iorderedsalmon and had about four bites of salmon in the whole stir fry. if you like meat, i would suggest getting two servings.

for those who are gluten free, the only real sauce option is a curry sauce. if you don't like that, they offer you soy sauce or a fish sauce (somewhat like the vietnamese fish sauce).

the ambiance was really nice, they have made the restaurant cozy and inviting. i liked the dimmer lighting.

probably won't be back. myself and two friends went to open sesame at 4:30 on a friday after work. after waiting at the front with nobody around for a few minutes, a hostess asked if she could help us. after asking for a table for 3, she left us at the front for another 5 minutes to see if she could find us a table. she came back and told us we could have a table, but had to leave before 6:30!!!! we agreed with amazement at her approach. we were even more suprised to walk into a virtually empy restarant.
weorderedcrab wontons to start-tasted like a deep fried tuna salad sandwich. i had the vietnames combo and it was so bland and boring that i barely ate 1/4 of it. no inquiry was made by the server regarding our enjoyment of the meal or a question as to why two of us didn't come close to finishing our dishes. one of my dining companions had the seafood boulliabaise and loved it though. i should have gone with fmy gut and done the "make your own stir fry". if i ever end up here again (it will be in a situation where i'm not choosing where we go) i will try the stir fry.