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Sushi BBQ Inn (Calgary, AB)

Matt and I have been to this AYCE Korean and Japanese restaurant once before, but it was two years ago and it never occurred to us that quality could take such a hard dive here. We brought a friend with us who hadn’t visited the restaurant before and, although the entire experience wasn’t a bust, I actually felt a bit bad for having her spend $30+ on a meal that wasn’t fantastic.

We got to the restaurant a bit later than usual (maybe around 7:30 PM?) and it really wasn’t busy at all, so we were seated right away and served water while we looked over their menu. One of the biggest differences I noticed on the AYCE menu was that they had limited the amount of sashimi you could order to 3 pieces per person, per order. So, technically you can still order 60 pieces of sashimi, but you would have to place the order at least 20 times. I say ‘at least’ because every order of sashimi we got only had two thirds the amount we had actually asked for...in our first order, we maxed out at 9 pieces between the three of us, but we only got 6. It was really odd. Thankfully, the sashimi tasted good and came in huge pieces, so maybe that’s how they compensate for their wonky ordering process? At one point, Matt actually asked the waiter if we had to abide by their limit (because it seemed silly), and the waiter said we didn’t really have to, but just to ‘not over-do it’. Most likely there’s some kind of disconnect between what management thinks is a good idea and what is actually practical to do.

  Look at the size of those sashimi slices!!

One of the first things we ordered were a couple of salmon and avocado cones that were pretty mediocre. They didn’t taste bad, they just didn’t taste good. The kimchi was pretty bad. It tasted like hot sauce + cabbage, not fermented cabbage. Our friend also ordered a miso soup and a tapioca dessert that she said tasted alright, but what killed the meal for all of us was their horrendous maki rolls. 

Buddha Roll, Dynamite Roll, Salmon Skin Roll, Mango Roll, Tempura something or other Roll...We lost track, and none of it was memorable in a good way.

Every single roll was hardly palatable, and we made a huge mistake by ordering so many of them. We were hungry when we ordered, but the amount of rice on each roll was way out of proportion, so we were literally choking down what we could to avoid paying an extra fee on leftovers. The salmon skin maki was a disappointing mashup of what just tasted like plain lettuce leaves with salmon skin, and the Buddha roll (I think that’s what it was, anyway) had some repulsive mash up of raw tuna bathed in brown sauce. It looked like absolute crap. Granted, the rolls weren’t falling apart, but how could they with the amount of rice they had laid on there? The rice itself also tasted sour, and it wasn’t the same kind of zing that you get with sushi rice seasoning. Did we finish our rolls? No. We tossed as many as we could get away with and then moved onto the food that was actually worth eating.

  In hindsight, I should've taken pictures once the food was cooked...ooops! And yes, those are squid rings. Tasted alright, but could've used seasoning.

The Korean BBQ was really well done, although each portion of meat they gave us was small no matter how big of a number Matt put down. All of the meat was packed full of flavour, and our grill surprisingly stayed clean throughout the entire meal. Matt loves KBBQ, so we ended up eating a lot of beef short ribs, beef strips, and lamb strips that he grilled to tender perfection. Looking back, I wish we had sat down with just the intention of eating KBBQ and sashimi, because that really would have made for a great meal, but those maki rolls got us...maybe that was their intention all along.  

We won’t be coming back to this location for sushi again. I mean, the sashimi was fine and I like the idea of generous pieces, but I’m not willing to pay $30+ for sushi I can barely stomach. Maybe we’ll consider returning for the Korean BBQ meats, but damn, Sushi BBQ Inn, you’ve gotten really messed up since the last time we visited.

Overall Impression: 5/10

Taste: 4/10 for the Japanese cuisine, 9/10 for the Korean BBQ

Value: 6/10

Service: 8/10 (why do they never want to give us the amount of sashimi we ask for?)

[moarfoodpls-blog]

Ikemen Ramen Bar (Calgary, AB)

We had originally planned to go to Shikiji instead for ramen, only to arrive at the restaurant and discover it was closed on Mondays. Racing against the pangs of hunger, we blindly decided to head to any ramen store that was close by. Ikemen met that criteria, but we probably would have thought twice about it if we had known how problematic parking would be.

Free street parking was next to impossible to find because it was located on a street that reminded me distinctly of Whyte Avenue in Edmonton - the style of the surrounding stores, pubs, and restaurants were all very similar. After some agonizing about the lack of parking space, we ended up in the back alley behind the restaurant looking for a spot that wouldn’t get our car towed. We found their designated parking spot eventually to the north side of the building and managed to ease into an extremely awkward angled parking spot with cement curbs on both sides. It was the first time either of us had seen a parking spot designed like this, but it definitely made sure we stayed between the lines…

Once we got into the restaurant, we were seated immediately and handed menus. The tables were about 40% full and that suited us just fine because it kept noise levels low. The menu itself definitely could have offered more selection (they only had 7 varieties of ramen), but there were a few that we wanted to try. Pricing wasn’t unreasonable at between $11-$15 a bowl and seemed to be decided by the toppings used in each bowl. The Shio Ramen I ordered was at the low end of this price range, whereas Matt’s Roasted Tomato Seafood Ramen came in at the high end. Since Matt’s a sucker for chicken karaage, we ordered it as an appetizer.

Karaage Chicken

We didn’t have to wait too long for the appetizer to arrive, and I was grateful for this because I was getting pretty hungry. The chicken karaage looked and tasted fantastic. Matt and I really enjoyed the way they prepared the dish. The karaage we usually order comes out like a single slab cut into strips, but this version looked a lot more like popcorn chicken and was very convenient for dipping. The sauce itself was tasty and had a good shot of garlic in it. Additional bonus points to Ikemen for bringing out our main meal before we had actually finished the appetizer ‘cus we aren’t fans of waiting in between dishes.

Huge Bowls   Roasted Tomato Seafood Ramen | Shio Ramen

The ramen bowls themselves were gigantic. I have never eaten out of a ramen bowl (or maybe any kind of bowl) that was quite this big. Of course, it was a little less overwhelming (and potentially more disappointing) once we realised the bowl was only about ½ to ⅔ full, but it was still pretty neat that they used wooden boards with bowl cut-outs to carry the bowls to each table because the bowls are way too big to carry in a single hand. We also noticed pretty soon that the toppings were pretty skimpy as far as meat and vegetables go; I had the most pathetic piece of kale in my bowl as a garnish of some kind and only two pieces of each type of meat. Matt’s seafood mix was a decent variety, but again, lacking in quantity.

Where Ikemen really outdid themselves was their broth. Both the shio and the roasted tomato soup bases tasted fantastic, and it’s a rare occasion where you find me consciously drinking the soup instead of just coming across it with my noodles. Although the bowl was oversized, the ratio of noodles to soup was spot-on and we both left the restaurant full and happy.

Overall Experience: 8.5/10

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 10/10

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Tasty Choice (Edmonton, AB)

Tasty Choice is our go-to when we want a fast, affordable, and legitimately tasty meal in the south side. Matt and I tend to default to Tasty Choice when we’re catching an evening showing of a movie at South Edmonton Common because we know wait times for a table are practically non-existent and we can be in and out within 30-40 minutes. While bubbletea and their dessert-style crepes are what first brought us to Tasty Choice, we now only tend to stop by for an actual meal.

Orders are placed at the counter and are brought out to your table. You can choose to tip or not - either is acceptable as this is more of a fast-dining setting. The menu is a huge, laminated booklet with cartoony text and some helpful pictures to tip you off as to what different dishes look like. Some of their most popular items are starred in the menu, and they have a discounted feature item for every day of the week (except Sundays, as they are closed). The menu itself is really interesting to flip through because of the sheer volume of different drinks and dishes that you can order. All of the prices are very reasonable, although I have noticed that some prices have gone up in the last year or so to keep up with inflating food prices. The business itself is clearly family-owned, and there’s something comforting in knowing that a mother is cooking my meal - maybe because it makes me feel a little less guilty about what I’m eating.

Our two favourite hot food items are the Hokkaido House Special Noodle Soup ($9.99) and the Tasty Platter ($13.99? May have gone up by now).

Together, these two dishes are more than enough to fill us up every time. We can come in with empty stomachs and have trouble finishing the noodles, although we never seem to struggle with the platter of deep-fried goodies...Matt really does love his deep-fried foods, though. I have to give them some serious props for the flavouring of the broth for their noodle soup. It isn’t too salty or too oily, but it also doesn’t skimp on the umami flavour. Toppings are extremely generous, and there’s a great balance between the amount of noodle and the topping. Generally there’s always at least 2 of each kind of topping, so it’s perfect for two people to share. As far as ramen goes (because that’s the kind of noodles you get here), this is probably some of the best I’ve had in the city.

Another perk to visiting Tasty Choice is their use of the iRedeem rewards program. It’s totally free to sign up and you can do so at the till. After you sign up, you’ll frequently get vouchers for Tasty Choice that can include 10% off your entire order or even a free bubble tea with your next food order. It seems to be a fairly recent program so we haven’t had a chance to redeem any of these vouchers yet, but we’re definitely planning to use one next time we go in. If you haven’t stopped by Tasty Choice yet, give it a try!

Overall Impression: 9/10 (Have to ding them for once serving a few raw pork spring rolls to us, which is actually a food safety hazard. They promptly disposed of it and re-served us 100% cooked ones.)

Value: 10/10

Taste: 10/10

Service: 10/10

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Bua Thai (Edmonton, AB)

For our parents’ anniversary, us kids decided to take them out to try some thai food. As a family, we usually go for 10-course meals whenever we go out to eat (which is only for special occasions), but in a bid to try something new, we ended up at Bua Thai on a Friday evening. Located just south of Jasper Avenue on 113 street, parking at this restaurant can be a nightmare if the cramped lot behind it is full because of its location in the downtown area. Luckily, we managed to score some spots by arriving just as some earlier diners were pulling out of the lot.

We had a reservation for ten and were seated immediately as we entered. The restaurant was very small and clearly wasn’t set up to handle large groups of people, so unfortunately, the only area available for a group of our size was directly in front of the washrooms. And I mean, my grandmother sat literally 3-4 feet from the entrances of the washrooms. Having said that, we weren’t hit by any noxious fumes during our meal, so either the place was well ventilated or we just got very lucky. In this case, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Each of us had the opportunity to select a dish from the menu. I opted for the pad thai/Phat Thai ($18.99), as they called it (which is totally cliché, I know, but you usually can’t go wrong), while Matt immediately zoned in on the green curry. Their menu can be overwhelming because they use the thai dish names and include the English translation in brackets; for my ESL parents, it was pretty tough for them to make their way through and decide what they wanted. Kudos to the waitress for being patient when my parents ended up asking her some questions and for being quick to check with the chef which dishes had fish sauce in them because Matt is mildly allergic.

It took a while before the food started to come out, but for the most part, everything came at around the same time. We were extremely disappointed with how small every dish was - given that we had a big group, each person only got a few bites of each dish before it was completely depleted. The curries ($17.99 each) were all extremely mild and, although tasty, the yellow beef curry outshone its green cousin in both oomph and colour. The pad thai and lemon grass porkchop were delicious, although I confess I did not try the salad at all because I’m not into salad when we go out to eat...generally, Matt and I heavily favour cooked, meat-based dishes and, if it’s raw, it better be sashimi.

  Left: Waterfall Salad | Right: Phat Thai   Left: Green Chicken Curry | Right: Yellow Beef Curry   Left: Phuket Seafood Combination | Right: Lemon Grass Porkchop

The Phuket Seafood Combination ($24.99) in particular was spicy and unique with the addition of bamboo shoots, but it absolutely was not worth the price tag. Even the rice had to be ordered in bowls at a hefty price tag of $4.99 for just regular steamed rice, although, yes, the bowls were enough for two people to share. We liked that they had the options of coconut or sticky rice, but these came at an even higher price tag that was an immediate turn-off for us. While we finished the meal with just enough to fill our bellies, I felt like we had been cheated by the small dish sizes and high price tags. Leaving the restaurant, we all agreed that it wasn’t a bad meal, but the experience wasn’t enough to bring us back for another visit. As far as Thai food goes in Edmonton, I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant to anyone even if they felt the prices were reasonable.

Overall Impression: 6/10

Value: 4/10

Taste: 7/10

Service: 10/10

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Congee Wong (Richmond Hill, ON)

Matt and I went to Toronto for ten days around Chinese New Year to visit his family and it just so happened that Congee Wong was the only Chinese restaurant we visited. We stopped by for lunch with his parents close to the end of our stay and quickly regretted that we didn’t visit sooner because it was so good!

The restaurant was only half full when we went and we were seated very quickly. Flagging someone down to place our order and to pay our bill at the end took a bit of flailing about with our arms, but otherwise, the service was fine; whenever our tea ran low, it was refilled without us needing to flag someone down and they stopped by occasionally to ask how everything was tasting. Their menu was also quite impressive as they had such an extensive variety of dishes all mostly priced between $10-$15. They had a lobster dish on special that we unanimously agreed to order (at a special price of $19.99), and after a great deal of debating, we ended up ordering three other dishes as well. The wait for our food wasn’t long, and we were completely floored by the generous portions heaped onto each dish. I mean, the bowl of congee in particular was huge!! In Edmonton, soup for 10-course meals at Chinese restaurants is usually served in a bowl of a similar size...but we were paying ~$8 for this bowl of congee and there were only four of us. 

  Seafood Congee | Seafood Thick Rice Noodle Stirfry   Lobster Special | Pan-fried Carrot Cake

Congee Wong didn’t skimp on the seafood in any of the dishes either, and I was really happy to find that the congee wasn’t too watery or too salty - it was pretty much perfect.

The same could be said of the other three dishes. The stir-fried noodle dish wasn’t too greasy or too salty, the turnip cakes were really well done, and the lobster was both meaty and fried to perfection. I really enjoyed the way they cut the turnip cakes up into cubes to pan fry individually and get more crispy surface area on the outside - not something I’ve seen before at any Chinese restaurant in Edmonton.

We knew we had too much food on the table right off the bat, but that didn’t stop us from trying to eat everything in one go. Did we finish it all? Not a chance, although everyone’s efforts were commendable. I think we all lacked motivation from get up from the table after the meal, but after a bit of whining and struggling, we all managed to make our way out of the restaurant. On the way out, Matt’s dad suggested we return to Congee Wong for dinner that night, but we just couldn’t do it...we had had enough food in one sitting to last us the day.

Overall Impression: 10/10 Value: 10/10 Taste: 10/10 Service: 9.5/10

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Hardware Grill *Round 2 (Edmonton, AB)

Our two year anniversary rolled around, so we returned to Hardware Grill (as per tradition) having pre-planned what we were and were not going to order. Our last two visits had involved us ordering an appetizer to share and then an entree for each of us; this time, we were skipping the appetizer in favour of saving space for a few items off their dessert menu.

Every year, Matt and I have tried an entree that we haven’t had before, and this year was no different. Upon a colleague’s recommendation, I ordered the Aged Alberta Bison Striploin ($48) while Matt went for the Bacon-Wrapped Elk and Braised Beef Rib ($46). In hindsight, we had a real hankering for red meat when we ordered, and I had had an odd desire to try bison for quite a while.

While we waited for our main meal, we snacked on their complimentary bread accompanied by a Californian olive oil. The concept of dipping bread in olive oil is pretty foreign to the both of us, but by this visit, we had gotten the hang of it and could appreciate the addition of olive flavour to their breads. (It still isn’t the sort of thing you’d catch us doing at home, though.) The wait for our mains seemed to be longer than usual, but the restaurant was quite busy this time around, so that likely had something to do with it.

When the dishes arrived, we exerted some pretty impressive self control to not devour everything immediately; instead, we took our time trying each element of our dishes. I really appreciated the lack of game-y flavour to both the elk and bison meat; something about the way they had prepared it really removed all traces of that while keeping the meat as tender as possible. We both really enjoy squash as well, so we were more than happy with the butternut and acorn squash accompanying our dishes. 

  Left: Bacon-Wrapped Elk and Braised Beef Rib | Right: Aged Alberta Bison Striploin

The lobster-truffle mac n’ cheese was absolutely delicious, but also extremely heavy (well, duh), and I would have felt pretty guilty eating it if we visited Hardware Grill any more than once a year. Since that isn’t the case, we happily ate everything on our plates, all the while remarking how good everything was, and gloated about how we still had space for dessert when we asked for the menu.

And that’s where the regrets started.

The dessert menu is not particularly lengthy, but all the choices go at a rate of $12 each. We ordered two of what we thought were the tastiest-sounding items on the menu: the Chocolate Temptation and the Individual Cheesecake. 

  Left: Individual Cheesecake | Right: Chocolate Temptation

Unfortunately, both items were extremely disappointing. Not only was the taste of each dessert rather bland, but the texture of the chocolate-toffee peanut crunch bar was not entirely pleasant. Presentation was also subpar when it came to the cheesecake, and at a price of $12, it’s difficult to justify the proportion of dessert that we received.

We’re still huge fans of Hardware Grill, just not of their dessert. Next time we won’t be opting out of an appetizer because the trade off just isn’t worth it.

Overall Impression: 9/10 Value: 9/10, because we spent even more money on each dish this time around Taste: 8/10 (the desserts = :(!) Service: 10/10

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Mill Creek Cafe (Edmonton, AB)

For reasons I can’t remember, Matt and I decided to go for breakfast together one day and ended up at Mill Creek Cafe. We rarely go out for breakfast simply because it isn’t as convenient to fit into our schedules and there just aren’t that many places worth the line-up for a table. Parking at Mill Creek Cafe can be a bit unpredictable as they are limited primarily to curb parking on the side street or in the surrounding neighbourhood, so it’s worth noting that the cafe is easier to access by bus since there’s a west-bound bus stop right in front of it. We drove anyway and managed to score a parking spot outside with a 2-hour time limit (more than enough for us quick eaters), and we were grateful to be seated as soon as we walked in in one of their last available tables.

The cafe was extremely noisy given the number of people in it, but our location in a tucked away corner really helped to diminish the noise. Menus were sent our way promptly and a waitress came by quickly to ask what we wanted to order, but Matt and I had to repeatedly ask for “a few more minutes” because we just could not settle on what we wanted to eat. Prices were quite reasonable for a breakfast meal, and just about everything sounded good (including the standard fare of bacon, toast, and eggs), but eventually we managed to make up our minds by ordering the Breakfast Bowl and the Corned Beef Hash. Given that it was the Fall season, we also allowed ourselves to be coaxed into ordering an in-house blended pumpkin spice latte that really, did not taste particularly like pumpkin. The blend of spices they used was pretty light too, so the drink ended up being bland overall. Price-wise, it was something in the $3-$4 range, which is pretty standard for a latte.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Luckily, we didn’t have to dwell on the drink for too long before the food arrived. I was pretty impressed with the speed of service considering how busy the establishment was, but I guess most breakfast places have to operate quickly because people can get pretty cranky first thing in the morning before they’ve had a bite to eat..? Aesthetically, Matt’s order put mine to shame. I definitely had some doubts staring down at my corned beef hash, but once I tried it out, I really enjoyed the flavour of the corned beef combined with the crispiness of the hash. Matt’s dish definitely put mine to shame in terms of calorie load, but hey, it was totally worth it because it tasted pretty good. 

  Corned Beef Hash | Breakfast Bowl

I’m not sure I would order the corned beef hash again if we returned to Mill Creek Cafe because it ended up being too salty after eating more than a couple bites - most likely we would both just get the Breakfast Bowl or, if we’re feeling a little more adventurous, try something else on the menu. I’m also not sure I’m a fan of the whole greasy, heavy meal first thing in the morning, but who knows? Maybe some days that’s just what we all need.

Overall impression: 8/10 Taste: 7/10 Value: 8/10 Service: 9/10

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Pho Tau Bay (Edmonton, AB)

Wow, we definitely dropped off the map in terms of posting! Some of our externally hosted pictures also ended up broken in the past while, but everything seems to be back in working order. As luck would have it, we’re also back with quite a few restaurant reviews because even though we got lazy with the posts, it doesn’t mean we stopped eating (quite the opposite!). Bear with us as we try to catch up on reviews!

I was hit by an acute pho craving sometime in fall of last year and convinced Matt that we had to go for pho ASAP. After running through a few online reviews, we decided to stop by Pho Tau Bay. Located just off the main street of Chinatown, we were attracted to the restaurant by strong recommendations online; in fact, many Edmontonians identified Pho Tau Bay and Pho King as the two best pho places in the city. Despite visiting the restaurant on a random weekday, it was quite busy (although it was, admittedly, the lunch hour) and we scored one of the last few empty tables. We were served fairly promptly and we each ordered a large pho, although neither of us recall which dish we ordered exactly...it really has been too long.

Matt, however, distinctly recalls receiving tripe in his dish even though he never ordered any. Matt’s never been a fan of that variety of meat (“it has such a weird texture!” he says) so it was promptly donated to my bowl. We were quite underwhelmed by the size of the bowl - I mean, if we order a large, we expect a large. For a pho restaurant, I would actually say that these servings were on the small side and that the prices were about average for what you could get in Edmonton. The proportion of meat to noodle was mostly acceptable (minus my fishing around for tendon that was hardly there), but the proportion of soup to everything else was way too high. I mean, if you like soup, then it could be a good thing, but Matt and I don’t drink the broth directly - we just have some as we eat the noodles and toppings. One might say we don't like filler in our dishes...

Usually I feel pretty full after eating pho (especially after a large). This time, we both felt like we wanted to eat more, and not at Pho Tau Bay. All in all, we don’t see how this place could possibly be the best pho in Edmonton and we don’t plan on visiting again.

Overall impression: 6/10 Taste: 6/10 Value: 6/10 Service: N/A, can't remember anything distinct about the service.

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Kyoto Japanese Cuisine (Edmonton, AB)

Eating sushi for dinner in Edmonton can be quite a bit more expensive than eating sushi for lunch - particularly if you’re hankering for a bento box. In the case of Kyoto Japanese Cuisine, bento boxes at dinner were going for $23, so Matt and I decided we might as well drop our money on the good stuff - maki rolls. We were starting to feel the hunger pangs as we looked over the menu at the 109 street location off Whyte Avenue, so we ended up ordering a bit more than we needed...but who ever said it’s about how much we need?

We ordered the following rolls: the Isobe ($9), the Kyoto Special ($8.50), the Tsunami ($13), avocado ($13.30), and the Momiji ($12.50).

  Left: The Isobe | Right from the top: Kyoto Special, Momiji, Avocado, and Tsunami

The Isobe was cut differently from the other rolls and proved to be a great combination of salmon and tuna in a single roll. Clara had had a bad run-in with raw tuna from the downtown Kyoto location, but we’re happy to report that there were no issues this time around. The crunchy tempura exterior of the roll was also a unique departure from the others we tried and really made the Isobe stand out for us. Another roll that we would highly recommend is the Kyoto Special, which is particularly interesting in that it fuses two maki rolls into one. While smaller sized than the other maki rolls we received, the Kyoto Special is packed full with tuna, avocado, masago, and tempura shrimp that gains its edge from the spicy chili sauce added to each piece. The Tsunami was highly reminiscent of the spicy crunchy roll we had at Kinjo in Calgary but didn’t manage to beat Kinjo’s flavour and price. While the avocado roll was just as expected (this was the roll we counted on to be a safe bet in case the others were flops), it was pricier than all the other rolls we ordered and it didn’t even contain any fish. Odd. As for the Momiji (which was topped with slices of smoked salmon), we didn’t have any complaints and were happy with the combinations of flavours.

Without ordering any drinks or additional dishes, our bill ended up being around $50, which is less than what it would cost us to go out for AYCE dinner sushi in Edmonton. Seeing as how we were pretty full before we even got to the last few pieces of our maki rolls, ordering individual dishes from a menu is probably the option we’ll opt for if we ever have another sushi craving around dinner time. Kyoto has always been one of the more reliable sushi restaurants in Edmonton in terms of service and quality of their dishes, but we weren’t floored by their offerings this time around and it’s unlikely that we ever will be. Their prices are also a tad to the steep side, but they’re certainly not unreasonable when it comes to sushi in Edmonton.

Overall Impression: 7.5/10 Taste: 8.5/10 Value: 6.5/10 Service: 10/10

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Chianti Cafe and Restaurant (Edmonton, AB)

Chianti was a frequently visited restaurant during Clara’s high school years and we decided to celebrate a friend’s birthday at the Old Strathcona location on one of their “pasta frenzy” days. Pasta frenzy effectively reduces all of their pasta creations to $9.99 on Mondays and Tuesday without any changes to the size of the dish. Matt had never been to Chianti before, but Clara and our friend were pleased to discover that not much had changed since their last visit to the restaurant at least 6 years prior - we still received a complimentary basket of white bread rolls with butter before our meal, and the menu still had the same classics available for selection.

We spent ages debating about which pasta dishes to order as the selection of pastas was fairly diverse. As it turns out, we were all craving seafood and ended up ordering two linguini Mare E Montes (scallops, mushrooms, peas, and a garlic cream sauce) and a fettuccine Du Chef (spinach fettuccine, smoked salmon, mushrooms, and a cream and pesto sauce) for Matt. Additional seafood could be added for an extra $5 on top of the base price, so our friend added mussles while Matt added scallops.

  The linguini Mare E Montes (one with the addition of mussles) and the fettucine Du Chef

The portion sizes are big for $9.99, so we weren’t at all disappointed in this regard. Clara found her linguini sauce a bit runny and the dish fairly bland - especially after having a bite of Matt’s fettuccine. Maybe it was the smoked salmon in his dish that got us, but overall, the fettucine was far superior to our linguine dish. Another disappointment was the tiny size of the scallops in our dishes as we were expecting substantial portions and received only fragments of them. Matt had added them into his dish at an additional cost, but received no more or less than us.

While we were all fairly full after our pasta, we were determined to order dessert. (What kind of birthday celebration doesn’t have some kind of tooth-decaying sweets involved?) The tiramisu and Bailey’s Irish Cream cheesecake were both highly anticipated and did not disappoint in the slightest. In our humble opinions, they were the best dessert options on the menu and were about average in cost as far as desserts go. We preferred the cheesecake more than the tiramisu but the difference was really a matter of personal preference.

  Tiramisu & Bailey's Irish Cream cheesecake

Someday, we might return to Chianti to try one of their other pasta creations, but we will probably limit it to their pasta frenzy days. We aren’t fans of paying hefty prices just for pasta (Matt thinks it just isn’t worth it) and our experience was diminished by the loud ambient noise, slow service from our waitress, and stingy seafood add-ons. The table of four beside us also arrived after us but got their food ages before we did, so you can imagine how hungry we got before our own meals arrived.

Overall Impression: 6.5/10 Taste: 6.5/10 Value: 8/10 Service: 6/10

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Snack Feature: Azuki Pocky

We love sweetened azuki beans (otherwise known as red beans) in just about anything: bubble tea, moon cakes, baked buns - you name it and chances are we’re down for it. When we happened upon red bean flavoured pocky at our local T&T, we didn’t hesitate to grab a box to try despite the whopping $6+ price tag.

 The box was well-designed and sleek. It looked appealing right down until we bit into the pocky, and we were happy to discover that every stick packed some hefty red bean flavour. 

The coating also contained generous amounts of crunchy pieces that may very well have been roasted bean bits, but don’t take our word for it because we weren’t sure about anything except that it tasted great. This flavour of pocky isn’t overtly sweet and lacks the artificial flavours often associated with, say, strawberry pocky.

Once in awhile, we wouldn’t mind buying a box of these as a simple snack, but we haven’t seen it stocked again at T&T so I think reliably sourcing the product is an issue. The price is steep too, so as far as snacks go, we aren’t going to go out of our way to hunt it down if it isn’t readily available.

Overall Impression: 8/10 Taste: 10/10 Value: 6/10 Service: N/A

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Calgary: Day 3 - Silver Dragon Restaurant

You haven’t had legitimate brunch until you’ve had dim sum…! For those of you who haven’t been for dim sum before, it’s an experience that you have to have at least once in your lifetime. Dim sum is a true testament to Cantonese cuisine and is the perfect opportunity to try out some new (and sometimes intimidating) foods like chicken feet and tripe. Sounds delicious, right? Mwuahaha. To get the full experience, make sure you go to a restaurant where dim sum is provided by cart service - much like we did when we went to Silver Dragon Restaurant in the heart of Calgary’s Chinatown.

The restaurant was located on the second floor of a strip with multiple restaurants and small stores in its immediate vicinity. It was around 10:30 AM when we arrived and we weren’t particularly surprised to see that there were only two other tables with patrons in the entire restaurant; after all, it was a Monday, and dim sum can be served any time between 10 AM to …. whenever, but it depends on the restaurant. We were seated promptly and given a piece of paper with the menu items listed and columns for us to indicate which dishes/how many we wanted to order. After fifteen to twenty minutes of perusal, we were ready to order, but it just so happened that cart service was starting at that time and we were asked to give up our paper in favour of ordering come-what-may. We were mildly annoyed at this, but the annoyance faded quickly once the carts started coming around.

Usually when we go for dim sum, the restaurants have always been packed, overwhelming and somewhat chaotic. Because of this, we’re usually left staring down the carts and/or salivating as they slowly weave their way between tables to display their various wares. Silver Dragon Restaurant was a nice change from this standard in that the atmosphere was fairly quiet and service was devoid of the usual yelling required to be heard over the surrounding noise. The decor of the restaurant was also notably clean and up-scale - definitely appropriate for hosting big events for special occasions.

We are no strangers to dim sum, so we were gunning for a few of our favourites and then some: siu mai, shrimp dumplings, steamed buns (BBQ pork and lotus nut paste), steamed short ribs, and sticky rice steamed in a lotus leaf.

 Overall, the food was good. Piping hot, fresh, and average proportions.  Pricing was also about average for dim sum, although we can always go for cheaper because who wouldn’t? We’re not sure if we would visit again simply because we can find average dim sum just about anywhere, and what we’re interested in is food that goes above and beyond average.  

Overall Impression: 5/10 Taste: 5/10 Value: 5/10 Service: 5/10

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Calgary: Day 2 - Bow Bulgogi House

What you might notice as we post more and more is that we both favour ethnic foods; in particular, we are big fans of Japanese and Korean cuisines. Having visited Kinjo Sushi Bar & Grill the night before for sushi, we chose to have Korean food at Bow Bulgogi House for dinner.

The restaurant was part of a strip mall in a fairly nondescript area. Parking was limited, but we snagged a spot and entered the restaurant to find that it was fairly small, with only 3-4 tables occupied at most. The diners appeared to be regulars based on the way the waiter and hostess interacted with them; for us, this behaviour was a good sign because it indicated that the restaurant was worth more than just one trip.

We were seated promptly by a young male who very likely could have been the son of the owners, but we don’t really have a clue about who he is and only dare to make the presumption because the restaurant gave off a very strong family-run vibe. When we opened up the menus to take a look, we were surprised to discover that the restaurant was actually a Korean and Vietnamese restaurant. The menu had somewhat limited selection with a page dedicated to pho noodle soups and prices were mid-range (certainly not cheap), but we didn’t have much trouble narrowing down our order to two dishes: vegetable bibimbap and the L.A. galbi hot plate (BBQ short ribs). Although the menu didn’t list tea as an option, we asked the waiter if they had any and were happy to take up his offer of jasmine tea.

The L.A. galbi dish was served with traditional korean side dishes that were the first to arrive to the table. We were given house made nappa cabbage kimchi, pickled white radish, fried tofu, and a seasoned bean sprout dish. The kimchi was quite good, spicier than we were used to, but still tasty. The white radish and bean sprout dishes were okay, nothing special. The fried tofu was really nice and warm compared to the other dishes - a nice complement to the other side dishes.

Assorted side dishes   L.A. galbi | Bibimbap

The bibimbap was Clara’s choice and is probably one of her go-tos when it comes to eating Korean food. Unfortunately, Bow Bulgogi House didn’t offer the dolsot (hot stone bowl) option for bibimbap and we had to swallow some disappointment before ordering it anyways. The dish arrived promptly and was hot enough, but definitely lacking that crispiness you can get when your rice is just starting to burn in the hot stone bowl. We’ve had better bibimbap elsewhere though, and the portion size of this one was smaller than what we would expect usually.

The L.A. galbi was Matt’s choice after much deciding. He really likes meat dishes and after extensively mulling over the menu and side-eyeing other people’s tables (the table next to ours had 3 sizzling hot plates) found a perfect dish. The dish arrived at the same time as the bibimbap and consisted of 3 rows of 3 short ribs each, and they were cut immediately upon arriving to the table. Also arriving at the table was a bowl of fresh plain white rice. The short ribs were hot, delicious, and perfectly seasoned. However, we were left with an unappetizing bed of grease-soaked lettuce once we had finished picking all the meat off the bones.  

No desserts here, we were too full after another delicious meal.

Overall Impression: 7.5/10 Taste: 7/10 Value: 6/10 Service: 10/10

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Tony Roma’s Steakhouse (Banff, AB)

Why, oh why, did we stop at a chain restaurant that we can find in Edmonton? Well, for starters, there wasn’t that much of interest in Banff town when it came to restaurant selection. It’s a tourist location and you can bet that local pickings are going to reflect as much; however, we had driven over for the day from Calgary, it happened to be lunch time, we both had an inexplicable craving for burgers, and *insert other excuses here*.

The experience wasn’t horrible at all, but it was lukewarm at best. They had some 3-course lunch specials available, but since we wanted burgers, we decided to order burgers separately and take a shot at Tony Roma’s infamous ribs (or so we were vaguely informed) by ordering their dry ribs as an appetizer.

In hindsight, these ribs might have been a poor reflection of Tony Roma’s ability to prep and cook ribs, but we can only speak for what we got: literally dry, charred, and dinky little ribs. We haven’t seen ribs of this size used for anything except steaming in Chinese cuisines and even those are bigger. Also, what’s up with the sprinkling of raw red pepper on top? Are dry ribs considered a salad or something? At the very least, they should have roasted the red pepper if they wanted to use it for garnish. The waitress also neglected to give us any ketchup, so we ate the fries by dipping them into the ranch-like dressing on the side because the waitress didn’t appear again until our entrees had already arrived at the table.

  Left: Onion burger | Right: The Steakhouse

The wait-time for our burgers was bordering on lengthy, but not intolerable. Overall pricing was expensive for a meal of the quality and quantity we received. Our plates were both about $15, and they came with more fries than burger. The fries weren’t memorable and we’d both go for Costco or Mickey D’s fries any day, but the burgers were decent and the buns even better. They toasted those buns until crispy, but not burnt, and we appreciated this even if we couldn’t stomach their waterlogged coleslaw. Generally we both clean off our plates and hate to waste food, but the appetizer and burger was so filling we ended up tossing the coleslaw and packing up all the fries to go… none of which we ended up eating later on due to the ensuing sogginess. We blew a lot of time in the restaurant too waiting for the waitress to bring us our meals, then a takeout box so we could pack up our own stuff, and finally, our bill. Yes, the restaurant was busy, but her section wasn’t, so we weren’t very patient with her slow service.

Suffice to say that there were some serious regrets after eating at Tony Roma’s because it really wasn’t a great experience. What’s even more saddening is the fact that we didn’t have space for dessert from the renowned Cows Ice Cream store in Banff.  

Overall Impression: 3/10 Taste: 4/10 Value: 3/10 Service: 2/10

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Calgary: Day 2 - Calgary Farmers’ Market

The Calgary Farmers’ Market is a large indoor farmers market located in the south side of the city that is open for four days a week - Thursday through Sunday. Last year, we visited the market for the first time when we made a trip down to Calgary and we enjoyed it so much we decided to head back to seek out some of vendors we picked up goodies from last time.

As it was a Sunday morning, the market was quite busy, but there was ample seating space and we appreciated that the area was kept clean and tidy despite the amount of people going in and out. We planned at grabbing breakfast at Wayne’s Bagels just like we did last year - Matt ordered The Lox on an everything bagel, which is essentially a bagel sandwich with cream cheese, capers, onions, and smoked salmon. We had ordered this last year as well and it was so good we didn’t hesitate to order it again this time around; unfortunately, we forgot about the other bagel we had ordered in the past (we only knew it was also delicious) and so we decided to wild card a Turkey Club bagel sandwich as well.

While both bagels were still enjoyable, the Lox was skimpy on the cream cheese this time around and the Turkey Club didn’t strike us as being anything special; in fact, the latter reminded us of something you could order at Tim Horton’s. Is this a bad comparison? Not necessarily, but Tim Horton’s is significantly easier on the wallet than the ~$8 bagel sandwich from Wayne’s Bagels. It’s also worth noting that since Wayne’s Bagels are prepared to be reminiscent of bagels from Montreal, so they’re noticeably smaller and (in our opinion) chewier than the bagels you would get at standard fast food chains or grocery stores. Still, we picked up half a dozen (poppy seed, cinnamon raisin, blueberry, multigrain, and two everything) assorted bagels to bring home to share with our families because nobody at home is going to say no to bagels. Or any other baked good, for that matter (it’s Clara’s fault, and she won’t even deny it).

The Lox and the Turkey Club Overall Impression: 5.5/10 Taste: 6/10 Value: 5/10 Service: N/A

As you can see in the picture above, we also had a hot chocolate from Perk n’ Beans to accompany our breakfast bagels. It wasn’t bad, but also nothing special… at all… we watched a young man literally heat up Beatrice chocolate milk that he poured out of a 4 L jug, but it’s a mystery to us whether or not he added anything to it.

Overall Impression: 3/10 Taste: 4/10 Value: 3/10 Service: N/A

After breakfast, we went hunting for Beeland. This vendor last year hooked us in with some honey samples and totally sold us on what they call ‘amber honey’. The honey was recommended by the vendor as a great sweetener for tea or coffee and, since Clara’s grandmother drinks both regularly, we decided to get the honey as a gift. At the time, the amber honey was being sold at $12 for approximately 500 mL - not cheap by any means, but the flavour was so unique that we decided it was worth it. Plus, it was a gift, so we managed to justify the purchase at the time… However, this year, we arrived at the market earlier in the year and so the types of honey available were different. After scanning the shelves thoroughly, we finally accepted that there was no amber honey; instead, there was Alberta clover honey, blackberry honey, wild flower honey, and buckwheat honey (which both looked and tasted like molasses). We sampled each type and could not identify any traces of blackberry flavour in the blackberry honey, but we did enjoy the Alberta clover and wild flower honeys. The former was far sweeter at the same quantity as the other honeys (implying you could use less at a time), whereas the latter had a semi-crystallized appearance and a lighter sweetness that wasn’t as overpowering as the other honeys. We ended up buying a jar of each type in the smallest size.

  Overall Impression: 8/10 Taste: 9/10 Value: 7/10 Service: N/A

Another repeat visit of ours involved the Bon A-Pet-Treat! Pet Bakery stall. We had previously purchased bone-shaped peanut butter and banana flavoured treats for Clara’s dog, Mimi, (a bichon shih-tzu cross) that were enjoyed for many weeks. This time we decided to try a different flavour and bought a pouch of ‘seafood medley’ treats, but Mimi didn’t seem interested in these and it took a bit of coaxing before she would try eating them at all. I think next time we’ll just stick with peanut butter-based treats because all dogs love peanut butter unconditionally...right? It’s a neat little place to purchase cat and dog treats, but quite expensive to start diving into its large selection.

Overall Impression: 6/10 Taste: N/A (We didn’t want to try this one ourselves… but again, Mimi didn’t like this particular flavour) Value: 5/10 Service: N/A

Afterwards, we wandered to the far side of the market and came across Yum Bakery. The stall was one of the bigger ones and was stocked with breads out front and a display case of cakes, pastries, and macarons on the side. They happened to have macaron samples in multiple flavours available when we passed by, and while Clara isn’t a fan of macarons usually due to the tendency to be overtly sweet, she is a fan of free food...and so, we stopped to try some. And it was delicious. So delicious, in fact, that we ended up buying an assortment to bring home despite the price tag of $2 each. In our books, that’s pretty expensive given the size of one, but macarons can be difficult to make properly and these ones honestly tasted that good. Some of our favourite flavours of macarons from this bakery were the raspberry hibiscus, mango coconut, and lemon - they are an absolute must-try if you happen to stop by at this market.

Overall Impression: 9/10 Taste: 10/10 Value: 7/10 Service: N/A

Our last purchase from the market was two bags of kettle corn (two ‘small’ bags for $5 each) from the vendor just outside the market entrance. We didn’t manage to snap any pictures of the kettle corn before it was all devoured, but it’s dangerously addictive, so you’ve been forewarned!

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Calgary: Day 1 - Bubblemania

As it turns out, we still had room for more after day one, but then again, who doesn’t always have room for dessert? We are huge fans of bubble tea and will go out of our way in any given city to make a stop at a bubble tea joint. Bubblemania is a well-known bubble tea location in Calgary on 16th avenue and, for the two of us, this was our third time stopping by for our bubble tea hit. We ended up buying two drinks this time around. 

Lonely & Avocado/Taro

The first is a favourite of ours that we’ve ordered on every occasion without fail: a slushie bubble tea called the ‘Lonely’ which consists of passion fruit and mango with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. The Lonely is quite sweet for a bubble tea but would be ideal for the summer when temperatures are high and you need a drink to cool down.  Interestingly enough, their menu had a separate section for fresh avocado blended bubble teas. We are both prone to avocado cravings, so we were quick to jump on this section of the menu and try something new while we were at it. We ended up with an avocado and taro smoothie that was significantly less chilly and less sweet than the Lonely (it was only about 15ºC on this day). The smoothie also had a nutty flavour that, while unexpected, was not at all unpleasant. This place also has some food, but their menu (food and drink) is a little pricey and we were already full from our dinner at Kinjo so we didn’t order any this time. Maybe next time…? Because we’ll be back.

Overall Impression: 8/10 Value: 7.5/10 Taste: 8/10 Service: N/A

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Calgary: Day 1 - Kinjo Sushi & Grill

Ah, Kinjo...it’ll be ages before we forget what a phenomenal experience we had at this Japanese restaurant. For dinner in Calgary, we had originally planned on visiting Shikiji, another Japanese restaurant known especially for their ramen. However, when we found out they weren’t taking any more reservations for the night, we decided to head a bit further northwest to visit Kinjo instead. Kinjo wasn’t accepting reservations either, but we were quoted a wait time of about 15-20 minutes when we called them and we thought this was pretty acceptable for a Saturday evening.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were a bit apprehensive as to whether or not we would be waiting longer than expected as the restaurant’s waiting area was completely packed. Some groups were waiting outside as well, and it took a bit of jostling before we managed to make our way to the counter at the front to put down our names on a waitlist. The host and hostesses were really efficient - continuously shouting out names on the list and leading groups to tables that opened up. There was a separate cash register on the side for take-out orders, but it was a bit confusing for people who wanted to order take-away because those of us who hadn’t managed to score a seat ended up loitering in front of the counter.

Somehow, some way, we ended up being seated within the predicted 15-20 minutes. We were both impressed with the speed at which they cleared out tables and would soon discover that this speedy service extended to the presentation of the food itself. The menu is the DIY sort you would normally see at an AYCE restaurant, except both individual portion sizes (i.e. 4 pieces per roll) and prices were clearly outlined so we knew what to expect. We were also given a full-size menu with photos of every menu item to help us envision what everything would look like, as well as what each dish contained ingredients-wise. In contrast to our earlier post about the Omatsuri: Japanese Festival in Calgary, this restaurant would be highly recommended for sushi-newbies (and the most experienced sushi fanatics!) due to the detailed menu descriptions and wide selection of Japanese foods.  

We were predominantly interested in the maki rolls. In Edmonton, we’ve had a number of bad experiences with unevenly cut rolls and rolls that fall apart before being eaten; however, Kinjo presented cleanly sliced maki rolls with the perfect amount of rice. This positive quality was already evident when they presented us with a sample dish of 4 assorted maki rolls (pictured below). Matt is a big fan of chicken karaage ($5), so we ordered it as well and were especially pleased when it arrived first.

 Maki samples & Chicken Karaage

Next, our spicy dynamite soy cone ($3.49) arrived along with the spicy crunch roll ($11). The cone was unique with its orange colored soy wrapper and we realized that the flavour was a well-appreciated variation from the usual seaweed flavour. If you haven’t tried this kind of cone before, make sure to give it a shot! There will be no regrets (unless you’re allergic to soy. In which case, many regrets to be had). The spicy crunch roll was highlighted by the battered, fried squid in the middle along with the fried panko topping. While the roll definitely lives up to its name for being ‘crunchy’, the flavours weren’t as exciting as the other rolls we tried, so the next time we visit, we’d probably opt for trying a different maki roll instead.

In contrast, the crispy salmon skin roll was a great balance of varied textures and strong flavours. Clara zones in on ‘salmon skin’ whenever it’s mentioned in a Japanese menu, so passing on this roll would have been unforgivable...however, we were both really happy with how this maki roll was done. While the dynamite roll is one of the most common types of maki roll, it’s also one of the safest - this was our fallback plan, even though it turns out we didn’t even need it.

 Spicy crunchy roll, spicy dynamite soy cone, dynamite roll, and crispy salmon skin roll

Last but not least, the King of all the maki rolls we tried: the Kiss Roll. At $22, this dish combines their so-called ‘male dragon’ and the ‘female dragon’ maki rolls into one plate in a graceful and incredibly tasty arrangement.

The Ultimate 'Kiss Roll'

This was the first time we had seen a differentiation in gender for the usual dragon roll, and we highly anticipated trying both types. The male variation consisted of eel and a sort of BBQ sauce, whereas the female was a much lighter salmon. Although we wouldn't say no to the dish again, the female dragon tasted distinctively better and we will likely just order the female dragon on it's own in the future. Additional note: The vermicelli is not edible on this dish. We tried.

Final verdict for Kinjo? We will likely be back the next time we’re in Calgary despite the priciness that is nearly unavoidable this far inland when it comes to decent sushi. The food basically never stopped coming as the waiter continually cleared off plates just as he brought a fresh dish out. Including the wait time, we were in and out of Kinjo in just over an hour...and that is a true rarity on a Saturday night at any restaurant.

Overall Impression: 9.5/10 Value: 9/10 Taste: 9.5/10 Service: 10/10