elsie – Page 14 – Elsie Hui

December 26, 2018December 29, 2018

Jinya Ramen Bar – Calgary, Alberta

I often have lazy afternoons on weekends, and this one day I was not only lazy, I was starving! So, we decided to venture to 4th Street and see what kind of food we could find for lunch. We parked the car and we knew of Jinya Ramen Bar and figured if it’s too busy, we’ll go try elsewhere.

To my delight, we got seated within 10 minutes and I was really excited as I love ramen! I decided right away that I was going to have a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen which is one that I order a lot. I like to think of it as a “signature ramen” for any ramen place. When the bowl of ramen came out, it was large portion sizes, sizzling hot and there was a sign that says to enjoy by stirring up the bottom to the top. I did! It was great!

The other bowl of ramen we ordrerd was their Unami Miso Ramen and the bowl of ramen was amazing and if you ate all the noodles, you can ask for more noodles and they’ll add it to your broth for a small charge! What a fantastic idea!

We really enjoyed our Ramen here and it’s a great place to go for it, especially for it being in Calgary! The food was tasty, the service was prompt and amazing and the prices were extremely fair!

Jinya Ramen Bar

1800 4 Street SW, Unit 180,
Calgary, Alberta
(587) 356-0721

December 26, 2018December 31, 2018

Xu Hue – Edmonton, Alberta

We were driving home from Cold Lake, Alberta and wanted to take a stop in Edmonton for lunch and something lighter as we still had a few hours to go before we returned home. We decided to try a Vietnamese restaurant for some soupy pho and found ourselves at Xu Hue, where we found some street parking on the streets behind.

I sat down and wanted something hot and spicy as it was a rainy day and it rained on us on and off at Cold Lake for the airshow. I decided I wanted my favourite dish, Bun Bo Hue and I asked for it “not so spicy” so I wouldn’t get a tummy ache during the adventure home.

This restaurant had some very unique items that we’ve never seen on a Vietnamese restaurant menu and I wish we had the opportunity to try more, but there’s always next time. We asked the manager what Duck Congee was and his face lit up when explaining it. It was really different so I’m glad it’s something we tried. The item came in 2 portions, the first section was the congee which was a great congee base with lots of flavour. It was far from boring and if this was all we got, we would have been very satisfied.

Almost immediately after came what the manager called Duck Salad, and that was a plate of duck! It was really odd! This salad had lots of greens and toppings on and we weren’t actually sure how to eat it. The manager told us to put the salad in the congee or eat it on the side. So, we did both. It was amazing! It was light, it wasn’t heavy, it was sort of refreshing. We really enjoyed this!

This experience was extremely memorable. We eat out for Vietnamese all the time and this one just stuck in my head. Last week, we were in Edmonton and when we drove by, I made the comment of the “duck congee”, so it’s great it’s on my radar!

Xu Hue

10548-97 Street,
Edmonton, AB
(780) 426-7775

December 26, 2018December 31, 2018

Bear Street Tavern – Banff, Alberta

I’ve walked through Banff a million times and it was a coworker I worked with (even if we’re in different companies) told me to try Bear Street Tavern as he often enjoyed his pizza here and loves bringing his family here to eat.

We came on a busy summers afternoon, and the wait wasn’t too ridiculous. We asked for a table on the patio which helped with the waiting time as it was a super hot day. We had a nice drink and then came some oil and vinegar which was for dipping our pizza crust.

My coworker did tell me about this and that it was his favourite part so I was excited to try this with my pizza. We ordered their special, the Maui Wowie Pizza which is their spicy Hawaiian pizza. The food pizza was amazing and the dips for crust really elevated this “pizza eating experience”!

Our overall experience was one to remember and now everytime I walk past here, I make the comment of “I love the pizza’s here!” I’m thankful I got introduced to this little gem off main street!

Beat Street Tavern

211 Bear Street,
Banff, AB
(403) 762-2021

December 22, 2018December 31, 2018

Tuk Tuk Thai – Calgary, Alberta

We were at work and wanted something unique for lunch. All the places that delivered didn’t do it to our area, including Tuk Tuk Thai which she was really craving. So, we decided to hit this place up after work.

We lucked out that we got a parking spot pretty close to the front of the restaurant and the place wasn’t busy. It was a simple menu with fantastic service and great explanation of the menu and food. I decided to try their Cashew Chicken which was a generous portion of crispy chicken, greens, carrots and cashews with sweet & sour chili sauce all over rice. The presentation was extremely beautiful and it opens into a beautiful plate. The food was phenomenal as well.

I also ordered their Thai iced tea, and that was pretty amazing as well. It was a well flavoured tea that wasn’t too sweet or too strong. It was actually just right. We also had an order of Pad Thai which they had a huge portion of rice noodles, with chicken and pad thai sauce. The portions were extremely generous again and the food was hot and tasty.

Overall, it was an extremely enjoyable experience here, with great view outside, great food, and great company. I can imagine this place being crazy busy on a summers night, or a day where everyone just wants to do take out as there’s lot of residential buildings around. I really enjoyed the Thai food from here!

Tuk Tuk Thai

636 17 Avenue SW,
Calgary, AB
403-455-0999

November 11, 2018November 11, 2018

Redwater Rustic Grille – Calgary, Alberta

I received a gift card for the Redwater Rustic Grille, so naturally I had to use it! I’ve been to this restaurant and this location a gazillion times as I use to work within walking distance to here, but I’ve never once did anything with this location besides “business meeting” here. Well, now that I’m here for a personal experience, I decided it’s finally ok to do it! Luckily for me, the late afternoon visit, I knew no one here so it was truly a customer experience now!

We started our dining experience with Crispy Calamari, a generous portion size of calamari arrived at our table, and it wasn’t as crispy as I would like it but it was extremely tender without losing the texture of calamari. It was very delicious especially dipped in their Cucumber Cumin Yogurt sauce with a squeeze of lemon.

As this was a meal that wasn’t either lunch or dinner, I decided to order their Chorizo Rigatoni, which is a plate of their awesome house made sausage with peppers and tomato, with tomato sauce over rigatoni! I ordered their half portion and it was still extremely filling. The sausages were amazing and had tons of flavour, the casing wasn’t tough, and everything was perfect.

We also had to order some meat. I need meat otherwise, I don’t get full. So, we had ordered a Braised Pork Shank which sounds absolutely ridiculous, and it was! Ridiculously amazing! It was just what it says it was, and it was fall off the bone, tender, juicy, and massive! It was only $25 as well!!

Overall, the experience here was fun! The staff was great, the food was amazing, the prices were extremely reasonable! It’s no wonder why we use to come here for business so much!

Redwater Rustic Grille

9223 Macleod Trail SE
Calgary, AB
403-253-4266