Dinner – Page 19 – Elsie Hui

November 10, 2014

Shimizu – Oakland, California

We arrived into San Franciso one evening and by the time we got out of rush hour, 2 hours had gone by and we were starving. We heard about a decent place in Piedmont that wasn’t bad called Shimizu so we went there. The place was still very busy on a late weeknight!

We started with miso soup. As weird as this sounds, I’m not sure if we ordered it. It arrived on to our table and we drank it! It was really quite flavourful and the pieces of tofu was really silky and kind of sweet.

We got an order of Hamachi Kama which is grilled yellowtail fish, but just it’s collar. They did a wonderful job grilling it here and there was actually a lot of meat on our portion! We were pleasantly surprised and we all ate a good piece of it!

Of course when it comes to my favourite, the Hokkigai, once I see it on a menu – I get it! We got 4 pieces and it was wonderful! Usually I’m use to a portion of just half a hokkigai and the restaurant would call it “one piece”. Here, they actually use 1 surf clam for each piece of sushi! I was blown away and I ate it all up (pretty much!) It was sweet and the texture was really nice – plus they cleaned it well!

We then ordered a plate of Assorted Sashimi which was 18 pieces of chef selected sashimi. The pieces were large and fresh and they all tasted great! The selection was pretty good as well.

The last thing we ordered was their Double Salmon Roll which was a salmon and avocado roll, topped with salmon! This roll was spectacular and the salmon was really tasty! Everything was really fresh and the flavours complimented each other with nice taste and textures – and salmon was definitely the highlight of this roll!

Overall, the prices were really good, especially for this area. The atmosphere was really nice and the service was really friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the freshness of the food and the portion sizes. What a great experience!

Shimizu

4290 Piedmont Ave
Oakland, CA
(510) 653-7622

October 30, 2014

Saltlik – Calgary, Alberta

We were in downtown one evening looking for something when we decided we’ll have dinner there as well. We found ourselves walking straight into Saltlik Steakhouse where we have been here about 10 years ago and figured we would try it again.

We ordered some starters, what they called Almost Famous Dry Ribs which were ribs with a spicy honey glaze. The sauce was absolutely delicious and although it wasn’t “dry”, it was still excellent ribs.

Since we knew we walked into a steakhouse, it would be foolish of us to not order steak. I had their Prime Sirloin with their soup of the day which was Beef Barley soup. The steak was cooked to perfection, tender and juicy with awesome char marks and great smoke flavour.

My husband ordered their Ribeye Steak with Rosemary butter on top. It was a great cut of steak and also cooked really well. Absolutely tender and juicy and seasoned to perfection. The butter was almost unnecessary! He ordered his meal with their fully stuffed baked potato which had perfectly crisp bacon on top which was the highlight of the potato!

Overall, a fantastic experience, a wonderful evening with great food, great atmosphere and great company! It was almost the perfect night! The prices was very reasonable and the top notch quality made it a great re-visit! It’s nice to know they are doing things right and still doing so great after 10 years (our first visit)

Saltlik Calgary

101 8 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 537-1160

October 30, 2014

Golden National Family Restaurant – Calgary, Alberta

I was really excited to see a new Chinese Restaurant pop up and it’s called Golden National which is a restaurant family owned and operated that began in High River. As we all know, I love small town Chinese/Western restaurants so I was really excited to come here and try it out – in the city!

We started with some Fried Chicken Wings which was really awesome! Although it seemed a little strange that both the middle piece and the drum was still attached together, it was really tasty! It was battered the perfect amount, fried nicely in clean oil to a perfect crisp, yet still juicy inside and then seasoned just enough for it to taste great but still have chicken flavour! My husband loved this and pretty much ate the entire dish.

We then ordered some Wor Wontons as it’s been a new trend that I do… I order it and see how much I like it. This one, I really loved. The soup was flavourful, the wontons was large and full of flavour. It was a generous portion and nothing to complain about.

Then, we ordered their Shanghai Noodle with Chicken, B.B.Q Pork, Shrimp and Szechuan Sauce which was a unique type of Shanghai noodles as those don’t normally have shrimp and it’s not normally spicy. This plate was delicious and no matter how spicy it got, we just kept eating it. It was addicting so we left absolutely stuffed and really satisfied.

Overall, the prices are really fair here with nice portion sizes and great food quality. Cleanliness and quality is important to them and I see great success if they keep it up! A special note, we ordered tea and they actually use really nice tea leaves – so fragrant and wonderful. The tea does cost $2/person which seems high, but it’s really nice tea. We’ll be returning and recommending this place to family and friends!

Golden National Family Restaurant

3 High Street SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 257-9777

October 26, 2014

Athena Pizza and Spaghetti House – Banff, Alberta

We’ve been wanting to try Athena Pizza and Spaghetti House for quite some time now as they’ve been here for over 30 years – it shows us they’re doing something right. Located right by the Clock Tower Mall, on the 2nd floor, they’ve got a good sized space for pizza!

One of my favourite pizza’s is the Hawaiian Pizza so I ordered myself a small pizza. It’s actually pretty big for it’s size, but probably right for it’s price. At $15.50, this pizza has lots of Canadian bacon and pineapple on it. It’s got a nice crust that is sturdy enough to hold the toppings without being thick or greasy. It’s a good pizza!

The last thing we enjoyed was their Oven Baked Lasagne which had thin lasagna pieces with a rich meaty homemade sauce, topped with cheese – and then baked in the oven. The garlic toast that it came with was absolutely delicious and I would probably order another slice of it if I didn’t have an entire pizza!

Overall, it was a great place to eat! The food was good, the pizza was decent and the pasta was terrific. The prices were a little high for what it was, but the quality of food made up for it. The service was quick and friendly.

Athena Pizza and Spaghetti House

112 Banff Ave
Banff, AB
(403) 762-4022

October 23, 2014

Wendy’s Pulled Pork Sandwich & Poutine Review

I had the opportunity to try Pulled Pork at Wendy’s as it’s their promotion that is going on. I knew for sure I wanted to try their Pulled Pork Sandwich as I love pulled pork sandwiches as they’re usually very messy and delicious. This one was definitely messy and it was quite delicious, although the pork itself could’ve been a bit warmer in temperature.

The sandwich is topped with the sauce of your choice, either smoky, sweet or spicy. We choose the smoky because it’s more “authentic” in our eyes. It was a nice sauce with tons of flavour – but it was kind of like bbq sauce. The coleslaw wasn’t very marinated yet and it was crisp and fresh though. It added nice texture to the sandwich. The bun was a brioche bun which was an excellent choice as it stood up the the sloppiness of this sandwich – the bun held up the entire time, although pork was falling out.

We also ordered their Pulled Pork Poutine as we wanted some fries. Poutine usually has gravy and cheese curds on top, and semi melted. Here, the pulled pork wasn’t hot enough for whatever reason was what we figured out, so the cheese was still really cold, instead of soft or gooey. The flavours was awesome though, we really enjoyed it and we would have enjoyed it a lot more with it being hotter. I did find there was too much onions on top – so I did fling some aside to make it more enjoyable of a side dish.

Overall, it was a fantastic dining experience and we thoroughly enjoyed the pulled pork from Wendys. I probably won’t change anything at all as it was really quite tasty. I’m sure we’ll be getting the poutine again – and it seems like some people call them cheese fries! Which ever they’re called, they’re delicious and would be spectacular if actually hot in temperature!