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Han Corea – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve recently started a new job and my co-workers here now know I love food. They’ve given a huge array of things to try and places to go as I’m in a new area of the city and really know nothing. A handful of people have now told me to go to Han Corea and report it to them after the weekend – so here we are! This little place is busy, and it can be a bit hard to find as it’s a small place. I only found it due to the amount of vehicles going in and out of the parking lot.

Once we ordered our food, a selection of kimchi dishes arrived to our table. They didn’t have a lot, but a good variety. They did ask if we wnated more after I devoured it. I actually love kimchi and I often have a tub in my own fridge. I eat it after work, I eat it with rice, I eat it everywhere!

One of my absolute favourite Korean dishes is Japchae and to my shock, they didn’t have it here! It honestly was what I was going to have but I ended up getting a bowl of rice and their order of So Bulgogi where their Korean ribs are made with their Korean sauces and grilled. I love making Korean ribs so it’s so much fun to taste different recipes. This one was really tender and well seasoned. The aroma when it came to the table really made everyone look! It was fantastic!

Something we don’t typically order is a tofu stew and this time it was a new place and new everything – so an order of Soondubu-Jjigae was ordered and it had the silkiest tofu in this hot soup that we ladled over rice. It’s was the perfect winter dish as it was warming from the inside out.

Overall this place was very enjoyable and I now know I can listen to some of my guys recommendations! It’s close by as well so if I was feeling very adventurous over lunch hour, who know, maybe I’ll do a take out!

Han Corea

7008 Farrell Rd SE,
Calgary, AB
403-255-6542

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Caltons Chinese Restaurant – Calgary, Alberta

Recently we celebrated a non so pleasant event and this was a small gathering for a month later. We got invited to dinner at Caltons Chinese Restaurant which was just off McKnight Blvd in the Northeast. There was plenty of parking which always makes it easier for me.

This was funny as we sat down and all 6 of us just said we wanted Salt and Pepper squid and we laughed and said we’ll eat an order each. Of course that’s not what we ended up doing, but I’m sure we are all silly enough to do it! We did order one portion and it was really tender squid, and not overly battered with a good amount of flavours.

We ordered a more traditional Chinese dish as we knew we would need to eat our veggies although none of us likes it. We had some Sweet pea sprouts in soup and I’m not even sure how to translate that – but that’s what we had. I like sweet pea sprouts so I ate it!

The hosts of this event wanted to have some chicken, and we all eat chicken to the bone and so we ordered their Garlic Crispy Chicken which had a nice thin crispy skin and was done really well!! These chef’s/cooks here really know their traditional cooking techniques which I appreciate it!!

My next dish I want to talk about is actually different, and I can’t seem to find it on their regular menu, so it must be only on their Chinese menu. If you’ve had lobster in a cream sauce over noodles, this is a “cheaper” take on it, and I think they called it Mixed Seafood in White Cream Noodle. Yes, we ordered it because of everything that is going through your mind. BUT the white cream sauce was amazing and it coated the noodles well. The seafood was all the white seafood, so it was a pale dish but tasty!

As every event dinner ends with noodles and rice, we ordered their House Special Fried Rice which was also yummy!! It’s standard, but no complaints is a great thing!

From what we were doing and what we brought to dinner with us, the staff at the restaurant knew what we were celebrating and they even got us complimentary dessert which was their Osmanthus Goji Berry and it was a really nice way to end the dinner.

Caltons Chinese Restaurant

5010 4 St NE #14
Calgary, Alberta
403-275-8181

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Kiwa Korean – Calgary, Alberta

We wanted to go find a dinner spot that was a little more special for 4 people that was opened for dine-in. Korean was on the top of our minds as I kept making fun of my good friend that I’ll force feed him kimchi. We found ourselves going to Kiwa Korean in a strip plaza just off Deerfoot Trial.

We wanted to order everything, but we started with their Seafood Pancake which was full of seafood and the pancake was light and fluffy that they call Haemul pajeon. It was delicious alone with a nice crispy exterior and perfectly executed pancake with tons of octopus and other seafood, yet still held together.

I’m not sure where Miso Soup came from as I don’t recall ordering it and I associate that with Japanese food, but it was a wonderful thing to have, like a hot tea! It wasn’t salty like a lot of places, but it was still flavourful.

One thing that I eat a lot of, and always eat is Japchae and it doesn’t matter what’s in it, who made it, it’s one of those things I just can’t turn down (even if it doesn’t taste good). Luckily for me, it tasted amazing here and I couldn’t stop eating it. I don’t share well, but this one was a nice balance of me eating it all up and sharing!

Then BBQ ribs is something we like to eat, and it’s one of those weird things that I associate as “easy to make” but I never make it. I’ve made it for a work potluck before and it was a hit. I will admit they made it better here as their Galbi Ribs was so tender, and had great grill flavour.

The last thing we ordered is another common and popular dish, Beef Bulgugi which was perfectly done! The soft and tender bulgugi was fragrant and thin, and had lots of grill flavour!

Overall, an amazing little Korean place we stumbled up and it was really delicious! There was ample parking, the service was amazing, and the food was exceptional!

Kiwa Korean

6626 4th Street NE
Calgary AB
587-880-4489

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Pho Thanh Nga – Calgary, Alberta

We eat a lot of Vietnamese food and somehow we stumbled into Pho Thanh Nga which was perfect. The place was busy but there was still a lot of parking available.

I was starving so we ordered an appetizer and got their Pork Spring Rolls which was pretty tasty! Simple but traditional! The skin was really thin and crispy and it was jammed pack with flavours and pork!

One thing I really like is egg pie, and one of my coworkers Mav made me his version homemade. I’ve never had anything as tasty or wonderful but there isn’t harm trying to find a location that can even come close. All the places he recommended for me isn’t like his homemade, but just finding a place that makes it is amazing. So, I had to order their Grilled pork, egg pie on rice and I was a very happy girl even though it didn’t come close to Mav’s. I can’t even request him to make me more as I fill his day with all sorts of random stuff already.

We also ordered their Satay Beef Noodle Soup as it’s perfect for a chilly day. The soup base was flavourful and there was so much meat and rice noodles! It was delicious!

I quite enjoyed this place. It’s not far from home, but maybe one day I’ll make it my go-to place even though I have a few other places I find myself returning to regularly!

Pho Thanh Nga

356 Cranston Rd SE #6002,
Calgary, AB
403-457-3805

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Zip’s Drive In – Spokane Valley, Washington

It’s not a strange thing for us to pull over and eat something amazing, and this time we stopped at Zip’s, which is a local drive-in chain offering delicious and massive burgers!

We weren’t here for a long time, but I opted for a pretty big and AMAZING burger, with my favourite, a Strawberry Milkshake that was rich and thick and creamy – just the way I know them to be. My burger was Belly Buster Burger, with bacon, ham, beef patty and some veg. It was amazing and very filling!!

Overall, it was a very retro space, and the place felt greasy. I felt greasy after the food, but I ate it all and pretty much passed out when we got to the hotel to call it a night!

Zip’s

6525 E Broadway Ave,
Spokane Valley, WA
509-534-7904