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Colonial Fusion Cuisine – Calgary, Alberta

We drove by Quarry Park randomly and saw Colonial Fusion Cuisine and immediately we knew it was a location we wanted to try. We were excited about fusion restaurants as we always hear about them, yet we never go in to try. The fusion was a mix between Vietnamese plus Thai and some French, which is kind of awkward if you think about it – but they seem to make it work with subtle modifications to traditional Vietnamese recipes for most items on the menu.

We started the evening with Mango Salad Rolls which takes a spin off your regular Vietnamese Salad rolls, as the rice papers are stuffed with mango, prawns, vermicelli, vegetables and herbs. It also comes with a coconut hoisin sauce to dip. This starter is really different as you do taste the mango, but it is a delicious combination of mangoes into the traditional rolls. I actually didn’t taste any coconut in the dipping sauce, so the coconut taste was really subtle against the mango. It is really light and refreshing appetizer.

For the main course, I ordered Caramelized Salmon – salmon with fish sauce and jalapenos, severed with rice and vegetables. The salmon was cooked perfectly, and it tasted so good, I ended up just eating the entire piece of salmon! 🙂 It had the perfect amount of heat and sweetness what was really special!! Great flavours, and great dish altogether!

We ordered the Mahogany Quail which is quail glazed in honey, garlic, onions, coconut juice and served with coconut rice. This dish was quite far from ordinary, which was really special! the quail was chopped into quarters, and smothered in their honey garlic sauce, with sauteed onions! This dish, you definitely had to eat with your hands, and the waitress realized that and brought us a bowl of water, with a beautiful flower floating in the bowl for us to wash our hands. The rice and the sauce that was eaten afterwards went in perfect harmony as well!! In more traditional Vietnamese locations, the quail would just be deep-fried so it’s crispy. Their spin here was the sauce which was really delicious!

Curry Stir-Fry with Chicken and vegetables served with rice was the last entree that we had, and it was really flavourful. The bowl of curry was really large, and it wasn’t filled with all sauce. It almost seemed like the pile of rice was too small for the amount of curry that was given! The chicken was tender and juicy, and had great flavours of curry, and a hint of ginger.

We ended our night with Iced Coffee which was really different than the traditional iced coffee. In my optional, in this case, I prefer the normal iced coffee. This glass was filled with ice, and it didn’t have sweet condensed milk, which is what I like!

We ordered dessert, a Mango Creme brulee which was your typical creme brulee, but with mango puree. I can’t say that I would get this dessert again, as it wasn’t a nice brulee texture. It wasn’t smooth, creamy and thick. It was like a pudding with a sugar topping, instead of a custard. They probably put too much milk or cream in, but it tasted a lot like mangoes! 🙂

Overall, this is a very fancy Vietnamese restaurant, and the seating, ambiance and quality of food was really good. The price tag to the dishes seemed a little high for what it is, but we had a wonderful experience. In actuality, I’m undecided if I will return! Go figure…

Colonial Fusion Cuisine

163 Quarry Park Blvd. SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 723-6669

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Salt & Pepper Mexican Restaurante – Calgary, Alberta

We were wandering around Inglewood one sunny afternoon, actually for the Inglewood Sunfest and we were a little sad that there wasn’t too many street vendors or anything like that. So, we ended up popping into Salt & Pepper for lunch instead.

The place had a nice line-up, as it should since it was a sunny weekend afternoon after all! The line moved really quickly despite the speed of service. So, we got seated in no time! To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Mexican cuisine as I’m not a huge “bean” eater. I’m not sure why, but I don’t really like them… so, I normally just eat “what I ordered” and throw out the rest! 🙂 As I did on this day as well.

The service was a little odd, as I would have to say our waitress was really slow. It’s always funny to me how tables that come in and sit after me gets served their water first, and their order taken first. Oh well, it’s all good, since we were in no hurry at all.

I ordered Las Enchiladas which I chose chicken enchiladas with a tomato & basil sauce. It was really good actually! 🙂 I know, I’m suppose to get it with the mole sauce, but I really won’t eat it, and that’s much more of a waste! The enchiladas from Salt & Pepper was really fresh, and the meat was really tender and juicy. I was able to eat all 3 of the enchiladas with just my fork.

We also tried the Chuletas de Cerdo Adobadas which was Grilled pork chops with our own spicy adobo. The actual pork chop was really thin piece, and was a little over cooked. It was quite tough – instead of juicy and tender, but the flavours were there, and so we gobbled it up anyway!

Overall, I did enjoy the atmosphere, as there was live music which was a special treat! The sun was out with a little breeze, so the patio was a great choice! The food, I will have to say was mediocre, but I must remember it was a really busy day – so perhaps they had difficulties keeping up? With entrees between $10-$15, I would’ve expected more, but that of course is just my opinion. And, who knows, maybe it’s just me, as I’m not the bean eater…

Salt & Pepper Mexican Restaurante

1413 – 9 Avenue SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 265-5739

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Red Lobster: Crabfest – Calgary, Alberta

Crabfest is an event that Red Lobster put on annually, and this year, the commercials attracted me more than ever – so I went to try Crabfest for the first time! We didn’t order any starters or anything, but

Red Lobsters is wonderful for their Biscuits which is always buttery, garlicky and delicious! Of course, I inhaled almost all of those before anything else came!

For a drink, I wanted a nice drink, but alcoholic free as I am almost certain I am allergic to alcoholic. I ordered the Strawberry Smoothie which was a wonderful drink, and I would recommend it to all the kids, and people who don’t drink alcohol. It was really refreshing and full of strawberry flavour. Well, in actuality, it is called Sunset Strawberry which is a “Sail Away Smoothie“.

We ordered a Snow Crab & Roasted Garlic Seafood Bake which was 1 full pound of steamed snow crab legs paired with tender shrimp and sea scallops roasted in a garlic and white wine broth. Served with sweet corn on the cob and red potatoes. The steamed snow crab was fantastic, and it was really fresh! As we’re cracking through the shells, it snaps so easily! For crustaceans, if the shells are soggy or they don’t “crack” it’s really not fresh! But, I was really surprised how fresh, and how much food we got with this seafood bake! Even the shrimp and scallops were bigger and better too! The corn was really sweet and infused in the seafood broth – which was wonderful!

We also ordered Crab Crusted Tilapia which had fresh tilapia topped with a creamy blend of sweet crab meat, Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs, then baked crispy and golden. Served with fresh broccoli. I really didn’t care much for this dish, as I’m not a fan of Parmesan cheese. I eat a lot with my nose and eyes, and I just can’t stand the smell of Parmesan cheese. It was worse when I tried another bite after the dish was cold.

The last thing we tried was the Red Lobster – Seaport Lobster & Shrimp and this was really good. It was a plate with a fire-grilled split Maritime lobster tail, savory garlic shrimp, and a skewer of jumbo garlic grilled shrimp. I got this over some mashed potatoes. The lobster tail was really good and fresh. The garlic shrimp was not my favourite at all. It was soggy/mushy and just in a little tub of garlic butter. The shrimp that was on the skewer was a million times better, both taste and texture!

By the end of the night, there was no room for dessert! We have had dessert from Red Lobster before, and it’s good, but it’s not worth filling ourselves up to the brim. Overall, a super satisfied night with family over really good seafood.

Red Lobster

6100 Macloed Trail
Calgary, AB
(403) 252-8818

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Wasabi Japanese Restaurant Ltd

I’ve recently been introduced to Wasabi right on 16th Avenue, and it’s a great little location! The fish is fresh and good, and the prices aren’t bad either! We came for dinner, and the service was quick too!! But, you must make sure you’re receiving everything you’ve ordered, as they almost forgot to give us our salmon roe. At least they didn’t make a huge fuss about it, they just quickly made it for us. They didn’t apologize or anything, as I think in the back of their mind, we ate it and we’re trying to get more… regardless, there wasn’t any problems, and that’s the main part.

We weren’t too impressed with the rolls though… they looked almost the same as we ordered the Dynamite Roll and a Wasabi Special Roll. We actually asked them if we got them both, and she said yes! But, I guess that was our mistake as one of them had shrimp and the other one just seemed to be stuffed with avocado (Wasabi Special Roll)… The Dynamite roll has shrimp tempura and avocado, and the Wasabi Special roll was avocado, salmon, and cucumbers.

We started the evening with a nice bowl of Miso Soup which wasn’t bad! It wasn’t overly salty like some other places, it was just right! Then, we had our plate of BBQ Squid which was a tad over-cooked which made it a bit chewy but the flavour was so good, it was such a minor detail – we ate the whole thing up! (or maybe I did!)

Following that, came our plates of sushi!! Yay!! We ordered things like Hokkigai, which was not only my favourite, but it was one of the items for a dollar! It made it extra good! We also enjoyed rolls and sashimi – both Salmon and Tuna and they gave huge pieces of salmon and tuna!! They didn’t look as good as it tasted, and that’s always a pleasant surprise! 🙂

At the end of the day, we were all very satisfied and our bellies were really full!! The best thing about Wasabi right now, they have a $1 menu!! That’s right, there are special items that you can get for only $1!! As it’s all said and done, it’s a great little location for what it’s worth! I definitely will be back to enjoy more delicious sushi! By the end of the night, we were way to full to have any dessert or anything else for that matter! But, all is good!

Wasabi Japanese Restaurant Ltd

Central 16 Ave N
602 16 Ave NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 282-0092

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The Eddie Burger & Bar – Banff, Alberta

I’m in Banff a lot as it’s a wonderful place to go. I’ve see an Eddie Burger car that is usually parked on the side street which is quite unusal for of marketing. But, I must say – it works! It brought me in after a few visits in Banff. One thing that really pushed me in the doors was the fact they were reviewd by Food Network Canada, so I knew it was a special place and I had to go visit.

I was definitely not hungry when I arrived at Eddie Burger, we made it into Banff rather spontaneously, right after a Stampede Breakfast. So, we ordered the Eddie Classic Burger made with a giant Alberta beef patty and topped with aged cheddar, double smoked bacon, grilled red onion, dill pickle, mayo, green leaf lettuce and tomato on a whole wheat bun.

We got Onion Strings on the side as I’ve been wanting onion rings for a very long time. This burger is huge, and very delicious!! The beef patty is juicy and tender – which makes or breaks a burger (in this case it MAKES the burger so special!)

We had an order of Chili Cheese Fries which was a huge bowl of french fries topped with white cheddar cheese curds and home-style veggie chili. It was really good, and I’m sure I could have ordered it on it’s own. Needless to say, the meal was not finished. But, even though we were extremely stuffed, we managed to finish the delicious burger!

The Eddie Burger & Bar

137 Banff Ave
Banff, AB
(403) 762-2230