Dinner – Page 8 – Elsie Hui

January 25, 2016

Le La Vietnamese Restaurant – Calgary, Alberta

We often drive by Le La Vietnamese Restaurant and always wanted to hop in! We finally did, and we set our exceptions low as we didn’t do any prior research to this restaurant! There’s tons of parking and there a lot of tables inside, but it wasn’t busy when we went as it was right before closing! The staff was really nice to us and didn’t hurry us out just because they were closing!

We ordered some Condensed milk Vietnamese Iced Coffee which I don’t normally order, however, I wanted a treat this time so I went for it! It was a delicious and refreshing drink with the perfect amount of condensed milk!

I ordered my standard go-to pho, the Rare Beef and Beef Ball Noodle Soup and it’s not available at all locations, but I love it when I get them. This place doesn’t give too much beef balls either, but more than some other locations. I find a lot of places cut up a beef ball into 1/8’s and gives you like 5 pieces – so you don’t even get 1 beef ball!! At least here, you get more than 1 ball, so it’s a great treat!

My hsuband ordered their Satay Beef Noodle Soup and he really enjoyed the flavours of the soup. The beef was tender and quite delicious! This was suppose to be an extra large bowl, but the amount of noodles seems similar with more soup.

Overall, this was a great place to get some Vietnamese noodle soup! It’s not the best in town, but it as really good pho!! Very decent, prices are good and food tastes great!

Le La Vietnamese Restaurant

6624 Centre St SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 255-5665

September 15, 2015

Smashburger: McKenzie Towne – Calgary, Alberta

We were in the middle of moving and we decided we needed to grab something filling, quick and close as we had a few things lined up that was time sensitive. We decided we would go and try Smashburger in McKenzie Towne and it was amazing! We went at an odd time, so there was plenty of parking on High Street, yet Smashburgers was still busy!

We grabbed a Strawberry Milkshake and they do it properly here! It was thick, flavourful and delicious!! They gave the milkshake to you in the classic tin cup and the glass milkshake glass! It was amazing and totally brought me back in the past with this!

We ordered a classic Smashburger and basically it’s an egg bun with American cheese, Smash Sauce, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickles & onion! It was totally an awesome burger, simple yet delicious!

We made a combo/meal for this meal, and we had an order of Spicy Buffalo Fries, and these fries are so well seasoned, crispy and tender, it was quite a treat! These spicy buffalo fries actually tasted like buffalo season!

Overall, it was the perfect snack and an awesome filler! We really enjoyed everything here, and I am sure we will be back for every reason imaginable!

Smashburger – McKenzie Towne

25 High St SE
Calgary, AB
(587) 387-2740

August 26, 2015

G-men Nan Chu – Richmond, British Columbia

I’m actually very confused about the name of this restaurant, but the name on the recipet says the restaurant is called Ramen Bar at NanChuu Japanese Izakaya, however it seems to be called G-men and you don’t see that name as the “dominate” name.

We were brought here by my sister-in-law and her husband, and this place was pretty decent! We started with some Gyozas which as usual, is my dish to order when I’m in the mood for appetizers at a Japanese restaurant. The skin here was really thin, and the filling was amazing! They pan-fried it to perfection!

The other appetizer we ordered was something I’ve never had before, and they call it Okonomiyaki which is Japanese Cabbage Pancake, which is shredded cabbage mixed into a batter and made into a “pancake”. The toppings here was pretty basic as I believe it was just bonito flakes! The dish was pretty amazing and it’s going to be something I’ll order more often!

For ramen, I ordered their Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen and this bowl of ramen is massive! It’s got lots of everything, so make sure you come with an empty belly!

We also ordered their Dan Dan Men which didn’t cross my mind as a japanese dish, as I’ve always associated as Chinese or Sichuan. But, regardless, we ordered a bowl, and it was full of flavour and spice! It was different from what I associate Dan Dan Mein to be, but it was a nice change from typical Ramen – although we were at a ramen place!

Overall, an amazing place! The place is pretty busy and pretty small, so be prepared to wait! But, it really helps build up your appetite as you wait so you can finish everything! Food is quite good, and the prices are very good too!

G-men @ Nan Chu

1160-8391 Alexandra Road
Richmond, BC
(604) 276-8391

August 11, 2015August 11, 2015

Pho Nam Vietnamese Cuisine – Calgary, Alberta

We were seeking for something on the lighter side for dinner when we drove by Pho Nam and it was located right off of Fairmont Drive. It is basically off the intersection of Fairmont Drive and Heritage Drive, with lots of parking.

Once we sat down, we decided to have an order of their Satay Beef Roll and it’s their salad rolls with satay beef instead of shrimp! The beef was actually really delicious, making the rolls incredibly tasting!

I wasn’t feeling the greatest and really wanted “chicken noodle soup” basically, so I got their Pho Ga and the soup was really good. It tastes like they spent a good amount on time on their soup base! The noodles were quite delicious and it’s a great texture!

My husband had their Satay Beef Noodle Soup as he was feeling the opposite of me and wanted something with lots of spice and flavours!! With the same great rice noodles, this soup was another amazing soup. It’s full of flavours, spice, and sauce! It’s quite amazing!

Overall, the place was quite a surprise. The food tasted better than expectations I have set while walking through the doors judging by nothing really! So, it was nice that we were pleasantly surprised.

Pho Nam Vietnamese Cuisine

8302 Fairmont Dr SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 255-6444

August 5, 2015

Hy’s Steakhouse – Calgary, Alberta

It was our anniversary, so we decided to celebrate it at Hy’s Steakhouse downtown. We did street parking, but I guess there’s complimentary valet parking – that’s the sign I saw when we came out. I’m not sure how accurate it is, but it doesn’t matter. Hy’s was decorates really nicely, and with the open kitchen concept, it made it really fun for us to sit and watch them prepare our food!

We sat down, and I decided to order a girly drink, but virgin. I settled for the Pina Colada which was fun as they kept calling it “juice”. It doesn’t matter, it looks pretty and tastes great!

For our starter, we chose their Jumbo Prawn Cocktail which was amazing! The prawns were about the size of my head (each), and they were perfectly prepared and quite fresh!

I settled for their Filet Mignon Beef Wellington which was adorable! The perfectly baked pastry with the steak inside – cooked just the way I like it. It was very memorable and I would claim the best one I’ve had so far!

My husband decided long time ago that he was going to have their Steak Diane which is prepared tableside. As he likes his beef “rare”, it took no time for them to make. The beef was absolutely tender, the sauce was amazing, and overall perfect as well!

Just in case we weren’t full enough, we decided to have a dessert as we were celebrating a special day, and the food was so good, it didn’t hurt to try their Cheesecake. The waiters recommendation was perfect, as the cheesecake was just the way I like it. Light, fluffy and cheesecake tasting!

Our overall experience here was top notch! We haven’t found a better place for steak yet! We know a few places that come close, but I have to put them at the top of my rank books right now!

Hy’s Steakhouse

751 3 St SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 663-3363