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Macleod Sushi & BBQ

All you can eat sushi is all I can say! We made it here with my sister and brother-in-law one evening after an exhausting day at the zoo. Needless to say, we were starving and figured we should eat at a place that offered “unlimited” food! This location is located on the west side of Macleod trail, and it’s a fairly large restaurant.

This restaurant is really neat, and it offers both Korean BBQ and sushi options. We ordered food from both, and the food was extremely delicious. I really enjoyed the seasoned raw meat that I got to cook on the BBQ on the middle of our table! It was such a fun experience!

The neat thing about this location, when you order “1 order” of something, you actually only get “ONE” item! It really helps as they know eventually you get full… so, in a way, they’re helping you out on sampling their food! My example would be the Salmon Teriyaki, as you can see, there’s only one piece! Not all of the plates of food was like this, but they were small portions!

My favourite sushi rolls from here would be Mango and Crispy Roll as well as the Smoked Salmon Roll

I really enjoyed all the sushi from here! It was actually better than the Korean BBQ, even though it was fun! The plates of sushi came out fast, the food was fresh and delicious!

To top of the entire eating experience here at Macleod Sushi & BBQ, dessert!! I ordered a bowl of Mango Tapica Pudding which was great as I got to leave this restaurant on such a high note. With a great dessert, it makes this restaurant really memorable!

Overall, I really enjoy this restaurant. It was never a place I thought about going to, but I’m so glad we stopped in! It has now become on the top of my list for sushi, all you can eat!

Macleod Sushi & BBQ on Urbanspoon

Macleod Sushi & BBQ

Suite 100-5211 Macleod Trail SW
Calgary, AB T2H
(403) 252-2999

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Sushi Ichiban – Calgary, Alberta

Sushi Ichiban was a neat place to go. It’s tucked away off Macleod Trail, on the East side – but it does offer a small parking lot. The nice thing about this place is the fact it is All You Can Eat which is wonderful for me, as I’m a sushi monster!

I love the fact that the sushi comes out on a boat, if you order large amounts! It looks great, and the sushi tastes great too!

We had 4 people, and each of us had our own favourites. At the end of the day, we ate TONS of sushi, and it was quite good and fresh!

We not only had a ton of sushi, we also enjoyed tempura, and fried yams, as well as BBQ Beef steaks. They were all good, but not as good as the actual sushi. In fact, the BBQ Beef was a little tough, even though it was great flavours!

I really enjoyed the Agedashi Tofu from here, as it was quite smooth, and fried to a wonderful crisp!

A fun thing they offer here is variations of California Rolls, we ordered 2 of the 3 variations, and my brother in law loved them!

As stuffed as we were, there’s always room for Coconut Pudding Dessert, which I must say – it wasn’t as good as other coconut pudding desserts. But, I think it was just because I was super stuffed!

Sushi Ichiban on Urbanspoon

Overall, I was really pleased with the sushi here. I’d recommend this location if you’re looking to eat just sushi actually. It’s not bad, and the prices are competitive with other sushi places around this area.

Sushi Ichiban

4014 Macleod Trail S
Calgary, AB T2G2R7
(403) 243-1000

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Bangkoknoi Thai

I love Thai food, and one of my favourite restaurants to go to for Thai was always Bangkoknoi Thai Restaurant, so when my anniversary came, it was a perfect time to re-visit this place! The location of this restaurant is on the east side of Centre street, and parking is definitely limited in the back. I find street parking much more accessible, and easier actually!

Since it was our anniversary, it was just the 2 of us, and we ordered a lot of food! We started off with Tom Kah Gai which was a delicious soup, and something different for the typical Tom Yum Soup I normally order. It’s not that different from the Tom Yum soup actually, with notes of lemon grass, lime juice, cilantro plus the added taste of coconut milk. The coconut milk adds a whole new dimension to the soup and tones down the spiciness actually – making it quite enjoyable! The soup has slices of chicken, fresh mushrooms, and tomato chunks!

We then ordered some appetizers, and we choose Crunchy Calamari, which of course was battered calamari deep fried sweet chilli sauce

One thing I’ve always loved from Bankoknoi would be their deep fried fish! We always order their Spicy Fried Fish, and I think I had my hopes too high this time. It wasn’t as delicious as it was in the past, but it wasn’t bad at all. The fish was a tad over cooked, and the texture of the fish wasn’t flaky anymore. However, it was still super good!! It was by no means bad, just not as good as it use to be!

We ended with my all time favourite dish, Pad Sie Ew which I know as Pad Sew from other Thai places. Sadly, I can’t say this dish was done to my expectations. I had a small handful of the wide noodles, and just wasn’t seasoned much. I think I would skip this dish next time I go to Bangkoknoi.

At the end of the day, we left very satisfied and quite full! We had a fun night, with great food! It’s still a great restaurant for Thai, so I would definitely return! I’ve been returning for many years, so why stop now?

Bangkoknoi Thai on Urbanspoon

Bangkoknoi Thai

1324 Centre St N
Calgary, AB T2E
(403) 277-8424

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Homemade Satay Sauce on Gai Lan

Home Made Chinese Broccoli with Satay Sauce

Okay, I made a delicious dish with Gai Lan which is also known as Chinese Broccoli in some places. It’s an easy to make dish, as you only need to blanch the gai lan until tender crisp. Then, just make the satay sauce in a little bowl to pour ontop when you’re ready to serve and eat!

Ingredients:
handful of Gai Lan
1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 minced garlic
1 tablespoon of lime juice
1 teaspoon of chilli powder, to taste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
150ml water, as needed

First thing, bring a pot of water to a boil, and I like to season the water when it’s boiling with both salt and some sugar – as Gai Lan can sometimes have a bitterness to it. Blanch the Gai Lan until it’s a tender crisp.

In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients to make the satay sauce. You can modify the sauce to your liking, as it’s really just a guideline. This sauce will be really thick from the peanut butter, so you can dilute it to the consistency you like it with the water. It will be salty from the soy sauce, so it’s important to taste as you go. I find it easiest to start with a little and add more as needed.

To put together, take out the gai lan out of the boiling water and place on a plate. Then, just pour some sauce on top and serve. I like to have the sauce on the side, as it’s delicious with rice/noodles as well!

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Homemade Crockpot Pasta Penne

Home Made Tomato Ground Beef Penne Pasta in Slow Cooker

Some times, it’s even hard to find 2 to 3 hours to make a lunch or dinner, and all there is is basic staples in your fridge/pantry. It’s not a problem, be inspired to change up the recipe with what’s in available to you!

Ingredients: (serves 4)
1 lb Ground Beef
2 sticks of Carrots
1/2 an onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp thyme
Penne Pasta
2 cups of Tomato Sauce
1/2 or 1 cup of Beef stock

First, if you have the time, brown the onions, ground beef, and garlic to develop more flavours. I didn’t have too much time, so I just placed everything into the crockpot.

You can then put in either pre-made pasta sauce, or you can make your own by flavouring up some crushed tomatoes with tomato sauce. If you’re making pasta sauce and you eat it a lot, it’s nice to make a giant batch and leave it in the fridge so it’s ready when you need some!

Then, you’re ready to put your pasta in! I just place the pasta in, and mixed it around for a bit. Set the crock pot on high for 1-2 hours or low for 2-3 hours. Add a splash of beef stock or water if your sauce is a little thicker before you close the lid and leave it for some time.

To enjoy, grate some cheese and season up the penne! It makes a great left over dish too!