Pictures – Page 2

January 8, 2014

La Ronde Revolving Restaurant‎ – Edmonton, Alberta

We were going through Edmonton numerous times this summer, and we ended up staying at Chateau Lacombe Hotel in downtown Edmonton. It was getting late and we were hungry, so we went upstairs to their revolving restaurant for dinner at La Ronde Revolving Restaurant. It was a really nice place and we got seated immediately even though we didn’t have reservations for the evening. We couldn’t get a table by the window, but it didn’t matter!

Once we were seated and ordered, a bread basket came out! The bread was quite nice, light and fluffy on the inside with a nice crust! We had quite a few slices – for both reasons of being hungry and it being really delicious!

We don’t always get starters, but this particular day we decided to go for some Escargots and they had tons of pieces of snail. Some were quite large in size as well! The escargots were sauteed with mushrooms in a cognac cream sauce, and it tasted as good as it looks!

My entree that I ordered for myself was their Char Grilled Yellowfin Tuna and it was cooked to awesomeness! It was tender and juicy and the portion was really generous! I really enjoyed my meal!

My husband also had an excellent meal! He ordered their Prime Rib and it was really tender and soft, tons of flavour! It was one of the better prime ribs we’ve had! He liked it as it wasn’t full of the “sides” with his meal, just a nice piece of dead meat!

With dinner working out so well, we knew we had to try their desserts! We were stuffed but we ordered their feature dessert which was Cheesecake with Strawberries and it was divine! I loved it and must’ve eaten 80% of the cheesecake!

Overall, this place was phenomenal! We loved it from beginning to end. The service was top notch, the food was definitely delicious and memorable, the atmosphere was great! We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! This restaurant is basically only opened for dinner, but they do have lunch on Saturdays only.

La Ronde Revolving Restaurant‎

10111 Bellamy Hill
Edmonton, AB
(780) 428-6611

January 5, 2014

Shibuya Izakaya – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been to Shibuya Izakaya in the past, but it’s been ages — way before I started my blog. So, I thought I would revisit them as I was wanting a bowl of udon for lunch! It’s located right on 16th Avenue, and they do have a small parking lot. It’s a lot easier to find parking spaces dsuring the day than in the evenings.

We started by ordering some Gyozas for an appetizer. I don’t normally order appetizers for lunch, but I can’t turn down dumplings of any sort! So, I got a plate and they weren’t bad. The skin was really thin, and it was steamy hot inside. It did lack a little flavour, but it was pretty good with their dipping sauce! So, they compensated it expecting you to use the sauce.

One of my favourite sushi would be Hokkigai and when I can order it alone, I normally do. However, I’m not sure why I did here. These 4 pieces below cost me $9!! They weren’t bad, but it’s definitely not the best, and not for the the price!

I ordered a bowl of Chicken Udon and that was actually really good! The broth was really delicious and the texture of the udon was quite authentic! The chicken was still juicy and tender, so I really enjoyed my bowl of udons!

My husband also wanted a bowl of udons for lunch so he tried their Tonkatsu Pork Cutlet Udon. The pork cutlet looked like it as awesome, but the meat was pretty tough and a tad dry. They did a great job frying it though! The broth and the udon noodles was the same as mine, so overall quite satisfactory (not as good as my Chicken Udon though)!

Overall, we left on a full belly and quite satisfied. It was relatively quiet for a Satuday afternoon around lunch time when we got there. I guess most people don’t think about sushi for lunch, but you can always think about ramen/soba/udon! This is a great place to go for a Japanese noodle fix though!

Shibuya Izakaya

449 16 Ave NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 277-8823

January 4, 2014

Eat! Eat! in Inglewood – Calgary, Alberta

We’ve passed Eat! Eat! in Inglewood many times, and I’m glad we finally got to stop in and try this place in May 2013. It looks like a month later after the Alberta Floods, it never actually reopened it’s doors. It’s actually really sad. The location was great, right on 9th Ave SE and it was spacious inside with amazing food! I’m hoping it’s just a temporary close, but I’m not sure what’s going on.

I ordered their Hot Chocolate for my morning drink, and it was a large cup with tons of whipped cream! Just in case I don’t get a sugar high! 🙂 It was tasty though!

This particular morning, I actually ate breakfast – so this was a second breakfast. It was nice they had the option of “half orders”! I’m sure if I ordered a full order, I would’ve inhaled the entire thing as well! But, I got their half order of Eggs Benedict with the egg done medium. Not sure why I did that, as I love the runny, creamy egg… but, it wasn’t dry or gross!! Everything was decent and they weren’t skimpy on the portion of their potatoes (home fries)!

My hubby ordered their Steak & Eggs for breakfast which was a 7oz New York Steak with 2 eggs! Clearly, he didn’t wake up early enough to eat the first breakfast with me! 🙂 The steak was quite unforgettable, tender and seasoned well! Not a bad start to a weekend morning!

We really enjoyed ourselves here! As you can tell, I love breakfasts and I wasn’t disappointed at all from coming here. I silently hope it will re-open so I can visit it again!

Eat! Eat! in Inglewood

1325 9 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 532-1933

January 4, 2014January 4, 2014

Best Taste Chinese Restaurant – Oakland, California

For the first time ever, I went down to California in 2013 to celebrate Chinese New Years with my husbands family. We had a wonderful time and one of the places that I remembered really well was Best Taste and they’re known for their Clay Pot Rice, so we went there to eat some, along with other things – but those are just minor things!

We had a chicken clay pot, and the rice was cooked into the pot leaving a nice hard crust that my husbands family craves and loves! There’s really nothing like eating rice cooked from a clay pot – and we just do it normally as it’s a pain to clean afterwards. This dish was excellent and my favourite as it had tons of chicken pieces in it, with the delicious rice and soy sauce!

The other clay rice pot we had was basically a Chinese cured meat one, and it’s got a bunch of Chinese sausages in it, with some vegetables. Chinese cured meat is different from anything else, and I’m not sure if it’s an acquired smell/taste, but I know I love it. Some people do find it too greasy – but it works so well with rice! The rice absorbs the grease with the soy sauce and other flavours that it was steamed with! It’s truly a treat and if you haven’t tried it – now is the time!

Overall, I absolutely loved this place! It’s the type of food I love and I guess my aunt-in-law love this stuff too! I’m so happy they brought me here, and I’m sure I’ll request to go back next time I visit them!

Best Taste

814 Franklin St
Oakland, CA
(510) 444-4983

January 4, 2014

Bill’s Peking House – Calgary, Alberta

I didn’t realize I was so far behind in posting these blogs up. I was talking to Cody the other afternoon about Bill’s Peking House and I was trying to tell him I’ve been here. I looked up my blog and realized I didn’t post it… so, here it is, almost a year late as I went here for my birthday. The location isn’t hard to find as it’s located right on Canyon Meadows Drive and it is a second floor restaurant. The restaurant is actually very clean for a Chinese place, and we were impressed with the quality of Chinese food in a South restaurant.

This birthday dinner was just my husband and I, and we ordered their Peking Duck – 3 Courses and it was actually quite delicious! It’s one of the reasons why I thought it was weird I didn’t blog this yet. Anyway, the first course is always the skin of the duck with the traditional pancakes and condiments. The duck wasn’t all skin and fat, and it was crispy and delicious!

Our second course was a soup, and they use the duck bones and some of the meat for the broth. The soup is loaded with tofu, duck and some spinach. The soup was flavourful and pretty light.

Now, for the last course, it’s my favourite one! We chose it to be a broad noodle dish, so they use the Chinese broad noodles with the duck meat, napa cabbage and other traditional Chinese ingredients for fried broad noodles. It was really good, a tad on the greasy side – but what is Chinese food without grease!? So, it was perfect!

Overall, this was a memorable meal, as I remembered about it almost 9 months later! This is a place where we would to back to, even though their target audience is mostly for the Caucasian guests. The owners were so happy to talk to us in Chinese, so we knew it’s a treat for them that we were there! We’d be happy to go back anytime!

Bill’s Peking House

380 Canyon Meadows Dr SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 278-3338