Product Review – Page 61

April 27, 2014April 27, 2014

Woody’s Taphouse – Calgary, Alberta

I’m always looking for a new hang out place after work or whatever for a casual drink and appetizers. I stumbled into Woody’s Taphouse as I wanted some wings! Wing they have here and they’re pretty good!

We sat down and ordered a drink and I actually opt’ed for a non-alcoholic drink that was girly – called Shirley Temple! I know, I was probably drunk to begin with to order something like that, but it was a delicious fruit drink!

We ordered wings as it was wing night, and I really enjoy Lemon Peppered Wings lately as my favourite wing place has tons of delicious options such as lemon pepper. These wings were well seasoned and has crispy skin and juicy meat. It’s not a meaty wing, but they are good!

We also tried a saucy wing, their Honey Hot Wings and it was saucy. It’s defintely a tad more “sweet” than “heat” but it’s a nice sauce. It’s more like Franks with honey – not the best not the worst! But, for it’s price during wing nights, it’s a great deal! I love their wings as they’re so crispy, so I don’t think I’d choose this flavour again… but there’s other options to pick from!

Overall, the prices are right and it’s a nice casual atmosphere for whatever you may be in the mood for. Their specials are great – so be sure to check their featured menu prior to going! It’s a great deal!

Woody’s Taphouse

4307 130 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 257-1666

April 12, 2014April 12, 2014

Saigon Pearl – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been going to the Asian supermarket near here a lot lately and this one day I wasn’t feeling the best and just wanted something light and refreshing — I wanted rice vermicelli! So, we stopped in at Saigon Pearl and we’ve been here in the past but we were glad it’s still the same people, same quality of Vietnamese food.

I ordered their Grilled beef and Spring Roll Rice Vermicelli which is something I like to order once in awhile, especially during the summer! The bowl was large, and it didn’t have too much lettuce in the bottom. The beef was delicious and of course their spring rolls were delightful!

My husband did enjoy one of his go to orders at a Vietnamese restaurant Beef Stew Noodle Soup and it was absolutely wonderful here! Tons of tender beef chunks in a delicious broth with rice noodles. It’s a great warming soup – which was the opposite of my dish!

We use to go here a lot more and I think we might be coming back more often as well! The food, service and price was decent and that’s what we love. It is a family restaurant and a place that seems to have tons of kids here. So, it’s not a quiet restaurant – and that makes sense!

Saigon Pearl

9650 Harvest Hills Blvd N
Calgary, AB
(403) 532-3999

April 12, 2014

White Elephant Thai Cuisine – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been going through some personal things and it’s been making me kind of depressed lately. The few cravings I’ve been wanting lately have been complete fails and so when I had a craving for Thai Chicken Pineapple Fried Rice, I looked for a place with the best reviews and found White Elephant Thai Cuisine inside the hotel. I was kind of low on patience when I got there and they said to me it was cash only and a wait. Good thing my husband decided to do the wait as I was happy with the food! We started our meal with their Hot and Sour Soup with Chicken or what they call Tom Yum Gai which is one of my favourite Thai soups. It’s fragrant and spicy, well balanced.

Of course, with my craving, I ordered their Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken and it was exceptional. It was spicier than expected but nothing I can’t handle, especially after the tom yum soup. The portion size was large, tons of chicken and pineapples and I was really quite satisfied with this fried rice.

Then, we ordered some Red Curry with Beef and Pineapples as my husband knows I love pineapples. We had an order of coconut rice with it, and I was expecting us to bring some curry home… but we actually ate the entire thing. The beef was tender, tons of slices of beef as well. Again, tons of pineapple and the curry was smooth and delicious. The coconut rice was a great with this dish!

After my visit here, I have no problem returning here for any Thai craving that I may want. It’s not cheap here, but the portions are quite large. It’s great for sharing! The location is a little intersting as it’s located inside a hotel and there’s not much signage to the location, but follow your nose! I really enjoyed my evening here. It is smoky as the ventilation isn’t great, and the service is kind of slow… so, don’t come when you’re on a tight schedule and you’ll enjoy it!

White Elephant Thai Cuisine

1808 19 Street N.E
Calgary, AB
(403) 464-8558

April 12, 2014April 12, 2014

Schanks Sports Grill – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been looking for a good dry rib lately and when we came to Schanks Sports Grill I realized they had really good food! We stopped in on a Friday night and it was relatively quiet, but still had other people. The atmosphere was busy and spacious! Once we sat down, I ordered myself a Shirley Temple as it was fruity and something I wanted!

We tried their Garlic Soya Ribs for my rib mission. The waitress did advise us that they are salty, and they really were! The meat was tender and juicy but there was an overwhelming amount of saltiness to them. It’s not bad and it does go with beer… but it wasn’t what I was looking for.

We did order some wings and we got to try their Lemon Pepper Wings and this we really enjoyed. The seasoning was really great and the skin was crispy, with a tender and juicy.

Overall, it’s a decent place to go, but there are tons of other places along Macleod Trail that I’d like to try first before returning. It’s not up my alley as I’m not into sports – but I can see the place being packed on important game nights!

Schanks Sports Grill

9627 Macleod Trl S
Calgary, AB
(403) 253-7300

March 25, 2014June 24, 2014

Soluxe Restaurant 陽光飯店 – Calgary, AB

Chinatown in Calgary has changed a bit, and Soluxe Restaurant is a new change from Harbour City at the corner of Centre Street and 3rd Ave.

We started with some dumplings – at this time when we visited Soluxe, it was right after we got home from China and we just wanted some good dumplings in Calgary, so we gave it a shot and ordered an order of Seafood Meat Dumplings which wasn’t bad. They cooked it in boiling water and had some red vinegar on the side. I think they could have elevated it by pan frying it a little, but that’s my opinion. The filling was very flavourful, and I would say a little on the salty side.

We stopped in here for lunch one day to try out their noodles. It wasn’t bad at all. The portions were quite large and the flavours of the meat and soup was quite good! I ordered an order of their Rice Noodles with Beef and the beef chunks was really tender.

The other bowl of noodles that we ordered was basically the same thing, but it was called Special Noodle with Beef and the noodles were quite special. It was very homemade like, and it varied in thickness leading me to think they rolled it out themselves. It’s a broader noodle but it worked nice with the noodle soup.

Our overall experience was quite decent. We enjoyed our bowls of noodle soup. We actually took left overs home and had it for dinner! The portions were huge, so it helped justifying the price tag a bit as each bowl of noodles was just under $11!

Soluxe Restaurant

302 Centre Street South
Calgary, AB
(403) 269-8888