Alberta – Page 63

July 18, 2012December 31, 2018

Namskar Cuisine of India

I love Indian cuisine, and when I heard I was going to go to Namskar – Cuisine of India, I was really happy! Apparently I’ve been there once, but it must’ve been so long ago, I don’t remember it at all! Nothing in there rings a bell, so I will consider it my first time there! This little Indian restaurant is located right on 16th avenue, and it’s a corner location. It offers a few spots in the back which I found it was easiest to park on the streets. Once you walk up to the restaurant, you can smell the Indian spices and curries – you know you’re in for a real treat!

We got in, and instead of ordering my usual mango lassi, I decided to have a nice cup of Chai Tea which has always been one of my favourites. Unfortunately here, their chai wasn’t as strong as I would have hoped for. I like it when it’s creamy and full of spices – but that’s a personal preference. Luckily, their food is really good here!

My pictures didn’t really turn out, but we ordered a bunch of curries, rice and naan. We started with Butter Chicken which was a delicious dish with chunks of chicken pieces in a tomato and cashew sauce. The sauce was really thick, creamy and a hint of sweetness to the spice! For the first time, we also went ahead a tried some Fish Curry which was chunks of Basa fish cooked with fresh vegetables. It was a medium heat dish but came out to be one of my favourites of the evening.

For the spice dishes, we ordered Lamb Vindaloo which of course was lamb. Vindaloo has always been the killer dish for me but they made this sauce really nice – infused with so much flavour and fragrant, the spice was really nice with the lamb. We also had a order of Goat, which I don’t really remember what kind of curry it was in. It didn’t have as much sauce to it, and it was cooked with a lot of vegetables. Regardless, it was a great dish, and I ate a lot of it!

To end the night, we actually took a different spin… we ended with a plate of appeitzers instead of dessert. We had the Namskar Mix Platter which was a great idea to start with. For us, it was too much food as it came with pieces of Veggie Pakoras, paneer pakoras, Fish pakoras, onion bhajia, Veggie samosa, and a piece of lamb samosa. It came on 2 plates, which was great as we had a relatively large group and it made it easy to share.

This was a wonderful place to go for dinner. The service was really good, and they kept filling up our glasses with water – as we needed it. This would be a location I would return to for Indian food because I really enjoyed my experience here! This time, I will remember I’ve been here!

Namskar Cuisine of India

202 16 Ave NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 230-4447

July 15, 2012July 15, 2012

Timbers Food Company – Banff

We went for a quick hike the other day to start the off our hiking season – we went to Tunnel Mountain. After the hike, we came back down to Banff townsite and we wanted to eat a late lunch/early dinner. We found ourselves walking straight into Timbers Food Company, and found a seat right on the patio. It was such a nice afternoon that shortly after we placed our order, it started to rain – badly! They were really nice about everyone relocating themselves indoors, and that’s where we spent the rest of our lunch hour.

I wanted a sweet/sugary drink, so I ordered myself a Tropical Colada, which was a mocktail made of coconut, pineapple and wildberry mix. It was really refreshing, and it looked really pretty too!

We ordered some appetizers for this meal/snack, and we had some Baked Garlic Prawns, which was some giant prawns over a warm lentil salad, topped with garlic butter. It was actually really good, and the prawns was big and fresh! The lentil salad seemed really big, so we didn’t finish that part of the dish.

For this meal, which I honestly considered it a snack, I ordered the Crab Cakes which actually was a very generous sized crab cake portion! I enjoyed the crab cakes as it was without the relish, even though the relish was really delicious on it’s own.

The last thing we ordered was the Timbers Steak Sandwich, which was just under $12, which is quite reasonable, considering it was a 6oz premium sirloin steak topped with sautéed mushrooms, onions on garlic toast with a choice of side – where we picked french fries! The steak was actually very tender – even though they over cooked it, as we asked for rare and probably got a medium. We didn’t have the need or desire to send it back as it was still very tasty!

Overall, I really enjoyed my time here at Timbers, and I think I would find myself back! The food was excellent, and at reasonable prices – in a tourist townsite, with good service! I really have nothing to complain about and wouldn’t mind returning!

Timbers Food Company

224 Wolf St.
Banff, AB
(403) 762-8987

July 11, 2012December 31, 2018

Vasili Food Truck – Calgary

Canada Day this year was exciting as we went down to Prince’s Island Park for some festivities, dinner and fireworks! On top of all that, it was cold and rainy (on and off), but it was made better after visiting Vasili’s Food Truck which was parked on the East side of Centre Street bridge.

We walked by and saw the food truck, and knew that was going to be our dinner!! I ordered the Twisted Pig which really was marinated pork wrapped in pita with some fresh vegetables and topped with tzatziki sauce and feta cheese. This was my favourite from the 2 items we ordered. The meat was tender, juicy and full of flavour. Then, you put it with pita, fresh veggies and tzatziki sauce… what’s not to like?

We also ordered their Zeus Sub which essentially was meatballs on a sub bun topped with feta, sweet peppers arugula and aioli. The meatball was huge, so there was tons of meat in the sub! It’s a really cook take on the classic “meatball sub”, and I can say I like this one more!

Overall, it was a really nice experience eating from Vasili’s! The food was fresh, and the balance of flavours was great! Each of the items we purchased for dinner was $8, which isn’t bad at all! Where else are you going to get something for around that price!? I enjoyed it thoroughly!

July 10, 2012December 31, 2018

Spud Mobeel Food Truck – Calgary

We were hunting for a food truck that I haven’t tried before and saw that Spud Mobeel was going to be at Casel Marche, which we didn’t think too much about… until we got there. I must say, I hate this location for a food truck – which I then realize lots of food trucks go there occasionally… oh well, I’ll stick to the Deerfoot Meadows locations. Anyway, enough with me rambling on about location – which ultimately doesn’t matter, as they are mobile! We weren’t hungry at all when we came by this truck, but still wanted to experience it so, I just ordered a small snack anyway.

I ended up ordering their Spiral Dog with Cheese which was excellent! It was a hot dog wrapped in a potato cut into a nice spiral that was placed around the dog… and then deep fried to a perfect crisp! And, since I got the one with cheese, a perfect cheese sauce was drizzled on top making a great snack!

As for the prices, I think it was a little high for what it was, but it isn’t completely out of this world. The spiral dog was $6, and then to add the cheese, it was an extra $1! It wasn’t the best, but it isn’t something you get all the time, so it justifies for itself! Nice thing about this food truck, all their menu items are gluten free – if it’s a concern for you!

July 6, 2012December 31, 2018

Milestones – Top Chef Inspired Menu – Calgary

Last year, we watched Top Chef Canada which is a featured program on Food Network Canada. Last year when it was on, they had a competition throughout the series where some of the winning chefs dishes get features at Milestones. This year, we did the same and it was great!

The menu for the Top Chef Canada feature this year wasn’t really a “choice” option. It featured 1 appetizer, 1 main course and 1 dessert. Me being me, I ordered the entire meal, and started off with Tomato Gazpacho served with mini bacon, cucumber and tomato sandwich. It was pretty refreshing as it’s a chilled soup with a mini sandwich!

The main course was a European Seabass, which wasn’t bad. It was a piece of seabass that sat on a bed or rice, with roasted fennel and orange glazed radish. The lemon slices was really refreshing. Overall, this was a good dish, except for the rice on the bottom. It was really hard, and gooey rice, which isn’t the best rice.

Finally, the dessert that I enjoyed was the Apple Bacon Tart which was a warm apple tart with crispy bacon in walnut crust – topped with blue cream cheese and basil

Overall, the meal was a decent one. I can’t say I loved it, but it was still quite delicious!

Milestones – SouthCentre

90 Anderson Rd SE
Calgary, AB T2J
(403) 225-1150