Alberta – Page 64

June 28, 2012July 3, 2012

Rustica – Silvertip Resort Canmore

Alright, it’s been a month of eating out and I love it! We went for a fancy dinner at Rustica in Canmore, Alberta – at the Silvertip Resort. From Calgary, going towards Banff (Highway 1 West) and take the Canmore Town Centre exit. Take a right at the stop sign and a left at the Holiday Inn hotel. Take Silvertip Trail up the mountain (5 minutes) to its termination at the Timbers Clubhouse. We actually asked for some directions as we got to the resort as the restaurant isn’t really marked well.

This restaurant is really nice, and the ambience is just fantastic! I can see this location being really popular in the winter as well as the summer. The real wood/log burning fireplace really set the mood for me! Rustica is known for it’s beef, so we knew we’ll order beef! Right after we put in our orders, a fantastic array of breads came to the table! The bread was fresh and delicious – and it tasted great even without the dipping sauce (Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar).

We were a table of 4, and we actually shared most of our food. The first appetizer that came to our table was Caribbean Crab Cakes which was a loose crab cake (not dense at all) that was crusted with coconut, and had some spicy mayo on the side adding tons of flavour to the crab cakes.

From there, we had a bowl for their soup of the day – which was Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup with truffle and it was a really creamy soup that wasn’t overly fatty… leaving you feeling kind of bloated! The freshness of the soup was really delicious.

Then, our last appetizer was Tequila lime Scallop Ceviche, which was a ceviche made of bay scallops guacamole, mixed with a fresh salsa fresco. As a serving vehicle, it was served with grilled tortillas! It was a refreshing and very fresh ceviche, and to be honest, I had a better time eating the ceviche alone – I didn’t need the tortillas!

Mom and dad shared a large piece of Filet Mignon which was extremely tender and juicy! This piece of meat was cooked to perfection, and flavoured perfectly!

I ordered the Mixed Grill which was a fantastic combination of all the best offerings (in my opinion!) It had a 4oz piece of tenderloin, half a rack of ribs and some prawns!

My husband ordered the New York Steak which was remarkably tender making this an exceptional beef steak!

The 4 of us ordered a bunch of side dishes to share, and it was also tasty! We ordered baked truffle penne, and garlic fingerling potatoes! We were so satisfied with our main meal, we decided to get some desserts to split and to stuff ourselves to the max! We ordered Cheesecake Spring Rolls which was deep fried cheese cake, berry coulis, caramel sauce

Then, the final dessert we ordered was the Lemon Tart which was a refreshing lemon tart with whipped cream and candied lemon!

This restaurant makes delicious food, and presents it in a sexy way! The price was competitively priced, especially for the Canmore region. Canmore offers lots of fantastic offerings and this is a place you should try!

Rustica

2000 Silvertip Trail
Canmore, AB T1W3A6
(403) 609-6599

June 27, 2012December 31, 2018

Chicken on the Way – McKenzie Towne Calgary

I was bummed out when Blockbusters closed on High Street in McKenzie Towne, but to my excitement, Chicken on the Way opened a new location there! They’re a little shop that takes take-out only, and often, the line is out the door (rain or shine)!

The first time I ate there, I purchased their daily special – and on that day, it was 3 piece chicken, fries and a fritter with gravy! The wait time wasn’t bad at all, and it comes in their famous yellow box that smells so good just holding the hot contents.

The chicken was perfectly fried and perfectly seasoned! Their pieces of chicken are actually larger than some other places that serves fried chicken. These large pieces of chicken has super crispy skin and really juicy chicken meat! It’s a perfect fried chicken in my opinion. The fries and fritter during my first visit was over fried and over salted, but all other times I’ve revisited the location, they’ve fixed that problem and made it better!

I really enjoyed their fritters – even though it was a little over fried, the sweet batter was excellent. With a super crispy exterior and a soft interior, the fritter is something I will always get when I visit Chicken on the Way.

When I don’t make a big enough for dinner or just want an awesome snack, Chicken on the Way is where I like to go now! It’s close to home and the prices aren’t completely ridiculous, making this a great option! I would recommend trying it out if you haven’t done so yet!

Chicken on the Way

27 McKenzie Towne Avenue SE
Calgary, AB T2Z3S7
(403) 720-2367

June 27, 2012December 31, 2018

Shogun Teppanyaki Food Truck – Calgary

A wonderful food truck would be Shogun Teppanyaki which I tried during Lilac Festival! I was really happy to see so many food trucks gathering for a street event. It was a chilly day and I wanted something savoury and hot – so I choose to eat at Shogun this time!

I ordered the Beef Teriyaki with udon noodles, and it was really good. It was similar to some fast food Japanese concessions, but I found that the sauce wasn’t as thick and salty – which makes Shogun a better option! The food was prepared perfectly, and it was a great order! I added some hot sauce to my noodles, and it definitely kicked it up a notch and I loved it even more!

Overall, this is a great food truck, especially on cold days! I can see me lining up for this in the winter. The only downfall, I can’t really see into the truck to see the “teppanyaki”… when I think about teppanyaki, I think about a show on a flat bed grill (even though I know it’s a cooking method).

June 25, 2012December 31, 2018

Braizen Food Truck – Calgary

Food trucks are something that is still really new and exciting to me! It seems like they’re coming up with a new truck every week! I don’t follow any trucks religiously, but I do have my favourites that I will eat at if they’re where I’m at! Braizen Food Truck is one of the trucks that I really appreciate. The Braizen food truck is a small black “food truck” that is compact, quick and serves up delicious offerings!

We went on a gloomy Saturday afternoon as they were parked at Deerfoot Meadows – which is one of my favourite locations to enjoy food trucks. I ordered their Harrisa Chicken stew which is a slow cooked chicken stew that sits ontop of quinoa and raisins. This stew is jammed packed with flavour, and it definitely has a nice kick of heat!

We also ordered the Coconut Beef Curry with Potatoes, and this was awesome! You can taste the coconut curry – which is great flavour! I may say at this point this beef curry is my favourite so far from Braizen as it was a perfect curry, and the texture was perfect!

Our friend ordered the Jerk Chicken Sliders with pineapple slaw and he said it was good, but cold. I guess they didn’t toast the buns, which would have made a big impact on a gloomy day. I didn’t get to try it, but it sure tickled my appetite!

Overall, this truck is really good as each dish has bold flavour and it’s definitely well seasoned. The food is amazing and the portions are decent for what you get from a food truck!

March 23, 2012March 31, 2019

Ginger Beef Bistro House

We wanted some dim sum this one day, and we’ve heard both good and bad reviews from friends and family for Ginger Beef Bistro House, but we still wanted to try it for ourselves. Normally, if it’s a new restaurant, I give it a chance plus a second chance. I like to think if it’s new, things are still a little chaotic, but, things seemed relatively smooth, and the food wasn’t bad at all!

Located in the same parking lot as the theatre in the Northeast, this restaurant is a stand alone building, with tons of parking – and tons of crazy drivers too! It’s a location that fills up quickly, especially on weekends. We arrived around 3o minutes after it opened their doors, so we didn’t have to wait in line for a table. By the time we left though, the entrance area was crammed with hungry guests waiting for a table.

We started with an order of Pineapple BBQ Pork Bun, and I am going to say that I loved it! It was fresh, the topping on the pineapple bun was excellent, and even the bbq pork that was inside of the bun was really tasty with a nice sauce to it! The tasted between the subtle sweetness and the savoury was perfect! These buns were also extremely adorable!

Then came a dish we always eat, and I’ve always enjoyed since I was a child, it would be Chinese Donut Rice Crepes. I love ordering rice crepes from here, as you can see right into their kitchen – I got to watch the lady make all the rice crepes, and that was really exciting. The rice crepe itself was thin, soft, smooth, and super fresh – making this dish one to remember!

Ah, the Pan Fried Turnip Cake is something my husband eats – always! He really enjoyed it from here, even though he says there isn’t as much ingredients in the turnip cake as the ones I make for him. But in having more “goh”, they get a really nice square cut! So, it looks wonderful for presentation. Taste wise, it wasn’t bad either.

As per usual, I eat a lot of Chicken Feet, and these like many other places are jammed packed with flavour, and tender. I think that’s most important for chicken feet, and they were able to achieve it.

Steamed Beef Tripe with Ginger and Green Onion is another one of my favourites, and it too is important that it’s tender. No complaints with my beef tripe from here!

The steamed shrimp dumpling was quite nice, the skin on the shrimp dumpling was delicate with a nice texture. Of course, the shrimp was quite fresh. The shrimp dumplings wasn’t huge but it was packed with good shrimps! It was delicious!

Now, we got our order of Deep Fried Shrimp Balls, which was a little different. The crunchiness was awesome, and the actual shrimp balls was huge – still using the good quality of shrimp as in their shrimp dumpling.

The Steamed Beef Meat Balls is something I don’t always eat, but I did for this restaurant, as everything else was really good. It wasn’t overwhelmed by the cilantro taste as some restaurants do. It was surprisingly good, and the meat was smooth and silky. Overall, it was a great meat ball.

I think the Shanghai Style Juicy Pork Dumplings was a little disappointment for me. I was expecting a nice bit of broth when I bite in, but it was just a pork dumpling that was “juicy” – but no broth. It could be the fact it may have all leaked out, but I don’t know. The texture of the pork dumpling wasn’t as smooth as I would like it, but the taste wasn’t bad. Even though this may have been my least favourite dish of the experience, by no means was it “bad” or “gross”. So, overall, I really loved my experience here and think it’s one of the better dim sum places in Calgary. I’ll definitely be back, as long as they keep up their quality without increasing their prices!

Ginger Beef Bistro House

400 388 Country Hills Blvd NE
Calgary, AB T3K5J6
(403) 265-1616