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Cruffs, The House of Cream Puffs – Calgary, Alberta

I went to Cruffs at the end of 2010, and I remember telling all my friends about it… and they gave me the funniest look ever — they said “only I would find a cream puff place and enjoy it”. To my delight, it’s like one of the talk of the town!! 🙂 I think Calgary has phased into little sweets, to sweeten up the day!! Cream puffs, cupcakes, cookies and pies are becoming quite popular now!

I really LOVED Cruffs, and I will go back in a heart beat! They have great flavors of cream that they squirt into the cream puff when you order it — that way the cream puffs stay very crispy on the outside, and creamy in the inside.

We went on a quiet weekday, and they seem to not have all the flavors advertised, but that was fine with us! We had vanilla, strawberry, banana, coconut and hazelnut chocolate, all in regular sized cream puffs!

They also have Panekoek which looks like crepes, but it wasn’t the item that they are branded for, so we’ll probably go try it next time!

Overall, if you’re looking for the perfect snack that is quite light, a cream puff from Cruff’s is an excellent idea!

Cruffs, The House of Cream Puffs

2312 4 St SW
Calgary, AB

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Chianti Cafe – Calgary, Alberta

I went to try Chianti Cafe after picking up a good friend from the airport. She wanted to try a good Italian place, and I was here a few years ago, and it seemed to have gone downhill…

We ordered Calamari to share, and it was decent. It was quite crispy and breaded nicely.

I had penne al pacifico – which was basically smoked salmon with sun dried tomatoes on penne pasta. It was an interested texture of smoked salmon and the pasta was less than al dente, as it had quite a bit of crunch in the centre of the pasta. It wasn’t unbearable, but it wasn’t preferred.

We also had a Piatto Combinato Veal medallions with peaches, mangos in a cream sauce served with penne in fresh spinach & tomato sauce. That I heard was quite tasty.

Our last dish that we ordered was the linguini Kitsilano which was Italian sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, tomato sauce with linguini. It was a decent dish.

Overall, I think it was just the texture of the smoked salmon which probably made my dish seem to fail, and made the rest of my dish seem to be a disappointment, especially considering the other 2 entrees were fine. The calamari was really good too, and they only used the body of the squid, so it was all in ring forms. It was deep fried in oil that seemed to be quite dirty, but the overall taste was good.

Chianti Cafe

2805 32 Ave NE
Calgary, AB

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Nellie’s Cosmic Cafe – Calgary, Alberta

I’m actually not really one that likes an “American” style breakfast, but I must say, I really enjoyed eating at Nellies Cosmic Cafe for breakfast. It’s a real home style restaurant, and it is just really cozy and inviting!

The fact they use actual mugs for coffee, teas, hot chocolates, etc is really a nice touch. Instead of having it feel like a restaurant with “all the same mugs” it now feels like you’ve entered Nellies house and they great you with a nice warm drink.

I’ve ordered the perogies as I LOVE perogies, and it doesn’t have that layer of grease I don’t really like first thing in the morning. To my excitement when my plate came, my plate was piled high with scrambled eggs, toast, sausage, potatoes, and tucked away under the toast was the star of my breakfast — perfect perogies. They tasted great, and it wasn’t over cooked at all. I’m not sure if it’s homemade, but it sure can pass for it! I really enjoyed my breakfast here at Nellies Cosmic Cafe and would go back in the near future!

We also got a plate of corned beef hash and it also tasted really good. At the end of breakfast, we left really satisfied with a very full belly! The price was decent at Nellies for the amount of goodness you get!!

Nellie’s Cosmic Cafe

1001 17 Ave SW
Calgary, AB

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Amato Gelato – Calgary, Alberta

Amato Gelato has always been a place I’ve always wanted to go visit for gelato, and I finally got to go! If only Amato Gelato wasn’t so far away, I can see myself there every weekend.

It was so much fun at Amato Gelato, just looking through the display to see the huge assortment of flavours, I did feel like a kid in a candy store – or ice cream store!

I settled for a coconut gelato, and we also had the toasted almond ice cream. The coconut ice cream was alright, I think it would have been a million time better if there were coconut pieces or if it was a toasted coconut flavour. It just seemed be missing something. The texture was really smooth and creamy, and it was really quite perfect!

The toasted almond flavour was really flavourful! We definitely enjoyed that gelato, and would probably get it again. Maybe even the almond avalanche! That looked really delicious.

We had one in a dish, and one in a hand dipped chocolate-dipped waffle cone, and the waffle cone was crisp and fresh. We watched the workers hand dip the cones, and that was an extra special touch!

Amato Gelato

2104 Kensington Rd NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 270-9733

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A Ladybug Belgian Patisserie – Calgary, Alberta

We visited the market at Currie Barracks one afternoon, and couldn’t help but to stop by A Ladybug Belgian Pastsserie with the soft scent of freshly made crepes. We weren’t hungry or anything, but just couldn’t resist that sweet temptation. So, we sat down and ordered ourselves a strawberry waffle, as that’s one of my favorite things to eat on a nice hot morning.

The freshness of the fruits, and crispness of the outside of the waffle, to the soft chewy waffle inside was in perfect harmony. The whipped cream used to garnish was home made, and tasted great with the waffles as well. We always thought we would be back, but I guess the market at Currie Barracks have closed. I hope they’ll re-open in the new location, as I can’t wait to sink my teeth into some more waffles, and perhaps crepes too!

A Ladybug Belgian Patisserie

4199 Quesnay Wood Dr SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 689-0244