Canada – Page 12 – Elsie Hui

October 8, 2018October 8, 2018

Villa Caruso Restaurant – Jasper, Alberta

I needed a nice dinner as I was dragged to an unexpected frozen canyon walk and thought I deserved a nice dinner! No, I have no logic in my mind – but any excuse to have a fancier dinner, I’ll make up some sort of excuse! We found ourselves waiting in line at Villa Caruso Restaurant but with the amount of people in line, I had high hopes.

By the time we got in, the service was quite slow but we weren’t on any time schedule at all so we had all night. We had a window seat where we watched trains go by, cars get stuck in snow, etc… so, it wasn’t a problem!

I knew I wanted seafood and I knew it was good as I was told it was good! So, I ordered their Tuna Steak which was a large piece of tuna, Cajun spiced and delious.

My hubby was super hungry and so he ordered himself a 10oz Prime Rib steak which was fork tender, full of flavour and a great cut of meat! It wasn’t fatty or dry.

Overall, we spent a long time here, but the food was worth the wait. They left us alone most the time, but we didn’t need anything either! It was a great experience overall!

Villa Caruso Restaurant

640 Connaught Drive
Jasper, AB
780-852-3920

October 8, 2018

Something Else – Jasper, Alberta

I have a quick day trip out to Jasper, and this time was weird as I’m know to have an awesome bladder… I really needed to go to the bathroom, so we went the first place that didn’t need me to wait! So, we went to Something Else which was a pretty big restaurant with a few table seated – so it could be either or for the restaurant.

The bathrooms were nice, just thought I’d mention that! I ordered an appetizer order of their Louisiana Shrimp Jambalaya which was pretty delicious actually!! I’m usually skeptical about ordering seafood from a place I’m unfamiliar with, and being so far from home. I’m glad I braved this one as the shrimp was amazing, and the spice level in the jambalaya wasn’t ridiculous!

We also ordered their Lunch Special and this day it was either their Lasagna or spaghetti and meatballs with a soup. We grabbed their Lasagna special and it started with a nice bowl of vegetable soup. I know I didn’t have much but it was quite flavourful and it tasted like a tomato based vegetable soup.

The Lasagna was pretty big! It had lots of pasta layers filled with tons of meat sauce and then topped and baked mozzarella cheese! It was amazing and hearty!!

Overall, the experience was better than expected. The food was great, it was kind of right off the main street. We found parking, but somehow we always find street parking!! Had I known we were going to do a hike, I probably would’ve eaten more! Always figure it out first is my lesson to you! 🙂

Something Else

621 Patricia Street
Jasper, Alberta
780-852-3850

September 30, 2018September 30, 2018

Goro + Gun Japanese Noodle Bar – Calgary, Alberta

I go to Stephen Avenue maybe a few times a year and I’ve been going there when Goro + Gun is closed, but this one time I finally made it there! Just as I was done and leaving the mall, I saw it was opened and had to go in.

This was just a light lunch or snack as I wasn’t intending to eat at this hour, but we started with their Gyoza’s mainly because the people next to us had some and they looked amazing. When ours came to the table, I was right!! The skin was thin, the filling was tasty, and I didn’t really use their sauce at all. Their blend of pork filling and spices was perfect and the sesame vinaigrette was delicious as well even though I thought it wasn’t necessary.

We ordered 2 noodle dishes that were quite different. We ordered their Tonkotsu Ramen that was filled with a generous portion of ramen, topped with some BBQ Pork Belly and my favourite, red ginger! All this amazing bowl of ramen was warmed by a perfect blend of their pork broth.

The other noodle dish we ordered was their Yakisoba which was their brothless noodles with BBQ pork belly, sunny side egg, green cabbage, bean sprouts, red ginger, bonito flakes! This is definitely different from any yakisoba from a food court as this was amazingly delicious!

At the end of the day, I’m really glad we decided to spontaneously stop in here and have some noodles! We already paid for parking, so why not!

Goro + Gun Japanese Noodle Bar

#245 – 225 7th ave SW
(inside Scotia Centre)
403-237-5596

December 12, 2017December 12, 2017

Via Cibo South Trail – Calgary, Alberta

We were looking for a quick dinner this one evening, and we remembered having Via Cibo at Deerfoot Meadows being really delicious, so we decided to head into the location on 130th Avenue SE just off Deerfoot Trail. There’s ample parking but I assume when everything is opened, the parking situation will be trickier as there’s lots of development here right now.

The way the layout is for this fast food chain is standard, but they give you a number and you pick a table and the staff will bring you your order. It’s quite organized, and although it was really new when we came here, it was speedy enough. We do love the open kitchen concept, and their system was quite amazing. The service was great both for dine in and take out.

We started with their Margherita Pizza as I wanted something simple and delicious. They definitely delivered and everything was fresh and tasty. The crust was beautifully cooked with a nice crisp and it wasn’t soggy at all.

What is more Italian than pasta, so we had an order of their Alfredo Pasta with Sausage. At first, the portions seemed really small, but as you eat it, you do fill up quickly so it worked out at the end.

We definitely enjoyed our experience here. It was a quick night out dinner and we couldn’t have asked for anything else! I’m sure we’ll be back as we’re just steps away and I can always use a bowl of pasta! The food was definiately made to order which is something we appreciate a lot, and believe it’s well worth the time and effort.

Via Cibo South Trail

515-4700 130th Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2Z 4E7
403-720-2222

March 11, 2017

Vietnam Sub & Grill – Calgary, Alberta

We found Vietnam Sub & Grill by luck when we were driving around Country Hills this one weekend, and saw it from the corner of our eye. It’s in a little corner location a bit tucked away, but it’s not a busy strip mall when we went – in fact, it was a Saturday afternoon and we were the only ones in there.

Without much expectation, we decided to order their Lemon Grass Beef Salad Rolls which actually wasn’t bad. We’ve had worse, and the rice paper was prepared nicely such that it wasn’t ripping or hard. The beef was quite flavourful, and the dipping sauce was good too. So, we were off to a good start, even though there wasn’t “lemongrass” flavour, it was still quite fragrant and had taste to it!

I ordered their Vietnamese sub, and their Satay Chicken Sub to be exact. It was pretty standard looking, but the bun was really nice and the satay chicken was quite tasty. THere wasn’t much filling in it, and that’s a little bit of a bummer. Their Baguette was really good and you can tell that was a fresh bun, so I give them credit for that!

Then, we had to try a noodle soup and ordered their Satay Rare Beef Rice Noodle Soup and the nice thing about this soup was it had tons of flavour and salt. We didn’t have to add anything to it. It wasn’t just a spicy bowl of soup or anything, so it was quite decent!

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised as we didn’t have any expectations for this little place with no one in there. We did get quite thirsty from the salt afterwards, but that’s an us issue. Tons of parking, clean facilities and restaurant… and there was window seating as well as booth.

Vietnam Sub & Grill

10 Country Hills Landing NW
Calgary, AB T3K 5P4
(403) 262-8819