Canada – Page 45 – Elsie Hui

January 4, 2014

Kaffee Stube Edelweiss Village – Calgary, Alberta

Ah, German food, ja? Das ist gut! I found Edelweiss Village which is a German Market, but inside, there’s a cafe called Kaffee Stube which is a pretty cool “fast food” place! It’s pretty big and pretty busy, and most of the people who go to the cafe eat sweets with coffee… except for me, I get real food!

I had to order myself a Hot Chocolate as we’re in a cafe, on a cold day! It was a delicious and decadent hot chocolate with a great chocolate wafer roll on the side! It was so good that I got a tin of these wafers from the market on my way out!

We ordered a Red Borscht as it was one of the soup of the day. It’s also one of my favourite soups (I know, I love a lot of things…), but I really enjoyed the flavours of this soup! It was quite different from the Ukranian ones I’ve tried.

My lunch was their Ukrainan Classic which had sauerkraut topped with a Bratwurst, and homemade Perogies! It was a tad costly at $10.25 for only a few perogies! I must admit, the food was good, but I’m not sure if it was worth that much for a fast food/take out place, which is really too bad.

Then, we ordered a plate of their Schnitzel Plate which had pork schnitzel, German potato salad with sauerkraut for $12.95! The Schnitzel was a tad disappointing as they took it out of the smorg and heated it up in the microwave, which made it soggy. The flavours were great, so maybe next time, I’ll take it home and bake it until golden and crispy!

Even though it was costly, it was decent food and there was still a LONG line up. It tells you something! I would return as well, and have some sweets as they look delicious! I’m sure it will be a cheaper experience as well when we do that!

Kaffee Stube

1921 20 Ave NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 282-6600

Mon. Tues. Wed. 9:30-7:00
Thurs. Fri. 9:30-8:00
Sat. 9:00-6:00
Sun. & Holidays – Closed

January 4, 2014

Pfanntastic Pannenkoek Haus – Calgary, Alberta

I really love trying places that people can’t stop talking about, and this is one of them! This place is called Pfanntastic Pannenkoek Haus which specializes in Dutch pancakes, which is more like a crepe as it’s thin. The location is pretty easy to find, but because this place is so awesome, there’s always a line up! So, either go early or be prepared to wait! This is also a Food Network’s “You Gotta Eat Here” recommendation as well!

We sat down and I ordered a tea, as it was pretty chilly outside and we did have to wait in line. We weren’t expecting to be as busy as it was, but it’s great and worth the wait! When you order coffee, you get a biscuit as well, so that’s pretty fun!

For the actual pancake, I ordered the one with Ham and Pineapple as I love Hawaiian Pizza, I figured I’ll have my pancake inspired by that pizza. They called it Ham, Ananas en Kaas, a Classic Pannenkoeken! It was absolutely delicious with the thin pancake that was delicate, the flavours on top wasn’t over powering. It was a great balance of sweet and savoury!

The other pancake we ordered was a full savoury one, which was Spek, Gerookte worst en Champignons Classic Savoury Pannenkoeken, which was a pancake with bacon, smoked sausage and mushroom! Again, this was delicious and better than pizza or pancakes from a regular place!

Overall, this was absolutely amazing! I think about returning here all the time, but I talk myself out of it. We’re into trying new things, but once I’m out of ideas, I’m sure this will be a place I will be lining up for again!

Pfanntastic Pannenkoek Haus

2439 54 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 243-7757

January 4, 2014

Steels Cafe & Grill – Calgary, Alberta

Originally, I use to go to this hotel to eat dinner every Valentines Day. We started it around 2006… but now I guess it has changed. In 2013, we went here as a tradition, and realized it’s now called Steels Cafe & Grill which means it’s different. There’s no more prime rib buffet!! I use to know a cook, training to be a chef here, so I would come here to see him. Now, he’s gone and everything is a little different. This restaurant is located on the main floor of the Executive Royal Hotel, across from their Front Desk. Reservations are usually not required, at least we always had the luck!

Once we sat down, we were presented with a menu. We knew immediately that times has changed, but gave the sit down thing a shot instead of our usual Prime Rib dinner. We ordered what we wanted and out came our drinks and some Dinner Rolls. They were dinner rolls, nothing good or bad about them!

But my husband and I ordered soup to start. I don’t actually remember who got ordered what but I remember eating both bowls up. I think I went for the Clam Chowder as it’s more my thing. I like creamy things – what can I say!? It was interesting, I remember it being very clam tasting (which is good) with some sand in the soup too. So, it’s real!?

The other bowl of soup we got was their Minestrone Soup which was good! It’s usually fool proof food, so it was good! I don’t remember anything out of the ordinary, and that’s a good thing on it’s own!

From there, we go straight into our dinner! I ordered their Grilled Wasabi Salmon which had some bok choy and rice. It was a light dinner and it was perfect as I remember we just got off the plane that evening and came straight here. It was a great meal despite of how it looks on my picture! I didn’t have the camera I got today at this time.

My meat eating husband ate 10oz New York Steak with some mashed potatoes and veggies! The steak wasn’t bad, but it’s no prime rib! The steak was pretty good, and I must say, the mashed potatoes stayed on the plate the way it looks. It was dry and kind of rubbery. Good thing the meat was satisfactory!

Overall, I think we miss our prime rib buffet for this special day. It just didn’t meet our expectations as it wasn’t what we were looking for. The food was decent and unfortunately it wasn’t the same as what we’re used to. We’ll search for a buffet and make a new tradition.

Steels Cafe & Grill – Executive Royal Hotel

2828 23 St NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 219-7484

January 4, 2014

Bill’s Peking House – Calgary, Alberta

I didn’t realize I was so far behind in posting these blogs up. I was talking to Cody the other afternoon about Bill’s Peking House and I was trying to tell him I’ve been here. I looked up my blog and realized I didn’t post it… so, here it is, almost a year late as I went here for my birthday. The location isn’t hard to find as it’s located right on Canyon Meadows Drive and it is a second floor restaurant. The restaurant is actually very clean for a Chinese place, and we were impressed with the quality of Chinese food in a South restaurant.

This birthday dinner was just my husband and I, and we ordered their Peking Duck – 3 Courses and it was actually quite delicious! It’s one of the reasons why I thought it was weird I didn’t blog this yet. Anyway, the first course is always the skin of the duck with the traditional pancakes and condiments. The duck wasn’t all skin and fat, and it was crispy and delicious!

Our second course was a soup, and they use the duck bones and some of the meat for the broth. The soup is loaded with tofu, duck and some spinach. The soup was flavourful and pretty light.

Now, for the last course, it’s my favourite one! We chose it to be a broad noodle dish, so they use the Chinese broad noodles with the duck meat, napa cabbage and other traditional Chinese ingredients for fried broad noodles. It was really good, a tad on the greasy side – but what is Chinese food without grease!? So, it was perfect!

Overall, this was a memorable meal, as I remembered about it almost 9 months later! This is a place where we would to back to, even though their target audience is mostly for the Caucasian guests. The owners were so happy to talk to us in Chinese, so we knew it’s a treat for them that we were there! We’d be happy to go back anytime!

Bill’s Peking House

380 Canyon Meadows Dr SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 278-3338

January 1, 2014January 1, 2014

Chuckwagon Cafe – Turner Valley, Alberta

I really enjoy watching Food Network in my spare time, or if I’m not watching it, it will be on in the background. This one time, I was watching You Gotta Eat Here and they were talking about Chuckwagon Cafe out in Turner Valley – so we figured it will be nice to meet up with my sister-in-law and her significant other for breakfast. The cafe is in a renovated barn and it’s not very large – and it fills up fast! So, either go early, or just be prepared to wait in line.

I knew what I wanted as John Catucci raved about their Flat Iron Steak Benedict with buttery croissant with butter, toasted… instead of using an English Muffin. Then, topped with their Flat Iron Steak, which is cooked to perfection and super tender, as they raise their cattle themselves! Then, topped with an egg, which I love it poached to soft. Of course, this was topped with their hollandaise sauce! It was heavenly and I’d recommend this dish as well!

My other half was being kind of odd… he ordered their lunch special for breakfast and asked for their 9oz New York Strip Steak enjoyed as their Steak Sandwich format, with soup on the side (Beef and Barley soup was their soup of the day). The steak was tender and juicy, seasoned nicely and grilled to the perfect rare temperature. He loved it and I basically didn’t hear much from him until he was done!

This is definitely somewhere I’d recommend going to, if you don’t mind the drive. We took the long way there and went through Okotoks and saw Big Rock prior to going for breakfast. The prices are on the high side for this cafe, but the food is really good, and the service is really friendly. I’m actually going to put bets on the fact we will be back, as I’m still in search for a perfect burger. I’m hopeful it may come from here!

Chuckwagon Cafe

105 Sunset Blvd
Turner Valley, AB
(403) 933-0003