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Viet Thai Bistro – Calgary, Alberta

I love looking for little places to eat, especially ethnic food cuisine that I can go to on random lazy days! I’ve found Viet Thai Bistro just off 52nd Ave SE, and I must say, I really like eating here and I look forward to the next time I return.

We’ve dined here twice already, so I’ll put the 2 dining experiences together. The restaurant is a small and intimate place that offers a few tables and mostly caters to the take-out crowd. The prices here are amazing, and I loved their appetizers! I’ve tried their Coconut Shrimp which comes in a plate of 4 shrimps for $3.00, and the shrimps were quite fresh and fried to perfection!

Another appetizer that we tried is their Chicken Wings which comes in a plate of 10 wings, and the wings are perfectly fried. The actual wings doesn’t have much flavour, but they put sweet chili sauce on top which is delicious! They don’t put so much on such that the wings are soggy, and they don’t skimp out by keeping the wings lacking in flavour – so it’s a great balance they do for the wings!

Then, during our first visit, we had more Thai style food, and we loved it! We tried Kaprow Beef which is the Spicy Basil Beef with rice. This was delicious and spicier than I first anticipated! But, as I continued eating, it made me want to order more!

The other dish we tired was the Pad Siew which is made with wide rice noodles, and fried with beef and vegetables. Again, the plate of pad siew was really generous, and the noodles were delicious! Nothing was over cooked and everything was seasoned perfectly!

The last time we went, we tried their Vietnamese cuisine, and we ordered one of their popular dishes, the Beef Pho. The bowl of noodles was quite large, however, I did find the soup noodles was rather bland.

One of my favourite foods in the entire world is Vietnamese Submarines, and I ordered the grilled Lemongrass chicken submarine which unfortunately wasn’t to my expectation. There wasn’t a lot of chicken at all, and the bun was kind of burnt, but cold. It wasn’t bad, however, I’ve had better ones in the area. I’m sure I’ll still order one if I had the craving for a Vietnamese submarine though – they’re very convenient and at this price, it’s almost worth it!

Overall, we loved this place, and the prices are extremely fair – and in fact on the cheaper side, especially with the portion sizes! The flavours are amazing, and I think I like the Thai cuisine more than the Vietnamese cuisine from Viet Thai Bistro! Regardless, I know I will be back, and probably become one of their regulars!

Viet Thai Bistro

Suite 511-15566 McIvor Blvd SE
Calgary, AB T2Z
(403) 453-2222

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Aroma Restaurant – Authentic Mexican Cuisine – Canmore

Breakfast time can be tricky in Canmore to find a place to eat – and this time, we found ourselves in a Mexican restaurant called Aroma Restaurant which is just at the intersection of 8th Avenue and 8th Street (Main Street) in Canmore. With extensive hours, Aroma makes it easy for you to casually pop in for any meal of the day!

We went in and I quickly ordered a Mexican Hot Chocolate which has now become one of my favourite drinks for hot chocolate! I already attempted to make one at home, and it’s not as good!

For breakfast, I ordered the Ham and Cheese Burrito which was fantastic! The ingredients used in this burrito was so fresh and the salsa was amazing!

We also ordered the Rancheros which is a breakfast with 2 fired eggs on a tortilla and black beans, then topped with ranchero tomato sauce!

We enjoyed our breakfast so much we actually asked for dessert! What a neat treat – but we ordered a Mango Mousse which was a light cake with tons of mango flavour!

Overall, we really enjoyed our dining experience here, and it was a treat as I don’t usually go into a Mexican restaurant – as I thought it was a cuisine I don’t really enjoy… however, I think this maybe a new category I should start to explore as I loved my meal here!

Aroma on Urbanspoon

Aroma Restaurant – Authentic Mexican Cuisine

837 8 Street
Canmore, AB T1W 2B3
(403) 675-9913

Monday thru Friday
Breakfast & Lunch
10:30 a.m. to 3:30 PM

Saturday & Sunday
Breakfast – 8:00 a.m to 3:30 PM
Lunch – 13:30 a.m. to 3:30 PM

Daily
Dinner – 5:00 p.m to 10:00 PM

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Wood Restaurant & Lounge Canmore

We took walk through Main Street (8 Street) in Canmore, Alberta which is basically one of the only streets in Canmore. We didn’t know where to eat, and found ourselves walking straight through the door of Wood Restaurant & Lounge just as the snow began to fall.

We walked in and was seated in these large cozy chairs right by the fireplace! What a perfect place to be during this snow! I really enjoyed the ambiance here! The only thing that was kind of wierd was the bathrooms, where they are located in the lower levels, and the men and ladies washrooms were in completely different areas!

I started the meal experience by ordering some hot tea. I thought it was strange that the waitress didn’t ask me what kind of tea I would like, but instead, she brought me a plate of awesome tea, which was Revolution Tea brand.

From here, I ordered their special, which they called Chicken Gyros which wouldn’t be the name I would call this dish I ended up receiving! It was awesome, don’t get me wrong – it just wasn’t made with chicken cooked on a vertical spit… at least I think anyway (which is the technical definition of gyros). Regardless, it was a great chicken sandwich in a pita, and I ordered it with a Brisket Soup on the side – which was one of their soup of the day!

We also ordered the Smoked BBQ Beef Brisket Sandwich which was made of layers of thinly shaved smoked brisket smothered in BBQ sauce and piled onto a bun! Yes! It was as tasty as it sounds! We loved it! In fact, my brisket soup tasted a lot like this sandwich, only less BBQ sauce flavour and made much more heartier! Kind of like a twist on a borscht!

By the end of this meal, as good as all the food was, we were completely stuffed and saved no room for dessert! It’s quite a bummer as I would have loved to have a dessert from here – since the food was quite delicious!

Wood Restaurant & Lounge on Urbanspoon

Wood Restaurant & Lounge

838 8 St
Canmore, AB T1W2B8
(403) 678-3404

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Ramada Inn & Suites Canmore – Alberta

Recently, we went to Canmore, Alberta for a quick get-away, retreat! We booked a last minute room as it was a busy weekend in Banff due to all the holiday events going on in the area, including Christmas in the Rockies event Santa Claus Parade of Lights! It’s a fantastic local parade that Banff and area puts on. The hotel check-in was flawless, and just because of the age of the town of Canmore, we weren’t really expecting too much for the hotel.

The room wasn’t anything special, and in fact, we must have gotten the smallest room in the hotel as the pictures online are quite different from our experience. I especially noticed the bathroom, as all other bathrooms seems to have counter space, where in our situation, there was little to no space, with the toilet tucked behind the door. It was quite an awkward layout.

The shower is a spacious walk in shower, nothing spectacular, but not bad at all. I was really happy that the bathroom and the room in general was clean and not horribly disguising. The toilet was fine and the bathroom amenities were quite nice actually! I really like the bathroom amenities as they use San Francisco Soap Company with the scent of Sugared Citrus. It left a wonderful citrus fragrant in the bathroom, which wasn’t over powering – it was very satisfying!

Our room had 2 queen beds which was plenty of space for the 2 of us. I’m sure for families, it would be enough space, but not the bathroom. I’m not sure the little glass shelf above the sink would hold too much things for an entire family.

The nice thing about this hotel is that it offers a fridge and microwave! It would really come handy if you have left over meals from children or just want to keep food. The coffee maker is awesome too – it uses a disposable tray with a pre packaged coffee grind. I made 2 cups of coffee and I loved the taste of it!

We stayed at the wing that was past the pool area – where the breakfast area was! It was convenient as we came down in the morning without needing to step outside or walking the walk ways on the 3rd floor! The breakfast was fantastic and offered a great selection! Overall stay was quite nice, but I would try to get a room not facing the railway tracks next time as the train comes by hourly, and ends quite late – and starts up again quite early!

Ramada Inn & Suites Canmore

1402 Bow Valley Trail
Canmore, Alberta
Canada T1W 1N5
Toll Free: 1.888.678.4656
Local: 1.403.609.4656

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Kam Do Bakery 金都餅店 – Richmond, BC

We’ve always had some wife cakes or wintermelon cakes from Kam Do Restaurant and Bakery since we have some famil here, and whenever they visit – they always bring some! It has always been delicious, and it was truly a treat to experience their pastries here fresh! We even had some breakfast meals here as well, and it was delicious!

This restaurant/bakery is located in a small strip plaza, and parking is available in the back. It’s pretty easy to find and there’s often a lot of people once you get through the doors – but be careful, not all of them are waiting to get in to the restaurant area of the place! I just sat down and ordered a Satay Beef Instant Ramen which isn’t something I typically order, but this particular day, it’s what I really wanted. The beef is so tender and delicious with it’s satay sauce that really made this super yummy! It is almost a fail proof item on menus, but you’ll be surprised, lots of places can fail you! It was fast and perfect here!

Along with the noodles, it came with a sausage, egg and a sweet bun! This was really intersting to me, as I never see it on a plate of it’s own, but it was fun! The bun was really fresh, with a subtle sweetness to it. It was really soft and you can just tell it was taken out of the oven not too long ago!

We also had another usual order from us for breakfast, and it was the Peppered Steak Breakfast which was slice of “beef steak” covered in their peppered sauce. The meat again was really soft and tender and the flavours of their sauces are unbelievable!

The best thing about eating from a Chinese restaurant for breakfast is the fact it’s always cheap! Needless to say, it was an excellent deal, and never forget to pick some wintermelon cakes or wife cakes up before you leave this place! This restaurant and bakery is truly a hidden gem and a great place to be for any time of day!

Kam Do Bakery 金都餅店 on Urbanspoon

Kam Do Bakery 金都餅店

6211 #3 Rd
Richmond, BC V6Y1N3
(604) 231-9216