Travel – Page 19 – Elsie Hui

January 30, 2016April 3, 2016

3Q Teahouse – Calgary, Alberta

We decided to grab a snack/light dinner one evening and saw a new place called 3Q Teahouse which was recommended by some friends. They told us the owner was actually Taiwanese, so the drinks should be good. There was parking available as the time frame when we went, all the other businesses were closed, or not many opened – which makes it easier!

We ordered our drinks, and I had their Traditional Milk Tea with nothing in it. It wasn’t bad, it was quite decent. It’s not really much different from the milk tea that I’m use to, but neither good or bad is good!

My husband on the other hand ordered Jasmine Green Milk Tea with grass jelly in it. It’s his usual go to drink, so we’ve had it done before and he loves it. Here, I’m not sure what they did, but the drink became thick and slimy. It wasn’t a texture that we like or want to associate it with milk tea. Because of the texture, we couldn’t really decide if we enjoyed the flavours or not.

We ordered some Signauture Popcorn Chicken as one of our favourite snacks is popcorn chicken… it was really good here!

Something kind of different that we ordered was their Fried little buns with Condensed Milk and that was quite a delicious treat. I love condensed milk with regular buns, so with it being little and fried, I was able to eat tons of condensed milk with these buns! I kind of wished they give you an extra dish of condensed milk on the side as they just do a drizzle on the top of the buns. It was good regardless!

As it was our dinner, we ordered some of their rice boxes and we picked Taiwanese 3 Cup Style Chicken which is just chicken with ginger and garlic cooked with rice wine and soy sauce. It’s actually really simple, cheap and delicious!! So, that in mind, you can’t really goof it up! This rice box was pretty awesome!

We also had another rice box combo and this one was the Curry Chicken style one and this one wasn’t as flavourful as you would expect, but nothing wrong with it. They could either cook it a bit longer, or add more flavours to it. But, it was also tasty!

Overall, the food was decent, and most of the drinks was alright. The odd place about here was they have no idea what little bowls for sharing was… we had to ask a few times and they ended up giving us funny little plates. But, regardless, it was a fun night!

3Q Teahouse

323 Macleod Trail SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 287-8228

December 31, 2015December 31, 2015

Grumans Catering & Delicatessen – Calgary, Alberta

We had a weekend where we wanted smoked meat sandwiches and we ventured to pretty much downtown at a place called Grumans. There wasn’t really parking outside so you do need to find street parking, which isn’t bad on weekends!

Once we got parked, we waited for a bit for a table as this place is quite popular! We knew you could order Jewish food here, so we decided to try their Chicken Matzo Soup to start with. It’s a delicious clear yet flavourful chicken broth with a dumpling! This actually was much more interesting than it looked!

As this was lunch, I wanted something a bit more hearty, with smoked meat. I decided I was going for the Grumans Reuben Sandwich and it was an excellent choice! The sandwich was perfectly toasted rye bread, with generous amount of smoked meat, topped with some sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. The menu does state there’s Russian Dressing on it, and I couldn’t tell what that was!?

My other half loves Shepherds Pies and smoked meat.. and when they came together on the menu – he knew immediately what he wanted! He ordered the Smoked Meat Shepherds Pie, it came in a dish with perfectly piped and roasted mashed potatoes. Inside was packed with Montreal smoked meat, carrots, onions and corn. A very hearty and delicious dish!

The experience here was amazing once we got inside! As mentioned, parking is tricky but it’s well worth the fight and battle! The food is made with so much love and you can see it in the servers eyes when they talk about their food. This is a place to take anyone!

Grumans Catering and Deli

230 – 11 Ave SE,
Calgary, AB
(403) 261-9003

September 15, 2015

Smashburger: McKenzie Towne – Calgary, Alberta

We were in the middle of moving and we decided we needed to grab something filling, quick and close as we had a few things lined up that was time sensitive. We decided we would go and try Smashburger in McKenzie Towne and it was amazing! We went at an odd time, so there was plenty of parking on High Street, yet Smashburgers was still busy!

We grabbed a Strawberry Milkshake and they do it properly here! It was thick, flavourful and delicious!! They gave the milkshake to you in the classic tin cup and the glass milkshake glass! It was amazing and totally brought me back in the past with this!

We ordered a classic Smashburger and basically it’s an egg bun with American cheese, Smash Sauce, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickles & onion! It was totally an awesome burger, simple yet delicious!

We made a combo/meal for this meal, and we had an order of Spicy Buffalo Fries, and these fries are so well seasoned, crispy and tender, it was quite a treat! These spicy buffalo fries actually tasted like buffalo season!

Overall, it was the perfect snack and an awesome filler! We really enjoyed everything here, and I am sure we will be back for every reason imaginable!

Smashburger – McKenzie Towne

25 High St SE
Calgary, AB
(587) 387-2740

September 15, 2015September 15, 2015

Thai Pagoda – Canmore, Alberta

I was wanting some Thai food, as we recently had some that was quite disappointing. We found Thai Pagoda which is in Canmore on the main avenue of Bow Valley Trail and it’s not a large place and there’s parking outside.

I knew I wanted their hot soup as it was a chilly day, so we order Tom Kha Noodle Soup which is their spicy coconut milk soup, basically like a Tom Yum with coconut milk. We ordered this soup with chicken and it hit the spot. The soup was quite tasty and there was a good amount of noodles too! The broth was really nicely made and the noodles were a little under cooked, but as it socked up the soup, it turned out to be really flavourful.

We also ordered one of my favourite Thai dishes, we got a plate of their Pad Sa Hew and it was pretty delicious here, and it’s quite a simple dish, but it was pretty good! The dish was fresh and it was good! I really love the soft noodles with the sweet soy sauce, and that’s why this item always makes it to the top of my favourite Thai dish list!

We ended with their Sticky Mango and it was amazing! The mango tasted amazing, the rice was nice, and it was just an awesome dessert! Definitely one of our favourite sticky mango dish!

Overall, the food here was amazing! I can’t wait to come back for more dessert! The food tastes quite authentic! We had an amazing experience here!

Thai Pagoda

1306 Bow Valley Trail,
Canmore, AB
(403) 609-8090

August 26, 2015

G-men Nan Chu – Richmond, British Columbia

I’m actually very confused about the name of this restaurant, but the name on the recipet says the restaurant is called Ramen Bar at NanChuu Japanese Izakaya, however it seems to be called G-men and you don’t see that name as the “dominate” name.

We were brought here by my sister-in-law and her husband, and this place was pretty decent! We started with some Gyozas which as usual, is my dish to order when I’m in the mood for appetizers at a Japanese restaurant. The skin here was really thin, and the filling was amazing! They pan-fried it to perfection!

The other appetizer we ordered was something I’ve never had before, and they call it Okonomiyaki which is Japanese Cabbage Pancake, which is shredded cabbage mixed into a batter and made into a “pancake”. The toppings here was pretty basic as I believe it was just bonito flakes! The dish was pretty amazing and it’s going to be something I’ll order more often!

For ramen, I ordered their Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen and this bowl of ramen is massive! It’s got lots of everything, so make sure you come with an empty belly!

We also ordered their Dan Dan Men which didn’t cross my mind as a japanese dish, as I’ve always associated as Chinese or Sichuan. But, regardless, we ordered a bowl, and it was full of flavour and spice! It was different from what I associate Dan Dan Mein to be, but it was a nice change from typical Ramen – although we were at a ramen place!

Overall, an amazing place! The place is pretty busy and pretty small, so be prepared to wait! But, it really helps build up your appetite as you wait so you can finish everything! Food is quite good, and the prices are very good too!

G-men @ Nan Chu

1160-8391 Alexandra Road
Richmond, BC
(604) 276-8391