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Rundle Lounge The Fairmont Banff Springs – Banff, Alberta

We had the opportunity to dine at the Rundle Lounge where we reserved a table for afternoon tea. It was beautiful and romantic – the setting was just picturesque. We didn’t have the best service, but everything else was very nice. We had a fantastic experience regardless of service and sometimes food is all we care about!

Once we were seated, the table was beautifully set and the menu was on our table with all the utensils we would need for afternoon tea, including our tea steeper!

We sat for a long time before the waitress even came to our table where she threw down our Fresh Berries which we didn’t know if we started to eat of what the issue was. So, we left it on the table until we got our tea. Along with the berries, she set down the Devonshire Cream and Strawberry preserve on our table.

I ordered the Empress Orange Pekoe which was quite nice. They describe the tea as black tea from India, Tanzania, Kenya, China and Ceylon. Not much of a description, but I do like Orange Pekoe as it’s one of the teas I consider “normal” and like anytime of day.

After our tea came, and we ate most of our fresh berries, our waitress brought out some scones, a sweet scone and a savoury one – which both tasted amazing!

From there, came the amazing 3 Tier Tower of goodies which is the highlight of the experience.

On the bottom tier, it was the Finger Sandwich tier with egg salad, smoked salmon, heirloom tomato, grilled vegetable, waldorf chicken sandwiches. My favourite from this tier would be the egg salad croissant. It was perfect in every way!

The middle tier had the Tea Pastries which had some mini madeleine cakes with a brownie on a stick dipped on chocolate as well as a mouse tart.

The top tier had the Petit Fours which was basically the sweet tier and the tier I love most. There was a lemon macaroon as well as a pistachio macaroon on this tier which is the best macaroon we’ve tried to date! There was also raspberry cheesecake on a cookie crust which was absolutely amazing!

Our overall experience was decent. The food was really good, the ambiance was superb and the service – well, it could have been better. We did enjoy our time, as we were looking forward to afternoon tea at the Rundle Lounge for a long time! This is definitely an experience you should try at least once!

Rundle Lounge on Urbanspoon

Rundle Lounge – The Fairmont Banff Springs

405 Spray Ave
Banff, AB
(403) 762-6860

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Grand Central Bar & Grill – Okotoks, Alberta

We always go to Light Up Okotoks during the festive season and this year was no different. We went there a little late so we decided to go eat first. We randomly walked into Grand Central Bar & Grill right on Elizabeth Street.

We weren’t actually hungry or anything so we just had some wings and pizza! We ordered a serving of their Salt and Pepper Wings. The wings were fried really nicely and they tasted quite delicious!

Then, we shared an Okotokian Pizza which was a pizza with ham, pepperoni, mushroom, and pineapple and topped with a slice of tomato on each slice of pizza. The pizza was tasty and the crust was pretty good and not greasy at all.

Overall, we had a great experience at the Grand Central Bar and it was fun to sit by the window and watch the crowds go by. It was a lovely evening and we got to see the giant Christmas tree all lite up. It was a great experience and we’re sure we will be back for snacks and appetizers one day!

Grand Central Bar & Grill on Urbanspoon

Grand Central Bar & Grill

9, 49 Elizabeth Street
Okotoks, AB
(403) 938-0929

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Waldhaus Restaurant – Banff, Alberta

We went to Banff for a weekend where we wanted to try Waldhaus that claims it’s inside Banff Springs Hotel. It is on it’s property, but outside. There is a shuttle that takes you to and from the restaurant and it’s located pretty much on the golf course.

Once we got seated as we had a late reservation, we were offered some delicious bread. The special bread in the basket would be the pretzel croissants. It’s pretty filling, but it was really tasty! The texture was amazing and with some butter, it was a nice treat! It’s a pretzel rolled into a croissant shape.

I ordered the Vension Medallion which was delicious! The vension was tender and juicy and marinated really well, and of course cooked to perfection! The vension was topped with lingonberry preserve with some black garlic jus and the combination was amazing.

We also ordered the Jager Schnitzel which was a thin piece of breaded and fried veal with mushroom ragout on top. We really like the mushrooms on top and the combination of the fried veal with the mushroom gravy – it was divine!

As we had such an amazing dinner, we decided we would have some dessert. We wanted to try some traditional Black Forest Cake as everything was made traditionally. The black forest cake was made with a modern twist, so it was quite different.

We had an experience to remember and loved our time here. To top off the experience, the chef came out and chatted with his customers and he even stopped at our table to talk to us! We were impressed with the entire visit, especially the food! The service and atmosphere was top notched!

Waldhaus Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Waldhaus Restaurant

405 Spray Ave
Banff, AB
(403) 762-6860

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State & Main Kitchen & Bar – Calgary, Alberta

Just located outside of Chinook Centre is a restaurant called State & Main which I wanted to try since it opened. It’s your typical cuisine which means burgers and steak place, and what makes this place good is that there’s tons of parking from the mall. I’m sure it’s going to be hectic during holiday shopping season!

We sat down and started with an appetizer to split and the special they had this particular evening was half off wings, so we got an order of Salt and Pepper Wings which was actually better than expected! The wings were crispy and seasoned nicely, and they had tons of meat on them!

I don’t normally order seafood from a place I’m first trying out but I really wanted to try their Applewood Salmon Club and I’m actually really glad I did. The burger was super tasty and it was amazing! I had 2 sides, which was their honey slaw and jalapeno cheddar mashed potatoes. My burger was made of applewood salmon in a toasted brioche bun with roasted red pepper aioli, lettuce, tomato, peppered bacon & fresh avocado. Like I said, it was amazing!

My husband ordered the Chorizo Sausage Lasagna which was really good as well. The portion was a nice size and the filling was delicous. Baked to perfection, this lasagna hit the shot as it was a hearty home cooking styled dish.

We enjoyed our meal so much, we ended up splitting a half order of Dirt Pie and to be honest, it was the perfect amount! This lovely dessert was a cake made of chocolate & mocha ice cream separated by a layer of fudge brownie chunks on top of a crumbled cookie crust. Yes, it was just as good as the description!

Overall, we really enjoyed this place and I’m sure I will be back. We enjoyed our time here. Food, service, atmosphere, location… all perfect!

State & Main Kitchen & Bar on Urbanspoon

State & Main Kitchen & Bar – Chinook Centre

6455 MacLeod Trail SW
Calgary, AB
(587) 350-1333

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Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel – Banff, Alberta

I’ve been to many hotels in my life so far and time after time, Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel keeps coming up as my all time favourite! So, we decided to go back and stay again as it’s been awhile to re-live old memories and make some recent ones! We booked a night in the Deluxe Mountain View King Room where we were blown away yet again!

Our room was amazing this time, we got a corner room that overlooked Tunnel Mountain and Rundle Mountain – and you can make out Bow Falls from the window! The view was amazing and the space in the room was plenty ample! Once you walked into the room, the bed was on one side, and basically everything else was on the other side!

We walked in and there was the drink amenity tray which has a coffee maker, and a kettle! There’s also a mini fridge that’s under the TV stand too and it had some creamers! They give you plenty of coffee and tea options, and only 2 mugs! So, we just rised our mugs and reused them as I made hot chocolate that I brought with me for this amazing trip!

The bathroom was pretty small, and offered a relatively spacious stand in shower! The bathroom amenities were quite nice and it offered a subtle rose scent. It had all that you really needed though! Behind the door on a hook was a hair dryer too! There’s plenty of extra bathroom supplies – so for sure you won’t run out!

The treat in the room was the giant soaker tub with jets in the corner. It is located outside the bathroom in the room but it’s tucked in the corner! What an amazing treat! You can turn the TV over and watch TV from the tub, but if your jets are going, you probably can’t hear the TV. There’s a few steps here on tiles so I’m sure it can become slippery – but there’s another bath mat to help with that!

To get a better overall look of the room we stayed at, feel free to visit the room walk through clip below! We enjoyed the 2 windows with the window seats a lot! The view is pretty good, although there is some obstruction! There’s a column in the middle of the room, but it’s hard to miss – you won’t walk into it at night!

Overall, this is still our favourite hotel with the best rooms, view and the food at the hotel is amazing as well! We did all our dining at the hotel and it truly was a Fairmont experience! What a perfect weekend!

Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel

405 Spray Avenue
Banff, Alberta, Canada
403 762 2211