Travel – Page 70 – Elsie Hui

July 21, 2013

Primrose Restaurant – Rimrock Resort Banff

It was our anniversary and we knew we wanted to celebrate by going to Banff – so we did and had dinner inside the Rimrock Resort at one of their dining rooms called Primrose Restaurant. The service was excellent here, and the servers attention to detail was spectacular!

Once we sat down and ordered our drinks, a bread basket came out with some neat butters and dips! I actually forgot what they were, but I believe it was something like a mint butter, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and the last was like a blueberry butter. Regardless of what the butters were, they were very tasty!

We only ordered one starter as I prefer a dessert instead of an appetizer – my husband is the opposite! So, he ordered a bowl of Local Beef Barley Soup which was really a nice soup, tons of flavour and just enough barley to be nice!

For my entree, I chose their Lobster Pappardelle which was as pasta with tons of seafood consisting of lobster, salmon and crab with a Creamy Mascarpone Reduction with Egg Noodles. This dish was actually the winner of the 2012 Food and Wine Festival, which was one of the reason why I had to try it! And, it was a winner in my books as well as everything was perfectly cooked and delicious! Generous portions of both the egg noodles and the seafood!

My husband ordered their Cowboy Pan which was a delicious mixture of Beef & Lamb, Marinated with Smoky Herbs & Spices, with some vegetables. The meat was topped with an onion garlic yoghurt, which was really a great balance with the meat! All the meat was tender and juicy and cooked to perfection! It was a great pan!

My dessert was their Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee which is a chocolate creme brulee (obviously) with toasted coconut meringue and sour cherry compote. It was great as the sour cherry compote really helps to cut the richness of the chocolate brulee!

Overall, we had a wonderful time! Parking can be tricky as there wasn’t too many… they have guest parking but if you’re a guest, you need to park on the street and walk on over! The prices were within reason, ranging from $20 o $25 per entree, but they were large and tasty!

Primrose Restaurant

198 Mountain Ave
Banff, AB
(403) 762-1865

July 14, 2013July 14, 2013

Holy Smoke BBQ – Calgary

I love smoked food, and I have been to their South location before. They’re not opened on Sundays, so we decided to go to Holy Smoke BBQ on 16th Avenue, as they’re opened! The parking lot is quite a hassle to get in, there’s only 1 driveway in, and not enough spaces, so be prepared! Once you go inside, there’s a long counter where you get food and along the window, there’s some seating for you to enjoy your food! Along the exit side of the restaurant, there is a huge selection of sauces that you can pick from! They do recommend which sauce would go with what you’ve ordered, and that’s helpful!

The moment I walked in, I was expecting to be greeted by a strong smell of smoke – like their South location, and it wasn’t a strong smell of smoke at all from here. Regardless, I ordered myself a Smoke Chicken Sandwich as I’ve never tried their chicken. I honestly forgot what they recommended to me that goes well with this smoked chicken sandwich. I can’t remember if it’s their Honey Garlic sauce or Sweet Apple sauce, but I ended up trying it with their Honey Garlic sauce. The sauces are amazing here, and I’m sure I’ll be ordering the same thing to try it with all the sauces!

We also ordered their Pork Ribs which is ordered by the rib. It’s $1/bone, and it works out to be an excellent deal as they’re pretty large in size. They’re very flavourful as is, with a hint of spiciness. The sauce we used for this was their Mesquite sauce and their Jack Daniels sauce. I didn’t care for their Jack Daniels sauce much as it was too bitter for my liking.

The ribs was absolutely delicious. It’s not “fall off the bone”, but you can definitely clean the bones really well. The flaovurs was awesome, and you know it was made with lots of love. We ordered some potato salad with the ribs, and it was made with nice chunky slices of potatoes. It was tender and not over cooked, and quite a great side! We loved the ribs so much we went back and ordered another 6 ribs after we were done! Below is a picture of the selection of sauces Holy Smoke BBQ has to offer!

For a drink, we got a Strawberry Milkshake to split. They do it the good old fashion way with strawberry ice cream and milk – then “shake” or blend it together! It tasted great and it brought back great childhood memories for me.

Overall, we love this place! The only thing we really didn’t like is the parking lot as you can get stuck in the parking lot if you’re trying to leave and someone else just got in. Make sure you bring your driving skills and some patience when you go! There’s about 4 spots for their guests only!

Holy Smoke BBQ

420 16 Avenue NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 263-4659

July 14, 2013

IHOP Restaurant – Calgary

I’ve been wanting to go to IHOP – International House of Pancakes in Calgary since the day it opened. Usually, every time we drive by to want to try, it’s packed. This time, we got up extra early and finally got to enjoy this restaurant! The parking lot can become a bit messy and there’s not that many spots – however, it is located in an area with lots of other spaces, which I’m sure you can use.

We were greeted by really friendly staff immediately, and everyone was in a good mood! We were seated at a table, and the first thing they asked us was what we wanted to drink. I ordered a hot tea, even though every table had a canister for coffee – I wanted tea! It came in a pretty large pot, and I loved that the cup has its logo on it.

I ordered the Pancake Platter and I opted for the double blueberry pancake, with sausage links. The pancakes was quite a decent size, and they had 3 of them, topped with fresh blueberries and whipped cream! And, around the pancakes was 4 links of sausage. I drizzled their butter pecan syrup on my pancakes and was super satisfied! The sausage had a soft casing and tons of flavour, and the pancakes was light and fluffy, with the right amount of blueberries!!

We also ordered a plate of Big Steak Omelette and it was a big plate for sure! We were never expecting such a large omelette, but was happy to see it! This meal, we even ordered a hashbrown on the side, which was really nice and crispy on the outside. Instead of toast, they give you pancakes, which was also perfectly executed! There was tons of steak and hashbrowns in the omelette with cheese and other vegetables.

Overall, we loved this breakfast dining experience. With average pricnig, you sure get a lot of food! The dining room was really clean, servers were fast and friendly, and the food tasted great! We’re tempted to go back already, which is a great sign!

IHOP Restaurant

500-70 Shawville Blvd SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 873-9102

June 26, 2013

Earls Kitchen and Bar – Shepards Flats

I’ve been trying out restaurant patios lately and I’ve been loving them! I never know whether or not to wear my hat, but that’s another problem! I’ve found myself at Earls in the south by McKenzie Towne just off 130th Avenue and 52nd Street. It’s very new, quite large and full of friendly staff serving delicious food! We had to wait a little bit for a late lunch on the patio and at the front, they actually took our drink orders while we waited!

For the drink, I decided I was going to have their White Peach Lemonade as I was already feeling dehydrated from the nice heat from summer! It was the perfect drink for a hot summers afternoon with the refreshing lemonade flavoured with white peach, fresh lemon and soda!

As this was a late lunch kind of thing, we just settled on a bunch of snacks. We started with a nice bowl of their Earls famous Clam Chowder which was really delicious! It’s no wonder it’s famous! It’s not like the typical full cream ones as this one has tomatoes in it – which makes it taste lighter. The soup was a little separated but it didn’t matter as it was one of the best clam chowders we’ve had!

Then, we ordered a Prawn & Pesto Pizza and this pizza was served on thin crusted that looked like a wood burning oven from the big burnt bubble on the top and the thinness of the crust to ensure it’s cooked to its entirety. The pizza was really tasty, the shrimp was really fresh and of course with the pesto, it was great!

Finally, we ordered some chicken wings! We ordered their Thai Chicken wings and these wings are done really nicely! It’s fried to a perfect crisp on the outside and tender & juicy chicken! Then, it’s tossed in really great sauce! We’ve been back during their wing nights on Wednesdays afterwards as well as we’ve enjoyed it so much. They only come in 3 flavours, hot, hotter and Thai!

Overall, as you can tell, we love this place! We’ve been back already and I’m sure we’ll be back many more times to come!

Earl’s Shepard Flats

200 – 5155 130 Ave Southeast
Calgary, AB
(403) 255-3275

June 23, 2013June 23, 2013

Ceili’s Irish Pub and Restaurant

I was at Macleod Trail South area and was getting hungry. I wasn’t too sure where to go, so we just got out of the car and walked around. We ended up walking by Ceili’s Irish Pub and it caught our attention as they were roasting a pig outside on the patio! Once we saw that, we knew we’re in – even though it wasn’t ready for us to enjoy.

I really didn’t know what to order, so I just found words on the menu that caught my eye. I found their Fish Tacos which was blackened haddock, chipotle mayo, horseradish cream, hot sauce, pineapple salsa, coleslaw, mixed green salad. Now that I look at it, I think they forgot my salad as I didn’t get one! 🙁 The pineapple salsa and the haddock was the highlight, it was delicious and refreshing. The hot sauce was absolutely delicious, and it wasn’t just “hot”, it had lots of flavours in it too.

We also ordered their Chicken Pot Pie made with pulled chicken, light thyme cream, then topped with light and flaky puffed pastry with an organic mixed green salad. Clearly, this meal came with the salad. The filling in this pot pie was really good, and it wasn’t heavy at all.

Overall, we really enjoyed the dining experience here on the patio! We enjoyed watching the pig roast and the food and service was really good. I’m sure we’ll be back one day to see how the pig gets used – and to try it too!

Ceili’s Modern Irish Pub

297-9737 Macleod Trail South
Calgary, AB
(403) 252-2700