Seoul Country Korean Restaurant

During winter, we went to watch the Santa Parade that takes place on Banff Avenue just as the skies turn dark. Right after it, it appears to have a huge swarm of people and families looking for food. On top of the regular crowd, there’s also Christmas parties that are being held in Banff, so there seems to be twice as much people. We didn’t make a reservation for dinner anywhere, and when we walked by Seoul Country Korean Restaurant, and smelled how wonderful the place smelled, we decided to walk in. We were lucky as the the place had tons of tables and so there was room for us!

We decided we wanted to do the Korean BBQ style, and we ordered the Seafood Combination and the Barbeque Prime Rib Eye Beef and it definitely was enough food for 2. Once you order, it comes with a huge array of kimchi’s and I love kimchi, so it was great to eat alone or with rice. Shortly after that, we got our dishes to the table and the Beef was in a huge steak where they sliced it through a little to help it cook evenly and quicker.

Right beside it, but added a little bit later was the Seafood, and to my surprise, it actually tasted great! It was really fresh and didn’t have any fishy smell or taste to it. This combination platter has a huge assortment of seafood, such as mussels, shrimp and scallops!

Overall, the dining experience here was great! Be warned though, afterwards you do smell like bbq!! We tried doing Korean BBQ at home before and it was too much smoke to do at home as the smoke alarms kept going off… so, if you enjoy doing that, here’s a great place to go!

Seoul Country Korean Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Seoul Country Korean Restaurant

215 Banff Ave
Banff, AB
(403) 762-4941

Caffe Rosso – Calgary, Alberta

We love taking pictures from Scotsman Hill which isn’t really too far from here at all! It’s actually within walking distance as long as the weather isn’t awful! After a morning of taking some pictures of the skyline of Calgary, we decided we would drive to Caffe Rosso to warm up and to experience this remote coffee shop!

From Caffe Rosso, I ordered my favourite, just a Chai Tea Latte and it was perfectly sweetened, perfectly spiced. It was hot and perfect for a cold day!

We also ordered a Latte and to my excitement (as always), there was latte art! I just love places that take the time and do the foam art! It really adds and enhances my coffee experience. The coffee here is strong, dark and rich but it was still a great latte!

Now that we’re aware of this cool place, I’m sure we’ll stop in when we’re in the area taking pictures again! I like it here even though at first glimpse, I was kind of creeped out by the location.

Caffe Rosso

803 24 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 971-1800

Diner Deluxe – Calgary, Alberta

I really love watching Food Networks You Gotta Eat Here and when I heard that John Catucci got to eat at Diner Deluxe I knew it was a place I would like to visit sometime. I finally made it there right before Christmas, and it was packed! We waited quite a long time for a table, and the service was really quick!

Once were seated, the waitress came to give us the drink specials, and already they had alcoholic specials, which I knew I couldn’t do for a morning drink… so, I just ordered a delicious Hot Chocolate and it tasted as good as it looks!

For the breakfast, I ordered my favourite, Eggs Benedict!! I ordered what they called Canadian Bacon Benny which came with 2 poached eggs on buttermilk biscuits, with basil hollandaise sauce and hash browns. On the actual benny itself, it had large slices of Canadian Bacon, essentially ham! This combination was delicious, and I definitely think about returning to try their Smoked Salmon and Capers Benny! I think that would be a wonderful breakfast at any time!

My other half ordered what he loves to love, the Pulled Pork Hash which was quite feast for him! It consisted of 2 poached eggs, BBQ pulled pork, grainy Brassica Mustard, Caramelized Apples and onions, hash browns and toast.

Overall, it was a perfect way to start the day and I would love to return. The prices wasn’t terrible as the portions are huge. Food tasted great, so I had a wonderful time! Like I said, I would love to return to try other options, and I would love to try what I believe was like a market or bakery right next door. Just as we were leaving, someone was telling us it was good too!

Diner Deluxe

804 Edmonton Trail NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 276-5499

Vdara Hotel and Spa – Las Vegas

I have loved the CityCenter since I first saw it revealed in real life. I had the opportunity to stay at Aria Resort last year, and this year, I knew Vdara Hotel & Spa was on the top of my list. We were actually at the Bellagio the night before, and we were preparing ourselves for a big walk with our suitcase, but to our excitement, there was a walk way that connected Vdara with Bellagio!

Once we got inside, there was a lovely scent to the hotel, like Aria – but it was a different scent. I convinced I loved the Vdara scent more, until I walked back into Aria afterwards. I liked it so much, I bought a pack of their scented sticks home, and I’m in love with the product! Anyway, that’s quite a diversion, but the check-in staff was phenomenal, and we got checked in early. Once we got to our room, we opened the door to put the suitcase down, and was greeted by a dining table, and with a quick glance, I realized there was a kitchenette! This is fantastic as I’ve been wanting to make tea every night!

The problem with the kitchenette is that it doesn’t come stocked. You’d have to ask them to stock it for you, so I didn’t bother as I was leaving the very next morning. I ended up just buying tea elsewhere. Regardless, the kitchenette has a 2 burner stove top, a garbage compactor – which was actually kind of loud and scary, so I didn’t use it at all. There was also a microwave, a mini fridge and a stocked mini bar! This hotel room has all the bells and whistles if you’re looking for a long term stay!

From the dining area, I ventured into the living space with plenty of seats. The sofas were extremely comfortable, and It looked onto a large flat TV. The view was exceptional as well! In the corner of this space was a little desk area as well. Actually, it’s not in the corner really, it’s in the corner of this area, which is at the divider space that separates the living area from the bedroom.

This divider space was compete with flat screen TV’s on both sides and tons of storage! The desk was spacious, and I loved the fact everything was branded to Vdara so perfectly!

Anyway, on the other side of the divider wall was the bed, and it was a large and comfy bed, perfect for a good nights rest after days of adventure on the strip!

Finally, the bathroom, which was my favourite part! Immediately when I stepped into the bathroom, the space blew my mind! It was complete with a luxurious soaker tub, which had a cart beside it with some towels! What a brilliant idea! The tub was large enough for 2, and it was a fabulous tub!

Behind the tub was a walk in shower, which was walled with glass and tiles. It was a large shower and all the bath amenities was already in the shower so if you forgot to bring your products in – it’s alright!

The actual sink and vanity part of the suite was phenomenal as well! Tonnes of counter space and lots of mirrors! It was spectacular, and I really enjoyed my time staying at Vdara! I also was able to see the Fountains at Bellagio from my suite and I sat on the window ledge watching many shows!

To get a better idea of this wonderful suite, be sure to check out my walk through below! To book your own Vdara experience, be sure to check out Vegas Hotel Casino Deals!

Samba Brazilian Steakhouse – Mirage Las Vegas

I have never tried a Brazilian Grill before, but I’ve always wanted to. Where else better to try my first experience than in Las Vegas? We went to Samba Brazilian Steakhouse inside the Mirage Hotel and Casino. We were staying at the Mirage this evening, and we were extremely tired as this day was the day we arrived off the plane, and was up for many hours.

We wanted to try the “All You Can Eat”, but we just didn’t have that large of an appetite so we decided that we were going to get individual dishes. Inside that Samba was very fun, and right in the front was an open bbq, which was really exciting. The other tables around were filled with happiness and enthusiast as large skewers of food was arriving to their tables. We weren’t sad we weren’t apart of that, but it sure added to our experience!

Right after we ordered, a salad came to our table, which they called “Samba Salad“, which was as huge plate of lettuce – which they said was bottomless (even though one plate was plenty). The salad was a little over dressed, but was decent. There was quite a few brine olives which added texture and saltiness to the salad. Besides the olives, there was some chick peas in there too, which is really neat starter.

Instead of the typical bread basket that you normally get at the table, we got a basket of crackers, and it was really different. The warm buttery crackers was delicious on it’s own, but there was 2 dips that it came with. One was extremely garlicky, but a yummy roasted garlic sauce and the other was just olive oil sauce. There was a few pieces of bread, but I did enjoy the crackers the most with the garlic dip.

We started off with appetizers, and we decided to order their Beef Empanadas but Brazilian style. I’ve never tried empanadas Brazilian style as normally they’re more Mexican or Latin style. It was really good and looked really nice with a crispy pastry stuffed with tons of beef.

Right before the actual meal came, there was a bunch of sides that came alongside the table as well. We had delicious selection, but the thing that really stuck in my mind was the Fried Sweet Plantains as in the past when I tried plantains, it was actually disgusting and I didn’t finish them. Here, it was still really sweet, but the savoury side of the plantains really balanced out the side. I enjoyed it as it was a nice surprise.

Another side dish it came with was the Farofa Carrots which to be honest, I’m not too sure what it is. It’s kind of glazed carrots, and it’s not roasted. It was kind of sweet, and it was a simple side! Nothing good or bad about it.

Then, a green side dish would be the Creamed Spinach which was pretty good! It was creamy and you definitely got the spinach taste. It wasn’t too heavy so it was one of my favourite side dishes of the bunch.

The last side dish was simple, but needed. It was a bowl of Rice and Black Beans, and the rice helped soaked up some sauces from both the main dishes and it was delicious!

I ordered seafood, as I love seafood – I opted for Grouper which was a delicious fish, perfectly cooked, tender and juicy fish with tomatoes and ancho chili sauce. The portions was large enough, especially with all the sides. The sauce was overly salty, so I added my rice to it. It helped a bit, but it was still too salty. This dish was seriously good, and I would not have gotten this if I did All You Can Eat.

The last item we ordered was the Double Pork Chop with Spiced Apple Chutney and this was delectable! The apple chutney was delicious and beside it, there was some fresh apples. The pork chop was a little bit thin, but cooked really well. The apple chutney that topped the pork chop was the perfect combination for the pork! We really enjoyed this dish!

After this meal, we’re already thinking about other Brazilian places we could go to when we get home! It was such a fantastic experience and the food was so delicious. We would definitely be back if we were looking for lots of food and bbq’d!

Samba on Urbanspoon

Samba Brazilian Steakhouse

3400 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 791-7111