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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

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Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎 – Richmond

During our trip to Vancouver, we were recommended a Shanghai place to eat, so we decided to stop there for a little snack. We were told it was located at the intersection of No 3 Road and Ackroyd Road and was called Top Shanghai Cuisine and we were excited as there were a few tables there during an odd hour of visit. We weren’t really greeted by anyone, so we just picked a table, and some menus flew down on our table.

We started off with the usual suspects. the Soybean Milk and we got one hot and one cold! The cold one came in a fairly good sized glass, and it was cold and refreshing. It doesn’t tasted like store bought soy milk, yet, it’s not the same as the ones I make at home either. Regardless, it was really nice.

The hot soybean milk came in a little mug, and it was piping hot! Super comforting, and actually something I was looking for to help cut some grease as I’ve been eating a lot and wasn’t planning on quitting eating healthier as I was on holidays!

When I talk about grease, there’s nothing more notorious than Deep Fried Dough, and here, it comes on a plate with a few pieces. To be honest, it wasn’t the best either… It was decent, with a nice crunch to the dough, but the inside wasn’t super tender and soft and there was tons of grease in this one.

From here, was ordered some Shanghai style dumplings, which they called Steamed bun filled with pork Nanxiang Style which was really good. The skin on these steamed buns was extremely thin and delicate and the meat filling was plenty!

Here’s an excellent shot of the inside of the steamed bun – not too much hot liquid came out of these, but it was really delicious!

While we were here, we also ordered something that I love, the Pan Fried Pork Dumplings which I love from anywhere. Here, the skin seems a little chewier and with this unique texture, it leads me to think they made the skin by hand! I’ve never tasted any skin quite like it and it’s very enjoyable.

Now, as delicious as this was, I must say, it was the greasiest dish of them all! As you can see on the plate, there are already puddles of oil, but it never stops me from eating dumplings! I do wish there was a tad more filling in these but the flavours was spectacular! It was very enjoyable, and filling. Now that we’re full and bloated – we were ready to find the next food adventure!

Overall, I did enjoy this place, and I’m glad I only came here for a quick snack and not a meal. There’s tons of food and it’s a tad greasy. The prices aren’t terrible either! Parking can be a challenge as it shares a parking lot with other stores and supermarkets – it’s located in a strip plaza and drives go anywhere, in any direction.

Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎 on Urbanspoon

Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎

5880 #3 Road
Richmond, BC
(604) 278-8790

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Mountain Home Smokehouse Grill – Banff

This is going to be a strange review as we discovered this restaurant during Banff Bon Appetite and what drew us to this restaurant was the word “Smokehouse” in the name. So, we made ourselves a reservation at the Mountain Home Smokehouse Grill in Banff, on Banff Avenue, just off the highway. This restaurant is inside of the Banff Voyager Inn which is a hotel we stayed in many years ago… and it’s got the best rates of the town, but for a reason!

We were about 15 minutes early for our reservation, so we decided to go in anyway. There was only 1 other table of 6, and only 1 waiter on duty. We were seated after he had taken the order to the large table and from there, we waited. After he came to take our order, we realized we didn’t get our drink order in. It was only Hot Tea that we wanted, and it took a long time for him to find water and boil it. By now, another table has come to sit behind us and they wanted to order off the regular menu, instead of the Bon Appetite special. He took forever to figure out if he could do that. It was interesting! We got some Bread and Butter and the bread was fine, but the butter was completely melted – there wasn’t a way for you to spread the butter… you had to dip it. To make it worse, the waiter dropped some butter (dripping butter) on the floor and tried to give it to the table behind us. The customers said “you got to take that back” and the waiter didn’t. I was glad it wasn’t my butter that landed on the floor – or so I think! The bread was fine though, the service was a little weird…

Okay, now it’s been awhile, and I got a glass of water, and our tea finally came. He didn’t bring us cream or milk, or even a mixing spoon – so I just used my knife. Tea was fine, it was just normal Red Rose Tea and we never got asked if we wanted the water refilled.

Now, we get our appetizers, which I ordered the Spinach Salad which was a salad over dressed in pear vinaigrette and candied walnuts! The walnuts were amazingly delicious and there’s nothing wrong with the salad – beside it being over dressed. Not bad start! The portions were extremely generous as well!

The other appetizer that we ordered was the Buffalo Barley Soup and this soup was amazing. It was meaty and hearty with tons of flavour! This soup offered huge chunks of buffalo pieces and lots of vegetables. It was the favourite of the 2 appetizers from the special menu!

After the appetizers, we realized we’ve been waiting there for over an hour already. We waited for another 20 minutes before the waiter came out to ask us if we had our appetizers already… and we told him we did. We knew it would be quite a wait for the actual entrees… but, when they came – it was pretty good! I ordered the Elk Meatloaf that was topped with brandied saskatoon berry demi glaze served with oven roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes (you could choose from fries or even sweet potato fries too!) and it was pretty good! Elk is a very lean meat, so the meatloaf was very lean. It wasn’t too dry, but it was quite dense. The flavours were all there, and they gave 1 1/2 slices. The bottom piece was only a half piece! I enjoyed the Elk Meatloaf even though the demi glaze sauce looked weird to me, it was good as it added moisture to the meatloaf!

The other entree that we ordered was the Beef Ribs which came with 2 enormous ribs smoked over cherry and hickory wood, then braised in Big Rock Traditional Ale for extra tenderness finished with spiced rum BBQ Sauce! Yup, this was as good as it sounded! It was juicy, tender and tasty!

From here, we waited and waited and then the waiter comes out to ask us what it was that we ordered. I said I wanted the Chocolate Pecan Pie as it’s what they advertise as “made from our own recipe”, so I was hopeful for the best pie I’ve had in a long time. The pie was cold, and it had no texture at all! Mushy crust, soggy pecans and a chocolate gooey mess. It just wasn’t what we were hoping for…

Now, we were excited for the Homemade Apple Pie as nothing sounds more delicious than a nice warm piece of apple pie, right? This one was stone cold, mushy crust again! What’s happening? You can’t really goof on an apple pie! Ah well, they’re just not too great with desserts. I’m sure someone out there likes their pies, but I had different expectations. The portions of the pies were huge, like everything else!

Overall, there were a few slips and downfalls, but for $25 for a 3 course meal, it was extremely awesome! Service isn’t everything for us, you need the food to back it up, and surprisingly, it turned out okay! Soup and entrees were amazing, and like I’ve been stating throughout – the portions are very generous. These items are on their regular menu as well, so you can try it out. Nothing here really screamed “smokehouse” to us though. Another thing to note, they’re only opened for Breakfast and Dinner!

Mountain Home Smokehouse Grill on Urbanspoon

Mountain Home Smokehouse Grill

555 Banff Ave
Banff, AB T0L
(403) 762-3301

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Murrieta’s Bar & Grill – Canmore, Alberta

We went for a nice day trip to Canmore, Alberta and took a walk around the Bow River walk around Riverside Park. It was just a quick walk as it was really cold outside! We finished our walk and made it to downtown Canmore around 10:40AM, so we walked up and down the main street to see what we could eat for lunch. We ended up at Murrieta’s Bar & Grill as we wanted some food soon and to warm up – and they were opened at 11AM.

This restaurant is located on the second floor of a corner building right at Main Street. We were immediately greeted by really friendly staff, and it’s always funny when the staff ask where we’re from – “we’re only from Calgary!” but, it’s such a nice getaway it seems like we went faraway! We started off with some hot tea, as we were freezing! I ordered a Green Tea and my husband had a Earl Grey Lavender Tea. These packs of teas are really fancy, and full of flavour. The first cup wasn’t over powering and the second cup wasn’t super diluted!

We started off our lunch with an appetizer called Tempura Flour Crusted Calamari with this delicious Chipotle Mint Yogurt as a dipping sauce on the side. The calamari was so delicious on it’s own that you don’t “need” anything on the side. The calamari was super crispy on the outside with the nice thin batter that actually stayed on the calamari! Just a squeeze of fresh lemon really made the appetizer!

We both ordered sandwiches for lunch, and I had the delicious Grilled Chicken Sandwich which is a sandwich with
Sundried Tomato Tapenade, Vine Ripened Tomato, Lettuce, all stuffed between Olive Sourdough bread! I got my sandwich with a side of fries that were perfectly fried – and I couldn’t stop eating the fries! Even stuffed with fries, I was able to inhale my entire lunch! It was perfect!

The chicken sandwich actually had a really nice smokiness spread on the bread and it added tons of flavour to the sandwich. The chicken itself didn’t have too much flavour, but it wasn’t dry – which is very important to me! It’s kind of like their take on a “pulled chicken sandwich”!

We actually cut of meals in half and switched a half so we could taste what we both ordered. My husband ordered the 6oz House Made Beef Burger with a side of house salad. This classic burger is built with
White Cheddar, Horseradish Aioli, Lettuce, Vine Ripened Tomato, inside the Grilled Classic Burger Bun, topped with a Dill Pickle!

The beef burger was cooked to perfection – still a little pink inside with delicious beef juices running out! The burger was smoky, and it seemed like it was made on a grill. The vegetables in the burger was extremely fresh, which added a great crisp element to the sandwich. This could be one of my favourite burgers I’ve had in awhile!

At the end, I was sitting there already thinking about dessert. I was absolutely stuffed, but I decided I really wanted something sweet. We ordered the Cheesecake Souffle which is a neat plate with Cheesecake Souffle – poached pears, house made cookie, honey mint jelly! I must be honest, I was worried that the mint jelly would be overpowering, but it was a perfect compliment to the dessert making this the perfect dessert and very memorable!

Overall, this place was quite amazing! The food was really delicious, the service was great, and the prices was reasonable! All prices in Canmore seems to be set a little higher, but they all have the quality to back it up – which means I can go there expecting nothing but deliciousness!

Murrieta’s Bar & Grill

737 Main St
Canmore, AB T1W2B6
(403) 609-9500