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French Market – Orleans

My parents really like to go to Las Vegas, and I do follow them a few times when they go. They seem to really like the more “economical” priced places to eat – probably because how often they go. I found myself a little off the strip on Tropicana Avenue at The Orleans hotel, walking into a buffet called French Market.

The buffet is actually huge as there are many “stations” from different parts of the world. I did find that the buffet selection remains more or less the same through the days of the week. The stations feature Italian, Mongolian, Barbecue, American, Seafood, Mexican and Chinese cooking, as well as an oversized dessert bar!

I’ve got to say, I really enjoyed the selection. Even though there’s no way I could try a little of everything, I did get a huge plate of food, soup and dessert!

Overall, it’s a fabulous place to enjoy lots of food – and quite a large selection. The price as mentioned was really reasonable, and I believe my parents had a “B-Connected” loyalty card which gave them a discount as they qualified for “Young at Heart” coupons. Even without coupons, I was really happy with the price I paid!

French Market (Orleans) on Urbanspoon

French Market – Las Vegas

4500 W Tropicana Ave
Las Vegas, NV
(800) 675-3267

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Clay Oven – Calgary, Alberta

Recently, as the weather has been starting to warm up (well, it’s been a nice and milk winter), I’ve been wanting spicy food – as we normally eat spicy on the coldest days – which we didn’t have too many of. So, we went to and ventured to the northeast, and found ourselves at Clay Oven located in a small strip plaza.

Once we got to the table, some Papadum was given to us (and every table), but it also appeared on the menu for $2.00 which made it confusing… is it a gift or if we eat it, would we have to pay? I must admit, I never did pay attention to the bill when it came, so I still can’t answer my own question. The papadum that was on the table is two thinly sliced wafers toasted on an open flame. This one didn’t taste burnt either, but had a subtle smoke background to it! The sauce that came with the papadum was really tangy with a nice kick to it! It was good!

I’ve really started loving Mango Lassi drinks, and now every time I go to an East Indian restaurant, I would order one. This one is one of the best, as it didn’t separate through the night, and it wasn’t so fibrous making it hard to drink. The mango lassi was full of mango flavour and this location has just made me one of my favourites in the city!

Of course, when you eat curries, you eat it with some sort of Roti! We ordered the Garlic Nan which is leavened bread of fine light flour baked to perfection. The Naan here is huge, and it was baked to perfection. But, the simple fact that their garlic nan was made with a huge taste of “garlic powder” kind of disappointed me a little. The garlic flavour was definitely there, but I was hoping for some fresh garlic infused in oil or something like that. I think next time I’ll just get a plain nan!

We also ordered some Plain Rice which their plain is great, it’s basmati rice richly flavored with spices and saffron. I like using rice for my vehicle to eat curries.

For the curries, we ordered a medium heat level of Butter Chicken which is made of chicken fillets blended in a creamy butter and tomato sauce.

The other curry that we ordered was a Beef Curry, also in medium heat level. This curry is made of fillets of beef cooked in curry sauce and spices

The food and flavours from Clay Oven are phenomenal! The heat level is actually quite spicy, and I believe there were 4 levels of heat, and we’re only at the 2nd heat level! The flavours are bold and strong, and to be honest, the heat actually numbed me by the end – I just continued eating and I didn’t think it was spicy at all! I really enjoyed the food from here, and I am glad I was introduced to it from my friends wedding – as she used Clay Oven as their caterer!

Clay Oven

3132 26 St NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 250-2161

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The Grizzly Paw

I love all the food in Canmore, Alberta, and when we stopped by this time, we went to try lunch at The Grizzly Paw which I had known they brewed their own beers and made their own sodas. I’ve tried their soda for the first time from a food truck in Calgary – the Perogy Boyz, and I’ve loved it since then!

It was a busy Saturday afternoon when we went (during a long weekend), and waited about 30 minutes for a table – which I thought was very reasonable, since it was the tail end of the lunch rush! Of course, I sat down to order a bottle of their Cream Soda which is a delicious naturally brewed made with the finest vanilla beans.

I was looking for a lighter lunch option and settled for the Down South Salad Wrap, which was a fresh “salad wrap” made with lots of lettuce, cheese and mango salsa. Inside the wrap had spiced chicken breast with avocado spread on the wrap. When all these ingredients are rolled into a tortilla wrap, it was a delightful lunch!

We also ordered a Mushroom Swiss Burger with Bison Patty with mushrooms, topped with Swiss cheese. This burger became very special after we substituted a “normal” beef patty to a bison patty. You definitely get the gameness of the bison meat which added a lot of extra flavour to the burger.

Overall, this was a fantastic place, and now it really makes sense why the restaurant/brewery is always packed – at any time of day! This is a location I have no problem returning to, as the food is really delicious! I really love that they make their own beverages as that is a special touch of uniqueness they’re able to offer to the community! With plans for them to expand, I’m sure they’ll still be packed!

The Grizzly Paw on Urbanspoon

The Grizzly Paw – Canmore, Alberta

622 Main Street
Canmore, AB
(403) 678-9983

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Swiss Chalet – Calgary, Alberta

Over the weekend, we wanted to eat out but didn’t know where to go. I remembered that someone gave me some gift cards to Swiss Chalet, so we decided to stop by the one on 130th Ave SE. We went in during the late afternoon, and oddly, no one was around to greet us or seat us. We were a little confused, but that’s alright!

We started our lunch with Seasoned Dry Ribs and it came with 9 pieces of ribs for about $5.99 which wasn’t the best deal, but still within reason when you eat appetizers out. These lightly seasoned ribs was exploding with flavour and tasted great on it’s own. The pieces weren’t too big, but it was tender and juicy. The sweet chili dipping sauce was really good and tasted good – and just as it was described you get the sweetness and then a nice kick of heat followed!

With our meal, we also ordered a Chalet Chicken Soup which tasted like a regular chicken noodle soup. The consistency was thick and it was really hearty. It appears that the soup is made with their white chicken meat, simmered with vegetables and noodles in a savoury chicken broth.

I ordered their new menu item of Hickory Rotisserie Chicken Flatbread Rotisserie Chicken served hot with Hickory Mesquite BBQ sauce, Monterey Jack cheese, crispy bacon and mayo folded in a Panini grilled flatbread. I ordered this with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy. The smokey barbeque sauce was delicious and the main flavour of the flatbread. This was delicious and the cheese was perfectly melted. The mashed potatoes was gritty and cold, but I didn’t need to eat it since we had some delicious starters, I didn’t need to fill up on that!

Then, from their signature menu, we ordered a Classic Hot Chicken Sandwich – hot Rotisserie Chicken smothered in home-style gravy. This arrived and we looked confused because the actually sandwich was drenched in gravy! It was interesting as nothing could taste bad with gravy all over, however, the chicken meat was cold, and the gravy was really salty. The best thing on the plate was actually the medley of fresh vegetables… even the fries was cold and soggy. It was quite a disappointment as it was what they called a signature dish!

Overall, this was a fantastic lunch – of course not considering the signature dish of classic hot chicken sandwich. I’m really tempted to return to try their actual rotisserie chicken meals as well as their chicken is quite delicious!

Swiss Chalet

4916 130 Ave SE, Unit 300
Calgary, AB T2Z0B2
(403) 216-2557

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Fortune House Restaurant

We just arrived as an entire family to Toronto and just in time for Chinese New Years. Well, it’s kind of hard to miss as festivities go on for about 2 weeks! We went to Fortune House Restaurant on Birchmount and celebrated Chinese New Years.

The first dish we ordered was Silky Egg with Shrimp and they used really large shrimps in this dish. The egg was made perfectly as the egg was cooked such that the omelette was silky and soft.

Our next dish was half a Marinated Chicken with Ginger Oil and this is one of my all time favourite chicken dishes. I like a cold chicken and I absolutely adore Chinese ginger oil sauce as it tastes good on anything!

Here, we have this clay pot which is filled with lots of goodies – from shrimp, tofu, bbq pork and veggies.

As this was still apart of CNY dinner, anything long is good, so we had some Long Beans and it’s sauteed with chilies. It’s a simple dish, and when dishes are simple, it’s crucial that it’s done perfectly! This was definitely one of the hits of the evening!

Another dish with veggies was Beef with Mushrooms and onions and to be honest, I can’t remember much about this dish, so it wasn’t anything extraordinary – but, I don’t remember not liking it either. So, it must have been a decent dish that we enjoyed! 🙂

I personally don’t eat a lot of eel, but when it comes to these dinners, you’re required to at least have something of everything, and when the Black Bean Eel came out, I was a little hesitant to try, but I must say, it was pretty good! I think the sauce was a perfect compliment, and even though it was full of bones in the eel, the meat was really soft! The eel was fresh enough that there wasn’t any fishy tastes or smell to it, so it worked well at the end.

My parents were stating that they eat more dishes now days without meat (even though I want to say it’s not true), regardless my aunts ordered Lo Hon Braised Mixed Vegetables in Hot Pot for them. It was full of Chinese fungus and greens, but the flavour they used in the sauce was really quite good! I think they used “fu yu” which is a type of fermented bean curd. It would’ve been even better of a dish if they added more fu yu in as it was really subtle tasting… when it should be more prominent!

Pork is an important dish for Chinese New Years as some say pork symbolizes progress. We ordered Pig Feet and this one was prepared such that the flavours was infused into the meat and it’s very tender. There are many ways to make pig feet, but often it’s quite time consuming – whether you braise it or use the pressure cooker.

Overall, the food was really good and the service was quick too – as they were really trying to turn tables to seat more customers. We later came back another day for lunch and the food was also really delicious! They do everything at this restaurant, so it doesn’t matter what you’re craving – they’ll have it!

Fortune House Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Fortune House Restaurant in Scarborough

2598 Birchmount Road
Toronto, ON M1T
(416) 292-1260