Elsie Hui – Page 125 – Calgary Travel Foodie

November 18, 2011April 4, 2012

Holiday Inn Kenilworth

We went to England for my sisters wedding in September 2011, and it was lovely. It was held at the Kenilworth Castle which was a beautiful location. The entire city of Kenilworth in Warwichshire was really lovely. It seemed like an up-scale small town.

We flew into Birmingham Airport as it was the closet airport from Kenilworth and my sister picked us up. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Kenilworth which was a beautiful hotel with lots of amenities in and around the hotel.

Eating options was plenty in Kenilworth, and the location of this hotel was ideal for ones who like to eat – such as myself. The hotel is located right in the middle of of a great traffic circle (roundabouts) with major streets for dining. We ate at the Starbucks inside the hotel a few times for lunches and snack, and The Almanack. We also had a fantastic dinner at Indian Edge which is just down the street of The Square and it’s a fantastic East Indian cuisine restaurant which I highly recommend.

Besides all the dining and shopping in boutiques, the hotel was beautiful. It feels really new, or newly renovated. It was large, the staff was quite friendly – after they warmed up to us being familiar faces, and the rooms were large and clean.

We stayed in the Executive Suite as we needed a room with more space to get ready, and of course a king bed was worth it! It seems that England usually has either 2 twin beds or 1 queen – sometimes a double as standard sizes. So, with the upgrade, we got more space to get ready for the wedding, and visiting of other family/friend members.

The location of the room was fantastic as I love rooms that are far from the elevator. This was the perfect room for me as it was at the very end of a hallway. It had an extra window in the room which was something I loved during the day, and in the evening, the shades darkened the room really well!

Overall, the room and the hotel was fantastic! I would return to this area and stay at the Holiday Inn Kenilworth again anytime. You can see the walk through of my room from the clip below!

Holiday Inn Kenilworth

Abbey End 212, Warwickshire,
CV8 1ED England

November 17, 2011May 14, 2019

Cookie Occasion – Calgary, Alberta

During a visit to see Fiasco Souped Up Food Truck in Calgary Marda Loop, I went to a place for cookies called Cookie Occasion which easily drew me to here as I love cookies.

I got to go get myself another cookie as I promised myself! This time, I got the Triple Sin Cookie and it was sinfully delicious. These cookies are made of the three common Callebaut chocolate chunks – dark, milk and white and they are all mixed into a great cookie dough! There’s really nothing quite like it!

The other cookie we purchased was Amaretto Almond Cookie and within the first bite, my mouth was exploding with almond flavours. These cookies are mixed in with Callebaut milk chocolate chunks, almonds and a splash of amaretto! We’ve never had a more almond tasting cookie before and it was really wonderful!

As much as I like cookies from anywhere, I can not get over how wonderfully delicious these cookies are, and the texture of the cookie is unlike any other. These cookies are a must try if you haven’t done so yet! You’ll see the difference, and you’ll thank me later! 🙂 But, note their hours are Monday – Saturday 10AM to 5PM!

Cookie Occasion

2107 – 33rd Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 246-6700

November 16, 2011March 17, 2019

Fiasco Souped Up Food Truck – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been meaning to try Soup’ed Up from Fiasco once I heard that the Gelato truck was transforming into a soup truck. I finally had the opportunity to try one one weekend while they were in Marda Loop which is somewhere I don’t normally go to – but for them, I do!

We ordered a Lentil Lime Chipotle Chili and it was a hot, hearty, healthy, delicious chili. The lentils was cooked to perfection, as it wasn’t over or under cooked, and the spice in the chili was just perfect. The jalapeno peppers were of course spicy, but it is a jalapeno pepper! 🙂 The wonderful thing about this chili was the fact there was large chunks of bacon in the soup! It not only added a nice smokey flavour – which had a lot of it from the smokey chipotle powder – but it added great texture in the chili with bites to eat. Normally the chili’s have ground meat, and it’s nice this chili wasn’t like all the other ones, it’s something different and special!

I know the chili isn’t a soup, so we did order a soup too! We tried the Thai Chicken Soup and this is a delightful soup! It’s creamy, and coco-nutty, with Thai curry notes. It’s topped with a swirl of organic peanut butter which really enhances the creaminess texture of soup! This soup has got large pieces of chicken, and it’s mixed in with a lot of Thai flavours. This soup has the perfect balance of flavour – sweet, spicy, savoury, and sour – which is typical for a lot of Asian foods. The predominate flavours of this soup would be the lemongrass and coconut milk and it sure makes it delicious!

Each of the order comes with a delicious roll, and a recycled spoon, which is great. The bun was really great to either eat alone or with the soup. It was warm, light and fluffy on the inside, and perfectly crispy on the outside. It is very appropriate for the colder season!

November 8, 2011November 9, 2011

All Beef Catering & Eatery

After we’ve been eating at a few “smoke houses”, we were really craving something quite similar, and we were recommended to All Beef Catering & Eatery for BBQ style beef. They use “AAA” Alberta beef and they magically transform it into perfection! This little hidden gem is in the Industrial area in Calgary’s southeast corner at the intersection of 52nd Street and 64th Avenue. It is on the west side, so I find it best to go East on 61st Street and then South (right hand turn) onto 52nd Street – making a simple right hand turn into their parking lot.

We ordered 2 sandwiches, both for $9.95 + taxes and we split them. The first one we ordered was the BBQ Beef on a Kaiser Thinly sliced beef simmered in Bull’s Eye BBQ sauce, served on a kaiser with creamy coleslaw and baked beans. The beans was sweet and tasty, while the coleslaw was crisp and not over dressed, but creamy. These sides were just as delicious as the main event, the BBQ Beef on a Kaiser! The BBQ beef was extremely tender and juicy, and covered in their BBQ Sauce, which surprisingly wasn’t over powering at all! It was messy and the bottom piece of the kaiser bun was drenched and over saturated in BBQ sauce, but it made for a delicious sandwich altogether.

Whenever possible, I try to not turn down an opportunity to try a Philly cheese steak sandwich, so I decided to order and try their Philly! It wasn’t nearly as messy, and it was made of the typical thinly sliced beef, onions, mild peppers, melted cheese on a kaiser with creamy coleslaw on the side. I think the meat that they choose for this sandwich was a little too dry, but probably perfect for the beef dip as it’ll have some sort of gravy. Besides it being a tad on the dry side, it was super tender and quite a tasty Philly. The mountain of beef slices they use make quite a filling lunch, and probably a great dinner.

As much as I would love to be back for a fresh sandwich for dinner, All Beef Catering & Eatery isn’t opened for dinner. They are only opened to cater to the businesses in the Industrial Area, so they are opened weekdays from 11:30AM to 2:00PM Monday through Friday, except for holidays when they are closed.

This is a great place to get a big lunch – and it’s worth it! The really do fill the sandwiches jammed pack with meat and I think it was a great discovery! I will be back if I’m in the area at the right time!

All Beef Catering & Eatery

10-5200 64 Ave SE Map
Calgary, AB T2C
(403) 291-2513
allbeefcatering.com

November 2, 2011November 3, 2011

Ricky’s All Day Grill

I’ve been to Ricky’s All Day Grill before, but never the location at Deerfoot Meadows in Calgary until now. I really like going to Ricky’s, but from all my experience from dining here – I’m always expecting to be there “all day”. This location was interesting as they warned us the kitchen was backed up the moment we walked in. The food came faster than any other Ricky’s and we were not only happy, but we were so confused as well.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Sandwich – 6oz chicken breast grilled with Jamaican Jerk seasoning, lettuce, tomato ad Cajun aioli on a Portuguese roll – served with potato wedges! The potato wedges was really delicious, and especially dipped in my turkey gravy! The burger was quite different as it was a grilled chicken burger. The seasoning was quite tasty, but I wouldn’t say it’s jerk seasoning. It’s as though it was cajan seasoning they put on.

I enjoyed the Hawaiian Burger with a beef patty dipped in Teriyaki sauce, and then topped with lettuce, tomatoes and a ring of pineapple. I found that there as a little too much teriyaki sauce on the burger, which made it a bit over powering. The ring of pineapple was out of a can, but it’s always fresh and refreshing to have a ring of pineapple in the burger.

Overall, I had a great experience at this Ricky’s location, and I know I’ll be back. I like spending an entire weekend afternoon – especially during those cold snowy ones where I don’t want to do anything in a restaurant and stay warm, watch people enjoy their meals and what not! It’s always worth the wait at Ricky’s! 🙂

Ricky’s All Day Grill at Deerfoot Meadows

860, 8180 – 11th Street S.E.
Calgary, AB
(403) 266-1616