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Chuckwagon Cafe – Turner Valley, Alberta

I really enjoy watching Food Network in my spare time, or if I’m not watching it, it will be on in the background. This one time, I was watching You Gotta Eat Here and they were talking about Chuckwagon Cafe out in Turner Valley – so we figured it will be nice to meet up with my sister-in-law and her significant other for breakfast. The cafe is in a renovated barn and it’s not very large – and it fills up fast! So, either go early, or just be prepared to wait in line.

I knew what I wanted as John Catucci raved about their Flat Iron Steak Benedict with buttery croissant with butter, toasted… instead of using an English Muffin. Then, topped with their Flat Iron Steak, which is cooked to perfection and super tender, as they raise their cattle themselves! Then, topped with an egg, which I love it poached to soft. Of course, this was topped with their hollandaise sauce! It was heavenly and I’d recommend this dish as well!

My other half was being kind of odd… he ordered their lunch special for breakfast and asked for their 9oz New York Strip Steak enjoyed as their Steak Sandwich format, with soup on the side (Beef and Barley soup was their soup of the day). The steak was tender and juicy, seasoned nicely and grilled to the perfect rare temperature. He loved it and I basically didn’t hear much from him until he was done!

This is definitely somewhere I’d recommend going to, if you don’t mind the drive. We took the long way there and went through Okotoks and saw Big Rock prior to going for breakfast. The prices are on the high side for this cafe, but the food is really good, and the service is really friendly. I’m actually going to put bets on the fact we will be back, as I’m still in search for a perfect burger. I’m hopeful it may come from here!

Chuckwagon Cafe on Urbanspoon

Chuckwagon Cafe

105 Sunset Blvd
Turner Valley, AB
(403) 933-0003

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Song Han Vietnamese Restaurant

We were actually looking for another restaurant on Boxing Day 2013 when we ended up at Song Han Vietnamese Restaurant as the restaurant I wanted to try wasn’t opened. This location is right on Kensington Road and it’s on a lower level, but the sign is large and easy to find.

We ordered their Grilled Pork Salad Rolls which wasn’t bad actually. I was having such a bad few days prior, I was expecting the worst of everything. To my surprise, the salad rolls were quite decent! They were super expensive, for 3 rolls costing us $5.25, but I think my husband wasn’t going to argue for a few buck for something I kind of wanted.

My husband picked out what I was going to have. I really enjoy eating Vietnamese Steamed Pork Meatloaf with Egg and he thought that the dish he ordered me was it. We ordered on the menu Shredded Pork, Egg Pie, Grilled Pork Chop on Steamed Rice, and of course thinking that “Egg Pie” was the Cha Trung, which just ended up being a fried egg. It was a large plate of food and it tasted good, but it just wasn’t what I had thought I wanted. I took half of it home for the next day, and there was lots of rice left! The portions were very generous here – probably to make up for the salad rolls.

My husband ordered their Famous HUE Spicy Beef on Thick Noodle Soup which I know it as “Bun Bo Hue and that was exactly what came out! He really enjoyed it and the spice level was really satisfying! The soup had tons of flavour and the beef was really good.

Overall, we left satisfied, and what more am I expecting at this point? Just be happy and go – so I did! At least I got my belly filled and didn’t have to go home and pull out my apron on Boxing day! I honestly will say I probably won’t be back as it’s in Kensington – there’s so many other great things to try, and I’d rather do that. I’m not saying the food was bad by any means, I just like to try new things!

Song Han Vietnamese Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Song Han Vietnamese Restaurant

1140 Kensington Rd NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 258-0288

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The Cattle Baron (South) – Calgary, Alberta

I found myself looking for something fancy for dinner one evening. It was kind of cold and I was definitely under the weather. My husband decided we’d go and have steak — I know, kind of weird, but it was nice! Well, actually, he just wanted to try the south leg of the Ring Road and figured we’d eat wherever we ended up. So, we ended up at Cattle Baron at the South location.

I sat down, and ordered my drink. Extra spicy it was, but it was good! I’m just being very picky now as there wasn’t too many flaws throughout dinner… but I gotta say, when the ice melted, the bottom of the drink wasn’t as good! 🙂

Once our drinks came, a generous bread basket arrived too! Who wants to eat bread when they know they’re going to be tearing meat? Oh well, I had some bread and it was really good too! They win!

Now for the fun part, I ordered their Prime Rib which I got mine in their regular cut, but it was perfect! It was so tender and juicy – and quite a large portion of meat too! I got mine with stuffed potato as I haven’t had it in YEARS!

My husband enjoyed a nice Rib Eye Steak which I was kind of jealous of! It was so good and the grill taste was there, and was 10oz! I wouldn’t be able to finish it, but it was excellent for sure!!

Overall, we had a very pleasant experience and there were some company Christmas parties going on at the time of our visit. We didn’t have the wait long and the food didn’t taste like it was rushed… nor were we rushed either! It was a great dinner we had and I hope to be back soon!

The Cattle Baron on Urbanspoon

The Cattle Baron

33 Sun Valley Blvd SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 201-9000

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Mango Shiva – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been meaning to try Mango Shiva for a few years now… but usually when I’m downtown on Stephens Avenue, it’s normally during a Saturday afternoon, when they’re not opened. This one weekday, we were downtown and decided to finally make our stop in!

This visit was during a cold spell, so we quickly went in and ordered some Chai Tea and it came out on a tray with lovely presentation! The tea was quite alright, even though I preferred it a little more flavourful with spices! But, I guess there are different types of chai!

We knew we were going to order some curries and split them over rice and naan, and this naan selection is fantastic, I’ve never tried Honey Coconut Naan which I knew I was going to get immediately! I didn’t care what curries we get, it was the naan I wanted to try! I’m so glad I did, it was a subtle sweet with shredded coconut inside. The best part was, I watched the cook make the naan which must’ve made it a few notches better!

Like everyone else in the world, I do like Butter Chicken so I got an order of that! It was creamy and smooth and just as a butter chicken sauce should be. There wasn’t a ton of pieces of chicken, but what we had was extremely delicious and flavourful. Their tomato sauce was the perfect sauce to go with my rice!

My husband appreciates spicier food, and he loves vindaloo, so we also ordered the Vindaloo Pork which does sound a little funny, but it was a wonderful balance of sweet and spice! They described it as braised pork shoulder and belly in spicy potato vegetable curry with pineapple salsa! I don’t usually eat that spicy, but it was manageable and quite fragrant and flavourful – especially with the sweet naan!

I love this place, even though it’s out of my way and a bit pricy for what we got, I still really enjoyed it. I like that it’s not the typical East Indian restaurant and that the menu items aren’t the same stuff! So, overall I was really happy and we left with a warm and full belly! The service was top notch and it was just a warm and inviting environment!

Mango Shiva on Urbanspoon

Mango Shiva

218 8 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 532-8980

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The Royal Duke Eatery & Pub – Okotoks, Alberta

We recently went to Okotoks for their annual Light Up Okotoks in their old town. It was fun and it was a chilly evening, so after the tree got lit, we went into The Royal Duke Eatery & Pub to fill my belly and to warm up! It was a large space and the place was packed, which was great!

Of course, I sat down and went to my go to drink right now…. spicy tomato juice called Virgin Caesars! Yes, Brad, I still like it! 🙂 This one was a little disappointing though, I think there was too much ice or something, it seemed a tad diluted.

We started our dinner with their Button Ribs which is dry garlic ribs for $12! I didn’t eat some ribs before taking the picture… which makes me think it wasn’t a great deal at all! They were good ribs though!

I ordered the Philly Steak Sandwich which is a typical sandwich. I don’t venture much when I’m in a pub, I try to stick to more pub food, but I needed dinner so I got this! It was pretty good and for the side, it was clam chowder! This was a good size plate for $14! It was pretty standard! I enjoyed my sandwich, but I ended up eating all the meat and left the bread at the end.

My husband ordered the NY Steak Sandwich and it was actually really good! He had the side order of fries and gravy. It was pretty good! I think I enjoyed his entree more than mine, but I wasn’t a fan of the gravy for some strange reason! Who doesn’t like brown sauce?! I don’t know what my problem was, but it was still good!

Overall, it was a decent pub place. Pubs aren’t fancy food, so it fit the bill. Service was excellent, even though they were so busy. At the end of the night, we did enjoy ourselves but we did have a bit of negative thought in our minds from the dry ribs. I guess just opt out for it!

The Royal Duke Eatery & Pub on Urbanspoon

The Royal Duke Eatery & Pub

2 Elizabeth St
Okotoks, AB
(403) 938-4101