Posted on

Bamboo Garden – Banff, Alberta

We went for a winter hike and it was freezing this one afternoon. We figured we deserved to warm up with some spice and found ourselves at Bamboo Garden, a restaurant on second floor right on Banff Avenue.

Once upstairs, it was kind of worn down, but it wasn’t too bad. We got to sit near their employee table and figured out that they weren’t Thai, they’re Mandarin Chinese. So, that would explain the huge variety of “Asian” cuisines on the menu.

We decided we would start with a medium order of Tom Yum Soup as nothing really warms you up than hot, spicy soup. The soup was decent, it wasn’t too spicy of flavourful but it was still quite tasty.

Sticking with the Thai, we ordered one of their curries, we picked the Red Curry with Beef and we got an order of Coconut Rice with this. The dish was actually fantastic! The curry was spicy yet flavourful, the beef was tender and the portions were generous.

I rarely go to a Thai place without ordering my favourite, the Pad See-Ew and this one we got it with chicken as that’s how I like it. This plate was fantastic and they cooked it with high heat which was perfect. The noodles were seasoned great. This was definitely my favourite dish of the evening!

As the main courses tasted fantastic, we decided we would order Mango Sticky Rice and that was kind of a mistake. The mango was so rare it was hard and it tasted like it stings! The sticky rice and coconut milk was good. Overall, this was not something we enjoyed.

So, overall, the main course was pretty awesome and the soup was good. However, the dessert wasn’t favourable – and if it was something we ordered because it wasn’t in season, they should have said something. The prices are reasonable, especially for the portion. Not a bad place to eat, especially for winter!

Bamboo Garden

211 Banff St 2nd Floor
Banff, AB
(403) 985-6688

Posted on

Hoang Long Noodle House – Edmonton, Alberta

We often stop by West Edmonton Mall when we go visit Edmonton, even though we may have nothing to get there or anything. This time, we just walked a circle and the decided we will get a quick bowl of pho before heading home. Located right inside the mall – outside of the supermarket we found Hoang Long and it wasn’t busy – but had a few tables.

Once inside, we pretty much got to sit where ever we wanted as they were not busy. The menu was kind of neat as it’s quite customizable by picking options of what you want in your noodle soup. I wasn’t feeling that great so just wanted to stick with my favourite, so I got the Beef Noodle Soup with Beef Balls as that’s the “1 item option.

My hsuband got pretty much the same thing, but his was Beef Noodle Soup with Rare Beef instead. It was quite rare and tender! the bowls of soup was average in size and the prices seems high for a bowl of pho, but the location was nice.

Overall, the food was decent. It wasn’t the best but it’s nice to sit down in a mall to eat dinner that isn’t your typical chain restaurant or bar/pub. For basically $20, you can’t go wrong on a nice hot bowl of noodle soup.

Hoang Long Noodle House

West Edmonton Mall
8882 170 Street
Edmonton, AB
(780) 483-0891

Posted on

Chatime – Calgary, Alberta

Recently, bubble tea places has been popping up around Calgary alot, and when we heard of Chatime in Chinatown, we knew we wanted to try this place out! Located right on Centre Street, a small store front exists with just a few tables – and they have only bubble tea.

We’ve been here twice now and both times, the drinks were pretty good. It does take a LONG time for your drink to come, and double check your order as we’ve been getting mix ups, or them forgetting items that you’ve paid for. The nice thing about here, you can really customize your drink with the amount of sweetness, ice and there are tons of toppings you can put in your drink.

I ordered their Chocolate Hazelnut Milk Tea and they didn’t goof it up -but it didn’t taste the same as my first time here. So, I think they may need a big more consistency – or there’s something going on as the wait is quite long for a bubble tea. The milk tea is quite nice though and you do get the chocolate/hazelnut taste!

We also ordered the Jasmine Milk Tea and usually with the toppings is where they seem to mess us – so if you ordered any toppings, just be sure to double check it. They do give you a bit of hassle, but ultimately – you paid for it! The Jasmine Milk tea is really good as well though!

Overall, their drinks are quite good. It can be worth the wait if they get it right! It’s a neat little place to go to! Make sure you do have some time as the first time we were there, we waiting over 40 minutes for the drinks. The second time was about 20 minutes. So, I would like to think they’re getting better!

Chatime

#102 328 Centre Street SE
Calgary, AB
(587) 352-0710

Posted on

Catch & The Oyster Bar – Calgary, Alberta

We met up with some friend one evening at the Catch & The Oyster Bar right on Stephens Avenue, downtown Calgary inside the Hyatt Regency Calgary Hotel. It’s a lovely place and the location is actually larger inside than it looks!

Once we sat down and ordered, they gave us quite a bit of bread and butter. To be honest, we were saving our bellies for the main attraction for this visit.

We started with a bowl of soup, where we ordered their Seafood & Bacon Chowder and this chowder was jammed pack with seafood and flavours. It was really fresh and delicious with the perfect texture and creaminess without being greasy.

Now, for the main attraction, we got their Large Chilled Seafood Platter and it’s as large and impressive as you can imagine it in your mind, and exceed that image’s expectation! This platter had 1 lobster, 4 snow crab clusters, 12 oysters, 16 mussels, 16 clams and 16 large shrimps! The Oysters they gave us was 8 BC and 8 PEI oysters so we can taste the difference. Everything on this plate was so good, and we all over ate – yet couldn’t stop eating!

Overall, there’s not a bad thing we can think of to say about here! The place was clean, cozy, comfortable, yet casual. The food was fantastic, the service was awesome!

Catch Restaurant & Oyster Bar on Urbanspoon

Catch Restaurant & Oyster Bar

100 8 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 206-0000

Posted on

Fairmont Palliser: Fairmont Gold Room – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been really fortunate with the people I meet, the place I go, and the things that happen during all my visits anywhere. This particular visit to Fairmont Palliser in downtown Calgary was truly one of my most memorable stays ever! I got to experience their “Hotel within a Hotel” with Fairmont Gold.

We got an upgraded room to their Fairmont Gold Room that offered a king bed, seating area, desk and and a few extra special privileges while being a guest during this stay. Once we got into our room, we noticed it’s the biggest room we’ve ever stayed in at the Palliser, so we were really excited. The large king bed was front and center which is always a delight! Bedtime is one of my favourite times!

The bathroom was also bigger and offered more bathroom amenities, which is so nice as it’s really rare to have amenities such as cotton swabs, mouthwash, and shoe shine cloth!

My favourite part about the stay was experiencing the Fairmont Lounge, which is on their Penthouse floor which offers complimentary breakfast and hor d’oeuvres during the evening. We made an effort to be at both and the food is fantastic! It’s a great place to sit and read, with a nice snack, or just some quiet time.

The stay was perfect and now we consider upgrading to Fairmont Gold when we know we’re going to be in the hotel more for future stays.

Be sure to watch the room walk through as it was a fantastic room we had!

The Fairmont Palliser

133 9th Avenue SW
Calgary
Alberta, Canada
1 866 540 4477
403 262 1234