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Masala – Banff, Alberta

We were in Banff for a cold early spring evening and figured curry would be the perfect cuisine to eat on a day like that! We went into the Wolf and Bear Mall to Masala which is an Indian restaurant.

Once we were seated, I knew I wanted their Chai Tea as it was so cold outside! I was unsure how large the serving would be, or anything, but it was so nice, it came in a tea pot with sugar on the side! It was perfect! The chai tasted wonderful, and it was a good start!

My husband is more into Mango Lassi and so he ordered a glass. The glass was a good size and the texture of the lassi was really good! It’s not so thick you can’t enjoy it and at the same time, it was creamy and fully of mango flavours! This was another great drink – and it’s starting to set the bar really high for our dinner!

We wanted to try new items on the menu as there were a few things we’ve never heard of. So we went ahead and ordered their Bison Korma. Although we’ve had korma, we’ve never had it with bision! This delicious korma was perfect with a good amount of both sauce and bison. This korma is a thick and creamy tomato sauce topped with pistachios!

The other dish we had was a chicken one, but one we’ve never tried. It was their Chicken Himachali which was chicken cooked with garam masala cuisine of the state of Himachai. The flavours were a little spicier than other garam masalas, but it was really fragrant and quite enjoyable!

With our curries, we ordered an order of Garlic Naan and Coconut Rice and everything got placed on the table at the same time for us to dig in family style! The portions were really generous as we were able to bring some home an enjoy the following day!

Overall, Masala has made it onto our top 5 list of Indian restaurants for sure! The staff was really friendly, the food was amazing and the prices actually was really fair! For the amount of food for 2, and some to take home, a bill over $50 seems very reasonable!

Masala

Wolf and Bear Mall
229 Bear St
Banff, AB
(403) 760-6612

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The Old Spaghetti Factory – Banff, Alberta

We went for a quick winter hike to Inkpots one afternoon and after the hike, I was starving and just wanted some lasagna. What better place do I want lasagna than The Old Spaghetti Factory from Banff! So, we went there, which is on the upper floor of the Cascade Mall. It was just after what I thought was the lunch rush, but I guess lunch rush doesn’t apply there as there was constantly people waiting! The nice thing is the wait is quick!

Once we sat down, we got our drinks ordered and they came out with a hot loaf of sourdough bread and some butter. This was a perfect start to resting after our crazy little hike!

The drinks we ordered was their Virgin Caesars as not only it was my favourite, it was on sale! It was really tasty and spicy – just the way I like it!

Along with our meals was soup, so I upgraded mine to their Seafood Chowder and it was surprisingly good! Much better than expected. There was actual seafood in the chowder, the texture was good, and the soup wasn’t fishy or anything!

The normal soup was the Minestrone which my husband seemed to enjoy quite a bit! He has always loved soup with pasta in it – so this was on his “Top 10” list!

My Lasagna came out piping hot with cheese melted! I was really exited to dive into it and when I did, I was in heaven! It was exactly what I wanted! A nice hot, cheesy, meaty, lasagna! The look of the dish doesn’t do its justice – I guess you’re going to need to order one yourself!

My husband ordered their Spaghetti with Meatballs and it was a good sized portion! The meatballs where like mini meatloaves which was fun to eat!

At the end of this, we were stuffed! But, apparently it came with Ice Cream with our meal! We decided we wanted the ice cream!! Soon after our waitress told us about it, a little bowl came with a perfect scoop of ice cream that was pistachio, chocolate and vanilla flavoured. It sounds weird, yes, I know, but it was truly awesome!

I recommend this location for any time of day, especially for families as it’s very kid friendly and the food was awesome! The prices was quite reasonable considering the amount of food we got! We left with a bill just over $40 – with drinks! You really can’t go wrong!

The Old Spaghetti Factory on Urbanspoon

The Old Spaghetti Factory

Cascade Plaza
317 Banff Ave 2nd Floor
Banff, AB
(403) 760-2779

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Pho So 1 (Midnapore) – Calgary, Alberta

We figured we’d go eat something we call “lighter” for dinner this particular evening and craving some pho. We didn’t want to go too far, so the internet directed us to Pho So 1 in Midnapore which was a convenient location with lots of other cuisines to eat around there. There was tons of parking and the location was quite big and busy.

We arrived in and found a few empty tables that weren’t cleaned off yet. We did find a table that was clean, but service then took awhile before anyone came with menus, and obviously even longer before the order was taken. As the wait was kind of long, we decided to start with an appetizer, their Goi Cuon – Salad Roll which did come out fast, and it was decent.

I really love “steamed egg pie” when I see it, I would usually get it – so I ordered their Bi Cha Suon. Here, it wasn’t the best as it seemed dried and old, and even over cooked. However, their grilled pork chop was excellent, tons of flavour, juicy and delicious. I would just get that over rice next time!

Another of our favourite would be the Pho Bo Kho – Beef Stew Noodle Soup which is always full of flavours and with a great noodle in a delicious broth. The noodles and the beef stew here wasn’t bad, but the broth and overall taste was a bit lacking.

Overall, we had an average meal, but I think if I was to come back, I would just get grilled stuff on rice as it seemed the best from this visit and try something different. I do like the location as it’s pretty close and convenient.

Pho So 1

240 Midpark Way SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 984-3588

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Sushi Bar Miki – Calgary, Alberta

After awhile without sushi, we figured we’d go try a new experience and this time we found ourselves at Sushi Bar Miki which wasn’t hard to find but it was out of our way for sure! They’re located off 16th Ave in the NW in a strip plaza, kind of near a grocery store!

We ordered a few things to try and something we don’t normally get – but decided to have from here was their Ika Geso Karaage which was their deep fried squid legs. It’s one of my favourite things to order at dim sum, but I’m glad we got them here! Tender and delicious, soft yet chewy – I loved it!

We then got an order of their Large Sushi which had 10 pieces of assorted sushi and a tuna roll! The sushi was quite delicious and you do see a sushi chef in the front making the orders! It was a large plate of sushi and it came in around $25. The quality was there so that’s always a treat!

Then, we got our order of udon. We felt like something soup so we got their Sansai Udon which we ordered as we had no idea what it was (which we could have looked it up…) but it was vegetarian option! It wasn’t bad though and it’s got the vegetables you’d find in a Chinese market – not your usual vegetarian cuisine! The udon and broth was quite tasty so we’re glad we just picked something and went with it!

As though we didn’t eat enough, somehow we saved room for dessert (or we just figured it’d be fun to over stuff ourselves!) and we got their Mochi Ice Cream which is something I’ve loved for years! This platter had 3 flavours, the sesame, green tea and vanilla. All 3 flavours were so tasty we loved it!

Overall, fantastic dining experience and we’d have no problem coming back and just picking anything off their menu! Great staff and food! Not much more that we need!

Sushi Bar Miki

5032 16 Ave NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 286-2860

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Oka Sushi – Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

We’ve been fortunately enough to experience Oka Sushi without a reservation or without much wait while staying at Jasper Park Lodge during our weekend trip up! It was still a very packed small restaurant, but it was the tail end of their service when we showed up to wait.

We were very patient and excited to try creations made by Mr Oka himself as we sat and enjoyed the show! He is quite a sushi artist and it’s been our favourite sushi experience to date!

We ordered their Assorted Sushi which was nice as there really wasn’t a standard platter. It came with their tuna rolls and 8 assorted sushi! Everything was really high quality and perfectly prepared – absolutely delicious and quite a beauty to look at!

Just as we were about done our sushi, we thought it would be fun to put in another order as we enjoyed our experience so much! We ordered their Jasper Roll which had crab meat and shrimp in the sushi! It was divine and we inhaled it!

This experience has set the bar very high for us for all future sushi experience! Although it’s a small place, it’s wonderful to see a master in action, and the food is worth the wait!

Oka Sushi Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

1 Old Lodge Rd
Jasper, AB
(780) 852-1114