banff – Elsie Hui

December 26, 2018December 31, 2018

Bear Street Tavern – Banff, Alberta

I’ve walked through Banff a million times and it was a coworker I worked with (even if we’re in different companies) told me to try Bear Street Tavern as he often enjoyed his pizza here and loves bringing his family here to eat.

We came on a busy summers afternoon, and the wait wasn’t too ridiculous. We asked for a table on the patio which helped with the waiting time as it was a super hot day. We had a nice drink and then came some oil and vinegar which was for dipping our pizza crust.

My coworker did tell me about this and that it was his favourite part so I was excited to try this with my pizza. We ordered their special, the Maui Wowie Pizza which is their spicy Hawaiian pizza. The food pizza was amazing and the dips for crust really elevated this “pizza eating experience”!

Our overall experience was one to remember and now everytime I walk past here, I make the comment of “I love the pizza’s here!” I’m thankful I got introduced to this little gem off main street!

Beat Street Tavern

211 Bear Street,
Banff, AB
(403) 762-2021

October 14, 2018October 14, 2018

Rose & Crown Restaurant & Pub – Banff, Alberta

Every so and so, I enjoy entering a random pub just for a snack. This particular day, we went to Rose & Crown in Banff as we walk by here all the time. We finally got to go in and try this little place!

As this is just a snack, it was pretty much just drink and appys. I decided to go for their Philly Spring Rolls which is just as it sounds! Amazing shaved steak with peppers, onions and cheese and it’s deep fried in a spring roll wrap instead of in a bun. This was absolutely delicious and it was a perfect portion size!

My hubby obviously has a different definition of a snack, as he ordered himself a Steak Pot Pie but it’s still not a meal. It doesn’t actually matter though, as we can always eat at a later hour! The pot pie had tons of steak pieces and it was a wonderful pastry that topped the hearty filling.

This place is wonderful! The food was delicious and creative, the prices was decent and to top it off, it’s in my favourite city in Alberta!

202 Banff Avenue
Banff, Alberta
403-762-2121

May 15, 2015August 16, 2020

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

March 15, 2015August 16, 2020

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

March 14, 2015

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

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