Lido Cafe Ltd – Calgary, Alberta

We made it to Lido Cafe Ltd right before the Sun and Salsa festival started – as I was starving and needed something to eat! We randomly walked into Lido without knowing anything, sat down and looked at the menu. The first thing that popped in our minds was “random”. This menu had American breakfast and lunch menu items and Chinese lunch and dinner menu items. The place is ran by Chinese, so it was really neat.

When we were seated in a booth with a jukebox hanging off the side, we were even more confused! This place is wonderful, as it’s got no specific theme or anything! I’m sure if you want something – anything, they would have it!

All joking aside, we did go for an American breakfast, as we ordered a French Toast with Sausage and a Breakfast Special with Sausage which included 2 eggs, hash-browns, toast and your choice of ham, bacon or sausage. It was a great deal, and since we went on Sunday, they served this all day long!!

The food tasted just fine, the price is just right, so, nothing wrong with that! 🙂

Lido Cafe Ltd

144 10 St NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 283-0131

Cravings Market – Calgary, Alberta

Cravings Market is truly a unique experience. It’s almost like an upscale fast food cafeteria, or food court. I’ve been here a few times for lunch, and it is really packed all the time. It’s got a huge variety of food stations where you pick what you’d like to eat, and they’d charge you by swiping it onto a card that you’re holding. When you’re done with your meal, you pay the balance on your card either individually or by table – as the table you sit at, you would all get the same table card, and then they are numbered for an individual card basis. It is a great idea, and avoid problems when customers from local business would like to “split the bill”.

For breakfast, I ordered an Open Sea Panini which was a panini sandwich with smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomatoes, red onions and capers. The sandwich was extremely tasty, but I think the chef forgot that capers were salty. So, overall, the panini was too salty. I didn’t return it back to the kitchen as it was bearable, but would have been a better experience if that wasn’t the case. You really got the smoke salmon taste, and that really made it the reason why I still loved it.

I also ordered a Pina Colada Smoothie which was great! It was packed with pineapple and coconut flavours that you can taste right off the back. The best thing, it wasn’t alcoholic, so I drank the entire glass right away! The portion of the smoothie was quite generous as well, as they filled a milkshake glass to the top!

We also ordered a breakfast in a bowl, and we tried the All Canadian breakfast in a bowl which was a bowl full of pan-fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, cheese, tomatoes, bacon, green onions and Hollandaise sauce on top. It also came with really good buttered bread on the side.

For a drink, we ordered a large Hot Chocolate which wasn’t anything special of course, but still good!

Cravings Market
7207 Fairmount Dr SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 252-2083

A Ladybug Bakery and Cafe – Calgary, Alberta

I have always loved strawberry waffles and A Ladybug Bakery and Cafe sure knows how to make them the way I like them! Previous to this experience with Ladybug, I’ve only been to their old location at the Currie Barracks, which has now closed, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to open a new location in the new Calgary Farmers Market

We had a few people that joined us for lunch, and we got pictures and their comments of the dish also! 🙂 But, I did order the Strawberry Waffles and it was as very tasty. The texture of the waffles was amazing with generous toppings!

We had an order of their lasagna and it looked really amazing! The smell of cheese, you could smell it at least a table away! This lasagna was packed with mushrooms, bechamel sauce, ground beef, and tomato sauce, it truly was an awesome choice!

I did enjoy their Chai Tea Latte and I found it was a bit watered down, but the quality of the chai tea was really good. I didn’t mind it was a little more subtle.

We had dessert to complete the meal, and I had a Tiramisu because I wanted a delicious one that I was craving since our trip to Las Vegas. It was a very delicate and delicious tiramisu here.

We also had their Chocolate Eclair which was quite decent! A delicate filling inside a beautiful chocolate donut.

A Ladybug Bakery and Cafe

2132 10 Aspen Stone Blvd
Calgary, AB
(403) 249-5530

Rocky Mountain Bagel Company

We started the day dropping by the Rocky Mountain Bagel Company before our day hike as we were looking for something fast, filling, and delicious! We found ourselves stopping at the Rocky Mountain Bagel Co on Bow Valley Trail, and it was opened early enough to accommodate us!

I had that BCLT Bagel on Jalapeno Cheese Bagel and the filling inside the bagel was quite typical, as BCLT stands for bacon, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. The ingredients used were really fresh so it was really good. I must say, I really enjoyed the jalapeno cheese bagel, as it looks like your typical cheese bagel with a nice kick once in awhile! The bagel was not only very flavourful, but it had a nice consistency, denseness and texture! Just the way I like my bagels!!

We also had the Amigo Bagel on Jalapeno Cheese Bagel and this bagel seemed to be an omelet with green peppers, and onions on the bagel with plain cream cheese, and topped with slices of tomato, salsa & cheddar.

The environment was small and intimate, yet very comfortable! Lots of room for a lazy morning, and since this locations isn’t in downtown Canmore, it’s not as busy either! In fact, it seemed like their customers were mostly taking their meals to go!

Rocky Mountain Bagel Company

6A-1306 Bow Valley Trail
Canmore, AB
(403) 678-9968

Nellie’s Cosmic Cafe – Calgary, Alberta

I’m actually not really one that likes an “American” style breakfast, but I must say, I really enjoyed eating at Nellies Cosmic Cafe for breakfast. It’s a real home style restaurant, and it is just really cozy and inviting!

The fact they use actual mugs for coffee, teas, hot chocolates, etc is really a nice touch. Instead of having it feel like a restaurant with “all the same mugs” it now feels like you’ve entered Nellies house and they great you with a nice warm drink.

I’ve ordered the perogies as I LOVE perogies, and it doesn’t have that layer of grease I don’t really like first thing in the morning. To my excitement when my plate came, my plate was piled high with scrambled eggs, toast, sausage, potatoes, and tucked away under the toast was the star of my breakfast — perfect perogies. They tasted great, and it wasn’t over cooked at all. I’m not sure if it’s homemade, but it sure can pass for it! I really enjoyed my breakfast here at Nellies Cosmic Cafe and would go back in the near future!

We also got a plate of corned beef hash and it also tasted really good. At the end of breakfast, we left really satisfied with a very full belly! The price was decent at Nellies for the amount of goodness you get!!

Nellie’s Cosmic Cafe

1001 17 Ave SW
Calgary, AB