calgary – Page 13

March 17, 2015March 17, 2015

Sushi Boat – Calgary, Alberta

Recently, I decided to go back to Sushi Boat as I was in the area, and love this place! I use to come here a LOT when I lived in the NW. It was a Friday night and the place was full, but you didn’t need to wait long for a table either at any section.

Once we were seated, we looked onto the boats and they were actually quite empty. We waited for all the boats to go around a few times thinking they will replenish the boats – but they remained the same or even got eaten. We grabbed a few items that are standard and watched/waited as we ate. We started with their Salmon Roll and they were decent. It wasn’t the same as it use to be, but I was just thinking I got the “older” plate.

Then, we grabbed what we thought was Chicken Karaage, but it turned out to be Fish Karaage and we were really disappointed with that. It was cold, and not very good at all. The fish was dry while the batter was soggy. It wasn’t the sushi boat quality I remembered it to be.

Then, I saw one of my “go-to” sushi’s, the Spicy Tuna Roll and this has always been something that was pretty much fail proof, and it was! This plate was excellent, the spicy mayo was excellent as well.

Then, we decided to order off the menu and put in our orders as we haven’t been that pleased so far. We got a bowl of their Miso Soup and that was a nice salty treat! It did taste good but I thought it was a little too salty.

We got a plate of their Spicy Tempura Sushi which was really good! I think I just enjoy their spicy sauce, but the tempura was really crispy and not overly greasy! It was fresh and nice!

We had their 2 piece Pacific Roll, and that just came out as a giant modified California Roll stuffed with tons of imitation crab meat – which was fine as I love imitation crab meat! I definitely couldn’t put the entire piece in my mouth – although I did not try.

We got 2 orders of my favourite, the Hokkigai, as I’ve always loved surf clams. They were fine here, nothing bad yet nothing special.

We got an order of Inari as I like to call them pillow cases. My sister first called them that – and that name stuck! These are always delightful although I will never call it “sushi”. I just like the sweetness of the bean curd with rice packed in them! It was delicious!

And finally the last thing we decided to order, again as it’s more fail proof was their Crab Stick as I just buy packs of crab sticks eat eat on a daily basis. I love this stuff! It’s good as a sushi here as well!

Overall, Sushi Boat seems to have dropped in their quality a bit. Although the food is still good, it’s nothing like how it use to be. It seems like an average place with actual boats that go around for you to get your sushi! It’s still decent, but not what I was expecting.

Sushi Boat

806 Crowfoot Crescent NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 239-1818

March 14, 2015

Caesar’s Steak House Downtown – Calgary, Alberta

We have actually been here before, and it’s a place where we’d go back to – so we did! We made a reservation here for a special occasion at the Caesars Steakhouse downtown Calgary location. We lucked out with parking on the side street, but apparently there’s complimentary valet parking after 5pm.

We sat down and ordered some drink. We ordered the same thing, the Caesars – one regular, and one virgin. It was off to a rough start as our waiter had messed up placing whose drink goes with whom. So, I ended up with the alcoholic one in front of me – but I was quick to tell it wasn’t a virgin drink. The drink did taste really good though! Then, came our toast, which was a few pieces of buttery toast – grilled! Once slice had cheese and the other was plain. It was really buttery and quite tasty!

For an appetizer, we had their Escargot which came out in their shells, instead of the typical escargot plates which we really enjoyed from here! The meat was tender and the flavours were tasty and buttery – and it was even sauteed in butter with walnut & butter filling!

Then came a bowl of soup, we had their French Onion Soup which was standard. Nothing special, but definitely nothing to complain about. It was just a little bowl, so it wasn’t substantial as we were excited for our steaks at this point!

We then got a salad, their House Salad with their house dressing. This was quite a disappointment as the salad was wilted and drenched with dressing… it unfortunately didn’t look or taste too good – but it’s a salad, not the main highlight of our trip here!

Finally, the highlight of the show – I ordered the small New York Strip with a side of twice baked potatoes! It was fantastic! The meat was cooked perfectly, it was tender and juicy and tons of flavour!

My husband had their T-Bone Steak which he enjoyed thoroughly and devoured! Well, to be honest, I had quite a bit of his steak as well. The fries were good, but nothing too special or anything!

Our overall experience was good! We enjoyed what we came here for, with a few hiccups. We were told while we were ordering that there was no Steak Dianne, and the table right next to me, pretty much in the seat next to me got one… so, I was a little disappointed with that. Steaks are worth the trip to Caesars downtown location for sure though!

Caesar’s Steak House

512 – 4 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 264-1222

March 14, 2015

Pho Dau Bo Vietnamese Beef Noodle House – Calgary, Alberta

My coworkers and I have been talking about going to pho for awhile, and this one afternoon – we went! They brought me to Pho Dau Bo for their pho and it was so good that I brought my husband there!

I really enjoy having Salad Rolls so naturally I ordered them. I was kind of hungry so it didn’t matter. The salad rolls were really good and fresh, the skin was thin and delicate but it held the roll together.

I guess this location is known for their Pho Sate, my husband had to try it with beef! He really loved the flavour of the soup and the meat was really good. It’s like no other satay pho we’ve had! I really enjoyed the soup and he seemed to agree with me!

I ordered the weekend special, which was Bun Bo Hue and it has always been one of my favourite dishes – although not every restaurant has it. This one only has it on weekends.

Overall, the experience here was exceptional! The service was friendly and fast, the food had large portions and they were really tasty, the atmosphere was clean and comfortable – it accomplishes its purpose and there’s quite a bit of parking outside in the Little Saigon Center!

Pho Dau Bo Vietnamese Beef Noodle House

Little Saigon Centre
4909 17 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 272-5160

March 4, 2015March 4, 2015

Yum Bakery (Calgary Farmers Market) – Calgary, Alberta

We love the farmers market, and this time, we went there to enjoy a little French treat from Yum Bakery which is a little stand in the market.

We decided to get a box of 5 macarons as they’re a little costlier than other places. The box was really pretty and the colours of the macaros were so vibrant!

We got 5 different flavours and tried their pistachio, earl grey vanilla, rose lychee, hazelnut praline and lemon lavender. All the flavours were excellent and the texture wasn’t bad either.

We enjoyed these macarons we dragged some friends out to the Farmers Market the follow weekend to enjoy the same selection of macarons!

Yum Bakery

Calgary Farmers’ Market
510 77 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 472-1296

March 4, 2015

Pho Binh Minh – Calgary, Alberta

This one evening I was heading up closer to the North side of town when I wanted to stop for some pho. We decided we would meet up with some friends when they recommended Pho Binh Minh which was located at a strip plaza, so there was plenty of parking available.

We decided we would start with Gha Gio – Spring Rolls and they were really delicious! They’re hot and crispy with really flavourful filling. It was silly as there’s 4 of us, and we got 1 plate — not enough!

I ordered their regular noodles, Pho Tai – Medium Rare Beef Noodle Soup which was amazing! This was the bowl of pho that was recommended and I’m glad I took it! There’s nothing I can think of that I didn’t enjoy!

Originally, we were going to go to a place across the street for Pho Sate, but we ended up here – so we ordered a bowl anyway. It definitely wasn’t what we were expecting as it turned out to be a bowl of pho tai with hot sauce. It tasted fine, but it wasn’t really a nice satay soup.

Our experience here was pretty amazing, the spring rolls and the bowl of pho was almost as tasty as they come! The service was quick and they’re quite friendly even though they were packed!

Pho Binh Minh

4710 17 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 235-2521