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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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Monplaisir Delicacy – Calgary, Alberta

We were introduced to Monplaisir which is located on the food court level of TD Square in the corner. Here, the offer delicious French Macarons and Belgium Chocolates. I haven’t tried their chocolates yet, but we have tried a few of their macarons!

We decided to try a small sample box, where we bought 6 delicate macarons. They asked us to leave it out a few minutes to take the chill off before eating, so we decided we’d get a drink from a nearby place in the food court. The custom box looks amazing and almost too good to eat, but we did pull the first one out and tried their Earl Grey flavour. You do get a hint of Earl Grey taste and scent, it’s subtle, sweet and nice! The Earl Grey one is the yellow one with the greenish filling!

With such a delicious macaroon, I had my hopes high as I tried their Chocolate Coconut and I was not disappointed. You get a nice rich chocolate taste and then the sweet coconut comes through afterwards. You do get coconut shreds in your bite as well!

Creme Brulee was always a sweet dessert we enjoy a lot, so we had to try their Creme Brulee flavour. This one really didn’t taste like much to us, but kind of sweet. It did offer the sugary crunch on the side but if you closed your eyes, creme brulee wasn’t the what came to mind – maybe vanilla.

our all time favourite flavour from Monplaisir would be their Espresso which was really fragrant with espresso aromas and flavours. You know what it is when you bite into it and it tastes absolutely amazing!

As Pistachio was another macaroon that we tried, it wasn’t as amazing as hoped. You definitely get a hint of pistachio but for whatever reason, I was hopping it would be more intense. Now I think it’s silly that I had that expectation as these are small delicate treats – so I do like this flavour!

The last one we chose to try on this visit would be the Wedding Almond. Not sure about the name but you definitely get the almond taste and flavour – which is really nice!

Overall, we thoroughly enjoy the macarons here and has been back a few times already! It’s great as they are opened on weekends as well as they are in a mall!

Mon Plaisir

Suite 410, 751 3 St SW
Calgary, AB
(587) 538-0690

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Signature Palace – Calgary, Alberta

We weren’t sure what we wanted to eat one evening, and we stumbled to the Southwest Calgary and found Signature Palace Restaurant which is in a strip plaza. The place isn’t difficult to find and there’s tons of parking. It seems like it’s a popular place as we kept seeing customers come in and out either dine in or take out!

As odd as this sounds, we started the dinner with an appetizer of Chicken Wings. They were large wings which made the price tag a little more bearable. It was over $10 for the plate of wings but they were really tasty, juicy, and crispy!

We ordered more lunch items of dinner, where we split a Beef Flank Noodle Soup, and the beef flank was tender and the portions was huge. The soup was quite tasty for being a plain soup. There was a few beef tendons which I love. We have always loved beef flank with the flat rice noodles and it made this dish perfect!

Then, we shared another of my favouriets, the Perserved Vegetables with Pork Noodle Soup and this was in rice vermicelli noodle soup – the way I know it to be. Tons of toppings and the portions again was really generous!

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised with the quality of food, and portion of size. The staff was really friendly and the bathrooms were cleaner than expected! This turned out to be a great place and we’re excited to go back one day to try a Chinese dinner here!

Signature Palace

1919 Sirocco Dr SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 246-8883

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Chili Island – Calgary, Alberta

This year for Christmas eve, we thought we were so smart and made reservations to a place that didn’t open. So, we were left on a scramble with a lot of other families looking for a place to eat! We found Chili Island that was opened, and luckily we found a good parking spot as it was busy!

We were seated right away and we were expecting service to be really slow as they were very busy with dine in customers as well as take out. They actually did an amazing job getting food to their hungry customers! We started with a soup, their Gar Tom Khars Soup which was their Thai Chicken and Mushroom soup with coconut milk. I like it because the coconut milk helps with the spiciness of Thai soups! It was delicious and extremely fragrant and flavourful!

Then, we got an order of their Peek Kai yod Sai which was Thai Stuffed Chicken Wings which was really quite shocking! The order had 4 wings which were super sized. The middle portion of the wing was deboned and stuffed with minced pork and other goodies, and then deep fried! It was amazing and gigantic and really quite spectacular as it was something we’ve never had before! I would highly recommend this dish/appetizer but make sure you come with a big appetite!

For the main entree, we shared an order of their Cantonese Chow Mein which is really nicely done! The fried noodles were crispy, using the thin egg noodles and topped with really fresh veggies and meat! The entire dish was cooked well, seasoned well, and priced well! We thought for sure we would have left overs for Christmas lunch, but everything tasted so good we decided to enjoy everything fresh. After you take these noodles home, it won’t be crispy, and we didn’t want it to go to waste!

Our overall experience for Chili Island was it was surprisingly delicious and not exactly overpriced for the food you get and the portions! We had a wonderful time and realized what an amazing job they did, even with such a large rush of customers! I am sure we will be back, with no hesitation!

Chili Island on Urbanspoon

Chili Island

4600 130 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 726-0733

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Blue Star Diner – Calgary, Alberta

I found myself just looking for anything with the word “diner” in it for weekend brunches when we came across Blue Star Diner in Bridgeland. Parking can be tough if it’s super busy, but we just parked on a side street and walked over as it was a nice day. It’s smart to go put your name down and browse the shops nearby as they seem to always be busy!

It was a cool morning so when we finally got our table, I went inside and order a cup of Hot Chocolate which was fantastic! It tasted good and warmed me up from the inside out!

For breakfast, we decided we were going to try something new oddly… so we went for their Bridgeland Breakfast Sammy which was basically an awesome sandwich built on sourdough toast with bacon & eggs, cheese and some vegetables and a side of hashbrowns! It was really delicious and refreshing and something out of the ordinary that we enjoyed thoroughly!

We also ordered the Chipotle Pulled Pork Hash with tender and juicy pulled pork with a chipotle lime sauce, on a bed of onions & sweet potatoes with vegetables, and topped with 2 poached eggs. It truly was quite an amazing dish and very filling!

We really enjoyed everything here! Although the price is high for a breakfast, the food really does fill you up so it counts as a brunch or even a lunch! The service is amazing as they’re busy yet super friendly. I’m really glad we got to come by Blue Star Diner and try them out!

Blue Star Diner on Urbanspoon

Blue Star Diner

809 1 Ave NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 261-9998