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Ricky’s All Day Grill – Country Hills

I’ve been to a few Ricky’s now, and because they are all individually owned, it’s fun to find which ones are the good ones. I’ve been to this location a few times now, and I would say this is one of the better Ricky’s All Day Grill locations! It’s located near Superstore on Country Hills Blvd, but just on the North side (towards Starbucks) – which is the better part anyway as the parking lot can be quite chaotic!

We went with my parents here as this is my mom’s favourite place to eat at (when it’s not Chinese food)! She was excited all week for it, and it didn’t disappoint anyone! Once we walked in, my parents wanted a cup of coffee, where they made them a fresh pot – and boy, did it smell good! We just jumped right to dinner, and I ordered the Certified Angus Steak Sandwich which was a delicious 6oz sirloin, grilled to medium-rare as it’s what I love, on a great garlic Portuguese bun, topped with Forty Creek Whiskey BBQ sauce, topped with onion crisps! Well, I was suppose to get onion crisps, but they gave me some onion rings instead – which I love it more! On the side, ther was some sweet potato fries and cajun aioli dip. This was delicious and very memorable!

My husband decided to eat something that is something that he has always loved, and it’s the Fettuccine Bolognese which is essentially just fettuccine with Kobe meatballs, bolognese sauce and shredded parmesan cheese
+ baked with 3 cheeses, and a generous slice of garlic bread! Well, it’s not just a slice of garlic bread, it’s actually a little loaf – and it’s delicious! The pasta is cooked really well, and the pasta sauce was divine!

My dad ordered pasta as well, he ordered Pesto Alfredo fettuccine which is again fettuccine and he got it topped with shrimp in pesto-alfredo sauce! The shrimp wasn’t the best as it was soggy – but thankfully it wasn’t fishy tasting/smelling, which is good… but, I think we’ll get it with chicken next time! Again, this came with a mini loaf of Garlic bread!

My mom ordered her favourite. I guess she comes here often enough to have a “usual” dish, which was the Veal Champignon in the lighter portion. This dish has a generous portion lightly breaded veal, topped with hunter sauce – our blend of alfredo, mushrooms and peppercorn gravy, and a side of vegetables! The veal was so moist and tender, and was really good!

Well, at the end, we didn’t all just have our own dishes as we did ask for a few plates on the side to share our meals! So, we know everything was really delicious! This is a place I will go back to when my mom doesn’t know what to eat – that’s not Chinese! I feel like this is a place that they just won’t complain about!

Ricky's All Day Grill (Country Hills) on Urbanspoon

Ricky’s All Day Grill (Country Hills)

510 – 5149 Country Hills Blvd NW Map.9324877
Calgary, AB
(403) 547-9362

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O’Cup Calgary

There’s this one day, I just went to Chinatown, and noticed a new restaurant/cafe – so I called up a few friends and advised them something called O’Cup was opened. We made the effort to go down. It’s in the former location of Bubble Station (former location of original Dessert House). This little place has really odd hours which doesn’t make me feel like it’s very convenient. We got in at 8pm as a few of us got off work around then, and right away they told us it was last call. Regardless, we asked for a few more minutes as the rest of the party arrives – and they were really accommodating in that aspect! At the end, when we were about to leave, there were a lot of tables that did come in for drinks, so I think it’s okay if you actually make it in before 9PM.

Their menus are really interesting as they put lamination on the menu and you check off what you want with a white pen. We ordered some Milk Tea, and it says it can come “hot”, and we ordered 2 drinks from that section. One of them came hot, and the other was cold. We didn’t specify, as we assumed it would be “cold” unless we asked them for a hot drink. Regardless, it was a very decent. The drinks did come out one at a time, so it was like they only had 1 drink maker. We got the Almond Milk Tea and that came out hot and it tasted quite delicious!

I ordered the Hazelnut Milk Tea and it came out cold. It tasted really good, but there was a ton of ice cubes.

As a little snack, I ordered my favourite Condensed Milk Waffles. I love condensed milk, and I am convinced that if you put it on anything, everything tastes good! The condensed milk was delicious, but the waffles was just a little weird. It was really dry and dense and not my favourite.

We also got another sweet waffle, and we tried the Oreo Cookie Waffle which was good, except for the texture of the waffle – so I think it’s their batter that hasn’t been perfected… otherwise, it’s just a different type which I’m not a fan of! I am sure there are lots out there who would like it. I just like the ones with a crispy exterior and a light and fluffy interior.

We also had some Popcorn Chicken which comes in a little bowl and some mustard mayonnaise as a dip. It was fried to a nice colour with a huge crisp! I really enjoyed their popcorn chicken and I’m sure I’ll get it again!

We all shared another deep fried item called the Taiwanese Fried Chicken which are small pieces of chicken slices, seasoned with a seasoning very much like salt & pepper chicken. Again, it was really crispy and tasty and the chicken wasn’t too dry!

Finally, our last little treat that we ordered was the Curry Fish Balls, and it was interesting as it wasn’t actually all fish balls. They have pieces of lo bak (daikon) in it – and just a few fish balls. So, we were just a little mis-lead, but it tasted good anyway! But again, you really can’t goof up something like this!

Overall, I did enjoy the “deep” fried food and the drinks from here. So, now, we got another little place where we don’t mind going to on a Saturday or Sunday, as the hours work best for us there!

O'Cup on Urbanspoon

O’Cup

2-110 2 Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2G
(403) 452-2606

Hours of Operation:
Mon – Thurs 11AM – 9PM
Fri-Sat 11AM – 11PM
sun 11AM – 6PM

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Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria – McKenzie Towne Calgary

I’ve always wondered what the empty spaces on High Street in McKenzie Towne would turn out to be as 2 prime locations recently closed for whatever reason. I’m happy to say that a Day Spa has now turned into Famoso Neapolitian Pizzeria which has been a location where I’ve been trying to put on the top of my priority list since it opened. My co-workers can’t stop raving about it, and of course, I went during the coldest days of autumn – and I’m happy to say there was still a line out the door. It was a little cold for me as it was around 8:30PM on a Friday night, so I figured I would go during lunch on the Saturday – which I did! When I entered the pizzeria, we were immediately greeted by friendly staff asking if we’ve dined there before. We said no, and thank goodness we did as you write your order down and go up to the counter to order/pay.

I ordered a Gelato Float as I love floats. I have no idea how you’re suppose to order it as the menu only says “Gelato Float”, but I got my husband to order it, and I got the most disgusting float! I guess my husband wanted just a fountain drink of “Iced Tea”, and he must of gotten confused when ordering my float. I ended up with a Chai Tea Latte Gelato with Iced Tea, which is something I would HIGLHY NOT recommend! hahaha! Usually, I know floats with a sweet fountain drink like Grape or Root Beer with a vanilla ice cream… ah well, there’s always a first for everything!

We ordered an appetizer and a pizza, as this was a lunch – we ordered Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella Balls which was a platter with fresh mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto baked in Campania tomato sauce served with flatbread. I just scooped out a mozzarella ball onto my plate and dissected it and covered it with the delicious tomato sauce with a bit of flat bread!

The pizza that we ordered was Abruzzo Pizza which was a pizza topped with Oven-roasted Italian sausage, onion, mushroom, fennel seeds and smoked mozzarella. It was a pizza that said it’s new for the Fall & Winter season, which was a good idea as the combination of the Italian sausage and smoked mozzarella was a such a delicious combination. The pizza crust was really something special! It wasn’t greasy at all, and the texture was amazing! There’s a place in my heart for greasy pizza crusts, but for ones that aren’t too greasy – this is a great alternative!

I love the location, and the environment! The service was excellent, and the food was exceptional! Now that I’ve finally tried the pizza here, my co-workers won’t stop talking about their desserts… so, needless to say, I will be back!

Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria

Southeast
5 High St SE
Calgary, AB
(587) 352-5566

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ABC Restaurant

I went to the ABC Restaurant that’s in Chinatown the other day, and realized that the sign outside has completely changed. Which made me realize they’ve changed concept and/or owner. We still went in for a breakfast as there isn’t too many places that are opened so early on a weekend in Calgary.

The breakfast concept is repetitively unchanged, and so I ordered a breakfast combo B with Satay Beef with Rice Vermicelli which comes with a hot drink for $5.25! I love how inexpensive Chinese breakfasts are!

The other breakfast that we ordered was the House Special Combo< which was for $6.75, and the 2 options ordered was the scrambled eggs and Rib Eye Steak. It also came with a hot drink and buttered toast.

The milk tea was fantastic, I like the small old school type of cup! The actual milk tea was quite silky and quite strong of a flavour. It was really good – not the best I’ve ever had, but it’s quite good!

Overall, it’s a nice place to return to. I do miss the original cafe/bakery a lot, but change isn’t a bad thing either! Here’s the post to the old restaurant, which was called ABC Bakery & Cafe

ABC Restaurant

112 3 Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2G0B7
(403) 266-2888

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Chili’s Texas Grill (Southcentre Mall)

I’ve never been to Chili’s and to be honest, we went there because we heard about a fantastic promotion they have going on… it’s the 2 for $25 which was one appetizer to share and 2 full sized entrees! Even if they didn’t do a full size entree, it’s still a fantastic deal! We visit the Chili’s location at South Centre mall, which is located outside of the mall, towards SportsChek. We went during mid-week evening, and thinking there wouldn’t be a line up, there was! It was exciting to see so many guests, it makes me think the place is always good!

We got inside and they took our name and they advised us it would be about 45 minute wait for a table. We said that’s fine and we sat down to wait. Not long after we sat down, they came out with some appetizers for their waiting guest – which was a really nice touch! They were bringing out Jalapeno Cheese Bites which was a delicious jalapeno cheddar that is breaded in panko and deep fried to perfection!

When we sat down, we flipped through the menu, and figured we wanted to upgrade our dinner to the other special 2 for $30 special, which is the same deal, but the food sounded more appetizing for us! We ordered a Texas Dry Ribs for our appetizer to share. It was a huge portion and it was delicious whether we took it as is, or splashed some lemon juice on it!

I ordered the Classic Chicken Fajita which is something I really like! I love eating with my hands, and with fajitas coming out on a sizzling plate with caramelized veggies, this was a fun meal for me! The chicken was delicious and it was truly a full sized entree. There was only 3 tortilla wraps, but it’s alright, I just ate the entire thing off the sizzling with the condiments poured on top! It was really enjoyable and memorable!

The other entree that we ordered was the Chicken Enchilada Pasta which is a huge bowl of penne with some grilled chicken, corn, mushrooms and onions in a rich enchilada sauce with melted mixed cheese. It was a hearty meal and cheesy too!

We really enjoyed our time at Chili’s and we’ve been thinking about returning – especially during the spring/summer months and enjoy their patio too! Regular meals are reasonably priced, and the service was exceptional. To top it off, the food was spectacular and very pleasant to eat! We’ve just selected Chili’s as a location we will add to our circulation of places to go for dinner now!

Chili's Texas Grill (Southcentre Mall) on Urbanspoon

Chili’s Texas Grill

282 100 Anderson Rd SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 225-2150