calgary – Page 38

November 3, 2012November 3, 2012

Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine

I love eating Vietnamese food, especially during cold winter evenings when I don’t want to cook. This usually happens during weekends, and my favourite Vietnamese restaurant doesn’t open on Sundays, so I was out on a hunt looking for a new Vietnamese cuisine that was opened! I found one, and I like it! It’s Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine which is opened daily from 11:00 to 9:00PM. This business is located on 24th Street SE just off Deerfoot Trail and Douglasdale Blvd/24th Street exit. It’s at the same area as Sobeys plaza, but further west. It is a stand-alone building.

We started our meal with their Prawn Salad Rolls which came on a plate with 4 salad rolls, which was decent in size, for $6.50, I wouldn’t expect it to be small. The shrimp was quite fresh, which is always a delight! The worse thing is having soggy shrimp with a fishy smell/taste! But, thankfully this little restaurant doesn’t server stuff like that!

We wanted a good satay noodle, as the last time we had one, it was nothing but chili oil in the soup – which isn’t “satay” flavour. So, we ordered a bowl of Satay Beef Noodle Soup, and we love it! It was actually a bit spicy and it offered some great satay flavour! There was a lot of noodles and beef in the bowl, and for a price of $9.50, it ranks in on the high end of regular Vietnamese noodle prices. I really like the portion sizes that justifies the price tag!

As the temperatures get colder and colder, all I want is spice! So, I ordered a bowl of Bun Bo Hue which is something I order a lot, but with caution since a lot of times, it just turns into a bowl of SUPER spicy noodles with again, no taste. I am happy to say it was really good here, and the texture of their noodles was perfect! It was just a great bowl of Bun Bo Hue – and now I’m thinking about ordering another bowl for take-out tonight!

Overall, I really like this place. The service is great, fast and friendly. The cost is really decent for the amount of food you get (even though it’s Asian food), and it’s not too far from home! I’m sure I’ll be back, and I know I would love to thy their Vietnamese submarines, as I haven’t had a delicious one in a long time!

Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine

11566 24 St SE
Calgary, AB T2Z3J3
(403) 457-3885

October 21, 2012October 21, 2012

Cheezy Bizness Calgary Food Truck

OK, so, it’s been awhile since my visit to Cheezy Bizness Food Truck, but better late than never! We went to try this food truck during the first annual Sundown Chowdown at the Calgary Farmers Market. It was a lot of fun, but I don’t think any of the food trucks was prepared for the amount of people that showed up for it! Swarms of people lined up for all the trucks ranging anywhere from a 45minute wait just to get to the window up to 2 hours!! We went in a group, and we each lined up for a different truck – so we kind of know how long it took. We just tagged each other out so we all waited for something at one time or another.

One of the last trucks we lined up for was the Cheezy Bizness truck, where we waited that day in line for almost 2 hours and another 45 minutes to wait for the food to get picked up – after we pay for them. I think they were definitely in overload mode! By the time we got our sandwiches, we were eating in the dark under a street light! It was fun and quite the experience. I ordered the Aloha Arkansas as I love anything with pineapples in it! This lovely grilled cheese sandwich was actually $9.50 and had pulled park, pineapple and smoked cheddar. It was delicious! It was one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I have ever had!

Then, the last sandwich we ate was the Home on the Range grilled cheese sandwich made with Silver Sage slow roasted beef with shaved red onion, Brassica mustard and horseradish aioli, cheddar and gruyere cheese.

I know the pictures are extremely hard to see, but the picture was either killed with the bright flash, or these ones with more detail underneath the street lights. This just means I will have to try Cheezy Bizness again another day! I really enjoyed their grilled cheese sandwiches, but I enjoy any grilled cheese sandwiches. However, to experience it out of a truck, you can only get from the Cheezy Bizness food truck!

October 20, 2012

Le’s Pho – Heritage Meadows

Sundays are tricky for me – my favourite southeast Vietnamese restaurant is closed on that day, and sometimes, all I want is a nice bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup. So, we decided to venture off – but not too far to find some. We went to Heritage Meadows and found Le’s Pho Vietnamese Cuisine and Grill where I knew I had to try it.

Once we were inside, there was a sign that says “Please Wait to be Seated”, and it seems like it took forever to get seated, even though there wasn’t that many customers there at that odd time when I went (it as around 2 or 3pm). Once we sat down, probably another 5 minutes, a waiter came by to see what we wanted to drink. We just ordered some tea, since that’s what we like with our “Asian” meals. I quickly ordered the Spring Rolls and it came quite quickly. They looked pretty good, and it tasted good too! We’re off to a good start! Sure, it’s not the texture I was use to, but the flavours were all there, so I enjoyed them thoroughly! It’s hard to not like something deep fried, unless it’s soggy and not even a tad crispy!

I wanted something with a bit more flavour, so I tried their Satay chicken Pho which when it came out, it didn’t taste like satay at all! There was no other flavours besides a ton of spice… as though I ordered a super spicy chicken pho! There was no taste or texture of what you would expect from satay. Besides the spice though, the soup was very flavourless… a tad of fish sauce, and soy sauce didn’t help.

We also ordered a bowl of Pho Tai which is essentially rare beef with pho. This one is hard to goof usually, but the beef was fine, and the broth was really watered down. It tasted like nothing, so we were kind of disappointed with Le’s Pho!

The portion sizes are fairly large and the prices are within reason, but we didn’t like the watered down soups and just the overall lack in flavour of the pho. The noodles wasn’t too bad – just a tad on the soggy side, which I can’t blame them… sometimes I take too long trying to take a picture… but, I can say that taking long doesn’t make the flavours of the soup wash away. Overall, not my new favourite place for sure… but if I had to go back and give them a second shot (like I do with some places), I just might!

Le’s Pho (Heritage Meadows)
8180 11 St SE
Calgary, AB T2H
(403) 259-3883

October 20, 2012October 20, 2012

Milk Tiger Lounge

You definitely won’t find me at a bar or lounge often at all. I might step foot in one about once a year, and I did it for this year! I went to try Milk Tiger Lounge which is located on 4th Street Southwest. It was interesting to find as there really wasn’t a sign above the door. There was a “white tiger”, which is their logo above the door – and on the door was the name of the restaurant.

I started off with just a drink – well, the only one as I don’t usually drink. I ordered the Sweettart which is a drink made of Alberta Pure Vodka, Blue Curacao, Lime juice and Grenadine. It’s a beautiful and delicious drink!

We also ordered a Wild Rose Brown beer which is a dark beer. I never tried it, but I guess it’s a beer! 🙂 To be honest, I don’t know a whole lot about beer as I don’t drink, not even beers!

Finally, as this is just an after dinner hang out for us.. we ordered the Bacon Skewers which was basically pieces of yam, potatoes and sausages wrapped in crispy bacon, and skewered together! It was an amazing appetizer, or beer snack!

Overall, this was a nice place to lounge around as it’s a bar that isn’t loud or busy! It’s a soft, warm and inviting bar which is great for just hanging out.

Milk Tiger Lounge

1410-4th St. SW
Calgary, AB T2R0Y1
(403) 261-5009

October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

Crepe Delicious

I was wandering around the mall at The Core downtown, when I found myself craving a little treat! So, I walked around the food court near Holt Renfrew, and found myself inline for a crepe at Crepe De Licious! It’s an unusual treat for myself, but why not I figured!

This crepe location also sells frozen yoghurt as well, and there was a long line for them on that side. But, on the crepe side, there was just one lady taking her sweet time making the crepes. It took about 5 minutes before she even bothered looking up to see what I would like, and it took even longer to wait for the crepe to make it into my hands. So, already, I was hoping that despite the service, it would still be a great crepe!

I ordered the Chipotle Beef Savoury Crepe which doesn’t seem to be on their menu anymore… but it was a crepe with beef, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese topped with chipotle sauce. It wasn’t a bad tasting crepe at all actually, and it was worth the wait!! The best part was the last few bites when the sauce has started absorbing into the crepe, and all the deliciousness has dropped to the end! I really loved this crepe, and I think I will be back! I’m hardly even in downtown, so maybe I’ll give the one in Cross Iron Mills a try!

Crepe Delicious

751 3 St SW
Calgary, AB T2P0B2
(403) 457-2425