chai – Elsie Hui

March 15, 2015August 16, 2020

Masala – Banff, Alberta

We were in Banff for a cold early spring evening and figured curry would be the perfect cuisine to eat on a day like that! We went into the Wolf and Bear Mall to Masala which is an Indian restaurant.

Once we were seated, I knew I wanted their Chai Tea as it was so cold outside! I was unsure how large the serving would be, or anything, but it was so nice, it came in a tea pot with sugar on the side! It was perfect! The chai tasted wonderful, and it was a good start!

My husband is more into Mango Lassi and so he ordered a glass. The glass was a good size and the texture of the lassi was really good! It’s not so thick you can’t enjoy it and at the same time, it was creamy and fully of mango flavours! This was another great drink – and it’s starting to set the bar really high for our dinner!

We wanted to try new items on the menu as there were a few things we’ve never heard of. So we went ahead and ordered their Bison Korma. Although we’ve had korma, we’ve never had it with bision! This delicious korma was perfect with a good amount of both sauce and bison. This korma is a thick and creamy tomato sauce topped with pistachios!

The other dish we had was a chicken one, but one we’ve never tried. It was their Chicken Himachali which was chicken cooked with garam masala cuisine of the state of Himachai. The flavours were a little spicier than other garam masalas, but it was really fragrant and quite enjoyable!

With our curries, we ordered an order of Garlic Naan and Coconut Rice and everything got placed on the table at the same time for us to dig in family style! The portions were really generous as we were able to bring some home an enjoy the following day!

Overall, Masala has made it onto our top 5 list of Indian restaurants for sure! The staff was really friendly, the food was amazing and the prices actually was really fair! For the amount of food for 2, and some to take home, a bill over $50 seems very reasonable!

Masala

Wolf and Bear Mall
229 Bear St
Banff, AB
(403) 760-6612

December 27, 2011December 27, 2011

Good Earth Cafe

I went to Cranston in Calgary this one afternoon to Good Earth Cafe to try one of their season drinks as I saw an ad for it in the newspaper, I finally went to try it and I was happy I did. The location was really interesting to get to, but I think it’s easier to stay on Cranston Avenue SE and making a right hand turn into the parking lot, instead of going around through the residential area. The actual cafe is really cute and it’s really bright with all the large windows from this corner bay at the strip plaza.

The drink I tried was called Toasted Coconut Chai and it definitely tasted like toasted coconuts. After drinking half of the small, I think I got use to the taste and I didn’t taste the coconut as much. I’m sure it would be better if I ordered food with my drink – so I’ll be sure to do that next time. The chai wasn’t as strong in the spices they used, but you can still tell it’s chai!

The menu at Good Earth Cafe is extensive and the selection of drinks are plenty! I didn’t try anything to eat this time, but I’m sure I will be back as it is a cute cafe – not too far away!

Good Earth Cafe

356 Cranston Rd SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 294-9330

June 28, 2011June 28, 2011

Second Cup on 130th Avenue

This is one of the strangest Second Cup locations I’ve ever been to. It has shorter hours than most Second Cup, but the environment inside is much different as it is quite spacious, with comfortable seating, free wi-fi, and even a fire place which really sets the mood during our nasty winter months.

I don’t normally go to this location, since it’s not the one most convenient for me, but I found myself here one evening, and ordered my favourite Chai Tea Latte and it was so flavourful, it really ranks in the top 3 I’ve had!

Second Cup

226-4916 130 Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2Z 0G4
(403) 257-6260

May 7, 2011February 23, 2019

Caffe Beano – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve heard great things about Caffe Beano, and it’s be on my “to try” list for awhile now. I arrived at Caffe Beano hoping for a nice relaxing cup of coffee for a Saturday afternoon. We arrived around 2:30pm, and it was packed with thirsty guests. The entrance way was little, but there was a large seating area packed with customers. The nice thing about the day we choose to go, it was a great afternoon, and lots of people were outside enjoying the weather and their coffee! It made it really inviting.

I ordered a normal latte, as I’ve heard Caffe Bean does great foam art on their lattes. I think I got some fancy swirls, or a heart gone wrong or something!! Regardless, the latte was very strong in taste and it was nice!!

We also ordered a London Fog but somehow it got lost in translation and we got an Indian Tea instead. It was alright, it was a very flavourful Chai Latte which we enjoy anyway!

On the side, we decided to get a little something as we were planning to relax here for awhile — we got a croissant and a chocolate chip cookie. The Croissant was very flaky and soft, which was quite lovely, and the cookie… well, it was a little hard. It was a very brittle and flat chocolate chip cookie, which I prefer the soft gooey ones!

We found a little table right near the entrance way, but found that we were blocking the entrance for the customers to receive their drinks/products. Maybe the lay out could have been better… I don’t know. Regardless, do to the lack of space, it made me feel a little tense, so it wasn’t my type of environment inside. We ended up leaving right after we finished off our goodies. To conclude this journey to Caffe Bean, I was a little disappointed as it wasn’t my type of environment. Sadly, I don’t think I will be returning.

Caffe Beano

1613 9 St SW
Calgary, AB T2R
(403) 229-1232