dinner – Elsie Hui

July 28, 2013July 28, 2013

Lemongrass – Aria (CityCenter), Las Vegas

CityCenter is my favourite area of the Las Vegas strip! I love both Aria and Vdara so much, I’ve even purchased their scented sticks to bring home so my house could smell like the resort! It’s wonderful! When I heard that I am going to eat Thia food for lunch at Lemongrass inside the casino level of Aria, I jumped with joy! I had a feeling it will be a great place and that nothing would disappoint me! I was right!

We started off with their Tom Kha Chicken which is their Chicken soup with coconut milk, lemon grass and galangal. It’s kind of like a Chicken Tom Yum with coconut milk to tame the spiciness. It was a delicious, full of flavour, smooth and spicyy soup! It was a winner for sure!

We actually had 2 main courses this time as we wanted to try their food! We ordered from their curry section the Red Curry Duck which is still to this day my favourite curry dish! It was an elegant mixture of roasted duck with red curry, pineapple and basil. We enjoyed this dish thoroughly over jasmine rice. The curry had the sweet, the heat and the tanginess and I loved it!

The last thing we ordered was their Pad See Ew Moo which is a wok fried flat rice noodle with pork and seasoned with soy sauce with some kale in it. It was definitely a delightful dish full of flavour!

Overall, I absolutely love this place and all the food! We were so stuffed that we didn’t make room for dessert, which was alright as we got to eat other sweet things later on in the day! The service was top notched and the restaurant itself was really amazing! I hope to be back soon!

Lemongrass – Aria (CityCenter)

3730 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV
(877) 230-2742

December 10, 2012December 17, 2012

Aroma Restaurant – Authentic Mexican Cuisine – Canmore

Breakfast time can be tricky in Canmore to find a place to eat – and this time, we found ourselves in a Mexican restaurant called Aroma Restaurant which is just at the intersection of 8th Avenue and 8th Street (Main Street) in Canmore. With extensive hours, Aroma makes it easy for you to casually pop in for any meal of the day!

We went in and I quickly ordered a Mexican Hot Chocolate which has now become one of my favourite drinks for hot chocolate! I already attempted to make one at home, and it’s not as good!

For breakfast, I ordered the Ham and Cheese Burrito which was fantastic! The ingredients used in this burrito was so fresh and the salsa was amazing!

We also ordered the Rancheros which is a breakfast with 2 fired eggs on a tortilla and black beans, then topped with ranchero tomato sauce!

We enjoyed our breakfast so much we actually asked for dessert! What a neat treat – but we ordered a Mango Mousse which was a light cake with tons of mango flavour!

Overall, we really enjoyed our dining experience here, and it was a treat as I don’t usually go into a Mexican restaurant – as I thought it was a cuisine I don’t really enjoy… however, I think this maybe a new category I should start to explore as I loved my meal here!

Aroma Restaurant – Authentic Mexican Cuisine

837 8 Street
Canmore, AB T1W 2B3
(403) 675-9913

Monday thru Friday
Breakfast & Lunch
10:30 a.m. to 3:30 PM

Saturday & Sunday
Breakfast – 8:00 a.m to 3:30 PM
Lunch – 13:30 a.m. to 3:30 PM

Daily
Dinner – 5:00 p.m to 10:00 PM

January 1, 2012March 15, 2019

Ten Ren’s Tea Time

I really enjoy drinking Chinese teas, and when we figured out there was a little sit down place with Chinese teas, we knew it was a place on our “to go” list. The only Ten Ren’s Tea Time location in Calgary with a sit down dining would be this one, where all the others are just drinks. The place is in an interesting location as it’s kind of tucked into residential area, but isn’t far off the ring road – so I can see it being an ideal location once the road is completed and further development is completed.

We arrived on a weeknight evening, and it was really quiet. The entire time we were there, we were the only table. This was during the dinner hour too, but we didn’t mind as it’s nice to sit down in a quiet dining room once in awhile!

We first sat down and ordered some drink, and I ordered the Almond Milk Tea with no Pearls, as I still don’t like pearls in my drink. However, when the drink got to me, it was the Almond Black Tea, but I had nothing against the black tea, so I just kept it. It was quite good actually – full of almond flavour in the drink. Some places try to dilute the almond so they can use less, and I’m happy to say they didn’t do that with my drink!

For dinner, I had a bowl of Beef Stew Noodle Soup, and what really caught my eye was in the picture on the menu – the noodles was green! When my bowl of noodles came, it was only a slight hint of green colour.

We also ordered a plate of Special Salty Sliced Pork Belly on Steamed Rice, and oddly, it took a long time for it to come. The pork belly was really nicely done as the skin was really crispy and salty! It went perfect with the steamed rice.

As much as we eat, we really wanted to give their wings a try, so we ordered some Deep Fried Chicken Wings and it was fried really crispy! Ten Ren is really good at frying their food as it’s all coming out great!

I do say their deep fried food looks great because our friends ordered some dishes with deep fried chicken over steamed rice, and it looked really tasty! I can hear the crunch of the crust as they bite into their dinners which really is quite impressive!

I quite enjoy this little location, and I can see it being a popular evening place to grab a bit to eat as they are opened quite late. The prices are quite reasonable, especially for it’s portion size. The food tasted good, so there’s nothing I can complain about! I can’t wait to return and have some more goodies!

Ten Ren’s Tea Time

1110 Panatella Blvd NW
Calgary, AB T3K 0S6
(403) 269-6088

Hours:
Sunday~Thursday: 12PM to 11PM
Friday & Saturday: 12PM to 1AM

November 1, 2011November 1, 2011

Thai Boat

I’ve been going to Thai Boat in the Northeast Calgary for a few years now – and mostly for their lunch menu – or dinner menu, but lunch sized. The portions are perfect for lunch and they are priced really well.

This time I went, I enjoyed Coconut Rice with Red Curry Chicken and normally it comes with Jasmine Rice, but I like my Thai food with coconut rice. My meal came with many pieces of chicken and a huge mountain of rice which was really delicious as it soaked up all the curry sauce.

Thai Boat hasn’t changed at all over the years that we’ve come here. We’ll always go back as it’s my best friends favourite restaurant. I enjoy the consistent quality of food and the great prices. I would classify this restaurant as an “Asian Restaurant” as well, so it’s okay to me that service is a little poor. They usually are in a hurry it seems – when you sit down they quickly ask if you know what you want. When you’re eating, they’ll come by to see if you’re done. If you’re done, they’ll just give you the bill – and this is usually done regardless of how busy or quiet the restaurant is. It is their version of “service” and they mean no harm. So, I will be back soon again!

Thai Boat

108-2323 32 Ave NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 291-9887

June 17, 2011May 10, 2019

Chez Francois – Canmore, Alberta

We made it to Chez Francois one long weekend evening, and it turned out to be a fantastic place to eat!! We sat down, pretty late, and no one gave us any problems for coming in an hour and some before closing!

They started our evening with an awesome greeting from their friendly staff, and gave us some bread with duck pate. The bread was really fresh, and the pate was really tasty, smooth, and creamy! It was quite delicious.

We started off with Feuilleté d’Escargots which were escargots in puff pastry with a creamy herbs & garlic sauce, and it was really wonderful!! It’s been awhile since I had great escargot, and Chez Francois prepares it to perfection!

For the main, I enjoyed the Saumon Colbert which was poached salmon topped with shrimp and scallop mousse glazed with a Hollandaise sauce.

We also ordered the Poulet au Vinaigre de Framboise grain fed chicken breast light creamy raspberry vinegar sauce

With such a wonderful experience, we definitely will be returning, as we didn’t order a dessert since it was getting quite late. The best thing about Chez Francois, it’s opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We’ll find another opportunity to return again!

Chez Francois

1602 Bow Valley Trail
Canmore, AB
(403) 678-6111