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Wildernest Dream Cafe – Calgary

Breakfast is always a nice treat, and I found myself at Wildernest Dream Cafe one Sunday morning. It was great, it wasn’t super busy, but it was comfortable. There was street parking right outside, and on Sundays, it’s complimentary! The location is like a little house and even the inside, it’s partitioned into little seating areas as well, kind of like a little house. It’s really a unique place to be, as you know it was once someone’s home, and now it’s been recreated to a restaurant/cafe.

Once we were seated, the waitress came up to us not long afterwards and asked us if we knew what we wanted to drink. I ordered their Chai Latte, and it came after quite a long wait. However, it was a good one. It was more on the sweeter side instead of a spicy chai. This is alright with me, since I’m fully aware there are a few kinds of chai.

My other half ordered a Hot Spiced Cider which is typically something I don’t order as it’s normally as it’s normally just heated up apple juice with a cinnamon stick – and it’s no different here. It wasn’t bad, but it’s just nothing special.

I ordered the Salmon Eggs Benedict which has always been one of my “go-to” breakfasts if I see it. This one was done a little differently, as they use what they call “potato latkes” instead of the traditional English Muffin for the base of the eggs Benedict. When I think about potato latkes, I think about light and fluffy potato pancakes, but these ones were just a little different. It wasn’t bad at all, but it was quite different. The Pacific Salmon, they were really generous with the portions of that, and topped with their homemade hollandise sauce. Overall, I loved the plate – and I especially loved their hashbrowns!

My husband ordered the Hawaiian Breakfast Wrap only because that was my second choice, and it is weird of me to order 2 breakfasts sometimes. I love anything with pineapples in it, and this was no exception. We shared the 2 orders, and this wrap was delightful! It was hot with scrambled eggs with pineapples, red and green peppers, bacon and cheese all wrapped up into a large wrap! We even ordered a side of their Chicken Sausage which was like a meatloaf cut into strips. The concept was fantastic and the plate just works!

Overall, we had a fabulous time here. I think during a weekday or Saturday, I would utilize the parking lot right beside the cafe as it would be much simpler. The food is really good, and the prices are quite reasonable. The prices for the sides are a tad costly, but the portions are fairly large too! I think I would be back if I’m in the area. We ended up spending the day at Fort Calgary and then the Calgary Zoo, so the location was fantastic! Another great thing about this cafe, they offer Gluten Free options and tons of it too!

Wildernest Dream Cafe on Urbanspoon

Wildernest Dream Cafe

1309 9 Avenue Southeast
(403) 265-3663

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Spud Mobeel Food Truck – Calgary

We were hunting for a food truck that I haven’t tried before and saw that Spud Mobeel was going to be at Casel Marche, which we didn’t think too much about… until we got there. I must say, I hate this location for a food truck – which I then realize lots of food trucks go there occasionally… oh well, I’ll stick to the Deerfoot Meadows locations. Anyway, enough with me rambling on about location – which ultimately doesn’t matter, as they are mobile! We weren’t hungry at all when we came by this truck, but still wanted to experience it so, I just ordered a small snack anyway.

I ended up ordering their Spiral Dog with Cheese which was excellent! It was a hot dog wrapped in a potato cut into a nice spiral that was placed around the dog… and then deep fried to a perfect crisp! And, since I got the one with cheese, a perfect cheese sauce was drizzled on top making a great snack!

As for the prices, I think it was a little high for what it was, but it isn’t completely out of this world. The spiral dog was $6, and then to add the cheese, it was an extra $1! It wasn’t the best, but it isn’t something you get all the time, so it justifies for itself! Nice thing about this food truck, all their menu items are gluten free – if it’s a concern for you!

Spud Mobeel on Urbanspoon

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Homemade Steamed Cheung Fun – 腸粉

Home Made Rice Crepes – Dim Sum

Currently, I’ve been trying to make basic recipes to dim sum such that I can add things to basic recipes to make them better. Vegetarian style cheung fun can become something more when you add goodies in them before you roll up these crepes. This is also gluten-free as it doesn’t use any wheat products. Just be reminding to use a gluten-free soy sauce on the top!

Ingredients:
1 cup Rice Flour
4 tbsp Potato Flour
2 tbsp Cornstarch
2 tbsp oil
1 1/2 cup Water
Pinch of Salt

First, sift all the dry ingredients together. If you don’t have potato flour, I’m sure it’s fine to use tapioca flour. Both flours, you can find either at an Asian grocery store, or sometimes even in the natural section of your grocery store (gluten free flours).

When the dry ingredients is all combined and fine, add the oil and water, plus a pinch of salt. This batter will become a very watery batter which I find it easiest to pour it into a big measuring cup as there is a spout making it easier to pour. Make sure you combine the mixtures well and it becomes smooth.

Once your batter is ready, set up your steaming mechanism – where I use a pot with a rack and a heat proof dish. Pour a thin layer onto this plate – just enough to cover the bottom.

Put the lid on to steam the rice crepes properly and let it steam for at least 7-8 minutes. Once it’s ready take it out of the steamer and let it cool for a little bit and roll it up. Once it’s rolled up nicely, cut it up and enjoy with some condiments.

As you know, there are many variations for this, and some ideas would be to add onions and dried shrimp to the actual batter, so there will be little bits throughout the crepe itself. Or, you can place some goodies at the edge of the crepe before rolling it up as well!

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Spoon Me – Calgary, Alberta

If you love frozen yogurt, then this is a pretty neat place to go. If you’re looking for a nice creamy soft ice cream, this is not where to go! But, Spoon Me is quite a lot of fun as you get to choose which type of frozen yogurt you like, and as much as you like… then you get to put all sorts of toppings on to top it off!!

Each bowl of ice cream is weighted and that will determine how much your frozen yogurt will cost! I think this is a great place to bring kids, where they can get their frozen yogurt and lots of neat toppings — even gummy worms!

I tried the Green Tea Yogurt and I only put on coconut shreds and some milk chocolate chips and it was pretty neat!! I’m sure I could have made my cup of frozen yogurt really gross — really fast! The green tea yogurt was really quite odd, it’s not “green tea ice cream” flavour, it was like actual green tea made into a yogurt! It isn’t a flavour you can have a lot of in one sitting for me!

We also had a bowl of Mango Orange Yogurt and for the toppings, we had dark chocolate chips and walnuts and it was good also! The yogurt taste was really refreshing — great for a hot summer day! It wasn’t expensive — depending on how much yogurt and toppings you choose. It’s $1.79/100g and for me, as I didn’t take a lot of either, I thought it was very reasonable.

Spoon Me

#100 1130 Kensington Road NW
Calgary, AB

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Divine Cravings – Canmore, Alberta

Divine Cravings is a little crepe place in downtown Canmore that offers gluten-free options as their savory crepes are made with organic gluten-free buckwheat.

The crepes that you get are really large in size, and because they are made with buckwheat, it is brown which is kind of odd at first – if you didn’t know. I ordered the Western crepe which was filled with chicken, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese and bechamel sauce! It was really savory and delicious.

We also had a skier crepe, which was a crepe stuffed with ham and bacon, sausage, lettuce, tomatoes and cheddar cheese.

I normally do take information of the food of whoever I’m with, but I recall not feeling too good, and needing something in my tummy right away, so I ate right away – without any other worries. I felt a lot better afterwards, which makes divine cravings a good choice for that day since it wasn’t greasy!

Divine Cravings

101 – 822 Main Steet
Canmore, Alberta
Canada T1W 2B7
(403)678-2800