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Menyatai Japanese Noodles – Calgary, Alberta

I recently wasn’t feeling too great and all I really wanted was a bowl of noodle soup. I was expecting something a little more bland but we pulled up to Menyatai Japanese Ramen where I couldn’t decline the offer to eat here as I’ve been meaning to try here for awhile now.

Once inside, it’s a small but cute location where the staff is friendly and authentic! We were excited to be here so I ordered their Miso Ramen. I’ve tried a few in the city so it’s fair that I order this to compare! I found that the ramen had a great texture, the soup was fantastic and the piece of pork was amazing! This miso ramen has just found it’s way to the top of my list in Calgary so far! Pretty exciting news!

We also ordered a bowl of Beef Udon which is another one of our favourites to order when at a Japanese restaurant. Although the udon and the beef was excellent, it wasn’t any different that can set itself above anyone. Definitely not a bad bowl though! The beef taste in the broth was amazing, the bee was tender and delicious and the udon texture was really good.

We added an upgrade to one of our meals by having their Inari Set which basically comes with 2 pieces of inari and I love them, so we figured we’d go for it. It was good, no complaints – although we thought it was weird as it didn’t come with wasabi or soy sauce. So, we just ate it plain.

The overall experience was amazing. Even though I was sick the food tasted great and the staff was amazing. The prices seem costly but the portions are massive and the food was perfect. The location is tucked off the main street, but there’s quite a bit of street parking available.

Menyatai Japanese Ramen on Urbanspoon

Menyatai Japanese Ramen

24-12 St NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 263-3666

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Vendome Cafe – Calgary, Alberta

I got to go out and eat breakfast one morning at a local restaurant in Kensington at Vendome Cafe and I loved it. The service is exceptional here and the food is divine, made with real and fresh ingredients.

I started my breakfast with a cup of Hot Chocolate that tasted absolutely amazing!

I ordered a half order of Mushroom Eggs Benedict and the mushrooms were amazing! This has got to be one of my favourite eggs bennys as it tasted like what it’s suppose to! The picture really doesn’t do its justice but it tasted amazing!

With the eggs benedict, I had their soup du jour which was a Barley Soup and it was very savoury and flavourful! It was a very hearty soup and it was warming for a chilly morning!

My overall experience here was super! The atmosphere, the food, the service and the community really puts this place on the map! What a great find!

Vendome Cafe on Urbanspoon

Vendome Cafe

940 2nd Ave. NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 453-1140

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Crepe Avenue

Kensington is not a place I normally go, but one afternoon after I got a rock chip filled, I decided that Crepe Avenue was the place I wanted to go for lunch! I’ve heard great things about this small crepe house, and I went!

Parking is the toughest part as it is in Kensington, which is one of the reasons why I’m not there a lot. There’s basically only street parking available, and not a whole lot of it either! Regardless, we got a spot and made it to Crepe Avenue!

I loved their menu, it had your usual suspects as well as new flavours of crepes for both sweet and savoury! As this was lunch, we had a savoury crepe each, and we decided if we still had room for dessert, we’d split a sweet crepe! Well, their standard crepes are massive and stuffed generously with filling! You’re definitely getting what you pay for! I ordered the Smoked Salmon Crepe which was a delicious combination of smoked salmon, cheese, teriyaki sauce and mayonnaise with some fresh lettuce and tomatoes!

We also tried something from the Thai menu, which was the Phad Thai Crepe, which was very delicious with the balance flavours of sweet, savoury and spicy! This crepe was stuffed with bean sprouts, peanuts, egg, shrimp, tofu and phad thai sauce.

The texture of the crepes itself wasn’t the soft crepes, so it does seem like it doesn’t wrap as nicely. But, the texture is really good as it adds a slight crunch factor – especially during the first few bites when you haven’t quite gotten into the part of the crepe where all the goodness hides.

We also enjoyed a unique twist on the Hong Kong Style Milk Tea, which is their Thai Iced Milk Tea which was really good actually! I believe they use the Red Rose teas to make this, with evaporated milk. It works well, and tastes awesome! One of the few milk tea’s I really enjoy in the city!

Overall, this was a really fun place to go! It was a great kick start to a weekend! I love it here, the food is great, the service was pretty good, and as long as there’s parking, I would be back!

Crepe Avenue on Urbanspoon

Crepe Avenue

#103,330-10th Street NW
Calgary, AB T2N
(403) 452-6160

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Crave Cookies and Cupcakes – Kensington

I really love cupcakes, and the best thing is, there’s 2 different places that sells great cupcakes near me! It gives me variety as they are 2 different companies! I do enjoy Crave Cookies and Cupcakes, and the location in Kensington is the main location! This location is cute and I really like it (even though it’s a bit out of the way!) I like the small community feel to anything in Kensington and it is so neighborly and friendly – plus they know how to bake great food!

We’ve purchased a few cupcakes from this location on different occasions. My favourite flavour from Craves would be A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts Vanilla cupcake. We’ve purchased from single regular sized cupcakes to half a dozen mini cupcakes. Overall, I think we’ve tried them all!

The “A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts Vanilla cupcake is a vanilla cake with a hint of coconut flavouring in the cupcake – then topped with vanilla butter cream icing and smothered in coconut. It is a messy cupcake but well worth it!

Craves - A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts Vanilla

The other cupcake that we enjoy a lot is Just Chocolate! You really can’t go wrong with chocolate cupcake with a delicious chocolate butter cream topping! The cupcakes are always light and fluffy while the butter cream topping is always the perfect consistency to hold up to the piping bags – these cupcakes are always perfectly decorated! These icings hardly ever had the hard topping on it from the sugar, since they sell out so quickly, there really isn’t ever a chance for that to happen!

Craves Cupcakes

Recently, I’ve been going to the Willow Park location and I’m loving it! 🙂 It offers the same goodness closer to home. Craves Cookies and Cupcakes is definitely one of the best in town – if it isn’t the best for me!

Crave Cookies and Cupcakes on Urbanspoon

Crave Cookies and Cupcakes

1107 Kensington Rd NW Map
Calgary, AB
(403) 270-2728

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Muffin Man – Kensington, London

We stopped by The Muffin Man as a quick stop for breakfast one morning before heading over to Buckingham Palace and stand in line for the touristy attractions we were planning for the day. The Muffin Man was a great little stop, even though it wasn’t a fast stop. We made an order right from their bakery section and it took the waitress awhile to even put our goodies into a bag to give to us. Instead, she continued to serve the seated customers, and that made is “in her way”. She had to maneuver around us, making it difficult for everyone.

We figured if she just took our order and quickly gave us our goodies, we all would’ve continued on our merry way. Regardless, the baked good from the Muffin Man was extremely delicious.

I ordered the Lemon Cake which was a denser muffin (hence cake) in a muffin form. It was really lemony and refreshing. The cake was quite fresh.

We also had a Chocolate Danish made with dark chocolate filling wrapped in crusty and flaky pastry.

Lastly, we tried their Banana Coffee Muffin, and even though I didn’t try it at all, I hear it was quite delicious, and it had a soft coffee center. This muffin sure sounds delicious, and I’m sure given another opportunity, I’ll try a muffin – as the place is called the Muffin Man after all!

Muffin Man

12 Wrights Lane Map
(0871) 075 7360
Kensington, London