Cactus Club Cafe – Calgary, Alberta

One lovely evening my (picked) sister and I decided to go eat dinner, so we found ourselves at the Cactus Club on Macleod Trail. Thinking it wouldn’t be a long wait, the location was quite busy. We do recommend making reservations for our future visits.

We were starving by the time we got to the table, had some drinks and ordered some appetizers. We had an order of Spicy Chicken which was spicy and delicious. It was fun to eat it with chopsticks and the crispy wonton skin added a fantastic texture.

One thing I love is potatoes and we ordered Potato Skins which is something my sister and I both really enjoy having. These tasted amazing here, it was a loaded baked potato (skin) and it was just the perfect appetizer to fill our bellies enough until our entress came.

Everyone at the table ordered a steak of some sort, but the picture that I snapped was of the Chargrilled steak and it looked pretty good! The table had different types of steaks and toppings but ultimately the same. The steaks were cooked to their individual preference with no complaints.

I ordered their Feenie Burger thinking it wouldn’t be too big. I ended up with a burger that was the size of my head and some how I managed to devour the entire thing. I was stuffed to the brim with all the food this beautiful evening.

This was a beautiful place to be with fantastic friends/family. The atmosphere was great, the food was deliciuos and the staff were amazingly friendly. We enjoyed our evening here.

Cactus Club Cafe Macleod Trail

7010 Macleod Trail S.E.,
Calgary AB
403.255.1088

M Palace – Calgary, Alberta

I like that there’s now more dim sum options in the South as we found M Palace on Macleod Trail while going for a random car ride. The place was quite busy when we got there, but we didn’t need a lot of space so they had a table for us.

We ordered some random things that are our typical standard dim sum for us to compare and contrast. I knew I wanted Beef tripe as it’s often one of my favourites because it’s something I wouldn’t make! It’s got great flavour here, but it was a bit chewy. Just a bit more time in the steamer would’ve made it amazing!

I know a lot of my co-workers think I’m absolutely disguising as I like eating Chicken Feet and they keep reminding me what chickens step in. Guess what, I don’t care! I actually like eating this so I will continue! I only live once, and I’ll fill my belly with what I want. This was pretty good here and I think I’ll take an order back to the office next time!

A dish that is so simple that I enjoy would be Rice Crepes and it’s something I’ve tried to recreate at home. It’s so different homemade, but not really worth all that effort. It’s fine getting it fresh from elsewhere like the restaurant! It was smooth and thin here and that’s almost the only requirement! Simple and perfect.

Something I make every year near Chinese New Years would be Shanghai steam buns and it’s a pork dumpling with actual soup in it made with bone marrow. It’s time consuming but I like that ones I make as it’s actual soup and not full of oil. It’s not bad here, but it’s a lot of hot dripping oil that leaks from the dumplings here.

The last thing we ordered is definitely something I make a lot during the winter months, also hugging Chinese New Years as it’s got great symbolism and tastes great. I love trying everyone’s own recipes and it’s not something we can compare, no matter how much you eat of it. Pretty darn good here!

Overall, it’s a decent place! Not bad for dim sum without going to Chinatown or up North. It’s a great place to go if you’re looking for a quick fix for dim sum!

M Palace

10400 Macleod Trail SE,
Calgary, Alberta
(587) 333-3088

Wendy’s Macleod Trail South – Calgary, Alberta

A random day before we were goign to meet up with some friends I figured I was hungry and it will be awhile before we eat again, so we decided to pre-eat dinner and grab a burger! While driving closer towards where we were going to meet up, we saw Wendy’s and decided to take a quick detour.

This Wendy’s is quite new looking as though they recently did some renovations – from the inside and outside. Wendy’s was having their annual Cod Fillet Sandwich promotion on again, so we took their North Pacific Cod Meal to share!

The meal was really good and the fish burger was fantastic! It was flaky, tender, and quite delicious! Not too much condiments which helps bring out the fish in the burger instead of masking it! The burger was topped with dill tartar sauce and crunchy dill pickles. The light panko batter was light and crispy. All on a warm buttered bun. It was amazing!

Overall, this was quite a wonderful stop! We really thought the parking lot was a little weird, but everything else here was quite amazing. I did find it a tad strange there was a slice of cheese on it – and I’m not sure if it was suppose to be there… but it was ok.

Wendy's on Urbanspoon

Wendy’s

7109 Macleod Trial South
Calgary, AB
(403) 253-5333

Pho Chu The – Calgary, Alberta

We were meeting up with some friends of ours where they introduced us to Pho Chu The for really good Vietnamese food at a great rate. The location is on the west side of Macleod Trail and it could be tough to get to if you’re not sure where you’re going.

I ordered the standard Rare Beef Noodle Soup as it was a day I ate dinner before having more dinner. For some reason I thought it was a lighter meal! I did finish the bowl regardless of what I ate – so clearly it was really tasty!

The plate of condiments that came with our noodles were presented really nicely. The beansprouts were fresh and plump (and not brown) while the chilies were cut up for us! It was nice seeing it so pretty!

My husband ordered pretty much the same thing but their spicy version! They looked like they enjoyed it thoroughly and it smelled amazing! Fragrant and flavourful – that’s what you want in a spicy dish… not just pure spice! I did try a spoonful of the soup and it was pretty amazing! You don’t need to add anything else to make it better!

Overall, it was a nice place to visit! The place was really clean, the prices are average, the service is a bit slow, but they’re friendly. There was a parking lot in front of the restaurant, but if I recall, there wasn’t that many spots. We actually walked over so I don’t remember.

Pho Chu The on Urbanspoon

Pho Chu The

4633 Macleod Trail SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 457-3455

Viet Hai Restaurant – Calgary, Alberta

We’ve went for many meals looking for delicious pho and we found ourselves at Viet Hai on Macleod Trail in Calgary. It was a nicely decorated location and the food was decent as well.

We started off with some Spring Rolls and the plate does come with 4 of them. I decided I was going to eat one before I took the picture, but it was good! It was pretty standard, so that’s no complaints!

I ordered my usual, the Rare Beef Slices and Beef Ball Noodles Soup and the bowls of noodles were quite large.

Then, my husband ordered his usual, the Rare Beef Slice Noodle Soup and this was also a really large bowl with tons of beef slices in it.

Overall, it was decent. There’s no really complaints or compliments so it was a good place to go for something quick and hot! The prices was really good though, at under $8 a bowl of soup!

Viet Hai Restaurant

4640-Macleod Trail SW.
Calgary, AB
(403) 287-2622