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BeaverTails – Banff Alberta

I’ve been hearing nothing but good things about BeaverTails in Banff. Weirdly, every time I’ve made it to Banff, something happens – one thing or another, and I haven’t tried BeaverTails… until now! This little store front is located right on Banff Avenue and it’s easy to find as it’s often the one with a huge line up!

This little place offers tons of options that all sound good – from ice cream/gelato/sorbets to french fries/poutines and much much more! Of course, with the name being BeaverTails, I knew that was what I wanted! I decided to try an Apple Cinnamon BeaverTail which was a deep fried dough with butter brushed on it… dipped in their cinnamon sugar mixture then topped with Apples and their apple sauce (kind of like a warm jam).

If you love apple pie and cinnamon bread… then, this is your snack! It’s like a fast food apple pie kicked up a few notches and it’s fresh! There’s nothing you wouldn’t like about this! It’s not over sweet, it’s not too messy (if you keep it horizontal like a pizza). If you’re not into treats like this, then I think you will enjoy their frozen treats (it’s the next thing I’m going to try!)

As mentioned, I really love this place. I think it’s perfect for any season. When it’s cold out, you can enjoy a BeaverTail and when it’s hot out, you can enjoy a frozen treat… and everything in between! So, believe me, I will be back every time I go to Banff!

BeaverTails on Urbanspoon

BeaverTails

120 Banff Avenue
Banff, AB
(403) 760-0606

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Pad Thai – Banff

I never really make reservations while I’m in Banff as I never know where and when I am going to be anywhere. We stumbled into the Clock Tower Mall right on Banff Ave and found this Thai food place called Pad Thai. There were tables inside and outside of the restaurant (all indoors of the clock tower mall) which is kind of dingy, but that’s okay with me!

We were one of the first tables to arrive and we were allowed to sit anywhere. We chose a corner inside and by the window and it was nice! You are still “in” the restaurant and you can watch people go by and other customers! We started our lunch with a plate of their Thai Dumplings which they call “Saw Moing”. It came on a plate with 4 purple flowers. It tasted a lot like some other Vietnamese “snacks” I’ve had as it has minced pork inside and you dip it in a sauce which is kind of a mix of plum sauce and Nước chấm.

In Las Vegas, I fell in love with a dish of curry with BBQ Duck, so to my excitement, they had Red Curry with BBQ Duck and I knew immediately that it was what I wanted, with coconut rice! The portions was quite large for a lunch but it was jammed pack with thinly sliced BBQ duck in this great Thai curry sauce. Over the coconut rice, I was really satisfied.

To top everything off, I ordered one of my favourite fried dishes, which is Pad Sa Hew which has tons of different spelling for. I commonly see it spelled as “Pad Si Ew”, but regardless, it’s the same thing – my favourite thing! Basically it’s fried rice noodles with soy sauce and they make it exceptionally good here. They use nice high heat in a wok – you can taste it (there’s actually a Chinese term to describe this) but it’s one of the reasons why I love this dish from here. Tons of smoke flavour, tons of seasoning flavour, tons of goodness and the noodles weren’t all broken into little pieces.

Thai food has always had a special place in my heart as it’s food I just love as regular daily food. This little place make it quite accessible and it’s delicious! The portions are huge and the price is a tad on the high side but it sure is delicious. This make it totally worth it in my books! I’m sure I will be back sometime soon!

Pad Thai

110 banff av
Banff, AB
(403) 762-4911

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Rimrock Resort Hotel Banff

I had the lovely opportunity to stay at night at the famous Rimrock Resort in Banff. It’s a beautiful resort that is tucked away from the tourist of Main Street Banff. I love how the resort is built into the side of the mountain and offers spectacular views all around! We stayed in their regular Standard Guest Rooms which was still spectacular! The room was quite large and spacious complete with working desk space, seating area, and mini fridge.

My favourite part about the room was the seating area, as it’s right by the windows – which where punched out so you can lots, close and in the distance! We didn’t have too much view as we were quite low at floor 3. The neat thing about this resort, the hotel lobby was on the 7th floor and it sometimes confuses me to go “UP” to the lobby!

I love hotels that offer king size beds, so I loved this bed! It was quite comfortable as well, and the blankets was the perfect thickness for the season. The thermostat was a little weird as you had to push the “up” or “down” button for awhile before it changes. If you set it higher than 22C, the heat stays on constantly and it’s a tad noisy so I had to turn it down a bit and grab the extra blanket as I like to be really warm.

The bathroom was nice, it was huge and had toilet paper on both sides of the toilet, so I guess it can please all guests! 🙂 I’m not sure, it was honestly a little weird! I love the huge counter top for me to put stuff on – and I don’t even have lots, but it’s just nice to spread out. Our room had the standard tub with a shower head. The tub is quite strange as it curves at the bottom, so there wasn’t too much “flat” standing space, but we made do with what we had.

This resort did use nice bathroom amenities, as they offered Pharmacopia amenities and they smelled really nice! They used their Verbena product line which lightly scented and it’s an all natural and organic product!

Overall, we loved our stay here at the Rimrock and glad we made a weekend trip with a stay here! Check out below for my room walk-through to see it all!

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Timbers Food Company – Banff

We went for a quick hike the other day to start the off our hiking season – we went to Tunnel Mountain. After the hike, we came back down to Banff townsite and we wanted to eat a late lunch/early dinner. We found ourselves walking straight into Timbers Food Company, and found a seat right on the patio. It was such a nice afternoon that shortly after we placed our order, it started to rain – badly! They were really nice about everyone relocating themselves indoors, and that’s where we spent the rest of our lunch hour.

I wanted a sweet/sugary drink, so I ordered myself a Tropical Colada, which was a mocktail made of coconut, pineapple and wildberry mix. It was really refreshing, and it looked really pretty too!

We ordered some appetizers for this meal/snack, and we had some Baked Garlic Prawns, which was some giant prawns over a warm lentil salad, topped with garlic butter. It was actually really good, and the prawns was big and fresh! The lentil salad seemed really big, so we didn’t finish that part of the dish.

For this meal, which I honestly considered it a snack, I ordered the Crab Cakes which actually was a very generous sized crab cake portion! I enjoyed the crab cakes as it was without the relish, even though the relish was really delicious on it’s own.

The last thing we ordered was the Timbers Steak Sandwich, which was just under $12, which is quite reasonable, considering it was a 6oz premium sirloin steak topped with sautéed mushrooms, onions on garlic toast with a choice of side – where we picked french fries! The steak was actually very tender – even though they over cooked it, as we asked for rare and probably got a medium. We didn’t have the need or desire to send it back as it was still very tasty!

Overall, I really enjoyed my time here at Timbers, and I think I would find myself back! The food was excellent, and at reasonable prices – in a tourist townsite, with good service! I really have nothing to complain about and wouldn’t mind returning!

Timbers Food Company on Urbanspoon

Timbers Food Company

224 Wolf St.
Banff, AB
(403) 762-8987

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Evelyn’s Again Coffee Bar – Banff, Alberta

I was looking for a nice place to sit down and relax with a nice cup of coffee, away from the usual chains, and found myself sitting outside on the patio of Evelyn’s Again Coffee Bar right on Banff Avenue. It’s a nice little coffee shop which offers really good lattes and mocha’s at a reasonable rate.

We sat there and watched the hussle of Banff start to fill up during the afternoon hours on a busy weekend. It was fun to watch the world go by and see all the tourists who are so excited to be there! It truly is an exciting place!

We ordered a latte and a mocha and both were extremely delicious, and topped with foam art which I appreciate so much!

So next time you’re in Banff, slow down and have a seat outside of Evelyn’s Again Coffee Bar and enjoy yourself for a little while! It’s a wonderful place with a wonderful view!

Evelyn’s Again Coffee Bar

119 Banff Avenue
Banff, AB
(403) 760-2907