Restaurant Reviews Archives - Page 4 of 15

April 20, 2014

Shiki Menya

Ah, Calgary is finally catching up with the ramen trend prevalent in Toronto and Vancouver. Two new ramen shops in less then two months. I took a long lunch for this visit, as they have a limit of 150 bowls a day, and typically run out before dinner. Good thing I arrived early as it is a small shop and a lineup developed soon after.

Our food arrived soon after we ordered. I had the sense that turnover would be quick; ramen is fast food, but cooked slow food style. The char siu tacos were delicious. The pineapple salsa offered a nice kick.

My friend ordered the tonkotsu black. She enjoyed her meal. I had a taste and found that it had a strong flavour of garlic, which I love.

tonkotsu black negi, soft tamago, menma, char siu, corn, black garlic oil, squid ink garlic — tonkotsu black
negi, soft tamago, menma, char siu, corn, black garlic oil, squid ink garlic

I decided to order the tonkotsu classic. The broth was not the creamy white as I might expect from a classic tonkotsu broth. The broth was flavourful; I overheard that they cook it for 16 hours. It was just a tad over salted though. The noodles were homemade. They were very good and they retained the chewy texture expected of ramen noodles. The egg was cooked to a turn and the char siu had a nice flavour.

tonkotsu classic negi, soft tamago, menma, char siu, spring greens — tonkotsu classic
negi, soft tamago, menma, char siu, spring greens

The service was quick and attentive. I think I will be back to try some of their other selections. As an aspiring home cook learning to make ramen; I appreciate it when a restaurant takes the time to make it from scratch.

April 14, 2014

St Laurent Cake House Tour

I was lucky enough to get a behind the scenes look at the St Laurent Cake House. One of my co-workers is a co-owner of the bakery and this is how I stumbled upon this opportunity. The owner has also worked as a baker in China and at Maxim’s in Vancouver.

My friend Joanne, and I managed to fit ourselves awkwardly in the tiny space that was the bakery. The first thing that came out of the oven was the Chinese style “pigs in a blanket”. I love the taste of fresh from the oven baking. The taste of a freshly baked bao right out of the oven is indescribable. I sampled the BBQ pork, hotdog bun and egg tart.

Being a baker is hard work. The owner typically works from 7am to 10pm. The prep for the next day, which includes fillings and dough is done the previous day. They are fast, and they are efficient. All the baking is done by noon so that is the best time to head down.

In the morning, the items are fresh baked. For the second proofing, they use a specialty oven that maintains humidity at 70%. I think I need something like that for my kitchen, as my buns are never as light and fluffy as they are from a bakery.

They have a large variety of buns and items for a 1-2 person shop. They are known for their delicious cakes which are also made fresh the day they are picked up. Their mango cream cake is super good. The egg tarts are delish, and they are also known for raisin twists.

I also sampled their peanut butter napoleon. The light creamy peanut custard was a nice foil for the layers of puff pastry. There was huge pasta roller like machine for rolling dough to an even thickness, as you would need for this type of pastry.

Their other offerings included: BBQ pork bun, meat roll (pork), curry beef bun, chicken pie, coconut tart, red bean paste bun, taro buns, pineapple custard bun, cocktail bun, walnut bread, sponge cake and an assortment of other pastries similar to a napoleon.

Enjoy the baking while it lasts, as the owners are looking to sell the bakery. It has a put a lot of demand on their life outside of work.

I give credit to Joanne for some of the lovely photography.

Pig in a blanket, Chinese style, photo by Joanne

It's all in the scoop — It’s all in the scoop, photo by Joanne

An assortment of goodies - egg tart, chicken pie, peanut butter napolean, meat roll and BBQ pork buns — An assortment of goodies – egg tart, chicken pie, peanut butter napolean, meat roll and BBQ pork buns, photo by Joanne

April 10, 2014

Briggs Kitchen and Bar

My father-in-law was visiting and we wanted to go to a nice restaurant. We rolled the Urbanspoon dice and Briggs Kitchen and Bar came out on top. It’s located in the old Cannery Row space, which has a nice aged, warehouse look complete with exposed brick and wood. I liked the atmosphere. But, how was the food? With chefs like Xavier Lacaze of Top Chef Canada fame, it should be good.

The menu layout, we found a bit confusing, as the appetizers were in the sharing plates section. Some dishes did not come with sides, and the sides were bundled with the sharing plates. No matter, we decided to order the calamari as an appetizer. It was crispy fried served with a side of thousand island like dressing.

Crispy Humbolt Calamari fennel, tomato aioli, lemon — Crispy Humbolt Calamari
fennel, tomato aioli, lemon

Hubby had the roasted chicken. He really enjoyed it. I snuck in some of his fries and they were crispy and fried to a turn. Father-in-law ordered the 6oz AAA top sirloin and he thought it was quite good. Since he is not from Alberta, he is getting his fill of our fine Alberta beef at every opportunity.

Grilled Half Chicken house slaw, kennebec fries — Grilled Half Chicken
house slaw, kennebec fries

I was totally famished from my run an hour earlier, so I decided to replenish with carbs. The lobster ravioli was delish. The only complaint was that the sauce was a perhaps a little too heavy on the butter, but on this day I really didn’t mind. I could have eaten two orders of the green beans, they were so good. It helps that I love garlic.

House Filled Lobster Ravioli lemon zest, lobster butter, sweet peas French Green Beans garlic sesame sauce — House Filled Lobster Ravioli
lemon zest, lobster butter, sweet peas
French Green Beans
garlic sesame sauce

We went to town on dessert. We ordered all three of their desserts. The MLF stands for mille feuille. The wafers were a nice crisp contrast to the creamy coffee custard and the crunch of the caramel coffee. This was my favorite so far.

Winter MLF coffee cream, caramel toffee — Winter MLF
coffee cream, caramel toffee

The chocolate pot had a texture of a lava cake. Crisp on the outside and gooey in the middle. Pure heaven for chocolate lovers.

Chocolate Pot pecan brittle, vanilla ice cream — Chocolate Pot
pecan brittle, vanilla ice cream

Then I tried the lemon pie. I liked this as just as well as the mille feuille. It was a nice finish to the meal, as the clean citrus flavours cleaned up my palate after the attack of the rich chocolate and coffee.

Lemon Pie meringue, lemon ice cream — Lemon Pie
meringue, lemon ice cream

The service was good; the servers didn’t miss a beat and were very friendly. This is a place that I could come back to.

April 10, 2014

Briggs Kitchen and Bar

The chocolate pot had a texture of a lava cake. Crisp on the outside and gooey in the middle. Pure heaven for chocolate lovers.

The service was good; the servers didn’t miss a beat and were very friendly. This is a place that I could come back to.

April 8, 2014

AÑEJO Restaurant

A friend suggested that we try AÑEJO for lunch as I seemed to be on a Mexican kick. It came highly recommended. So the three of us took our time with a leisurely lunch on Sunday.

We decided to share the bacon wrapped jalapenos and ceviche. It was very tasty and came with a dipping sauce of huitlacoche aioli. This really intrigued me as huitlacoche is Mexican for corn smut. Fungus that grows on corn. I was disappointed, as any flavor was overwhelmed by the taste of garlic. The dip did pair nicely with the jalapenos. The japalenos were nicely baked and fresh tasting; no deep fry here.

So back to the huitlacoche. We asked for a sample of it on its own so we could judge the true flavor. They were nice enough to give us a small sample that they would dress their caesar salad with. It came with cilantro in oil. It had a very mild and delicate earthly flavor. It’s one of those things like durian; if you can get past what it looks like in this case, it is delicious. It’s also really nutritious and good for you. A delicacy in Mexico; a plant disease in other parts of the world.

The shrimp ceviche was delicious as well as the side of jicama salad. It was a nice foil for the richness of the jalapeno appetizer.

My friend J had the adobe pork taco and the Mexican stew. I sampled a bit of the stew. It was rich and hearty, not quite the light lunch as advertised on the menu. My friend A, had three crispy snapper tacos. I sampled a piece of fish and it went well with a homemade spicy roasted red pepper sauce they had on the table. The fish was a perfect golden brown, and moist.

Pozole "Mexican Stew" — Pozole “Mexican Stew”

For myself I choose something light. The tomatoes on my tuna taco salad were perfectly ripe. Not something that I would expect around this time of year. The home fried tacos with a smidge of refried beans went well with the greens and tuna. It was a perfect main to go along with some heavier shareables.

Tuna taco salad with refried beans and jalapeno ranch dressing

I was absolutely full before we decided to order dessert. I love cinnamon and sugar. I thought I died and went to heaven when I sampled the churros with chocolate sauce. One bite and I was hungry again.

Churros with cinnamon and sugar and spiced hot chocolate

The tres leche was quite interesting. The cake was dense, but super moist. The side I was nibbling on was cold, but according to my friends the cake was warm. No matter, I really enjoyed it cold. I thought the sorbet was a tad on the tart side, but the flavours worked well together.

The server was friendly and the service was very good. But then again it was a slow lunch as the restaurant wasn’t all that full.

This was an over the top meal. I’m not sure why the ratings are on the negative side on Urbanspoon, but this time I will gladly disagree. It smacks of a return visit.

April 8, 2014

AÑEJO Restaurant

A friend suggested that we try AÑEJO for lunch as I seemed to be on a Mexican kick. It came highly recommended. So the three of us took our time with a leisurely lunch on Sunday.

The shrimp ceviche was delicious as well as the side of jicama salad. It was a nice foil for the richness of the jalapeno appetizer.

The server was friendly and the service was very good. But then again it was a slow lunch as the restaurant wasn’t all that full.

This was an over the top meal. I’m not sure why the ratings are on the negative side on Urbanspoon, but this time I will gladly disagree. It smacks of a return visit.

April 7, 2014

Tu Tierra

Hubby and I were going to IKEA and we decided to grab dinner before we went shopping. I’m always on the lookout for authentic Mexican food. We decided to try Tu Tierra. There was a lineup, but we were seated in 15 minutes. Service was slow to start, seating etc. seemed disorganized. When we got seated, we were twice given menus and asked for drinks. (Which was ok.) They forgot the salsa for us and table next to us for the chips. I would summarize it as the service being inconsistent.

The food was good. I had the poblano combo. The plate came out super hot, so you know it just came out of the kitchen. The chicken was tender and the mole sauce was tasty. My only concern was that the bottom of the taco was soggy from sitting in the sauce. I enjoyed the spicy salsa and chips that were served as the appetizer. Hubby had the alambre con queso. He thought it tasted pretty good as well, but the next day woke up feeling unwell with nausea. We suspected it could have been due to his dinner the night before. The food was perhaps a bit oversalted as I found myself drinking a lot of water in the hours following.

Alambre Con Queso with seasoned steak, bacon, green bell peppers, sautéed onions, smothered in melted mozzarella cheese — Alambre Con Queso with
seasoned steak, bacon, green bell peppers, sautéed onions, smothered in melted mozzarella cheese

Poblano Combo with chicken in mole sauce, chiles rellenos and chicken taco

March 30, 2014

T.Pot China Bistro

I was looking for a place for some good dim sum when a friend recommended T.Pot. I was a bit skeptical because of the rating on Urbanspoon, but sometimes you just trust the source. Dim sum recommended; dinner not so much. We made a reservation; the lineup was out the door. We waited about 15 minutes for a table. Which would have been longer if we didn’t have one. It’s one of those places where speaking a little bit of the language goes a long way.

The food came out hot and in a reasonable amount of time considering that the restaurant was packed. It was at times difficult to flag down a server. We asked for so many chili sauce refills that we should have asked for the bottle.

The char sui so (BBQ pork puff pastry) was good. I also liked the ja leung (fried dough wrapped in rice crepe) that came with satay, hoisin and soy sauces. The har gow (shrimp dumpling) and fried shrimp pastries were tasty.

A+ for the food, expect Chinese style service, which is hurried, loud and at times not good.

L-R: Shrimp pastry, eggplant stuffed with shrimp, fried donut rolled in rice crepe, snow pea shoots in pork broth, Chui Chow fried rice

March 30, 2014

St Laurent Cake House

Going to Chinatown is a bit out of my way, but I discovered that one of my coworkers is a co-owner of St Laurent. The store had changed ownership in the last couple of years. In the past, I remember fondly that their mango cakes were quite good. I placed an order for my friends’ farewell party. They are moving to California. The cake was freshly made; the classic Chinese style fruit and cream cake. The cake was soft and light, filled with a sweetened whipped cream filling with chunks of mango. Just right, but not overly sweet. It was topped with mango slices and strawberries. It reminds me of a similar style cake my Mom used to make for our birthdays. I also ordered a couple of their egg tarts which were tasty. I would say that they are a “Cake House” as their cakes are quite good.

March 22, 2014

Escoba Bistro and Wine Bar

The four of us enjoyed a night out at Escoba to sample the Big Taste. We started with an appetizer of apple and fennel salad which was refreshing. My main came out hot, but the jerk chicken was dry. The tastes were good, though. The place was popular; it was just about full as we were leaving. I would definitely give this place a second chance, hopefully when they are not so busy.

Apple and fennel salad with citrus vinaigrette

Jerked Chicken Breast Jamaican rice pilaf, roasted vegetables & pineapple demi-glaze — Jerked Chicken Breast
Jamaican rice pilaf, roasted vegetables & pineapple demi-glaze

Raspberry & lime cheesecake with berry compote Spiced banana & blueberry bread pudding with rum caramel sauce & vanilla ice cream — Raspberry & lime cheesecake with berry compote
Spiced banana & blueberry bread pudding with rum caramel sauce & vanilla ice cream