Calgary Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Eat Your Broccoli!

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

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 9, 2014

Curry Club Restaurant

In trying to satiate my new found hunger for South Indian food, I ventured out to the Curry Club Restaurant. It’s a small family run restaurant that also offers a lunch buffet, catering and delivery. Apparently they also sell their dosas, Idli batter, and Wada mix.

While we were waiting for our appetizers, we noshed on some complimentary papadam. I started off with the chicken 65. I thought it spent a little too long in the deep fryer but still tasted good. Loved the fried curry leaves!

Hubby got the samosas, three of them. I’m getting a little picky here, but some parts were over fried. The filling was delicious. It came with a side salad had a dressing tamarind along with a green sauce that was herby but I cannot discern the flavor. Coriandor and fenugreek perhaps? The taste was delightful.

We ordered naan and roti to go with our meal. The naan was light and flavorful. Not as oily as some others if you like it that way. Roti was light as well.

The lamb tandoori full of flavor. It came with a side of rice that was gratis, as we didn’t order any. Continuing with my exploration of Indo Chinese cuisine, I ordered the paneer Manchurian. Interesting combo of classic Chinese flavours (ginger, garlic, green onion and soy sauce) tempered with Indian spices and heat.

One thing they could improve on was that they did not ask for spice level, but they should. By default, its a healthy medium. My nose was running but that’s how I react.

I suspect they had a new server in training. But he double checked our order, and the chefs also brought out the food and did the quality checks. It wasn’t busy; there were only two tables. We got our food fast and hot.

Servings are huge, come with appetite.

February 24, 2014

Marina Dosa & Tandoori Grill

Looking for a place to fuel our post-climbing hunger, we decided to make a trip for Indian food. I’m very familiar with East Indian food, but not so much with South Indian and Indian Chinese food. Marina Dosa & Tandoori Grill is a small restaurant in a strip mall. It seems to be family run. The maximum seating is for four as they are in booths. Good to note, in case I want to bring back all my friends. There is a counter in the back with a large menu board, presumably for ordering takeout.

Having no idea what we were ordering, a nice lady sitting at the table next to us helped us understand what we were considering. The server also came by and she was very helpful. I sort of thought that we could eat family style, but as the dishes arrived, it didn’t seem like the correct choice. We definitely splurged on the food; both of us were fascinated by all the unfamiliar dishes.

We ordered vegetarian samosa cholle to start. Imagine some beautifully fried samosas. Then smother them in a chickpea curry. Samosa cholle, and a meal in itself.

We moved onto one of the restaurant’s specialties, dosa. We ordered the Marina masala dosa, which is a South Indian crepe that is wrapped around a filling. Ours was stuffed with onion and potato, served with sides of a soup with cumin and spice undertones, coconut chutney and a spicy tomato based chutney.

Our next course was vegetable Manchurian, which is a Indian Chinese dish. Fried vegetable croquettes in a sweet and spicy sauce. It tasted a bit like sweet and sour sauce combined with a good dose of soy sauce and Indian spices. We ordered it medium spicy and it was. Not like in some other restaurants who treat medium spicy as mild for Canadian taste. An intriguing dish, I will have to try to make it at home.

We moved on with lamb kothu paratha, which is a stir fry made with eggs and chopped up paratha bread as a base. Paratha is also known as parotta. I’m more used seeing paratha as a stuffed bread on East Indian menus. It was served with a side of a yogurt based sauce. We also had a side of naan thinking the dishes would be more like East Indian style. The dishes are meals in themselves; no additional starch was needed. Our server mentioned that the dishes could be eaten as is, or with a side of naan, roti or rice. By the end of the meal, we weren’t sure if family style was the correct way to order as we were only given one dinner plate and that was halfway through our meal. No matter, the food was delicious. The flavours are strong and bold; enticing for people with adventurous taste.

The server was very friendly and helpful. The dishes took time to come out but that is the price to pay for well prepared food.

February 16, 2014

Cedars Deli

After a day of skiing in the mountains, I was famished with nothing in the cupboard and hunger to tame. Hubby had to go to the mall so we visited the food court in Market Mall and I found Cedars Deli. I have been on a Mediterranean kick of late, with making my own pitas and falafel. Even thought this restaurant is in a food court; it is a local, made in Calgary chain. I was looking for something fresh and healthy, and this fit the bill.

I ordered the Mediterranean plate which had: two falafel, three vine leaves (dolmades),one kibbeh ball, a generous spoonful of hummus, tabouli, tahini and a large whole wheat pita. Everything was tasty and there was more than enough to satisfy my hunger. Don’t let the food court facade fool you. This is healthy, good tasting local food.

February 10, 2014

Safari Grill

There is a strip mall, at the corner of 28 St. SE and Memorial Dr. It is nondescript, and full of ethnic food proprietors. A Jamaican cafe, a Middle Eastern cafe, a Filipino cafe, and Safari Grill. The mall has an interesting name, Short Pants Plaza. I’m guessing it is named after all the tropical cultures that have set up shop within.

After five hours at the climbing gym, I was ready to polish off some serious eats. A short drive down the street brought us to the Safari Grill. Being seriously hungry, the three of us shared the Spicy Kuku Bite (chicken in tempura batter with a sweet and spicy chili sauce) and the Mboga Combo. This was a combination of vegetarian appetizers: fried cassava, samosa, round potato scallops fried in batter and fried lentil balls. It came with dipping sauces: mild green chili, hot red chili, tamarind, yogurt sauce and coconut chutney. It reminded me of the dipping sauces from Tiffin, across the street.

East African cuisine tends to feature inspiration from Indian dishes, along with a good dose of grilled meats and spice. Some of the entrees were meant to be shared at the table and some were individual. We choose the individual plates. I ordered the Afrique Mishaki, which was BBQ chicken cubes marinated in peri peri and grilled. It was served with a side of spicy corn and masala chipsi (fries). The dish as a whole was medium spicy.

The food is well done, and the portions are substantial. The decor is very zebra, with lots of African trinkets. The service was good. I suggest going with a hearty appetite; you will not be disappointed.