[Quick Bite] Calgary: Alley Burger February 14, 2013

Ah – the one that started it all. Alley Burger. Of the CHARCUT Fame. Garlic-y, delicious goodness.

After waiting in a crazy long line. Finally:

The goods.

We got the original alley burgers:

Regular ($8)

Local natural pork and roasted garlic sausage patty, Quebec cheese curds, and Piri Piri Aioli. I love that you can get most toppings for free (onions, lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, ketchup, pickles, jalapeños). Some toppings are extra (egg, bacon, cheese curds are $1 each).

“Spiced Your Way” Fries – $3.95

I loaded the fries with all three of the delicious salts sitting outside the van. I love gourmet salts.

DISCLAIMER: These burgers are garlic-y. Have a full pack of gum at your disposal.

ALLEY BURGER
Roaming Food Truck

[Quick Bite] Calgary: Mighty Skillet February 13, 2013

Seriously, best breakfast sandwich of my life:

Colossus $7

If I would not get fat, I would pay $7 to eat this everyday of my life. Tomato + onion + cheddar omelette and 2 bacon slices in between french toast with MAPLE SYRUP.

As I was eating this, hot, gooey syrup was running down my arm. Seriously did not care. I’m pretty sure I got some burns from it. Sooooo good.

Salty + sweet = deliciousness.

MIGHTY SKILLET
Roaming Food Truck

[Quick Bite] Calgary: Jojo’s BBQ February 12, 2013

Food truck numero three: Jojo’s BBQ.

Golden Corn Fritters ($6)

Didn’t even know I like corn fritters. But yup, they are delicious.

Smoked Sliced Brisket Sandwich ($8) with straight up fries ($3)

Griddle Mac N’ Cheese ($8)

BBQTINE ($6)

Can’t remember if the BBQTINE comes with the meat on top or if I got that for extra monies. I’m pretty positive I had to pay extra for the meat.

Anyways, this was food for three people in case you’re wondering how I’m such a big fatty. This was surprisingly good. Considering Jojo’s was probably one of the last food trucks I would’ve wanted to try (not generally a big fan of BBQ).

The portions are quite decent for the price too.

JOJO’S BBQ
Roaming Food Truck

[Quick Bite] Calgary: Cheesy Bizness February 11, 2013

Food truck continued. This time: Cheesy Bizness. Don’t really get the “cool” spelling of business, but whatevs.

The Hot Mess – $9.50

Waited in line so long for this. Like a ridiculously long time.

AND I only got half

The Hot Mess comes with Pimento cheese, Spragg’s Spanish chorizo, pepper jack, Sriracha mayo, and banana peppers. Sriracha is the way to my heart.

This sandwich was good. I just don’t know if it’s $10 good.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love that Calgary has food trucks now. But. The prices are too damn high. Considering the origin of food trucks and street food. I know, I know, it’s Calgary, everything is expensive here. I get it. And people seem to be willing to pay for it, so good for them. But I’m saying for me, personally, this will probably be the one and only $10 grill cheese I buy.

Although it was delicious, I can make my own grilled cheese. And probably faster too.

CHEESY BIZNESS
Roaming Food Truck

[Quick Bite] Calgary: Fries & Dolls February 10, 2013

Since Calgary is slowly warming up again, I thought I’d post my experiences with the food trucks in time for when they start rolling back out onto the streets.

First up: Fries & Dolls. Ah – the bright pink truck that was featured on Eat St., so how do they measure up? Delicious. I mean it’s kind of hard to mess up fries. What’s not to love about a cup of well-seasoned, steamy hot fries?

I love me so potatoes

I ordered the Farrah (garlic, parsley and freshly grated Grana Padano parmesan). I had really wanted to try the special of the day – it was some sort of sweet & salty combination with sweet potato fries and marshmallows or something…maybe, or maybe I could be making that up. I don’t remember because I didn’t get to eat it

FRIES & DOLLS
Roaming Food Truck

[Quick Bite] Seattle: Seattle Uwajimaya September 29, 2012

Stopped by Uwajimaya for some light browsing. But, of course, I had to grab something to eat as well.

Got a piece of spam musubi. Obviously this was nothing compared to the one at Marination Station. I realize that it looks kind of sad in the picture but it was actually not too bad.

$1.29

I also got a japanese bento box to supplement my lone spam musubi.

$5.99

It is food court food, so I wasn’t expecting to be blown away or anything, but it actually wasn’t too bad. The tempura shrimp was kind of limp and soggy, but the rest of it was good – especially for only $6. In the top left corner is a small salad. Going clockwise, there was a sushi roll type of thing wrapped around ham and tamago. Next to it is some beef and lotus root (FYI – I <3 lotus root). Then there was the tempura shrimp and grilled shrimp. Under the grilled shrimp was tonkatsu.To the left of the broccoli was some chicken karaage. And finally in the bottom left corner – a couple pieces of salmon. I loved all the different types of food I got to eat for just 6 dollas.

The bf got some Korean grub from one of the little food court places around the parameter of the building.

Probably around $10

I definitely think what I got was better value for the money, especially because of the variety. The bf liked his choice though, it was hugely portioned and meaty. Top left going clockwise – kimchi, pickled bean sprouts, hot sauce, dumplings, a huge pile of meat (chicken…?), and delicious, delicious white rice.

For dessert I got this Cyrus O’Leary sour cream lemon pie:

$2.89

This was kind of expensive now that I think about it.

Kind of sort of line a cheesecake?

I wish we had a Uwajimaya in Calgary…

SEATTLE UWAJIMAYA
600 5th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 624-6248

[Quick Bite] Seattle: Gourmet Dog Japon August 31, 2012

We would always walk by Gourmet Dog Japon on our daily walk down to the Pike Place Market. I’ve heard good and bad things about this little street cart, but after walking by it everyday, what the hell? Why not give it a try?

Look at all the choices!

I chose the Kabuki dog. Piled high on top of the sausage was bonito flakes, katsu sauce, Kewpie mayonnaise, grilled cabbage and beni shoga. The bonito flakes (katsuobushi), a dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna, added a depth of saltiness and fishiness to the overall hot dog. While the beni shoga, a red pickled ginger, added the much needed acid.

I’m a sucker for Bonito flakes.

The bf got the spicy Masuri for $0.25 more. The sausage itself is a smoked Louisiana hot link. The Matsuri is GDJ’s most popular dog, it consists of dried green seaweed (nori), pickled carrots, the same sweet mayo as the Kabuki, and teriyaki-glazed onions.

The MASURI

These were only okay…so I guess I had to right to be skeptical after all…haha. They’re kind of fun to try if you’ve never had “gourmet” hot dogs, but since Calgary has Tubby Dog, nothing was really that out of the ordinary for me at GDJ.

GOURMET DOG JAPON
245 Pike Street
Seattle, WA 98101

[Quick Bite] Seattle: Marination Station August 31, 2012

Man, was this hard to find. That’s what I get for just grabbing the address off of google and not going on its website. Its website clearly clarifies that in order to get your fill of Hawaiian/Korean/Mexican goodness, you’d have to make your way to the second floor. Didn’t see that and walked up and down the block literally 20 times.

Finally! Beat the rain too, look at that grey sky…

For my meal, I ordered the Kalbi taco and the spam musubi. Honestly, the spam musubi was the only reason I wanted to eat here. I love me some spam. Sure, sure, some of you might think it’s gross, but growing up in Hong Kong, it was a staple that we ate. You have to pan fry it so that the outer bits are all crispy and delicious. Don’t knock it until you try it the right way!

SPAM SPAM SPAM 

A spam musubi is pretty much spam sushi. Hawaiians love it, I love it, the bf loved it and tried to steal it from me. Rice, spam, seaweed. Simple salty goodness that is almost like a comfort food. Apparently, the Marination Station doesn’t have the spam musubi as a regular menu item, so if when you’re there and it’s on the menu, ORDER IT. If you’re going to try spam, might as well try it in sushi form.

I also got the Kalbi taco, a flour tortilla filled with tender short ribs marinated in a soy-based marinade.  This was good, but I would’ve rather eaten more spam musubi.

The bf also got a Kalbi taco and he changed things up with ordering a spicy pork taco as well. The spicy pork is likened to the classic Korean bulgogi.

This plate is missing something…hmmm….maybe a little SPAM?!

MARINATION STATION
1412 Harvard Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122

[Dine-Out] Seattle: Sweet Iron Waffles May 13, 2012

When we were in Seattle, I had a list of restaurants that I needed to hit. One of many on that list was: Sweet Iron. Apparently it is the real Liege waffle. I had no frame of reference at that time, still don’t, but hopefully after tomorrow I will! Woohoo, going to Liege tomorrow – Actually, no joke. I’m in Brussels right now and will probably hope off the train tomorrow at Liege on my way back to Germany. Anyways, back to Seattle…

Store Front

The bf got an espresso. He said it had a really strong olive aftertaste. Is that a thing in Seattle? A lot of his coffee/espresso from many different places had the same aftertaste.

Olive-y espresso

We decided to get one savoury and one sweet and split it. Of course, we had to get the bacon waffle. Why? Because, BACON, that’s why. It was a waffle topped with Applegate nitrate-free bacon and pure maple syrup (it better be pure! We’re Canadians!). The bf, of course, complained that there was not enough protein, but it was still pretty delicious. He agreed.

I <3 Chives

And for the sweet, we got the feature, a Strawberry Cheesecake Liege Waffle.

Any waffle with super toppings are apparently a very touristy thing to get when you’re actually in Belgium. They prefer their waffles unadorned and without all the excessive toppings that we tourists like. But didn’t know that before, so most definitely do not feel like a bad foodie.

Anyways, according to Sweet Iron’s website, their strawberry waffle uses local Remlinger Farm’s strawberries for part of the year (but they have to import fresh strawberries during the off seasons). This was topped off with a scoop of ice cream and graham cracker chunks. This was good, but not as good as the savoury one. I’m such a sucker for cheesecake though that I ordered this one. Oh well, live and learn. I would’ve probably preferred TWO bacon ones. I didn’t like that the graham crackers were completely separate for the waffles, it didn’t feel like it was well-integrated enough. Like it was only an after-thought and was thrown across.

Meh

Together:

Om Nom Nom Nom

SWEET IRON WAFFLES
1200 3rd Ave, Suite 110
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 682-3336

[Quick Bite] Seattle: Maximus Minimus February 12, 2012

I was on the hunt for food trucks when I was down in Seattle. After watching the Maximus Minimus episode on Eat Street, I knew I had to try something from the most awesome looking truck ever!

Hahahaha, I just noticed that their license plate says "SOME PIG" - so cute!

I was totally enamored by what the truck looks like because, honestly, I don’t even like pork that much.

The menu of goodies

I tried the hibiscus nectar for $2.00 (menu price +tax). I took one sip and instantly regretted my decision. It was really sweet and didn’t have enough of a spearmint flavor for me. I really wanted to try the ginger lemonade but  I wasn’t going to stand in the long line again for a drink. Laziness = 1, Me = o.

Hibiscus Nectar - nectar is the right word for it, very very sweet~

I got the Maximus Pulled Pork ($7.00) – a mixture of hot and spicy goodness~

Pork stewed in a mixture of peppers, onions, and fruit juices

This was such a delicious sandwich. And this is coming from a girl that doesn’t even like pork. I could eat 12 of these. Really. I love the spicy one but would’ve died to try the other one us well, but I couldn’t convince the bf to get one too. He wanted to eat something else…or had already eaten…I forgot. But what’s with this? Who says no to the totally awesome metal pig?

I also spaced, and forgot to order a side of minimus slaw, which is how the show recommended you eat it. Oh god, now I will never have the chance again.

So much meat~

I love that you can’t even see the bottom bum in the above picture. If you can see the bum, it means there is not enough meat!

MAXIMUS MINIMUS
Seattle, WA
(206) 601-5510