[Quick Bites] Calgary: Taste of Calgary 2011 January 26, 2012

This year’s ticket price was a $1.00 , which is $0.25 more than last year’s. I really don’t like how it is getting more and more expensive. I know prices are going up and everything, but when you think about it, you’re paying at least $2 for a very small sampler that’s not even filling. It’s a nice little event, but at the end of the day, you’re paying $20 – $50 for food that’s not even as filling as a meal.

They do have nice little free sample trucks from vendors littered around the place. Pretty much it’s like free advertising for these big brands. There was a Dr.Oetker truck passing out free little slices of pizzas.

Back of the Truck

Free!

Another free treat was this ‘make-your-own-sandwich’ station. I don’t remember what company sponsored this, I think it was Kraft or something for their mayo?

Super Protein Sandwich!

Haha, I just made a dried sandwich, I don’t even like mayo.

I got the Sticky Rice with Mango from Delicious Thai for 5 tickets. I can’t believe that was $5.00, the actual dessert at their restaurant is only $4.20 (according to their website), and I’m sure it’s probably bigger than the sample they gave up. I actually can’t believe they charged more than their actual item now that I think about it.

I <3 Mangos

We also got Beef Samosas for 5 tickets. 5 dollars for 2 samosas. I thought the beef samosas would be awesome but the vegetarian ones are actually soooo much better, they just don’t have the same texture. One of my co-workers bring in awesome vegetarian samosas from the NE that’s only $0.50 each. These came to $2.50 each. Crazy expensive.

Delice Pastry Shop & Cafe

The Fresh Blueberry Pie from The White Spot were by far the best deal of the event. Yeah, they’re not very creative or innovative but they tasted good, only cost 3 tickets, and was a decent size. You can’t go wrong with blueberries, whipped cream, and pastry tart shells.

But in hindsight, for a couple more dollars I could probably get a really awesome and fancy dessert...

Since I really liked Nubian Express the previous year, I thought I would get something from them again this year. I got the Suya, a spicy African Stick Meat, for $4.00. This was not a good idea. I don’t even know what type of meat it was, I think it was beef…? It was all dry and not good at all.

Yucky.

One of the better dishes we got was the Roasted Duck Omelette from Bubblemania Cafe for 4 tickets. They actually cooked these up individually when you order them. All in a little tiny skillet, how cute!

Om Nom Nom Nom

At the end of the day, we both just got little drinks to use up the rest of our tickets. The bf got the Vietnamese Ice Coffee from The Satay House for 2 tickets.

Look at the little dinky cup of coffee...

I got a 4 oz Homemade Ginger Beer from Caribbean Choice for 1 ticket. Mmm…that was actually the best thing I had at the festival. It was soooo good. Maybe I’ll go get some this weekend…

Super Ginger-y

TASTE OF CALGARY
Festival Plaza @ Eau Claire Market
200 Barclay Parade Southwest
Calgary, AB T2P 4R5

BUBBLEMANIA CAFE
459 16 Avenue Northeast
Calgary, AB T2E 8K9
403-277-9398

CARIBBEAN CHOICE FOODS
2235 Centre Street Northwest
Calgary, AB T2E 2T4
403-230-1880

DELICE PASTRY SHOP & CAFE
200 Barclay Parade Southwest
Calgary, AB T2P 4R5
403-210-3006

DELICIOUS THAI
314 10 Street Northwest
Calgary, AB T2N 1V8
(403) 450-1996

NUBIAN EXPRESS
136 Kincora Hill NW
Calgary, AB T3R 1N6
403-992-8825

SATAY HOUSE
3231 17 Avenue Southeast
Calgary, AB T2A 0R1
403-248-2888

THE WHITE SPOT
10440 Macleod Trail South
Calgary, AB T2J 0P8
403-278-8212

[Quick Bite] Calgary: Treasure of Saigon August 18, 2011

We decided to get a quick dinner at Treasure of Saigon. This is a fairly new restaurant for this strip mall. I don’t quite remember what was there before this…hmm….

The decor inside is quite nice for a typical phở house, looks very clean. Thumbs up.

The bf got the 104, a sate chicken Sub:

Bánh Mì

Taking bites in between photos:

Bite

He liked the sub okay. Not the best sub he has sad, but definitely not the worst. Quite expensive at $6.95 though.

Mine was pretty expensive too…$9.25 for 2 spring rolls, 2 salad rolls, and 2 shrimp skewers.

Combo 18

Again, this was okay, not bad, but not great either. I don’t know why, but I’ve stopped liking Vietnamese food. Like, I don’t mind it sometimes, but it’s never a cuisine I crave anymore.

TREASURE OF SAIGON
6432 Old Banff Coach Road Southwest
Calgary, AB T3H 2H4
(403) 286-7474

[Quick Bite] Calgary: KOL3 March 21, 2011

KOL3 is a new(ish) restaurant in Kensington that’s dedicated to serving Bánh Xèo (“sizzling cake”). They also have regular Vietnamese fare on their menu, like Phở, spring rolls & salad rolls. The interiors were simple & clean, if not a little bland, but that’s okay because I think this is supposed to be more of a fast-food type restaurant then a sit-down type restaurant anyways.

We tried the Traditional Bánh Xèo with beef and the Athena Bánh Xèo.

Traditional with Beef

I appreciated the nice green salad that came on the side. Other than that, I thought the “sizzling cake” itself was too doughy, the whole thing kind of just tasted like batter. Also, I thought the feta on the Athena Bánh Xèo was too overpowering. Oh – and they were a wee bit skimpy on the meat as well.

All in all, I don’t think I’d pay $9.00 for this again. For that much, I’d rather have a nice steaming bowl of Phở or a crunchy Bánh Mì instead.

KOL3 Restaurant
24 12 Street Northwest
Calgary, AB
(403) 263-3666