[Dine-Out] Calgary: Diary Lane Cafe February 8, 2013

I’ve heard so many good things about brunch at Diary Lane Cafe, that we finally made our way down there one Sunday morning. It’s a little out of the way, but it makes for a nice walk on a nice, warm morning. There was a little line when we got there, but it wasn’t too bad. I think we got in after waiting 15 minutes…

The bf got the Triple Double. Seemed a little excessive…but, to each his own…

TRIPLE DOUBLE $15.75

This was SO much food. He barely finished it. He definitely loved all the protein. The breakfast plate came with THREE Sylvan Star eggs, Broek Pork sausages, Spolumbo’s chicken sausages, and local naturally cured bacon. And on top of all that, there were local red potato hash browns and Engel’s toast. Crazy. We both could’ve definitely shared this.

I got the back bacon and Sylvan Star Gruyere stuffed french toast. I have this love hate relationship with french toast. I hate french toast but I love it when it’s stuffed with salty goodness. French toast is always a hit or miss for me. For example: awful french toast experience here.

Back Bacon & Sylvan Star Gruyere Stuffed French Toast $12.75

This one was…drum roll…GOOD! I loved the little details like the chives on top. and the bread wasn’t too soggy. Also, loved the local red potato hash.

The rest of the menu looked delicious too. It also serves lunch and dinner, will have to come back and try it some other time~

DIARY LANE CAFE
319 19 Street Northwest
Calgary, AB T2N 2J2
(403) 283-2497

[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 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

[Take-Out] Calgary: Bento Nouveau October 15, 2011

The bf and I have been getting sushi from the food court sushi place down in TD Square. Sometimes we just don’t feel like cooking at home or spending a lot of money dining at a restaurant. This place on the 4th floor is great though, an hour before they close, they will offer their sushi at 30% off. They’ve been doing this so far, one time we went, it was buy one get one free, but I don’t see why they would stop offering the discount. They have to get ride of that day’s sushi, and I have to eat dinner, totally a win-win situation!

This is the summer combo:

$9.99 Regular Price

Obviously the quality is not as good as in restaurants, but not bad for about $7.00! It’s still way better than the sushi you get a grocery stores though. I find the rice you get from the grocery store sushi is always dry and hard. At least here, the rice is still soft, it’s cold, but it’s good enough!

Spicy Tuna Roll $6.99

All the prices I’ve listed are regular prices!

Salmon Delight Combo 9.99

Usually one of the bigger combo is enough food for me for dinner. But we like to get two each so we have more variety, and then we end up being way too full, lol, so gluttonous.

Black Dragon 8.49

Close up

BBQ Salmon Roll 7.99

Dinner for two:

All Together

Bento Nouveau
Core Shopping Food Court, Level 4
751 – 3 Street SW
Calgary, AB T2P 4K8
(403) 232-6808

[Take-Out] Calgary: Sushi Hiro July 14, 2011

I think Sushi Hiro is one of the best sushi restaurants in Calgary, if not the best. The fish is always fresh and delicious, and the authentic decor cannot be beat! If you go during lunch time, make sure you have a reservation. The place is always jam packed with business men treating their clients~

I got some take-out sushi there during lunch one week. The quality of the fish didn’t disappoint!

Tuna & Salmon Sushi

So fresh!

This is one of my favourites:

Negitorotemaki

I love me some Temaki! I don’t know why I love hand rolls so much, but I do! This particular one is filled with scallion (negi) and chopped tuna (toro). Sooooo mouth-watering good!!

I would definitely recommend everyone go give Sushi Hiro a try!! They’re a tad expensive, but the food makes up for it!!

SUSHI HIRO
727 5 Avenue Southwest
Calgary, AB T2P 0N2
(403) 233-0605