[Dine-Out] Calgary: Ric’s Grill {Big Taste 2013} March 4, 2013

I’ve been having a great time with the Big Taste. Always excited for this event.

Thought I’d post this before the event ends. DON’T BOTHER WITH RIC’S GRILL.

Such a mediocre restaurant. There are so many better participating restaurants to try that this one is definitely not worth your time, money, or stomach room.

I really should’ve listened to my gut (hahaha) and not bothered with this place. I always look at the menu and think about going for dinner. And every time I would decide that it wasn’t worth going to. The prices aren’t great and the menu isn’t even that exciting. But I thought, hey, for $35 – why not give it a try?

I mean, the quantity of food isn’t bad for $35, but the quality? That’s another story. And, man, the servers there do not dress appropriately. Also, service wasn’t the greatest. We had to wait upwards of 20 minutes to even get our bill, pay, and leave.

First – the bread. It totally reminds me of the bread you get when you go to Old Spaghetti Factory. Where they charge you $10 for a 3 course pasta meal. Yeah. That one.

Bah

These weren’t half bad. Toasted coconut prawns. After eating the first one did it occur to me that I don’t like coconut on my food. Haha, oops.

Toasted Coconut Prawns

The escargot weren’t half bad either. Canned variety? They came out super hot. Super greasy and cheesy. Again, reminds me of something you could get at Old Spaghetti…

Escargot Stuffed Mushrooms

For his main, the bf got the Salmon Florentine. “Grilled wild salmon topped with prawns, tomatoes and fresh basil in brandy cream sauce. Served with basmati rice pilaf & seasonal vegetables”. Shocking – no fresh basil anywhere. Instead of the rice pilaf, he got a double serving of vegetables.

Salmon Florentine

I got the 6 oz Sterling Silver Filet Mignon served with chef’s roasted potatoes, seasonal vegetables & cognac cream sauce. The beef wasn’t good. You would like it’d be good since Ric’s is a steakhouse. And, it was wrapped in bacon. Buuuut, not good beef. It had a not pleasing texture. Also, I got the chef’s roasted potatoes, which the server described as “covered in an artichoke cream sauce”. Nope. No sauce. No hint of artichoke. No hint of cream. Pretty much I just got a side of potato hash that you could get anywhere at brunch. Also the bok choy was bitter. Like super bitter. Bitter to the point that I complained and got a new side of veggies.

Filet Mignon Wrapped in Bacon

For dessert I got the vanilla bean creme brûlée. Pretty sure it was just vanilla extract. There was none of the vanilla specks you would expect to get from actual vanilla bean. Also the texture of the brûlée was more of an egg custard texture. I didn’t mind it.

Vanilla Bean Creme Brûlée

The bf got the goat cheese cheesecake with fresh berry compote.

Goooat

Pretty much this was the reason that swayed me to come. I mean I <3 goat cheese cheesecake. I had an awesome one at Open Range over the holiday and thought I’d see if this one would stack up. Not much goat cheese flavour, but overall not too too bad.

Again, the food isn’t bad per se…but it’s not good either. Very run of the mil. Nothing fancy. Pretty much like a more expensive Moxie’s but even less exciting. If that’s possible.

RIC’S GRILL
1436 8th Street Southwest
Calgary, AB T2R 1R7
(403) 269-7427

[Dine-Out] Calgary: Escoba Bistro & Wine Bar February 17, 2013

I think Escoba has one of the better value charcuterie boards in Calgary. I love coming here just for a light meal. The bf and I usually share a charcuterie plate and a cheese plate, have some drinks, and have a relaxing night out. I also love the window seating the restaurants offer. In the summer time (or whenever its nice out), the windows are open and it’s just a great feeling!

Cheese Plate $18

For the cheese plate, $18 gets you a selection of five cheeses or $14 for three cheeses. In hindsight, since the charcuterie board also comes with some cheeses, the selection of three would’ve been sufficient. If you’re getting both boards, make sure to ask the server not to double up on the cheeses (unless you want to, of course). So making sure whatever cheeses come on the charcuterie board aren’t the same ones on your cheese board.

I’m awesome with cheeses (I pretty much only eat brie), so I can’t tell you what they are. But I think they usually have the same selection of 5 anyways. One will be a blue, one will be a brie, one will be a cheddar…so on, so on. I love the fruit preserve it comes with. I slathered it all over my garlic baguette.

Charcuterie Plate  $24

This is probably one of the most reasonably priced charcuterie boards ever. I love all the variety that comes on it and for not that expensive either! In the back right is a grilled chorizo sausage, going clockwise, there are some olives, prosciutto, pickled green beans, some sort of veined cheese, garlic flatbread. Going on the inside, the yellow-y mound in the middle is hummus, to its left - smoked duck and to its right – salmon gravlax. I think I’m especially enamoured with the grilled chorizo sausage – it’s nice to have something warm on what’s usually a cold appetizer.

ESCOBA BISTRO AND WINE BAR
624 8 Avenue Southwest
Calgary, AB T2P 1G4
(403) 543-8911

[Dine-Out] Seattle: Mashiko Seattle Sushi October 21, 2012

Saving the best meal we had in Seattle for last: Our ridiculously delicious omakase. For a unbelievably reasonable price (everything compared to Calgary prices is a steal, HEY-OH), we were treated to, by far, the best food we had in Seattle.

We sat at the bar so we could watch the chefs hard at work.

Munchies

We got a lovely little bowl of Japanese Arare to snack on while we patiently waited for our sustainable sea-feast.

Gorgeous fish on display

We started off with some bundles of Pacific Smelt with Pickled Carrots & Daikon Sprouts:

Salty and Briny and Deliciouuuus

Gorgeous close up:

To Die For

More fish:

So many different types!

Scallop Sashimi with Yuzu Tobiko:

Cute presentation!

The yuzu tobiko added a nice hint of citrus to the melt-in-your-mouth scallops.

Next was Sake Poached Oysters Marinated in Olive Oil:

So Smooth…

This is probably tie for my favourite preparation for oysters. Obviously this takes a lot more skill than shucking a raw oyster. So I guess raw oysters are my favourite in terms of ease of preparation, but this, man, if I could eat this everyday, I would.

Black Alaskan Rockfish Sashimi with Ponzu and Shiso Oil:

First time having Black Rockfish, and let me tell you, it won’t be my last

Fresh Oregon Based Shrimp & Cherry Tomato Salad:

If only I could have a salad like this everyday, sigh…

This shrimp was unbelievably sweet. Like the sweetest (in a good way) shrimp I think I will ever have in my life. Don’t even know how that’s possible.

Poached Hawaiian Abaloni with Dried Kelp & Stomach:

Love the in shell presentation

First of all, I love abalone. And second of all, the inclusion of the stomach just made this dish that much more delicious. The kelp and the stomach gave the whole dish a very lovely seaweed-y, slightly bitter taste. Very complex flavours.

The bf and I were fighting over the stomach in the shell, believe it or not

Next, Local Albacore Tataki Salad:

Refreshing, but…

If I had to pick one, this was probably my least favourite of all the dishes. It was a very competently prepared dish, it just wasn’t nearly as exciting as the ones we’ve had leading up to it OR the ones we had following it.

Back to the exciting, White king Salmon Tartare with Avocado & Capers:

Love the little quail egg!

The quail egg acted as a nice binder and added a smoothness to the dish:

Delish

On to the SUSHI! (YAY)

From left to right, Giant Pacific Octopus, Northwest Albacore Toro, Yellow Fin Tuna:

A plate of friggin perfection

The Toro

Octo

This was the best octopus I have ever eaten. Anywhere. The stuff in Calgary just does not compare. I’ve never had octopus cooked this perfectly before, the meat wasn’t chewy, it was this nice tenderness that I did not think was possible with octopus. This probably ruined Octopus for me since I will probably never find a place in Calgary that will compare…

Yellowfin

Saba “Box” Sushi with House Marinated Ikura:

I <3 IKURA

Ikura is my favourite type of fish eggs, I love the burst of briny-ness in your mouth when you pop ‘em! Box Sushi is just a traditional form of sushi known to Osaka. The major different between Hakozushi and normal sushi is that all the ingredients used for the Hako are either cooked or brined. Saba = perfect Hakozushi ingredient.

Look at all its briny goodness…

Next course….came in the cutest serve-ware ever!

C00-coo (that’s the noise owls make, FYI)

Chawanmushi with Mushroom & Salmon:

I absolutely adore steamed egg

I wish more places in Calgary would put Chawanmushi on their menus…

Finally, we finished our ridiculous feast of a meal with Coconut Fried Brownie (from Bakery Nouveau) with Green Tea Ice Cream:

<3 the mint leaves

The brownies were a little heavy for me (keep in mind that I’m not a chocolate fan though), but the matcha ice-cream was deliciously bitter.

MASHIKO SEATTLE SUSHI
4725 California Southwest
Seattle WA 98116
(206) 935-4339

[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

[Dine-Out] Seattle: The Crab Pot September 28, 2012

So, The Crab Pot is probably a giant tourist trap and all the Seattle foodies probably wouldn’t go near it with a ten-foot pole…but…we just had to go. We are tourists after all.

Store Front

While I realize this isn’t a Michelin star restaurant or anything, but seriously? I do expect clean napkins…

Mmm…lovely saucy finger prints that aren’t ours…appetizing…

Received the dirtiest look from our waitress when I asked for a clean napkin roll. I don’t think I was being overly fussy or anything, I even asked nicely. Would you have asked for a clean napkin roll?

Complimentary bread

Don’t waste your precious stomach space eating this bread. It is definitely nothing compared to what is to come. Hard and crunchy and stale.

Patiently awaiting our mountain of seafood…

We ordered The Pacific Clambake as opposed to the Alaskan because we wanted oysters.

Mmm…about to the mallet to good use

The Pacific Clambake comes with clams, mussels, dungeness crab, snow crab, oysters, shrimp, halibut, salmon, andouille sausage, corn on the cob, and red potatoes. The only difference between this and The Alaskan is that it doesn’t come with King Crab (but it is $6 less).

Close Up!

The crab was actually quite fresh (as it should be). Most of the shells (clams, mussels, and oysters) had fallen out of their shells so it was really just a wild scramble for getting what you wanted to eat (I don’t like mussels as much). Bahahaha, left all of those for the bf because he can’t tell them apart.

Salmon & Halibut Skewer

Did not like the skewer at all. The fish was overcooked and waaay over seasoned.

Mission Accomplished.

THE CRAB POT
1301 Alaskan Way
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 624-1890

[Quick Bite] Seattle: Piroshky, Piroshky August 29, 2012

When in Seattle, GO TO Piroshky, Piroshky. Seriously, do it. If you only have one baked good while you’re in Seattle, make sure it’s from this cute little Russian bakery.

Adorably Rustic Signage

Ermahgerd…can I get one of each please?

Seriously: One. Each.

No? Whhhhhhyyyyy?

At the end, we decided to get one savoury and one sweet pastry.

It’s even in the shape of a fish! Sort of…

We got the smoked salmon pate meat piroshky:

So. Good.

Delicious, I probably could’ve eaten 8 of these. I loved the soft and mushy texture of the pate in between the layers of the crispy pastry dough.

But, dude. If you only get one thing, get this:

Whole Baked Apple

As creative as the name is, you know what you’re getting. You’re getting a WHOLE. BAKED. APPLE.

Oh Lawd.

Tender apples, sweet cream cheese, crispy pastry crust, and powdered sugar:

Could there be anything better? That’s a no, rhetorical question.

This baby is definitely delicious but it is also very rich. I would recommend sharing it, but hell, eat a whole one by yourself, no one will judge you.

PIROSHKY, PIROSHKY
1908 Pike Place
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 441-6068

[Dine-Out] Seattle: Pike Place Chowder August 28, 2012

When in Seattle – eat chowder.

The Pike Place Chowder

Pike Place Chowder was definitely top on my list of places to eat. We hit this spot on the very first day of our week long vacation.

The market chowder of the day was Crab and Shrimp:

<3 Chalkboard Menu

We ordered the dungeness crab roll and the 4 cup chowder sampler to share:

Om Nom Nom

The 4 we got to try were the seafood bisque, smoked salmon, New England clam chowder and the market chowder.

Least favourite = smoked salmon

The chowders were everything they were promised to be – rich, creamy, delicious. If there had to be one that didn’t live up to expectations, it was the smoked salmon. It just wasn’t as delicious as all the other ones, it was evident by the fact that it was the last one left AND it was still half full. It had nova smoked salmon, capers, and cream cheese – it was still good but left us thinking “we should have tried something else”. The seafood bisque was my favourite. It had so much seafood – Pacific cod, Northwest salmon, Oregon bay shrimp, and crab all simmered in a creamy, tomato-ey broth. Runner up was definitely the classic New England. Nothing beats a creamy bowl of bacon and clam soup!

Annnd, the glorious Dungeness Crab Roll:

Ermahgerd, one was not enough.

Next time, we would definitely order two of these babies. The crab meat was unbelievably fresh, and the amount of mayo was just perfect. I hate salads with too much mayo, yuck. Is it still called a salad if it comes in a bun? It is right? And the celery added a nice crunch which definitely broke up the mushy texture of the crab and the white bun. Thumbs up all the way.

PIKE PLACE CHOWDER
1530 Post Alley
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 267-2537

[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

[Dine-Out] Calgary: Redwater Grille September 30, 2011

The bf and I had dinner at the Bow Valley RedWater Grille a while back because I had a gift card to use up!

The meal started off with some complementary bread. As you can see, they don’t serve you fancy bakery bread, it’s pretty much just white bread but in a baguette shape instead of a loaf shape. The butter had some herbs in it though.

Butterball

We started off with the Calamari. The sauce is a green apple and lemon aioli. Hahaha, speaking of aioli, I overheard a conversation today where the guy was pronouncing it “alloy”, and his companions were all confused as to why there would be alloy in food.

The menu online says this is $9.00, but they totally charged us $10.00

This was actually quite well done, the oil was nice and the batter wasn’t too heavy.

I prefer the type of calamari with squid legs though~

For the main I had the Forno Roasted Red Spring Salmon. The dish came with herb roasted baby potatoes, asparagus, and chill garlic butter. I asked for mine without the butter though. I don’t get when main dishes come out for a massive knob of butter, why does anyone need to eat that much butter with their protein?

$24.00

Meh, your average fish & potatoes. Nothing special about this, nothing bad either…the fish wasn’t dry or anything, but it wasn’t fantastic.

The bf got the Crab Capellini:

$18.00

This was super delicious, but I think the recipe probably went something like this: equal part butter and equal part pasta.

Yum, I love soft-shell crab!

Even though the food was quite good, I don’t think we will be going back there anytime soon.

Why you ask? Is it because of the price? Nope, even though it is a little on the expensive side.

It is….

because….

…

…

…of this:

Soooo much oil

Above was what my salmon dish looked like sans food. I don’t even know how there could be sooooo much oil. Imagine how much there would have been with the ball of butter!

Empty Pasta Dish

This was the bf’s empty dish. I understand that a lot of restaurants cook their pasta with lots of butter so it tastes yummy, but there was probably a good 2 tablespoons of oil pooling at the bottom of the bowl. That’s just not very appetizer to look it. Imagine how much oil you probably actually digested…

I also don’t understand how they managed to do the fried dish (calamari) with little to no oil left on the plate…but this much oil for our main courses…baffling!

RED WATER GRILLE
181 250 6th Ave SW
Calgary, AB T2P 3H7
(403) 265-3837

[Dine-Out] Calgary: Sunterra Market September 1, 2011

The bf and I went through this phase where we would eat at the Sunterra Keynote every weekend since their food was so reasonably priced. We’d have brunch there every Sunday, sometimes a dinner, and it definitely became a place to take our parents for celebrations because it was so cheap! We’ve weaned off it a bit now, I don’t think we’ve gone in a couple of months. I get sick of things pretty quick if we have it too often, and it also seemed like a waste to spend all of our money there when there are so many good places to eat at in Calgary.

Here’s a compilation of most of our meals there. As you will see from the pictures, even though you will order the same meal, you’ll still see a lot of variety & discrepancies. The discrepancies were also something that go on my nerve after a while. You’d never know if the food is going to be cooked the way you like it or if it was going to be a bit…off…

This was probably our first meal there, and what made me fall in love with this place. As you all know, I love having a traditional breakfast. Their “Classic” breakfast here is only $6.29!! That’s a good $3.00 off any other place that offers breakfast in town. The breakfast comes with 2 eggs (cooked to your liking, I got poached here), hash browns, choice of meat (ham, bacon, or sausage), and fresh fruit. I loved the mint on top, it made it just that much better!

Fruit - Fresh from the Market Below

The bf got a chicken burger with a side of Caesar salad:

I think around $9.00

The food here is nothing extraordinary, but it’s totally not bad either. I’d say above average most days, average some days, and I’ve never had a bad meal there. The portions are great considering the prices though.

Another day – the bf got a bison burger:

Still around $9.00

Look at all that bacon!! They sure don’t skimp.

I got a roast beef lunch once, this was a little pricier, probably around $12.00:

Love Love Cauliflower

I wasn’t a big fan of the sauce, and the meat was a little cold. I think the temperature issue was due to me getting it probably at the end of lunch service. It wasn’t over-cooked or anything, and the potatoes were fantastic. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Also, this was enough food for me to have lunch the next day as well!!

Smoked Salmon Crepe with Capers:

Around $10.00 I think, could be less

The bf ordered this, and he loved it!

My traditional breakfast again:

Love Love Tomatoes

Another reason I love this place is that they’ll give me grilled tomatoes instead of toast at no extra charge! There was a miscommunication this time and I didn’t end up getting any potatoes but I didn’t really need them anyways.

This time I got both potatoes and tomatoes, and even an extra tomato!! (See what I mean by discrepancies?)

So Yummy!

Here’s another Smoked Salmon Crepe:

Crepe

A Beef-Cooked-in-Wine Crepe:

More Crepe

And a breakfast burrito:

Probably around $8.00

That’s it for the breakfast/brunch portion of the post. As you can see, it’s a great place to take a large group of people for brunch and not break the wallet!

We also stopped by at night once to try their dinner menu:

Wine & Cheese Board for around $12.00

This is a wicked deal for under $20.00. Most places will charge more than that for their charcuterie boards. And it’s not like they give you regular cheddar and pepperoni either! We got fancy “exotic” meats and 3 different variety of cheeses.

We also got a burger to share. This was probably $10.00. The coleslaw that came as a side on this was fantastic. It tasted really good as a dip for the potatoes!

Beeeeeefffffyyyy Goodness~

The ordering system of this place is kind of weird when you go at brunch time. I’ve been there like 6 times now and I still don’t think I do it properly. Some of the stations, like the crepes, you order from the chef, then you go to the cashier to pay for your meal. Some stations, like the traditional breakfast, you just go to the cashier and they’ll take your order for you. Also, I never know if I’m supposed to stand there or wait for my food, or if I’m supposed to sit down and they’ll bring it to you. They do both, like if you’re not standing there waiting for your name to be called out, they’ll walk around looking for you…

A tad bit confusing, and a tad bit inconsistent, but a great place to eat nevertheless~

SUNTERRA MARKET
Keynote
200 12 Avenue Southeast
Calgary, AB T2G 1G1
(403) 261-6772