[Dine-Out] Calgary: River Cafe November 7, 2011

The bf and I went to the River Cafe over the summer and had a nice brunch on their patio when the weather was still nice and warm~

Beautiful Interior

Look at this nice sunny view from the patio!

Sign~ Sooo niceeee!

Some tea for my brunch!

Tea time!

Organic honey for my tea!!

Healthier than white sugar!

We ordered the fish and game board to share. The board comes with house made crackers (the basket in the back). The plate from left top, candied trout, steelhead lox, pickled carrots. The middle row has some rillettes and duck paté with a little bowl of brassica mustard. The bottom row has house cured bison, Sylvan Star gouda, and some cranberry crackers.

Fish & Game Board

Very simple and elegant presentation:

Close Up

These homemade crackers were perfect with the board, very crisp and complementary.

Homemade Crackers!

We also got a supplementary basket of fresh baked muffins and pastries for $9.00.

$9.00 Worth of Pastries?

In the middle is a chive scone, which was the best of the bunch. Next we had half a piece of lemon poppy seed cake each:

Poppy Seed

This one was actually super delicious as well, a plum danish. I love danishes.

Plum Filled Yummy-ness~

The waiter forgot to bring this when he first dropped of the basket of pastries, but we got them in the end. A cherry perserve and a apricot perserve:

Looks kind of like ketchup...

The preserves were great.

I would definitely recommend going to the River Cafe, it has a very rustic atmosphere, and it’s gorgeous in the summer. I’m sure it’s a great place to be in the winter as well, I’ll have to make my way down there this winter!

RIVER CAFE
25 Prince’s Island Park
Calgary, AB T2P 0R1
(403) 261-7670

[Dine-Out] Calgary: Boxwood Cafe June 27, 2011

Boxwood is a cute little stand alone restaurant in Central Memorial Park, it’s also the sister restaurant of the River Cafe down in Eau Claire. It’s a great place to go to when the weather is nice and you can sit on the patio. You can people watch while you wait for your food, and the backdrop provided by the park is fantastic.

The Boxwood menu changes daily depending on the available ingredients as they serve local, seasonal, and sustainable foods. They used to post their menu daily on their website, but it seems that they’ve let that fall behind. The last menu on there is from June 13th, 2011.

Doesn’t matter though, I’m sure you will be able to find something that interests you on their menu.

Cute Logo

Their lunch menu largely consists of sandwiches, soups, and salads.

Earl Grey Tea with Milk and Honey

They serve Phil & Sebastian Coffee here. It’s delicious, and it’s what we drink at my office (their office line, 15 Kilos). I definitely recommend having a cup of that when you’re at Boxwood~

Special of the Day

This was the special of the day. It was a (cold) roast beef sandwich with tempura jalapeños and some sort of cheese on a ciabatta. This was a good sandwich, I really liked the tempura jalapeños – they added the perfect amount of crunch and heat to the sandwich. I wasn’t that satisfied with it because it was cold…I really think a roast beef sandwich should be steaming hot,

Innards

We also got a duck egg croissant:

I <3 Croissants

The croissant had pickled radishes and avocados as well. The avocado wasn’t the freshest, it was brown and spotty in several areas. And as for the duck egg, I was kind of hoping it’d be a salted duck egg, I love the yolks in those suckers. The plain duck egg was lacking something for me. Texturally though, I liked the mushy-ness of the avocado contrasting the crunch of the radishes.

Innards

I’m quite obsessed with changing menus, it’s a great way to try different foods & different preparations. The promise of something different and the relaxing atmosphere of the restaurant definitely makes up for some of the flaws of the food, and I would definitely come back to try their other items!

BOXWOOD CAFE
340 13 Avenue Southwest
Calgary, AB T2R 0W9