[Dine-Out] Calgary: Dakota Bar & Grill April 21, 2011

We probably should’ve walked out when we saw that the restaurant was empty. It was around 1:00 PM and there was absolutely no one in the restaurant. We’ve been walking around for almost an hour to look for a place to eat. The one difficult thing about eating downtown on a Saturday is that most good restaurants are closed during lunch hours. In hindsight, we should have roughed out the extra block, I could’ve had brunch at Milestones or something. Actually, we should really have left and gone next door to The Metropolitan Grill – they also had a weekend brunch. Le sigh – oh, so many food related regrets~

The food at Dakota was mediocre, and it took FOREVER!! Ok, maybe it didn’t take that long, but it seemed like an eternity because we were the only people in the restaurant. I mean, come on!

Their lamb burger was on special, it was $16.00. This was the saddest lamb burger I’ve ever seen, and for $16.00?!?! Are you kidding me?! So disappointing.

Sad lamb burger with soup

I don’t think the patty was even 1/2″ thick…and look at how thin the pickle is! I can see the tomato through the pickle. I really don’t see the point on skimming on the PICKLE! The soup was salty and tiny portioned, the top of the cup was probably 3″ in diameter; now compare that to the diameter of the patty….

I got the fish & chips, it was okay…for $14.00, I’d rather pay the extra $4.00 and have it at Catch:

Meh~

Look at how dark the fish batter is…I’m pretty sure that means they’re using old oil….maybe not…I guess their fries aren’t that colour. Their tartar was…different…it was tangy, I think it had tomatoes in it or something.

The service was really slow too, the girl was busy watching TV, I mean how hard is it to not make your only table wait?!

All in all, I would NOT pay to eat here again. I don’t even know if I would eat here again if I didn’t have to pay…

There are too many good restaurants around to waste my time & stomach space for barely passable restaurants.

DAKOTA BAR & GRILL
310 8 Avenue Southwest
Calgary, AB T2P 1B9
(403) 262-4967

[Dine-Out] Calgary: Catch Oyster Bar March 23, 2011

Catch is probably one of my favourite restaurants in Calgary, it definitely is in the “affordable” category. Well, affordable like a nice sit-down restaurant affordable, not like McDonald’s affordable. I would definitely choose it over going to Moxie’s or Milestones or any one of those chain restaurants. You get a much better meals in a much better environment than those chain restaurants.

I got the Wild BC Ling Cod Fish & Chips, for $17.00 it’s one of the more affordable entrées on their dinner menu. I think it’s pretty good value too, it comes with a big plate of House Cut Fries and a Grilled Lemon. The grilled lemon squeezed on top of the fish and chips is so good, it’s much better than an un-grilled lemon. It shows more thought was put into the dish as well! The tartare sauce that comes with the dish is great too, and don’t by too shy to ask for more if you use all yours up – the server is more than happy to bring you a second helping of the sauce!

Giant Plate of Fries

The bf got the Snake River Kobe Beef Burger, it comes with caramelized onions, Sriracha mayo, smoked bacon, and cheddar. It also came with a big serving of their House Cut Fries. By the time we were done, we were both so stuffed with their fries. They were nice and crispy, and we had that tartare sauce to dip it in! The bf loves mayonnaise sauce for his fries so he polished everything off. In hindsight, he should’ve probably gotten a salad instead of fries, and we could’ve shared~

Kobe Beef Burger

I love coming to Catch, I can’t wait until the summer when they have their patio opened. I wanted to try their Chilled Seafood Towers (so expensive >___<“)

CATCH OYSTER BAR
100 8 Avenue Southeast
Calgary, AB
(403) 206-0000