Sunday 31 January 2016

HAPPY HOUR AT GORO + GUN - Stephen Avenue

My second leg of eating and shopping. I stopped by Goro + Gun during their Happy Hour to try their items at a discounted price of $5. Located on the second floor of the Scotia Centre, this place is pretty big. There wasn't a lot of people there during happy hour, and the sign in front say to seat yourself which was fine. I chose a seat by the open kitchen, and they were showing Dragon Ball Z on the TVs. There was only one waitress working while I think the hostess was just walking around talking and grabbing her own drink (maybe she was on break?).

My friends came here on their girls' night a while back when this place first open while I was on vacation. Most of their reviews and opinion of this place were negative. I decided to give this place a try for their Ramen burgers and their Ramen (soup), and it's been over a year so the restaurant probably would have improve between now and then (or they could be worst but I like to think positive). Since I was still full from lunch, I decided to forgo their Ramen and try their Happy Hour menu which has a decent variety of food. I chose three different items.

Assorted Sashimi - 6 pieces $5

This, I think, is the best deal on their Happy Hour menu, and the best tasting out of the three I had. I did want to try the house roll but it had avocado in it, and I didn't want risk an allergic reaction :(. Anyways, back to the sashimi, you get six pieces - 3 tuna, 2 salmon, and 1 shrimp. The salmon was a nice deep red which made me believe that it was from a Sockeye salmon. Everything seemed fresh and the presentation of the dish was nice but the sashimi was just average.

Yam Tempura $5

I think you get a full order of this - 6 pieces. The tempura sauce was light and had ground daikon in it. The tempera, however, was a disappointment. The yam was soaked in oil, and the outside tempura part was greasy. I had to press down on the pieces to squeeze out a lot of it out, and it wasn't appealing at all. I ate only three pieces of it, the oil was just off putting that I couldn't stomach it anymore. A very disappointing tempura dish, maybe the worst of all the tempura dishes I had.

Ramen Burger $5

I was really looking forward to this dish because of the novelty of it, and I was looking for a good crunch dish. You get two little slider burgers. Well, the ramen bun did have a crunch if you eat it right away. The sauce on the burger made the bottom ramen piece soft and hard to handle. I did try to eat it like a burger on the first bite but after that it didn't working well. By the end, I ended up deconstructing the burger and eating it with my fork. This dish was a disappointment too. It was very oily, and burger was very, very dry. The kimchi was nice, but the only good part of this dish was the sauce.

Overall, I had a very disappointing meal. I was not very happy with this place during Happy Hour, and I was trying to be positive. However, I will come back to give their Ramen a try and not during Happy Hour. Maybe everyone in the kitchen was having an off day in the food they were cooking which seems unlikely. From the looks of it and the only positive thing I can say right now was that waitress was the only hard working person there during Happy Hour. Even though she was working the whole restaurant, she did stop by a couple of times to refill my water and to see how I was doing.

Goro + Gun
225 7th Ave SW
403-237-5596

Goro + Gun Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

LUNCH AT OGAM: CHICKEN AND KOREAN RESTAURANT - Kingsland

I'm a bit behind on my reviews. Last week, on a random weekday off from work, I headed down south for some eating and shopping. Located across from Chinook Mall, this tiny restaurant offers yummy Korean fried chicken and other Korean specialties. The first impression when I went in was to order at the counter and then take a seat, but I was wrong. As I made my way to the counter, a server asked for how many, and then she directed me to a seat. The restaurant is tiny with only 11 4-top tables. The server brought over the menu, but I ready knew I was getting the fried chicken - as my goal is to try all the Korean fried chicken in the city.

They have other delicious looking items on the menu including hot pots and Bi Bam Bap, and they also serve alcohol. For their fried chicken, they have different flavours including crispy, soy garlic, seasoned, and spicy, and a choice of bone and boneless. For their small menu everything looked good. When I'm back in the south again, I would definitely stopped by here to try their other items.

Soy Garlic Chicken Meal with Salad, Steamed Rice, and Drink $12.90

I ordered the chicken meal, and it came with three big pieces of chicken - wing, thigh, and drumstick. The chicken was moist and tender, and the skin was very crispy. The sauce had just the right amount of garlic flavour and it had a little spicy kick to it. The rice helped with that kick. The salad was refreshing with a ginger dressing. This meal was very filling.

Overall, this a nice little place that serves delicious Korean fried chicken. The servers here are attentive and very nice. So far, I can't decide which KFC I like the best but I should be glad that I haven't had any bad ones yet.

Ogam Chicken
#108, 6008 Macleod Trail SW
403-454-6101

Ogam : Chicken & Korean Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Monday 18 January 2016

LUNCH AT BLACK PIG BISTRO - Bridgeland

I came here on Sunday after my friend and I went to the Wedding Fair. The Fair was for her. We were going to go to Shiki Menya but they close on Sundays. We weren't picky so we went next door to Black Pig Bistro since we heard good things about the place. This bistro is located on the busy commercial street in the heart of Bridgeland on first Ave. It is easy to get to since this is a two way street. I recently learned that Bridgeland has many one way streets which makes navigating somewhat difficult. This place do have a nice bistro/cafe feel to it, and I was surprise to find it not busy at all during the lunch hour. Maybe everyone had brunch or nobody wanted to go out in the very cold weather, but we did see a lot of kids crazy-carpeting down the hill nearby. Anyways, we were seated quickly, and the lovely server asked if we wanted flat or carbonated water as we were sitting down. We got flat. I don't really like carbonated water and don't see the appeal to it.

My friend and I quickly peruse the one page menu which had both brunch and lunch on it. We both chose items from the lunch section. The Iberico ham looked a little steep at $26. Since my friend was treating, I wasn't going to suggest it. I did try Iberico ham before when I was in Europe, and it was very good. My friend, after asking for the server's recommendation, decided to go with the Bocadillo sandwich $13 (no picture)- adobo braised pork with cheese, mustard and pickles on a house made baguette. I had the brisket burger, and we shared a side of patata bravas. Both the sandwich and burger came with a nice salad. My friend was, I think, indifferent about her sandwich. She said the pork didn't really have a lot of flavor, and the mustard was overpowering everything. It was a bit difficult to eat so she just resorted to deconstructing the sandwich with her fork.

Black Pig Brisket Burger $14

This Burger is huge, tall-wise. I had to squish it down so I can bite into it. Naturally, most of the chevre (goat cheese) oozed out making this burger somewhat messy to eat. The burger was a little greasy, and the burger tasted like beef that is seared. It kinds reminds me of the burgers I make at home using fresh beef. I could not taste any other flavour in the burger - not the chevre, tomato jam, or the tomato and harissa emulsion. Harissa is a hot chili pepper paste, but I didn't taste anything spicy in my burger and I have a very low tolerance to spice. However, this is a good meat burger. This burger also came with a side of mixed green salad with red and yellow cherry tomatoes. The house dressing on the salad was light and balsamic-y making it quite refreshing.

Patatas Bravas $8

My friend and I also decided to order a side to share. We ordered the potatoes which was slightly crispy and tossed with a lightly spiced tomato and pepper sauce. This side had a little kick of spice to it. This dish made a good addition to our sandwich and burger. However, I don't think this side dish was worth the $8.

Black Pig Bistro is a nice little place for a relaxing meal. The service was excellent, and the food was good. It looks like the menu changes frequently. I can't wait to go back and try their dinner. Judging from my follow posters' pictures, everything looks good. I know the price is a little steep but with the increase in minimum wage and the location, I would pay their prices for the mains (not so much for their sides) to have a nice meal. Also, a reminder that this place close on Mondays. I'm finding more and more restaurants close one day a week which makes sense during the economic downturn.

Black Pig Bistro
825 1 Ave NE
403-460-0350

Black Pig Bistro Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Sunday 17 January 2016

DINNER AT BANANA LEAF TROPICAL CUISINE - Northeast

Located in the Horizon Auto Center in the corner of 32nd and 32nd in the NE, this unassuming little gem is tucked in the middle of the strip mall. I stopped here after work on Friday to grab some take-away. Naturally, the place was empty since it was around 5pm, but I know for a fact that once it hits 6pm all the tables will be full. This restaurant has both Malaysian and Taiwanese cuisine. I've been here a few times and each time the service and food was excellent. This was my first time getting take-away from here. I have tried at least one of every variety on their menu. Their laksa is very good and very spicy for me. It took me a while to eat it with a lot of water and soya milk with grass jelly. It was worth it.

I went to Banana Leaf earlier in the week, but it was closed. After being good and eating well for the past two weeks, I was craving deep fried stuff. Banana Leaf has pretty good deep fried tofu, and I love deep fried tofu. Tofu is one of my favourite protein after beef. Sure it doesn't taste much, but I like it pan- or deep fried. Ok, getting back to Banana Leaf. So, the bad thing about getting take-away is the leaking or soggy mess the containers make. I don't live far away from Banana Leaf but when I got home my appetizers containers were a soggy mess. The containers they put the hot items in were cardboard and they didn't line it with anything. So after about 5-10 minutes between picking up and arriving at home, the cardboard was soaked and had collapsed on the food. Other places lined their cardboard containers with aluminum foil, and it ended up intact when I got home.

Deep Fried Tofu with Garlic and Green Onion $5.50

Yum Yum. This is dish is always good. The tofu was only a little crispy. I think it lost its crispiness when it was steaming in the box. There was lots of garlic and green onion present too. I think the garlic was a little off. It tasted different from before, not a brunt taste or garlic chip taste. It was just different. I just scrap off all the garlic off and ate the tofu.

Deep Fried Crispy Chicken Nuggets $8.95

I highly recommend this dish to try, but probably not for take-away. Again, the chicken was not at all crispy when I got home. However, it was still good as this was all chicken. It was not heavily breaded like other chicken nuggets you find elsewhere. Again, the garlic was off for this dish as well as I think they make a big container of the garlic and green onion mix.

Ground Pork Sauce on Rice $7.50

I haven't tried this dish yet. As the name suggest, this was just a pork sauce poured over rice. It was very good if you want some flavour on your rice. The pork sauce acted like a gravy for the rice. It had a light taste to it and was lightly seasoned. There was not define taste like black bean nor was it spicy. I was surprise that hidden underneath the cilantro sprig was a whole soy-boiled egg. The egg had a nice light soy flavour it to and was a nice addition to the dish texture-wise.

Overall, I like going to this place since it is close by work and home. The meal that I ordered was just enough for two people with the right portions. I have been recommending this place to everyone at work. The food is always good, and the service is excellent. I now know I have to be careful on take-away orders as I don't really want to a soggy cardboard mess when I get home :( One thing to remember is that they close on Mondays and they only open to 8pm rest of the week with a last call for kitchen order at 7:30pm. Also, I think if you have 4 or more people in your party, everyone in the party have to be present before they can seat you as written on their entrance way.

Banana Leaf Tropical Cuisine
3330 32 St NE
403-450-3880

Banana Leaf Tropical Cuisine Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Sunday 10 January 2016

LUNCH AT MAMAK DANG FUSION MALAYSIAN CUISINE - Northeast

This little hole-in-the-wall restaurant on 12th Street off McKnight in the N.E. is a hidden jewel in the McCall Industrial Park. I use to work in this area until my company moved. During this time, I have seen this restaurant change from a hamburger/sandwich joint, to a Vietnamese restaurant, then a Malaysian restaurant (Tropical Delight) and finally to Mamak Dang. I'm not sure if there was another restaurant in-between Tropical and Mamak since my company had already moved by then. My first taste of Malaysian food was at Tropical Delight.

I was in the mood for Malaysian curry and deep fried tofu. I first went to Banana Leaf but they were closed today (as per their hand-written sign - they are usually open on Sundays). So, I looked up Mamak Dang to see if they were open. I was very surprise that they were since most businesses in the industrial area are usually closed on Sundays. I went around during noon and was surprise to see the restaurant was half full. I ordered take-away since I had a lot of stuff to do at home. First thing to notice regarding food is that the menu is not the same as its competition on 32nd ave. They don't have Taiwanese items, but some Thai, and no deep fried tofu which was okay since there were other stuff to try. There was only one server today, and he seemed very efficient. I didn't have to wait long for him to come back to grab my order.

Roti with Curry Sauce $5.75

You get two pieces of roti per order. The roti was a good size, and it was flaky and delicious. It was even more delicious dipping it in their curry sauce. At first, I thought I can handle their curry sauce but it kept getting spicier after each bite. I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy. I had to drink my soya milk with grass jelly and water constantly but the taste was worth a burned mouth. The curry was very flavourful, and they give you the perfect amount for the roti.

Nasi Beef and Chicken Combo $13.75

Nasi lemak is Malaysian coconut milk rice served with sambal, fried crispy anchovies, toasted peanuts,and cucumber. I chose the combo because I wanted to try their curry chicken and rendang beef. The amount of food they give you was enough for two people for lunch. I didn't really taste the coconut in the rice but the rice was nice and moist and not dried out. The anchovies was mixed with onions and they were crispy. The cucumber and carrot refreshes the palate after the spice of the meats. The peanuts and wonton chips give the dish a nice crunch and added more texture. Now, for the meats, the curry chicken was the same curry that I got for the roti. The chicken was tender and moist. The beef was also tender, and I could cut the pieces with my plastic fork. Both the sauces were unique and flavourful. This dish also includes a hard boiled egg which I use to dip the leftover sauce in. The dish was spicy, and I ended up drinking a lot of water but again it was all worth it.

Soya Milk with Grass Jelly $3.75

Soya milk with grass jelly enough said. Two flavours that doesn't seem to go together but it works. I usually don't like chewy stuff in my drinks - hence no bubbles in the bubble tea - but I like this drink. I can make this at home but I like to think of this drink as a treat so I don't get tired of it. This drink did help my mouth combat the spicy dishes.

This is a good place to go if you are working in the industrial park or a place to drop by after work or on the weekends. They are open late (9 pm) and on weekends, however they don't open Mondays. They do have a lunch special but I forget what you get. The service is fast, and the prices are reasonable. The next time I'm here I will order laksa soup, and I think you get to pick the level of spice.

Mamak Dang Fusion Malaysian Cuisine
4604 12 Street NE Unit A
403-261-1811

Mamak Dang Fusion Malaysian Cuisine Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

DINNER AT LA CANTINA - Bridgeland

This hidden gem is located in the basement of the Calgary Italian Club. We came here for my friend's birthday on a Friday, and there were a lot of us - more than 20. They gave us a long table to sit at in the middle of the place. Considering there were so many of us, the service was very good. We usually go to this other Italian place for her birthday, but the place switched owners and name, and the food isn't as good according to my friends. So she picked this place since she knows the Roma Catering group do good food. Also, they have indoor bocce in this place which we didn't get a chance to try out.

Since we knew the food wasn't coming out fast, it did give us time to catch up. We actually spent a long time in here, and they never rushed us. I was a bit sad that I didn't order an appetizer since I wasn't all that hungry and had no one to share it with that was siting close to me - the artichoke looked very good though. I love artichokes. In fact, all the appies that came out looked very good, and I heard they were very good as well. Next time I'm here, I'll just be ordering appies.

Vitello Panini with Grilled Veggies and Roasted Potato Wedges $18

I'm very sad that I didn't take a picture of this - not a lot of my friends know I have a blog or post on zomato - and I feel awkward taking pictures of food when eating in a big crowd. The plate looked so pretty as pretty a plate can get with a sandwich and veggies. The veal was thin and breaded. They put it on a long (6") crusty bread with marinara sauce and leafy lettuce. There was the right amount of sauce on it because the bread wasn't a soggy mess on the bottom. The sandwich had a nice soft crunch. The veggies consist of broccolini, zucchini, and red peppers. I think these veggies were roasted and grilled since the zucchini had grill marks on them. They were not overly seasoned but they did still retained their crispiness to them. The roasted potato wedges were just roasted potato wedges but it is good to eat some veggies after the long food feast during the holidays.

Deep Fried Cheesecake $7

This one I did manage to sneak a picture off :). One of my friend and I decided to share a dessert but then she ordered her own dessert too. She ordered tiramisu which I think tasted very good. She thought it was okay. She did have some of my though so I didn't feel too guilty of eating the cheesecake by myself. The cheesecake, minus the crust, was wrapped in a wonton wrapper (it looked like a wonton wrapper) and deep fried. The dessert was nice and warm. There was some sort of cinnamon spice in it. The crust was kinda chewy in that it was kinda hard to cut into pieces with a fork. I just wanted to pick up the whole thing with my hand and eat it like a spring roll but I didn't. One side was drizzled with chocolate and the other side caramel and strawberry sauce. This dish did remind me of Neapolitan ice cream. This dessert was very good.

This might be my friends and I go to place now for Italian food and birthday parties involving Italian food. I don't think you can go wrong with ordering anything on the menu. Everything looks good and delicious.

La Cantina
416 1 Ave NE
(403) 264-2032

La Cantina Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Tuesday 5 January 2016

LUNCH AT CHRISTY'S ROTISSERIE CHICKEN - Northeast

This fast food joint is a stand alone building located on 32nd between Boston Pizza and Arby's in the NE. It has been putting out reasonably priced good food for years. I first started eating at Christy's in the downtown location years ago. There was always combo deals with their rotisserie chicken - quarter chicken with two sides or hot chicken sandwiches, fries, and drink = save $$. This was important for this poor university student who like to study at Devonian Gardens. I was very sad when they closed the downtown location.

Now, I go to Christy's whenever I go to Michael's, which was happening a lot in November/December since I was crafting a lot of Christmas gifts. I usually grab take out but sometimes I eat in if it is the weekend. Since I know where to go for good rotisserie chicken, I don't order it from here anymore. I usually get a Christy's classic combo (1 meat and 2 sides) or hot chicken sandwich since their gravy and fries are so good. They do have some Asian items now like wonton soup and cook-to-order stir-fry noodles. What I like about Christy's is that their food and flavours are always consistent at wherever location you dine at.

Mesquite Chicken with creamy pasta and dill potatoes (One meat and two sides) $7.99

This was from a previous visit when I had to work major overtime. Their portion is usually generous but this time the portion was huge. Of course, they were closing in 30 minutes so I guess they were getting rid as much food as they can for the night. I usually don't get the mesquite chicken but it looked like that was all that was available. I'm pretty sure the cook could have whipped up a portion of meat for me if I had chosen a different meat item - meat items include: honey chicken, mesquite chicken, salt and pepper chicken, lemon chicken, and ginger beef. I usually get the honey chicken or the salt and pepper chicken. The honey chicken is always flavourful, and the salt and pepper chicken is deep fried and tossed with onions, bell peppers and pepper flakes. I always scrap off the pepper flakes but the little spice level helps to flavour the other items. The mesquite chicken has a little smoke flavour to it, and the sauce is good. I always get the dill potatoes even thought it doesn't have a lot of dill or butter flavour. I like the potatoes because they are always good to use to dip and gather up all the sauce from the meat. The creamy pasta is creamy and cold. Even though it isn't well seasoned, the pasta gives a different texture to the other food items.

Hot Chicken Sandwich with Fries and Drink Combo $8.49

I came here last weekend since I needed some supplies from Michael's. I decided to eat in and had the hot chicken sandwich with fries and drink. The price has gone up since the university days but that was many years ago. However, the food still taste the same. I mean, it isn't hard to get chicken slices between two bread, but the gravy is still the same. The fries are the same in their crispiness but I remember that they use to season their fries with a spiced seasoning now they use just salt.

Overall, I think this is great fast food place if you want to get away from the hamburgers joints. The workers here are always nice and accommodating, and there are enough variety of food for even the picky eaters. You get generous portions, and the price is very reasonable.

Christy's Rotisserie Chicken
2775 32 Ave NE
(403) 250-2828

Cristy's Rotisserie Chicken Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Monday 4 January 2016

DINNER AT YUM YUM BBQ CHICKEN - Marlborough

I stopped by Pacific Palace (T&T) last week cause I was picking something up in the area. I was still kinda craving KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) from earlier in the week during my failed excursion to find lunch during the holidays in Chinatown. I was here once before when they first open in 2014 - nothing has really changed since then. I tried their half order of shallot chicken ($11.85) the first time. The chicken was really crispy with lots of shallots layered on top. The order also came with pickled daikon (Chinese white radish) which helped cut the greasiness.

This time, I ordered beef bulgogi poutine and half order of Yum Yum Chicken. This was around dinner time, and the place was kinda busy so I got the items to go as the restaurant is really small with limited seating. The very nice lady taking orders was also busy helping the kitchen as well. My order would be ready in 25 minutes so I went to walk around the mall and T&T.

Beef Bulgogi Poutine $11.99

This big poutine was enough to feed two people comfortably or a very hungry person. The beef was very tender and lots of it. The beef was mixed with shredded carrots, cabbage, green onion. This was piled on crispy crinkled fries, gravy, and a layer of cheese. This dish seemed to go on and on. The poutine was seasoned well. However, I don't think this is worth the price of $11.99, maybe it should be a couple dollars less. This cost more than most of the half orders of fried chicken on the menu. If they had a half order of both of their poutines, I think maybe more people will be willing to order this to give it a try. I know I will not be ordering this again for this price but I can say that I had beef bulgogi poutine.

Half Order Yum Yum Chicken $12.15 (6 pieces)

I was worried that this would be too spicy, but the spice level was just right for me. The chicken was very crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The chicken was deep fried and then tossed with a sweet chili sauce. The half order I got had gigantic pieces of chicken - must of been a big chicken! It is a true half of chicken since you get one piece of everything so you can taste both white and dark meat. However, this time around, I didn't get any pickle daikon. I don't know if they don't have it anymore or they just forgot. It is a nice addition to the greasiness and refreshes the palate.

Overall, the service was very good, and the food was worth the 25 minute wait. This is a good alternative to American fried chicken. I will never go back again. Korean fried chicken from now on. This will be the start of me trying to find all the Korean fried chicken restaurants in the city.

Yum Yum BBQ Chicken
#301, 999 36 Street N.E.
587-350-9133

Yum Yum BBQ Chicken Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato