DINNER AT WHITE ELEPHANT THAI CUISINE - Northeast

Located just off 16th Ave and on 19th Street in the NE beside Denny's, in a sketchy hotel - The Airport Traveler's Inn, this little hole-in-the-wall, family-run, gem was a hidden treasure in the neighbourhood until all the local magazines started raving about it. Just check out all the accolades and mentions outside the restaurant door. This is good because I love reading success stories. This place is very close to my house, and I sometimes wonder why I don't come here often. Maybe it is the walking through the lobby and past the front desk in a sketchy hotel. I just feel bad that I'm not here for the hotel but for the restaurant in the hotel. The hotel is currently going through renovations, and there is a new entrance for the White Elephant on the side of the hotel facing Denny's.

This restaurant is very small and cozy and don't take reservations. It hasn't for a while now. The service is inconsistent which I ignore/can forgive because here it is all about the food. If the food is wonderfully delicious, the service doesn't matter to me as long as I get all the food I order. I've only eaten in the restaurant once. All the other times it was for take out. I love Thai milk tea. I'm very sad that the White Elephant don't do take out on their Thai Milk Tea. I should learn to make it to save money. This trip, my sister and her husband was coming over, so we all decided to get take-out from here. I went a little overboard and ordered a lot. I ordered everything with medium heat - you get a choice of heat. I forgot to order rice so I quickly made coconut rice when I got home - yay, money saver.

Thai Golden Tofu $5.50

This homemade deep-fried tofu appie comes in 8 pieces with handmade Thai sweet and sour sauce. I got two sauces with this. The sweet and sour and sweet and sour with peanuts and basil. I noticed with this and the Pad Thai that they package the peanuts separately which I guess due to potential allergies. As I mentioned before, I love deep-fried tofu, and these are one of the best. The tofu is thick and smooth. If you eat them right away, the skin is crisp. If you wait for a little bit, the skin gets soggy but it is still good with the sauce. The sauce is a little spicy, and you can also taste the sweet and sour too. The sauce with peanuts and basil taste the same as the plain one. The peanuts only gave the tofu a little crunch.

Pad Thai (Pork) $14.00

This is the best Pad Thai I have had so far but that isn't saying much since I've only been to three Thai restaurants. I have to check out the other Thai places around the city. The Pad Thai (and most of the other dishes) comes with your choice of protein - beef, pork, chicken, tofu, and prawns - with the tofu being cheaper and prawn the more expensive option. I usually get tofu, but I decided to get a variety of protein dishes this time. The Pad Thai had chive, cilantro, egg, and bean sprouts. There was not a lot of pork but that was okay since the star of the dish were the noodle and the sauce. I don't know what they have in the sauce the noodles were coated in but yum. I think that is the essence of Pad Thai.

Pad Gra Pow (Basil Beef and Veggie) $15.50

I wanted a veggie dish, but it ended up being a beef dish. They give you a lot of beef and little veggies. I have no complaints here. Veggies included carrot, bell peppers, broccoli, onions, and green onions. The dish was very favourful. You can taste the basil, and it wasn't overwhelming at all. I could see whole basil leaves in dish. The beef was very tender and not over-cooked at all.

Thai Red Curry with Bamboo Shoots and Chicken $16

This is my other favourite dish here but I should try the potato curry next time. The curry was so flavourful! I could taste the coconut milk and the lime leaves. There was a lot of chicken in the dish. I can just eat the curry sauce with plain rice all day every day. The bamboo shoots also adds a crunchiness to the dish. The bamboo shoots look fresh. They don't look like the ones you get in the can or from frozen. I was afraid that I couldn't handle the medium heat, but it was fine. My mouth was burning a little. Maybe I'm getting use to the heat, or it was the milk I was drinking with the meal.

Overall, the new entrance will probably encourage me to order here more often since I don't have to past through the watchful eye of the front desk. The hours at the White Elephant is very limited. They are open 5pm - 8 or 9pm (9pm on their website) from Monday to Saturday. They are closed on Sundays. There was no hours sign by the door. I missed it when it use to open for lunch but that has been a long time ago. This place takes cash and debit card only.

White Elephant Thai Cuisine
1808 19th Street N.E.
403-457-1172

DINNER AT ADOBO EXPERIENCE - Marlborough

I've been wanting to come here for a while. One of my coworker told me there was one on Memorial Drive, and I was surprise since it has been there a while. I always thought there was only one, and it was on 17th Ave. Located on Memorial, just past the Petro Can station and across from Walmart/Marlborough Mall, this place is in the strip mall and was a very easy to get to. There was decent enough parking although I can imagine it getting very busy during prime time and weekends with the other businesses around.

So, a couple of my Filipino coworkers and myself headed here after work on Friday. The place only had two other tables occupied since we got there before 5 pm. Upon coming in, the place was bright and open. I like the colourful wall by the bar in the back. My coworker friend was translating some of the messages to me. One of them said not to pee on the wall/here. All I wanted to try here was their adobo and crispy pata. I had adobo before, and I really wanted to know what this crispy pata was all about since my coworkers kept talking about it. So, we decided to each get a different adobo meal and share the crispy pata. The service here was prompt and fast considering crispy pata is suppose to take a while to make. My co-workers ordered in tagalog so I have no idea what they were talking about, but the server seemed very nice.

Crispy Pata $14.99

I've been wanting to try this dish for a while. I know that some Filipino restaurants require you to call in a head of time for your order since it takes a while to cook it but not here. They must do a lot of prep beforehand to get it ready for cooking. Crispy pata is deep-fried pork hock. It is very similar to Chinese roasted pork/pig. The dish is all crispy skin, fat and very little meat. The skin was all crisp and crunchy, and the meat was tender. This is not something you eat everyday because of all the fat. This dish is an indulgence. The sauce was what made the dish. It is a Filipino staple to have soy sauce with vinegar, and this place seasoned their sauce with onions and green onions. I will be buying Filipino vinegar the next time I'm eating roasted pig - no more dipping it in plain soy sauce anymore.

Haven Adobo with Pork and Chicken Meal $7.49

I had the haven adobo meal which is adobo with a coconut sauce finish. You get a choice of pork, chicken, or both. I chose both. The meal also comes with half a boiled egg, salad, and rice. The boiled egg was interesting, and it added more texture to the dish. The egg was lightly deep-fried since it had a crunchy yellow crust on it. The salad was undressed and very little of it. I got a couple pieces of pork and a big piece of chicken. The pork was a little dry and chicken was moist. I got the dark backside piece of chicken. There were different pieces of chicken that was probably scoop up randomly as my co-workers got drumsticks. I could taste the coconut in the sauce, and the sauce was very light.
One of my coworkers got the volcano adobo meal which I was afraid to try, and the other got the tropical adobo. It was a little sweet and it had pineapple chunks in it.

Yema Cake $5.75

After we finish ordering, we saw the dessert menu. It all looked very good and had a variety of desserts to chose from. I only knew what half of them were. When we were done our main meal, we were pretty stuffed but not stuffed enough to share a dessert. My coworker ordered the Yema cake which is good because I didn't know what it was so I was curious. The cake came in a plastic to-go container which led us to believe that they get their dessert from someone else which is okay. The cake was delicious. The cake was very light and moist. It is two layer cake with a thin caramel layer in middle. The cake is then covered with a yema frosting and sprinkled with shredded Eden cheese. Yema frosting is made from egg yolk and condensed milk and is very sweet. The eden cheese gave the cake a little salty taste which was unique and good.

Overall, this is a good place to try Filipino food. It is not a intimidating place, and I'm sure the people here will have plenty of suggestions. I like how they place a banana leaf on the bottom all the dishes, which is how the Filipino usually eat their food on. The banana leaf is not large since it is still hard to find banana leaf in Calgary. I whole-heartedly recommend this place for everyone to try. It is very inexpensive. The three of us paid less than $15 excluding tip for a lot of food. We were very stuffed at the end. One thing to mentioned is that they didn't have any pineapple or calamansi juice when we were there. I'm interested in trying all the dessert and am curious of why the Halo-halo is so expensive, $8!. I guess I will be back to try all the desserts then.

Adobo Experience
Unit 4, 3745 Memorial Drive SE
403-984-8400

DINNER AT MINAS BRAZILIAN STEAKHOUSE - Eau Claire

It has been ridiculous of how many birthday functions I'm having this year. My friend and I decided to have a co-birthday party since we have birthdays so close together. Our friends were all invited and the place all booked and confirmed until my friend texted me saying she had a ear and throat infection. So instead of a co-party, it was a birthday party for me - again. Some of my friends have been to two and one has been to three of my celebrations this year. I should just celebrate birthday month instead of birthday day if I continue this. I love celebrating birthdays because the atmosphere is always lively and happy, and you get to try new restaurants.

Minas was picked on a suggestion of a friend. My friend and I looked it up, and it looked like a pretty good place to celebrate. This place had a very cozy feeling upon entering. There were 10 of us altogether, and we were seated in a little private section by the hot and cold sides bar. I made reservations on Saturday at 6pm. About half of the restaurant was full when I arrived. Once everyone arrived, we were giving the run down of how everything worked by the very nice server that will be tending to us, and we were free to grab our sides before the meat started coming around. The server and service here is very good. Our water glasses were constantly re-filled and bottles of water were left on our table. Once we were slowing down, a couple of the Passadores, the carvers, asked what type of meat we still want and was right back at the table as soon as the requested meats were done.

Minas Caipirinha $9

So, I have fulfilled my alcohol quota for the year. Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail. It is made from fresh lime muddled with sugar and Cachaça rum and topped with crushed ice. This is a pretty good drink. I couldn't taste the alcohol in it which is the best. I could probably drink many of these and get drunk without even knowing it. I like how refreshing this drink is. I can taste the lime, and the sugar helped to make the drink neither sweet or sour.

All-you-can-eat Dinner $42.99

Once again, I forgot to take pictures of the meat and dessert from the bar. I tried not to eat a lot of food all day in preparation for this. So once all the food started coming, it was eat, eat, eat. I like the Iguarias hot and cold gourmet dishes here compared to the other Brazilian places I've been to. I think they have a more traditional spread. They had fried pork belly, coconut shrimp, rice, fried polenta, cassava, Feijoada (black bean stew), beef stew, mussels, mashed potatoes and much more. They also have some traditional salads, regular salads, vegetables, and cheese and ham. Further, they have yummy cheese bread balls that were dense and cheesy. The picture above showed some of the sides they had. Minas has a well-rounded sides bar. I would be satisfy just eating the side bar food, but I came for the meat.

There were 13 different types of meat circulating the room. I think we tried all of them. Some of us wished that there were cards or something on the table so we can check off what we had eaten thus far. From what I can remember, there were 2 types of sausages (spicy and non-spicy), 2 types of chicken drumsticks (BBQ and house special), chicken heart, Picanha, Parmesan pork, beef ribs, top sirloin, lamb, bacon wrapped chicken, 2 types of steak. We were there for a while and only some of the offerings only came around once, like the lamb, chicken heart, and beef ribs. Overall, everything was well-spiced and all the beef came with the right amount of fat. I don't think I have a favourite meat but the top choices for me were the Parmesan pork, Picanha, and one of their steaks.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the only Brazilian BBQ place that offers dessert at their bar. We were all satisfied with the dessert there that we didn't really need to see their actual dessert menu. There were mini donuts with caramel, chocolate, pineapple toppings, rice pudding, cookies, carrot cake, pound cake, fruits, and warm caramel bananas. The caramel banana was my favourite.

Overall, I think this is my favourite place out of the four Brazilian BBQs. Minas is a good place to celebrate occasions. They have the extra touches like the birthday greetings on the table. I was also surprise that they gave me a free piece of wonderful colourful cake. I would just come here for the sides bar alone. They have a good variety of dishes, and I like how they showcase, and have available, some authentic Brazilian dishes. The service was excellent. The server tending to us even asked if the 18% gratuity was okay on the bill. One of my friend said no jokingly, and he said that he will take it off - jokingly. We knew big groups already have gratuity added to the bill. All the workers there even said good bye with a smile on their faces when we were leaving (and it wasn't closing time yet). I wholeheartedly recommend this place to everyone. This was a good birthday celebration, and I was sad that my co-birthday friend missed it. I was also sad that I forgot to photograph more of the food.

Minas Brazilian Steakhouse
136 2nd St SW
403-454-2550

BRUNCH AT STARBELLY - Auburn Bay

I sometimes drive by this place when I visit my sister. I was very curious about this place when it first opened and didn't hear and read great things. My sister was also hesitant about having dinner here. My birthday was coming up so I suggested to have brunch at Starbelly since I heard some good things about their brunch. Located on Seton Blvd by Save-On foods and the new South Health Campus, Starbelly is very easy to find. Upon entering, the restaurant is very big and open. The open kitchen and bar is located at the front of the restaurant, and there is a big private dining room off to the side. My sister made reservations at 10:30am on Sunday, and it wasn't busy at all.

There were four of us altogether for brunch. The menu was small and had the typical offerings for brunch - standard breakfast, bennys, hash, and French toast. We all picked something different on the menu. The service was okay. Our server occasionally came by to refill our coffee and water and asked how everything was. I was debating back and forth between the savory dish (Pastrami Hash) or the sweet one (French Toast). I did what my friend does and pick at the really last minute when the server was taking our orders.

French Toast $15

I decided to go with the sweet dish. When the dish arrived at the table, I was disappointed. This dish definitely did not match the price. You get two pieces of brioche, two spoonfuls of berry compote, a scoop of cream cheese icing, and three itty bitty slices of bacon. I don't like ordering things that I can make easier at home. The food was okay, nothing memorable except for the small portion size. The best part of the dish was the bacon, and I'm not that big fan of bacon to begin with.

Root Beer Doughnut and Bourbon Vanilla Gelato and Peanut Butter and Banana Creme Brulee $8 each

We decided to order two desserts to share. I wanted to try the root beer doughnut since glancing at the online menu when it first opened. I was curious about the root beer taste. The doughnut did not taste like root beer at all no matter how I ate it - with ice cream, just the doughnut. All I taste was the cinnamon sugar and the weird thick caramel glaze. There was two doughnuts with bourbon vanilla gelato in the middle. The sandwich lasted 30 seconds before falling down - hence the picture. This dessert was a disappointment too. The only marginally good dish was the peanut butter and banana creme brulee. I can taste the peanut butter and banana together. It was very creamy, and it kinda reminded me of baby food. A slice of bacon biscotti came with the dish. I didn't very understand how this went together unless the chef was into the Elvis vibe. The biscotti was a biscotti with a big bacon favour.

Overall, I was disappointed when we finished our brunch. The only good thing about brunch was the company. I didn't ask my fellow brunchers how they felt about the restaurant. For me, this was a waste of a birthday pick, time, and gas money traveling all the way to the deep south. If you live or in this area, Starbelly might be an okay restaurant to go to occasionally.

Star Belly
220 19489 Seton Crescent SE
403-570-0133

DINNER AT MODEL MILK - 17th Ave

A very nice friend of mine wanted to take me out for my birthday. We decided to give Model Milk a try since neither of us has been there yet. We went on a Friday before 6 pm, and it wasn't quite busy yet. This place was easy to spot as there was a cow head above the door. Model Milk is named after the building. The restaurant looked small on the outside, but once we step in towards to back, it opened up. It reminded me of the Tardis - bigger on the inside :) (Yes, I'm a total geek.) The decor is modern and bright. I like how there is an open kitchen in the back and is between the two floors of the restaurant. The wait staff here is all really nice and have good recommendations. They explained all the dishes as it arrives at the table. All the servers here had a hipster style vibe going. We actually made the mistake of thinking the guy holding the door for us had worked there. He was dressed pretty nice - white shirt and black pants. It was a good thing my friend and I dressed causally.

My friend and I decided to sample a full meal. We had cocktails, appie, main, and dessert. It was a lot of food, and I'm not sure if I will be back here any time soon. Although, some of the Sunday dinners look good and worth the price.

Eye to Eye $13

So I'm not a big drinker - probably drink alcohol twice a year- but since I wasn't driving, I wanted to celebrate my birthday. I think cocktails are becoming trendy with restaurants having a huge selection of unique drinks. The drink menu was huge, and it was hard to chose. Based on the recommendation of our server, I chose Eye to Eye since he said that we can't really taste the alcohol in it. Well, I tasted the alcohol in it but not as much as the drink that my friend got, Bubbles for your Troubles. Eye to Eye had ginger liqueur, lemon juice, apple brandy, and angostura bitters. None of the ingredients really stuck out, and it had a unique taste for this inexperience alcohol drinker.

Fricassee of Calamari $15

This is the best calamari dish, outside of being it deep-fried, I have ever had. My friend and I were stuck on what to get for an appetizer. Our server recommended either the calamari or the beef tartare. I'm not a big fan of beef tartare after trying it in Paris. So calamari it was. First impression of the dish was 'is that noodles?!' The calamari was shaped into a noodle tubes and was not chewy at all. Everything in this dish worked so well together. The guanciale, Italian cured meat, added bits of salty goodness, and the edamame brings a burst of freshness. The garlic croutons added the crunchiness and also soaked up some of the sauce. We wanted more croutons, only 4 pieces, or bread in this dish to soak up the yummy sauce. This was a great starter, and I can see why this small dish is almost on every of their almost 200 menus. The server called this dish their closest signature dish.

Nashville Hot Chicken $54

When Model Milk first opened, all I heard was how good their fried chicken and waffles were. So, I really wanted to try this dish. My initial surprise was where are the waffles? I had looked up some pictures on Zomato of this dish and was always curious of where the waffles were. Well, the waffles are not your average buttermilk waffles. These were small deep-fired dough circles. When I first bit into one, it reminded me of something but I couldn't remember what. Naturally, it came to me when I was just setting down to go to bed. They tasted like Chinese donuts. I think having fried waffles and fried chicken together is too much fried stuff. The fried chicken was okay, and the pieces were big. I have to say my dad's fried chicken is better. The added hot sauce on the skin enhanced the favour and was not spicy at all. The skin was not really crispy, and the meat was only a little juicy and not much favour. I think I'm spoiled because now I preferred Korean Fried Chicken over regular fried chicken. The peanut coleslaw added a fresh and creamy element to the dish, and it just tasted like coleslaw - nothing memorable about it. The dill pickles and the crema were another additional element that went okay with the overall dish. I'm a bit disappointed in this dish after hyping it up in my head and what I have read and heard.

Mille Feuille $12

This is one delicious piece of dessert. It was not too sweet, and the puff pastry was buttery which appealed to my savory preference. The mille feuille had three layers with praline cream in the top and bottom layers and a light lemon curd in the middle. The dessert was flaky and light. The sour lemon and sauce off the side of the plate gave it another lemony tangy depth.

Overall, Model Milk is one of the better restaurants I had in Calgary so far. I like the atmosphere, and the service was very great. The fried chicken dish didn't live up to my hyped up expectations but everything else was very good. I also found out that this place is only open for dinner so no coming here for lunch. I totally recommend this place to all my friends, and I might be back for Sunday dinner.

Model Milk
308 17th Avenue SW
403-265-7343

DINNER AT SHIBUYA IZAKAYA - Central 16 Ave N

Izakaya is an informal Japanese gastropub. It is a casual place for after-work drinking. Patrons will drink, usually sake or beer, and order tapas to share. Shibuya could be the place as it does have many appetizers and sushi on the menu. This was the third and last leg of the birthday pig-out. I tried to be conservative this year because the sad fact is, as you get older, your body's metabolism slows down. As this was somewhat a last minute choice, only a couple of my friends were able to join me. I wanted to try this place out for their sushi rolls as they have a lot of varieties that does not have avocado in it. I was also here a month ago during lunch on a weekday to try out their ramen too. Before last month, I haven't been here for a long time. When it first opened back in 2007, my friends and I thought it was expensive and the food was okay. Now, the price is comparable to other Japanese restaurants, and the food has gotten way better.

Located along 16th Ave N, just east of Edmonton Trail, it is somewhat difficult to get into if you are traveling west bound on 16th Ave N. You will have to turn left on Edmonton Trail to get in from the back way. Also, parking my be difficult as Bubblemania is a popular place too and there isn't much parking spaces in the lot. As you enter, you get only one person, sometimes a couple of people, yelling the typical Japanese greeting. I know for a fact that most, if not all, of the wait staff are Chinese as I can eavesdrop on what they are saying. The inside of the restaurant is small and modern. The servers were all nice and attentive. As soon as one of our dishes were done, they took it away quickly.

Pictured Lotus Chips $3 and Salmon Isobe Age $8.50

I didn't have a chance to take pictures of all the rolls that we got. Like I said, not many of my friends know I write a food blog, and I don't want to be a typical Asian (other people too) and take lots of food pictures before eating. I do that when I'm on vacation :) This is what we ordered:

Lotus chips ($3) were delightful and very crunchy. They were perfectly seasoned as well. These were on their Specials menu.

Salmon and Tuna Isobe Age ($8.50 each) are simple rolls. We order one of each, salmon and tuna. My friend and I agreed that the salmon tasted better. The salmon and tuna were rolled with green onion in seaweed. The seaweed is dipped in tempura batter and quickly fried. The rolls were a bit crunchy and also small. I couldn't taste the green onion, and it would have been nice to. The sauce it came with was a bit spicy and it went well with the rolls.

Mango Tonkatsu Roll ($8.95) is from the Specials menu. It sounded unique and had a weird combo of ingredients that we decided to order it to try. This roll consists of kale, asparagus, tonkotsu, and mango all rolled together with rice and seaweed. The sauce dotted around the plate was a wonderful mango sauce. We just dipped the pieces in the mango sauce and eat it. There is no need for soy sauce and wasabi here.

Unagi Melody ($15.75) is what my friends order, and it looked good. I can't deny them for avocado. This roll has crispy tempura, avocado, unagi, cucumber, flying fish roe, and mayo.

Saba Blaze ($12.50) was something my friend looked forward to since she remember she liked it so much. This roll is like Nigiri sushi. The rice is rolled around a shiso leaf and a ume plum. A piece of saba (mackerel) is placed on top. When it gets to the table, they torch the top of the saba to give it a nice char. This dish has a fishy taste because of the mackerel, and I could also taste the plum and shiso leaf too.

Shibuya Roll ($13.75) was an additional roll we ordered after we thought there wasn't enough food. We were wrong. We couldn't finish this roll. This roll was another tempura style seaweed roll stuff with unagi, green onion, cream cheese, and cucumber. It had a nice crunch, and the sauce that was drizzled on top was nice and sweet.

Tonkotsu Ramen $12.50 and Chicken Karaage $6.75

From a previous visit, I went in during lunch on a weekday to try their ramen. And of course with the ramen, I wanted something crunchy so I ordered chicken karaage. The chicken karaage was not crunchy. It was very soft which made me think that the chicken was not fully cooked. It looked cooked, and I didn't get sick. The karaage wasn't really seasoned well, and it came with a lemon wedge and a sweet chili dipping sauce which I found weird. The ramen was just ramen as this is not a ramen specialty shop. The ramen has a light and salty pork broth with two pieces of lean char siu. There was half soft-boiled egg, green onion, and a couple sheets of seaweed as well. The ramen is not one of my favourite compared to all the ramens I have tried.

Overall, this place is on my list of sushi places that I can eat at. The service here is quick and attentive. All the sushi that comes with their own sauce don't need the usually soy and wasabi dipping mix. This place is open late and for lunch from Monday to Saturday, and for dinner only on Sundays.

Shibuya Izakaya
449 16 Ave NE
403-277-8823

LUNCH AT ALFORNO BAKERY AND CAFE - Downtown

The second leg of the birthday pig-out was to head to a bakery to find yummy delicious baked treats. There were a lot of bakeries to choose from, but I was curious about Alforno. My friend told me al forno means 'from the oven' in Italian which means I can expect a lot of baked goods. There were a lot of mixed reviews of Alforno on Zomato so I went in cautiously . The bakery cafe is located just off of the Peace Bridge as I saw it walking from the opposite direction. The place was easy to find as I was afraid it wouldn't be - just look for a white building.

Upon coming in, it was very clean, bright, and modern. There are lots of windows and sky lights. From my observations, you order your food at the counter, pay for it, and they give you a number (if you ordered food that needs to be prepped). You find a place to sit and when your food is ready, they bring it to you. It seems efficient enough - I was there on a weekday afternoon, and it wasn't very busy. You grab your own water, flatware, and napkins at the serving stations. I only found water on the upper level. When I was looking at pictures posted, I was curious of what was under the bike. It is where you get your milk and sugar for you coffee. They have different types of milk and you just pull the lever to dispense it. I thought that was pretty cool. Since it was after 1 pm, I decided to order a little lunch and a baked treat. You have to look way, way up for the menu, and you need to have good eye sight. After ordering, I noticed there were take out menu by the cash register - in case, you can't see that far.

Duck Sandwich $11

For me, this was an okay sandwich. The overnight duck confit and the caramelized onion was a good combination. The duck was tender and the onion was nice and soft. My least favourite part of the sandwich was the truffle aioli. The truffle oil in the aioli was very overpowering. I could only enjoy half of my sandwich before the favour got to me but I was determine to finish my $11 sandwich. I'm not a big fan of truffle oil. I just don't get the concept - no real truffles in the oil - and a little of it just ruin the other favours. I don't think this sandwich was worth the price.

Strawberry and Cream Dome $6

A birthday treat for me. This cake was very appealing. However, after I started eating this, the appearance was better than the taste. I can buy and make this cake similar to this - although, I don't know how to make the gel coating covering the cake but I can probably look it up. The middle is a moist white cake which is then surrounded by a strawberry mousse. To make the cake dome all shiny, they seal the cake with a thin layer of strawberry gelatin. The cake was undoubtedly strawberry favour. The decor were crunchy balls and a nice white chocolate square on top.

Macarons (1/2 dozen) $13.50

I didn't taste these macarons. They were a thank you gift for my friend. They had three different favours available when I was there. They had strawberry pepper, mango, and blueberry and chocolate.

To sum up, this place is a modern cafeteria. I don't see myself actively seeking this place if I'm in the area. Nothing about this place sticks out as I can probably get the same food at other places that are more conveniently accessible to me. I do think it is a nice addition to the neighbourhood as a place to hang out.

Alforno Bakery and Cafe
222 7th Street SW
403-454-0308