eating out

cousin’s night out: pio peruvian

November 29, 2013 By Fareen 1 Comment

I am loving our monthly cousin’s nights out! We’ve had a few now and it’s been fun trying new restaurants and taking the time to hang out. We all get a chance to choose a restaurant, order dependent on birthdate.

This month, it was hubby’s turn to choose a restaurant. After much deliberation, he chose Pio Peruvian. We had been wanting to check out the place for a while so it was perfect that we could do it with our cousins. The restaurant, located on Sunridge Way, was small but packed – always a good sign for any restaurant.

Since we were having dinner on a Thursday, we were able to have the El Menu Special – an appetizer, entree and dessert for $18.99. We started with ceviche. The marinated tilapia was served with sweet potato and toasted Peruvian corn. This was refreshing and spicy and a great way to start the meal.

Hubby and I also shared the Salchipapa – beef sausage with fries and Pio sauce. The sausage was sparse but good and the fries were amazing.

For our main, we had the Pollo Saltado. Flavourful pan-fried chicken with onions, tomatoes and peppers served with fries and rice. Our chicken dish was amazing. It’s one I think about often and I can’t wait to go back for more.

We ended our meal with Alfajores – shortbread cookies filled with dulce de leche. I thought it would just be a regular shortbread cookie but it was far from it. The warm cookie was buttery and flaky and the caramel made an amazing addition. It was a delicious way to end a tasty meal.

Do you have any suggestions for our next dinner?

cousins night out: brava bistro

September 4, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

I’m so lucky that I have a wonderful bunch of cousins that I can actually call my friends. Since life can get busy, we have started a monthly dinner for those of us in town – cousins night out. It’s a great chance to spend time with the ones we love while having a dinner out.

Since my cousin’s wedding was last month, everyone was in town! With nine cousins and seven spouses, our group of sixteen took over a long table at Brava Bistro for an amazing dinner.

Brava was very accommodating, fulfilling our desire to eat family style. It was perfect – by sharing, we were able to try many dishes and weren’t limited to just one – the best way to avoid food envy.

The appetizers and salads we sampled were delicious! The Prawn and Avocado salad was light and tasty while the Burrata and Tomato Salad was a great showcase for the creamy cheese.

Lobster was the star in both the Lobster Gnocchi and the Lobster Poutine. The poutine was my favourite of the night and I will definitely be going back for more.

Our mains were just as delicious and I was happy to be able to sample a little of everything. I really enjoyed the pasta dish, the Orecchiette Alfredo, which was creamy and garlicky.

Everyone loved the Beef Short Rib which was soft and tender. This was served with Mac and Cheese and Broccoflower.

The Atlantic Salmon was perfectly cooked and Crispy Cracklin Chicken was surprisingly juicy.

The night ended with sweet treats of Creme Brulee, Warm Gingerbread Cake and a Brownie Sundae. Delish!

It was a wonderful night with family. Can’t wait to go back!

state and main

August 7, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

When a restaurant is able to provide me with many choices for appetizers that I can fill myself with a meal of them, I am a happy girl. That is exactly what happened last week when I checked out the new State and Main with some media friends. State and Main is the new kid on the block, opening its doors in Calgary at Chinook Centre. From the same people that brought us Original Joe’s, State and Main offers classic comfort food with character.

All the appetizers we enjoyed were delicious! These included the Chicken Gyoza, Spicy Tuna Tartare, Dragon Boat Lettuce Wraps, Mama’s Meatballs, Calamari and Butter Chicken Poutine. My favourite were the Bang Bang Shrimp. I could probably have eaten these all by myself.

The mains were also tasty and the ones we tried included the Long Beach Fish Tacos, Red Thai Shrimp Curry and the Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak. The fish tacos were a fave amongst our whole group.

Definintely looking forward to going back to try out the dessert menu and for some more Bang Bang Shrimp!

oeb breakfast co.

August 1, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

I’ve been wanting to check out OEB Breakfast Co. for a while now and I finally got an opportunity a couple of weeks ago. I had attempted once before but the over one hour wait was not going to work for my little guy. This time, I met a friend early on a weekday and we were seated within a few minutes. Definitely the best time to go.

Opened almost four years ago, this cute little place is located conveniently on Edmonton Trail. The menu is extensive and it was so hard to decide what to have. I had heard many things about their Box’d breakfasts and thought I’d give one of those a try. I went with A-Lott A-Lox -poached eggs, herb potatoes, Quebec curds, cured salmon, fresh dill, Spanish capers, brown butter hollandaise – all served in a little takeout box.

The food was so good! The eggs were cooked perfectly and the soft yolk oozed over the herb potatoes and cheese curds. The salmon was fresh and the hollandaise was perfect.

My friend had the vegetarian option and the eggs sprinkled with paprika and sitting on top of avocado and tomatoes looked so delicious.

There are still so many menu items to try, I can’t wait for my next visit. Breakfast anyone?

wordless wednesday: dinner at 80th and Ivy

June 19, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

koob the kabob factory

May 27, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Since hubby’s been working in Mission for the past year, I have often been jealous of the places he is able to frequent so easily for lunch. There are so many great restaurants on 4th Street and I was happy to finally try out Koob, a place he frequents often.

Koob serves up meat kabobs in a pita, topped with fresh veggies and sauces. The delish ‘Koobwich’ is generously filled and then grilled.The owners and the staff at Koob are super friendly and the service was great.

You get a choice of meat (chicken, beef or lamb) or you can go veggie if you wish. The meat is grilled on an open flame while you choose the toppings for your pita. I think I had the whole lot with fresh veggies such as basil tomatoes and sumac onions.

These veggies are then topped with sauces of your choice, many of them made in-house. With the large variety they had, it was hard to choose. I settled on the Koob aioli and the garlic. Both were excellent choices.

My choice of lamb was a great one. The meat was well seasoned and was delicious. Q’s new favourite thing is lamb and he definitely approved. Healthy and tasty – next time I’m stuck for dinner, I know what I’ll be asking hubby to bring home.

an evening at muse

April 8, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

It’s been two weeks and I’m still thinking about the fabulous meal that I had at Muse. It had been a few years since I had been to Muse and I was excited to have been invited to the Media Showcase. New owners Heather Wighton and Stephen Deere along with their Executive Chef JP Pidhirney invited some Calgary food lovers to try out a few of their amazing offerings.

The evening started mingling with fellow foodies while enjoying drinks and fresh shucked oysters. This was followed by a tasting menu complete with wine pairings.

Highlights of the five course meal were the fresh hamachi and the succulent lamb. Here’s a recap of the delicious meal that we enjoyed:

An amuse bouche consisting of Pears and Crispy Chicken Skin in a Rutabaga Cream Bisque.

Hamachi with Coriander and Lime Vin, Radishes, Red Chili’s and Togarashi

Potato Risotto with Green Peas, Truffles and a Sous Vide Egg

Grilled Sturgeon with Beet Ribbon, Brussel Sprouts, served with a Borscht Consomme and Caviar Creme Fraiche

Grilled Lamb Saddle with Crispy Lamb Belly, Cippolini Onion, Farinata and a Black Olive Emulsion.

A palate cleanser of a Crab Apple Soda

Chocolate Cremaux with Toasted Meringue, Sweet Potato Sorbet and Lemon Gel.

tasting menu at teatro

March 19, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Today is my birthday! As long as I don’t think about the fact that I’m a year older, I love birthdays. That may be due to the fact that in our house, we celebrate all week long! Our celebration began on Friday and since then, we’ve been to the hockey game, had dinner with my fabulous cousins and had a celebration with my awesome family. My birthday present this year from hubby was an evening at Teatro for the chef’s tasting menu. We had been wanting to do this for a while, ever since we observed another table enjoying the food when we were last there and I was happy to finally experience it on Sunday.

Good food is always better when enjoyed with friends so we were happy that some of our food-loving friends were able to join us. The food came out at a great pace. We savoured the meal and enjoyed the company and I was surprised that three and a half hours had passed by. Every time I thought I had tasted my favourite, they would bring out something even more delicious. It was an incredible experience and definitely worth the time and money. Teatro is great at making people feel special and their extra touches, like the stools for your purse, are well received. I also love the open kitchen so you can watch the chefs in action as they prepare the delicious food.

Here’s a recap of our fabulous meal:

Venison tartare

Apple consommé with butternut squash

Root vegetables with goat cheese and ouzu encapsulation

Brussel sprouts caesar salad with lemon air, toasted parmesan, shaved parmesan

Duck prosciutto with focaccia, garlic aioli and raspberry spaghetti

Passion fruit marshmallows and dehydrated passion fruit

Kale filled tortellini with red pepper and saffron sauce with a citrus buerre blanc

Parsley crusted scallop with spaetzle and morels and lemon foam
(they also, using liquid nitrogen, created the ambience of the ocean)

Dry aged sous vide beef tenderloin with parisian carrots, fried mashed
potato, brussel sprouts with a fermented garlic beef jus

Goat cheese snowman with a sage cream puddle and dehydrated blueberries for the eyes and buttons

Parsnip creme brûlée

Caramel ice cream made with liquid nitrogen and topped black Cyprus sea salt

Birthday Tiramisu

white elephant thai cuisine

February 12, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Sometimes the best food can be found in the most obscure places. This place is definitely not a secret though. I had heard so much about how great the White Elephant Thai Restaurant is and it definitely lived up to its reputation.

Located in the Pointe Inn, you would never know that this hotel held such a gem. We were advised to make reservations and we were glad we did. The place was quite busy, even for a Tuesday.

We started with the Tom Yum Goong soup with coconut milk. Full of veggies and shrimp, it was spicy and flavourful.

We got a few things that we thought Q would like. The thai-spiced wings weren’t spicy but had loads of flavour. They were deep fried and had a great crunch.

Q is also a sucker for spring rolls so we ordered some of their veggie ones. He found them a bit spicy, meaning more for mamma. They were so tasty, I wasn’t complaining.

S’s cousin was with us and, being a frequent traveller to Thailand, suggested the Som-Tum – green papaya salad. Although spicy, it was a very fresh tasting salad and one we would definitely order again.

One of my favourite curries is Panang so we ordered one with chicken. It was sweet and spicy, and bursting with flavour.

We also had the red curry with beef and pineapple. The chunks of fresh pineapple added the perfect sweetness to cut the spicy curry. It also contained large chunks of lemongrass that flavoured the coconut milk.

The coconut rice was pure perfection. Full of coconut goodness, it soaked up the flavourful curries.

The quantities of all the food was plentiful, more than other restaurants. We had lots of leftovers and were able to enjoy the delicious food the next day. It was a great meal and we ended on a high note with the coconut ice cream.

What everyone said was true, it was an amazing restaurant. I just can’t wait until my next visit.

market restaurant

February 9, 2013 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Hubby and I had a great time last night at the media opening of Market Restaurant. Located on 17th Avenue, the new restaurant offers bread and cheese made in-house, and grow their own greens and herbs in their Urban Cultivator. I really need one of these! I don’t know which I loved more, the cultivator or the plants hanging over the bar.

The food we sampled was amazing, from the scotch quail eggs, oysters and fois gras macarons. Our favourites were the duck confit with shallot jam and the coddled egg topped with a chantilly cream. I am really looking forward to going there again for dinner. Here are some pictures from last night.