Metro News Lunch Rush Column Monthly Recap: April, 2012

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     Brewsters Brewing Company, calgary, eating out, Fat City Franks, Metro Calgary, Mhyre's Deli, Sushi Ichiban, Trawlers Seafood

Check out the great places I featured in my Lunch Rush column this past month!

Sushi Ichiban

Sushi is always a reliably quick lunch. Although, it’s hard to find really, really great sushi during a quick in and out business lunch. Regardless, sometimes, you just need that unagi fix, you know?

At Sushi Ichiban, I ordered the Tempura Udon for lunch ($8.50). The soup (udon) itself was fairly average and a little bit on the saltier side, but I appreciated the amount of tempura vegetables the restaurant served with the dish.

For under $9, that is one heck of a deal.

Click here to read the rest of this review and see my final rating on Metro Calgary’s website.

Mhyre’s Deli

I am almost ashamed to say that I have never been to Montreal. Also, I am equally ashamed that I have never tried a Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich before. What is wrong with me? This week, I decided that this had to change.

I weighed my options. It was between flying out to Montreal to try the sandwich staple, or just finding one in Calgary and saving $700. Stay here it was!

Myhre’s Deli is located in a little strip of shops just a couple blocks north of 17th Ave. I stayed traditional with my choice and went with The Montreal Classic ($9). It was a sandwich that was loaded with smoked meat, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo.

Click here to read the rest of this review and see my final rating on Metro Calgary’s website.

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Lunch at Ensemble Tap, Vancouver

Dan    Restaurants     beer, Dale Mackay, Ensemble Tap, Top Chef Canada, Vancouver

I’m moderately embarrassed to say it had been awhile since I’ve been to Vancouver. Almost a year and a half actually. I know…terrible, right? Feel free to slap me in the face the next time you see me. I arrived in Vancouver  last Monday with a list of restaurants as long as I am tall. Which, for the record, is 5’9”, lies somewhere in the grey area between being short and tall.

One place that was close to the top of my list was Ensemble Tap. More affectionally known as eTap, this restaurant is owned by Top Chef Canada’s season one winner Chef Dale Mackay. The two level space has a slick design, boasts an impressive beer menu and a surprisingly reasonably priced menu.

I met a couple of friends at Ensemble Tap for lunch early last week. Just to put it into perspective for frequent travelers to Vancouver; it is a just a hop, skip and a jump away from the Japadog cart on Burrard Street.

A gift from the kitchen came out to our table prior to ordering; their sausage trio platter with spicy mustard and pretzels. Of the three, The chorizo sausage on the plate was the table favourite. My friend, Annie, went for the Asian Pork Buns, my other friend, Nathan, went with the onion veloute (cheese and onion soup) and some chicken fingers (he’s a classy guy). I wanted something lighter for lunch, so decided on the beet and fennel salad with grilled chicken.

The salad was simple. The sweet beets and licorie-y fennel are also a solid match and the sherry vinaigrette melded everything together. My friend described his soup as ‘liquid cheese’ which, really now, is never a bad thing.

Annie’s pork buns were filled with seared albacore tuna and topped with house made kimchi. They looked delicious. Definitely what I’m going to order there the next time I’m in Vancouver.

Once we finished our meal, Dale popped by to say hello. After watching him on Top Chef Canada and following him on twitter for the past while, it was nice to finally meet him in-person. I also convinced him to make a guest appearance in my Food Network blog that week. Whatta guy!

Housemade sausage platter with pretzel

Onion veloute

Asian-style steamed buns

River Cafe: A Visa Infinite Brunch (Fit For a King)

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     brunch, calgary, eating out, local, River Cafe, Visa Infinite Dinner

A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to attend an amazing collaborative dinner at Rouge courtesy of the Visa Infinite Dining Series. This culinary experience takes place all across Canada (you can check out upcoming dinners in Vancouver, Montreal and Cambridge here), so it’s always a treat when a Calgary restaurant is able to host one.

Last month, I was invited to a (seven course) brunch at River Cafe. Known for it’s locally focused menu, this is a place where the subtle details and every ingredient on the plate really counts. The brunch was hosted by local food critic, John Gilchrist and, man, that guy is hilarious! Well, I already knew that, but he was really on this particular morning. The humorous highlight for myself, personally, was when he informed the room that spot prawns are actually hermaphrodites. Seriously, who knew?

Well…enough with sexual ambiguity of shrimp. Let’s get to the food! River Cafe’s executive chef Andrew Winfield created a brunch that was nothing short of amazing.

After the initial canapés, oysters and champagne finished flowing around the room, everyone took their seats. We were welcomed with Lois Lake Steelhead Trout Lox. Served with smoked chèvre, blood orange and caviar this fresh little salad was almost too pretty to eat. Of course, I ate it anyway!

Next up, (the aforementioned hermaphrodite) Spot Prawn served on grilled brioche, leek, brassica mustard and a house made chorizo sausage (sausage kind of hidden in the back there). The sweet brioche and the smoothness of the leeks helped to balance out the spicy chorizo.

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Metro News Lunch Rush Column Monthly Recap: March, 2012

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     calgary

I’ve been meaning to get around to doing this for awhile now. I have a weekly food column in the Calgary edition of Metro News. My Lunch Rush column features my experience while dining out for lunch at different restaurant each week. Sometimes the food is great, sometimes it’s not, but such is the nature of this kind of column. Here are the places that I visited for lunch is past month…

Halo Restaurant and Lounge

I’ve passed by Halo many times. It has a pronounced location on Macleod Trail (very) South.

It’s one of those places that I’ve always wondered about. Well, this week, I finally bit the bullet and stopped by for lunch with a friend.

This is a perfect example of an establishment being just ‘OK’. It’s relatively nice inside, the service was prompt, although the food took a while to come out…

Click here to read the rest of this review and see my final rating on Metro Calgary’s website.

Kaffir Lime (Kingsland Farmers’ Market)

Inside the Kingsland Farmers’ Market on Macleod Trail lies a little exotic gem that cooks up some amazing Indonesian cuisine.

Kaffir Lime is located by the seating area of the market. There is always ample seating and if you just follow your nose, you’ll find it!

This was my first time experiencing Indonesian food. If my tastebuds could talk, they would probably describe the taste of the Black Pepper Lamb ($10.99) that I ordered for lunch as…

Click here to read the rest of this review and see my final rating on Metro Calgary’s website.

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My Steak is Better Than Yours Part Two: Charcut, Rouge and Raw Bar (and a very full stomach)

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants, Thoughts     calgary, CHARCUT, Connie Desousa, eating out, raw bar, Rouge, steak

After having a string of steak-related dreams, I woke up in a bit of a panic. The first evening of my steak adventure had been nothing short of amazing (and filling), but today our group would be stopping by three different restaurants…all in one night.

The panic finally subsided when I came to terms with the fact that the evening’s trio of steak offerings would most likely be delicious. I’ve come to learn that ‘deliciousness’ is the cure for most things, especially panic attacks.

My heart beat slowed down just in time to enter Charcut in a composed, suave manner. I had been here before, many times…perhaps even weekly for Top Chef Canada screenings in the summer of 2011 (note: ‘perhaps’ = I was there every week). Instead of starting off the night by enjoying a cocktail or two (or three) in the restaurant, we were ushered upstairs into their prep kitchen and before we knew it, we were experiencing a blood sausage tutorial.

Now, I do not enjoy blood sausage at the best of times, so this ‘how-to’ experience was a bit hard to swallow for me. After copious amounts of blood were mixed with bread and spices and then put into casing, we watched Connie Desousa trim and portion some bison heart steaks. I had tried beef heart at their pop-up restaurant, CharPOP, in January, so was eager to taste the bison.

The heart steak arrived, medium rare, topped with crispy matchsticks and Charcut’s signature chimmichurri sauce drizzled on top. To make sure the table would leave nice and full, there were sides of duck fat poutine for all! Eating heart is basically like eating a fine grain steak. Once it’s trimmed, marinated and grilled, it’s amazingly delicious. The heart is on Charcut’s current menu, so I highly recommend swinging by for taste. I’ll even foot the bill if you’re not impressed!

Then, out came the blood sausage (picture at end of post). Flavour-wise, it was fantastic, but, this is a personal thing, I can not get over the texture of blood sausage. Though, like a true foodie trooper, I had three whole bites without fainting!

After politely declining the offer to pack up my blood sausage to eat later as a midnight snack, we headed over to Rouge for four beefy courses…Ugh, I am getting full again just recounting this…

Here, executive chef Michael Dekker offered us some non-traditional dishes like thinly sliced beef in elk broth, a take on ‘shabu shabu’, lamb sirloin with a foie gras and bone marrow spring roll and a beef tartar, amoung other things.

Our table was hosted by Rouge owner and chef, Paul Rogalski, who is always so enigmatic. He introduced each of the courses to us with descriptions just as appetizing as what was on the plate in front of me. We finished up our steak tasting here with a sweet honeycomb macaroon, then left for our final destination of the evening, Raw Bar in Hotel Arts.

Upon entering the hotel, we were warmly greeted by Shelley Long (no photo evidence, but not joking) before heading into Raw Bar. Sadly, she did not join us for dinner. Here we started with one of the bar’s signature cocktails, an Apple Cart Daisy which sounds like it’s just for ladies, but it packed an apple-y punch.

Now, I don’t want to say that this steak tour had saved the best for last, but Raw Bar’s chef, Duncan Ly, prepared us one (thankfully just one!) amazing plate of food. A very tender beef tenderloin with topped with pulled short rib and an herb crust.

An accompaniment of snow peas and coconut sweet potato puree graced the plate as well. The potatoes were sweet and smooth. Definitely my favourite potato side of our entire two day adventure.

Isn’t she lovely?

And that folks, is how you enjoy copious amounts of meat in only two days. I may have not eaten for a couple days after the fact, but was very thankful for the experience. As with anything, when you live somewhere, you always take for granted the things that make your city great.Yes, Calgary may be a ‘meat and potatoes’ kind of a city, but, when you have restaurants serving up food this, I have no problem stamping ‘I’m a meat and potatoes kinda guy’ on my forehead!

Here’s a few more photos from the evening…

Blood sausage with a fried egg from Charcut.

Myself almost fainting during our blood sausage session.

Tartar starter at Rouge.

‘Shabu Shabu’-esque dish with elk broth at Rouge.

My Steak is Better Than Yours, Part One: Anju and Ox and Angela

Dan    Ask Dan, Restaurants, Thoughts     Anju, calgary, Calgary Tourism, eating out, New Take On Steak, Ox And Angela, steak

I’ll admit it. When I first moved to Calgary six years ago, I thought this city was simply a meat and potatoes, oil and gas kind of a city. So, now, here we are. It’s 2012, Calgary is the cultural capital of Canada, the stampede is celebrating its 100th anniversary and I’ve turned into a cowboy. Ok, maybe one of those things aren’t true, but I definitely have come to appreciate my steak (and potatoes).

Actually, I love a good steak. Hell, I’d probably date a steak if it was legal (one day…), so you can imagine my excitement when Tourism Calgary invited myself and a few other Albertan food enthusiasts to experience some delicious steak-centric offerings around the city. To be more specific, five restaurants would dish out their ‘new take on steak’ to us over the course of two evenings. I’m not good at math, but I knew these two nights of eating would definitely equal one full stomach.

Attention Vegetarians: If you haven’t noticed yet, there will be many, many mentions of meat in this dining recollection. I apologize in advance and recommend that you close your eyes.

The beginning of this ‘New Take On Steak’ adventure started at Ox and Angela. Sister restaurant to Una Pizza, this establishment prides itself on a menu focusing on Latin American flavours.

Things started off with a simple bite of their feature pinxtos, a ‘CLT’, which was a skewer of house-made chorizo, cherry tomato and greens.

Steak? No.

Delicious? Yes.

Inbetween the one bite starter and our servings of steak, we sampled some of their cocktails. Now, I don’t want to label myself as a lush, but I may of already been fairly familiar with their booze-related offerings.

My go-to here is definitely ‘The Ox’, a mix of rum, bitters-infused sugar and white grapes. Well, colour me thirst quenched!

Now, isn’t that a handsome drink?

It wasn’t long before we were presented with their grilled flat iron steak, which was served with a piquillo pepper confit and grilled lemons. On the side, there was a simple aioli for dipping as well as a mojo verde that had a predominant presence of cumin.

In regards to the verde, and somewhat similar to a five year old, I repeatedly asked ‘Is there cumin in this?’ until one of my table mates finally said ‘Yes.’. Also known as ‘Dan, please just eat your god damn dinner!’.

The steak also came with an array of sides like Ox and Angela’s signature ‘patatas bravas’ and ‘braised kale’, which were all delicious, but our dessert stole the show.

Around the table, it was unanimous that the restaurant’s home made churros had to be the final sweet bite at Ox.

Served with a warm chocolate sauce for dipping, these little guys always remind me of being in Disney World as a child, eating a churro chasing after Snow White for a hug. Those were the days…

Once we were done fighting over the last bite of churro, we were whisked away to our second destination of the night. I was on my way to being full, but still had room for what Anju had prepared for us.

Anju is somewhat hidden in the downtown corner of 5th avenue and 10th street SW. Their Korean-fusion tapas offerings are unique and delicious. We had a few starter plates prior to the steak which included oysters with kimchi mignonette and ox tail tortellini, but the show starter/stopper was definitely the crispy tofu.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, this is one of the best applications of tofu that I have ever experienced. Even tofu nay-sayers will reluctantly agree. This tofu dish strikes the perfect balance between soft, crisp, sweet and savoury. Seriously, this is a tofu dish for meat-lovers. Which reminds me, why are we still talking about tofu? Back to the steak!

Chef and owner, Roy Oh, served the table a Korean marinated steak with asparagus and fingerling potatoes. Sesame and ginger seemed to be soaked into the medium-rare rib eye.

We washed the bold flavours back with soju, a Korean liquor that everyone should taste at least once in their lives.

And, thus, ends the first night of my tasty Tourism Calgary ‘New Take On Steak’ experience. This Friday, I’ll be sharing my second evening of steak adventures featuring bison heart, beef tartar and short rib crusted tenderloin. Stay hungry folks.

In the meantime, here are a few more pictures from dining at Ox And Angela and Anju to drool enjoy looking at…

Patatas Bravas at Ox and Angela. Starchy goodness with just the right touch of lemon.

Ox and Angela’s grilled scallions with romesco sauce.

Ox tail tortellini topped with truffle oil at Anju.

Anju’s fresh oysters with a kimchi mignonette.

Who the hell stole my camera?