Calgary Food, coffee, etc.

[Nudrock]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

Stopped off at the Cowtown Beef Shack today, and according to their marque, they just made Gilchrist's top 50. Spoke to Brad the owner, and he's going to be in FFWD and Avenue Magazine...

I had the BBQ Beef sandwitch and was not overly impressed - it was a bit too dry for my liking. The Beef Dip looked good though. I will try that next time.
Thanks for the tip Ramsayfarian.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Also in ffwd this week- Quincy's has a "burger lounge"? Looks intriguing!

[jeffwhit]

I hesitate to post this, but the Kensington area finally has a great place for Breakfast... Now stay out!

[Wentworth]

Not sure if this belongs in the retail thread or here... I recall someone was looking forward to the Wok Box at Aspen Landing opening? Well, I see, today, that it is open now. Haven't been in there yet.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Nudrock

I had the BBQ Beef sandwitch and was not overly impressed - it was a bit too dry for my liking. The Beef Dip looked good though. I will try that next time.
Thanks for the tip Ramsayfarian.

I haven't tried the BBQ Beef, I care much for the cheese steak. The beef dip keeps bringing me back.

[Me&You]

Originally Posted by jeffwhit

I hesitate to post this, but the Kensington area finally has a great place for Breakfast... Now stay out!

Care to share any other details? My gf lives in Hillhurst, so technically I'm already 'in' your hood

[bigcanuck]

Originally Posted by Wentworth

Not sure if this belongs in the retail thread or here... I recall someone was looking forward to the Wok Box at Aspen Landing opening? Well, I see, today, that it is open now. Haven't been in there yet.

Hopefully we'll get in there to try it soon - good to see there are a few tables/seats in there for the non-take-out evenings.

[Wentworth]

Originally Posted by bigcanuck

Hopefully we'll get in there to try it soon - good to see there are a few tables/seats in there for the non-take-out evenings.

I haven't seen their actual location yet, just their sandwich board. Are they in the end unit with the patio area overlooking the pond?

[bigcanuck]

They're on the 17th Ave side of the HSBC building - they have a small patio overlooking 17th but I can't recall if it wraps around to the pond side or not.

[NumberFive]

OK, so the father-in-law is turning 60 in a short while, so we'll be taking him out for dinner. We've told him that we'll be taking care of dinner. His only request is that he wants a great prime rib.

So, can anybody tell me what thoughts are on the best prime rib in the city?

[bigcanuck]

Originally Posted by bigcanuck

They're on the 17th Ave side of the HSBC building - they have a small patio overlooking 17th but I can't recall if it wraps around to the pond side or not.

Tried Wok Box last night - pretty decent for 'fast food'. They do cook everything right in front of you so you know it is cooked fresh. They have about 8 booths for sitting down - you could likely squeeze 6 people into each booth. The patio is only on the 17th Ave side but isn't open yet.

Food, as mentioned, was decent. Good variety of different Asian foods - curries, stir frys, Chinese, Thai, ... Pricing was reasonable - $10.99 for most items and they come with rice or noodles.

Place was busy - mostly take out. Everyone likes the boxes I guess.

[Witty Nickname]

Originally Posted by NumberFive

OK, so the father-in-law is turning 60 in a short while, so we'll be taking him out for dinner. We've told him that we'll be taking care of dinner. His only request is that he wants a great prime rib.

So, can anybody tell me what thoughts are on the best prime rib in the city?

Smugglers on MacLeod is always a solid choice.

[jeffwhit]

Originally Posted by Me&You

Care to share any other details? My gf lives in Hillhurst, so technically I'm already 'in' your hood

Alright, I'll budge. Vendome Cafe, former location of the mediocre, but loved Heartland Cafe on 2nd Ave. Best benny I've had recently, maybe even better then the benny at the original Siding Cafe back in the early days of Art Central. Croisants are amazing, no report on the quality of espresso, but the drip coffee is fantastic (beans from Thailand of all places.) edit: just checked on Chowhound, and the coffee is locally roasted, Thai sourced, and not dated, which is too bad. It's a breakfast of real quality. It' owned by Theatro.

[Me&You]

Originally Posted by jeffwhit

Alright, I'll budge. Vendome Cafe, former location of the mediocre, but loved Heartland Cafe on 2nd Ave. Best benny I've had recently, maybe even better then the benny at the original Siding Cafe back in the early days of Art Central. Croisants are amazing, no report on the quality of espresso, but the drip coffee is fantastic (beans from Thailand of all places.) edit: just checked on Chowhound, and the coffee is locally roasted, Thai sourced, and not dated, which is too bad. It's a breakfast of real quality. It' owned by Theatro.

Merci. I'll try and make it there tomorrow morning.

[devonb]

Best Benny I've had is at the AKA Winebar. I know I mentioned it before, but they put it on a house made brioche and Broek farms farmer sausage.

Unbelievable.

Went there last weekend and it's started to get busy, so check it out if your in Bridgeland/Crescent Heights

[NumberFive]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Smugglers on MacLeod is always a solid choice.

Good to know, thanks.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by NumberFive

Good to know, thanks.

The Keg isn't bad either. I'm not a fan of the place in general but I do like their prime rib.

[Wentworth]

Originally Posted by bigcanuck

Tried Wok Box last night - pretty decent for 'fast food'. They do cook everything right in front of you so you know it is cooked fresh. They have about 8 booths for sitting down - you could likely squeeze 6 people into each booth. The patio is only on the 17th Ave side but isn't open yet.

Food, as mentioned, was decent. Good variety of different Asian foods - curries, stir frys, Chinese, Thai, ... Pricing was reasonable - $10.99 for most items and they come with rice or noodles.

Place was busy - mostly take out. Everyone likes the boxes I guess.

We dropped in today. The place is nicer than I expected, and the food quite a bit better than I would have expected from a counter service chain restaurant. It was busy, the booths were almost all full. If you eat in, grab the far corner booth, it has a great view of the two ponds and the "valley". The patio looks pretty big, too bad they don't have a liquor license.

Afterwards, we went for a stroll around the lower area of the complex, as this is the first time the sidewalk's been open. They've spent a lot of dough on the lower area. In addition to the waterfall and the "pondwalk", there is the making of a rather large fountain or water feature. Only one business open down there so far, a salon with a crazy amount of square footage.

[Rusty van Reddick]

I hate to come off as self-promoting, but I love how the TED folks edited my recent TEDxYYC presentation, and I do address the coffee scene in Calgary pretty up-to-the-minute here.

• Video Link

[Wooster]

Excellent John. I really enjoyed that! Nice work.