Calgary Food, coffee, etc. - Page 10

Jimby · #**181** Posted **Nov 11, 2007, 3:33 PM**

Marathon on 10 St NW is the only Ethiopian restaurant that I have been to.
The service is leisurely but the food is delicious. There is no cutlery, the food which is spicy and stew-like, is served on spongy injera flatbread. I think they have a buffet at lunch but I have never been there at lunch.
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Rusty van Reddick · #**182** Posted **Nov 11, 2007, 4:57 PM**

Queen of Sheba is very good.

I've heard good things about the one in Forest Lawn- name escapes me right now...

entheosfog · #**183** Posted **Nov 11, 2007, 7:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by livingforthecity

Marathon on 10 St NW is the only Ethiopian restaurant that I have been to.
The service is leisurely but the food is delicious. There is no cutlery, the food which is spicy and stew-like, is served on spongy injera flatbread. I think they have a buffet at lunch but I have never been there at lunch.

I was there for lunch once and it was good but much of the good stuff was gone. So my advice: git there early!! Delicious food though

Innersoul1 · #**184** Posted **Nov 11, 2007, 8:11 PM**

My wife and I LOVE Thai food. IT must be the six weeks we spent in Thailand. We regularly cook Thai food at home and it is pretty good but every now and then you need to have the real thing. On Friday we headed out with another couple to Thai Sa-On on 10th Ave SW between the Whiskey and Tantra.

The decor in Thai Sa-On is very simple with nice thai touches such as the traditional roofing over the bar. Apart from that the walls are covered with Thai art tables and chairs are bamboo (I think) and quite comfortable.

Let me start with the menu. I must say that when the menu is places in front of you it is rather daunting. I kid you not, it must be about 15 pages in length. I don't have a problem with selection but the menu has you downright scared. Where do you start? The problem is that the menu is divided into sections Pork, Beef, Chicken Seafood and there is a lot of overlap. For example, the Panang, Masuman etc. can all be had with Pork beef or chicken. It would be much easier to just list the panang and say that it is available in with your choice of meat. Not a big deal but it would certainly shorten the menu as many of the items appear multiple times.

When we were seated we were presented with a wine menu, but no drink menu. I would have been happy starting with a Singha but didn't see it. I am sure it was there but the rest of the table wanted wine. Good selection of about 20 white and 20 red wines. We ordered a bottle of red and a bottle of white and it took about 10 minutes before the manager came to our table to tell us that they were out of both of the wines we wanted. He asked us how much we wanted to spend and we said about $32 dollars. He didn't have any wines in that range and could not name any of the wines that they had available. So basically, he surprised us with what he brought out. Thankfully they were both excellent bottles of wine.

*Yes I am a douche for being picky about wine at a Thai restaurant. But I would be happier if I wasn't presented with a wine menu since nothing on it was actually available.

We started with two appetizers. Thai spring rolls and dumplings. The spring rolls were not that great at all, about the size of a cinnamon stick there were 8 of them with a dipping sauce. Really lacking in flavour I would pass of them for sure. Our pork dumplings were purple and stamped to look like flowers. They were over steamed and quite frankly soggy. Certainly, next time I will go for the Tom Yum Soup and Papaya salad.

Our main courses certainly made up for the lacking appies and wine service. I had the chicken Panang, my buddy had the Jungle curry with chicken. Darcy opted for Pad Thai and my wife had an awesome noodle and chicken dish. All of the dishes came in very generous portions and the flavors were very authentic and enjoyable. Tens for sure on the main course.

Notes:

-avoid the wine list order beer
-stay away from the appies and go for a soup or salad.
-Service was slow, but Thai Sa-On is very much a family set up. Although the service was slow the food was served promptly.
-Portions were all very generous.

Overall, it was a great dinner. Still doesn't beat my favourite thai restaurant, Cherry's on Maenam beach on Samui but still very good.

Jimby · #**185** Posted **Nov 12, 2007, 5:09 AM**

You don't share all the dishes when eating Thai? That makes it more fun.
I like Thai Sa On, but so does everybody, it is busy.
The Rose Garden upstairs on the mall, and Ruan Thai on 11 Ave are good too.
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Innersoul1 · #**186** Posted **Nov 12, 2007, 3:39 PM**

Oh I am totally all for sharing, but it was good enough that I didn't want to

Next time, my friend.

Grendel · #**187** Posted **Nov 13, 2007, 2:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by furrycanuck

Queen of Sheba is very good.

I've heard good things about the one in Forest Lawn- name escapes me right now...

You must be joking. The time I went there, the place was filthy, the lighting was poor, the service was glacial, even by the normally slow standards of African restaurants. Worst of all, there was an incessant stream of drug dealers coming and going during the interminable hour and a half it took for me to have a simple lunch.
No, not recommended, unless you've never had good Ethiopian food - if Blue Nile is still there on 10th, I have very fond memories of that place.

Rusty van Reddick · #**188** Posted **Nov 13, 2007, 6:39 AM**

Grendel- I've only had takeout from Queen of Sheba, and it was very good. I've never actually been inside.

Here's a little tidbit that I think I can broadcast since I can't give the details away (since I don't know what they are- so PLEASE do not reply asking for specs):

Phil and Sebastian are opening a second location, downtown.

Where, when, and how I do not know, but they're telling folks to look for it and it's posted on the facebook group.

Surrealplaces · #**189** Posted **Nov 14, 2007, 6:19 AM**

Has anyone eaten at the new Brazilian bbq in Calgary? I had the pleasure of eating at Fogo de Chao's earlier this evening, and was blown away.

MolsonExport · #**190** Posted **Nov 14, 2007, 4:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by furrycanuck

Nope, but smoked meat is crap anyway. I grew up with pastrami and will always be loyal to pastrami.

Actually pretty much all Quebecois contributions to "cuisine" is overhyped, overrated, and unhealthy.

According to whom? You? Ahh, forgot that you were a professor of Quebecois culture as well.

Stephen Ave · #**191** Posted **Nov 14, 2007, 4:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

Has anyone eaten at the new Brazilian bbq in Calgary? I had the pleasure of eating at Fogo de Chao's earlier this evening, and was blown away.

Yeah Brazilian barbecue is awesome. I had some in New York last year, and was really impressed. If there's one in Calgary I'll be trying it out for sure.

subverter · #**192** Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 12:28 AM**

"Has anyone eaten at the new Brazilian bbq in Calgary? I had the pleasure of eating at Fogo de Chao's earlier this evening, and was blown away."

Is Fogo de Chao in Calgary? I thought we just had Bolero. I have heard Fogo de Chao is awesome.

Riise · #**193** Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 3:09 AM**

Okay ladies and gentlemen, I have cupcake question. During one of the many Great Cupcake Discussions we had over in the construction thread someone mentioned that at a wedding they attended the bride and groom went with cupcakes instead of a cake. They also mentioned that the cupcake supplier wasn't Crave. My question for that person is, who was the supplier? If you could name that magical cupcake maker I'd be very grateful, thanks!

Jimby · #**194** Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 4:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

Has anyone eaten at the new Brazilian bbq in Calgary? I had the pleasure of eating at Fogo de Chao's earlier this evening, and was blown away.

Where is Fogo? I have head of the Brazilian bbq at Smuggler's, Cravings on Fairmount, and one somewhere in Burnsland.
Surreal, you sure get around, I thought you were in Houston?
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bigcanuck · #**195** Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 4:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riise

Okay ladies and gentlemen, I have cupcake question. During one of the many Great Cupcake Discussions we had over in the construction thread someone mentioned that at a wedding they attended the bride and groom went with cupcakes instead of a cake. They also mentioned that the cupcake supplier wasn't Crave. My question for that person is, who was the supplier? If you could name that magical cupcake maker I'd be very grateful, thanks!

I'm sure Cakeworks will do a Cupcake Cake - Cakeworks seems to be the supplier of choice for weddings in Calgary. From personal experience, very recommended. http://www.eatcake.ca/

Bad Grizzly · #**196** Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 6:43 PM**

I guess I'm out of the loop. I've heard about Brazillian bbq, but don't know anything about it. What's the big deal with it?

Surrealplaces · #**197** Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 7:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by livingforthecity

Where is Fogo? I have head of the Brazilian bbq at Smuggler's, Cravings on Fairmount, and one somewhere in Burnsland.
Surreal, you sure get around, I thought you were in Houston?

Oops, yeah, I should have mentioned that the Fogo I ate at is here in Houston.I'm going to have to try Bolero and make a comparison. What I already expect to be different is the service. Service at US restaurants is far away better than in Calgary, and that's for well known reasons. I'm curious to see how the food will compare.

shreddog · #**198** Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 7:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

Oops, yeah, I should have mentioned that the Fogo I ate at is here in Houston.I'm going to have to try Bolero and make a comparison. What I already expect to be different is the service. Service at US restaurants is far away better than in Calgary, and that's for well known reasons. I'm curious to see how the food will compare.

Never been to the one in Houston, but have twice tried the one (Fogo) in Scottsdale and wasn't that impressed in either the food quality nor the service. For Scottsdale Rio Sabor is the place to go. As for Bolero, I would rate the food almost as good as Rio Sabor (but I was only there shortly after opening, so it may have improved) and the service was also pretty top notch.

The thing that spoiled it for me was the large cold buffet and watching all the "blue hairs" walk by and grab a hand full of recently frozen shrimp to stuff down their gullet. Perhaps its a holdover from when shrimp used to be expensive, but why does a certain generation feel that they must load up on these things right out of the buffet! (I was hoping that they would enjoy a "Go" experience from downing all that crap"!)

Actually, upon reflection, that is something I didn't like about Bolero - the huge cold buffet. Again, perhaps its a local cultural thing, but the whole point of the restaurant is the many varieties of "meat on a stick".

RWin · #**199** Posted **Nov 16, 2007, 12:53 AM**

Went to Barclays today.

It was okay but I thought it was overpriced for the experience (lucky the boss paid).

The thing that really got me was the $9 Starbucks coffee on the desert menu.

So maybe $15 for a coffee isn't out of line.

Jimby · #**200** Posted **Nov 16, 2007, 1:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWin

Went to Barclays today.

It was okay but I thought it was overpriced for the experience (lucky the boss paid).

The thing that really got me was the $9 Starbucks coffee on the desert menu.

So maybe $15 for a coffee isn't out of line.

Was it a Starbucks coffee liqueur maybe?
I was there for breakfast this morning, the coffee was included.
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