Eat \\ Anju's Test Kitchen Takeover

It's been decided. We're part of the Roy Oh/Anju Fanclub, maybe even the founding members. Over the course of a month, I attended 3 dinners where Roy was either the chef or a contributor, and he doesn't even currently have a restaurant right now!

H actually has me beat though as she attended four over the course of the month. If that's not fan girl status, I don't know what is.

Kidding aside, if you haven't eaten Roy's Korean Fusion fare, you're missing out. I know I just said that he doesn't currently have a restaurant, but that's all about to change soon (stay tuned to their twitter - @AnjuRestaurant. I know I will be!). If you're familiar with the Calgary restaurant scene, his new digs will fill the space that used to be Petite (at 17 avenue & 4 street SW). 

For my second Anju experience in June, a YMCA co-worker invited H & I to check out his pop up at Test Kitchen. H was a bit hesitant as this would be Anju meal three for her, but in the end she couldn't resist.

I love this pop-up series idea going on at Test Kitchen & really hope it continues. I think it's great to have different chefs come in & have the opportunity to do something that is maybe a little different from the usual fair in their own establishments.

We started the evening with a soju strawberry, chili, & mint cocktail. As expected, it was delicious. The flavour combination was different in the best way. The hint of spice was a welcome surprise & I'm a sucker for any cocktail that features mint. 

The first course was a spicy oyster shooter. We each got a little shot glass with a spicy oyster shot. I love oysters so it was a great way to kick off the meal.

Next we had a bone marrow risotto. Rich, creamy, & decadent are adjectives that spring to mind when I think of this dish. Bone marrow has such an amazing flavour on its own; the smooth & creamy risotto was a perfect pairing. Roy had also added some anchovies that reminded us of one our unexpected favourites at the Chinese Association dinner. I'm sure I made my happy face throughout this entire dish. It was that great.

Fish & Chips were next up on our menu. We discussed what possible spin Roy would put on it. Roy's creativity shone through as we were presented with what looked like two spring rolls on a bed of tartar sauce. 

We all decided to go with wine pairings for the meal. I wish I'd taken better note of the wines we tried. They were all lovely and mostly white wines, not something I usually pick myself since I know my taste in red better.

Our last savoury course was bibimbap. This was a new dish for me, but one I think I can get behind. As usual, Roy had a bit of a non-traditional take on this wonderful dish. As I've come to expect with
most dishes that come out of his kitchen, I loved the combination of different flavours in this dish. This time I think the different textures were what I most enjoyed though here.

Last came dessert - milk & cookies. The milk was a sesame milkshake & the cookies were warm chili chocolate. It was a delicious end to a fantastic meal & further cemented Anju in my mind as somewhere fantastic. I will definitely be very excited to see this restaurant back on the scene in Calgary & can't recommend it enough.

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Eat Eat \\ Poutine Crawl

A few weeks ago, one of my best friends scored two tickets to the 2014 Calgary Poutine Crawl. We'd both been anxiously awaiting the moment they were to go on sale, but she was one of the lucky 60 or so to snag a pair of tickets to the event. It literally sold out in less than 15 seconds - the first obvious sign that it was bound to be some special. I was obviously pretty bummed about it until her husband offered his ticket to me. Best wedding gift so far, Z!

Poutine Day arrived and we excitedly met at Wurst at noon. I've eaten (as well as enjoyed many a beer) in this great establishment & have always enjoyed the experience. There's something about a beer hall that just says good times to me! We ordered drinks & waited for things to start, discussing whether we thought it would be something off their menu (they have great poutine) or something new.

Karen Richards, the organizer, welcomed us before the chef took the stage to talk to us the thoughts behind the day's creation. They had decided to go with the poutine on their menu for a very good reason - they'd spent a long time creating it & think it's great. I have to agree; it is a great poutine. They start with duck fat fries (never a bad idea, if you ask me) & add cheese curds, green peas, speck sauce, duck confit, & truffle oil.



This poutine is rich so I was grateful for the smaller portion. I have & would eat this poutine again though - the fries are great (duck fat, people!), the cheese curds squeak, & the "gravy" has a great flavour. For me, those three things are the most important components of a great poutine, & Wurst nails it.

Once we'd finished up, we got onto one of the two party buses & headed off to National 17. Not only is National one of my favourite bars in Calgary (another beer hall. What can I say? They're just so great!), but also this next poutine would be the creation of one of my favourite chefs, Roy Oh. This poutine was by far the one H & I were most excited for, being Anju fangirls. (We're anxiously awaiting the opening of his new restaurant - Anju 2.0!) Roy's creation was a very cool Korean-Inspired "poutine" featuring chewy rice cakes, bacon, cucumber, gochujang sauce, & squeaky cheese curds. This is definitely not traditional poutine here, but those flavours. Seriously, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The experience was over far too soon for me.



Back to the bus - we were headed off the beaten path, to Naina's Kitchen, in a more industrial area of Calgary. I regularly frequent the Farmer's Market across the street, but haven't tried the stuffed burgers this place is famous for yet. It's a small, unassuming little spot, but we all squished in. This one was a feast, & probably the most traditional to that point, featuring fries, cheese curds, meatballs, caramelized onions, & a sweet gravy. The meatballs were fantastic & I enjoyed the hint of maple syrup in the gravy, but the fries & curds weren't my favourite. This was probably for the best though. If I had finished that monster, I don't think I'd have managed the rest of the crawl (without actually crawling!).



It was back downtown for our next stop - The Libertine. Halfway through & I was getting a little full & a lot sleepy. Luckily, they have some great beers on tap, so we quickly solved one of those problems. Their team presented their poutine in little takeout boxes. I was excited to see apple coleslaw on top (I'm sure I'm almost alone in my excitement over a good coleslaw). Underneath we found fried chicken, double smoked pork belly (magical words), & of course, curds, gravy, & fries. I think the pork belly (& the slaw for me - I know I'm alone in this) were the stars for me here. The fries, curds, & gravy were all delicious though too so it was an all around well-executed poutine!

H & I had reached waddle status at this point, so she suggested we walk the few blocks to downtownfood. It was a great idea & we even arrived before the bus. downtownfood was the 2013 Calgary Poutine Crawl winner. In fact, they seem to put out some pretty amazing food for most of these types of things so I was definitely looking forward to their take.

They started us off with a lemon sorbetto to cleanse our palate "after all those inferior poutines we'd tried." It was a clever tactic. This sorbetto was arguably one of the best palate cleansers I've had. Next they came around with the poutine. Servers removed funny plastic lids to uncover a steaming bowl of deliciousness, which included bacon, mushrooms, house-made cheese curds, duck-confit gravy, & delicious fries. These curds hit it out of the park for me. I could have eaten a bowlful of them. Seriously, I love curds. I also loved the flavour of the gravy, despite it being a bit on the more liquidy side. All around amazing flavours.



& then they followed it up with dessert: macarons. I'm such a sucker for macarons. Well played, downtownfood.

Last stop on our tour was a little pub across the river, Oak Tree Tavern. Wild Rose Brewery put us all in great spirits with a free beer. The poutine that followed was the first vegetarian option of the day, featuring crispy fries, cheese curds, & a sage mushroom gravy. The flavours of this poutine were great again, but I found myself wishing there were more curds. Yes, even after 6 poutines, I wanted more cheese curds. (I know, I'm a freak.) Oak Tree Tavern was a great venue to end that day on. We stayed around for a few extra beers & waited for our stomachs to shrink back to normal.



Overall, Anju's poutine was my favourite for Roy's creativity as well as the amazing combination of flavours, but I can't say I was disappointed with any of the poutines we tasted. The votes were tallied the next day & downtownfood came out on top for the second year in a row - a well deserved win. All the participants did an incredible job & I would highly recommend this event to anyone who likes poutine. Or maybe I wouldn't - I'd like to score tickets myself next year.

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Weekend Wears

Last weekend it finally got warm enough not to have to wear tights, so of course I took advantage of this. Since it was Good Friday and we couldn't eat meat, we decided to go for sushi. It had been so long since we'd last gone, so it was a nice treat. We tried a place downtown that we'd never been to and it definitely passed my salmon sashimi test so we'll be back. (I rank all my sushi experiences by how good their salmon sashimi is. It's my absolute favourite Japanese food!)

We grabbed a car2go downtown but afterwards it was so warm that we decided to walk to a bar for a couple drinks. It felt very much like spring. I probably should have known it wouldn't last for long. We got snow yesterday morning so it's been back to tights or pants. 

I haven't worn this dress since the fall, but I just love it! It's so comfortable and easy to wear. We did a lot of walking this evening and I found my new booties totally comfortable. I think they'll be perfect for Stampede week. It's nice to have a shorter option when it gets really hot that week. 

Looking back at these photos has gotten me even more excited for Spring and sadly I'm going to have to bundle up a bit for work tomorrow. Come on weather! I'm tired of tights and pants! Bring on the dresses! 

Thanks to N for being such a good sport and taking these photos when he was hungry! 

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Get in my belly!

I think it’s time I got back to blogging and what better way to start than with a list (I love lists)? Not only do I love lists, but I love food. I spend most of my day either eating or thinking about eating, so it seems only natural to have a restaurant list. I’ve tried to be as thorough as possible (food is no joke, people!), but I’m sure I’ve missed a few and I’m definitely open to suggestions, so if you notice a great restaurant hasn’t made the cut, let me know!

 I realize this list is insane. I will potentially never actually complete it, but the goal is to one day say that I’ve checked all these places off.

I’ve crossed off the ones I’ve already been to. There are some that I went to a very long time ago (so long that I barely remember them except that they were delicious and I want to go back). I’ve decided to underline anything that I haven’t been to in the last five years (so anything I haven’t been to with le boy?). Honestly, what did I know five years ago? (nothing!)  There are also some places that I cannot reasonably afford (Blowfish, Il Sogno…) right now, but I want to go to someday. (And hey, maybe someone will treat me, hinthint). So, without further ado, here is my wish list:

Restaurant Wish List:

Charcut (Downtown)
Beatniq + Piqniq (Downtown) CLOSED

Craft Beer Market (Downtown)
Galaxie Diner (11th)
Buffalo Cafe (Downtown)
Red’s Diner (Beltline)
Double Zero Pizza (Stephen Avenue)
District (Downtown)
Bonterra Trattoria (Downtown)
Bumpy’s (Downtown)
Holy Grill (Downtown)
River Cafe (Eau Claire)
West (Downtown)
Taste (Downtown)
Raw Bar at Hotel Arts (Downtown)
Anju (Downtown)
La Chaumiere (Downtown)
Blowfish Sushi Lounge (Downtown)

Big Cheese Poutinerie (17th)
Una (17th)

Cibo (17th)
1410 Bier Haus (17th)
Ship + Anchor (17th)
Buttercream Bake Shoppe (17th)
Cafe Beano (17th)
Tubby Dog (17th)
The Coup (17th)
Farm (17th)
Cilantro (17th)
Model Milk (Fried Chicken Mondays?) (17^th)
Brava Bistro (17^th)
Ox and Angela (17^th)
The Living Room (17^th)

Without Papers (Inglewood)
Eat Eat (Inglewood)
Capo Restaurant (Inglewood)

Jacqueline Suzanne’s (Inglewood)
Sugo (Inglewood)
Rouge (Inglewood)

Wurst Restaurant + Beer Hall (Mission)
Vin Room (Mission)
Wurst Brunch (Mission)
Mercato (Mission)
Bistro 2210 (Mission)
Bistro 2210 Brunch (Mission)

Belmont Diner (Marda Loop)
Phil & Sebastian (Marda Loop)

Cassis (Casel Marche)

Chef’s Table at Kensington Riverside Inn (Kensington)
Dairy Lane (Kensington)
Crave Cupcakes (Kensington)
Kensington Wine Bar (Kensington)
Pucinella’s (Kensington)
Muse (Kensington)
Brasserie (Kensington)

Il Sogno (Bridgeland)
Tazza (Bridgeland)
The Main Dish (Bridgeland)
AKA Wine Bar (Bridgeland)
Diner Deluxe (Bridgeland)
OEB (Bridgeland)
Blue Star Diner (Bridgeland)
Peters’ Drive-In (16th)
JoJo’s BBQ (Edmonton Trail)

 NOtaBLE (Bowness)
Lazy Loaf + Kettle (Parkdale)
Green Beanery (Parkdale)

Wa’s Japanese Restaurant (NW)

Rocky’s Burger Bus (SE)
Alloy (SE)
Karma (SE)
Smoke House (Ogden)
Village Brewery (Ogden)

Wild Rose Brewery (Currie Barracks)

Caesars (SE/SW)
Nellie’s (various)

Food Trucks:

Alley Burger

Perogy Boyz
The Noodle Bus
The Might Skillet
The Naaco Truck
Cheezy Bizness
Red Wagon Diner
Braizen
Holy Crepe
Shogun Teppanyaki Grill
Steak Out Truck
Fiasco Gelato
Fries and Dolls
JoJos BBQ
Los Compadres
Pimento’s
Blamwich Follow @whoalansi