Aida’s on 4th St. May 23, 2007

Before I left for Maine a couple weeks ago Zac and I decided it was time to celebrate an anniversary and have a nice day of relaxation, entertainment and food.

We both agreed that it was time to try Aida’s on 4th street. I personally was looking to beat my previous bad experiences with the restaurants on the Street and as Aida’s has been so highly praised by friends and the people on Chowhound I decided it had to be the restaurant to break the curse!

After a mix up with the booking, ie both of us making two reservations for exactly the same time on exactly the same day (hmm can you tell we were eager?). We were set and the day of we took in a movie and the strolled down the street on this very sunny (yet windy) day. We were starving, but it was alright as the meal was fantastic.

The decor of the place was a little sparse and though they are trying to go with a Lebanese, North African theme it doesn’t quite work. I do love the ceiling though as they have one of those fantastic old tin ceilings which are really pretty.

We came in just before a gigantic group was seated, we could tell it was someone’s birthday so we made a point of trying to get our orders in before the mad rush that the group of 30 or so people was going to create in the kitchen. We opted for four dips with pita bread as a starter and these were very tasty, hummus, a zesty roasted red pepper dip, tzatziki type of dip and another dip that had the same texture as the hummus but with significantly more kick. It was VERY tasty and I loved it. I would have preferred that they serve fresh homemade pitas, but then I’m sure there wouldn’t be any free refills and that would have sucked!

We both ordered significantly different mains, I chose a grilled chicken breast with vegetables and rice and Zachary had the meatballs in a pomegrante sauce with couscous. These again were very tasty and the portions were huge. I couldn’t finish my chicken so it ended up being my lunch at work the next day. It was superbly spiced with lemon, thyme and garlic and was incredibly moist and flavourful. Unfortunately there was confusion in the kitchen and instead of couscous Zac’s meatballs in pomegranate sauce was accompanied by rice. He didn’t complain and I’d like to think this mix up was solely because of the large group that had come in a bit later than us and who’s meals were starting to arrive (the wait staff seemed incredibly stressed).

For dessert we had sweet Turkish coffees with this gorgeous caramelly tiramisu. If I had been clever I would have remembered to keep the name of it but at that point I was in a sugar and carb induced daze and as such it will remain that incredibly tasty dessert that we had at Aida’s until I go back and prod the waiters for some idea of what they put in it!

The food was inexpensive and fantastic quality. I was quite happy with this experience and it seems like the third time’s the charm with my disappointing experiences on 4th!

Aida’s
2208 4th St SW
Calgary, AB T2S 1W9

Capo (Italian at it’s height in Calgary) May 22, 2007

About a month ago a couple of the ladies at work took me out for Lunch for Administrative Professional’s day to this lovely restaurant .

The reviews and ratings I have read of Capo in Inglewood have raved about the flavours that Guiseppi Di Gennaro has been putting together after leaving Il Songo and starting his own restaurant. Not to mention the pasta, this is THE restaurant to go to in Calgary at the moment and I feel very lucky that the ladies chose it!

Walking into Capo was one of the most interesting experiences I’ve had with my work. There were two waiters prepared to take our coats as they ushered us to our booth. The seats we had were fantastic in a large booth which allowed you to see the entire restaurant. The ambiance was that of a classy cool with large white globe lights coming from the ceiling with muted beiges and rich dark browns being the key colours of the décor.

We ordered, opting to skip the appetizer (we were running late) and go straight to the main course. The ladies I was with both chose the tasting plate which provided three individual dishes for them to try. I on the other hand chose the Cioppino as I was in a mood for lots of zeasty seafood.

When our plates arrived one of my coworkers looked slightly disappointed, the portions were small. For me this was perfect but I could tell that one, a mother to be had been hoping for a larger portion to fill her and her growing baby up. I have always found that when the portions are small the flavours tend to be fantastic and in this respect I was not disappointed. The Cioppino was exactly what I wanted spicy and zesty with lots of saffron. The fish was beautifully cooked and was accompanied by a nice small pot of mixed vegetables. The tasting plate was also fantastic from what I can tell, including a beautiful cherry tomato salad, veal scaloppini and a penne in what looked to be a tomato sauce. The ladies loved it and there were no complaints!

Since our meal was so small we opted for desert, two of us ordered a molten chocolate cake with banana toffee ice-cream and chocolate mousse. This was again, quite small but the flavours were divine. The cake was warm and the mousse was incredibly lovely and creamy.

This was a fantastic thank you and I loved the food that was prepared. I felt completely full after eating at this restaurant. Other people might not have their appetites saited but the food was fantastic and very thoughtfully prepared. I would highly recommend this restaurant but beware of the prices it is definitely in the upper scale range and while that is good for an oil company to pay for, I know personally it would have to be a very special occasion for me to book a table here. (I would LOVE to do the chef’s table though as it looks fantastic and could be a lot of fun!)
Capo Restaurant

#4, 1420 – 9th Ave SE

Calgary AB T2G 0T5

Whats the Fuzz? (a review of the film Hot Fuzz) May 4, 2007

Well let me tell you! A new film from the lovely boys who did Shaun of the Dead worth a lookie loo? OF COURSE!

Last week we went to see this lovely parody and let me tell you, it was VERY much worth it. Absolutely completely and utterly hilarious. This film is a well thought out and witty parody of cop movies, like Bad Boyz and it lived up to my lofty Shawn of the Dead expectations.

Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is reassigned from the rough streets of London to the small English country village of Sandford Gloustershire where he meets his partner in fighting crime PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). He quickly sets to work making sure the long arm of the law reaches even the grittiest villains in the village, from the under age kids in the pub to a swan on the loose, no job is too tough for the duo. But not everything is cakes and tea in this village and the two begin to follow a foul trail of grisly (and graphic) murders to the darkness that lies at the heart of the idyllic village.

Like Shawn of the Dead the wit in this film is razor sharp and the laughs don’t stop. Edgar Wright has once again created a film of comedic harmony with silly moments that make you laugh with glee to smart and witty comments that make you grin. This film is incredibly entertaining and definitely worth the 12 dollars to get in.

Unlike Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz is lacking a strong story to bring it together, however the jokes are hilarious and watching Simon Pegg and Nick Frost chasing a swan is incredibly funny. Then again, when one parodies such an incredibly plot-less genre of films it may be necessary to create an equally inept storyline. If that was the intent, then Hot Fuzz delivers.

The acting is of course sublime, beyond the fantastic chemistry of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg the film rolls out some fantastic British actors. Bill Nighy is a favorite for me and I just love the fact that he is in this film, but cameos by Bill Bailey (fantastic British Comic – check out Part Troll – hokey cokey on You Tube), Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge, to name one of many), Timothy Dalton (Bond, From Russia with Love) and Martin Freeman (the British version of The Office, he’s a cutie pie) just increase the laughs.

So all in all, it’s very fantastic and I think you all should go see this it’s very funny and very light, simple and a great and you get to see Simon Pegg without a beard and it’s cute.

Fiasco Gellato – Taste Test #2 May 1, 2007

You must when going to Fiasco have some of the Illy coffee, it is super tasty and really worth the trip.  

 Now onto the ice-cream.

 Yesterday we met Nathan at Fiasco because we figured with the sunny weather we were due some ice-cream and people watching.

 We had some fun trying a few new flavours.

 Lauren – Peanut Butter – YUMMY this was very creamy and rich with little bits of peanut butter in the mix, it was very good but a little bit sweet. Still tasty I woudl recommend it.

 Zac – Grapefruit Sorbetto- Zac has a soft spot for grapefruit and so ordered this, I liked it alot but there was a VERY strange aftertaste, this could be down to two different things. 1, I had just had the peanut butter and obviously those don’t mix so well, or there was pith in the sorbetto, still it REALLY did taste like Grapefruit and Zac really enjoyed it.

Nathan – Raspberry – tasted like Raspberry! I was not at all surprised… Raspberry is one of those flavours that is always just tasty.

 So more yummy Fiasco Gellato! I’m going to try to get some of the pics from Nath as it was a gloriously sunny day and they need to be published. (plus he’s like a fancy photographer, so WHY NOT!?!?)

Tandoori Hut – Lunch Buffet April 17, 2007

I was feeling rather ill and took the day off work. In doing so Zac and I lazed around for most of the morning before I, feeling mildly better, suggested that a curry would clear up my throat and get rid of my head ache.

Hmmm the Tandoori Hut, Zac and I went there on our first “official” date in December. It was a late birthday present from me as I spaced on the actual date and Zac was without gift and I felt that was a bit unfair.

 So we wandered over to Kensington on what was possibly the most summery day we’ve had all year.

The one thing that I REALLY remember about Tandoori Hut was that unlike other calgary indian restaurants it doesn’t hold back the spices, at least not in the way that the disappointing Rajdoot did. I do remember eating something at Tandoori Hut and thinking, wow this is almost too spicey for me.

 Anyways, I’ve found that Buffets are only as good as the number of people that frequent them. Therefore, due to the location, I wasn’t expecting to be that impressed. If there isn’t enough people at the place then the food won’t be as fresh and it just won’t be as good, it’s still not going to be horrible, but it won’t be like eating at one of the big down town places (ie Mango Shiva), for obvious reasons.

So we went in and were told to seat ourselves wherever we’d like. They took our drink order and then we scurried off to the buffet to try our luck.

 This buffet is a Calgary indian buffet. It has it’s general dishes that Calgarians LOVE and it was alright, though did fall prey to the lack of people, lack of turn over in dishes. There was a beef curry and a butter chicken. They had a lovely looking chickpea curry and na’an.

 All in all the food was great, but obviously not AS good as when you order. The tandoori chicken was very good, but everything was slightly cold and felt like it had been sitting out for a while. I did love the butter chicken and the beef though the spicey heat that I had remembered wasn’t there (I’m assuming this is because they were doing the buffet thing). It was a nice lunch but very much a case of you get what you pay for. $30 for the two of us isn’t at all bad, especially the way that Zac can pack away a curry.

 For lunch buffets I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here, but if you are in the area it is a nice lunch for a good price. I still would reccomend it for supper though as their food is fantastic and some of the best curry I’ve had in the city.

#5, 201 10 St NW
Calgary, AB

Hours : Lunch: 11:30a-2p Mon-Sat; Dinner: 5p-10p Mon-Thu; 5p-10:30p Fri-Sat; 5p-9:30p Sun

The Coup – Reason to go Veggie? March 22, 2007

Maybe not, but they still provide some seriously yummy veggie chow that doesn’t make me crave meat at great prices.

Zac is a meat-a-holic, I am open minded, but that being said, having tried the veggie route in highschool, I’m pretty concerned about the whole nutritional side of things… plus I can’t live without pepperoni pizza (and fish, and burgers, and roast chicken and sausage and pate … you get the idea).

I have wanted to go to The Coup for some time, Zac has looked at it uncomfortably and stated that after eating there we would probably need to make a trip to Tubby Dog,  up the street. For some reason having to go for supper, after going for supper, doesn’t really appeal to me but that being said last week the two of us decided that we wanted to go to the Coup.

Zac was pleasantly surprised and my expectations were surpassed.

The space is very modern and clean but quite busy. I suppose the best way to describe it is that modern funky look (think Vancouver) with greens and dark wood being the central colours (very pretty). It is a little cramped as it is such a narrow space but I thought they made good use of the space they had. Zac disagrees, but then again, my mother didn’t study interior design. 

Later on in the week they get a DJ in to spin some tunes which is VERY cool. I’m going to have to make a point of heading over there one of those times. They have street side patio as well which would be a great way to enjoy the 17th Ave atmosphere in the summer.

We were given a drinks menu and a I ordered one of the freshly squeezed juices, Zac got a dark Sleemans beer (I think). The juice was great it was a cranberry lemonade and it was tasty, there were fragments of REAL lemons in the drink and it was garnished with four floating honest-to-goodness cranberries, it was very good and refreshing I would have loved to sit on a patio and sip it’s tastiness way into the late hours of the evening.

To start we ordered a plate of their Sweet Potato Fries with a Tahini Miso Gravy. Oh so yummy. The fries were in fact baked wedges of Sweet potato sprinkled with some salt and rosemary, I didn’t mind that they weren’t crispy as I found that the smooth texture of the fry really did compliment the tahini miso gravy quite nicely. We devoured these.

Shortly afterwards came our main course, Zac ordered the Falafel Quesedilla with a side salad. It looked fantastic, fresh and green loaded with lots of thinly sliced vegetables. Very appetizing. It tasted great too although the whole wheat tortilla though VERY healthy was very chewy, I mean obviously this is because of the fact that it is WHOLE WHEAT, but still it would be nicer if you could get a bite with out having the cardboard feeling in your mouth.

I ordered the Beach-Front hot pot and it was equally colourful. An excellent hot pot, the vegetables were cooked but not soggy, they were delightfully crisp and incredibly tasty.The tofu was firm and flavourful, I really do like tofu and this tofu was great! The lemon grass coconut broth was nice and spicy, I wouldn’t have wanted it any hotter but I’m certain that someone with stronger tastebuds than I could have made a request. What really excited me about this dish was the lotus root, this is a fairly bland but crispy and nice addition to the mix of veggies. Frankly there is something about looking at lotus root that just makes me feel better about the food I’m eating. The portions were huge and Zac being the lucky boy that he is got to take home the left over veggies and rice noodles to have for his lunch.

All in all The Coup was a success AND Zac didn’t end up heading over to Tubby Dog! HORRAY! (instead we got gellato, see below)

So go to The Coup on 17th to soak up some good vibes and munch on some heavenly food!

The Coup

924b 17th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta Canada
Ph: 403.541.1041

Fido – A touching story of a boy and his Zombie March 19, 2007

On Friday Zac, Nathan and I hustled our tushes over to the Globe Theatre to go see the premier Fido, the new Zombie movie featuring Carrie-Ann Moss, Billy Connelly and K’sun Ray (to name but a few) followed by a Q&A session with one of the producers.

I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of the whole Zombie gross out/gore genre, that being said I LOVE Shaun of the Dead and the silly fun that movie produces. Fido effectively takes the story of Shaun of the Dead to the next level moving it from “the night of the Zombies” to somewhere in the future, after the Zombies have attacked and having a collared/docile Zombie is the latest gadget that everyone must have, like a dishwasher and a slave all in one.

 This film brings to mind the whole 1950s scrubbed clean look with a very simple pallett of colours and a very “Leave it to Beaver”/”Pleasantville”/Lassie feeling. The only difference with this story is that it includes everyone’s favorite character, Zombies .

 Thematically the film brings to light ideas of love and loss and echos (though I’m not sure intentionally) the current political tendancies south of the border of “Security through containment”. Suggesting that love can be quiet and without words is something that echos an episode of Lassie but without the fluffy dog.

 Even though there is a distinctly interesting and very developed thematic core to this film, which really does give it heart, the writers have developed a very funny and humorous story with moments where Fido (the Zombie played by Billy Connelly) brings the mother (Carrie-Ann Moss) to Timmy’s (K’sun Ray) rescue.  This is just a hint of the jokes that are incredibly prevalent in this fantastic film.

 

The acting does add to this film even more with all three of the principle characters playing their parts fantastically. A special note though must go to the performance by Billy Connelly as it was impressive to see the Glaswegian comic with out his iconic long hair, beard and huge accent. He relies soley on eye movements (much like Lassie) to indicate what Fido is feeling at any given time. The sublety of this performance is fantastic and really does make the film even better (look for Fido’s smile, it made me giggle, alot).

 The costuming and set are gorgeous, certain moments are quite obviously set in Kelowna (for anyone who has ever been there)  and the costuming with it’s limited technicolour pallet is gloriously 50’s.

 Frankly this is probably one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in ages this might not be in the Borat, ” I can’t believe he’s actually doing that” way but in a more subtle and soulful way.

 From what we heard from the producer this film has been a long time in the coming and had been shelved for a number of years, that being said it had recieved huge backing by a number of people in the industry and even though it was a struggle with such a stellar cast and a fantastic story it should go quite far.

So go see Fido, it is FUNNY, it is CUTE and it is CANADIAN!

Glory of India – GLORIOUS! SIMPLY GLORIOUS Dah-ling! March 16, 2007

I am excited about this one, much in the way that I was excited about Mango Shiva but with a bit more oomph because I’ve found a curry place that lives up to my English memories (but not in the chicken tikka masala chips and rice way).

 Zac and I met up and ran into our friend Nathan yesterday. (Poor Nathan, I feel doubly sorry for him, firstly because he’s having all of his wisdom teeth out today, and secondly because Zac and I are going to the opening night of Fido tonight with the showing followed by a Q&A session with the director. Nathan is desperate to come along, even though we all know that there is no way being in a semi conscious state that he could survive the film.) So partially because of the guilt and partially because the best plans are often the ones that happen in the blink of an eye Zac and I grabbed Nathan and took him to Glory of India.

 Glorious it is.

 Usually Zac lets me order at Indian restaurants and he obediently eats what I order for him, yesterday we changed things up and he took the menu and scrutinized every page while Nathan and I discussed whether he would be able to make it out to the Unicorn on Saturday night for our St Patrick’s Day celebration.

 After much pondering, Zac ordered and I paid no attention, I’m pretty sure he was enjoying the male ordering food moment and I didn’t want to interject with a cheeky comment.

 For a starter we had the mixed vegetarian appetizer which came with samosas, veggie pakoras and paneer pakora. It was good, the samosas were nice and had a nice amount of heat to them which made me happy the pakoras were great and crispy. I’m not a HUGE fan of the fried cheese thing but I dont’ mind eating it when it’s placed in front of me, so I managed it (somehow ).

 Very quickly after the starter came our mains. Now I forgot something about my man and the food he likes. He likes meat and loves lamb so there I sat with probably about half a lamb sitting in front of me with a dish of rice and three garlic naans.

But oh was it ever fantastic. Zac had ordered the Seekh Kabob and some other melt in your mouth lamb dish that I will get him to tell me the name of tonight. The Seekh Kabob was very yummy and a little spicy, it probably could have done with a little more heat, but I’m not going to complain because it was nicely flavoured and tasted great. The other lamb dish was FANTASTIC the lamb did in-fact melt in your mouth and included were lovely mushrooms the flavours were robust and spicy and I loved it SO much.

 Nathan ordered the Lamb Chop Kandhari which was the house special. It was also VERY good and super tender. Nicely spiced and again it probably could have done with a little more heat, but this is Calgary so I’m happy that I’m eating indian food at all.  

Zac decided he wanted dessert, or rather he offered ME dessert which always means yes we will be having dessert.

Zac had a rice pudding, I’m not a fan of rice pudding in general  so it’s really not fair of me to review it.

 Nathan had pistachio icecream and I will assume that it was very good, he made yummy noises and discussed with us how fantastic it was (Pistachio is so good when it’s good).

 Now I had a very interesting dessert Gulab Jamun Fudge, effectively a Gulab Jamun sundae. Oh my god, it was great. So sweet and so good, it reminded me of brownie sundaes but with a very indian fusion flavour. It had three slices of the Gulab Jamun in a martini glass with mango coulis in the bottom, topped with vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, a maraschino cherry and chocolate sauce. It was a GLORIOUS way to finish off our meal at Glory of India.

 What really did MAKE this meal for me though was the group of 50-something British men that sauntered in when we were ordering, they knew the waiters and proceeded with horrible puns like “Mamoun, My MAN” etc. From my eavesdropping it seems that they come here at least once a month, that sold me on the Glory of India as being my English curry house away from England.

That being said there are still more to try and Zac isn’t tired of curry… YET!

Fiasco Gelato – Taste test #1 March 15, 2007

Fueled by some warm Chinook winds and the breaking out of the white Chuck Taylors, Zac and I went for icecream on Monday, and then went again on Tuesday… we want it to be summer, NOW!

Zac has decided I need to do a weekly review of the gelato/sorbetto flavours at Fiasco Gelato on 17th. I think this is simply for the reason that I don’t want to eat all of one and therefore he gets double the ice cream.

So also we ended up going to Fiasco last night after tucking into some seriously yummy veggie chow at The Coup (to be reviewed ASAP).

Monday:

Zac’s admitted favorite flavour Pistachio. Yummy and creamy. Pistachio gelatto doesn’t cease to disappoint me and this one was SO yummy. I really love the pale green colour.

 Tuesday : (I’ve just realised that we went to this place two days in a row, YIKES!)

Me – Mango Sorbetto : I felt it would compliment my yummy noodley lemongrass and coconut hot pot from the coup nicely and it was VERY good. You have to love Mango! (also because of this mangomangomangomango: GO MAN GO!)

Zac – Chocolate (Bernie C’s): Chocolate sorbetto while good always makes me wish I was eating chocolate icecream, so this one didn’t necessarily work for me but it was still tasty so I’m not complaining.

 We also combined the two, not bad but not the flavour sensation we had hoped.

(pictures to follow)

Rajdoot – but I’d really rather not… March 12, 2007

To escape the winter cold, and to celebrate the COMPLETION of someone’s demo reel (horray) I decided to treat my man to a curry.

 Unfortunately it was less of a treat than I had hoped.

 We wandered our way down 4th street with the address in hand (this time) to check out this place that Marta and Marshall had recommended oh so many moons ago. It was five and therefore we felt we had lots of time for our film that we wanted to go see at 7:30.

 We got in the door and found a dark and mildly welcoming interior with a bunch of waiters hanging around while a few tables ordered drinks and began looking at the menu. We were placed in a booth and much to Zac’s/my surprise, I ordered a beer, a small beer but I find I can manage about one Tiger beer before I find myself not liking it. (I avoid beer, the English ruined it for me generally but occasionally it is needed).

 Our beers arrived and we perused the menu, it wasn’t different from the curry places I had been to in England and so we decided to get the “mixed meat” starter followed by the lamb rogan josh some saag aloo and two different Naan breads (Zac wanted one, I wanted another so we decided to compromise). This is where the evening began to get weird, upon ordering the two Naans the waiter asked us if we were sure, I said yes and he impatiently said alright and took our order to the kitchen.

 We sat and chatted about the menu and I slowly drank my beer, the starter came and was alright, very  nice meat samosas, good tandoori chicken, what seemed to be a merguez sausage and that yummy chickpea and potato salad with crisp roti crumbled up (reminded me of potato salad with other things).  The starter was good, well, passable, but I was hungry and ready for a good munch so it definitely filled the post work hole.

At this point I had drained my beer and the waiter asked me for a refill, I declined and he seemed to get a little bit annoyed with me, very strange but I ignored it.

 Then we waited…

 and waited…

and waited.

 I had barely noticed what time it was until our mains arrived… 6:45… so unless we managed to devour the food in 15 minutes, there was no way that we were going to get to that movie on time.

 So we tucked into the rogan josh and the saag aloo, which were, disappointing, the curry had no heat to it, at all and furthermore it was actually cold. There is only so much heat a little tea light can produce and it cannot reheat a dish that has been sitting out for an extended period of time. Zac and I ate and had our two Naans (which were alright) and then waited for the bill. Paid and left.

 All in all I was disappointed as we didn’t get to a movie that night and the food wasn’t great. We then went back to Zac’s house, so that we could watch some form of film and chatted with his mom, she wasn’t at all surprised at our experience and apparently this place had been on the verge of being closed many times.

 Frankly, my thoughts are that if you’re going to get a curry, go somewhere else, this place isn’t that great and the service was annoying.