seemac70's Profile
Pho in Halifax?
Hopefully, someone will fill the void.
Fong Sing was horrible. Period. Couldn't finish it. Also, the place was really dirty.
Anyways, next!
Pho in Halifax?
Transcendent, not at all at Star Anise...
Smallish bowl of salty broth, with a few scraps of beef (not rare, as ordered,) and a few shrunken meat balls. All this for 11 bucks with tip and no tea. Noodles at least were firm and abundant. Not expecting the world in a bowl, but this is highway robbery. In lieu of transcendence, I'll at least take good value.
Next!
Lunch between Halifax & Digby
Pearle's in Paradise of course! Should be open now, I think.
Roadside take out stand with awesome burgers and fried clams. Haddie bits too.
.
Coming from Digby, take the Bridgetown exit and head towards Middleton. It's on the left after about 3 to 5 minutes. Just stop and ask, everyone will now where it is. Been going for years. Still great.
http://www.nslocal.ca/results.php?hide_id=2932&hide_stylesheet=4
Prime Beef
Bon Ton is still there... Up by McMahon stadium.
The debate about the store rages on, too. Good, bad, indifferent?
Prime Beef
I'd be willing to bet that (purely) grass fed beef would have a tough time ever achieving enough marbling to attain prime status. Which may shed some insight into the "grading" system if you follow what I mean.
It basically establishes a certain measure of quality as a baseline, and goes "up" from there as to how much fat has infiltrated the muscle fibers. Higher grade = higher fat content, in terms of marbling, basically.
Corn finishing is really a starch and sugar fest... Which fattens up the animal.
Still, its mighty tasty, mind you. But is grass fed tastier, despite being leaner? Hmmmm.
Prime Beef
Costco carries AAA beef nationwide.
Sometimes they have Prime, too. Call ahead?
http://www.cbef.com/beefquality.htm
Prime is the top 2%
Pho in Halifax?
Thanks again everyone... Just got back and will be checking it all out.
If my radar is correct, we'll probably see an ascension of Pho joints now. It's funny how Eastern Canada works sometimes. New ones will begin popping up. Just a hunch, mind you, but let's see.
I hope one of the existing ones is good!
Pho in Halifax?
Relocating to my beloved Nova Scotia.
Any decent Pho in Halifax?
Please say yes...
MIX Fresh Kitchen
So far, it ain't shaping up to well for Mix... Various boards seem to have a pretty common theme.
BEST cheeseburger (a.k.a. happiness)
The Chickenburger rocks the cheeseburger.
Perfect simplicity.
out of towner needs help
Please, skip Peter's...
Coming from Boston area, for burgers, Fuddrucker's kills it.
Peter's is disgusting, really. Dirty lot, dirty kitchen. Dirty.
Lot's of other great reccos in this thread!
Are there any great restaurants in YYC Chinatown ?
Thanks for the admonition, but I call 'em like I see 'em.
Mostly, people are terminally defensive about "their town," but Calgary is way down the list when it comes to cities with a great food culture. Sure, there are some good spots, but they're the exception, not the rule. A restaurant scene responds to the demands and tastes of the public, basically, and overall, Calgary is white bread with mayo.
A very large number of people here actually think Peter's is good.
Are there any great restaurants in YYC Chinatown ?
If it wasn't for Chinatown, Calgary would be truly hopeless, from a culinary standpoint.
Try;
Han's;
Pho Hoai
MBA Cafe
Golden Inn
-----
Golden Inn Restaurant
107 2 Ave SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0B2, CA
5 Guys Burgers in Calgary?
As Yogi Berra once said;
Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.
The game was on, we only waited 5 minutes!
5 Guys Burgers in Calgary?
Real simple.
Five Guys rocks!
Large fries feeds three.
The burger was awesome. It ain't no slider.
Ruth Chris
Check out 1:20 of the vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc-8NRatT-w&feature=related
It's an old steakhouse trick a lot of places use. A shot of butter, often clarified, either put in the pan and basted onto the steak, or on the heated plate. I'd bet that they use an actual product that is prepared for their chain which isn't just "butter."
Often, maitre d'hotel butter is just put right on top of your steak where you can see it.
"BR and Steak Frites at The Bank," Stephen Ave, Calgary?
Weird.
http://www.brandsteak.com/
Vienna Lux
Yea man...
Damn good sandwich, but when I was there and ordering I made note of the price. Having been going on the website pricing, I was surprised by the total, and politely inquired about it. I didn't even really look at the prices on the board.
The gentleman behind the till, the owner I believe, then proceeded to give me the run down on why the prices went up and why and so and so on... "I have to make money, the quality, etc. (He even offered me a cafe on the house! Nice guy, for sure, but the soliloquy had a certain old world determination and firmness about it.) However, I was thinking that a lot of his "early adopter" customers may feel jilted.
I'll probably go once in a while I guess, but sorry, the old "promotional" price jack, is a BAD move from a business standpoint.
Working out price points and costing prior to opening is very important from a basic business standpoint. One should really strive to avoid exactly what this guy has done. I surmise he may have realized that he is bleeding red ink like the sauce on the schnitzel.Most places do the slow squeeze on price increases. A quarter here, a quarter there, we've all seen it, at our favourite places, yes? That way, customers are a little like the frog in the soon-to-be-not-so-tepid pot of water, to use an oddly, vaguely, culinary analogy.
Anyways, best of luck to Vienna Lux, it's great stuff.
Gilchrist eats Schnitzel
Sounds like a feast.
Tried Vienna Lux. Really good, but verging on pricey for some I suppose. But that's relative, in the end.
Five Guys Burgers IS coming to Calgary
Uh-oh...
Anyways, if you really like going to Chinook that's your biz, but for me it's like the missing Canto from the Divine Comedy. It's like wandering through the Third Circle, and having no Virgil to grant safe passage from Cerberus.
Wherever they may be, more good burger joints are always good, and fair's fair, if they don't announce plans in the New Year sometime, it's egg on my face!
Five Guys Burgers IS coming to Calgary
Chinook 5 Guys... A little bird told me. (Who likes burgers.)
Check for "evidence" in the new year.
New show; "BSI: Chinook"
Vienna Lux
Tried Vienna Lux today, and the sandwich (Wiener Schnitzel) was great. Very large, of high quality and perhaps enough for two to split for a decent lunch, depending on appetite... No question, awesome for sure! Save the other half if you like, etc. Very nice setup, too. Bright and cheerful, all new.
As value is a little subjective I won't go on about it too much. For some, money is not an issue, and so on. I would just point out that their prices went up as of Oct. 1. The owner said they were "promotional prices" up until that point.
The "base model" is now $7.95. Most of the toppings which were free, apparently, are now a $1.00 each. With onions, sauteed mushrooms and hot peppers, and GST, my sammie came to $9.40.
For me, that's a little bit of sticker shock, plain and simple. You're knocking the guts out of a ten spot here. As I said, we will all do our math ourselves on that one.
At the end of the day, it's a great sandwich though. Dee-lish.
Halifax: Chinese Food
For sure.
The "egg roll" is the essence of "Americanized" Chinese food. I've had them all over the place and they are always different. The story of Chinese cafes in Canada is a really fascinating one and is as Canadian as the CPR and, on a more unfortunate note, the head tax; It's all tied together, good and bad, and is an amazing Canadian tale. East meets West. Mostly, we all came from away, after all.
Check out:
"Eating Chinese: Culture on the Menu in Small Town Canada"
My home town of Kentville is an old railroad town and had the requisite Chinese place with the red walls and the lanterns and all that. Happily, in my time, it wasn't "Who Has Seen the Wind," as the family were valued members of the community, and not ostracized... At least by the seventies. I reckon if you went back a few years it could have easily been different. To this day, the sons and daughters still run places in the area. Mostly, in my experience, these places had the best food in town!
I mused about China Town in an earlier post and I have to say again, that I loved going there! Such great memories of the food and atmosphere. My parents really admired the owner and how he really looked after his business and welcomed us back every time we went.
Hey, even Stuart McLean has immortalized such places in the mosaic that is Kenny Wong's Scottish Meat Pies.
(They're all out of Meat Pies.)
