YYC Burger Week @ downtownfood – Calgary, AB

The first ever YYC Burger Week kicked off two days ago and runs till Friday, May 10th! There are 16 restaurants participating in YYC Burger Week, with each featuring a special burger creation for this event. All the burgers are $15 with $1 from each burger sold at the participating restaurants during this event goes to one of the eight local charities. After sampling burgers from the participating restaurants, you can go the YYC Burger Week website to cast your vote for your favourite burger.

With downtownfood being one of my favourite restaurants in Calgary, I was super excited to try Chef Darren MacLean’s special burger creation for YYC Burger Week. I’d already missed out on the Calgary Poutine Crawl 2013 the previous weekend and so did not have an opportunity to sample his winning Bacon Mushroom Melt Poutine. This time, I wasn’t about to let another opportunity slip by so I made reservations far in advance for the first lunch of YYC Burger Week after learning that downtownfood was a participant. Boy, was I sure glad I had made reservations as it was a full house at downtownfood for lunch last Friday.

My friend and I shared an order of the Crispy Eggplant Wontons ($13) to start.  We had been really looking forward to try this appetizer on a previous visit but ended up being sidetracked by the specials they had on that day. Hence, on this visit we were determined to try these wontons that I kept on hearing rave reviews about. These Crispy Eggplant Wontons were indeed delectable. The were filled with creamy Noble Meadows goat cheese and served atop a pickled eggplant tapenade along with some edamame puree and finished with a bit of sweet mirin. The eggplant wontons were perfectly crispy on the outside. I loved the contrasting textures and flavours.  All the components came together to create a harmonious bite.

When we found out what was in the YYC Burger Week feature burger, we were super excited. The  Brant Lake Wagyu Double Down Burger ($15) consisted of a 4 oz sous vide ground Wagyu patty, house cured and smoked Wagyu pastrami, DTF bacon, truffle cheddar, a soft poached crispy egg, Broxburn tomatoes, arugula, garlic aioli and pickled wild leeks. What are the chances that this burger would have all the components that we’d been really wanting to try for the last while. First, it was house made pastrami. After learning last month that Chef Darren was making his own house cured and smoked pastrami for the spring menu, I’d been really looking forward to try it.  Also, up until this point, I  hadn’t had the opportunity to try the famous house cured DTF bacon either and I’ve been hearing rave reviews about it again and again. Then there was the soft poached crispy egg. After having seen it in an Instagram photo by downtownfood a couple of weeks back, I was intrigued and was really hoping I would have the opportunity to try it on a burger one day.  It was like our wish had come true. This was the perfect burger! We are able to try all the things we’ve been wishing to try all in this one burger.

When the burger first arrived, my friend and I were in total awe. I stared at it for several minutes trying to figure out what was the best way to eat it so that I would get a little of all the components in every bite while at the same time, I wanted to be sure that I wouldn’t be “wearing my lunch” afterwards. Stacked together, this burger was almost 8 inches tall. There was clearly no hope that I could open my jaw wide enough to get it all in one bite. Hence, I needed to come up with a strategy to compress it down to a manageable height. Who knew that eating a burger would be such a challenging feat! But I was definitely up for the challenge though I must say this is the first time I’ve needed to devise a strategy on how to eat a burger. It’s definitely not as straightforward as it seems. You can’t just press down hard on it to try to compress the bun because the soft poached egg will burst, as my friend found out the hard way. My secret approach was to remove some of the pastrami. I left enough of it on so I would still get the taste but I managed to reduce the height the burger by a bit.

The combination of flavours in this burger was just out of this world.  The DTF bacon alone was enough to knock my socks off. Both my friend and I agreed that as bacon lovers, we’ve had really good bacon before but this DTF bacon is in a category of its own. I will never look at bacon the same way again after this. The house made pastrami was flavourful and delish! And then there was the perfectly soft poached crispy egg. I loved the runny yolk contrasted by the crispy exterior and the tender egg white. I wish I could have  my eggs prepared this way from now on. The sous vide ground Wagyu patty was on the mark. It was perfectly cooked to medium rare and the flavour of the beef really sang through. Even the tomatoes were spot on. The flavour was sweet and bright. It’s the way tomatoes should taste, not like the flavourless varieties that we often find at the local supermarket. I also loved the fluffy house made bun. It was soft but yet sturdy enough to keep everything together. The one component that really surprised me was the pickled wild leeks. When I read the menu, I didn’t think too much of them initially. But boy, did they give the burger that extra punch of flavour. Without a doubt, this burger had wow factor. Off all the burgers I’ve eaten to date, I can easily say this was one of the most memorable. It was also definitely the tallest. All of the components worked really well together. They each played a role in making this to be a foodie’s dream burger.

Initially, the burger didn’t seem all that big by appearance as it was only slightly larger than a slider. But don’t let the appearance food you. With all the toppings combined, it turned out to be really filling and I probably wouldn’t want it to be much bigger than what we were served. It was the perfect portion without feeling like you’ve overeaten afterwards.

The burger was served with double blanched fries and housemade spiced ketchup along with a Broxburn strawberry shake. Even though I’m usually not a huge fan of fries (as it is a bit too much in carbs for me), I really enjoyed these fries. They were perfectly crispy and not greasy at all. I liked that the housemade ketchup had a spicy kick to it.

As the first of many burgers that I plan to try for YYC Burger Week, this Brant Lake Wagyu Double Down Burger definitely set the bar quite high.  The flavour of the sous vide Wagyu beef patty alone is hard to beat. Never mind the DTF bacon, which I reckon will be Chef Darren’s secret weapon to winning the hearts and tastebuds of all the burger tasters. Then there was the soft poached crispy egg, which was totally unlike anything that I’ve had before. Without a doubt, this Brant Lake Wagyu Double Down Burger will be one of the contenders for my vote on best burger for this event. I can’t wait to see what some of the other competing restaurants have in store. If you do want to try this Brant Lake Wagyu Double Down Burger, there is one catch. As of right now, this burger is only available for lunch at downtownfood. I don’t know if that will change in the next few days as downtownfood hinted in a tweet yesterday about a “surprise announcement [this] week”  so keep checking on twitter for updates.

downtownfood
628 8th Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(587)353-3474
http://www.downtownfood.ca

Dim Sum @ Happy Hill Restaurant – Calgary, AB

Every now and then, my coworkers and I go to Happy Hill Restaurant for a dim sum lunch. Happy Hill is located just off Centre Street and 7th Avenue NE. My most recent visit was in late February. I was really looking forward to this lunch at Happy Hill after learning from my coworker that they too serve Pan Fried Turnip Cake with XO Sauce ($6.25). This is actually one of my favourite dishes at dim sum and I didn’t even know that we could get it in Calgary until a couple of months ago when I tried it at U&ME Restaurant. Previous to that, I’d only had it a handful of times at dim sum in Vancouver – a couple of times at Good Choice Restaurant, once at The Jade Restaurant, and a couple of times at Double Double. This is not a version that is always available at dim sum. Most commonly, the version available at dim sum is the large pan-fried slices of radish cake. Be careful when you order at Happy Hill as they also offer the pan-fried slices as well and it’s just called Pan Fried Turnip Cake on the dim sum list. Personally, I prefer this cubed version as it leaves for more surface area to be fried and become crispy. On this visit, the Pan Fried Turnip Cake with XO Sauce was just ok. It wasn’t as crispy as I would have preferred. My coworker mentioned that it is usually more crispy. Guess I’ll have to go back and try it again another time.

Our second dish was the Pork Dumplings with Massago ($3.95).  These dumplings were executed well. They were pretty standard and exactly what I had expected. I wouldn’t say they were outstanding but they weren’t bad either.

My coworkers like Beef Tripe with Ginger ($3.95).  This dish was executed well. The tripe was very flavour and tender. Though I don’t eat tripe often, I found this version to be pretty tasty and would order it again.

For our fourth dim sum item, we tried the Steamed Shanghai Style Pork Dumpling ($4.55). This dish is often known as soup dumplings, or xiao long bao (xlb). In all honesty, I usually never order this dish in Calgary because more likely than not, I will be disappointed.  I’ll admit that I’m picky when it comes to Shanghai soup dumplings as I’ve experienced some of the best examples of this dish while visiting Vancouver. Over the many visits to Vancouver, I’ve pretty much tried most of the restaurants that are famous for this dish including Long’s Noodle House and Lin Chinese Cuisine. I enjoy the versions where the the wrapper/skin was very thin but yet still has structural integrity so that the wrapper/skin doesn’t break with the soup leaking out when you pick it up. My biggest quibble with the versions that I’ve had here in Calgary is that the wrapper/skin is usually too thick and there is usually barely any soup in the dumpling. And my favourite part of the dumpling is usually the soup. This version from Happy Hill is no different. There wasn’t that much soup in the dumpling.

Since it was shortly after Chinese New Year’s when we went, my coworker ordered the Pan Fried Rice Cake ($3.95), which is usually most popular during Chinese New Year though it can be eaten all year round. I can’t say for sure whether this item is available year round at Happy Hill or just during the few weeks around Chinese New Year annually. This Rice Cake is often known Niángāo  (which literally translates as “year cake”) or Chinese New Year’s cake.  The Rice Cake is made with glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, salt, water, and sugar. The color of the sugar used determines the color of the pudding (white or brown). Keep in mind, this “cake” isn’t anywhere close in texture to what you might expect for cake by Western standards. It actually has a texture more similar to a very dense pudding when cold. When pan-fried and still warm, it is crispy on the outside while being chewy and gooey on the inside. Personally, because I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I found this version to be a bit too sweet for my liking.

Last but not least, we ordered the Braised E-Fu Noodles with Enoki Mushrooms (~$9.95). This is my favourite dish at Happy Hill. Note that this is a special order item. You will not find this dish on Happy Hill’s menu nor will you find anything similar. The closest resemblance to this on their menu noodle-wise is their Special Mixed Meat Wor Yee Mein  or their Crab Meat Wor Yee Mein as both of those dishes contain Yee Mein, which is another name for E-Fu noodles, but both of those dishes are noodle soups and not stirfried like this. My coworker has had this dish at other restaurants and specially requested them to make it this way.  On earlier visits, we’ve had some trouble ordering this dish as they didn’t seem to understand what we wanted but we’ve been back often enough that we are able to order this dish without much explanation now.

Overall, the dim sum at Happy Hill was decent. I enjoyed the Pan Fried Turnip Cake with XO though I’d prefer it a bit crispier. I find even at U&ME Restaurant, this dish can be a bit inconsistent at times as it is crispier sometimes compared to others. The dish that I really look forward to at Happy Hill is the Braised E-Fu Noodles with Enoki Mushrooms.

Happy Hill Restaurant
806 Centre St N
Calgary, AB
(403) 276-3288

Sweet Treats from Calgary Farmers’ Market (CFM) – Calgary, AB

Over the last few months, I managed to sample sweets from a few of the stalls at the Calgary Farmers’ Market. I tried a few doughnuts from Jelly Modern Doughnuts, the drinking chocolate from Choklat, the tiramisu from Crazy Pasta, and most recently, a bunch of treats from Orchid Pastry.

Jelly Modern Doughnuts

Even though Jelly Modern has been around for a couple of years now, I still haven’t made it over to their shop on 8 Street SW yet.  On one of my trips to the Calgary Farmers’ Market late last year, I decided to stop by the Jelly Modern stall and pick up a few their three bite doughnuts ($1.95 each) to try. The first donut I tried was Red Velvet, which consisted of a red velvet cake doughnut with a cinnamon marscapone frosting and topped with red sprinkles. I found the doughnut itself to be a touch on the dry and dense side. The icing was a bit too sweet for my liking. Overall, I didn’t really think this doughnut had any wow factor.

The second doughnut I tried was the S’mores, which consisted of a raised doughnut with a chocolate ganache glaze and a marshmallow creme center. The doughnut was finished with a dusting of graham cracker crumbs. This doughnut was better but again, didn’t have that wow factor. I really wanted to like Jelly Modern. But compared to the ones from Lucky’s Doughnuts and Cartems Donuterie in Vancouver, I personally prefer the doughnuts from those two places more. Jelly Modern definitely has a following though. Last year,  they were featured by John Catucci on Food Network Canada’s You Gotta Eat Here.  And recently, Jelly Modern won first prize on Food Network’s Donut Showdown. So they definitely must be doing something right. I’m willing to go back and try some of the other flavours.  Perhaps, I’ll find one that I like on my second visit.

Choklat

Note that as of May 31, 2013, the Choklat stall at the Calgary Farmers’ Market will be closing. You can still get their products at their original Inglewood location as well as at their new Bankers’ Hall location.

A couple of months back, after having a burger at Silver Sage, I convinced my coworker to stop by the Choklat stall  with me for some dessert. I’d been eyeing their Drinking Chocolate for some time and finally decided to try it. Choklat offers several varieties of drinking chocolate including some that are flavoured with hazelnut butter, fresh espresso, or spiced with cinnamon, Garam Masala, and cayenne pepper. Being my first experience, I decided to go with the classic OMG ($5.99), which is made with crushed cocoa beans and corn starch and topped with whipped cream.  It was rich, velvety and in a league of its own. I’ll never look at hot chocolate or cocoa the same way again. This was literally like drinking liquid chocolate. It was a really decadent dessert in a cup. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to have the Drinking Chocolate after the burger as I was already quite full. The Drinking Chocolate put me over the top. I didn’t even end up eating dinner that night. As a foodie, I sometimes forget to use my brain and instead, I let me food obsession take over. As if the Drinking Chocolate wasn’t rich enough already, I also picked up on of their Chocolate Cupcakes ($3.99 each), which are my favourite cupcakes in Calgary. The cupcake itself is rich, moist, and decadent because instead of using regular butter, cocoa butter is used. The cupcake is topped with whipped chocolate ganache that has the texture of thick whipped cream but with an intense chocolate flavour. I’m normally not even a cupcake person but Choklat’s cupcakes are still the best cupcakes that I’ve ever had, especially when they are fresh. Comparatively, as a dessert, I still think the cupcakes beat out the drinking chocolate although the drinking chocolate is perfect for a cold winter’s day.

Crazy Pasta

More recently, I was back the Calgary Farmers’ Market again for lunch. This time it was to try the naanwiches from Shef’s Fiery Kitchen. For dessert, I was thinking of giving Jelly Modern a second try but as I walked up to the Jelly Modern stall, I noticed the tiramisu from the Crazy Pasta stall, which was located across Jelly Modern at the Calgary Farmers’ Market. In particular, I noticed that Crazy Pasta offered two varieties for tiramisu – the traditional and the Amaretto.

I decided to try a piece of the Amaretto Tiramisu ($3.50). It was delicious and easily one of the better versions of tiramisu that I’ve had. The amaretto flavour gave the tiramisu a tasty unique twist. Relative to the price, I thought the portion was really generous. I also liked that it was not overly sweet. This Amaretto Tiramisu would be a great option if I was craving dessert next time I’m at the farmers’ market.

Orchid Pastry

Last weekend, I was at the Calgary Farmers’ Market again. This time my friend Anna of Anna’s Appetite suggested that we try some treats from Orchid Pastry. Recently, I’d tried a piece of cake made by Orchid Pastry at KOOB‘s birthday party a couple of weeks ago and was really impressed. I was hoping that Orchid would have individual slices of this vanilla cake with strawberry cream filling. Sadly, they didn’t have any but I managed to find other interesting treats to try.

The gentleman at the Orchid counter gave us a piece of Sohan/Saffron Candy ($1.50 each; $5.85 for half dozen; $9.85 per dozen) to try. This was my first time trying Saffron Candy so I wasn’t sure what to expect initially.

Sohan is a traditional Iranian saffron toffee brittle, originally from the city of Qom. It is usually made from wheat sprout, flour, egg yolks, rose-water, sugar, butter or vegetable oil, saffron, cardamom and slivers of almond and pistachio. The saffron and cardamom give the candy a very exotic and complex flavour. I liked that the brittle wasn’t overly hard and not overly sweet either. I totally fell in love with it after the first bite and ended up buying a half dozen.

The gentleman was also nice enough to let us try one of the slices of Zoolbia ($2 each). He explained that the Zoobia is actually a deep-fried pastry made from yogurt, starch, sugar, rose-water, and soaked in honey.

The Zoolbia is actually very similar to the Indian Jalebi except that I found the Zoolbia to be lighter and not as sweet. Overall, the Zoolbia was tasty but my favourite by far was the Sohan/Saffron Candy.

Anna and I each decided to get a piece of Napoleon Pastry/Napeloni ($4.50), which consisted of crunchy layers of baked puff pastry in between layers of vanilla flavoured whipped cream. This classic dessert was so simple and yet so delicious!

I really like that Orchid Pastry has quite an interesting selection of sweets and desserts. If you’re in the mood to try something new, I highly recommend them. I know I definitely will be back for more of the Saffron Candy as well as to try some of their other pastries and sweets.

Calgary Farmers’ Market
510 77th Avenue SE
Calgary, AB

Jelly Modern Doughnuts
(403) 453-2053
http://jellymoderndoughnuts.com

Choklat (Until May 31,2013)
(403) 457-1419
http://www.sochoklat.com/

Crazy Pasta
(403) 305-2701
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crazy-Pasta/272778846175401

Orchid Pastry
(403) 457-5757
http://orchidpastry.com

Dinner @ downtownfood (visit #4) – Calgary, AB

Ever since having such a memorable meal on my initial visit during The Big Taste event in early March, I’ve been a huge fan of downtownfood.  There’s always a first for everything and this is a first for me where I’ve been back to the same restaurant THREE times within a week.  Actually, to be more accurate, it was THREE times within a span of four days! It started off with me having dinner at downtownfood earlier that week. It was then I learnt that downtownfood was about to launch their spring menu, which meant that many of the favourites would get replaced with new items. Hence, I ended up there a second time that week to try some of the items from their lunch menu before they got replaced. I had also found out that downtownfood was putting on an Easter set menu special on Good Friday to “clear the pantry in preparation for the new [spring] menu”. This set menu special consisted of 4 courses for $35. This was a great opportunity to have a couple of the favourites from the dinner menu again one last time so I convinced my friend Anna of Anna’s Appetite and my friend M to join me there for dinner on Good Friday.

As part of the set menu, we started off with a Fire River New Brunswick Oyster that was topped with Metafore hot sauce. It was a tasty bite to start off the evening.

As usual, we were served a basket of downtownfood’s awesome house made baguette. As addictive as this bread is, I’ve learned to pace myself now so that I have room for all the other courses.

Next up on the set menu was the Beet Tartare,  which was made with roasted local beets and garnished with capers, shallots, pickles, a spiced aioli, and mustard. The Beet Tartare was served with tangy toasted cumin crisps. This version was a slight variation to the one that I had on my very first visit to downtownfood.  It was just as tasty and my favourite part was the cumin crisps which were light and almost paper-thin.

Chef Darren then surprised us with a complimentary treat that was not part of the set menu. It consisted of Sous Vide Wagyu Striploin, Lobster Fritter, and Smoked Hen of Wood Mushrooms with a Chipotle Bernaise. This was his take on surf ‘n’ turf. OMG, was this ever good! This was easily the best steak that I’ve ever had. The beef was so flavourful, perfectly cooked, and just melted in our mouths. After this, I can never look at steak the same way again. The tempura batter on the lobster was light and the lobster was sweet and tender. I loved the smokiness of the hen of wood mushrooms. This is definitely the new standard for surf ‘n’ turf!

For our main, as part of the set menu we had a choice of the Single Line Caught Pacific Halibut or the Braised Veal Cheeks. My friend Anna and I decided to try the Single Line Caught Pacific Halibut, which was served green curry with vegetables, coconut milk, and topped with a green mango salad. The halibut was perfectly cooked. It was moist, flaky, and tender. The green curry was quite mild so it did not over power the delicate flavour of the halibut while the green mango salad provided a nice textural contrast. All in all, this was a tasty dish and I’d definitely order it again.

My friend M had the Braised Veal Cheeks, which was served alongside a Jerusalem artichoke puree, crisp chive buds, and kale in a goulash broth with pickled red onions.

For dessert, the set menu came with the signature Flourless Chocolate Cake, which was topped with almond chocolate tuile, pistachio gelato, and salted caramel. I liked that I could really taste the pistachio in the gelato. It’s all a matter of personal taste. I know quite a few foodies have raved about this Flourless Chocolate Cake and are sad to see it go but my personal favourite dessert by far at downtownfood is their new Chocolate Marquise Cake with the Hazelnut Crunch Crust, that I had tried on my previous visit earlier that week.

We finished off the evening with complimentary house made marshmallows rolled in toasted coconut. These were delish and the perfect way to end off the evening!

This was another solid meal at downtownfood. This time the stand out dish for me was definitely the Sous Vide Wagyu Striploin with the Lobster Fritter and Smoked Hen of Wood Mushrooms.

downtownfood
628 8th Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(587)353-3474
http://www.downtownfood.ca

Tony’s Fish & Oyster Cafe – Vancouver, BC

Last month, when I was visiting Vancouver with my foodie friends, we decided to go to Granville Island for lunch. My friends wanted to eat at the food court in the Public Market but I didn’t find anything that interested me so I decided to hit up Tony’s Fish & Oyster Cafe, which is located in the section known as “Maritime Market” near the entrance of Granville Island. I’d heard about Tony’s a couple of years back but did not have the opportunity to try it out until this visit.

My plan was to get take out from Tony’s so that I could meet up with my friends at the Public Market and have our lunches together. Initially, the service at Tony’s was a little odd to say the least.  On this Monday during the lunch hour, they were moderately busy but by no means packed nor lined up out the door. When I first walked in, the server did not  acknowledge me. I waited for at least 5 minutes but she wouldn’t come to take my order. Instead, she just kept on going from table to table clearing dishes, etc. It was as if take out orders were not her responsibility.  Finally after a bit, she called for the owner to come out and take my order. I’m not sure what was up with that as the restaurant was half empty but at this point, if I didn’t have my heart set on fish & chips, I would have just walked out. The owner turned out to be really friendly and nice. He told me my order would take about 20 minutes but in the end, managed to get my order ready in less than 15 minutes.

I decided to try a cup of their Granville Island White Clam Chowder ($4.29 for a cup; $6.79 for a bowl). The chowder tasted ok but was far from memorable. It was no where nearly as tasty as the clam chowder that I had at Pike Place Chowder in Seattle.

I also tried the Halibut & Chips ($11.99 for one piece – 4 oz; $17.59 for two pieces – 8 oz; $8.29 for extra piece – 4 oz). The halibut was perfectly fried. The batter was crisp and not overly greasy. The fish was flaky and moist. Being from landlocked Calgary where decent fish & chips is hard to come by, I appreciated a piece of well executed fried fish. The fries were tasty and well executed. I wouldn’t say this was the best fish & chips that I ever had but it was certainly tasty and satisfied my craving.

This certainly wasn’t an inexpensive lunch as the total came out to over $18 including taxes. Was it worth it? I’m not so sure…  especially at that price point. I would get the Halibut & Chips again but probably not the chowder. But the one thing that actually makes me think twice about going back again in the future is the service. The owner was really nice but that hardly makes up for the initial experience with server. The food would have to be pretty spectacular in order for me to overlook the service issues. I may end up back at Tony’s some day but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go back there. At least I’ve tried it now so I know what it’s all about.

Tony’s Fish & Oyster Cafe
Granville Island
1511 Anderson St
Vancouver, BC
(604) 683-7127
http://www.tonysfish-granvilleisland.com