The Village of Japan

Japanese Village
317 10 Ave SW

Went to Japanese Village for Tobi and Chris's birthday lunch today! I love Japanese Village and would recommend it to everybody because the experience is unlike any other place I've been to before. The fork and spatula tossing, the drum beating, the cheesy scripted dialog (Like did you really get your salmon from the bow river? I highly doubt it), the flaming oil, and the singing and dancing, the entertainment's all there! It almost makes the price justifiable. Almost. And that is why I like going at lunch. Cut the entertainment and get to the food, which is just a delicious, except at a faction of the price! Teriyaki beef and chicken combo for less than 10 dollars? You can't get any cheaper than that! This amazing deal comes with soup or salad, one free cup of green tea, veggies and bean sprouts and a bowl of rice. The portions for dinner are a little bigger and I think you get some ice cream, but is it worth twice the price? Not the second time around. Don't get me wrong, the food is still amazing, but given the opportunity to go at lunch or dinner, lunch is clearly the better deal.

Also, always ask for the ever so delicious sesame sauce. You get it when you order the teriyaki beef or the steak but you can always ask for it. It's super yummy. I could probably eat a plain bowl of rice, or two, with just the sauce (It's the dish on the left at the top). So good. And since they cook it all in front of you, you are guarantee to walk out smelling like teriyaki sauce, which may or may not be a good thing.



One more thing to note is, unless you have them cook it in the kitchen, the presentation will never be as good as this. Special thanks to Russ for letting me take a picture of his dish.

Beefy

TA Oasis
Second Floor - 110 12 Avenue SW

Also known as "TransAlta". I'm pretty sure that is what TA stands for. Located on the second floor of the TransAlta building, TA Oasis is a deli-bistro all-in-one joint. Want sandwiches or a wrap? You got it. Salads? Yup. Pizza? They got that too, though usually limited to 1 or 2 types. And my personal favorite, the daily special! The chef's daily creation determined a week in advance. Today's special: Beef stroganoff with veggies. The noodles were a little bland as the sauce was poured on top when the order is placed, so it didn't have time to soak in all the beefy goodness. The sauce was loaded with tender beef cubes, mushrooms and onions. I think it would have been much better if they weren't so stingy on the sauce. I mean, the ratio of sauce to noodles and veggies was about 1:10 at best, which is not enough for noodles and veggies with no taste.

"It's Still Hammer Time!"

Taste
1210 1 Street SW
www.taste-restaurant.com

Taste is a little hole in the wall on 1 street SW across the street from Giuseppe's. A very fancy hole that is. There is a little sign displayed on the sidewalk with random messages written on it. "No purse dogs allowed", "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" or "It's still hammer time!!". Today's message? The daily sandwich; Chicken with pancetta. Sandwiched between a toasted garlicy baguette, was grilled chicken breast with pancetta, bell peppers and cheese (I don't know what kind). I'm pretty certain they put garlic butter on the bread or something but it wasn't super strong and since I didn't have garlicy breath the rest of the day, it was kind of hard to tell. Sandwich came with the daily soup or salad. I chose the soup. It was a tomato soup with veggies. Lots of veggies. It was so thick and very flavourful. Definitely had my 8 servings of veggies. Or was it 11? Whatever, I'm not going to let some chart tell me what I should eat.

Opa!

Mykonos Greek Restaurant and Lounge
1121 Centre St. N
www.mykonoscalgary.ca

My experiences with Greek cuisine is limited to that of Opa! which isn't really saying much. So when we were going to go out for dinner at Mykonos, I was super pumped! Amanda and I had the saganaki which they flamed at our table. The flame was so high, it hit the ceiling! It was so cool but all I could think about was the importance of fireproofing. Opa! indeed. I wish I had gotten a picture of it.

Anyway, I got the lamb shank special. It was pretty good. The meat was really tender and it didn't have that sometimes overwhelming lamb taste so that was a bonus. The dish came with salad, rice and potatoes. My only beef was the potatoes were really sour. Maybe it's suppose to be really sour? I don't know.



This was also my first plate breaking experience, pretty excited! We spent a good 5 to 10 minutes talking about how embarrassing it would be if you threw the plate into the pit and it didn't break. As we stood before the pit, we noticed there were several unscathed plates, more mockery ensued. I decided to practice my Frisbee throw as I whaled it into the wall. The plate shattered into a billion (slight exaggeration) pieces, it gave me a sense of ease knowing that my plate will not stick out in a sea of ceramic shards and become the mockery of fellow patrons of this fair establishment, unlike the other guest of my party.

Amato Gelato
2104 Kensington Rd NW
www.amatogelato.com

Following our plate destruction, we headed to Amato Gelato for some ice cream. They had a million different flavours, it was amazing! I had the Swiss vanilla almond? (Or was it vanilla Swiss almond?) and the one with the rum. It was super creamy and delicious! Om nom nom nom!



Giuseppe's Italian Deli and Market
1207 1 St SW
www.giuseppesitalianmarket.com

Went to Giuseppe's for lunch today with Jordan. Fridays are usually busy at Giuseppe's, the wait for pizzas was "approximately 20 minutes". Normally I would have said "Eff that!", but I promised I would get it the next time I go, so I toughed it out. It ended up being an half hour wait. Brutal... ANND on top of that, the prices have been increased by a dollar. Booo!

Anyway, I got the Four Seasons, I'm not sure why it was called that because there was only 3 toppings; Pepperoni, mushrooms and anchovies. The toppings were placed within their respective third of the pizza so you could never get mushrooms with pepperoni. I guess it's a bonus if you hate mushrooms or something, though I'm not sure why you would get this if that were the case... The pizza dough was very crispy unlike that of Pulcinella. I find the dough is usually really soft and gooey there, perhaps because it's thicker? I don't know. Anyway, it was pretty good but I'm still bitter that they raised the price!

Yodel - Ay - EEE - Oooo

The Yodelling Sausage
Stephen Avenue

For those who have not been to The Yodelling Sausage, you have not lived. The rolling sausage grill is located on Stephen Avenue somewhere between centre street and 3rd street (I think the guy moves around). It's usually accompanied by a lineup that stretches around the block. But it's that good! The bratwurst is ingeniously stuffed into a fresh baguette via a hole that is poked into one end of the bun to keep all the delicious condiments inside. I had the curry wurst which was the regular wurst with curry ketchup. The outside of the bun was a little crispy while the inside was soft and soaked with the delicious tangy curry ketchup. So good. And best of all, it was less than 5 dollars. Woot!

I'm Broke

La Vita e Bella
401 - 12th Avenue SE
www.lavitabella.ca

Went to lunch with Slim Zaidi today. The original plan was to check out Olives at the Arriva tower but they were closed for a private function (Apparently we were not the VIP), so we ended up going to La Vita e Bella. Located in the historic Dafoe building by the Saddledome, the simplicity of the decor created a very relaxing atmosphere yet it felt elegant at the same time.

We ordered the calamari to start. The graham cracker wasn't super crispy like other places but it wasn't soggy either. When combined with the tender calamari, it was amazing. The tomato sauce was very mild so not to muffle the taste of the calamari.



For the entree, I had the ricotta gnocchi in bison bolognese. The bolognese sauce was very flavourful and complimented the gnocchi very well. Delicious! Definitely worth checking out if you are into Italian cuisines.



Sukiyaki House
#130 207 - 9th Avenue SW
www.sukiyakihouse.com

The original Sukiyaki House was located in the basement of a building on 10th Ave. It was a little dark but had a traditional feel to it. The restaurant was closed a few years ago and the building was demolished to make way for some condos (I believe it is still a giant hole in the ground). Fast forward to 2009 and Sukiyaki House has reopened on the main floor of the new Penn West Plaza on 9th Ave. Gone are the traditional decor and replaced with more contemporary furnishing. Full height windows allows plenty of natural light in.

I got the Chirashi, which is basically a bowl of rice topped with sashimi. Sukiyaki House seem to have put a neat little spin to it and the presentation is top notch. Rather than putting it in a bowl, it's a giant slab of rice topped with sashimi. It kind of takes the form of a dragon. Or a shrimp of sorts. The deep fried amaebi head (which you can eat and is delicious) is at the front, followed by the tako, sake with a mango sauce and finished with unagi at the tail. There's more stuff in the middle but I'm too lazy to list it all. A little pricey but it was very good!

Sumos are just fat...

Sumo on Tenth
317 10 Avenue SW

Ordered some take out from Sumo on Tenth. Though the quality is not as good as Zipang or Wa's but it's close to where I work and it's relatively cheap (We all know good sushi is never cheap). And today was no exception. The California rolls and the spicy scallop nigiri were literally falling apart. On the bright side, I got scallops instead of surf clams. It's such a piss off every time I get the surf clams. Seriously, I can buy a giant box of it for $10 at T&T.

Do the Funky Chunky Chicken

Caffe Rosso
140, 8th Ave SE
www.cafferosso.ca

Went to Caffe Rosso for lunch today, had their Pesto Chicken panini. It had large chunks of grilled chicken. It was decent. Not much else to say. If you are looking for remarkable, this is not it. But if you are looking for a great cup of Americano, this is a great place to check out. Or so I'm told.

Tooth Fairy

Jugo Juice
1315 1 Street SW
www.jugojuice.com

Best wrap at Jugo Juice = Breakfast Wrap. Hands down. No competition! Scrambled eggs with salsa. Yes! Seriously, all their other wraps have too much onions. Classic chicken breast wrap? More like Onion wrap. Sick. Try the breakfast wrap, you won't go back.



Avenue Deli
#3, 2000 - 33rd Ave SW
www.avenuedeli.ca

Went to Avenue Deli for dinner with Jordan and Sarah before the Tooth Fairy puppet musical at Vertigo Theatre. I had their Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich. It was pretty delicious, the meat was so tender, not stringy like other places. I had the regular cut which was pretty massive. But if you are feeling really hungry, try the boss cut. Price comes with a side of coleslaw and chips. You have a choice of a million mustards (Slight exaggeration); House blend, French's, Grainy, Honey, Dijon, Horseradish, Keen's. If you can't decide, go with the house blend, which is essentially all of them mixed together. Can't go wrong with that!

Pasta of the Day!

Giuseppe's Italian Deli and Market
1207 1 St SW
www.giuseppesitalianmarket.com

Located in the beltline on 1 St street SW, Giuseppe's is a great little place to shop and eat. They are usually packed during lunch with people trying their wood-fired Napoletana-style pizzas, hot and cold paninis and pastas. I go to Giuseppe's about once a week. They make the most amazing-est pastas ever. It's so good! I go so often, Mama knows who I am! I think the daily pasta is slightly different everyday. Different meat or different pasta type or different sauce. You can get it with additional meat, like meatballs the size of your head! It's massive! One time, they actually ran out of the pasta! I was crushed! Their pizzas are also super amazing and is an alternative to Pulcinella in Kensington for the downtown folks. I might get it next week so stay tune for that!

♥ Nutella

deVille
Fashion Central 807-1 St SW
www.devillecoffee.ca

Went to deVille for lunch today. They had the pulled pork sandwich today. Though the presentation was rather uninspiring (The salad was loosely thrown onto the plate, I had to fix it up before taking the picture), the food was decent. The salad was mixed with a sweet vinaigrette. The sandwich was alright, probably not their best effort. I should have realized this when it was the most abundant item left on the menu. The bread was not soft like the memory foam focaccia at Charcut but I think it's just the type of bread. To the right, is the Nutella Latte. ♥

Pizza Pizza

Sunterra Market
Bankers Hall +15 level, 855-2 Street SW
www.sunterramarket.com

I got the 4 Meats pizza at Sunterra today. It was okay. It doesn't look very good from this picture because it kinda got destroyed on my way back to work. There's pepperoni, chicken, ham and something else... I think it was bacon bits. The crust is pretty thin, really crispy but overall pretty average.

Blogging Virginity Lost...

Welcome to my F-log (Food Blog) For Thought. During internship a few years ago, I started taking pictures of my lunch and posting them on facebook. What started as an attempt to somehow keep track of how much money I spend on lunches at work became a reason to check out as many different places as possible (Which turned out to be quite a bit of money!). Many of my friends have enjoyed reading it since it gave them ideas of places they have never tried. I have not been to every restaurant in the city so if you have any great suggestions, feel free to post in the comment section below! So without further ado, I present to you the first post of my F-log For Thought!

Charcut
101, 899 Centre Street SW
www.charcut.com

Went to Charcut with Jordan for lunch today. A new restaurant located on the main floor of Hotel Le Germain. Reservations are recommended as they are very busy. Charcut prides itself on using fresh local ingredients, this is evident from the ever changing menus. The atmosphere is trendy, yet rustic with the raggedy hand towels. Upon being seated, the server brought us some water of the still variety (Sparkling is available.) and a beet and goat cheese hors d'oeuvres. The ingredients complemented each other very well and the result was very fresh and not overpowering. See below.

"Beet + Goat Cheese + Fennel + Walnut + Mint Leaf = Party in David Lai's Mouth" JA

I had the prime rib sandwich, it was pretty amazing. The focaccia bread was so fresh and soft, like memory foam. Super tasty. Sandwiched in between were slices of medium well done prime rib. The sandwich was quite simple, as with most prime rib and steak sandwiches served elsewhere. Salad or fries are choices for sides.

Prime Rib Sandwich

Jordan had the daily special sandwich. We traded halves so I will ramble a little bit about this too. Served on the memory foam like focaccia bread, the daily special was lamb with cheese, tomatoes and arugula. The flavour was much richer in the lamb sandwich than the prime rib, but overall, I would say these were one of the best sandwiches I've ever had! Definitely worth ever penny. All 1600 or them.

Daily Special Sandwich - Lamb