Meeeeeaat!

Kickers Smoked Meat & Deli

1215 1 St SW

www.kickersdeli.ca

Wandering near my work last week, I discovered a new eatery. Hooray! I gathered the troops from the office and headed back the next day. Kickers is the name of the place and Montreal smoked meat is the name of the game. Located in a former coat room, the owner has done a fabulous job of renovating the space while maintaining some of the existing fixtures. Like this chandelier. That was one fancy coat room I tell ya! 

The little shop was manned by two staff, including the owner. They could have used another guy or two during the lunch hour rush. There was a huge back log of orders when we arrived. It didn't help that the other guy made the wrong things. 


I wanted a poutine with a regular cut Montreal smoked meat sandwich and it just so happened he made an extra poutine just as I was about to order... Perfect! The poutine was super fresh. The crispy fries were drenched in gravy and smothered with cheese curds. So amazing! The portions were decent and I would have been super stuffed had I tried to devour the whole thing but Jordan came to my rescue with his plastic fork. Those fries stood no chance.

Our numbers were called some time after and we picked up our sandwiches. It came with a side of soup or salad. I chose the soup. The feature of the day changed to the Santa Fe Tortilla as we ordered. It was pretty flavourful and likely pre made and came in some sort of can or tub. No matter. It was not bad. The Montreal smoked meat was really good. Not too fatty. The regular cut featured a pretty impressive stack of the tender and flavourful meat sandwiched between two slices of rye bread with a house mustard spread. Pretty excellent overall and very much nap inducing. Nothing a Starbucks can't fix. There's one conveniently located across the street. You know what they say - "Location, location, location"

The scores:

Atmosphere: 7 out of 10. The interior was really nice. Bonus points for restoring the vintage chandelier.

Food: 7 out of 10. Pretty decent food. Good portions.

Presentation: 6 out of 10. Typical deli sandwich presentation. Plastic basket with checkered paper. It's the classic look.

Price: 7 out of 10. Decently priced, on par with similar places.

Service: 8 out of 10. The owner was very sociable. Even brought out the sandwiches for the people when it was slow. Checked in on everyone to make sure everything was great. Not something you would expect at similar establishments.

Overall: 8 out of 10. Thumbs up for Kickers Smoked Meat & Deli!

OC Bound

Artisan Bistro

809 1 Ave NE

www.artisanbistro.com

Checked out Artisan Bistro just before heading out to the OC last week. Located in Bridgeland, Artisan Bistro is a family run restaurant serving up tasty Spanish and French fusion cuisine. The place had a look that was everything that I ever imagined a bistro would be, from the dusty chalk board that featured the specials of the day to the double table cloth and fresh flower table decorations, the atmosphere exudes an sense of coziness. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. 

For lunch, I had the Artisano sandwich. It came with a bowl of soup and a garden salad. Shortly after placing my order, a steaming bowl of hearty soup arrived in front of me. The feature soup of the day was the seafood chowder. Chunks of shrimp and clam were blended in with a medley of potatoes, vegetables and chopped onions. So tasty. 

My sandwich arrived shortly after. In fact, I was still sipping on my soup whilst playing Angry Birds. Chunks of marinated beef were sandwiched between a slightly toasted bun with lettuce, tomatoes and an avocado puree. I liked how it was chunks of beef and not a patty made of cow parts. Not that I’m super picky with what I stuff in my mouth. 

It was a pretty sweet day overall. I met the whole gang from the OC and got this sweet group photo of them. Check it out! They said they loved my blog and asked for my autograph. So flattering. 

Anyway, the scores:

Atmosphere: 7.5 out of 10. Such a cute little bistro. 

Food: 7 out of 10. The food was really good. Ingredients were fresh. Portions were a little on the small side.

Presentation: 7 out of 10. Good presentation. 

Price: 5 out of 10. Despite offering a soup and salad as a side, it is still pretty pricey for what you get. 

Service: 7 out of 10. Decent service.

Overall: 7 out of 10. Pretty good experience overall. 

PS The OC I’m talking about is probably not the OC you are thinking about. 

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Petite

1301 10 Ave SW

www.petiterestaurant.ca

I totally ripped that line from someone else's blog but it's so fitting and I couldn't resist. Located on 10 Ave across the street from the Community Natural Foods store, Petite is an aptly named bistro as it is very tiny. I think there were maybe 9 tables plus the bar? Seriously. It was small. But that's ok. Way more intimate atmosphere. Reservations are a must if you are a big group. Or in general. Don't want to be showing up and being disappointed because they are full. We went on Saturday in a blizzard and they were over half full. Or half empty if you're a pessimist. Or it's twice the size it needs to be if you're an engineer. It's also important to note the entrance is around the side (Not facing the streets) and maybe somewhat difficult to open. Or I might be a tool and can't open doors properly. Likely the latter. 

So anyway, we arrived pretty early and had a choice of seats. Upon being seated by the window, we were promptly shown the menu and had our drink orders taken. When our server returned with our warm lattes, we were informed of the feature sandwich (Veal), soup (Tomato with veal and sausage), pasta (Hare(?) with penne) and fish catch (Snapper). 

It was a toss up between the feature pasta and the chicken fricassee. I was really intrigued by the possibility of eating bunny rabbits for lunch and brag to everyone about it after (By brag I mean gross out). But I decided not to because I can buy it at T & T. Not that I can't buy chicken at T & T. So long story short, I had the chicken fricassee. It's basically a meat pie without... the pie. Just the smooth, creamy filling in a bowl. And the filling was fantabulastic, it's like fabulous and fantastic but together (Yeah I make up my own words, ain't no thang). The chicken was super amazingly tender and mixed with diced veggies like carrots, peppers and celery in a creamy veloute (Read: Sauce). Really flavourful. This bowl of deliciousness is then topped with a toasted garlic brioche (Read: Bread). Let the drooling on the keyboard commence. 

Oh and it came with a garden salad. Whatever.

My mom had the feature sandwich with the soup. The soup, though small, was really hearty and tasty with large chunks of meat and vegetables. It is finished with various herbs and parmesan cheese. The veal for the sandwich was really tender and finished with melted cheese and tomato sauce. 

Here's what I thought in numerical form and a Coles Notes blurb:

Atmosphere: 8 out of 10. Though small, it felt really cozy and not cramped. The exposed brick work is really nice. Kind of rustic. I wonder if it's single or double wythe...

Food: 10 out of 10. The chicken fricassee was sooooooo amazing! 

Presentation: 7 out of 10. Simple presentation but colours are vibrant.

Price: 7 out of 10. Definitely not a bargain, portions are not significant but filling.

Service: 8 out 10. Good service. Our server or THE server, as there was only one, was very knowledgable of the dishes and our water was constantly topped up. 

Overall: 9 out of 10. Good things do come in small packages.

Nothing Wasted Right?

CHARCUT Roast House

899 Centre St S

www.charcut.com

Yet another post on CHARCUT. The original "plan" was to check out this new restaurant on Stephen Avenue. I used the word "plan" loosely here because no one believed me when I told them there was a new restaurant. As we strolled by CHARCUT and we decided we wanted some focaccia bread instead. Luckily for us there were still some seats available at the bar. SCORE!

Upon being seated in front of the severed pig heads... I mean, at the food prep counter, we were presented with a sample of... *drum roll*... pig head meat! And some other spicy meat (which is not nearly as interesting. Or disgusting, depending on how you look at it) on a rustic wore out cutting board. That's right. We had pig head. It tasted like ham. Ain't no thang. You're probably never going to look at ham the same way again. You're welcome. ; ) The meat was pretty fatty with pistachio nuts lodged into it. It's almost as if the pig had been killed via a firing squad. Excepts it was pistachios and not bullets. I can feel my arteries clogging up just thinking about it. Shaved into paper thin slices, the meat was served with a grainy mustard dip that was in its own mini cast iron pan. Total baller. Not gonna lie, it was pretty tasty. Very flavourful. Way better than that cooked ham I get Superstore. 

Looking at the menu, I was torn between the steak salad and the feature lunch (Tuna melt with mushroom soup, fries and cookies). I love steak anything. But I also love (like LOVE) CHARCUT's focaccia bread. And yeah. You can easily guess which one won -

I can't say that I'm a super huge fan of tuna melts. It's not that I don't like tuna. I like tuna sashimi... tuna in a can... tuna tataki... Tuna with mayo and cheese some how doesn't appeal to me. It sounds heavy. It was very heavy. But I ordered it anyway. Because I love the focaccia bread and mushroom soup. CHARCUT's doing something fancy with their focaccia bread. Last time I had it, it was made with some cheese. This time around, there was some sun dried tomatoes or something. It was neat. Pretty good. But I liked the original (with spices only) and the cheese one better. Just sayin'. The bread is then stuffed with some tuna melt ingredients such as tuna, cheese, mayo and diced pickles. It wasn't quite what I was expecting. The sandwich and fries were a tad to the lukewarm side. The mushroom soup was very creamy and topped with a slice of crostini and an at-one-point-was-crispy strip of bacon. 

Heaven.

So tasty. So flavourful. Mmmmm... Mushroom soup. Mystery bag in the back contained two chocolate chip cookies.

And the verdict:

Atmosphere: 8.5 out of 10. Raggedy towel. Rustic yet contemporary decor.

Cost: 9 out of 10. $15 lunch + free pig head meat appetizer. 

Food: 7.5 out of 10. Sandwich was lukewarm.

Presentation: 10 out of 10. Fence post turned rustic cutting board plus mini cast iron pan scores a perfect 10 in the presentation department.

Service: 8 out of 10. Decent service. The place was hopping.

Overall: 8 out of 10. -2 points for lukewarm sandwich. It's ok though. I still love CHARCUT : )

Kinda Cooked

Raw Bar

119 12 Ave SW

http://www.hotelarts.ca/raw-bar.html

A while ago, my good friend Alana sent me a link to dealfind.com. They were offering $50 vouchers to Raw Bar for a mere $25. What?! Yeah. That's what I said. Pretty frickin' amazing deal! So amazing, in fact, that I got two and signed up to receive updates on more amazing deals! For those that have not heard of this site, it's basically random deals that last about a day or so. Sometimes its got great deals, like $50 vouchers for $25 to Raw Bar, other times (like a few days ago), not so much. $99 for 18 units of Botox. No thank you.

So anyway, I gathered the troops from work last Friday to check it out. We arrived at the restaurant at noon and was greeted by the hostess. I didn't even have tell her I made reservation. "Hello, your table is ready. Right this way." I felt like a VIP. Located inside the trendy Hotel Arts on 12th Ave SW, Raw Bar is kind of shoved in the back, off to the side, behind the outdoor pool (which was, unfortunately, closed that day. I was really looking forward to going for a swim after). 

I had scoped out the place already the day before, to confirm the legitimacy of these vouchers and make reservations (The hostess probably remember me from then but I still felt like a VIP). And yeah. It's probably not located in the greatest spot. Basically, you enter the main entrance of Hotel Arts, hang a left to the reception area. Through the dark hallway with a giant sign that says "Saint Germain" and a smaller sign that says "Raw Bar". Make a right when you get to the entrance of Saint Germain and follow along till you hit Raw Bar. Despite their obscure location, it was pretty busy. 

Trendy looking red microsuede couches surrounded our table. Super comfy. Once settled, we were presented with the menu and served a glass of fancy water with a wedge of lemon and 2 cranberries. I ordered the angus flat iron steak sandwich with the feature soup. 


Thin strips of medium rare steak and Portobello mushrooms topped a toasted slice of bread. The steak was decent, a little tougher than I would have liked but combined with the soft tender mushrooms gave it an interesting composition. Very flavourful. At least they were cooked to medium rare this time right Russ? The steak sandwich came with a single lonely onion ring with an aioli dip and a celery root puree. The soup was uncharacteristically sweet with a hint of celery flavour. It is then topped with some fried shavings of onions or something. It was an interesting taste to say the least. Wasn't a super huge fan of it, not to say that it was bad or anything. 

Alright, the scores:
Ambience - 8 out of 10. Nice decor. Comfy couches. Not the greatest location though.
Costs - 7 out of 10. Decent. The bill was only $80 for the six of us. The vouchers covered the entire bill. Sweet!
Food - 7.5 out of 10. Decent.
Service - 8 out of 10. A little slow but bonus points since the hostess recognized me right away. 
Overall - 7.5 out of 10. Pretty neat experience.

It's a Business Lunch.

Taste Restaurant

1210 1 St SW

www.taste-restaurant.com

Got an email from my old coworker Joel the other day, rubbing in our faces that he had the day off while the rest of us slaved away at the office. He wanted to meet up for lunch. Jordan and Russ couldn't make it because they didn't want to skip the ab destroyer routine at yoga that day. That's leaves only me and Joel to go on our business lunch. Or as Joel likes to call them, man-dates.

We met up at the lobby and headed over to Taste for lunch. I ordered the feature soup and sandwich while Joel debated back and forth between a sissy salad or a delicious sandwich which came with a sissy salad. The feature soup was a sunchoke puree with a canola oil drizzle. Sunchoke is a root vegetable that is a cross between a potato and rutabaga. The soup was sweet. It was not pureed to a smoothie paste, maintaining a slight grainy texture. 

Feature sandwich of the day was the Philly cheese steak sandwich. It was served on a toasted roll. Thinly sliced pieces of steak was topped with sauteed onions, red peppers and melted cheese. Eating the sandwich while maintaining my classy composure proved to be a difficult task. The delicious filling was overflowing from the side of the bun and dripping everywhere! The bread was super flakey. Crumbs were flying every which way as I took little bites from this gargantuan beast. There was probably enough crumbs on the table for Hansel and Gretel to leave a trail to the cake house, make a detour to the gym to burn off the extra calories and then go home.

Two complementary mini cupcakes (or muffins?) arrived to sugary-coat the bill. These miniature bite size goodness were topped with a strawberry or raspberry icing (Thus cupcakes?). Soft and scrumptious. Not too sweet. Mmmm... 

From my trusty sources (the internet), cupcake is what you call your wife when she's young. "When she is older with a double chin, you call her muffin." No? Post your thought in the comments below.

We also got this invite to their sausage party... Sausage party? No thank you. Maybe a clam party. 

The score, by popular demand, will be broken down into the following randomly chosen categories:

Service - 9 out of 10. My fancy tap water was constantly topped up. Free cupcakes.

Atmosphere - 8 out of 10. Beautiful decor. Perfect for man-dates or business lunches. 

Food - 7 out of 10. Tasty. Decent portions.   

Cost - 8 out of 10. Decent price. I've definitely paid more for a soup and sandwich before. 

Overall - 8 out of 10. Our server lacked some self confidence. You are NOT "just a waiter". You are the most bad ass waiter. EVER. Say it with me: Most bad ass waiter EVER! Hooah! 

Calgary is Landlocked?

Big Fish Dockside Food

1112 Edmonton Trail NE

big-fish.ca

The weekend is here and it's time for another restaurant! Yay! This week: Big Fish Dockside. Located at the top of the hill along Edmonton Trail, Big Fish shares the same building with Open Range (I think it's owned by the same people along with Diner Deluxe). I first heard about Big Fish from my friend Joel who said it was a wicked cool experience so I decided to check it out. 

We were told to seat ourselves when we arrived. I picked a table by the window so that I had maximum light for the photos. Our server arrived shortly after with the brunch menus. I knew what I wanted since I had already creeped the menu online. To start things off, I ordered the Lighthouse Coffee which is a dark(?) roast coffee with vanilla vodka, whipped cream and syrupy goodness. It is then finished off with this sweet plastic swordfish on top for stirring purposes. Unfortunately for me, I didn't stir it very good... So it was super sweet and creamy at the top and then when all the whipped cream was gone it was all bitter and stuff. Not bad though.

For my main, I ordered the soft shell crab club sandwich. It came with a side of coleslaw, watercress and a decent helping of crispy yam chips. The sandwich was pretty original, can't say that I've had soft shell crab in sandwich form before (Mostly in sushi rolls). Bursting out between two thick slices of bread was deep fried soft shell crab with lettuce, organic tomatoes and crispy bacon. This thing was pretty massive. I had to swish it down quite a bit just to eat it. Despite the fact that the crab was not very crispy and lukewarm (In fact, the bacon was crispier), it was still pretty decent. End of October is probably not the in season for fresh soft shell crabs. Nor is Calgary the soft shell crab hot spot in the world. The bread was kind of sloggy. Not sure where the water came from. I'm thinking probably the lettuce or tomatoes... But yeah. decent overall. There is definitely room for improvement. I would for sure give this another shot. A ho-hum 6 stars out of 10. 

Memory Foam Focaccia Bread

CHARCUT Roast House

899 Centre St S

www.charcut.com

So Monday after our professional ethics exam, Jordan and I decided to check out CHARCUT again before heading back to work. I needed some yummy food to make myself feel better after the exam. I spend all weekend studying (Read: Cramming, as I've had over 2 months to prepare for it). It was no big deal. More like an excuse to eat out. Woot! 

I don't know what my deal is with going to CHARCUT but I never seem to remember to bring my camera. My apologies in advance for the crappy (crappier than usual) photo quality. I'm thinking of getting a new camera (Probably another point and shoot), don't know which kind so I'm taking my time. 

We strolled in shortly after they opened for lunch. Probably the first (Unfortunately, no prizes were presented for being the first patrons of the day). No matter. There are many things to like about CHARCUT, delicious food, inviting decor... but one of my favourite things (besides the food) is the raggedy towel. The style and texture of it is very rustic. You can use it to wipe your mouth after your meal and then wipe your hands after changing the oil for your car. It's multi purpose. It's great. 

We ordered the CHARCUT lunch all at once. The feature of the day was the roasted pepper and tomato soup, BLT with cheese, a side of fries and cookies for an incredible price of $15! The soup, topped with ricotta cheese was very flavourful. Sandwiched between toasted memory foam soft focaccia bread is crispy bacon, garden fresh arugula and tomatoes and topped with a mild smoked cheddar. Delish. These guys make the most amazingest focaccia bread. If you are a follower of the blog you will no doubt find that I compare the relative softness of everything to CHARCUT's bread (Mohs scale of hardness for bread). And if you are not a follower. Shame on you. Click on the follow button on the right right now! The fries were super crispy and seasoned with salt and parmesan cheese shavings. The cookies (There was 2 of them) were of the cranberry and oatmeal(?) variety. Despite eating them 4 hours later, they were still very good. 

10 Stars out of 10. I love CHARCUT, as do this fat pig who is dancing merrily to the slaughter house. So you know it's good. 

I can't wait till I get cut up to crispy strips of bacon! 

Club Sandwich

Boxwood

340 13th Avenue SW

www.boxwoodcafe.ca

Opened only a month ago in Central Memorial Park along 12th ave and 4th street SW, Boxwood serves up meals made from local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients. From the outside, one would not even imagine it was a restaurant; It looks like a shed. Or washroom building, a nice washroom building that is (I should have gotten a picture). Had there not been the patio, I would not have even noticed.

It was an amazing patio. Beautiful view of the park and the downtown skyline. Except it was cold out. So there was like 3 idiots sitting outside. Including me. Because all the seats were taken. Boxwood isn't a typical restaurant. They are a fast casual style restaurant, similar to Famoso, where you order at the counter and they bring the food to you. Interesting setup. I don't know if I'm a big fan of it.

To start, I had the tomato and chickpea stew. Loaded with lots of carrots, celery, onion and chickpeas and topped with house made ricotta cheese. It was really hearty and a little spicy to keep me warm as I sat frozen on the patio.

The sandwich, by comparison, was cold with thick chunks of ribeye steak sandwiched between a ciabatta bun. The meat is cut from cows raised at Diamond Willow ranch and are certified organic, which means it's fed with pure organic feed and the use of hormones is restricted. But... I honestly couldn't taste the difference. It wasn't more tender than that steak you've been eyeing at the grocery store. Very flavourful but I think it's more the chipotle butter than the beefy flavour of the meat.

It was decent overall. 6 stars out of 10. I definitely enjoyed the soup more than the sandwich. Had the sandwich been served hot (or warm even), that would have been better. Maybe I should ask next time since I'm a member of their sandwich club now. 7 more till a freebie. Nice! Atmosphere was amazing. If it was 20 degrees warmer out. Very lively inside though. But I'm anti-social. So... yeah. 

Shack Week

Cowtown Beef Shack
5250 Macleod Trail S

Next up on Shack Week here at F-log For Thought, Cowtown Beef Shack. Located in the parking lot of Home Food Inn on Macleod, Cowtown Beef Shack serves one thing and one thing only. Beef (That was pretty obvious given the name).

Swooping in before the 6 o'clock closing time, I ordered the BBQ Beef. Sandwiched within a footlong sub, is perfectly seasoned BBQ beef and fresh onions. When the guy asked me if I was ok with onions, I thought it was going to be sauteed (or at least cooked) and not of the raw variety. I guess I should have realized this when it said "fresh" on the menu. Needless to say, I wasn't a huge fan of it. The onions, that is. Because the beef was amazing. Slowly cooked to perfection and pulled into tiny strands, the beef is then seasoned with their special BBQ sauce. The resulting meat was very tender and flavourful. A solid 7 stars out of 10. I think sauteed onions would take it to the next level.

The Parking Lot Shack

Smokee Lee's
500 - 6 Ave SW

After hitting up all those $$$$ restaurants the last couple of weeks, I decided to check out some of the hole in the walls this fair city has to offer. Smokee Lee's, located at the intersection of 6th avenue and 4th Street SW, is not quite a hole in the wall. But mostly because there are no walls nearby. It's a shack on a parking lot. See below. On a beautiful summer day, you will see a line that stretches to the sidewalk.



I had the 7 ounce piled high on rye. Sandwiched between two slices of winnipeg rye is steamed montreal smoked meat. The meat was pretty fatty, yet stringy at the same time. Wrapped with aluminum foil, the bread was a little soggy by the time I got back to the office (a solid 10 minute walk) from the heat and condensation trapped within. Totally understandable. It would have been much better had I eaten at the picnic tables there. Very flavourful though. Sides include a quarter pickle and 5 chips of the plain variety. Now that I think about it, this probably is not as cheap as I thought... $10 for a sandwich?! Considering they are situated in a shack on a parking lot, I bet they are making a killing on this. It's pure genius I tell you! 6 stars out of 10.



I would like to end this entry with the following picture. Note "The Searsy!". The battle cry is likely followed by a triple bypass.

Game day!

L'Epicerie
1325 1st Street S.E.
www.dominiquemoussu.com

Located in the strip mall along side Bernard Callebaut and Manuel Latruwe Belgian Patisserie & Bread Shop, L'Epicerie is a small French deli that seats 7 or 8 patrons. Serving a variety of soups, quiches and sandwiches, items are made fresh daily. I forgot what I order but I think it was the second sandwich, with ham, cheese and eggs? You would think that having slices of hard boiled eggs in the sandwich would be weird but it actually complimented the cured ham and cheese really well. It's nothing like an egg salad sandwich. I would actually recommend the croque-monsieur over the sandwich that I had. It's kinda greasy but oh so delicious! It's a shame they sold out when I was there. I wish I could speak french because I can't pronounce ninety percent of the menu items.



Lotus Grill
1032 Macleod Trail SE

Despite the "great" weather we've had recently, I had to play ultimate frisbee Thursday evening. And by great, I mean cold and snowy. So I headed to Lotus Grill after work to grab a nice bowl of hot Pho before the game. My server had the Justin Bieber haircut, except it was a little thin at the front. It was not a good look.

Anyway, back to the food. I ordered the house special which has all the miscellaneous cow parts (brisket, tendon, tripe). The broth was a little weak, a little watered down and that is never a good thing. The cuts of beef were very thick; however, I'm not sure if this is a good thing either as the beefy goodness can not be diffused into the soup and rice noodles which essentially have no taste. Price at a couple of pennies under ten dollars (a large is two dollars more), you actually don't get as much as other places. A little disappointed to say the least.

Yay for Free Lunch!

Milestones
107-8th Ave. SE
www.milestonesrestaurants.com

Went to Milestones for lunch today to welcome a new member to our team at work. I had the lunch trio. Soup, salad and sandwich. The soup was a tomato bisque. Very rich and creamy but definitely not as good as the soup I had at Taste. Caesar salad on the side. It must be a Milestones thing but they seem to like to put large chunks of garlic in their caesar salads. It's not bad but some of the chunks are quite large. I had the smoke turkey for my sandwich. It was decent, nothing too spectacular... avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, bacon and, of course, turkey sandwiched between ciabatta bread. What is surprising was that we finished in 45 minutes, because normally it takes 45 minutes to get our food! That's enough time to get a coffee at deVille. Score!

"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.

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!

♥ 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. ♥

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