Calgary is the second largest Canadian city west of Toronto. It offers a wide range of cuisine, both local and international.
Spaswinefood strategy before arrival was to check out Calgary's culinary scene online. I came up with the following online sources:
1. A
dining guide (CalgaryAlberta.com) to Calgary features restaurants in the following categories: Italian, Fine Dining, Pub Food, Indian, Canadian and Chinese.
2.
Calgary Kiosk lists restaurants with descriptions, address and phone number and in some cases website links.
3. Chomp provides a list of featured Calgary restaurants with reviews.
4.
Discover Calgary (WorldWeb.com) has a list of restaurants and bars. The list categorizes restaurants by both country or region and food type. With 40 country or regions on the list, the top ones are: American, Canadian, Chinese, Italian, International, Indian, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese. Also included on the list is the restaurant's address, contact information, reviews (reviewBlue and Tripadvisor) and some have website links. This is a great online resource.
5. Uptake.com is another good source. It provides a categorized list, with restaurant reviews linked to sources, such as Open Table, Tripadvisor and Yahoo Travel.
I found that the above sources were quite useful to come up with a short list for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Once I zeroed in on a short list of restaurants, I was able to check their reviews on Yelp, Urban Spoon and Open Table. After completing the above process, I discovered that each year Calgary readers and judges pick
Calgary's Best Restaurants.
In the end, I decided to visit three restaurants (River Cafe, Vin Room and Rouge) listed on
Calgary Best Restaurants 2011, under the category "
Best Place To Bring Out Of Town Guests". These three restaurants also came up on the other online sources with good reviews.
1.
River Cafe, 25 Prince's Island Park not only made Calgary's Best Restaurant list in 2011 but, it was also best overall restaurant 2010 and best Canadian Cuisine 2010. I visited the River Cafe on April 3, 2011 for brunch, with a Calgarian friend.
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| River Cafe, Prince's Island Park © Spaswinefood |
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| Come Join Us By Our Fire © Spaswinefood |
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| We do © Spaswinefood |
For brunch we ordered Eggs Benedict and a cava,
Rosé Codorníu from Penedés, Spain (see
Snooth reviews).
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| Cava Rosé Codorníu, Penede's Spain © Spaswinefood |
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| Eggs Benedict with carrots and Jerusalem artichoke © Spaswinefood |
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Eggs Benedict with carrots and Jerusalem artichoke © Spaswinefood
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| River Cafe, Prince's Island Park © Spaswinefood |
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| River Cafe, Prince's Island Park © Spaswinefood |
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| River Cafe, Prince's Island Park © Spaswinefood |
Brunch at the River Cafe was excellent and the setting quite inviting. It is well worth a visit.
2.
Vin Room, 2310 4th Street SW serves international cuisine and wine. It has one of the largest selections of wine by the taste, glass, half bottle or bottle in Calgary. It is also 2011 Dinner's Choice winner on Open Table. If you are looking for wine with tapas or a meal in Calgary this is the place.
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| Vin Room © Spaswinefood |
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| Vin Room © Spaswinefood |
The inside setting of the Vin Room is very pleasing. My friend and I choose seating near the kitchen area.
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| Vin Room © Spaswinefood |
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| Vin Room © Spaswinefood |
We selected three Mendoza wines to taste (1)
2007 Bonarda Durigutti, described as "
Bright, Lively and Lean" (2) 2009 Cabrenet Sauvignon Reserve, Bodega Chanua described as "
Earthy, Vibrant and Structured" and (3)
2008 Malbec Andeluna described as "
Satiny, Round and Lush".
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| Vin Room wine flight © Spaswinefood |
We also ordered a dry sparkling red wine,
2009 Medici Concerto Lambrusco Salamino from Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy
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| Vin Room © Spaswinefood |
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| Cheese Platter, Vin Room © Spaswinefood |
The Vin Room is great for checking out the wine scene in Calgary. I would highly recommend it.
3.
Rouge Restaurant, 1240 8 Avenue SE was the third restaurant on my list. I did not get to visit because it was closed on the day I planned to visit. Hopefully, I will get another opportunity in the future.
Since no visit to Calgary is complete without checking out its steakhouses, I decided to visit one. The steakhouse I decided to visit is in downtown Calgary.
Keg Steakhouse and Bar at the Westin Hotel on 4th Avenue is quite popular. Keg Steakhouse restaurants are in fact amongst the most popular restaurants in Canada.
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| Keg at the Westin © Spaswinefood |
The Canadian wine we selected was a Jackson-Tiggs Merlot on their wine list.
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| Keg at the Westin © Spaswinefood |
From dinner menu my friend Virginia selected prime rib.
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| Prime Rib with onions and rice pilaf © Spaswinefood |
You might ask what would a vegetarian order at a steak restaurant. I have often found that steakhouses often have great salads and side dishes. For dinner I ordered salad, mushrooms and baked potato.
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| Spinach salad with blue cheese © Spaswinefood |
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| Cremini mushrooms © Spaswinefood |
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| Baked potato © Spaswinefood |
We both enjoyed our dinner. My Calgarian friend said that the prime rib was excellent.
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| Calgary © Spaswinefood |
Calgary is a great city to explore food and wine. While Calgary gets top marks for its steakhouses it does also have an exciting and very diverse culinary scene. I invite you to join me in my travels in Calgary and elsewhere at
Spaswinefood, or you can visit my
travel column at the
Examiner.
Sharon
Calgary, Alberta
April 2011
© Spaswinefood
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Examiner article
Calgary's culinary side and
Spaswinefood's post
In Search of Calgary's Best Spas.
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