lolacola "I love Tapas!"

Concorde Restolounge is a tiny gem in the city’s far south west. People often refer to the far southwest neighbourhoods of Calgary (Springbank, Patterson, Christie, the Slopes, Aspenstone, Westsprings) as the “boonies”. It’s true, these neighbourhoods are on the outreaches, and generally foodies need to journey into the core, Kensington or 17th avenue to get the trendy cuisine they crave. Well fear not foodies, there’s a new lounge in town.

Concorde has a very unassuming flat glass front with tinted windows. I spotted Concorde while shopping at the Blush Lane Organic market and decided to take my mother there for dinner. Although Concorde is small, bar seating, and about 10 tables, they make the most of their space. The ambiance is rich, dark and luxe, everything is shiny black or silver, with soft and deep white leather chairs.

For a small place Concorde has an excellent wine list, with lots of choices by the glass. I chose a glass of the Caymus Conundrum white blend ($15.00) that was served perfectly chilled. My mother was just as enamoured with her choice the Spy Hill Sauvignon Blanc ($9.00). We were quite happy to have chosen crisp whites as it became apparent that the a lot of the cuisine at Concorde featured our favourite food, seafood.

The service was excellent. We had a very polite and unobtrusive waiter and after we ordered the chef brought us out an amuse bouche. A perfectly cooked mussel was served with shavings of chilled Asian pear. The textures went extremely well together and it was light and delicious beginning to our meal.

For her entrée my mother ordered the Ocean’s Stack ($35.00). 3 large cannelloni stuffed with seafood, mushrooms and spinach, were topped with even more seafood, mussels and jumbo prawns. The seafood and pasta was perfectly cooked, but the sauce was a little on the bland side. It was a creamy lemon rose sauce that smelt delicious but unfortunately fell flat. Although even though the sauce needs a little more work, my mother still enjoyed the cannelloni.

I am a huge fan of mussels and fries and often can’t avoid ordering them should I spot them on a menu. Concorde’s mussels and fries ($17.00) were some of the best I have every had. Listed as an appetizer, this dish could easily feed 4 people or be a meal for two. I could barely finish them myself! The heaping stack of steamed mussels were served in a delicious lemon, herb and butter sauce, that was very light and didn’t over power the taste of the shellfish. The dish was severed with a spicy chipotle mayo that I wasted no time dipping the fantastic crispy fries into.

Totally satiated, my mother and I couldn’t even look at the dessert menu, but that didn’t stop us from having another glass of wine!

Although Concorde’s entrée prices can be a little on the steep side (rack of lamb $42.00 being the highest), this lounge has great value for money. With high quality ingredients, innovative and trendy cuisine, this is a heaven for the suburban foodie.

The Grizzly House in Banff is a funky fondue spot with a crazy history; it started off as a disco that used to serve food from the Chinese restaurant next door through a hole in the wall! When the Chinese food restaurant closed and the Grizzly had to serve food to maintain a valid liquor license, the owners brought their fondue pots from home. Almost thirty years later and the venerable restaurant is still around.

The interior of the place is rather hippy chic with crazy wood carvings and memorabilia every where, including pictures of the owners nudist friendly property in B.C. But the stained glass lamps circa 1970 leave the restaurant too dim. When my boyfriend and I arrived we were rudely ignored by the host, and when he finally acknowledged us we had to wait for our table even though we had a reservation. When the host walked us to the table, he set off briskly and we found it hard to keep up, as the restaurant was dark and we had never been there before. After unceremoniously dumping our menus off, he was gone. We got a little nervous, however our awesome waiter more than made up for the grouchy host.

My boyfriend and I chose to have the complete fondue dinner, which is four courses served to a minimum of two persons: I had the original fondue dinner with beef and chicken ($45.00) and my boyfriend had the hunter dinner ($55.00) with buffalo, wild boar and venison. The Grizzly house has an exotic fondue dinner option ($65.00) with frogs legs, ostrich, shark, alligator, buffalo and venison; we were a little to squeamish to go for that option.

The first course is your choice of soup or salad. My boyfriend had the chicken tortellini soup, which he proclaimed delicious, and I had the cesar salad that was mediocre. The second course is your choice of a swiss cheese or vegetable fondue (one per couple). Having never tried a cheese fondue we ordered it. It was delicious, the Kirsch and wine added an interesting tang to the melted blend of swiss and ememnthal cheeses. Served with cubes of french bread for dipping, this dish is very filling so we didn’t finish the generous portion to save room for dinner. We chose the hot rocks instead of the oil, as the healthier alternative. The waiter gave us very knowledgeable and informative instructions on how to use the hot rocks. Our meats arrived with a quad of dipping sauces: horseradish, teriyaki, onion and something I can’t recall the name of that was garlicky. The onion dip was terrible and bland, but the other dips were good. Cooking the food ourselves on the sizzling hot rocks was great fun. I would definitely come back and try it again.

The two things that people should know about this restaurant are (1) that you won’t be getting in without reservations and (2) if you plan on going out afterwards, leave time to go back to the hotel and change and freshen up. All the smoke from people cooking right on there tables and the lack of ventilation leaves you smelling like a smokehouse. Having been in the Grizzly House for about 2 hours we did not notice how we smelled and were told by a bartender at a local watering hole. Embarrassing aftermath but a fun and tasty dinner.

My boyfriend and I love sushi and after hearing about how good Chef Studio Japan was we decided to try it on a recent trip to Canmore. The restaurant is decorated with a very homey feel, local art and quirky ornaments. In the bathrooms the walls are black board and you are provided with a piece of chalk to express whatever comes to mind. There was also a very cute picture, painted by a boy aged nine, of flying sushi pieces to express his love of Chef Studio. However, be forewarned that Chef Studio is has a tricky location: just of main street behind the Bank of Montreal. If you have never been here before, asking a local for directions is a must.

My boyfriend and I were quickly seated at a comfy booth near the back of the restaurant. At 8:00 pm on a Saturday night the place was hopping so reservations are recommended. We browsed the large plastic menu which had a variety of hot non-sushi related dishes. A few interesting items that caught my eye were the vegetarian potato tempura with special sauce ($5.00) and the cheese tempura with special sauce ($7.00). Also eye-catching was the award wining organic healing garden salad ($18.00) with black pepper red tuna. The salad won a Fetzer award in about 2007. Due to the fact that my eyes are much bigger then my stomach, we didn’t order all the items that looked good. We ordered a variety of sushi, and a green salad and miso soup to start. My boyfriend said the miso soup was delicious, possibly the best he had ever had. My green salad ($5.00) had a very nice dressing and was mixed greens served with chilled corn kernels. At first I wasn’t sure about the corn kernels, but they were a refreshing addition.

For the sushi we ordered a few different rolls: green onion and fatty tuna roll, spicy scallop roll, bbq eel and cucumber roll and the spicy tuna roll. All were very reasonably priced at about $4.00 a roll. Having been intrigued by the description of the healing garden salad, we also ordered the 3 piece black pepper red tuna sashimi ($12.00). The tuna was melt in your mouth and had a light and tangy pepper crust. All the rolls had excellent fish quality and freshness, with the spicy scallop being a stand out. A light coloured and refreshing roe was on the out side, while the inside was stuffed with chopped raw scallop and green onion in a spicy mayo sauce. Delicious.

The only disappointing thing about Chef Studio was the service. We were seated for about 15 minutes before we were approached and the food took quite a while to arrive as well. However, as it got a little less busy we began to see more drink refills and attentiveness. The next time I find myself in Canmore, I will go back to try the cheese and potato tempura.

Pullcinella’s is just off the beaten path in Kensington, located on Kensington Crescent. Beware as there is little to no parking space, so maybe take a cab. On a freezing cold Wednesday night, myself and three girlfriends met here for after work dinner and drinks.

Pullcinella’s space is lovely and warm. A large, open room, with maple hardwood and white and silver accents. We were promptly seated by our hostess, who was very accommodating when selecting a table due to our friend who had a broken foot. The restaurants main feature is their large pizza oven which is located in the back center and is open to the restaurant. This oven was imported from Italy and customers are encouraged to wander over and watch their pizzas being cooked. This is what Pullcinella’s is known for: authentic Napoli style pizza.

Pullcinella’s menu consists of soup, salad, appetizers and pizza. Although there are no other entrees except for pizza, one could easily make a meal out of the delicious appetizers and salads. My friends and I shared two appetizers to start: calamari fritti ($12.95) and arancini ($11.95).

The calamari was delicious; large rings cooked to perfection, with a very light batter, and drizzled with a lemon tomato sauce. About the calamari, it has a very strong lemon flavour due to the gremolatta that is in the batter. I thought it tasted great but one of my friends was put off by the strong citrus flavour. I would also recommend asking for more tomato sauce as it is so good you will want to dip every bite.

The arancini was saffron infused (read: light flavour) arbio rice, stuffed with mozzarella, cooked till crisp and topped with tomato sauce. Wow were these ever good. There were three rice balls which were cooked to perfection, light and crisp on the outside with melted cheese on the inside. The tomato sauce served with these delights was rich and flavourful, and there was plenty of it. One thing I could tell was that the tomato sauce was made with very fresh, high end ingredients. Fantastic.

For our entrees we each ordered a pizza. However, as the pizza’s were quite large and none of us could finish more then half, if you were having appetizers I would recommend sharing one. Our waitress did a great job of describing how the pizzas are cooked to the newbies at the table: in a wood burning oven, these thin crust pizzas are charred on the outside and a little moist in the center. All of the pizzas have classic Italian toppings so don’t expect to find Hawaiian or buffalo chicken here. I had the Cotto E Funghi ($16.95), which is prosciutto ham and mushrooms. The hand tossed pizzas are not cut for you, so you just kind of dig in. The toppings were generous with a perfectly melted blend of mozzarella and parmigiano cheese. Although the pizza was good, it just felt like it was missing something; a little more garlic or zip would have livened it up. Again you may wish to ask for more tomato sauce as the same delicious sauce was used, but spread rather thinly.

As a nod to Pullcinella’s wine list, all the wines were Italian and there is a good by the glass selection. Although they are a little pricey.

If you are in the mood for delicious Italian appetizers and Napoli style pizza, Pullcinella’s is the place to go.

Two of my friends and I headed to Winebar Kensington on a Sunday night and even though it was about 8:30pm the place was hopping. The gentlemen who greeted us at the door kindly informed us that there would be a birthday party of about 30 – 50 people so we could choose to leave if the noise level might bother us. We were fine with it and chose a booth in the back corner of the restaurant.

Although Winebar is small, it makes the most of its space. Located in a lower level suite the dim lighting, dark colours, attractive fabric patterns and art set up for a very ripe and romantic atmosphere. Winebar is an upscale lounge that can get rather loud with the music and all the people, and they don’t take reservations so it is best to go early. Winebar’s most prominent feature is the large bar that houses the open kitchen. A very original concept, you can chat with the chefs and watch them prepare your meal.

And what a meal it was. My girlfriends and I opted to share 3 tapas style plates: the three cheese plate ($16.00), grilled olive oil flatbread ($13.00) and the steamed mussels from the feature board (around $15.00). Cooked perfectly in a vegetable, garlic and white wine broth, the mussels were to die for. They were served with toasted french bread points coated in a deliciously garlic pesto spread, perfect for soaking up any left over broth. In with the mussels were thick slices of sausage. The sausages were the perfect addition to the dish, slightly zesty and fantastic.

For the cheese plate we chose the chef’s choice, asking for no blue cheese; 3 white cheeses (Grizzly gouda, brie and montadello) were served with plenty of crispy crostinis and 3 compotes. I don’t generally like fruit compotes, however these were great. Very light flavoured cranberry and a more robust fig. The cheese was also served with honey. The compotes and honey were the perfect compliments to the cheese and were obviously chosen with knowledge and care. The portions of the cheese were also more generous then in my past experiences.

The flatbread was, up next. Four pieces of grilled flat bread drizzled with pesto and olive oil, were topped with prosciuttino, generous portions of bocconcini, arugula and a sliver of parmesan cheese. Although the flavours went well together, I found that the combination was a little on the salty side and needs a bit more refining.

For our wine choice we shared a bottle of the 2008 Riesling from Some Young Punks of Clare Valley, Australia. The wine was very unique and was a nice complement to both the savoury and sweet foods we shared. Winebar has a very good and original wine list. One of the best aspects is that they offer all their wines by the glass, bottle and 2.5 ounce pour. So you can taste as many wines as you like, without having to commit to a whole bottle.

The bill for three people came to just under a hundred dollars, not bad. Because the menu is strictly tapas sized, if you were to come here for a meal your wallet could take a bigger hit as we found ourselves snacking later on and probably should have shared another item. Our server was a little on the slow side and a bit forgetful, not the best but not the worst. As my friend put it: food 10, ambience 10, and service 6. I will be sure to return here again to enjoy the exciting atmosphere and food.

The Elk and Oarsman is a rustic style pub, located on the second floor of a building right on Banff’s main thoroughfare, Banff avenue. It is decorated in wood and stone with memorabilia adorning the walls and a large stone fire place. The phrase “pub” can be misleading because they do allow minors in until 10:00pm. I have been to the Elk numerous times and always found it enjoyable. A must see is their stellar roof top patio. In the summer it has a spectacular view of the mountains that is unequalled.

They have a menu that has typical pub fare but with an emphasis on Canadian cuisine; like classic pub nachos with ground elk. One of the reasons why I frequent this place is one of their delicious signature soups; a roasted garlic and tomato masterpiece that is just the right consistency and perfect on a cold day. Other items of note that I have had are the grilled salmon sandwich, caesar salad and the oarsman deluxe pizza.

The grilled salmon sandwich is served open face on toasted foccacia, with crumbled feta cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and tatziki sauce. The salmon was cooked perfectly and was a good sized portion. I don’t know what kind of feta cheese they use, but this stuff wasn’t the dry restaurant feta I was used to having. Large chunks of delicious cheese were sprinkled atop a home-made tatziki, making for an excellent sandwich. Their caesar salad is served in a half and full size. The half size is plenty, and the salad is served just the way I like it; lots of garlic, lots of dressing and lots of parmesan cheese. The oarsman deluxe pizza is a thin crust pizza topped with lots of tomato sauce, ground beef, sliced grape tomatoes, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. Generally I don’t like ground beef on pizza, but this was made in house and was a welcome change from the greasy meat I am used to seeing.

The service has always been polite, knowledgeable and fast. Although the Elk doesn’t have the best beer selection if you are looking for something new, they do have their own house brew and all the standbys to please any ale head. For the non beer drinkers they have a fully stocked bar and a few wines.

The Elk is a good choice weather you are looking for the BEST roof top patio in the summer or some great drinks and eats in a warm atmosphere after a day on the ski hills.

My boyfriend and I have been to Le Villa on numerous occasions and really enjoyed it. Le Villa uses very high quality and fresh ingredients for their French influenced menu and has large portions that will leave even a big eater satisfied. Although Le Villa is on the pricey side, it is well worth it.

We decided to have our Valentines Day dinner at Le Villa because it has a cozy romantic atmosphere and the food is always spectacular. One thing about eating out on Valentine’s Day that always drives me crazy is the set menus. Although it is fun to have a 3 or 4 course meal, a lot of the menus I have seen are not very inventive and can end up being more expensive then if you ordered off of the regular menu. I found that the Valentine’s Day menu at Le Villa had good value for money and tasted fantastic. At $70.00 a person you had your choice of a first course, second course, main and dessert.

We had an excellent server who was very knowledgeable and had a good sense of humour. We brought our own bottle of wine that we had been saving for a special occasion as Le Villa has a very reasonable corkage fee of $20.00. Le Villa also has an excellent wine list and fully stocked bar for those who don’t bring drinks from home.

For our first course we had a choice between a butternut squash bisque or a shaved parmesan and arugula salad with a basil vinaigrette. My boyfriend chose the salad and I had the soup. Both were excellent portion sizes. The soup was fantastic, the velvety rich bisque was complemented with a crustini topped with crab meat and melted parmesan. The sweetness of the crab went well with the buttery soup. Although I didn’t try the salad, my boyfriend said it was delicious.

For the second course I chose the baked oysters Rockefeller; two large oysters on the half shell baked with béchamel sauce and herbs. Although the oysters were fresh and tender, I found the flavour of the sauce quite bland. My boyfriend chose the roasted pork tenderloin stuffed with chantrelle mushrooms and mascarpone cheese. The tenderloin was fantastic, cooked perfectly and drizzled with a light reduction that was the perfect compliment. My boyfriend ate every bite.

For our main courses I chose the filet mignon with Dungeness crab. One of the best things about Le Villa is it’s meat. The cuts are always of the highest quality and however you order your red meat, it comes perfectly cooked every time. The filet was no exception. Juicy and tender, it was topped with a generous helping of tender crab meat. I chose to have my béarnaise sauce on the side, and it was served piping hot in a little gravy boat. The plating was lovely with the winter vegetables and fingerling potatoes cut into artful shapes. My boyfriend chose the pan roasted veal chop, which was served atop scalloped potatoes and roasted asparagus. The veal was melt in your mouth good and topped with a delicious porcini and Madeira (sweet Spanish wine) sauce.

Although we were almost stuffed to the brim, we nearly finished all our dessert as well. We chose the lighter of the two options which was a champagne flute filled with a light jello made of champagne, with raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries suspended in the gelatine. The dessert was a perfect end to the rich meal by tasting refreshing and not too sweet.

I am already a repeat customer of Le Villa, but I now plan on making it my Valentines Day ritual. If you are looking for excellent food, fantastic service and romantic atmosphere, I suggest you do the same.

On a recent trip to Canmore, my family wanted to go out for brunch on Sunday. After hearing about Chez Francois from a friend, we decided to go there. There were going to be six of us so I called the number listed on their website and made a reservation. My family arrived separately at the restaurant and my parents who arrived first, were asked first by one hostess “there is a reservation over here, is this your party?” When my parents said no, they were then told by another hostess that Chez doesn’t take reservations. Although we were frustrated by the confusion, the staff at Chez managed to get us a table in under ten minutes which was commendable. My sister pointed out that even the menu said “your server will be happy to take reservations”, but confusion aside, we began to browse the menu.

The atmosphere at Chez Francois is similar to any busy family restaurant on a highway; bare and worn down décor, but comfortable and clean. The best thing about Chez Francois was the large brunch menu. With that many selections even the pickiest person would have been happy. The prices are very reasonable as well. I chose the Duo of Eggs Benedict ($13.95) with one Canadian bacon egg benny and one with spinach, feta and tomatoes. My boyfriend chose the Country Style Eggs ($8.95), two sunny side up eggs baked over ham, served with hash browns and tomatoes. My family chose a variety of dishes: spinach, feta and tomato Eggs Benny ($12.95), the Ladies Combo ($13.95), the Mountaineer ($9.95) and the Toasted Rye Bread Sandwich ($9.50).

The service at Chez caused some confusion as well, we had one waitress who came by and took some drink orders, and then a few moments later had another waitress who came by with coffee and took drink orders again. They must have communicated though, because we all got the right drink. One thing was that when our server was taking drink orders she got to the third person who ordered water with another drink and rudely interrupted them saying “I will just bring you all water, okay?”. I was not pleased with the service at Chez; it was both rude and slow. We were left waiting a lot and my father just gave up and went and got the waitress when we needed the bill. The food service was slow as well.

Miraculously the kitchen managed to cook everyone’s eggs properly, which I think is quite a feat considering there were six of us, all with different eggs. Unfortunately, I did not like my eggs benny. The hollandaise had an odd taste too it, was very bland and just not good. The combo of spinach and tomato with the eggs benny was good, but the feta did not go with the hollandaise and was a disappointment. My sister and mother who each had an eggs benny as well, found that they were not enjoying them either. My mother had the ladies combo with one back bacon eggs benny and two raspberry crepes. She said the crepes were delicious. Other then the hollandaise debacle, everyone else enjoyed their breakfasts. Most of the dishes at Chez Francois are served with hash browns and fresh fruit. The hash browns were large square cut potatoes, fried golden crisp and were very tasty.

Although Chez Francois has a large brunch menu with some original and enticing items; the rude, slow and unorganized service turned me off. I think that next time I am in Canmore I will try one of the other brunch restaurants and hope for better.

Crazyweed is one of the most highly recommended restaurants in Canmore. It has received countless winning reviews and praise. Needless to say, I was very excited to try this restaurant and my expectations were set quite high.

I made reservations for our party of 6 over a month in advance, as I had been told this place was very hard to get into. I was glad I did because it was really busy on the Saturday night we attended. Crazyweed is a quite a large restaurant, with décor that is similar to another high end Canmore restaurant called Treo. Large white spaces, hardwood floors and eclectic art. Crazyweed has that open kitchen trend that seems to be sweeping restaurants and we had great fun watching the chefs toss the pizza dough.

The service at Crazyweed was mediocre. I think this was largely due to that fact that it was so busy; basically the waitress was at the table the bare minimum, and although we were not left wanting, the service just didn’t meet my high expectations. One thing to note is that Crazyweed was out of a ridiculous amount of menu items, at least five or six. They had three specials that night to replace them and some entrees had different meat cuts then listed on the menu. They were also out of at least a good 5 or 6 bottles of wine as well. The waitress had to come back twice because she didn’t even know what bottles of wine they were out of. Maybe they are not used to their new space yet, but considering this place is known to be so busy, they should have been prepared.

The food itself received a very mixed consensus from my guests and I. For starters we were served complementary crispy pita bread with a thick dip that tasted very similar to hummus with curry added to it, it was okay but nothing to rave about. We also ordered the flat bread ($5.00), which was unremarkable. My sister and her boyfriend shared the Vietnamese pork meat balls ($12.00) which you wrap in lettuce and dip in a delicious chilli and lime sauce. The sauce was tangy and loaded with flavour and the meat balls were tender and juicy. My sister and her boyfriend pronounced them a success. My parents shared the two chilli big shrimp ($12.00) which were grilled and served with mango and mint salsa. Don’t let the name mislead you, as there were five shrimp and they were not spicy, but had a fantastic smoky grill flavour. My boyfriend’s and my appetizer was not as good. We shared the potato rosti ($14.00) which was described on the menu as being served with smoked salmon, crème fraiche and mixed greens; it was not at all what I was expecting. Super thin shaved, and fried crisp potato strings were piled atop a few pieces of lettuce, and a lot of beets. Then the mess was topped with low quality smoked salmon and a dollop of crème fraiche. I hate beets and was disappointed in the dish as the beet juice was soaked up by the other items on the plate. If I had been told there were beets, I probably would have chosen something else. Also the fried potatoes were greasy and their extremely thin and crunchy texture did not compliment the other ingredients.

For our entrees, the mixed consensus continued. My sister had one of the specials; a large pobalano pepper ($22.00) stuffed with mozza cheese and risotto, served with a spring mix salad. The pepper was lightly fried so that the risotto and cheese were melted together and topped with a zesty tomato sauce. My sister loved the dish, and having sampled it myself I agreed that it was fantastic. My mother had the Thai grilled chicken ($29.00) which was served on rice and greens with a cilantro lime coconut sauce. She found it to be rather bland and mediocre. My father had ordered the Alberta sterling tenderloin ($38.00), but as they were out of that cut of meat, the waitress offered him a rib eye instead. Although the rib eye is a lower quality cut of meat, we were not offered any price difference or compensation for this change. Also my father was not told until well after he had ordered his meal so he was unable to change his mind if he had wanted to. He found the steak, which was served with béarnaise sauce, potatoes and vegetables, to be cooked as he ordered, but a very fatty and poor cut of meat.

My boyfriend on the other had, chose one of the steaks on special and was very pleased. The filet mignon ($38.00) was served with roasted potatoes, vegetables and topped with a rich and delicious Roquefort cheese sauce. The meat was cooked perfectly and my boyfriend ate every bite. Too full from the appetizers to order a rich meal like my boyfriends, I chose to have one of Crazyweed’s fire grilled pizzas; the surf and turf ($18.00). The pizza was quite good, with a light and crispy homemade crust topped with pesto sauce, and finished with a very generous helping of toppings: shrimp, chorizo sausage and mozza cheese. The chorizo was especially delicious with just a hint of spiciness. My sister’s boyfriend chose the pasta version of my pizza, the fettuccine ($25.00) with the aforementioned shrimp and chorizo served with grilled vegetables and a creamy tomatillo and chipotle sauce. Although I didn’t sample the pasta, he said it was pretty good.

One thing I will say, is that although the prices are quite high, the portion sizes for both appetizers and entrees were quite big.

We were very stuffed, but glanced at the dessert menu. My mother saw something tasty, but low and behold, they were out of it. Generally with such praise for this restaurant, and the high prices, I was expecting a lot better. The shortage of food and wine was frustrating and not everyone’s dishes were up to the expected calibre. If I do try this restaurant again, I will come on a Monday or Sunday night. When hopefully it won’t be so busy so they can have items in stock and service that isn’t so rushed.

Nando’s is very far away from where I live. Located in the N.W. near Sunridge Mall and the airport, it is still worth the visit. My boyfriend is from B.C. and he was very excited when he found out that there was a Nando’s here in Calgary. Touting itself as a healthy alternative to fast food I was intrigued, so one snowy Saturday we made the trek for lunch.

Nando’s is a Portuguese peri-peri chicken restaurant. Peri-peri is a spicy pepper, garlic and citrus sauce that Nando’s makes fresh in house and that their chicken is marinated in. You can choose from hot, medium, mild or lemon pepper. If you have never had peri-peri before I would suggest starting out trying the mild or if you don’t like spicy foods, the lemon pepper is delicious as well.

They have a unique concept for a restaurant that serves food that is fast but isn’t really “fast food” (i.e. not like McDonalds, etc.): you go up to the counter and order, are then given a number, choose your seat in the restaurant, and the waiter brings your food to you. This was quite a novel idea, as you are given real cutlery and plates and the comfy furniture is nothing like normal fast food plastic furniture. Although the prices are a little higher then fast food, it is not by much. You can even order beer! The choices are healthier as the chicken is marinated and grilled, not fried and although they do offer fries, they have many other healthy side options such as a variety of salads, rice and vegetables.

Nando’s has a large menu where their signature chicken is served in lots of different ways: meals for one to meals for a whole family, sandwiches, salads, platters, and rotisserie chicken. My first time trying Nando’s, I chose the Double Kebab ($12.00) with green salad and fries. My boyfriend had the Chicken Breast Sandwich ($10.00). I like spicy food, so I chose to have my chicken done hot as did my boyfriend. This was some of the best chicken I have ever had. Tender and juicy with every bite bursting with flavour. The peri-peri sauce was so hot I was crying by the end of my meal (should have started out with mild like my boyfriend told me too) but it was so good I couldn’t stop eating. The fries that were served with the two kebabs were nothing special, but the salad was fantastic. A good sized green salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, shaved carrots, pumpkin seeds and a fresh herb vinaigrette. The chicken sandwich was my boyfriends favourite in B.C. and he said it was just as good here as well.

I have been here twice now and the second time I had the Chicken Breast Sandwich with green salad and got the mild peri-peri marinated chicken. The sandwich was served on a white sourdough bun, with lettuce, tomato and mayo. The mild sauce was a perfect choice as I was still able to enjoy the delicious peri-peri flavour without burning my face off.

Another thing to note, is that along with the regular condiments (ketchup, salt and pepper) Nando’s also has garlic peri-peri sauce and hot peri-peri sauce at the table so you can sauce up your food to your hearts content. All of Nando’s sauces are for sale in the restaurant and the warnings on the bottles are true: they’re addictive! If there was a franchise closer to my house, I would frequent it often. This place is a great bet for those who want delicious food served quickly but healthier and with a much nicer atmosphere then a fast food joint.