thekua.com@rest

I almost thought I had returned to London last week after almost six or seven days of consecutive grey skies and plenty of rain all around town. It also somehow managed to get pretty cold at the same time, needing to pull out the jumper and the winter jacket I still have around.

Even the locals say that that much rain was extremely unusual. At least, everything seems to be really green as a result (despite all the additional mowing now needed – see above picture). Everything has returned to glorious days of unending sunshine (it’s truly dark at probably about 11pm these days!) although there’s been a few surprise showers roll in suddenly.

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I thought I’d head out to visit another one of Calgary’s markets on Saturday, the Crossroads Markets. Aided with a map with a rough idea about how to get to there, what I thought would be an hour or two turned into an almost 20km hike all around Calgary, with a few stops along the way. The picture below represents my journey on Saturday, and at least according to the map, was 19.42km.

Here’s a twitter-fied version of my journey:

• Stop for the mandatory Saturday coffee at Caffe Artigiano
• Marvelled at the Talisman Centre
• Wandered around the Reader Rock Gardens
• Thinking this area around the Calgary Water Centre is pretty industrial
• Alright, so I can’t go further from here, perhaps I need to turn here
• I can’t see Blackfoot and decide to circle back
• I recognise MacLeod
• It looks like 42nd might connect. Do I want to risk trying it? Hmm. Let’s walk on.
• Stopped to get water
• 52nd? I wanted 50th. Turn back around
• Go karting. Awesome
• What the? The map said 50th connected to Blackfoot
• The map says 58th should connect too. I have no faith in this map.
• Yay! I see Blackfoot Inn. Alright, I give a little bit of faith back to the map
• Whoa. Getting rough with no pavement to walk on
• How convenient (only) the casino has pavement
• Terrain increases pretty sharply. I’m goin’ bush
• Woo hoo! A Crossroads Market sighting
• Cross busy Blackfoot to get to market. Think mini-freeway deathtrap
• Meander around for a while. Grab another drink
• The map says Blackfoot circles back. Is it telling me lies again?
• Doh. The road doesn’t have room to walk along. I turn down another road hoping it connects. Good one map.
• All signs point to City Centre
• An Inglewood trek. I spot Rouge, Nectar Desserts, Spolumbos, and another Buffalo Cafe
• I recognise Deane House
• People splashing in a large pond amuse me
• Famished by 3pm. Smoked ribs and beef brisket doesn’t sound bad. I stop at The Palomino.
• Return to base

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Crave really seems to have captured the appetites for Calgarian cupcakes. Being located near one of their main locations in Kensignton, what time I have spent around the area on the weekend, I’ve seen plenty of people walking about their trademark bags. Clearly labeled yet see perfectly see through plastic gives everyone else the opportunity to ogle at their brightly coloured buttercream creations adorning an almost invisible golden base.

I sampled one of their lime flavoured ones. Intensively tart and sweet at the same time and just as intensively coloured, I couldn’t keep thinking that the cupcake was simply a vehicle for bringing the buttercream home to roost. Even with a cup of tea, I still found the icing to cake ratio simply too much. With that in mind, although I found their larger cupcakes to be overwhelming, I think the smaller, bite sized ones might offer a better balance.

Expect to line up in this place, unless it’s at the end of the day when they’re almost out of stock. Great for a sugar rush, Crave offers tantalizing flavours although, in my humble opinion, could do more to balance the cake to icing ratio.

If you expect an overwhelming amount of buttercream, add two more points to this rating.

Details: Crave Cookies and Cupcakes
Found at: Several locations – see their website
Highlights: Strong flavours, with eye catching coloured cream
Room for improvement: An improved cake to buttercream icing (I would like to have some cake with that icing thanks!)
TheKua.com Rating: 4 out of 10

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As seen on 17th Street…

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Nellie’s on 17th
Nellie’s appears to be one of those Calgarian institutes for that time between breakfast and lunch. We ate at one of the two found on 17th and felt instantly transported into a very bohemian feeling atmosphere – old rickety floorboards under our feet, a painting of a cow standing in a field split across three separate canvasses and a framed picture of Kramer (from Seinfeld) staring down at us from above our table.

Paying $9 gives you a large plate filled with a 3 egg omelet choc-a-block with a couple of ingredients and accompanied by a generous serving of hash browns and a couple of pieces of toast. Their hash browns are those made out of chunks of potato, heavily spiced and seemingly baked although more likely and perhaps less surprisingly fried. Delicious nevertheless.

I’ve read that Nellie’s gets very busy from seeing the lines firsthand, it’s definitely a popular joint. With other brunch items like pancakes, heuvos rancheros, and a huge breakfast platter with all options, this café offers the diner a pretty unique dining experience.

Don’t expect modern stylish food – this café doesn’t mess about, instead offering down to earth, no fuss homestyle cuisine.

Found at: 801 17th Ave SW, Calgary, AB
Contactable on: +1 (403) 244-4616

Thai Sa-On
Is a Hong Kong movie star like Jackie Chan anyone to judge how good a Thai restaurant is? I don’t know and I can’t really say I care considering how good the food is at Thai Sa-On. If it helps, apparently the Thai government approves this restaurant’s food.

Located on 10th Street, right next to the club Tantra, Thai Sa-On is a popular place, as indicated by the large queues that form on Friday and Saturday evenings. Its interior is decorated with many Thai-looking artifacts although I can’t really say how authentic they are. Regardless there is enough of an atmosphere to feel like you’re not just smack bang in the middle of Calgary.

Their wine list is impressive as the owner is an avid wine collector and all of them reasonably priced. Like most Thai restaurants, this one offers the wide range from salads, soups, curries, noodle and rice dishes in addition to a handful of appetisers admittedly nothing super special. Regardless, the main dishes all over reasonable value and great taste bursting in fresh flavours in complex layers.

Don’t be mislead by their dated website with several of the prices way out of date – one appetiser I ordered being almost $4 over its, now out of date, advertised price.

Found at: 351-10th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2R 0A5
Contactable on: +1 (403) 264-3526

Pho Viet
Calgary has a surprisingly large number of Vietnamese restaurants to support its growing population of around one million people. I’ve been to some really great ones, and this was unfortunately my first disappointing one. Pho Viet was open in a place downtown when everything else around it was shut. I should have taken the hint and gone somewhere else.

Only one or two other patrons sat inside when I entered, and the quiet was almost unnerving. Feeling particularly hungry, I ordered an appetiser of grilled pork skewers and a bun (rice noodle) dish that came with a couple of spring rolls and other grilled meat. My main dish fortunately arrived before I had time to finish my appetiser. I say fortunate in this case because the bun had a disproportionately large amount of noodle and only fractional portions of pickled carrots, cucumber and the meat. The two tiny spring rolls that came with it, though winning on the crispiness factor, totally lost out on the flavour part.

Disappointingly, even the bowl of flavoured sauce you traditionally pour all over the dish couldn’t lift the blandness that permeated all parts of the dish and I only ate what I could with what leftover skewer meat I had from the appetiser.

Admittedly service was prompt and friendly though and even though I’ll admit prices are low, this time the dish was certainly less than the price I paid for it.

Found at: 834 5th Ave SW, Calgary
Contactable on: +1 (403) 263 1984

The Heartland Cafe
What’s better than a heritage house converted into a warm café just outside the centre of Kensington? With large shop front windows filtering the warmth of the Calgary sun, the Heartland Café welcomes a constant stream of locals into its abode.

I found the coffee a bit average – I’ve definitely had better elsewhere although they make up for it with a broader selection of pastries, cakes and muffins. At least on this Sunday past, they had a small selection of other meals like a quiche and panini. Other cafes offer a much more extensive menu. I decided to indulge in a hearty Ham and Egg Breakfast panini, made up of thick whole grain bread and even as tasty as it was, deceptively is not really a true panini.

Offering magazines and papers for sale, the Heartland offers a nice spot to catch up with a small number of friends – their tables not quite comfortable for groups above five. On great weather days it’s even worthwhile sitting on their benches outside indulging in what sun you can catch.

Found at: 940 2nd Ave NW, Calgary, AB T2N0E6
Contactable on: +1 (403) 270-4541

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Offering a warm wooden retreat from all the drizzle outside, only to be disappointed by untimely service and mediocre food, Sandbar missed its mark with me on my trip to Vancouver. Looking back, I should have stuck to pillaging the wealth of smaller, and more likely, tastier options in the public market nearby.

Don’t get me wrong. At first thought, Sandbar looked to promise a lot. I could hear the orders resonate through the kitchen from where I was, indicating a relatively efficient one at least. Unfortunately it just took a long time for the waitress to take my order and bring the bill.

On the upside, they did serve complementary bread. Better yet, they had warmed it through and, surprisingly, accompanied by softened butter, made the normal ordeal of combining the two a breeze.

My only dish, the plank salmon arrived and true to form looked good, yet it still disappointed as the fish was slightly overcooked, lacking in the luscious moistness I’d expected out of a place like this. At least, the skin, none too fatty indicating it wasn’t a farmed fish, was crisp and the fresh … taste of the caramalesied sugar/maple left permeated through its flesh.

I’ll also admit, even though I waited for some time, their comfy brown leather seaters I sat in made it pretty worthwhile.

TheKua.com Rating: 6 out of 10

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Dear Calgary,

Do you remember when I asked you for some fresh snow when I first arrived? You certainly delivered with some fresh powder during my times in Lake Louise, Sunshine Village and some light snowfall around town. I thanked you dearly for your generous gift when you literally buried the city under 19 centimetres of snow, only to be followed by a weekend with temperatures of up to 20 degrees celcius. I thought to myself, what a wonderful way to really start the spring weather off.

Understandably, maintaining your 20 degrees is a bit much to ask for, especially during Spring-time weather and the showers everyone told me to expect. To be fair, given how dry the city tends to be, I would definitely not complain should you decide to share a heavy downpour with us all. I can completely relate to your need to also vary your temperatures, from the near zero to the high teens – you definitely don’t want people to mistake this period for summertime.

However given that it is the start of May, I’m disappointed with the pretty constant, albeit light, snow that’s blanketing the city tonight (please see the picture above I took just before writing this). I feel like you don’t want to let go of the bitter winter, and that, for some reason, you don’t want to welcome spring with open arms. You already made me more than happy by giving me such wonderful snow in April, and I’m really looking forward to the summer hikes the surroundings offer, should the snow finally leave the ground.

I do hope you consider the confusion your behaviour has created around the city.

Yours sincerely,

The Kua ^_^

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I’ve now flown Air Canada both domestically and overseas. For some reason, their domestic planes have an on demand entertainment system yet their international planes which actually really need them, lack them. Instead, their screens literally carpeted over with seat material instead. Bizarre? Yes, not to mention what a taunt.

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