SNAPSHOTS | CALGARY AUG 2020 | DAY 1

Well, hello there. It's been a while. Hard to believe that it's been six months since the last time that I've blogged. What have I been up to? To be honest, a whole lot of nothing. I'm fortunate enough to still be working, but other than my time at the office, I've been staying home as much as I can (like one should during a global pandemic). I was always a homebody to begin with, so the transition hasn't been too difficult. Netflix has been my best friend through all of this and baking projects have kept me (somewhat) sane. I've even picked up embroidery as a hobby! I'm out here, just living my best grandma life.

 

Since the beginning of the year, I think I've dined in a restaurant a grand total of four times. We've done a lot of takeout, but it's heartbreaking knowing that the restaurant industry has been one of the hardest hit this past year. So if you're in a position to do so, please remember to shop small and support local.

 

During the summer, when cases were relatively under control, we took a weekend trip out to Calgary and Canmore. Traveling to faraway places doesn't seem at all likely (until 2022 at least) so exploring our own backyard seemed like the next best thing. 

  

Our first stop of the day was M Palace Seafood & Dim Sum along Macleod Trail. T. Pot is our usual go-to for dim sum in Calgary, but we figured it was good to try somewhere new. It was actually my first time dining out since the beginning of 2020 so I did have some anxiety going in. Fortunately, the restaurant is pretty large so they were able to distance the tables quite well. I don't think it's mandatory practice but the restaurant also collected your name and number for contact tracing if necessary.

We were planning to go hiking right after so we were pretty modest with our order. The dim sum staples, har gao ($6.95) and sui mai ($6.95), were pretty standard. Smaller in size but they did come in baskets of five than the usual portion of four. The deep fried taro balls ($5.95) had a wispy, crunchy shell surrounding mashed taro and a saucy ground pork filling. One of my favourite dim sum dishes, the molten lava egg yolk buns ($6.95) was given a visual upgrade with charcoal-tinted dough and a brush of gold. They certainly delivered on the molten lava promise.   

We liked the rice crepe wrapped Chinese dough ($6.95) enough but could have done without the rice crepe with seafood ($7.95). The fried batter surrounding the shrimp was way too greasy and hard to stomach.

 

 

After lunch, we were back on the road, headed to Canmore. We planned on hiking Grassi Lakes trail, known for their beautiful turquoise waters. It's a fairly popular hike so it took us a while to get a parking spot. 

 

There are two ways to reach Grassi Lakes. Upon the advice of fellow hikers on the Internet, we took the "more difficult" path up and the "easy" path down. I am not an athletic person in any way, shape, or form but found the difficult path pretty doable. The views were much nicer and the hike was more gratifying when we reached the end destination.

 

Look at that blue and green water! Haters would say it's photoshopped.

Funny story, we finished the hike in under two hours, traversing up and down the rocky mountain, but I managed to roll my ankle, not once, but twice, on the flat path walking back to the parking lot (*facepalm*). Thankfully, adrenaline was high and I didn't feel it until later that night. 

 

We also swung by downtown Canmore which was shut down for pedestrian-only traffic. A beavertail was our reward after the hike. We got the avalanche, which had cheesecake spread, Skor bits, and caramel sauce. I've learnt that classic is always best, as this was sweet on sweet on sweet.

We headed back to Calgary for dinner and opted for takeout to bring back to our hotel room. We ended up ordering a party tray from Takumi Sushi out in Crowfoot. They had a 15% off promotion for pick-up orders so it ended up being quite a good deal. The party tray C ($68.95) included four pieces each of salmon and tuna sashimi, two pieces each of salmon, tuna, toro, and amaebi (sweet shrimp) nigiri, and three sushi rolls of your choice. I love aburi so we ended up getting three types of torched sushi. 

 

• Salmon battera (6 pieces): avocado inside with torched salmon, spicy mayo, unagi sauce, and jalapeno 
• Flames special roll (8 pieces): spicy salmon and cucumber inside with torched salmon, avocado, unagi sauce, and bonito
• Signature special roll (8 pieces): deep fried scallop, avocado, and cucumber inside with torched chopped scallop, spicy mayo, spicy sauce, and jalapeno
  

 

My favourite ended up being the signature special roll because of the creamy scallops but we pretty much loved everything on the tray. Between the three of us, we managed to finish everything. Guess the hike made us pretty hungry.

 

Before we dropped SC back home, we grabbed some dessert at XO Ice Cream & Waffles. Calgary is quite known for Made by Marcus and Village Ice Cream already, but XO is another independent ice cream shop churning out their own unique flavours. They're located quite far south so it was never really convenient to try them out until now. As far as COVID protocols go, only one person/family is allowed in the shop at a time, and there are no more samples allowed anymore (understandable, but sad).

 

 

$6 gets you one scoop, but you're allowed to choose two flavours. I ended up with two of the seasonal flavours, guava papaya and lime cilantro. The guava papaya was amazing -- slightly tart but sweet and refreshing. The texture was really nice and smooth as well. Usually that isn't the case for sorbets since there's higher water content. Lime cilantro on the other hand... here's where the samples would've come in clutch. I'm actually a huge citrus lover (yellow starbursts > orange > red > pink) and although it's a divisive ingredient, I really don't mind cilantro either. I imagined the combination to be just as good as the lemon basil flavour from Little Bear Gelato. I was sadly mistaken.

If lime cilantro ever comes back, stay away. Far, far away. To me, it tasted like pho condiments that had been regurgitated. Don't get me wrong, the other flavours at XO are lovely. This one just missed the mark.

 

 

 

Well, hopefully it doesn't take me another six months to get the second part of this road trip up. I probably won't be updating my blog as frequently as I have in years past but I promise I'm not abandoning you entirely! Blogging has been a longtime passion project of mine and it's been nice to have memories of food and travel documented. I'm surprised I've lasted as long as I have (5 years!), so thanks (to the two or three of you) for coming along for the ride. I hope 2021 will be a much better year -- it can only go uphill from here!

 

- CT

REVIEW | HAWAIIAN POKE & MORE | EDMONTON

Long time no talk! I wanted to preface this post by saying these past few months have been incredibly difficult for everyone. No matter your situation, this time has been stressful, anxiety-inducing, and one marked by immeasurable loss. I hope, whoever is reading this, that you are safe, healthy, and happy.

Straight off the heels of our Hawaii trip, we found ourselves at Hawaiian Poke & More with a craving for island-inspired eats. At the time of our visit, the restaurant was closed for dine-in but still open for take-out. We had called ahead and arrived at their cute and cheerful digs in Capilano. The owner, who helped us at the counter, was super sweet and welcoming.

As their name suggests, the restaurant focuses on poke, the popular Hawaiian dish consisting of diced raw fish in a combination of seasonings. Compared to other poke shops in town, Hawaiian Poke & More definitely wins for authenticity, with the fish already pre-marinated and served simply on its own, with or without rice. The menu also boasts other Hawaiian classics like loco moco, kalua pork, and spam musubi.

We ordered one of their grilled entrees, which was the kalbi short ribs ($13.99). Three pieces of kalbi served with two scoops of rice and macaroni salad. You get great value for the price but we did find the kalbi marinade to be on the saltier side.

Mac salad is a staple with any Hawaiian plate lunch. The macaroni is mixed in a creamy, sweet mayo dressing with shredded carrots.

For the main event, we ordered three types of poke. The poke is available in eight different flavours, with your choice of salmon or tuna. We got them in half pound sizes (tuna $12.50 / salmon $14.39), including one poke bowl (tuna $14.25 / salmon $16.25) which comes with two additional scoops of furikake rice. I love how the poke came in deli containers like you would get at the grocery stores and poke counters in Hawaii.

The sweet & spicy tuna poke was mixed with green onion and slices of raw onion. I would say the sauce was more sweet with the slightest bit of underlying heat. I was pleasantly surprised that the tuna was smooth and firm, which speaks to its freshness, rather than the mush that we've become accustomed to. 

The spicy mayo salmon poke also comes mixed with tobiko, green onions and sliced raw onion. There's a definite kick but the mayo lends some creaminess. As someone who doesn't take to spice very well, the heat level is fortunately bearable.

Our final poke was the oyster sauce salmon. This was my favourite out of the flavours we tried. Mixed with green onion and sesame seeds, the salmon was sweet and a little nutty. I found I needed rice to balance out the strong flavours of the other fish, but I was fine eating this poke on its own. 

Since a Hawaiian vacation doesn't seem likely in the foreseeable future, stop by this family-run business for your own little island escape! I, for one, have raw fish cravings 24/7 and will definitely be back to try more!  

Hawaiian Poke & More

hawaiianpokeandmore.com

7256 101 Ave NW

Edmonton, AB

(780) 540-3777

- CT  

SNAPSHOTS | HAWAII 2020 | DAY 6

Just like that, it was our last day in Hawaii! I really wish we had more time (especially to island hop) but as they say, all good things must come to an end. We had a red-eye flight to catch in the evening, so we had the rest of the day to finish exploring.

Before we checked out of our hotel, we hopped across the street to Kona Coffee Purveyors in the International Marketplace. The smell emanating from this coffee shop was insane! Roasted coffee + buttery pastry = heaven. (Someone bottle that into a perfume for me, please and thank you.)

I'm actually not a big coffee drinker so I was more interested in their pastry side. The pastries provided are in partnership with b. patisserie, a San Francisco-based bakery with one other international location in Seoul.

The lineup at Kona is pretty constant (especially in the morning) so we didn't bother waiting for a table and grabbed our pastries to-go. We ordered two ham & cheese croissants ($6.95), a black sesame kouign amann ($6.50), and a pineapple coconut almond croissant ($6.00). The pastries were oh-so-buttery and super flaky. The black sesame kouign amann is a flavour that only comes around once or twice a year in SF, but in Hawaii, it's available everyday! Yay!

We dropped off our luggage in hotel storage, and then made our way over to Chinatown.

We decided to split up from our parents and meet them after lunch at The Pig and the Lady.  

Chef/owner Andrew Le (born in the year of the "pig") opened the restaurant as an homage to his Vietnamese heritage. Using recipes inspired by his mom (the "lady"), the food is given a twist with modern techniques and presentation. As someone who eats Vietnamese food on the daily, I was excited to see the cuisine elevated and spun in a new light.

We started with an order of le fried chicken ($14.00) with shallot, peanut, and Kaffir lime leaves. Their signature appetizer, the "LFC" wings are served whole and twice-fried. It's coated in a sticky, sweet glaze that has a strong punch of fish sauce.

We also tried their banh bot chien ($13.00), one of my favourite Vietnamese comfort foods. The rice cakes are nestled in a scrambled egg omelette and served with pork lardons, cilantro, mixed pickles, and a garlic soy vinegar sauce. They were a bit stingy with the rice cakes so I was hoping for more!

My brother ordered the classic banh mi ($15.00) for himself. A toasted baguette filled with crispy pork belly, steamed ham, pate, fried eggs, spicy hoisin sauce, Vietnamese pickles, jalapeno, and cilantro. It was basically bursting at the seams.

My sister and I shared the pho French dip ($17.00). Out of all their menu items, I would consider this as their most "fusion" dish. The baguette is layered with slow-roasted beef brisket, spicy hoisin, Thai basil chimichurri, sauteed bean sprouts, onions, and cilantro.

The sandwich is served with a side of their classic beef pho broth. Like a French dip, you dunk the sandwich into the broth to soak it up. It really did taste like pho in a sandwich!

We reunited with my parents after lunch and then spent the next couple of hours walking around Chinatown and parts of downtown.

Our last Chinatown stop was Wing Ice Cream Parlor. It's not the most polished space, but the flavours coming out of this place are crazy unique and whimsical! The flavours rotate quite often and there's almost a 1:1 ratio between dairy and non-dairy flavours. To those who are lactose intolerant, rejoice!

Unfortunately, they don't offer samples before ordering, but the next best option is getting the wing flight ($5.25) which is three mini scoops (the perfect amount). I chose hojicha, strawberry supreme (malted strawberry) and sunburst (lemon basil with strawberry swirl). The ice cream was slightly icy but the flavours were all really delicious! 

We took a bus back to Waikiki and ended up taking a small break at the Royal Hawaiian Centre. I wasn't up for more shopping but I remembered from my research that Dean & DeLuca was nearby. Dean & DeLuca is an American gourmet grocery chain. Although they have closed their locations on the mainland, the two stores in Honolulu are thriving! It's strangely popular with Japanese tourists.

I bought a 4-pack of Uber Factory tarts ($6.00). Little bite-sized butter shortbread filled with ube custard. Creamy and delicious!  

I had another food item to cross off my list and that was Hula Dog! It's a funky little food truck parked in the middle of Waikiki.

A hula dog is unlike any regular hot dog. The bun is specially constructed to keep the sausage and sauces neatly contained within. The step-by-step building process includes sauces that are uniquely Hawaiian. Tropical fruits and flavours like mango relish and lilikoi mustard.

We also ordered one of their freshly-squeezed lemonades. The lilikoi lemonade ($3.50) was equal parts sweet and tart. Perfectly refreshing under the hot sun.

We ordered just one hula dog ($6.99) to pass around. Our hot dog consisted of: bacon taro bread, polish sausage, original garlic lemon secret sauce, mango relish, and guava mustard. The sauces seemed to blend well together, despite being different flavour profiles. It was sweet, creamy, tangy and tropical. My only criticism is that there was too much bread and not enough sauce to compensate.

When it was time for our last dinner in Hawaii, we planned on going to Paia Fish Market, a seafood restaurant that came highly recommended by a friend. Unfortunately, they were booked out for a private party. It caught us off guard because we didn't really have a plan B.

My parents suggested checking out Waikiki Yokocho and choosing from one of the restaurants in the food hall. 

We walked around the entire place, checking out all of the menus posted out front. Group consensus was for Umami Teppan Kingyo, which specializes in teppan-style cooking and okonomiyaki.

My sister and I shared one of their special combo meals ($24.00), which came with miso soup, rice, two main dishes, and side dishes. For our first main dish, we opted for the beef ribeye steak which had an extra surcharge of $5.00. It came on a sizzling plate, with a side of sweet garlicky sauce.

Our second dish was a chicken cutlet, which was juicy and fried well.

The food was alright but service was pretty mediocre. If you're a planner like me, always have plan B!  

We had some more time to kill before heading to the airport so dessert it was! International Marketplace really became our second home since it was in such close proximity to the hotel. We headed to the second floor to find Magnolia Ice Cream & Treats.

Magnolia specializes in Filipino flavours and desserts, including halo halo ($7.49). Halo-halo, or mix-mix in Tagalog, is a layered dessert consisting of crushed ice, sweet beans, jelly, coconut, evaporated milk, ice cream, etc. It totally reminded me of chè ba màu, or Vietnamese three-colour dessert.   

We also tried some of their more unique ice cream flavours -- including mango, ube macapuno (ube coconut), and mais queso (corn cheese). Corn cheese sounds weird for ice cream but don't knock it until you try it!

It was kind of a nightmare coming home, with our flight being delayed and having to sprint through the airport to catch our connection. Our luggage full of souvenirs was lost on top of that! But thankfully, everything worked out in the end.

Hawaii was really a trip to remember! I now know why people call it addicting. I'm really going to cherish these memories because who knows when we can travel next...

Until next time!

- CT

SNAPSHOTS | HAWAII 2020 | DAY 5

Our second last day in Hawaii was actually my sister's birthday! We didn't have a whole lot planned in terms of activities but we made sure to do plenty of eating to celebrate. Starting with brunch!

Koko Head Cafe is one of the most popular brunch restaurants on the island. Headed by chef Lee Anne Wong, a Top Chef alumni, the restaurant is located in the charming neighbourhood of Kaimuki. The menu is an amalgamation of the many different cultures found in Hawaii. You'll find twists on Hawaiian and American classics with influences from Japan, Korea, and Portugal.

It was pretty much a full house when we arrived, so we put our name down and stuck around on the benches outside. It was 20 minutes or so before the hostess called us back in.

Everything on the menu sounded amazing but we were able to narrow it down to some of the restaurant's specialties. The donburi chen ($17.00) was one of our server's recommendations. It was a rice bowl topped with French-style scrambled eggs, miso smoked pork, five spice pork belly, house-made pickles, and a piece of chicharron. A very filling and meaty dish, but we all found the pork belly was a bit tough.

We also shared the koko moco ($17.00), their take on the Hawaiian classic, loco moco. It's a beef hamburger patty served over rice, smothered with mushroom gravy and topped with a fried egg. On the side were some pieces of tempura kimchi. Because it was served in the cast iron, the rice got nice and crispy along the bottom.

I love a good hashbrown and couldn't resist adding it as a side ($6.00). The hashbrown is served in triangle wedges with a side of ketchup. It's thick and crispy, but breaks apart into tender, fine shreds. 

Our final dish is probably the restaurant's claim to fame. The cornflake French toast ($16.00) is breaded with cornflakes and deep-fried. It's paired with a couple strips of billionaire’s bacon, Frosted Flake gelato and a drizzle of creamy black pepper maple syrup. The crust on the French toast was nice and crispy but the inside was still soft and airy. While it was good, LT and I both thought that nothing could compare to the French toast we had at Le Passe Compose in Montreal. (That was life-changing.)

After brunch, we walked down the street over to Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery. We were beyond full but we wanted to make the most out of our journey to Kaimuki.

Like Leonard's, Pipeline is another bakery popular for their malasadas. Besides that, they offer homemade ice cream, cookies, mini Bundt cakes, and other treats. 

I was planning on trying their malasada bread pudding but thought the ube haupia mac nut bar ($4.25) would be a smarter, lighter choice. The bar consists of a macadamia nut shortbread base, ube filling, and then a layer of coconut haupia pudding. It was delicious! Not too sweet with lots of different textures coming into play.

While we were sitting at the table, my sister saw they had affogato ($6.50) on the menu and quickly went back to the counter to order it. Affogato is an espresso shot poured over ice cream. She was able to choose from any of their homemade ice cream flavours but I was able to convince her on the malafrozada gelato. Malasada cream base with bits of malasadas and sugar throughout. They even trademarked the name!

We ended up walking around the neighbourhood for 20 minutes more before catching an Uber back to the hotel. We took it easy before our parents wanted to explore around some places in Waikiki that we haven't been to yet.

One of those places was the T Galleria by DFS. It's a duty-free shop that sells upscale Hawaiian souvenirs and designer brands. Not that we bought anything, but window shopping helped kill some time.

My dad felt like something sweet so we stopped by Island Vintage Shave Ice, a small stand located right in front of the Royal Hawaiian Centre. We ordered one of their signature creations, the heavenly lilikoi ($8.95). There's a frozen yogurt base surrounded by the shave ice, which gives it a tart, creamy taste. Their fruit syrups use natural flavouring and you can really taste the difference! They also add a bunch of different toppings including popping boba, homemade mochi, and condensed milk. Probably the best shave ice on the island!

Around dinner time, we walked over to 100 Sails, located in the grand Hawaii Prince Hotel. The restaurant offers a daily buffet service, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When I made the reservation, I requested a table by the window because the views of the harbour are beautiful! We were also able to catch the sunset while we were there!

The buffet is priced at $62/person so a big appetite is a must!
 

A large draw of any buffet is the seafood! There was plenty of snow crab legs ready and waiting.

For my first couple of plates, I grabbed mainly seafood! Nigiri, sashimi, and salt and pepper shrimp. My favourite item was the fried oysters which I definitely grabbed seconds of.

A cool part of the buffet was the made-to-order temaki station! Choose from California, spicy tuna, scallop with masago, tuna salad, salmon skin, or tamagoyaki for your filling!

It's not a buffet without a prime rib carving station! Other hot items included mussels, Korean fried chicken, sauteed mussels, and mushroom ravioli. 

Every month, the buffet puts out a different special. During February, it was oxtail soup! I didn't try any but my mom said the soup had lots of collagen. Great for your skin apparently.

The dessert section wasn't too big, but I did manage to fit in some fruit, flan, a creampuff, raspberry cheesecake, and a strawberry tapioca pudding.

Also more cheese. Always have to get cheese.

I tipped them off that it was my sister's birthday and they brought out a special cake for her! We ended up taking it in a to-go box which they were happy to oblige with.

Not wanting to risk food coma, my mom encouraged us to walk off some of the calories but I knew she just wanted an excuse to shop some more. We ended up walking all the way to Don Quijote since it was only a 15 minute walk away. We were here just the day before but magically were able to find more stuff to buy!

Another ABC run to end the night! This lilikoi lychee juice sounded interesting but I found all the Hawaiian Sun drinks to be watered down with very little fruit flavour.

Only one more day in paradise to go!

- CT