Hello again! Back for day two of our summer weekend Calgary trip. We planned to hit up a few spots before making the trek back to Edmonton. Knowing me, that includes a bakery (or two).
Our first stop was Bread Culture, an artisan bakery that just opened its doors back in June. Like their name suggests, they focus mainly on breads, leavened by natural fermentation methods, and viennoiserie, which includes croissants, danishes, and brioche.
I was initially drawn to this bakery because I noticed on Instagram that they also served canelé (my current pastry obsession). Unfortunately when I asked, they didn't make any that day but the canelé are usually ready around 10:30. Guess that means I'll have to return!
My disappointment quickly subsided when I saw what other goodies they had in their line-up. We decided on the blueberry bostock ($3.75), croissant aux amandes ($4.25), and the brietto croissant ($5.00).
I had never heard of a bostock before, but it's similar in theory to an almond croissant, which is double-baked with a frangipane (almond cream) filling. A bostock starts off with a piece of stale brioche soaked in simple syrup. Jam is optional, but it's topped with a layer of frangipane and sliced almonds before being baked again. The resulting treat is sweet, crunchy, and nutty.
My absolute favourite, however, was the brietto croissant. Their take on a ham and cheese croissant, it includes a layer of cream sauce, prosciutto and brie melted over top. The croissant is perfectly flaky and buttery, but the brie and prosciutto just elevates it into pure decadence.
Our next stop was in Chinatown, where we grabbed a box of mochi doughnuts (6 for $15.00) from Amaido Cafe. We had pre-ordered the doughnuts the day before so pick-up was seamless.
The doughnuts are made with a blend of sweet rice flour, wheat flour, and tapioca flour. This gives the doughnuts a light, fluffy, and slightly chewy texture. The flavours at Amaido change weekly, which keeps things new and exciting. The flavours we got were black sesame, Vietnamese coffee, caramel miso, pina colada, cereal milk, and strawberry. All of the glazes were true to their name and thankfully not super sweet. The caramel miso was probably my favourite, as the miso gave the caramel a salty, savoury edge.
For lunch, we decided on Kim's Katsu out in Kensington. Calgary has three restaurants (that come to mind anyway) that specialize in tonkatsu (Katsuten, Koji Katsu, and Kim's) and I am unbelievably jealous of the fact.
The restaurant is pretty small with only a handful of tables but even then, service was on the slower side. We must have caught them at a bad time because there was a larger party that got there before us.
They have a smaller menu but the assorted katsu ($18.50) seemed like a good way to try most of their offerings. It includes hire (pork tenderloin), cheese, and ebi cutlets. Each set comes with rice, miso soup, shredded cabbage with dressing, and an assortment of pickles/kimchi. They also provided tartar sauce, coarse salt, mustard, and sesame seeds to mix in with their tonkatsu sauce.
Each katsu piece was perfectly cooked, with a flaky, almost airy crunch. I'm still not the biggest fan of cheese katsu since it cools and congeals quickly, but everything else was great. I also really enjoyed the cubes of radish kimchi as it was crunchy, refreshing, and mildly spicy.
LT ordered the king's katsu ($17.90) and I almost burst out laughing in disbelief at how large the plate was. If I'm not mistaken, this is closer to the Korean adaptation of tonkatsu. The pork loin is pounded thin and the breading doesn't seem as thick. It's served with a generous ladle-full of homemade demi glace sauce. Also interesting, it comes with a cream soup starter rather than miso soup. A good bang for your buck if you're hungry!
Our final stop! Without fail, we always make a pit stop at Bun Bo Hue Deli before heading back home. For ~$25-30, they fill a pot (you bring your own!) with meat and bun bo hue soup. Noodles, bean sprouts, and garnishes are provided in a separate bag. They wrap the pot with plastic to prevent spillage but over the years, we've mastered the art of transportation and bring our own cord to secure the lid. Made for a great (and spicy) dinner when we finally reached home.
Et voila!
- CT
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