Wednesday 29 February 2012

End of the Month Photo Log (February)

Tummy Chronicles: Taste and Koto Sushi Lounge


The best food day ever!
Overall Restaurant Rating:
♥♥♥♥
/♥♥♥♥♥

Taste

“Eat less, taste more”

One of the first weekdays the manfriend and I both had off, enabling us to make it down to Taste for lunch. And let me tell you, I seriously adore adore this little restaurant, even though their Valentine’s menu sucked, our lunch date definitely made up for it. So if you haven’t been I highly recommend you go....right now! And make sure you save room for dessert. Hehe.Deceivingly petite dishes, but trust me your tummy will be jam-packed.

Duck Fat Popcorn
♥♥♥♡♡/♥♥♥♥♥
Mac n’ Cheese (Aged Cheddar, Parmesan) ♥♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥ Hands down the best Mac n’ Cheese I’ve ever come across, seriously! I drool dream about this Mac n’ Cheese.
Gnocchi (Wild mushroom, Truffle)
♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥
Cheesecake ♥♥♥♥♥
/♥♥♥♥♥ and again, hands down the best cheesecake I’ve ever come across. And how unique is the presentation, just so good. When I dream of food, Taste is definitely on my mind.


 

And to top things off our waiter got our bill mixed up with the other people sitting beside us so we even saved a few dollars to boot! How funny


Taste Restaurant on Urbanspoon


Overall Restaurant Rating:
♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥



So for Christmas my brother gave my boyfriend a $50 groupon to this place and the hardest part is it’s never opened on Sundays, and that’s our go out and stuff our faces day of the week. And to be honest, just because we had a groupon I didn’t have much expectation for our little venture for sushi. But!! I was blown away! Where have you been little restaurant? Koto is just fantastic, you walk into a cosy, super fresh atmosphere.

And speaking of fresh, the sushi was fabulous, Koto has definitely stood out for me, it seems like they put an interesting fusion twist on things and it makes all the dishes so much more fun and refreshing. Beautifully presented and delicious to taste, one of the better Calgary sushi places for sure! Worth what you pay.

 

Fried Gyoza ♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥

Spicy Tuna Tempura Signature Maki Roll ♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥
Smoked Salmon Sashimi ♥♥♥♥
/♥♥♥♥♥
Toro (Fatty Tuna Belly) Sushi ?????
/♥♥♥♥♥ Toro’s not my favourite, so this was all the bf’s.
Shake (Salmon with Spicy Volcano Sauce) Sushi ♥♥♥♥
/♥♥♥♥♥
Thake (Tuna with Spicy Miso Sauce) Sashimi ♥♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥ Whatever the Spicy Miso sauce is, it is the best sushi sauce ever created. My new favourite, a must order every time.

Lobster Dynamite Tempura
Signature Maki Roll ♥♥
♡♡♡/♥♥♥♥♥
Dragon Signature Maki Roll ♥♥♥
♡♡/♥♥♥♥♥

Korean Style Spicy Sashimi (Salmon) ♥♥♥♥
/♥♥♥♥♥ Best display of Sashimi ever! Filled with Avocados, Tomatoes, and super fresh Salmon of course, thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Green Tea Ice Cream ♥♥
♡♡♡/
♥♥♥♥♥ Not yummy, the only disappointment of the night though, it tasted like freezer burn.

 

Koto Sushi Lounge on Urbanspoon

Tummy Chronicles: Sura and Seoul Korean BBQ

A weekend full of delicious Korean-ness.

Overall Restaurant Rating: ♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥

Sura
I don’t know how anyone can walk into this little restaurant and not drool their face off.
Beef Bulgogi ♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥
Pa-Jeon (Green Onion and Seafood Pancake)
♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥ Best Seafood Pancake I’ve ever had at a Korean restaurant, the batter was just right and it was loaded with Seafood and Onions.
Ddeok-guk (Rice Cake Soup) ♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥
and yummy side dishes.
♥♥♥♡♡/♥♥♥♥♥


Sura Korean Restaurant on Urbanspoon


Overall Restaurant Rating:
♥♥♥♡♡/♥♥♥♥♥

Seoul Korean BBQ


All you can eat is amazing! A week night out with the family and endless meat, what can possibly be better?


Seoul Korean BBQ on Urbanspoon

Monday 27 February 2012

Hair & Makeup: New colour, new fringe,

and bright lights.

Buzzworthy Randoms: Glossybox Subscription (Canada)!

Have you heard?
Goodness in a box delivered to your door every month.

Oh my goodness! I am so excited to receive my Glossybox! I just subscribed today, and I couldn’t be more excited. I love surprises and I love little things in boxes, so what a better combination then getting little surprises in a pretty box delivered to your door every month? Oh the joys of how material things feed me a burst of excitement and contentment.

There happens to be so many other little companies like Glossybox, some more popular than others like Luxebox (Loose Button) they have a waiting list for subscriptions, Birchbox only for Us residents, Glymm, and Topbox, and plenty more I’m sure. 

I can't wait to recieve my little box and test out all the little goodies. Oh so excited!

Thursday 23 February 2012

Confessions of My Heart: Failure


“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, again ..then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it.” - W.C Fields

But don’t actually quit, Haha. It’s so hard sometimes when life brings us failures just to expect us to rise up and above them. And when I received this lovely grade in the mail, my heart sunk a little and then it hit me hard I was definitely overwhelmed by disappointment. Sometimes no matter how strong you are as a person disappointment still creeps up on you (not saying by any means am I strong, I am the biggest baby you’ll ever know) haha, but all you can do even as a baby like me is to let your heart sink and sulk for an hour or two, pick up the pieces of yourself and kick yourself in the butt and do it again until you can get it right.


Tummy Chronicles: Una Pizza + Wine

Extra Gingery Ginger Ale
Once you have this, all other Ginger Ale taste like Sprite
Overall Restaurant Rating: ★★★★/★★★★★

After a long week of work, a night out with some good friends, the bf and food make my night. Even though we waited around for almost 3 hours, got caught up in a random bomb threat, was super late for karaoke and nearly starved to death.. Okay okay, I am over exaggerating just a little, but here is how the night played out, so we made plans for 7:00, but on Saturdays I usually get off at 6:00 so I get my manfriend to pick me up and head down there for 6:30 because I know Wop’s Pizza usually has a long wait, so I just expected Una’s to be on the same stream, the friends call and say let’s be there for 6:30. And I was thinking my thoughts exactly, perfect! So we arrive put our name down for an hour and forty-five minutes, and no big deal there just also happened to be a bomb threat in the neighbourhood which made Una’s sound even more of an awesome choice, thank goodness for Waves Cafe a few steps down from Una’s  , they gave us a place to chitchat and have a few bites to calm our hunger urges. So we filled up on tasty mini cheesecakes and I had a yummy London Fog. And then finally after waiting patiently for the hour and forty-five we were finally seated and it took about another forty-five  and a bit for the food to hit the table, by the time we were done it was about 9:00ish. Good food, extraordinary company, superb night, the chances of waiting that long ever again, not likely, well not an hour and forty-five minutes. But it was definitely yumms. And I can't forget to mention that my love spotted a Robert Downey Jr. lookalike, and like little creeps we are..we did snap a photo or two of him, sorry mister stranger. But you do look like a celeb.


Veal + Pork Meatballs (braised in San Marzano
Tomatoes, shaved Grana Padano) ★★★/★★★★★ Bigger and tastier balls, hehe. In comparison to Wop’s meatballs, I definitely prefer these ones.
Winter Squash Risotto (wilted Leeks, Grana Padano,
Pumpkin Seed Pesto) ★★/★★★★★

Pizza


Mushroom (Roasted Cremini Mushrooms,
Smoked Mozzarella + Grana Padano Cheese,
Fresh Arugula, Truffle Oil) ★★★★/★★★★★ I love love Truffle Oil, the dough taste less doughy than Wop’s which I like, but Wop’s is pretty darn good too. So far the Mushroom topping Pizza’s are my favourites at both places.
Sausage (Fennel Sausage, wilted Radicchio,
Roasted Garlic, Provolone Piccante) ★★/★★★★★
What a snaphot, oh babe. Red eye's and all
Babe and I are creeps


UNA Pizza and Wine on Urbanspoon

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Tummy Chronicles: Taste (Valentine’s Special)


"To taste is to live and to live means to taste everything."
I adore Taste, it’s one of my Favourites, even though I have only been once before, it left one of the greatest first impressions for me and I can’t complain I had good company and great food. You walk into a cosy little lounge with dim lights and a romantic air. Sharable plates that are full of flavour totally tapas style which I am such a big fan of because I fancy variety with small enough plates so I have room for everything. Gluttonous much!? I think yes.  But I would have to say that the Valentines menu was a disappointment, it started out so promising, we sat down and instantly had said we’d like the whole menu, they started by bringing out bacon on skewers covered in green to look like roses which was the most artistic I have ever seen bacon  been executed. Bacon is bacon, it was delicious. And everything else that came after that was definitely unappreciated. Neat concept, everything was presented beautifully, every dish had a variation of a heart, we just missed out on exceptional food.

Cheezy Lovin
1st Course
Devil’s Rock Bleu Arancini ★★☆ ☆☆ /★★★★★
Le Cendrillon Ravioli Di Fungi ★☆☆ ☆☆ /★★★★★
2nd Course
Soupe a’Loignon with Avonlea Cheddar ★★★☆☆ /★★★★★
Mussels Vol au Vent with Alfred LeFermier ★★☆ ☆☆ /★★★★★
3rd Course
Prawns Provencal with Heirloom Tomatoes ★☆☆ ☆☆ /★★★★★
Steak au Poivre with Pomme Frites ★★☆ ☆☆ /★★★★★
4th Course
Chefs Selection of Cheeses and Preserves ★☆☆☆☆ /★★★★★

Taste Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Tummy Chronicles: Diner Deluxe



Overall Restaurant Rating: ★★☆ ☆☆ /★★★★★
I heard so many great things about this breakfast joint, and I was a greatly disappointed. We waited a little over 45 minutes like any other high demand little breakfast stops, but I really can’t say this one was worth the wait. The diner itself looks like you are eating in a kitchen from back in the day, which would usually tickle my fancy, but I just wasn’t feeling it. However it is connected to the Urban Bakery which makes all the bread for the dishes which is the best breakfast toast ever! And that was probably the best part of my experience. I ate all my toast and that usually never ever happens.

Smoked Salmon Benedict
★★☆
☆☆ /★★★★★ I don’t think I fancy the mixture of fish and eggs.
Pulled Pork Hash ★★☆
☆☆ /★★★★★ Too much Dijon, it made the pulled pork overly sour tasting mixed with the sourish taste of poached eggs..equals  way way too sour.  Super yummy hashbrowns though, they used Yukon gold potatoes
which are delicious the same potatoes used at The Big Cheese the poutinary. Something unique about the hash it’s a mixture of your regular potatoes and sweet potatoes pleasant surprise.

Diner Deluxe on Urbanspoon