West Restaurant and Bar

(403) 237-5556

Stephen Avenue
225 7 Ave SW
Calgary, AB T2P

We went here for a birthday party on their 2nd Saturday open. We had reservations in the Grotto room, which is very cool. You have your own glassed in space and you can people watch but still have your own area. We arrived at 7pm, were seated and didn't see a server until 7:30pm. Im not sure if the hostess forgot to tell her we had been seated or if she was just extremely busy?? She took our drink order and appetizer order at the same time because we were not sure how long she would be gone for. The drinks came at 7:40pm...we had been there for almost an hour and hadn't even had a single drink. The food all came out quickly though, Im sure this is due to the fact that they have a kitchen on each level. We ordered dinner when our appetizers were brought out. All the appies were delicious. the calamari was great, as were the spring rolls. We also tried the fondue which was good, but not really my style. I had the Ahi Tune for dinner, and it was decent. I like my tuna very rare, which it was but it was cold. I think it could have been warmed a bit more. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their dinner. Birthday girl had the risotto and loved it. Hubby had the burger and he really enjoyed it too.

As for drinks, we tried just about everything between the group we had. I do have to recommend the Sangria pitchers, they bring you a full litre, it was delicious. The Watermelon crush is also great! We would have drank a lot more and stayed longer if the service was better. We actually went up to the bar a couple times and got our own drinks despite having a server of our own. It was a big let down thats for sure.

With all that being said we will return. The place is going to give Roadhouse and Whiskey a run for their money and its great for the older crowd to have a bit of a choice on where to go after dinner now.

3.5/5 star rating

Teatro

200 8 Avenue Southeast
Calgary, AB T2G 0K7
(403) 290-1012
Saturday April 24th 2010

We started off with the calamari which was perfect in every way. The dipping sauce was delicious. We then had the caprese salad, the mozzarella was so soft and salty, it was one of the best tomato and mozzarella salads we have ever tried.
I ordered the Seafood Cannelloni for my entree, the portion was huge and was baked in the dish it came in. It was extremly hot but was perfect. Hubby ordered the duck lazagna and he loved every bite. His portion was also huge. It is so rare to go to a nice posh restaurant and have portions of this size. It was a nice change. We both left extremely full! We will definitely be back soon.

5/5 star rating

Sky 360 Dining & Bar‎

101 9 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB T2P 1J9(403) 457-6234‎

Tuesday April 20th 2010

Dinner

We had plans for that evening at a restaurant that had not opened yet, so we changed our reservations at the last minute. Hubby is from Saskatoon and has never been to the Calgary tower in his 10 years of being a Calgarian, so we headed to Sky360 for dinner.

The last time I had eaten at the Calgary Tower was when my parents used to bring me for a reward for having a good report card. Obviously it has changed drastically. The revamp has left the place looking more posh and the seating allows each diner to enjoy the view of our beautiful city. The restaurant turns a full rotation every hour at dinner and a rotation every 45 minutes for the rushed lunch crowd.

Drinks- I had the usual glass of pinot grigio, this is pretty standard for me, I enjoy a glass of cold white as soon as I get to the restaurant and I'm not too picky on brands. The glass of wine I had was a tad warm for my liking. But it had a decent flavour and it did the trick, like I said I am in no way a wine expert. Hubby had the staple vodka/diet, he prefers Grey Goose but the most premium they carry here is Kettle One. If you order just the run of the mill stock vodka you will be poured Smirnoff.

Eats- We started off with a caesar salad and the order or calamari. The caesar was wonderful, the croutons were huge and delicious. There was huge chunks of bacon scattered through out the salad and hubby and I both agreed it was the best part. The dressing was nice, not too much and was creamy. The calamari was probably the best I have had in Calgary. Calamari is usually something we share at each meal we eat out. This was battered nice and crispy with a bit of a sweet flavour to it. The calamari itself was sitting on top of sweet chilli sauce. This was a great touch and gave it a little bite. The entire dish all the way to the dipping sauce was to die for and we ate every bite.

For our main courses I opted for the Seafood Paella and hubby had the Rigatoni. His dish was a nice size portion with big mushrooms and italian sausage, it was quite good. It was served with a big piece of garlic bread, which was the first to be devoured. I should have stopped at the appetizer as the Seafood Paella was NOT good! The saffron rice was under cooked, the shrimp,salmon,scallops and chicken were ALL overcooked and really dry. I hate to use the term "fishy" because I cannot stand when people refer to seafood dishes that way, but this was Fishy! I was unimpressed with the entire dish.

As much as my meal lacked I would return with family visiting from out of town, but I will try something else.

3/5 Star rating

Olive 'R Twist Bistro & Bar

205 1 Street West, Cochrane, AB T4C 1X8(403) 851-8112‎ – (403) 851-8116‎

April 18th 2010

Brunch opens at 11am Cochrane Ab

As we were kid free for the day, hubby and I ventured out for Brunch. We rarely eat anything but dinner out, so this was a real treat!

DRINK- I had a mimosa or 2 and hubby had ice tea. Mimosa took awhile to get to the table, I was getting a little inpatient until I realized the bartender was freshly squeezing my orange juice. Such a nice change and it made a huge difference. They are not weak mimosas either *wink*

EATS- I had the special for that Sunday which was a fresh croissant topped with scrambled eggs, bacon, tomato and avocado. It was delicious. It was served smothered in jack cheese, which was a little much for me, but still great! The homemade potatoes served on the side are fantastic. The ketchup that also is served on the side has a nice kick to it.

Hubby had the usual eggs benedict. The black forest ham was thinly shaved and the hollandaise sauce was homemade and fresh. He also had the potatoes on the side and loved them.

We have eaten dinner at this place before and it was delicious then too. The service is excellent and its a small home town feeling joint.

4/5 Star rating