Quick Burger Meal at the Next Act

Ugh. I am a sucker for fast food...The fries, the burgers...the fattiness..something about it all just lures me each and every single time. My brother is on this giant health kick, comes home from work, spends 4 hours at the gym, downs protein shakes and is cutting back on the carbs. Then you have me! Someone who finds great enjoyment eating burgers and fries. Haha. But! I have a taste for good quality burgers, not any burger can satisfy this palate! Plus, it's not like I spend every weekend dining on burgers. So this message is directed to Winston (my brother), stop scolding me on being unhealthy and chubby!

Anyways, after a hard day of work, my friend picked me up and we went to the next act on whyte ave. A couple of co-workers were there the week before and I missed out on that, so I wanted to make up for it! I love love love this place. Everything about this place is so original starting with the interior. I absolutely adore the wall of facial expressions pictures of the employees hanging up on the side. It really does bring out the chill/laid back environment.

I started off with the usual choice of beer: Crabbies ginger beer. Such a refreshing light drink that really hits the spot after a long tiring day of work.

For the burger, I went with the classic pulled pork. The pork was soft, tender and flaky. Not sure if enjoyed the coleslaw on top though. It was watery and had no taste! I felt like it should be on the side and not part of the actual burger. In my opinion the watered down mayo does not mix well with the barbecue sauce of the pulled pork. But nonetheless, this is a killer sandwich.

I will definitely be back with a couple of friends! This is the ideal place to hang out, grab a drink and catch up. The delicious burgers (food) is a nice bonus. :) I cannot wait to be back to try the other things on the menu.

Trip to Thailand through Thai Flavours

I have a confession to make, I am an urbanspoon addict. I downloaded the app on my iphone and when I have nothing else better to do with my life, I search for restaurants that I have yet to try. My friend and I were searching for a thai restaurant, and we stumbled across Thai Flavours. Located in Lewis Estates (near River Cree Casino Resort), we decided to hit up this location and give it a try. The restaurant is quite small and cozy, upon walking in you know you are in a Thai restaurant by the decorations they have up on the wall. Also, I love the tropical theme this restaurant has! Those colourful table cloths are really something else haha! Thai Flavours also has daily specials which is a nice bonus and it can be found on their website. We went on a Tuesday, and the spring rolls were their special of the day (4 for $6).

We decided to try 1 order of spring rolls, 2 beef and 2 pork. I have never tried beef filling before so it was something I was looking forward to tasting. We ordered tom yum soup (at my request because I absolutely love that stuff), a curry dish (Gang Leang) and one classic noodle dish (Pad Thai).

Family fine dining at the Wildflower

It has been a while since we celebrated mother's day at a nicer, upscale restaurant (I know this post is way outdated..haha). Since my brother and I love our momma to bits...(with the bonus of us working full time), we decided to take her to the Wildflower at the matrix hotel. At first, we wanted to go to hardware grill but the timing of the reservations did not work out to plan. The wildflower grill is located at the matrix hotel near jasper ave. Semi-formal attire, dim lighting, relatively quiet environment emits the mature atmosphere.

 For drinks, I ordered the blueberry, pomegranate iced tea. It tasted exactly as it sounds with a nice herbal aroma to compliment the fruity flavors.

The meal came with a complimentary French brioche, it was so good! Light, fluffy and flaky pastry that melted in your mouth immediately. It is seriously to die for. My only complaint is that they did not bring out more!!!
For our appetizers, I recommended the gnocchi and beef carpaccio. My parents have never tried gnocchi before so I figured it should be something we order. The gnocchi was chewy in the center yet crispy on the outside and it was served with a sweet pea puree which made a nice compliment.

The beef carpaccio was the favorite of the night! Thin slices of extremely tender beef, served with a sweet chipotle jam and a hint of spiciness from the aioli. Unfortunately, our palates were highly stimulated from the brioche and we ravaged the appetizers in no time before realizing I forgot to take a picture.

Another freebie for the night: a spoonful of Thai salad for each!  

So I'm a very conservative person when it comes to food, I don't venture far from the 3 main meats(chicken, beef and pork) but that night I was feeling adventurous! So I went with the venison. I had no idea what to expect and the thought of eating deer meat seemed odd to me. But nonetheless I am always open to try new things! How do you even describe this type of meat.... It does not taste anything like beef, a little like mutton...  It was okay, I'm not sure if I have a liking for it haha But it was extremely tender and flaky. I did a quick search on the taste of deer, and people describe it as being "gamey". Not sure what that means...But it seems quite fitting. The dish came with deep fried polenta (cornmeal), the texture was crispy on the outside with a soft warm middle. One of the polenta was way too fried as you can tell by the picture. Notice the colour contrast? I kept that on the side of my plate.

At the end of the night, they also brought out a complimentary plate of petite four! Such a delight surprise, especially after a filling meal. It really was a nice addition and completed the entire dining experience. The white and dark chocolate truffles were my favorites!
Service is excellent, the waitress was attentive to our needs and gave us enough time to carry out our conversations. In addition, she answered all our questions and gave honest recommendations about several dishes. Food was delectable but nothing amazing in terms of flavour or presentation. The little "extras" were a pleasant addition to our full course meal. Overall, the experience was great and my parents thoroughly enjoyed the fine dining experience! I highly recommend dining here at the wildflower - service, ambiance and food is excellent!