Showing posts with label Restaurant Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Restaurant Reviews. Show all posts

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Restaurant Review: Yakima Social Kitchen & Bar - Calgary International Airport

As part of our recent stay at The Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel we thought we would try the food out at the in-house restaurant, Yakima Social Kitchen & bar. The name is based on the Yakima Valley Legend that tells the story of how the famous Calgary Chinook Winds came to be.

Related: Hotel Review: Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel

Yakima can be seen towards the back in this picture of the lobby at the new Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel
Yakima's open kitchen

Dinner
Drinks were ordered off of their fun bottle menu. I tried out the Green Coyote and my wife had the on-tap Red Rooster Pinot Gris. Both  The bar didn't have lemonade on the menu but the waitress gave a recipe of hers to the bartender to make a lemonade for my younger daughter.  It was awesome and talk about great service! Fun fact: Yakima makes all of its own syrups in house for their drinks!

Overall the dinner was amazing. They brought homemade beef jerky to the table and it is simply divine with its Latin American spices (we had already tried some in our room as that was an item on our treat trays - read about that here)


We started off with the braised Pork Belly with Zuzu pearls appetizer.  It was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us.

For mains, my wife had the Braised Bok Choy Potato Cakes and she loved them. She isn't vegetarian but this vegetarian dish was delicious!


My older daughter had the Braised and Pulled Elk sandwich. She loved it as well and looks forward to having it again sometime in the near future.


I had the Braised Duo. The Braised Duo of Short Rib and Pork Tenderloin was Alberta on a plate. Both cuts of meat were cooked to perfection with great sauces and being combined with the celeriac puree was pure bliss (our family is well known for loving everything celeriac!)

The Chicken Consomme that my youngest daughter ordered was so-so. It required us asking for salt and even then with that added the flavours were somewhat dull. This dish could use some revamping!



Breakfast
The menu looks great for breakfast however we noticed right away their weren't too many options. Our youngest was hoping for something more on the sweet side so she ended up taking the continental breakfast option with a side of fresh berries. My wife had an omelet and I had the Yakima Breakfast and my older daughter had the Traditional Eggs Benedict. All options were good but in all honesty nothing to write home about.


Thoughts
Overall we were very impressed with Yakima and it will definitely be on our list restaurants when we want to head out for dinner in YYC. Seeing that many families will choose the restaurant on their overnight layovers at the hotel one suggestion to Yakima management would be the development of a kids menu for all services and some more sweet options for all at breakfast.  The thought of having some delicious waffles or pancakes with local fruit or berries would make the Breakfast menu more appealing.

The restaurant will be a hit for those who may have a longer layover in YYC who don't mind leaving the secure areas of the airport (having to go through security again) as well as those from Calgary who want a good, filling meal before jumping on a flight. No flight or travels planned? No worries, eating at Yakima includes 4 hours of free valet parking so you don't have to worry about paying the high airport parking fees. Simply pull up to the hotel and let them you are going for dinner at Yakima and they'll do the rest.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Maui Bites: Eats and Treats on the Valley Isle

The Rewards Canada family had a great Family Day vacation in one of our favourite go to locations for any time of the year, Maui. A lot of the trip was paid for with points & miles (flights and the car rental) but those details are reserved for other posts. This post is a quick highlight of some the places we ate at this trip (good and bad), and many for us are places we return to trip after trip! Hope you enjoy this highlight of places we like to eat at and hope that you have or will enjoy these places too!

Lahaina Cooler's
One of our go to spots for breakfast (we've only ever eaten breakfast here), Lahaina Cooler's on Dickenson St. in Lahaina isn't as well know as the famous breakfast places like The Gazebo but the food has always been good. This trip we made it their twice and the breakfast's (Omelettes, benedicts and complete breakfast) were always good. The only complaint is the service is slow. It always has been however our last visit on this trip it was especially slow. There were two larger party tables seated but in reality even with those larger groups it wasn't that busy and it shouldn't have affected the service as much as it did. www.lahainacoolers.com


Leilani's on the Beach
Located in Whaler's Village on Ka'anapali Beach, Leilani's has two parts to the restaurant. The 'Beachside Grill' section with more of pub style menu and an upstairs dining room with a fancier dining menu. Depending on the time of day and how busy they are you can sit in the 'On the beach' section but still order from the higher end dining room menu. When we were here the place was packed but it was before 6pm so after asking our server they said they would let us order from the dining room menu. My wife was glad that she was able to. The dish she ordered was her favourite of the whole trip, a fish dish that (GASP!) was better than Mama's Fish House. She had the pan seared catch of the day that came with amazing sides of braised root vegetables and parsnip puree. She was in heaven with the dish. The rest of the crew got a mix of dining room and beachside grill items that were all great as well. www.leilanis.com



Leoda's
Another Sheldon Simeon past effort (see Star Noodle below), we had eaten here for lunch back in 2013 and the food was great then so we though we'd give breakfast a try! Leoda's didn't disappoint for breakfast either as the food was good but in reality not much different than other breakfast spots on the island. I would stick more to their lunch/dinner menu and all their wonderful pies! www.leodas.com







Mama's Fish House

A timeless classic on the outskirts of Paia and a bit of longer drive from the Northwest side of the island, Mama's Fish House is famous for its locally caught fish dishes of course. They even tell you who caught the fish you are going to eat! Our visit this time was a birthday dinner for three people in our party so each one got a personalized birthday card and a small dessert to celebrate the occasion.  The food here is always great, no complaints at all. Pricey? yes. Reservations required? Yes. But worth it. www.mamasfishhouse.com






Ono Gelato
Located right in the middle of the action on Lahaina's Front Street, Ono Gelato is our favourite gelatio spot on Maui. We tried several of the other Lahaina gelatos over the years and have found none match Ono. They attempt use as many fresh and local ingredients as they can in creating their gelatos and you can taste it. Our family favourites are the Mint Stracciatella, Stracciatella, and Gianduia. www.onogelatocompany.com

Pailolo Bar & Grill
This is the poolside restaurant at the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas where we stayed. Our go to place for drinks (smoothies, lava flows etc.) was also utilized for food on those days when we didn't feel like leaving the resort or minimizing our time away from the beach. Most of the food was good but one dish multiple members in our family kept getting over and over was "The Marley", a pulled pork jerk sandwich with a chili lime slaw that was simply addictive. www.westinkaanapali.com/dining/pailolo


Star Noodle
We ate here only once during our trip as the previous trip we ate here a few times! This Asian-fusion restaurant became famous after one of the founders, Sheldon Simeon was on Bravo TV's Top Chef. When we ate here in 2013 the food was amazing, the Steamed Pork Buns, Pad Thai and Lahaina Fried Soup being our favourites. This time we ordered all those and more since there were 6 of us and we got to try more dishes. We had heard the food wasn't the same as before and tend to agree. Don't get me wrong, the food was still great but not as amazing before. Not sure if it is because of Sheldon's departure but no matter what I would still recommend this place.
I also recommend getting reservations as we noticed diners waiting outside for quite sometime before they could get a walk up table. www.starnoodle.com

Ululani's Shave Ice
Voted the best shave ice on Maui time after time, Ululani's doesn't disappoint. Granted it is mostly our kids getting the shave ice (mom & dad prefer gelato) but it is great! We typically only frequent their Front St. locations in Lahaina. Ululani's uses the best shave ice machines and create all their own syrups for the shave ice using carefully selected ingredients. They even have a loyalty program! Buy 10 shave ice get 1 free! Here's a tip, you can buy all 'micro' sizes then redeem for a large! www.ululanishawaiianshaveice.com


Cinnamon Roll Place (aka Cinnamon Roll Fair)
On the recommendation of someone we decided to hit this place up one morning as they apparently have the best cinnamon rolls. After making our way down to Kihei to try it out (and a bit of detour as the Whale Day Parade closed off the main street for several blocks) we found the place and got to it just before a huge line up formed. Everyone in our party ordered the cinnamon rolls and while the first few seemed alright, we all unanimously decided they weren't all they were cracked up to be! I'm sure some sweet tooth's out there will love them but they just didn't sit well and in fact most of our group felt sick afterwards with crazy headaches. Too much sugar? Too much corn syrup? Who knows! But all I know is that we will not return here on future trips. Too bad as we were really looking forward to some kick ass cinnamon rolls! (Getting ready to be flamed as they get a lot of great reviews online....)

Of course we at some other places, Kimo's on Front St. in Lahaina is always good and we visited it once. Yogurtland in Whaler's Village is another treat place we always frequent since we don't have one in Calgary and we do tend to enjoy Yogurtland more than the chains that are in YYC although Menchies is pretty darn good too. We avoided places like Cheeseburger in Paradise and Hula Grill as the last few trips those places really disappointed us, as much as we love sticking our feet in the sand at the Hula Grill. We also ate some heart attack worthy burgers at the Cool Cat Cafe in Lahaina and made our way for dinner one night at Duke's which is at the Honua Kai resort. Duke's isn't anything to write home about in my opinion. One places we missed this time that is always great is Aloha Mixed Plate.

If you are planning a trip to Maui I hope my little roundup of places to eat at will help you out! Have you tried any of these places? What are your thoughts? Also let us know what some of your favourite locations are on the island!


Tuesday, April 21, 2015

San Diego Highlights: The Baked Bear Custom Ice Cream Sandwiches - Pacific Beach

The Rewards Canada family's last vacation was spent in the San Diego area a few weeks ago and we thought to try something new on the blog outside of the usual hotel reviews, earning and redemptions stories that go along with those vacations and that something new is a restaurant review, this marks our second such review! Although this one is not so much a restaurant but a great place to stop for a treat!

Related: 


We love driving along and visiting vary places in the beaches area of San Diego and while heading north to La Jolla to view the seals at La Jolla cove my wife and kids spotted this place and we made a promise to stop there on our way back to the hotel. Now we've all seen various ice creams shops and of course all the frozen yogurt places (Yogurtland still being our favorite but Menchies isn't too far behind) but this was first for us. A place where you can create your own ice cream sandwich! Hello! Stop the press. This must be awesome. And to tell you the truth, it is. I don't know if there are other places that do this, a quick Google search brings up the Baked Bear first and no others in first ten results other than recipes for making your own at home.


The process is easy, you pick which cookie you want to encase your ice cream and they don't have to be same, the top can be one type of cookie and the bottom can be another. Then you pick your filling of ice cream and finally you can top it off with a variety of toppings.

Here are our creations:


The one on the left was the cookie of the month (chocolate chip with some sort of nuts) with chocolate ice cream, the bottom right was chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream, whip cream, caramel sauce and sprinkles, and top right is the very delicious donut sandwich where the cookies are replaced with a hot pressed doughnut covered in glaze with vanilla ice cream and topped with whip cream and hot fudge.

What a great concept that didn't disappoint. We ended up visiting the Pacific Beach location twice during the five days we were in San Diego but don't worry if you can't get to the beaches area as they also have locations in Carlsbad and Petco Park along with another one coming soon in Carmel Valley.


Link: thebakedbear.com


Monday, April 20, 2015

San Diego Highlights: Caffe Bella Italia - Pacific Beach

The Rewards Canada family's last vacation was spent in the San Diego area a few weeks ago and we thought to try something new on the blog outside of the usual hotel reviews, earning and redemptions stories that go along with those vacations and that something new is a restaurant review. Now of course we ate at lots of places, some were great and one was absolutely horrible but the one that probably stood out the most other than our favorite breakfast place called The Mission was our last night of the trip dinner at Caffe Bella Italia in Pacific Beach.

Related: 

We were staying at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay and didn't want to travel too far for an Italian meal and weren't being impressed by any of the restaurants that were showing up on Google, Yelp or Urban Spoon. So I did what I vowed not to do when I travel, ask the hotel concierge. The last time we did it was six years prior at this very hotel and the restaurant recommendation was horrible (and I think the concierge got a kick back) The concierge told us about Caffe Bella Italia and a quick Google search brought up very favorable reviews and a star ranking higher than those I had searched at previously. So what the heck we thought we would give it shot.


The charming little place was a quick 10 minute or so drive from our hotel in the heart of Pacific Beach (not on the beach, but more like downtown PB) and unlike many of the restaurants in that area it has its own parking lot which was nice to have as most of the on-street parking was full.

 The service was second to none and the restaurant went out of its way to make our dining experience great. When my daughter asked if they have Fettuccine Alfredo, they said it wasn't on the menu but they would make it especially for her. Want the Gnocchi with sage butter sauce? No problem they made that as well. All four meals that were ordered, the Fettuccine Alfredo, the Gnocchi with sage butter sauce, the La Nostra ‘Matriciana and the Scaloppine di Pollo  Limone e Vino were all so delicious.
Gnocchi with sage butter sauce

Scaloppine di Pollo  Limone e Vino

Fettuccine Alfredo

La Nostra ‘Matriciana

The desserts were also impeccable, in particular the Panna cotta, which was divine!
Lemon Sorbet

Panna cotta

There it is, a simple review where the photos and the taste of the food speak louder than any words can. Hopefully this may help some of you when in the beaches area of San Diego who may be craving some Italian and want to know of a good place to dine at!


Link: Caffe Bella Italia