Late-Night Yemeni Coffeehouse a Unique Experience

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10:30 pm and Qamaria Yemeni Coffee is just starting to fill up

It’s 10:30 at night, and I should be tucked in bed. I’m also 10-plus hours beyond my usual last caffeine hit of the day. Yet here I am, about to order a high-dose coffee and, what the hell, a sugar blast of cake.

Welcome to Qamaria, Calgary’s first entry into the late-night Yemeni coffeehouse craze sweeping the U.S. Here, people often arrive around 10 pm and eat, drink and socialize till 1 or 2 am… or until they get kicked out.

Qamaria is a spacious space in Calgary’s Beltline

And there’s not a drop of alcohol to be found. Instead, the drinks of choice are spicy coffees and teas, consumed alongside desserts. Indeed, these Yemeni coffeehouses are designed as a liquor-free, late-night alternative for Muslims, particularly during Ramadan, when they fast from dawn to dusk.

Rose tres leche cake and pistachio latte

Qamaria is the first Canadian location of a U.S.-based franchise of the same name, started by two Yemeni entrepreneurs. The café’s coffee beans are sourced from small farms in Yemen, which boasts a 500-year history of producing and drinking coffee, beginning with Sufi monks seeking a stimulant.

A Turkish coffee for a late-night jolt

So, too, are the throngs of predominantly young Muslim women who, close to midnight, have filled every table in spacious Qamaria, many commemorating the moment with phone photos. It’s a vibrant, joyous mood, unlike anything I’ve experienced in a typical coffeehouse.

The pistachio latte and rose tres leche cake are delightful. But it’s the late-night people watching that makes this my best culinary visit of the year.

Qamaria Yemeni Coffee
1441 17 Avenue SW, Calgary
Open till 11 pm Monday to Thursday and 1 am Friday and Saturday
403-454-4123

Buchanan’s Still Calgary’s Best Burger

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It doesn’t get any better than Buchanan’s sirloin burger

A $25 burger? No thanks. Unless the same excellent burger and fries can be had for a happy-hour deal of $15. Then sign me up.

Especially if it’s Buchanan’s famed charbroiled Angus sirloin bacon cheeseburger. It was arguably the city’s finest deluxe burger when the elegant chop house and whisky bar opened on the edge of downtown Calgary in 1988. And I see no reason for family-owned Buchanan’s to relinquish that title more than 35 years later.

Buchanan’s is an edge-of-downtown Calgary mainstay

What seals the deal for me is when my server asks how I’d like my burger cooked, from rare to well done; Medium rare, please! It’s been many years since I was offered that choice in germ-conscious Canada.

While Buchanan’s has built its reputation on its beef and extensive lists of Scotch and wine, it’s the succulent burger and a pint of house ale that keeps bringing me back.

Buchanan’s Chop House & Whisky Bar
738 3 Avenue SW, Calgary
Weekdays 11 am-11 pm, Saturday 5 pm-11 pm. Happy hour 3 pm-6 pm
403-261-4646

Best Indian Food in Calgary: Deepak’s Dhaba

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Chef Deepak welcomes me to his outstanding Indian restaurant in north-centre Calgary

Gotta say, Deepak’s Dhaba blew me away. Everything about my recent lunch at this Indian restaurant was exceptional. Indeed, if I include a delightful chat with chef/owner Deepak Singh Kalsi, it’s arguably my best Calgary dining experience thus far in a busy 2025.

Yes, Deepak’s Dhaba offers standard roadside Indian dishes such as butter chicken and beef vindaloo. But in search of something unfamiliar, I opt for dhal Makhani ($14), a substantial vegetarian curry featuring black lentils simmered in a flavourful tomato sauce with fresh-ground spices and hints of cardamom and fenugreek.

Big bowl of black lentil dhal with garlic naan and masala chai

I order two big slabs of excellent butter garlic naan ($3.50), blistered in a tandoor oven, to soak up all the curry goodness. Plus two cups of lovely masala chai to wash everything down. I even find room for an superb, crispy veggie samosa ($2).

A superb, crispy veggie samosa

In all, a substantial, first-rate, scratch-made meal at a most reasonable price.

The stand-alone restaurant is on Calgary’s Centre Street North

Note: Deepak also offers food-court meals at the Crossroads and Calgary Farmers’ (west) markets. Some dishes are only available as frozen takeout.

Deepak’s Dhaba
1032 Centre Street North and two Calgary farmers’ market food courts
Tuesday to Friday 2 pm-10 pm, weekends opens at 11 am. Closed Monday
825-413-2222

Happy Hour Tacos in Calgary at Native Tongues

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That’s me ordering $1 food-truck tacos near Walla Walla, Washington

In my early days of road-trip dining in the southwest U.S., I’d occasionally stop at a rusty Mexican food truck for a paper plate full of tacos at a picnic table. Little envelopes of goodness, such as grilled pork pastor, often for as little as $1. Four bucks was a big feed, even in U.S. dollars.

Times have certainly changed, with upscale offerings often commanding prices of $5 or more. But I’ve found a way to partly turn back the clock, at Native Tongues Taqueria in Calgary’s Britannia neighbourhood.

It’s called happy hour. Between 2 and 4 pm weekdays, the Mexican restaurant offers its delightful tacos for 25 per cent off. And I must confess, they’re considerably better than any of my bargain tacos of yore.

Fabulous happy-hour tacos at Native Tongues

So on a quiet midday Thursday, I ordered a small meal of three tacos. One was a barria: braised beef in adobo sauce. Two a cochinita pibil: braised pork with achiote and pickled onions. Three, deep-fried haddock with chipotle mayo.

Fabulous, messy stuff, with a cloth napkin to wipe up the spillage. All for the happy-hour price of $12.67.

Native Tongues Taqueria
829 49 Avenue SW and two other Calgary locations
Daiy 11:30 am-10 pm
403-454-8976

Best Vegan Indonesian in Calgary

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Padmanadi co-owner Maya: it’s a family business

Want a unique Calgary dining experience? How about a vegan take on Indonesian cuisine?

That’s what Padmanadi delivers at its immaculate restaurant, in a busy Macleod Trail mall. All its “meats”—chicken, beef, mutton— are plant based. There’s lots of veggies to round out savoury curries, stir fries and stews.

I go for a lunch special ($18), choosing a mildly spicy curry chicken that comes with two spring rolls and a large mounding of rice. While the plant-based “chicken” pieces taste great, it’s the yellow coconut curry that’s the real star, soaked up by all that jasmine rice; for $1, it’s probably worth upgrading to coconut or brown rice.

Vegan “chicken curry lunch special

Co-owner Maya explains that Indonesian food is distinct in, for example, typically not using any onion or garlic. The vegan focus at Padmanadi is not integral to the cuisine but reflects how her family eats.

A spotless place in a busy Macleod Trail mall

And this is certainly a family business, stretching back several generations to Jakarta (her grandmother’s name translates into English as Padmanadi). Maya’s parents opened their first Canadian restaurant, in Edmonton, more than two decades ago, eventually turning it over to her sister and brother-in-law. About a year ago, Maya and her husband traveled south to open the Calgary location.

In a largely carnivorous city, it’s nice to see a fine vegan addition, let alone something this unique.

Padmanadi Vegan Eatery
100, 8835 Macleod Trail SW, Calgary
Daily 11:30 am-9 pm
403-300-2270

Calgary’s Best Sourdough: Butter Bakes

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Butter Bakes owner Chelsea Kolke and all her sourdough creations

A boast I’ve often heard: “The best bread is what you bake at home.” Which is true only if it’s the home of Chelsea Kolke.

A Red Seal certified chef, Chelsea is the owner of Butter Bakes, producing exceptional, handcrafted sourdough breads and treats in her home micro bakery in southeast Calgary.

An eminently chewable sourdough focaccia

Here’s how it works. Every week, after online orders have closed, she brings her small-batch sourdough starter to life, mixing it with organic, locally grown and milled grains. A day later, she bakes the resulting sourdough breads, cookies and scones in a large, specialized oven in her kitchen. The cooled baked goods are then packaged and displayed out front, awaiting pickup from a parade of dedicated customers (delivery is also available).

Almost overwhelmed by the choices, I start with a rosemary, sea salt and olive oil focaccia ($12), ripping off big chunks and chewing happily for several minutes. Second, how can I resist an oversized loaf featuring caramelized honey, brown butter and Scottish oats ($10)? Or a pain de campagne ($10), perfect for sandwiches.

Packaged breads and treats awaiting pick up.

All the sourdough loaves are wonderfully tangy and chewy, chewy but with a tender crust. Truly some of the best sourdoughs I’ve sunk my teeth into.

Butter Bakes Micro Bakery
7408 24 Street SE, Calgary
Order online by 5 pm Wednesday, pickup Friday post 2 pm
403-827-7711