You don’t go to Q.Lab, just to drink coffee. You go for the whole ceremonial experience.
Sound pretentious? No, simply a laser focus on painstakingly producing the best possible cup of coffee… without the distraction of offering food. And that takes time.
When I order a pour-over at Q.Lab’s tasting lab/café in Calgary’s Beltline, I’m asked to choose from one of eight bean varieties from parent roaster Chronicle. While I’m waiting for the pouring to complete, I have time to read, on a little card, a detailed description of my Huila, Colombia bean choice.
When you order a pour over, here are all your bean choices
Soon enough, my coffee arrives, in a glass beaker, along with a suggestion I wait two more minutes to allow the flavours to fully form. Patience, grasshopper.
I’m now ready to savour the obvious superiority of this dark nectar over garden-variety espressos. And it’s a generous pour, making the $6.50 cost quite reasonable.
A generous pour of black nectar
So if you’re serious about your coffee, give Q.Lab a try. Just don’t expect to grab and go.
Vegan Street is the name of the Inglewood restaurant. But it could just as easily be describing the influx of such eateries along busy 9th Avenue SE.
The others include Canela Vegan Bakery and the Attic, the latter a Vegan Street sister spot that serves evening, plant-based pastas and pizzas. Together, they reflect the growing popularity, especially among the city’s younger folk, of meatless cuisine.
Pretty soon, they’ll have to stop calling it Cowtown. Maybe replace it with Where’s the Beaf?
Sweet treats at CanelaVeganBakery
The somewhat higher prices at colourful Vegan Street are offset by plenty of happy hour and taco Tuesday and thirsty Thursday specials. My featured lunch is a massive Reuben sandwich ($19), which comes with a sizeable bowl of creamy coleslaw.
Here, the conventional pastrami is replaced with seiten, the Swiss with melted “cheeze.” Not that I’d notice. Indeed, the vegan Reuben is every bit as good as any conventional version I’ve had.
Vegan Street is a funky Inglewood cafe
Vegan Street 1413 9 Avenue SE, Calgary Lunch specials Tuesday to Friday 11:30 am-4 pm 403-454-3287
Does JINBAR produce Calgary’s best hot chicken sandwich?
In recent years, it seems, every other fast-food outlet and casual restaurant started introducing hot fried chicken sandwiches to their menus. A staple of Nashville dining, these spicy creations have migrated north, quickly becoming commonplace in Calgary. Here are three local standouts that, I reckon, could compete with anything south of the border.
First up is Alumni, a combination excellent sandwich shop and cocktail bar on busy 17 Avenue SW. Their hot chicken sandwich ($16) is a dense, moist piece of breast meat topped with slaw, pickles and comeback sauce, tucked inside a sturdy brioche bun. The “half” spice choice is plenty hot enough for most folks.
Hard to beat Alumni’s hot chicken sandwich
I first visited Alumni during Covid, when my packaged meal was handed out the door by a masked server. On subsequent visits, it was nice to dine inside and soak up the evening vibe.
Exhibit two is nearby Cluck n Cleaver, a collaboration of sisters Nicole and Francine Gomes. The former is a top chef Canada winner, the latter a raiser of chickens.
Cluck offers halal rotisserie chicken and a lil’ clucker sandwich. But my go-to fix is the hefty Mother Clucker ($13.75), a quarter pound of fried chicken, coated in house-made chipotle hot sauce, coleslaw, pickles and blue-cheese mayo, all stuffed into an almost overmatched bun.
Cluck n Cleaver: Big production from a tiny space
Other than a few dine-in stools, it’s mostly takeout from this tiny space. I make it as far as the car before hoovering down this sloppy, spicy goodness.
I wasn’t going to include JINBAR on this list, strictly because its hot chicken sandwich costs $23, though it’s the only one of the three contenders that comes with fries. But when I saw the happy-hour (4-5:30 pm) deal of $15—including a pile of confit garlic fries—I had to hustle down to Bridgeland.
JINBAR is located in a historic Bridgeland brick building
Must say, I was blown away by chef Jinhee Lee’s tender, two pieces of chicken breast splashed with medium-hot Korean chile glaze and a layer of mustard slaw. Though with something this succulent, I wasn’t surprised the brioche bun didn’t go the distance.
So at this price, quality and atmosphere—it’s located in an historic brick building—JINBAR is my Calgary hot chicken sandwich champion.
A fabulous bowl of Happy Hour curry udon at Lonely Mouth Bar
Marathon Mouth (that’s me), meet Lonely Mouth. The latter is a 17th Avenue SW Calgary bar that offers Japanese-inspired meals and inscrutable reasons for the name: “When you’re not hungry, but you eat because your mouth is lonely.”
I ponder this riddle as I tuck into one of the best happy-hour deals in Calgary (2-5 pm). This includes up to 50% off a long list of cocktails, appetizers (try the bluefin tuna tartare) and sushi rolls
Like my fabulous bowl of curry udon, featuring fall-apart braised beef short rib, soft-cooked egg, transcendent overnight broth and, the highlight, chewy house-made udon noodles. Normally $24, a $12 happy-hour bargain.
There’s enough money left in the budget for two pieces of sublime hamachi (yellow fin tuna) sashimi ($4 h.h.), which slides down my throat.
Lonely Mouth is in an elegant 17th Avenue SW space, with a long bar, open kitchen, wood screens and soft lamp lighting
Lonely Mouth Bar 528 17 Avenue SW, Calgary Happy hour daily 2 pm-5 pm Text 403-990-5094
Ever heard of momo cuisine? Me neither—until I discovered it was Nepalese stuffed dumplings and had to check it out. Still, when I walked into Calgary Momo House, in a distant northwest mall, I was overwhelmed by choices. Would you like those little dumplings steamed or wok fried? In what style: tandoori, Szechuan or chili? And filled with mutton, vegetables or paneer?
Fortunately, there was a compromise—a platter of some 10 chicken dumplings, done in three styles and topped with an artful bit of salad. Better yet, this luncheon special was only $13.
As advertised, it was about a 20-minute wait, a sure sign my little Nepali street-food meal was made to order. I must say, it was delightfully different, with little bites of slightly crunchy dumplings dipped in lovely spicy and milder sauces.
Chef Prakash and wife Pooja Ale Magar opened this second Calgary location 18 months ago. It didn’t hurt to be recently featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. And yet when I subsequently dined on a Monday noon hour, I had the place to myself.
Calgary Momo House 410, 20 Crowfoot Crescent NW and one other Calgary location Daily noon-9 pm 403-660-7043
At Ryuko, fabulous lunchtime Japanese spread for only $18
I’ve never been a big fan of sushi, largely because of the cost and the quality. Well, I’ve found a newish Japanese restaurant in southwest Calgary that blows this argument out of the water. Indeed, a recent meal at Ryuko, in Christie Park, is arguably my best lunch deal and experience of the year to date.
It starts when I walk down the long corridor of this tres-elegante space, with soft jazz creating a calm that belies the bustling staff and steadily arriving customers. I grab a counter seat where I can watch three chefs wielding sharp knives and one using a blow torch to blister a sushi roll.
A quiet, elegant spot for lunch
But the highlight is the arrival of a lunch-set special that Ryuko offers from Monday to Thursday. I choose a sushi menu that, for the criminally low price of $18, delivers me the following: four pieces of nigiri (including yellow fin and B.C. salmon), four pieces of California roll, a warm bowl of miso soup and several pieces of yam tempura. I splurge with a large pot of excellent roasted green tea ($5). Bliss.
Wielding a blow torch just one of a chef’s skills
Beyond the lunch specials is an expansive menu ranging from a 48-hour ramen broth to bibimbap bowls, the latter reflecting the owners’ Korean roots. Of course, there’s plenty of nigiri and sashimi choices, starting at $3.50 a piece and extending to premium fish flown in from Japan and then cured and aged inhouse. Note: nigiri is fish and rice, sashimi just fish.
I’ll be back soon, perhaps to check out other set-lunch menus like udon and katsu.
Ryuko 3150, 40 Christie Park View SW and one other Calgary location Lunch-set hours Monday to Thursday noon-5 pm 403-991-3208
