I concede though. This blog of mine is under construction. Honest!

The last few days have entailed cleaning up a previous domain and moving this blog to this domain.  Now that I am finished moving it, it is time to clean it up in this domain. Instead of inserting a tacky animated GIF from “back in the day” here though, I will blog it (words mean more than a 2-dimensional GIF).

Without much ado, bear with me as I finish up the layout, remove titles like “test” and other sample abstracts.

Yours truly,

Anne Parsons

When we first started dating, Boston Pizza was our haunt.  It was opened until 2am with full service. I think it still is but I wouldn’t know… we haven’t stepped foot in there in a long time because the service is a hit and miss and the food is nothing to rave about. This leaves 2 health conscious people a bit stranded when running a late dinner though…

Thank goodness for Earls and Joey’s Tomato.

These are the only 2 chains in Calgary that stay opened late enough and serve some really great food. I’ve taken a liking to their rocket, beet and pear salad and recently, I discovered how good their Scallop and Shrimp linguini is, which is definitely worth a visit for! Of course, I am a creature of habit, falling back on the typical chicken quesadilla or the flatbread pizza whenever I can’t be bothered with reading the rest of the menu. These dishes are what I would call the “no-fail” scenario. Every restaurant has one; a couple of items that ALWAYS turn out right.

The chicken quesadilla is perfect with the shredded chicken and light cheese. My favourite part of this dish is the smoky salsa that comes with it as it is nice and spicy and resembles nothing like the store-bought, super sweet and vinegar-y conconction. The flatbread pizza is also a great backup. There are only 3 different ones to choose from but that’s plenty. My favourite is the Sicilian with the Margherita following next in line.

The Earls Dalhousie location is our favourite place, hands down. However, it isn’t the last one standing. Joey’s Tomato appears to be opened until whenever the last customer leaves. The northeast Barlow location is the one we make the drive to instead. We showed up for dinner once at 9pm and stayed for a couple of hours on a very busy weekend night. I do have to say though, the servers usually have good service but I never enjoy the hostesses who greet people at the door. They usually appear blank and uncoordinated. In the last visit we made, the young girl told me she could not put my name on a waiting list because it never works for her. “But don’t worry,” as she tried to reassure me, “I’ll remember you.” Given the previous bad experiences I’ve had at the door, I decided not to wait. We seated ourselves at the eating bar in front of the open kitchen and were served immediately and very well. As dinner wore on, the hostess incident was easily forgotten over the high-rise burger that I ordered. It was really good and was truly a high-rise. It had 2 thin patties stacked with fresh butter lettuce, tomatoes and my favourite, sautéed mushrooms. Even as I’m writing about it, I can remember how fresh it was and that it wasn’t a plastic meat patty like other places serve you. Interestingly though, the most memorable thing about it was the bun that closely resembled a type of bread used to make Chinese Char Siu Bao (BBQ pork buns). It tasted very similar to it too and was savoury!

Chris had a steak at Joey’s that night. Did you know that Joey’s is known to carry one of the highest qualities of beef steaks?  Indeed it was. Chris’s steak was cooked perfectly and had a wonderful aged taste to it. There was nothing left after he was finished dinner and that speaks for itself.

For Calgary, Alberta, a conservative yet emerging modern city, there are only a few places I have visited that are worth a retake. Globefish, located north of Kensington on 14th street with my favourite dish being the agedashi tofu and spider roll. The grilled tako is also a nice treat with a gentle charred flavour that leaves you thinking you ate chicken instead of octopus. Some other places that I’ve visited here and there are the Sushi Club in Kensington and Zipang Sushi Bar in Bridgeland. Both offer incredibly fresh sushi like Globefish but I still do favour Globefish as it remarkably resembles Takashi, a gem found by some of my coworkers in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, of all places. This is another place I reminisce about frequently.

Tonight though, we went elsewhere…

Hungry and irritated (because these 2 emotions of mine are inseparable like identical twins), my husband and I decided to try a new place in Kensington (again) called, Tenshi Sushi. Oh my, was the sashimi fresh! Perhaps a little thick in the cut but nonetheless, we got our value, quality and taste for it! The restaurant itself is a little tight, seating about 20 – 25 people in a space about the same size as my living room. Despite the closed quarters, the ambience was simple, warm and inviting, and at least the chairs were comfortable as I squeezed my average frame into a corner table.

The sushi was great… with a smile to add. We had ordered #62 off the menu, a complete no-brainer, dinner-for-two combination. Number 62 seemed great at the time as I was too hungry to think and Chris knows to avoid that situation.

When the food came, I was happy. The meal started off with a small bowl of miso soup with tofu, wakame and scallions. It’s pretty standard but a great standard opener.

Next came the salad, assorted tempura and the gyoza. The salad didn’t impress me. It was just a small bowl of glass noodles soaked in very sweet vinaigrette topped with a sprinkle of sliced cucumbers and garnished with a slice of lemon. Needless to say it didn’t taste like much and I wasn’t moved.  Some work needs to be done that one.

Neglecting the salad, the assorted sushi came. The assortment plate was as big as the tiny table we sat at and included a substantial tasting of sashimi, assorted nigiri sushi, and 5 different rolls. The sashimi was to die for. A little too thickly cut, but it was melt-in-your mouth, sweet and accompanied with 2 raw scallops. I have to warn you though, if you like your scallops cooked, you might be a little squeamish about eating them but don’t be afraid, the scallops taste great with some pickled ginger and a dab of wasabi. As for the nigiri sushi and rolls, all had a good balance between the seafood and the rice. There was no more than a tablespoon of rice per piece which, unlike some other mediocre places I’ve tried, shows that the restaurant is not trying to impose “filler” food on you.

Dinner passed pleasantly that night. It was a full house at Tenshi Sushi. The service was more than satisfactory with the server paying close attention to our empty teacups. For being careful with our health these days, this meal felt guilt free and Tony-Horton-worthy.  On that note, #62 on the menu at Tenshi Sushi came at an affordable $40 for 2, which was the cherry on top.