344 17 Ave SW, Calgary

During my weekend in Calgary, there were so places that I wanted to go to, but so little time. Anju was on my list, along with Ten Foot Henry, and Pigeon Hole. After some debate, we opted to go with Anju. We had already eaten a couple times in the last few hours (See Tubby Dog and Village Ice Cream) for reviews. We were pretty sold on a Tapas place so we could still pound out multiple dishes.

17th Avenue right now is a bit crazy (Fall 2017). There’s so much construction going on, and tons of re-directed vehicles and pedestrian crosswalks. We were walking, so it wasn’t too bad of a detour, but I can imagine it to be a bit overwhelming to drive. It’s promised to be done soon, so hopefully it’ll be okay.

From other previous reviews, it seems like this place can be a bit hit and miss, but on my visit, I had no complaints. We opted to get a few tapas to share, some KFC sliders, prawn potstickers, some salmon sashimi, and of course, Grilled beef short ribs.

The salmon sashimi was on special on friday, so naturally we got a couple orders of that to share. Fresh, and served on a sweet soy sauce with garlic bits. Really good! I don’t see this on their menu otherwise, but not bad for a special.

The Prawn Potstickers are filled with ginger, green onion, and prawns, served with a crispy layer and black vinegar and garlic chili oil. This was a bit plain to me. Not too exotic or special. It lacked a bit of a wow-factor, but otherwise, it was just okay.

The KFC Sliders was the winning dish for me. Crispy, twice-fried chicken, a spicy sauce, mayo and lettuce, everything that you could want. The bun was soft and fluffy. Definitely a winner. It went down nicely with our beer. Great snack to nibble on while having some drinks!

Lastly, we had their grilled beef short ribs, a Korean Classic. It had a sweet garlic soy marinade, cooked to perfection. It was very tender and easy to eat. I recommend ordering this dish, and the KFC sliders.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Anju. My service was excellent, and the food was good too. The server gave us welcomed recommendations, and described the dishes nicely. He checked in on us an adequate amount of times, and the food itself came out promptly and delicious. I’ll have to come back and give some of their dishes a try!