A couple of weekends ago, I went to Calgary for a wedding, so I decided that I’d make a bigger trip out of it! I actually lived in Calgary for almost a full year during my student practicum, but back then, I didn’t explore the city too much. I was living with some extended, and my cousins did take me out to quite a few places, but there were still some places left on my bucket list. This is quick summary of my ~2-day trip in Calgary!

First off, our airbnb was right beside the Saddledome, and I mean right beside. across the street from us was Cowboys. So, it’s right off the start of 17th ave. Village Ice Cream, being 2 minutes away, was naturally our first stop!

Nice little Ice Cream shop, with 10 regular flavours. Me and Jenn got the Salty Malty Pretzel and Mango. The mango one was just so-so, but the salty malty one was quite good. For a more in-depth review, you can click to read my post here.

A few of us took off Friday so we could try and squeeze in 2-3 places to eat before turning in. Our next stop was Tubby Dog.

Right on 17th as well, and one of the places I wanted to try for quite some time. Nothing extravagant, but it’s one of those very “Calgary” things that you have to do, one time in your life. Tubby Dog is old and kind of retro, we went with the A-Bomb. Nacho cheese, chips, ketchup, mustard, all on a hot dog. Not bad! But to be honest, I’m a Fat-Franker for life. Click here for my full review on Tubby Dog.

At this point, we’d only been in the city for about an hour and a half, and already perusing for our third place to eat. Pigeon Hole, Ten Foot Henry, and Anju were on our list, and all within 10 minutes of each other. We ultimately decided to go with Anju.

Described as Korean Tapas, we thought it’d be easiest to share a few dishes so we wouldn’t get too full. We went right when it opened at 5PM. We got some salmon sashimi because it’s on special on Fridays, some KFC sliders, Korean Kalbi, and some dumplings. The star of the night would probably be the KFC sliders. Delicious korean fried chicken, on a soft bun. Full review for Anju can be found here.

The next day, the wedding started at 4, so we tried to squeeze in two-ish meals before then, and some photo taking activities. One thing that I really wanted, was some banh mi. Banh Mi to Calgary is kind of like Donairs to Edmonton. Ubiquitous. So, naturally, I wanted to try one of their more known shops, Banh Mi Thi Thi.

Banh Mi Thi Thi is close to the water, and close to Prince’s Island Park, where we wanted to take a few photos. It’s just a tiny shop where you order and do take-out. I got the Chicken Saté and the Beef Saté. Honestly… just amaing. Banh Mi was always my favourite thing growing up. I think this was my favourite thing to eat in the whole time I was in Calgary. You can read my full review here.

Next, we just did a mini touristy trip to Prince’s Island Park. This is where the Canada 150 sign is right now, and it’s a nice little walk after our sandwiches. It was a beautiful day! And Great weather for a wedding.

We did stop buy a chinese bakery since we were in Chinatown, but I forgot to take pictures of it! but that’s okay, we were getting pressed for time because we still had to get back to our airbnb and get ready for the wedding. We decided to hit up Naina’s which is close to our airbnb, and do take out.

I originally went to Naina’s a few years ago at their older location. In case you haven’t heard, they are known for their stuffed-burgers. They have a pretty intensive selection of things to stuff. I opted to go with one of their seasonal, the perogy stuffed burger, and Jamie opted to go with the Jalapeno popper.

My burger was a bit disappointing. It wasn’t sufficiently seasoned, and the sour cream made for a even more bland burger. Overall, not terrible, but I think if I were to build my own, I could create a better burger. Jamie’s burger was similar. The meat was a bit on the bland side, but his was better because the jalapeno and cream cheese added a bit more flavour to the overall burger. I’d still go back and customize my burger, but me experience was just so so. Read my full thoughts on Naina’s here.

Finally, it was time for the wedding. Charbar. I had always wanted to come here for their brunch, and their reviews are incredible, so I had some high expectations of the night. I’ll preface that this was a catered meal, and not quite what is offered on their menu. I always find that these types are meals are quite variable and dynamic.

I decided not to write a full write-up about Charbar because it was a unique event, so it won’t really be beneficial to anyone. That being said though, some of the things we ate are available off their regular menu, so I might have a bit more emphasis on those dishes.

The amuse bouch was a vegetable samosa, nice way to start off, and had a good amount of flavour.

My favourite thing of that night though, was their pistachio avocado bruschetta. This is also available off their regular menu, and it honestly was amazing. Say what you will, but I would definitely pay $15 dollars for this avocado toast!

Honestly, at this point, I decided to stop writing down so many notes about the evening. I just wanted to enjoy the night and watch my two good friends get married. Nothing really stood out, or wowed me after that avocado toast. Seriously. Amazing. We had empanadas, pizza, some of their wood-fire grilled chicken, and some steak. The midnight snack were some sliders and poutine! It was a beautiful venue.

The ceremony was upstairs on their rooftop patio, and it was a great day for a wedding. Cocktails and drinks were also served upstairs before we went downstairs. I will still have to come back some time for their brunch.

The next day, we were all a bit tired and hungover, but we still had it in us for one last meal before we went. We went to T.pot China Bistro for some dim sum! I wasn’t really in the mood to take photos or anything, so I have nothing to really write about, other than the experience was a bit less good than it usually is. The food was a bit subpar from what they usually produce. I do, however, have a post I wrote about a Sunday brunch I had at Vero a while back, which can be found here.

I went with my brother, cousin, and sister, and it was a great brunch. all of their ingredients are locally sourced, and it is a bit more expensive of an establishment, but the quality of their food is quite high. Their eggs benedict are delicious and all served with jumbo prawns, which is a nice touch. House-made and delicious hollandaise. Again, you can read my full review here.

Anyways, hope this brief summary on my trip to Calgary is beneficial! These are all do-able in two days, and everything is close to each other which makes commuting easy! We walked to all of our destinations, so it’s definitely walkable. Other restaurants that would have been good around this area are Ten Foot Henry, Pigeon Hole, Una, and many others found on 17th Ave!