Tag Archives: Calgary

Sushi Boat in Calgary

Sushi Boat Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - ZomatoThis place is a huge hit with my parents. So much that they started going every Thursday. When I go back to Calgary to visit them, we often eat at least once there. Our family used to go, as there weren’t that many sushi places in Calgary, and even today, compared to Vancouver, there isn’t a huge sushi scene.

idearabbit_sushiboat_calgary1 idearabbit_sushiboat_calgary2You can figure out the price of the sushi by the colour of the plate their on.

  • Green = $2.35
  • Red = $3.35
  • Blue = $3.85
  • Silver $4.35

idearabbit_sushiboat_calgary4The cool thing as youngsters it the floating boats which carries the sushi around. Pretty cool! The water circulates and in a circle, and the boats move in one direction. idearabbit_sushiboat_calgary9For me, I usually take what’s on the boat. My parents on the other hand only come for the red tuna, which is a special order. If you’re also wanting something freshly made even though there are some on the boat, you can ask the staff.

idearabbit_sushiboat_calgary8Tamago nigiriidearabbit_sushiboat_calgary7Crab nigiriidearabbit_sushiboat_calgary6Masago nigiriidearabbit_sushiboat_calgary3Salmon with green seaweed

The plates are colour coordinated and the menu indicates how much a certain colour (or design) costs. This is great because you get to try a whole bunch of things without having to commit to ordering a combo or rolls that come with 6-8 pieces. Here, it’s either 2 or 4.

I and my brother always finished with a bowl of udon when we were younger. Now, it seems like a waste to eat them when you’re at a sushi restaurant! However, I do remember the broth being pretty good. idearabbit_sushiboat_calgary5I’m not sure how sanitary it is to have all the wasabi and ginger on the table for people to use. I hope that people don’t use their own chopsticks or something and contaminate the box.

It’s reasonably priced and decent quality. Staff are quick and attentive. They used to have 30+ minutes wait time, but since a few other sushi places opened and Calgary economy hasn’t been all that good, they’ve been a bit slower. Definitely an unique sushi restaurant experience.

Taste: carrotcarrotcarrot    Price for Value: carrotcarrotcarrot

Atmosphere:  carrotcarrotcarrot   Service:  carrotcarrotcarrot
Location: carrotcarrot

SAIT Reunion 2014 in Vancouver

idearabbit-sait-reunion2I’ve been to three different post-secondary schools or institutions, (Alberta College of Art & Design, Capilano University, and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) and so far, SAIT is the only one those (that I know of!) that does reunions for past students. ACAD may have, but I don’t hear much from them except for what’s happening in around their school and the art community in Calgary. I think I still receive their email newsletter from time to time, but rarely ever read them.

idearabbit-sait-reunion idearabbit-sait-reunion3 idearabbit-sait-reunion2SAIT sends out their magazine which can be informative, even out here in Vancouver. This is an year-late post, but they had their reunion for those living in the Lower Mainland in Vancouver, as many have moved here for work or family reasons.

idearabbit-sait idearabbit-sait-reunion4It was held on Saturday Feb 15th, 2014 from 10am-noon (yes, really delayed posting!) The entire upper level of Blackbird Oyster Bar & Public House in downtown was reserved for us.

Since I only went to SAIT for continuing ed courses (finishing a Graphic Design Certificate in the end), I didn’t make much connections in class. The reunion was not just one department, nor one year. It was any former student, with some from the early 1960s were there, while others had just finished. It was interesting to hear the stories of others, how they moved around, what they wanted out of the school, and what they did now, or hoped to do in the near future.

idearabbit-sait-reunion5A complimentary buffet-style lunch was offered and it was really quite delicious. There were also draws and goodies to take home.

Thanks SAIT!

Dragon Chinese Restaurant

Dragon Chinese Restaurant on UrbanspoonI and my friend went to Calgary for the long weekend, and she invited me to her family’s dim sum. Located on the second floor in a two-storey building in downtown, they said it opened less than an year ago. There aren’t any free parking (like in Vancouver) and prices are outrageously high. For the first hour, it’s $4, and any additional is $4.25.

idearabbit-dragonchinese

It was around 11am on a Friday, so it was pretty empty. (though after reading some reviews, it seems it might always be like that…could be the expensive parking). From the outside it doesn’t look like much, but inside, it was nicely decorated, and fairly clean.

Since our family was invited to my friend’s family/relative’s dim sum, I didn’t get a chance to take photos of the food as I thought it was inappropriate of taking photos of what seemed to be around 20 dishes for 10 of us. We left most of the ordering up to them, which was good since they knew more about dim sum than us.

Some of the dishes that were ordered:
Seafood Congee (was very good – I think my mom really liked it)
many different types of dumplings
Steamed Pork Dumpling (Siu Mai)
Shrimp Dumpling (Ha Gao)
Eggplant stuffed with Shrimp Mousse
xiaolongbao (didn’t have the ‘juice’ that usually explodes which was a bit of disappointment)
vegetable noodle
Shanghai noodle
Deep Fried Taro Dumpling
BBQ Pork Rice Roll
Scallop and Shrimp Dumpling was beautifully presented. Looked like a jewel.
Shrimp Rice Roll
any many more!

We were all stuffed with lots of leftovers to take home. Despite having 10 of us, two were young kids who were more interested in playing games on their phones than eating, so hence the leftovers. The food wasn’t too salty or didn’t seem to be loaded with MSG and was served hot.

Overall, the service was good, the food was very tasty. I can’t really comment on how much it cost as our family was treated, but do recall seeing the noodles were $12.95 which is a bit higher than some of the other dim sum I’ve been to, especially since they were both without meat. I would like to come back again if I’m in Calgary in the future, though cost of parking is a problem. It would be best to carpool or take transit – which isn’t that great compared to Vancouver’s.

 Taste: carrotcarrotcarrotcarrot    Price for Value: carrotcarrotcarrot

Atmosphere:  carrotcarrotcarrot   Service:  carrotcarrotcarrot
Location: carrotcarrot