Got My Taste On

August 21, 2013 By Leanne Vogel November 16, 2018

I wake up around 7am every morning and, after a quick stretch and meditation, I give Kevin a morning kiss, go downstairs, turn on the TV and tune into Breakfast Television – a habit I picked up from my Mom when we were living with my parents earlier this summer.

My favorite part to watching Breakfast TV, is staying in the know about the events happening in Calgary. From festivals to volunteer opportunities, they feature it all.

Last week, we learned about Taste of Calgary – an outdoor food festival in the heart of downtown Calgary where a bunch of different restaurants come down and feature some of their favorite dishes. I was curious about the event and decided to check out their website to read through their menu and, to my surprise, they had LOADS of gluten-free options. So (naturally) I told Kevin we were going.

Tickets were $1 each and 3-5 tickets were needed per dish at each restaurant station.

We went to Jackie’s Thai first.

I chose the Yellow Veggie Curry. It was simple, the flavor was great, it wasn’t too spicy and the veggies were fresh and still crisp. We like crisp veggies! I wish that there had been more curry and less rice, that’s my only complaint.

The owner, Jackie, was really nice!

… and I tried my hardest to eat around the rice.

Less rice in belly = more room for veggies and meat! Seems logical, no?

Next up were the Pakoras at Delice Pasty Shop and Cafe.

They were great tasting, good consistency… but I wish they were served with chutney of some sort. They really needed that balance of sweet, with spicy, it would have been awesome!

Unknowingly saving the best for last, we headed to the Shiraz – a Persian restaurant on Center Street and 11ave.

I went for the Shato Bryan – a ground beef dish.

As you can tell from my face, I was pretty excited about it.

The meat was perfectly seasoned (and salty!) I would definitely, without a doubt, visit Shiraz for a full-on meal.

Overall, the festival was pretty cool. We ended up spending $11 on the 3 dishes. There were a lot of people – a bit too many people for my liking. But the lines weren’t excessive and everyone was really friendly.

There were a lot of ethnic foods to choose from, which is great for us because we like that sort of stuff, but may not be right for everyone. Although it’s a great place to try new things without a big commitment of the full sit down dinner.

We’d go to the festival again, next year, for sure!

Have you ever been to a food festival?

This entry was tagged: calgary