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callen60
callen60
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
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3
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Editor Pick

Don't Miss It

  • March 2, 2009
  • Rated 5 of 5 by callen60 from Ozarks, Missouri
Don't Miss It

This was our final dinner in Canada, another recommendation from Peter, our encyclopedic host at Lady MacDonald Inn. Almost a week earlier, we’d chatted with fellow guests after they returned from dinner here. All five of them raved about the food, and we decided to take everyone’s advice and head there.

The restaurant must have moved recently: some sources give it an address on Main Street in central Canmore, but it’s now in an unexpected location on the edge of the industrial part of town: on Railway Avenue, well north of downtown. Peter warned us that it wouldn’t look like a restaurant from the outside and that there wouldn’t be a sign, and he was right. Despite the lack of any obvious indications that we were headed for a great meal, we followed our instructions, and finally found a parking spot in the packed lot (behind a Hertz Truck Rental location, I think).

It was hard to tell if the rather modern building had been designed by the current occupants, or adapted to their needs. Either way, it worked. It featured floor-to-ceiling windows along the south and west sides, where the tables were located. The kitchen was completely open, which was neat and not as large a distraction (or source of noise) as it might be.

They strike a sassy pose ("ask not what you can do for your country. ask what’s for lunch"), and an anti-restaurant, pro-food attitude, and they pull it off. Their website has a tabloid/graffiti look to it, and a unique orientation that does a pretty good job of reflecting the whole place.

That’s not to say that the staff copped an attitude. The host and the server were friendly, efficient and acted like they were glad we’d chosen their restaurant. Frankly, I’m tired of places that act like they’re doing you a favor by deigning to sell you a meal. We spent some time poring over the e e cummings style menu, eventually settling on forgoing the mains (not for any fault of theirs) and going with four small plates. There were just too many things that seemed worth exploring.

The server highly recommended the jewel box salad, a combination of several fruits (orange, bartlett pear, and pomegranate) accompanied by goat cheese over greens, and topped with a lemon vinaigrette. It was fabulous. I would gladly have eaten two.

We also picked the rösti potatoes, which were paired with smoked salmon and thus made irresistible in our eyes. With our greens and starch covered, we went for some protein: my wife had immediately identified the Vietnamese pork meatballs as a must-do, and our server concurred. They came with a delicious chile-lime sauce designed for dipping after wrapping in lettuce.

Our final selection was the potato samosas, a favorite of mine. (And a second starch was insurance against going hungry if the small plate option was, indeed, small. It wasn’t.) They were good on their own, but I really enjoyed the mango chutney that accompanied it. And since my dining companion is not a big ‘fruit in dinner’ fan, I gratefully finished it my self.

All these plates were $10-$14. The wine list was extensive, with a large set of by-the-glass offerings, available in 150, 250, and 750 ml pours (a variety I wish more places would offer). Our small-plate approach made me feel more entitled to add dessert, and wife agreed (but only after it arrived). Bernard Callebaut is evidently Calgary’s leading chocolatier, and we saw his name in any number of places. I liked it best on the small, intense cake that came with carmellized bananas and small scoop of caramel gelato.

The restaurant was full and lively throughout our stay, but not too noisy. The tables weren’t piled on top of each other, giving a nice separation from the parties nearby. Sometime between our entrance and exit, a sleek circular fireplace had been set up on the outdoor steps, and we stood by it for a while and enjoyed the clear night. Across Railway Avenue, the Big Dipper hung nearly vertically over the mountains, and after a couple tries, I captured it before we headed back to the Inn.

From journal Culinary Canmore

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