Model Milk Review: Victoria’s Secret? Try Calgary’s

New restaurants are nothing new to Calgary, and while sometimes I get around to checking them out I haven’t been the best at keeping up at writing about them.  I’ve seemed to finally get around to just sitting down and writing for a few hours, so what better chance to catch up!

Model Milk (not "Modern Milk," as many people – including myself – have mistakenly assumed is the name) is located on 17th Ave at the edge of Victoria Park, and was started by the former executive chef at Rush.  My food enthusiast friend Matt was back in town for a visit, so it seemed like a promising choice for dinner.  We went at ~8, but one nice thing about Model Milk is that it stays open until 1AM every day of the week!  Their night menu starts around 10PM, and features a number of American classics such as fried chicken and grits.

The venue itself was a pretty cool mix of brick/industrial/farm elements, and also much bigger and louder than I expected (though I’m sure the lofted ceiling contributes significantly to the spacious feel).  The menu was fairly simple, with the starters and mains all fitting on a single side of paper.  There have probably been a few new iterations of the menu since I’ve visited (glancing at the menu it appears they are on #5 as of writing this sentence), however they seem to keep most of the base meats  (eg. pork, steak, chicken, duck) and mostly change the sides and preparation of the dishes for each iteration.  As you can see by the picture above, vegetarians don’t appear to be a key constituent for this establishment – the heirloom tomato salad was the only dish lacking meat or seafood.

At first the place seemed kind of pricey to me, but really it is pretty competitive with other "casual gourmet" restaurants – however there is relatively little variation in prices, with cocktails spanning $11-13, appetizers ranging $13-16, and mains from $25-29 (except for the $18 burger).   It isn’t too hard to spend $40-50 per person here.  Their cocktails, if a little expensive, are super-cool (I mean, a cocktail named "A’B'lliteration" with ‘B’ themed ingredients is clever on so many levels!) – they use a giant ice cube similar to what I’ve seen at Momofuku (though it doesn’t melt quite as evenly as the NYC based ones it seems), and the Black Manhattan that Matt ordered was terrific.

 

 

And the food!  Inventive, superbly finished, and with high-quality local ingredients – while I wasn’t the biggest fan of some of the recipes, it was hard to argue with the quality of the dishes.  We started with the rabbit and dumplings – or as I liked to refer to it, "Rabbit with Rabbit Food."  The rabbit was served in the form of cakes (similar to crab cakes), while the gnocchi-like dumplings and assorted vegetables (carrots, celery, radish – rabbit food, see? ) were scattered around in the sauce.  This dish somehow succeeded into bringing together a bunch of flavours that I don’t normally care much for and left me wanting more.  It also came out blazingly fast, probably less than 2 minutes after the waitress left with our order – fast as a hare!

Next up were the mains – pork-lovers will rejoice to hear that Model Milk offers a sausage-wrapped tenderloin, which is itself wrapped in bacon – which Matt couldn’t resist.  I only tried a slice of it, but it seriously gave me a porkgasm – the tenderloin was done medium all the way through, and the sausage and bacon were done to perfection.  I have never tasted a tenderloin half so juicy in my life!  I ordered the duck breast, which at the time was served on a bed of brown lentils – the duck breast was a superb medium-rare, though it had some gristly bits (weirdly, right in the middle of the meat) and the lentils were my least favourite part of the night.  I suspect that this restaurant abuses the hell out of sous-vide, as their meats are just a little too perfect for any other style of cooking I would guess.

We finished off with a couple of desserts, with Matt again selecting the superior one – he picked the Pot de Creme primarily because he is a self-confessed "slut for raspberries" – but the addition of mint, thyme and lemon made it a very interesting, and in fact rather refreshing dessert.  I had the pecan-bourbon pie, which was thick with molasses and quite nice (though with so many pecans that the sides of my tongue were wincing, which normally happens more often to me due to walnuts rather than pecans).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Model Milk is almost a supermodel of restaurants – professional, cutting edge, and damn sexy.  For a restaurant that was only open for five weeks when I visited, that’s a pretty impressive accomplishment.  Hopefully it keeps it up in the future, as I am sure to be back soon!

-Richard

Rating

	Richard
Ambiance	5.5/6
Service	5/6
Plating	6/6
Taste	5.5/6
Originality	6/6
Value	5/6
Overall	33/36 = 92%

Review of The Himalayan (Nepalese Cuisine)

Summary: A great date place / family restaurant for those looking to try a fusion of Indian/Chinese cuisines, friendly service, and more importantly, good food.

Calgary has a dearth of Nepalese cuisine, so when Kent found a Groupon for this restaurant, it was a no-brainer.The Himalayan is tucked away in a tiny strip mall in the west end of 17th Ave, but don’t let the location and outer facade fool you. It felt like we had stepped into another world as soon as we had walked in – the interior is in complete contrast to the exterior. The owners have clearly put a lot of thought and effort into tastefully decorating the place. The mood lighting, in addition to enhancing the ambiance, accentuates the Nepalese inspired artwork on the walls. Definitely a great date place, if you don’t mind the families.

Upon seating, we were immediately greeted by our very friendly server. While shooting the shit with him, we found out out that his father was a former part-owner of the other Nepalese restaurant in town: Everest Kitchen. However, due to irreconcilable differences, they had decided to part ways. It will be interesting to cover Everest Kitchen as part of our next outing and compare the differences between the two establishments.

Nepali cuisine is a very interesting mix of Indian/Chinese fare and is reflective of Nepal’s geographic location nestled between the two Asian giants. The intermingling of these two ancient cuisines is clearly evident in their offerings and reminded me of Hakka cuisine, which is Indian/Chinese cuisine hailing from the East Bengal region of India. Our server, being related to the owners, was very knowledgeable about the menu and was able to steer us through the vast offerings.

Kent and I didn’t order anything to drink but decided to get the mouth-watering momos ($6) as appetizers (while waiting for the perennially late Richard). The latter are a traditional Nepali dumpling made from a mixture of vegetables, mozzarella cheese, and “Himalayan spices and herbs” all wrapped and steamed in shell made from flour dough. That is a lot of words to describe a delicious little appetizer – I could eat this sh*t all day and not feel satiated. The outer shell was moist but not too sticky. The vegetable filling was delicious but a tad salty. The tomato sauce was milder than I would have liked as the momo filling definitely overwhelmed the sauce. Overall though, highly recommended. Definitely, a “must try.’

I ordered the Himalayan Roasted Eggplant ($13) tarkari as my main course. Tarkari, of course, is the Nepali version of curry, but not as liquid-y. Richard ordered a thuk-pa and Kent went with an old standby dish, dal (lentils).The tarkari dishes came with a side of naan and rice. Our dishes took a long time to arrive so we were comp’d with a side of papad served with sweet yogurt and mango dipping sauces. The sauces were sweet and tangy and provided a great contrast to the savoury papad.

Kiran’s Thoughts

Given the vastness of the vegetarian offerings at The Himalayan, I was hard-pressed to select just one dish to order. Now I know what most people feel like when they go to a restaurant. Ordering something off a menu is typically a simple affair for me, given that I usually have only one or two options. I was sorely tempted to order something I knew would taste good, but in the interests of expanding my mind and palate, decided to go with the roasted eggplant tarkari. It turned out to be not such a good call. The dish was flavourful with a sweet and sour finish, but in general, too salty. The eggplant was also unevenly cooked as some pieces were tough when chewing. The salad accompaniment was just a filler with the ingredients not being very fresh. In fact, I seem to have been so disappointed with this dish that I didn’t even bother to take any photos.

The dal, on the other hand, was an excellent call on Kent’s part. It was a perfect dish for a cold, rainy day like it was that particular evening. It was perfectly spiced, with just the right amount of salt and spices. You could tell it was clearly home-made from a family recipe. The combination of dal and naan, although not typical, was what I needed on that cold, clammy day.

The Himalayan didn’t seem to have much in the offering for desserts, but Kent and I decided to go with server-recommended cassava root cake. This turned out to be a delicious choice. The cake itself had the texture of oatmeal, but was spongy like, well, sponge cake. The drizzle of chocolate and raspberry sauces only served to enhance the dish overall. My only complaint was it was a bit too small: Kent and I managed to destroy the dish in two seconds. But it was worth it.

Richard’s Ruminations

Namaste, b*tches. I wasn’t too sure what to expect from their place after seeing the questionable aesthetics of their website,(yeah, it’s pretty fucking terrible; crashed my browser once – Kiran) but it turned out to be quite a pleasant venue. After ordering drinks, I perused the menu looking to see if they served yak. Sadly (or happily?) no, but they did offer quite a large variety of Nepali dishes, including several with shrimp (which I found slightly amusing considering Nepal is rather landlocked). I had originally intended to try the mis-mas rice (a mixture of rice, saffron, raisins, and meat), however the waiter rather vehemently turned me away from it, stating that they were working on removing that from the menu (yikes!). Instead, I settled for a mutton thuk-pa, a noodle soup with carrots, cabbage, parsley, onions, chilli, and small chunks of mutton.

The starters were pretty good in general, with the papad standing out in my mind as being particularly tantalizing. To me, it tasted like a mix of Indian-style lentil crackers and Chinese-style fried puffed-rice crackers. My main course (thuk-pa) was simple but decent, though the flavours/textures evoked thoughts of cheaper fare – the meat reminded me of cha siew (Chinese BBQ pork) and the vegetables in the soup made me think of instant-noodle ramen packs (though I imagine the vegetables in this soup were actually fresh and not reconstituted from dehydrated husks ). I also had a pineapple-coconut juice, which is a tropical-paradise-dream of a drink – I would definitely recommend this drink, and I’m not even much of a fan of coconut.

I was greatly impressed with the service and speed that the food came out, though we did arrive before it really got busy -  I’m not sure if they would have been quite as attentive with twice the crowd.

Kent’s Two Cents

I really enjoyed the Himalayan, and its a shame there aren’t more of these Nepali restaurants in the city. The service is exceptional in this family run restaurant, mostly staffed by native Nepali who can explain what’s on the menu. Ever since eating dal bhat (lentils & rice) everyday for a month in Nepal, I have considered it to be healthy and hearty comfort food. The Himalayan makes a good dal, but it wasn’t what I originally expected. Its consistency is on the watery side like a soup. I always thought it was supposed to be like a stew or porridge. Not really a bad thing, it still tasted great. Now if only I could make this stuff properly at home.

Summary

I am glad to see another ethnic eatery getting its sh*t together and share its culinary offerings with the rest of Calgary. Although I was disappointed with my own dish, I really enjoyed the two vegetarian options that Kent had ordered. There are far too many options to choose from to visit this place only once. Although this is contrary to my own personal philosophy, the Himalayan might just be the one place that I could see myself visiting again. The friendly and knowledgeable server also helped. In short, this is a great date or family outing place that shouldn’t be missed.

Peace out.

-Kiran

Ranking

	Kiran	Kent	Richard
Ambiance	4.5/6	5/6	5/6
Service	4.5/6	5/6	5.5/6
Plating	4/6	4.5/6	5/6
Authenticity	6/6	5.5/6	5/6
Taste	5/6	5.5/6	4.5/6
Value	5/6	4.5/6	4/6
Overall	29/36 = 80.5%	30/36 = 83.3%	29/36 = 80.5%

Review of The Big Cheese

Like clogging up your arteries with potato, gravy, and cheese curds? Yeah, well so do we. This fine establishment is right beside Melrose on 17th Avenue, making it the perfect location for grabbing a late night snack as you stumble out of the bar at 2 am. The last thing a drunk wants is healthy food, and they definitely don’t want to walk more than 3 blocks to get it.

The menu is all poutine, baby. One section dominated by chicken, one section with pork, one section with beef, some traditional poutine, and even vegetarian (probably using gravy made with veggie stock). You can even custom build your poutine, choosing from a few different types of curries and gravies, cheeses, and meats. I ordered the Porky Pig (sausage, bacon, mushrooms, onions), and a few others ordered the Buffalo Chicken (chicken, franks red hot sauce, peas). Every poutine is served in 2 sizes, small and large. The small is really not that small – it’s enough to serve as a meal in my opinion. Having ordered the large, I felt the need to curl into foetal position on the bench and take a nap immediately afterwards. The large would be pretty good on an empty stomach.

The Porky Pig is pretty much standard fare poutine, but with the addition of bacon and sausage. You still get the Quebec cheese curds, gravy, and fries like any normal poutine. It comes out hot and fresh in a waxed cardboard take-out box, so, if you can’t find a seat inside (the place is not that big), you can sit outside on a nice sunny day or go for a stroll along 17th and not have the poutine leave a big grease stain on your crotch. Trust me, I know from experience (I trust you, Kent. Although, I was pretty sure it wasn’t a “grease” stain. Thanks for clearing that up. –Kiran)

As far as the taste is concerned, I didn’t find the fries and gravy anything that exceptional. The serving comes out hot but the fries are not too soggy. The gravy is rich, thick, and not extremely salty. But, what really sets it apart is the different varieties of poutine, gravy, and toppings that you can throw in. It really depends what you order. Some (like the Porky Pig) will have the meat overpower the taste of everything else. The Buffalo Chicken has a bigger emphasis on the hot sauce. I think I am more impressed with the originality and selection on the menu than the taste of the poutine. Although I didn’t try the original, unmodified poutine, so my opinion could change.

Richard’s Notes

It feels like Calgary is growing into a full-out metropolis!  The Big Cheese feels like the sort of place that you might find in the Big Apple – charming style, interesting theme, big lineups (at certain times of the day – people seem to come here in waves).

The dilemma of getting just the right amount of food with a small vs. getting good value for your money with a large is grossly magnified here – typically a large only costs a couple bucks more than a small but you seem to get twice as much (fries, at least – toppings probably aren’t doubled).  I’d recommend coming with an empty stomach or with a friend so that you can split a large if you are looking to stretch your dollar.

From what I have seen, they are struggling a bit with consistency in the quality of the food – though perhaps this is normal for a brand-spankin’ new place.  I’ve had one friend tell me his fries were fried to death, while I found mine to be soft but largely unremarkable.  I quite enjoyed the Montreal Smoked Meat, but was less impressed with the Porky Pig (I did have these at two separate occasions though, so it may have had to do with how hungry I was each time).

Summary

You probably won’t be disappointed by The Big Cheese. The fries and gravy might not blow your mind away. But as a whole, combined with an orgy of different toppings to choose from, it is incredibly satisfying. And for those who are famished or maybe looking for a big hangover meal, you can order a pretty large portion and not blow too much money. Not that you would notice anyway after a long night on 17th Ave. (Kent’s review is spot on. The draw of this place isn’t the poutine, it is toppings themselves. The poutinerie isn’t any different from Tubby Dog – I don’t go there to eat their awesome dogs, I go there for the messed up and unholy goodness of toppings. That said, I did try the traditional poutine (with vegetarian gravy) at The Big Cheese and…well, it begged the question why poutine is so huge. Some of you haters might say that’s cause it was a vegetarian gravy, bitch. But, you know what, I eat veggie hot dogs all the time, and they taste delicious, so I don’t buy that argument. All in all, I am glad I tried it, but the next time I am at The Big Cheese, I am going to order their Mexican Vegetarian Poutine –Kiran)

-Kent

Ranking

	Kent	Kiran	Richard
Ambiance	4/6	4/6	5/6
Service	4.5/6	4/6	4/6
Plating	4.5/6	4/6	5/6
Taste	4.5/6	4/6	4/6
Originality	6/6	5.5/6	5/6
Value	5/6	5/6	5/6
Overall	28.5/36 = 79%	26.5/36 = 74%	28/36 = 78%

Review of Wicked Chili

In our relentless quest to expand our gastronomic palates, we look to all kinds of sources for ideas on new restaurants to try – in this case, Groupon (or one of those similar sites) was the hook that pulled us in with a $40 food for $20 voucher.  Having decided to finally check it out, Kiran called to make reservations, only to find out that they were “very busy” and essentially full.  Just to be sure, Kent went to check it out in person and discovered that the place was half empty.  Perhaps the place is much busier at lunch, but it still seemed odd that the person on the phone was willing to turn us away when there were tons of available seats.

The venue is a curious little joint on 17th Ave. and 4th St., right next to La Casita Mexicana, with which it shares ownership (and apparently wait staff).  The interior is styled with some Indian-looking architectural features, along the lines of a typical budget Indian buffet-style restaurant.

Kiran thought this place was supposed to specialize in Hakka cuisine (the Indian-Chinese fusion style, not traditional Chinese Hakka), however to his severe disappointment (as you’ll see below), it turned out to be a mere footnote on the menu.  The Hakka menu was made up of a measly 5 or 6 dishes with no descriptions, only a strange statement that you check with the waiter for “prices and availability” of these specific dishes.

Richard’s Ruminations

We started just by ordering drinks (chai for me and Kiran), though had we known how long it would take between ordering drinks and food,  we would probably have ordered everything at once.  Slow service was the name of the game that evening – not too surprising given that there seemed to be only 2 waiters serving both Wicked Chili and La Casita Mexicana, with a few more busboys running drinks and plates.  No wonder they tried to turn us away!  The chai was alright, though unsweetened – I felt it could have used a bit more spice and less tannins (it would have helped if the staff actually brought out sugar with the tea instead of making me walk up to them and demand sugar –Kiran).

Much to Kent’s dismay, just as we were all getting ready to order the Baingan Bharta (eggplant mash), we were informed that they were out of vegetable samosas and eggplants! We ended up ordering a number of dishes to share, including till mill zhinga (masala shrimp with naan), okra masala, paneer pakoras, Hakka noodles, aloo kulcha (potato-filled naan) and lamb vindaloo, with a side of saffron rice.

The till mill zhinga was essentially a sweet and sour shrimp, though not as sweet or sour as what you might typically find in Chinese restaurants.  Sadly, the shrimp was overcooked and hard, but the naan that came along with it was deliciously light and well buttered.  The okra dish was ok but rather salty; similarly, the Hakka noodles were on the salty side as well (which I thought was fine as I felt it was a rather plain dish to begin with – just stir fried egg noodles with cabbage, peppers, onions and chili flakes).  The vindaloo had a nice kick to it, and had a good mix of meat and potatoes.  Likely the best dish of the night was the aloo kulcha – like a perogie but better, with a silky potato and cilantro interior and a buttery naan exterior.

Kiran’s Judgement

This place is getting a lot of buzz and I don’t know why.  Maybe cause it’s on the prime 17th Ave SW strip. Either way, they have been pissing me off for weeks. Every time I would call to make a reservation, they would be “fully booked.” I am guessing this was just a ploy employed by the owner to hype up the place and make it sound super popular.

Another thing that irritated me about the restaurant was it’s supposed Hakka cuisine offerings. The wickedchili.ca website clearly states that it offers Hakka cuisine, and has an entire menu dedicated to it under the Oh Calcutta! brand, which is oddly at the same address as Wicked Chili. Clearly, what happened is the owners tried to make a go at it with Hakka cuisine, didn’t work out, switched to Indian cuisine, and left a few Hakka dishes in there so as to qualify for the “Hakka” moniker.

The third thing that pissed me off was the restauranteur’s reluctance to make any of the Hakka cuisine dishes claiming that it would take too long – I actually had to cajole him into making the dish for me. What the hell kind of restaurant refuses to make a dish cause it takes too long? Don’t fucking include it on the menu then if you don’t want to make it.

All the above would have been tolerable/ignorable had the food been actually good. I ordered the Hakka noodles and it was a disappointment. It was good, but only because it was greasy as fuck and was doused in salt. What wouldn’t taste good with lots of grease and salt ? To boot, the veggies didn’t serve any purpose except as fillers. It was like putting a scoop of noodles in your mouth, followed my a fistful of shredded cabbage to chase the noodles down. W.T.F.

The only redeeming quality about this restaurant were the paneer pakoras and aloo kulcha, which were straight out of heaven. I food-gasmed in my brain and mouth after one bite.  It didn’t hurt that the naan was slathered in butter, and hence, was super soft and moist. The decision to sprinkle the paneer pakoras with chaat masala was inspired and added a touch of tanginess that was very addictive.

Ultimately, the aloo kulcha is pretty much the only reason to visit this “restaurant.” These guys badly need a restaurant intervention from Gordon Ramsay..

Kent’s 2 Cents

So about the food? It actually wasn’t that bad. I enjoyed the amount of spice that was in the okra and lamb; not enough to give you the “ring-of-fire” the next morning, but had the right amount to stimulate your senses. The Hakka noodles tasted fine, but it was guilty of false advertisement. It was more Chinese, not enough Indian. The spices you associate Indian food with were absent from the dish. Both the okra and the Hakka noodles were a bit too salty for my taste. If they dialed the salt down a little, it would taste much better. The highlight of my visit was the potato naan. It consisted of carb on carb, doused in grease. In other words, potato inside naan bread, brushed with ghee (butter). Extremely filling, and would work really well with any curry or sauce. Hell, I could eat it on its own everyday. Butter really does make anything taste good.

Wicked Chili is a decent Indian restaurant with some disappointing service that undermined the overall experience. Prices were nothing out of the ordinary (as far as Indian restaurants go), and the food was a mix of a few hits and a few misses. Maybe next time I will visit when it is not a Friday when everyone is finishing work.

Summary

Ultimately, I found the food to be pretty good overall (with a few misses), but the service could definitely have been better – it certainly seemed busy enough to warrant additional staff, especially if they were going to be sharing with La Casita Mexicana (which I think was even busier). If you’re looking for Hakka cuisine, though, you could probably do better elsewhere.

-Richard

Ranking

	Richard	Kiran	Kent
Ambiance	3/6	3/6	5/6
Service	2/6	2/6	2/6
Plating	3/6	3/6	5/6
Taste	4/6	4/6	4/6
Authenticity	4/6	5/6	4/6
Value	4/6	3/6	5/6
Overall	20/36 = 56%	19/36 = 53%	25/36 = 69%