Downtown Bites & Vino in Calgary

[Bob Mac]

I am flying into Calgary this evening for a couple of days and am interested in suggestions of where I should go to have a light bite and some decent wine by the glass before the traditional dinner hour.

Prefer sitting up at the bar rather than taking up a table.

Was in Calgary last week and had the terrific butter poached lobster and reversed ravioli followed by the buffalo tartar at Divino, then oysters at Catch and returned the following evening for some pate at Divino and risotto "fritters" at Tribune.

Usually do not have much for lunch so am fairly hungry early on and then do not feel like dining out since I am on business solo so usual "haunts" like River, Capo, Teatro, Centini, Belvedere, Murietta's etc. are probably out as I will have a hard time explaining the Master Card bill to my "significantly better half".

What about Mango Shiva? it is an easy walk from where I am staying and working.

Is the place in Calgary Tower, not Ruth's Chris, worth a visit?

Cheers

[vanderb]

For the glass of wine and a few small bites I'd suggest Winebar in Kensington (you can sit at the bar). I'm not sure if Kensington is outside downtown in your estimation... I consider it close enough.

Winebar has an excellent selection of wines by the glass and their small plates are also great. Fine selections of cheeses, charcuterie and when I was last there a braised pork belly sandwich that was out of this world.

I haven't yet been up the Calgary tower for the new Sky360 and haven't read anything here about it yet either (not that there may not be a post). My own take is the Concorde group does a great job of nightclubs/lounges... not sure fine dinning is really yet in their tool belt, but others will likely disagree.

[alau2]

I was going to suggest winebar too. Their bar faces the open kitchen and the servers and chef are pretty friendly and like to chat when it's not crazy busy.

[maplesugar]

Sky 360 - Chef Chabot has moved over there recently from Il Sogno(one of my faves) Its always been touristy being its at the top of the tower (went for brunch years ago)but I think it's time to revisit it.

O in Marda Loop might fit the bill, lots of bar space, and a large common (bar height) table. They're relatively new and still working out the kinks but imho good overall.

Vin Room - see other threads... http://www.vinroom.com/default.aspx Looks like it would suit your request for pre-dinner drinks & bites.

[Bob Mac]

Thank you folks

vanderb:

Winebar does seem to "fit the bill" although I was not thinking of heading over to Kensington but that having been said, I used to walk over there to pick up several dozen bagels before Wayne's Bagels moved out of the neighbourhood. The C-Train is close at hand.

maplesugar:

Thank you as well. Have not been to Il Sogno since di Gennaro left.

Being an Edmontonian I have no idea where Marda Loop is.

I am staying downtown and would just as soon walk rather than cab it. Stephen's Avenue works for me because it is close to the hotel and an easy walk from where I am meeting and/or working.

Appreciate the responses.

[maplesugar]

Both the Vin Room and O would be quite the hike on foot from downtown (how I glossed over "downtown" in your OP, and the fact that you're from Edmonton I don't know) Vin Room is 4th Street SW and 24 Av, "O" is 20th Street and 33rd Av SW (33rd Av being what I'd consider the main drag through Marda Loop).

Both areas are an interesting walk, lots to see, and loads of places to nosh...but either would require a cab ride or a good solid hike(depending on weather/time you have/how much you walk on a regular basis).

If you head to Kensington there's a Red Tree store next to Janice Beaton's cheese shop, which could make for good takeout/nibbles. There's also Muku (Ramen) and Globefish sushi on 14th Street NW (the western edge of the Hillhurst/Kensington area) Pulcinella is on Kensington Crescent, lots of praise for their pizza on here. I don't know what the setup is like but I'd think they have a bar.

All that being said...I don't get downtown as much as I used to when I worked for the City but one of my fave places on Stephen Av was Avenue Diner: http://www.avenuediner.com/menu.html they're still not open for dinner service but they do have a long "lunch counter" setup...great for solo dining.

HTH :)

[hsk]

I had the worst service ever at Mango Shiva but it's a lovely room, the food is decent but pricey for what you get (eg. $11 for pakoras that cost $7 anywhere else but beautifully presented). If you haven't been it's worth a try.

[Bob Mac]

hsk:

I am precisely in the situation I described. Skipped lunch, am as a result hungry but it is only 3:30 pm

I am going to make my way eastbound on Stephen's Ave so perhaps I will drop in.

[John Manzo]

Please- Stephen Avenue. Not Stephen's.

I'd head down to Chinatown but that's just me :)

[hsk]

So where did you go? Personally, I still call it 8th Ave.
PS. My pet peeve for Calgary geography faux is when people refer to the site of River Cafe etc. as Princess Island.

[John Manzo]

REALTORS always call it "princess island." Drives me nuts!

It it's east of 4th Street and west of City Hall I call it Stephen- west I call it Steve. JK. 8th Ave.

[danniek]

I can vouch for Sky360. I have been there twice in the last six weeks. It was superb! It isn't as much of a tourist trap as it was. The food surpassed my expectations.

I would also suggest Teatro for a bite. You can grab a seat at the bar and order off the menu.

Belgo would also fit the bill. Not too expensive, in the area and has great mussels and frites.

Opus had great food when I was there last... that was quite a while ago. Its a little more lounge-ish, but the food was good.

Piq Niq is also close, but I am unsure of their dinner times.

Gypsy Bistro is fabulous as well. Its a little pricy, but very intimate place.

[Bob Mac]

Thank you for all of the suggestions....to say nothing of the spelling education...I'll remember the latter as I stroll down Steve's Mall en route to River's Cafe on Princess' Island.

Ended up having too much to do at and after work so this was a pretty boring trip and as a result did more room service rather than "real chowing".

Did pop over to River one afternoon in three and five when they have a restricted menu between lunch and dinner service.

Had an ok, fish and game platter and some good vino and a nice chat with the bartender...name may have been Bruce.

Back again Monday and hopefully can try a couple of places but more than likely will end up at Divino which usually gives me what I am looking for.

[hsk]

LOL!! I guess we deserved that.

Divino is always great, but if you haven't been you might want to try out Parkerhouse or Velvet, they both seem to be open all afternooon, on 1 St and 6th Ave SW. I've been to Parkerhouse twice now, I really liked it both times (beautiful room, good food and reasonably priced wine) but there's been some mixed reviews here. I've only been to Velvet once (a couple of years ago, good food, nice ambience but no windows - I like windows).

[Bob Mac]

The server at the lobby lounge in the Delta recommended the Parkerhouse to another patron.

Perhaps I will try that next week.