Month: March 2016

4.1/5 Foodie Foursome Index

4/5 on the Fusion Scale

We thought it might be nice if we started sharing our breakdown used to come to our overall rating. So please enjoy!

Ambiance: 3.9
Service: 4.7
Food: 4.3
Value: 3.4

Overall 4.1

Mike’s Review:

I arrived at Anju first, and this was the first meal Jenna and I did not arrive together, so I took some time to survey the restaurant, it was a beautiful place. The interior was very cool and very large, that’s why I was a bit surprised when they sat me directly beside the only other couple in the restaurant… and not like near… like 10 inches beside. I found it a little strange but I myself am a huge Tetris fan, and I understand from a servers point of view the advantages. I was surprised yet again when the third party entered the restaurant (not Jenna unfortunately… I had been waiting for a bit already…) and the hostess sat them DIRECTLY beside me on the other side. Now we had a beautiful space, and only 5% of it was being utilized, however, thank god the newest party requested to move, perhaps because they were uncomfortable with me breathing in their face.

Although the beginning was a bit rough, the server and food more than made up for the fact that I overheard the couple beside me breaking up. The tuna tacos were phenomenal and quickly followed by delicious sushi wraps. Jenna took me on the magnificient jouney through Korean drinks, as she use to have foreign exchange students stay at her house and received many gifts. The Kim Chi Ramen was good, but I am not a big soup fan, however, if you enjoy soup even the slightest it is a must try at Anju.

Overall, it is understandable how Anju is one of Calgary’s favorite Korean infusion restaurants. Whether entertaining relative from out of town, or looking for that hip first date venue, Anju will deliver… although you may be sitting with more people than you came with.

Jenna’s Review:

I was very excited to try Anju as I had heard so much about it and also because it is the first fusion type cuisine that we have tried on the blog! It is located on 17th Avenue so you know you are in for a treat, plus it is Tapas style and you all know that Mike and I love nothing more than to be able to try multiple different things and call it a meal.

The ambiance inside was nice. It definitely has an upscale and modern vibe with dark colors and sleek textures, nothing too out of the ordinary.

Now, we decided that we needed to try the Soju to drink because we work hard and that was something you don’t see every day. Apparently Soju was the largest selling Korean liquor in 2014 (according to Wikipedia). The Soju is a distilled beverage containing ethanol and water. You can have it on it’s own or you can have it with aloe or the liquid yogurt. We of course tried it all three ways because how else my fellow readers would we be able to tell you the best combination. I personally liked the aloe best and the yogurt was a close second, but on it’s own…I think it is an acquired taste.

For the food we all took a shot at picking some items to share. We ended up with the following dishes; the featured sushi roll, the spicy salmon tacos, the braised pig ears, the lemongrass gochujang brussels sprouts, the crispy prawn dumplings, the oxtail tortellini and kimchi ramen.

I have to say that I they brought everything out at a great pace that allowed us to enjoy the food as it was served. I really liked everything but was not a huge fan of the pig ears. But at least I tried them! The sauce on them was lovely but the ears themselves were fatty and rubbery and not quite my thing. The brussels sprouts were delightful and cooked really well as was the kimchi ramen.. I am on a bit of a ramen rampage so that may have only been me who was obsessed with it but if you like ramen you have to get it. Another winner was the spicy salmon tacos. Wow is all I can say about those. The oxtail ravioli was also delicious but it only came with 4 pieces so you don’t get much bang for your buck there.

I would definitely check out Anju again, especially if I am in one of my “I don’t know what I want to eat” moods since they have a nice variety of tapas to fulfill my needs. We had a ton of fun with Manisha and Rajen, it was laughs all night long! This is also really fun if you have people who like sharing as you can try more dishes in one sitting, or you can just go back a whole bunch, you do you.

Manisha & Rajen’s Review:

Coming soon… They had some things to do. #latereview

3.2/5 Foodie Foursome Index

2.5/5 on the Burger scale

Mike’s Review: 😦👏🏻🐣🐄🌿

I’m a burger man, but I may not be a Flipp’n burger man… I honestly thought their buns were from Safeway… Which could be possible because Safeway is right next door, can anyone confirm or deny this? I honestly think the burgers were good, but no better/more unique than any of the other 100’s of burger places in Calgary. I think this place survives off the local Kensington traffic where it is actually just most convenient for them.

If you are looking for the (12) must try burgers in Calgary then I suggest working your way through this list with me!

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/calgary/12-of-the-best-burgers-in-calgary-1.1309253

It should be noted though that there is a lot more to Flipp’n burgers then just their burgers. They offer fantastic vegan options and, as a business, they do support Calgary in various ways! I think maybe I am just missing the mark on this place but would be open to giving it another shot if someone had any suggestions?!

Jenna’s Review:

Now, I hate to be a “dark cloud” on this one, but I have to say that I really did not care for Flipp’n Burger. To be more direct, I very much disliked it. I feel bad giving a restaurant a bashing but I just honestly can’t think of a thing I really liked about it. The day has finally come for me to write a bad review, so here it is: Flipp’n burger was flipp’n terrible!

Let’s start off with the ambiance. The thing about flipp’n burger is that it really is not meant for a sit down dinner. It has very little seating and the seating that was there was quite cramped. The restaurant itself was supposed to be like a diner, and it was, but more like a dumpy, dingy, diner. There was a bunch of boxed recycling in view and I don’t know the last time the place had a good wipe down. The door was also not closing well so it kept hanging open leaving a cold breeze throughout the place. Overall it was blah.

Now I will admit that the service was pretty good. The gentleman was very patient as I tried to decide how to make my own Hawaiian inspired burger. I ordered the basic hamburger pattie with Swiss cheese and added pineapple, avocado, tomato, lettuce, teriyaki sauce and salsa. Now they throw the word fresh on all their communications, but honestly there was nothing fresh about it. The burger was super dry, the pineapple seemed old and dried out and the tomatoes were too ripe. The teriyaki sauce was not great and the bun was like a basic Safeway bun. I actually took the top half of my bun off because it was just not good.

Then Mike and I had the poutine and deep fried pickles to share. These are both things that I adore but that I did not want more of after eating them here. The pickles spears were not very flavourful and to be honest I only had a couple of bites of the poutine and it was basic.

I feel bad as I know this is one of the favourite places of our couple friends (sorry guys) but I want to note that their company was fantastic despite the god-awful food. Maybe it was because I didn’t have the black bean veggie patty, the one that I have heard raving reviews about, but I don’t know that I would go back to try it out.

The score was mixed as I gave it a lower score while others scored it higher. So I guess you will have to try it for yourself and then come back here and leave a comment because I am really curious if it’s just me or not!

Matt and Whitney’s Review:

We live a few blocks away from Flipp’n Burgers, and have been there a few times for takeout orders. What we like about this place is that it’s a quick, tasty meal with lots of options whenever we are on the go and want to treat ourselves.

When we met Mike and Jenna at the restaurant, we realized quickly that it’s actually quite a small space for a sit down meal for four people. We took two of the small circle tables and squeezed them together. As well, we hadn’t realized there is so much foot traffic in this place! It’s obviously meant to be a takeout restaurant as there was constantly a short line of people ordering food, sitting/standing in the small space, grabbing their food and heading out quickly. We also realized that because the space is in older building, the door would not close all of the way! This was such a pain on a cold day when there were people coming and going nonstop. The interior of Flipp’n Burger is an outdated version of a 50’s diner. We aren’t saying this as a negative observation. We like that this is a restaurant that doesn’t try to be a trendy, but has its own individual vibe in a neighborhood that is individual itself.

I (Whitney) had the black bean burger. I have this meal every time I go there and I’ve never been dissatisfied. I prefer this place over other burger spots because of the veggie options (black bean burger, organic vegan burger and falafel dog) and definitely because of the many toppings and sauces! I love that they have avocado and hummus and that I can have a totally different type of burger each time I go (There are slim pickin’s for vegetarians and burgers most of the time)!

I (Matt) had a cheeseburger. The cheeseburger comes with cheddar, you can get a regular hamburger and add on swiss or goat cheese if you like. The burger is really good. Juicy, flavorful, and not very greasy. You don’t feel gross after finishing this burger, which is always a nice thing. It is a good size. The burger came on a white kaiser bun. It was nothing special, but complimented the burger nicely. When it comes to all the toppings and sauces, you get to choose. If you end up with a combination you don’t like, it’s kind of on you, not them. If that does happen, I would recommend trying again.

We shared fried pickles and a strawberry milkshake. I don’t know what it is about these friend pickles, but they are consistently delicious. Ranch is the only dipping sauce that comes with the pickles. Some other options (maybe chipotle) would be great. The milkshake was delicious. It did not taste artificial, just ice cream and strawberries blended perfectly together.

In summary, the food is great. The interior could use some work.