Shogun Teppanyaki Grill

Shogun Teppanyaki Grill food truck

While at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo I was excited to hear that a Japanese Fusion food truck was parked super close to the medieval encampment I was volunteering at. It was Shogun Teppanyaki Grill, and I have a few photos today of what I ordered, along with a few thoughts….

Shogun Teppanyaki Grill food truck menu

I was super hungry when I ordered… so I was easily tempted. I couldn’t decide between sweet and savory, cool and warm.. so I went with both. I really wanted the soft taco, the gyoza… and was also tempted by the melon pan a friend had ordered the day before (which would have been packable… ) but ultimately I went with the Okonomiyaki J-Dog (Japanese Hot Dog) and the mochi ice cream.

Okonomiyaki J-Dog

Okonomiyaki Japanese-style hot dog

The hot dog is topped off with Japanese wasabi-mayo, matchstick carrots, ketchup, and bonito flakes I think… the menu didn’t indicate, and a search didn’t help…

The hot dog was yummy – but too big, and there was a bit too much bun. The bonito flakes are super yummy, but not good with all the wind… I think I lost about half of it to the strong wind…. I didn’t actually end up finishing the hot dog, cus after the ice cream too… I was full. 😦  I would have it again for sure though – maybe in a more sheltered area…

Mochi ice cream

mochi ice cream from Shogun food truck in Calgary

mochi ice cream from Shogun food truck in Calgary – a bite out of vanilla

mochi ice cream from Shogun food truck in Calgary – a bite out of strawberry

mochi ice cream from Shogun food truck in Calgary – a bite out of matcha

This is a new addition to their menu, little balls of mochi filled with ice cream. The ‘sampler’ has vanilla, strawberry, and matcha flavours. I didn’t really care about vanilla, but the other two were quite good. They were small but easy to eat – though my hands did get covered in powder! I hope that in future they keep them this size, but maybe offer single-flavour options or a mix-and-match option… where you can get a little bowl of how many and whatever flavours you have in mind. I would also prefer to see more exotic flavours… strawberry and vanilla are boring.. what about black sesame, mango, salted plum, coconut, or similar to join the matcha?

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More of the Taste of Calgary 2017

Tuna and mango poke from Dumpling Lab

In my last post, I had a little teaser at the end for this one…
In today’s post I’ll wrap up some of the things me and my friend tried at the Taste of Calgary in mid-August.

Dumpling Lab

Pork, Spinach,  & Ricotta Cheese Dumplings from Dumpling Lab

The minute I saw the different things that Dumpling Lab had for sale, I definitely wanted to check them out. I was intrigued by the unique-sounding dumplings, and also to try a Calgary version of poke – something I’d tried in Hawaii a few years ago. I later saw that two other booths also had Poke – it must be a pretty trendy item right now (that and Empanadas… it seemed like everyone had empanadas…)

I started with the Pork, Spinach,  & Ricotta Cheese Dumplings – and honestly… was kind of disappointed. They didn’t have a lot of flavour, and were very dry – as if they had been cooked and left too long. They had a sauce, but even the sauce wasn’t sufficient to moisten the dumpling. That being said, I can only imagine how difficult it is to not just have food ready quickly for a demanding festival customer, but then also keep it fresh and hot… so while I wasn’t happy with the dumplings, I still appreciate their flavour variations.

The three dumplings came with a side of soy beans, however these weren’t salted, so I didn’t really enjoy them a lot either. I like them hot and salted and these were neither.

Tuna and mango poke from Dumpling Lab

Unfortunately, despite really looking forward to it, the poke was also disappointing. There was way too much oil and seasoning – it completely overwhelmed the flavour of the tuna or the mango. The minute my friend took a bite, she was ready to spit it out. I didn’t think quite that badly of it, but it did leave a bad taste in my mouth. I also thought the crackers it was served with were the wrong side – the cracker also really overwhelmed the poke…

The menu from Dumpling Lab

Dumpling Lab’s booth at the Taste of Calgary 2017

One 18 Empire

Next up, we visited One 18 Empire’s booth. My friend wanted the roasted corn salad, and we both really wanted to try the Goat Cheese Cake with Salted Caramel.

Goat Cheese Cake with Salted Caramel and Roasted Corn Salad from One 18 Empire at the 2017 Taste of Calgary

First up – the salad…. I just had a small nibble and although I didn’t get any onion.. the whole thing tasted like onion to me. We both agreed that the corn didn’t taste “roasted” at all, and had way too much onion to be enjoyable.

Goat Cheese Cake with Salted Caramel from One 18 Empire at the 2017 Taste of Calgary

The cheesecake on the other hand… was awesome! It didn’t even need the salted caramel drizzle on top – the flavour of the goat cheese was perfect in the cheesecake. It had the texture of cheesecake, with the flavour of goat cheese. The size was also good for a little bite – though I could totally have gone back for another if I had any tickets left at the end of the day!

China Rose

While I was eating my poke, my friend went and bought sweet and sour chicken balls from the China Rose booth.  These had very little breading and lots of chicken (good!) and the sauce was good, but they suffered from the same dryness as the dumplings above.

Sweet and sour chicken balls from China Rose at the Taste of Calgary 2017

Sal’s Flatbread

We didn’t get there, but I was pretty happy to see Sal’s Flatbread was there with a food truck as well. I really loved their kiosk at MRU, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for their food truck at events in the future!

Sal’s Flatbread food truck at the Taste of Calgary 2017

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Freebies at the Taste of Calgary 2017

I won’t deny that the Taste of Calgary is a pretty expensive event. For about $20 both my friend and I walked away full… but plenty of times I’ve gone and felt like my purse was a little too light. That being said, I love that lots of companies have jumped on board to share their new products as well… who doesn’t love free samples?

This time around there were a few…

 

Taste of Calgary 2017

Root Beer Float mini-melts from the Taste of Calgary 2017

I got to Taste of Calgary on Thursday evening after work, and over the next few posts I’ll share some of the goodies… but there’s still time to get down there yourself!

My friend and I each bought $20 worth of tickets – and we left FULL!

 

Canada Day Market & Block Party

Happy Fish food truck (I don’t know if they’ll be attending)

Back in April I posted about the YYC Food Truck Frenzy, and mentioned how some people were a bit upset that there was a $5.00/ adult entrance fee just to visit the food trucks. Well, if you were one of those who wanted to check out a variety of trucks, but didn’t see the point in paying $5.00/adult to go… maybe check out this Canada Day festival: CANADA DAY MARKET & BLOCK PARTY

It’s open noon to midnight at Eau Claire Market (both indoors and outdoors) so you can pop in, check it out, and then head out to wherever else you have planned to celebrate Canada Day!

Visit their page for more information. https://www.facebook.com/events/799590173421718/

 

YYC Food Truck Spring Frenzy

Sticky Ricky’s Food Truck (I don’t know that they’ll be at the ‘Frenzy’

The YYC Food Truck Spring Frenzy is coming up soon, April 25 & 25, 2015 down at the RiverWalk plaza down in Calgary’s East Village.

I won’t be going; truth be told, I’m kind of “over” the YYC food trucks. After having them scheduled to come where I work, and having day after day of them not showing up… I’m just kind of over it. Don’t get me wrong, if I’m out at an event and there’s a truck that appeals to me, and I’m hungry… I’ll probably still get something, but I’m not going to go out of my way to visit them anymore.

With that.. I’m not planning on attending the Food Truck Spring Frenzy. BUT… if you ARE still excited to see what the food trucks have to offer – you should consider going!

 

Jamaican Jerk food truck

Jamaican Jerk Food Truck parked at MRU

My lunchtime tweet when Jamaican Jerk came to the MRU campus got a lot of attention – probably because of the brightly coloured meal from the Jamaican Jerk food truck.

I’ve had some challenges with food trucks coming to campus – there’s a monthly schedule of when each truck is coming to campus, but there seem to be more that miss their spots than those who make it – so it’s starting to be harder to see them – and I’ve been tweeting them in advance to make sure they’ll actually be there!

 

Bento Burrito food truck in Calgary

Bento Burrito food truck “Cali-ritto”

More food truck goodness at Mount Royal University!
One of the new ones to come to the MRU campus is Bento Burrito, which blends Mexican and Asian flavours – Connie followed a similar offering from California, but I hadn’t yet tried anything like it here at home.
That is.. until Bento Burrito!

 

Happy Fish food truck in Calgary

Happy Fish mango fish taco

As odd as it might seem, I’ve never tried a fish taco before. I don’t really like a lot of Mexican-style restaurants (though I enjoy a lot of the Mexican food I’ve tried..) which means tacos aren’t normally on my wish-list.

 

Return of Calgary’s Food Trucks: Family Fry Guy

Traditional poutine from the Family Fry Guy

Now that the calendar tells us it’s spring (if only the weather would cooperate too) it looks like Calgary’s Food Trucks are back!

They were gone for winter near where I work (near Mount Royal University in Calgary’s SouthWest) but on Monday, March 24th I saw the first (of many, I’m sure!) tweets announcing the return of Food Trucks. They visit the campus, and in the past one truck has visited per day, around the lunchtime to add variety to the lunchtime offerings at MRU (and area) now that the university’s main cafeteria has closed.