Downtown Food

Downtown Food

628 8th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta


I'd heard of a small bistro with good eats from a friend, who'd gone just prior to Christmas, and who'd mentioned that the place seemed dead during weeknights, even though the product was recommended.   Always looking for somewhere new to try, we headed out to check out if my friend was right, or on crack.


The first impression I had was that it was a very nicely appointed but small space - and functionally, very well laid out - the space was used in such a way that it didn't feel too small.   I was greeted immediately by the host, Dave, and given the choice of any table in the place, as it was completely empty aside from the owner and a couple of his friends sitting at the bar.   I perused the menu while waiting for my dining companion to arrive, and it all looked quite good - but the thing that caught my eye was the tasting menu on a chalkboard - a little too far away for me to read the details, but I saw a 5 or 6 course menu, that contained most of what I'd want to try if I was hungrier.   It looked like many of the dishes also had an asian fusion feel to them, but not so much that it was really asian, if that makes any sense.

I have to say, I also liked the colour scheme and decor of the place - it was comfortable, high-end, but perhaps a little pretentious.  If I understand right, the restaurants insist on local organic product wherever possible, so that is kinda cool too.

My company arrived, and oddly enough, happened to also know the host, which made for a more interesting conversation about how coincidental it was to run into 'industry staff' that she'd met from prior restaurants/events.   We decided to share a couple of the appetizers and an entree, in order to save room for dessert afterwards.

We ordered the Ceviche of scallop, mussels, and seared albacore tuna, along with the slow braised beef ravioli, and the pork trio entree, and were promptly greeted with a small but delicious baguette, crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside shortly after ordering.
 

The ceviche was small, but had an amazing flavour coming out of the sauce underneath, that I think I have to attribute to the spicy popcorn.   It sounds odd, but it was very tasty - almost like a nutty flavour.   The seafood was perfect in its level of rawness/cooked-ness (if that's what you call it?).

The beef raviolis were tender, but I didn't really get much of a hint of foie gras, and there was no crunch as advertised on the menu, but I thought it was fine without.   I'd have ordered a larger bowl of it as a meal for sure though.










Finally, the pork trio was incredibly tasty - the trio consisted of pork belly, crispy pork rinds, and pork loin - all of which were tasty in their own way.  The cracklins were still popping when the plate came to the table, so we quickly wolfed a couple pieces of that down first, and while the pork loin was cooked perfectly, the star of the plate was the pork belly.   Not overly salty like so many others, nor overcooked and dry, it was juicy, tender, and perfect bite sized pieces of yummy pork goodness.

 We finished off dinner with the Heath Lemon tart, a creme brulee'd lemon in a shortcrust pastry.   While small, it was the perfect bite to finish off the meal.   It was tart, yet not so much that it was too much so, and the burnt sugar on top gave an excellent sweet contrast to the lemon, freshly squeezed in the morning for this dessert.   The only beef we had was that the grapefruit gelato on the side was a bit bitter for the lemon tart - it was already sour enough on its own - but it also served as a very good palate cleanser.

In the end, I'd definitely go back here to try the tasting menu, if not more things on the rest of the menu.   I hope some of you go support this place, I'd hate to see it close down without some people at least giving it a shot.   It is a bit expensive, but for the location and the quality, it is fairly average in comparison to other higher-end eateries.

One thing to note - not sure if the owners thought about the name too much, but they used the acronym 'dtf' in a few of their notes, along with the little cookie design on top of the lemon tart...  but as my friend mentioned, if you watched Jersey Shore at all, 'dtf' has an entirely different meaning!'

Taste:  9.0 - Not much fault in the taste of the dishes we'd eaten tonight - try the lemon tart!

Presentation:  9.0 - clean, classy, everything seemed to fit

Ambiance:   8.0 - comfortable, modern, upscale, maybe a bit pretentious though.

Service:   9.5 - as we were the only people in the restaurant, we'd gotten all the attention, so it's hard to say if this would be worse or not.

Prices:   $20-30 per entree