Calgary Farmers’ Market West

When the wife decided to post onto our little blog again, she informed the husband that he had to dust off his writing skills and make a few contributions as well – so with that in mind, hi, I’m the husband! This is my first foray into the blogosphere, but since I’ve been along for the ride of these culinary adventures, I feel I can make a meaningful contribution to the subject (under supervision, of course).

We decided to try something a little different and review a food hall, as opposed to a single vendor, so we’ll be recapping our adventures at the Calgary Farmers’ Market West location. For those who might not know the history, the Calgary Farmers’ Market started in 2004 in a historic airplane hangar in Currie Barracks, itself a former Canadian Forces Base in southwest Calgary. The market relocated to southeast Calgary near Blackfoot Trail and Heritage Drive in April 2011, where it continued to be a popular destination. The Calgary Farmers’ Market opened a second location in northwest Calgary in the summer of 2022, conveniently located just off the Trans-Canada Highway near Stoney Trail. We’ve had the opportunity to visit it a few times as it offers options for food to take home or a Food Hall to enjoy a prepared meal.

In our more recent visits, we’ve had opportunity to try Sabores Mexican Cuisine, Gemstone Grass-Fed Beef Kitchen, and Margarita’s Dishes – all of which are seafood free! We have also enjoyed Pie Cloud and Deepak’s Dhaba, which do have some seafood offerings so it’s best to avoid anything deep fried, but which still offer plenty of non-seafood options that are safe from cross-contamination. If you really want to avoid any risk of seafood, there are also vegan/vegetarian options. Admittedly we haven’t tried V Burger or Hearts Choices at the Calgary Farmers’ Market West, but we have been to their stand-alone restaurant locations in the past and would recommend both. There are others that we hope to review as they didn’t have any seafood on their menus, but alas, there is only so much one can try at a time!

Gemstone Kitchen Roast Beef sandwich

Tacos from Sabores

Combo plate from Margarita's Dishes

Seafood-free friendliness: As it is a market with a wide variety of offerings, there is seafood on the premises, whether from in the Food Hall or a fresh seafood vendor. However, neither the husband or the wife have experienced any “fishy” smells or other airborne triggers, like you might find in similar markets in more coastal areas, so we were free to wander the market and enjoy bright and open seating areas. There are a variety of seafood-free options, so whether we’re making it our destination or grabbing a bite on the way to the mountains, this is a diverse culinary option.

Angel's Drive In

Angel's Drive In is just the place that we envision would make an appearance on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives due to their unique decor and atmosphere so we were curious to see how the food fared.  The husband has been here before but it was a new experience for the wife.

It's sort of hard to miss in Bowness!

While we noticed that fish and chips, a fish burger, and Caesar salad were offered here, they didn't seem too prominent on the menu so we didn't think to mention the seafood allergy (although in the future, it would probably be prudent to do so...).  However, we both lived to blog about it so we are going on the assumption that the burgers didn't touch anything else.  Neither of us were too hungry so we each ordered a mozzarella burger filled with a mayonnaise-based sauce, onions, mozzarella, bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

Pretty substantial burgers; we're glad we didn't get fries on top of this!

The burgers were filling and they tasted just like homemade burgers that perhaps Mom would make for us.  The patties had that familiar grilled taste and the toppings were fresh and generous.  They weren't gourmet burgers but at the same time, they were pretty much what we hoped for in a little drive in like this.

Seafood-free friendliness: There is seafood on the menu, particularly fish, so it's probably worth mentioning an allergy; however, it looks like people mostly come here for the beef burgers and the floats/milkshakes (based on our observations when we dined there).  Angel's seems to be a family-friendly place where you can get comfort food at a reasonable price so we'll likely return there this summer to try other things on the menu.

Edelweiss Village Café

Today was a good day for us to begin our food blogging fun although we acknowledge that this post isn't too allergy-related.  We were able to have lunch together (a rarity these days) and after watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives last week when a German restaurant was featured, the husband suggested that we return to Edelweiss Village Café for our lunch date this week.  We have eaten there before although not as frequently as the husband would like, hence the not-so-subtle suggestion.

One thing that the wife has learnt since marrying someone of an Eastern European background is that the cuisine from that part of the world typically does not highlight seafood, which was confirmed when we looked at Edelweiss' online menu.  As allergy sufferers, we really appreciate online menus so that we can at least determine whether we can eat at the restaurant or not.  While this menu didn't list the ingredients of their food, the only seafood we saw on there were the clam chowder soup and the North Sea fish cake, neither of which seemed prominent when we arrived for lunch.

This was a relief especially in dining at places that offer ready-to-serve food where cross-contamination is very possible (such as when the same serving utensils are used for different foods or different foods are prepared on the same work surface).  Thankfully, the warm foods that were placed together were items such as perogies, sauerkraut, red cabbage, and bratwursts - foods we didn't need to worry about and enjoy anyway.  The fish cakes might have been in the same vicinity but it was not touching the other foods; hurrah!  The only suggestion we have might be that each food has its own serving utensil but this would be minor compared to other things we've faced.

In the end, we both decided to have the Schnitzel plate (husband-pork, wife-chicken) and it was delicious (and filling as you can see below)!  We're grateful that German food is usually a good option for seafood-free eating and that for once, we don't need to draw attention to our "special" needs.  That, and how can you go wrong with red cabbage, German potato salad, and schnitzel?

The wife's chicken schnitzel plate - and yes, she did share.

Seafood-free friendliness: Very!