All you can eat: Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse

I've been to Pampa probably half a dozen times, if not more, and I gotta say-I love that place! It's a fantastic spot to go for lunch: it's downtown, it's convenient, and it's all you can eat so you'll be full for hours afterwards-thanks to that amount of protein. For lunchtime it's $24.95 per person and you get the unlimited option of 5 different types of meat and free reign at the salad bar. That's a pretty great deal, and well worth the money.

 

Dinnertime is good, but a bit more expensive-although you also get more meat. $49.95 per person gets you the option of 10 different types. Personally, I've always eaten at Pampa for lunch as I feel like it's a much better deal, and realistically 5 types of meat is still a lot. You can only eat so much, and 10 definitely seems mouth-watering, but also a bit excessive. 

It's downtown so being centrally located it is convenient, as I stated, but I'm not going to lie-parking is kind of a b****. If you work downtown like my usual "lunchtime Pampa" companion then it is a great place, and I always see plenty of business people that work in the area there on their lunch break.

When you arrive a server takes your drink order (and they always charge you for plain old water that anyone could get out of their tap-which kind of irritates me) but anyways then you grab your salad bar food and you're good to go! I believe you can also have the option of just eating from the salad bar, and no meat, for $16.95 if you're a vegetarian. Though why you'd come here if you didn't eat meat I have no idea-but there you are.

So basically then you turn your little dot on the table over to green, and this signals the guys with the meat (haha) to come around and offer you a selection.

At lunchtime you get the choice of rump steak, top sirloin, pork loin, chicken legs, and pork sausage. 

  

Personally I really enjoy the rump steak, top sirloin and the pork loin. The sausage tastes a bit too strongly of cumin for my preference, and chicken simply isn't my favorite. Soon enough, they start bombarding you with food and then you need to turn it back over to red so they'll let you eat in peace, until you decide you're ready for more, of course.

 Afterwards, the server meanders around with a plate of desserts, trying to tempt you into feeling like even more of a fatty, but generally you're so full by this time you can actually half-heartedly refuse. Although the desserts are pretty good here too and almost as delicious as they look, admittedly.

All in all, it's a great experience. Fantastic place to go for a lunch date, or with some friends, or even a big party. Would recommend it to anyone that loves meat and can eat a lot!

 

Buchanan's

I always like to try new restaurants when I go out of town, and Calgary always has great little foodie places I've never seen or heard of before. I've always liked Calgary, I used to live here before when I was young, and I often go back. On my recent trip I found this family-owned restaurant that was in a nice area downtown, very close to the hotel I was staying at. 

This spot intrigued me, it had pretty good reviews and I generally enjoy dining at family-owned restaurants because I find them unique, and there's something comforting about home-cooked meals that appeals to me. I made reservations, but since it was later in the evening that was apparently unnecessary as it was pretty dead. However, the atmosphere was quaint and the service was phenomenal.
 

The wine was great, served generously and taste samples were offered easily, which impressed me.  I ordered white wine, and it was delicious- not too dry or too sweet. Granted, I'd already had a few drinks before arriving at Buchanan's, but I was very happy with the speed and efficiency of service here as opposed to the previous restaurant I'd come from.

The complimentary bread was like a biscuit that looked like a muffin and even though it wasn't warm-it was delicious. Probably the best biscuit I've ever tried. I didn't expect it to be so good, and it was a pleasant surprise that made me anticipate my meal favorably.

 
 

I ordered crab cakes to start with and they were a very tasty appetizer. They were very crab-meaty and the sauce was awesome. They weren't the most crispy perhaps, but overall were nicely made, if a bit on the pricey side at $16. 

For my main course I ordered the "Buchanan Special" off of their feature menu and it consisted of bacon-wrapped pork loin medallions, mashed potatoes, and roasted spring vegetables with pineapple salsa. It was fantastic, the bacon was extremely yummy, and I was informed it was cooked in real maple syrup. The plate was awesome, my only complaint being the potatoes were passable-but not up to par with the rest of the plate. They tasted like they were those fake, instant mashed potatoes you get when you eat mediocre catered food, and they probably were.

Otherwise, I had an awesome experience. The service was distinctive in its excellence and the food and drinks were all very enjoyable. Drinks, and appetizer, and a main course came to around $70 so it's definitely a bit of a fancier dinner spot, but I loved the atmosphere; it's a great place to go on a  dressed-up date or for a nice dinner party.

MEAT

 

On the weekend I went to MEAT for the second time, luckily was able to get a table right away, although not on the patio like I was originally hoping for. It was a gorgeous evening though, and the patio isn't especially large so that's to be expected in all fairness. Obviously, this is the kind of place vegetarians and vegans should stay far away from, as they specialize in the stereotypical manly man's type of meal- smokehouse barbecue meat, bourbon and beer.

 

 The restaurant is right off of Whyte Ave, in a trendy area, so parking always sucks, but it's definitely in a appealing location to walk around and explore. The sign outside on the side of the building many seem to find (me included) fairly amusing. 

 

The menus are very limited. There's few choices for drinks, and nearly all contain either Bourbon or Whiskey, so be prepared! I ordered a "Lynchburg Lemonade" which I was informed was one of sweetest, or most girly-ish drinks that they offered. I have quite the sweet tooth and so I found that drink to be quite strong, with Bourbon overtaking any potential sweetness in it. Don't come here expecting Cosmos and Martinis is all I can say for that!

 

 

 For the meal we ordered the Smoked Meat Feature, which was basically a little bit of all the meat so you could try a bit of everything. As for sides we decided on the Brussels Sprouts and Potato Salad. The food comes out on large group platters as it's intended to be communally shared by everyone at the table. 

 The portion was fair for the price. It was around $60 for the sample platter of meat, and that is definitely more than enough for two people. It was likely enough for three or four even, depending how hungry the people in a group are, of course. I did enjoy the brisket and the pulled pork, they were my favorite items of the meat selection, although I did find it overall to be somewhat dry and the flavours were decent but not outstanding. 

There are bottles of homemade sauces on the table that are offered to be added to the food, but my intention was to try the meat as is, before adding other sauces and flavorings. Whenever I may come back, eventually, I do plan to try the sauces, although I'm not a big BBQ sauce person overall, admittedly.

In my honest opinion the best part of the meal were the sides. The Brussels sprouts and Potato salad were phenomenal. They were fresh, well-made and very delicious. I enjoyed them much more than the main attractions, and I'm a big fan of meat-especially BBQ.

 

I'd say overall the experience was adequate. The prices are fair, but I wish there was more selection and the food is satisfactory but not stellar. For Edmonton, it is pretty good overall and definitely a different experience than most are used too so I'd recommend trying it. If you want top-of-the-line smokehouse and BBQ meat though-go to Texas. The best meat I've ever had from that type of genre was in Dallas, Texas-hands down. But if you just want a different, fun experience that's in the city-give MEAT a try!

Korean BBQ

I went to the "Lee House" on the weekend, and it's the second time I've been there in the last few months. It opened roughly about 6 months ago, and it's an expansion from the first restaurant that's located near Whyte Ave. First impression, it's in Chinatown, so obviously for anyone that's been in downtown YEG, they know it's the straight up ghetto. Not that you should let that stop you from going there, heck some of the best places look like total dives-but are actually delicious.

Now, the interior is fairly nice when you go inside, especially considering the location-you can tell it's pretty new still. It was larger than I expected, and there were plenty of tables-mainly empty ones even though it was a Saturday night, but still it's a pretty new spot so one must take that into consideration.

 

The food itself definitely seemed pricey; understand that Korean food is not cheap. Almost any good Korean BBQ places are fairly expensive, no matter where you go. If you're thinking it's going to be cheap like Pho, or Westernized Chinese restaurants, you'll be disappointed. Good quality Korean food is something you pay for, it's not extremely expensive to make-but it is extremely time-consuming in a sense, to make. Kimchi and Bulgogi or Kalbi takes days to make properly.

I ended up ordering the Stone Bowl Bibimbap, L.A Kalbi, and spicy soup. I would say for the price, the portions were a bit small, but the quality was pretty good. Not a lot of options for the BBQ meat, there were only a few choices, but it was nice because you could cook the food yourself or have it cooked in the kitchen before it was brought out to you. 

Those three dishes would've been a bit less than $60, but then we grabbed two bottles of Soju- Korean alcohol. They look like Asian beers, but don't be fooled because they're 19% and like $20 per bottle. (That we did not realize, or would've only grabbed one!) Whoops! Yeah we figured out they weren't plain beers when the server brought out shot glasses to drink the Soju with.

Otherwise, the service wasn't the greatest, we had to ask for obvious things like bowls and cutlery, as it wasn't immediately brought with dishes that required them. I'm not surprised, as many Asian restaurants are not well-known for their quality service.

Overall it's a decent Korean restaurant, not the best I've been too by any means, but then Koreans are very picky with their own food, and I'm no exception. It was nice that it was located centrally, as many of the Korean restaurants are in the south side so it's more convenient for many.