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| - One Thursday evening after work, I needed to meet up with a friend.
We decided to give the Bears Den a try, with neither of us having been before, but curiosity piqued by its location.
Located north of Calgary, in Bearspaw, this restaurant is a large stand alone building. The exterior suggests a somewhat unique
experience awaits, and entry through the front doors confirms it.
Clearly a lot of expense went into developing the Bears Den. The initial interior in fact doesn't suggest "restaurant" to me. Rather, it wouldn't be out of place acting as the lobby of an exclusive, private, oilman's club. That may or may not be your thing.
Large leather sofas sit in the center of this "lobby," with one end leading to the restaurant, while the other, a lounge.
We dined in the restaurant as planned, but a peek into the lounge revealed a surprisingly large and sophisticated space. Live jazz plays Fridays and Saturdays, and this definitely looks like a room to grab a drink with someone who appreciates finer things.
Interestingly, a "Bow-Valley" theme permeates this place, as opposed to the decor pretending to be from some other city.
Dinner began with a great cabernet, and an order of mussels as an appetizer. The order of mussels was quite large - - plenty for two people. They were also delicious, complemented by a tasty ginger broth.
For the main, I debated the bison prime rib vs. the strip loin, but ultimately opted for the latter. It comes with your choice of 4 sauces. I chose the peppercorn.
The steak was cooked as ordered, and the peppercorn sauce quite tasty. However, I did find the steak to be an inferior cut. A gristly band ran through some of it, meaning I left a number of pieces on my plate.
That being said, it could have been a one-off, but for the ~ $40 entrée price, I would hope for a better cut. As well, I think the entrée portions could be larger.
Overall, I found the service to be great, the ambiance sophisticated, and I respected the restaurant's goal of sourcing locally as much as possible. The steak was a bit of a letdown, though, so I need to knock off points for that. It just didn't meet expectations.
However, I did enjoy the experience enough to go back and hopefully provide an update with a better score. Next time, I think cocktails in the lounge are in order.
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