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| - This restaurant was 100% "NOtaBLE" in my books - but if you don't have a reservation you might end up with "NO-taBLE"...
OK..that was pretty cheesy. Let's move on.
Tucked away in the quietest area of Bowness available (and finally found after the GPS put us 5k off course??), this place was hopping at 9pm Saturday night. We entered to find that amidst this quiet street with nothing open - this restaurant was jam packed and loud and fun and smelled good. We had resos for 9pm and were seated shortly after arriving by a super friendly hostess (of which there appeared to be four of them). Our waiter (Mr. Darren G) quickly arrived to offer and explain about Q Water (of note: they charge 1.50$ and it goes to charity which is pretty cool). After ordering he arrived again with the water and then took the wine order. Their wine list is the perfect size of 30ish wines from 45$-250$.(translation: not 26 pages like some overstuffed local places). We had a Vega tempranillo which was delicious.
Soooo..what did we eat. We started with the potato rolls out of interest as we have never seen such a description..and they were amazing!! Six delicious little rolls (made from a thin potato slice), stuffed with yumminess, presented very Iron Chef style (the chef is Canada's first Iron Chef) and served with a spicy ranch and jalapeno salsa dips. So good and UNIQUE.! For mains we chose the rabbit confit ravioli (available as an appy or main) and the halibut. My normal staple is chicken but they were sold out - which was too bad, as their "rotisserie of the day" was chicken...but it was 930pm on a Saturday after all...The ravioli was really amazing. The fresh homemade pasta was so delicate and not "heavy", there was no drowning in too much heavy sauce and the filling was a perfect mix of minced rabbit and Boursin cheese (can't really go wrong). It was a great pasta. I had the halibut (eating fish in restaurants is new to me as I'm too lazy to make it at home and am taking the opportunity) and a great choice I made. The fillet was sizeable and cooked soooo goood. Topped with a sundried tomato and olive tapenade for punch and color, served with the freshest and crunchiest green beans ever and a chunky puree of fava beans,which to my surprise was a perfect complement to the fish and the flavored topping. It also came with golden beets which makes my hearts happy to eat:)
Having decided that we could definitely eat two desserts (not sure who were trying to kid), we chose the lemon crème brulee and the chocolate "Beast". Hmmm..if I could pick a fav it was the chocolate flourless cake with cherry compote and chocolate sorbet..only because the cake was like a piece of fudge...however, the lemon crème brulee was pretty outstanding (another translation: I could have eaten a vat of it).
I was pleased as punch: NOtaBLE you won this round hands down!
The server was great. Darren came by very often, was chatty and humorous, knew his menu, refilled wine and water a lot, and checked up on everything. He was pretty awesome. The atmosphere is like that of other new restaurants that have been pleasingly opening in Calgary...open kitchen with eating bar to watch, loud (but fun and engaging) atmosphere, dark and quaint, but busy and bustling with a pretty simple and elegant decor..I love an open kitchen..The price points were actually a little less than others as well -which was surprising to see making the meal WELL WORTH the money. Their menu took pride in using local, organic and sustainable foods which is a big movement in Calgary right now and made me happy to read.
No lies - this place was quite notable and I will surely be back often..hopefully sooner rather than later.
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