When my family and I go out, we go out hard. I’m not going to lie; we love food. For my brother’s birthday dinner this year, he decided that, in order to fully satisfy his love of food, he couldn’t go to just one restaurant, but rather three. Yes, he decided that we needed to go out for suchi, then for steak, then for milkshakes (basically the most horrible places for a vegan). We went to Misato (one of my favourites for sushi in the city; you can check out a review of them I did here), then to Chop, and finally to Peters’ Drive-In.
At Misato, I ordered the same tomato roll I did the last time I was there, remembering how good it was. I decided to be immensely rude and attempt to (as politely as possible) remove as much rice from the sides of the roll as possible, knowing that more food was to follow and that the last time I was there I became very full very quickly. My parents and brother got two orders of the Assorted Sushi to share and they all enjoyed it. One roll in particular I have never seen in all of my years of sushi eating (which is several years, let me assure you); it was pure white and covered in ridges. It actually looked like a giant bug. It wasn’t of course, it turned out to be squid and according to the fam, it was very chewy without a lot of flavour. I don’t think they’ll be ordering that particular roll again, though the rest of the assortment was very good.
Next, we headed to Chop, which is attached to Chinook Centre. My family are true Calgarians through and through, so we love our steak. My mom and I split a bottle of wine while my dad and brother each ordered a beer. There was not much for me to choose from (which doesn’t surprise or offend me), but our server told me that he could ask the kitchen to make a larger version of their house side salad. My mom ordered the Chop Salad, and both my dad and brother ordered the Top Sirloin, medium rare. Though I ordered mine with dressing on the side (on account of the fact that I don’t like it and most vinagrettes tend to hurt my tongue), but it came with full dressing. Unimpressed. My dad’s and brother’s steaks were both good, but my dad’s scalloped pototoes were dry and, as he described, “like eating paper”. Additionally, their vegetables were far too butter-y for even their liking (believe you me, they like their butter). My mom’s Chop Salad was by far the best, with tons of cheese and steak. However, the pieces of steak on her salad were all over cooked. Overall, we all agreed that both The Keg and Chicago Chophouse are infinitely better options for steak.
Finally, we headed to Peters’ for milkshakes. I have no idea how my dad and brother managed to eat all that food. My mom and I waited in the car, eyeing cute firefighters, as they ordered. What can you say about Peters’? It’s delicious and everyone knows it. My dad got a banana milkshake and my brother got a coffee oreo one (my personal favourite and what I would have definitely gotten if it weren’t for my newfound non-dairy ways is the mocha oreo, which is also delicious when you add a little bit of Bailey’s to it).
Overall, Misato and Peters’ were just as good as I expected and as they always tend to be. As far as Chop goes, I would definitely give it a pass. Our server was very obviously attempting to memorize a poorly-rehersed script, which was both annoying and uncomfortable. The food was average.
I’d definitely recommend trying Saltlik out. It probably won’t become your new favourite steakhouse, but it’s definitely worth a try. Make sure you try their molten chocolate cake. Delicious.
