Mary EATS: Smoked Salmon Spaghettini

Have you used the iPod Touch Urban Spoon app to find your dinner before? Niko's Bistro was what it came up with when my friends and I were looking for a place to eat last week. Friday night, and thankfully, someone cancelled...so there was room for us. Score! At least the place was popular...

The atmosphere in this Italian restaurant is cozy but modern - a long bench along one wall of the narrow dining room, dimly lit lamps for a romantic ambience...and lots of buzzing conversation - some of it sounded distinctly Italian! Score 2! Italians go to this Italian restaurant!

I ordered the Smoked Salmon Spaghettini, which was a nice big portion of pasta for $14. The fragrant flavours of the creamy tomato sauce infused with a mouth-watering smoked taste was so delicious! I really enjoyed my pasta. One of my friends ordered the lamb, and it wasn't too great - a bit overdone (well, she DID order it well done) but the taste was gamey, and not very flavourful. The penne with tomato sauce that accompanied the lamb was an absolute disaster - soggy noodles - ick! The calamari appetizer was so-so...a bit too heavy on the tomato sauce - I prefer the breaded fried calamari myself.

I'd go back just for the pasta though ;)

http://www.nikosbistro.ca/

Delicious Thai lives up to its name

Delicious Thai is a new restaurant in Kensington - it is in the same location as the old "Tibet on 10th" restaurant. They have a very extensive website - and I actually found the place by just searching "Thai restaurants Calgary" in google! The decor is simple and unassuming, but modern. The wait staff are very courteous, like in any traditional Thai restaurant. My first visit there was on Halloween, and the Pad Thai is the best I've had in Calgary! Really quite authentic - just the perfect mix of peanuts and not too much "sauce". The Chicken Green Curry was really nice too - fresh herbs and a nice melange of vegetables. A couple nights ago, I tried the Chicken Massaman curry, and really enjoyed it's peanut-based earthy flavour. To top it off, they have mango sticky rice!! My absolute favorite Thai dessert - the mango slices were a bit stringy, but that's what you can expect from mangoes in North America in this season...

Great menu, authentic tasting Thai, pleasant service and resonable prices! :)

http://delicious-thai.com/

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