Tag: Restaurant Review

The Heidout In Cranbrook – A Review

A plate featuring a Heidout burger topped with tomato and lettuce, accompanied by a side of golden fries and a small bowl of ketchup.
Heidout Burger – by John Phillips

On September 6, Lori and I decided it was time for a night out. We seldom dine out, especially during our summer stays. Still, when we do, the Heidout in downtown Cranbrook is a familiar favourite. Located at 821 Baker Street, it’s a bit of a drive from where we spend our summers. However, it is always worth the effort.

🏠 Atmosphere & First Impressions

The Heidout has a pub-style vibe with a subtle split between family dining and the main area. It’s open, lively, and buzzing with energy. On arrival, we were greeted promptly and seated quickly—something we’ve come to expect from their consistently attentive staff. That evening, Aimee introduced herself and took our drink order with a warm, professional touch.

🍷 Drinks & Menu Highlights

We started with a glass of their in-house Meritage, a smooth red blend that paired well with the hearty meal to come. The menu is familiar to us, and while it’s not Michelin-starred, the food is reliably excellent. This time, we both went for the Heidout Burger—mine with fries, Lori’s with salad. She always looks forward to their house dressing, and once again, it didn’t disappoint.

The burger itself was a standout: salami slices layered with aioli, crisp veggies, and what I suspect were Polski Ogorki pickles. It’s a bold combo, but it works. Rich, savory, and satisfying.

🛎️ Service & Cleanliness

Despite the full house and an event happening in their banquet area, service remained top-notch. Aimee was attentive without hovering, and everything—from the dining area to the restrooms—was clean and well-kept. It’s clear they take pride in maintaining the space.

💰 Value & Final Thoughts

Our total came to $113.62, including wine, taxes, and tip. In today’s dining landscape, that’s more than fair for the quality and experience. Yes, it’s a bit noisy—it is a public house, after all—but we knew that going in and embraced the lively atmosphere.

If you find yourself in Cranbrook, I’d recommend The Heidout without hesitation. It’s a place we return to time and again, and we’re already looking forward to our next visit.

Heid Out Restaurant and Brewery

Raíces Restaurant In Mazatlán, A Review

As we do from time to time, we make our way down the Centro area of Mazatlán. Today we, or more specifically Lori, were on threefold mission. First lunch, then looking for an object at Michaels Gallery and third, an ice cream cone.

Step 1 was to grab a pulmonia for transport to the Centro area. Somehow this turned into me getting a haircut, funny how that happens. Anyways, slightly delayed we found our chariot and headed down to Plaza Machado. This central square is a major heartbeat in this city. Circled by boutique hotels and fine dining, mixed in with some pizza places and many vendors, it is a wonderful thing to do on a beautiful afternoon and a great experience at night. It and the surrounding streets are beautifully lit and filled with music. There are many shops and bistros and stunning buildings and interiors.

On this journey we decided to lunch at Raíces De Mar Hotel which has an outdoor restaurant. It specializes in Mexican style dishes and is reasonably priced. For ourselves, we started with Lori having her favourite tool to judge a new place to us, a margarita on the rocks. As I had tested several locations over the past few days, I opted for a cappuccino. They passed our test on both beverages.

Photo by Is It Possible To See It All
Art Gallery Photo by Is It Possible To See It All

Now to the food. I chose the Al Placer Shrimp Tostada. A light lunch, listed as an appetizer. Shrimps, cooked and fried, red onion, Persian cucumber, cherry tomato, toasted tree chile, clamato, avocado, lemon juice, pepper and watermelon relish. It was great, ate it a bit quickly, it was just that good and only 150 pesos.

Lori contemplating the menu.

Lori had the Zarandeado Shrimp al Caimanero. This consisted of Zarandeado style shrimp served with mashed potatoes and garlic thyme roasted vegetables, watermelon radish and coriander. The vegetables served were green beans, broccoli and zucchini. She was satisfied with her choice. This was more of a meal and was priced at 320 pesos.

I would recommend Raíces to anyone wishing to try some Mazatlán cuisine without being to adventurous. One of many fine restaurants that both circle the Plaza and are scattered on the streets nearby. Mazatlán has over 4000 restaurants with many types of cuisine and every price range. We are rarely disappointed.

As for the rest of the day, the items we were looking for were nowhere to be found at Michaels. Counting the other locations, she cleaned them out of this particular product series. And we did get some cookies and creme ice cream cones at a place near the cathedral.

Mazatlán- Getting There – The Calgary Part

User:Qyd:Qyd, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

This year’s adventure to Mazatlán began on December 29 with a stay at the former Wyndham Garden Hotel. Now a Hotel 11. As always, we chose to stay at an airport hotel because the flight departs in the morning. We have stayed at this hotel several times as it has a good restaurant and is in great shape. Since our last stay, Wyndham sold the property to Sonesta Hotels, who have branded it as Hotel 11. A great rate, excellent service and the same great food. Our rate for the night was $151.95, tax in. Had a few vino’s, so supper almost matched the room rate. Our bad. Check them out at the link; it’s recommended.

Hotel 11, MOD Sonesta – Calgary Hotel with Airport Shuttle | Sonesta

The next step is the flight.  As usual, we flew in on WestJet.  It is pretty much the only game in town from Calgary.  There is Sunwing as an alternative, but they are now owned by WestJet and have some limitations that are not good for us. It is cheaper, but one-way travel is not allowed, and changing flights is next to impossible.  As we are there for 3 months or so, this restriction is not a good thing.  We book as one way in each direction instead of round trips to give us the flexibility to head home earlier or later, especially for urgent personal reasons.

We caught our shuttle and arrived at the airport with a 3-hour window.  As we check in online, we ditch the lineups at the counters and proceed directly to the self-check-in kiosks.  We generated our bag tags, dumped our luggage at the baggage chute, and headed into security.  Security can cause a hiccup or 2, but we sailed through and headed for breakfast.  The Tim Hortons and Starbucks are always full, so we use the Vin Room in case we want a mimosa or a nice chardonnay at 8:00 in the morning (You have to love air travel).   The buzz in airports is unique.  People everywhere around are excited, nervous or bored.  Sitting in a restaurant eating breakfast and people-watching is a great way to kill time before boarding.  The Vin Room is a Calgary restaurant/wine bar with 3 locations; this (obviously) is the airport location.  Food is good and reasonably priced for an airport.  The service is excellent as well.  Breakfast was around $50.00, with tips and taxes and no wine.  Another recommendation to check out if you are flying out of Calgary. Check them out at the link below.

Vin Room

Photo by Timur Saglambilek: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wine-glass-bottle-87224/

The Grizzly House – Banff, Alberta

Something new, a review.  Lori and I were in Banff, Alberta over Christmas.  We went for dinner at a place we have frequented in the past, “The Grizzly House”, situated at 207 Banff Ave in the beautiful mountain resort town of Banff.

photo(4)We have been here a few times in the past, mostly based on our first time there, which was a very entertaining evening.  A rowdy crowd, with a local phone system that allows you to call the other tables.  Booze, phones and a rowdy atmosphere = great fun.

This time, we were a bit disappointed.  Still, a very fun place, just that we noticed some things we had never really paid attention to before.  First, the decor.  The place needs a makeover.  Very old-looking and approaching run down??

photo(1)

The tables, chairs and decorating are very same old.  A first time diner might like it, but we are past that.  Another view.

photo(3)

Very dark, and not just the lighting.

The food is still passable and the wine list is good.  The menu is basically fondue.  They drop a granite slab on your table, heated to 600 degrees and you cook your meal.  Again, fun.  The issue to us on this particular evening was the aura created by tables and tables of years and years of people cooking like this, in an enclosed place.  Honestly, the place needs a major airing out.  It took a week for the smell to leave our jackets, and I’m only assuming it has, as perhaps we are just not smelling it anymore.

 

photo

As a reviewer, I must close with the review.  The food, 3 of 5 stars.  Nothing spectacular and kind of pricey.  We enjoyed it, just wasn’t top-notch.  The wine list was pretty good, and reasonably priced.  The setting, maybe 2 of 5.  Renovations and renewal could revitalize the operation.  The atmosphere, I would still rate as 4 of 5.  It is still a fun place to go, especially with a group.  If you are dining as a couple, I highly suggest going elsewhere.

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