Burgerthon Restaurant Numero Seis: The Bottlehouse

Burgerthon-ers unite! A new post! I have regrettably and apologetically strayed from finding burgery goodness in the city of Calgary. I have since been set right, and am now questing to complete the Burgerthon Mission set out several months ago. 

Our latest visit was to The Bottlehouse in Kensington. Located on the corner of 10th Street and Memorial Drive, this now pub has been several other incarnations of food fare. Hopefully, this one sticks! This brewhouse and all round public gathering spot was one of the first to point me in their burger direction; naming the Street Fighter Burger as one of their best. I have happily obliged. 

The Street Fighter

The menu description really doesn't give the Street Fighter Burger credit; "This 6 oz Peruvian street burger is packed with back bacon, a fried egg, Havarti cheese, tortilla strips and a Kalamata mayo." It all sounds tasty enough, but when it comes together, the burger is a flavourful combination of smooth, salty, crisp and meaty. Citing 100% beef, this burger most certainly has the drip factor, and leaves you needing not even one of your well-seasoned french fries. The addition of the fried egg is an unexpected component, and adds texture and fantastic mouth feel. 

Smoke B-House Burger

We also tried the Smoke B-House Burger that is a smoky arrangement of cheeses, onion rings, bacon and barbecue sauce. A very classic burger, but tasty and enjoyable nonetheless. 

Something that was interesting about the burgers was the use of an onion roll as the bun of choice. The bun for a burger is key, since it has to simultaneously hold all the ingredients together and not be the star of the show. It shouldn't smoosh into nothingness, nor crunch and crackle its way to your mouth. Kudos to the Bottlehouse on a very good bun. 

Get out of the way!

The atmosphere of the place was a bit understated. It seemed like the kind of place you could watch a great game, and drink a beer without compromising on food. They had a decent selection of local beer on hand, and the music was fun, if a little loud. We sat out on the patio on a Friday night, and it was a great spot to people watch. 

For great burgers in a good room, the Bottlehouse gets a solid 4 burgers out of 5. 

Summertime

A few blogs ago, I mentioned my love, my adoration, my complete and utter eagerness for when the days turn warm. When the scents of blooming flowers fill the air and I can look out over my yarden (yard & garden) to see the fruits and vegetables of our labour. Much to our surprise this year, our Community Garden Plot has really taken-off, and our new varietals of salad greens are huge! Short are these days, but abundant are the verdant hope filled surprises of soon-to-be peas, tomatoes and beans. Take a look at just some of the food our little space in the city will offer up this year...

 

Tomato Blossoms

Lettuce Harvest

Our Community Garden Plot

Rhubarb

Nasturtiums

Deck Tomatoes

Sunflowers, in a few weeks

Mustard Flowers

Excuse Me, You Have Mustard on Your Camera!

Stuff, fried

Have you recovered yet? It has been a little over a week since The Calgary Stampede closed it's gates for another year. If you haven't been, it is essentially a ten day party in the city, where things go a little cowboy crazy. Self-respecting business people don jeans and cowboy hats to work, there are beer tents on the corners, and you can find multiple pancake breakfasts every day of the week. The Stampede grounds showcase the world's best rodeo, musical and carnie talent around. Yeehaws and yahoos abound!

Corn Dog

Husband and I went down to the grounds on a food-venture. Carnival fare is an essential food group during the 10 days of Stampede, and while it may be the only time of the year when I will munch on a corn dog, I thought there may be other culinarily interesting things going on, and I wanted to check them out. 

The two key terms to remember during Stampede are "fried" and "on-a-stick". Everything tastes better fried, right?! Stampede gives us crispy treats like the Colossal Onion Blossom, Bacon On-A-Stick, Fried Oreos, and Fried Cheesecake. The ultimate combination of fried on-a-stick has to be the luscious corn dog... mustard only please. While photographing my little indulgence, one friendly fellow Stampeder thought it would be wise to tell me that I had inadvertently dipped my camera lens into the mustard! Extreme close up! 

Marshmallow

Another treat that I tried this year was a gooey combination of four marshmallows (on-a-stick, of course!) coated in caramel, rolled graham wafer crumbs and cinnamon. Sweet, creamy and delicious, this thing had all the merit of an ice cream sundae without the melt factor. Very smart on a July day in Calgary.  

Mac N' Cheese Wedges

By far the best fare of the day went to the Mac n'Cheese Wedges. I had heard about these from several people and the only trick was to find them amongst the chaos. After several texts and bbm's, we finally asked an information booth attendant. She knew exactly where to send us, and we picked up the crunchy little treat. It consisted of something akin to boxed mac and cheese, coated with batter and fried triangular. Odd, but, somehow, quite delicious! And worth the hour we spent wandering around to find it!

The party is over for another year, so, I am putting away my cowboy boots in favour of running shoes. Looking forward to see what next year has to offer!