| A Good Cheap Lunch
I'm never sure whether it should be "a good cheap lunch" or a "a cheap good lunch." The latter's better, I think, because in the former, it's not clear whether "good" modifies "cheap" or "lunch." As you'd expect, I'm more interested in the good than the cheap, but if the lunch fits in both categories, so much the better.
I'm invariably starving by the time lunch rolls around, and I'm therefore mightily put out when the food is soulless and industrial. Downtown Calgary has a heap of eateries serving decent inexpensive grub known only to regulars or lucky people who wander by, and going to these sorts of lunch joints is much more satisfying than lining up for a Whopper, or a grim, tasteless chickpea salad. Here are two sure bets for good and hearty lunches:
Bisque-au-tech
The west part of downtown is the Mojave desert at lunchtime – you've got to ferret out the good stuff hidden in the Plus-15 or in the lobby of office buildings. Once such place is Bisque-au-tech (Shaw Court, 630 - 3 Ave. S.W.), owned by Peter Fraiberg, late of Savoir Fare, and located on the ground floor of Shaw Court, near where you pay your cable bill if you're late.
It's a lunch counter, serving a daily special, sandwiches, salads and soups, etc. In this way, it's the opposite of Savoir Fare fine dining, but the cook's commitment to quality shines through in the food – the soup's homemade, as is the salad dressing, and the specials include choices like like chicken pot pie served with salad and green beans ($5.09), and greens topped with a cranberry-scented chicken breast ($4.95). Yum. There are also homemade cookies and Nanaimo bars, and Planet coffee.
I wonder whether the Shaw employees know that they've got a little gem there in their building – most other downtown office workers would kill to have something like Bisque-au-tech in the lobby.
4th Avenue Café
Since the sad demise of Café Choice on 7th Avenue S.W., there are very few traditional sit-down restaurants left. These are the places where you can go and get an open or closed Denver, a club sandwich, a burger or maybe a chef salad. I'd never been to the 4th Avenue Café (220 - 4 Ave. S.W.)until recently, but I was pretty impressed – it's where I'll go when I'm in the mood for a trip down memory lane. Oh, sure, the location in the basement of the International Hotel is a bit down-at-heel, and it has a significant and well-populated smoking section, but the food was nourishing, predictable and cheap.
The spinach salad ($3.75) was doused in creamy commercial dressing, with lots of grated cheese on top, but the cooks used top-quality spinach which was super-fresh. I've had much worse spinach salad in much better restaurants. The chicken fajita ($7.95) was also tasty and fresh, and the two tortillas crammed with spicy chicke made for a large portion. The ginger beef ($7.95) is of the Chinese/ Western variety, but there's lots of it and it was also good and hot, and served with freshly fried rice. The place was jammed at lunch, and I love that – people flocking to a place because the food's good.
And for dessert...
The best butter tart I've had in a commercial setting is in the Court House Cafeteria, in the basement of the Court of Queen's Bench. That homemade filling is the pure taste of the Canadian Prairies. Oh, and if you get there early enough, you might get a homemade doughnut before they get snarfed by the judges and lawyers. Eat your heart out, Krispy Kreme. |
