Saltlik

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At this year’s Big Taste, Kev and I visited Saltlik at downtown Calgary. In contrast to its low-profile, refined exterior, the steakhouse’s lively and upbeat atmosphere lures young crowds of steak lovers. With people chattering and music playing in the background, you quickly notice its difference from other elegant steakhouses such as Vintage. Instead of a “steakhouse”, I am more inclined to categorize it as a “lounge”.

Upon seating, we were given the regular dinner menu despite having told the host we came for the Big Taste festival. We had to specifically ask for the Big Taste menu. Between the two of us, we basically ordered everything on the menu (prix fixe dinner at $35 pp) and shared among ourselves 🙂

We started off with the chef’s daily feature soup, chicken soup, and house salad.  The bowl of chicken soup consisted of tomato, onion, chicken, carrots, peas and cilantro with a hint of curry kick, giving it an Asian twist.

chicken soup

On the other hand, the combination of mixed greens, strawberries, goat cheese, toasted almonds and balsamic berry vinaigrette made the house salad rather ordinary.

house salad

For the entree, the braised Angus beef short ribs really hit the spot. The exquisite taste and tenderness instantly elicited hushed groans of pleasure. We hardly needed to chew – I wasn’t even kidding. The whipped potatoes so creamy and smooth. Soaking in the roasted shallot demi glace, the beef and potatoes had somewhat sweet, caramelized flavor. The seasonal vegetables added freshness and complex flavors to the dish.

angus beef short ribs

The seared atlantic salmon was equally good. Very fresh and tender. A bit raw at the center. The barbecued flavored sweet corn succotash was mildly spicy. The Cajun prawns were smokey yet perfectly pan seared. Both of us LOVED the food so much that we devoured everything on the plates in 5 mins.

seared atlantic salmon

If you thought this was the end, you were wrong. Never ever miss out on the dessert! The deliciousness of the sticky toffee pudding cake was beyond imagination. It was ice and fire – icy cold on top (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream) and warm at the bottom (with dense cake and caramel sauce). I could not describe it in words, but it was IRRESISTIBLY DELICIOUS.  I usually don’t like caramel sauce for its over-sweetness, but this one caught my heart with its subtle sweet note of caramel 🙂 And the crispy, mouthwatering sugar wafer…yummmmm…. I still couldn’t stop thinking about it!

sticky toffee pudding cake

What a phenomenal meal at Saltlik! Decent portion & top-notch food! The only compliant we had was that the waiting time for the food was a bit long. Aside from that, we were both impressed and would come back in no time!