Family Day Long Weekend - Pt 1: Post Valentine's Day Dinner

Work on Friday was somewhat a drag.  Nothing turned out the way I wanted it to be.  I didn't even eat lunch.  However, it did end earlier than what I'd planned.  In that way, it's good.  No matter what, it wasn't going to ruin what was going to come after work.  A great way to start a long weekend: a dinner date with my hubby!

To celebrate our (late) Valentine's Day dinner, B took me out of the west end and onto Whyte Ave's Packrat Louie.  I dressed up a bit because this is somewhat a big deal since B doesn't like leaving the west end.  Traveling more than 15 minutes away from home is HUGE for him.  Sad, I know.

After parking a few blocks away and me teetering on ice with my 4" pumps, we finally got to the restaurant.  I'm so sure I've been here for an office lunch once, but I don't remember the inside or type of food.  Maybe it was just not a memorable lunch.  Anyways...

I was starving.  We ordered two appetizers, an entree, and a dessert.  First, the appetizers, an expensive pair of meatballs and a 8" pizza.  The meatball was a bit too salty for my liking, but the quality of the meat was good.  Overall, it was ok.

Black Truffle Meatballs

The second appetizer was the Spicy Hawaiian pizza.  I love Hawaiian pizza.  Maybe because I love pineapples!  The pizza was good.  For sure way better than a "franchise" pizza.

8" Spicy Hawaiian pizza

I ordered a beef tenderloin for my entree, while B ordered pork chops.  Oh sweet beef, it was great!  I don't know if it was good steak, or because the last steak I had was in Vancouver and it was bad steak.  However, B had a bite, and he thought it was good steak.  I had a bite of his pork chop and it was well marinated and very juicy.  I give both the meaty entrees - two thumbs up!

Sterling Silver Beef Tenderloin

To finish the meal off, we ordered a chocolate platter that consisted of chocolate mousse, chocolate brownie, and chocolate gelato/ice cream inside a cookie crust cup (sorry, no photo - like the Hardware Grill, I see chocolate I just dig in!).  It was a little disappointing to me, but I did enjoy the ice cream in the little cookie cup.  The mousse was too 'dark chocolate' for me, and I had better brownie (koodos to the caterers at my Vancouver office work conference.  SO good!).

Overall, it was a good dinner date, and for the final question: Will I come back?  No.  It's not a bad place, but I think I rather try something else.  However, if someone asks me for a place to take their date or to try a not-too-expensive fine dining place, I would recommend this place.

And now... off to Calgary!