Extreme Coffee Freak

Village Ice Cream is located downtown on 10 Ave SW. If you drive to the end of the street and you still can’t find it. Look just a little harder because it is tucked back off the street and it is in an area you wouldn’t think you would find an ice cream shop.

We have been coming here now for a few years, you could say were are regular villagers. Thats what they call their customers. This place is always busy. Even when you think it isn’t, wait a few minutes like we did last night and pow, a whole ton of people show up. Nobody gets cranky here, because they have to wait, they know the ice cream is worth it.
Their ice cream is made in small batches. They have about 10 flavours always available but then they have their Seasonal flavours which change all the time. The seasonal flavours I seen last night were Root Beer and Mango. My wife’s favourite is the Strawberry, Lemon and Basil. When they start serving this we usually buy a few pints, and I forgot to mention that you can go there and buy pints of ice cream to take home. They also let you sample the different flavours they have available. Makes it easier to make your decision, or does it?

 

All of the ice cream is made right on site with local and seasonal ingredients.

Last night we ordered the Toasted Coconut in a waffle cone and I went with a double scoop of Maple Pecan and Salted Caramel in a waffle cone. So excellent. All the flavours are incredible from what I have been told. In all the time I have been going there I have only had one other flavour, I just love the salted caramel and the maple pecan. Sorry, I love what I love.

They also make their own waffle cones. Ours were still warm when they served them to us and who doesn’t want their ice cream in a warm cone.

Parking is a premium down there, so don’t be surprised if you have to park a block away. The parking lot right outside is only meant for small cars as I found out last night when I decided to take my F150 down there. Had to wait an additional 15 minutes for the guy behind me to move. He was parked in a no parking zone.

They also have a small deck with some benches on it for you to enjoy your ice cream, but most people just stand around wherever.

I have had a lot of ice cream in my day and Village Ice Cream is the best. Seriously the best. I have told a ton of people about this place and they all agree.

If you haven’t been there, go, go now. Let me when you are going and I will meet you down there.

Cochrane Coffee Traders is located just off Main Street in Cochrane. This place looks like an old cabin on the outside and believe it or not it looks like an old cabin on the inside as well.

The decor is very rustic, they even have a wood burning fireplace in the corner. I think this would be a real treat in the fall and winter months enjoying a coffee and a muffin. They also have a loft area upstairs with some additional seating which was pretty cool. I think the only thing that would have made it better was a few couches by the fireplace. They also have a patio with a few benches on it, and they also have a few picnic tables outside as well.

 

The had 4 different coffee beans they were serving up yesterday, a dark, a light, a flavour and a decaf. I could only assume they change this up daily or weekly. Nice to have the choice. They also roast their own beans offsite.

The other thing I forgot to mention is that they offer a selection of alternate milks.

They had a pretty good selection of cookies, muffins and some other sweet treats for you to enjoy. Since we just finished lunch, we were only having a beverage today.

This afternoon we went with the London Fog and a Vanilla Latte. Both drinks tasted really good.

If coffee isn’t your thing, what am I saying, of course you are going there to have a coffee. It’s called coffee traders not tea traders. So if you are like my wife and prefer tea, there’s a ton of loose leaf teas also available. Let’s talk more coffee, they also have a good selection of coffee beans for sale.

Another thing I would like to mention is they really like their chalkboards as they are used every where for their menu boards.

The staff were pretty friendly, the only real issue I had was that they made my wife’s drink and then another staff member jumped in and made another customers drinks while the girl serving me had to wait to make my drink. Seemed a little odd that they would do this.

Tim’s Gourmet Pizzeria is located just off of Main Street in Cochrane.

Today we headed to Cochrane for a caffeinated beverage, and decided to have some lunch while we were there. We actually stumbled across Tim’s Gourmet Pizzeria as we were looking for a particular coffee place which just happened to be across the street from Tim’s. Has to be good place with a name like Tim’s. Ha Ha

The decor has a French bistro feel with a rustic flair. There is a cool chandelier over the cash register. There is about a half a dozen tables in the place along with a long table in front of the window. There is some counter seating where you can watch them make the pizzas.

The menu is quite limited and seemed a bit pricey, but the food was really good. The pizzas they have on their menu aren’t just the standard ham and pineapple or pepperoni, which they have. What really shines is their great original flavours.

We started with the bruschetta. It was served on warm home made bread, with fresh tomatoes, and seasoned just right. It was excellent. The 2 pieces we ordered were not enough to fill you up but just enough to get you ready for the pizza.

Then we ordered 3 Little Tim pizzas. The spolumbo pizza, the honey bunch pizza and the teriyaki chicken without cilantro as I am not a fan of it. Next time I would order the Tim’s size or the Big Tim’s size as the Little Tim’s is more of a kids size. The little Tim’s could be used as a sampler size which is a good idea and gave us the opportunity to try more than 1 kind. All 3 pizzas had really good flavour. The spolumbo pizza had spolumbo sausage, prosciutto ham and cranberries and was really good but, the most interesting pizza was the honey bunch pizza which had actual honey on it as well as thyme, prosciutto and goat cheese. It was very interesting to eat but very good.

Tim’s also sells frozen pizzas from here as well. We did see a few people had come in to get some.

The host/server was very friendly. He was very attentive and eager to make sure our experience was a pleasant one.

The only negative thing I could say about the place is that the restaurant was very hot inside.

Red’s is located in Old Ramsay in southeast Calgary not far from the Stampede Grounds.
Old diner atmosphere with the original old floors and a nice industrial decor with lots of windows. They also have some cool artwork on the walls. They have 13-14 tables inside and a few more outside on the patio. There is a counter bar for about another 10-12 people can sit at.

It is very busy and full. They are very quick to clean off tables and get the next people seated. Staff very friendly and service was great. Within a minute of sitting down, our server was there with water and ready to take our drink order.

The servers were going non-stop. They were constantly on the move. The kitchen was fast paced as well, getting out quite a bit of food while we were there. Everybody seemed pretty happy with the food they were getting.

Today we ordered the vanilla latte and a london fog. Both drinks were pretty good.

There is lots of choices on the menu as well as a daily special, and they serve breakfast all day. They have some healthier choices on the menu and some not so healthy choices. Pretty much everything I seen coming past the table looked terrific.
Since breakfast is good anytime of the day, we decided to have breakfast this afternoon. We ordered a bowl of assorted fruit, the Ramsay Bennie which has artichoke, prosciutto with homemade hollandaise with a balsamic drizzle. We also ordered the Red’s Big Breakfast, which is basically bacon, sausage and eggs and comes with a pancake. The portions were very large. There was a huge portion of potatoes on our plates that we couldn’t even eat. Prices weren’t the cheapest but the food was really good.

I did see quite a few people ordering milkshakes, they must be good. They have some interesting alcoholic drinks including some what they call Boozy Milkshakes. I don’t even drink and I could see myself having one of these.

Parking is street parking so you may need to drive around a little bit to get yourself a spot.

Today we left Red’s very full and satisfied. Even though there will be a line up when you get there, it will be worth the wait.

We stopped by Cappuccino King today to stock up on some coffee supplies. it is located just off Edmonton Trail on 23rd Avenue NE.

They have a huge assortment of syrups, they have some of the best coffee beans in the city, and a big assortment of coffee equipment.

Every time we have been here the staff has always been very friendly and very helpful.

Check this place out, you will be glad you did.

First off Luke’s Drug Mart doesn’t sound like your typical coffee place but they do sell coffee and by the number of people coming and going, they sell a lot of it.Luke’s is located down in Bridgeland just off Edmonton Trail. It has been around since 1951.

It’s funny before we even walked in a older guy was walking out of Luke’s, and seen me taking a picture. He commented on me using my IPAD, saying that is a pretty big camera. Then he asked if we were going in and of course we were, he said that he had lived in the neighbourhood for about forty years, and had seen the changes with Luke’s and didn’t seem to happy about the changes. He said he knew the original Luke, and then talked about him handing the drug mart over to his son. Now his son is making it his own and making more of a place for the younger crowd, selling records, and putting in a coffee shop etc.

This place sells everything and I mean everything. They have a little food market downstairs. Upstairs has a post office, a lottery booth, a pharmacy, they sell turntables, socks, underwear, some clothing and they even sell vinyl or for us older guys, albums, records whatever you relate to. This is a one stop shop.

Then at the front of the place they have a little coffee shop. They have a very simple menu, and a limited variety of pastries. The place was very busy with people coming in and getting their beverages to go. There was a woman in line after me who ordered 5 lattes to go. The guy making the drinks told her to make herself comfortable as it would be a while as there was only one guy making the drinks, so things were a little slow. There was also quite a few people just leaving because of the line up for coffee.

While I was waiting for our drinks, it gave me some more time to check the place out. Not a lot of places to sit and enjoy your drink, a few benches outside and a few stools inside.

Today we ordered the London Fog and a Dulce Latte. the drinks were pretty good with nice flavour. They also sell an assortment of coffee beans, which includes Four Barrel Coffee and my favourite Stumptown Coffee from Portland.

If you are looking for a cool place to go for a coffee, buy some vinyl or pick up a few groceries, check this unique little place out at least once.

After a disappointing start to our day, we decided to head over to Sidewalk Citizen Bakery for some breakfast in the old Simmons Building on the Riverwalk. When we arrived it was fairly busy.

We ordered the cranberry, white chocolate, orange scone and we also ordered a couple of bacon sandwiches. The scone was so good and had amazing flavour.

The scones were so good we decided to purchase 2 more to take home, along with a couple almond croissants and a loaf of sourdough bread. All the baked goods looked outstanding.

The bacon sandwiches had a fried egg, cured bacon, onion & chilli jam, garlic mayo and arugula. The sandwiches were excellent. I could’ve ate 2 of them.

We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed our breakfast. The riverwalk was a very busy place today, lots of people walking around, and riding bikes.

As we were leaving we seen people ordering lunch. The sandwiches and salads looked great. We definitely have to go back and have lunch.

Check this place out.

This is going to be a really short blog. On Saturday morning we decided to drive down to the East Village to check out Hear’s My Soul Cafe. We arrived at 11am to find the cafe closed. Some of the windows were open but no sign of anybody inside.

Since we couldn’t check this place out, we headed over to the Simmons Building to go to Sidewalk Citizen Bakery. We went and had breakfast and walked by Hear’s My Soul Cafe to find it still closed.

Maybe we will check this place out on another day. I was disappointed that we couldn’t check this place out. It looked like a cool little place.

On Friday night we headed down to Inglewood to check out the Night Market. As we walked through the market, we seen some of the same vendors from the last market but we also seen a lot of new vendors there.

One of the vendors I did stop and talk to was the mobile cart of KaffeeKlatsch. They were selling their Cold Brew Coffee. The girl that was working the cart explained the cold brew process to me. Never having it before I ask to sample the cold brew. It was pretty good but not really my cup of coffee. I am more of a latte kind of guy but are interested in trying new things.

At the market they had a live band playing outside, they were really good.

We then continued walking, making our way down to Gravity Cafe. We decided to go in and get a cold beverage. As we entered we noticed that there was a group inside Gravity playing instruments and singing. They to were really good.

 

We ordered an Iced Chai Tea Latte and a Iced Dolce. Both drinks were really good. This was the first time my wife had ever had an iced chai tea latte. She loved it. We sat out on the patio and did some people watching. It was a beautiful night down in Inglewood.

The next Inglewood Night Market is August 12/16. Make sure you come down and check it out.