Winter is coming: you can feel it in the air and you can tell by all the extra layers you now have to pile on.
So, for our ongoing series #YYC5 on Global Calgary, we asked our viewers and social media followers to tell us where they like to go to get cold-weather comfort food.
Turns out, there are a number of restaurants and cafes in Calgary that can fill your belly while warming you up.
According to the mac and cheese lovers, Kensington’s Side Street Pub and Grill serves up a version of the pasta dish that’s made with a blend of three kinds of cheese and bacon.
Chicken pot pie was another popular comfort food go-to, and many of you suggested Calgary-based Good Earth to get it. Instead of the traditional pie crust, this one is topped with herbed puff pastry, adding a little “class” to the classic.
Some of you told us a nice, warm sandwich is what brings you comfort on a chilly day, and it seems Empire Provisions is the spot to grab one. The southwest Calgary café & deli piles cheese, more cheese and then even more cheese onto sourdough bread for a truly gooey, cheesy sandwich. Or, you can kick it up a notch and try the chicken parmigiana sandwich, which puts the comforting Italian pasta dish in a ciabatta bun!
If soup is more your style, you’re not alone. Noodle King Vietnamese in the northeast offers 25 different bowls of steaming, scrumptious soup and many of you suggested the sate soup in particular. That mixes chicken, beef or seafood — your choice — in a broth with coconut milk and peanuts, creating one big bowl of creamy comfort.
If you still haven’t warmed up to any of these great cold-weather comfort food ideas, there’s a place on Edmonton Trail that serves up a warm bowl of wor wonton soup that may be just for you.
It’s called King’s, and it’s where many told us they’ve been heading for years to fight off the cold and feed the soul.
WATCH: Global Calgary’s community reporter Deb Matejicka taste tests some of the new food available at the 2018 Calgary Stampede.
“People love it because the bowl of soup is consistent,” Christina Lee, King’s owner, said. “It brings them comfort when they’re not feeling well. When they’ve had a little bit of self-indulgence, the soup seems to be the cure.”
For more than 38 years, King’s has been serving up the soup made famous by Lee’s father, who she calls a true foodie at heart.
“He didn’t even know how to flip an egg, but he had a passion for food,” Lee said.
That passion translated into what King’s is known for, an oversized, piping hot bowl of soup loaded with veggies, noodles and of course, wontons.
Though the restaurant has moved from its original Barlow Trail location, Lee says, the soup has not changed and is created with the exact same ingredients as always.
“It’s made with love.”