Naina's Kitchen

I was looking for something close to the apartment we rented for a somewhat quick meal, but have it hearty enough because it was going to be a late lunch after driving from Canmore.  I found Naina's Kitchen after doing some Googling, and Yelping.  And no I didn't decide to come here because it was on an episode of You Gotta Eat Here.  To be honest, I have gone to some of the restaurants that have been on the show, but I found that it wasn't really worth it.  Makes me wonder if some of the restaurants just pay the show so they can be featured.

We arrived at Naina's kitchen on a Friday, while it wasn't filled, it was quite busy.  We ordered a mac and cheese grilled cheese and a ramen stuffed burger.  If you know my hubby, if there's fried chicken or any sort of ramen, he will order that.  I realized after we placed our order this was not going to be a quick meal.  Here, they specialize in stuffed burgers.  Stuffed anything takes longer to cook through.  Which made me wonder, do people in Calgary have really lax lunch breaks?  I saw many people dressed in business attire who stayed a very long time for lunch.

As expected, it took a while for the burger to cook. We were getting so hungry!  Finally the food arrive and we dug in.  My mac and cheese grilled cheese was exactly how you would imagine it.  A thick slab of mac and cheese put in between 2 slices of bread and put on the flat top.  Carb overload!  It was cheesy enough, but a bit bland (even for me!), so I dipped it in ketchup.  I chose a caesar salad as my side instead of fries because didn't want carbs, carbs, and more carbs!  Although I have to admit I ate some of the hubby's fries.  The salad was fresh romaine lettuce, with homemade croutons and real bacon pieces.  Dressing I think was bought and not made in house.

Mac and Cheese & Caesar Salad

Hubby's ramen burger was exactly what you would expect.  A burger patty stuff with ramen in it.  It had ramen flavour, I'm sure ramen powder packet was added into either the burger meat or the ramen noodles was tossed with it.  What was disappointing was that the burger meat was dry.  Most likely had to do with how long the burger had to be cooked for in order to make sure everything was cooked through.  Maybe they could freeze some ramen stock and stuff it inside with the noodles to keep some sort of moisture?  I have to say though, the fries were pretty good, good portion and were fresh cut.

Ramen Burger & Fries

Ramen Burger Insides

I'm not sure I would come back here again, tried it once, understand the novelty of these kinds of burgers, but it's just novelty.  I think I would prefer a regular good old fashioned burger any day.

Naina's Kitchen
121 17 Ave. SE,
Calgary, AB
T2G 1H3

Phone:  (403) 263-6355

Hours:  Monday - Saturday 1100a - 1100p
             Sunday 1100a - 800p

http://nainaskitchen.com

The Grilled Cheese

Grilled cheese, such a simple food, but so delicious.  The very first version of grilled cheese that I could remember was made with 2 slices of white Wonder bread, and a slice of Kraft singles cheese.  Kraft singles cheese is the easiest to make grilled cheese with because it takes little to no heat to actually melt it.

This little sandwich shop in Kensington Market does things a little bit fancier, no Kraft singles on the menu anywhere.  I was actually overwhelmed by the choices available, so I asked the the guy that worked there what he would recommend.  He suggested the Grilled Motzy.  The Grilled Motzy had boccacini, sun dried tomato, basil pesto, mixed greens and vinaigrette sandwiched between 2 slices of toasted/grilled bread.  I should have stuck to ordering a classic version of whatever I want to try.  I'm sure this sandwich tastes great to some people, but it was horrible for me.  Boccacini did not add any flavour to the sandwich at all because it doesn't really have any flavour to begin with.  The vinaigrette with the combination of the sun dried tomato was overpowering, making it too sweet and sour.  There will not be a next time for this particular sandwich.  The grilled cheese came with a pickle that was pretty tasty, and pre fab chips from a bag that I didn't bother trying.

Grilled Motzy

The Grilled Cheese
66 Nassau St.
Toronto, ON
M5T 1M5

Hours:  Monday - Wednesday 11am - 9pm
             Thursday - Saturday 11am - 10pm
             Sunday 11am - 8pm

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Grilled-Cheese/189651112424

Uncle Betty's

The name of this place sounds weird.  Uncle Betty.  Usually Betty is a female name isn't it?  This wasn't the only reason why this restaurant caught my eye.  They also make their own donuts!  However, this time I went for a visit, wasn't for the donuts.  Last time my friend went, she brought me back a donut to try.  It was pretty good.  Taste and texture reminded me of those Tiny Tom donuts that my parents used to buy for me and my sister at the CNE.

For my own visit, I didn't feel anything donut related.  That crossed off Uncle Betty's version of the eggs benedict.  Instead of an English muffin bottom, they use one of their home made donuts.  My pick ended up to be Breakfast in a Bowl, which is essentially a breakfast poutine.  Fries topped with eggs, country gravy, cheese and bacon or sausage.  Nothing too special.  Found the country gravy a little bland and the egg whites slightly overcooked.  Hubby ordered a "grilled cheese", which had meatloaf, and mac n' cheese and a side of sweet potato fries.  The idea is awesome!  The meatloaf was pretty tasty, but the mac n'cheese was bland and on the dry side.

Overall, very cute place, great atmosphere, and worth a visit if you're in the area anyways.

Breakfast in a Bowl

Grilled Cheese

Uncle Betty's
2590 Yonge St.,
Toronto, ON M4p 2J3
(416) 483-2590

Summer Hours:
Monday - Friday 9:30am - 9pm
Saturday & Sunday 8:30am - 9pm

Fall/Winter Hours:
Monday - Wednesday 10am - 8pm
Thursday & Friday 9:30am - 9pm
Saturday 8:30am - 9pm
Sunday 8:30am - 8pm