Dutch Pancakes and Moroccan Cuisine in Calgary

Pfanntastic Pannenkoek Haus
2439 54 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 243-7757

My cousin (whom I affectionately call Boohead) suggested going to this place after he saw it on "You Gotta Eat Here". Anytime someone mentions eating breakfast food, I'm always game. I was also overjoyed to hear that they were open for dinner on a Saturday evening. There's just something about eating breakfast for supper that makes it even more special to me! What's special about this restaurant is that they serve Dutch pancakes in both sweet and savoury flavours. Dutch pancakes are large and thin, with most ingredients incorporated right into the batter.

My goal upon arrival was to order one savoury pannenkoek as my main course and a sweet one to follow as dessert. My dining companions were doubtful that I could finish both myself and convinced me to share the sweet one with them. For my entree, I had the Spek, Paprika en Champignons ($10.95). It was a harmonious blend of bacon, red and green bell pepper, and mushrooms. Once the pannenkoek was cooked on one side, cheese was placed on top and the pancake was flipped over, the cheese melted and became a crispy coating.

savoury.crepe

I even tried my pancake with a few dollops of the Dutch syrup on our table. It ended up being a good contrast between the salty bacon and the sweetness of the syrup.

Crepe dressings - Maggi sauce and Dutch syrup!

After we polished off our savoury crepes, our Warm Kersen ($9.45) arrived. It was a sweet pannenkoek with warm cherries and icing sugar. There was a perfect amount of cherries and sauce for the pancake and having the fruit warmed up made it so enjoyable. I was actually stuffed after eating the savoury pancake and a third of the cherry pancake. In the end, I was glad I shared this with Boohead and Andrew, although it still won't stop me from wanting to order one of each in the future and taking my leftovers home.

dessert.crepe

The menu selection is fairly large, and with the possibility of building your own savoury and/or sweet panenkoek, the possibilities are endless! I've been told that another Dutch pancake restaurant is supposed to be opening in Edmonton any day now (De Dutch), so I look forward to the day I can have Dutch pancakes again. Until then, I long to go back to Calgary so that I can enjoy some more pannenkoek!

5/5

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Sultan's Tent
4-14 St SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 244-2333

I've had Moroccan food only twice in my life, and both times were in Calgary with my cousin Brenda. For my second Moroccan experience, we went to Sultan's Tent in Kensington.

Andrew and I had a late lunch on the way to Calgary, and this was an early supper, so we decided to forgo appetizers and order 3 entrees to share. We amicably agreed on two tagines and one couscous dish. We tried ordering dishes that had different flavours from each other. Everything is meant to be eaten with only hands here, so there is a special vat of water that is brought to the table to wash up prior to eating.

hand.washing

The first tagine that arrived at our table was the Beef Vegetable Tagine ($26.75) with spicy tomato sauce. Our server explained that it wasn't heat spicy, but instead had a flavourful blend of spices, which I agreed with.

beef.vegetable.tagine

The other tagine was the Lamb Tagine ($26.75) with lamb, dried apricots and plums, almonds, and honey. It was a tasty blend of savoury from the lamb with sweet from the dried fruit. Both tagines were served with a flatbread.

lamb.tagine

Lastly, we also had the Chicken Couscous ($25.50), which contained whole chicken pieces, and a variety of vegetables including carrots, cabbage, zucchini. It was very mild with the least amount of flavor/spice out of all of our dishes. There was unanimous agreement that lamb tagine was the best because of how much we enjoyed the sweet sauce and how it enhanced the flavor of the lamb. Between the three of us, we weren't able to eat everything. We could have had a fourth person helping us out that night!

chicken.couscous

It didn't really occur to me until my visit to Sultan's Tent that at nearly all of the restaurants I visit these days, the serving staff is fairly young. It came as a surprise to me to see almost all of the waitstaff here were middle-aged and beyond (with the exception of a high school-aged busperson). There were some instances at the beginning of our night that made me question the service. The hostess seemed confused that we had reservations, was unable to find our booking, and came back to us several times to ask us the name and phone number on the booking. Our server also appeared confused by our requests for water and when we accepted her offer of explaining the menu to us. Fortunately, the service did get better and more efficient throughout the night.

table.at.sultan's.tent

There is a colorful ambiance at the Sultan's Tent. Each table is in its own semi-private booth curtained by Moroccan fabrics. They're closed Mondays and Tuesdays and they're open only for dinner starting at 5 PM. Reservations are recommended. This is another Calgary restaurant I will have to put on my list of places to visit when I'm there next. I've tried to find a Moroccan place in Edmonton, but have had no luck. Please let me know if you know of any!

4/5