13 can't-miss Big Taste Calgary menus under $30

Feb 23 2018, 4:33 am

It’s almost time for one of YYC’s most delicious festivals to kick off, so you better get your eating pants out.

The Big Taste 2018 takes place from March 2 to 11 and features over 90 restaurants offering affordable lunch, dinner, and gourmet menus. Whether it’s a tasting menu or a buffet you’re after, this event is bound to have the perfect foodie occasion for you.

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Here are 13 can’t-miss menus under $30 to try during The Big Taste this year.

Añejo Restaurant – Lunch $18, Dinner $28

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This year Anejo’s all about choice. The 17th Avenue eatery offers two options for every course in both their lunch and dinner menus. Expect offerings like the house-made guac, tacos, and pork enchiladas.

Ricardos Hideaway – Dinner $28

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Expect a three-course Carribean feast including cheese empanada with citrus agave vinegar, spicy jerk chicken with rice and beans, housemade Barbadian pickles, and orange rum glazed yeast doughnut filled with el dorado rum pastry cream.

Ox Bar De Tapas – Dinner $28

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This spot is offering a serious spread for the festival this year. Patrons will enjoy marinated olives, imported Spanish serrano ham, pan con tomate, and walnut stuffed dates wrapped in Serrano with pomegranate molasses – and that’s just the starter. For the second course, try the salt cod and potato cakes along with mushroom montadito. The third and final course is a casual hanger steak with salsa verde.

Vintage Chophouse – Lunch $28

Enjoy a meal at this legendary steakhouse that won’t break the bank. Start with a beef brisket taco and the move on to an 8 oz C.A.B striploin steak sandwich with béarnaise, then finish with a bourbon bread pudding with blood orange ice cream.

Alforno Bakery & Cafe – Lunch $18, Dinner $28

Lunch at this spot includes butternut squash veloute, spaghetti bolognese, and a double chocolate chip cookie, while the dinner menu boasts Caprese salad, chicken cacciatore, and buttermilk pannacotta to finish.

Charbar – Lunch $18, Dinner $28

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Lunch at Charbar boasts a menu including the diner’s choice of market salad, beef fat fries, or soup, and a main of traditional Argentine empanadas and a warm brownie with fiasco gelato soft serve to finish. Dinner here includes an Asado beef steak and beef fat fries as a side.

Vendome Cafe – Dinner $28

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This charming Kensington spot offers a dinner menu featuring fresh tomato purée soup with pistachio gremolata or kale salad with mango mint green apple salsa, along with either crispy Baja fish tacos or sticky ginger pork ribs. Finish all this off with either tiramisu or warm peach cobbler.

Deane House – Lunch $18

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Start with a charred carrot salad as a starter, then it’s the diner’s choice of either maple pork sausage or a poached egg, braised beans, and winter greens before the dessert course of a Highwood Crossing oat and dark chocolate cookie. While wine pairings are an extra cost, this spot recommends one for each course as an option.

Belle Southern Kitchen + Bar – Lunch $18, Dinner $28

Hush puppies and smoked meat sandwiches are at the centre of this spot’s lunch menu, while the dinner offers the Pitmasters Feast (a good warm-up for the deep-fried banana split that’s offered for dessert).

Shokunin – Lunch $18, Dinner $28

Lunch here consists of a two-piece seasonal Ocean Wise nigiri, either Shokunin or miso ramen, and matcha gelato to finish. Dinner features the Shokunin Bento Box, Sukiyaki Beef or Chicken, and flourless chocolate cake with black tea caramel for dessert.

The Guild – Lunch $28

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The Guild’s got a lunch menu featuring the diner’s choice of either a turkey pastrami sandwich, merchant’s sausage, or liver and onions. To finish you’ll get a hearty helping of carrot cake.

Avec Bistro – Lunch $18

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Enjoy a stellar lunch at this French bistro in YYC. The menu includes the diner’s choice of roasted beet salad whipped goat cheese or parsnip and apple soup, a salumi burger or roasted Atlantic salmon mushroom risotto, and a dessert of dark chocolate espresso mousse chantilly cream.

Bridgette Bar – Lunch $18


Enjoy a lunch with multiple options at Bridgette Bar. This menu includes the diner’s choice of either ember-roasted sweet potato or winter squash & apple salad, wood roasted walleye or gnochetti pasta, and to finish this restaurant’s intriguing creation of beeramisu.

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