The King Eddy: Inside Calgary's historic restaurant

The King Eddy is one of the coolest live music venues in Calgary.

Located inside what was the second oldest hotel, bar, and restaurant in Calgary (The King Edward Hotel), this spot for brunch, lunch, and dinner has a great mix of modern vibes and old-school decor.

This hotel was established in 1905, and the team here is keeping it alive with a fantastic (and underrated) food menu and tons of live music events.

It’s hands-down one of the coolest and best dining experiences in YYC.

Drawing inspiration from the cultural backgrounds of the cooks here, the menu is represented by elevated comfort foods from all over the world.

The beer, whisky cocktails, and food here is best enjoyed during a live show.

Dished recently had the opportunity to check out the East Village restaurant, try out a few of the global dishes, and listen to some tunes from the stage.

We went in for both the brunch menu and the lunch/dinner menu.

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For brunch, we had the buttermilk pancakes (three fluffy pancakes, blueberry compote, whipped cream, warm maple syrup, and a side of seasonal fruit), the spicy frittata (Spanish chorizo, pickled red onion, jalapeños, spinach, eggs, aged cheddar cheese, and salsa fresca), and the Hangover (two eggs any style, crispy bacon, maple breakfast sausage, smashed potatoes, an aged cheddar biscuit, and seasonal fruit).

Dished Calgary

For lunch, we aimed to get as many different types of different food dishes as we could. At The King Eddy, that’s pretty easy to do. It’s deciding what to leave off the order list that’s the hardest part.

For mains, we tried the homemade lemongrass chicken spring rolls served with chili sauce, the sausage and peppers pizza topped with caramelized onion, roasted mushrooms, marinara sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese, and the Thai crunch salad, made with red and Napa cabbage, carrots, cucumber, red peppers, edamame beans, pea shoots, green onion, crispy marinated tofu, and a creamy peanut dressing.

The hit at the table was the Korean BBQ platter, which came with grilled bulgogi marinated beef, spicy kimchi, steamed jasmine rice, papaya slaw, and gochujang aioli. It was served with warm flour tortillas and/or lettuce wraps, and you build your own however you like it.

Dished Calgary

Dished Calgary

The food was great, and we feel like we barely scratched the surface. We also had several cocktails, most of which are original creations with a whisky focus, like the whisky sour that uses Cointreau or the elevated shaft made with cold coffee, Baileys, Kahlua, and Spicebox Chocolate Whisky.

The next time you’re feeling like trying some amazing food and listening to some of the best local music around, check out this spot.

The King Eddy

Address: 438 9th Avenue SE, Calgary

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