Banff part III

this is the greatest place. I could stay here for at least a week. The hikes are beautiful, fantastic and the setting itself is so spectacular.

We finished up our hike off of The five glacier trail and got some tea in lake Louise. There isn't much in Lake Louise but this little mall, some restaurants, gas station and hotels. We are glad we decided to stay in Banff. more and more we are appreciating our hotel, particularly for its location. When we need to run back for something, it's right there.

After returning to the hotel, we settled in for some reading, showers, laundry, etc. And at 6pm, headed out for dinner. Mom and I had already done about 8-10 miles so we weren't sure we wanted to walk up tunnel mountain (1.1m one way) for dinner, but the restaurant, Cilantro, sounded so good we decided what the heck. the road offers great views (but all of Banff does) and eventually there is no side walk so we had to single file along the bike lane until we reached the Buffalo Mountain Lodge. The menu for cilantro looked fantastic with wood fired pizzas, salads, burgers but then Mom noticed a sign that said, open Thurs, Fri and Sat only. We were so bummed and thought we'd try the restaurant in the lodge. Nothing on the menulooked good, the restaurant was almost empty and the prices were outlandish (these Canadians seem to think nothing of paying $38-40 for an entree at most of the restaurants--not just the super good ones. Well, maybe this is why all the restaurants are empty . . .).
So we walked back out to the road and gazed down the hill, took a deep breath and started down. I have a back up list of restaurant sin my pocket at all times (in case of emergencies like this. A girl cannot be caught without a known great restaurant otherwise someone might make her go to subway or something and then I'd miss a dining opportunity!!!). So, I consulted my two back ups: Maple Leaf Grille for traditional canadian food and Nourish, for non traditional veg.
On the way down the hill we contemplated what "traditional Canadian" food might be: beef, berries, wheat, fish were all we could think of. And, when we got to the restaurant (foot wearied and starving) we found that the menu consisted mostly of those ingredients with a huge emphasis on fish, but what really put us off was the smell when we entered the restaurant: it was like stinky fish. Not surprisingly, this restaurant was also empty. Nourish was now our final option. We could not find it. We walked up and down the street and were just about ready to abandon our search when I spied the name in tiny letters on a mini mall board. Inside, the cheezy mini mall was not impressive. The board said the restaurant was on the second floor. Most of the store fronts were empty on the 1st floor and on the second floor only one was doing business, Nourish. but we decided to give it a go.
We were very, very glad we did. Asha has evens aid this is the one place she'd like to eat again (now, if possible). The tiny restaurant had many 7 tables and one friendly, hippie-like waiter who we chatted amicably with about where he got his produce (his window herb box and Calgary), where he was from (Regina), his favorite restaurant there (Willow or 13th st. Bistro) and other important topics. The restaurant serves the food as it is done unless you request everything at once. we were fine with this and started with chips and strawberry pineapple salsa (the salsa was finely blended, tasted slightly sweet and could have been eaten like a soup). Fresh coconut was sprinkled on top. This looked pretty but didn't have much taste. Our second course was gazpacho, what mom ordered. it was fresh with lots of chopped veggies and fruits, slightly sweet and perhaps with some of the same flavors as the salsa. Third was my stuffed red pepper with so much stuff in the stuffing I can't even name it all, but there was cheese, blueberries, quinoa, spices and tomatoes and it was really fantastic. The pepper still had a bit of texture in it even though it was baked (I don't think it was roasted but forgot to ask), the fruits and veggies that filled it were distinct and flavorful. But the real winner was Asha's dish: her ravioli's were something else. They were mushroom with a lavender cream sauce. Sound a bit weird? it was fantastic and the three of us gobbled these down without speaking for several minutes, surprised and amazed and just how good each bite was.