Cafe Koi

Cafe Koi recently launched a new Mediterranean Vegan/Vegetarian full service Brunch on weekends 9-2pm. The menu hosted by Roni's Kitchen.

The menu is fantastic and the food includes, rose jam, homemade vegan/non-vegan cheeses, unique entrees, and deliciously weekly desserts. Dishes are served with a blend of dips and sauces, with organic whole wheat pitas made with love and alive with flavour.

My personal favorite is the Shukshuka. A medley of vegetables served with either eggs or eggplants (kinda a cute coincidence) on a cast iron pot with a side salad or tabouli.

You know places where food is made with love. Calgary needs more places like this.

Delicious options for vegans, gluten free folks, vegetarians, meat eaters, and everything in between.

The Buddha Bowl is to die for!

Service is not the best... sometimes not the most attentive and cheerful servers, but never outright bad service.

It is a safe bet for a dinner outing.

The problem with Cafe Koi is that the food is inconsistent. One day it can be extremely good, the next pretty bland. I always double check what they put in the food because it seems to depend on who is cooking!
They do have a separate veggie menu, which is a plus in a city like Calgary that lacks veggie restaurants and vegan knowledge.

Cafe Koi offers a nice variety of rice bowls that are vegan. They are also very gluten-free friendly. Most of the bowls can be made gluten- free if requested. I love the way they cook their tofu. A great place to get fresh, hot vegan food.

I had a rice bowl with added tofu and it was good. It's a good place to take omnivores when you need somewhere to go for lunch downtown. It seemed like the only vegan things on the menu were rice bowls though, so don't expect much variety.

So here I am on another business trip. I thought I had all the veg places scoped out and noted ahead of time, but last night I did one more search before leaving the hotel. That's when I discovered Koi.

After 18.00 in Calgary, parking is free. Parking is one of my bigger annoyances with downtown establishments. The place was not busy, perhaps from being new. I was greeted by a very lovely young lady, did not catch her name. She brought to me a local pale ale, 'fog' something or another. It was good, I ordered a second one before I was through.

For the main course I chose a curry bowl, with a variety of fresh vegetables and topped with a few pieces of a flavorful, sauteed tofu. Having eaten curry in cities all over the world, I am a little bit jaded, perhaps spoiled. This dish did not rise to epic, world-class standing, but it was quite tasty anyway, with a unique, sweet/savory thing going on.

I will definitely go there again. And I am proud to be providing the first review on this fine place.