I think it has seven restaurants plus numerous bars. Our room wasn't ready when we arrived at 11:30 so we walked to the downtown area. It was about fifteen minutes and we found Banff Ave Brewing. There was a restaurant called The Lodge which was next door and they served their beers. They had a great looking menu. We shared a beet salad and also a Detroit Style Pizza called The Gatherer.
The beet salad was the best one I have ever had. Three kinds of beets (red, yellow and pink) which were on top of a deliciously tart yogurt sauce with feta. But what made it great was the crispy kale. It was just the right accompaniment to the beets. Gave the salad some crunch and texture.
The pizza was also very good. How can you go wrong with mushroom ragu and parmesan cream? Such a great combination. And the crust was similar to focaccia. Doughy and pillowy at the same time. And the bottom crust and the corners had some wonderful crispy cheese bits. I had only had Detroit style pizza one other time and it was from Pizza Hut. I'll guess that this one was more authentic.
After lunch we walked around the downtown area and found the hotel we'll be staying in on Tuesday night. We also found the office where we will check in on Tuesday for the next part of this adventure. No spoilers. We also found the Three Bears Brewery and tried a couple of their beers. We got a text that our room was ready so we walked back to the hotel and found our room. They had upgraded us to a mountain view room!!
We then got ready to head to the pool they have both an indoor and outdoor pool. The outdoor one is heated to 32°!! I imagine it is nice on chilly evenings.
We then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. We were eating at the Waldhaus tonight which is one of the hotel restaurants. This had a Swiss/German style menu. It reminded me of when we were in Zurich last year.
We weren't exactly sure how to get there so we took the hotel shuttle - actually a golf cart. We ordered a cheese fondue to share and both ordered the veal schnitzel. The cheese fondue was so tasty, especially with the Emmental cheese. It was served with bread cubes, granny Smith apple wedges, baby onions and gherkins.
The schnitzel was well breaded and fried, although a bit too dry. It was served with a lemon wedge, warm German potato salad and braised red cabbage. It also came with a delicious traditional mushroom gravy. The sauce really made a difference once you had squeezed some lemon on top and then dipped the schnitzel in the gravy.
After dinner we headed to the Waldhaus Pub which was downstairs. We tried the Okanagan cider and a Rodenbach Sour.
Both very good. We had a really nice conversation with the bartender Joe. He is from the Netherlands and came to Banff about 32 years ago. He had some great stories. We then headed back to the hotel up about 100 steps!! Maybe next time, we'll take the shuttle back.
Tomorrow we have an eight hour excursion to visit Lake Louise and the ice fields. It is a small group excursion of a maximum of fifteen people. We'll be picked up by 9:30 AM.
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