Soup! Either served hot or cold, soup is a liquid bowl of comfort food that puts a smile on your face, a smile on your lips, and can help melt away a stressful day. Not only is soup good for the soul, it’s good for our bodies too. Soups are generally low in calories, hydrating, and packed full of vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Back-to-school means back to cold and flu season, and nothing feels better when we’re congested than leaning over a steamy bowl of comforting soup. Plus, there are so many different varieties of soups, it’s hard to get bored! Soups can come in chowders, bisques, consommés, broths, gumbo, pho, gazpachos, and more.
\n \nWhether you’re looking for a “souper” dining experience, a bowl of hot take-out, or a container of soup to make at home, look no further. Here are some of Calgary’s best bowls to try this autumn:
\nGolden Bell Vietnamese Restaurant
\nSatay Peanut Noodle Beef Soup (Spicy) – This is the best bowl of Vietnamese soup that I have ever had. The aromatic, rich peanut broth is a flavor explosion, which makes this an extremely addictive bowl of soup (and high in protein). The noodles were delicious, perfectly cooked, and made this bowl very filling. This bowl is a meal in and of itself!
\nThe recipe for the Satay Peanut Noodle Beef Soup is “Grandma’s” recipe, which she created over two decades ago. It has never changed, and her daughter and granddaughter (who now run Golden Bell) take pride in keeping it authentic and true to its roots. They claim that the secret ingredient in this soup is the chili oil that goes into the broth, which is still made by Grandma to this day. Although they won’t share the remainder of the ingredients, they claim that consistency is the key in making this dish so special.
\nBut, most importantly, this soup carries the story of their grandmother’s culinary journey.
\nGolden Bell has been a family-run business in Calgary for over 20 years, with three locations: Bridgeland, 17 Avenue SW, and Richmond; all available for dine-in, pick-up, or delivery.
\nPrimal Soup Co.
\nWith 50 varieties of delicious soups to choose from (30 to 35 frozen varieties at any given time, as some are seasonal), you are sure to find something that will satisfy your soup craving at Primal Soup Co. Their secret to having everything taste fresh and homemade? They make their soups in small batches, not big kettles. One of my personal favorites is their Italian Wedding Soup! This hearty soup contains onions, garlic, celery, fennel seed, gluten-free Italian sausage meatballs, fire-roasted red peppers, fire-roasted tomatoes, spinach, seasoning (a secret), basmati rice, chicken stock, veggie stock, and sherry. This is another soup capable of being a meal, in and of itself, as it’s chock-full of delicious ingredients, but also would be wonderfully paired alongside some garlic bread so you can “scarpetta” up all of the soup left in your bowl. It’s the perfect marriage of meatballs and vegetables. And, don’t forget Italian Wedding Soup is supposed to bring good luck to newlyweds!
\nPrimal Soup Co. has two locations: Primal Grounds Cafe located at 5255 Richmond Road SW, and one in Fresh and Local Market (formerly the Avenida Food Hall), at either of which you can sit down and enjoy a steaming bowl of fresh soup (or buy a frozen container to make at home at your convenience).
\nStock and Sauce
\nStock and Sauce was started over 20 years ago by two moms who poured love into every bowl. They also attest to the fact that their food tastes better by being done slowly in small batches. They do not use any soup base; all of their soups are made from broths, and they use as much local product as possible. They use fresh herbs for seasoning, as opposed to using salt, which helps keep their soups flavorful and healthy. One of their best selling soups is their Thai Chicken, but I absolutely love their Wild Mushroom. The Wild Mushroom soup has a cream base that is not heavy at all, and it’s super flavorful. It’s comprised of nice big chunks of seven different wild mushrooms (including yellow boletes, oyster, portobello, and porcinis), and the end result is a wonderful, nutty, buttery wild mushroom soup that you just can’t get enough of. They also have a rocking Clam Chowder loaded with clams, bacon, potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery. It’s not easy to find Clam Chowder in this city; let alone one that you can take home and put on the stove to serve to your family like it's homemade!
\nStock and Sauce is located in each of the two Calgary Farmers’ Markets (south and west), and you can also order from them online. To serve alongside your soup, I highly recommend picking up a bag of tortilla chips with their Southwestern Fiesta Dip to add a little bit of zip and flare to your dinner!
\nThai Sa-On
\nCraving the essence of Thai flavors? Thai food is a harmony of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy taste combinations. The ingredients in the Tom Kha Gai soup concentrate on the sweet component of Thai cuisine. Tom Kha Gai in English means “boiled chicken soup.” The translation does not do this soup justice, however, with its delicious ingredients of coconut milk, chicken, galangal (similar to ginger), lemongrass, bird’s eye chili peppers, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, and Shimeji mushrooms. And nobody does Tom Kha Gai soup better than Thai Sa-On. Even though you can order to-go or delivery from Thai Sa-On, I highly recommend taking the family out for dinner to dine-in. The service here is extremely warm and friendly, and if you’re lucky enough to catch the owner, Patcharin Smith, she will surely charm and amuse you with her witty personality and fun stories. Don’t forget to balance the flavors of your Tom Kha Gai soup with a spicy Thai dish. My recommendation? The Crying Tiger pan-seared beef and some coconut rice!
\nThai Sa-On is located at 351 10 Avenue SW, Calgary.
\nHeritage Bakery & Deli
\nCare for some borscht, anyone? Heritage Bakery & Deli has been owned by the same family since 1985. It started out as strictly a bakery, and then in the 1990s, they started turning out perogies, cabbage rolls, sausage, and, you guessed it, good ol’ Ukrainian borscht. Their family’s vegetarian (and vegan) recipe of Ukrainian borscht has been in the family for years, and contains beets, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onion, kidney beans, dill, and tomato. This unique and plentiful blend of vegetables is what makes Heritage Bakery & Deli’s borscht stand out from all of the rest. The bright red color makes it aesthetically pleasing, and the final addition of the dill makes this borscht very refreshing. When warming up this borscht at home, be sure to do so slowly at a low heat to ensure you keep this beautiful, vibrant color. Complete your Ukrainian family feast by picking up some of their perogies (they carry ten different flavors – and I highly recommend the sauerkraut and mushroom!), cabbage rolls, and sausage.
\nHeritage Bakery & Deli is located at 1912 37 Street SW, Calgary.
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Jennifer is a local foodie with a passion for food writing. Find more of her food writing on her Facebook page: For The Love of Food YYC
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