2005-07-10 - Calgary Sun
By: Kathleen Robinson

Cactus Club Cafe: Too Delicious For Words

The only thorny question you’ll face at the Cactus Club Cafe is this:
Just how many ways are there to say “Mmmh?”


The only thorny question you’ll face at the Cactus Club Cafe is this: Just how many ways are there to say “Mmmh?”
When you sit down at the table, the napkins are printed with the words, “The food you are about to wipe off your face is of the finest quality,” and they’re not lying.

It’s a funky place, sort of an uneasy cross between a Ginza coffee bar and a Neopolitan bordello circa 1850. It’s all black and sleek and modern, mixed with dark wood and dominated by neon and a giant oil painting of a voluptuous naked woman in repose.

The tunes range from Dean Martin to Duran Duran ... not as jarring as you’d think.

I opened with Jerk Chicken Chowder ($5.50). Elegantly presented, the flavours blended subtly and with growing heat.

Ian went for the Crab Dip ($9), which arrived surrounded by a generous portion of multi-coloured corn chips. The dip was a combination of pollock — which Ian didn’t mind because the restaurant is up front enough to mention it on the menu — snow crab, artichokes, cream cheese and salsa, served warm, the quantity generous enough that he couldn’t finish it.

He went on to a 7-oz. Blackened Creole Steak ($18). It is rubbed generously with spices and served with spicy creole butter, garlic mashed potatoes and green beans.

He looked dubiously at the beans. To his mind, most places serve them “soft enough for the toothless patrons of the old -age home.” But these were crisp with a satisfying snap.

His rare steak “didn’t bleed all over the place like a murder victim” on the first cut, which means they let it rest before serving it to let the meat re-absorb the juices, something that always makes him happy. So did the flavour.

I opted for the Ranch Steak Fajitas ($15). It had generous quantities of everything you need plus broccoli and carrots ... a little weird but it works ... served on a hot skillet.

The beef had some serious kick. When fajitas are bad, there’s lots to say about them. When they’re great, as these were, you’re too busy eating to talk about them.

There are an extensive array of drink specials and the martinis — as befits a place that plays so much Dido — are always doubles.