Jean K.'s Profile

This is not going to be top of the line sushi but as a neighborhood joint, it's pretty good.  I would go so far as to say it's better than most neighborhood sushi places in SF.

Stuff we ordered that I particularly liked:
- Isobe
- Spider Roll
- Toro Sashimi
- Soft Shell Crab Tempura Roll
- Beef Udon
- Pear (dessert)
- Mochi Ice (dessert)

I was really shocked about how fairly priced the toro was considering it's such a rare delicacy.  Then I found out that the reason it's so cheap (in general and not specific to this restaurant) is that they "farm" the tuna.  So that's why it's not very expensive and may not taste as special as you imagined.

Our total was only $240 for 5 people (including tax + tip), which included much more food than I listed above and also beer/wine.  Not bad for good sushi.

Kicking Horse is one of my favorite mountains so far.  Even though there wasn't much fresh snow, the runs are still a lot of fun.  Super challenging with lots of places where you can cut your own path.  

While we were there we did lots of runs off the top Golden Eagle Express and Stairway to Heaven.  For both, you can traverse along the ridge then ski down the side of the mountain to join up with the main piste.  By traversing along the ridge you can get away from most people and find lots of powder pockets.  The areas are New Glading (off Golden Eagle Express and Stairway to Heaven) and Feuz Bowl (off Stairway to Heaven).  There are some trees and in places it can get steep, but it's pretty manageable.  You can also try the runs on the other side of CPR Ridge which don't have trees but are steep with rocks and cornices.  The traverses do get really skied out and you should be advanced at traversing or you might them a little hairy (lots of bumps, ice, narrow track).

If you choose to go down under Golden Eagle Express you'll end up with lots of moguls (some very big) from the halfway point.  It can make for some really thigh burners.  

If you want to take a break from moguls, you should stick to just riding the Stairway to Heaven lift.  The Yurt at the bottom is also a nice place to have lunch - either inside or outside.

We were here for 3 days and I really enjoyed it.  I'm not sure the mountain is big enough to warrant an entire week.

It was also nice to be able to stay at a "ski in/ski out" cabin.  You can rent cabins in the area of the "The Aspens" on the piste map.  We had to walk 200 yds to get to the slopes but could ski back practically to our doorstep just off the green trail.  It was also within walking distance of the main lodge.

Ambiance is like the poor(er) person's version of Anthropologie.  Very much in the same girly, ruffly, flouncy style.  

Everything looks great in the window but when I start browsing and look closer that's where it all ends.  The clothes all look bright and colorful, but not that interesting (at least for me) and not that well constructed.  It's the poorer version of Anthropologie in every sense.

However, the prices are very reasonable and if you find something you like it will feel like a steal.  

Do note that the shop is crammed full of clothes so you will have to really hunt for stuff.  It's always popular with moms with big strollers who like to leave them in the very small aisles.  Have a lot of patience and good humor on hand even when they give you dirty looks for saying excuse me and maneuvering around them.

Standard pan-European/pan-American a little bit of everything fare.  Nothing too special or worth returning for.  Except for the patio in the back.  Which is pretty nice to sit in.  I suggest you minimize your food spending while enjoying the open air.

It's difficult for me to really love Lake Louise resort because I only skied there half a day and there wasn't any fresh snow.  We mostly did runs on the front and back off the Top of the World express.  It was okay.  We didn't try the Summit Platter because it's torture to boarders.

Kicking Horse resort is pretty new and there aren't many evening dining options yet.  If you want to expand beyond mediocre grills and overpriced restaurants I highly recommend descending into the town.  Despite the fact that the town is small, it does have some pretty good places to eat including the Whitetooth Bistro.

The Whitetooth Bistro appears to be a pretty nice but casual restaurant.  Most patrons are dressed in aprés ski gear.  But do not be fooled.  This place serves up pretty good food.  Way above standards for most resorts and attached towns and on par with a decent neighborhood restaurant in any big city.  You can tell they take care in creating interesting dishes and local takes on classics (like elk cassoulet).  This is a true hidden gem in Kicking Horse and worth coming down the mountain or even stopping by on your way to somewhere else.  You won't regret it.

More info: http://www.whitetoothb.../

For some reason in Banff a lot of the pubs are located above street level.  You can see the sign while walking by but you can't actually see the place.  As someone who likes to see what a place looks like before venturing inside, this made it difficult to choose a place to eat for lunch.  Eventually for hunger reasons we decided to check out The Elk & Oarsman.

Well, I was very pleasantly surprised to walk up the stairs and find myself in a very cozy pub with wood beams and rustic chalet decor.  It was late for lunch so the place was pretty empty and the service was prompt.

There's really nothing special about the food here.  Just standard bar fare.  The best part were the Irish/Jamaican and assorted other fancy coffees. They really hit the spot and weren't very expensive - around $5 each.

Revelstoke is a pretty small town and being a resort as well the restaurants here pretty much go from cheap eats (think fluorescent lighting) to nice restaurants with very little in between.  There are a few casual restaurants but even then the prices will be on the high side, usually starting at $15 for standard Cheesecake Factory type fair.  

We weren't really feeling the menu at the casual places so thought we'd roll the dice at the sushi place.  I know, sushi in the middle of the mountains?  Although the sushi was just average, I was really impressed by the soups they make here.  Not just your usual miso soup but really interesting home made soups with lots of flavor.  It was unlike anything I've had before at a Japanese restaurant.  Who knows? Maybe it's not even Japanese!  But it was good.

The sushi was enough to keep us happy.  Even with 3 guys, our group of 5 only paid a total of CAD 155 including tax, tip and beer.

Although the Revelstoke Mountain Resort may be new, people have been heli and cat skiing here for a while.  So it's no surprise that I found the resort to be completely unimpressive.  We didn't want to spring for any heli or cat skiing when it hadn't snowed all week so my thoughts are soley based on skiing the resort.  I did hear from other skiers that the heli and cat skiing here is amazing when there's powder.

Despite what the wikipedia article says, this resort is not very big.  You can easily ski the entire mountain in a couple of days then run out of things to do.  Unless you have fresh snow, half the front of the resort will be very hard and icy and you will pretty much want to avoid going all the way down to the day lodge.  This will limit your terrain to the upper half of the front (basically anything within reach of The Stoke quad) and the back bowl.  Although the runs from the top of The Stoke are labeled as black diamonds they're just steep and not technically difficult.  The back bowl is all easy blues except for the run right under the lift, Denver Dollars, which is all moguls all the way down.  It's labeled a blue and it's not steep, but it is a lot of work.

There are more difficult runs off the ridges, these are not easy to get to.  In the back bowl you will have to hike up to the ridge from The Stoke quad then you'll have to hike back out at the bottom.  And don't think you'll be the only one on the mountain because everyone hikes up to do this run due to the general lack of easy accessible runs that are interesting.

Although you can also go off piste into the trees, this is not the easiest place to do this.  The trees can get very tight.  I went with a group of what I consider to be expert skiers and we had to traverse out a couple of places.  Other skiers had to hike out in places.

My favorite run is off The Stoke quad then off to the right with a slight traverse before dropping into the trees (Vertigo and Separate Reality Glades).  When you hit the Ripper Connector you can choose to go back to the front or continue on through the trees to the back bowl.  This drop is steep through the trees with moguls.  You have to really know how to pick your path or it's going to be very slow progress.  The run off The Stoke into the trees (Clyde's Secret Glades) is also pretty good as well as quiet.

So unless there's fresh powder or you're willing to to a lot of hiking, there isn't that much skiable terrain.

As for the resort itself.  The "village" at the bottom is wishful thinking.  There are condos there but no actual village.  A small lobby contains the lift ticket office, ski rentals, and 2 bathrooms (1 men stall and 1 women stall).  There are no shops or food here yet.  A few small tables in the lobby.  Not even a souvenir shop.  The parking lot is still a mud lot.  I've never been anywhere that's been so overhyped.

The Day Lodge is slightly better.  The cafeteria here is very nice with big windows.  There's a small souvenir shop.  This is pretty much where everyone comes for lunch as there is no where else to get lunch on the mountain.

At the top of Kill the Banker gondola there's a warming hut (and I mean hut) where about a dozen people can fit for lunch as long as they pack their own lunch.  They don't sell food here.

As of last season (2008-09) there were no bathrooms above the Day Lodge on either the front or back bowl.  Despite the bathroom symbols they show on the trail map there were no bathroom at the top of Kill the Banker gondola or The Stoke quad.  You basically had to ski down the mountain (or ride the gondola as we chose to do) to the Day Lodge.  Don't bother with the extra ride down to the "village" as they only have 2 stalls.

When I asked around Revelstoke (the town) the future of the resort was uncertain.  I guess they've been having a tough time making money so I'm not sure how long it will take them to expand and build up the resort.  Also the locals were not on good terms with the resort group.  Apparently the resort group were not hiring the locals for any of the work and being really stingy with the licensing the name and logo.  I got the feeling they were not well liked in town.

The town is probably the best thing about the resort. The actually village of Revelstoke is very nice with restaurants, bars and anything else you could need aprés ski.

I would probably only consider coming back if they made major upgrades to the resort or if I wanted to go heli/cat skiing.

A group of people from work came here to celebrate the end of a big project, and as such we got to try many things on the menu - both food and wine.  

Food:

- oysters: what's not to like about oysters?  These are from Point Reyes and they're only $1 at happy hour and not skimpy.

- chevre stuffed peppadew peppers: good and not expensive ($4)

- beef sliders: big for sliders but not that great, prob would not order this again

- spicy albacore tuna rolls: good enough to order another round but too expensive for me to get again if I were paying.

- calamari: meh, nothing special

- cheese fondue: surprisingly fun and yummy.  would consider getting this again.

- lamb meatballs: meh

The wines by the glass are pricey but I felt like the flights were a good deal.  It's not like napa flights, these are hefty half glasses.  I wasn't very impressed with the wine selection though.  Definitely caters to American tastes - lots of chardonnay like whites and big reds.  I would have liked something a little more adventurous.

I would say I really enjoyed myself but if I came back and had to pay myself, I probably wouldn't think it was quite so great.  In fact the only reason to come back here is for the happy hour oysters.

Midweek it's not very crowded so if you actually live in the city you should try going out during the week instead of hanging with with the weekenders.  It's much more pleasant.