ABC Restaurant Calgary, AB - new management, great soupy noodles and for the brave.. chitterlings!

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*Update* Review was done back in Jan 2014.. as of July 2014, this restaurant is under new management, so hopefully the food remains just as tasty.. will have to try it out again soon and let you know!


Baby its cold outside and with the Christmas holidays close to a year away now, and spring doesn’t look like it’ll pop its head out anytime soon… and hibernation isn’t an option (I checked with my boss – not amused!)... I turn to comfort food.  And when I’m in Calgary, I’m so glad my Aunt led me to this place after she asked me if I wanted to go for soupy noodles in a scratch broth.  And no, she didn’t have to ask me twice!

This ABC restaurant has been around for a while, and changed management a while back.  The old school bakery and shelving is gone, but otherwise it looks like another hole in the wall most people can walk by and not take a second notice.  Well, they’re missing out.  In this little hole in the wall in Calgary’s Chinatown, you can dig into delicious noodles swimming in scratch made broths and add as many add-in’s as you desire.  Each bowl of noodle soup comes with your choice of 5 different types of noodles, 9 soup bases slowly simmered all day, and 2 items out of 20 toppings you want to top your noodles with (additional toppings are $2 each).  And the little snack menu… I’ll get to that in a sec.

Though I was really tempted to try their tom yum soup base, I gravitated towards the scratch original fish soup.  Fresh fish bones are first pan seared with ginger (and garlic?) before being made into an aromatic silky rich (and calcium rich) savory broth.  I had rice noodles, beef tongue and brisket with my order.  My aunt and uncle had very similar bowls of noodle soup to my choices (no pics as they were really blurry from the savory steam wafting off the bowls).

The fish broth was the star of the show, with al dent noodles that slowly absorb the broth as you eat it, sweet suey choy (think sweet white cabbage), and a generous mountain of diced green onions and cilantro adding to the unami yumminess. 

The brisket was tender, and beef tongue was a nice springy mouthfeel.  Next time I’m going to add in seafood items like cuttlefish balls and fish fillets. Soooo good!!  Nom!

Off the snack menu, we ordered the “Desert Wings with Ginger”.  Also known as “wind sand” wings, while quite small, these crispy chicken wings had a nice zing of ginger and a touch of the fermented sauce its traditionally made with that make them so addictive.  Wish they were a bit bigger though.

And for the super adventurous.. they had chitterlings here.  Yes, deep fried pork intestines.  Made right, they are crispy on the outside, and have a melt in your mouth butteriness on the inside.  And before you turn them down just because its not a part of the porker you normally eat – consider this: Its like popping  a crispy on the outside, super fatty juicey on the inside piece of bacon in your mouth. 

And these ones were executed well, with the tangy marinade it was brined? in subtley coming thru to cut thru the grease.  These are sooo bad for you, but so damn good!  I totally ignored the dipping sauce as these were yummy on their own.

So the next time you’re in Calgary’s Chinatown and want some delicious soupy noodles, or are adventurous to snack on the delicious deep fried chitterlings, head down to ABC!

ABC Restaurant

Address 112-3Ave, Calgary, AB

Hours Open daily for lunch and dinner

Phone (403) 266-2888

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