RESTAURANT REVIEW: CHARCUT Roast House

I can't believe it took me so long to finally eat at this gem of a restaurant - CHARCUT Roast House (899 Centre St SW, Calgary, AB - connected to Hotel Le Germain). CHARCUT is run by co-owners/co-chefs Connie DeSousa and John Jackson. Connie DeSousa brings a spotlight of fame as she was a runner-up finalist on the first season of Top Chef Canada and a judge on the third season as well! John Jackson brings in a variety of experience from New York to San Francisco to Europe and even Bora Bora! I had heard of so many wonderful things of CHARCUT and was so excited to indulge in this unique culinary experience!

My visit to CHARCUT was during the lunch hour. The restaurant was packed when we arrived for our 1230pm reservation - a good sign! CHARCUT prides itself for its creative "CHARCUT Lunch All At Once" menu option which promises that you will be in and out within 45 minutes. So we opted for this, picking from the following 2 choices:

1. The daily sandwich on focaccia served with kitchen pickles, parmesan fries, the daily soup with crostini and a bag of delicious warm cookies to end the meal. ($15)

2. The daily rotisserie served with garlic, parmesan fries, mixed greens with its house vinaigrette and a bag of warm cookies AND coffee to go. ($25)

I figured whatever option I chose, I would come back again next time for the other option. It was a slightly colder day so I was really craving some soup. So option #1(shown below) it was! The food came out fairly quickly - around 15 to 20 minutes if I recall. The tomato soup was the perfect amount of creamy - mm mm heaven. I went for the parmesan fries right away because who could resist digging into crispy PARMESAN covered fries?! Now let me tell you about the star of the show - the roasted pork loin sandwich. The servings of meat were plentiful - smothered in cheese and fantastic sauces. The first bite I took was unbelievable, and same with the last bite. The meat was tender and scrumptious. It actually took me awhile to finish this beast of a sandwich - I did not expect it to be so big! Needless to say, I was stuffed to the gills and couldn't even get started on the warm chocolate chip cookies that were still left on my board. But of course, CHARCUT has thought this through. Because the cookies were served in a to-go bag with the cute CHARCUT pig logo on it, fastened with a pig paperclip! 

I ate the cookies later at home that night, warmed them right up in the microwave and they tasted so good. Made me definitely want to come back for dessert and try the rotisserie as well! Overall, I was seriously impressed with CHARCUT and am actually ashamed of myself for not eating at this restaurant earlier. Props to Connie and John for this well accomplished establishment. It's only 2 blocks away from work so I'll definitely be back very soon!