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Yes, I know this post is kind of late, but here’s my pick of the top five places that I ate at in 2008. I’ve eaten at a lot of places around this city looking back on this last year, which is probably why I am trying to go on a diet now to recoup for my “gain”. This list isn’t necessarily ordered in any way, I could almost think of these five places as equals in most regards. All photography provided by the Medicine Hat Restaurants website.
1. Pho Dao Vietnamese Noodle House
Pho Dao is a very fresh and very fast Vietnamese-style restaurant. It’s not your typical Americanized Chinese restaurant, the food here seems very authentic, or at least different from some of the other restaurants in the city. It’s also very fast, sometimes me and my girlfriend get our food within minutes, way faster than any fast food place. The dishes consist of many different types of noodles with different combinations. Other traditional dishes are also available and combo meals, consisting of rice, pork, chicken, shrimp, vegetables and other things. Their spring/meat rolls are some of the most tastiest I’ve ever had. My favourite pick from Pho Dao is Combo #4: Steamed vegetables, rice, charbroiled pork & chicken, wonton soup and spring rolls.
Pho Dao - Spring Rolls
2. Thai Orchid Room
Thai Orchid Room is a very nice place to eat and could definitely be considered fine dinning. They have many beautiful dishes most of which are on the pricier side but it’s definitely worth it. The food is truly an authentic Thai experience with a very large menu consisting of curries, stir-frys, vegetable dishes, noodles, rice, soups and salads. My girlfriend loves it because of all the different curry meals you can get (one of the only places in town for good curry), but I love some of the other stir-fry meals as well. They are definately a little different than what you are used to, especially if you get some of the hotter (spicy) dishes.
Thai Orchid Rom - Green Curry Pork
HotTubX-Press.com just came out with a new website showcasing their huge selection of hot tubs. They also offer a line of tanning beds, saunas and gazebos, and if that was not enough, they are also the exclusive dealer in Medicine Hat for Softubs.
Behind the website and in the store is the owner, Eldon Wells; a well-known name in Medicine Hat, and a friendly guy to boot. If you are looking for a hot tub, sauna, tanning bed or gazebo, be sure to check out Hot Tub X-Press, their collection of over twenty different kinds of tubs alone sets them above the crowd.
1027 South Railway St. SE
Website no longer online.
EverythingEco Logo
*Updated*
EverythingEco is no longer Medicine Hat based – they now are based out of Calgary; however, that shouldn’t stop locals from ordering from the site.
EverythingEco is a Medicine Hat based shopping website dedicated to selling environmentally friendly items. They have a large variety of manufacturers and items. You can shop for anything from sweet recycle-made handbags to natural cleaning and body products. I’m a big fan of the Haversack bags made from recycled inner bike tubes and seat-belts.
Stephen & Kim Platt are two dedicated eco-friendly people that manage and stock the site personally. They even write some articles and eco-friendly tips on the site from time to time. The best part about EverythingEco is they deliver within the Medicine Hat area for free!
I think the site and service is a really good idea, especially here in Medicine Hat since there isn’t many stores like this in Medicine Hat. I think a lot of people in Medicine Hat are too traditional and behind in the times in terms of internet and internet-based purchases. Hopefully more online stores like this start popping up in Medicine Hat so people will begin to come to embrace the internet and home/community/personal/local businesses like EverythingEco.
My Favourite - The Haversack Bag (Photo by Stephen Platt)
Supposedly sales were down everywhere this holiday season; however, I did not see any evidence of this myself in Medicine hat. I made the stupid mistake of going to get a few items from Superstore on the day before Christmas Eve… how stupid of me. There was literally no parking spots, I should of taken that as a warning. You know how you often wonder why there is such large parking lots outside of stores when they are normally only half full at maximum anyways? Apparently they are just for the few days before and after Christmas. I entered the mosh-pit-like environment as soon as I stepped through the doors. This place was packed and the line ups were half way down the aisles themselves. This wasn’t an isolated incident either, supposedly the malls were packed and Walmart… well I won’t even begin to imagine what that place would be like. Supposedly this situation doubled itself on Boxing Day where shoppers were reported to have spent 10 hours waiting overnight in line outside Visions to get a new TV in one case.
Imagery via blogtalkradio.com
I did notice the sales though, Boxing Day is no longer a day, and now not even a week, in some cases in a few weeks or full month of sales. And normally the deals aren’t that great either, but this year 75%-90% off signs were littered everywhere. And these sales even started before Boxing Day, they started weeks before Christmas in some cases. For example, the Medicine Hat Mall had two Moonlight Madness events this year. Obviously this is a marketing tactic to get people to buy at Christmas in the wake of the Canadian recession. I think it probably worked on some level locally in Medicine Hat, but I think overall, we are a little too dramatic about the recession thing in Medicine Hat and other smaller towns. I cant wager a guess at what will happen next year though, depending how much deeper we have dug ourselves. Business’s have been reporting that they did just as well last year in terms sales (on Boxing Day), and maybe even better.
Ken Gousseau, Medicine Hat News Reporter, has reported about this here.
The Medicine Hat Mall is having another Moonlight Madness tonight starting at 6:00PM and lasting until 11:00PM. It seems like there is a lot more sales this time, not only that, but also the quality of the sales seem a lot better too… or atleast I think so. Continue reading to see the complete list of savings and deals that will be switching off and on every 15 minutes over the five hour period. There is also some night-wide deals going on as well located at the bottom of the list. The list has been provided by the Medicine Hat Mall insert posted inside today’s edition of the Medicine Hat News.
Last night, at midnight, the Medicine Hat Kinsmen Auction (Kinsmen Club of Medicine Hat) opened bidding on their online auction site. Already it has picked up some steam with many registered members and tons of active bids. This year there is a huge selection of items ranging anywhere from home hardware, automotive, and even technology. To give you an example of some of the generous donations this year, 4 separate pool tables were donated to the cause each retailing from $3500 to $6000!
Kinsmen Auction Header
The donations are all made by local businesses and stores all over Medicine Hat – places like Ideal Jewelery, Jackson Dodge, Moxie’s, Cactus RV, Sterling Trailers, Ultimate Spas, Ralph’s Texas Bar & Steakhouse and that’s just to name a very random few. Other items include digital cameras, a XBOX 360, tons of gift cards and gift baskets, free rooms at lodges/hotels, watches, collectibles, and tons more. Maybe it’s just best if you check it out for yourself…
The auction will officially close at various times from 8:00PM to 8:30PM on Sunday, December 7th.
From their website:
“The Kinsmen Club is an all-Canadian service organization made up of active community volunteers. Working together, we enhance the quality of life in the community by promoting service, fellowship, positive values and national pride.”
*UPDATE* View the 2009 Moonlight Madness article
The sister event of the “Downtown Midnight Madness” is starting tonight at 6PM and lasting until 11PM (moonlight). Basically every 15 minutes a set group of stores will be each having unique deals. There is also a contest to win $250 worth of mall bucks or a $260 Portrait Study from Sears Portrait Studio. You can enter the contest at Customer Service; however, you physically have to be there at 11PM to win the prizes. As well as the 15 minute specials going on there is also a couple stores also doing all-night specials. Continue reading for a complete list of deals.
It has been a few weeks now since the new Super Walmart opened in Medicine Hat, but is it a welcome change?
As the new Super Walmart was opened, the pre-existing Walmart was closed. The new store boasts a complete grocery section and many expanded departments such as electronics, clothing, home decor, and more. McDonalds and Tim Hortons restaurants are also included in the new Supercenter. The grand opening featured over $15,000 in donations to local charities and singing of the Canadian National Anthem before the ribbon was cut to officially open the store. One would think Walmart is a caring corporation and a welcome addition to Medicine Hat, but what do the citizens think? And how does Walmart maintain such low prices?
Walmart Logo. Image courtesy of Walmart.
While overhearing many people at work discussing the new store, most people seemed to have mixed feelings about what the store had to offer, but mostly they all agreed on the same thing: that the store, overall, was a nuisance. It seems that it is too big for most people to relish shopping at (despite the new Canadian Tire and current Superstore being of a comparable size overall). The concrete floor is a main dislike for people. Lineups are another common criticism. Apparently, much of the time the Interact machines do not work, which are not depicted before entering the checkout lanes, resulting in people just leaving the groceries and the store.
The only good thing it seems is the parking issue. In the previous Walmart, to get out of the store, you would have to often times drive in front of the building doors, where many pedestrians emerged from before walking across the road to get to their vehicles. Now there is a more spacious parking lot and two entrances and exits between the main facade.
With www.walmart.com’s title saying: “Save money. Live Better” and the yellow smiley face flying around television commercials knocking prices down, one might wonder: How do they get the prices so low?
Perkins Restaurant & Bakery is located at 2301 Trans Canada Way in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
The staff overall is attentive, greeting customers almost immediately as they walk in the door and seem ready to sit down. Drinks are brought out promptly, and usually refilled regularly. Food is prepared excellently every time I have been there and cautionary warnings given by the servers when something is quite hot to the touch. Followups by the servers are given often, asking how the food is and offerings of dessert are a norm when the meal is finished.
Medicine Hat Perkins facade. Image courtesy of Gobraemar.
The restaurant boasts a large selection of menu items, along with the ability to pick and choose certain items for customers to choose selectively or add to other meals. Breakfast, lunch and dinner specials are also offered for discounted prices if ordered within specific time frames. All kids meals are served with a free drink and free cookie, while seniors (55+ in age) are offered discounted prices for their meals.
Despite being primarily targetted towards family and older crowds, it is overall a nice quiet place to dine in for anyone.
http://www.perkinsrestaurants.com/
If you are into comics, graphic novels, action figures, board games or card games you probably already know about ComicReaders on Dunmore Road. You may not know; however, about the events that take place on a weekly basis. So if you are into, or want to get into either Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40,000 or Heroclix here’s the information to get your geek on! New players are welcomed and even encouraged!
ComicReaders - #105 1501 Dunmore Road, Medicine Hat
Magic: The Gathering
Friday Night Magic! 5:00PM until around 8:00PM. I personally go to this one often, as I have been in to Magic: The Gathering since in my early teens (off and on addiction). Magic: The Gathering is the most successful and longest running collectible card game (circa 1993) of all time.
http://www.wizards.com/magic/
HeroClix
The lesser known of the three games, HeroClix happens from 12:00PM (noon) until around 3:30PM. HeroClix is a collectible miniature or figure game in which players battle each other, turn-based on a gridded play mat.
http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/
Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K)
This one happens on Sunday from 12:00PM to 5:00pm. Players are encouraged to bring their armies and their paints. Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature game where players not only battle each other using hand painted miniatures but players may also purchase of craft themselves, terrain and land pieces. Recently, a successful MMORPG PC video game was released with the same name.
http://ca.games-workshop.com/
ComicReaders
#105 1501 Dunmore Road SE
403-528-9474
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