The Cultural Centre Restaurant opened four months ago in the lower level of the blue-pagoda building in Chinatown. It’s run by the same people who own U & Me Restaurant and the MBA BBQ Noodle House.
I’ve been there for lunch which left me less than impressed, and then I went back for a hot pot dinner which was great.
The lunch buffet ($10.95) is advertised as between 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on weekdays, but when we arrived at about 11:15, we were told the buffet would not be ready for another 45 minutes. Not wanting to heave two babies plus car seats back up the stairs (we found out later there’s an elevator), we sat down and ordered a few dim sum dishes.
We checked off what we wanted off a paper menu so that they’re made fresh to order. This was both good and bad.
The piping hot shrimp dumplings ($4.08) and rice roll with BBQ pork ($4.78) were extremely fresh but they took a long time. Another dish never arrived, despite me asking three different servers over a span of 90 minutes.
By the time the buffet finally opened, it was swarmed by several Chinese seniors making it a new Olympic sport to heave as much food as possible into Styrofoam takeout containers. If Chinese seniors are afoot, you know there’s a bargain to be had.
The buffet featured more than a dozen frequently replenished dishes which is always a good sign. I loved the crispy salt and pepper squid. The rest of it was pretty standard sweet and sour pork/Singapore noodles type fare.
A few days later, I returned for the all-you-can-eat hot pot ($18.95). Chinese hot pot is basically a broth that simmers at your table on a gas burner. Everyone cooks meat, seafood, and vegetables together in that pot. It’s a particularly enjoyable meal in large groups, which is why there were so many families with kids around us.
We could pick two broth flavours out of half a dozen. None of us could read Chinese so we got the waiter to recite the options. We picked a satay soup and a parsley/thousand year duck egg soup. To be honest, I never think it makes a difference because by the end of the night, both soups taste similar.
The hot pot buffet was quite impressive in both quality and quantity. The raw ingredients were clearly labelled in Chinese and English. There was thinly sliced beef, lamb, chicken and pork, as well as a lot of seafood such as oysters, mussels, shrimp, squid and fish balls. Three different kinds of mushrooms, various Chinese greens and noodles were also available.
Everything was very, very fresh. Some hot pot buffets are terrible because the meat is dried out and has been sitting out for who knows how long.
There’s also a table of condiments for you to make up your dipping sauce. This is based on your personal preference. I like to make a bowl of soy sauce, satay sauce, green onions, and XO hot sauce.
The hot pot buffet comes with your drink choice of pop, sugar cane juice or sour plum juice (酸梅汤).
Sour plum juice is a popular accompaniment to hot pot. I’m not sure why. The juice is smoky, sour and sweet. Jason hated it. I don’t normally like it on its own but I drained my glass while eating hot pot.
The Cultural Centre Restaurant also offers a regular dinner menu. A table close to us ordered regular dishes and those looked very good.
Cultural Centre Restaurant, 197 First St. S.W., Calgary, (403) 457-0072. Open weekdays 10 a.m.-11 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
Baby notes
Room for strollers: Yes
High chairs: Plastic white ones available.
Kids menu: No
Ambiance: Lots of noise, lights, TVs and fish tanks to distract kids. We had two babies melt down at our table and no one blinked.
Access: Elevator access through cultural centre entrance, otherwise you’re carrying everything up/down the stairs from the restaurant entrance.
As the name of my blog suggests, I will pretty much eat anything.
I’m partial to meats but will suffer fruits and vegetables.
I dedicate this to people who love to eat, and find art in their meals. If this blog piques your interest at least once, then I’m happy as a goldfish that eats til it explodes. 
Andree, a group of 7 of us tried the hotpot tonight and we were very impressed! We got four broths: Satay, chile, cilantro, and some sort of Chinese medicinal herbs one. I stuck to the spicy ones- we had two pots and they served both spicy broths in one pot and the non-spicy ones in the other. None of us had had any experience with hot pot except for me at Treasures of China way back when I first moved to Calgary in 2000 so we were all pretty much flying blind, but it worked out fantastically. The sour plum juice was indeed a revelation- very odd but it paired great.
There wasn’t much I didn’t love as to “fillings” but konyaku was not too appealing. The beef was just melting, the shrimp and mushroom dumplings scrumptious, and I really like how lettuce cooked down. The place was PACKED and the energy very jovial. A great night! Thanks for letting us know about it!
John: Makes me happy to hear you enjoyed it. Is the whole point of why I blog.
I would say this place has the best AYCE hotpot in Calgary…
Hot pot was nothing special. Service was very poor. Our empty plates kept piling up so we had to bring them to the waitress. She never came by to refill our drinks or take our plates away. We declined to leave a tip but left an explanation to the cashier. The cashier yelled out to the manager that we did not leave a tip. The manager told us to leave and not come back!!!
That’s awful!!
TODAY SEP.21/2011,EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME AND MY FRIEND.THE CASHIRE ASKED FOR A TIP.AND HE ASKED US TO FIND ANOTHER PLACE OF WE DONT PAY THE TIP.
ISTN IT VIOLATING MY RIGHTS. OR ISNT IT DESCRIMINATION?
WHY YOU GO THEERE? THER ARE PLANTY OF CHINESE DIM SUM PLACES AROUND THE CITY.TRY U AND ME.
Dear Peter, Please stop yelling. Thanks.
You better stop yelling.Peter is correct.I went only once to this garbage place.This manager/cashier treated me just like an enemy.I told him that I dont like his attitude. Then he said he hates his attitude too. He was like an evil.No smile.I paid 10% tip. He said he needs 15%.How the hell he decide the % of the tip .It is up to the customer. And the tip is optional.Peter is correct. We pay for the food.If they give us a good service then we are happy.Then we pay a tip.But he can not force for a tip.IDIOT.
Hi all, Disparaging comments about other commenters are not allowed here. And for those who had a bad experience at the Cultural Centre restaurant you are definitely entitled to share it. But just because others had a good experience doesn’t mean you can start personally attacking them.
IF YOU NOT WILLING TO GIVE THEM A TIP DONT GO THERE. THE CASHIER ASKED ME TO FIND ANOTHER PLACE IF I DO NOT PAY A TIP. VERY RUDE CUSTOMER SERVICE. WHY YOU PAY A TIP IF YOU PAY FOR FOOD. IT IS UP TO YOU.THEY CAN NOT FORCE IT.
My party of 10 and i just came back from this restaurant.
The food was good as always. However the customer service was horrid.
We had 4 people who joined us later on just for a drink they barely ate anything (even though it was all you can eat). As we were leaving we paid all of our bills. Our total tips came to about 30 dollars. At this point the manager was present and seemed displeased and was reluctant to finish our bill. He actually asked people from my party saying “You didn’t give us a good tip, its customary to tip more” I was flabbergasted. So i went and explained that half my party came later and didn’t even eat more than 5 or 6 pieces of anything. Not to mention having to walk up to the front every time we needed to get the attention of a waiter. The service was lacking as we sat half the time with empty glasses waiting for water. The sign outside advertises all you can eat hot pot $18, but it doesn’t say monday to thursday only.
Which the reply was a very snarky “Usually people tip 15-20%, you need to tip more”. As he poked the bill with his finger. How rude is that???? So i said fine here ill put another 20 on my debit for you.
So at this point i was thoroughly offended. Now to add insult to injury the same said manager who grabbed my debit card right out of my hand and swiped it behind the till didn’t give me my card back.
I will not recommend this restaurant to anyone ever.
Agree. This manager is the worst retaurent guy I ever have seen.
You never can see a smile on his face. He treats you as enemies.Dont know why.I requested a folk.He said if I am not used to sticks, better to find another place.What a rude customer service.
Good but not great. Service was good, food quality was fair to good. I still prefer Silver Dragon.