This is my first ever dedicated restaurant post… and oh boy did they earn the right. Four Two Nine Six goes down as one of the absolute best dining experiences I’ve ever had. The service was impeccable, the vibe was amazing, and the food was out of this world DELICIOUS. Proceed with caution: you’re gonna wanna book a trip to Canmore after this read.
We recently visited some friends in Calgary, who got married in Canmore and had Four Two Nine Six do the food for their wedding. Pretty high praise! We were lucky in that they had planned ahead and secured us a table at the restaurant so that we got to try it for ourselves.
Immediately upon walking in, I loved the vibe in the restaurant – classy and intimate without feeling uptight or stuffy. There were lovely little touches too, like hot towels and feature drinks. I will also say that the pricing was extremely reasonable. It is very rare to find dining this fine at this price range. They also have an impressive amount of vegetarian and vegan options at all times.
We ordered a decent list of items from the menu and I would recommend each and every one. The level of care that goes into each dish is incredible. I was floored with the presentation of all of them, and the balance of flavour and textures. I legitimately almost cried more than once!
The menu is seasonal however, so I will share exactly what we had to eat, but if you’re planning a visit don’t bank on seeing the same items. You can check out their current menu here.
Drinks:
Watermelon Crush:
Plantation white rum, watermelon juice, hibiscus syrup, lime, serrano, mint.
I loved this! I like fruity and fresh drinks, so this was right up my alley. 9/10.
Snacks:
Bread & Butter: baked to order le fournil baguette, rotating butter.
No pics (we deleted it pretty fast). 9/10.
Small:
Brûlée Halloumi: pineapple, house made gunpowder, fenugreek, fried curry leaf, Indian tonic cream, crispy seasoned moong dal & aloo bhujia (potato).
Grilled pineapple is a weakness of mine! The saltiness of the halloumi paired so well with the sweet fruit. 9/10.
Crispy Eggs: yuzu kosho aioli, truffled “caviar”, hawaiian black salt.
A very unique dish that was a burst of excitement! Salty, creamy, and crispy. 9.5/10.
Pork Belly Candy: crispy twice cooked pork belly, char siu, scallion, poprocks mandarin, sichuan chili.
This one had me tearing up. Nothing has ever been more perfect. 100000/10.
Medium:
Peach Buratta: fresh mozzarella & cream, fresh peach, white peach balsamic vinegar, cayenne olive oil, house infused vanilla-chamomile maple syrup, baked to order le fournil half baguette, black salt, gold.
Came with bread to soak up the juices – a lovely refreshing yet rich plate. 8.5/10.
Tuna Tartare: ahi tuna, elderflower pickled daikon, bell pepper, japanese melon, chive, serrano, kewpie, sesame, yuzu pearl, aonori-wonton, elderflower & japanese melon ponzu.
Super bright and full of flavour. Never got boring! I was blown away by the presentation here… this would have taken so long to prep. WOW! 8/10.
Large:
Huli Huli “Chicken”:
Huli huli fried “chicken”, toasted coconut rice, hawaiian macaroni salad, sour lime-pineapple, scallion, pickled carrot & radish, nori, crispy garlic & shallot, toasted macadamia nut, garlic aioli, serrano.
My pic doesn’t do this one justice. It also came with rice, little wraps, sauces, veggies, etc to build your own bite. Each element came together perfectly! I still remember how the little pickled carrots added just that little bit more to make it so impressively balanced. 10/10.
Dessert:
Caramel & Chocolate Verrine: valrhona carmelia chocolate mousse, valrhona milk chocolate ganache, espresso caramel, espresso, feuilletine, smoked sea salt, toasted macadamia nut.
My personal fav – the picture doesn’t show it well but this was a layered treat with a range of textures that had me scraping the bottom of the vase. 9.5/10.
Raspberry Patch: raspberry whip, valrhona raspberry chocolate, raspberry jam, fresh raspberry, sour raspberry, textures of raspberry, lime gel, vanilla cookie, mint, matcha.
This is a real show-stopper! Brilliantly bright flavour, only reason it’s a 7 is I’m not a huge fan of creamy desserts. It was Ty’s fav though! 7/10.
Banana-Biscoff Cheesecake: valrhona caramilk & cornflake dipped banana-biscoff cheesecake, caramel pearl, brûlée banana, banana-rum whip, toffee liqueur-vanilla bean cream.
The carmelized bananas were a dream come true. Such a fun plate! 8/10.
And that’s a wrap! We finished the meal completely stuffed, having had 9 sharing plates between the 4 of us. The portions are almost like normal plates – not just teeny bites. So if you can, come with a group so you can try a bunch of things like we did!
I am already plotting my next trip out west so we can come back and visit Four Two Nine Six again. I love that the menu is seasonal so there will always be new stuff to try! And I would try anything that Chef Blake creates in a heartbeat.
If you guys are in the area, GO VISIT! You will thank me 🙂
