Blink Restaurant & Bar

Blink is one of the best restaurants in Calgary. Always make a reservation as it is routinely full in the evening even on weeknights. The food is excellent and the portions aren’t too large. I really like taking my wife here — it’s a great «ladies restaurant», dark, romantic, busy but quiet, smallish portions, great food and a very good wine list. The mac n’ cheese at lunch is excellent. Highly recommend.

If you are in the downtown Calgary area and looking for one of the best meals possible, you have to check this place out. I have been here numerous times and have yet to have nothing short of an amazing meal. The menu changes with the availability of locale fair and the wait staff is always knowledgeable regarding menu choices. I haven’t figured out why they always ask if you have a reservation when there are plenty of seats available, however if you are in town for a short stay, be sure to reserve yourself a spot to ensure you get to experience one of the finest dining spots in Calgary.

I travel a fair bit to Calgary for business and was looking for a new restaurant to try after hitting all the top steak joints. I believe I have had my best Calgary Meal so far at Blink. I did not have one bite of my meal that I did not savour and enjoy. I will be back!

I brought an out of town business client to Blink because he was sick of chain restaurants while travelling and considers himself a bit of a «foodie». His request was to go to an independently owned restaurant with locally sourced offerings and a chef inspired menu. Having been here previously I knew this was the place for him. It doesn’t hurt that they have a fabulous location only steps away from some major hotels in downtown Calgary. He was pleased with my choice.
They have a fabulous wine list and even if you don’t want an entire bottle of wine, their glass selections are still fantastic and (being from the U.S.) he was happy to try some different, Canadian wine offerings.
The carpaccio and scallop starters were perfect. The carpaccio was melt in your mouth and the scallops were cooked to perfection. His main course of halibut was cooked beautifully and he loved the squash purée side. My steak was cooked to perfection, but was a bit fatty. Guess that is to be expected when you order a ribeye!
Our waiter was attentive, but not ‘in your face’ and was able to time the meal at our pace. The ambience was subdued and not overly loud allowing a normal conversation at the table considering the small space. it is essential to have reservations at this restaurant and parking is non-​existent.

Blink was crazy dope! Awesome drinks and even better food! The Foie Gras is the best I’ve ever had! Great atmosphere. .. will be back without a doubt.

Blink is still one of my favourite fine dining establishments in downtown Calgary. I can always count on delicious food, excellent service and a beautiful atmosphere.
This time, I started with a tomato bisque soup which was nicely balanced with notable tomato acidity which was a lot of fun. My tagliatelle with a poached egg, pancetta and Parmesan was perfect. To finish, I had a peach Melba which was very refreshing.
I’ll be back, soon :)

App: Seared scallops & roasted pork belly, butternut squash purée w/​course mustard and flakes of fried squash chips. They were spectacular on their own but these ingredients all in one bite… studded velvet richness beyond compare. Nothing crazy inventive but done VERY well.
Entrée: 1yr aged risotto with wild & cultivated mushrooms, boschetto. And here’s where I go a little Guarnaschelli on the chef: Did it «need» 6 different kinds of mushrooms? Did you cook them all together at the same time… as in, some were moist others dry, grainy and woody. The rice was cooked well, perfect seasoning and tasty cheese. However, if you’re going to charge $ 30 for rice, mushrooms, stock and herbs… get it right?!

Since their unhelpful online menu does not offer price guidance, I will: average prices are $ 22 for lunch entrees and $ 33 for dinner entrees.
Excellent food and service.
Had lunch and dinner here over a 2 day business trip.
Had the tomato & cheese salad + quiche for lunch and corn soup + halibut for dinner. All were great. Wine pairing recommendations also great.
Amazing free sparkling water that they create with their own system. Not overly carbonated and it tastes so good.
Service was professional, helpful, and efficient. We had only 45 minutes for lunch and told the host this on arrival. Server arrived immediately to help us order, kitchen got food out fast, and we enjoyed a great lunch and weren’t late to office.

Best food in Calgary, bar none!
The menu changes with the season to ensure its freshness, and being a bit of a foodie, I’ve become obsessed with their offerings.
I have yet to order a dish that I haven’t fallen in love with.
Highly, highly recommended.

This place is ridiculous… ridiculously amazing, super, fantastic, phenomenal — need I go on?!? I enjoyed one of the BEST meals of my life… I wanted to lick the plate, but knew it wasn’t appropriate at such a classy place! The restaurant’s atmosphere is perfect… comfortable, classy and relaxing. The service is top notch — my server made me feel very welcome and was very charming. Now, the food… I ordered the duck with cherry and green beans. I ate every last bite and wished that there was more to eat. You must visit Blink… you won’t be disappointed!

5 stars for the bartender. Looks like a real bro who cares about important things like hockey and the quality of coffee at Tim Hortons. True Canadian brah. Food, service, cocktails on point but this guy’s fucking amazing.

Came here for Taste 2015, and had a great experience. Service was spot on, and the food was excellent. I wouldn’t say the prepared menu for the event was the greatest out of what was presented in their regular line up, but it was just enough to get me to want to come back. We definitely enjoyed this first experience and look forward to come back and have another night at Blink.

Really enjoyed our meal here, food was very well prepared and the flavors are clean and harmonious. Service was also very pleasant.

Blink is fabulously elegant, and one of my favorite restaurants in downtown Calgary whenever I’m jonesing for a ritzy dinner. This is an excellent choice for a special celebration date or a classy business lunch. Food is delish, but portions are small, so if you have a big appetite you might to choose somewhere that gives you more bang for your buck. However, if you’re all about taste and presentation, Blink won’t fail to satisfy. Staff is attentive but because of the venue, just borders on snooty but it’s tough to be warm while being intensely formal, so I give it a pass. Great place if you’re looking for something special!

Love this place! Great service, amazing high class food that is mostly local. The piña colada is delish! Pricey but worth it.

Just got back from dinner here and was quite impressed.
They had no tables free (reservations starting at 9pm if we wanted) so we opted for the bar. They offered us our drinks and brought some bread and butter. It didn’t take too long for food to arrive.
We had the cheddar soufflé to start (shared) and then he had the goose, I had the tenderloin.
Both dishes and our appetizer were absolutely delicious. My only criticism was that they were a touch heavy-​handed with the salt on the root vegetables. Our bartender-​server was pleasant and the place wasn’t overly loud, nor pretentious. It’s definitely a classy place, somewhere I’d recommend for an anniversary or other special occasion. It isn’t cheap, but it’s definitely delicious.
My only complaint, and it’s actually pretty off-​putting is that we were charged $ 4 for water. Still water. I asked for tap water. I have no idea if that’s what we got or not, but who the hell charges for water?!
Anyway — aside from that (which is enough to actually make me re-​think going back since that seems like a sleezy cash-​grab), it was a good experience.

I love local food, but I am on a budget. I decided to check out Blink to be fancy for lunch now a couple times. First I’ll say the food I’ve had there is DELICIOUS. The atmosphere is upscale, but welcoming and the service is lovely.
So, should be five stars, yeah? Okay, maybe I am cheap but the prices were a bit outrageous for me. The menu doesn’t state what is local or not, so I don’t know if I am paying the «indie tax» (which I am fine with if explained to me) or not. My quiche was delicious, but small-​ish and $ 17.00. I ordered sparkling water and for a small bottle they charged me $ 7.50! For water! I was shocked. Because I’m on a budget, I cannot go back. But if I made more money, I’d probably check them out more often.

So delicious! The wines are reasonably priced too!
We shared a bottle of red and the seared sea scallops, grilled squid and pork lardons and the braised lamb shoulder.
Both of us left full but rushed, when we arrived the server told us we could be out by 7:40 for our show but the lamb arrived at 7:40. So sadly we had to eat and run! But it won’t stop me from going back! Such an interesting space, it looks tiny from the outside but like a Tardis it’s bigger on the inside!

After reading a lot of the reviews I thought for sure Blink would have 5 stars in the bag. i’d have to say it was a little underwhelming. I love the ambiance, it’s a great place for a date or fancier dinner while still being trendy!
The food was amazing, the portions were a little small but the food was definitely good. The wine itself was ⁶⁄₅ stars, it was so delicious and I loved sitting near the wine rack! Server was great, and I actually don’t really have any complaints other than the fact that it was a little pricy. That being said Blink is missing a «wow» factor. I don’t know what it is, I can’t in fact put my finger on it but it’s missing something. And that something is keeping me from giving Blink a 5 star review!

I went here for the Open Table Taste of Calgary whatever whatever. It was a 3 course set menu that spoiled me forever and bumped me up a dining bracket.
We brought our own wine. Corkage was $ 15 and well worth it although their wine list looked good too.
To start I had a soufflé that words cannot describe. It was so light and fluffy I didn’t believe it was egg at first. It feels like your eating mouse almost.
Then excellent fresh bread and butter, and the risotto WOW!!! Since eating theirs I have eaten 12 others, and tried to make my own 4 times now. Nothing compares. Nothing is even worthy to be on the same table as what they made. It was truly a work of art. I wish I could cook ¹⁄₆ that good. It was so flavorful.
Then dessert came. I completely forget what it was (6 months later finally writing this review) all I know is I liked it a lot at the time.
The atmosphere is romantic, modern, and has this excellent vibe to the place.
The service… oh the service… I’ve eaten at a lot of places in Calgary. From $ 5 burgers to $ 250 a plate 5 star restaurants on the bow. None have matched that of the service at blink. I think that is where the name comes from because every time I would blink my wine would be refilled along with my water. Our server was a ninja. She just glided in without disrupting our conversation and took such excellent care of our table. I felt like Royalty!
Now we have moved to San Francisco, but next time we are in Calgary and looking for a celebratory meal this is where we are going.