Muse Restaurant and Lounge

We booked last minute on a Saturday night for the mushroom and truffle tasting menu. These guys bought a $ 5100 White Alba Truffle and they know how to use it. Despite several bumps in our evening with inconsistent plating and gritty mushrooms, everything was perfectly cooked and seasoned (even the salad). The service was excellent as were the wine pairings.
Definitely a special occasion restaurant.

was there several times, for romantic dates, and birthdays. Every time the menu is amazing, done to perfection. The best was the french toast foigrah ontop of a mid-​rare tenderloin and pine nuts with brussel sprouts.

We went to Muse for their 12^th birthday tasting menu special 8 courses for the price of 5. As soon as we arrived we were greeted at the door and our server took us to a corner seat on the upper floor the décor is interesting and I would never guess the place could seat 150 people. We both ordered the 8 course chefs tasting menu which had a layout of starter, appetizer, foie gras, ocean course, land course, cheese course, dessert course and a chocolate course. The thing I found interesting was that most of the courses were on the menu so think of it as more of a menu tasting. So I will quickly go over what I got and my thoughts on it.
Amuse-​pumpkin purée soup with coconut milk encapsulation, jalapeño and some kind of fine chopped herbs: The purée was smooth seasoned well and was a good touch for the fall season. The coconut encap was cold and a little bit sweet it added a nice touch to the dish and the small jalapeño slice forces you to reach for water and I thought was not needed.
Starter– 2 hour cured hamachi with Dijon and picked watermelon also some kind of micro greens: the course tasted felt like gourmet sushi where the seasoning was incredible the mustard added a bit of tang to the dish and the pickled watermelon was good.
Appetizer– pan seared quail with truffle vinaigrette some kind of smooth creamy sauce, mushrooms with a green sauce the details of this dish I could not really hear because our waiter rushed through the explanation: tastes like best chicken wings ever all the components add to the dish the presentation was great and it was one of my favorites.
Foie gras: foie gras mousse with almond powder, jelly, micro greens: way to much foie gras it was rich and creamy and served with some incredible bread the almond powder added lightness to the dish and the jelly was nice the micro greens were just there as a garnish not really adding much to the flavor.
Ocean course– hay smoked sturgeon with celeriac purée, fingerling potatoes, salt baked celery and lemon gell: this course was great the sturgeon had good flavor the purée was nice and creamy the potatoes were okay but could be seasoned a bit more and the lemon gell was good for the fish. This course added value to the tasting menu and was memorable.
Land course– my least favorite it was lamb or pork belly with lamb ravioli, pearl unions, some kind of black sauce
and Dijon mustard: the protein was full of fat and my mom could not eat it. The ravioli was tasteless the black sauce I could not really understand and pearl unions and mustard were good would not order this again.
Pear and apple soda-​:)
Cheese course-​a French cheese with cherry purée different forms of apple: great cheese course everything was well thought out this was a really great cheese course with no disappointment.
Dessert course– lemon cake, meringue, lemon gell, crème fraich pie and some kind of crumble: this was an amazing lite citrus dessert with bold flavors it was also refreshing and flavorful.
Chocolate course– amazing it was consisted of so many types if chocolate the only complaint was the lemon chocolate ice cream sometimes tasted of alcohol which gave an unpleasant taste.
Overall it was great for 85 dollars on special it was worth it. Service was great new owners where great and social and the food was what I would expect from a $$$$ restaurant.
Service:10/10
Food:7/10
Décor:8/10
Overall:8/10
Great restaurant chef would recommend giving it a try. To be honest if you want better go to Teatro which is amazing but also more expensive at 135 $ per person.

If you want to go somewhere special to celebrate, go to Muse. Even when it is busy, the atmosphere is calm (i.e. no need to shout for your dining companion to hear you). The food is delicious AND beautiful. Each course is picture perfect. It’s like the chef made everything at exactly the perfect temperature with the perfect amount seasoning with the most perfect ingredients and it was whisked seconds later to your table. Prices are very reasonable considering the portion sizes, the taste of the food, the quality, the artistry in which it is presented. All my friends have been blown away by the food. My new motto, «Eat out less, but when you do eat out, make it count and eat at Muse!»

My husband and I went here for our 2^nd wedding anniversary and we were so impressed! Our waitress was so knowledgable and helped make recommendations! So glad she did as we loved everything she kept bringing out to us — such a great experience!

When I booked, I sent a little note to the restaurant about it being a special occasion. Where other restaurants have disappointed, Muse pleasantly surprised us!
Service:
We arrived and gave the host my reso name, he led us to a nice booth. Our server then brought over 2 glasses of complimentary champagne because it was a special occasion! Our server was great throughout the night. One of the owners came by and chatted, she was very hands on through our dining experience and we could tell she really cared.
Food:
The food here is wonderful, the new owners were smart to keep that popcorn because it is amazing. We had the oysters to start, and the pork and lamb dishes. They also boast a wonderful wine list. We were very satisfied!

Had an amazing dinner tonight. Our waitress, superb service! Loved her.
Ordered the hamachi, rabbit tortellini, pork confit and the lamb. Yummy.

Muse is my go-​to birthday dinner location, and believe me I always want to go somewhere special for my birthday dinner. One of the best things about Muse is that the menu changes with the seasons, and I think this provides a unique touch and a wonderful variety for any avid foodie.
As a pescetarian, they always have a wonderful nutritious veggie surprise for me if I want to vegetarian for the night. The truffle oil popcorn they give you is outstanding, and it’s really hard to limit myself in my ordering at Muse, mostly because everything is always so good.
Muse hits all of the right notes for me.

My husband and I chose Muse for a date night dinner based on all the very good reviews on Unilocal (we’re new to Calgary so we’re trying lots of new places). Honestly, we felt the food and experience was pretty ordinary with a veneer of being posh/​fancy.
The menu was limited and had very brief descriptions about each item, which allowed the servers to make a big deal of presenting each dish. They mentioned each ingredient in the dish as they set it before you. All fine, and fairly typical of nicer restaurants. However, the food was just okay. Yes, the truffle butter popcorn was tasty, but it’s covered in butter, so what’s not to like. I started with a vegetable soup and my husband had a pear salad. Both pretty good, but not that complicated of dishes. For mains, I had the suckling pig and he had the striped bass. Honestly, my pork was pretty bland tasting and same for cauliflower purée underneath. Not bad, but not amazing either. His fish was nice, but the squid in linguine underneath was very oily and bit overcooked. Again, not what we expected for a restaurant this expensive.
A few other things from our experience that we felt just didn’t mesh well with Muse’s intentions of being a $$$$ restaurant…
We were seated on the lower floor, which was nice and cozy, but the acoustics were terrible. There were four other tables seated around us, it was very loud and we could clearly hear everyone else’s conversations. I’m not drinking at the moment, so my husband ordered two different white wines by the glass during dinner. Both were just average tasting, and not what we expected for the hefty $ 13 and $ 15 price tags per glass. The table settings didn’t seem to fit the restaurant lofty goals either. They used beat up pint glasses as your water glass, and the silverware also looked sort of old and used. There were no bread plates on the table which meant we both had to keep reaching into the popcorn bowl with our hands — not a problem for us as a couple, but it might be a bit awkward for a mixed group at dinner. The napkins were just old and cheap looking — not the nice, large cloth napkins one would have expected. Lastly, there were a few tears in the booth we were seated at that were covered up with duck tape!
I know this review makes us sound super snobby about restaurants, but we’re not… we love food trucks and pub food just as much as the next person. But for a restaurant with mains priced at close to $ 40 each and a tasting menu at $ 110 ($ 85 more if you add wine), Muse failed to meet our expectation pretty much across the board.

This is a great date spot, or for special occasions. I took the man here for a late Valentine’s dinner (something we don’t normally do) and we opted for the tasting menu. They didn’t have their standard one because of the «holiday» but they modified the valentines one for us so it would be 8 courses. I appreciated that because that was what I had my heart set on (pardon the Valentine’s pun).
Our experience started with the truffle popcorn. The man, who rarely has much to say on these things, said «if this is any indication as to what our meal will be like, I’m excited». We then had an amuse bouche (oyster). And then things got kicked into high gear with the meal itself. I wont even attempted to describe what we ate other than to say it was all very well thought out from flavours, to textures to appearances. Some highlights were: trout ravioli with a maple candy floss, elk sausage on a cedar plant with beets and celery root. There was a cheese course and two desserts… oh and a lobster scallop course. So many creations.
Service has very attentive and fantastic. Our waters were always filled and our drinks came quickly. We seemed to have different servers including the owner come by with different dishes. Things were always well explained, with enthusiasm. It was like everyone shared the same passion about what they do there.
The décor was nice too and the layout of the restaurant adds to the unique experience. There is nothing I would change about our visit and I will keep Muse in mind for other future special occasions.

I used to go to Muse all the time when my friends’ husband was a chef there. Now I got to Muse all the time even though my friends’ husband is not a chef there anymore; and I love it.
Muse is a great date place, special occasion place, intimate dinner place and take-​your-​foody-​aunt-​from-​out-​of-​town place. Beautiful food, interesting space, excellent location and to-​die-​for truffle butter popcorn on the table have made Muse a staple of Calgary’s upper-​crust dinning establishments. Every time I have eaten here, I have enjoyed it; the service is impeccable without pretension and the menu top-​notch.
I could go on and on about food and service and the popcorn, and Muse is everything you’d expect from a nice establishment, but part of what makes Muse noteworthy is their brilliant spaces for large parties, the 8 course tasting menu with wine paring — which is an excellent choice for a group — and the oysters.
Muse is well-​known for their oysters and this restaurant was where, years ago, I tried that particular seafood for the first time. I was apprehensive because oysters sort of look like snot mixed with snotty sauce, but I was impressed at Muse’s treatment! They were well presented and flavorful without being overwhelming — I ate close to a dozen on my own.
Years later I still go to Muse when I can, and I still eat the oysters and scarf down mountains of truffle butter popcorn. Muse is great for a special occasion, a special date or if you just want to kick back in an excellent restaurant and feel especially special.
T.

I’ve been to Muse twice, but the last time was 7 years ago when it was pretty new. I was completely wowed then, so wanted to come back.
Also, I fondly enjoyed watching Xavier Lacaze from Top Chef Canada and I (thought I) knew he was at Muse. However, I learned that he’s moved on to Home Tasting Room in Calgary. Also, Muse has new owners as of last Wednesday. The new owner was very unfamiliar with the whole restaurant, but it was only her second day.
I found the food to be decent, but not worthy of very high prices. I had the snapper, which was fairly well cooked but the overall dish was bland and got monotonous by the end. My wife had the lamb sirloin which was also good, but not good enough. Everything was heavily drenched in butter.
Our server was young and energetic and a little bit awkward.
I enjoyed my meal at Muse but for that type of money, it should be *really* good. This doesn’t live up to some of my experiences at Teatro, for example. I’ll give Muse another try in a year or so after the new owners have put their stamp on the place.

I’ve been to Muse twice now and both times were totally different, but equally wonderful. The first time I was treated to a meal here for my birthday by my best friend. The restaurant looks kind of small and nondescript from the outside, but it is absolutely beautiful inside. We were greeted warmly by the hostess and eventually our waiter, who was excellent in choosing a wine for us that would compliment our meal without breaking the bank. I wish I could remember his name because he was great. Our food was nothing short of amazing, our waiter never let our wine glasses get empty, and he was around when we needed something without being annoying. I LOVED the truffled popcorn! Delicious.
The quality of food and excellent service here was what enticed me to come back a second time. This time it was for New Years Eve — they do a special dinner for the evening at a set price. I was slightly disappointed that I would not be able to order from the menu (the Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna is the best thing i’ve ever had in my mouth lol… TO DIE FOR) however I was so happy to try something else and once again, our food was delicious. The staff was so friendly, attentive, and helpful — even offering to take a photo of us and allowing us to linger a (long) while after our meals nursing our wine. Not once did they bother us like some restaurants rushing you out. It was a lovely evening. It is pricey, but you absolutely get what you pay for and for good food I am willing to spend money. I will definitely be back to Muse, hopefully sooner rather than later!

The service was fantastic and the food was to die for. I left there SO FULL. It is expensive but its completely worth it. My boyfriend took me here on our anniversary (smart man) and our bill was $ 150. We had an appetizer (you also get gourmet popcorn with your meal) the appy’s we ordered were a soup and a salad. They were both unlike anything I have ever had, also we ordered vanilla skewered scallops and they were AMAZING. For our main course my boyfriend got beef and I got lobster lasagna. Words cannot describe how amazing they were but the best part hands down was dessert. Chocolate mousse with candied lemon zest, this was to die for!
If you plan on taking your significant other somewhere special, this is the place.

I guess my situation while visiting this restaurant is not typical. Both times that Ive been were for work Xmas parties. I love the atmosphere, and the food was great, the staff very accomodating and knowlegable but my three stars come from the fact that since there are SO many great restaurants that have opened up In the city this past few years, I think for what you pay for a meal at the Muse, you could find somewhere else to go, and still have money left over for a movie, and popcorn and another movie… No i didnt have to foot the bill at the end of the night, but I snuck a glance and almost had a heart attack!

Muse is no myth!
I had dinner there the other night with my wife and was truly inspired! From the moment we walked into the restaurant, to the time we left, the entire experience was memorable. First impressions are lasting, and this dining experience will last.
Muse stimulates and engages all of your senses throughout the evening. Visually, through the ambience and interior design. Aurally, through the subtlety of the background musical sound staging, Smell, through the wonderful wafting odours from food being taken to surrounding tables. Taste, through the delectable choices available, and touch, through the simple handling of the napkin, the knife and folk, the slight turning of the plate, and above all, the powerful ritual of nosing that fine sangiovese, by lifting the glass firmly in one’s fingers! Fingering the complimentary buttery popcorn was an unusual distraction compared to the usual boring, unimaginative ritual of buttering one’s microwaved bread roll.
The ambience is wonderfully casual and contemporary, yet elegant. One is immediately drawn to the different levels and open spaces around you. As we were being taken to our secluded corner table upstairs, one could not be attracted to the interesting eating locations and double volume spaces in the restaurant.
The service was impeccable. Efficient, friendly and unpretentious. But then, how could my waiter dream of being pretentious, coming from laid back Victoria, and now studying Political Science at UOC, and dreaming of a Wild Rose Alliance Party victory in the next Provincial Elections. No intellectual mediocrity here! Just shear right wing enthusiasm. But who cares, when the hired help knows how to romance the food pour the wine… and heat the cognac glass at the table! Hey, take note, The Wild Rose Alliance Party has a potential leader in the making here!!! Thanks to Muse!
While choice is great, their menu is simplified, on one page, in readable English and I love it this way. No thick volumes to study, translate, and get guidance on from snobbish waiters. I always amuse myself in traditional Italian restaurants, where you get the latin version of all the unnecessary adjectives describing the food as well.
The menu reflects a wonderful French and Canadian selection of cuisine. Prior to seeing and tasting the food I thought I was going to get the usual Quebec bastardization of French cooking, passed off as ethnic Canadian fare. But alas, I was astounded at the appealing subtlety, texture and nuances of traditional southern french cooking. I like to view food with a certain sense of dimension and dynamics. It needs to have depth and character for me to describe it. I need to be propelled form the lightest sauce on the plate to the heaviest ingredient. And all the ingredients need to fully tingle my taste buds throughout the orgasmic performance and ritual of the meal. A chef who can achieve that is a true and inspiring artist.
I had the seared scallops, the Noble Farm Duck, the dark chocolate and praline mille feuille… I could wax lyrical about the quality, the freshness, the flavours, the preparation, the deliciousness, and all those adjectives which generally bore me, and in some cases some readers would not understand. The facts are simple. The food was superb. The chefs are superb. No need for a debate on this one.
Just go and check it out yourself.
Who dares talk about money when you go to a restaurant like this? It’s not cheap, but then that’s why we have other ‘eat as much as you like” buffet restaurant choices in Calgary. Go there, if you are not discriminating and like your plate stuffed with tasteless food. Don’t whine about paying for great service, great food, and great wine.
If you are a serious food lover, visit Muse Restaurant and Lounge.

Trendy, she she fe fe type food.
I thought it was delicious, different and would come back with the girls, but hubby who is a steak and potatoes kinda guy hated it.
Server was alright, not rude or overly nice, food was slow coming out but it was busy. Meal was arranged very nicely on the plates but others may feel it is a pretentious place to dine if this type of establishment isn’t what you would typically go for.
Portion sizes are rather small for what you would expect considering price points but more or less it is about the experience and not gorging yourself…
Meh, I don’t know what else to say, great location and beautiful décor inside. Be prepared to drop at least $ 75 per person (not including beverages) at this place for the full experience.

So, was taken here for my bday dinner… featured French Canadian cuisine…
What a fabulous place! Gorgeous, intimate atmosphere and have to say the waitstaff were superb! The food was ordered a la carte and very rich in flavor. Don’t forget to ask for the price for any wine recommendations as we almost ordered a $ 125 wine bottle… gulp. The waitress apologized for not telling us up front and we settled for a wonderful bottle that complemented the meal that was more pocket-​friendly ($ 45).
Meal was excellent — dessert was a chef’s special that had bananas foster in between bread pudding on a skewer with olive oil ice cream with strawberries… if I got any part of this description wrong, my apologies, but let me tell you — what a unique, eclectic, tastebud tantelizing meal!

This is the kinda place I wish I knew about when I was playing tour guide in Calgary.
This place is absolutely amazing.
The Chef, the menu, the service, the experience, the ambiance and the quality and freshness of the food are indescribable.
BY FAR one of THE best dining experiences that I have EVER had.
I can’t describe it; You gotta try it to believe it.

I had dinner here over the winter with another foodie friend.
Their menu looked good, but we had seen mention of a tasting menu on their website somewhere, but there was nothing about it on the menu itself. So we asked if they could do anything like that — the waiter disappeared to ask the chef, and returned to say they could do it.
It was quite a unique experience. The waiter asked how many courses we wanted, how crazy we wanted to go, and how we wanted to do drink pairings. More than anywhere else, at Muse I totally felt like I was in the chef’s hands. We were eating whatever was fresh, and I feel like when a chef can just do something like this, he or she is obviously very passionate about cooking as well as talented and confident.
The food was good — I might’ve even given it 5 stars, but I recently ate at Capo. Capo’s definitely more traditional (no telling the chef to go absolutely crazy and surprise you), but the food is also a lot better.
The bill ended up being roughly $ 200 after tax/​tip, which really isn’t that bad for a 5-​course meal for each of us as well as a couple drink pairings. They even went crazy on the drink pairings, by pairing rye and soda with the foie gras au tourchon. I was expecting an icewine or something, but this was new.
Anyway, Muse is good. If you want a slightly different experience in Calgary, do ask them about a tasting menu.