"Chef Duncan Ly's Beltline Pan-Asian room, a 2016 best-new-restaurant pick, famous for Mama Ly's imperial rolls. Book it for a first date."
Foreign Concept opened in January 2017 at 1011 1 Street SW in Calgary's Beltline, the flagship of one of the city's most decorated chefs. It draws on owner Duncan Ly's Vietnamese and Chinese roots, French technique and Korean influence, and a respected local critic named it Calgary's number-one new restaurant of 2016 when it first soft-opened. The dining room is low-lit and warm rather than showy. For the wider picture, see our Calgary dining guide.
Owner Duncan Ly built the menu around modern Pan-Asian cooking, and his protégé Jinhee Lee runs the kitchen as executive chef — Lee won the Calgary heat of Gold Medal Plates and went on to take the Canadian Culinary Championships. The signature is Mama Ly's pork and shrimp imperial rolls, crisp and meaty with mint and nuoc cham, a dish you rarely see done this well in the city. The lemongrass-glazed duck breast and the pork belly are the other plates to build around. Most mains run C$28–42, with chef's tasting menus for the full run. Read our guide to the best fine-dining restaurants worldwide, or compare the Japanese counter at Shokunin in the Beltline.
The room is intimate and low-lit, a single Beltline dining space with a small bar and tables set for conversation rather than spectacle. The sound runs to a comfortable hum, the lighting is dim and warm, and the spacing is generous enough to talk across a table without leaning in. Dress is smart-casual, and service is clued-in on both the menu and the wine and sake list, happy to steer a first-timer through the sharing format.
Book Foreign Concept for a first date because the room is built for talking: low light, a comfortable hum, and a sharing menu that gives you something to do with your hands and plenty to discuss. The imperial rolls are an easy opener, the cocktail and sake list rewards a little curiosity, and the à la carte keeps the cheque in your control. Ask for a table away from the bar and start with the imperial rolls. See more first-date restaurants.
Not for a big, raucous celebration — Foreign Concept is an intimate, low-lit room built for conversation over shared plates, not a loud party table.
Yes, for modern Pan-Asian cooking in a warm, intimate room. Opened in 2017 by award-winning chef Duncan Ly, with Canadian Culinary Champion Jinhee Lee in the kitchen, Foreign Concept was named Calgary's best new restaurant of 2016 and is known for Mama Ly's imperial rolls and lemongrass duck. Most mains run C$28–42. See our Calgary dining guide for more.
Start with Mama Ly's pork and shrimp imperial rolls — crisp, meaty and hard to find done this well in Calgary — then build around the lemongrass-glazed duck breast and the pork belly. It is a sharing menu, so order a spread across the smaller plates and a couple of mains, and ask about the chef's tasting menu if you want the kitchen to decide for you.
Foreign Concept is owned by Duncan Ly, one of Calgary's most celebrated chefs of the past decade, whose cooking draws on his Vietnamese and Chinese roots with French technique and Korean influence. His protégé Jinhee Lee runs the kitchen as executive chef and won the Canadian Culinary Championships after taking the Calgary regional title at Gold Medal Plates. The result is confident, modern Pan-Asian food.
Yes. The low-lit Beltline room, the comfortable noise level and the shared-plate format make it an easy, unstuffy choice for a first date, with conversation flowing over the imperial rolls and a thoughtful cocktail and sake list. Because it is à la carte, the cheque stays in your control. Ask for a table away from the bar. See our first-date guide for more.
Reserve via OpenTable. Weekend evenings fill up, and the tasting menu is best booked a few days ahead.
Affiliate disclosure: Restaurants for Kings may earn a commission when you book through our reservation links, at no cost to you. Our scores are editorial and never paid for.
Foreign Concept earns its place for chef Duncan Ly's modern Pan-Asian cooking and Mama Ly's imperial rolls in the Beltline.
Read the ranking →