Padmanadi

Cuisine: Indonesian-Chinese Vegan
Location 107 ave 101 st,  and 97th St in Chinatown
Hot topic: Chicken Curry

I've been to Padmanadi's several times in the past, but this was the first time checking out their new location on 101 st. Once again I had a fabulous meal, never disappoints.

For starters, Padamandi is a full vegan restaurant, meaning no meat, dairy, animal products, and even no onion and garlic. Their 'meat' dishes are made from a mix of wheat gluten and mushroom, something along those line. However, it still all tastes just like meat somehow. So while there is no meat or dairy in any of the food, you do not feel like your missing out on meat whatsoever because of these tasty but kind of funny looking 'meat' chunks. They have a substitute for chicken, beef, and mutton.

The menu is sort of an Indonesian-Chinese fusion. So while they serve Indonesian food like nasi goreng (friend rice), bihun goreng, curry chicken, coconut rice, some veggie dishes, and specialty drinks, they also serve a whole lot of Chinese type items like spring rolls, kung pow chicken, stir fry veggie dishes, hot and soup soup, wonton soup etc.

Today we ordered the Dinner for Two (32$) which came with (4) spring rolls, soup of the day (big bowl of hot and sour soup), rice, stir fry veggies and mushrooms, curry mutton, and dessert of the day (rice pudding). For 32$ it was a great deal. They also have Dinner for 4, 6, 8 etc etc with more options to choose from. I had initially wanted the curry chicken and asked if we could substitute the curry mutton for it but they said they didn't do substitutions. That was fine though because the curry mutton ended up tasting pretty much like the curry chicken. So I was happy :)

The soup and spring rolls came out promptly. The spring rolls were nice and hot and were served with a side of plum sauce. The soup was very very good. I usually don't like hot and sour soup but this was thick, spicy, and had lots of mushrooms and tofu. It had a spicy kick to it that cooled down a little while after, I thought this was nice. The veggies and two individual bowls of rice came after that. The vegetable dish had cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, bean curd, tofu in it and was cooked in a light sauce. The sauce was light and not overpowering which was a nice change from those sloppy thick sauces vegetable stir fry is usually made with. The curry mutton came out a while later and was full of 'mutton' chunks, diced potato's, and cauliflower. I don't even know how to describe the curry, it was just really good. The 'mutton' was chewy and tasted great and I loved the tender potato's and cauliflower that were soaked in the curry. After everything was finished up our waitress brought out our rice pudding. Each bowl was drizzled in some sort of grape/black currant tasting sauce, garnished with a grape and topped with cinnamon sugar. While I found the rice pudding a little more watery than what I typically liked, the cinnamon flavor really came through and made the pudding a great finish to our meal.

Overall I was very happy and left satisfied with my meal. I will certainly be making another trip down there very soon.

Hot and sour soup with spring rolls

Cute and clean menu

Veggies

There are lots of tables inside

Curry mutton

The restaurant is very nice and bright

Rice pudding

Check them out at: http://www.padmanadi.com/

Crepe Works

I went to Crepe Works on Whyte Ave the other day to indulge in some tasty crepes. This Crepe Works is located about two shops down from the Starbucks on Whyte so it offers great pedestrian access and is in a convenient location. The place itself is isn't so much a restaurant as it is a cafe; you can order your crepe and leave or you can hang around and sit at one of the tables they have and eat your crepe while studying or hanging out with friends. The decor is modern and clean with bold uses of red and black colors.

Beside the till they have a display case displaying plastic molds of all the crepes they have to offer (7-8$). This reminded me a lot of some Japanese restaurants that use plastic imitation noodles and sushi to show you what the food looks like. I quite liked this idea because you were able to see exactly what your crepe would have in it and how much.

For savory crepes they offer things like the 'California Chicken' (chicken, lettuce, tomato, salsa, guacamole), 'Vegitarian' (cheese, lettuce, guacamole, tomato, salsa), 'Ham and Cheese', and variations of either ham and chicken crepes. I don't quite like the type of chicken they use, its that fake foam-like chicken patty like they have at Subway.

As for dessert crepes they have quite a verity revolving around strawberries, bananas, oranges, and nutella, custard, whip topping and chocolate sauce. The "Strawberry-Banana Delight" (I think that's what it was called) was strawberries, banana, whip topping and chocolate sauce. They also have a blueberry and cream cheese one, a cinnamon apple crepe, nutella and coconut flakes, banana chocolate and custard, etc etc, you get the jist.

Crepe Works also serves coffee and espresso and gelato.

The owner/crepe maker makes each crepe fresh in front of you. I quite enjoyed watching how the crepe itself is made, watching how they pour the batter and spread it out using whatever that device is called.

Today I had the California Chicken savory crepe and my companion had a banana/chocolate/custard/whip topping crepe. My crepe was okay. It had a lot of guacamole in it which was an A+ for me because I love guacamole. it was fresh and very garclicy. The salsa was a nice touch too. My only complaint would probably be the chicken, I just didn't really like it, especially since it was cold. As for the banana crepe that  it was very good and tasted as expected. The banana was sliced in front of us when it was made and was nice and firm (which I liked was happy about nice I have a fear of mushy bananas). There was lots of custard and whip topping, I am happy they did not skimp out on any of the ingredients.

Overall I quite liked Crepe Works, but I think I will stick to the dessert crepes next time. There was just something unsatisfying about the savory crepe I had. Maybe because it was cold, I don't know. But next time I'm going to just get a banana strawberry chocolate one, or a nutella one :)

PS. Do not underestimate the size of these crepes, I could not even finish mine because I was so full :p

Cali Chicken Crepe

.:.

Banana chocolate crepe



Flirt Cupcakes for Valentines Day

I went to Flirt today to pick up some Valentines goodies. Today I used the FlashDeals coupon I had purchased earlier this month (6 cupcakes for 3$) so it was quite a deal.

I picked up:
-2 Cherry Bombs (chocolate cake with cherry filling and chocolate ganache)
-a Heart Breaker (red velvet cake with cream cheese icing)
-a Fantasy Island (lemon coconut cream cheese icing on vanilla cake)
-a Coffee Date (coffee cream icing on marble cake)
-and a Wild on Whyte (strawberry cream cheese icing on vanilla cake)

I am currently suffering from a sugar overdose and probably will not get off the couch for the rest of the evening but am very very happy :)

Happy Vday everyone.

pretty pink box

I couldn't help but eat one of the Cherry Bombs before
taking the photo :p

Yumm

Fordaloveof Fashion and Style

Unrelated to restaurants and food but equally as interesting are fashion and style blogs. My younger sister actually runs 2 fashion and style blogs that if your are interested in you should take a look at.

'Fordaloveof' ': http://fordaloveof.blogspot.com/

'Edmonton Style Stalker': http://edmontonss.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Zaika Indian Bistro Bar

Cuisine: Indian
Location: Ellewood Road
Hot topic: Buffet

So today for lunch my dining companion and I took advantage of a coupon bought of the GoodNews site (see my post for this further down my blog).

We were very excited to finally try this place out and decided to go and have the lunch buffet (12$). Upon entering Zaika's I was blown away at how beautiful the place was and how modernly decorated it was. Very very attractive and chic inside. Quite a change from the Punjab Sweets I typically go to. The restaurant has lots of seating and is nice and dim to give it a nice ambiance.

As for food the buffet area was very nicely laid out, a circular island in the middle held most of the chaffing dishes and you just walked around the island filling your plate. To the side there was a small salad bar, dessert bar, and condiments area. Main dishes included butter chicken, goat curry, tandoori vegitables, tandoori chicken, pakora fish, spinach and paner, chickpeas curry etc. Soup and fresh naan was also available. The salad bar area had an assortment of fresh greens, a Greek salad, curry pasta salad, chickpea salad. And the dessert today consisted of rice pudding, mango custard, fresh fruit and those honey/sugar soaked sweet pastries.

Because we were the first customers of the day the food was fresh and we were the first ones to make a dent in it, which was nice. I tried a bit of everything today minus the salads because I decided it wasn't necessary, I would rather fill myself up with butter chicken and naan.

To drink I had a mango lassi (4$) and my companion had chai tea (3$). The lassi was good and I enjoyed it, but I did wish it was a bit colder. The yogurt in the lassi really came through which I thought was nice, but for those expecting a mango milkshake you might be taken back.

I quite enjoyed Zaika's. The restaurant itself was beautiful and a great place to go with friends or even for a date, the food was good, and the price just couldn't be beat. My only real complaint would be that the food wasn't as spicy as I would have liked it and the chaffing dishes could have been a little hotter. But other than that the meal was very good and I highly recommend this place if your craving some Indian.

Zaika's also has a dinner buffet at 17$.

Unfortunately because of the lighting I didn't get to take a picture of my food and forgot to snap a photo of the buffet area (so I got one off the internet to show you)...but I suggest maybe you go check it out for yourself :)



Sorry for the dark pictures, I had no flash



( photo credit goes to
http://kelly.cybr.org/)

The buffet area
(picture credit http://kelly.cybr.org/)

Check them out at: http://www.zaikabistro.com/index.html

Happy Days

Enjoying my macron and my capucinno
 from Trancend Coffe

Duchess For Valentines

Look at this pretty little thing.

For this Valentines Day Duchess is coming out with rose and cherry heart shaped macrons that come in an adorably packaged box of 4 (8$ per box).

Perfect for a little treat to give to a friend or loved one..or simply a treat just for yourself. They are extremely popular so I'd get in there as soon as you can or call in to place an order.

<3

Teehee

Duchess Does It Again

I've said it once, twice, a million times before...I absolutely love this place.

I saw that Duchess was featuring several specialty items for the Valentines Day weekend and of course I could not pass up trying any one of their goodies.

So after school my dining companion and I headed to Duchess and had some of the best desert we've ever had.

The 'L'Amore' is probably the priesties thing I've ever eaten it my life. Just look at it. Here is the official description that Duchess gives of this beautiful treat: "Macaron with Rose Ganache filled Raspberries encasing Lychee Buttercream and Raspberry Pepin". It tasted like heaven. The raspberries were fresh and juicy and the rose ganache really came through. I think you should just go and try it for yourself. But hurry up before its all gone!

L'Amore

The second dessert we samples was the "Amarena Cherry Bombe" which was essentially a chocolate mousse with cherries and cherry syrup in the middle topped with a carmel lace cookie. The mousse was rich and both fluffy and creamy at the same time, while the cherries inside were packed with flavor. I must go back.

Amarena Cherry Bombe

Both treats were 6$ and were perfect enough to split between two.
Now if you haven't been there yet, what are you waiting for?!

Hungry yet?

I love Sushi

Cusine: Japanese
Location: Jasper ave and 105
Hot topic: Maki rolls

My friend and I stopped by I <3 Sushi for dinner after an evening of studying today. This popular little sushi joint is located just of Jasper Ave and is very popular among those who worked downtown. Luckily since we were there in the evening we were able to get a little table.

We both ordered green onion cake ($2.50)~, avocado rolls (~$5.00), and my friend order a piece of inari with her meal.

the restaurant itself was very small but had a nice cute atmosphere with all the decoration on the wall. The quality of the food was as expected, and the service average.  I <3 Sushi was nothing out of the ordinary but if your on Jasper Ave and looking for Sushi, its probably one of your better bets seeing as there aren't that many option here.

Dinner

I love Duchess

Yummmm.....
Went to Duchess again today to try out 2 of their new flavor of the month macrons: bblueberry cheesecake and lime. Their other flavor of the month was Irish cream.

Of course me and my dessert companion couldn't just stop at macrons so we deliberated between the mini key lime pie and the lemon custard pie. In the end the key lime pie won.

I also tired the lavender vanilla meringue. It was interesting to say the least. Very strong lavender flavor, and the meringue itself had lavender flowers in it. Unfortunately I don't think I have quite the palate for it, but it might be worth a try for those of you keen on this flavor.

Macrons

Yum

Key lime tart

.....it was awesome.