For the Love of.... (Edmonton)

Twisted Yogurt. Loving the colors in the one on the right

Duchess Bake Shop potato, onion, and cheese tart. This is unbelievably good.

Good Buddy...again. Salt and Chili fried squid and tofu.

Gailan beef

Sushi tray from T&T Supermarket

Pho date at Pho Hoa with my mom (pho with beef balls and steak)

Famoso Summer Special: Funghi Tartfufo

The Funghi Tartufo: Roasted white mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, truffle oil,
 and reggiano parmesan

Pho Hoa West Edmonton Mall (Edmonton)

I know all pho lovers in Edmonton each have their go to pho joint, but mine just happens to be Pho Hoa at West Edmonton Mall (second favorite btw is the little place with pink walls left of Lucky 97 in Chinatown). I know some of you will cringe since I know this place doesn't particularly have the best reputation. However, I am no pho expert, and although I've been to Vietnam twice and obviously had it there, I can still say that I like the pho served at this establishment and it doesn't hurt that its in the mall (I wouldn't drive all the way from home to go to this place, but if I'm shopping and get hungry, why not). Pho Hoa offers up extremely simple and straightforward service (borderline rude lol), consistent quality and flavor, and large and affordable portions.  My usual is the beef and beef ball pho, and at 8$ for a bowl that could fill me up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, how can I go wrong.

For those who have not been there, don't expect five star service,, expect something more along the lines of "what do you want" followed by your food 2 minutes later then "here is your bill". If you want a fork and forget to ask when ordering, I suggest you just walk up to the front counter and get the cutlery yourself because chances are your food will be cold by the time a waitress decides to stop by your table. This place is also a bit run down and could do with some reupholstering of its chairs, but at the end of the day if I think it tastes good and I'm happy with my food I really could care less about the decor and service.

Beef pho and grilled pork and spring rolls with vermicelli. I will admit, the pork was more
so just fat, so word of caution when ordering.

Taipan (Edmonton)

Location: Chinatown 97th street
Cuisine: Chinese

I tagged along to Taipan with my mom for one of her Indonesian ladies luncheons the other day...yey free food. Anyways, I've driven by this place countless times but was never really interested in checking it out, so coming here with my mom was a nice excuse. From what I could see it was your typical Chinese/Taiwanese food restaurant that had similar menus that you would find in similar restaurants. Price wise it was very reasonable and the serving were large and made to be shared. The restaurant itself is pretty big and was clean from what I could see. Flavor wise everything we ordered was very good, especially the garlic gailan...drool.

Chicken and salty fish fried rice

Garlic gailan (my favorite)

Salt and chili fried tofu

Soya sauce and fried garlic whole chicken (the sauce was a little of the oily side but it was still flavorful)

Good Buddy South (Edmonton)

I've been coming to GoodBuddy South to fulfill my occasional Chinese food and westernized Chinese food cravings for several years now and have always been satisfied with the food and dining experience. They serve large potion sizes which is great for sharing, I've always found the restaurant to be clean, the food consistent and well prepared, not overly greasy, and like the fact that they offer very affordable dinner combos for 2, 3, 4 etc people that are customizable. I am well aware of the negative reviews of Good Buddy (complaints about waiting time, bad customer service etc), but like I said I've been coming here for several years now and have always been happy, that is however my personal opinion. Then again I don't care much for talkative waitresses and would rather cut it down to "what do you want to order?" "Okay" "Here is the bill, thank you". ANYWAYS..haha, so about the food...

Hot and sour soup. I like it because its actually spicy

Ginger beef. Nice and crisp, none of that sticky, soggy food court stuff. Yuck.

Salt and pepper fried squid (not really salt and pepper, more like salt and chilies but yet not that spicy). Probably one of my favorite dishes.

Spring rolls and chicken fried rice. Everything you've seen is part of the dinner for 2 (30$) but feeds 3 or even 4 people. Massive servings that make you want to secretly unbutton your jeans. Just saying.