NaanOlicious (Edmonton)

To celebrate my birthday my friends treated me to a great dinner at NaanOlicious here in Edmonton. I've been to the restaurant before with Coel and enjoyed it so I thought it would be a nice and fun place to go to with the girls.

Mango lassi, Indian iced tea, rose syrup drink

For drinks we ordered the mango lassi, Indian iced tea, and a rose water soda drink for me (forgot the name). The drinks were served up in large glasses and were very refreshing and tasty. The Indian iced tea was an interesting mixture of tea, pineapple juice, and coconut and tasted almost like pina colada. My drink, the rose water one, was really different and had mixed reactions. My friends didn't like it but I thought it tasted really unique.

Veggie samosas drowned in sauces and toppings

Coconut curry mussels

In all we ordered the coconut curry mussels, shrimp with mango chutney shooters, fish pakora, veggie samosas, butterchicken poutine, keema naan (ground beef filled naan), butter naan, and garlic naan. The coconut curry mussles were amazing! While I don't care much for mussels, the curry sauce was flavorful and made a great dip for the naan. It tasted almost like a Thai curry and was topped with coconut flakes.The veggie samosas were also good but slightly overdone with all the different sauces and toppings.

Nom nom nom

Butterchicken poutine

The naan breads were soft and chewy which I love so I was a very happy eater. My favorite by far was the keema naan with the ground beef as it was soft and buttery. The butterchicken poutine which was also one of our favorites was topped with tons of flavorful butterchicken sauce. There was pretty much more curry and chicken chunks then there were fries but thats okay because the sauce made a good dip for the naan. The only thing that was a letdown were the shrimp shooters. They were nothing special and a little bit dry, but they were still good. I just wouldn't bother ordering them again. 

Fish pakora

Shrimp shooters with chutney

Overall we had a great meal and left happily stuffed. I like the creativity they put into each dish to make it fun and visually appealing. They also offer great value for your money with large portions so you can't go wrong with that. While I wouldn't consider their menu to be traditional Indian fare my any means, I enjoy the creativity and look forward to going there again.

And thanks again to Donna and Diana for dinner!

The Burger Joint (Edmonton)

Location: near the intersection of 23 rd Ave 91st street on the south side (near Costco)

 

My friend and I visited The Burger Joint for the first time today and were happy and satisfied with our meal. The restaurant itself is located in a quiet business strip mall which is a bit unfortunate because it's a decent place that I would suspect would be very popular if it was located in a more visible and busier area. The restaurant itself is very casual with several tables where you can seat yourself and is brightly lit with simple modern decor.

 

I forgot to take a picture of it but there are check sheets on table where you check off what type of burger you want and pick the toppings and sauces. There are several burgers to choose from (beef, grilled chicken, buffalo chicken, breaded chicken, lamb, donair, double beef, veggie) along with at least 14 different sauces and at least 20 burger toppings (cucumber, roasted corn, grilled mushrooms, veggies, etc). There is also a list of premium burger toppings for around a dollar which included different cheeses, calamari rings, portabello mushrooms etc. The burgers without the addition of premium topping range from 6.99 to about 8$, very reasonable. I liked it because there was a large range of complementary burger toppings which included more than the typical lettuce and tomatoes.

We had a coupon for free fries which the purchase of a burger so that was a nice bonus. The fries came with a side of ketchup and this really good mayo/onion/pepper dip. They also had several shakers up at the counter where you could season your fries (cheese power stuff, vinegar, Cajun spice, hamburger spice, onion power, etc).

My friend order the grilled chicken burger with cheese, mushrooms, lettuce, and spicy bbq sauce. She said it was really good and very filling.

My burger (8$) consisted of a homemade beef patty, lettuce, tomatoes, feta, mushrooms, black and green olives, roasted corn, and cucumber. I really enjoyed it and it wasn't greasy and didn't leave me feeling gross afterwards.

For the love of....

Amazing treats from Elm Cafe in Edmonton before the Raj Patel talk at
UofA International Week. Creme brulee, AB beef crostini, duck and
cranberry, and sweet pear crisps with goat cheese, beet, and dill.

Green tea and red bean mochi from T&T brand

Green tea mochi with red bean and whipped cream filling

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

No week is complete without a stop at Duchess. Banana pie with vanilla
bean whipped cream

What a beauty. Raspberry macron with fresh raspberries and rose ganache

Continental Treat Valentines Day Dinner (Edmonton)

For Valentines Day Coel surprised me with an amazing dinner at Continental Treat. Continental Treat is one of our favorite restaurants in Edmonton because we love the service and atmosphere...and of course the food. The Valentines dinner at Continental was a single seating private function that included wine pairings from Enkidu winery in Sonoma. The owner of the winery was at the restaurant and was happily on hand to answer any questions people had about the wine. There was also a pre-dinner cheese tasting courtesy of Everything Cheese in Edmonton which was wonderful and great a live jazz band.

 

The whole thing lasted about four hours due to them spacing out the meals and the wine. They did a great job at spacing the meals out to give couples plenty of time to converse without leaving us hungry.

 

 

We really enjoyed the wines from Enkidu and will certainly be looking to pick some up soon.

 

Shrimp appetizer

Yummy wild mushroom soup

Melt in your mouth fillet mignon, mushrooms,
baby carrots, over potatoes and house gravy



Chocolate cake
 

Socrates (St. Albert)

Massive triple decker club house and a Reuben

 

Socrates Restaurant is a cute little diner type restaurant up in St. Albert that specializes in breakfast but also has a great simple lunch menu with some yummy sandwiches. This time around I ordered the Reuben (deli sliced corned beef, sauerkraut, swizz, mayo, on rye bread and topped with pickles). Coel had the Club Sandwich which was a big fat triple decker sandwich filled with the usual club sandwich items (tomato, cheddar, turkey (processed unfortunately), mayo, bacon, lettuce). All sandwiches come with choice of fries, house salad or Cesar salad. Both sandwiches were about 10$ each and in our opinion well worth it simple because of the size. We weren't very impressed with the salad though so we'll skip that next time (Kraft packaged dressing, bagged salad).

 

I haven't seen the breakfast menu but from what I heard Socrates has one of the best breakfast menus in town. Their lunch menu consists of pizzas, pastas, mac and cheese, sandwiches, steak, some salads, and typical diner type appetizers. Their pastas sound really good so I'm tempted to try one next time. Baked mac and cheese anyone? As for their sandwiches, they have quite a selection which includes a Dever sandwich (basically a Denver omelet sandwich), Philly cheese steak, some other sandwich on dark rye with corned beef (real beef, not that canned stuff ew), and several others.

 

The restaurant itself is pretty cute and its clearly gone through renovations from its original interior. There are big wide windows around the whole restaurant which keeps the place nice and bright and I'm sure its a lot nicer in the summer than it is in the winter (looking out onto the dirty winter roads and such).

 

I'll be back. Just not for their coffee (almost 3$ for coffee???) and salad.

 

Ricky's Grill (South Edmonton Common)

Breakfast at Ricky's....to be continued

Opps I did it again

Champagne mouse with pomegranate gelee topped with pomegranate seeds and a mini ginger macaron
+
Winter Tart

 

I know how sick all my followers must be of all my lovely Duchess Bakeshop pictures but I could not resist posting the most recent photos of what this amazing shop has to offer. Coel and I were there early this Saturday to beat the line up and stock up on goodies before hordes of my follow Edmontonians did the same. There was so much, as usual, that I wanted to try. *Drool*

We eventually settled on the Winter Tart, Champagne Mouse, and our Duchess staple, the brioche pepin.

 

Ah...my day was made. However, I must return again next weekend to try all the other wonderful treats I missed out on this weekend. I am also looking forward to eventually trying one of their sandwiches or quiches. They looks so good. I saw that they also had a lunch deal for 12$ that included either a slice of quiche or sandwich, soup, and a hot beverage. Very good deal if you ask me. I also saw a blue cheese and asparagus bread pudding which I am curious to try.

 

For those looking for hostess gifts or something to bring to a Christmas gathering, I strongly suggest you stop by and pick up a package of their mini meringues which are only five dollars and something cents. They are currently offering them in chocolate, candy cane, and coconut.

 

Shanghai 456 (to be continued)

Noodles with pork belly

Shanghai chive and egg pancake

The famous xiao long bao

Shanghai steamed sticky rice with preserved meat

Menu

Duchess and Provisions

YUM. Green apple macron with apple cinnamon spiced ganache in the middle. In the middle of the dessert there is a
really tasty apple filling and its all topped off the the most decadent dark chocolate ganache

Provisions. My new obsession. They have some great ingredients that I absolutely must
come back and buy. Earl grey apple jelly here I come. For those who have yet to visit
the store they have a variety of bake wear, books, flour, sea salts, jams and spread, teas,
imported baking chocolates, macron kits, and many other exciting things.

My almost finished salted caramel spread. It has ground almonds in it so it gives it a thicker
texture. Delicious. I need to replenish my supply.

Continental Treat Lunch

Nice hot borscht

Lamb chops with spatzel

Pork schnitzel with potato salad (hidden underneath) and shredded beets, carrots and cucumber salad. Simple yet delicious.

I went to CT for lunch again this weekend and had another great meal there. Love the simplicity of the food, relaxing atmosphere, and great service. I also love the fact that they have a seem to have a Groupon or other such deal at least once a month.

Capital Ex (Edmonton, AB)

Japanese Dog. All beef dog, grilled onions, Japanese mayo, seaweed, terriyaki sauce. It wasn't that good. I think the large dry bun killed it for me. Flavor wise the mayo and seaweed were good, but there was something about the flavor of the grilled onions I didn't like. I still have to try to original Japa dog from Vancouver sometime

Onion blossom with a chipotle dipping sauce. I was eyeing this and had to try it just to try it. I'm happy I did because
now I never want to eat one ever again and never have to wonder what it tastes like. Kind of a disappointment. Boo.

Gotta have them. Mini doughnuts

Rib Fest: Combo from the Prairie Fire booth. Pulled pork and pork ribs. Mmmmmm.

Lots of interesting food vendors

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)