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

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.

Hungry Much? (Edmonton)

Costco poutine and chicken strips. Cheap eats and oh so good.

Pho pho pho

Indonesian food spread for Lebaran Holiday at my cousins

Sauerkraut and ham soup from Continental Treat

The flash kind of made this meal look gross..but I swear it was really good. Polish schnitzel with a mustard dill sauce and mashed potatoes. Continental Treat.

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)

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.

Press'd....again (Edmonton, AB)

I know I've already done a handful of blog entries on Press'd before, but I thought I'd share with you yummy pictures of my latest Press'd excursion to 'educate' and  entice those Press'd virgins to go out and try out something local.

Buenna Bella: "Roasted Portabella Mushroom, Basil Pesto, Spinach, Cucumber, Red Onion, Sprouts, Tomato" (description from the Press'd website, photo by me)

Southwestern Club: "Smoked Turkey, Jalapeno Jack Cheese, Bacon, Avocado, Red Onion, Raspberry Chipotle Honey Mustard" (description from the Press'd website, photo by me)

Crepe Symphony (Edmonton)

While I was away traveling I made sure to keep up to date with the YEG food and restaurant scene and keep track of all the new establishments that had opened while I was gone. On my list of new restaurants to check out once I get home was Crepe Symphony. I had read great reviews about it and thought that it was a great new addition to Edmonton's downtown food scene.

I decided to stop by Crepe Symphony on an Saturday morning to get breakfast before going to the Downtown Farmers Market and the place was empty which made me wonder a little but . Then again it was a Saturday morning. I really didn't care though because what I was about to eat confirmed the true reason for its popularity. At a very affordable 7-8 dollars for a serving of 2 crepes per dish, Crepe Symphony delivered fresh, tasty, and filling crepes in a cafe style atmosphere. I am not a fan of thick pancake-like crepes so I was very happy that they served authentic thin crepes. The menu offered both savory and sweet crepes which was great, however it made our decision making a little more complicated (in a good way!) because we couldn't decide which two we wanted to order. There are still more flavors I want to try so I know I will be back!

Chicken mushroom

Strawberry, banana, and chocolate crepe

Website: http://www.crepesymphony.com/

Shabu Shabu (Jakarta, Indonesia)

I accompanied my mom on one of her weekly ladies luncheon with her friends and lucky for me this weeks restaurant of choice was an all you can eat shabu shabu joint. The restaurant provides raw veggies, seafood, various cuts of meat, beef and seafood balls etc and you can either boil it in a steamboat or on the grill. Shabu shabu is a great option if you are going out in large groups because its interactive, fun, and everyone can share the meal.

Fresh greens, seafood, fish balls etc

Meat, fish, mushrooms, sausage etc

My favorite part..dessert. This is a make it yourself dessert option. Grass jelly, mashed durian, cendol, and jellies that you top off with shaved ice, syrups, and coconut milk

Agar agar (Indonesian jelly/pudding)

Grill

Bumbu Desa (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

Cuisine: Javanese
Location: Jl. Kartini No. 8 Sagan, Yogyakarta

Today my boss took myself and two other colleagues for lunch at Bumbu Desa. I was not sure what type of restaurant it was, but was pleasantly surprised to see it was sort of a mix between the ordering styles you'd expect from dim sum and a buffet. All the food is laid out beautifully in bamboo baskets or large solid rock bowls and you pick what you want and they warm it up and bring it to your table where you can either share or eat it all for yourself. Instead of your regular ketchup and condiments, here they have an assortment of different sambals (ground fresh chili) such as garlic chili, green chili, fermented shrimp chili etc which you can scoop on your own and eat with your food.

(I don't know why but some the photos came out a little blurry, oh well)

Layout of all the dishes

Chicken, satays, fish, ribs etc

My favorite sambal station

YUM

The green one is my favorite

Es kelapa muda: young coconut drink with strawberry syrup. The other one has crushed ice and sweetened
condensed milk.