Chinatown Addition: Emperor’s Palace

Emperor’s Palace, the newest addition to Chinatown, mirrors Urban China in many ways. Clean and modern, they are both a part of a movement towards the kind of restaurants Vancouver (and Calgary, to some extent) already have down pat. We’re always looking for new dim sum places, so it made sense that my first two meals there were for just that: I checked out the restaurant once during the lunch rush on a weekday before Christmas with Dickson, and again a few weeks later for brunch with Mack and my family to celebrate Felicia’s birthday.

Interior

The restaurant is gorgeous, with bright yellow and red tones. The crystal chandeliers help lend the room a touch of elegance, though what really captured my attention was the stunning floor-to-ceiling glass wine case facing the dining room. As with Indian restaurants such as Origin India trying to encourage diners to pair wine (instead of the requisite beer) with their cuisine, perhaps Emperor’s Palace is trying to do the same with Chinese fare? (something that others are attempting elsewhere in the world.)

Wine case

The high-backed chairs were visually appealing, and comfortable to boot, but unfortunately, did take up a lot of space, which prevented carts from going between some tables. This wasn’t a problem when dining with my family, but at a small table with Dickson at the rear of the restaurant, two tables stood between us and the aisle. As a result, the verbal exchanges between us and the waitress were a bit comical – we were nearly shouting to be heard above the lunchtime din.

The only other notable occurrence with regards to service happened with my family – a server leaned into our table, and in Cantonese, offered us a plate of fried shrimp wontons – “a dish that white people like.”

Shrimp wontons

The food was a mixed bag on both occasions, with portion sizes far from generous. The shrimp dumplings were all right, but they had paper-thin skins; my preference is a thicker shell. The pork dumplings, another dim sum staple, were disappointing – too chewy. The BBQ pork buns were perfectly shaped and browned, but the bread was dry and unappealing.

Shrimp dumplings

Pork dumplings

BBQ pork buns

The temperature of the dishes also varied (albeit better at brunch than at lunch) – the rice wrap with BBQ pork, for example, was served to us lukewarm.

Rice wrap

But we were surprised by other dishes – the spring rolls, for example, contained no filler, only shrimp. Hot and crispy, the skin was decidedly light in colour, and not the deep brown characteristic of a bath of old oil. A dumpling with pork, peanuts and chives had great texture. Rolls made of dough and sticky rice were new to me, delightfully garnished with what we took to be greens and egg. I also thoroughly enjoyed their custard tarts – but then again, I’m a sucker for warm custard tarts!

More dumplings

Pretty rolls

Custard tarts

My sister and I both have a bit of a Chinese restaurant restroom fetish, but I’m sure I’m not alone in having a negative connotation of dive-bar restrooms in association with Chinese restaurants. Emperor’s Palace joins Urban China on the short list of nice washrooms, with lovely azure bowl sinks.

Women’s restroom

As a whole, though the décor is fabulous, the dim sum was only average. That said, flipping through their dinner menu (a huge, cardboard book), I think it would be worth a try, with options like squab and geoduck available.

Dinner menu

So go for the decor, but as far as dim sum is concerned, don’t expect to be blown away.

Emperor’s Palace
10638 100 Street
(780) 757-2288

Food Notes for January 3, 2011

Happy new year! It’s hard to believe the holidays are over, though really, I’m just sad that our nightly Mad Men marathons have to end, heh. I hope your transitions back to work are painless as well! On to this week’s food notes:

Lots to do this coming weekend – check out Deep Freeze at Alberta Avenue, January 8-9, 2011 (with special Alberta Avenue farmers’ markets on both days as well), and Winter Light, which runs January 8 and runs until March 5, 2011.
Transcend Coffee is offering a pretty cool opportunity – the chance to visit some premium coffee growers in Costa Rica with Poul Mark, the founder of Transcend.
Congrats to the twelve Alberta bloggers, including Andree, Cheryl, Chris, Kevin, Mel and Liane who are nominated for the Canadian Food Blog Awards! Winners will be announced on January 31, 2011.
Somerville Wine and Cheese (10723 124 Street) is now open.
Marianne and Charles visited Corso 32, and wrote up a positive review! Glad to see that some of Daniel’s successful dishes at Red Star make appearances at Corso.
If you haven’t checked out Valerie’s series of posts on trends, I’d highly recommend it – she has collected a variety of perspectives, including farmers, food writers and business owners, bloggers and chefs.
Liane also published her piece on food trends last week, and followed up with a blog post. I have to say I disagree with her point that cupcakes are on their way out.
A number of bloggers wrote year-end wrap up posts, including Maki, Chris and Valerie.
I almost missed this – Jan Hostyn had a good interview with Jacqueline Jacek of Jacek Chocolates in Vue.
Janice was in town for a few days last week, and Annie, May and I thought it only fitting to welcome her back with cheese fondue.

The spread

We took advantage of our proximity to Churchill Square this year by taking in the New Year’s Eve festivities just before midnight.

Yi-Li, Jane, Mack and I

Fireworks!

It’s always great to see downtown bustling with people

Last but not least – Go Canada Go! Man, the city will be rocking this time next year when the World Juniors pays us a visit (even though I know the medal games won’t be in Edmonton).

Culinary Highlights: 2010 Edition

Something happened in 2010 – maybe it was the mortgage, maybe it was the market…okay fine, mostly it had to do with moving out of Casa del Yeo – but I cooked more in my life this year than I ever had in the past, and relished every minute of it!

We finally nailed homemade pizza this year!

My tendency to organize everything, it turns out, fits perfectly with meal planning, so besides getting great meals, I know I am reaping satisfaction from the start of the very process itself – bookmarking recipes, learning what is in season, developing shopping lists, and ensuring a speedy turnover of produce.

We cooked more seasonally this year, and weren’t afraid to buy unfamiliar produce – like pea tendrils

This is not to say I’ve given up eating out by any means (though I know the balance of our food budget shifted this year) – I still enjoy trying new restaurants, and revisiting old favourites, but there’s nothing like preparing and enjoying a home-cooked meal with a loved one at the end of the day.

Curried lentil soup – one of many soups I made this year

Anyway – thanks for bearing with me this year, as I continue to seek great eats in Edmonton – both outside our home and in our own kitchen!

Here are some of the other highlights for me in 2010:

The most exciting thing for Mack and I this year was buying our first condo. A well-designed kitchen was a deal breaker, and though it may not be very large, I love the kitchen!

The spread at a housewarming party for friends

It was important to both of us that the condo be located downtown; the fact that it happens to be right where the City Market is situated only made everything easier. It also enabled me to write a weekly update of the market this year.

Doesn’t the summer seem forever ago? (photo from week 5)

We were also able to get out to visit a few farms this year, including Riverbend Gardens and Bles Wold Dairy. I know it isn’t for everyone – but I do like seeing where my food comes from.

Janelle Herbert (and her two children) of Riverbend Gardens in their never-ending squash patch

With cows at the Bles Wold Dairy

There’s also nothing like farm-to-table meals, and in 2010, we had not one, but two such glorious meals at Madison’s Grill.

A duck and goose trio at a Farmers’ Market Dinner in January

Wine at the 2010 PMA International Wine Makers Dinner in April, where we learned the true brilliance that wine and food pairings can be

That wasn’t the end of sumptuous multicourse meals – I can’t forget the off-menu extravaganza courtesy of Chef Tony Le at Lux, or the Chef Judy Wu’s wonderful showcase at the Wild Tangerine.

Espresso shortrib with truffled bacon cream corn at Lux

Jasmine tea smoked duck breast at the Alberta Backstage Culinary Dinner

Not all of my favourites this year were necessarily fancy, however. I’m still dreaming about the hot dog sliders at Delux, and can’t wait to go back for the xiao long bao at Shanghai 456.

Made with Nathan’s Famous hot dogs!

Soup dumplings at Shanghai 456

Sometimes though, food tastes best after a long day’s work – it certainly felt like that when Maria and I were finally able to relax and have a bite at the Wild Boar and Beer BBQ we organized in August.

Maria and I

Another fun Slow Food Edmonton event this year was the first ever Grilled Cheese Olympics.

The People’s Choice winner, made with goat cheese, brie, prosciutto, sundried tomatoes, served with a tomato compote

I was fortunate enough to be asked to act as a judge myself – at Heritage Days in August, and at the MoCupcakes Challenge in November.

Mack loved this perk of being a judge – the keys to a golf cart!

Linda’s winning Stud Muffins

Mack and I did do some travelling this year – we visited San Francisco in September (I have yet to blog about it). It was my first time visiting a winery, and it’s a no brainer to say what was Mack’s favourite moment – meeting Chef Hubert Keller!

With our favourite Top Chef Master

Cheers!

I’m looking forward to what 2011 has in store for us already!

Epicurious in Edmonton: 2010 in Review

It’s become a bit of a tradition for me to look back on Edmonton’s food scene after the year has wrapped (read 2009 here and 2008 here).

I think one of the most notable food happenings in 2010 was the growth of the blogosphere. More than a dozen local food bloggers joined the fray this year, and though some of them haven’t stuck, restaurants and media alike really started to recognize the fact that some diners do gather information from online food writers. Menu launches like the one that took place in November at ZINC will likely be more commonplace in the future.

As a result, however, I think readers will have to be more vigilant about what they read. Besides comped meals, it is inevitable that bloggers, like journalists, will develop relationships with chefs and restaurateurs. Edmonton may not have the critical mass of food bloggers as other cities do (yet), but I foresee more discussions about food blogging ethics on the horizon in our online community.

Other notable trends and events:

Local chains are continuing to increase their foothold in the local dining scene, including a second Transcend, a second Delux, a third outpost of Culina (in the Muttart Conservatory), a fourth location of Oodle Noodle, and another Cafe de Ville in Sherwood Park.
Of course, there’s usually more public excitement for the establishments opened by international chains, which was the case for Melting Pot and IHOP.
A few Canadian chains also launched their Edmonton presence this year, including Kelowna-based Big City Cupcakes, and Vancouver-based Local Public Eatery. Coming early 2011: beloved Crave Cupcakes, of Calgary.
It seems like loose tea purveyors had a good year – Teaopia opened in Kingsway, and David’s Tea now has two locations in Edmonton, at West Edmonton Mall and Southgate. Tea Fusion just opened in November in City Centre Mall (though bubble tea seems to be their focus).
Something I’m excited about, and really hope blossoms in 2011: one-note restaurant Battista’s Calzones opened in October, and La Poutine, which offers, yes, only poutine, is set to open in January 2011.
There seems to be a hunger for upscale, quality, not-your-average-deli sandwiches, with MRKT, Press’d, and the neighbourhood darling, Elm Cafe, seeing success this year. In the same vein, I have to think banh mi (Vietnamese subs) have become mainstream in Edmonton, with Nhon Hoa opening up a spot on Whyte Avenue, and V Sandwiches and Far East Sandwiches occupying prime downtown real estate.
Wine bars really were all the rage in 2010. With the addition of Lit, Moriarty’s, d’Lish, and Somerville Wine and Cheese, there are now several options for those looking for a glass of vino and some nibbles. So many, in fact, that 4th and Vine now bills itself as the “original wine bar” in print ads.
Speaking of wine bars, after fashion shows took place at both Lit and The Common this year, perhaps we should expect further mingling of bars and fashion in 2011.
Urban China and the more recent Emperor’s Palace really give me hope that one day, Chinatown might return to its glory days. At the very least though, they have ushered in the modern, stylish Chinese restaurants more common in Vancouver and Calgary.
This year saw the advent of group-based discount services in Edmonton – Groupon was the first, but it has now been joined by others, including Living Social, TeamBuy and most recently, SwarmJam.
As the city grows, pockets of businesses like the one in southeast Edmonton with Dumplings and Real Deal Meats will likely be more common (hopefully with locally owned businesses!).
With the excitement around The Marc and La Persaud in 2010, I wonder if more French bistros are in the cards?
The Municipal Development Plan, which will help protect some local food sources, was passed in May, and the Capital City Downtown Plan, which mentions providing assistance to those wishing to grow food downtown, as well as a multi-purpose arts/city market space, was passed in July.
Also on the topic of sustainability, it’s great to see the post-secondary institutions offering opportunities for students to learn more about food security, among other topics – Common Ground at Grant MacEwan University in March, and Sustainability Awareness Week at the U of A in October.
Another farmers’ market popped up in South Edmonton Common in the summer, and another is being investigated for the Riverbend/Terwillegar communities.

Here’s to more great happenings in 2011!

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