Food Notes for January 8, 2024

Chinatown Dining Week Returns with Record 24 Restaurants

Chinatown continues to grapple with negative perceptions of safety and security, and businesses are struggling. Chinatown Dining Week is back again to serve as a reminder to discover or revisit some of our city’s culinary gems. The event runs January 18-28, 2024, with businesses offering special $10 or $20 menus during that period.

This will be the largest event in our seven year history, with a record 24 businesses spanning both Chinatown North and South. We are also thrilled to welcome five new businesses to our event: Hing Lung BBQ House, Italian Bakery, RJ Tasty Bites, Van Loc, and Xu Hue.

The full menus are now up, and the deals are hard to beat. There are so many reasons to dine-in – hot pot is especially enticing in this cold snap, and I’m partial to a bowl of pho. Take-out options also abound: Kim Fat sold over one thousand pounds of their famous fried chicken skin last year, so that’s likely to be another popular dish, and combos from Namaste India and Syphay offer something spicy for meat eaters and vegetarians alike. Those looking for a sweet treat should look no further than Hong Kong Bakery, Macarons & Goodies, or to the OG bubble tea purveyor Tea Bar Cafe.

As an entirely volunteer-run event, it can be challenging to manage the logistics with so many partner businesses. But our team is so passionate about making sure more Edmontonians are aware of the places that make Chinatown unique, and we hope it shows.

We hope you #eatyegchinatown!

Openings

• Oceania Grill is a new seafood restaurant opened by the same folks behind Watari. It is located at #102, 6104 104 Street.
• New all you can eat Japanese restaurant Tatsu Sushi opened at 10163 109 Street. Their grand opening is taking place on January 12.
• Coffee shops abound in Downtown and Oliver – the newest, also a coffee roaster, is Roam Cafe, which opened on January 2 at 10130 112 Street.
• Momma Tong, a farmers’ market vendor whose Vietnamese meal kit products I have very much enjoyed in the past, opened up a storefront location in Old Strathcona back in December. Find them at 9938 82 Avenue.
• BBQ Chicken, a Korea-based chain has opened up its first standalone location in Edmonton at 17020 95 Avenue. Their full menu will be available at this branch.
• Wild Rose Cakes, who teased the opening of a Downtown location, has now revealed the exact location – next to Jack’s Burger Shack on Jasper Avenue and 104 Street. It will open in the spring and is called Obj3cts, and will feature home goods, gifts, flowers, and a second floor lounge space.
• It’s great to see that DRTY Ice Cream announced that they are opening up their own location this summer! I profiled DRTY back in 2021 and they’ve come so far since then.
• It looks like a second location of Les Moulins La Fayette will be opening in Edmonton in the former Transcend Coffee location in Garneau.

Closures

• Asymmetrical Brewing announced their closure, with December 31 having been their last day of operations: “While the entire economy has been hit with hard times, we have felt it the same way. Although we have been right on the cusp for the last few months, cash flow has a challenge. We have not been able to get caught up to being sustainable any more.”
• Awn Kitchen closed the cafe side of their business on December 23. Owner Kaelin Whittaker shared more about her decision in a blog post.

Upcoming Events

• Culina’s pop-up space in McCauley is hosting two additional buffet brunches in January. Tickets for the January 14 or 28 event are $35 for adults and $20 for children.
• Edify is hosting an event to celebrate their Best Restaurants issue on April 8, 2024. Early bird tickets are $80.

Local News

• Zocalo is temporarily closed for renovations due to a serious fire that damaged the greenhouse. Zocalo just commemorated their 20th anniversary in November.
• Wine Bar on Whyte takes over Overflow Café Wednesday-Saturday from 4-9pm. It is located at 8135 102 Street.
• On the flip side, Cask & Barrel debuted a new aspect of their business called Cask & Bean back in November – from 7am-3pm on Monday-Friday, they serve up Colombian coffee and fresh-baked pastries. It looks like it is temporarily closed for the moment.
• Twyla wrote about what she expects to see in the local food scene in 2024, including more fermented products and creative locations for restaurants.
• Congratulations to Van Loc owners William and Wilson at Van Loc for reaching their first birthday since taking over the business. To celebrate, Van Loc is offering buy one, get one free banh mi on January 11.
• Radio Active took a tour of the new chocolate business Delavoye Chocolate Maker with owner Antoine Lavoie.
• Linda rounds up 8 giant foods available in Edmonton, including a giant croissant from Ayco Cafe, a punchbowl of poutine from Leopold’s Tavern, and giant bowl of pho from XO Bistro.
• Jacqueline Jacek of Jacek Chocolate Couture was interviewed by CBC about her growing business.
• Nicole Bhar, Candyce Morris, and Paula Shyba, the trio behind Kind Ice Cream, were recognized as 2024 Edifiers by Edify Magazine.
• Brad Smoliak has been mentoring Ukrainian newcomers at Ukraine’s Kitchen, a restaurant staffed by newcomers that opened last year.
• Baba’s Own Kitchen, which sells perogies and cabbage rolls, has seen immense growth.

What I Ate

I had a short but restful time with the family over the holidays! It was also nice to take a break from the blog for a couple of weeks as final preparations for Chinatown Dining Week are underway.

• I finally had the chance to try CQ Noodle over the break! Their chef meat pork noodle soup was delicious, but not for the faint of heart for spice lightweights like me. It was great to see how busy they were over the lunch rush.

Chef meat pork noodle soup from CQ Noodle

• Carrot cake from Rosewood have become part of Mack’s annual birthday tradition since they opened several years ago. This year, we also tried their banana parfaits for the first time, and I might legitimately have a new favourite Rosewood dessert.

Banana parfaits from Rosewood Foods

• You’d be hard pressed to keep me from pho, and before long, I had to satisfy my craving for bun bo hue with take-out from King Noodle.

Bun Bo Hue from King Noodle

• I had been meaning to return to Café Bel-Air after writing a story about the business back in the fall, and had the chance to do that this weekend. Their $25 vegetarian high tea is an immense value, but it’s the hospitality that puts the experience over the top.

High tea from Café Bel-Air

• Co Do Hue is a family favourite, so when we were nearby after running errands, we picked up some of their tasty vermicelli bowls for lunch. Their grilled chicken is something special, and their service is fantastic.

Two colour vermicelli from Co Do Hue