Category: food

Homefire Grill

Last night, a friend and I had dinner at Homefire Grill (18210 100 Avenue). I read about the restaurant a few months ago in Vue Weekly, but hadn’t yet had the opportunity to check it out.

The dining room itself is painted in mute autumn tones, which helps to evoke the cozy atmosphere the name suggests. On the other hand, perhaps I’ve been brainwashed by too many Restaurant Makeover viewings, but eateries that attempt to cater to every possible crowd often end up diluting their overall quality. Homefire Grill seems to suffer from such an identity crisis. While the menu lends itself to family-friendly meals, and the Navajo-inspired symbols that adorn the walls, sconces, and drop lamps provide a dash of ‘mom’s kitchen kitch,’ the fireplace centrepiece and room-wide dim lighting create an environment more aligned with adult dining (I find food to be quite the afterthought in these reviews. Who knew I’d be more interested in the aesthetics?).

There were some interesting menu options (the “nice little salad” for one, and the buffalo meatloaf which I will surely return to try), but I settled on the country ham and pineapple pizza while my friend chose the Singapore sling stir-fry.

Although the pizza was somewhat tasty (the hickory smoked bacon flavored the generous topping of cheese quite nicely), the soggy crust prevented it from any elevation above the fare available in most high school cafeterias. The beef in my friend’s stir fry was seasoned and grilled to perfection, but a lack of noodles and the use of frozen vegetables led to a dish that left much to be desired.

We split a creme brulee for dessert (actually quite unusual for me…all of my meals typically begin and end with an entree). Instead of the torched sugar we expected, the brulee was topped with a thick layer of caramelized sugar. It definitely took some effort to break through the coating to reach the disappointingly cool custard beneath. I’m not enough of a creme brulee expert to know what they did wrong, but the dish was disappointing, to say the least.

Reading over this review, I acknowledge that it appears I had a negative experience – and that wasn’t the case. Our waiter was polite and attentive (he even took the time to tell us about Mick McGeough’s blown call), and I would definitely recommend this restaurant to adults who are looking for a quiet, comfortable dinner venue. Next up on my return trip: buffalo meatloaf!

Restaurant interior

Centre fireplace

Country ham and pineapple pizza

Singapore sling stir-fry

Creme brulee

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

I passed by Ruth’s Chris Steak House (9990 Jasper Avenue) today. It is located in the old CIBC building, which makes it just a hop, skip, and jump away from Century Hospitality Group’s widely successful Lux Steakhouse & Bar. This location is the franchise’s first venture into Western Canada. And for those of you who were wondering (I certainly was), the phonetically-challenging moniker is a result of the founder, Ruth Fertel, merging her name with the first eatery she purchased, originally called “Chris Steak House.”

It appears to be quite an upscale joint (a large “valet parking” sign is staked out front), but whomever drafted this awkward description on the website should be fired:

“Our historic setting includes private dining in former bank vaults, surrounded in two feet of concrete and six ton vault doors yet with a very spacious feeling.”

I can hear Jay Leno’s mocking voiceover now – “‘Honey, there’s no one I’d rather be trapped with in a concrete cell.'”

I’m not sure when I’ll be in the market for a premium steak, but when it happens, I will be sure to post a review of the experience.

Cupcakes!

I am not afraid to admit that I have a cupcake fetish, or at the very least am in the midst of a cupcake phase.

Ever since Magnolia Bakery hit it big in New York, gourmet cupcake shops have been springing up in major centres across North America. Even Edmonton, as small as we are, currently supports four cupcake franchises: two physical stores and two home-based businesses.

  • The Cupcake Shoppe: a home-based business, they deliver, and have sold their product at St. Albert’s Outdoor Farmer’s Market in the past. I haven’t yet had a chance to try out their cupcakes, so I will withhold judgment until then.
  • BabyCakes Bakeshoppe (6861-170 Street): a cupcake bakery and tea room, I just read about this location in the Edmonton Journal. I will be sure to make a stop there sometime soon.
  • The Cupcake Bakeshoppe & Cafe (17298 Stony Plain Road): I visited this cafe a few weeks ago with a friend of mine, and after much anticipation, I was sorely disappointed. The cafe itself was quite charming, but the cupcakes were not what I expected. Because they were refrigerated, it was hard to determine whether or not they were freshly made. Moreover, the icing was of the buttercream variety – not sweet enough for my tooth. The server explained that they only use imported Belgian fruit purees in the icing, but to me, the strawberry icing atop “The Diva” tasted strangely reminiscent of artificially-flavored Pocky. I will return sometime soon, if not only to try the ‘cakes that they had sold out of (“The Don” especially), but I will remain cautiously optimistic.
  • Whimsical Cake Studio: another home-based business, they are clearly my favorite (with the best website too!). They also deliver, and sell their product at the St. Albert and Downtown Farmer’s Markets. Over the summer, Whimsical was profiled in the Edmonton Journal, which is where I discovered the company. I had my first taste of their cupcakes at the city centre market, and felt even more privileged when I managed to score the last two they had for sale that Saturday (yes, there was a little boy behind me in line. No mercy when it comes to cupcakes). The ‘cake was obviously freshly baked, and the icing was a little taste of heaven – sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. If you’re interested, Whimsical will be setting up booths on November 4 & 18 at Churchill Square. Details here.

An unidentified Whimsical cupcake (picture courtesy of a coworker with a talent for photography).

EDIT: on a cupcake-related note, I discovered Johnny Cupcakes clothing today. They make one cute shirt.

Haweli Restaurant and Steeps

Last night, a few friends and I had supper at Haweli Restaurant (10220-103 Street), located on the Boardwalk in downtown Edmonton. Haweli actually just recently won the Edmonton Appetizer Challenge at the Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival.

Although the furniture looks like it could have been rescued from a repossessed Bonanza, there were some nice decorative touches of organza around the dining area. Though on second thought, Haweli could greatly benefit from a Restaurant Makeover-style interior renovation…

I would be the first person to admit that I haven’t had much in the way of East Indian cuisine before, so much of what was on the menu was new to me. Thus, I was hoping the waitress would be able to provide some guidance, but this wasn’t the case – she was either new, or simply ill-equipped to deal with questions from inquisitive patrons. In the end, we settled on sharing orders of vegetarian samosas, garlic naan, butter chicken, navratan korma (mixed vegetables cooked in a creamy sauce), and chicken biryani (basmati rice cooked with boneless chicken).

Save for the plates of samosas and naan, all other dishes were surprisingly small. However, the food itself was excellent. In particular, the navratan korma was creamy, flavorful, but not overpowered by spices.

Our cheque divided up into roughly $18 per person, so it was definitely a worthwhile sampling of East Indian cuisine. And while I’m not sure I will be back right away, it was a satisfying experience overall.

Interior of Haweli Restaurant

Chicken biryani and navratan korma

Following dinner, we headed to Steeps (12411 Stony Plan Road). I love coffee as much as the next person, but I do drink a fair amount of tea as well. Steeps is noted for their great selection of teas, which you can check out at their handy “tea tree”: a stand with individual canisters of all of the teas they carry, available for your sniffing pleasure.

This was my first time at the “original teahouse,” as it is denoted on the website, and the atmosphere is fantastic. You almost feel like an urbanite just stepping into the place, with its old hardwood flooring, mismatched 70s furniture (reminiscent of pieces sold at The Junque Cellar), and dim lighting. This location actually reminded me a lot of one of my favorite Edmonton haunts, the Blue Plate Diner.

I settled on a small pot of “spring wind jasmine” green tea. I am not enough of a tea aficionado to suss out the subtle hints and tones of the brew, but I can say that it produced a comforting drink to accompany fine conversation.

A great cup of tea!