Tag: Edmonton

Battle of the Big Three: Joey Tomatoes

As we didn’t have time for their famous apple pie last week, Dickson and I headed to Joey Tomatoes downtown (11228 Jasper Avenue) after work today to satisfy his craving.

As those who read my blog using an aggregator know, I am writing this post much later than the date stamp indicates. As such, I have had the opportunity to visit Joey’s a second time before drafting this review, and my opinion has changed slightly in that time for the better.

Besides menu offerings, Earls, Moxie’s and Joey’s – Edmonton mainstays of casual upscale dining – are indistinguishable between their use of dim lighting, dark wood, pulsating music, and club-ready hostesses. Of the three, I prefer Moxie’s simply for their food selection – they have more dishes that I tend to gravitate towards on a day to day basis. I will say, however, that I like the downtown location of Joey’s better than the South Common branch – the table lamps and cozy booths create the feeling of a private dining experience.

On my first outing, I insisted on “real food” to supplement Dickson’s pie, so I thought the Bombay Butter Chicken was worth a try. Though I didn’t expect an authentic meal, I did hope for more than what was essentially curry soup that happened to contain chicken. The sauce was indeed flavourful, but between the inconsequential pieces of meat and bok choy (which had been rendered limp and wilted in the concoction), it wasn’t an enjoyable dish. The accompanying rice was all right, but why the peas weren’t in place of the bok choy was beyond me.

As for the (drumroll) apple pie – on my second tasting, I can appreciate why it is so well-loved. The puff pastry really is the secret, though quite frankly, anything wrapped in puff pastry would taste better. If Dickson was a blogger, he’d have posted about the fact that I challenged the difficulty of making the pie at home. So perhaps when I have exhausted all of the other recipes I have lined up in my culinary queue, I will try my hand at this pie.

As I mentioned above, my most recent experience at Joey’s was an especially positive one. Having come in from the rain that night and feeling vulnerable to a cold, I requested a mug of hot water. Perhaps it is standard practice, and I shouldn’t have been as floored as I was, but the accompanying slice of lime (a la Neocitrin) was an unexpected service-oriented touch. It may have been psychological, but I didn’t end up developing a cold.

Regardless of their intention, I am warming up to Joey Tomatoes. If they retool their menu, they may bump Moxie’s off the top of the big three!

Bombay Butter Chicken
Apple pie!

Cheap Eats and Great Conversation: Ikea Restaurant

There’s nothing better than a busy, intimate coffee shop in the evening – when you can feel the caffeinated buzz in the air, and conversations are almost instinctively spoken in a moderate hush. As great a venue as that can be, the opposite works as well – spacious, dimly lit dining areas light on patrons that breed lengthy, private discussions. The Ikea Restaurant (for dinner) in one such place.

Annie and I have been here a few times for their very economical selections. With a plate of pasta, soup or salad, and drink combo going for $3.99, and a dish of salmon and steamed vegetables priced at $6.49, Ikea offers some of the best deals in the city (this discounts the amount inevitably spent on unnecessary prints, kitchen accessories, and miscellaneous soon-to-be garage sale fodder, but my focus here is only on the food). Ikea claims the lower prices come as a result of their store mantra of self-service (no waiters to serve or clear plates), but how many people realistically pop into the store and manage to bypass merchandise completely? Food is definitely a carrot in this case.

We both ordered our reliable standby – a plate of 10 Swedish meatballs, potatoes with gravy and a dollop of cranberry sauce, accompanied with soup or salad and a drink. While not entirely filling on an empty stomach, for $5.99, it leaves enough pocket change to pick up a few 50cent hot dogs on the way out (which I did; I’m still in the wisdom teeth recovery zone of anything goes).
But as in many of my reviews, food comes second to the setting. I adore the dining area in the restaurant with its simple, stylish decor – quintessential Ikea. Single pendant lamps, sleek rows of light wooden tables, and a breathtaking wall of windows create a perfectly understated, minimalist aesthetic. And in the evening, as the sun sets, the ambiance is equivalent to that of a friend’s kitchen – cozy, comfortable, with unending refills of coffee.
Though their $1 breakfasts are great – give Ikea a try when you’re looking for a South Common dinner alternative.
Quiet Corner (I like this shot for the visibility of the Ikea sign, as well as the overview of the parking lot; many have said the store looks resembles a mini-airport)
Swedish meatball special

Central and Satisfying: Three Bananas Cafe

May and I had been to Three Bananas Cafe (9918-102 Avenue) just after it opened a few years ago, but haven’t been back since. Strange, especially since we had a positive experience and it has such a great location – right on Churchill Square. Well, before an event at the Winspear Centre tonight, we decided to grab a quick bite to eat there, knowing they would be fairly efficient, but in the worst-case scenario, we were just a stone’s throw away from our target venue.

A modern yet inviting space, the ‘seat yourself’ mentality lends itself quite well to the casual cafe atmosphere. Lined with windows – a great feature for warm weather people-watching on the Square – the dim lighting is more conducive to catch-up conversations than solo reading in the evenings. There are even a few flat screen televisions mounted on the wall, typically projecting sports programs.

I always marvelled at the fact that what appears to be an upper-scale coffee shop would also have a decent food menu. May ordered the Deli Combo Panini (turkey, smoked ham, pickles, cheddar cheese, dijon mustard and mayo), while I ordered (what else) a Hawaiian Pizza (finally!).

The food arrived after a bit of a wait, though understandable given they only had one cook on shift (who also served as the busperson). May said her Panini was all right, but expressed a preference for the sandwiches served at Booster Juice. My pizza was just what the doctor ordered – the multigrain crust was thin, crunchy and light, and served as a great base to a generous topping of ham, pineapple, and cheddar and mozarella cheeses.

So if you’re in the mood for a coffee or a light meal, Three Bananas sure beats the food court funk.

Right on Churchill Square!
Deli Combo Panini with Organic Chips and Salsa
Ham and Pineapple Pizza

Dwarfed Expectations: Bua Thai

Since Dickson had expressed a desire to have his favorite apple pie dessert from Joey’s Grill, I figured it was a good time as any to satisfy my craving for the best pad thai in the city. Located across the street from the downtown Joey’s, Bua Thai (10049-113 Street) is a small restaurant renowned for its abrupt service and great food (in that order). I know that when I’ve talked about my past dining experiences there, I usually draw attention to their rather rude way of greeting patrons (involving a quick, “Reservation?” in place of a typical, “Good evening” or “Hello”). At the same time, I think I have reached a point where I am nearly expecting that abuse, equating a meal there to a dinner theatre for sado-masochists.

I made sure to call ahead for reservations, despite knowing that we were dining early on a Tuesday night. When we reached the restaurant at 5:30, we were, not surprisingly, the only customers there. The dining room is simply and tastefully decorated, with Asian artifacts clustered near the order counter, a few plants scattered throughout, and colorful tapestries set underneath the glass countertops of individual tables.

Bua Thai boasts quite an extensive menu, but I didn’t need any guidance to head straight for the phat thai. To supplement the noodles, we also ordered the baked lemongrass chicken. The phat thai, as anticipated, was fantastic. I’m not sure what it is about their version that makes it so much better than others, except to say that the dish reminds me of Chinese char kway teow. As for the chicken – the serving was fairly generous (though for the price, it had to have been), and though the chili-lemongrass sauce flavored the meat nicely, the chicken was on the dry side.

And the report you’ve all been waiting for – the service was actually fine. Our host/waiter could have even been considered friendly! Is it wrong to say that my dwarfed expectations lessened my experience somewhat? I’m really not easy to please.

Overall, I enjoyed the food. Though I must admit that I didn’t recall how steep the prices were. Bua Thai is by necessity an infrequent destination.

Restaurant interior
Phat Thai
Baked Lemongrass Chicken
Dickson eating his veggies (Mabel would be proud!)

Comfortable and Without Pretension: Route 99 Diner

Like Barb & Ernie’s, I passed by Route 99 Diner (8820-99 Street) innumerable times, always remarking how I wanted to eat there. I loved the juxtaposition between upscale and “down-home,” so for our real meal of the evening, I suggested that we head to the diner. From the outside, Route 99 looks every bit like a traditional roadside stopover – boxy, bright, lined with windows, and dotted with “all day breakfast” signage. Inside, complete with cozy booths, a jukebox, working traffic light and rescued licence plates and gas station memorabilia, the space definitively screamed “diner” (I particularly enjoyed the meta Nighthawks wall hanging).

The menu contained nothing unexpected, with a mix of requisite breakfast and dinner items, including omelets, pancakes, sandwiches, and pizzas. Mack decided upon the evening-appropriate Diner Burger, while for the sheer novelty of it, I asked for a plate of French Toast and Sausages (and thankfully, no Grand Marnier in sight). We also agreed to split an order of poutine.

Our food came relatively quickly (though as Mack noted, the dishes shouldn’t be that difficult to pull together). First of all, the serving of poutine was huge! Even between the two of us, we weren’t able to finish it (photo evidence below). As for our individual orders, Mack found no fault with his burger, but I wasn’t as impressed with the French Toast. Though complete with a nice dusting of powdered sugar, the bread was a bit tougher than ideal. The sausage was prepared in an interesting fashion, however – flayed, which would not only encourage a faster cooking time, but also allow for a more even crisp on the outside. It’s a technique I will try myself sometime.

With good service and not an ounce of pretension, Route 99 is a friendly, not-off-the-beaten-track option for the hungry.

Restaurant interior
Counter (with working traffic light above!)
Jukebox
Menu
Poutine!
Mack’s Diner Burger
Condiment Stand
My French Toast and Sausages
Leftover Poutine

Pricey but Pleasant: TZiN Wine and Tapas

If you’ve been paying some attention to my blog, then you’ll know that I’ve been eagerly awaiting the opening of TZiN Wine and Tapas (10115-104 Street). Between the rave reviews and the several notable mentions in the food literature I peruse, I was foaming at the mouth to try it. So on Friday, with Mack in tow, I was excited to finally give it a go.

Anyone else who had ever visited the previous tenant would probably be wondering, like I was, how they would manage to squeeze a full-service restaurant into a space that functioned primarily as a takeout place before. Well, I’m happy to say the designer pulled it off in spades. Though the entire restaurant seats only about 20-25 patrons, the dining area is more intimate than claustrophobic in my opinion. The black and red color scheme is sleek, with the banquette along the left side making the most of the small space. I’d like to think it was deliberate, but the pulsing dance music served as a cover of sorts, allowing for some conversational privacy between tables.

The food menu is definitely not for the frugal at heart. Tapas (“small plates”) start at $8, with most in the $11-$13 range. There were some interesting selections, including frogs legs (cheekily named “Miss Piggy’s Revenge”), scallops, and raw fish. Their lunch appears to be the most economical, with sandwiches priced at between $12 and $14 (I’d order the ExBoyfriend – made with jerk chicken!). We decided to split the 4-20 Pica, a rather elaborate pizza made with artichoke, oven dried roma tomato and asiago drizzled with organic hemp seed oil.

I’m admittedly not much of a wine-drinker (especially when compared with Mack), but it would have been a waste to visit a wine bar and not order at least a glass. We went one better and chose the “Mile High Club” Heaven trio – for $12, three 2oz. samples of whites, including a 2005 Paul Zinck Pinot Gris (France), 2005 Alois Lageder Pinot Blanco (Italy), and 2005 Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris (Canada). If anything, I now know that I prefer Pinot Gris – there isn’t as much of a stinging aftertaste when compared with Pinot Blanco or (blech) red wines. Mack also ordered a fraction of Edmeades Zinfandel, but despite his raw enthusiasm for this type of red, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it.

Our pizza arrived after some wait (curious as there are a number of service people in the restaurant but only one cook), likely a ploy to increase drink orders between course delivery. Still, it was a fairly decent dish. I disputed the fact that the tomato was at all oven dried, but I enjoyed the arugula, asiago, and foccacia-eque bread base. It wasn’t worth the $11 charged, but I agreed with Mack’s observation that outrageous prices are necessary because of the lack of seats in the restaurant.

TZiN is not the place for a full dinner, but I can see it becoming a destination spot for an after-work drink or post-show bite.

Novel hours
Kitchen (located right next to the restaurant’s entrance!)
Menu
Heaven trio (when the waitress saw that we were eyeing the “Mile High” selections – either “Heaven” or “Hell,” she asked, “Ready to go to Hell?” then quickly countered, saying “That’s probably not the question you want to hear on Easter weekend…”)
4-20 Pica

Narratives of Citizenship Conference

Mack and I attended the Narratives of Citizenship Conference this weekend, put on by the Graduates Students of English Association at the University of Alberta. The conference was divided into three sections – academic, artistic, and communal, though really, the concentration was on paper presentations.

We were originally asked a few months ago to be a part of the latter focus in the form of a community roundtable session, but when we were also extended an invitation to attend the rest of the conference as guests, I was excited. I am always on the hunt for professional development opportunities (related or not to my current job), so I have been looking forward to this weekend for a while.

The keynote that began the conference on Friday evening was titled “Imposing subCitizenship: Canadian White Civility and the Two Row Wampum of the Six Nations,” presented by Daniel Coleman of McMaster University. It turned out to be quite an interesting history lesson for me, as he talked about the current Haudenesaunee land claim dispute in Ontario and the events that led up to that. The most interesting idea from his talk had to do with a dichotomy I hadn’t really thought about before – of how a policy of inclusion (his example was of Native enfranchisement) could function as well as ill-recognition of one’s sovereignty and independence and hence, encourage a right to be excluded.

Saturday offered a plethora of sessions on citizenship – everything from dual-citizenship to forgotten citizens to multiculturalism and nationalism. For the better part of the day, I tried to construct a clever metaphor to capture the day’s experience, but the closest I came was something about only being able to eat the bread of a sandwich, never quite able to reach the filling (yes, a terrible comparison). It’s ironic that at a conference where one of the explicit themes was belonging and acknowledgement of citizenship, that I could possibly feel like an outsider. This is not to say that my fellow attendees were in any way exclusive or unwelcoming – on the contrary, those to whom I spoke were very nice and open with sharing their research. However, having only ever taken one course in post-modern English, I just didn’t have the background necessary to process all of the knowledge, and many of the theories and citations were clear over my head. More than that, I found myself asking often what the ultimate point of this research was – how could it apply to real life?

That said, I did enjoy Lily Cho’s plenary talk that morning (or at least, the 40% that I managed to comprehend). She did what all of the other speakers I watched didn’t – actually discussing her thesis without reading word for word off of the page. Though I still can’t define diasporic citizenship or affect theory, she had some interesting thoughts related to racial melancholia, specifically about how racial communities are connected through a collective grief that cannot end until that community is able to translate that grief into grievance.

Two other papers I found intriguing had a more literary basis, using text as a starting point to discuss greater social ideas. Jennifer Delisle’s “A Citizen of Story: Confederation and Wayne Johnston’s Newfoundland,” used two narratives as a foundation for the argument that inhabitants of Newfoundland have been dealt a double-wound in the last half century. Between losing a connection with the “Motherland” and an increase in out-migration, citizens of Newfoundland have lost their sense of identity twice. Secondly, Elyssa Warkentin’s “The Marginalized Female Citizen: Dangerous Femininity in Marie Belloc Lowndes’ The Lodger” was a fascinating study of a narrative based on reports on Jack the Ripper. Of all presentations, Elyssa’s was by far the most logical, providing enough details from The Lodger for those unfamiliar with the text, and as traditional English papers do, used evidence to thoroughly support her argument. After a long day, her paper was much-needed and refreshing.

This was my first time at a conference of this nature, and as such, I have a few observations from green eyes:

  • In stark opposition with my experience at Northern Voice, there were no laptops! (Yay! I belong!)
  • All of the conference attendees were very supportive, encouraging, and appreciative of one another. During post-presentation discussions, everyone preceded questions with something along the lines of the ostensibly polite, “Thank you for the great paper…” Moreover, whenever anyone ducked out during the talks for any reason, they always took the time to publicly apologize for their absence after.
  • As with any other specialized field, name dropping was rampant. But in this case, it was not only appropriate, but necessary, as the presenters were citing authors and their original ideas.
  • The conference was essentially a forum to flesh out ideas – like the best kind of English class, and the ones professors always want to have.

During lunch, I mediated over frozen yogurt to somehow make the content relevant to my current stream of work. Modest thoughts only, but I harked back to an e-mail requesting statistics for those immigrants who self-identity as health care professionals but are not practicing at the moment, and came up with a stream of questions. Keep in mind they are questions I can’t answer, and don’t know if I will come back to answer, at least not right away:

  • What good is self-identification without recognition, acceptance, and a right to practice?
  • Can one still self-identify without actual practice? (and the idea of borders as barriers to legitimizing identity)
  • What of those who are forced to give up on that identity for whatever reason to adopt another profession, thus altering how they relate to and identify with others (status, class, professional relationships, etc.)?
  • Is this double-wounding of identity, with not only a physical diaspora occurring but a professional extinction as well (as so frequently asked of those we meet, “Where are you from? What do you do?”)? And if this is the case, not discounting family, personal will and the holistic view of an individual, what is left?

Although I had every intention of attending the artists’ gala on Saturday, by the time we had finished dinner, I was more than spent. Luckily, our roundtable wasn’t until 3pm the next day, so I was able to sleep in.

The “Community Education and Translation of University Knowledge” roundtable was great – I got to hear about other programs I didn’t know about before, and received updates on those that I hadn’t heard from in a while. There were several “dignitaries” present, including the Mayor and MLA Raj Pannu, but their remarks missed the mark in terms of relevance to the session’s objective. While we couldn’t be sure whether or not it was a failure on the part of conference organizers to accurately inform the dignitaries in advance, or the failure of the dignitaries to put together an appropriately-themed speech, I must admit I remained respectfully silent through Mayor Mandel’s digression of needing to increase Edmonton’s film industry, and MLA Pannu’s dissemination on the importance of climate change awareness.

Needless to say, by Sunday evening, I was exhausted. Overall, it was a good weekend – it was definitely a new experience for me, and it is always invigorating and inspiring to be around those who are passionate about their work. Congratulations to the conference organizers for a successful event!

Comedy for a Cause

After dinner, Mack and I went to a YRAP fundraiser, Comedy for a Cause, at The Comic Strip on Bourbon Street in West Edmonton Mall.

This experience was definitely better than my last, where the $25 ticket price bought only moderate chuckles. The evening was MC’d by Paul Brown of The Bear “fame.” Late to the stage, he gave the impression that he had just arrived, barely oriented to the event at hand, and immediately launched into a haphazard tirade about the trouble with kids and crystal meth. As this was a fundraiser for the Youth Emergency Shelter, where the law and drug addiction could very well factor into a teen’s stay, it was, needless to say, the wrong kind of comedy for this group. One woman at the YES table in particular glared at Brown all night and looked quite unhappy with his vein of jokes. After some reflection, I’m fairly certain he had deliberately intended on being offensive.

The two comics were at opposite ends of the spectrum, and I found it interesting how both of them integrated family anecdotes into their routines, but only one of them managed to make it work. And so I ask – what makes a comedian funny? I can’t answer that, but I can tell you that Willie Santos crashed and burned. I’m not sure if it was just a nervous reflex either, but he actually started to alienate the audience when he questioned why we weren’t laughing.

John Wesley (of Last Comic Standing “fame”), on the other hand, was great. He was affable, energetic, and self-sacrificing without putting the audience on the defensive. He had some classic material – his relationship with his father, the differences between Texas/the United States and Canada, and ex-girlfriends. He even poked fun at Calgary with a line about the hick Pied Piper leading all rednecks south.

As for the venue itself, it is hard to blame the waitresses when they are clearly doing their job, but it was unnecessarily distracting for them to be asking for drink orders at seemingly 10 minute intervals, walking in front of patrons trying to pay attention to the show, at times even causing the audience to miss out on the punch line all together. Though in Santos’ case, perhaps pouring on the alcohol was a good thing.

All in all, it was a fun evening, and even better that the money raised went to a worthy cause!

Just Like Earls: Dante’s Bistro

As we would be in the area anyway, I figured it’d be a good time to try Dante’s Bistro (17328 Stony Plan Road). Mack was surprised I hadn’t been to this restaurant before, but considering it isn’t readily accessible by public transit, it shouldn’t have been too difficult to believe.

The dining room (or “bistro,” as it is named on the website) is built with an incredibly high ceiling, giving it a grand feeling, trumping most other casual upscale locales. At the same time, I wasn’t too sure I liked the painted faux-fresco walls – like slightly off designer replicas, I felt it devalued the overall decor. I would have much preferred plain, one-color columns to emulate the classy, sophisticated feeling created by the heightened ceiling.

As for the menu, Mack was spot on when he compared it to (boo) Earls – pastas, fusion dishes, and grilled meats. In contrast with the chain, however, there were actually a few dishes that I would choose to eat. In this case, I chose the Pineapple & Prosciutto Pizza, while Mack selected the Ginger Beef. As it would turn out, neither of us ended up getting what we ordered.

I was served the Blackened Chicken, Grilled Onions, Cilantro & Mango Chutney Pizza (that’s what those yellow chunks were!), and Mack the Bul-Go-Gi Beef Stir-fry. I really hope it was the server’s first day, because we clearly didn’t incorrectly articulate our order. We also didn’t send it back, though in retrospect pointing out her error may have resulted in a generous discount of sorts. As for the meal itself, the pizza was fairly satisfying, though the Italian ham would have hit the spot just a little bit better. Mack enjoyed his stir-fry, though in my opinion the beef was on the dry side.

Would I return to Dante’s? Perhaps to the lounge for the ambiance, but not for the service or the unexceptional food.

Dining room interior
Blackened Chicken Pizza
Bul-Go-Gi Beef Stir-fry

Edmonton Film Society: “Marnie”

On Monday night, I attended an Edmonton Film Society screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie with Dickson at the Royal Museum of Alberta (the movie passed through his precious litmus test of quality – the user-voted IMDB rating).

Dickson likes to poke fun at the average age of the audience by calling them the “sea of grey,” but personally, I think part of the fun of EFS events (as opposed to renting the classic films) is watching these movies with this particular generation. There is not a drop of pretentiousness in the room; every reaction is absolutely genuine. As demonstrated during a screening of To Catch a Thief last summer, from the laughs to the gasps to the applause at the end, I sometimes feel that this kind of collective viewing experience is what all theatres should offer. That said, the numbers were low yesterday (likely due to the chilly weather), so the room didn’t quite have the critical mass necessary for the desired aural effect.

The plot of Marnie is described perfectly on the EFS website: “a perverse romance between a beautiful, elegant thief [Tippi Hedren as Marnie] who’s blackmailed into marriage by one of her victims [Sean Connery as Mark Rutland].” Perverse indeed – I took offense with Mark’s machismo as he prayed on Marnie’s vulnerability, even to the point of rape. Connery played cocky well, but even Bond didn’t come off as anything but a controlling, manipulative terror.

Hedren was a great casting choice – not classically beautiful but attractive nonetheless, she had an unsettling aura about her that was perfect for the character. Edith Head’s signature gowns draped beautifully on her as well, though even the everyday clothes were lovely to look at – bold colors, high button collars and trapeze silhouettes.

As for the special effects and the score – they were both decidedly over-the-top. Marnie’s pulsating curtain of red visions became redundant over the course of the movie, reaching near-campy levels. The music was shrill, unnecessarily prominent, and by the end, unnervingly grating (the violins!). Perhaps that was the sound designer’s intent, but it took the focus away from the acting.

The ending was welcome, but probably not for the reason Hitchcock originally intended. Still, it was a fun night out, and beat watching a conventional movie at the local multiplex.