Tag: restaurants

We All Scream for Ice Cream: Marble Slab Creamery

As someone who enjoys, but doesn’t love ice cream, the success of Marble Slab Creamery in a city with a long winter surprised me. And while a location on the pedestrian-friendly Whyte Avenue made sense to me, the South Edmonton Common outlet boggled my mind – wouldn’t it make more sense to drive to the nearby Superstore to buy two pints of ice cream for the same price?

At any rate, I had a 2-for-1 coupon to blow, and Mack had a craving for chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, so we found ourselves at the South Common branch (1919 98 Street) at dusk on Saturday night. For whatever reason, their business was through the roof that evening – the line just kept getting longer. We had no idea why though – it was not particularly hot and most of the stores in the area had already closed hours before.

We both decided on a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a mixin of chocolate chip cookie dough ($4.95 plux tax). I can’t say I am particularly adventurous – in the few times I have been to Marble Slab, I don’t think I have ventured outside of this classic combination.

We had a few bites of our ice cream before taking it outside – the ceiling fan could not keep the small, overcrowded shop cool enough for our liking. But with just one small bench outside (and no trash can!), we resorted to standing just beyond the growing line, to watch with some amusement the cars that drove by, saw the line, and left.

Sadly, we both found something missing from the ice cream that night – the cookie dough tasted a little nuttier and less sweet than I remember from past trials, while Mack remarked that the waffle cone was probably the best part of his treat – not a compliment to a franchise that emphasizes its daily-made ice cream.

While I can’t say I won’t ever be back to Marble Slab, without a coupon, it’s definitely less likely.

Cone options

Mixin options

The crazy line-up!

Mack likes ice cream

Like Wok Box, Only Better: Thai Express

After picking up some flowers to bring to Felicia’s commencement at the Jubilee, I stepped down to the food court at the City Centre Mall looking for a quick bite to eat before the ceremony. I headed straight to Thai Express, tucked beside Good Buddy just underneath the stairs. I noticed it a few months ago, and thought it looked exactly like a place I visited while in Vancouver last year. Turns out, Thai Express has locations all over Canada – I had no idea.

Between the curries, the soups, and the stir-fried rice and noodles, I decided to opt for my standard order of Pad Thai ($5.59 for the vegetable option). Being the only one in line had its advantages – my dish was freshly prepared in under three minutes, and absolutely smoking hot when I opened the box at the table. The staff were super-friendly, and as a peanut lover, I appreciated the container of crushed peanuts available to customers to self-garnish their orders.

Though I adore the Chinese take-out box packaging, I think it is meant more for things like dry ribs or fried rice – dishes where it isn’t necessary to thoroughly mix the dish first; it was a bit challenging to ensure that all of my noodles were evenly coated with sauce which had accumulated at the bottom of the box. Unlike Wok Box though, where I find the vegetables included to be quite sparse, this serving was chock full of bean sprouts, green and red peppers, onions, broccoli, carrots, and baby corn.

So for the price, the portion size, and the efficiency at which my order was processed, I’d visit Thai Express over Wok Box again any day, even sans coupon.

Freshly made-to-order

Boxed and ready to eat!

Pad Thai topped with peanuts

The Scent of Summer: Fat Franks

Ubiquitous in the warm months on street corners all over Edmonton’s downtown core, Fat Franks is a bonafide Edmonton establishment. In addition to 8 trailers stationed at Canadian Tire stores, 11 outdoor stands covering territory from High Street to the Law Courts, a Whyte Avenue location open 9 months of the year, there are two year-round operations: one at the River Cree Casino and another in Commerce Place.

I didn’t know about the Commerce Place location until recently, when a piece in Avenue Magazine caught my attention in December. It turns out it opened in October 2006, and has been satisfying customers ever since.

Some hot dog trivia (from a board at the back of Fat Franks):

  • “Hot Dogs” were first introduced in 1904 at the St. Louis World Fair. The name “Hot Dog” comes from the early NY City vendors who used to yell out “They’re hot, get ’em while they’re red hot”
  • Mustard is the most common condiment used on hot dogs
  • Fat Franks has served over 1 million hot dogs since 1995. That’s 3 million feet if put in a straight line; 134, 000 Kilos of meat, 113,000 kilos of bread & 32, 500 kilos of mustard!

Walking into the food court this afternoon, I almost missed Fat Franks – they really should have flashier signage, or at the very least, use all of the banner room provided above their space.

I took some time to peruse their menu. All of their hot dogs are made with 80% beef and 20% chicken (and no by-products). I had the choice between a Junior Dog ($2.60) to an Avenue Dog ($4.85) with bacon and cheese. I went somewhere in between with my order of a Jumbo Dog ($3.60). A variety of smokies were also on the menu, including honey ham, jalapeno & cheddar, and Italian, all priced under $5. Sides of fries were also available ($2-3), though after seeing their morning offer of a breakfast sandwich with grilled egg, bacon or sausage links and cheese, I almost wished it was still early.

The friendly attendant had my hot dog ready in seconds. I’m not too keen on toppings (I think it takes away from a really juicy hot dog), so with a little drizzle of ketchup, I was done. Before I left, I made sure to get a “Customer Appreciation Card” stamped – buy 10, get 1 free. I’m not sure I’ll be back often enough to warrant carrying a card in my wallet, but I should have asked whether or not it was valid at the various outdoor locations as well.

I sat down at one of the tables next to the window and inhaled the fragrant scent of a grilled hot dog – it is a smell that easily transports me to campfires and backyard barbeques. Between the toasted, crispy bun, the slightly charred dog, and the sweet tang from the ketchup, I was thoroughly satisfied.

While I’d probably have to have two dogs to make it a proper meal, one indoors was enough. Next time – I’m hitting up the carts.

Fat Franks in Commerce Place

Jumbo Dog

Culinary Q & A with Kimmi

Occupation:  Student/Grease Monkey’s Assistant

What did you eat today? 

All Bran bar for breakfast, Homemade Leftover Fajitas for lunch, fish and chips for supper, and wings at Hudsons

What do you never eat?

Cabbage, Eggplant, Most Milk Products (I’m Lactose Intolerant) and Citrus as I am allergic

What is your personal specialty?

I would say my personal specialty would have to be Tacos or Fajitas. As well I make a mean tuna casserole! Dessert wise I would have to say Sex-In-A-Pan!

What is your favorite kitchen item?

This is a hard one, I would have to say my cutting board and a good sharp knife.  Many creations are made there, just randomly adding new and different ingredients to things.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal. 

My last meal would have to be Shake’n’bake chicken, really good Jasmine or Basmati Rice, and Asparagus tips, with Blueberry pie for dessert

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Um, I don’t think that I have a most frequently, I don’t eat out very often, however my favourite by far would have to be Arbys.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton? 

The Dish & The Runaway Spoon.  It is a little restaurant off of 124st downtown, and their creations there are just so appetizing and interesting.  Flavour combination is very original there!

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat? 

I think that I would go to my parents house for sure! I love my dad’s cooking, I could be more extravagant however, I absolutely everything that my dad makes, and my mom’s baking is TO DIE FOR! She always makes the best desserts! I think I would ask my Dad to make his Shepherds Pie, and have my mom’s icebox cookies or Banana Bread!

Food Notes

  • Vue Weekly released the results for their annual Golden Forks awards last week. I agree with some of the choices (Italian Centre as the best deli, Wildflower Grill as the best new restaurant, Hardware Grill as provider of the ultimate dining experience), but some of the choices, that seem to remain the same year after year, still puzzle me (Creperie as the best for lovers, Barb and Ernie’s for breakfast). I wish the paper did some more analysis, however, and compared this year’s winners with those chosen last year (Calgary’s Fast Forward does a cheeky job of that).
  • See Magazine reviewed a new Indian restaurant on the city’s southeast side, called Rasoi on 50th (4341 50 Street).
  • The Globe & Mail had a great piece about BC residents going the distance to affirm their 100-mile diet commitment by finding farmers to grow grain when they couldn’t source it otherwise.
  • The New York Times has a good primer of an article about the ways in which cities are trying to reduce the amount of food that goes to waste.
  • Andrew had a “going-away” dinner at Kyoto (10128 109 Street) last week before his three week trek across Europe. I’ve only had positive experiences at the restaurant – until that day. Our server was either new, or didn’t care very much, and the bento boxes that Megan and I ordered arrived a clear twenty minutes after the other half of the table received their platters of sushi. Unacceptable. Here are some pictures:

The Boys

Andrew & Amber

Kristen & Joe

Bento Box with all things cooked

Rainy Day Comfort: Hoang Long Restaurant

Though I miss the accessibility of greenspace, my new office building provides many walkable lunch options in Chinatown. And on a day when a power outage pointed to the definite detriment of not having a window in my room, it seemed the perfect opportunity to patronize my restaurant neighbours.

The wait at Thanh Thahn Oriental Noodle House was five parties deep at 12:30pm, so I wandered over instead to my second choice – Hoang Long (10715 98 Street).

This was my first visit to the eight month old location (Hoang Long has three locations in Edmonton). The peripheral tables were occupied, but the dining area was surprisingly quiet and mellow, in stark contrast to the bustle and crash of Thanh Thanh. At that point, I knew I made the right choice – I was craving a quiet space to settle in with my daily paper.

The decor of this Hoang Long was surprisingly similar to Thanh Thanh, actually, minus the fish tank. Clean, with natural light, the furnishing were still fairly new. I liked the sleek black tables with hinged extensions, perfect as a work or, in my case, a reading surface.

I knew from experience not to have the Pad Thai again, so went straight for their Northern Vietnam Noodle Soup with rare beef ($7.95). It was a rainy trek from my office, and next to chicken noodle soup, I find that nothing warms from the inside as well as a hot bowl of beef broth.

Ten minutes later, my order was brought to me with a side of bean sprouts, mint, and various sauces. Though cilantro wasn’t present, I was so aghast at the sheer size of the bowl that I hardly noticed. Between the silky-slick rice noodles, savoury, chewy slices of beef, and rich, from-scratch broth, I left Hoang Long feeling full, warmed-through, and thoroughly satisfied.

With expedient, no-nonsense service and good food, Hoang Long may become a go-to restaurant for me in the future.

Menu

Northern Vietnam Noodle Soup with rare beef

Instantly Gratifying: Little Caesars Pizza

After a lazy Sunday afternoon, Mack and I continued the calling of the day by getting take-out from the nearby Little Caesars in Oliver Square (11588 104 Avenue).

It had been a while since either of us had reached for their Hot-and-Ready deal, but both of us were readily familiar with their inexpensive grab-and-go pizzas. For just $5, a small pepperoni and cheese pizza can be had immediately – no waiting. Like combos at other fast-food joints, however, the Crazy Bread upgrade (for $2.79/package) is difficult to turn down, so tempting are the soft, parmesan-drenched breadsticks.

Quality-wise, this pizza doesn’t compare to their more authentic Italian cousins (see Famoso, Leva, or Da Capo), but where else can you instantly satisfy a craving for a tangy yet savoury pie?

Hot-and-Ready Pepperoni Pizza

Go Only for the Readings: Russian Tea Room

Driven by our desire for new experiences, I met up with Annie, Janice and May at the infamous Russian Tea Room (10312 Jasper Avenue). My coworkers had talked about getting their palms read at the Tea Room, and there have also been a few media spotlights of the stalwart restaurant recently.

Walking in, there was a clear lack of gauzy red curtains and wafting smell of incense – two elements I was expecting. Instead, the dim dining room was lined with large, deli-style coolers showcasing the dessert varieties, and featured chairs and furnishings that likely have never been updated. Two television monitors – one in the bar area and another in the main dining area – were tuned to Entertainment Tonight and Treehouse Television, respectively. The latter set was primed for our waitress’s granddaughter, who had free reign in the room that night.

Interior

Menu

The waitress asked if our party would be interested in readings that night, as we said yes. When we were ready, we would be called up to individual tables on the tiered back area of the restaurant. About a half dozen tables were manned by very casual looking psychics (only one bared any resemblance to Professor Trelawny, heh), all looking ready to offer their sage predictions. Two readings were priced at $30, with the choice of tea, numerology, tarot, and palm.

We decided to satisfy our hunger pangs first, and paged through the menu. I hoped to find more European dishes (similar to the offerings at Bistro Praha), but the menu was decidedly skewed to the West. I ended up ordering the Chicken Crepe ($15.95), which was served with a choice of starch and fresh vegetables while Annie chose the Vegetable Quiche, served with a side salad ($7.95) and Borscht ($3.95), May the stuffed chicken breast ($15.95), and Janice the Combination Plate ($10.95), which included perogies, Ukrainian sausage, a cabbage roll, and rice.

The food took a while to come, allowing us to note the stream of patrons who arrived for readings – while there were a few customers of the younger set, most were older, and seemed like regulars. Not necessarily a negative thing, it did make us feel slightly out of place.

By the time our dishes arrived, we were starving. My crepes looked like they had been made using boxed pancake mix, and unfortunately, they tasted like that too. Sadly, the rest of my plate was no better. The chicken was dry (though the "white wine" sauce helped alleviate that somewhat), the home fries tasted more baked than fried, and the vegetables had been steamed from a frozen package. May was similarly unimpressed with her less-than-moist chicken. Janice and Annie found their dishes all right, and in my opinion, Annie’s entree was the most economical of all.

Chicken crepe with vegetables and home fries

Stuffed chicken breast with vegetables and pasta

Vegetable quiche with Caesar salad

Combination plate with perogies, sausage, cabbage roll and rice

Even before we had all finished our meals, the waitress was already on top of us, asking which one of us wanted to get the reading done (I’m assuming she must have been working on some kind of commission deal with the psychics). May was first up, while the rest of us looked on. Janice and Annie headed to their individual tables soon after May returned. All three of them received mixed truths, with some inaccuracies, for example, on their actual career choices. None of them received any overly negative or foreboding predictions though. And what of my reading, you ask? I am ashamed to admit that I chickened out. I wasn’t psychologically prepared for what could have been a potential arsenal of bad news. In hindsight, it would be a better business practice to offer a positive future outlook, as if even a modicum of the prediction were to actually occur, the chance of repeat visits would be more likely.

Janice and Annie compare their palm lines

 

May getting her palm read

In sum, the Russian Tea Room provides an interesting, off-the-beaten path night out, great for conversation starters and discussions for future hopes. Just go elsewhere for food first.

Delivered at your own Expense: Dawat

A combination of three things resulted in our decision to order from Dawat on Saturday: 1) I was feeling particularly lazy; 2) I had been craving Indian food for the last week; and 3) Mack was on a spicy-food streak that he didn’t want to break.

I had read positive things about Dawat (granted, from an eat-in experience), but as the advertisement in the 2007/2008 Yellow Pages restaurants section boasted a promise of free delivery for those in the south side, our decision was made.

We called the Dawat located in Little India (9250 34 Avenue), and ordered Butter Chicken (a must), Beef Vindaloo (always spicy), Mixed Vegetables (for token healthiness), and Garlic Naan (when I asked how big the serving size was, I received a response of “Good enough.”). We had some coconut milk in the house, and though more Thai than Indian, my Mum made us some coconut rice to accompany our dishes.

At the end of our order, I was told the total would be $45.99, including tax. Count me surprised – my estimated total from the prices listed in the Restaurant Pages was closer to $37. It turns out the beef and chicken dishes had increased in cost from $11.95 to $14.95, while the vegetables had gone up from $8.95 to $11.95. Though I don’t regret giving their delivery service a try, it would have been cheaper just to take advantage of their in-house buffet.

At any rate, our order was delivered promptly within the 45 to 60 minute range, with all of our food still fairly hot. The containers were smaller than we expected however, especially given the exorbitant price increase over the last year.

The butter chicken was the definite stand-out of the three – tender meat enveloped in a thick, slightly sweet sauce. It was also the least spicy of the dishes, and the only one I could actually taste; after a few bites of the beef vindaloo and mixed vegetables, I was crying for milk, or anything else that would return the sensation into my mouth.

We had enough food left over for another meal at the end of it, and it did satisfy my craving for Indian cuisine, but because of the expense, I still don’t think it was worth it.

Take-out!

Sylvan Lake Day Trip

On Saturday morning, Jenn and I joined May on a day trip to Sylvan Lake in celebration of her birthday.

The weather was perfect for the drive – sunny but not overly warm. We reached our destination within the estimated two hours, and after parking the car, wandered around town.
Beach
Jenn does her best at channeling rehab-ready starlets (Hoodie? Check. Large sunglasses? Check. Oversized bag? Check.)
Jenn’s bag. Too cute.
Rain had been forecasted for the day, so we were a tad surprised at how sunny it turned out to be. But because none of us had brought swimming gear along, we had to make do with eating and shopping – overall, not a bad way to spend a lazy Saturday.
Marina
We had lunch at the Bayview Cafe (5100 Lakeshore Drive), situated next to the Lake on the ground floor of the Chateau Suites. The food was of the heat-and-serve variety, but for a light lunch, didn’t end up being too bad at all.
My Cannelloni
May’s Rotini
Jenn and her Breakfast Wrap
May and I pose with her Whimsical Cupcakes (which I picked up at the City Centre Market that morning)
For dessert, we couldn’t pass up a visit to The Big Moo (4603 Lakeshore Drive), a retro ice cream parlour on the town’s main strip. With checkered floors, a large yellow menu board, and an ice cream counter that seems to go on forever, it’s a fun way to revive one’s childhood spirit.
My scoop of White Moccachino
Jenn and May enjoy their treats on the water
We were amazed when we looked at our watches to find out that it was already past 5 – time flies, especially during these last days of summer. Happy birthday May!