Firstly, I must apologize to my followers, I have been away for a while now due to illness. Things are slowly coming back to normal again, and I am ready to get back to where my passion lies; the Edmonton food community!
Since I got my shiny new KCBS BBQ Judge badge, I thought I would put it to good use in the community and try out my newly trained tastebuds. Please join me in my BBQ Roundup!
As I am sure you can tell, “Gastro Pubs” are one of my favourite places to visit. I am a bit of a beer snob, I would like to be MORE of a beer snob someday. (Of the non-pretentious variety) Beer goes great with food, just the same as wine, only you don’t need a sommelier to pour it for you. The Pourhouse always has a rotating selection of taps and bottles as well as a regular selection. The beer are all listed by flavour profile, which makes it easier for the non beer drinkers.
Ok, now that you know you can go to Pourhouse for a great brew, let’s talk about BurlyChef Lager… Pourhouse’s heart belongs to Chef Daniel Huber. No, he isn’t the only one that brings the Pourhouse to YEG, but he is the flavour creator. He wanted to bring a “normal” beer to Pourhouse, like the one Dad used to drink when they were BBQ’ing. Before your start grumbling and complaining about the brewery he chose, please note that he did try the “local” breweries and they were not able to give him the flavour profile that he was looking for. Labbatt’s brews “Burly Chef Lager” for the Pourhouse. It is a nice, light lager that goes with anything that the menu has to offer for food. For the entire month of August, $1 per pint will be donated to the Bissell Centre to help them with the rebuilding of the “Thrift Shoppe” after the two devastating fires.
As I am sure you can tell, “Gastro Pubs” are one of my favourite places to visit. I am a bit of a beer snob, I would like to be MORE of a beer snob someday. (Of the non-pretentious variety) Beer goes great with food, just the same as wine, only you don’t need a sommelier to pour it for you. The Pourhouse always has a rotating selection of taps and bottles as well as a regular selection. The beer are all listed by flavour profile, which makes it easier for the non beer drinkers.
Ok, now that you know you can go to Pourhouse for a great brew, let’s talk about BurlyChef Lager… Pourhouse’s heart belongs to Chef Daniel Huber. No, he isn’t the only one that brings the Pourhouse to YEG, but he is the flavour creator. He wanted to bring a “normal” beer to Pourhouse, like the one Dad used to drink when they were BBQ’ing. Before your start grumbling and complaining about the brewery he chose, please note that he did try the “local” breweries and they were not able to give him the flavour profile that he was looking for. Labbatt’s brews “Burly Chef Lager” for the Pourhouse. It is a nice, light lager that goes with anything that the menu has to offer for food. For the entire month of August, $1 per pint will be donated to the Bissell Centre to help them with the rebuilding of the “Thrift Shoppe” after the two devastating fires.
Krush Ultralounge located at 16648 109 Avenue in Edmonton, has a bit of a stigma attached to it. It has been through many incarnations. Most recently a “stripper bar”. The lovely ladies are no more…. Now you have a posh space with two large, beautifully finished lounging areas, several televisions and a great sound system.
They have also found themselves a new Chef. Chef Kelly hails from “Kids in the Hall Bistro” which offers on the job training, life skills, connection to school and outreach support for youth. Kelly left Kids in the Hall to pursue the next chapter in life and ended up being the new gem at Krush.
Kelly also happens to be a friend and he had a little convincing to do to get a bunch of us out for some Tuesday Shenanigans at his new venue. Previous to this, I had never had the chance to experience Kelly’s cuisine. The following review is in no way colored by the fact that Kelly is a friend.
124 Street Grand Market is now in it’s third year. Located on 124 Street and 108 avenue, it has a different feel from any other Farmer’s Market that I have attended in the past.
Kirsta Franke, the Market Director, has brought together a unique atmosphere and a sense of community. There is always a DJ or live music, food vendors, craft vendors and food trucks. The market runs rain or shine from 4pm to 8pm every Thursday until October 9th.
I like to pop by the market for a lot of different things and hope to make it a habit this year. 124 Street is full of restaurants and great shops. The business association already has a sense of community and Kirsta has managed to carry on this spirit to to the market. I always recognize a face or two every time I attend.
For my food truck followers, you always have Cookie Love which brings their handcrafted cookie ice-cream sandwiches to the market. They will usually greet you at the entrance of the market. Don’t wait to get your dessert first, there is only so many cookies to go around and you might miss out if you don’t pick one up right away. (I have done this a couple of times.)
There are always a handful of food trucks to choose from. At the Grand Opening they had Drift, Little Village, Orbit, Sailin’ On and The Fruit Truck.
When I received the invitation to attend the Food Bloggers Cook-off, I was excited and intimidated at the same time. Excited for the opportunity to spend time with Chef Jost and intimidated by his prestigious reputation. Chef has been with the Fairmont group of hotels for over 15 years and trained in Strasbourg, France. His cuisine is phenomenal.
The Mac sent out a tweet with a copy of this picture attached:
Soda Jerks was one of the first places in Edmonton to bring about the “Build Your Own Burger”. You can always have your burger the way YOU like it. Many, many, many choices! The ingredients are all top quality.
The name for me brought about visions of a “Soda Jerk” behind a chrome counter with an ice cream freezer and a pile of milkshake blenders. You won’t find an actual Soda Jerk here. The decor has lots of bottles of soda everywhere and comfy booths and seating throughout the restaurant. They also have a secondary location in St. Albert now that has a more open concept than the original restaurant.
Among the sides are the best deep fried pickles in the city. Hand breaded in tempura, they are always crispy and juicy at the same time.
As the name suggests, soda is what makes the Jerks go ’round! There are 45 different flavours of sodas. They also offer floats and milkshakes; non-alcoholic and the adult variety! My favourite is the Guinness float. I had to try it because I just couldn’t imagine ice cream and beer but it is phenomenal! I even bought one for my hard core Guinness drinking friend Ben, and he loved it!
The Barn Yard, The Big Jerk and the Doris, are three really BIG burgers. There is a contest to eat all three of them. One of my friends was able to eat Doris and got a t-shirt for his efforts.
If you are going to the restaurant during a peak time, expect a 45 minute to an hour wait. At the original restaurant in West Edmonton, you can go to the lounge to grab a drink while you wait. The menu is online so you can peruse before you go!
So NAIT has one of the best culinary programs and that means that the resto-bar should be fabulous right? Right!
It is your typical gastro-pub setup and decor. Newly renovated. Very cozy, with some pool tables and dart boards. Your menus are already at the table and you seat yourself.
I am a huge beer fanatic and along with some local micro-breweries (Alley Kat) they had one of my favourites on tap which is a Belgian White that pairs well with just about anything, Shock Top.
The menu is imaginative and innovative. I had the Crawfish Corndog which was shrimp and crawfish sausage in a sweet corn batter served with fiery mustard dip. I had a side of soup (potato bacon chowder). Very tasty!
The only drawback to going to The Nest on a regular basis is that there is no free parking. What you pay will vary on the time of day that you are at the restaurant.
This is a restaurant that a dear friend is a huge fan of due to the Teppanyaki chef and the fire show. He loves to come here for his birthday dinner annually. Unfortunately, that is the only time I go.
I LOVE sushi and Asian cuisine in general – but the food here is “meh” at best. It is edible, but I find it expensive for what you are actually getting on your plate. It is never crowded even during what should be a peak dinner time.
The chef that does the show is always wonderful. We have managed to get the same fellow three times running now. He is funny, entertaining and seems to really know his way around the grill. His show is the reason we keep going back.
Shogun has been around for forever and is in desperate need of a renovation. Even a fresh coat of paint in the restrooms would be a nice touch.
This is a hidden gem for Edmonton. Period.
Vi’s is one of our favourites for date night. It is small and relatively intimate. There is a beautiful patio for when weather permits and a fireplace inside for winter.
The daily menu is brought to your table as a chalkboard on an easel. They generally have a selection of comfort food all year round, and barbeque in the summer months.
We have never been disappointed with the soups. They are always flavourful and hit the spot every time. They always use really good ingredients for everything on the menu. You will never leave hungry!
Vi’s, as the name suggests, is famous for the desserts. The selection is always different. Cheesecakes, tortes, pies, squares etc. There hasn’t been anything that we have tried yet that we haven’t enjoyed.
They also sell the cakes etc whole to take home, but I suggest you call ahead, as you never know what will be in the case.