Category: food
food
NongBu Korean Eatery
8115 104 St.
780-989-0997
www.facebook.com/NongBuKorean
Mon. to Sat. 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Closed Sundays
Food: 3 of 5 Suns
Ambience: 3.5 of 5 Suns
Service: 2.5 of 5 Suns
Dinner for two excluding drinks and tip: Basic, $30; loaded, $60
Graham Hicks
780 707 6379
graham.hicks@hicksbiz.com
www.hicksbiz.com
@hicksonsix
NongBu Korean Eatery represents an ironic, yet entirely logical, evolution of ethnic-based restaurants.
Until recently, most ethnic restaurants served Canadianized versions of ethnic dishes or simple “village” fare reflecting the food from back home ... 30 years ago. Hence Korean restaurants in town have traditionally featured bulgogi, kimchi and bibimbap.
But for the next generation that has stayed in the hospitality biz, village and Canadianized dishes weren’t enough. Many studied food trends in their ethnic homelands or in Vegas/ New York to see what fusion was up to.
And now there’s a counter-revoluti ...
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The Cellar at Sofra
10345 106 St
780-423-3044
Facebook: Sofra Authentic Turkish Cuisine
Tues. to Sun. 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Closed Mon
Food: 4 of 5 Suns
Ambience: 3.5 of 5 Suns
Service: 4 of 5 Suns
Dinner for two excluding drinks and tip: Basic, $40; loaded, $60
Graham Hicks
780 707 6379
graham.hicks@hicksbiz.com
www.hicksbiz.com
@hicksonsix
Sofra is the downtown’s go-to Turkish restaurant, located on the ground floor of a walk-up condominium building on 106 Street just south of MacEwan University.
It’s been around for some time, and has a tumultuous relationship with its customers.
Many discerning diners love the place, go back often, and swear by its Mediterranean/Middle East mix of yogurt, cooking cheeses and fruits, meatballs (kofte) and lamb.
Others, like myself in a Weekly Dish review from three years ago, have been disappointed with a sloppy kitchen and indifferent service. “There was no presentation, no garnishes, just meat on a pl ...
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Padmanadi Vegetarian Restaurant
10740 101 St.
780-428-8899
padmanadi.com
Tues to Fri, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (brunch), 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Closed Mon
Food: 3.5 of 5 Suns
Ambience: 4.5 of 5 Suns
Service: 3.5 of 5 Suns
Dinner for two excluding drinks and tip: Basic, $30; loaded, $60
Graham Hicks
780 707 6379
graham.hicks@hicksbiz.com
www.hicksbiz.com
@hicksonsix
It’s inappropriate, I apologize in advance.
But Padmanadi Vegetarian Restaurant makes me laugh and laugh.
The second page of its menu is 100% dedicated to “vegetarian meat dishes.”
Somewhere out there, some supplier makes a fake meat “base” out of grain and tofu and Lord knows what. It must be mixed like a dough, cut into meaty shapes and flavoured with non-meat, meaty flavours like lemon “chicken”, teriyaki “chicken’, spicy “shrimp”, Tom Yum “mutton” and even lemon “ribs ...
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Healthy is the new norm
Ninja Club
10324 82 Ave.
780-705-8008
Food: 3 Suns of five
10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. closed Sundays
Dinner for two: $30
Freshii
10322 Jasper Ave
Food: 4 Suns of five
freshii.com
780-757-4744
10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dinner for two: $25
MyEmpanadas (take-out)
10631 51 Ave.
780-756-1345
Food: 3.5 Suns
11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. 7 days a week
Two empanadas: $8
Graham Hicks
780-707-6379
graham.hicks@hicksbiz.com
www.hicksbiz.com
@hicksonsix
Graham Hicks/Edmonton Sun
My doctor called with the results of my annual check-up.
Lower the bad cholesterol, exercise, lose a few pounds.
It’s been the same basic message for the past 20 years, the good news being nothing’s terribly wrong.
What is truly good news for all of us is the increasing numbers of healthy, casual eating spots at near hamburger/French fries prices. No excuses left!
Freshii — fast, casual, fresh
The Freshi ...
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It still remains a culinary secret, even though Johnson’s Café has been open for over 10 years in the Hotel Selkirk at Fort Edmonton Park.
Why would this very good dining room, in the height of summer, only have a few tables occupied on a lovely Thursday evening?
Location, location, location.
It’s the café’s biggest strength and weakness. The historic Hotel Selkirk is in Fort Edmonton Park, accessible by a side road after the park closes. The site is so beautiful, it’s Jasper without the three-hour drive.
But destination diners don’t think of Johnson’s Café. And if they did, they’d be unsure how to get there and uncertain of its hours.
This will change. Fort Edmonton Park soon plans to be open year-round with upgraded services. Leading the changes is new food services supervisor and master chef Jasmin Kobajica, who’s already raised the bar on park food.
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Meat, recently opened in Edmonton's Old Strathcona district in Alberta, Canada, is one of the best, fully thought-through restaurants I’ve had the pleasure of entering.
It’s full of contradictions. Yet, from the initial impression, to décor, to food and menu, it’s one delicious whole.
Whoever has heard of a BBQ smokehouse parading as a tea room!
This slightly dainty, new-age establishment is serving up mounds of mouth-watering beef brisket, pulled pork and smoked chicken! It’s the opposite to the stereotypic “y’all chow down now, y’hear?” smokehouse. In fact, there’s not a smokehouse cliché to be seen.
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Tasty Tomato Italian Eatery
14233 Stony Plain Road
780-452-3594
www.tastytomato.ca
Open evenings, with lunch Thursday and Friday.
Closed Sundays
Food: 3 of 5 Suns
Ambience: 3 of 5 Suns
Service: 3 of 5 stars
If it ain’t broke, why fix it?
I can’t bear witness, as last week was my first visit to the Tasty Tomato Italian Eatery.
But by all reports, not much has changed in 20 years, other than Angelo and Mirella Amendola are older, and son Joe is now a full partner in the family-run restaurant.
To which Angelo would shrug his shoulders and say, why change?
The restaurant is full on weekends and obviously has a loyal clientele that spans generations.
Tasty Tomato has a comfy ‘80s feel. It’s not the least bit trendy, but is in no need of a makeover.
Which also describes the menu — as classic Canadian-Italian as you’ll find, with 18 pasta selections, veal and chicken entrees, starter tomato salads, calamari, eggplant, escargot and brusc ...
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The Weekly Dish talks about some of the basics in providing a satisfying dining experience ... and how many small restaurants are lacking in many departments!
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The Parlour Italian Kitchen & Bar
10334 Capital Blvd. (108 St.)
780-990-0404
Centuryhospitality.com/parlour
Food: 4 of 5 Suns
Ambience: 4 of 5 Suns
Service: 4.5 of 5 Suns
Dinner for two, excluding beverages, tips and taxes: Basic, $35; loaded, $80
Edmonton’s Century Hospitality restaurant group (Century Grill, Lux Steakhouse, Hundred, MRK and two Delux Burger Bars) knows the secret to its undeniable success.
It’s so smart.
It deliberately stays about 30% behind the culinary sophistication of high-end bistros like The Red Ox Inn or the Three Boars, knowing those outlets attract a very small market of high-end discerning foodies.
But the Century group venture far beyond the predictable conventions of the big-box chain restaurants.
It presents, and presents well, something for everybody at the table — from the I-know-what-I-like crowd to the adventurous foodie out with friends and family.
Even the tried ‘n’ true — pizza, steak, hambur ...
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o, there’s no dog.
Having just finished my fifth visit to the Philippines in some 25 years, I’ve decided this dog-eating thing is a complete myth.
Filipinos don’t eat dogs.
It’s not part of the culture. Filipinos eat the same meat/fish proteins as North Americans, maybe about one-hundredth the amount, but chicken, pork, fish and shell fish are what you see in the market. There’s nothing weird like snakes or rats or monkeys … or dog. Or if there is, it’s very secret.
Besides, why would anybody want to eat a Filipino dog? The street dogs in the country are the scrawniest canines on earth. They all look like they’re about to die from malnutrition. There’s nothing there to eat!
The weirdest food you’re going to find is balut – a duck egg with a near fully developed duck embryo that absorbs salt and flavours in a resting stage, then is quickly boiled, peeled and eaten with a vinegar dip.
I tried it … once. If you closed you ...
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