Burger Revelation in Edmonton @ The Burger's Priest.

Haven't blogged for a while, but there hasn't been much to write about lately on the food scene in Edmonton. Until recently that is. A new restaurant opened up downtown called The Burger's Priest and my hubby and I decided to check it out. It originated in Ontario and this is the first expansion to the west side of the country. It's located in the corner area of 109 st and Jasper Ave.

The Vatican City

As you walk in you see white walls, chrome finishes and a general sense of organisation and cleanliness. There is a mixture of low and high tables and almost all of them are taken when we arrive, which is always a good sign at a burger joint. There is a till area where you place your orders and a pick up counter. Turns out there is also a secret menu that is not posted that you can find online if you can answer the right question. But we'll get into that at a later date.

The Priest

My husband and I both went for milkshakes; he the strawberry, myself the black & white. Both were creamy, cold and very tasty.

 Hubby got the Vatican City, a double cheeseburger squished in between 2 grilled cheese sandwiches and a regular order of fries. Apparently the grilled cheese sandwiches slide apart while you're eating it, but it is still tasty as all get out. He also said 'Why would you have a bun when you can have grilled cheese sandwiches?'

I got the Priest. This one consists of a cheeseburger topped with what they call 'The Option'. This is 2 portabello mushroom caps filled with cheese, sauteed and then panko crusted and deep fried. Can you say yum? I also got the chili cheese fries, which you can't go wrong with in my opinion.

This will definitely be a place we visit again in the near future. The burgers are delicious, juicy and very filling. And we have to go back to try out the secret menu.

Mmmm chili cheese fries! So cheesy!

Food:4.5/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Dinner for 2: $42.00


The Burger's Priest
10148 109 Street
(780) 760 0777
http://www.theburgerspriest.com/

Trying some comfort food @ Plow & Harvest.

Driving down 170 street my husband and I decided to try a new place for dinner. Located on the corner of 170th street and 100 avenue is Plow & Harvest. The sign promises to deliver "the art of comfort food". We figured we'd go in and see if it lives up to the promise.

Walking in to the restaurant we were greeted by a friendly server who asked if we had been to the restaurant before. As we hadn't he was kind enough to walk us through how this particular restaurant works. We were told to pick whichever table we wanted as the restaurant was relatively empty at the time. You then go through the menu and decide what it is you want. Then you go up to the front and place your order and pay for it all in advance, they ask you your table number and then when it is ready they will bring you out your food.

While you wait, there is a wireless console at the table that you can use to play trivia games with your fellow table mates to pass the time. I rather like this as it adds something else for you to do while waiting for your drinks and food to arrive, which wasn't long either way.

When our food arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the serving size, especially considering that the meals themselves weren't that expensive. I ordered the BBQ Bison Meatloaf plate which came with buttermilk mashed potatoes, coleslaw and a whole grain bun. The meatloaf was very tasty, tender and juicy and quite flavourful. The coleslaw was nicely dressed and not over done, but the mashed potatoes were slightly dry to my liking. My husband ordered the
Prairie Cheese steak which came with "hand cut plank fries". It was well sauced and slightly messy, but also cheesy and according to my husband, very satisfying. When he first tried to pick it up half of the meat was in the paper bag that the sandwich arrived in but was easy enough to stuff back into the bun. The fries were crispy and not over seasoned which was a nice change compared to other restaurants that try to make them and then cover them with seasoning salt. We also got a side order of the macaroni and cheese with bacon breadcrumbs to share. It was okay as restaurant mac & cheese goes, but I think it could have had more sauce and the pasta was slightly over cooked.

After we finished eating dinner we decided to try their homemade chewy cookies for dessert, which
unfortunately meant that we had to go back up to the front to order them and pay for them separately as we had already paid for our meal. My husband tried the Chunky Peanut Butter and I tried the Dark Chocolate Chip & Sea Salt. Both were chewy and not too sweet which I rather enjoy in a cookie.

If you are looking for somewhere that you can have some simple but well done comfort food then this a good place to go. We will be going back to try other menu items as they had quite a few that looked tempting and I will want to see if they are as good as the ones we tried tonight.

Food: 4/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Dinner for 2: $60.00

Plow & Harvest
10041 170 St NW
(780) 669-7500
http://plowandharvest.com/ 

Fife N Dekel... An Edmonton mainstay for Sandwiches & Pies!

While running around on the west side of the city doing some errands my husband and I decided to grab some lunch. Heading south on 170 street and 106 ave I spotted Fife N Dekel and instantly had memories of my childhood flood my mind. I urged my husband to pull in with the promise of some of the best pie he has ever had.

Fife N Dekel has been operating in the city for 30 years now, and growing up as a truckers daughter I was always on the west end and looking for something quick but good for lunches. My parents would often pull into one of the locations for one of their signature sandwiches and of course, a slice of pie. The restaurants have been owned and operated by the same family since they opened in 1983 and have now spread to 4 locations.

As you walk in you are greeted with a simple sandwich counter where you order. Boards on the wall behind the counter tell you your options of sandwiches made on freshly baked breads, soups and salads. A display case beside the till shows the many varieties of pies and other baked goods available to round off your lunch. This time I opted for the Montreal Smoked Beef sandwich on multi grain (I tried for the sunflower bread but unfortunately they were already sold out.) and my husband tried the Auto Bahn (a combination of turkey, roast beef and ham). After ordering you select which veggies you would like on your sandwich and the person behind the till will make it right in front of you. You then slide down the counter cafeteria style to the baked goods where you then get asked if you would like soup or salad with your meal and then to the most important part, the pies! I decided to get the peach pie as it is one of my favourites and my husband chose the cherry.

There are 3 different areas to sit and enjoy your lunch at this location. The main area located down beside the order counter, the upper loft area and a few tables located outside. We chose the upper area because it is more secluded and quiet whereas the main area is normally rather busy. 

While the sandwiches are just that, simple well done sandwiches done on a variety of fresh baked breads it's the pies that you go back for. Delicate flaky crusts filed with pretty much any flavour of filling you can think of. And you don't just have to limit yourself to one slice. If you want to give in to your sweet tooth the pies are also available for you to buy whole and take home with you.

I am glad I finally got to introduce my husband to this place and he has already said that he wants to go back, not only for more pie but to also try out some of their soups and salads. For me it was a reminder of fond memories from years ago and something that I will want to relive over and over again.

Food: 4.5/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Lunch for 2: $25.00

Fife N Dekel Pie Shop Cafe
10646 - 170 street NW
(780) 489-6436
http://www.fifendekel.ca/

Why all the drama @ Japanese Village.

This past week was my husbands birthday and the in laws and I decided to let him choose where we would go for his celebratory dinner. After some searching online he decided on Japanese Village at Northgate Mall. We had been to the downtown location before and saw no reason to not give the new location a try.

Japanese Village is a Teppan Style restaurant. These are the ones that you get a show with your dinner, as the chefs are cooking your dinner right in front of you on a very hot grill. Think the ones you've heard of throwing the spatula and forks and making the bad puns. You are seated around the outside of the grill and normally are joined by people not in your group. It is a way to meet new people and have some fun.

On this night we were joined by two other couples that we don't know and of course my husbands parents. After seating us all the waitress promptly took our orders and we waited for our chef. When he came out he was a young man whom I think was just finishing learning how to cook in this style, which is a challenge because you have to both be talented at cooking as well as entertaining. I hoped he would give it is all.

Since almost all of us at the table were having the Steak and Shrimp he went around the table to check what temperature everyone wanted there meat cooked. We had one medium rare, one medium well and the rest were just mediums. My father in law and I opted for the Chicken and Shrimp instead and one of the other diners had the Chicken and Steak. The meal is also accompanied by Shabu Shabu soup (egg drop soup), a salad, rice, grilled vegetables, a sampling of shrimp, bean sprouts and Japanese tea to finish.

The chef started the show with throwing and clanging the spatula and fork artistically over the grill and I was impressed by his behind the back throw. It is definitely a way to make sure you have the attention of your diners. He then grilled the vegetables (a mixture of mushrooms, zucchini and onions) and divvied them up between all of us. Then he started the Teriyaki Chicken as it would take the longest to cook. Then he started the Black Tiger Shrimp Misonaise. And then the drama started.

He dished out the shrimp to all of us whom had ordered it and we went to dig in but one of the diners discovered that his shrimp was still partially raw. The rest of us checked and sure enough a few of us had a couple slightly raw shrimp in our bunch. The chef immediately apologized and asked to take the shrimp back to finish cooking it but the one diner got angry and said that since he had had raw shrimp on his plate he wanted a new one, and that he wanted his shrimp redone from the beginning. Now this was a slight over reaction but not wanting to cause a scene the rest of us went along with him. The chef then went to organise getting enough shrimp to replace the mistake.

He then continued cooking the rest of the dinner. This meant the steak, which in my opinion he expertly cooked. The diners on the other side of the table however had decided by then that they were going to have a bad experience and starting bashing the chef, the restaurant and the style of the cooking in general. All of which the chef had to listen to while cooking them their dinner. Since there were a variety of steak temperatures being cooked not everyone got theirs at the same time, and by coincidence the gentleman that had complained about the shrimp was the one with the medium well steak so he got his last. Which of course meant that he complained about it.

Then he redid the shrimp, which he had gotten all of us a new full order of even though we only had a couple uncooked ones the first time. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice he left it on the grill a little bit longer than usual, which was fine. He then took one shrimp from each of our piles and got us to taste test it to make sure it was okay this time, starting with the gentleman that had insisted on it being redone. Now while he said it was good he also asked the chef to leave his on for a minute or two more just to be sure. Mine was cooked perfectly, just slightly crispy on the bottom from the grill which I liked. Then he finally served the shrimp to the picky gentleman, who stated it was now over done and could be 'thrown through a windshield' it was so hard. If he had just let the chef do his job his shrimp would have been done wonderfully.

Our Chicken Teriyaki was finished nicely with the smaller pieces being slightly crispy and the larger ones being juicy. All covered in a slightly salty teriyaki sauce, although the lady at the end of the table claimed hers was over cooked, over sauced and too salty. I honestly think she had never had chicken teriyaki before and didn't know what to expect.

This was when the gentleman and his wife asked to see the manager, even though the chef wasn't completely done and still had one more part of the entertaining to do. The chef agreed to get the manager and then did the little part with the 'Japanese salt, pepper and MSG' using covered wooden salt and pepper shakers. He then left looking like he was about to cry.

The manager came over and immediately got a tirade from the 4 diners at the other side of the table about how horrible their service was and how they weren't going to pay for their dinner. They wanted compensation for their troubles. This was when the 4 in my group decided to wait until the manager was done with them and talk to her ourselves. After they had gotten away with their practically free meals and gift certificates for the other locations of Japanese Village in hand we finally got to talk to the manager. We let her know what had gone on with the bashing and the calling down of her chef, and that we were certain that they had purposely acted that way to get a free meal out of them. And that despite their rudeness the chef had done a wonderful job not just for us but the whole table even though he was obviously embarrassed by them.

I truly hope that the budding Teppan style chef that served us does not give up something that he was very good at just because of a few bigots that decided to use him to get cheap food. And I will definitely return to this location again as he provided us with an energetic and memorable evening all on his own.

Food: 4/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 4.5/5
Dinner for 4: $160.00

Japanese Village Northgate
1084B 9499 137 Ave
780 422 6083
http://www.jvedmonton.ca/

Sushi.... At Hakone Japanese Cuisine.

As we were planning on having a date night, my husband and I went looking for a restaurant to try out on the north side of town. Heading up 137 Ave right around 127 Street we spotted Hakone Japanese Cuisine. We both enjoy sushi and decided to give it a go.

Walk in and you find a small but clean and sharp looking little restaurant. Booths line one wall and a private room and the kitchen/sushi area line the other. An kind older lady was behind the counter making sushi for another table, but still greeted us warmly when we walked in. A moment later a young girl comes out of the back and seats us at a booth and asks what we would like to drink. Our go to beverage at any sushi restaurant is the green tea.

After browsing the simple menu we decided on the Boat-Boat. Sushi, Maki and Sashimi all on one boat. It sounded delicious.

After about 20 mins of waiting our boat showed up at the table and we started to dig in. First piece in and we noticed it was a tiny bit fishy, but kind of usual at a sushi restaurant in land locked Alberta. The part that set me off a little was that the sashimi actually tasted a little salty, so I let my husband finish the sashimi and stuck to the sushi instead. The other thing we noticed was how little there was on the over $40 dollar boat. As we were in a hurry to make it to a movie we decided to not make a fuss about it and just ate and moved on.

While the staff were nice and the food was okay, I don't think it is a sushi restaurant we will go back to.

Food: 3/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 3.5/5
Dinner for 2: $55.00
13907 127 St NW
(780) 761-3006

A new foray into Indian food... At Daawat.

During a cold night in Edmonton my husband and I decided to try and warm things up by going for something spicy for dinner. Mexican and Thai are normally where we lean but on that night we opted for something new... Indian. We had heard a lot about a restaurant on Whyte Ave called Daawat and figured we would give it a go.

Parking on the street is an issue but there is ample parking in the back. Walk in the door and you are greeted by tidy tables in gemstone colours and the scents and smells of a far away land. A buffet lines one wall and tables on the other.

If you know exactly what you want you can order from the menu, or you can try a little of everything through the buffet. This is what we opted on. They also have an impressive selection of beers from all over the globe, and we tried a couple Indian beers. My husbands choice was one named Taj Mahal, similar to a pale ale. Mine was Kingfisher, a light but crisp lager.

There are plenty of vegetarian options as well as many for those of us who prefer some meat with our meal. The ones that stood out the most for me were the Mattar Paneer (Homemade cheese cooked in peas with a mild curry sauce), the Beef Curry and the Coconut Naan, but I would definitely go back for the Butter Chicken, Fish Pakora (think spicy fish fritters) and Chana Masala (Chickpeas cooked with cumin, onions and tomatoes) as well.

Their mango Lassi (A yogurt based drink blended with mango juice) was DELICIOUS and I barely had enough room to finish it but made sure I did because it was that good. And I finished the evening with a small bowl (only because that is all I had room for) of their Kheer (a rice pudding with pistachios) which was sweet and creamy.

We will definitely venture back here and I suggest it to anyone who is nervous about trying Indian food as they are very welcoming here and are willing to answer any questions you have.

Food: 4.5/5
Ambiance: 3.5/5
Service: 4/5
Dinner for 2: $70.00 (with drinks)

Daawat Authentic East Indian Cuisine
10015-82 Ave
(780) 469-3517
http://www.daawat.ca/

Seafood dinner gone wrong... mostly. A night at Red Lobster.

The other day my family welcomed a new member. My first GREAT nephew was born on Saturday. My husband and I decided to celebrate that evening by going out for dinner. We had just seen on TV the day before that Red Lobster was just starting up their Crabfest event and we decided to give it a shot. Now we know it is a chain restaurant and they don't normally have the same level of customer service as a self owned restaurant but living in Edmonton, Alberta we don't have many options for decent seafood of any kind other than sushi.

We went into the restaurant and were greeted by a huge crowd of people so we asked what the wait time was. At 15-20 mins we figured that was decently short and decided to wait. We sat at the bar and ordered a couple drinks, which were served fairly quickly. The husbands drink had a crack down the side of the glass (which we didn't even notice) and the bartender immediately replaced his drink. After about 30 mins though I went and asked how much longer our wait would be since we were told 15 mins and was told we were next in line. However it still took another 15 mins before we were finally seated at a table.

Our waiter came over to the table and took drink and appetiser orders. My drink came quickly and we ordered our dinner. My husband ordered their Crab & Roasted Garlic Seafood Bake and I ordered the Canadian Snow Crab & Crab-Topped Shrimp. I also decided to try the Corn and Crab Chowder instead of the usual starter salad.

Our appetisers and our starters showed up fairly quickly and were really good. My soup had slightly charred corn and LARGE chucks of crab meat in a creamy broth. The potatoes in it were cooked perfectly and still had quite a bit of bite left to them. After this I was really looking forward to our dinner.

Unfortunately this is where everything started to go downhill. After waiting for almost an hour our food finally showed up and was stone cold. The waiter apologized and claimed that the heating tray in the kitchen had broken. I'm sorry, but if that was what had actually happened then there would have been alot more angry diners in the restaurant and it seemed to me that everyone else in the restaurant was getting their food just fine. Another 15 mins later our food showed up again, only to have the wrong sides on mine, and was missing the 'crab topping' on my crab topped shrimp. The waiter apologized again and a few mins later I was brought my broccoli and my crab topping for my shrimp.

The silver lining to this was that the waiter mentioned our extremely long wait and issues to the manager and they made our entrees free and our appetisers as well. After being there for over 3 hours I think that was the least they could do. As my husband pointed out to me the table behind us had 2 different groups of 4 completely finish their dinners (one of which was celebrating a birthday!) and the 3rd group of people order and recieve their dinner before we were even done our dinner.

As much as I enjoy seafood it looks like I'll either have to try and find a new place to go in Edmonton or wait until I'm on the coast before I get any again.

Food: 3/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Service: 1/5
Dinner for 2: Normally $95 (With discount from manager... $35.00)

Red Lobster

10111 171 St
(780) 484-0660
http://www.redlobster.ca/