Trip to Thailand through Thai Flavours

I have a confession to make, I am an urbanspoon addict. I downloaded the app on my iphone and when I have nothing else better to do with my life, I search for restaurants that I have yet to try. My friend and I were searching for a thai restaurant, and we stumbled across Thai Flavours. Located in Lewis Estates (near River Cree Casino Resort), we decided to hit up this location and give it a try. The restaurant is quite small and cozy, upon walking in you know you are in a Thai restaurant by the decorations they have up on the wall. Also, I love the tropical theme this restaurant has! Those colourful table cloths are really something else haha! Thai Flavours also has daily specials which is a nice bonus and it can be found on their website. We went on a Tuesday, and the spring rolls were their special of the day (4 for $6).

We decided to try 1 order of spring rolls, 2 beef and 2 pork. I have never tried beef filling before so it was something I was looking forward to tasting. We ordered tom yum soup (at my request because I absolutely love that stuff), a curry dish (Gang Leang) and one classic noodle dish (Pad Thai).

Family fine dining at the Wildflower

It has been a while since we celebrated mother's day at a nicer, upscale restaurant (I know this post is way outdated..haha). Since my brother and I love our momma to bits...(with the bonus of us working full time), we decided to take her to the Wildflower at the matrix hotel. At first, we wanted to go to hardware grill but the timing of the reservations did not work out to plan. The wildflower grill is located at the matrix hotel near jasper ave. Semi-formal attire, dim lighting, relatively quiet environment emits the mature atmosphere.

 For drinks, I ordered the blueberry, pomegranate iced tea. It tasted exactly as it sounds with a nice herbal aroma to compliment the fruity flavors.

The meal came with a complimentary French brioche, it was so good! Light, fluffy and flaky pastry that melted in your mouth immediately. It is seriously to die for. My only complaint is that they did not bring out more!!!
For our appetizers, I recommended the gnocchi and beef carpaccio. My parents have never tried gnocchi before so I figured it should be something we order. The gnocchi was chewy in the center yet crispy on the outside and it was served with a sweet pea puree which made a nice compliment.

The beef carpaccio was the favorite of the night! Thin slices of extremely tender beef, served with a sweet chipotle jam and a hint of spiciness from the aioli. Unfortunately, our palates were highly stimulated from the brioche and we ravaged the appetizers in no time before realizing I forgot to take a picture.

Another freebie for the night: a spoonful of Thai salad for each!  

So I'm a very conservative person when it comes to food, I don't venture far from the 3 main meats(chicken, beef and pork) but that night I was feeling adventurous! So I went with the venison. I had no idea what to expect and the thought of eating deer meat seemed odd to me. But nonetheless I am always open to try new things! How do you even describe this type of meat.... It does not taste anything like beef, a little like mutton...  It was okay, I'm not sure if I have a liking for it haha But it was extremely tender and flaky. I did a quick search on the taste of deer, and people describe it as being "gamey". Not sure what that means...But it seems quite fitting. The dish came with deep fried polenta (cornmeal), the texture was crispy on the outside with a soft warm middle. One of the polenta was way too fried as you can tell by the picture. Notice the colour contrast? I kept that on the side of my plate.

At the end of the night, they also brought out a complimentary plate of petite four! Such a delight surprise, especially after a filling meal. It really was a nice addition and completed the entire dining experience. The white and dark chocolate truffles were my favorites!
Service is excellent, the waitress was attentive to our needs and gave us enough time to carry out our conversations. In addition, she answered all our questions and gave honest recommendations about several dishes. Food was delectable but nothing amazing in terms of flavour or presentation. The little "extras" were a pleasant addition to our full course meal. Overall, the experience was great and my parents thoroughly enjoyed the fine dining experience! I highly recommend dining here at the wildflower - service, ambiance and food is excellent!

Carnivore Delight at Sloppy Hoggs Roed Hus!

My family loves to eat meat. Sorry vegetarians...but we love our beef, chicken, pork, you name it! It is a must have ingredient in our household or else complaints will arise like no tomorrow. So for fathers day, I decided to take my family out for some delectable smokehouse meat! I heard many many good things about this small restaurant place..and the insane portions! Earlier, a few guy friends went here and posted pictures of the humongous sized burgers.. It seriously seemed like some jaw dislocation was needed to take a bite out of the burger.

Anyways, for the family of 4, we went with the game day platter. This included beef brisket, ribs, chicken, pulled pork, corn bread, loads of fries and baked beans. Basically, it was a good sample of all they have to offer! And for $75...and the amount o food they give, it was definitely worth it. 

When it came out, we were all shocked because we were not use to seeing all the food piled together onto one giant plate. It was impressive and the smoked meat smelled amazing..

The beef brisket was the first thing I dived into and unfortunately it wasn't as tender as it looked. Quite dry and flavorless..which was a little disappointing. But on the bright side the pulled pork was fabulous! Whoo! I wish they gave more, I felt like the skimped out on the pulled pork.. but I'm sure it was because my brother was gobbling it down the quickest and left none for the rest of us. Jerk! The ribs were also excellent. Super tender, well seasoned and barbecued to perfection. The chicken was also a little disappointing.. Not much flavor and it was quite burnt. 

Here's a picture of the aftermath... we fought a hard battle but lost. But it was a good fight! We were completely stuffed, and the funny thing was after the meal we all said the same thing: Phew no meat in this quantity for a longgggg time please... Haha.

This place is a must try! Grab a couple of buddies and head down to sloppy hoggs and I guarantee it will be a great night. Depending on what type of meat you order some are tender and if you love barbecues this place will not let you down. Bring YO APPETITE. 

Quick Sugarbowl Catch Up with a Girlfriend

I am a University of Alberta student and this is so sad...but I have never been to the Sugarbowl before. Ugh! I know, I should be kicking myself for putting it off for so long. EVERYONE at the university is talking about the sugarbowl as the place for drinks and food etc. It is an amazing joint and the food is so delicious. Anyways, I absolutely love hummus...so I had to order the flatbread and hummus to start.

The hummus was so creamy and smooth. It is SOOOO GOOD. I love hummus so much haha. With a hint of paprika and a splash of olive oil this hummus is a done deal.

The thing I love about the sugarbowl is the amazing contrast of green with the main. Look at the amount of salad! All that folic acid makes me feel less guilty about the jerk chicken and avocado burger. The burger itself was fantastic. The chicken was tender and the addition of avocado completed the burger.

This place is definitely one of my favorites near campus, and I am for certain to hit up this place again when the school semester starts again! A great place to grab a quick bite, enjoy light conversations and rewind before or after classes.

Kobe Japanese Restaurant! Callingwood Area!

My friend and I were looking for a different Japanese restaurant to try and we stumbled across Kobe in urbanspoon! The ratings were pretty good too which made us more interested!

We were quick to order upon looking at the menu for about 5 minutes. The thing about sushi in Edmonton is that you have to be cautious about ordering sashimi.. For some reason, fresh tuna sashimi does not exist! I have been to many many Japanese restaurants such as: Sushi garden, Mikado, Zen, Sumo Sumo, Japonais Bistro, Kyoto...etc. And at all those restaurants, I haven't been able to say "wow this is really fresh Tuna" as I can with the salmon. Anyways, I decided to ask the waitress about the freshness, and she proclaimed that this restaurant has by far the freshest fish from Japan. So I wouldn't need to worry about soft, warm Tuna. So we took her advice and ordered a half order of salmon and tuna sashimi. In addition, we went with the dragon eye, spicy tuna, and rainbow roll.

Everything came out at once! The spicy tuna and rainbow roll was very good and the dragon eye was different compared to other places. The dragon eye was a big roll, filled with cooked salmon and thoroughly deep fried. I don't think the cheese sauce is as good as mikado, but the roll was delicious as well.

Aha...now for the sashimi... The salmon was fresh, firm and no fishy taste. But again the tuna is a big disappointment!!!! It was warm, extremely soft and had a fish after taste. It did not seem so bad at first..but after the second piece, the texture of the tuna was a big deterrence.

On a side note: My friend had the most Tuna slices and after he had really bad food poisoning!! A couple hours later, he had extreme stomach pains, chills, fevers and was vomiting up a storm of what was left of our dinner. Which proves our point...to STAY AWAY FROM TUNA SASHIMI. Unless it is firm, cold and served in Vancouver hahaha or somewhere else. Bad bad bad experience here with the Tuna.

If it weren't for the food poisoning, this restaurant would be a new favorite. But I don't think I will be rushing back anytime soon for sushi at Kobe.

Location location....Shanghai 456

Wow this place is sketchy! The location is horrible and there is no real sign with the restaurant's name outside. But don't let the looks fool you! My family and I had to drive around a couple of times before spotting a small sign peaking out the window. This is restaurant was the old cafeteria of the Edmonton City Airport. Everything in the restaurant is outdated, and nothing was changed. Open kitchen with a few old tables and chairs to go with it. Upon walking in, it is easy to make quick judgments. But surprisingly the food was good. With 2 waitresses and 1 chef, service is super slow and you can tell by the number of tables that have yet to be dealt with and taken care of.. We decided to order small eats such as, hot and sour soup, xiao long bao (dragon buns), dumplings, bbq duck and a sticky rice roll.

The hot and sour soup was really good. Filled with ingredients and flavor, this is definitely one of the better hot and sour soup I have tasted. The soup was thick, spicy and everything came together nicely.

Dumplings were next, and the beef filling is amazing. My only complaint is the dough being a little too thick but other than that it was really tasty. The dumplings were crispy on the outside, yet tender when you bite through the center. The beef filling was well marinated and had a "soupy" filling as well to go along with it, similar to what you get in the xiao long bao.

The bbq duck was surprisingly good as well! Wow, the perfect crispiness on the outside skin, yet tender, flavorful meat underneath. It wasn't extremely salty either unlike other bbq meat places in Edmonton. It came with some random plain buns, but none of us had much interest in it. Even to this day, I am amazed and how well the duck came out... And I am not a big duck person.

The sticky rice roll followed quickly, and there isn't much to say about it. It wasn't bad, but nothing spectacular either. Filled with meat, mushrooms, dried pork. The rice was also a tad dry and hard, making it difficult to chew.

Last but not least, the xiao long bao! When you go to a shanghai restaurant, it is so common for people to order these. It is a must have appetizer! We wanted to try something different since we always go for the pork filled ones. This time we ordered the crab filled dumplings instead. And bad choice...something about crab meat and dumplings does not mix very well. The fishy/seafood taste ruined the soup broth within and the combination was not a hit among us all. Stick with the regular ones! But the dumpling was very well made, thin skin and loaded with filling!

Even though the location & appearance of the restaurant is a little bit daunting, it does not do the food justice! The food is really well made and is the best Shanghainese restaurant there is in Edmonton.