Wedged between a laundromat and an abandoned deli on 51st Avenue is MyEmpanadas, a Argentinian empanada shop. In contrast to its dilapidated strip mall facade, the interior is clean, and alive with the aromas of spices and baking pastry. A couple of tables are available, but the business functions largely on takeout orders.
Empanadas
Though MyEmpanadas sells frozen empanadas (bake at home for 15 minutes), I had mine cooked in the restaurant. They arrived golden brown in color with a crispy, flakey crust, and were roughly the size of a pizza pop. I'd suggest 2-4 empanadas per person per meal, depending on the individual and their appetite.
Creamy spinach (L) and beef (R) empanadas
Ten varieties of empanadas are available to choose from, including three vegetarian options. I sampled the beef, creamy spinach, chicken, and cajun pulled pork empanadas. With the exception of the mild creamy spinach empanada, all had moderate--but not overwhelming--heat, allowing their rich and savoury flavours to come through. The cajun pulled pork, my favorite, burst with pulled pork and cabbage and featured a cajun spiced crust.
I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch from MyEmpanadas, I found their prices very reasonable, and I appreciate the option to buy frozen and bake at home. If you've driven by this place and wondered about it, I'd encourage you to next time stop, and head in for a delicious pocket packed with Argentinian flavour.
Located in the heart of downtown Edmonton, Madison's Grill offers Canadian cuisine in an upscale setting. It is a favourite business function spot of my colleagues, but, until now, I've never had the opportunity to visit. On the chilly December evening of my visit, the restaurant is tastefully decorated for the holidays, and is busy with many large groups celebrating the season. Despite the bustling atmosphere, my party is seated promptly, and offered a good explanation of their concept, seasonal features, and specials for the night.
Candied sweet potato bisque
The candied sweet potato bisque, a selection from the holiday menu, arrives first. A brulee meringue floats on top, which I find overly spongey and somewhat unpleasant. Small pieces of deliciously salty pancetta lounge in the bottom of the bowl. These, along with a twist of maple syrup, bring life to the smooth sweet potato soup.
Roasted beet salad
The beet salad is beautifully presented. The greens are coated in a mildly acidic mustard vinaigrette. The pungency of the stilton crumble is subdued by the rainbow of sweet roasted beets.
Crab ravioli
For a small charge, the homemade crab ravioli arrives split between two of my guests. The pasta is perfect in texture, and saffron imparts an earthy essence to the cream sauce.
Pork chop
The pan roasted pork chop is also a holiday menu item. The bone-in pork chop arrives perfectly cooked, the meat flavourful and juicy with every bite. A balsamic onion marmalade imparts more sweetness than acidity, and is lovely on the chop as well as accompanying wild rice and cranberry pudding.
Arctic char
My guest finds the seared arctic char and ratatouille similarly well prepared. The fish and velvety mashed potatoes thrive beneath a roasted garlic butter sauce.
Clockwise from the top: Saskatoon berry creme brûlée, egg nog custard, pumpkin bread pudding.
I break into my creme brûlée with a crack after a few taps of my spoon. The contrast of the luscious Saskatoon berry custard with the rigid sugary shell create a very luxurious dessert. The accompanying white chocolate peppermint bark is a delicious bonus. The pumpkin berry bread pudding, though light on pumpkin flavour, is lovely with the mascarpone quenelle.
We were not disappointed with our visit to Madison's Grill. As expected for the price point, the service is exquisite and the food prepared to a high standard. Marks of the culinary team's creative talents are notable in many dishes; however, I would welcome even more imagination to allow Madison's keep pace with other fine dining establishments in the city.
Papa John's is a US-based pizza chain that's had a presence in Edmonton for about a year now. Though there was a period of time during my undergraduate days that I subsisted almost entirely on take-out pizza, these days, the pizza I do eat is usually made at home, so I haven't had the chance to try Papa John's since the chain came to Canada.
This Monday, however, a promo code combined with an exhausting day were the push I needed to order in and try it. The promotion I took advantage of is their NFL Monday Deal which offers a percentage discount (on regular priced items) based on the highest score in Sundays football games. The Seattle Seahawks smoked the Arizona Cardinals 58-0 the day previously, so my discount Monday was 58% -- I think I could really get behind this team!
From left upper corner clockwise: Chicken pizza, cinnapie, pepperoni pizza, cheese sticks; Buffalo wings (center).
Two pizzas, a pepperoni, and a chicken & tomato, were both topped with plenty of cheese and toppings. I prefer their pizza sauce to other chains, bright with tomatoes and the zest of garlic Italian seasonings. The Cinnapie and cheese sticks were on the same pleasingly chewy crust of the pizza. Surprisingly, there are no salads on the menu, so we opted for some buffalo wings to round out our meal. These were decidedly average.
This particular Monday's discount was the highest in the course of the promotion, so it wasn't surprising that the restaurant was flooded with orders. It took just over and hour and a half for the order to arrive (despite the email confirmation indicating 45 minutes), and, it's likely the delivery driver made several stops on the way to my place, as the food was only slightly warm by the time it arrived. This was understandable in light of the promotion, and my patience was greater on account of the discount. I was not expecting to be blown away by the food, and I wasn't, but I was adequately satisfied based on the price I paid; however, had I the additional 42% for regular price, I'm not so sure I would be.
The founders of Fife n' Dekel started baking pies in the 1980s to supplement the ice cream at their business, which was then an ice cream parlor. A few decades and three locations later, the pies have become the main attraction at Fife n' Dekel with soups, salads, and made-to-order sandwiches available to go along with your desserts.
Arriving at their South Edmonton location shortly before noon on a Saturday, I found the restaurant moderately busy with a short line-up at its cafeteria-style food service. The initial stop is the sandwich station, which is the bottle-neck of the process. Skip it and sneak around to the pie if you're only in for dessert.
Montreal smoked meat & havarti on sunflower bread
We followed the line around and started with the sandwiches (priced at about $7). I chose their homemade bread option, sunflower, which turned out be extremely fresh, slightly dense, and loaded with sunflower seeds & their nut-like flavor. Any of their cold cut options would be excellent between a couple slices of it, and the Montreal smoked meat with havarti did not disappoint.
Soups: Wicked Thai (left) and chicken noodle (right)
We tried the wicked Thai and chicken noodle soups as we continued around to the soup and salad section. Though I was told neither were homemade, the wicked thai still was a flavorful explosion of mushrooms, peppers, and chicken with the richness of coconut and moderate heat of curry. The chicken noodle was disappointingly thin and generic.
Strawberry rhubarb sour cream pie
Before reaching the cashier, I pondered our many, many options at the pie case before selecting the strawberry rhubarb sour cream pie. The strawberries and rhubarb were in the right balance with the sugar to create the perfect harmony of sweet and tart. The creaminess lent by the sour cream added an additional richness and thick texture which worked especially well with the crumbly crust. Besides banoffee (which they don't have), strawberry rhubarb is easily my favorite pie, and Fife n' Dekel does it very well. I will need to return to try their traditional, sour cream-less variety.
Coconut cream pie (upper) and cow tart (lower)
Our opinion of the coconut cream pie, topped with a perfect creamy topping was similarly positive. The cow tart, a rustic miniature pie, was filled with their delicious apple pie filling, subtly sweet and warm with cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg.
Fife n' Dekel's tasty sandwiches and outstanding pies are the result of the quality and freshness that comes with being homemade. Though it's unfortunate that they don't pursue similar quality with their soups, the emphasis here is on the pies and the three we had were all truly delicious. Whole pies can be ordered and purchased, but I'm looking forward to returning to work my way through the varieties slice by slice.
Everything about this Friday morning was better than Thursday. I wasn't woken up at 6am by my neighbour blasting music, my building had plenty of hot water, the weekend was only hours away, and I had plans to visit De Dutch before heading to work.
De Dutch, a Vancouver-based chain of restaurants specializing in Dutch pancakes opened its first location in Edmonton a few weeks ago. The location is on the North side of Jasper Avenue, in the construction zone between 100 and 100a Street, most convenient to the Central LRT station, or the Scotiaplace Parkade. While I'm sure the weekends at De Dutch are bustling, on our weekday mid-morning visit the restaurant was quiet and we were seated immediately. The restaurant is larger than it appears with from outside, with a back section as well as a board room. If you have the option, request a seat in the back of the restaurant in the winter months. I kept my coat for the duration of our visit because of the chilly draft from the entrance wafting through the front section.
Considering the restaurant is open only for breakfast and lunch (7am-3pm weekdays; 8am-3pm Sat & Sun), the menu is massive. Along with sweet and savory Dutch pancake options, I found more traditional breakfasts, omelettes, french toast, and bennies as well as burgers, sandwiches, wraps, and tosties (toasted cheesy sandwiches).
Amsterkoek
A Dutch pancake, or pannekoek, is larger and thinner than a typical North American pancake. The pannekoeken at De Dutch are 12" in diameter, and are served open and topped with your chosen accompaniments. My Amsterkoek, pictured above, was topped with Edam cheese, ham, two eggs, and hollandaise sauce. After pouring the sauce over the innards, I rolled up, and dug in! The pannekoek had a wonderful texture, closer to a substantial French crêpe than to a typical pancake. Edam, one of my favorite cheeses, contributed a mild flavour and slight saltiness that helped bring this hearty dish together. I was a bit disappointed not to find any gouda in their large menu, as I think its creaminess and ability to shred and melt so nicely would have made it an even better choice than the Edam on this pannekoek.
Strawberry cheesecake pannekoek
The strawberry cheesecake pannekoek was more like dessert than breakfast after the Amsterkoek. The pannekoek comes sprinkled with icing sugar as well as small cups of strawberries in syrup, a sweet cheesecake sauce, and whipped cream -- all the ingredients for a delectable sugar rush!
My experience at De Dutch certainly didn't derail my morning. Along with the tasty food, the service was friendly and swift, our entire visit lasting only 45 minutes. If you're looking for a variation of your breakfast (or dessert!) favorites, all rolled up in a pannekoek, De Dutch is certainly worth a visit!
Because of an unfortunate trademark infringement lawsuit, The Queen of Tarts, a burgeoning force on 104 Street, covered its old signage in January, and, quite quickly, was rebranded as Dauphine Bakery and Bistro. Fortunately business remained strong. By my mid-afternoon arrival, soups & sandwiches were sold-out, but a wide variety of baked good remained.
Carrot cake tulip
When it was still The Queen of Tarts, I'd eyed the carrot cake tulips through the glass, but always opted for tarts -- they were the specialty after all! No longer restrained by the name, I jumped at the chance to try the last remaining carrot cake tulip, delectably moist and topped with a perfect cream cheese icing.
White chocolate pistachio tart
The white chocolate pistachio was beautiful, with a perfectly crumbly crust. Its white chocolate innards contrasted beautifully with the pistachio.
Lemon curd tart
Lemon curd tart was a bit of a disappointment. Though I generally love the tartness of lemon, this tart tasted curdled, without the refreshing lemony balance.
Apricot square
The preserves in the apricot square were delicious. I found the crumble bits a touch dry for my tastes; however it may have been because I bought this later in the day.
What's in a name? Whether the Queen of Tarts or Dauphine, the treats here are just as sweet & tasty! It's evident that much care goes into the food produced at Dauphine, and there is plenty of selection. Indulge!
