Beer Revolution - Edmonton, AB

Recently I met up with some friends at one of Edmonton's newer pubs, Beer Revolution. Though new to Edmonton, the Calgary location has been open for some time and I remember hearing my brother rave about the pizza. Our only criteria that day was a place with a patio to enjoy the 29 C weather, so Beer Revolution it was. I'm not a huge beer drinker, so I can't really comment but from the long lists proudly displayed on screens around the restaurant, Beer Revolution seemed to have a good variety. My main concern (as always), was the food. We settled on pretzels and two pizzas, the Blazing Saddle (blackened steak, bacon, banana peppers, cheese, onions, cajun remoulade, horseradish aioli, and seasoned arugula) and the Alice (crimini, shiitake and porcini mushrooms, fontina, truffled olive oil, walnut basil pesto). It was quite a wait before the food came out, giving us ample time to catch up with each other. Bavarian pretzels (sea salt, caraway spice, grainy mustard aioli) were first to the table, fresh and warm, served with an equally delicious aioli. Unfortunately, the pizzas did not fare as well. The Blazing Saddle was extremely heavy and one-note in flavor, while I couldn’t taste much of either the truffled olive oil or pesto on the Alice. The crust was nothing special, and the toppings which sounded so delicious on paper turned out to be nothing special in taste.

I returned a week later to try out the 4 for $4 happy hour specials with a friend, available from 4-6 Monday to Saturday. Having skipped lunch, we opted to try all four specials - pretzels, ribs, truffle fries, and a six-inch personal pizza. The pretzels were as I remembered them - soft, warm, and delicious. The BBQ beer ribs (beer & apple butter BBQ sauce, green apple, beer mustard) came out somewhat cold, but overall had good flavor. I particularly enjoyed the tart sweetness of the green apple. Surprisingly, the best bang for our buck went to the truffle fries - a huge cone of mixed regular and yam fries that we could not finish, served with a white truffle aioli that was decent but lacking in any truffle flavor. The disappointment for me was the personal pizza - maybe it's my poor math skills to blame, but six inches was actually quite a small portion and the pizza was nothing out of the ordinary.

Overall, I think Beer Revolution is a great place to grab a beer and relax after work. The servers are friendly, the atmosphere is relaxed, and the general feel is a bit trendier than nearby Brewsters. However, although the food is decent, I do think it is a bit pricy for what it is, and certainly nothing impressive in terms of taste or value.

Kami Sushi - Edmonton, AB

After Avenue Magazine's tasting event, we were all still fairly hungry. As we all live around the University area, we rarely venture that far south for sushi; since we were already on the south side that evening, we decided to pop into a small sushi restaurant that my companion and I had been to before. Kami advertises itself as a "take-out" restaurant, but it does have a couple of four-seater tables inside. Not much special about Kami's interior, though it is quite modern and clean. The menu is written on a large menu board over the ordering counter as well as on several printed copies, making it quite easy if you were visiting Kami just for a quick snack or take-out.

Our party of four parked ourselves at one of the restaurants and promptly ordered. Shannon decided to get one of the sushi combos while Eric went with a salmon roll and sashimi combo. As for myself and my companion, we decided on one of their specials, the Flaming Roll, as well as two of their regular rolls, the Amazing Roll and the Spicy Red Tuna Roll.

The sashimi were quite fresh and were a fair price by Edmonton standards. The sushi and the tuna roll were prepared well, but otherwise fairly standard in terms of taste.

Left to Right: Salmon Sashimi, Tuna Sashimi, Spicy Tuna Roll
Spicy Red Tuna Roll, Flaming Roll, Amazing Roll, Salmon Sushi
Tuna Sushi, and Shrimp Sushi

The special rolls that my companion and I ordered, I suspect, is where Kami's popularity (and Urbanspoon ratings!) come from. First we started with the Spicy Red Tuna roll, which consisted of spicy tuna, fish roe, and cucumber. The spicy sauce used for the spicy tuna is definitely on the spicier side of "spicy tuna" rolls, but I quite enjoyed the hot kick. If you tend to shy away from the spicier foods, this one might not be a good roll for you as I do remember consuming quite a bit of water when I first had it.

The next two rolls were the the Amazing Roll and the Flaming Roll. The Flaming Roll was offered as a special that night (Kami often has a number of "Special Rolls" which are not on their regular menu, so make sure to ask for them!) and consisted of chopped scallop, special house sauce, topped with torched salmon and fish roe. The special house sauce is essentially mayonnaise, and I wish Kami did something a little more innovative with their house sauce, but it went well with the chopped scallop. The torched salmon was a nice touch and gave the roll a unique ash flavour that you don't see in many sushi rolls. Unfortunately, the Amazing Roll was not as amazing as it sounded, as I can't recall anything particularly stand out about the roll.

Close up of Special: Flaming Roll

Kami is a quiet little shop way out in the Southern corners of Edmonton. When I'm craving something special (I quite like their "creative rolls") for a reasonable price, I don't mind making the trek out South, especially when I've eaten at Kyoto three times already earlier that week. It's definitely worth the trip and the service is friendly and fast - exactly what you're looking for if you do decide to take out from their restaurant.

Top Pick of the Night: Flaming Roll

Rating:

4/5 Erics

Bistro Saisons - Edmonton, AB

We had all been looking forward to trying Bistro Saisons, a newly opened French style restuarant specializing in farm-to-table food. The layout of the restaurant is almost exactly like Cibo Bistro, not surprising given that they are located right around the corner from each other. I loved the giant windows which allowed the restaurant to bathe in natural light. Decor was simple and cheerful, with a few large pictures hanging near the bar. There were also nice punctuations of colour provided by fresh yellow flowers on each table and blue accents throughout the restaurant. The restaurant actually reminded me of a few local bistros we passed through on my travels in London and Paris.

Chicken Supreme

Three of us were on a rather busy rotation and we actually took quite a long time with the menu as we were all busy catching up with one another. Our waitress was friendly enough, but I got the sense that her patience started to wear as the night progressed. It seems when I get into a food mood, I tend to order a series of similar dishes at different restaurants. I recently ordered a chicken dish at Belgravia Hub and was craving more of the same. I settled on the Chicken Supreme which was served with gnocci, tomatoes, and some steamed greens. The gnocci was a little bit bland for my liking and was a little on the generous portion which made the dish a tad too heavy. The tomatoes had a nice light flavour which actually complimented the chicken and the gnocci quite well. Unlike the gnocci, I found that the tomatoes was served in too stingy of a portion. The tomatoes had a nice herb and salty taste and actually complimented the gnocci and the chicken quite well. The chicken itself was the best part of the dish; the skin was perfectly crispy and the chicken was well-seasoned and very tender on the inside. Had the portions been adjusted a bit better, this would have been a stellar dish.

Special of the Evening: Wood-plank Salmon, Scallop and Greens

My companion ordered the Special of the Evening - Wood-plank salmon with Pan-seared Scallops and Greens. I found the salmon was just a smidge overcooked; while it was fairly most and flaky at the centre, the outside was a little dry. Similarly, the scallops were slightly on the dry side as well and lacked the true juiciness of a well-cooked scallop. The greens, on the other hand, were perfectly steamed, but nothing special. My favourite part of the dish was the cream sauce with peas. It had a subtle sweet note in a mostly savoury sauce; it was creamy, yet light, and went well with the scallop, salmon, and greens. I only wish there were more of the cream sauce incorporated into the dish.

Steak Frites

The steak initially came out fairly well-done, but upon mentioning this to the waitress she quickly offered to bring another one to the table. The second time around, the steak was medium-rare done to perfection, juicy and tender. I had anticipated the goat cheese butter would be overwhelming, but it was pleasantly mild in taste and coated the meat deliciously as it melted. The fries were hot and crisp, seasoned just right. The snow peas seemed an odd pairing with the steak and fries, and were prepared very simply, certainly nothing special.

Walleye

The Walleye was served with olive quinoa and string beans. The portion of walleye seemed disappointingly small at first glance, but the entire plate was full of strong flavours. The olive flavour in the quinoa was quite pervasive; whether you liked the quinoa (a majority of the dish) depended strongly on whether you liked olives or not. The walleye was cooked well, was nicely seasoned, and went well with the sauce. The snow peas, again, was an odd pairing and was a little bland compared to the rest of the dish. Though it was Bistro Saison's signature dish, none of us at the table were particularly impressed with it.

Beignets and Berry Currant

The beignets were light and fluffy and even better than the ones at The Marc. The were also perfectly coated in cinnamon and sugar and, like all my favourite desserts, was not too sweet. The jelly currant was a little strange; it was a little bit too gelatinous without enough flavour to pair well with the beignets. We found a perfect dipping sauce, however, in our next dessert.

Bacon Creme Brulee

The second dessert we tried was the Bacon Crème Brulee, which was your typical creme brulee with bits of thick-sliced bacon incorporated into the sugar coating. The crème brulee was fairly standard, with the crème being light and refreshing. The sugar coating was fairly standard as well. The bacon, which I have seen used plenty of times on the Food Network in desserts, really took away from the dish overall. We all expected to the bacon to be candied and incorporated a little more smoothly into the dish; instead the bacon retained its strong, meaty flavour and was actually a little too salty, even for just regular bacon. 

Bistro Saisons is a quaint little restaurant with a bright, cosy, and very European-feeling interior. The food was a little hit or miss, even for being in the same dish. There were certain elements of the dish which were extremely tasty and other elements that left us confused about the pairing. Although the service was friendly, as the night wore on, the service became a little inattentive (we had to wait quite a while to ask for our bill after dessert, for example). There were also some inconsistencies I noticed about the dishes having observed other diners: the Steak Frites served at other tables looked steaming hot, while our first Steak Frites was lukewarm at best when we received it. In addition, the ratio of gnocci and tomatoes looked much more balanced at other tables compared to my Chicken Supreme dish. While reasonably priced with some definite stand-out elements, there was no dish that stood out in its entirety and there were just a little too many inconsistencies for me at Bistro Saisons.

Top Pick of the Night: Chicken Supreme

http://bistrosaisons.ca/

Rating:

3.5/5 Erics

Quick Eats: Smokehouse BBQ Food Truck - Edmonton, AB

We were strolling down Whyte Ave when we happened to pass by the Blues on Whyte festival, and noticed a long line forming. It turned out to be a free pancake breakfast and as a native Calgarian, I just had to jump in line as Stampede breakfasts have always been one of my favorite things about July. Though the breakfast was delicious, it wasn't exactly filling and as we wandered around the streets closed off for the venue we spotted a few of Edmonton's newer food trucks, namely NaanOLicious, The Act Out and About, and Smokehouse BBQ Food Truck. Since we were familiar with the restaurants associated with the first two, we decided to give Smokehouse BBQ a try. Their menu of the day consisted of: Burnt Ends (brisket) sandwich, Pulled Pork Sandwich, Chili Cheese Fries, Pork Ribs, and a few other items. As it was still fairly early in the morning (don't judge, who says you can't have a good brisket for breakfast?) there was no line. I was stuck deciding between the Burnt Ends and Pulled Pork Sandwiches, and the lady running the truck must have seen the pure indecision on my face because she readily offered to make me a half-and-half sandwich.

The first thing I noticed about the sandwich was that the bread wasn't toasted or warmed, nor was it anything special. I found the meat itself rather dry, particularly the large chunks of brisket. However, I am partial to pulled pork that is slathered in sauce so it may be a matter of personal taste. Atop the pile of brisket and pulled pork sat some coleslaw and BBQ sauce. I found the BBQ sauce particularly tasty, smoky and flavorful and I wish more of that flavor had been incorporated into the meat itself. Overall, the sandwich was nothing out of the ordinary and although $7 was a reasonable price, I would probably pass next time.

Quick Eats: Lunch at Numchok Wilai, Edmonton AB

I had a few minutes to spare driving from the Royal Alex to the University, so I decided to stop by Numchok Wilai for their lunch special, served from Monday to Friday, 11:30 to 2:00 pm. I was pleasantly impressed by the speed of service - I placed my order before I left the Alex, and by the time I reached the restaurant on 124 Street it was ready for pickup. The real selling point of Numchok Wilai's lunch special is the value - $11.95 for an entree (most of which come with rice), lemongrass soup, and two spring rolls. The entree choices include a variety of curries and stir-fries, as well as the ever popular Pad Thai, which of course I had to try. The spring rolls were fairly average, but I loved the sauce they were served with, a unique sugary concoction with just a hint of fish sauce. The lemongrass soup had good flavor - the only disappointment was that the container was only half full! The Pad Thai (you have your choice of ketchup or tamarind sauce) was served with a few plump shrimp and chicken, and I really enjoyed the tamarind sauce. The noodles were a bit soft and had clumped together by the time I reached home, but overall it was a solid dish. Thai food at some of my favorites can be quite pricy (around $18 for a Pad Thai alone at Boualouang), so I would highly recommend Numchok Wilai's lunch special for anyone with a craving for Thai food at a good price.

Enzo's on 76 - Edmonton, AB

Having resided in the University area for over two years now, I have come to appreciate all the little conveniences of living in one of the most centrally-located and hip neighbourhoods in Edmonton. You can find all sorts of things along Whyte Avenue, whether you're looking for little trinkets, musical instruments, new fad fashions, or just a casual bite to eat (Dadeo's, Kyoto, and Steel Wheels being some of my favourites just around the corner). The one thing that's missing in the area are nice restaurants or bistros that serve finer dining, where you can have a nice little date night in the middle of the week. After all, who really wants to drive down town during rush hour on a Wednesday night?

I was hard at work studying with good friend and our Editor in Chief, Shannon, when we both sank into a distracting state of hunger. After my companion got back from his meeting, we decided to head over to another new restaurant that opened up a short and easy walk from the University area - Enzo's on 76. As we turned the corner of 112th St., we were met with a depressing row of run down medical offices, pharmacies, and local pizzerias. Definitely not the most stylish strip to put a restaurant. As we walked in, however, we were greeted by simple wooden tables with a dark circular counter bar which made for a fairly cosy atmosphere. The walls were lined of pictures of delicious-looking food, pictures of Italy, and other miscellaneous art; while the pictures themselves were nice, the decor was just a tad too much on the busy side for my liking. The restaurant was packed and quite loud, which was only accentuated by how close you were to the next table. The proximity of fellow diners combined with Edmonton-summer sun made for a bit of a sweltering start to our evening.

Shannon and I had already perused the online menu and we settled on the Pescatore to share. My companion, after perusing the menu for a few minutes settled on the Amatriciana. Service was friendly enough, with our waitress always approaching our table with a friendly smile...that is, when she did actually approach. We all collectively agreed that service was a little slow and chaotic at Enzo's: our water took quite a while to come out and at one point, we were given bread with no balsamic/olive oil sauce (but at least with the promise that she would return with it on her next trip). The bread was warm, but nothing special. The balsamic vinegar, on the other had, was quite delightful; it had a nice, rich flavour and strong sweet-balsamic taste without being overly acidic. Definitely one of the better balsamic vinegars I have tasted to date.

Pescatore

The dishes were a little slow to come out and our dining experience was becoming slightly too drawn out for just pasta. The Pescatore ($26) which consisted of king crab, scallop, shrimp, baby clams and fresh mussels was served with your choice of a tomato sauce or a white wine sauce and tossed with linguine. As my companion had ordered the Amatriaciana, which came with a tomato sauce, we opted for the white wine sauce. The linguine was cooked perfectly as were the rest of the elements! The shrimp were large, succulent, and cooked to a perfect tenderness; unfortunately, neither Shannon nor I are shrimp fans so they were likely under appreciated in the dish. The mussels were plump, juicy and held the flavour of the wine sauce quite well. The scallops were a little hit and miss, at least for me; while Shannon had no problems with the scallop, I had one that was particularly dry, flaky, and overcooked (though one miss in ten plus scallops isn't too bad). The clams were small and were a little too shrivelled for my liking; I would have preferred the clams to be cooked and served in shell, though I understand that would make the dish a little on the shell-y side. The real star of the dish, as we collectively agreed, was easily the king crab! The crab was cooked exceptionally well - it was tender, flaky, and held the buttery white wine (it is quite buttery) sauce perfectly. It had to be one of the most well-cooked and tastiest king crabs I have had in a while. The Pescatore was an overall excellent dish and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a light, seafood pasta (though be warned that the proportion is huge, and I definitely would not have finished it without Shannon's help).

Amatriciana

The Amatriciana ($15) was composed of spicy capicollo with mushroom and onions in a tomato sauce. The capicollo, which is an Italian cold cut made from dry-cured whole pork shoulder or neck, was sliced into small pieces and tossed into the pasta. While it went well with the pasta, the capicollo did not really have any distinct taste of its own, and definitely lacked any spiciness - at least as far as a I could tell. The mushrooms were tasty and added a nice, more substantial element to the tomato sauce. The tomato sauce was light, flavourful, and actually quite authentic as far as my memories of Italy go. Despite the massive proportion, my companion finished every last noodle with no problem. Overall, a solid - and very authentic - Italian pasta!

Tiramisu

Of course we couldn't leave Enzo's without trying their house made Tiramisu - a dessert we were all looking forward to last time we went to try authentic Italian food at Forza! The Tiramisu came in a small dessert glass and was surprisingly elegant with its simple presentation. (I should mention that we saw both the Affogato and Sobertto el Limone served at other tables and they both looked equally enticing)! The Tiramisu was light, fluffy, and had a strong espresso coffee overtone without being overly sweet or mushy. The strawberry added a nice tartness which complimented the espresso taste quite well as well.

Godfather

Enzo's on 76, like Belgravia, is a new restaurant worthy of a detour despite being in a rather odd and somewhat low key location. It serves true, amazingly authentic Italian pastas and desserts in a cosy environment. The proportions are enormous and the price is more than fair. The service, however, could have been much more attentive and the restaurant - especially when packed - can get quite hot and loud. Though it wouldn't be my first choice for a special date or occasion, such as anniversaries or birthdays, it is an excellent restaurant for casual dates or large food-and-drink get togethers with friends. I would definitely return, especially to try their Bruschetta, selection of paninis, their Vongole pasta, or their other desserts. (I should note that in an all-Italian fashion, we passed a rather Godfather-looking car on the walk home - perfect ending to an excellent meal!)

http://www.enzosedmonton.com/

Top Pick of the Night: Pescatore

Rating:

4/5 Erics

Sushi Garden - Edmonton, AB

Over the years, I've learned my metabolism no longer works as it once did. But sometimes the idea of unlimited sushi takes hold and won't let go. All you can eat usually has the reputation of eschewing quality for quantity, but every once in awhile the balance is just good enough to satisfy that craving without sacrificing too much taste. With the impressive selection of sushi and sashimi at Sumo Sumo's Sunday buffet, I was hoping to find a place closer and a tad cheaper that might offer the same. We had heard a few good things about Sushi Garden, so we decided to give it a try.

Sushi Garden

Sushi Garden is located in a rather industrial, nondescript location. I was quite surprised upon entering that the restaurant was full and several diners were waiting to be seated, which is usually a positive sign. We had made reservations beforehand so we were seated with no problems. You don't go to an all-you-can-eat joint for a fine dining experience, and decor and service certainly didn't seem to be major focuses at Sushi Garden.

Like other all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants, Sushi Garden has one main menu that offers both cold and hot items. Dinner is priced at $24.99 (+$2 on weekends and holidays, when BBQ eel, surf clam, and the special rock roll are offered in addition to the weekday menu) or $15.99 for lunch (with the same $2 weekend surcharge). Initial orders are usually overambitious, and we ordered a monstrous amount of our collective favorite salmon sashimi, with a few pieces of white tuna, red snapper, and mackerel thrown in. We also decided to sample a few rolls including the fire and ice (deep fried white tuna, hot pepper, and spicy mayo), red dragon roll (deep fried shrimp, avocado, cucumber, and tobiko topped with salmon), spider roll (deep fried soft shell crab), and the special rock roll (salmon, avocado, and cream cheese, deep fried). Though I personally avoid cooked items at buffets as I find them much too filling, our friend Eat Cook Dream seemed to have a particular craving that night as he seemed to have made it his mission to try as many of the cooked items as he could.

Top to Bottom: Spicy Tuna Sushi, Mackeral Sashimi
Snapper Sashimi, Tuna Sashimi, Salmon Sashimi

As soon as the giant platter of sashimi hit our table, I knew we would probably have some trouble finishing all our food. The salmon sashimi and mackerel was average, par for an all-you-can-eat joint. The tuna, however, was extremely fishy and somehow the red snapper tasted toxic. That is the only way I know how to describe the chemical, rank taste that I have never before experienced in fish - I really hope it was just an unlucky piece of fish rather than a regular occurrence. Nonetheless, Sumo Sumo's all-you-can-eat handily wins for its quality of sashimi.

Rock Roll

The rolls did not fare much better. The fire and ice roll had a very odd sour component to it that did not mix well with the spicy mayo. The red dragon and spider rolls were fairly average in taste, and the only one I enjoyed was the special rock roll as the amount of cream cheese was minimal enough to add flavor and texture without being overwhelming. The mango roll had a nice, fresh mango sauce and was light and sweet.

Left to Right: Spicy Tuna, Dynamite Roll, Spider Roll,
Fire and Ice Roll and Mango Roll

I only tried a few of the cooked items, but I thought the gyoza were quite tasty and even went for another order, and the eggplant tempura was a unique dish that was lightly fried to a perfect crisp. But the chicken katsu and ton katsu seemed to cause Eat Cook Dream a fair amount of distress, as he tried hard to push them onto the rest of us. The teriyaki items tasted as though the sauce came from a bottle, and the deep fried scallops were soaked in oil.

Pork Gyoza

Chicken Karage and Kethcup

All-you-can-eat isn't well known for service, but I do want to mention that we did not receive several of our items or received them far later in the meal when we had already re-ordered them thinking they were not coming. We also had difficulty tracking down our waitress when we wanted a new sheet to make a second order.

Overall, I thought Sushi Garden was fairly disappointing and reminded me why I usually stay away from all-you-can-eat. The sashimi in particular was a let down, and the rolls were nothing special. If you have an extremely large appetite, I can understand making the trip to capitalize on the fairly extensive menu, but for anyone else I would recommend either paying the extra few dollars for Sumo Sumo's Sunday buffet, or simply spending the money on a higher quality non-all-you-can-eat sushi meal.

Top Pick of the Night: Rock Roll

Rating: 2/5 Erics

The Makk on 124 - Edmonton, AB

Lately, Edmonton's food scene has really blossomed. New restaurants seem to pop up monthly and I can hardly keep up. The Makk on 124 opened in November 2012, garnering a lot of praise and rave reviews. I meant to give it a try early on, but the buzz seemed to die down quickly and it fell off my radar. It wasn't until The Makk began to pop up on sites such as TeamBuy and Dealfind that it crossed my mind again. I was shocked to see that ratings on Urbanspoon had fallen to 68%, and wondered if perhaps the group buys were a sign that business wasn't going so well. Nonetheless, I jumped at the chance to try The Makk and quickly snapped up a TeamBuy for myself.

I made reservations for 6:30 on a Sunday, anticipating a busy dinner hour. To my surprise, we were the only ones in the restaurant when we arrived. The Makk has a modern feel to its decor, with red walls and bright lights illuminating a clean, open space. The hostess doubled as our waitress, and was friendly and attentive.

Pomegranate and Lychee Soho Twist

Tortellini Symphony

To start our meal, we chose to share the Tortellini Symphony and the Ravioli. The Symphony consisted of three different tortellinis: lobster with truffle beurre fondue, goat cheese and scallion in almond pesto, and duck in Chardonnay cream. My favorite was easily the lobster, as the filling was heavy on the lobster and the truffle beurre sauce almost had me licking the plate. I found the mound of goat cheese overwhelming, although the pesto had good flavor. The duck filling was a bit dry, and very salty. The ravioli seemed to be filled with the same duck mixture as the tortellini, although it was larger and plated with leeks, mushrooms, and a parmesan sauce. The sauce itself was quite flavourful, combining a buttery cream sauce and freshness of grape tomatoes. Though the appetizers, were quite tasty, they were definitely on the pricey side - literally $4 for each tortellini, and $10 for the single duck ravioli. If I were to return, I would not order either of these appetizers again for this reason.

Duck Ravioli

I chose the Chef's Signature Makk'n Cheese as my main and added scallops. I am a lover of all things cheese (see The Grilled Cheese and Say Cheese!) so I was highly anticipating this one. I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't blown away either. The sauce had good flavor, and the hint of white truffle oil added a nice dimension, but the cheese hadn't been fully incorporated into the sauce so there were visible chunks of cheese baked onto every noodle. My favorite part of the dish was actually the added scallops - three large scallops seared perfectly, a steal at only an additional $5.

Chef's Signature Makk'n Cheese with Scallop

As usual with forgiving friends, I stole a bite from the other dishes. The risotto (sauteed mushrooms, charred leeks, shaved parmesan, and poached egg) was creamy, flavourful, and enhanced by the goodness of the poached egg. The scallop was cooked nicely and were a little less haphazardly arranged than with the Makk'n Cheese. The dish overall, however, quite salty and I don't think I would have been able to eat a whole dish of it.

Risotto

The schnitzel dish came out a few minutes after the rest of the dishes, wish apologies from the kitchen, as the cook forgot to make the accompanying spatzle noodles. I found the presentation of the dish quite interesting and it reminded me a little of a marsh with the tuffs of green garnish sticking out of an otherwise brown plate. The Spatzle noodles, which is an egg-based noodle now served primarily in Germany, were slightly fried. As it was my first time having spatzle noodles, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, though I found them quite heavy, starchy, and a little chewy. The mushroom sauce had a nice flavour and paired well with the schnitzel, though I found there was not quite enough of the sauce to go around. The schnitzel itself was pounded quite thin and was breaded and fried to a nice crisp. The pork itself also had good flavouring. However, with the breading and lack of sauce, the dish overall became dry quite quickly.

German Style Pork Jaeger Schnitzel

The lamb shank was fall-off-the-bone tender, and I particularly enjoyed the polenta it was served with. Though well prepared, there was nothing particularly special about the lamb dish even at a price of $29.

Lamb Shank

The only real disappointment was the spicy vermicelli curry bowl, which looked bland at first appearance and tasted about the same. Without adding a protein I can't imagine anyone being satisfied with such a substance-less dish, as it seemed to consist mainly of overcooked vermicelli noodles and watery broth, which was supposed to be a yellow curry coconut broth but lacked either curry or coconut flavour. There was no amount of heat whatsoever, which was deceiving considering it was supposed to be a "spicy vermicelli." To pay $18 for a dish like this is definitely disappointing.

Spicy Vermicelli Curry Bowl

Curiously, the lemongrass curry chicken fared much better - the coconut curry sauce was full of flavour (at least in comparison) and the beer battered onion rings were an interesting twist. However, for a curry dish, it lacked any element of heat and there was just a hint of coconut in the broth. Overall, I would have preferred a slightly less watery broth with a bit more heat.

Lemongrass Curry Chicken

We were all quite full, but I couldn't turn down the matcha creme brulee. I actually quite enjoyed the creme brulee itself, which had a strong matcha flavor, but the rhubarb compote was chunky and tasted rather odd.

Matcha Crème Brulee

Reading some of the more recent Urbanspoon reviews had lowered my expectations considerably, but I  thought The Makk offered above-average food. The ratings on Urbanspoon are a little harsh and I have definitely had worse experiences elsewhere in Edmonton. There seems to be a bit of a mismatch between the standard of food offered up and the menu prices, however, and I can understand why diners might opt to eat elsewhere for this reason. The mac and cheese, risotto, and vermicelli bowl were all priced ~$20, without a protein included, which I thought was asking a bit much (especially for the underwhelming vermicelli bowl). At a time when so many enticing new restaurants with similar price ranges are opening up, The Makk would not be my first choice for a nice evening out.

Top Pick of the Night: Chef's Signature Makk'n Cheese, Lobster Tortillini

http://themakkon124.ca/

Rating

3/5 Erics