From the
Culina Family's finest and most
popular offering, Culina Mill Creek! A
quaint place located just beyond the heart of
Old Strathcona, Mill Creek delivers an
intimate dining atmosphere as well as a cozy spot to relax after a long
day! Plus, making a
reservation at Culina is a snap - just look up your preference on
OpenTable and
presto! As a heads up though, to those of you considering this location,
Scona Road (the easiest way to get there) is currently
closed until
November 2011 -- seems like Edmonton is constantly under-construction! -- so your best bet will actually be taking
Saskatechewan Drive up until you reach 101 St. and then turning off to 89th Ave for the last two blocks! I, myself, had quite an interesting
detour trying to get there from Connors Road (one particularly bad lapse in
foresight) which ended with epic
failure... seriously! Just a little tip
=)
As the
night was already getting on by the time we arrived... Seriously, it was Connors Road, not my
fault! ...okay okay, we were like 30 minutes late but with some calling ahead,
Culina was very willing to work with our
reservation time to make sure we wouldn't
miss it! For that, I have a hearty
thank you! But enough distractions, back to the
food! Because of the time, we decided to forego the whole
appetizers shebang and just dive straight into the
entrees. Make sure you don't forget to check out their specials though!
Overall Score:
What’s IN: Spring Creek Ranch Beef Sirloin (Blue Cheese & Chocolate Sauce!)
Lamb Leg:
Well done. In terms of the cooking
done-ness and the
quality of the dish! I would definitely say that having the meat at well-done gave it a
tougher texture - you'll have to use your
teeth on this one - but it's still filled with
flavour (a bit
fatty) and a touch of
spice! The sides were also good - the
leek veggies were delicious and
mashed potatoes have never let me down!
Chorizo Sausage Stew: Up next, the sausage
stew! First off, this dish is
beautiful. The
grill marks on the cornbread and the little
wedges just make you want to gobble them all up! As for the meat itself, it looks like a
chili and basically
tastes like one too. The meat is reminiscent of a
sloppy-joe -
minced meat, bit
spicy - but not the
chunks of Chorizo sausage I was
hoping for! It still is tasty though, just a little disappointing once you eat it: You get the whole "
I could have done that" feeling.
Butter Poached Halibut: Another
stunning dish to look at but that's about it. The fish itself is juicy but
overdone and
tough. The
seasoning does give it a little spunk though!
Mushrooms - great flavour, loved them; potato
hash.. not so much,
average more or less! There is a marked
wine taste to the dish as well in case you're
concerned about that!
Spring Creek Ranch Beef Sirloin: Oh boy. Really
loved the dish and the
creativity on this one!
Blue cheese and chocolate sauce. Just think about that for a moment. Will it even
work!? Oh yes. And
Mill Creek serves it up spectacularly! The flavours just
mix and mingle in your mouth and neither seems to
overpower the other. Even if you don't like blue cheese or if you think chocolate is a
dessert-only no-no, they make quite the
duet here and I think you'll find that you actually
like the dish! Good seasoning and
marbling on the steak plus solid
sides round out a great meal! I'm so glad the boys thought outside the
box on this one and it turned out so
great!
Now
desserts are always a tasty way to end the
evening and tonight, we decided to go with the Pecan Pie (above) and the Cambozola Toast (below). If you're looking for a
classical dessert then look no further. A warm
pecan pie lined with
crunchy pecans and a healthy
dollop of ice cream and
caramel running down the top awaits! Everything mixes deliciously: it's
sweet, it's
savoury, it's a
traditional dessert that tastes
good!
However, if you're feeling a bit more
risque, then you can go for the Cambozola toast. It's radically different - for the
Cambozola cheese, think blue cheese, and combine that with Dolce de Leche, think
caramel, and drunken cherries and you have yourself an insane dish! Salty, sweet, I
didn't know what to think then and I still don't know what to
think! If you want to
try it, go ahead but I also won't blame you for going with the pecan pie -- Both are equally
tasty in their own right but I have a feeling
more people will like the pie!
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