Down in the Town: Niche - Lunch Tasting!

A quick heads-up for you guys -- Niche is doing a Lunch Tasting on August 10th (next Wednesday) to push out their lunch menu! Unfortunately, I'll be out of town that day but it's still a great opportunity to try out their menu and sample some of their delicious complimentary offerings! Seats ARE limited - it's a cozy place and I'm sure it will fill up fast! One day, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm, free food, first come first serve, dayummm. Poster below!

In the Town: Taste of Edmonton! July 21-30, 2011

Whew, with me being out of the city for a couple weeks, I nearly forgot to let you guys all know about Taste of Edmonton! Never fear though, wherever I am, I will always have you guys in mind =)! Read on!

Half a million people every year flock to attend Edmonton's Taste of Edmonton (and with good reason)! Whether you want to volunteer or just partake in the 10-day extravaganza, Churchill Square will be packed with your chance to get a-tasting-away! With a ton of entertainment planned each day, there's no reason not to check out this year's extensive menu
(http://www.eventsedmonton.ca/Resturaunts.html), featuring restaurants of all cuisines and corners of the city, as well as desserts, beer, liqueur, wine and beverages galore! There's more happening than I can list here so make sure you take a little time out of your busy schedules to drop by and give this a visit! I promise you won't be disappointed!

Bottom Line: Taste of Edmonton. July 21-30th. Be there.

Fork Fest Reminder!

Reminder: Fork Fest starts today! Running from July 17-21, 24-28, make sure you get a chance to try this year's steals and deals over the next couple weeks! For those of you who don't know, Fork Fest is an excellent opportunity to try out a number of restaurants around the city for a reduced price. While it still won't count as "cheap", I would say that this is an amazing chance to go out and eat somewhere you wouldn't otherwise go! What's there to lose: loosen your belt buckle and come hungry! See you guys out!

Edmonton Fork Fest 2011! Another Reason To Go Out!

Fork Fest 2011 is upon us! Brought to us by the folks at Live Local, Fork Fest is a celebration of all the fine eateries here in the city at great prices -- you can get a multi-course dinner at any of the 14 participating locations for anywhere between $25-45! What are you waiting for, grab a friend or two and head on out to explore this city's dining and nightlife!

For a list of restaurants, please check out this. However, I can guarantee almost any of these will be a fantastic deal as well as amazing food -- just check out the menu to see which place is most appealing to you (http://www.live-local.ca/fork-fest-summer-2011-menus)! I hope to see you all out! Promotion runs July 17-21, 24-28 (basically just not Fridays and Saturday). Be sure to snag some of the good prices, good food and great company this summer! Let's just hope the weather and mosquitoes co-operate!

Down in the Town: Niche - UPDATE! New Menu!

So some of you might remember my post on Niche not too long ago... and I agree, it is far too early to do a second review considering I still haven't even explored a fraction of Edmonton's tasty restaurants yet! I do have a long way to go... BUT one thing perhaps more important than providing all of you with new information is making sure that same information is ACCURATE. And to stay accurate, it must be up-to-date! So with that, I present... Niche! ...Version 2.0. Yes, to my surprise today, Niche was once again making headlines, figuratively of course, with a new summer menu! Apparently, I was the first one to try the new menu (so I just had to share that experience with all of you!) and personally, I think it may still need a *little* perfecting. Make no mistake, everything is still as tasty as ever but with the fresh ingredients, more variety and more colourful (literally) dishes, Niche just has some more tweaking to do!

Take a look at the pictures below! Gone are the old beef cheeks and such, and replacing it is a smoked tuna spinach/chickpeas salad (splendid vinaigrette!), pork tenderloin served on a bed of coucous, the always amazing duck confit (delish and now served on a vegetable hash plus fingerling potatoes!), and a bison striploin (amongst more)! With a little work, this is going to shape up to be a beautiful summer for foodies everywhere! Keep in mind that Fork Fest is coming up ($25-45 multi-course dinners) - stay tuned for my next post! 

Dinner at Niche - 

New Ingredients, More Dishes, More Awesome.

Dessert Classics! - 

Salted Caramel Brownie and Bread Pudding!

Down in the Town: Lux Steakhouse and Bar

As billboards and advertisements around town are quick to point out, Lux [Steakhouse and Bar] is "A Rare Steakhouse Well Done"! (..that's even punny-er than me! No small feat!) Let's just hope their food is as good (clever) as their puns! Armed with my trusty camera and pen in hand, I went to check out what all the fuss was about!

The prices at Lux do command quite a premium with dishes like the top-of-line "Lap of Luxury" nearing triple digits; but fortunately - on this occasion at least - I managed to snag a deal on Groupon for $50! Huge shout out to Groupon here by the way; they have great deals all the time (!), which definitely helped stomach the cost! (Did you catch that: "stomach" the cost?) I'm funny, I swear. Well, I might not be able to match the quality of Lux's puns but I hope to go head to head with their food!

Overall Score:

What’s IN: Double Pork Chop and Steak Tartare! Tie!

In the Town: What the Truck! Summary Recap!

It's Friday, Friday... Gonna get down on Friday... Ah, man, I love Fridays! Short work days, long summer evenings, and even better, last Friday managed to breathe some fresh life back into Edmonton's downtown scene! For those of you who were able to attend, What the Truck! was a food extravaganza packed to the brim with food trucks, DJ beats, good company, and warm weather galore! What could be better!? ...Well, okay okay, I might have exaggerated a little bit on that last one about the weather -- it definitely started showering near the end of the evening - but either way, it was definitely still a great night for mingling and all around good eats!

Down in the Town: Bubble Buzz! New on Jasper!

Bubble Tea! BBT! Bubs! ...Bubble T? ...B to the T? ...that tasty Asian drink with the bubbles? =P

Whatever you call it, have you ever had that feeling... that you've just been craving bubble tea downtown but all the good spots are too far (Dream Tea, etc.)? That unquenchable thirst for the bubbles (now I just sound like an Aero ad..) or maybe you're looking for a new hangout on Jasper? Well, never fear, I've got you covered! 

Just open this Monday (!), there's a new bubble tea place in town and it's called... Bubble Buzz! Yeah, okay, maybe the name isn't so creative but this nifty spot on Jasper and 104th has definitely got some of the tastiest bubbles in town! They're fresh - nice, sweet and soft - and with a shot of Bubble Milk (Bubble Tea & Milk), go down like a charm. Pretty good!

Bubble Buzz also serves Hong Kong Style Milk Tea, Vietnamese Iced Coffee, and waffles! So if you're in the area (or not!), come down and give it a try!  (PS I think the honeydew is delishhh if you don't know what to get)!

Down in the Town: Niche

Tucked away along Jasper and 110 st., Niche (like Corso 32) shies away from the busier Jasper traffic (and the public eye!) amidst all the low-rise buildings and stores that litter Jasper's street level. I was ducking in to avoid the torrid Edmonton rain that’s been pelting us over the past week when I was surprised to see such a richly adorned interior: dimly lit and cozy to be sure! Despite being a rather small restaurant with only a handful of seats, Niche’s design is undeniably modern, with small wooden tables that can be coupled together for a larger flat top or broken off into separate 2 seaters (plus a new patio)!

One of the first things you'll notice about Niche is the simplicity of the menu which lends itself well to a small restaurant. Rather than overextending himself, what Chef Nathan Saurette has decided to do is limit the menu to 4 core entrees (beef, duck, pork, fish) for dinner and a similar style for sandwiches at lunch. I do use the word “limit” very loosely; however, what I mean is that he perfected 4 dishes!

Overall Score:

What’s IN (Lunch):
Cubano – some very interesting flavours that just come together!

In the Town: What the Truck?! - Good Food, Rocking Beats, Why Not!

It is an absolutely gorgeous sunny day outside and I can't possibly think of a reason why you would not want to come out and down to the What the Truck event (today) on this lovely Friday evening! Featuring a variety of food trucks from all around the capital region, there's plenty of variety (eats AND beats) to choose from: waffles and mini donuts to pulled pork, even Asian cuisine! All you need is your game face and a lot of room in your stomach - that's it!

Best of all, admission is free! So whether you be a poor starving university student or just someone hanging around downtown, all you have to do is RSVP on Facebook, bring your eating hat and join us for some fun! I hope to see you all out there!

Out in the RAIN... (and In the Town): City Market

If you're not too busy out and about today (and you don't mind the rain! Gosh, it's pouring out!), I highly encourage you guys to check out the Farmer's/City Market downtown for some fresh produce and local crafted products! There's a huge selection of high quality products and if you're in the area (Jasper & 104th), make sure to drop by for a quick walkthough!

Down in the Town: Corso 32

Snagging a reservation for 2 this past Wednesday, I had the opportunity to sample Corso 32, one of Edmonton’s chic new restaurants (with the caveat that reservations did take a while given all the media coverage recently!). As always, great food starts with great company and this time, I was fortunate enough to be joined by one of my best friends, Kevin.

Our reservation was for 6 o’clock and eager not to be late, I hustled my way along Jasper Ave, nearly missing the plain exterior of Corso 32. With only simple frosted windows and minimal signage, the subtle exterior gives nothing away. But walk in the door and the whole experience changes. The simple impression from the exterior is transformed as you are immediately greeted with a healthy buzz of satisfied diners and kitchen sounds.

Overall Score:
 
What's IN: Polpette... this was a close one though.