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!

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: 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!