Tag Archives: Carpaccio

Edmonton Restaurant Review: Normand’s Bistro

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Bison Carpaccio

Bison Carpaccio

The list of eateries located right around the Winspear Centre in Edmonton isn’t extensive. Within a block, I can only think of about a handful. Although, you’ll find some great ones if you branch out a little further. One that I think is often overlooked is Normand’s Bistro. Tucked inside the Citadel Theatre building, it’s popular with theatre goers who are seeking some food prior to a show. Otherwise, I don’t expect that it’s a place people go out of their way to eat at.

I’ve found myself there on just two occasions since it opened.

My first visit was during Downtown Dining Week in 2014. Over a quick lunchtime catch up with friends, I selected the pan seared salmon. I remember it being nicely plated with the perfectly cooked fish and vegetables sitting atop a pool of delicious sauce. At $15 for two courses, it was a steal during the annual showcase. I’m pretty sure that dish is still on offer today as an entrée on the restaurant’s menu, albeit, for an increased price.

Despite the good impression Normand’s Bistro left on me, I didn’t make a point of going back for nearly two years.Without a reason to be there, I ventured off to other eateries instead.

Recently, however, I had tickets for a show at the Winspear, which is right across the street from the Citadel building. My dad and I were trying to decide where we should go to grab a bite before the concert. I suggested Normand’s Bistro because of the proximity.

Since the Citadel had a play scheduled that night, I made sure to book a table at the restaurant ahead of time. I’m glad I did as Normand’s Bistro was packed that evening. Most of the seats were occupied, but there was no wait with our reservation, which means we were promptly shown to our table.

I had already studied the menu ahead of time, so I had an idea of what I wanted to try. We decided to share a few plates: Candied Lamb Sliders, Bison Carpaccio and Double Bacon Pizza (I had hoped to get the Prosciutto, Mushroom Pizza, but it didn’t seem to be offered any longer).

It may have been best to ask that our pizza come out after the appetizers. Instead, we said everything could arrive at the same time, and it led to food sitting out and getting cold before we were able to get to it. Also, not really realizing at the time, we made the mistake of ordering more carbs than intended.

Candied Lamb Sliders

Candied Lamb Sliders

The Candied Lamb Sliders are a decent size and the meat is well-seasoned (garlic, brown sugar with pear and onion compote). I liked it so much that I saved my last half of the third “slider” as my final bite before dessert. The only issue with waiting until the end of the meal to eat the lamb is that the meat firms up as it cools down. Ideally, it’s better to have that one as soon as it’s delivered from the kitchen. One minor qualm with the appetizer that I want to mention is that it isn’t a true slider. Without both the bottom and top of a bun, I’d consider this to be a crostini dish. Don’t assume you’re going to be given a plate of mini burgers.

I was interested in sampling the Bison Carpaccio as I’m a big fan of beef carpaccio, and I thought it would be neat to taste a different type of meat prepared in this fashion. I enjoyed this iteration of the dish. The bison has a heartier texture than the beef usually used for carpaccio. I’m sure that’s an outcome of the meat itself as well as the length of time the meat is cured for. Otherwise, it was a basic carpaccio dish with the bison accompanied by white truffle oil and reduced balsamic. Some slices of rye crostini were served, too.

Double Bacon Pizza

Double Bacon Pizza

Pizza is one of the more affordable options on the Normand’s Bistro menu. At under $20, the restaurant doesn’t skimp on the toppings. Our Double Bacon Pizza was generously loaded with cheese, wild boar back bacon, double smoked bacon and tomato basil pesto as its base. The only downfall is that the thin pizza crust didn’t hold up that well. I alternated between the various dishes we ordered and I noticed that the pizza crust sort of got soggy quickly and didn’t have the bite or chew of a traditional Italian pizza. The smoky flavour of the bacon was delicious though.

Those three shared plates left us comfortably full, but I’d heard that the dessert was worth getting. In particular, the Bananas Flambé. At first glance, it looks like you’re given a huge portion size, but the slices of banana that have been set ablaze in maple syrup and dark rum aren’t all that filling. Presented with pecans, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a few berries, it’s a relatively light dessert, especially when split with a dining companion. For the simple fact that it becomes a very sweet dish after a handful of bites, divvying it up between a couple of people is something I would recommend anyway.

Bananas Flambé

Bananas Flambé

Normand’s Bistro isn’t the place to go if you’re hoping for exciting, experimental dishes. Like its sister eatery, Normand’s Restaurant, the food falls under more traditional fare. The offerings are passable and the service is decent (they seem to be aware that their customers have a short time frame to eat before heading out to a show or event nearby). Should one be in need of some sustenance in the general vicinity, this is an okay choice.

Edmonton Restaurant Review: The Glass Monkey

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Beets Salad

Beets Salad

It was a beautiful July evening when my friend and I got together for a needed catch up. After all, I hadn’t seen her in over a month, which is long by our standards. She had just gotten home from Europe, so not only did she have to share the details of her trip, but we also had to talk about things such as relationships, online dating, speed dating events and just the boring day-to-day things that we find interesting (although, others might not).

On this occasion we chose to visit The Glass Monkey (@GlassMonkeyYEG), which is on the south side of the city in the Lendrum strip mall. The restaurant took over the space left vacated by Jack’s Grill. Opening in December 2013, it took me a while to get there. A group of us had planned to do a birthday dinner there at one point; however, life got in the way and we failed to get that figured out again. So, this time I suggested to my friend that we try it and, of course, she was completely game. Readers of The Tomato named the establishment as one of the places in Edmonton with the best eats and drinks, landing high on the 2014 list at No. 10 because of their charcuterie plates and roasted broccoli, so we suspected we couldn’t go wrong.

Venturing there on a Wednesday, I wasn’t sure how busy it would be, so I made a 5:45 reservation through OpenTable. I thought it best to give ourselves a bit of a buffer because you never know how bad traffic can be during rush hour. Surprisingly, we arrived fifteen minutes early. Walking through the doors, there were plenty of available tables since it was well before most peoples’ dinner time, meaning there were no issues getting us seated when I indicated to the host that we were more than prompt. The interior is mostly wood surfaces mixed with wood and aluminum seating, creating both a homey and modern feel.

The Glass Monkey's patio space.

The Glass Monkey’s patio space.

Yet, since it was such lovely weather, the two of us opted to sit out on their patio, which is situated to the side of the restaurant and fenced off to save you from a view into the parking lot. The patio sets were nice with comfy chairs that were good to lounge on for a few hours. Trees provided a bit of shading in some spots and hanging flower pots and small bushes provided a bit of decoration.

Both of us ordered a bottle of Yukon Deadman Creek Cranberry Wheat Ale for refreshment in addition to the unlimited filtered Q Water. They actually have a decent selection of bottled beers at prices that seem fairly equivalent to other restaurants I’ve been to this year. Wines, on the other hand, are quite costly, something that other reviewers have mentioned as well. There are a few choices that seem to be reasonably priced for a 6 oz. glass. The problem is that there are very few of them and it seems that they decided to have much more expensive bottles available by the glass – between $17 to $25 each; a bit too much to swallow because they’ll really cause your total bill to jump up quickly. Needless to say, that’s one of the reasons we steered clear of the wine.

For dinner, their menu is fairly extensive; perhaps not that adventurous though. Put together by chef Darcy Radies (@DarcyRadies), previously of the much loved Blue Pear, the dishes were a mix of Jack’s Grill favourites and plates that covered everything from salads to pastas to pizzas and mains that included meat, fish, chicken and veggies. There’s enough variety to ensure that everyone can find at least one thing they want to eat.

Homemade Pappardelle
Jack’s Grill Beef Carpaccio
Yukon Deadman Creek Cranberry Wheat Ale
Filtered Q Water

My dining companion chose the Home Made Pappardelle while I decided to sample two items – Beets Salad and the Jack’s Grill Beef Carpaccio – in order to get a better idea of their offerings. I had a fork full of the pappardelle and it was savoury. The pasta was fresh and not too thick, and it was covered with a wonderful pile of tender slow roasted pork shoulder marinating in its own juices as well as wild mushrooms. I asked for both of my dishes to come at the same time. The salad was made with roasted red and yellow beets, goat cheese, balsamic glaze, pine nuts and arugula. The sweetness of the beets with the creamy, slightly tangy goat cheese and balsamic dressing, the earthy pine nuts and the bitterness of the arugula was a great combination. I was unsure of what to expect with the beef carpaccio. Every restaurant seems to prepare the dish differently – not hugely so, but enough that you notice – and The Glass Monkey was no exception. Unlike other establishments, the beef carpaccio came without any sort of starch or greens. Instead, the thinly shaved beef was the star of the show, served with grainy mustard, olive oil, and shaved Parmesan cheese. On its own, the beef was deliciously light and the flavours really popped. Being me though, I did marry some slices of the beef with my salad and I was entirely satisfied by the last bite.

Jack's Grill Bread Pudding

Jack’s Grill Bread Pudding

To top off our meal, we shared the Jack’s Grill Bread Pudding – another migratory dish – so as to ensure that we still had room for a stop at Tutti Frutti on the way home. The bread pudding was a good sized slab that was covered with torched sugar and sat in a bath of caramalized rum sauce with a large dollop of whipped cream on the side. A very toothsome dessert, it was extremely sweet. I actually think a smaller portion (maybe a quarter the size of what I ate) would have been perfect. More than that was overkill. It was good though, just too much for me.

What I really liked about The Glass Monkey was the casual atmosphere, the service and the fact that the server didn’t rush us out after we finished our dinner and had already paid. He even brought us fresh filtered water before we left, showing me that they want you to settle in and have a good time. When we finally did leave, the tables inside the restaurant were about full. There were couples and large parties having what looked like a great time. Judging from my one experience there as well as what I saw others enjoying, I would highly recommend that people try this new Edmonton eatery on their next outing.

Edmonton Restaurant Review: The Phork (Closed)

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The Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio

The Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio

The Phork (@thePhork) graced Edmonton with its presence at the end of 2013, opening its doors shortly before Christmas. Housed in the previous home of The Copper Pot, I was completely unaware of this new restaurant until I happened upon their deal on Groupon. It seems that the establishment was greeted with little fanfare upon debuting, so I count myself lucky to have come across the place in this fashion. Otherwise, I might not have found out about it until much later.

Although I had the vouchers in hand, it still took me over three months to make my way there, perhaps because it seemed like a slightly out-of-the-way location. Situated near the Grandin LRT Station on the main floor of a small office building, it wasn’t close enough to work to make it there and back during my lunch hour, and it just never was the first to come to mind when making dinner plans during the week or on the weekend. However, after having been there twice now within the last month, I can say that I wish I hadn’t delayed going for as long as I did.

My mother dined with me on both occasions, the first of which was a lunch outing. We had made a reservation through e-mail that time, but had also called ahead to ask about the parking situation. As it turns out, there is free parking available in the building’s underground parkade. The three or four visitor spaces are good to use during lunch hours while the remaining spots open up during the evening. I doubt that this is common knowledge as this information isn’t really advertised on their site. Yet, I think it certainly gives people more incentive to go, knowing that there is going to be somewhere to park their car in an area where parking may not be that easy to come by.

Views of the park, river valley and High Level Bridge.

Views of the park, river valley and High Level Bridge.

So, with that potential issue removed, we ventured into the restaurant where we were greeted quickly, although somewhat frantically, by a friendly guy who I learned later was Jameson the General Manager. Short staffed that day, he took on the role of server during lunch and promptly guided us to a raised booth that provided views of the High Level bridge and the park across the street. With about twenty or so tables that seat around four people each, it looked to be a quiet day as only a handful were being used. Despite that, I had high hopes.

Skipping drinks as it was still very early in the afternoon, we opted to stick to the food menu. I ordered the Boar Belly Chicken Club and my mom decided to go with the Grilled New York Steak. Both of us chose the seafood chowder for our side. When our dishes arrived at the table, my initial thought was that the size of the soup bowl was massive. For a side, they are very generous, and the soup was really delicious. It wasn’t very thick, but you could certainly taste the cream and it had a slight spiciness to it. It was also chock-full of muscles, pieces of salmon, halibut or cod, shrimp and vegetables. It honestly seemed like a full size order of soup and could have served as my whole meal. I’m definitely not complaining though. I consider it to be a plus that they don’t skimp on the portions.

With regards to my Boar Belly Chicken Club, it was quite delicious. I’m not certain what kind of bun they were using that day, but it was quite a crusty type of bread, which I am not that partial to, so I only ended up eating about half of the starch. However, I don’t feel that was a loss as it was a really large amount of bread and it wasn’t all necessary. The body of the sandwich included chicken breast, bacon (nicely crisped), which I’m guessing was the boar belly, aged cheddar, greens and tomato with bacon mayo. Overall, it may have been a little too salty for me when eaten whole. Yet, I enjoyed the strong smoky flavour and everything was well done.

The Grilled New York Steak with a side of Seafood Chowder!

The Grilled New York Steak with a side of Seafood Chowder!

The Grilled New York Steak was also a testament to the chef because it was cooked to perfection – incredibly tender and still pink. The meat sat on top of half an open-faced bun and was accompanied by sautéed mushrooms, Spanish onions, sun-dried tomato, spinach and Asiago cheese. I had several bites of it and it was so good. The different ingredients really melded together well and paired excellently with the steak. I would go back just for that.

We finished off lunch with an absolutely wonderful peach and mango crumble. The dessert was my favourite, and the single order was more than enough to share. Filled to the brim with large chunks of peach and mango, layered with crumble, candied pecans and walnuts and coming with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was a great treat for a spring day. Simple, but decadent, I was no longer hungry when we left.

If I can, I really do like to base my reviews off of more than one visit, so exactly a week later, we dropped in for dinner. This time, I reserved a table through the OpenTable system. As we arrived at 5:30 prior to the dinner rush (it was almost a full house by the time we left), we were promptly seated at a table next to the window. The view was basically the same as during our previous lunch, but I was now also able to see the Legislature building directly ahead of me as well as the High Level Bridge Streetcar passing by every so often.

The interior of The Phork.

The interior of The Phork.

Again, we opted to skip the drinks (Although, I will have to go back to try one of their tableside flare cocktails. They are served by local, professional flare bartenders and, according to their website, The Phork is the first and only restaurant in Edmonton to offer this service.) and concentrate on the food offerings (the supper menu is double-sided). Since Mother’s Day was coming up, we went all out and ordered three appetizers and a main to split, including Crispy Fried Truffled Mac & Cheese Balls, Smoked Jalapeno Blue Crab Cake, Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio and the Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb.

I’ll start with the Mac & Cheese Balls. These were awesome. The breading on the outside reminded me of the Mac and Cheese Maki at The Hat, but with a more even ratio of panko to pasta. The spicy chili Ketchup, truffle oil and what I assume to be shaved Asiago cheese that accompanied the balls were excellent additions that really elevated the palate of the dish while keeping from being overpowering. The two Crab Cakes were seared well. Plated with a side of gathered greens and honey & mustard aioli, it was a light appetizer that had that great balance of piquant and sweet profiles. The Beef Carpaccio came with fresh slices of sesame seed topped bread and thin sheets of beef tenderloin topped with baby arugula, shaved reggiano cheese, a sprinkle of coarse sea salt and a drizzle of EVOO. The beef was melt-in-your-mouth good, and the flavours from the extras were subtle enough to ensure that the meat remained the focus.

The view of the Legislature building from my seat.
The Mac & Cheese Balls and the Smoked Jalapeno Blue Crab Cake.
A close-up photo of the Crispy Fried Truffled Mac & Cheese Balls.
The Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb!

For the entrée, we divided the Rack of Lamb and I’m glad we did because the starters already provided plenty of food. On the other hand, I am also happy that we didn’t skip this main as the lamb was incredible. The kitchen really does an excellent job with the preparation and cooking of their meats. We asked for the lamb to be medium-rare and it came to us just as requested. The steak knife that was provided cut through the rack like butter and there was plenty of juicy meat on the bones, which isn’t always the case when ordering this dish. What I loved most was the strong Dijon mustard and crushed pistachio that crusted the lamb as it paired so well with the natural flavour of the meat. The brush of butternut squash puree and braised leeks were texturally appealing and gave the plate an artistic look. The side of sweet potato pave was a good starch to anchor the entrée, but there was so much that we couldn’t finish it.

Having experienced both their lunch and dinner services, I can safely say that this establishment is another fantastic addition to Edmonton’s growing restaurant scene. The bright, new interiors and the views make it appealing, and the personable service (although, they can refill water glasses more regularly) is something I noticed and has stuck with me.

For those who have yet to try The Phork, here are some potential incentives for you. Currently, the restaurant is offering $10 off lunch for groups of two or more during their Monday to Friday lunch hours. Every Tuesday they have half price off every wine after 4 PM, and Saturday evenings from 7 to 10 PM there is live music. I expect I’ll be back to indulge in beverages, more food and some music soon enough! It’s that good!

The lunch menu
The Peach & Mango Crumble
The Boar Belly Chicken Club with the Seafood Chowder
The entrance to the restaurant