Contented Carnivore at Sloppy Hoggs Roed Hus

Roed Hus Sliders

Having heard great things from @thepolishviking and having a Groupon in hand to Sloppy Hoggs Roed Hus, we took the chance to visit after a long morning spent checking out the Star Wars Identities Exhibit at the Telus World of Science.

Located near the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in a small strip mall, one enters a small, but warm and inviting space decorated with stone, and consisting of a mix of cozy booths, as well as more flexible seating of tables and chairs.

Delectable Dining at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

Roast Marrowbone

Having tried Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck restaurant a few weeks earlier during our vacation in Europe and having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, we decided on a whim to see if we could get into his London based restaurant, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Luckily being listed on TopTable - the United Kingdom equivalent of North America’s OpenTable, a restaurant reservation website – we were able to quickly make lunch reservations, significantly easier than making reservations for The Fat Duck.

La Taqueria Trio at Mucho Burrito Muy Bruto

La Taqueria Trio

I was invited to try La Taqueria Trio at Mucho Burrito, a new and limited time offering, available only until May 3. To be honest, I had never even walked into a Mucho Burrito until I went in to try La Taqueria Trio even though there’s a Mucho Burrito a block away from where I live and I pass by it often.

Mucho Burrito is based out of Mississauga, Ontario, hailing itself as the new alternative to Mexican food and as “one of the hottest restaurant concepts to enter Canada.” Their concept being made to order Mexican food, allowing diners to choose whether they would like a burrito, taco or quesadilla, whether they’d like a small or large portion, white or whole wheat burrito, what toppings and sauces they’d like, and so on. Although it might have been a unique concept in 2006 when they first started operations, it’s hardly unique now with competitors like Taco Del Mar and Burrito Libre now commonplace in Edmonton.

Whimsical Delights at The Fat Duck

The Fat Duck

I had always wanted to go to The Fat Duck, even before I started my food blog. I had tried convincing the humans on our last trip to Europe to visit, but they couldn’t bring themselves to spend that much on a meal at the time. Least to say, they regretted not going last time, so on this trip, they made sure they got a reservation.

The restaurant is in the small town of Bray, meaning if you’re coming from London that you have to take a train from Paddington Station to Maidenhead, then either walk or take a taxi to Bray. When we pulled up in front of The Fat Duck, we saw a small, white, unremarkable building with nothing to indicate that it was The Fat Duck, except the easily recognizable logo for the restaurant, the fork, knife and spoon.

A Posthumous Review of 104 Street Grill (CLOSED)

Seared scallops, boar bacon vinaigrette,
wilted spinach and shallots

Even though 104 Street Grill is now defunct before I got a chance to post this, I've had some requests from readers to see my post anyway. So here is my posthumous review of 104 Street Grill .

We were invited to give 104 Street Grill a try when they first opened and they generously sent us a $50 certificate to encourage us to come for a visit. Unfortunately, they opened just before I went on my whirlwind tour of Europe and there was no way to squeeze it into an already busy schedule. However, they generously let us utilize the certificate after our return, once we had recuperated from eating out more in a month than we generally do in a year!

Occupying the former home of Ric’s Grill, the dimly lit room was filled with worn, dark wood tables and comfortable looking booth seating. We opted to start with the seared scallops, boar bacon vinaigrette, wilted spinach and shallots. The boar bacon was smoky and slightly sweet, but tended to stick together and had a somewhat chewy texture, which unfortunately stuck to my teeth and I wished that it had been cooked until it was crispy. The vinaigrette tasted nice but was a tad too acidic for my taste and the scallops were sadly watery tasting and chewy.

French Piggy at Bistro Saisons with Swine and Dine (CLOSED)

Cassoulet

Hosted at the newly opened Bistro Saisons, this particular Swine and Dine featured French piggy dishes such as cassoulet, with Edmonton’s own Passion for Pork ambassador, @ThePorkGirl, hosting. Swine and Dine is an event that features locally sourced pork products, letting local restaurants to shine, showing what they can do with porcine goodness.

Bistro Saisons prides themselves in utilizing as much local product as they can with all of their proteins coming from within 150 KM of Edmonton, with the exception of duck breast which they get from the Fraser Valley. Chef and owner, Scott Ards, sources all of their vegetables weekly at Edmonton’s farmers markets.

Entertaining Edmonton Opera Brunch

Brunch at Sutton Place Hotel

We were invited to attend the Edmonton Opera brunch at Sutton Place Hotel for their upcoming production of Eugene Onegin. Although we had never attended an Edmonton Opera brunch before, my female human and I were fairly familiar with opera and in particular the Edmonton Opera and their work, as she had worked with them years ago as part of the stage management team on a few of their productions. So we jumped at the chance to spend a Sunday eating brunch while listening to opera singers in a venue more intimate than the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.

A Revist of Pinkberry

Frozen Yogurt parfait

Although I had been to Pinkberry’s grand opening in West Edmonton Mall, I hadn’t had the opportunity to visit them again since then. I was curious to see what their prices and regular portions looked like. Since I had a $20 Groupon for Pinkberry, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to review the real experience.

It turned out that $20 at Pinkberry was quite a lot, as it allowed us to order two large Pinkberry’s with toppings, as well as a fruit parfait. The amount of frozen yogurt they put into the cup is quite generous and the amount of toppings they put in is only limited by the space available that isn’t already filled with frozen yogurt. Personally, I would’ve loved it if they’d put a little less frozen yogurt in and left a bit more room for toppings.

Gourmet Goodness at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

Amuse bouche of chilled tomato, radish,
fresh ricotta, and cucumber

Restaurant Gordon Ramsey is located on Royal Hospital Road, and had we not have seen what it looked like online, would have easily walked by it. Located on a not very remarkable building with just a black awning to announce what it was, it was on a fairly sleepy street.

Upon entering, the space was simple yet elegant, and far more bright and airy than his other restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, which we had dined at on our last visit to London. We were easily the youngest diners in the restaurant that particular lunch hour, but we were happy to be seated off to the side with no potential arms deals occurring around us….  No, not kidding you, as our previous experience at the Claridges location kept us entertained all evening as we overheard the conversation on the table behind us, which sounded like an arms deal. Other friends we know have had a similar experience at the Royal Hospital Road location. We opted for the tasting menu, and I started the meal with what was quickly becoming my new vice, a glass of vintage champagne, in this particular case, Charles Heidsieck.