Jack's Grill - Fork Fest

My last Winter Fork Fest dinner this year was at Jack's Grill. I considered whether I should write this post since the restaurant has permanently closed, but I decided to anyway for completeness' sake. This Fork Fest meal was the most expensive at $45/person for the 4-course and $55/person for the 5-course. I had the $55 option along with a $23 wine pairing (4 wines), so the total cost was almost $100 including tax and tips. Given the fine dining prices and atmosphere, I was surprised to find crayons and white sheets of paper on top of the tablecloths for doodling. We had fun drawing and colouring, but this sort of thing should be left to IHOP and Cora.

The complimentary bread was good, though they were a bit stingy with the butter.

The first course was a ceviche of salmon, apples, yuzu and horseradish. Because ceviche usually refers to a raw chopped-up seafood dish, I kind of expected the salmon to be raw and marinated or smoked in tiny pieces, but the meat was cooked and served in three bite-size cubes. Still it was not bad with the sweet-tart apples.

I thought this bright red soup was a tomato soup, but it was actually roasted red pepper with garlic and parsley emulsion. It tasted like tomato though, and the flavour was too tart for my liking. The texture was very thick and velvety smooth. The creamy swirl of garlic and parsley had a peculiar taste that reminded me of blue cheese.

The pork belly was not as tender as I had imagined; it was crispy and deeply savoury. The most interesting part of this dish, however, was the crunchy-chewy-sweet-spicy chestnuts. And believe it or not, I finished all of the sauteed mushrooms despite my intense dislike of mushrooms.

Mousie ordered medium-rare for her 6 oz striploin and I ordered rare, but the server mixed up our orders and I ended up with the medium-rare that was completely cooked through. So I had to send it back and luckily they got it right the second time. The server kept apologizing and even the chef came out to apologize. The steak came with lobster arancini and carrot puree. I was glad that there was no potato; I'm so tired of the unimaginative mashed or roasted potato as a side. The arancini was a tasty fried rice ball with lobster meat inside. I almost chipped my tooth on a piece of lobster shell, but at least that proves the lobster meat was real.

The dessert was an interesting mix of two well-known combinations: peanut butter and jelly, and banana and chocolate. A dark chocolate brioche was topped with creamy peanut butter ganache, a squiggle of fragrant banana curd, raspberry jam, and completed with rich chocolate sauce. I thought there was too much "creamy" and not enough "crunchy" since the brioche was the only ingredient that offered a crunch. Also the brioche was very weak in flavour and I couldn't taste the chocolate in it.

By the end of the meal, we had scrawled all over the paper and covered it with cute and meaningless doodles.

I think this is, to date, the most expensive meal I've ever had. Is it also the best meal? Not by far. The food was above average, but not so much that I'd be willing to spend a fortune on it. With the price I paid, I could pretty much dine at any fine dining establishment in the city and I'm sure there are lots of options that are better.

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Sicilian Pasta Kitchen South - Fork Fest

Shortly after my visit to Upper Crust Cafe, I decided to try another Fork Fest restaurant — the Sicilian Pasta Kitchen. I chose this place because of the price ($25/person) and the number of options available for each course (3 for appetizer, 6 for entree, 3 for dessert).

The complimentary bread at the beginning of the meal was standard, but I did enjoy the olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip. These crusty bread slices also prevented me from starving as I was waiting for the food to come out.

For my appetizer, I had the polpetta di granchio. I just googled the translation and it apparently means "meatball of crab"; the dish was actually two 3 oz crab cakes served with a salad of lettuce, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. This over-sized starter was the first sign that I was in for a crazily over-sized meal. Think about it... a typical steak is 8 oz and I usually order a 6 oz if it's available, so this starter is actually the size of a small entree. I also realized at this point that the meal was going to take a long time because I had to wait over half an hour for the first course.

The entree took another half an hour to arrive. I'm not the type to rush through dinner and I do enjoy chatting over a slow and relaxing meal, but the wait time was difficult to overlook even amidst our conversations. And when the spaghetti con polpette (spaghetti with meatballs) finally came, it looked less than appetizing. A dry spool of spaghetti was topped with a grainy red sauce and four giant meatballs. The sauce was slightly sour but mostly bland, and the meatballs were similarly flavourless. I knew I was eating a lump of ground meat, but I wasn't sure exactly what was in it. It was worse than eating frozen pasta dinners from the supermarket. The first thought going through my mind after the first bite was: "Ok... I don't think I can take more than 3 bites. What am I going to do?" I ended up eating other people's food. Good thing the portions were so big.

The pasta dishes other people ordered turned out to be better. Never assume that spaghetti with meatballs is a safe choice.

penne al diavolo
penne with grilled chicken, rock shrimp, and fresh diced tomato in a spicy cayenne cream sauce

borsetti
pasta purses stuffed with feta cheese and spinach tossed with snow peas and spicy capicolo ham in a garlic cream sauce

I was glad that at least the red velvet cake turned out alright, although the waitress forgot to give me a fork to eat it with until I asked. The flavour was artificial and the texture was a bit too soggy, but it was good as far as artificially flavoured cakes go. In short, it was the type of cake you would expect to find at Costco for cheap. I should also mention that as I was eating it, my chair was lifted behind me and I almost fell forward. I looked back and apparently a waitress was squeezing past my seat with her hands full and had decided to use her butt to push my chair out of the way. I was quite appalled, but not as appalled as when I saw what happened next. Another waitress was setting plates down on a table and accidentally dropped a plate on a customer's chest. Good thing it was a clean plate, but it still looked painful.

Our waitress was attentive throughout the 2-hour-long meal, but that didn't help as the food came out super slowly. I suppose I should be thankful that at least she didn't drop any plates on me. The one thing this place has going for it is the huge huge huge portion sizes. If you eat a lot and couldn't care less if the food is good, then this restaurant is an excellent choice.

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Zaika Indian Bistro Bar

Zaika is a modern Indian bistro that's very close to my office, so I've been there a couple times for lunch with coworkers. The place is probably the cleanest Indian restaurant I've been to, and to my delight there was no intense odour of Indian spices that clung to my hair and clothes after my visit. The owners are a young Indian couple, and they did a good job of creating a trendy atmosphere.

The most popular lunch option is the all-you-can-eat buffet for $14. But on my first visit I opted for an a la carte entree — the mango chicken ($17), served with plain naan and basmati rice. The downside was that I had to wait for my dish while watching the buffet-eaters at the same table wolf down their food, but my naan looked a lot fresher and fluffier than theirs (or at least I convinced myself that was the case). The mango chicken sauce was a very mild curry. So mild, in fact, that it almost didn't seem like Indian cooking. I enjoyed it, but I did expect it to be a bit more aromatic.

On my second visit I tried the buffet, and I have to say that this is the better option. Good value, good selection, and tasty food. Thanks to the lunch crowd, the food cleared out quickly and fresh plates were constantly brought out from the kitchen. None of the food was dry and stale like it had been sitting on a hot plate all day; everything was hot and fresh.

Apart from hot foods, there was a salad bar with a selection of salads and veggies.

Desserts included fresh fruit, rice pudding, and a sweet and crunchy pastry called jalebi.

I tried a little bit of everything and that was already enough for me. I could have gone for a second plate, but I've learned not to stuff myself to the point of explosion at all-you-can-eat events.

The mango lassi ($4.50) was also really good. This tropical yogurt-based beverage was creamy and fragrant, garnished with a dot of red rose syrup that added a special twist of flavour.

I've heard that the dinner buffet is not as good since customer turnover is lower, but I personally haven't tried it. The lunch buffet was excellent though, and I would definitely come back again.

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Upper Crust Cafe - Fork Fest

Edmonton has a dining event called the Fork Fest that runs twice a year — once in January and once in July — featuring $25, $35, and $45 set dinner menus at several popular restaurants in the city. My first Fork Fest encounter was at Upper Crust, a casual neighbourhood cafe with a small bakery section near the entrance.

Since I thought of Fork Fest as the Edmonton version of Dine Out Vancouver, I had expected most of the participating restaurants to be of the fine dining category. Contrary to my expectations, this place was as unpretentious as any place could be. It was more of an old-fashioned diner than a chic restaurant. But the price for a 3-course dinner was a reasonable $25 and there was even an option to have only 2 courses for $20.

The complimentary bread was awfully unimpressive for a bakery cafe. The buns were pale, bland, dry and cold.

I thought the meal was off to a bad start, but the appetizer got me hopeful again. I opted for the prosciutto rolls instead of the spinach salad, and that was a very good decision. The moist and slightly smoky meat was complemented with a filling of juicy julienne apples and creamy garlic herb cheese.

For my entree, I had the AAA beef tenderloin which I had assumed to be a regular grilled steak but turned out to be more like braised meat. Also the waitress never asked how I wanted it cooked when I ordered. Maybe I should've taken that as a hint that this was not a normal grilled steak. I didn't like it much and I found the caramelized onion asiago red wine jus a bit salty.

The dessert was similarly lacking in appearance and flavour. A perfect vanilla bean panna cotta to me should be silky smooth with a delicate hint of vanilla. This pudding had a rather coarse texture, made even worse by the gritty Saskatoon sauce. The whole thing was just really grainy as if there were bits of sand mixed in. And honestly the sloppy presentation did not help.

After dinner, I picked up a strawberry rhubarb pie ($6) from the bakery to take home. It looked deliciously tempting in a crude homemade way. Obviously it didn't come from a fancy patisserie, but it looked like a tasty treat that grannies would bake at home for the kids. I enjoyed the buttery and flaky crust, as well as the crunchy granola on top.

Although I didn't enjoy the entree and dessert, I still thought the meal was a good experience due to the price and value. I can see myself coming here again for some pie and comfort food, but I'll pass on the fancy dishes since the place seems more like a bakery and deli than a fine dining restaurant.

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Izakaya Tomo

A few months ago, Elly told me about a new Japanese restaurant that had just opened on the southside — Izakaya Tomo. We met up one day after work with Mousie to try the place out. The decor had a rustic feel to it with wooden furnishing and dim lighting.

Although the restaurant wasn't very big, it was quite spacious due to the empty space near the entrance. I'm surprised they didn't cram a few more tables in, but I appreciated the serene and calming environment.

The table was set with a disposable wet towel and chopsticks in an origami holder.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my favourite Asahi Black was available, albeit for the absurd price of approximately $8.

Our starter dish was a refreshing dish of kinpira ($3.95) — stir-fried burdock roots and carrots with sesame seeds. This stir-fry was nothing like the Chinese kind; it was served cold like a salad and was not oily at all.

When I saw crispy takoyaki ($6.95) on the menu, I thought the outer layer of the balls would be burned to a crisp. Luckily the batter wasn't over-fried and the flavour was quite good, though obviously not comparable to the ones at Richmond Night Market.

When I was looking at the menu, I wondered why the aburi saba ($4.45) was so cheap. Then I understood when I saw the size of the dish. The saba slices were small and thin, but since there were 8 pieces, the price was actually quite reasonable . The fish wasn't as fresh as I had hoped, and because of that the searing didn't bring out a lot of flavour. I'll probably pass on this next time.

Elly ordered the carbonara udon, and I'll admit I was a bit skeptical at first. Seriously... pseudo-pasta at a Japanese restaurant? But the creamy udon turned out to be super delicious with a definite Japanese flavour that distinguished it from its Italian counterpart. Although the sauce was very rich and creamy, it wasn't in the least bit heavy, oily or salty.

The tuna yamakake ($7.95) was a mix of regular and red tuna cubes on a bed of grated mountain potato. We found the white mountain potato very... interesting. It looked like it would have the same texture as mashed potato, but in fact it was very slimy with a shredded texture. The shreds were just extremely fine. It tasted a bit like radish, but personally I couldn't stand the sliminess.

The simmered pork belly ($6.95) was quite small for the price. There were about 3 pieces of meat and 1 piece of daikon. The daikon was really good since it had absorbed all the flavour in the sauce, but the meat wasn't tender enough. The fatty parts were ok, but the lean parts were a bit coarse.

Izakaya Tomo has a nice selection of tapas, beers, and Japanese wines. I didn't drink much this time, but I'd be interested in trying the different sake and shochu on the menu. Most of the food items are really interesting and innovative as well. And it's nice to have another Japanese tapas place on the southside.

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Rice Paper

When Mousie suggested lunch at Rice Paper, I almost wanted to say no because I was so tired of Vietnamese food. I probably had more pho in the last 6 months than I've had in my entire life due to the large number of Vietnamese restaurants in Edmonton. I find that there is a lack of ethnic foods apart from Vietnamese and Indian cuisine. But in any case I'm glad I agreed to try Rice Paper because it showcases a popular dish that's NOT pho — rice paper wraps!

One order of rice paper wrap is more than enough for one person. I decided to get the grilled ground shrimp on sugar canes ($16.99) because I was curious as to what it looked like. The ground shrimp was grilled around a strip of sugar cane, so it absorbed some of the sweetness. The dish also included vermicelli, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts and a sweet and sour dipping sauce.

I wasn't very successful in creating my first wrap. I found out that the rice paper would curl up if only one side is wet. And if it's left in the water for too long, it becomes mushy and breaks. Generally a few seconds is good enough.

A little bit of ground shrimp and vermicelli and veggies go into each wrap. The sugar cane has too many fibres to be eaten, but the sweet nectar can be enjoyed by chewing on it. Unfortunately there is no elegant way of eating this, so it ends up looking like something spit back out onto the plate.

My sloppy first attempt:

By the end of the meal, I still wasn't very good at it.

Making nice looking wraps takes practice. Even though the ones I made didn't look very pretty, I think the hands-on eating style is part of the cultural experience and it's a lot of fun. I enjoy the food here, so despite the mediocre service, I'll be back next time I have a craving for some rice paper wraps.

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