Labor Day Special: Café Bicyclette

On the laziest of rainy Labor Day Mondays, following an epic weekend in Canmore, a strong urge for casual but fine French fare moved me to act.

Enter: Café Bicyclette.

Cafe Bicyclette in La Cite Francophone

Located in La Cite Francophone, across from the University of Alberta Campus St. Jean, Café Bicyclette is a quaint little bistro-style French Café, with a very warm, welcoming feeling as soon as you walk in, framed with hand-drawn menus in colorful chalk.

Clean decor with exposed brick, hanging lights and elegant black and white photography

This place is one of my favorite spots in the city. After much deliberation I decided on the Sandwich au Poulet ($9), served on a massive Croissant.

Sandwich au poulet

Served cold, slices of chicken breast are served up with grainy mustard, maple syrup, and a dusting of cinnamon, served on a house baked croissant made with dough imported from France. A topping of arugula cuts through the richness of the sandwich. Meat was a touch dry, as chicken breast usually is, but a lovely dish, nonetheless, and wonderfully filling.

Liz opted for a Sandwich à la viande fumeé ($10), a lovely version of a Montreal smoked meat sandwich, pressed in a grill press.

My single bite was deliciously meaty, with a nice crunch to the homemade bread, pickled onions, dijon-mayo and gruyère cheese. Perfection!

Also, a lovely medium sized poutine ($7) rounded out the meal nicely. I haven’t had a better poutine in Canada yet! Crunchy fries with a fluffy interior, chicken gravy and delicate cheese curd.

Overall, this is a cute little date place for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (on F, Sa, Su) with a nice warm decor and a year-round heated patio. But bundle up with the provided blankets and keep the sun out of your eyes if you forget your sunglasses.

Order at the counter and they’ll bring you food, or come in on the weekend and they become a full service dinner restaurant. Reasonably priced, nice portion sizes, delicate flavors, and very friendly, helpful staff make this a great spot not to be missed.

Overall Grade: A-

Check it out, and comment below what you think!

http://www.cafebicyclette.ca/

@CafeBicyclette1

8627 91 St

Edmonton, AB T6C3N1

The Creperie

The Creperie, Downtown Edmonton.

From the website verbatim, typos and all:

The Creperie is a unique affordable French Style Restaurant. Voted “Most Romantic Restaurant”, the Creperie’s atmosphere is cozy and warm with its small intimate rooms and flickering candlelighT.

The Creperie is a perfect destination for all your “celebrations of life” whether it be just for 2 or 20 and more.

Enter 4 Highly esteemed University faculty members of discerning academic and culinary opinion, 2 Professorial candidates, and 1 mild-mannered American PhD student.

Rule #1 of blogging: Know your audience. Company shall remain nameless, save for an honorable mention below. On to the review. Sorry for the lack of pictures: an obvious failed attempt in discreet snobbery.

The ambiance of The Creperie, designed with the intent on achieving the self-proclaimed title of Edmonton’s Most Romantic Restaurant,  falls short of wooing it’s clientele. The experience would likely be different for an actual couple dining out, but the illusion of intimacy is unfortunately mistaken for cramped spaces. Yet, I hardly think dining in a closet qualifies as romantic, but oddly reminiscent of teen trashy romance novels in the 90’s. Customer service note: Don’t cram 7 adults into a booth when the remainder of the restaurant is completely empty.

However, what The Creperie lacked in environment, (read: space) it made up for in the culinary aspect. A surprisingly limited wine list (for a romantic french style restaurant) forced our resident sommelier/teen-heart-throb/mad scientist Dr. Michael Kennedy to make quick work in selecting a fine ‘middling’ wine for the evening; an Argentinian Malbec that was tasty, yet not impressionable enough for any of us to remember the label.

My first entrée selection was Escargots a la Chef ($12.5), narrowly edging out the steak Tartare (although after having such stellar Tartare at Accent, (see review), I knew I was setting myself up for disappointment. The Escargots were nicely done, set in the traditional 6-shooter terrine, and prepared with garlic, onions, spinach, cream, on mushroom caps baked with hollandaise. Accompanied by French Bread with herb butter, it was a nice lead-in to the Main Course. Of course I much prefer Escargots de Bourgogne- Burgundy Snails, (A specialty I discovered at Tapenade in La Jolla, CA).

My main entrée was the Breast of Duck ($29) cooked medium, with reduced pomme granite-blackberry juice compote, with rice and steamed vegetables. The meat was cooked nicely, I would prefer it to be cooked slightly more rare, but was too hungry to send it back. Loved the strong fruit of the compote, and the salty-crispy skin of the duck made it a delightful meal.

Around the table,  my compatriots had probably ordered equally enjoyable food, as the conversation tends to die down when the food is exceptional, in my experience. (One fellow diner was thoroughly enjoying her Virgin California Salad.) I was too consumed with my own culinary descent to notice. Of note was their gluten-free menu which Docteur Kennedy took full advantage of, ordering a Creep Jambalaya that clearly did not disappoint. (no, not a typo).

Third and final course was the Crepe Caribbean ($7.5), holding dark-rum soaked bananas topped with chocolate sauce, fresh whipped heavy cream, and toasted coconut. A fitting end to the meal.

While I applaud the execution of the food, service and environment left much to be desired. If I were to judge a restaurant by food alone, this would receive an A. However, the apparent lack of serving experience, haphazard waitstaff, and mis-timed serving (tip: serve everyone at the table at once, even if it takes a bus-boy or two. Making hungry people wait for others to get their food makes for an uncomfortable situation). One could argue that I’m nit picking here, but good French restaurants take pride in their cuisine, and the back manager should trickle down this lesson for future parties.

Overall grade: B-

Bigvinnysd

http://www.thecreperie.com

111, 10220 103rd Street NW

Edmonton, AB T5J OY8

 

PS: If you’re looking for a nice crepe, quick and friendly customer service, go see Gill at Crepe Symphony on 101A. Ask for the Chicken-Mushroom Crepe ($7). Literally steps from the Central LRT station. Don’t worry, full review soon.

Langano Skies

Any of you regular readers know that I have a real passion for authentic Ethiopian food. First time was on New Years Eve in Downtown San Jose a number of years back with some close friends- wonderful atmosphere, and you know if you’re the only non-Ethiopians in the joint, and not playing cards or dominos or smoking cigarettes, you’re in the right place.

Since then, I’ve attempted to find the really great hole-in-the-wall type places, in San Diego: Muzita Abyssinian Bistro (definitely not hole in the wall, on Park Ave in Uni Heights) is a jazzier, very clean varietal of these restaurants, site of one of the first non-date date that I had with Claireadaire back in the day. (other great Ethiopian places: Awash, Red Sea, etc… look it up, this is an Edmonton blog, after all!)

But I digress: Langano Skies, I believe one of the highest rated places on Yelp and Urbanspoon for the Edmonton area. Pretty conveniently located on the corner of Whyte Ave and 99th St, you might miss it if you drive too fast, and certainly will have a little trouble finding parking. PS from the University, the 7 bus will take you right to 99th (along with other Bonnie Doon and Capilano bound buses, the 4)

Ok: Jumping right into the review: A very ravenously hungry pair of international students go to an Ethiopian restaurant. Sorry Matheus, I forgot to tell you that this food, and generally the wait, is longer than normal.

No such qualms when the food came out though. We ordered Yemisir Kik Wot (bottom right, lentils), on suggestion from our waiter, Yegbeg Wot (lamb, top right), Siga Tibs (steak cooked in butter and jalapenos, bottom right)

Immediately what strikes you about Ethiopian food: the scent is powerfully seductive. Now once you regain the other senses you realize, wow this is a ton of food. Also, where are our utensils?

Don’t be silly. The staple of Ethiopian food is Injera, a fermented flat bread (my best estimation is a sourdough crepe) Cut into strips and rolled up. You rip off a piece and you pick up the pieces of meat or vegetable from a family style plate (which is also served on a huge piece of injera).

Close up of Siga Tibs. I wish they had made it spicier, but upon Matheus’ request, a little milder taste made all his enjoyment. Can you tell he liked it? In a word, Delicioso!

In My quasi-expert opinion? I’m really disappointed they don’t offer Tej (Ethiopian honey wine) which is really the best part. Other than that, great flavors, I really wanted to try the Kitfo, especially since I was still on antibiotics so little chance of food poisoning (Kitfo is steak tartare in berebe, spiced butter). So, barring from the fact that they didn’t have Tej, and the less than stellar lentils, I think that this place does quite well in the meats. If this was in SD, it wouldn’t break my top 5, but considering it is Edmonton:

Grade B+

Take the plunge! Go a little out of your comfort zone, eat with your hands, connect with your food! This type of cuisine is SO much fun to interact with friends, great conversation. If you have a few hours, go with some good friends and enjoy the experience.

Bigvinnysd

@LanganoSkies

http://www.langanoskies.com/

Da Capo

Da Capo Cafe:

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, still itching to find the best pizza in town. I’d heard 2 recommendations echoed- One, Fomoso’s, I’ve reviewed earlier. The other Neapolitan style pizza in town is found across from Sugarbowl and Highlevel Diner.

Here we go: Decor seems to be picked straight out of an Ikea catalogue, down to the tiles on the wall. Not really a bad thing. Clean, nice concept. However a common, but unvoiced complaint, is the layout of the restaurant lacks flow- if the restaurant is even half full, you’ll have to navigate a maze of people, chairs, and barstools.

Nice selection of beers, still on medication so have to forgo specific libations. No restriction on caffeine though. I went with the standard double americano, as is my usual test for coffee houses. Not bad, bold, certainly the perfect accompaniment to a icky day outside.

 

Nina ordered a latte… Which came in a tumbler? Can anyone explain this? The latte, apparently, was ok. But wasn’t hot for very long. Still defies logic why this was preferred over ceramic.

Order up: Nice selection of items on their menus, good variety in appetizers and pizza toppings. I opted for the goat cheese stuffed dates and roasted almond with balsamic vinaigrette reduction (~$7). Should have opted for the proscuitto wrapped variety:

Nina went for a little lighter fare: Prosciutto Crudo Di Parma e Mozzarella ($8), which was simple in preparation. Nice flavor, well aged proscuitto, but would have appreciated a little olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, or balsamic, none of which were offerred.

I was starved. So I ate the whole pizza. Almost. Pizza Di Rocco: ($14)tomato, mozzarella, house made spicy Italian sausage, roasted red peppers, fresh rosemary. The last slice:

Certainly like the crust better than Fomoso’s, at least it isn’t soggy in the middle. Decent pie, I’d say. Underwhelmed by the toppings, slightly too acidic sauce, but nice herbal flavors, especially with the fresh rosemary.

Too early to tell, as I’ve only eaten at both places once now, but I prefer Fomoso’s for their enthusiastic customer service, and overall experience. The service here was surprisingly slow for being fully staffed and not at customer capacity: My friend Pierre waited 30 minutes to get the same thing Nina ordered. They actually forgot his order, unapologetically.

Somewhat lacking attention to detail,potential problems parking, serving lattes in glass (???, unless that is some italian tradition that I’m not aware of). Nice location, as it’s quite walkable from the university (109th St). If you are craving a great cup of coffee, skip this place and go 2 blocks South to Transcend (review coming). Don’t come here (Da Capo) if you’re in a rush, but at least give this place a try. And as always, when you do, please drop me a line.

Overall grade:  B-

 

Bigvinnysd

http://dacapocaffe.com/

@DaCapoCaffe

Accent

First time seeing sunlight in a few days. Not only because it’s been overcast and snowing, but because I’ve been confined to the sickbay that is my apartment. Beautiful day, +7C, not a cloud in sight. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought it was a nice day out: the result, a busy busy day on the sidewalks of Whyte Ave.

On our walk, I spotted a restaurant I had visited in Feb 2011 when I came to check out the U of A. Of course many would argue that such a cold day (-20c) should have deterred me from coming to Edmonton. Oh well. I didn’t know the name, but I knew it was next to a Chili’s. Well, Chili’s closed down, but by pure chance we found it! 104th St, about 3 doors North of Whyte ave…

Inside was a very tavern-y feel, wood and copper fixtures. Pretty quiet for dinner time, and the crowd was pretty varied. I guess Nina and I consider ourselves to be snobby, and wondered why so few people actually dress properly for dinner. I digress. Hang on though, the most comprehensive review yet!

Accent is flagged as a European Lounge, but nothing really stood out as decidedly European. Here’s the menu:

However, the menu did have some eyebrow raising and mouth watering options. Of course I ask the waitress for her recommendation, and she very enthusiastically recommends the Steak Tartare as a starter, and also offers that the Wiener Schnitzel is why people come to Accent.

As with most hands-on dishes, this came with instructions. Cut a clove of garlic in half, rub it all over the toasted crostini, making sure the parsley gets nice and muddled, and slather the neolithic meat paste all over the toast, munch, swallow, repeat. Miss Nina not looking super enthused, nor impressed that her much anticipated smoked salmon had yet to arrive. Keep sipping, dear. 🙂

Ok. By far, this dish (Steak Tartare, $14), is the best thing I have eaten since I’ve arrived in Edmonton, and I’ve eaten some fantastic food, if you’re a regular reader of Foodmonton. I was a little hesitant to eat raw beef, but I thought: “Hey, eat raw fish in San Diego, eat raw beef in Alberta.” It was a logical conclusion. I eat my steak rare, anyway. Add the fact that I’m on crazy strong antibiotics for whatever respiratory infection I have, I’m good to go as far as bacterial poisoning.

A myriad of flavors, wonderfully and traditionally seasoned! Absolutely shows it’s freshness, obviously ground right before it was served. Raw onions in the tartare bring an unmistakable spice  compounding with the fresh cracked pepper, hints of Worcestershire perfectly balanced, a touch of sweetness, I think from Cognac. The raw garlic brings on it’s muscle as you crunch through the impeccably toasted bread, and savor the silky texture of the finely minced steak.  The level of detail-orientation… I mean they must have refrigerated their grinder as to not heat up the meat. Drawing on our cave-dwelling mammoth-hunting ancestry, this was truly a delightful, yet surprising treat, a reward for those gastronomically adventurous. Come to Accent JUST FOR THIS DISH. Serious. 🙂

Expectations for the rest of the meal were then set impossibly high, which was fine, because it didn’t disappoint. 

Nina’s Smoked Salmon was perfectly executed: I always look for traces of artificial coloring in smoked salmon, indicating that it was really heavily processed, and this was not. The best I’ve had was Connemara Smoked Salmon in Roundstone, Galway Bay, in Ireland. This came very very close! Served with roasted asparagus wrapped in proscuitto, dill-cream cheese, fresh red onions and lemon. Nina was a fan!

I opted for something a little more sinful, and went with the Large portion of the Wiener Schnitzel ($19), and they truly weren’t kidding about the portion:

If the full sized steak knife doesn’t give it away… Damn it’s huge. Sorry for the shadow. Paired with extra lemons, and a side of tartar sauce, this is a serious dish that delivers on flavor and heft, and will channel your inner German Lumberjack. Of course it’s tough to pound a pork fillet thin AND expect it to be still juicy, but this came very close.

It’s not often that I give a perfect score to a restaurant, but Bravo, Accent. Your attentive, honest staff, attention to detail, and truly skillful Chef have earned you Foodmonton’s highest honor. Nice wine list, and a decent Scotch selection to boot!

Grade: A+

Absolutely DO NOT miss this restaurant… Please come back and comment after you eat here. Get the tartare if you can handle eating raw meat :).

Nina: “If you took me here on a first date, expect to get a second date. ”

I knew there was a reason I came back to this city.

bigvinnysd
Twitter: @accentlounge
http://www.accentlounge.com/

Artisan Resto Cafe

Find a Breakfast place on Whyte: The mission for the day. After a really fun weekend on our Jasper Ski trip with PERGSS (Phys. Ed. and Rec Grad Student Society), I sadly had to bid farewell to my darling girlfriend clareadaire (whom everyone is currently waiting on for a review soon).

Well, her flight was around 1pm so it gave us the morning to go on a short walk in search of breakfast. She wanted to go to Sugarbowl, of course, who wouldn’t, (review coming soon), but I didn’t feel like walking 6 blocks to wait an hour for a table.

Artisan Resto Cafe is a little… Artisan, resto-cafe…. Good job on the name guys :-). It’s actually on Whyte Ave, in the complex formerly known as the Garneau (St. Joes) Hospital, now converted into shops and apartments, between 108 and 107th st. You can’t miss it, as the sign is huge and neon.

I could make bacon, eggs, pancakes at home, quite well might I add, so when it comes to finding a breakfast place, I’m REALLY picky and it has to impress me. We walked in, only 2-3 other parties were in there so we had a little room to stretch out and have our privacy. We picked out a little table next to the wishing tree:

Claireadaire mulled over the  decent selection, with some out of the box offerings. I like that. The last time we had this nice of a breakfast was at Brockton VIlla in La Jolla.

Dude. I need Coffee! Don’t hate on the pink shirt. Haters.

I went with the “Pacific” ($15), Croissant-Eggs Benedict with California Avocados, fresh spinach, Gruyeré cheese, and smoked Salmon. Delicious! Spicy Peppered potatoes, Fresh fruit, eggs were poached perfectly. I like the attention to detail, especially toasting and buttering the croissant (a little redundant, the butter… have you ever seen a croissant being made?)

Claireadaire opted for something with a little more gusto – Masala Morning ($10), 2 eggs, strips of chicken breast and grilled potatoes in a homemade curry sauce, served with toasted pan bread. It was certainly an out-of-the box offering for a classic breakfast place. Curry was OK but the execution was nicely done.

Of course she giggled to no end when we ordered Orangina. Like Regina, why do people insist on pronouncing it like that? Ha!

Grade: A.

Solid, decently priced breakfast, with all the convenience that Whyte Ave has to offer. Attentive, semi-chatty and friendly staff… And freaking delicious Gaviña coffee. Well done. They do serve lunch and dinner as well, and have decent offerings for drop-in and take out.

Check it out, or visit their website at

http://artisanrestocafe.com/index.html

Bigvinnysd

Fomoso Neapolitan Pizza

Back after a long absence of Restaurant reviews… Sorry. (but not for lack of going out). My phone died while playing DrawSomething so I have no pictures for you. Sorry.

Upon the recommendation of Karbuthnot24, and craving decent pizza, and having found none since my feet touched Canadian soil, I took the bus from work down Whyte Ave to this little restaurant, Fomoso, on Whyte Ave, between 105 and 104th, right next to The Black Dog.

First impressions: Nice ambiance, choose where you want to sit style seating. Clean, simple, without crazy signs and stuff on the walls, and an open kitchen concept. I’m eating solo… sometimes people give you weird looks for asking for a table of one. I was greeted immediately by a cheery brunette who gave me the rundown of the operation.

1. Find a table you like – I picked one right by the window as I like to people watch, and I put my bag down across the table so it looked like I was waiting for someone… Crafty 🙂

2. Menus are on the table, so pick out what you like. I was feeling ravenous, but wanted something on the lighter side. Opted for a half Cranberry-Walnut-Gorgonzola Salad ($8), and a Prosciutto Arugula Bianca (white) Pizza ($14.5).

3. Go to the counter and order – I put in my order with a very enthusiastic staff member (kudos on your customer service training, management) who also informed me I could get half a pizza with my salad, and it would only set me back $14.5. I was hungry, so declined, but was still appreciative.Paired with a Hoegaarden witbier, and I was all set.

4. Sit back, and wait for the food to come. – Aka People watch, and listen to idiotic conversations between 4 middle aged men who came here for a golf trip but found it too cold.

5. Devour!

The salad was very nice, but for $8 I was expecting closer to an entree sized portion. I’d like more gorxongola, but plentiful in walnuts and cranberries, and well dressed, no grease at the bottom of the bowl to sop up with the single piece of focaccia bread on the side.

Main event: The pizza I had very very high expectations for, as Katie usually is spot on with her recommendations.

The good: Fresh, quality ingredients, carefully thought out, and decently executed. Arugula was not wilted, proscuitto seemed to be of high quality, good quality, not overly sweaty mozzarella. For an 11″ pizza, decently proportioned.

The meh: Problem with fresh ingredients is you usually have a lot of excess moisture. In my experience with Neapolitan Pizza, the crust needs to be firm enough to not get sogged up by the toppings. Oh well.

Crust had a nice texture, slightly chewy at times, certainly could have used a generous pinch of salt. I like the touch of lemon they pair with the pizza. They say they cook the pizzas in a 900F degree oven for 90 seconds- I contest It could have used 10-15 more seconds.

I’m switching to grading structure instead of numerical values. Overall, I’d say, B+. It certainly warrants another visit, hopefully with a fellow foodie to compare notes to. Good service, decent value, but the main event, the pizza crust, well… maybe next time.

http://www.famoso.ca/menu/pizza.php

-Bigvinnysd