anonymoose's Profile
Best baguette in Edmonton area?
Thanks for the suggestions! I am totally going on a baguette taste test.
Best baguette in Edmonton area?
Anyone have recommendations as to where to find the best baguette in Edmonton? I am looking for ones that are at least close to those that you can get in France.
Stone Ground Grits in YEG?
I don't see grits on their list but I would recommend asking them about it. http://goldforestfarms.blogspot.ca/p/flour-and-grain-sales.html
My French food adventure Part 1 - Lyon
May not be until late next week. I am in Paris right now and haven`t had any downtime to write.
Trying to reserve at Cafe Des Musees
I would put in a fake one and then on the confirmation page explain the correct phone number in comment section!
My French food adventure Part 1 - Lyon
Forgot to say that I am travelling solo but I don`t think that affected my ability to get into these restaurants without a reservation. It was more likely due to the horrible weather.
My French food adventure Part 1 - Lyon
My Lyon meals were mixed up from what I originally planned because I had problems with getting through to places on the phone before I left for France.
Tuesday dinner at Le Potager des Halles. Made a 7:30 p.m. reservation over e-mail and they confirmed within 24 hours on a Sunday. Had the 35 Euro menu (entrée, plat and dessert):
Was served bread and tapenade to start, and then a slightly bigger than a shooter glass of langoustine soup.
Entrée: Ballottine de foie gras, pain séché et mesclun niçois
Plat: Taglionis fraiches, langoustines, palourdes, legumes verts et jus de presse
Dessert: Pain de Gênes, crème chiboust vanille, framboises et myrtilles
Everything was delicious. The soup had a strong flavour and scent of langoustines. The foie gras was silky and not too strong tasting, the langoustines and clams were cooked perfectly, and I wanted to like the dessert plate. My only problem was with the pasta; it was obviously fresh pasta and tasted good but the pasta clumped together as soon as it left the kitchen window and at one point I even used my knife to cut out “slices” to eat. Service was attentive and friendly. The place was half empty when I left, likely partly due to the horrible weather (windy and rainy) and partly because it was a weeknight.
Wednesday lunch was a sandwich (jamon and chevre) and dessert grabbed on the go from the Boulangerie L’épiaison in Vieux Lyon. There was a line up of people there, which convinced me that it was a good place to stop. I enjoyed it so much that I went back another day for more pain au chocolate. Had planned on going to Aux Trois Maries for a bouchon lunch but they are closed for renovations until May. (Probably not early May because it looked like there was quite a bit left to do.)
Wednesday dinner at Le Bouchon des Filles. I did not have a reservation. I had planned on stopping by and begging for one for the next night, but the weather was even worse than the day before (high winds) and the place only had two tables filled when I arrived just after 8 p.m. Service was great and for 25 Euros they stuffed me to the very brim with food. They started me off with a couple of bites of poppy seed bread – the size of doughnut holes. Then came three salads – mesclun with a slice of warmed sausage, a cold lentil salad, and a coleslaw made out of celeriac (I think… I may have misunderstood) and walnuts. The lentils were so good that I kept eating more and more of them and had to stop so that I would have room for my main dish. Next came a velouté of carrot and chive. I was getting full. Then my plat arrived: quenelle de brochet, sauce crustacés et écrivisses. Light and fluffy, the closest I can describe it was fish with the texture of bread pudding, sitting in a delicious seafood chowder. I really wanted a spoon but used bread to sop it all up instead. Next was Cervelle de Canut - fromage blanc seasoned with herbs, pepper, etc. It was similar to a crisp, clean tasting and tangy taziki. And lastly, I had a crème brûlée served in a shallow dish. There was so much food that the next day I still felt full.
Thursday – went on a Beaujolais winery and Oingt and Perogues town tour with Kanpai Tourisme. Visited a great little family-run winery and tasted some delicious Beaujolais wines. Great tour.
Dinner was at Leon de Lyon. I had wanted to do another bouchon, but I decided that it was just too much food to have in a row. Again, I had no reservation but I went early (7:30 p.m.) and was shown right away to a table. The weather was better this day though, and the place filled up by 8:30 p.m. Started off with tapenade and bread. I ordered the daily special of Velouté d’asperges (with balsamic vinegar and croutons) to start. Then I had the poitrine de veau braise, just réduit, gratin de vert et blance de blettes. To finish I had a demi Saint-Marcellin cheese with a side of salad. Service was very good except that one of the staff took away my tapenade when my soup came, and I grumpily watched as every other table got to keep their tapenade without saying a word when I hadn’t even been asked.
So in all, some great food but the stars were probably Le Bouchon des Filles, the baked goods from Boulangerie L’épiaison, and the Beaujolais wines.
Next report will be on Avignon.
Le Bouchon des Filles lyon - anyone been?
I was there a few days ago and it was delicious! More details to come in another post.
best pastry shop in Edmonton?
I wholeheartedly agree. Whether or not they deliver though, is another question.
I know Sunterra delivers. Can't think of another one that does off the top of my head.
Question about Lyon dinners
I am going to wake up early tomorrow and start calling places for reservations. I suspect that where I end up depends on where I can get in...
Just by looking at their website, am I correct that Potager's bistrot does not take reservations?
YEG- Salmon coating at Sushi restaurants ?
Miso wouldn't give you a crunch though... unless the crunch you had was from caramelization?
Question about Lyon dinners
I agree about the food being heavy, which is why I was thinking of only doing one bouchon, but I might have to do it anyway since I don't know when I will ever come back to Lyon...
Question about Lyon dinners
Too many good restaurants, and not enough meals! I may have to plan on some of them for lunch instead, rather than playing lunch by ear.
Question about Lyon dinners
I am going to be in Lyon for 3 weeknights. I'm not too worried about lunch but I'd like to figure out where I am going to go for dinner (and make reservations if I can).
Can you give me some feedback on my tentative list?
I want to do at least one bouchon, but also want to try Le Bouchon des Filles. Is that place different enough that I could do someplace like Le Bouchon des Filles AND Cafe des Federations and not feel like I had been to the same kind of restaurant?
And then for the other night I am thinking either Potager des Halles or Leon de Lyon, or both if I only do one of the bouchons mentioned above.
Thank you in advance for your advice!
South St Burgers Beacon HIll
They are definitely supposed to be NY Fries - it's the same company.
ISO: Chinese White Plain Buns (YEG)
I found your buns! Lucky Supermarket in the frozen food section. Don't know about downtown, but they were there in the north location.
Sweet lemons in Edmonton
I think these are different from Meyer lemons? If I were you I would give El Safadi Bros a call and see if they have any in their store.
Do-not-miss Lyon?
Do most of these recommendations require reservations, or is it quite easy to pop in and get a table?
Looking for a one day cooking lesson in Normandy or Paris
Souphie's domain redirect to his tour website doesn't work, by the way. I was only able to view it via http://zeparisian.e-monsite.com/.
YEG Urban China
We need better dim sum choices period. I went to Forbidden City in Calgary for dim sum last month and nearly fainted in shock at the selection and quality compared to Edmonton. The service wasn't great, but the food made up for it.
Champagne Breakfast in Edmonton?
Cafe de Ville has 3 different champagne cocktails on their Sunday brunch menu.
Where can I find a 6.5" round ginger grater in Edmonton?
Sorry I thought Japanese markets would more likely carry metal oroshigane than the round ceramic graters.
Where can I find a 6.5" round ginger grater in Edmonton?
I doubt you will find one at an Asian grocery store as they usually use just their cleavers and mince, or a mortar and pestle if they need to grind.
Did you try the cookware stores in Edmonton? Personally, I use my microplane.
Kaya Toast in Calgary?
You can find jars of pre-made kaya at Asian grocery stores. Just spread it on toast like you would any jam.
YEG- Salmon coating at Sushi restaurants ?
Tempura would give you a crunchy coating, but is not a marinade.
Marinades could include ponzu sauce or miso.
The Big Taste 2012 (formerly Dine Out Calgary)
Rush - Had fantastic, attentive service. Water was constantly refilled and we were offered as much fresh baked hot bread as we wanted. There were 5 courses in all. First course was a mushroom consomme with a duck-filled spring roll. The soup had a good strong mushroom taste, with maybe a touch too much salt but not so much that we stopped drinking it. The duck was delicious but the roll was soggy because it was served inside the soup. 2nd course was "breakfast" - a perfectly poached egg served on top of a small slice of toasted brioche, and with truffle, grana padano and brussel sprout leaves. 3rd course was fish - again, perfectly cooked sablefish with a tom yum soup and a couple of mussels. Delicious, but was a little awkward to eat because the fish was a fillet and we had to keep switching utensils around to properly eat everything. 4th course was a small elk sirloin with two confit elk and foie gras ravioli. The sirloin was nicely pink inside and the ravioli melted in your mouth. 5th course was dessert - a three layer chocolate mousse with a dollop of Mexican-spiced ice cream (cinnamon and chili), served with raspberry coulis and raspberry "fizz" (crumbles of sponge cookie). The mousse was very light and not too sweet. Great end to the meal. Rush was delicious, and well worth the cost for the experience, in my opinion. $55 for the meal only, $85 if you included the wine pairings.
Jacqueline Suzanne - Solid meal with good service (although there was this one person who was a bit wacky). I started with the portabella mushroom salad, which was greens with some slices of portabella on top. My friend had the butternut squash ravioli (2 pieces) which were good but finished quickly. For entree I had the lamb shank and it was so tender it fell off the bone. My friend had the prime rib which was so huge that it almost didn't fit on the plate. Hers also came with a Yorkshire pudding and both dishes had a small amount of vegetables. Dessert was a banana bread pudding. Good deal for $35 each.
The Big Taste 2012 (formerly Dine Out Calgary)
I happen to be coming down to Calgary this weekend, so I thought I would take advantage of this and have Rush booked for Sat night and Jacqueline Suzanne booked for Sunday night.
