El Cortez - Newage Mexican (Edmonton 30 in 30)

Onto the latter half of my series I go (I believe this is post 23 so far). What was initially a monstrous task seems close to coming to fruition as I continued to dine Edmonton and blog 30 posts in 30 days. Next up is El Cortez, a new Mexican restaurant recommended to me by a close friend. My history with Mexican cuisine is usually quite bipolar with restaurants either serving disappointing Westernized tacos and Quesadillas or incredibly authentic places with tasty meats and fresh salsa. Hopefully this would be the latter!

El Cortez is located just off of Whyte Avenue on 103rd street and 83rd avenue. The initial impressions are positive with a handsome exterior, large signage and lots of windowspace. Interiors are similarly great with a vibe and atmosphere that was part bar and part sit down restaurant. Seating is self arranged, but the waitresses do a good job of noticing new arrivals who quickly usher in menus and drink specials as soon as you sit down.

The menu is unique. Billed as a Mexican restaurant you can see they offer the classic tacos and tostadas. However upon finer perusal you realize that the dishes are new age takes on tacos that try to combine unique ingredients and other cultural influences. For those not wanting a taco or tostada, El Cortez also features a number of mains ranging from the expected roast pork to a puzzling squash ravioli. Intrigued we set off to order!

We quite enjoyed chunky Guacamole + Chips here. Considered a Mexican staple food, this dish had a nice chunky creamy avocado mixture with cubes of tomato and onion finished with a hint of lime. Nothing extroadinary, nothing spectacular, just homey tasty guacamole with toasted pita chips.

This Albacare Tuna Ceviche, on the other hand, was marvelous. Large cubes of fresh tuna are dashingly paired with pineapple, mango and mint cucumber. Finished off with a Jalapeno, this dish does a great job of marrying the sweetness from the mango and pineapple with the heat and spice of Jalapeno. Texturally this dish also works with the silky tuna meat matched by the crisp vegetables and crunch of the peanut topping.

Wanting to try as much as possible, a few of us ordered numerous tacos to share. This Braised Beef Tostado was unfortunately not the strongest horse out of the barn. While the beef was nice and tender, it was underseasoned and overshadowed by the sharp Jicama and beefy tomato in the Pico de Gallo. The green ancho chili jam, the best part of the dish, made a valiant effort to salvage the whole dish but ultimately was unable to unify the polarizing flavours.

Cinnamon Braised Pork Tacos were a bigger hit at the table. The well braised pork was fall off the bone tender and mixed with a nice combination of shredded lettuce and pickled onion. Ultimately it was the spice from the chipotle mixed in with the salty cojita cheese that brought all the ingredients to the fore. Sweet, salty, savoury = delicious.

We went a bit left field in ordering the Steak "Bulgogi" Tacos. Knowing full well that this was fusion cuisine, we held our breathes as we delved into this unique dish. Boy were we rewarded. Thankfully the sweet and slightly bitter bulgogi marinate they used in the meat worked well with the crunchy slaw. Tying all the parts together was the sesame aioli, a nice aromatic Asian style sauce that unified everything into a tasty dance of flavours in your mouth.

Pollo (Chicken) Tostada is usually as safe as you can get in a Mexican restaurant. Unsure what the "encacahuatado" sauce was initially, a Google perusal revealed it as a peanut sesame based chili marinate. Truthfully, the chicken was a bit bland and did not live up to its fancy saucy namesake. The best part of the dish, though, was the interplay between a luxurious, sweet and slightly spicy tropical salsa with the tender slices of chicken breast. The inclusion of purple cabbage adds brightness and a bit of crunch to finish off the dish.

Wanting something more significant, one member of our group ordered the Roast Pork. Slow braised exquisitely tender pork is paired with coconut rice, braised beans and the same tropical salsa used in the pollo tostada. Casting aside the beans and rice as simply ordinary, the key was the contrast between the sweet and spicy salsa with the inherently fatty tender pork. Developing a crust on the pork, the chefs have also imparted a nice bitter char on the exterior of the meat that added a new dimension of flavour and texture, tasty indeed! Pity about the sloppily presented dish though.

It seems that dessert is becoming more commonplace with my current dining companions and while we initially lamented on the El Cortez only having one dessert, we quickly changed our tune after tasting the Warm Ginger Cake. Ooey and gooey, the warm cake had a distinctive ginger flavour that went well with the whipped cream. Fresh strawberries add freshness and sweetness to finish the dessert.

El Cortez is interesting. As if they were creating dishes for the sake of innovation, they have, in essence, strayed away from their calling of authentic Mexican cuisine. Indeed some of these dishes work well (Bulgogi for example) but for each that work there are just as many that did not (Braised Beef). This inconsistency in flavour profiles is troubling and make it difficult to wholeheartedly recommend El Cortez, especially with them being on the pricier side. Nevertheless for anyone looking for a new take on Mexican food or bored of the current options in Edmonton, El Cortez is definitely an option.

Ninja Club - Good Ramen (Edmonton 30 in 30)

I often find new restaurant recommendations from Urbanspoon and Ninja Club had been at the top of the charts for the entire time I have been back in Edmonton. Then I had numerous friends and family rave about the authentic ramen shop on Whyte Avenue and it sealed the deal. After a relatively long day in clinic I made the short trek over to Ninja Club.

The restaurant is easy to find on a nice and busy stretch of Whyte Avenue. Its obvious that the restaurant retrofitted the original (?home) to fit the needs of the eatery which has resulted in relatively drab interiors, minimalistic decor and a shared bathroom with the neighboring businesses. Nevertheless the functional eatery is punctuated by the enthusiasm and energy emanating from the husband and wife owners. I am told they hailed are recent immigrants from Japan and took up shop in Edmonton hoping to live the Canadian dream. With a story like that it does seem difficult to do nothing but root for them ...

The menu is small and functional. I often attest that the best, especially mom and pop-esque, restaurants limit their menu to the few items they have perfected and become known and popular for those dishes. Ninja club has crafted their brand through the ramen, and so their noodle soups are rightfully front and center on the first page of their menu. In additional to their ramen they have a bevy of sushi rolls and sashimi.

One of the hallmarks of any great Japanese restaurant is their fish and so I ordered Salmon Sashimi to start. The generous portions of salmon certainly looked gorgeous with a gentle orangy hue, but were unfortunately a tad mushy and lacked the texture you would expect from fresh salmon.

Thankfully their namesake dish was much better, Kimuchi Ramen takes their base miso broth and adds in a kick of spicy kimchi. The key ingredient, the miso broth, was excellently rich, milky and deep; an excellent contrast to the spicy and sharp flavour from the kimchi. The noodles were nicely tender and able to soak in the flavours from the soup without becoming mushy. The toppings, which included bean sprouts, sliced pork, seaweed and spinach were nice accompaniments to the dish and added freshness (from the vegetables) and fattyness (from the pork).

Ninja Club delivered its advertising promises of authentic Japanese ramen with its dense flavours and excellent soup base. And while the sashimi could have been improved, Ninja Club still created solid food that should warrant a visit from anyone in the area for ramen.

Pourhouse - St. Patty's Day Fun (Edmonton 30 in 30)

I love spontaneity, the idea of going into a situation with no predetermined plan and that sensation of adventure and excitement mixed with slight apprehension as you decide, on the spot, the subsequent course of events. On St. Patrick's Day I had met up with a couple close friends on the initial pretense of simply grabbing a drink. As I was running late the pair had, on impromptu, stopped in at Pourhouse Bier Bistro for a drink. Four hours and three incredibly filled stomachs later, we emerged wondering with huge grins and a memory to last for the ages. You see, when we arrived we were greeted, amongst the forest of green, by a special Chef vs. Chef pop-up series where two popular would go head to head with novel and unique food creations. You can imagine what we decided to do.

The Pourhouse Bier Bistro is located on a bustling part of Whyte Avenue between 104th and 105th street. The signage, although a tad small and difficult to see, is bold and engaging and beckons potential patrons forward. The bar's interiors are simple and functional with large wooden tables, a random mishmash of wooden chairs and sparse decor. The wait-staff, although attentive, were overworked (it was St. Patrick's Day after all) and undermanned such that small aspects of the service were missed. Nevertheless they were unobtrusive and did a fine job despite the healthy turnover of patrons.

As mentioned above, the pop-up featured two chefs, one from Toast Fine Catering and the other the house chef from The Pourhouse duking it out with their unique menus. I thought the presentation a bit tacky with simple print-out Word documents doubling as a "menu" and would have preferred a bit more pretext into how the Chef vs. Chef pop-up would work, how and if we were to score each chef and the influences and styles that guided each chef to create said menu. Dining as a trio was perfect as this afforded us the opportunity to try each item on the menu.

We were served first the dishes of Chef Daniel Huber from The Pourhouse. The first was the Black Stout Beef Stew, a thick mixture of tender beef and vegetables in a delightfully rich and beefy gravy served on top of bacon mashed potatoes. I appreciated the slight bitterness and aroma from the stout which elevated the entire dish and thought it contrasted the fatty beef and sweet vegetables well.

Next was the Sriracha and Lager Braised Lamb Sandwich served with the Bibb Lettuce Salad. The sandwich consisted simply of braised tender lamb served on a brioche bun with a slight hint of the rosemary sauce. I loved the contrast of flavours from the slightly sweet bun with the lean but tender lamb (nicely cooked and devoid of any gamey-ness). On the other hand the salad of bibb lettuce, beet, radish and boiled egg was unfortunately under dressed and resembled a random mishmash of ingredients with little forethought.

This Baked Scotch Egg was the most interesting dish of the day. The central egg is covered by a few layers of pork and sausage and baked to with a final layer of breadcrumbs. The result is a wonderful contrast of crunchy breadcrumb, fatty meat, silky egg white and dense yolk that is all brought together by a thick and salty Hollandaise sauce, yummy!

Chef Spencer Thompson started with a smoked Andouille Sausage, Kale, Lentils and Cornbread. Going for a Southern influence, I enjoyed the combination of the cooked sausage with the bitter kale and tender pine nuts. The tastiest bite came from the warm, flaky and grainy cornbread. Ultimately though the dish lacked a unifying force, a sauce, to tie everything together.

These Acorn Squash Ravioli were the worst part of the meal. Chewy and doughy, the pasta was unfortunately overcooked and began to congeal and stick to one another. Thus partitioning each ravioli became impossible and the dish began a disastrous mess of overcooked pasta, the occasional taste of acorn squash and airy whipped ricotta.

The T.F.C Fried Chicken has a confusing name (T for Chef Thompson perhaps?) and was an equally confusing dish. The two pieces of chicken, nicely fried with a thick and non-greasy batter and tender meat, were paired with bitter mustard greens and a bland potato puree. The entire dish was under-seasoned and lacked, again, any unifying factor to bring all the flavours together.

The dessert from Chef Huber was the Deconstructed Apple Pie, an interesting take on dessert with Jamieson marinated apples, Riseling Apple Jelly, Shortbread and Vanilla Ice Cream. Taking a nibble from each item creates a nice mixture of flavours including the creamy ice cream, sharp apple jelly, smooth sweet apples and dense shortbread. Tasty.

Chef Thompson's dessert offering was this sloppily presented, but tasty Guinness Chocolate Mousse. The mousse was excellently light and airy smooth and was a tasty contrast to the Bailey's whipped topping.

I love impromptu events like this at The Pourhouse as they create a buzz of excitement amongst diners and also allows for local talent to compete and create novel dishes. However, the execution of said events need to be improved. I felt the restaurant failed to deliver on its promised Chef vs. Chef competition ... where was my scoring system and where was my ability to deliver comments about each chef's dishes? In the end I felt Chef Huber the clear victor with his tasty twists on classic bar treats. Chef Thompson, on the other hand, delivered bland, tasteless, sloppily presented and tasteless dishes more reminiscent of an amateur home cook than a restaurant chef. Ultimately I applaud The Pourhouse for creating the Chef vs. Chef pop up and encourage anyone interested in the concept to attend future events.

DaDeO - Louisianan Comfort Food (Edmonton 30 in 30)

There is a feeling of nostalgia when you return to a restaurant after many months and see the same smiling faces, ordering off the same menu and devouring the same delicious food. There was a span of a few months in second year of medical school when I dined out at Dadeo's ... a lot. At that time I had just discovered the richness of the restaurants on Whyte Avenue and, always looking for value, became a regular on their Poboy Mondays and Tuesdays when they offered a discount on their feature sandwich. It became a little excessive as my schedule began to revolve around the Poboys as I would regularly cancel on or pressure my friends and family to eat on this Whyte Avenue institution. Old habits die hard indeed, and it was off to Dadeo Restaurant for Louisianan Comfort Food.

The restaurant is located on a busy and well developed stretch of Whyte Avenue. Billing themselves as a New Orleans Style diner and bar, you see immediate influences of the 80s and Louisianan culture with a heavy emphasis on jazz and blues music that greets you as one settles into the retro diner booths. The wait staff, friendly, attentive and extremely personable complete the ambiance.

The menu is a simple foldout with the classic Louisianan comfort food choices. The staple is their Poboys, a New Orleans take on a submarine sandwich filled to the brim with your choice of protein. Furthermore, a bevy of appetizers, soups and entrees greet you should one be looking for heftier fare, including the Cajun classic Jambalaya.

Every meal starts with their home baked Biscuits. Flaky and crusty on the outside with a warm soft core, these are paired with their house Jalapeno Jelly. The jelly is a rich gelatinous combination of sweet and spicy and does a great job of whetting your appetite before the meal.

I started with their Bayou Gumbo, a take on the classic Creole dish with roots and flavours from France, Spain and Africa. Dadeo creates a luxurious dish by combining tender rice and topped with a stew of Andouille sausage, shrimp, chicken and vegetables including okra, carrot and celery. The thick stew was accentuated with file powder giving a much needed earthiness to the dish. Overall a tasty dish that spoke of homey comfort food with strong balanced flavours.

Of course I had to order a Blackened Catfish Po'Boy. The submarine sandwich takes crusty French loaf and pairs it with tomato, a smooth remoulade sauce and a bevy of grilled tender catfish. The key in the dish is the bread, crisp and crusty on the outside giving a nice textural crunch but soft and pillowy on the inside, thick enough to keep all the contents of the sandwich but thin enough to not overpower the dish. Excellent!

Whenever I order the Po'Boys I always upgrade to the Sweet Potato Fries. These addictive chunks of sweet potato are double fried to give it a dynamic crunch and seasoned with a herb and salt mixture to give a sensual aroma. Pairing them with the accompanied tartar sauce adds a nice contrast of sourness and savoury-ness to the fries.

As I settled my bill I left with a huge smile. Dadeo gives me a sense of nostalgia and conjures numerous memories of a past life and while I have moved on to newer adventures, I was relieved to see that they still deliver the same consistently great Louisianan Comfort food. Unabashedly unique, Dadeos is a gem in the Whyte Avenue scene and should be an instant recommendation for anyone looking for New Orleans and Louisianan fare in Edmonton.

Meat, Good Smokehouse (Edmonton 30 in 30)

As mentioned previously, Edmonton has exploded in its food scene over the last 9 months since I have been gone. Likely due in part to the economic prosperity the province has been enjoying for the past few years, Alberta has become a hotspot for immigration and growth. With new people and new money comes new mouths to feed and like clockwork we see a growth in the culinary scene as well. What sets it apart is that it seems the majority of new restaurants offer quality unique food and are not simply chains setting up shop. One of those new restaurants in town is Meat, a take on the southern smokehouse.

Meat is located just off lively Whyte Avenue on 104th street. I am it is the sister restaurant of The Next Act and share the same owner (and building too). Jumping up to the tops of Urbanspoon's Talk of the Town, the word is certainly out on Meat's popularity. I love showing up at a restaurant and seeing a full and lively crowd, creating a unified voice of delight and excitement as they devour the smoked goodness in front of them.

The menu is simple. Taking inspiration from authentic Southern Smokehouses, they feature a selection of smoked meat and poultry and a few sides. The idea is that you order how much of each meat item and a few side dishes to share amongst the group. For those dining alone or wanting a smaller meal, they offer sandwiches featuring the smoked meats as well. On top of the small menu they offer a daily special and a large laundry list of alcoholic beverages. Curiously missing from the menu is any take on cornbread, a traditionally southern starch used with any almost meal.

Settling down on the table, you cannot help but notice the four bottles of BBQ sauce: Bourbon, Cherry, Mustard and and Spicy. We tried each sauce with every protein we ordered and found the Cherry sauce our favourite, a nice combination of tartness and sweetness with a hint of smoky flavour, it elevated every item we ordered.

Although you order each time separately, everything comes in a large platter. I like the simplicity of the presentation and am reminded of an upscale delicatessen. Furthermore the initial shock of having the platter plopped down in front of you induces a sense of excitement and anticipation of the food.

There were three of us dining there so we went for a trifecta of meats. The first was the Apple Glazed Smoked Chicken, a half serving of tender moist chicken with a sweet apple glaze. My first bite of the thigh meat was incredible with the delicate sweet, smokey and salty flavours dancing in my mouth along with the moist chicken. Unfortunately the other pieces, namely the breast, were simply average and devoid of any said smokiness. Although cooked well, it is clear that white meat chicken is not an adequate vehicle to carry the smokiness and the glaze.

Beef Brisket and Andouille Sausage made up the rest of our meats. The brisket was wonderfully tender with a nice crust but a little too dry for my liking. Furthermore it lacked any inherent flavours and felt like a vehicle for the BBQ sauces. The Andouille Sausage was much better with the strong inherent spiciness of the sausage mixing well with the bold BBQ sauces and hint of smokiness.

Mac & Cheese, the first side of the day, was excellent. Tender elbow pasta with a strong cheese sauce collide in this dish. I loved the extra touches in this dish, with a slight hint of pepper and the freshness of the scallion giving sharp contrast to the smooth creamy cheese and pasta.

The Garlic Fries were aptly named for their strong garlic-y aroma. Aside from that though, the fries were simply average thick cut deep fried fries and while I commend Meat for infusing a nice garlic aroma, there was no obvious garlic flavour in the fries. Furthermore the greasiness of the fries was readily apparent and I thought the dish lacked a aioli to cut through that fattiness.

The Brussels Sprouts were my recommendation to add some vegetables to our prominently carb heavy meal. The serving of sliced sprouts were nicely fried and had a nice balance of bitterness from the brussels, sweetness and pepperiness.

The best dish of the night went to the Baked Beans. The beans (you have the option of meat or vegetarian) were infused with large chunks of beef and had the perfect amount of smokiness. The fattiness of the beans and meat were interjected by a hint of sweetness in the sauce that all collided to form a nice umami flavour.

I cannot help but be underwhelmed by Meat. Perhaps my expectations were set too high by the litany of high reviews, but the smoked protein options here were simply average and seemed more like vehicles for the BBQ sauces rather than the stars themselves. Which is a shame really, because there are lots to like about the sides and the sauces, but a restaurant calling themselves as Meat needs to deliver on its namesake, and it sadly did not.