Where To Eat This Weekend: Edmonton (Part 2)

For 2015, Restaurant Roundup is going with the theme: Where To Eat This Weekend. Every other week we’ll be profiling a different city in Canada with a list of great dining recommendations for you to check out — from fancy to hole in the wall and everything in between! This week, we head back to Edmonton for part 2 of our Edmonton roundup with Cindy from Let's Om Nom. If you want more ideas of where to eat in Edmonton, be sure to check out Where To Eat This Weekend: Edmonton Part 1.

Brunch or Lunch in Edmonton

Farrow Sandwiches

Where To Eat This Weekend: Edmonton Part 2

A solid well-made sandwich is a great way to kick off your visit and Edmonton’s best is hands down at Farrow Sandwiches and Coffee. The sandwiches at Farrow are creative and playful, both in local ingredient combinations and in names, and most importantly, delicious! Their 'Grick Middle’ was voted #1 Best Thing to Eat in Edmonton and is always available on their rotating menu. An oozy fried egg paired with bacon, arugula, smoked cheddar between toasted bread with a tomato jam and rosemary aioli is enough to make you wish you lived in the Strathcona district. Throw in a cup of one of their slow drip coffee, unique roasts sourced from all over the world, and you’ve got yourself a fantastic breakfast or lunch to start your walk towards Whyte Avenue for shopping.

Canteen

For a more formal, sit-down experience, look no further than Canteen. Located on 124 Street, one of Edmonton’s growing shopping and eating streets, Canteen is a popular local hotspot for brunch. Offering up your favourite traditional brunch dishes, you can’t go wrong with anything at Canteen. Their ‘Fried Chicken and Buttermilk Waffle’ is a must-try, with flavour profiles changing every week! The 50-seat restaurant is always filled to the brim, reservations recommended.

Tao Garden Restaurant

Tao Garden Restaurant is a must visit if you’re in Edmonton’s Chinatown district. The build-your-own noodle soup restaurant specializes in over twelve soup bases, 8 different kinds of noodles, and your choice of two of 36 available toppings. The bowl will cost you only $10.50 and includes a hot or cold drink of your choice, making it one steal of a deal. Quick, delicious, and affordable makes Tao Garden a winner. Although they’re open late, the ‘extra spicy Little Sheep’ broth with egg noodles is my personal favourite for a Sunday lunch to nurse my head after a long Saturday night out! (Tao Garden Restaurant Website)

Dinner in Edmonton

Rostizado

Nominated for Air Canada’s EnRoute Best Restaurants in Canada for 2015, Rostizado is taking street side Mexican rotisserie and combing old world flavours with new. You won’t find their famous tacos here, (head to their sister restaurant Tres Carnales Taqueria for that!) but instead, have a family-style dinner with their Rosti-Pollo (dry rubbed local ‘Four Whistle Farm’ chicken) or Rosti-Puerco (slow-roasted pork, sliced to order) or a platter combination of the two if you’re undecided (or starving!). The ‘Roasted Cauliflower’ makes a fantastic accompaniment to anything you order from their menu and do yourself a favour and save room for their ‘Churros Con Dulce De Leche.’ Thank me later. (Rostizado Website)

Corso 32

In 2010, Daniel Costa transformed Edmonton’s downtown food scene with Corso 32, a small modern Italian eatery that interprets traditional dishes with Edmonton’s local and seasonal ingredients. The 34-seat restaurant is still a mainstay, their changing menu always providing a unique dining experience with every visit. Antipasti courses like the ‘Arancini’ and ‘House Made Goat Ricotta’ are a beautiful way to start off your fine dining experience, followed by one of their ever-changing handmade pasta dishes and secondi, or main course. With the help of Corso 32’s knowledgeable staff, pairing your meal with their curated Italian wines will make your night out in Edmonton unforgettable. Reservations are a must at Corso 32 and if you want to continue late into the night with cured meats and cheeses (and more Italian wine!), hop next door to their sibling, Bar Bricco.

Sushi Wasabi

Fresh seafood might be a little hard to come by in the prairies but Sushi Wasabi is doing things right. The small family-owned Japanese restaurant flies in fish that rivals that of Vancouver’s, making it the place to go in Edmonton when you’re craving nigiri sushi or sashimi. The chirashi bowl will give you a good sampling of everything Sushi Wasabi offers, but for something different, check out their daily specials. Past unique cuts have included fukko (Japanese seabass), saki (three line grunt) and hiramasa (yellowtail amberjack), making every trip just a tad more adventurous than a California Roll. Having said that, even their California Roll has a twist: it has grapefruit in it!

Treats and Extras in Edmonton

Sugarbowl

Sugarbowl is one of my favourite hotspots in Edmonton. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, late night eats — they’re open and ready for you and your appetite! No matter the time of day though, Sugarbowl offers over 160 craft beers and 15 rotating taps offering a drink list that you cannot refuse. Pair a drink with their lamb burger or steak & frites and you’ve got yourself a fantastic dinner or late night hangout with a group of friends.

Little Brick

Edmonton’s coffee scenery is currently booming so it’s hard to pick just one. Little Brick stands out of them all, the historic 1903 home transformed into a café, general store and private event space right in our beautiful river valley. A quick walk alongside the river from the downtown core or across the river from Edmonton’s Muttart Conservatory will take you to one of Nate Box’s many cafés (Elm Cafe, District Coffee Co., and Burrow) and one of my favourite ways to spend a relaxing afternoon. The café is currently serving Phil & Sebastian coffee and has a nice, light and locally-sourced breakfast and lunch menu, alongside some of the best pastries made in town. Make sure you pick up a bag of Salted Caramels for the trip back home! (Little Brick Website)

JACEK Chocolate Couture

A trip to Edmonton warrants a little treat to take home to friends and loved ones. Visiting one of JACEK Chocolate Couture’s storefronts will make you as thrilled a child in a candy shop, in the most grown-up way. Jacqueline Jacek merges her love for fashion and chocolate-making to create beautiful collections for those with a sweet tooth. JACEK’s home store is in the suburb of Sherwood Park but a location in Edmonton’s downtown core makes it an easy and highly recommended quick stop.

More Great Places To Eat This Weekend

Here are most great places to eat across Canada this weekend! Where will you be eating?

Where to Eat This Weekend: Edmonton Edition Part 2 was written by Cindy Nguyen, a lover of all things food- and drink-related. You can find her food adventures on her blog, Let’s Om Nom, where she focuses on capturing Edmonton’s newest restaurants and cafés and the stories behind them. She’s continually recovering from an ongoing addiction to noodle soups and coffee and finding Cindy behind a camera trying to get the perfect photograph is not an uncommon sight. Keep up with the #yegfood scene by following her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.