OH MAN, it's been so long since I posted, but good thing not much happened except for a long vacation. But this holiday has been nice. I've been a homebody and feeling anti-social. Before going home B and I had two nice dinners. Reason we had two was because he really wanted to try The Parlour because of the praises it got from the radio, while I wanted to go to the Red Ox Inn to enjoy some fine dining with my year-end bonus. So here are the stuff we tried:
The Parlour
10334 108 Street
Appetizer - Risotto balls; shared
I didn't like it because it tasted somewhat bland, since risotto is rice. The skin was crispy and that was about it. I enjoyed eating the 'green embellishments' more. B liked it though.
B's Entree - lasagna (I had a bite or two)
Now this was a good lasagna. Instead of ground beef, they used chunks of meat. And the lasagna had tons of compacted layers. It was better than what I ordered...
My Entree - squid ink seafood linguini
Guess I didn't learn my squid ink paella lesson from Spain. 'Exotic' squid ink doesn't mean it's better than traditional stuff. Sigh. I'm not saying this dish was bad. Typically I like all linguine pescatore. However, this steer from the traditional was just no on par. The lemon helped, but still no traditional linguine pescatore. Maybe because I had such a good one a few months ago in Mykonos. OMG.
Dessert - tiramisu; shared
Another non-traditional tiramisu, but good. I enjoyed the mascarpone and the (chocolate cookie?) crumbs on the bottom. Whatever was in between was a blur.
Overall, it was ok. The taste of the food does not match the big prices. The big question: would I go back? No. Would B go back? No.
The Red Ox Inn
9420 91 Street, Edmonton
B's appetizer - pork belly (I had a bite)
This tasted like Chinese roast pork, but SOOOOO much better. B savored it as long as he could.
My appetizer - corn lobster chowder
A good soup, but not as good as that pork belly. However, they 'embellished' the soup with this gigantic scallop and that scallop was so meaty and yummy. Doesn't matter, I enjoy almost all soups!
B's entree - duck breast
At first he was skeptical about his duck but after a few bites, he enjoyed it more and more I love duck. I thought it was good after the first bite.
My entree - was black cod, but became sablefish with mushrooms and scallops on quinoa
I'm a little disappointed that they ran out of black cod. I love this rare fish. However, the sablefish was cooked very well. The top surface was crispy and seasoned well. The quinoa was better than what I tried to make. Overall, everything was good with this dish, despite the change in fish.
Dessert - "Chocolate", a chocolate mousse covered chocolate brownie - we both had one
Good thing we didn't want to share our dessert. This was soooooo good. B tried to go on a 'no refined sugar' diet (not me... no chocolate, are you kidding me?!), but he had to leave that thought at home when he saw this on the menu. I kept trying to remind him of it, so that I could also eat his (yes, it was that good that I had to try to eat more than one), but failed. It made it to B's best dessert ever tasted list.
Great place. B thought initially thought it would be another pretty place with high prices and bad food. I thought it would be another pretty place with high prices and decent food. It turned out to be a cute little place with great food that matches the semi-high prices. Would we come back again (not casual dinner of course, but for special events, such as bdays, anniversaries, etc.)? Absolutely. Hope they will still have that "Chocolate" dessert!
