Merry Christmas 2013

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!