Ho Yummy

Edmonton: Chicken for Lunch

Edmonton is pretty neat in that in most major buildings downtown, there are food courts set up for people to quickly order lunch from. I suppose because it is so cold there in the winter, it is way easier to grab lunch downstairs as opposed to braving the elements. Mabel, Dallas, and some others had been telling me about Chicken For Lunch, a Chinese fast food eatery in the Scotiabank food court. This place seemed to be famous for its good food, a lady who remembered everyone’s orders and names, and a huge lineup that circles around the food court at lunch. Mabel and I got there just after 12pm and there was already a long line formed.

Both Mabel and I ordered the medium size lunch for $6.50. For this price, you get rice, noodles, veggies, two types of chicken, and a spring roll. The price was more than reasonable and the portion sizes are pretty huge.

I settled on the lemon chicken and the hot and dry. Hot and dry is a bit spicy but is also the one that came most recommended when I was trying to decide on what to order. The lemon chicken was pretty tasty and had a nice lemony flavour. There was also quite a bit of sauce so it went nicely with my rice. As for the hot and dry, it was pretty good but I’m not much of a fried chicken lover so I wasn’t completely sold on it. It was very crispy though and was spicy without being overwhelmingly so.

Chicken for Lunch was not bad although I have to say I am surprised that people are willing to lineup so long to eat it…sometimes every day! I suppose I am probably spoiled by the great food in Vancouver so it takes a bit more to really wow me. The food was a great deal though and there was a lot of variety in the types of items you could order.

Details:
10060 Jasper Ave, Edmonton, Alberta
Tel: 780-425-9614

Summary:
Food:
Service: n/a
Price: $

Posted in Asian, Chinese, Edmonton, Fast Food, Other Cities, Reviews | 4 Comments »

Edmonton: Cheesecake Cafe

Both Mabel and I were in work for Edmonton for a few days. Luckily for me, Mabel is from Edmonton so she offered to take me somewhere for dinner on the night I arrived. We ended up at Cheesecake Cafe, which she noted was known for their excellent cheesecakes. This place is actually a smaller scale version of Cheesecake Factory, which is prevalent in most big US cities.

To start, Mabel and I shared the spinach and artichoke dip. The chips seemed to be freshly fried because we could still see some oil sitting on some chips. The dip itself was not bad although it was a bit watery towards the bottom and there was definitely more spinach than artichoke.

Since I was in Alberta, I decided to go with the honey garlic sirloin, which came with some veggies. I also had a choice of a baked potato or salad to go along with my dish and I chose the salad with a honey dressing. Even though I asked for medium rare, I found my steak to be a bit overcooked and kind of tough. I also couldn’t taste the honey or garlic, which theoretically should have kept the steak nice and moist. The vegetables appeared to have been boiled and were overcooked although the salad was pretty tasty.

Cheesecakes are definitely the specialty here so Mabel and I ordered a key lime cheesecake and an Oreo cheesecake. Some of the cheesecakes are seasonal and are available during certain times of the year. The key lime cheesecake was a nice shade of green and had the slightest hint of lime flavour. I liked the graham cracker crust although I wished it was thicker.

Of the two cheesecakes, I actually preferred the Oreo one more. It was not too sweet and also had chunks of Oreo cookies in it. Both the cheesecakes were very dense and we ended up eating only half of each flavour. Although the cheesecakes were good, I do like my cheesecakes to be creamier and the flavours here were too subtle for my liking.

I definitely preferred the cheesecakes here over my main dish and appetizer. If I were to come back again, I would probably just come for dessert and pick one cheesecake to share between two people…unless you are feeling really hungry.

Details:
17011 – 100 Ave, Edmonton, Alberta
Tel: 780-486-0440

Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$

Posted in Canadian, Edmonton, Other Cities, Reviews | No Comments »