When it comes to Filipino food there are only about a handful of choices available in our city. I will admit I'm not the most familiar with Filipino dishes, but I'm always up for trying something new.

Kanto 98 St. Eatery - 10636 98 St. NW - Edmonton AB

Lucky for us there's a new spot in Chinatown where Chef Edgar Gutierrez (one of the minds that brought us Tres Carnales and Rostizado) is serving up his take on modern Filipino street food. In Tagalog Kanto means "corner" (where two streets meet), or a busy area in Manila where vendors serve Filipino street food. So if you ask me, the name is perfect for this new eatery. Joining great spots like Tau Bay Restaurant, Van Loc Submarines and Ruby's Bakery, Kanto has found its home on 98 Street.

As you walk into Kanto you really feel the modern, hip vibe of the space. A vintage photo of Edgar's mother back in the Philippines greets you at the door, and Filipino artwork from the 60's mixed with comic book characters from Edgar's childhood adorns the walls. Mix in some hip hop beats and it feels like you're dining at the coolest spot in town.


Garlic Fried Rice
Kanto offers fast-casual service in which you place your order at the counter and your dishes are brought out to you as they're ready. The menu splits its offerings into BBQ, baos, bowls, and a handful of sides. The menu seems small, but the flavours pack a punch. The restaurant has been open for just over 1.5 months and I've eaten my way through the menu over three separate visits. Sharing of plates is highly encouraged, so to get a better taste of the menu bring a few friends for lunch or dinner.

The Chinese term 'bao' is a bit ambiguous as it can refer to a few different food items, but the bao at Kanto are similar to the Taiwanese 'gua bao' in which meat and condiments are sandwiched between a flat steamed bun, resembling a taco of sorts. Bao have become increasingly popular over the last few years and I love that Chef Edgar is putting a Filipino twist on them. Each order comes with three portions, each on a light and soft steamed bun.

The Bao Bae ($15.50) features Kanto's crispy fried chicken garnished with pickled cucumber, spicy red pepper mayo, fried garlic and green onions. The flavours come together nicely, and since the mayo is made with bird's eye chilis it gives the bao a real hefty kick. It's my favourite of all the baos on the menu as I love the contrasting textures.

The Bao Boy ($15) on the other hand features a savoury and tangy pork belly braised in soy and vinegar, finished with fried garlic, pickled cucumber and green onion. The pork belly is so flavourful and literally melts in your mouth as you bite into it.

The Karabao ($15) is similar in texture to the Bao Boy with its fork tender braised beef, but the flavour is markedly different as it mimics the flavours of a classic beef kaldereta stew. Tomato puree, red pepper mayo, fried shallots, green onion and keso (cheese!) round off the flavours to this tasty bao. If you love this bao filling you can order it as a bowl of kaldereta served over rice.

When I see fried chicken on a menu, it's almost impossible for me not to order it. Kanto's take on fried chicken is supposed to be a mix of wings and thighs (the wings being a full wing with the tips) (3pc $5.60/6pc $11.25) available in original or spicy. Unlike a lot of fried chicken out there, Kanto's version is just lightly coated and fried very crispy, so you're not biting through a thick crunchy layer of batter before hitting the meat. The resultant fried chicken isn't overly oily and stays crispy for longer when coated with the sauce. While the original flavour is well seasoned, I love the spicy version - it's well-balanced between savoury, tangy, sweet, and not overly spicy. Order six with half original and half spicy to decide which flavour you like!

When it comes to BBQ meats I'm a bit of a sucker for pork belly. The Liempo ($13.50) is marinated, grilled, and sliced into generous chunks. The pork belly can be quite fatty, but in this case fat is flavour. Each piece is rich and tender and you get a bit of smoky flavour from the grilling process. The pork belly is also served with a small bottle of vinegar that has been steeped with garlic, shallots, and chlli, which you can use to flavour the pork belly and cut through the richness of the fat.


Talangka Fried Rice
On my first visit to Kanto our server recommended that we add a side of rice to our Liempo, so we went with the Garlic Fried Rice ($7). I'm not usually one to eat a lot of rice, but I would fight you for this dish at Kanto. This isn't your ordinary fried rice - Chef Edgar wanted to give his fried rice the same crunchy texture you find in rice at the bottom of the rice cooker pot. The resultant dish is garlicky, full of umami, and has great texture with its chewy crispy bits. To add a bit of funk a small pipette of fish sauce can be added - I recommend squeezing the contents all over the rice.

In the last few weeks Talangka Fried Rice has made it's way onto the menu, which is an amped up version of the garlic fried rice. In Filipino culture Talangka refers to a very small river crab. Being so small they do not have any substantial meat to them, but they are instead savoured for their deep yellow tomalley (fat + roe). The addition of the talangka gives the rice a nice colour and some added depth of flavour, but it's quite subtle so I didn't find a big difference between the two fried rice offerings at Kanto.

Another recent addition to the menu is the Spaghetti & Chicken ($16), which is Kanto's take on Filipino style spaghetti made famous by the fast food chain Jollibee. I grew up eating my parent's versions of spaghetti sauce with soy sauce added into the mix, but the Filipino take is quite different. The tomato sauce base is sweet due to the addition of banana ketchup, which came about in World War II due to a shortage of tomato ketchup and a high production of bananas. The banana ketchup is literally a combination of bananas, sugar, vinegar, spices and red dye, so it isn't your typical ketchup, but it's uniquely Filipino. You will either love or hate this style of spaghetti, but I like it since it has such a fun twist to it. With hot dog slices, cheese, and fried chicken it feels more like a dish for kids, but I can see how nostalgic this dish can be for an adult.

Given the quality of the dishes here at Kanto and the rise in chefs supporting the Filipino Food Movement I wouldn't be surprised to see more establishments open up in the city in the next year. Filipino food is definitely one to watch and Chef Edgar and his team are bringing killer dishes out of the kitchen. At peak times it's going to be harder to find a seat in the restaurant, but Kanto is fully equipped to do takeout orders and has partnered with some food delivery companies to get dishes right to your door. Price points are fairly standard for dining out, but I highly recommend bringing a group of friends to try out a bigger portion of the menu.

Kanto is working towards a liquor license, some new dishes, and cold desserts (namely, Halo Halo) for the summer, so there's lots to look forward to. I'll be coming back on the regular - I just Kanto get enough!

Just as everyone was getting ready for the 2014 holiday season Lee House celebrated the opening of their second location, this one in Chinatown. Offering Korean BBQ, the restaurant is a very welcome addition to the Edmonton food scene, given the lack of Korean BBQ options.

Lee House Korean Restaurant - 10704 97 Street - Edmonton AB

Lee House is located along the busy strip of 97 Street, right across from Lucky 97 Supermarket. It occupies the corner of a building and is much bigger than their location off of Whyte Avenue. The space is clean and furnished with tables, chairs, and decor straight from Korea. The decor is rustic and each table is equipped with a built in stove for Korean BBQ. With all the changes, I was excited when I finally had the chance to visit.

Along with the renovations, Lee House made some big changes to the menu. They kept the classic dishes, like their famous chicken balls, but also added some new ones - most notably, Korean street food, lunch boxes, and more soups.

One of my favourite street foods is ddukbokki, a combination of rice cakes and fish cakes in a spicy chili sauce. Lee House's Dubboki ($9.95) features rice cake sticks mixed with fish cakes, cabbage, and onion in a spicy sweet Korean chili sauce and a hard boiled egg. The mixture is gooey and has a nice spicy kick, and the rice cakes are cooked to a soft, chewy consistency. Unfortunately the sauce was too sweet for my liking, as I like my chili sauce to be on the savoury side.

The Jab Chae Bokeum ($12.95) at Lee House is my favourite jab chae in Edmonton. The combination of the sweet potato noodles with cabbage, carrot, onion, and black fungus in a sweet soy sauce is delicious. The noodles are stir fried with the perfect amount of oil so that the noodles don't stick together and it is deliciously garlicky. I love the chewy noodles and always order this dish when I visit Lee House.

To warm up on a cold day Korean soups and stews fit the bill. The Yuk Gae Jang ($12.95) came to the table in a bright red beef broth with shredded beef brisket, an egg, green onion, and shiitake mushroom. Given the colour, the stew surprisingly wasn't spicy. There was a nice portion of brisket but it felt like the dish was mostly broth. I would have loved if there were more substantial ingredients in it.

Overall, Lee House is a welcome addition to the busy Chinatown strip. Customer favourites from the original menu remain, and I'm looking forward to returning to try more of the new ones. Although I didn't try the BBQ items, I would definitely consider ordering some of the dishes for dinner when I have more time. Service is fairly quick, especially with a built in call bell at each table. The Whyte Avenue location recently re-opened following some renovations and I've heard that drastic changes have been made to the menu. Classic dishes are gone, and it's more of a location offering quick food options. So if you're craving your favourite Lee House dishes, Chinatown is the location you have to visit.

Edmonton is warming up and puddles lakes are forming all over the city, but the balmy weather hasn't stopped me from craving hot noodle soup. I recently heard about a restaurant in Chinatown offering bowls of noodle soup where you are in control of the soup base, noodles and ingredients that end up in your bowl.

Tao Garden - 9642 107 Avenue - Edmonton AB

Tao Garden is located right behind the Chinatown Lucky 97 Supermarket, somewhat hidden away from the busy traffic on 97 Street. I remember eating at the restaurant that previously occupied this space many years ago, but I have no recollection whatsoever of the food or overall experience. Regardless, the interior of Tao Garden is bright, clean, and televisions feature Chinese TV shows to watch as you sit and enjoy your meal.


Flat rice noodles with bamboo shoots and basa fillets in satay soup
The menu features hot pots, rice pots, and other smaller snack items like congee, dumplings, and curry fish balls, but what I was most interested in was the option to build your own bowl of noodle soup. When I'm in Hong Kong I love going to the hole-in-the-wall noodle shops that allow you to customize bowls to your own liking, so I'm glad that Tao Garden offers this type of dining.


Thick rice noodles with sliced beef brisket and tofu puffs in Little Sheep broth
For $9.50 you get to create your own bowl, which you customize to your liking on an individualized order sheet. The price includes your choice of one soup base, two toppings, your choice of noodles, and either hot coffee or milk tea. Each bowl also comes with green onion, cilantro, suey choy, sliced mushrooms, and bean curd skin, but if you're not a fan of any of those there's the option to exclude them from your bowl too. The menu is extensive and the combinations are endless! You can choose from 12 different soup bases, 35 different toppings, 8 types of noodles, and you can opt for additional toppings at $1.25 each. If you're looking for a cold drink, it's an additional $1.

Diane, Teresa and I stopped by for a late lunch last Saturday and we all enjoyed our bowls and agreed we would return in the future. The Little Sheep broth was full of flavour, and the satay soup came with an unexpected, but delicious, kick of heat. Toppings were fresh and the portion was very generous. At $9.50 a bowl with a drink included, you leave with a full tummy at an unbeatable price. The restaurant isn't anything fancy, but that's not why you should come to Tao Garden. Come for the fun build-your-own noodle adventure and to warm up with a bowl of noodle soup.


Edmonton is a cold, snowy city for the majority of the year. During the winter months I'm always looking for ways to warm up from the cold, and nothing is more comforting to me than a bowl of steaming noodle soup. I'm going to be highlighting some of my favourite noodle soups in the city, and I'd love for you to share yours with me so I can try them too. Follow along with #YEGNoodleSoups and let the fun begin!

In all the years that I've had this blog I've never once featured my go-to spot for pho here in Edmonton. Shocking, right? There's no better time than now with the #YEGNoodleSoups series! And since Edmonton is in the middle of a deep freeze, a hot bowl of pho is the perfect remedy for cold hands and feet!

Tau Bay Restaurant - 10660 98 Street NW - Edmonton AB

When I've got a hankering for a bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup Tau Bay is the spot that I head to first. My first visit was back in my junior high days when a girlfriend of mine introduced me to it, and memories of that meal still come back to me each time I visit. When you walk into the restaurant the first thing that hits you is the smell of the fragrant broth used in each bowl of their noodle soup. Tau Bay Restaurant serves only variations of pho noodle soup (and drinks) and nothing else - they've focused on their one specialty and execute it well every time.

Tau Bay Restaurant has a huge following in this city, and I remember the days when www.istaubayopen.com was a real website started by a local Tau Bay enthusiast. The site was made because Tau Bay is known to close randomly from time to time for family vacations back to Vietnam or just breaks for the whole restaurant staff. They don't run during the typical restaurant hours either, so you may anticipate a bowl of their noodle soup and become disappointed when you show up to a closed restaurant.

The pho here comes in twenty different variations, all different depending on combinations of meat in the bowl. Each bowl comes in a medium ($7.50) or large ($8.50) size garnished with cilantro, green onion and onion slices, served with a plate of bean sprouts, lime wedges, Thai basil and Thai red chilies. It's the standard fixins you get with your pho, and the pricing is on par with other Vietnamese restaurants in Chinatown.

What I find sets Tau Bay apart from the rest is the broth. The broth is fragrant, has a meaty depth to it and has just the right amount of fat that makes it smooth but not overly oily. There is a delicate sweetness to the broth that I really enjoy and the combination of herbs they use just suits my palate. The rice noodles are cooked to a nice al dente consistency and every bite is great down to the very last drop of soup. The staff are friendly, and like many other restaurants, you don't get much service. But for a restaurant where I just want to stop by to warm up quick with a bowl of noodle soup, Tau Bay Restaurant fits the bill.

King Noodle House is another Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown loved by Edmontonians, and their pho is a close second for me. Where is your go-to pho place? Let me know and I would love to try it out!


Edmonton is a cold, snowy city for the majority of the year. During the winter months I'm always looking for ways to warm up from the cold, and nothing is more comforting to me than a bowl of steaming noodle soup. I'm going to be highlighting some of my favourite noodle soups in the city, and I'd love for you to share yours with me so I can try them too. Follow along with #YEGNoodleSoups and let the fun begin!

Holy moly there is a lot of snow outside on the ground in Edmonton. We got a whole 20-25cm of the powdery stuff over 24 hours! Lucky for me I am enjoying the so-called "balmy" weather in Vancouver right now, taking in the Grey Cup festivities in town.

As I promised last week, I want to spend this winter sharing some of my favourite bowls of noodle soup here in the city. There is nothing more comforting to me on a cold winter day than a slurp of noodles with hot soup.

Trang Tien - 9449 Jasper Avenue - Edmonton AB

One of my favourite noodle soups is the Vietnamese bun bo hue. Everyone always talks about pho, but I like bun bo hue better. This spicy Vietnamese speciality originated in Central Vietnam, and features pork, beef, and thick rice noodles. Lemongrass is the predominant flavour in the broth and the heat from the chillies just opens up the sinuses when the cold weather hits.

My go-to spot for bun bo hue in Edmonton is Trang Tien. This little family-run restaurant claims to have the best bun bo hue in the city - and I won't argue with that claim. The location is a bit sketchy with a hole-in-the-wall feel to it, but I love it. The restaurant has never been full on any of my visits, but there's always a smiling little boy that takes my order and serves me my food.

This massive bowl of Hue's Beef Noodle Soup (#22, $10.25) always arrives steaming at the table with a plate of basil and bean sprouts to add into the bowl. Not that it needs any, though - the bowl is filled to the brim with noodles, beef, pork balls, fish cake, raw onions, green onions and shaved red cabbage. The soup has an amazing aroma and the depth of flavour in the broth comes through with every bite. The rice noodles are a great al dente texture and I like the contrasting crunch you get with the vegetables. Seriously, it is such a great bowl of noodles to warm the soul on a cold winter day.

So there you have it. Best bun bo hue in the city. Do you have a different opinion? Please let me know, I'd love to try your suggestions. Come back next week for the next #YEGNoodleSoups adventure!


Edmonton is a cold, snowy city for the majority of the year. During the winter months I'm always looking for ways to warm up from the cold, and nothing is more comforting to me than a bowl of steaming noodle soup. I'm going to be highlighting some of my favourite noodle soups in the city, and I'd love for you to share yours with me so I can try them too. Follow along with #YEGNoodleSoups and let the fun begin!

Summertime is all about the popsicles and BBQs, but what do you eat when its cold and rainy outside? I always feel that cold, windy days call for comfort food, and nothing is better than a steaming hot bowl of noodle soup!

Ha Phuong's Vietnamese Restaurant - 9656 107A Avenue - Edmonton AB

Ha Phuong's isn't new to the Edmonton dining scene, but it recently came to my attention after seeing a picture on my Instagram feed. I didn't think much of it, but my interest in visiting the restaurant was sparked again after reading this article about Chris Tom-Kee who is currently helping out at the restaurant. Later on I found out that the daughter of the owners recently took over the restaurant and is making some changes. One windy evening my boyfriend and I headed down to Chinatown to check the place out.

When we first walked in we kind of thought to ourselves, "are we in the right place?" I felt a little uneasy as the restaurant was empty at 6:00PM on a weeknight and we had it all to ourselves. The lack of decor and old furnishings gave it that hole-in-the-wall feel, but we sat down and thought it could only go up from there.

The restaurant doesn't supply you with menus, but there are two whiteboards hung on the walls with descriptions of dishes that are available. 7 items didn't seem like much to choose from, but we were excited to try out the offerings. To start off we ordered two Tomkee's Twists ($1.50), which are a spin on the traditional green onion cake. Twisted out into a long stick, the green onion cake twists were crispy, fluffy and fragrant. The sweet chili sauce served on the side added some flavour, but I honestly ate these by themselves and probably could have ordered a couple more.

Hu tieu is a hugely popular noodle soup in Southern Vietnam. The broth is typically made from pork bones, but some variations have seafood as well. Ha Phuong's offers regular hu tieu and also Hu Tieu Kho ($10), which is a version I've never had before. Basically, rice noodles are tossed in a special house made sauce, topped with meat, fried onions, and served with the pork and seafood based broth on the side. This dish was excellent! Al dente noodles were tossed in a fragrant hoisin based sauce and the broth had a really nice depth of flavour. BBQ pork, Vietnamese pork sausage and another cut of pork topped the noodles along with shrimp and a quail egg. I would highly recommend trying this dish out!

It just so happened that on the night we visited the restaurant was offering bun bo hue as an off menu special for $10. Bun bo hue is a popular spicy noodle soup from Central Vietnam and happens to be one of my favourite noodle soups. The spicy soup is so perfect for warming up on cold days! The version served at Ha Phuong's was delicious. The broth had a really nice depth of flavour with strong notes of lemongrass (which I love). The soup wasn't too spicy and there was a good portion of meat and noodles.

I feel like there aren't too many people that know about Ha Phuong's and the great noodle dishes they're cooking in the kitchen. I'll definitely be returning on another cold day for a hot bowl of soup! Stop by if you're in the area, I know you won't be disappointed.

Yesterday, Vince, Andrew, Crystal, Ronald and I headed to Basil Leaf, hoping to have a delicious bowl of pho. But to our disappointment, they were closed! Since when do Asian restaurants close on Christmas Eve?? I swear the only time asian places close is on Chinese New Year! What the heck? It was so cold too! Such a disappointment...

Quickly, we logged onto Urbanspoon to try to find a replacement other than Pho Tau Bay (I'm not a fan like many people are!!). The closest restaurant with the highest rating was Nha Trang.

Is it really #1?

The place was relatively easy to find, located conveniently by the Glenrose Hospital, so I'm sure they get a large amount of traffic in the restaurant. When we walked in, we were greeted by a friendly Vietnamese lady, who promptly sat us at our table in the humble little restaurant.

Like most pho places in the city, Nha Trang offers two sizes of pho - regular & large. Most of the time, I find that there isn't a big difference in the amount of food you are receiving, but the large tends to be filled with lots of soup & a little extra noodle. Considering it was 1:30 pm and none of us had eaten yet, we were pretty hungry and ordered the different sizes for comparison.


My pho!

Basil and lemon slices were served atop ice to keep them fresh, while the bean sprouts arrived on their own in a huge pile.


Keepin' fresh!

I went with the beef & beef ball noodle soup, while the others tried out the pho dac biet. The verdict? The large DID have quite a bit more in the bowl, hurrah!!


regular size


large size

The beef broth was generally tasty, but a little too oily for my liking. Noodles were cooked al dente, but I found the beef was a little on the tougher side. I understand that beef will vary from time to time, but I feel that good restaurants will have consistency and good quality meat, no matter when you go and eat. Last of all - Vince's bowl of noodles was garnished with a long piece of hair on top - yummy!! The waitress was happy to take it back to the kitchen and prepare a new bowl though, all which took two minutes. Not bad.

I'd still say Basil Leaf is my go to place for pho in this city - but I still have yet to pursue them all.

For dessert, we headed over to Dream Tea House to grab some shaved ice. My winning combo includes condensed milk, green apple syrup, tapioca & mango jelly. Delish!


best shaved ice!

Nha Trang
10120 111 Avenue
Edmonton AB


Dream Tea House
7912 104 Street NW
Edmonton AB

Whenever I go out with my family as a whole, we usually go out to eat Chinese food, because that's what the grandparents like. This year, going out with my family for my early birthday dinner, finding a suitable Chinese restaurant REALLY was a challenge. I just don't find that any of the Chinese restaurants taste that great, and the ones I thought of potentially going to were closed!

Browsing through Edmonton's Chinese newspaper, my mom found an ad for a restaurant she hadn't been to in years: The Wokkery.

Mom said that this restaurant used to be pretty good back in the day, and that they had reopened with a new name. They also had a special deal going on when you order a set dinner, so that's where we were headed to.

This place really is a hole in the wall restaurant. You know, the places that look really sketchy from the outside AND in, they're kind of dirty, but yet they always seem to impress and taste pretty good! You just have to ignore one thing to enjoy another, I guess.

Interior of the Restaurant

As we walked in, the restaurant wasn't dimly lit per se, but it wasn't brightly lit either. The lighting was kind of yellow, I would describe it as the colour that comes from old incandescent light bulbs. The restaurant was empty, all except for one table. Now, I don't mean to be racist at all, but the only table occupied was occupied by Caucasians. At that point, I became skeptical, thinking this might not be a good hole in the wall restaurant. I was hoping to maybe see some Chinese people, in all honesty.


Placemats

As we sat down, the waitress came over with the menu, and she was quite enthusiastic despite the restaurant being pretty dead during dinner time. I always let my parents pick the menu at Chinese restaurants, mostly because I don't really know what I should get anyways. I'm not the biggest fan of Chinese food - I eat it enough at home when my parents cook!

After placing our order, a few other Asian patrons came in, as well as people coming in to pick up some take-out, so I was a little more relieved to see that this place wasn't a complete disaster, and that people actually liked the food here.

When the food arrived, I was more than happy, I was actually pleased! The food tasted very good in terms of Edmonton standards for Chinese food, and everything was clean. The food wasn't overly salty or oily, and anything deep fried looked like it was fried with fresh oil - it was light in colour.


look at how clean the deep fried shrimp are!

I think my favourite dish would have to be the spicy crab. The crab was full of meat on the inside, and the spicy topping wasn't overdone, making me drink multiple glasses of water.


Crab, my favourite!

The dinner experience at the Wokkery was actually quite pleasant. The people working were very friendly, the place was clean, and I had a great time with my family. They have great prices on their menu, so definitely check this place out! Don't be afraid when you see it from the outside :)


Just some of what we had that night

The Wokkery Restaurant
10969 98 Street
Edmonton AB

One of my BFF's Andrew just left Edmonton today to head back to Baltimore - but there was one thing I made sure would happen before he skipped town.. and that was to go out for some yummy Thai food!

Yesterday night I rounded up our friends Crystal, Carson, Ronald and Vince to go out to dinner with us at Boualouang for Thai & Laos food. I've always heard great things about this restaurant, and it was about time for me to hit it up and give it a try.

This restaurant is located in Chinatown, right next to the Chinese restaurant Sai Woo. Vince and I got led astray when we followed directions to their old location - do not make this mistake like we did! It's pretty much on the main street in Chinatown, and hard to miss. When we finally got there, we went inside the restaurant, only to find that it was a small, cozy little restaurant with dim lighting. Not to be racist, but the other thing I noticed was that everyone in there was Caucasian, and our table was the only one with Asians! So funny.

We ordered our usual Thai favourites, and we ventured into new territory since we needed more dishes to fill more people. The service at the restaurant wasn't bad, considering they only had two waiters serving the entire restaurant of approximately 10 tables. We were taken care of, but having patience is definitely necessary when you visit this place.

To compensate for the long waiting time, we were given an appetizer on the house. Well, I think it was to compensate.. otherwise, they wanted to treat us very well since I had my planner out! Anyway, the treated us to an interesting appetizer, I have no idea whether or not it was an actual Thai dish.

Appetizer dish

A top of a BBQ flavoured crispy mini, was a mix of papaya strips and green onion, garnished with a peanut and a small scallop. The mixture was slightly tangy, and an interesting start to the meal.

Our first dish was the papaya salad. I always love ordering this dish, because the spicyness given by the peppers pairs well with the sour dressing. Most of the time when I tell people that papaya salad is sour and spicy, they give me a funny look. And now I know why. Many imagine that the papaya salad is made with the ripe fruit we usually eat, where the skin outside is usually green or yellow, and the flesh is deep yellow or orange. Contrary to this thought, the papaya used in this salad is indeed the fruit that we consume, but this dish is made using young papaya that hasn't had the chance to ripen yet. Therefore, the strips are green and crunchy. After marinating with the dressing, the papaya really picks up the spicy, sour, and salty flavours, making it a very unique salad to eat.


papaya salad

The papaya salad had a beautiful presentation, sitting atop of a lettuce leaf, and garnished with dried baby shrimp, and deep fried shrimp crackers. When I put the first bite into my mouth, it tasted great. We ordered the mildly spicy salad, so that we wouldn't get overwhelmed with spicyness throughout the meal. However, after a couple bites, my lips were on fire! This dressing really brings the heat, so just a little warning before you guys go out and order it!


Shrimp tom yum soup

Next dish to arrive was the tom yum soup with shrimp. I think by this point, everyone knows how much I love tom yum! I love the intensity of the spicy and sour flavour in this soup! Restaurants always make it the best, because they cook the soup from scratch, using all the necessary spices and herbs to flavour and concentrate the flavours. I love scooping out the deep red, opaque soup, knowing that it's going to taste amazing! The shrimp in our order were large and plump, and were much bigger than shrimp I've ever received in an order of tom yum soup. They were cooked perfectly! Thumbs up for the tom yum soup - which wasn't very spicy either!


delicious pad thai

Next up was the pad thai - a staple food to try out at every Thai restaurant! Here at Boualouang, the noodles were more of a deep brown colour rather than orange like most restaurants. This was probably due to the amount of soy sauce they added, which was actually a nice change. The noodles were al dente, and more on the salty side, which I liked because some restaurants cook it way too sweet.


Pineapple fried rice

With so much food already on the table, our server added another dish, which was pineapple fried rice. This was a dish that Vince suggested we try, and was the one dish we ordered that I was hesitant about. However, once I tasted it, I was pleasantly surprised. The rice was not sweet like I assumed it would be, but instead, you could sense that pineapple was present in the dish, without actually having any in your mouth. I guess I'm saying the flavour was infused into the individual grains of rice. We agreed that we mostly liked this dish, but Vince was disappointed since the rice was more on the soggy side, and borderline overcooked.


drunken noodles yum yum :)

The second last dish to arrive was the drunken rice noodles, or 'pad see iw' (I'm sure I butchered that one, sorry guys!). This dish is made using the flat rice noodles, and cooked using a salty, soy sauce based sauce. The fact that that the noodles are covered in sauce is one of my favourite things - you always know that they will be tasty and packed with flavour! The veggies in this dish, broccoli, onions, and peppers, also absorb the flavours and taste great when you eat them alone!


green curry!

Our very last dish was the one a Thai meal cannot go without - green curry. I'm not a big fan of curry myself, as I have never really liked the watery curry base, but I can have a couple bites just to test out the flavours. We paired our curry with coconut rice, which is a nice way to balance out the spicy flavours contained in the sauce. The curry tasted like most others I have had in the past, so it wasn't anything too special.

All in all, it was a great meal to share with some of my best friends, and a fantastic way to spend our last night with Andrew. I will definitely return to Boualouang in the future - I just hope they hire another waiter or waitress by that time! See you soon, Andrew. We miss you already!!

Boualouang Thai and Laos Restaurant
10669 97 Street
Edmonton