Summers in Edmonton have their fair share of heat waves, and the best way to cool down is with a cold treat. There are many different places to get your ice cream fix but you can't beat the unique handcrafted flavours made by some of the city's best. Here's my list of 5 places you must visit for locally made ice cream this summer.

Revolution Ice Cream Co. came about when owners Jess & John wanted to bring the ice cream flavours they fell in love with abroad back home to Edmonton. Their ice cream is handmade in small batches with local ingredients then packed into pints and cups for purchase at various farmers markets around the city. The ice creams are creamy without being overly rich, and some of their flavours can also cater to dairy free and vegan diets. My favourite flavours are the Lemon Lavender and Vanilla + Tonka Bean, but their ice cream sandwiches (featuring Milk & Cookies Bakeshop cookies) are one of my bigger weaknesses.

Where to find them: 124 Street Grand Market on Thursdays & Sundays, City Market Downtown on Saturdays (Pints also available through SPUD)


Fan Fan Patisserie

While the name doesn't necessarily allude to it, Fan Fan Patisserie churns out delicious sorbet and gelato in a wide variety of flavours. The sorbets are vibrant in colour and the flavours really shine in each spoonful. The gelato, on the other hand, is beautifully smooth and creamy. I personally love the mango passionfruit sorbet and the chocolate malt gelato, but I don't think you can go wrong with taking your pick at anything. Each order is accompanied with a macaron cookie shell, so go ahead and use it to scoop up your cold treat.

Where to find them: 10330 80 Avenue


Yelo'd

Old Strathcona's newest ice cream shop is causing quite the buzz on social media with their perfectly swirled soft serve and charcoal waffle cones. The Filipino-inspired ice cream at Yelo'd is unique and taste true to their flavours. Their secret? Using real, fresh ingredients in their soft serve ice cream base. There's nothing artificial here. Mangga (mango) uses Ataulfo mango purée, Ube (purple yam) is flavoured and coloured with purple sweet potato, and Buko (young coconut) uses activated charcoal and coconut pieces. Despite these additions the ice cream remains incredibly smooth and creamy, just the way it should be. Better yet? They hand-make their waffle cookie cones in house, stuffing marshmallow in the bottom to prevent drips. Genius, if you ask me!

Where to find them: 10150A 82 Avenue NW (Pints also available for purchase)


Black Mountain Microcreamery
New to the ice cream scene this year is Black Mountain Microcreamery, a hidden gem in St. Albert. Their cooler offers a handful of flavours, all of which are delicious - I had a hard time choosing just one! Bits of fruit and spices are evident in every bite and the ice cream has a great creamy texture. To give back to the community, a portion of revenues is donated to the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. Make the trek out to the St. Albert Market to try it for yourself - but don't go too late in the day as some flavours sell out each weekend!

Where to find them: St. Albert Farmers Market on Saturdays


Pinocchio Ice Cream Company
A veteran in the ice cream industry, Pinocchio Ice Cream is well-known in the city for their fantastic creations. Their classic flavours are found on menus throughout the city and their pints are stocked at a host of local grocery retailers. However, their recent collaboration in making Hawaiian-inspired flavours exclusively for Ono Poke Co. has me really excited. Each flavour I have sampled tasted delicious, but the black sesame and yuzu options are my two favourites on the menu. Enjoy the scoops on their own or as a fun creation in a cup or a cone.

Where to find them: Ono Poke Co. for exclusive flavours, classic flavours available at retail partners listed here


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Honourable Mention:

Gelaterie La Carraia
Early this year Edmonton's downtown core became a home to La Carraia, a gelato shop which originated in Florence, Italy, in 1990. La Carraia prides themselves in making their gelato everyday from exclusively Italian ingredients (with exception to the fresh fruit toppings and the milk), and they have a wide assortment of flavours that rotate seasonally. The fruit-forward flavours are delightful - not too sweet, and you don't feel heavy even after having a few scoops, which is likely due to the fact that the gelato is made fresh in the shop with Canadian skim milk. While La Carraia isn't exclusive to Edmonton, they make their product in house and deserve honourable mention because each visit will take you on a tasty trip to Italy.

Where to find them: 10067 109 Street NW

Edmonton is a growing city and the suburbs have been a popular place for couples to move and start their families. Dining options are typically restricted to chain restaurants and fast food establishments, but if there's one local restaurant that has proven that fine dining can thrive in the suburbs, it's XIX Nineteen.

XIX Nineteen - #104, 150 Bellerose Drive - St. Albert AB

XIX Nineteen is a popular destination for diners in the Terwillegar/Windermere area of Edmonton, and for good reason: the food and service are always top notch. After three successful years in Edmonton, Nineteen has expanded to a second location at the Shops at Boudreau in St. Albert.

The restaurant space in St. Albert is similar to the location in Terwillegar, where a brightly lit (and incredibly clean!) open kitchen allows diners to watch the kitchen team expertly prepare plates for service. Modern accents complete the decor, giving the restaurant a chic, upscale feel.

So how does St. Albert differ from Terwillegar? Aside from a slightly different menu, diners are in the hands of Head Chef Rino Lam, a graduate of the NAIT Culinary Arts program and certified Red Seal Chef with over 15 years of culinary experience. I had an opportunity to preview the menu, and I was excited to see what Chef Rino had in store for us.

The evening kicked off with the Irving's Farm Pork Belly "Fung Bun" ($14), where citrus soy-glazed pressed pork belly, pickled red onions, cucumber and green onions are folded into a Chinese-style, soft steamed bun. The acidity from the onions cut the fattiness of the pork belly nicely, and the sweet and salty balance in this dish was perfect. I really wish more restaurants would serve buns!

The Garlic Quebec Duck Wings ($15, lounge menu only) can be done two ways: with spicy honey garlic sauce or fried garlic, shallot, scallion, and chili flakes. Our wings were done with the latter, and they were delicious! The crispy coating gave way to fragrant confit duck wings with a kick of heat.

An individual portion of Nineteen's Spicy Miso Albacore Tuna Tartare ($17) came next, dressed with avocado, tomato, deep fried garlic, shaved radish and a spicy miso dressing. The tuna was fresh and well seasoned, but I think what I loved the most was the beautiful pops of colour on the plate!

When it came time for the mains, a delicate Miso Marinated Sablefish with wild mushrooms and rapini made it's way to the table. The buttery fish was cooked perfectly and would be fantastic for anyone looking for a lighter main dish. Unfortunately it isn't currently on the menu, but I hope it makes it there!

Everyone was in for a treat when the Alberta AAA Beef Tenderloin ($38) hit the table. Sous vide and seared to a beautiful medium rare, the premium cut of beef was served with a vibrant beet risotto, Quebec goat cheese crusted zucchini, walnuts, and baby arugula.

We were absolutely spoiled when it came to desserts as four different offerings were placed on the table. First up was an apple pie complete with a deliciously crispy, flaky crust and a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. The pie wasn't overly sweet and would be a great finish to a meal!

Next up came a warm brown butter cake, again with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is for those that love digging into a slice of cake while it's still warm! The cake is warm, moist, and tasted great combined with the ice cream and caramel sauce.

Since it doesn't quite feel like "real winter" yet, Nineteen's dessert menu features a light pumpkin cheesecake dusted with graham crumb. The pumpkin is subtle, but what I liked about this cheesecake was the lighter texture. Without the density, it ends up being a cheesecake that isn't too rich after a heavy meal.

Last but not least came the Pizookie (below) - Nineteen's pizza cookie! Served straight from the oven in a sizzling hot skillet, this is everything that a chocolate chip cookie should be! Warm (read: hot!) from the oven, gooey, chocolatey, and served with ice cream. It's a sinfully rich dessert that is definitely worth all the calories.


Pizookie
It's great to see local restaurants succeed and it's awesome that Nineteen has been able to open up a second location. I can't even count how many times I've heard people complain that Nineteen is too out of the way for them to visit, so hopefully this new spot in St. Albert can entice some Edmontonians to finally have their first taste of their Asian-inspired Canadian cuisine. The menu is definitely on the pricier end of things, so while Nineteen isn't a restaurant to visit everyday, it's a great spot for celebrations and special date nights. For those looking for something more budget friendly, Nineteen's lounge offers happy hour specials from 3-6 PM daily, so you can try cocktails and appetizers at a fraction of the cost.

This location in St. Albert also hosts brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 9AM - 2PM. Even though the Terwillegar location is a 5 minute drive from my house, I'm definitely interested in making the drive to check out their brunch offerings! A big thank you to Chef Andrew Fung, Chef Rino Lam, and the team at XIX Nineteen for the great food and service, and congratulations on opening your second location!


*Disclosure: I was invited to XIX Nineteen in St. Albert to sample the new menu. Views expressed in this post are solely mine. This post is 100% my opinion, and as always, my priority is to you, the reader, to present an unbiased, thorough review.

Ramen is now the talk of the town since many restaurants have started to feature it on the menu. But before any of the hype started, a little restaurant out in St. Albert offered steaming hot bowls of hearty noodle soup for the Saturday lunch hour.

Yuzen Japanese Restaurant - #127, 1 Hebert Road - St. Albert AB

I never used to find myself in St. Albert due to the long drive, but ever since my boyfriend starting coaching hockey out there it has not felt so far away. We heard about the Saturday-only ramen featured at Yuzen and figured we should check it out - after all, hot soup noodles are great for warming up before or after sitting in a cold arena!

Yuzen only serves ramen on Saturdays from 11:30-2:00 PM. We arrived at about 11:50 to find the restaurant packed with hungry patrons, and we were quoted a 15-20 minute wait time. The restaurant can accommodate about 40 people including the seats at the bar, but the space is pretty small so you wait outside of the restaurant until your name is called. Service seemed to be pretty quick because it felt like we were seated in no time.

The Saturday lunch menu features five different bowls of ramen (shoyu, shio, tonkotsu, miso, tan tan men), optional extra toppings, and a few sides like gyoza (panfried pork dumplings), ebi shumai (steamed shrimp dumplings), and rice bowls. All the ramen bowls come with the standard char siu, green onion, bamboo shoots, and roasted nori sheet, unless otherwise specified. My boyfriend ordered the Tonkotsu ramen ($11), which was garnished with wakame and beni shoga in addition to the regular toppings. One look at the broth and I was excited - the cloudy soup hinted at signs of a rich, flavourful broth, and that's exactly what we received. Thick and creamy, the broth gave a flavourful punch with each bite into the al dente noodles. The char siu was quite fatty, but was moist and flavourful, making this a pretty good bowl of ramen. My boyfriend actually found the broth to be a little too rich for his liking, but I would have happily devoured the entire bowl.

For myself I had the Miso ramen ($11) which was served with bean sprouts, spicy ground pork, green onion, bamboo shoots, and the roasted nori sheet. The ground pork was in place of the char siu, so I ordered a side of char siu (5 pc, $2.50) to come with my noodles. The miso broth was not quite as thick as the Tonkotsu, but it had depth and a strong miso flavour with a bit of heat. The noodles had a nice bite that lasted to the end of the bowl, and it was a filling, hearty bowl of noodle soup.

Yuzen does a great job with their broth for ramen, making it in house on Friday nights to prepare for the Saturday rush. Like other Japanese restaurants with ramen on their menu, Yuzen brings in the noodles from a supplier here in Edmonton. Makes me wonder when we will have a dedicated ramen restaurant that makes both their broth and noodles in house! Speculation aside, the bowls of ramen were awesome for Edmonton standards and are comparable in price to other restaurants. The broth was flavourful and the noodles were cooked well, so I would definitely return in the future. If you're in the area on a Saturday afternoon or are willing to make the trek for some ramen, try out their bowls and let me know what you think!


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!