If I venture out to the north end of the city for food, it'd better be good. I've visited Lan's Asian Grill in the past, but as it is so far from where I live it's definitely a treat when I can go! Last week was the perfect opportunity to stop by for a quick lunch with a friend before the cheese-making opportunity at NAIT. When we arrived at 11:30 on a Thursday the lunch rush was just starting up and we were glad we didn't arrive any later.

Lan's Asian Grill - 11828 103 Street - Edmonton AB

Located in a strip mall in an older part of the city, Lan's Asian Grill is always welcoming from the moment you step in through the door. Tables and chairs are scattered around the restaurant, while a large service counter at the front draws your eye to the open kitchen. The service style at Lan's is simple and straightforward: find your table and head up to the front counter to make & pay for your order, or vice versa, whatever you prefer.


Iced Vietnamese Coffee ($4)
Having just released their menu on February 6th, I was excited to see what new dishes were available. At Lan's the philosophy is simple: by using only the freshest ingredients and traditional dishes as inspiration, you're bound to make tasty food. The new food menu features appetizers, six different main dishes, and one seasonal dish. At first glance it may seem as if there isn't much variety, but there are options for each dish to create endless possibilities, so something is bound to suit your tastes. Whether you're vegetarian, gluten free, or picky about your food, you are able to customize your dish to your liking.

One of the dishes we ordered was the Thai Basil Stir Fry & Jasmine Rice ($10), the feature of the month. Thai basil, lemongrass, fresh thai chilies and bell peppers are stir fried with ground pork and laid on a bed of rice. A kick of heat from the chilis came through the sweet and savoury flavours while the bell peppers gave a nice crunch to contrast the soft textures of the meat and rice. It's an absolutely fragrant dish and I could sit and eat this forever.

For myself I had to order the Tom Yum Pho ($12) made with beef, prawns, tomatoes, green onions, onions and cilantro. Rice noodles cooked al dente were waiting in the bowl of steaming broth, slowly absorbing the flavours of the fragrant herbs. The prawns were large and meaty, and there were plenty in the bowl to make this a filling meal. Make sure not to leave a drop of the soup behind - but knowing how delicious it is, I don't think you would anyway.

Lan's Asian Grill really is a hidden gem in our city. Not every meal we eat has to be fancy or complex, and this restaurant is able to show that sometimes simple really is best. Don't overlook the restaurant based on the area in which it's located! The food is affordable and you definitely know that you get your money's worth after your first bite.

A while back as I was driving home along Calgary Trail, I noticed there was a new restaurant on the left hand side, but knowing me, I was driving too fast to figure out what the bright sign was trying to tell me. A couple days later, I realized it was a new Thai restaurant in town and I definitely had to check it out!

Lannathai Cuisine - 7219 104 Street - Edmonton AB

I remember going to Unforgettable Chinese Restaurant which used to occupy this space about a year and a half ago, and trust me, ignore the name cause it really was a forgettable dinner that I had there. It was great seeing a fresh new restaurant in it's place, spacious and brightly lit inside. My mother always begs me to take her out and try new restaurants, so this was the perfect option for her birthday dinner with my family.

As we sat down, there was only one other table occupied at dinner time. The table was clean and set nicely, and our server promptly brought menus and informed us of the specials for the night. I typically have a couple favourite Thai dishes, and if you've followed me long enough, you can probably name them out - pad thai, papaya salad, pad kee mao, tom yum soup & mango sticky rice. Lucky for me, they were all on the menu.

Starting off with the Tom Yum Koong ($13.95) it came out piping hot in the traditional pot to keep it warm throughout the meal. The flavours were strong, the herbs were fragrant, and the broth itself was not too spicy or salty which started off our dinner just right.

Next up was the papaya salad ($10.95), and this dish really packed the heat. The salad also had lots of julienned carrots, sliced tomatoes & bean sprouts, which is a little different from the salads typically seen in Edmonton. It was nice to have it served with some cabbage leaves which helped with neutralizing the spiciness, but I really could do without the portion of carrots, or have a smaller proportion. I found the carrot flavour to be overpowering, when I really wanted to be tasting the dressing. The vegetables were, however, very fresh, and the dish had a great presentation.

The Pad Thai ($13.95) arrived just as we were finishing up our salad, and we were pretty surprised with the size of the dish - it was quite a bit larger than we had expected. The noodles were tender, not sticky (I HATE when noodles stick together!), and there was a nice ratio of chicken and sprouts to the noodles. The chicken was tender, and with the lime juice added on top it was a nice dish.

Drunken Noodles ($13.95) are usually my favourite noodle dishes because I love the taste that the basil gives to the dish. Lannathai's version definitely did not disappoint, and it was my favourite dish of the night. The broad noodles were coated nicely in sauce, and not too oily. The vegetables in the dish picked up the flavours really well and still had bite to them, giving a nice contrast in textures in the dish.

I am not a Thai curry person. The Thai culture is known so well for their curries, but I really don't enjoy curry unless it's Indian curry. We did order the Gang Dang (Red Curry, $14.95) though, for the sake of everyone else at the table, and they agreed the spiciness and flavours worked well together. However, it was a little bit too sweet for their liking - perhaps a little heavy on the coconut milk? We ordered small bowls of steamed rice ($2.00) and coconut rice ($2.50) which both turned out to be really big (capable of serving at least 2 people). Makes me wonder how big a large bowl is.

At the end of the meal, we were all quite stuffed, but as always, I had room for dessert. We ordered the Sweet Rice Mango ($5.99) for us to share, but I was a little disappointed. While the mango was sweet, the rice was so salty! So overly salty that we gave up on the rice halfway through and focused on the mango by itself. Typically the rice is supposed to have a bit of a salty taste to it to bring out the flavours of the mango, but they were definitely a little too heavy with the salt on this one.

All in all, it was a nice meal at Lannathai, and the family had a great evening. The server was friendly, and was able to check in on us frequently throughout the meal. What I like about this restaurant is the portion sizes for the price that you pay. Thai food is known to be on the expensive side with small portions, but with competitive pricing to other Thai restaurants, Lannathai has the biggest plates I've seen so far. You get a good deal, and the food is good. It's unfortunate though that they are on Calgary Trail in a location that many people often drive by without noticing. They do have a big sign out in front though, so if you have a chance, stop by and give them a try!

The forecast said that it was supposed to rain today, but that didn't end up happening. Instead, the sun was out, but the wind was viscious, making it pretty cold outside.. good thing we had shopping planned!

Top - Zara, Scarf - Alexander McQueen, Tights - F21, Bag - Coach

But not the normal type of shopping, I wanted to visit and check out the local scene. Of course, not before having some lunch.

Thai Grill - 10666 NE 8th Street - Bellevue WA 98004



I was searching around on Yelp again, and came across this little restaurant. I originally chose it because it was close to a mall I wanted to check out - Bellevue Square. I didn't end up there today cause it was crazy busy and parking was a pain to find.. I'm going to try my luck again tomorrow.



Anyways, this little restaurant in downtown Bellevue is family owned and quite cozy inside.

They offered a full a la carte menu for lunch and dinner, as well as a set lunch combination with a couple items to choose from. Each lunch combo included soup, a side of Pad Thai, and rice, whereas lunch entrees were a little cheaper than those offered at dinner time.



When we were seated, the waitress brought over a spring roll appetizer for each of us to try while we perused the menu. The spring roll itself was vegetarian, filled with glass noodles & vegetables, served in a sweet & sour sauce. Fresh, crisp, and a nice start to lunch.


Red Chicken Curry


Showering Rama Chicken

Vince and I chose to share the Pad Thai and Pad Kee Mao ($7.95 each), while my parents tried out the lunch combinations with Red Curry Chicken and Showering Rama Chicken ($8.50 each).


Pad Kee Mao


Pad Thai

I thought the food was very delicious, and a very good price for the size we got. It really reminded me of the Pad Thai restaurant that used to be along Whyte Ave.. too bad that place is gone now!

Costco - 400 Costco Drive - Tukwila WA 98188

Did you know Costco was founded in Kirkland, Washington? You learn something new everyday. That's why their own brand is 'Kirkland Signature'! The things they sell at Costco down here share similarities, but also many differences.. so I wanted to check it out and see what they had to offer.


The bear was as big as me.. and only $30! Wish I could bring it home hahah


Sweet Potato Chips, surprisingly tastes like the fries


$10 Red Velvet Cake with Cream cheese icing *drool*


...choose your own casket, what? =/

I must say that this is the biggest Costco I have ever been to in my life. I am certain about that.. It was so large that it was hard to navigate! It was fun to spend time in there, and see all they had to offer. The ladies offering samples were actually really enthusiastic and promoted the product to everyone that passed by.. they were nothing like the boring ones we have up in Edmonton!

Great Wall Shopping Mall - 18230 East Valley Highway - Kent WA 98032



My aunt sent us to this mall to check out 'Ranch 99 Market' which is supposed to be similar to our T&T up in Canada. The mall wasn't very large, but did have an assortment of restaurants and stores for trinkets.



The mall had their own Daiso Japan - it was really small! Their items were packaged on shelves very close to one another, so you had to navigate through carefully in order not to knock everything over. Of course, they couldn't have the selection that can be found over in Richmond, BC, but the prices for their items were all $1.50! I was eager to pick out as much as I could, since Daiso in BC has everything priced at $2.


Erasers, soap dish, eyelashes


Picked these up for my students @ home.. they're soo cute!

Walmart - 743 Rainier Avenue South - Renton WA 98057

CRAZY Walmart! I think this is probably the largest regular Walmart I've ever been to as well. This wasn't even a supercenter, but it was as large (if not bigger) than the Supercenters we have in Edmonton. Bustling full of people, with kids running around, I tried to grab my must have items as quickly as possible and book it outta there.


5 Vortex gum *green apple*, Halls Vit C, Sally Hansen Crackle Polish, Tresemme Heat Spray


Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili, Cheetos Flamin' Hot

I love trying out all the different chip flavours they have here in the States! The selection here is not as great as that in LA, but we decided to try out these two. The Spicy Sweet Chili is the same as the Sweet Chili flavour we have up in Edmonton.. we got tricked by the packaging! But the Cheetos are another story. SO GOOD! They're super spicy and packed full of flavour - I think I want to bring some home!

I am having too much fun to leave this place.

First off, happy birthday to my boy! Today, my family and I took him out for some Vietnamese/Thai food to celebrate his birthday, and just to get us out of the house away from the books for a couple hours. A while back, we had purchased a deal from DealFind here in Edmonton, and we were really curious to try this place out.

Mini Mango is the little sister to Sweet Mango on Whyte Ave. I had gone there about 2 years back with Phil, but I didn't find anything too special about it. After hearing a friend rave about Mini Mango, I knew I had to see what the fuss is all about!

When we arrived, I hadn't imagined the restaurant to be so small! I knew that it was more of a take-out & self serve restaurant, but I expected it to be able to seat more people. There were approximately 6 small tables, allowing the restaurant to seat a maximum of about 20 people I would say.



This restaurant here runs along the same principles as Famoso. Decide what you want to eat, and head up to the front to order & pay for your meal. If you're planning on dining in, you take a seat, and the hostess will bring the meal to your table. We had $60 to spend, so we decided to try out the pho, pad thai, mango salad, vermicelli bowl & tom yum soup.





The mango salad ($8.95) was really interesting. It was a combination of sweet and savoury, but I would say that it was more on the sweet side, due to the naturally sweet mango. I was hoping it would mimick that of a papaya salad, so my hopes were a little crushed. Expectations aside, it wasn't a bad dish, but I won't be ordering it again in the future.



The pad thai ($10.95) had an awesome combination of flavours, but the chef put a little too much sodium into the wok when cooking this plate up. The noodles were al dente, and did not clump together, even upon cooling, which was fantastic because balls of noodles aren't always chopstick friendly. This dish was one of my favourites from the meal. A little less salt, and it would be my ideal pad thai :)



Next up was the 5 meat combo vermicelli bowl ($10.95). This bowl was massive, and greatly exceeded my expectations. A generous helping of vermicelli rested upon shredded lettuce, cucumbers and bean sprouts, and was topped with a bounty of perfectly cooked Asian style meats. Their spring rolls were fantastic, cooked in clean oil, resulting in a beautiful presentation.



To decide whether a restaurant is deemed good or not, I almost always have to sample their pho. Pho is such an iconic Vietnamese dish. If you can't do it right, something is definitely wrong. I went with the beef ball pho, and forgot to request no cilantro! It was sad, but I acted fast and removed all the little pieces out before it was able to seep into my soup. The broth itself wasn't bad, but it was lacking depth and certain flavours that I find in the broth at my favourite restaurant Basil Leaf. For such a large bowl, the proportion of noodles was small. But factoring in the price, $6.95, it makes sense that there wasn't much in the bowl in comparison to the average pho price nowadays, at $8.00.



Last but not least, the tom yum see fuut ($11.95) arrived at our table. Looking at the broth, the colour wasn't the typical deep red colour I'm used to seeing at Thai restaurants. The colour was an easy indication of what was to come, and was confirmed upon the first taste of the soup. It was a bit disappointing, and unfortunately bland. It didn't have the punch of flavour I was looking for, and wasn't sour or spicy enough. But in their favour, there was lots of seafood inside the bowl, which kept my parents happy and distracted from the lack of flavour.

One thing I really admire about this restaurant is their dedication to keeping their vegetarian options purely vegetarian. No sneaky seasonings, and definitely no use of fish sauce (which many people think is actually vegetarian!) Countless times, I've gone to a Vietnamese restaurant, and they are so baffled when it comes to serving a vegetarian customer. So kudos to them for being so conscious of their customer population!

This little restaurant doesn't take reservations, so I would recommend heading there for a meal before/after the dinner rush, since there is limited seating. The restaurant is clean, and a respectable establishment, and I know they will grow and expand as the Ellerslie area develops. Was it a good meal overall? Yes. Will I come here again? Yes, and next time, I'm gonna try their take on Banh Mi!

Mini Mango Modern Vietnamese Bistro
1056 91 Street
Edmonton AB

After having a bunch of my coworkers quit where I'm working right now, we felt we needed to get together for dinner before the craziness of exams hit us. We went out to Boualouang (read about my first visit here) for some delicious Thai.

We weren't able to all get together for dinner though, because Edmonton's potholes ruined Jobin's tire, causing her & Claire to head home instead :( Seriously, theres MASSIVE potholes out there due to our crazy freeze/thaw cycle.

The gang minus J&C

The food was fantastic, however, but my favourite of the night had to be the dessert! Fresh mango on sticky rice, served with vanilla ice cream. The combination of the warm rice and cold ice cream is just perfect when adding in the soft, sweet mango.. too good to pass up!



I highly recommend having this the next time you go!

Boualouang Laos & Thai Cuisine
10669 97 Street NW
Edmonton AB