Downtown Edmonton is full of dining hot spots. These days it feels like there's a new restaurant popping up on every street corner and it's hard to keep up, but it's also equally important to remember to support the established restaurants.

LUX Steakhouse + Bar 94 - 10150 101 Street NW - Edmonton AB

The Century Hospitality Group has always been a prominent player in the Edmonton culinary scene. The group runs multiple restaurants throughout the city (MKT, Delux Burger Bar, etc.), and even has further expansion plans this Fall. There has been a lot of movement in the Century Hospitality Group over the past few years, with chefs moving around and concepts being changed, so I was looking forward to trying out some of the fresh new dishes on the menu at LUX.


Baked sourdough, Truffle butter, Fresh herbs
Chef Tony Le has been with the Century Hospitality Group since 2006 and took on the role as Executive Chef for the group over the last few years. Out of all the restaurants, LUX has always been a staple for people working in the downtown business core. Located within Commerce Place, it's easy to walk to and caters to both the lunch and dinner crowd. The dining room has more of an upscale feel, while the lounge is more relaxed.

Our night started off with a selection of small bites and shareable appetizers, and first to the table was the Kale Salad ($9/$13). Kale tends to be a love it or hate it ingredient, but I found that this salad with honey lemon vinaigrette, shaved Sylvan Star Gouda, ground pancetta, and walnuts to be well balanced, light, and really fresh with the citrus notes.

Pork Belly fans at the table were happy to see the next dish come to the table. The 24 Hour Bacon ($14) features a slab of bacon that is braised for 24 hours before being cut and seared. Each piece was fatty and seared crispy, pairing well with the acidity from the mustard and pesto served on top.

The Lobster Croquettes ($19) were crisp, decadent morsels perfect for sharing between two or three people. With a combination of Atlantic Lobster, mascarpone cheese, and Yukon Gold potatoes, the croquettes were rich but not overly dense. The exterior was fried golden and topped with crisp herbs and truffle aioli, adding an additional dimension of flavour.

Next up came the Spicy PEI Mussels ($17) cooked in a sauce of Sriracha pesto, leeks, white wine, parsley and shallots, and served with a side of grilled bread. The mussels were plump and fresh, and the sauce was seasoned well so as not to overpower the natural flavour of the mussels.

Last but not least was the Bone Marrow Stk Tartare ($17) with it's unique presentation right in the bone itself. Unfortunately, unconventional presentation made the tartare difficult to mix as the bone below didn't have the marrow roasted out of it. Using AAA Alberta beef, dijon mustard, capers, herbs, roasted garlic, and crispy shallots, the tartare was fragrant but could have used a bit more salt for seasoning.

Main courses served family style is new to LUX, but Chef Tony wanted to incorporate some dishes that encouraged sharing amongst the table. One of the boards is a classic Surf + Turf ($115) featuring a 24oz lollipop ribeye topped with sautéed langoustine, a generous side of lobster mac & cheese, grilled rapini, roasted fingerling potatoes, and classic bernaise sauce. The ribeye was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the mac & cheese was rich and creamy, as expected. The potatoes may look like a filler, but well seasoned fingerlings are a great accompaniment to any steak, if you ask me. Based solely on the price point you may be looking for more food, but don't be fooled as this surf + turf can easily fill 2-3 bellies.

You could hear everyone's amazement when the Crispy Corn Meal Snapper ($69) made it to the table. I never expected to see a whole deep fried fish staring at me outside of a Chinese restaurant, so I was excited for this one! This whole Pacific Snapper was served on a bed of crispy chickpeas and cabbage and accompanied by a board of iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced radishes, grilled avocado, cilantro, and salsa verde. The hands-on eating was fun and interactive as we worked on building our own crispy 'fish tacos'. Now if you're not a fan of looking your food in the eye, the kitchen is happy to serve the snapper with the head off.

It's been a few years since my last visit to LUX and I was pleasantly surprised by our meal that evening. While LUX is branded as a steakhouse I like that there are modern twists and unexpected surprises on the menu. There are some premium prices that would prevent it from being your go-to restaurant, but it's a great spot downtown for your next special occasion or celebratory meal.

*Disclosure: I was invited to a menu launch for LUX Steakhouse. 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.

Find yourself free on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening this summer? The Art Gallery of Alberta has started offering public admission free of charge on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 5-8pm. To sweeten the deal, Zinc Restaurant inside the gallery is offering a fantastic Tapas Tuesday menu to celebrate.

Zinc Restaurant - 2 Sir Winston Churchill Square NW - Edmonton AB

Chef David Omar has put together an array of dishes on the Tapas Tuesday menu which is available only on Tuesday nights - sorry lunch lovers! There's a wide range of dishes available, many of which aren't available on Zinc's regular menu.

As tapas are meant to be small shared plates, grab a couple friends and go for a stroll through the gallery before settling in for your meal! I had the opportunity to taste many of the dishes on the tapas menu, but we made the mistake of dining first, only to realize that the gallery had closed just as we finished our dinner.

The Tapas Tuesday menu features 14 dishes, and our group ate our way through just about all of them! First up came the Potato Skins ($8) dressed with cherry tomatoes, green onions, cheddar cheese and sour cream.

The DLT ($12) piqued our interest, and turns out this acronym stands for duck, lettuce, and tomato. The tea cured duck breast paired well with heirloom tomatoes, microgreens, fresh citrus segments, and a tarragon aioli. The dish was light and fresh, and we all agreed it was one of our favourites that night.

See this burger? It's probably the best deal you'll find anywhere this summer! Priced at just $4, this Pulled Pork Sandwich on a fresh pretzel bun with mayo, coleslaw, red onion, and pickles is enough reason to stop by Zinc on a Tuesday night. You really can't go wrong.

Escargot ($7.50) isn't an item you'll typically find on menus in Edmonton, so it was nice to see something different! The escargot are cooked in a flavourful cream with shallots, chorizo, green peas, sweet potatoes and gorgonzola.

The Wild Boar Terrine ($18) was quite different from what we expected, resembling more of a meatball than a traditional terrine. Plated with onion jam, dijon aioli, and crostini, the terrine was good but we all felt the portion didn't justify the price.

The Croquettes ($10.50) made with cauliflower and feta were a great sharing dish for the table. Finished with garlic chili oil and topped with pepperoncini, the croquettes were crisp and had a nice kick to them.

Chef David Omar hasn't forgotten about the vegetarian crowd, and this Raw & Roasted ($10) vegetable dish is as tasty as it is pretty. Beets, carrots, parsnips and radishes are tossed in a maple poppy seed vinaigrette and finished with hemp seeds and tomato dust.

Grilled Romaine ($9.50) is becoming quite popular on menus in the city, but I'm not complaining as I'm a huge fan. The romaine on the Tapas Tuesday menu is dressed with a confit garlic emulsion and finished with parmesan croutons, maple bacon, fried capers, and preserved lemon. While the romaine could have spent a little longer on the grill, I enjoyed the different textural components from the capers and croutons.

The Sweet & Spicy Prawns ($12.50) cooked in ginger mango chutney were a great sharing size. The prawns were juicy and flavourful with a little kick!

The Tapas Tuesday menu offers a weekly Macaroni and Cheese feature ($16), and the offering for the night was a vegetarian version with peppers, celery, and green peas. Unfortunately this classic comfort food dish was a disappointment for us that evening. The sauce was runny, needed more seasoning, and didn't feel like good value for $16.

Last but not least we opted for the Sausage ($9), where grilled chorizo was served in a demi-baguette with sauerkraut and dijon mustard. It was a tasty, hearty offering, but difficult to share among the table.

With great dishes at good price points, it's a no-brainer to have a Tuesday date night at Zinc and the Art Gallery of Alberta. Tapas Tuesday will run throughout the summer and potentially into the fall with an updated menu depending on it's success. You would be surprised how many Edmontonians have never stepped foot into the art gallery, and if you fall into this category, there's no better time than now!

*Disclosure: I was invited to a menu tasting for Tapas Tuesday at ZINC. 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.

If you've followed my blog for long enough you'll know that there is one type of food I love more than anything else. Morning, night, and any time in between I'm always on board to enjoy a bowl of noodles.

Meals in a bowl are picking up in popularity - they're quick to prepare, delicious, and usually nutritionally complete. Last month, Edo Japan rolled out some new bowl-centric menu items as their interpretation of the trend and they asked if I would be willing to host a party to learn about and taste some of the new items. One of the items was a noodle bowl, so of course I couldn't say no.


Shrimp Tempura Chop Chop Bowl
I gathered a bunch of friends together for a fun evening at Edo Japan's Windermere location. We've all had Edo Japan at some point or another (hello post-secondary years!), so we were all curious to see what the bowls would be like. Edo's two new items include the Noodlefull Bowl and Chop Chop Bowl. The Noodlefull bowls feature a bed of thin ramen-style noodles topped with a stir fry of fresh snow peas, broccoli, carrots, and red peppers. Each bowl is made to order with Edo's signature Teriyaki sauce and served with your choice of grilled chicken, beef, shrimp, or additional vegetables for a vegetarian option. The bowls were generously portioned, and the chewy egg noodles were a nice change from the usual yakisoba noodles Edo Japan is known for.


Beef Chop Chop Bowl
The Chop Chop Bowls on the other hand offer a choice of beef, chicken, or tempura shrimp layered on top white or brown rice and fresh raw vegetables. Each bowl is finished with their new savoury bulgogi sauce and garnished with green onions and sesame seeds. We all agreed that the name was a bit misleading as we all imagined seeing raw scallops in a rice bowl, but the Chop Chop Bowl was a great fresh option with the raw cucumber, carrots, and red peppers. The Chop Chop bowl is only around for a limited time, but I would actually love if it became a permanent menu item - it's healthy and the raw vegetables make the bowl feel light and fresh.


Beef Noodlefull Bowl
Of the two bowls we tried there was no real consensus of whether we enjoyed one bowl more than the other, but I personally feel that the Chop Chop bowl is a fresh, tasty option for when you don't feel like eating anything heavy on hot summer days. This is probably the only time I'll prefer rice over noodles, so you'll want to try the Chop Chop Bowl while it's still around! A big thank you to Edo Japan for helping me host an #Unforgettabowl party!

But of course I didn't forget about my readers - Edo Japan has kindly offered a $40 gift card to one of my readers to have an #unforgettabowl meal of their own with a friend (or two!). Head on over to my Instagram for all the giveaway details. Good luck!

*Disclosure: I was asked to host a social media party in conjunction with Edo Japan's new menu items. 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.