Beijing Restaurant

Lately, now that winter has unfortunately arrived, I've been sleeping in all the time, and by sleeping in, I mean, completely hibernating. Turns out I'm not the only one, as MBear also appears to be afflicted with the same "it's snowing too damn much and there's not enough sun and it's so ridiculously cold that I might as well lock myself in the room because I'm utterly depressed" syndrome. Anyway, we finally made plans to go for lunch, and committed ourselves to actually waking up before the sun came up.


We managed to wrench ourselves out of bed around 1:30pm, and rushed over to Beijing Restaurant over on Calgary Trail to catch some dimsum before the dimsum cutoff at 3:00pm (I'm not joking when I say "rush," we literally went there looking like bag ladies with birds in our hair hehe). Normally Beijing serves dimsum through a combination of push carts and ordering sheets, so we quickly picked a few of the usuals. The rest, we had to order. For tea, I ordered my favorite, Iron Buddha, aka "teet goon yum," or "ti quan yin," a type of Oolong tea that is very fragrant, with a slight bitterness that helps cut through the greasiness of dimsum.

Shrimp Dumplings (ha gaow)

Pork and Shrimp Dumplings (siu mai)

Beef Balls (ow yoon)
- Served with Worcestershire sauce

Deep Fried Pork Filled Mochi (ham sui gok)

The back looks like a bum crack heheheheh ( ^_____^   )b

Chinese Donut wrapped in Green Onion Rice Roll  (tsa leung)

The rice roll is served with a peanut and hoisin sauce (left). Nomnomnom!

1...

2...

3... TADA!!!
Sharkfin, Shrimp, and Pork Dumpling in Soup (boon tong gaow)
- Served with red vinegar

Steamed Molten Salted Egg Yolk and Custard Bun (laow sa bao) - they look cute!

Alas... the center is not molten at all  ( T_____T" ) 

Overall, everything was pretty average for Edmonton. My only complaints would be that the Pork and Shrimp Dumplings were not topped with real caviar, the Fried dumpling was a bit too greasy, the dumpling skin for the Soup Dumpling was way too thick and doughy, and that the Molten bun was not molten at all. In fact, the dough towards the center of the bun next to the filling was still a bit raw, so we ended up sending it back. I almost never send food back to a Chinese restaurant unless it is undercooked or gone bad, so trust me when I say it was pretty disgusting. If you want a good Molten Yolk and Custard bun, I'd highly recommend trying the one served at the dimsum restaurant over in the Howard Johnston Hotel in the West end.


Our bill came to about $35 before tip for two people, including two gingerales and an orange juice.


One thing I have to say to all dimsum lovers is that, you must try eating dimsum while drinking GINGERALE. There is something sooooo good about the combination. Try it out and let me know if you agree!




Beijing Restaurant
(780) 435-8833
#700, 3803 Calgary Trail
Edmonton, Alberta

Brewster's Brewing Company & Restaurant

The other day, MBear and I wanted to meet up for our usual late night chill session, so we decided to grab a bite and a drink at Brewsters. Turns out that the Wednesdays drink special is $1.50 off glasses of wine, which worked for us since we're both avid wine guzzlers. Wait, did I say guzzler? What I meant was, wine LOVER.


I had never heard of any of the wines on the list, so I just went with a Pinot grigio from the States ($5.55 on special) while MBear went for a Malbec ($6.55 on special). The Pinot grigio was nothing special, just a light citrus filled white easy drinker, whereas MBear's Malbec was overly woody.


Since I had already eaten, we picked an appetizer, the Lobster Artichoke Dip ($10.99), to share, while MBear ordered a steak sandwich, since she was craving meat.

Lobster Artichoke Dip

Steak sandwich + fries

The Lobster Artichoke dip was served with white corn tortillas and very cheesy. Now normally I'm not one to complain about cheese, and neither is MBear, but there was something overly creamy about this. On the bright side, it was filled with chunks of artichokes, but I can't say I saw much in terms of lobster (if only -__-;;). Also, there was a layer of tomato salsa underneath that didn't do much for the overall flavor. I probably wouldn't order this again.


MBear described the steak sandwich as "typical," (I didn't check the price unfortunately... ahhhh clearly new to the food blogging world @_@). Although she ordered it rare, it was done medium rare, which was an acceptable mistake, considering how hungry she was (being part ravenous, carnivorous tiger doesn't help either). It was served with whole sauteed button mushrooms, a single onion ring, and your choice of fries, soup, or salad. Toasted garlic bread was used for the sandwich, and she got extra mayo on the side for the fries (but of course!). 


She finished within the blink of an eye, which could be attributed to her being a monster, like me, or to the steak just being too damn small. I will go with the latter hehehe.


Our bill came to about $40 before tip. Perhaps I'm not the biggest pub food fan, so I probably wouldn't go out of my way to come here and eat, however, based on past experiences, their beer is rather tasty (well I suppose it should be seeing as they're a taphouse). If anything I'd definitely recommend coming here for their Raspberry Ale, served with fresh raspberries. Oh, and I guess I'll have to come back to review their wings for the next chapter in WING THROWDOWN!




Brewster's Brewing Company & Restaurant
2335 111 Street
(780) 429-4677
Edmonton, AB
(Other locations available)

Wings Throwdown!! pt. 1 - Wooly Bully's Pub

Back in my university days, my friends and I would religiously go for cheap wings every Tuesday or Wednesday, making it a goal to try every place that offered them. I'm not sure if it was just a fun excuse to relax and have a few beers, or because I genuinely love chicken wings, but I thought I might continue this mission and have a "WING THROWDOWN!"


As far as I know, these are the deals offered on chicken wings in Edmonton. In my research, I found out that there are deals almost every day, not just on Tuesday and Wednesday! Although this lists is not conclusive, it includes the major ones. And so, the mission begins!




Tuesdays:


Brewsters - 25 cent wings (4pm-close)
- Hot, honey garlic, S&P, sweet chili or Bow Valley BBQ.


Filthy McNasty's - 30 cent wings (3-8pm)
- Honey dill, honey hot, honey suicide, suicide

Original Joe's - 35 cent wings
- Hot, industrial strength, BBQ, honey garlic, teriyaki, S&P, greek, sweet chili, salt & vinegar, dill pickle, cajun, caribbean jerk, or shanghai.
- Terwillegar location does cheap wings on Monday instead!


Sawmill - 35 cent wings
- Hot, BBQ, cajun, plain, S&P, or sweet thai.
___________________________________________________


Wednesdays:


Earls - 1/2 price pound of wings (3pm-close)
- Hot, searing hot, or thai.


Hudson's Canadian Taphouse - 35 cent wings (6pm-close)
- Blazin, 4th degree, 3rd degree, sweet chili, sweet heat BBQ, ancho chipotle, red thai, baja BBQ, 2nd degree, maple BBQ, honey mustard, teriyaki, honey garlic, S&P.


The Pint - 30 cent wings
- Frank's Red hot, hot/spicy BBQ, BBQ, hotiyaki, pineapple curry, red thai, S&P, sweet chili, sweet chili heat, szechuan, teriyaki, or zesty ginger.

Wooly Bully's Pub - 30 cent wings

- Franks' Red hot, honey garlic, honey mustard, BBQ, S&P, lemon pepper, thai, sweet & sour, teriyaki, peanut, cajun, tex mex, curry, or plain.

___________________________________________________

Thursdays:


The Gas Pump - 19 cent wings (5-11pm)
- Hot, teriyaki, BBQ, or honey mustard.


Sawmill - 35 cent wings
- (see flavors above)
___________________________________________________


Saturdays: 


The Gas Pump - 19 cent wings (1-5pm)
- (see flavors above)
___________________________________________________


Sundays:


Dadeo's - 50 cent wings
- Hot, honey garlic, BBQ, or southern fried.
___________________________________________________




WINGS THROWDOWN!! pt. 1
Wooly Bully's Pub




In the past, Wooly Bully's Pub used to have incredibly cheap wings (only 15 cents!) considering it's convenient just off Whyte Avenue location and near University location, so I used to come here tons. Come Wednesday, my mom was craving chicken wings. so we decided to try out Wooly Bully's after a friend mentioned that she was there and it wasn't too busy.


There were only three tables sitting when we arrived, I'm not sure if it was because it was the first day of snow or if it was because of the hockey game, but all I could do was pray that it wasn't because the chicken wings were THAT bad... 


Keep in mind that this is very much a "bar" atmosphere, rather than a relaxing lounge.


The drink specials were pretty good:
- bottles of Budweiser for $3.50
- highballs for $3.75
- tequila shots for $4


They were all out of honey garlic, thai, and sweet&sour, so instead we decided on S&P, lemon pepper, Frank's Red hot, curry, peanut, teriyaki, BBQ, and honey mustard. Minimum order is 10 wings/flavor. 


The wings came out hot within 10-15 minutes, but not especially crispy. While I wouldn't say they were juicy, they definitely were not dry either. From the black bone marrow, you could tell that these were previously frozen wings, not fresh. The size of the wings varied between typical and large. 

Curry: A very mild Indian inspired curry, with barely any curry intensity. If one didn't know it was curry, it might have been a bit difficult to identify. The sauce was very thick, and as they cooled off, the consistency of the sauce made it seem as though the wings had been coated in a potato curry sauce.
Flavor rating: 4/10 


Lemon pepper: Lemon rind mixed with salt and pepper. Very lightly tossed, so the natural flavor of the wing could come through. I didn't mind this one because the lemon flavor helped balance out the fried taste.
Flavor rating: 7/10


Frank's Red hot: The usual, deep fried wings tossed in hot sauce. There was quite a bit of hot sauce, and since Frank's Red has a watery consistency to begin with, the wings got soggy really quickly. 
Flavor rating: 6/10

Salt & Pepper: Nothing much to say on these, not enough salt or fresh ground pepper.
Flavor rating: 4/10


Teriyaki: The sauce was really sweet, but didn't have the nice sweetness of honey or the richness of garlic that you would find in a typical honey garlic. Again, nothing special, but since I tend to like sweet wings, I didn't mind it. If you don't like sweet sauces, you'll hate this as it was sweet and way too saucy.
Flavor rating: 6/10


Peanut: OMG. These were DISGUSTING. I almost thought that the peanut sauce had gone rancid or something. The taste reminded me of rotting coconut milk or stale chips. I couldn't even finish one wing because they were so inedible. Everyone agreed that something tasted "off" as we all shared the same facial twist.
Flavor rating: -2/10 (SO bad they get a negative rating :\ )

BBQ: Too much sauce, and the sauce was too thick. Tasted like licking the back of a BBQ rib.
Flavor rating: 2/10


Honey mustard: Everyone agreed that these were pretty tasty, but I'm almost certain that they simply bought honey mustard sandwich spread and tossed the wings in them. Tasted like the honey mustard dip you get from McDonald's for your chicken nuggets! Oh well, can't mess with a good thing!
Flavor rating: 7/10


Final thoughts...
Size of wings: 7/10
Juiciness: 5/10
Crispiness: 2/10
Food value: 5/10


Service: 8/10
Drink value: 9/10


Overall: 6/10

It seems as though after you order 60 wings, the rest of the wings are only 20 cents each. I'm not sure if this was a mistake, but overall, not bad for 5 people considering how much we drank! I would probably come back here for a beer and maybe to snack, but I definitely wouldn't come here looking to get full on wings. 

Wooly Bully's Pub

8230 Gateway Boulevard

(780) 435-2866

Edmonton, AB

Finally... I < 3 NOM NOM!

"I <3 NOM NOM!"

Finally, a blog dedicated to one of my favorite past times... eating and cooking.

If you're wondering what NOM NOM means, it is the cute sound that is made when one is smiling and chowing down simultaneously. See below :3