BATTLE Bun Bo Hue - Calgary Trail Noodle House

Bun bo hue is one of my favorite Vietnamese noodle soups, and thus I have been on an adventure to find the BEST Bun bo hue.


Bun bo hue's Story:


A Vietnamese noodle soup made using beef bones as the primary protein. It originated from Hue in Central Vietnam, and is predominantly flavored with lemon grass and chili. It is usually served with thick rice vermicelli, topped with sliced beef shank, sliced or whole pork hock, Vietnamese sausage, pork blood (optional), and oxtail if you're lucky. When served, it is common to add bean sprouts, lime, cilantro, green onion, and finely sliced banana blossom (usually substituted with cabbage). Shrimp paste is often added, however, it is usually quite subtle, compared to other crab/shrimp based soups.






Calgary Trail Noodle House:


Normally I will refuse to go to Calgary Trail Noodle House, simply because it seriously lacks consistency. Based on my experiences, when the good chef is present, food is amazing, however, when the food is cooked  by anybody else, it's pretty disappointing.


I dropped by the other day since I was craving Vietnamese food and happened to be in the area.


SURPRISE!! I ordered the Bun bo hue, and it was one of the BEST Bun bo hue broths I've ever had in Edmonton! Now I don't know how it tastes on a bad day, but I considered myself lucky and happily nomnomed all the way to the bottom of the bowl. ^____^V

The chili oil on the surface of the soup had chopped lemon grass in it!

The toppings were typical - It was served with beef shank,Vietnamese sausage, and a few slices of pork hock, but no pork blood. Also, no banana blossom (almost no restaurant in Edmonton serves it), but not even chopped cabbage!

Beef shank on the left, Vietnamese sausage slices on the right

The broth was very lemon grassy with a thick layer of fragrant lemon grass infused chili oil and the noodles were cooked perfectly al dente. The sweetness of pork bone could be tasted in the broth, as well as the pungency of crab paste.


If I can somehow figure out who the good chef at this joint is and when he or she is working, I'll definitely be back!

I love to NOMNOM Bernard Callebaut!

No foodie would be complete unless they fully appreciated the brilliance that is good quality chocorate.

Bernard Callebaut never disappoints, and is always worth every penny. 

My godfather knows I love it, so look at what he bought me!

Even the wrapping is pretty!! 

Unwrapped...

As precious as gold

AHHHHH LOOK AT ALL DEM CHOCORATES!!! 

So beautiful... NOW GET IN MA BELLY!!!!

I LUB MA PINE-APPOWS!

I do love my pineapples... especially when they're freshly cut! Look at them shine under the warm sun...

The trick is to cut them when they're almost about to mold!

Homemade PHO!!!

Home made <3 PHO <3 aka Vietnamese noodle soup!! 

phở bò

The broth for pho is supposed to be a rich, clear stock flavored with a number of seasonings, many of which reflect the French influence on the dish. 

It is made with either beef, phở bò, or chicken, phở gà, however, I usually play around with different types of bones, combining beef, chicken, or pork, to get the flavor I prefer. 

(I KNOW, this technically take it out of the pho category, but hey, what fun is it if you don't play around in the kitchen? Anyway, I  grew up on pho that was always a combination of beef and chicken, so that's how I like it best. ''^___^)

For this pot, I used pork neck bones, oxtail, beef bones, and beef flank for the soup base, then seasoned with whole onion, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, cloves, black cardamom, coriander seeds, star anise, black pepper, palm sugar, cinnamon, and liquorice root. I then served it with fresh rice noodles, thinly sliced rare sirloin, thick slices of flank, and pork balls, before garnishing with roughly chopped green onions, cilantro, bean sprouts, Thai basil, and a squeeze of lemon.

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOMMMMMM!!!!

I'll be posting a step-by-step soon!

XOXO

- nattycat

Pharos Pizza - Blast from the Past, RE-OPENED!!!

Pharos Pizza, of amazing deep dish, 4 cheese blend, spinach pizza fame, originally located next to the Garneau Theatre where Transcend Coffee currently resides, has finally re-opened!

Time to go check if those secret recipes taste as good as I remember :3

15120 Stony Plain Road, on top of The Haven Social Club

http://pharospizza.com/index.html

Vons Steakhouse and Oyster Bar

DID JUU KNOW?


Vons Steakhouse and Oyster Bar has Buck A Shuck oysters in their lounge during happy hour, Monday to Friday and Sunday (4:30-6:30pm), and Friday late night (after 10:00pm)!! 


West Coast oysters for $1, and East Coast oysters for $2.


Considering that their oysters range around $30/dozen, this is an insane deal, and a delicious one. Von's is the only oyster bar I know of in Edmonton, offering 15+ varieties. Does anybody know of any others?


Check em out! 

They serve their oysters on a bed of ice with fresh shaved horseradish or house made cocktail sauce!

When we went, the oysters were all freshly shucked, and delicious! Bonus points for our server being very knowledgeable about the different varietals - including how large they were, which ones were most popular, which ones were sweeter vs brinier, etc.


http://vonssteakhouse.com/index.php

Bangkok Restaurant - HOTPOT!

Front entrance to Bangkok Restaurant

There are only a handful of good hotpot restaurants in Edmonton, and Bangkok Restaurant is easily one of the better ones. Granted, the location and the decor leave something to be desired, but anybody who has tried their Satay soup base cannot argue that it is hands down, THE BEST. It's spicy, peanuty, coconutty and just has that je ne sais quoi that makes it stand out.


Most hotpot places in Edmonton offer ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT, and Bangkok offers theirs for $17.95, in a buffet style.






The Low Down on HOTPOT!
(Also known as steam boat, shabu shabu, any other names?)


If you have never tried hotpot, it is basically Oriental style fondue, except that different types of broth are used in place of oil, chocolate, cheese, etc. As well, the ingredients used are much more diverse, and although there are a number of essential items, many of the ingredients are selected on the basis of personal preference. In general, expect assorted sliced meat (beef being the most popular), assorted meat balls (fish, squid, beef, you name it!), seafood, noodles, and veggies. Depending on the type of soup base, you will also have a flavorful dip used to dip cooked items before nomming.

Table set up ^___^ // nom nom nom!

Most restaurants will offer a pot with two sides, so that you can choose two different soup broths. As far as I know, Bangkok Restaurant only offers regular chicken broth and their Satay, so of course we got both. Most people tend to like each type of broth for cooking different items, so it's uncommon to only have one type of broth.

All the sauces for you to play with :3

Unless you goto a hotpot restaurant where the soup base is intended to be salty and flavorful enough, there will always be an area for you to create your own dipping sauce.


Bangkok has a good selection, and their house made XO  sauce (an oil based sauce containing dried scallop, dried Chinese ham, and fried garlic) is actually so popular that they sell it by the jar. Their satay sauce is also a must try, and I believe they make it in house as well, but I'm not sure on that. The fried garlic oil is also made in house, and incredibly good. Every other sauce is fairly common in any hotpot restaurant, however, since Bangkok is Vietnamese owned, the sauces are skewed toward Vietnamese flavors, which I personally like alot. ^__^V Play around until you get the right mix!


All the ingredients offered in their buffet are as follows. Everything is usually very fresh, however, due to the popularity of the sliced beef, you might have to wait for refills on it.

Apparently tong ho choi is also known as "edible Chrysanthemum" (the flower!). Who knew! Unfortunately, I only know that choi sum directly translates to "vegetable heart", and usually refers to this specific vegetable, which my friend actually grows in the summer time :3


Bangkok also serves an assortment of Asian beverages that go well with hotpot, and are meant to be "cooling'' in contrast to the heat of the hotpot. Beer is probably my favorite drink with hotpot, which they also offer a large variety of. I like sticking with the beers native to South Eastern Asia, as they're usually made to be enjoyed with spicy food.

Dessert table! <3 <3 <3

And who could forget about dessert?! Don't skip it, they're worth trying. Most are of Vietnamese and Thai origin, and taste good mixed together.


Bangkok is definitely one of my favorite go-to's when I'm too lazy to get all the ingredients for hotpot, and the fact that they're open late is definitely a plus! Til midnight daily and til 2am on Friday and Saturday.


The only other advice I will offer is, DO NOT GO IF YOU HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE IMPORTANT AFTER!!! Hotpot is generally a smelly endeavor since you are basically cooking while you eat, but I find that Bangkok in particular has a really poor ventilation system. You will smell like meat and broth and all sorts of tasty things, but that might not be what you're going for if you're about to hit a party or the bar...

Yokozuna, Whitemud Crossing

I know, I know, I've been negligent! Sorry guys, I have tons of reviews and food porn coming up!




Yokozuna is a family run Japanese restaurant that currently has three locations in Edmonton: the original at Whitemud crossing, one on the University of Alberta campus, and one at Riverbend Square. The one I tend to favor is the one at Whitemud crossing, because I've found this location to be the most consistent with the overall food and service.


We usually go for dinner, and this time, we decided to go for a light dinner before a big night out. We didn't want to end up too full, so we decided to stay not to order any maki or nigiri. Instead, we ordered an Assorted Sashimi (Medium), Oyster Ponzu, and a Sukiyaki Udon.


It was a busy Friday night, so the Sukiyaki Udon actually arrived first, which is a bit unusual because noodle dishes are usually served after sushi or sashimi, because it is meant to finish off your meal. I assume it was because it was so busy that the sushi bar was being annihilated - this is not unusual at Yokozuna, in fact, if you see a busy restaurant, I'd highly suggest getting your order as quickly as possible if you're hungry, because there's only ever two sushi chefs working, even on the busiest nights!


If you must order any of the soup udon dishes, I'd highly recomment the Sukiyaki Udon (and yes, being the noodle fiend I am, I have actually tried them all ^___^). The soup is beef based, and quite a bit sweeter as Sukiyaki would imply. It's served with thin beef slices, sui choi (Chinese cabbage), spinach, firm tofu, naruto (the white slices with a pink swirl in them - they're sort of like a fish/squid sausage), broccoli, carrots, and a generous topping of green onions. Perfect, as usual, in other words, we both couldn't help but fight for the soup at the end!

Sukiyaki Udon

Next, the Oyster Ponzu arrived. Again, SO good. I know this is a simple dish, but as we all know even better, the simpler a dish is, the harder it is to do just right. The oysters were perfectly fried, crispy to the point of being crunchy without being overcooked, which allowed it to hold up the crunch even when soaked in ponzu sauce. Served with paper thin onions, green onions, wakame (seaweed), spicy minced daikon, and ponzu. Yokozuna does a fantastic ponzu, the perfect balance of saltiness from the soy and sourness from the citrus and vinegar. We love it so much, that we will often order extra ponzu to dip other things in!

Oyster Ponzu

The last item to arrive was the medium Assorted Sashimi, and it was well worth the wait. The items included are:


- Salmon (sake)
- Albacore tuna (maguro)
- Shrimp (ebi)
- Surfclam (hokkigai)
- Red snapper (tai)
- Octopus (tako)
- Scallop (hotate)
- Mackerel, topped with minced ginger and green onion (saba)

Medium Assorted Sashimi
From left to right:
Top: Tuna, Salmon, Shrimp
Middle: Surfclam, Red snapper, Octopus
Bottom: Scallop, Wasabi, Mackerel

All the sashimi was very fresh, but I have to give extra praise to the mackerel (saba) at Yokozuna. Normally mackerel can be very fishy, and needs to be marinated in a very specific ratio of sugar to vinegar as well as being incredibly fresh in order to be enjoyable. 


Every time we come, I'm always tempted to order an extra order of saba sushi! Normally, I'm a tuna belly (toro) sushi fanatic, but I find that Yokozuna cuts their tuna belly too close to the rest of the tuna filet, resulting in the overall taste being less buttery, which defeats the purpose for me.

Close up of the silver skinned Mackerel

Again, another good meal at Yokozuna. I come so often that the servers recognize me and I know how they work, but if you're new to Yokozuna, you might find the service a bit slow. Just let them know if you're in a rush or if you need anything, they're always happy to help. That being said, don't expect the items from the sushi bar to come quickly if they're busy, because they never sacrifice quality just to get items out quickly in my experience!




Yokozuna Whitemud Crossing
http://www.yokozunarestaurant.ca/