Queen of Tarts - Pop Up Dinner

Queen of Tarts (update Mar 2012: now known as Dauphine Bakery and Bistro)
10129 104 St
780-421-4410

Queen of Tarts is a relatively new bakery/cafe downtown that focuses on using local and organic ingredients. The sit-down portion of the restaurant only seats a dozen or so people, but they have many take away items available. I've tried some of their baked goods in recent months and they've kept me wanting more. They've recently started hosting Pop-Up Dinners and we went to their second ever dinner this past weekend. For $45, we dined on a 3-course meal.

A Gulf prawn amuse-bouche preceded our meal. It was served with a roasted red pepper rouille topped with alfalfa sprouts. This was a delightful prelude to dinner and it got me excited for what would come next. The prawn was carefully cooked without being overdone and the rouille was quite tasty with a strong presence of roasted pepper flavor. I mopped up the remnant sauce with a morsel of buckwheat bread.

We got a plate full of 3 varieties of bread: slices of buckwheat bread, buttery brioche, and gougere. The brioche was oh so flaky and it was filled with a small dollop of mushroom pate. I thought this was yummy but the gougere was even better. The dough had cheese baked into it and they were bites of savoury goodness. Apparently they sell these in their bakery on weekends, but I'd like to try to make some of these myself. The buckwheat bread was unremarkable in comparison.

Left to right: cheesy gougere, buckwheat slices, and buttery brioche

The next course was a fennel and orange soup. Before tasting the soup, the name didn't seem to appeal to me very much. The actual taste wasn't much better. It was overall kind of bland but orangey with a subtle hint of fennel. It was also too thin for my liking. It would have been better if it had some chunks in it or if it was thickened by some kind of starch.

The main course was a roasted organic chicken served on top of wilted greens with crunchy hazelnuts, currants, and pieces of pain de campagne (similar to sourdough bread). A large piece of cooked lemon wedge also accompanied the plate. The menu description didn't mention any lemon so this was a bit of a surprise, especially for Andrew as he's not a fan of the fruit. The vegetables were overly seasoned with lemon juice (it was even too much for a lemon lover like me) and I found that they could have been further cooked. The chicken was seasoned but nothing more. We both thought that the roasted chicken from a supermarket deli was much tastier. My piece of chicken had bright pink near the bone on one end, but on the other end, it was overcooked and dry.

Unexpectedly lemony

For dessert, we had a chocolate tart. More specifically, it was the Longboat Porter tart au chocolat. The chocolate filling was rich and velvety smooth. Andrew found it to be too chocolatey and ate only the crust. I am not normally a fan of crusts but the ones from Queen of Tarts I have always loved. The tart was topped with creme fraiche and a slice of apricot-resembling persimmon. I thought that regular whipped cream would have worked better with the dark chocolate.

I wonder what the Longboat porter tastes like on its own

They had a choice of two white wines and two red wines on their menu tonight, and the 2010 Petit Le Vieux from the Okanagan piqued my curiosity. It was a refreshing and fruity wine that suited tonight's meal.

I thought that this meal was a big disappointment compared to the baked goods I've had from Queen of Tarts in the past. These pop-up dinners bring in guest chefs for the evening but I'm not sure where tonight's chef came from. The items that were notably from the bakery were excellent, however. But overall I would have to give this meal 2/5.

Wine Tasting - U of A Faculty Club

 The U of A Faculty Club has been hosting wine tastings for many years now and this is the first time I've attended. Every November and January, they have a formal event hosted by sommelier William Bincoletto of Vines Wine Merchants. This past Friday, eight different wines from the Dominio del Plata vineyard in Argentina were featured.

Stacey and Emily ready to sample wine

I was quite excited for the tasting, as I wanted to try different grape varieties from Argentina other than the typical malbecs you find everywhere. We sampled almost all of the wines from the Crios label: torrontes, rose, malbec, syrah-bonarda, and cabernet sauvignon. Malbecs from the Zohar, Ben Marco, and Susana Balbo lines were also on the list. We started off with the light wines: torrontes and rose (2010). I actually didn't enjoy either of them. The torrontes was citrusy and dry, but I didn't like the acidic finish. The rose was also too full bodied for my liking.

Wine pairings

Next we moved onto the reds, starting with the 2010 Zohar Malbec. It smelled strong, but had a very light taste that I quite enjoyed. This wine was aged in stainless steel rather than oak barrels which contributed to the overall light body.

The 2009 Crios Malbec was something 6/7 people at our table didn't enjoy. We might have been the only table out of 25 who put our hands up when William asked if anyone didn't like this wine, which made him come over to our table to give us drinking instructions. He stared at Leeann and directed her to take a big bite of strong cheese, and while the cheese was still in her mouth, to take a sip of the wine. He asked her if the wine tasted better with the cheese, to which she nodded agreeingly so that the attention would no longer be on our table. With or without food, we still didn't like this wine.

Leeann avidly taking notes - you'd think she was cramming for an exam!

We made our way to the more full-bodied wines: the 2008 Syrah-Bonarda and Cabernet Sauvignon. Both were okay - oaky, but nothing spectacular. The 2008 Ben Marco Malbec, however was wonderful. I've had this wine before as it is one of the malbecs on the Faculty Club wine list. It's a very smooth and velvety wine that goes well with a wide range of foods.

Lastly, we finished off with the 2008 Susana Balbo Late Harvest Malbec. This wine was a pleasant surprise. I have never heard of nor tried a red dessert wine up until now. This red is meant to be served slightly chilled and pairs well with chocolate (not that we had any to eat with the wine). I'm not normally a fan of dessert wines, but I liked my small portion of this wine because of the novelty.

My top two picks: 2008 Ben Marco Malbec ($28.99) and 2010 Zohar Malbec ($21.99)

The Faculty Club wine tasting is a popular event attended by approximately 200 people. A variety of cheeses, fruits, crackers, and breads are served to pair with the wines and there are abundant wine-related door prizes.

Garson's prize: Koonunga Hill Chardonnay and a Crios corkscrew

Andrew's winning

I would be happy return to a future tasting night if anyone else wants to go. The next one will be featuring cabernet sauvignons and will be on January 13. Tickets go for $22.50 each and sell out quickly, so if you're interested, let me know as soon as you can!

Remnants of wine

The end of the night

Syphay

Syphay Restaurant
6010 104 St
780-438-8338

Located in a sketchy looking building on Calgary Trail, Syphay is a cozy restaurant with food to die for. We decided to go on a Friday night at about 5:30. Having been there before and knowing how busy it can get, I called ahead to see if they would have room for us, and they did! The person on the phone also ended up being our server and she was very friendly, attentive and efficient.

Andrew gave me full control over ordering our meal this evening. I chose the Yum Vermicelli salad with chicken ($13.95), Phanang Curry with beef ($15.95), Pad Thai with chicken ($15.95), along with an order of coconut rice ($3.50).

My platter of food - sorry for the poor quality iPhone pics!

The Yum Vermicelli was yum. This salad was served warm and consisted of vermicelli mixed with pieces of chicken, finely shredded cucumber, carrot, red onion and mint. It was topped with cilantro and peanuts and dressed with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce. I thought the dish was very delightful, and I would describe it as warm, sweet, and spicy. The cucumbers in the salad were quite refreshing and made for a nice, light dish. I found that there was excess sauce in the dish but that was not a problem as I ate it with coconut rice after.

Yum Vermicelli

Next came the rest of our meal. The Phanang Curry and Pad Thai were also both warm, sweet and spicy. In addition, the coconut milk in the curry added much creaminess to the sauce. This dish tasted wonderful with coconut rice. The veggies included in this curry were bell peppers, broccoli and snow peas. The only bad thing I found was that there was too much broccoli in the curry and they were cut into large chunks. Since the place settings did not include knives, it was hard to eat. The coconut milk in the curry, as in many curry dishes, added a lot of richness and so it felt quite heavy as I was eating seconds of the curry.

Phanang Curry

Pad Thai is always one of my favorite Thai dishes. Syphay does there's exceptionally well and had perfect proportions of spicy and sweet in the sauce. The other add-ins (bean sprouts, eggs, carrots, chives, peanuts, and cilantro) were all well-balanced.

Pad Thai

We had a ton of food leftover, but that wasn't a problem as it still tasted delicious the next day! When our server took away our food to pack up, she also asked us if we wanted an order of coconut rice to take home. That's the sign of either efficient upselling or having a good understanding of what customers want. Thai food is something we both enjoy, but we don't seem to eat it often enough. We had a very positive experience at Syphay and we will not hesitate to return.

5/5

IHOP - All You Can Eat!

IHOP
3921 Calgary Trail

I signed up for the IHOP Pancake Revolution where upon joining, you get a free meal. You also get another free meal on you birthday, and another one on the one year anniversary of signing up! As a result of joining, I get some promotional e-mails from IHOP as well. For example, this month I got an e-mail informing me that it was "All-you-can-eat pancakes for the entire month of October!".

I went with one of my buffet-worshipping friends, Garson. The AYCE menu involved various combinations that consisted of either bacon, sausage, or ham with eggs and hashbrowns. I chose the Sausage & Eggs Combo for $11.99 and Garson had the Ultimate Bacon & Sausage Combo ($12.79).

Sausage & Eggs Combo (4 sausages, hashbrowns, and 2 eggs - mine were poached)

 

Bacon and Sausage Combo

With the AYCE deal, 2 buttermilk pancakes initially come with the meal. The refills come on a plate of 3 each until your face is stuffed. I loved my combo - the hashbrowns were made of shredded potatoes formed into a patty and fried until the outside is crispy. The sausages are also one of a kind, and I asked for my eggs poached as I rarely have poached eggs at home. You also get a choice of Tabasco sauce, ketchup and HP sauce as condiments for the meal, along with 4 types of syrups: old fashioned, butter pecan, strawberry, and blueberry. My go-to toppings for my hashbrowns are Tabasco and ketchup, with blueberry syrup on the pancakes.

Buttermilk pancakes doused with blueberry-flavored syrup

Garson also tried one of the IHOP splashers in splashberry. At the bottom of the glass was a layer of deep red strawberries topped with sprite and orange juice. It was fruity, yet refreshing, with a hint of carbonation.

Fruity Splashberry drink

My usual order at IHOP is one of the flavored pancake combos (the cinn-a-stack is amazing!), but I felt the need to try the AYCE. It was good, but nothing can beat the Pick-A-Pancake combo! By the way, I ate a measly 3 pancakes compared to Garson's 7.

I was very impressed by the service this evening, though I find that each time I go there, the servers have been top-notch. I always feel welcomed there and the waitstaff is always on their A-game. Way to go!

4/5

La Poutine - Review

La Poutine
8720 109 St

I love poutine, therefore La Poutine was a place I wanted to try. Kristen and I went upon recommendations by her coworkers. She said that they had mentioned that the cheese curds squeaked as they bit down on them, meaning that they were fresh and authentic.

I decided to stick with the traditional poutine (gravy and curds) with the traditional gravy. The traditional gravy is what they normally use in Montreal. It's spiced with herbs and is vegan. My first few bites were good, but the more I ate of the poutine, the more I noticed that the fries were very dry on the inside, even though they were generously coated with gravy. The curds were squeaky against my teeth, which I thought was kinda cool, and they had a nice flavor to them.The traditional gravy was also a bit tangy and reminded me of the dipping sauce at Swiss Chalet (something I'm not particularly fond of). I then tried some of Kristen's poutine with the beef gravy and I found that to be much better tasting.

Small traditional poutine with traditional gravy ($5.95)

The poutines range in price from $5.95 (small traditional) to $11.50 (large meat lovers). The small is the same size as a small square styrofoam takeout container. Large comes in a rectangular sized container.  Instead of using styrofoam containers, however, they serve their poutines in containers made from compostable sugar cane fiber, bagasse.

There was seating for no more than 12 and it was in a tight configuration. We got there at about quarter to twelve on a Monday thinking that it would get quite busy closer to noon. However, it didn't. While there were over a dozen different types of poutine to choose from, there was a rather limited section of canned and bottle drinks (water, orange juice, Pepsi/Diet Pepsi, 7-up, and Nestea).

The only part of the poutine I truly enjoyed were the cheese curds. While I appreciate the flavor of the fresh hand-cut fries, I found them to be very dry and almost unpalatable the more I ate. I'm glad I gave the place a try, but I will likely not return. I would much rather have poutine from Costco for a fraction of the price.

2/5

Other notes: only cash and debit are accepted.