Category: Edmonton

Coconut Whipped Cream

Tiramisu Bistro, Edmonton
March 7th, 2017

Colour: not quite golden
Flavour: savory 
Outside: needed more crisp
Inside: fluffy and tasty 
Toppings: coconut whipped cream

Dougie wants to thank special traveling guest, Denton, for joining her for this waffle. Denton has experience food blogging when he set out to document as many plates of nachos as he could in Halifax for: Eat This Town. Denton is also very well known for his impeccable fashion featuring loud prints! He is envied across the land and Edmonton misses him very much.

This waffle was a golden delight and the fresh fruit was a succulent bonus. Bananas and coconut are always a real winning pair. However, because the waffle lacked a crispy exterior there was too much syrup absorption causing the waffle to soften too quickly.

The bacon was excellent and came in a very generous portion!

Presentation was a treat for the eyes. See for yourself:

Coconut whipped cream with maple syrup was a surprising combination to consider in future breakfasts! Such synergy! 

3 Limes in the coconut and shake it all up! (this means it was good) – Denton

3.9/5 – Dougie

Game Changer

Gamer’s Lodge
February 19th, 2017

Welcome to The Gamer’s Lodge one of Edmonton’s board game cafes. Follow the rainbow flag into the cozy cafe and enjoy their selection of games and special community events not to mention their game inspired waffle menu! Moon Unit Alpha and Doug Unit Cypher, just a couple of extra regular hoomans seeking a sweet treat, settled into a corner of the cafe, browsed the games, and then got to the monkey business that brought them to the establishment: WAFFLES.

Doug Unit Cypher ordered the The Donkey Kong at Gamer’s Lodge and Moon Unit Alpha observed. The first thing Cypher noticed was the abundance of toppings:

  • Banana rum puree 
  • Whipped cream
  • Candied Pecans
  • Chocolate Sauce
  • AND sweet-spicy bacon

Each of the toppings was quite sweet as well. Ideally the savoury bacon would’ve balanced the flavour but the surplus of toppings were overpoweringly sweet. The waffle was fluffy but not crisp which means it had a weak topping barrier leading to a soggy waffle if one does not consume it quickly. It was the tasty treat the the Units were looking for but very nearly overkill for the visitors.

Rating:
2.5/5

PB&B Waffle

Clever Rabbit Vegetarian Cafe
January 29th, 2017

Clever Rabbit is one of 124th Street coziest cafes aided by their friendly neighbour Whitecourt Homeless Animal Rescue Foundation (WHARF). Clever Rabbit features a vegetarian, gluten free, and vegan menu of cafe classics including breakfast, burgers, baked goods and more. 

Dougie ordered the Peanut Butter and Banana Waffle and it was sweet, salty, and filling with the complimentary flavours of peanut butter and banana. The texture of the waffle was thicker and more like a banana bread than a light airy waffle. The highlight was the coconut cream sauce on top: holy bananas was it delicious! It was a quite a treat and Dougie suggests working up an appetite for the heavy, stick to your ribs, vegan meal.

After your comfort meal head over to WHARF and support the local animal rescue foundation. Also, you can cuddle some cats. It’s amazingly therapeutic. 

Rating:
A very filling 3.3/5

CanCon

Hudson’s Downtown
December 2016

Fun Time Douglas frequents gatherings called “Drink ‘n’ Draws” and the only draw back is: she is unable to draw. With friendly instruction she attends these gatherings regardless of her lack of skill and thoroughly enjoys the company of her talented friends. 

The chain restaurant Hudson’s is generally good at accommodating a large group, ideal for the Drink ‘n’ Draw, and this visit it featured a seasonal menu that included the still growing in popularity: Chicken and Waffles! So, once again the sweet savoury southern combo was ordered only this version had a “Canadian Twist” (Hudson’s does vigorously market itself as “Canada’s Pub” after all). 

So, here’s what happened:

The chicken and waffles were served hot out of the kitchen with a variety of toppings:

– Cinnamon sugar
– Whipped cream
– Maple chilli syrup (the “Canadian Twist”)

The waffle was too sweet. The maple chilli syrup was very, very tasty and had a great sweet heat to it. The cinnamon sugar seemed like overkill given the waffles already too sweet status. The whipped cream also seemed too sugary especially considering it’s sugar laden companions on the plate. Could’ve been more crisp and golden, in Fun Time Douglas’s opinion. The chicken was A-OK but nothing really stand-out. Pretty well exactly what you’d expect from a chain pub: serviceable. 

A crisp, savoury, golden waffle topped with maple chilli syrup and some very mildly sweetened whipped cream would have been on the mark for a great waffle.

Also, why is maple chilli considered Canadian? Chilli peppers originally hail from Mexico. Delicious syrup nonetheless. The following score hinges entirely on the syrup.

Rating:
Funtime Douglas: 2/5

Schrödinger’s Waffle

The Sugarbowl Cafe
December 8th, 2016

June of 2016 marks an important time in ISCoW (International Supreme Council of Waffles) history: the Calgary Waffle Club was formed. Expansion of waffle enthusiasm is a much celebrated event! Time and again, Dougie meets with the Calgary delegates, usually at Buttermilk Fine Waffles, but in December of 2016 a Calgary Waffle Club Delegate ventured up north and a meeting was held.

The Director and Dougie met at one of the University of Alberta’s popular watering hole/eateries: The Sugarbowl. Always a cozy experience (read: small restaurant with constant clientele) the duo of wafflers shared a table with a pair of strangers and their meals were ordered: The Chicken and Waffles.

The Director would like the preface the following review with: what came first? The Chicken or the waffle? Obviously the living breathing chickens of the universe came first but I this question intrigues culinary minds to track the history of fried chicken, of waffles, and of their eventual partnership in the now seemingly trendy dish of Chicken and Waffles. If you must know you should read about Southern United States cooking.

Now, we dish:

The waffle was soft, perhaps too soft, on it’s own. The chicken was: engaging. The watermelon salsa that it was served with was insane on the taste buds really levelling up the chicken, with the waffle, with the salsa. Commendations for the combo.

The chicken and the waffle were perfectly integrated, The Director stated, it was as if the chicken could not exist without the waffle and the waffle could not exist without the chicken to accomplish the flavour that was experienced. This chicken and this waffle existed in the same quantum superposition… Or something.

Overall, the waffle was mediocre but excellent chicken and surprising salsa topping made this dish soar.

Ratings rang out ditto and likewise:

Dougie & The Director: 4.5/5 as the complete dish. 3.3/5 for the waffle alone.

Exposing Critical Bill To A New Concept

The Common
November 15th, 2016

Fun Time Douglas, Critical Bill, and Magnum PI set out on a cool November night for dinner and ended up at the hip downtown joint: The Common. Chicken and waffles was on the menu and Bill revealed that he’s never had the classic, and suddenly trendy, combination of fried chicken and waffles. So, here we go…

This post is going be done in Critical Bill’s own style: brief, no bullshit, and full of expletives.

Critical Bill: Waffle ok. Best when hot, the quality disintegrated with time. Whatever the fuck that berry shit was it was good. Chicken ok. Juicy. Butter was top flight. Combo of all the components was pretty tasty. Maybe not sold on the concept and my cocktail went all wrong! Company kept was superb. Wouldn’t have my waffles any other way than with good fucking company.

Fun Time Douglas: it was too dark to take a picture of the waffles. Just imagine a round waffle cut into it’s quadrants, stacked on their side, served with two pieces of fried chicken, a pad of butter placed on top, and that “berry shit*” on the side (*a blackberry compote, I think, and it was in fact quite good).

Fun Time Douglas agrees that the combination of flavours was pretty tasty with the juicy chicken raising the profile of this waffle.

Our guest, Magnum PI, commented: it was just a pleasure to behold the ISCoW founding members at work.

3.6/5 – Fun Time Douglas
3.3.3/5 Critical Bill also shown as 3.299999

美味しい – oishii

Kazoku
November 2016

Dougie has a confession to make.

Though this is blog dedicated to waffles she has to admit her deep love of noodles. Rice noodles, pasta noodles, buckwheat noodles, zucchini noodles, sweet potato noodles, cold noodles, instant noodles, hot noodles, deep fried noodles, udon noodles, spicy noodles, all of the noodles.

Anyways, Dougie and smoonie went out for noodles. Ramen noodles. Ramen joints have also exploded in popularity and Dougie says, “noodle on”.

Okay, Dougie got to make her confession… But, so what? Why do YOU, oh faithful Waffle Log Blog readers, care? Well, much to the surprise of Dougie and her noodle-companion, smoonie, there was a waffle on the dessert menu! What an unexpected treat! Noodles and waffles together at last!

Dougie and smoonie had spent an intensive day dealing with mouse-abatement in a hundred year old basement so they worked up a significant appetite. So, after devouring a bowl of the best ramen in town, they were still eagerly anticipating dessert waffles.

The “Waffle Yaki” came out: two golden waffles stuffed with sweet red bean paste, drizzled with chocolate, and topped with ice cream The waffles were a touch too soft but excellent flavor: that ideal balance of sweet and savory batter. The red bean added a nice semi sweet flavour and luscious texture to the dessert. This waffle is at it’s prime when when hot n’ fresh. Also, Dougie and smoonie would like to note that it was an excellent compact waffle, an appropriate portion, and had a strong presentation game; it was a feast for the eyes too.

The owner was very proud of their homemade and made to order status. It wasn’t lost on the Sylvias.

Rating:
4/5 Dougie
3.5/5 smoonie 

Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes*

Canteen
November 5th, 2016

124th Street in Edmonton is peppered with a variety of trendy, new, local, casual, and quaint eateries. One such place is Canteen and Sly had, despite living nearby, never visited the restaurant. So, when smoonie and Suz made the brunch call Sly dropped what she was doing to meet them for a most welcome Saturday date.

Sly ordered the Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Waffle with toppings that change from week to week. We’ll get to that.

The waffle had a good sweet/savory balance of flavour and the interior was light, fluffy, even cloud-like in texture. This made for a agreeable brunch, not too heavy, so one could carry on with busy Saturday activities. The exterior, however, lacked that golden crisp that Sly loves from a waffle. Please note, that crispy and crunchy are entirely different qualifiers. A crunchy waffle would be a burnt disaster, Sly imagines. Much preferred is that oh-so thin and delicate golden crisp.

Let’s talk toppings.

Wow! Coconut carrot yogurt drizzled on top with almonds were so flavourful and mouth-wateringly good. The juicy chicken combined with the sauce and waffle was quite the treat. Chicken and waffles seem to be appearing on dozens of menus but Sly can say with confidence that Canteen has a unique take on the dish elevating the flavours beyond the sum of their parts.

smoonie ordered the Huevos Rancheros and revelled in the tasty meal. Suz got the flapjacks. Sly silently judged the pancakes but Suz said they were delicious. 

Ratings:
3.5/5

*I was unable to enter an establishment called Canteen without humming this…

MEAT for Breakfast

Place: MEAT, Edmonton
August 22nd, 2016

In 2016 The Brunch Crew was going strong with bunches of Sunday brunches that would often spiral into Sunday Fundays. However, this isn’t a Sunday Funday blog. Those adventures shall remain responsibly undocumented except for the fond memories.

The dollop of fluffy whipped butter took centre stage on this waffle while the waffle itself was a reliable, raw sugar infused, vehicle for the toppings. Crisp, golden, and quite the sweet treat. The sugar in the batter was an excellent companion to the rich and juicy fried chicken. The chicken was, as you might expect from a restaurant called MEAT, well crafted and incredibly delicious.

The only less than amazing comment Dougie to be made about these waffles is that they were, perhaps, too heavy on the inside lacking that light fluffy interior that the ISCoW adores.

The savoury seasoning on the chicken with the nearly candied waffle and rosemary maple syrup made a handsome and delicious pair.

Additionally, the beverages were of note: a black coffee, a tall glass of water, and a bourbon caesar. Quite the combination for a Sunday Funday.

Rating: 4.7/5

Brunching Down

Place: Daravara, Edmonton
November 29th,  2015

Fun Time Douglas and Even More Fun Time Douglas spent the weekend of November 29th, 2015 in secret studio mode crafting a covert birthday present for their Mother. When the sisters finally emerged from their seclusion of the darkroom and print studio they boisterously brunched together at Daravara.

Fun Time Douglas had recently tried the lunch-dinner menu’s clubhouse waffle-which and upon realizing the difficulty of comparing a savory chicken and waffles meal to a breakfast waffle she was enthusiastic to try the pub’s sweeter brunch fare.

The buttermilk butter was all aces in flavour, what an ingenious idea. The sister’s agreed the exterior of the waffle could’ve used that extra light crispy finesse as the waffle was a touch soft although not at all soggy. The customary side of bacon was of another calibur: thick cut, smoky, crispy, and bursting with bacon flavour.

The break for sustenance was very enjoyable, Daravara has great atmosphere, the friendliest of staff, and they know how to knock out some pretty tasty waffles: sweet and savory.

Rating:

3.5/5