La Persaud Bistro

I was invited to come here by my good pal Doug (author of the blog foodmatterstome) and a couple other friends Siah and Cian. Doug had a $100 gift certificate which he graciously shared between the four of us. Cian had arrived first and he stated he stood up at the front awkwardly (since there is a lack of waiting area) without even being acknowledged for over 5 minutes despite us having a reservation.

Ice water and bread was promptly served as we took a look over the menus. The selection was quite limited with only a handfull of appetizer and entree options. We ended up ordering a Nicose salad and beef tartare to start. We were quickly greeted with an amuse bouche of potato veloute (pretentious word for cream based soup) and crustini. Free stuff is always pleasant and it had a nice seasoning to it.
 

The beef tartare was very average. I much prefer it from other locations in Edmonton such as The Marc. This one lacked any strong flavor and the pickle taste I like. The Nicoise salad was similar to the one I had in France consisting of seared tuna, sardines, egg, and greens - not a fan of the overal textures and flavors here (probably a personal bias).

For our entrees Cian had the duck confit with rolled onions and potato and the three of us ordered steak Béarnaise. The duck was presented nicely and had a good flavor and was tender and juicy. Served on a bed of I'm not even/can't remember though I remember it tasting bloody...

The steaks all came out all horribly overdone. We had ordered rare, med-rare, and med and what we got was med-well, well-done, and dryed out over done - mine unfortunately =[. The waitress did not ask if they were cooked right for over 10 minutes as we picked at our fries and salad. Finally when she came over she told us it was going to be a 45 minute wait for new steaks which after some grumbling we agreed to. Soon after the manager came over and again asked us if we were "sure" we wanted them recooked since the kitchen was backed up. Puzzled since she offered no real solution (other than eat these poorly cooked steaks) we looked at each other and still said yes. At this point I was quite frustrated, for a place that claims to be fine dining a over or under steak should result in a rapid refire and an apology at the very least, let alone a 45 minute wait in an empty restaurant to flash cook 8 minute steaks. At least be close to the correct temperature but these were just so far gone. Finally the food came and the waitress apologized about a grumpy kitchen. When it was cooked properly it was an average steak at best and the Béarnaise sauce just reminded me of Hollindaise sauce and I barely used it.

All and all the food was not terrible in itself but considering the price and laughable service I would not recommend La Persaud even with a $100 gift certificate. Each entree was $30 and the appetizers were about $15 each. Verdict: 65/100.

KFC Zinger

So my good buddy Eric told me about a deal to get some free KFC Zinger sandwiches FREE with the purchase of a beverage (a copy can be found here; expires Oct 7, 2012). I am a KFC man though KFC is no longer a super cheap option for a quick bite. The toonie Tuesday has escalated to $2.99 and the other menu combo items are all $7-9; I would rather just buy value meal items for $1.39 at Mcdonalds. A bit of back story on the new menu item KFC Zinger; it was initially supposed to be a form of the double down just spicy but the backlash from a "sandwich" with 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and 1,740 milligrams of sodium was too much here in Canada. Thus the Zinger Sandwich was introduced. What it's supposed to look like:

According to the website the KFC Zinger is "marinated in our hot & spicy seasoning for full flavor, then double breaded by hand for extra crunch ... top[ped] it with crisp lettuce, all served on a toasted sesame seed kaiser bun" and features a 2HOT4U spicy mayo sauce. What it actually looked like:

To be honest it was pretty good. The chicken was soft and spiced in itself and the mild (definitely not "2HOT4U" sauce) mayo added good flavor (and not overly spread onto the chicken). At this particular location the lettuce was actually crisp too which was nice. I would probably buy this again even without the coupon if I ever found myself at KFC and not in the mood for popcorn chicken or a bucket. Verdict: 80/100.

Hundred Bar and Kitchen

I had heard many mixed reviews about Hundred but I had purchased a groupon and finally decided to go try it out. The atmostphere they claim to have is a "seductive nightlife" and I guess dim lighting (so dim the couple beside us asked for our table candle so they could read their menus!!) and dressed up staff in all black reflect this. We were promptly sat and unfortunately the specials were not described to us (apparently they have $7 slider appetizers and flat breads on Thursday). Anyways I decided to order the salmon and my friend Marina went for the steak.

The food was a bit slow to come out and there was another event (Haute Fashion or something) and so they quieting down the restaurant and used a screechy microphone and no one had any idea what was going on which was pretty annoying. When the food did come out, I was pleasantly surprised. My salmon was cooked nicely and the bacon hollandiase sauce added a nice flavor. Both Marina and I agreed that the pea rissoto and argula pesto was absolutely delicious. Her steak was seasoned and cooked to the proper temperature from the bite that I had though it seemed pretty standard served with seasonal vegetables and mashed potatoes.

After hearing so many horror stories about this place, I must say it really wasn't bad at all. There were some annoyances mentioned earlier and the food is pretty pricy ($25-40 an entree) and maybe I was biased by good company and a groupon but at the very least I liked the food here. Verdict: 77/100.

Calgary: Redwater Rustic Grille

I’d driven by Redwater Grille many times, located across the street from Foothills Hospital, but truthfully never had the desire to eat there. It might be the location, as it is somewhat hidden near an odd little strip mall, behind The Keg and Wendy’s. Or it might be the fact that, for a pricier meal, higher-priced chains are rarely the best offering (Redwater has four Calgary locations).  Nevertheless, we headed there at my sister’s suggestion.

The menu seemed quite standard for a chain, offering flatbreads, pastas, steak, and some other mains (in the high $20s to mid-$30s range). My sister ordered the chicken papardelle and my brother the lamb risotto, while I opted for the cremini mushroom flatbread.

Though we’d made the reservation for 8:15, the server was a bit slow to take our drink orders, bring our drinks, and take our meal orders. It was well after 9:00 by the time our entrees came.

The chicken papardelle ($18.95) came with a variety of vegetables – spinach, mushrooms, peppers, peas, and asparagus. The chicken was flavorful, but the rest of the dish was entirely forgettable – too many ingredients in a generic cream sauce with slightly overcooked noodles.  Nothing too impressive.

The lamb risotto ($21.95) had a nice flavor, though my brother felt that the strong, gamy flavor of the lamb compromised the creaminess he was expecting from the risotto. The lamb would have been much better served as an entrée with sides, as it seemed to clash with the texture of the risotto.

The menu described the crimini flatbread ($12.95) as roasted garlic cream, arugula, shaved grana padano, truffle honey, and balsamic. Mostly, though, I could only taste arugula, mushroom, and balsamic. The balsamic reduction drizzled on the arugula was quite tasty, and I felt the flatbread could have used more of it. The flatbread was okay, again nothing too impressive.

The service at Redwater was also a bit lacking. Though the restaurant wasn’t overly busy, the server never checked on our food or asked about drink refills, and when it came time to pay the bill, we were left waiting for her to return while we watched her chatting by the bar.

Overall, I’d describe my experience at Redwater as very average. The service was disappointing, the menu standard, and the food forgettable. For the price, there are much better options – for a similar-priced chain, I’d recommend Cactus Club Cafe.