Triple Date at the Pourhouse finishing with Twisted Yogurt

the decor inside

Finally, my computer is working & the blog is loading again. I was experiencing some difficulties for a while! Anyways, quick update of this place we went to in November on Whyte Ave. Went to The Pourhouse Bier Bistro as some friends and I were curious about the food after looking at their menu online. Located where the former Flavours restaurant was on Whyte Ave, it seemed that the Pourhouse took over most of the previous owners tables & chairs. The restaurant does have itself set up as a sports bar with big screen t.vs and a rather extensive beer menu. We visited on a Saturday night, the night before the Grey Cup incidentally. There didn't seem to be many tables that night, perhaps 3 other tables aside from ours. However, this was perhaps a good thing, as our table was definitely the loudest one as one of my friend's has quite the laugh! :) Here's what we had that night.

Pulled pork burger with salad - it even had some nice chickpeas in it ($12)

"Pourhouse burger" with salad: happily endorsed by my friend here.

Chicken Sandwich with salad and chipotle on the side

Mac 'n cheese: My friend was craving comfort food so she chose this.
Sadly, there didn't seem to be enough cheese in this Mac'n cheese.  

Tables & chairs along the length of the restaurant.
If you keep following it, it leads you towards the washroom.
Speaking of washrooms, I think those are important things to look at 
when at a restaurant! They say the extent of a restaurant's washroom
may indicate how their kitchen is like. This one had a good one! :)

Overall, the food at the Pourhouse Bistro is decent. The one thing we did notice, is that there are no fries on the menu. Or at any rate, there were no fries offered as an option with our meals. This is probably for the better, as the salads were quite tasty. Their signature Pourhouse Burger was said to be also decent as well. After all, we were at a bar, so it was around the standards of a regular bar's burger. The dinner menu here at Pourhouse Bistro is not extensive in any way, which may be a good thing as it allows them to focus on a few items. It would be nice to actually have cocktails though, as it was listed on the menu (we went in November) so perhaps that has changed now. We would also have appreciated if they updated the menu on their website as it was advertising specials that unfortunately, were "last month's specials". For the time being, I believe all of our curiosities were met re: the new restaurant on Whyte Ave. Not sure when we'll be back next though as there were few 'unique' aspects pulling us in. Plus there is some hefty competition around Whyte Ave as Marianne & Charles from Loosen your Belt mentioned in their review back in October 2010.  


After dinner, we all headed to Twisted Yogurt down on Calgary Trail. The place is really bright and open with the potential yogurts lined up along one wall. Plus, you can sample your way through all the yogurts before settling on your choice. Just remember, they measure everything by weight so don't put too many heavy fruits (i.e. pineapples) into your yogurt! 

Dan's choice of Mango & Passionfruit mixed yogurt
with his choice of fruits & granola

mm..lots of fruits & berries!

Total price for both of ours came to around $7. Of course, it depends on what types of toppings you put on your yogurt. I would definitely recommend a visit to this place the next time you're in the south of Edmonton. Plus, there seems to be a really neat Sushi restaurant (?) that was going to open next to it! Currently, they have two locations in Edmonton - one in Sherwood Park and one in Edmonton South Park area. According to their website, there will be one opening on Whyte Ave in June 2010 so look out for that one! Definitely, going to bring a bit of competition to the area with Marble Slab also on the Ave.


Pourhouse Bier Bistro

(780) 757-7687

Edmonton, AB
10354 82 Ave NW
http://www.thepourhouse.ca/

Twisted Yogurt

#650-3803 Calgary Trail

Edmonton, AB

780-440-4955

http://www.twistedyogurt.com/index.html

home cooked meals-pan fried steak and mushroom sauce

Certainly, there are a number of food items I would eat for dinner in Edmonton. From sweet potato fries & Po-boys at Dadeo's, to salmon sashimi at Wasabi or any choice of delectable desserts from Duchess. True, desserts are not dinner items, but it would be a good way to end the meal! Regardless, of all the vast array of choices available, I am a firm believer that the best steak is the one you make at home. So, that is what I had for dinner today. A nice juicy steak (again from the handy Sobey's downstairs for only $2) topped with mushrooms ($1) and accompanied with the potato, carrot & onion soup from last night (approximately $2). So dinner for two at home comes up to $10.

 

Recipe for Delicious steak

2-3 cloves of chopped garlic

ground pepper

steak (we used sirloin tip this time)

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

1. Place steak in mixing bowl and add in chopped garlic

2. Ground pepper

3. Mix in olive oil 

4. Start pan at high heat. Place some garlic in pan with olive oil.

5. Once garlic starts to sizzle, place steak in pan.

6. Sear for 1-2 minutes each side (depending on thickness of steak)

7. Place steak on plate, cover and let it rest while working on mushroom sauce.

Mushroom Sauce

200g mushrooms (or 12 whole mushrooms), sliced

1 clove garlic

1 tsp or 2 of cornstarch 

1. Taking the same pan you used to cook the steak, add a bit of water to the pan.

2. Add garlic to pan and let it sizzle.

3. Add mushrooms.

4. Let mushrooms cook with the steak juice & mushrooms until desired softness.

5. In a separate bowl add cornstarch and a bit of water. Mix well.

6. Add cornstarch mixture to mushrooms and stir.

7. Continue stirring until desired consistency is reached.

8. Spoon mushroom sauce on steak and enjoy! 

Time for more soup & some extra taste!

Ah Winter. How it makes one so cold! In order to combat the coldness I decided to make some more soup. It also helped that the handy-dandy Sobey's downstairs was selling soup stock at 2 for $1! I also had a good smattering of baby carrots left over (also $1), some potatoes from Danprime's parents (yes, those are purple potatoes!), and one large onion. I just spent the past 20 minutes chopping everything up following the recipe that I used from my last post on soup and now waiting for it simmer away! Oh and I also added in a small piece of something for extra flavouring. Can you guess what it is?