Beijing Beijing -Dim Sum

2013 UPDATE: Since this review, I've visited Beijing Beijing for Dim Sum many times. Over the past three years, the quality of the Dim Sum dishes have improved to the point where we bring friends to have Dim Sum. In fact, one of my friends even had a wedding banquet at Beijing Beijing. This is a sign that over time, the Dim Sum scene in Edmonton is constantly changing and improving.

Ever since Beijing Beijing opened in the south side of Edmonton, I've only been there for dinner. Both times our experiences were mediocre at best. Which is surprising since their modern dining room setup with nice round tables, comfy chairs and a variety of differently shaped serving dishes suggest otherwise. 


So after the Good Friday service back in April, a few people suggested going to Beijing Beijing for Dim Sum. Not having gone before I hoped the experience would be comparable to our experience at Urban China. Here are a few selections of what we had- again very similar fare to what we had at Urban China.  

At Beijing Beijing there is also the cart system and you choose food you want as they go by. Because it was a very similar group of us that had gone to Urban China, we couldn't help but compare. Within the first few dishes, we all immediately agreed that everything was unnecessarily salty!  What the siumai (a signature dimsum dish) lacked in flavour it bore it's weight in salt content. The chicken feet was certainly hot (temperature) enough, but was chewy instead of soft - where at Urban China the meat seemed to fall off the bone. There was also the pervasive use of salt which took away from its true flavour. Another dish we had enjoyed was the Loa Wong Bao (Special Egg yolk bun), where a bun filled with egg custard is steamed and upon opening the egg custard flows out like lava. This also needs to be eaten hot. The one at Beijing Beijing seemed to carry more flour and was more dense. No custard flowed out either.  All the other dishes seemed pretty typical, and unfortunately more salty then needed.

Price wise - there were the same number of ppl (8) at both dimsum places, but we felt that we were able to order twice the number of dishes for the same price ($15/ person)! This is rather significant considering that all dishes were overly salty! Beijing Beijing may have the decent service and modern atmosphere, but the price you pay, the potential wait time ( especially during peak hours), extra salt and quality may have you wanting to try something else .

Beijing Beijing

700, 3803 Calgary Trail, 
Edmonton, AB, Canada
(780) 430-7720

Vancouver Marathon of food!

First weekend of May was definitely a marathon eating of food in Vancouver! Dan ran the BMO marathon that weekend, but together we ate our way through a lot of great food places in Van! Pictures and reviews to come shortly. Meanwhile, here is what we brought back as our snack! 

 These huge cream puffs are from Beard Papa's located in Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, British Columbia. We bought one of their regular flavours - vanilla, and their special of the day - mango. 

Upon ordering the different flavours, each pastry shell was injected with the filling. The "cream" inside the puffs were more of a custard consistency. The mango puff leaned more towards 'mango pudding' in custard form, while there wasn't anything too special about the vanilla one. I believe the one in Aberdeen features different flavours for each day (e.g. strawberry, chocolate, coffee, green tea) - there is even a handy calendar to help customers remember.

Given their size, it would be safe to say that it's probably not recommended to eat an entire one by yourself. Two cream puffs were split three ways, and that was more than enough for the three of us! Plus, the alarming fact is that there are approximately 220 calories in one cream puff! There's even a sign at the cash register reminding patrons of this - as if this is a healthy fact.

Either way, despite the alarming calories, it's definitely worth a try. So, if you're ever near a Beard Papa's try one out. In Japan it's all the rage, as well as all over the globe. Remember, it's best to eat them fresh. Each cream puff at Beard Papa's costs $1.75. But if you get more than 6 then it's slightly cheaper, but one wonders about the calories. 

Beard Papa's

4151 Hazelbridge Way
Aberdeen Centre
Richmond, BC V6X3R8

Tel: (604) 270-1234

http://beardpapascanada.com/ 

Crème brûlée - with less the fat

Crème brûlée - by far my favourite dessert (next to macarons)! Although, the one difference it has over macarons is that thus far, I'm actually successful at making crème brûlée. This particular crème brûlée I made though has much less cream then the ones you usually order - as I used 1% milk. Yup, that's right 1% milk. It still has the same smooth texture, but less creamy and heavy in comparison to the restaurant variety. It definitely encourages/allows you to have more than one.

Crème brûlée (makes 4 full ramekins) 

2 cups of cream or milk - I used 1% in this case

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

8 large egg yolks

1/2 cup of sugar

1. Separate egg yolks from egg whites 
2. Beat yolks until smooth 
3. Heat cream/milk until almost simmering 
4. Slowly add cream to eggs 1 tsp at a time - watch that you don't cook eggs 
5. When 3/4 of the cream remain, pour the rest of the cream into the mix 
6. Use a sieve to strain custard mixture to remove small clumps 
7. Blend in vanilla extract 
8. Pour into ramekins 
9. Place into a water bath and cook at 250F for 1 hour  
10. Check for done-ness by shaking and seeing if center jiggles (like jello) 
11. Place in fridge for several hours to set if desired 
12. Sprinkle sugar on top and carmelize with blowtorch

baking notes: If using 1% milk instead of cream, turn the oven up to 300F or 350F (depending on your oven) so that the mixture will set within the hour. To prevent cooking of the eggs, start with room-temperature eggs. For a less sweet dessert, cut down the sugar to 1/4 cup or less. 

  

More Cupcakes from Whimsical Cupcake....

Having tried two butter cream cupcakes from Whimsical Cupcake Studios a few week ago, I wanted to try their cupcake with the cream-cheese frosting. Pictured below is the Ruby.

The Ruby is a red velvet cupcake topped with cream-cheese frosting. True to my previous impressions, the cake's insides were pleasantly moist. Unfortunately, I found the cream cheese frosting overtly sweet and thick (almost chewy) compared to their cupcakes with butter cream.

Since Dan's first cupcake from Whimsical was the Ruby, I wanted him to try one with a buttercream topping. So, when I was there last week I purchased Envied.

This vanilla cupcake was topped with an almond pistachio butter cream. The pistachio buttercream was nice and light and not too heavy making it a pleasant combination with the moist part of the cake. Upon biting in, there was also a strong taste of pistachio. As well, Dan commented that, "anyone eating Envied is definitely to be envied". I take it that he liked it.

The contrast between the two types of frosting can be differentiated by their level of sweetness and texture. I prefer the light butter cream frosting to the cream cheese frosting which occasionally is overkill in terms of sweetness. As you might tell, I find that the cakes from Whimsical Cake Studio are definitely moist which I think is a crucial factor for a good cupcake. The crust is not consistently present, but the moistness factor and their truly fluffy buttercream topping continues to keep me going to Whimsical Cupcake Studio.  

Whimsical Cake Studio
8716 109 St.
(780) 988-CAKE (2253)
call for hours
www.whimsicalcupcakes.com
 

Da Capo Caffe - a great place for Pizza, Paninis, Coffee & Gelato!

Update 2014: Da Capo has now moved down to Whyte Ave. In it's place is Rosso Pizzeria which has a real wood fire burning pizza oven!

Da Capo is located on the northwest corner of 109st and 76 ave. Sandwiched between the Garneau block to the left where Transcend's T2, Whimsical Cupcake Studio, and Kabuki Sushi is located, and Sugar Bowl and High Level Diner to its left. Personally, I'm a fan of Da Capo and not just for their food! I love the modern look of their slate floors, glossy white tables, and a mixture of booth-style seats, high seats and regular dark wooden table seats. There is even a small patio for those of you that love sitting outside in the warm weather!

Da Capo's physical menu has changed considerably from one that was recited to you, then to a scribbled chalk board, and now a 3 panel framed display ranging from small breakfast items, drinks, zuppas and insalatas, fresh paninis, thin crust pizzas, and of course their desserts (mmm..gelato)! The only complaint we had about their menu board's position, is that its located right next to one of their cash registers. This often resulted in the feeling that we had to order immediately. We appreciated that the server wanted to be helpful, but sometimes waiting a bit longer may have helped. Perhaps, having printed copies of the menu available would allow customers to decide on their order at their table.

Here are a few selections from my last two visits this month. To the right, Cafe Canadese for $3. This visit's coffee was a bit on the lukewarm side, but generally their coffee arrives hot! As well, they now have ecco-friendly to-go cups if you forget your own.

Pizzas are thin-crust creations. They have a good selection of either red (tomato based) or white based (olive oil and spices) pizzas (more red pizzas then white though). Pictured below is the Capricciosa (minus olives) - red pizza with mushrooms, mozzarella, artichoke hearts, ham, and basil.

Note: Minus olives, since my lunch companions were not huge olive fans.

The special that day was a pizza , who's name I've unfortunately forgotten! Regardless, this particular red pizza was equally tasty as his red counterpart. The pizza crust was perfectly thin and had just the right amount of ingredients on it. Pictured below is the red tomato based pizza with Italian Sausage, sun-dried tomato, mozzarella, and fresh rosemary.

Last night's dinner had us enjoying a particularly appetizing chickpea salad ($6 for the larger portion) and an incredibly tasty white pizza - the Di Roberto . We were surprised at first with the chickpea salad, since my friend and I both thought that there would have been some actual greens comprising the salad. In the end, we were happy with the portion size and the taste. The chickpeas were the perfect texture (not mushy and not hard) and tossed with sun-dried tomato and what seemed like bits of fresh parsley. There were also three crisp pieces of bread accompanying the dish.

The white pizza had thin slices of potato, mozzarella, gorgonzola, spicy sausage and fresh rosemary pieces. My friend commented on how thin the pizza dough was and wondered if it was machine made or hand-rolled, as the entire pizza was one uniform "thin-ness". The potato slices were cut so thinly and crisped a bit in the oven that it felt like eating potato chips. Definitely a great addition to a pizza and one I would recommend!

The other nice thing about Da Capo is that it's right next to the River Valley and its many trails. So the next time you're in the mood for a walk near the River Valley, consider stopping by Da Capo for a coffee and a bite to eat. Their gelato is also great company for your walk!

mm..Raspberry Gelato. Perfect after dinner or as a snack!

Da Capo

8738 109 Street

Edmonton, Alberta

780-433-5382

Monday - Thursday: 8:30 – 10:00pm

Friday - Saturday: 8:30 – 11:00pm

Sunday: 10 – 5pm

More pics from Battle of Alberta - Macarons

More pictures from the "Battle of the Alberta - Macarons". Check out those 'pied'! Such beautiful creations! Also, loved those meringue cakes with raspberries from The Duchess.

'Macaron Mashup' @ the ARTery

Thursday April 8 marked the much anticipated 'macaron-mashup/taste-off/smackdown in Edmonton at the ARTery - part of the Literary Saloon for that evening. For those that braved the incredibly windy and snowy day that landed unexpectedly in Edmonton, they were treated to a reading by former home-town boy Alan Reed (from his book Isobel & Emile), Lynn Coady's story of her hometown, and most importantly the reason why Dan & I were there - the macarons!

Upon walking in we were greeted with an amazing display of macarons from The Duchess Bakeshop. There were macaron trees - 9 macarons attached to a white chocolate cone, mini macaron cakes with raspberries and a large banana macaron cake.

While Dan was taking pictures, he was approached by Marina Endicott, author of Good to a Fault. She humbly did not introduce herself, but introduced us to everyone else's macarons . So, here they are! Furthest down the table are macarons from Yann's Boutique, next Marina Endicott's macarons, then The Duchess Bakeshop's, and finally closest to the camera, Jennifer Cockrall King's macarons.

At intermission, guests were invited to try out the different macarons. As there were a number of guests, Dan and I strategically selected two different macarons each so we could maximize the variety.

First Taste Test:

Pictured below (left) are the four macarons Dan and I picked (going clockwise from top: Almond macaron with caramel insides from Marina, Strawberry-sugar crusted macaron from Yann's, Lavender from Duchess, and Coconut with real coconut shavings from Duchess). Note how they ALL have pieds (feet)!

Marina's caramel macaron was very good for her first try! The meringue crust itself had pieds and its texture and consistency was in line with Duchess and Yann. Marina stated that hers and Jennifer's macarons were not really for comparison, but having tried making macarons myself, I think their creations were great! Jennifer commented on her macarons stating that she had started making them late, and was somewhat rushed with the macaronage which she explained may have resulted in them being more on the crunchy side. food note: macaronage is the beating of the meringue batter.

The sugar dusting on the strawberry macaron from Yann complemented the white coloured pied that it had, and didn't add as much sweetness to the macaron as one would think. The filling was more of a preserve than the typical ganache or buttercream filling. Dan noted that it gave him the (good) impression of a light strawberry jam.

While I find that Lavender often reminds me of soap, the lavender macaron is surprisingly tasty. I must admit, it does take a bit of getting used to - the idea that you have a soap smell in your dessert. The coconut macaron was dense and had a very strong flavour of (real) coconut and had the Duchess' characteristically chewy-ness.

Once the first round cleared there were still quite a few left to try out, so Dan and I chose a few more macarons from Yann's and Duchess' so we could make a better comparison between Edmonton's and Calgary's bakeshops.

As Marina stated later in the night that both her and Jennifer were "not really contenders". The second taste test included a lemon macaron from Yann's, strawberry and pistachio from The Duchess. Needless to say, Dan and I were definitely macarooned out by the night's end! All macarons were incredibly delicious. The lemon macaron from Yann's while carrying the Yann's shiny meringue surface, seemed to lack that punch of lemon flavour that I recalled of Duchess' lemon macaron (from a previous visit). As for, the strawberry and pistachio macarons - they too were full of natural flavours. With the audience vote of applause, The Duchess won the taste test!

Pictured above are macarons from The Duchess. From closest to furthest away: strawberry, coconut, lavender, pistachio, and dark chocolate.

After the taste test, there was a short Q & A with Garner, owner of The Duchess, led by Marina and Jennifer. One of the questions was how to ensure the formation of the pied (which is crucial for a macaron - since without it some say it cannot be called a macaron!). Garner responded with saying that macaronage is truly unique, "it's so special that it has it's own name". He deflected all the success of the macarons to his wife, saying that she is the expert and added that all he could say, "is that you need to mix the meringue until magma". Later on in the night, I had the chance to personally talk to Garner and was encouraged by the fact that there is no definitive method to make macarons. Garner also suggested a book by Pierre Herme, written in French and possibly no longer in print. So, if anyone has this book or knows where to find it, let me know! Of course, macarons are finicky in the sense that many factors can change depending on the city you live in (i.e. wet, dry), the temperature that day, the oven, and general procedures that can result in the creation of pied or none.

We had planned to go only for the macarons, but in the end we enjoyed listening to some great stories and meeting up with Edmonton's literary community. I am looking forward to the next literary saloon and being wowed by The Duchess on my next visit!

The Duchess
10720-124 St.
(780) 488-4999
check website for hours (Closed Monday & Tuesday)
http://duchessbakeshop.com/

Literary Saloon
http://literarysaloon.blogspot.com/