Lunch at the Hotel Selkirk

I head to Fort Edmonton Park at least once or twice a year. It is my favourite outdoor attraction in the city. I love riding the train and streetcar, seeing the interpreters in period dress, exploring all of the old buildings, and learning more about Edmonton's history.

I visited the park today and had lunch at the Hotel Selkirk. I've consistently been underwhelmed by the food here, but it's nicer dining there than in the Masonic Hall cafeteria.

The chicken and corn chowder is an original hotel creation that is excellent. It is thick, full of tender chicken and corn, and the corn chips add colour and crunch. If they offered a meal-sized bowl I would certainly order it.

The fish and chips featured two crispy pieces of cod and beefsteak fries. The fries were of the frozen variety. The accompanying tartar sauce tasted like Kraft's, and the coleslaw was fresh and tangy. I am always amazed when restaurants don't make their own fries and tartar sauce (especially a more upscale establishment) because neither is difficult. Overall, the meal was adequate though nothing special.

I also found the service to be lacking. We sat for quite a while after our meal was completed before I finally had to go over to a server to get the bill. Service was good until that point.

Fringe Food 2013

I spent several afternoons at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival last week because I love roaming the grounds and taking in the buskers, and also because I was part of the volunteer Multimedia Team. As far as food goes, the pickings seemed a bit slimmer than in previous years. The biggest surprise was the lack of any food trucks (other than ones used for special events).

I had to have an onion cake, with its crispy outside and soft interior. I ended up having two (on different days).

Soner's Donair is a yearly hit because the food is incredible. I had the falafel and there were at least four large balls of fried ground chickpeas, amidst the tzatziki sauce and veggies. A little messy to eat, but worth the effort.

As much as I love kettle corn, my favourite kind of popcorn is the traditional, movie-style kind. I am happy to see it available at festivals and enjoyed a couple of bags during the Fringe.

The mango chicken from Zaika is another yearly favourite for me. Think butter chicken, but sweeter. I also love the addition of a veggie samosa. I could have added naan for another couple of dollars, but the portion would have ended up being too large for me.

Who doesn't love mini-doughnuts? So soft, so hot, so sweet. Best of all, they were half price for volunteers!

Edmonton Blues Festival

Thanks to one of my social media friends, I was able to score tickets to this year's Edmonton Blues Festival. I am a big blues fan, and Blues On Whyte is one of my regular weekend hang outs.I loved the variety of Blues presented at the festival, and the fact that the performers were from all over the world. You can read my blog post about the music over at Inside World Music. The band pictures above is MonkeyJunk, my new favourite!

The food was as diverse as the music! Of course, I had to have a Fat Frank because hot dogs and the Blues go so well together. There was also a Vietnamese vendor offering both freshly-made vermicelli bowls and wraps, as well as fries and onion cakes. I had one of the onion cakes, then later had a brisket sandwich from Smokehouse BBQ - talk about east meeting west!

The choice of beer was also quite diverse - everything from Molson Canadian to Newcastle to Corona, a few coolers, and Strongbow. At $7 per drink ticket it was slightly pricer than other beer tents I have visited, but large cans were being served (the 473ml variety) so the portion size fit the price.

Great music, great food, and great atmosphere - the Edmonton Blues Festival is definitely worth checking out for any serious music fan.

The Ritual of the Beer Garden - EFMF 2013

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is one of the city's most popular summer events. It is known for its music, first and foremost. It is known for the camaraderie on the big hill in Gallagher Park. related to this previous point, it is also a social experience for many. And for many who attend the Folk Fest, it doesn't get more social than in the beer garden.

With a capacity of 2000, there is usually a long line up from both entrances when the park gets busy and the temperatures rise. A "ten out/ten in" then ensues. I had to wait for a short while a couple of the times I tried to gain entry, but things went very smooth, mostly due to the attention of the many volunteers staffing the entry/exit points.

Once inside, the EFMF beer garden is like a microcosm all its own. There is its own set of washrooms as well as access to the Fat Franks vendor, so that people can have something to eat with their drinks. There is lots of seating, and plenty of tents for shade. When things really got hot, volunteers walked around with spray bottles of water. I don't really like being sprayed with water, so I did my best to duck when I saw them coming! But seriously, you can really be set for the day (or evening) in there - and in fact, some people spend most of the EFMF experience in the beer garden. What about the music? At the north end, there is excellent sound from stage one, while at the south end, once can hear stage two pretty clearly. The main stage performances are also audible.

Big Rock is the exclusive beverage supplier to the beer garden. After you purchase your tickets, you then get in line for your drink(s) to be poured. I found that the drink ticket lines were way shorter than the line ups to pick up the drinks. I first tried a Pilsner called Saaz, which was smooth. Later, I had a Grasshopper, which is one of the first beers I ever liked. However, I am not always in the mood for beer when I was a hard drink, and Rock Creek Cider was perfect on a hot afternoon.

Life in the beer garden can be noisy and crowded, and sometimes a stark contrast to the hill. But many of the people move in and out freely (at least, when the line ups are not too bad) and are ardent music lovers. Those who stay in the beer garden tend to view the EFMF primarily as a social experience, and like any good bar, there are the characters and regulars. The photo above is of the Hockey Prophet, who appears on the Sunday afternoon. And yes, I do know this person in real life.

This year, I really wanted to get a feel for why so many people hang out in the beer garden, and I think I discovered why. The atmosphere is very free, cold beer tastes wonderful on a hot afternoon, and you really do meet all kinds of people. I probably ran into more people who I know there than I did in any other place on the festival grounds. Cheers!

Folk Fest Food - Version 2013

I spent most of the weekend at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. In addition to the fantastic music, a major part of my time was spent enjoying some of the food available. There seemed to be more choices than ever, from places that do the round of summer festivals to stands from established restaurants.

For the most part, I like to keep things vegetarian when at the Folk Fest. My Saturday lunch was the vegetarian Pad Thai from Numchok Wilai. The noodles were plentiful and delightfully chewy, but I would have enjoyed more tofu.

There was more than one option for green onion cakes, and I decided to go with one from Hong Kong Bakery. It was just so crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside - what a treat!

I grabbed some cactus chips as an afternoon snack - they were crispy and well seasoned. This is a Folk Fest tradition for me.

The Smiling Buddha Bowl from vegan restaurant and yoga studio Noorish was my culinary highlight of the weekend. The green curry was sweet and spicy, while the bed of quinoa was an interesting diversion from a standard bed of rice. The portion was generous, and I felt like there was a symphony in my mouth with every spoonful.

On Sunday, I did not indulge quite as much, partly because the intense heat was diminishing my appetite and also because I was running out of cash. I absolutely had to have fries from Punky Potato though as an afternoon snack, because the fresh cut, slightly greasy slabs of potato really hit the spot - it is another Folk Fest tradition of mine.

For supper, I broke my vegetarian streak and had the chili chicken from New Asian Village. The spicy morsels of chicken went well with the heat rising in Gallagher Park and the saffron rice was quite filling. I skipped the salad, as it has feta on it, but I was quite full just the same.

As far as drinks went, when not in the beer garden (the subject of another post) I mostly had the water I brought with me. After my chili chicken I got some lemonade from the elephant ears vendor, but unfortunately by this time they had run out of ice (and by this time, I was so thirsty and hot I really did not care).

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival has something for everyone - not only in terms of the entertainment, but also the menu. From sweet treats to savoury meals, there was no reason to go hungry.