Vegging Out: Breakfast Burrito from Sailin' On

If I could write a song about a burrito, it would be about this vegan breakfast burrito from food truck Sailin' On. The truck made a stop at the Edmonton Earth Day Festival over the weekend, and when I finished performing my music set I was famished. The burrito was extremely substantial, and I was full for the rest of the afternoon. It was packed with refried beans, crumbled tofu, vegan chipotle sour cream, and potato hash, and topped with pico de gallo and more of the sour cream. At $11 it was the priciest menu item, but it was well executed, not too difficult to eat, and like I said, very filling.

Just Desserts: Brownie Cheesecake at Block 1912

My solo Saturday continued at Block 1912. I as craving a decadent dessert and went with the brownie cheesecake, which was a single portion of cheesecake with chocolate brownies swirled around in it. The cheesecake part was dense and rich, while the brownie part was not as gooey and chocolatey as the description led me to believe. The bottom of the dessert also had an oily taste that I could not quite put my finger on. Like most of the desserts at Block 1912, it was huge, and I gave half to a friend who happened along, and agreed with me concerning the flavour. Whether I would be in the mood for chocolate or cheesecake, I don't think I would go for this confection again.

Breakfast for Lunch: Brisket Bennies at MEAT

I had a day to myself on Whyte Avenue on Saturday, and went to MEAT for brunch. I had the Eggs Benedict with brisket. The brisket was smoked and pulled to fit perfectly on the buttermilk biscuits. I missed the caramelized onions that were listed on the menu. I held the hollandaise, but had my eggs poached soft so the yolk would add a sauce. One of my eggs was slightly underdone (the white was still runny in a few spots). The hash browns stole the show here - they were more like a thick, crispy potato pancake. I would love to eat a couple of them with some sour cream and apple sauce. Very unique.

Vegan Buffet at Abyssinia

I was on 95 Street for an evening meeting last week and noticed that Abyssinia, an Ethiopian restaurant practically next door to my meeting, had a vegan buffet on Wednesdays and Fridays for only $15 starting at 5 p.m. As it was a Wednesday, I decided to give it a shot. Eight hot trays featured dishes including yellow chick peas, red lentils, kale, spinach, mushrooms, cabbage, squash, and carrots and potatoes. There was also a heaping plate of injera bread, and a bowl of rice. The dishes were spicy but not overwhelming, and a few could have been hotter in terms of temperature (but on the other hand, that also kept the spice heat level down). My personal faves are the carrots and potatoes, the yellow chick peas, and the squash, the latter having a sweetness that cut the spice. I would recommend going a little later than 5, as a few of the dishes as well as the rice were not available yet, and I was already full by the time they were out. For $15 this is an excellent value and a great introduction to Ethiopian food.