Two Birds With One Stone

Hope you’re all doing well. Long weekend!!! WOOT WOOT!!! I’m going to have to do two posts in one today. I wanted to post one this morning but didn’t have the time. Don’t worry, there’ll be lots of pics and very little talking. On Wednesday we had dinner plans with our friends Nancy and Frankie. Okay I’m going to have to do a little complaining first. We were going to go to a restaurant called Sofra but when Nancy tried to make a reservation they said they don’t accommodate to children under 10 years old. I was SOOOO NOT impressed when I heard that. I mean I’ve heard of dogs not being allowed into restaurants (which I don’t know if I totally agree with) but children??? You’ve gotta be kidding me!!!  Until they change that policy, I will never step foot into that restaurant. Actually even if they do change it I don’t know if I would still go. So there’s my rant, thanx for listening. On with the post.

We decided on the Cactus Club Cafe in West Edmonton Mall.

I couldn’t get a good picture of the inside but it’s very nicely decorated. I didn’t want to disturb anyone’s dinner with flashes from my camera. I don’t mind taking pictures of food but when I have to take a picture of the restaurant and there are people i the shot, I like to respect their privacy.

We started with some crispy yam fries with garlic aioli.

These yams were super tasty and not oily at all. Perfectly crispy on the outside.

Our second dish was the tuna tataki -seared albacore tuna, green papaya slaw, orange, avocado, pine nuts, yuzu vinaigrette 

Another great dish! All the ingredients complimented each other so well that when we were finished, there was not one strand of papaya left on the plate. Delicious!

On with dinner. My hubby had the raincoast greens – grilled chicken, avocado, tomato, feta, egg, pecans, seasonal berries, lemon-thyme vinaigrette. Instead of chicken he asked for salmon. One of the most beautiful salads I’ve seen. I had a bite and it was YUMMS! (and I’m not a salad girl) Don’t know why he ordered this cause if you know Gary, you know how much dude can eat. I know my friends can back me up on this one.

Nancy recommended the butternut squash ravioli. I trust her taste in food so I took a glance at the description and decided to go with that.

pan-seared scallops butternut squash ravioli – truffle beurre blanc, amaretti, pine nuts and crispy sage

Holy moly! Best ravioli I’ve ever had! There were deep-fried mint leaves on top of perfectly seared scallops. The only complaint I had about this dish was that I wish it was bigger. Great recommendation Nancy!

Nancy’s husband Frankie had the four mushroom steak – 9oz certified angus sirloin with shiitake, portabello, button and crimini mushroom demi.

And Nancy had the short rib sandwich – caramelized onions, beef jus and emmental cheese on toasted sourdough.

For dessert we had a chocolate peanut butter crunch bar – with tahitian vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and crunchy chocolate pearls.

And a white chocolate cheesecake – dark chocolate crust and the sweet in-house made mixed berry compote, topped off with a chocolate fudge sauce.

Needless to say, both desserts were spectacular. I’ve been to the Cactus Club before and every time without reservations cause by the time we tried to make some, they were already all booked so we just went with first come first serve and waited. I’d have to say, they are definitely worth the wait. If you haven’t tried this restaurant, take a look at the menu here . This is definitely one of the tops on my Edmonton restaurants lists. Nancy was extremely generous and paid for our dinner. Thank you dear! Next one is definitely on me!

On with post #2. Today we had dinner at my parents’ house again.

That’s my mom cooking up this dish. It had shrimp, snow peas, oyster mushrooms, wood ear, and celery (my least favorite veggie but I’ll still eat them).

Next it was my turn. After seeing this razor clams recipe on Denise’s blog I had a craving for razor clams but couldn’t find them. So I went and bought some normal clams and made two dishes with them.

A stir-fry clams in black bean sauce. You can definitely add red chili to this but I left them out cause of my kiddies.

Then I tried stir-frying another batch with fish sauce. I liked the black beans recipe better. I think this fish sauce dish would have tasted better if I added some lemon grass.

My mom also made a seafood soup for dinner.

Here’s everything all together.

Because this is the MOMoirs of a Food Enthusiast, I gotta include my kiddies. After dinner when it came time to go home, someone wanted to stay and play longer. He was not very happy.

Gary had to step in and work his magic. Good job hun 🙂

Well there you have it, two posts in one. Are you still here? If so, thank you. I hope you all have a great long weekend. Do you celebrate Easter? What is your favorite dish to make for Easter?