Real Food Connections: Full of Win

Many Frederictonians rely on the Farmers’ Market every Saturday in order to get their fix of local vegetables and meat (not to mention samosas and gyros). While it’s great to fill up on these ingredients at the Market, it’s been tough to conveniently get local meat and veggies for a reasonable price on any day other than Saturday. There are some independent grocers that offer organic and local food, but they tend to be expensive, making them prohibitive for those eating on a budget.

Enter Real Food Connections. This new Fredericton-based company, started by Levi Lawrence and Kimberly Smith, has set out to offer people in the area a convenient and affordable way to eat locally. Based on my experience, you can chalk up their efforts as a giant win.

My favourite aspect of Real Food Connections is how simple it is to get local food delivered to your door. You cruise through their website (http://www.realfoodsfredericton.ca/) and choose what you want from the regularly updated list of items. After you call or email your order in, they get in touch to arrange a drop-off time, which is usually between four and twenty-four hours. You can pay by cash or cheque upon delivery, but also by email money transfer.

While their list of available meats and vegetables is impressive, I’ve found the best deal to be their vegetable box. For $15 you get a mystery package of veggies chosen by the farmers themselves. You don’t know what you’re going to get until it arrives, but you can swap items from a box of extras. This week I received a pound of potatoes, a bunch of carrots, fresh basil, green peas, yellow beans, a Hungarian pepper, lettuce, a cucumber, zucchini and some heirloom veggies that I haven’t quite figured out what to do with yet. For $15 it was an absolute bargain. These boxes are also available in larger sizes if you’ve got more than two mouths to feed.

The second best thing about Real Food Connections is the quality and freshness of the food. They take the food directly from the farm to your door. If you order carrots, they’re pulled up from the ground in the morning and brought to you that afternoon.

Most of all, I’m pleased to be able to support a local business that offers such a wonderful service. Fortunately, they’ve made it easy and affordable to do so.

McGinnis Landing: Beer Can Chicken Sandwich

Fredericton's McGinnis Landing (280 King St.). Photo by Virtual Tourist user Canuck5.

I have to admit, I went into McGinnis Landing prepared to hate it and ready pick on every little flaw. I haven’t been to the restaurant in at least 7 or 8 years just because I remember having a series of bad experiences. Maybe it’s just because my expectations were lowered this visit, or because I made a lucky menu pick — I have no idea — but I’m ready to admit that the experience was better than I anticipated.

The menu is an unfocused mish-mash that includes a little bit of everything, such as pastas (both Italian-style and Asian-influenced), salads, burgers and sandwiches, fajitas, Chinese dumplings, steak, seafood, ribs, etc. To add to the confusion, the menu includes a huge number of internationally-inspired items, but all of them have been adapted to suit a particular palate. Don’t expect to receive anything overly authentic. The lunch specials offered fajitas wrapped in a pita and a thai chicken sandwich wrapped in a wheat tortilla. Go figure.

I thought a sandwich was a safe bet, so I ordered the Beer Can Chicken Sandwich ($10.99), which the menu describes as chicken breast marinated in beer and grilled, then served on a bun with shaved ham, pineapple-mango salsa, and smoked cheddar. The chicken itself seemed to be well-seasoned and although it may have been slightly on the dry side, was perfectly fine. The bun seemed to be a decent quality as well, and altogether the sandwich actually had a pretty good flavour profile going. Predictably, the mango-pineapple salsa was the weak link. The brightness of fruit can be great in a savoury sandwich, but here it wasn’t bringing much to the party — the essence of ripe mango was dearly missed. On the other hand, there was very little of it in the sandwich, so perhaps that was a blessing in disguise.

For my side, I had a Greek salad. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it included generous amounts of feta, olives, and red onion. On the down side, the salad was swimming in vinegar — enough to leave a deep pool in the bowl after I was done, and a tartness that lingered on my tongue.

Our server was not around a whole lot, but handled things well when we saw him.

–-

Taste: 3/5
Value: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

For a total of 13 out of 20 stars

10 Second Reviews: Las Vegas

Ben rounds up his food experiences in Las Vegas. Photo by Flickr user gnevets88.

It’s good to be back in Canada. I haven’t contributed to the blog in the past two months as I was in Las Vegas covering the World Series of Poker. While being away meant I wasn’t able to eat out at home, I was certainly able to dine at a large number of Vegas restaurants.

Las Vegas is a funny place. It has something for people on every type of budget, and food is no exception. With everything from $.99 shrimp cocktails to $1,000 ice cream, Vegas has dining options for the most budget-conscious tourist to those looking to spend extravagantly. An increase in conventions and family travellers has resulted in the end of free buffets and most worthwhile experiences in the city are going to cost you some money. That said, there are still a lot of options for every type of traveller. One advantage of being in Vegas for so long is that I was able to experience a lot of what eating out in Vegas has to offer. With that said, I present to you my ten-second Las Vegas reviews.

Capriotti’s – I was repeatedly directed to this Las Vegas-based regional chain of sandwich shops when I told some friends who live in Vegas that I wanted to eat the best sandwich the city has to offer. Their signature sandwich, “The Bobbi,” had me coming back repeatedly. The sandwich is something like Thanksgiving dinner on a bun consisting of roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mayo. Each restaurant uses locally sourced bread, meat and produce, with a fresh supply coming in every morning. Easily the best submarine sandwich I’ve ever had, a 10” Bobbi would often serve as my lunch and dinner on work days. A-

Pink Taco – The Hard Rock Hotel may be located off the strip, but it’s a hive of activity. My favorite restaurant within the hotel was their authentic(ish) Mexican eatery. Fresh tortillas and house-made salsas were the highlights of most of their dishes. I recommend their enormous burritos or the namesake dish featuring marinated chicken and pickled red onion. B+

Eiffel Tower Restaurant – While the idea of eating inside a replica of the Eiffel Tower might seem a bit tacky, any notion of kitsch is quickly gone as soon as you step out of the elevator into this restaurant’s elegant interior with a panoramic view of the Bellagio fountains. The flagship restaurant of the Paris Casino offers true French fine dining with impeccable service and some of the best food I’ve ever had. The Maine Peeky Toe Crab Salad with avocado and cucumber was a highlight as well as a perfectly cooked Beef Tenderloin with Lump Crab Crust and Classic Potato Gratin. Try going for a much more affordable lunch if you don’t want to drop $100 on dinner. A

Fat Burger – This burger chain bills itself as “The Last Great Hamburger Stand.” While that title might properly belong to In-N-Out Burger, Fat Burger makes a deliciously huge burger. While the food is tasty, the interior of their strip location is terrible and I thought I might have caught a disease in their bathroom. I recommend takeout. B-

Sushi Roku – I tried lunch at the upscale sushi restaurant inside the Forum Shops at Caesars. While my meal was delicious, it was slightly more expensive than the quality of the food should permit. There’s a lot of sushi to choose from in Vegas, and while Sushi Roku might be one of the hipper locations, I’d recommend going elsewhere if you want straight up great food. However if you’re looking for a decent meal in a great atmosphere and don’t mind dropping $25 on lunch, head on over. C+

Todai – Located inside Planet Hollywood, this seafood and sushi buffet is way overpriced for the quality of food. Sloppily assembled sushi and a diner atmosphere don’t make me feel good about dropping $30 on my meal. C-

Village Seafood Buffet – Compared to Todai, the Rio’s buffet was a meal from heaven. The restaurant features seafood inspired by regions across the globe. They’ve also got beef and chicken items for people in your party who aren’t into seafood. I’d recommend hitting the sushi and Alaskan crab legs as well as some other more exotic items before filling up on deep fried clams and scallops. B+

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill – The celebrity chef has restaurants inside most of the big casinos on the strip. His MGM location is a fine dining approach to classic American fare. We went for the Sautéed Maine Crab Cakes with Tomato Relish and Basil Aioli, as well as a wood oven pizza with Italian sausage, roasted peppers, smoked ricotta, mushrooms, onions and parsley. It was easily big enough for two people and made the experience much more affordable than had we ordered separate dishes. It’s a great choice if you want great food and service with relatively inexpensive cost. A-

First Food & Bar – Located inside the Palazzo, First Food & Bar is an upscale pub. While its prices are a little prohibitive, the bar has a great atmosphere. We split the corn on the cob, which came covered in lime juice, goat cheese and cayenne pepper. The mini burgers we had for our main were good, but they were all the same (special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, tomatoes). They’d be better off offering four different sliders. B

Mandarin Palace: General Tao’s Chicken & Satay Beef

Despite having a large number of Chinese restaurants in Fredericton (relatively speaking), I can’t honestly say there are many I’ve felt like returning to. Mandarin Palace (502 Forest Hill Rd.) stands slightly above the rest of the pack and my last visit cemented that position.

I arrived with my guest and we were very quickly seated by our chipper server. Seriously, the door hadn’t even closed behind us yet before we were being greeted and seated. The restaurant is not much to look at, but it’s pleasant enough and clean. It had been a long day, so we started things off with a beer, which came in the bottle, along with a thoughtfully chilled glass.

The menu includes most of the usual items familiar to fans of Canadian-Chinese cuisine (chicken balls, etc.), often in combo form, but there’s plenty of variety beyond that as well. We ordered the General Tao’s Chicken, Satay Beef, and an order of Chicken Fried Rice. In retrospect, I would’ve probably been just as happy with plain fried rice or even steamed, but I let my stomach get the best of me when I ordered. At $8.50, it’s a bit steep for what you get. The other two dishes were in the $13-15 range, which is also a bit high, but the quality mostly justified it.

The General Tao’s is easily the best I’ve had in the city. It’s lighter on the sauce and breading than most of its counterparts, and yet much more flavourful.  The plate includes fried chicken, and decent vegetable content, all of which is dotted heavily with chili flakes and garlic. And yes, it’s actually got a little bit of heat, which is nice to see — I’m sure you could get it hotter if you asked. Most of all, I was impressed by how fresh the vegetables actually tasted, including the large chunks of peppers, bok choi, carrot, onion, celery, etc.

The Satay Beef was a bit confusing, but still great. I was under the impression that Satay is usually a grilled beef dish, but I’m not really an expert, so maybe there are variations I don’t know about. What we received was more along the lines of a spicy beef stirfry: somewhat generic, but still good. The beef was nicely cooked, with bits of medium-rare pink remaining at the centers — you don’t see this nearly often enough. The vegetables were also good again, with a slightly different selection from the other dish. This one also included water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and baby corn, all of which I’m totally down with. I wish the dishes had included more broccoli; at best, there were 2 pieces or so per dish.

There’s a reason Mandarin Palace has become my Fredericton go-to for Chinese food. It’s a bit pricier than the competition, but it also tastes a lot better on a consistent basis.

–

Taste: 4/5
Value: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

For a total of 15 out of 20 stars

10 Second Reviews: Fredericton, Montreal and Beyond

We’ve been a bit quiet here at Our Word of Mouth recently, but I assure you it’s not due to a lack of eating. Rather, my cohorts and I have been temporarily side-tracked by a number of other pursuits, including a little bit of travel. While we continue to get caught up, allow me to share with you the following mini-reviews in two sentences or less to recap a little bit of what’s happened in the last couple of weeks. Restaurants outside of Fredericton are noted as such.

New England Pizza Co. – The toppings (pepperoni, tomato) and cream cheese crust were tasty, but the dough was a bit soggy.  The garlic fingers were not browned, had the same limp crust, and I resent them for charging an extra $1.25 for fake bacon bits. C+

Racines – My steak was slightly overdone (I ordered medium-rare, received something slightly above medium), but everything else was delightful as usual. The peppercorn sauce is amazing. A-

Relish – I finally tried the veggie burger, but I don’t think I’ll be having it again; the patty is too soft to keep its shape (it squishes into a paste) and doesn’t taste like much either. B

Cedar Tree Cafe – I normally enjoy my visits here, but a recent curried carrot-parsnip soup I had was just not good at all, with an unpleasant texture, lack of seasoning, and a lingering bitter flavour. C

The Bright Pearl (Toronto, Spadina Ave.) – Specializing in all-day dim sum, this was an entirely new experience for me. I enjoyed some of the dishes more than others, but it was fascinating from start to finish and also crazy cheap. B

Ethiopia House (Toronto, Irwin Ave.) – My first time trying Ethiopian food and I feel richer for the experience. Our entire table agreed the vegetarian dishes were the stars of the show and the signature injera flatbread is much more filling than it looks. A-

Big Fat Burrito (Toronto, Augusta Ave.) – Quick, cheap, and filling; not a bad stop at all for a quick fix. The fillings tasted surprisingly fresh and the flavours mingled nicely. B+

The Indian Hut (Toronto, Church St.) – One of the better Indian buffets I’ve had, with good (but not overwhelming) selection, a comfortable dining room, and friendly service. A-

Wooden Heads (Kingston, Ontario St.) – A surprise highlight, they had an exciting Italian menu and excellent pizza, although my minestrone was a bit weak. A-

Thai-Viet (Montreal, St Dominique) – A definite low-point in our travels; bland food and unpleasant atmosphere. I don’t think anyone at our table felt particularly good about their meal. We were all just thankful that nobody became physically ill. D

Midsea Eatery: Falafel Platter

The north-west corner of King and Regent has been home to several businesses over the years. When I first moved to Fredericton in the late 90s, it was a Kwik Way and Patel’s Catering. Later it became a series of bodegas and corner stores, and most recently an Asian grocery. A few months ago it was transformed yet again into the Midsea Eatery, a Lebanese restaurant and take-out.

Immediately after I ordered the falafel platter ($8.99) at the counter, I noticed something odd about the seating: the chairs have no backs. They’re interesting design-wise, but pretty impractical, since it doesn’t give you anywhere to put your jacket if you want to take it off while you eat.

It took quite a while for our food to arrive. I’d suggested Midsea as a dinner option because my friends and I were going to a show at the Arts Centre in just under an hour and I thought it would probably be faster than most of the sit-down pubs and restaurants downtown. In the end, the whole process took about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Falafel Platter | Mary Green photo

When my meal finally arrived, it was served on a styrofoam plate with plastic utensils. This seems wasteful to me and it can make eating tricky if you don’t want to accidentally get pieces of styrofoam in your food.

The uniformly shaped, deep-fried falafel were a little bland and definitely not shaped by hand, but were dark and crispy on the outside. Whenever I’ve attempted falafel at home the balls tend to crumble even after frying and these definitely did not, so kudos for that.

There was also a small cup of garlic sauce and a good sized helping of hummus, which appeared to be homemade. It was stiff and very garlic-y — at one point I got what seemed to be a mouthful of raw garlic — but overall it was very good.

Along with the falafel and hummus was a garden salad with a simple vinaigrette with dried herbs. My only complaint about the salad was that red onions seemed to make up almost half of it. Otherwise, the ingredients were fresh, ripe, and delicious.

I was a little disappointed at the Mother Nature’s pita that came with my meal. It was warmed up and tasted fine, albeit a little dry, but that’s how they are when I get them from the grocery store, too. Pita bread made in-store (or at least from a bakery instead of a plastic bag) would have improved the experience.

There are definitely preferable options for Lebanese food in Fredericton with better service and comparable if not superior food, but Midsea has a major advantage in its central location and business hours geared toward dinner as well as lunch. It’s a good alternative if you’re craving middle eastern food after 6pm, as long as you’re not in a hurry.

–

Taste: 3/5
Value: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Overall Experience: 3/5

For a total of 12 out of 20 stars

Asia Beef Noodles: Beef Pho & Spring Roll

Asia Beef Noodles is the only game in town for Vietnamese and Thai food. Photo by Virtual Tourist user Canuck5.

We’ve been meaning to review Asia Beef Noodles (624 Queen St.) for a while now. Not only did our readers recently vote it as a the best Asian food in Fredericton, but I also thought it would be interesting to compare this experience to my recent lunch at Halifax’s Star Anise. I’ve only been to Asia Beef Noodles once before and it was almost two years ago. To be honest, I wasn’t crazy about that first experience, but a lot can change in two years and I was ready to give it another shot. I’m glad I did.

I ordered approximately the same thing I had at Star Anise: beef pho ($8.50) and a pair of crispy spring rolls. The first thing that distinguishes this restaurant is that all diners are given a complimentary pot of tea to begin their meal. This is a really nice gesture and a pleasant way to pass the time while you wait for your food. The restaurant was busy during our visit, but the service kept up well and food was coming out of the kitchen at a brisk pace.

The pair of spring rolls arrived first and they were thoughtfully arranged on separate plates, making it easier to share with my guest. They felt a little greasy and had that tell-tale shimmer of oil glistening on the surface, but tasted great regardless. The primarily pork-based filling was well-seasoned and very flavourful. On the side came a small bowl of clear, briny dipping sauce, much like what I had at Star Anise. This version was slightly sweeter, but tasted just as good.

There aren’t as many options here for pho, but the beef version includes a combination of rare beef, sliced flank, and “beef balls,” which are basically just spiced meatballs. The dish I received was heavy on the flank, but very light on rare beef and beef balls — in fact, there was just one lonely meatball in the entire bowl. That’s not to say the overall portion was small, but the rare beef is my favourite part and I would have preferred more of that over the other components. Also, the rare beef I did receive was unfortunately not very rare. I understand some customers may get squeamish about pink in their beef, but for me that’s part of the dish’s appeal.

The bowl also included green onions, cilantro, and bean sprouts, which maintained a nice crispness. The noodles themselves were also nicely prepared. If I may get nitpicky for a moment, the only thing that may have made this pho slightly less satisfying than the one I had last week was the beef broth itself. It was very good, but lacked the visual clarity and brightness of flavours of what I had before.

Still, this was a highly satisfying meal and I could easily see myself coming back for more soon. Asia Beef Noodles’ offerings feel like very honest, straightforward preparations and that’s something I love to see in a restaurant. My guest had a tofu stirfry with crispy noodles — I got to try a little bit and it was also great.

–-

Taste: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

For a total of 16 out of 20 stars

Montana’s: Prime Rib Sandwich

Photo by Adeline Ang. Click for website.

Montana’s is a chain restaurant located in the newly developed Trinity Avenue area of uptown Fredericton. I recently went there for lunch. They seemed to have some outdoor seating, but it’s in a highly trafficked parking lot, so I opted for dining indoors.

The theme of the chain is rustic/outdoorsy lodge. Appropriately, the inside has unfinished wood walls and hunting-themed decorations, including a huge mounted moose head. Their specialty is ribs and they also have a selection of AAA steaks. I was looking for something on the cheaper side, so I ordered the Prime Rib Sandwich ($12.99) with fries and a Pepsi.

The food arrived after about ten minutes. I used this time to draw on the paper-covered table with the provided crayons. The prime rib arrived hot and it was tasty. The sandwich was topped with colby cheese and unnecessarily large pepper rings that ended up falling off. It came with au jus on the side that was great for dipping the sandwich. The fries were average.

The server was present, but busy. I was never offered a Pepsi refill, but she did also bring water without having to ask. Overall, the experience was about what I expected.

–

Taste: 3/5
Value: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Overall Experience: 3/5

For a total of 12 out of 20 stars

Star Anise (Halifax, NS): Rare Beef Pho

I recently had the chance to visit Halifax and check out Star Anise (1571 Barrington St.), a Vietnamese noodle restaurant specializing in pho. Pho is a rice noodle dish that typically includes a flavourful broth, beef, and an assortment of accompanying vegetables. Star Anise offers several variations, with different star ingredients to choose from, including beef flank, tripe, chicken, tofu, shrimp, and mixed vegetables.

I chose the rare beef pho ($8.99) and a vegetable spring roll to start ($1.85). The spring roll was low on frills, but compared to most I’ve had, it was actually quite exceptional. The exterior had a pleasant crunch, while the filling was free of any oily taste. Each bite was a harmonious blend of vegetables, which tasted fresh and well seasoned. The accompanying dipping sauce was a clear, briny fish sauce, with a hint of rice wine vinegar.

The rare beef pho at Star Anise. My dish didn't look quite this dressed up, but the idea is the same. Photo via official site.

The pho arrived in a wide bowl with tall walls, so it’s definitely a very generous portion. The rice noodles were perfectly cooked and maintained a pleasant, slightly al dente texture. The broth was clear, bright, and nicely seasoned, although perhaps not very punchy. It tasted lightly of basil and star anise, as the restaurant’s name might suggest. I added a few dashes of Sriracha to add a little heat. Atop all this was a small portion of thinly sliced beef that was cooked just enough to still allow a few spots of pink here and there, giving it a really nice texture, and also some green onion and chopped cilantro. I almost wish the rare beef had been a little more rare, but maybe that’s asking for trouble.

The dish also comes with a side plate of pho add-ons, which includes fresh bean sprouts, basil, and a wedge of lime. I’m not familiar with this custom, but it’s a nice way to avoid having overcooked bean sprouts (gross) and also lets you customize how much of them you want with your noodles.

Overall, I found the food to be very simple, but highly satisfying, which is a good combination. The restaurant itself maybe isn’t high on atmosphere, but our servers were pleasant enough.

–

Taste: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Overall Experience: 5/5

For a total of 17 out of 20 stars

The Terrace Dining Room: Monte Cristo

Photo via the Crowne Plaza's official site

It has been over seven months since our last review of the food at Fredericton’s Crowne Plaza. I recently went for lunch in their family-oriented dining room, The Terrace Dining Room.

On weekdays they have a lunch buffet, but I am not really a fan of buffets so I ordered off the lunch menu. My food came fairly quickly; I assume everyone else was having the buffet. I ordered the Monte Cristo ($12), which included turkey, honey ham, Gruyere and a cranberry chipotle relish, and I chose fries as my side. Both pieces of bread were fried with an egg batter very similar to French toast, and it was topped with icing sugar. I found the sugar a little unnecessary, but the sandwich held together very nicely.  Only towards the end did it start to get soggy. The shining star on this sandwich was the cranberry chipotle relish. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be too sweet or smoky, but it was perfectly balanced. The fries were okay, but far from memorable.

The service was pretty decent considering the dining room was full and there only seemed to be two servers, but again most people were having the buffet. The atmosphere was kind of busy, but there is a great view of the river if you can get one of the few seats in that part of the restaurant.

–

Taste: 3/5
Value: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Overall Experience: 3/5

For a total of 13 out of 20 stars