There has been a sign on the sidewalk near my apartment for at least a couple of months that reads, simply, “Best Pizza 100% Halal.” While it’s true that nearly every business claims it’s the best at what it does, it’s rare that a company actually has the word “best” in the name.
I was intrigued. Did this tiny, hole-in-the-wall pizza and donair joint really make the best pizza? Today, I put them to the test.
While I wouldn’t say that Best Pizza honestly makes Edmonton’s best pizza, they do make a tasty pie.
While Best Pizza offers a dozen different toppings, I was in the mood for something simple, and opted for a 12″ pepperoni and mushroom pizza, which cost $15 plus GST. Because I had simply walked over and ordered, I sat around and waited in the small dine-in part of the restaurant.
Consisting of a pair of tables, and a couple of benches for those eating at the window ledge, the haphazardly constructed sit-down area isn’t exactly what you’d call “fine dining.” But, to be fair, it’s no worse than other dive pizza joints like Chicago Deep Dish, and a decent paint job could probably make it look about the same as the Whyte Avenue Funky Pickle location.
The kitchen is a closed kitchen, so I was unable to see the friendly cook at work, but I could hear him working through the thin walls. I heard a knife chopping something on a cutting block. This turned out to be the mushrooms, which were freshly chopped, not the canned mushroom bits that many corner pizzeria’s use.
While I waited for my pizza, I perused the menu. In addition to pizza, Best Pizza also offers burgers and fries, donairs, chicken shawarma, chicken wings and, oddly, coconut-coated fried shrimp.
Pizza and donairs seem to go together well, as do chicken wings. Burgers at a place that focuses on pizza are probably not going to be the best burgers, but I’ll reserve judgment until I try them. Shawarma is pretty similar to a donair, and this is a Muslim-run establishment, so I’m pretty sure that they know what they’re doing as far as shawarma is concerned.
The coconut shrimp, though, I didn’t notice that menu item until after I’d arrived at home, as it’s inexplicably tucked under the “Burgers” section of the menu. It seems like an odd choice for a pizza and donair shop, but I’m just curious enough to consider ordering some the next time I visit Best Pizza.
At $15 for 25 pieces, it’s not cheap. But, that’s not a bad price for shrimp, and I’m curious enough that I’m willing to pay it.
After about 20 minutes, the pizza was ready. It was brought out with a smile, and the box was almost hot to the touch. This was pizza at it’s freshest.
I made the short walk home, lifted the lid, and smiled when I saw the freshly chopped mushrooms. I poured myself some juice, grabbed a napkin, and tucked in. I knew from the first bite that I’d be back to Best Pizza.
There was plenty of cheese, but not so much that the pepperoni and mushroom flavours were overwhelmed, and the meat and mushrooms were both full of flavour. I suspect that the meat was probably quite fresh too, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it had never been frozen.
While it’s a bit more expensive than established players like Pizza 73, I do recommend Best Pizza, especially if you live in the area (they deliver, for those who aren’t in the area). The food is good, the staff is friendly, and everything is 100% halal, which is beneficial to the large Muslim population in the area surrounding Best Pizza (and Edmonton at large).
While Best Pizza doesn’t quite live up to it’s name, it’s still damn good pizza, and I’ll be back again soon.
Edmonton is not a very walkable city. One of the negative things about this city, especially in this age of buck and a quarter gasoline, is that driving is more or less inevitable.
While the Edmonton Transit System (ETS) does a pretty good job of servicing the city, they have had trouble keeping pace with the growth of the city, so there are some parts of town where taking the bus is, at best, incredibly inconvenient.
Essentially, even if you’re taking ETS, it is relatively difficult to get around Edmonton without using some form of automobile.
However, it is still possible to explore some parts of the city on foot. Perhaps predictably, the most walkable parts of the city are generally the most historic. The most walkable parts of the city are, generally, the parts most worth wandering around and exploring.
While I like to take walks in and around downtown, most of them are relatively boring jaunts around the inner core. A few of them take in the view from the top of the river valley, but even these pale in comparison to the walking tours that Sharon over at Optimistically Cautious has put together.
I’m planning on taking in all 3 of her tours—or some variation of each—as soon as possible, and I highly recommend that each of you do the same. Better still, use Sharon’s tours as inspiration to explore your own little corner of Edmonton. Put together a walking tour of some part of the city, and then share it on your blog, or in the comments section of this post.
I’ve got a couple of little mini-walks (though, nothing close to the half-day tours Sharon has put together) that I’ll share in a future blog post. But, for now, I leave you to explore Sharon’s Edmonton Rediscovered tours.
Thanks to Mack for pointing me toward Sharon’s post.
Edmonton, like all cosmopolitan cities, has cigar shops. While there are a number of shops that sell cigars in River City—ranging from newsstands to convenience stores to hotel gift shops—there are only a few that can truly be called cigar shops. There are only a few stores that are operated by true tobacconists.
To my knowledge, there are only 3 such shops in Edmonton There are at least 5 such shops in Edmonton (thanks to Greg for reminding me about a few of them): La Tienda, Humo, Burlington, River City Cigar, and Hav-a-Cigar.
I am most familiar with Burlington. Burlington is my favourite cigar shop in the city. I go there often and always get good advice from Chris and Aaron (or is it Eric? I can never seem to get his name right). Whether you’re looking for cigars, cigarillos, pipes or pipe tobacco, or even “all natural” cigarettes, Burlington can provide.
They’re also stocked with all of the accessories you’ll ever need—cutters, humidors, ashtrays, and more. Though, to be honest, I find that I can get most accessories a lot cheaper online, and so I tend to buy these things through eBay or other sources.
La Tienda is a nice little shop, but I can’t really comment much on it. I’ve only been inside once or twice, and that was back before I really got into cigars. I went in not really knowing anything, but Curtis managed to help my friend K and I pick out a few decent cigars to celebrate becoming university graduates.
While I can’t say much about La Tienda, I can definitely say that Curtis is a helpful guy who knows his shit.
Humo is a place I’ve been hearing more and more about lately. It’s the one place I’ve never been inside. Ironically, it’s also the closest place to my apartment. I’ll definitely have to go in and check it out one day soon. Until then, I can’t really comment on the place.
But, I know that at least one of my readers is a cigar enthusiast. I’m sure there are others out there who might be reading this blog. So, tell me which of Edmonton’s cigar shops is your favourite, and why. And, if it’s La Tienda or Humo, please feel free to go into great detail, since I’m not familiar enough with either of these establishments to fairly recommend (or not recommend) them to my readers.
The Roost Nightclub is no more. This past weekend was the last for the city’s most iconic queer club (it would be easy to argue that Flashback was more iconic, but it closed down years ago, so it doesn’t really count right now).
It’s a sad day for both the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered) community, and for open-minded club kids in general.
I have some pretty good memories of the Roost, myself, and I wish that I would have been able to get into the club on Saturday like I had planned.
Alas, I fell asleep on the couch like an old man, and didn’t wake up until it was too late. But, even if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to get in. The friends I was to go with waited in line for an hour and a half before the security guard told them to go home, because they wouldn’t be getting in before closing (the place was, understandably, filled to capacity).
The Roost wasn’t just a nightclub. It was also a cultural centre. There were a number of theatre productions—some good, some not-so-good—put on at the Roost, often starring members of the staff. There were plays, stand-up comedy nights, and even the occasional concert.
As sad as it is too lose such an important part of Edmonton’s nightlife and cultural scene, it was bound to happen. Being located in the increasingly trendy warehouse district, it was only a matter of time before the Roost’s owners got an offer that was too good to refuse.
Such an offer was accepted, and the Roost will be turned into a law office very soon.
There are indications that the Roost plans to reopen at another location, but as far as I can tell, that’s very up in the air right now. Hopefully, the Roost will reopen in the future, or another bar will open to fill the void that’s been created by it’s closure.
In the meantime…a law office? Seriously? Prime real estate in the warehouse district and, instead of building lofts, they’re opening a law office? That seems like a poor use of the space to me.
To honour the closing of an Edmonton landmark, I suggest that people use the comments section to relate some of their favourite memories about the Roost.
Ah, the Highlevel Diner (10912 88 Avenue). There is a reason it’s one of the most popular restaurants in Garneau, if not the entire city.
The atmosphere is cozy and comfortable. It feels like home, when you’re at the Highlevel Diner. The serving staff are always friendly, and seem to instinctively know when you need a coffee refill, and when you need to be left alone to chat with the people you’re dining with.
The last time I was at the Highlevel Diner, I was on a date and, like always, our server knew exactly when to offer refills on our coffee and tea, and when to stay back and let us get to know one another.
But, enough about the service. As important as it is, if the food is no good, quality of service becomes irrelevant.
I admit that I’ve only eaten at the Highlevel Diner a handful of times. But, I’ve had something different to eat each of those times.
The first thing I ever ate at the Highlevel was the veggie burger. Though I’m not a vegetarian, I enjoy a lot of vegetarian food, and I’ve found that veggie burgers are sometimes tastier than their fleshy equivalents.
Unfortunately, the above statement cannot be made of the veggie burgers at the Highlevel Diner.
The burger was dry, falling apart, and the texture was not even close to the texture of a real meat patty.
The patty is full of oatmeal and alfalfa sprouts. This, in itself is not a bad thing. However, they aren’t ground up and formed into a patty as much as they’re just thrown together losely, without much of a binding agent. This, in my opinion, is not a good burger.
Now, despite the disappointing texture, the Highlevel Diner veggie burger is actually doesn’t taste too bad. However, even when I go for vegetarian food, I’m something of a crypto-carnivore, and I want most of my meat replacements to have the same (or at least similar) taste and texture as the meat that they’re imitating.
Other items that I’ve eaten at the Highlevel Diner include the chili (which, I think, is available as a vegetarian dish), the Mediterranean appetizer plate, and the nachoes. All of these dishes were excellent.
I’ve also eaten a couple of desserts at the Highlevel Diner: brownies and cinnamon buns. Again, these were excellent.
Specific pricing information, unfortunately, has escaped from my brain the time of writing this article, but I can say that the prices at the Highlevel Diner are very reasonable. Most of the items on the menu are $15 or less, which is becoming harder and harder to find in Alberta’s booming economy.
So, if you’re looking for a laidback, home-style diner, check out the Highlevel Diner. It certainly fits the bill.
For more restaurant reviews and information, check out my Edmonton Restaurant Guide.
I have a question for all of my Edmonton-based readers today: Where are all the pubs with dartboards in Edmonton?
I’m looking for a place that I go with some friends, toss a few darts, and drink a few pints. I have not been able to find such a place.
Fear of injuries and litigation are probably responsible for the demise of the beer parlour dartboard. But, surely, there are still drinking establishments where one can throw sharp objects while intoxicated.
I asked this question on the River City Writers Facebook group, but so far, no one has responded, so I thought I’d ask my blog readers.
So, once again, what are some Edmonton pubs that have dartboards?
Update #1: I put this question out to my contacts on Twitter, and received a couple of answers from Thuraya:
@ink_slinger also there is Avenue Pizza by the U that has 3 or four but the place itself is kinda scuzzy about 1 hour ago from web in reply to ink_slinger 
@ink_slinger there is the Black Dog on Whyte, they have two in the back. the Elephant and Castle in Edmonton Center (by the theater) has 2 about 1 hour ago from web in reply to ink_slinger
Update #2: Another response from someone on Twitter. This time, it comes from bruceclarke:
@ink_slinger At one time I thought the Billiard Club had some but it has been some time since I’ve been there. The place downstairs did too. about 16 hours ago from web in reply to ink_slinger
In an effort to provide more value to the readers of River City Writer, I have decided to create an Edmonton Nightlife Guide, similar to the Edmonton Restaurant Guide.
As with that guide, I am asking for reader submissions. Tell me about your favourite clubs, bars, and pubs. If you’re feeling especially motivated, you could even write a full review (you will, of course, be credited for your work).
Bars/Pubs/Lounges
Black Dog Freehouse (10425 Whyte Avenue) - Canadian-style pub, with an unpretentious atmosphere. Everyone is welcome at the Black Dog. Dartboards in the back.
Sherlock Holmes (Downtown - Rice Howard Way; West Edmonton Mall - Bourbon Street; Capilano Mall - North Entrance) - English-style pub. Capilano Mall location has dartboards.
Elephant & Castle (Downtown - City Centre Mall; Southside - 10314 Whyte Avenue) - English-style pub. Downtown location has dartboards.
Kasbar Lounge (10444 Whyte Avenue, downstairs) - Mediterranean-themed cocktail lounge.
Nightclubs
Halo (10538 Jasper Avenue) - House music dance lounge; Mod Club on Friday nights. Read a full review of Halo.
New City Compound (10081 Jasper Avenue) - Liwkid Lounge upstairs, Suburbs downstairs; punk/goth/alternative lifestyle club. Read a full review of the New City Compound.
It was my birthday last Friday, and in addition to visiting Padmanadi (one of my new favourite restaurants), my friends and I went to Halo.
Halo is a nightclub in downtown Edmonton (10538 Jasper Avenue). From what I’ve been told, they play house music 6 nights of the week. I’ve never been on any day other than Friday, so I don’t know for sure.
On Friday nights, however, Halo becomes The Mod Club. This means that the music ranges from 60s soul and R&B to Brit Pop to New Wave to Punk to Mod(ern) Indie Rock. Basically, the DJs play anything that would have been played in a club during the height of the original mod movement, with a modern twist.
For years, Halo was my favourite place to be on a Friday night. The music was great, the people were cool, and the vibe was fun and friendly.
Maybe it’s because I’m a little bit older now, or maybe it’s just because I’m not as interested in that particular scene as I once was, but I didn’t find myself enjoying Halo or the Mod Club as much as I used to.
Don’t get me wrong, I still had a blast, and you’ll still find me kicking it old school on the occasional Friday night, but it’s just not my regular scene anymore.
The music is still great. That much, I will not deny.
The vibe in the club is great, too. The faux wood paneling and the forest wallpaper give the place a 70s rumpus room feel, which totally fits the Mod Club scene.
The people, though, are not quite the same.
The crowd who was at Halo during my days as a regular seems to have mostly moved on. I saw a few familiar faces on Friday, but not many.
At 24, I was probably one of the oldest people in the entire club. The vast majority of the kids on the dance floor were 18 and 19.
It was clear, by the awkwardness that was being expressed in their body language, that most of these kids were experiencing Edmonton’s nightlife for the first time.
I avoided the dance floor.
Halo used to be one of the few places were I’d let lose and actually dance like no one was watching. Now, it felt too awkward.
Even in a bar, where people are expected to get much closer and more intimate with one another than they would in most other settings, there are certain rules about personal space.
Those rules were frequently violated on Friday night.
Admittedly, Halo is a very small club. But, I’ve been there on nights that were much busier—when people have been squeezed together like sardines—and felt less violated than I did on Friday night.
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something about the way the kids on the dance floor moved was, well, awkward and uncomfortable. If I had to guess, I’d say that most of them were not comfortable in their own bodies, and their movements were incredibly awkward as a result.
Despite the general awkwardness of the patrons, Halo is still one of my favourite clubs in the city. It’s a little bit different than the typical Top 40 club—the music, the people, and the overall vibe are much nicer—and it’s still unknown enough that there’s rarely a long line to get in.
But, it’s definitely become a place for a younger crowd (probably, it always was; I was only 21 during the height of my Halo years, so I might just feel older than I did then). If you’re over 21, you’ll probably feel a bit out of place among the barely legal youths prancing awkwardly around the dance floor.
If you can get over any sense of awkwardness—have a couple of drinks, you’ll feel fine—you’ll be in for a night of great music and one of the coolest atmospheres in Edmonton’s nightclub scene.
For more nightlife reviews and information, check out my Edmonton Nightlife Guide.
Two Rooms Cafe is one of those places that’s easy to walk past and not notice, if you don’t know that it’s there.
Nestled in the old Dominion Hotel building near the corner of Gateway Boulevard and Whyte Avenue, Two Rooms is perhaps the best kept secret on the Avenue.
Serving what is best described as “Canadian Cuisine,” Two Rooms offers a wide selection of entrées: sandwiches, pasta dishes, burgers, and more.
For my money, the best item on the menu is the 100% Sirloin Burger.
For $11, you get the juiciest, tastiest burger you’ll ever bite into, along with a choice of soup or salad. The salad comes with a home-made dressing that is absolutely delicious. I’m not sure what the recipe is, but it has hints of cucumber, vinegar (naturally), and a hint of tanginess that I can’t quite place (lime?).
I’ve tried the Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich in the past, and it’s also a good choice. I don’t recall the exact price, but I believe that it’s also $11.
Two Rooms has an extensive wine selection that, I’m told, is quite good. Not being much of a wine connoisseur, and having never ordered a glass of wine at Two Rooms, I can’t verify the accuracy of that statement.
The beer selection is quite good, and there is a full bar, so you should be able to get whatever cocktails you might be in the mood for.
The non-alcoholic drink selection is fairly impressive, too. In addition to the standard pop, coffee, and tea choices, Two Rooms also offers sparkling water, Orangina, and Italian sodas.
In addition to the great food, the Two Rooms Cafe has a nice, cozy atmosphere. The decor is mostly dark wood, which fits well in the old building.
Jazz or electronic music is usually played in the background, providing a nice ambiance, without distracting from the dinner conversation.
There’s also something oddly appealing about having your dinner served to your table by the same guy who cooked it.
I’ve only been to Two Rooms Cafe a few times, but it’s quickly become one of my favourite Edmonton restaurants. The food is great, as is the atmosphere.
The price is good, as well. I went for dinner with an old friend last night, and our bill came to only $40 (including tax and tip) for two Sirloin Burgers, a $7 glass of wine, and an Orangina ($3.25).
For more restaurant reviews and information, check out my Edmonton Restaurant Guide.
Last weekend, I found myself at Padmanadi, an Indonesian vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown. The first thing I noticed is that it’s a very small space. It’s not uncomfortably small, though. It could probably be described as “cozy.”
It was fairly sparsely decorated but, oddly enough, that was part of the charm. The people—both the staff and the customers—were much more interesting than any decor could have been. There was a sort of “bohemian charm” about the place.
More important than the atmosphere was the food itself. We decided to each order a dish, and share them, so that we could sample a variety of the items on the menu.
There were 5 of us there that night, so we managed to order quite a few different items. We had “chicken” curry, kung pow “chicken,” deep-friend “shrimp,” coconut rice, and BBQ tofu. We also ordered an extra side dish of rice. Like a lot of Asian restaurants, complimentary tea is provided with the meal, so I didn’t bother to order anything special to drink.
The first dish that arrived on the table was the curry, which I had ordered. I’ve been a fan of curry for a long time, so I was looking forward to this dish. It was genuinely one of the best curried dishes I’ve ever tasted. While the “chicken” didn’t taste quite like real chicken, it was pretty close. It still had a bit of a unique flavour to it, which actually might have made me enjoy the dish even more.
The kung pow chicken was also excellent, and the imitation chicken tasted a bit more like real chicken that it did in the curry dish. If I had to guess, I’d say that the kung pow spices covered the “non-meat” taste enough that it seemed more like real meat than the curry did.
The BBQ tofu was surprisingly good. I’m not usually a fan of tofu, unless it’s in a stir fry, but this was actually pretty good. It still had the mushy texture that tends to turn me off of tofu, so I don’t think I’d order it again, but for people who enjoy tofu, I’d definitely recommend it.
The coconut rice seemed to just be plain rice. I didn’t really notice any coconut flavour, and at least one other person commented that they couldn’t taste it either. I’m sure there was coconut milk in the rice, but it wasn’t as noticeably sweet as coconut rice usually is. Even though it came with a couple of little bite-sized tofu things, and something that tasted kind of like deep-fried pork, I don’t think I’d pay the price for this dish again, since it essentially tasted just like normal rice.
The last dish that we ordered was the battered shrimp. I have no idea what they used in place of real shrimp, but it did taste pretty close. Like the chicken, it didn’t taste quite right, but considering that it isn’t real shrimp, that’s to be expected.
All of the items we ordered were $9.99 or less, except the shrimp, which was $10.99. There were 5 people at our table, and we ate good for about $60 (including tip). It was definitely a good meal, at a great price. I’ll definitely be going back, probably pretty soon. I’m actually tempted to make a reservation for my birthday this year.
In any case, vegetarian or not, I highly recommend Padmanadi. The price is low, the food is good, and the atmosphere is more interesting than it really should be.
For more restaurant reviews and information, check out my Edmonton Restaurant Guide.
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