Alberta Hotel Bar & Kitchen

Alberta Hotel Bar & Kitchen must have one of the best chefs and the best pastry chef in our city. It has been a while since I have been this wow’d by the food at an upscale restaurant. I can’t stress enough that this is definitely a place you need to dine at (perhaps during the upcoming Downtown Dining Week).
The menu is so simple and perfect. 6 appetizers to choose from and 5 entrees to choose from. I found the menu items to consist of food people actually want to eat. Sometimes, there’s some pretty weird shit on the menus of upscale restaurants, but this menu, I knew what everything was! There is also a very creative cocktail menu, one of the better ones I’ve seen in a while.
For my entrée I opted for the amazing duck breast that was accompanied by heavenly roasted pears, carrot purée, and the best brussel sprouts I’ve ever had. The duck breast was cooked medium (as I requested, instead of medium rare). It melted in my mouth, and had a perfect crisp yet fatty skin. It felt like I was eating dessert. Except the actual desserts are possibly even more amazing than the entrees. No wonder their pastry chef is opening up a bakery on 124 street! I had a molten lava cake with caramel and ice-​cream and it was GTFO awesome. My friend ordered the cheesecake and she was having her own personal good time across the table.
The servers and hostesses here are among the best I’ve experienced. They are so perfectly friendly, and knowledgeable about the menu. I usually don’t comment on the servers, but these ones deserve huge props.
Lastly, the décor is 50% awesome, 50% drab. The lounge side that was constructed to look like the old hotel from 100 or so years ago is immensely impressive. The dining side though is dark and blasé. It needs a better sound system, and some serious décor. Art on the wall, big drapey curtains, just something to liven it up.
Overall, Alberta Hotel Bar & Kitchen is now one of my top 3 higher end Edmonton restaurants. I love how flavourful and delicious the food was, and without the use of excessive salt! Praise Chef Spencer Thompson!!!

Finally tried Alberta Hotel Bar & Kitchen for lunch yesterday… have been meaning to try it since Tavern 1903 (which I LOVED) closed down.
I must say, sadly, I was disappointed with the food. I had the Bratwurst Burger with a starter soup, and my guest had the Rigatoni. Both were mediocre. Not bad, but not great either. My soup had 2 pieces of onion skin, so in the middle of eating my soup, I felt like I was chomping on hay all of a sudden. Definitely not as top notch as their predecessors (Tavern 1903). I will try again one day and hope for better. Maybe the chef was just having an «off» day… of which we all have had a few I am sure.
On a side note, the service was great. Our waitress never skipped a beat, and kept our water glasses full!

3 ½ Stars. Came to Alberta Hotel today for an elegant lunch. Mixed feelings. The speed of service was poor especially for a workday lunch sitting. 40 – 50 minutes between order and delivery. However the food was delicious. I had the lunch special which included a starter salad. The salad was way beyond expectations red beets golden beets arugula house made croûton pear –simply delicious. Lunch special was braised short rib on a bed of orzo with local root vegetables. Rich and tasty but still light and refreshing. At the time of the bill the server apologized for the slow service which did take some of the sting out of the long wait.

As a vegan I often feel jealous of all the fancy dining spots that all my friends get to visit. When I heard that Alberta Hotel Bar & Kitchen was opening its doors I rolled my eyes and thought «great, another one», but to my surprise they had actually curated a separate vegan for «my kind». So I was thrilled to check it out — and holy shit, did it ever exceed my expectations.
We ordered everything off the (separate) vegan menu: beet salad, house-​made rigatoni, king oyster mushroom with crostini and the poached pear dessert. The salad had red and golden beets and was presented really well — but the dressing was a bit boring, it could use some tweaking. As for the other vegan items they were all outstanding. The house made rigatoni had the perfect texture and flavors and the king oyster mushroom with crostini was just as good — I don’t know who’s soul they sold to make their tomatoes taste the way they do… but whoever it was, it was worth it. Their poached pear dessert is also worth ordering — their vegan coconut banana ice-​cream is amazing and goes perfectly with the pear and streusel in the dish.
We ordered a few cocktails as well — I cannot recall which ones but they were all good. I feel pretty confident in saying that any cocktail from AB Hotel will be great, so order whatever catches your eye.
As for the rest… We were seated right away on a weeknight during the holidays and could choose to sit on the bar side (which looked a bit more casual) or the dining side (which was dimly lit and looked more like a formal side). We chose the dining side as it was nice and quiet. But you can also make a reservation if you’re worried about getting a table. The service was great — friendly, fast and competent.
I will definitely be going back, it was all in all a fantastic experience. And if you’re vegan you should *definitely* check this place out — you won’t leave disappointed.

Whether you’re a local or a tourist, The Alberta Hotel is a fine place to go to get your slice of Canada.
This one of those places that’s hard for me to remember. Not because the food wasn’t memorable, on the contrary, it was delicious, but as a result, I at ALL THE THINGS!
The Alberta Hotel is classic and comfortable. You can dress up for a good private dinner, or come in your business casual at the end of the day.
The menu reflects this kind of comfort using expertly prepared Canadian and especially Alberta-​centric ingredients. The don’t go overboard with ingredients, instead opting to put together something to compliment the main ingredient in the dish.
Canadian clams. Yum. I will eat as much bread as it takes to mop up the sauce.
For my main I went with the Manitoba pickerel. This is a delicious white fish, that’s about as Manitoban as it gets. Very clean tasting, tender and meaty. No fishy taste here. Cold Manitoban waters make it that way and Alberta Hotel serves it so fresh it stays that way. I think this was the first time in my life I’ve had a pickerel without having to pick out a bone. Pickerel are notorious for tiny bones everywhere. Well done, chaps!

The Alberta Hotel Bar + Kitchen had a three week soft opening prior to their grand opening on November 19^th. I booked a group dinner with my friends for my birthday this year and we were all looking forward to trying out the entire menu. For our group of 15 people, I was surprised upon arrival to find that we had been split into four separate tables. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but with one dedicated server to our group (she was lovely!) the service was very disjointed. As the first table was receiving their food, the fourth table hadn’t even made their order yet, so instead of being served as a group, we were served as four separate tables that weren’t dining together. Just something to take note of if you’re planning on making a reservation for more than 6 people.
My table started the evening with a couple appetizers, and first up was the Warm Mushroom & Lobster Salad ($ 18). The salad was presented beautifully with pea shoots, crimini mushrooms, a hefty chunk of lobster, a poached egg, and shaved Italian truffle. The components were fresh and the mushrooms flavourful, but the salad itself wasn’t too exciting.
Next up came the Beef Carpaccio ($ 17) sliced paper thin and finished with a drizzle of cold pressed canola oil, pea shoots, and shaved pecorino. It was nice to see the kitchen using pea shoots rather than arugula (as many do in this dish), since it brought on a different dimension of flavour. Unfortunately the dish itself was underseasoned, and a bit of salt and pepper could have gone a long way.
The Steamed Manila Clams ($ 16) arrived in a heaping pile, served in a light broth with heirloom tomatoes, garlic, lemon and crostinis. The clams were fresh, and the light, savoury broth highlighted their natural sweetness. The dish had great value given the portion size, and was perfect for sharing among the table.
We also had an order of the Bone Marrow Agnolotti ($ 16) cooked in brown butter and served with wild mushrooms, celery root purée, and shaved pecorino. Agnolotti are delicate pockets of pasta, and those that arrived at our table had burst open, with their contents spread widely across the dish. While the dish didn’t quite have the best presentation, it was the most flavourful and my favourite of the four appetizers we had ordered.
When it comes to the main dishes the menu has five different options, where one is a vegetarian pasta and the remainder feature local proteins. My boyfriend opted for the Manitoba Pickerel ($ 24) with scallops, clams, zucchini, fennel, and potatoes cooked in a gin and tomato broth. The fish was fresh and cooked nicely, and the flavours didn’t overpower the fish itself.
Another dish at our table was the Pembina Pork Cheeks ($ 24) cooked with wild mushrooms and served on a bed of buttermilk polenta with arugula, tomato jam and pecorino. The pork was fall-​apart tender and the polenta was light and creamy. It was a great dish with balanced flavours.
For myself I had the Duck Breast ($ 28), because any time there’s duck involved, it’s mine! Two beautiful pieces of duck breast sat atop a carrot purée with brussels sprouts and roasted pears. Unfortunately mine had been overcooked, but the kitchen had no problem replacing it. The second plate’s duck was beautiful — medium rare, and seared off with a nice crisp skin. The duck was delicious, but even better was the roasted brussels sprouts. They were flavourful, not over cooked, and I could not stop eating them. This was definitely the star of the night for me, and I wouldn’t hesitate to order it again.
Pastry Chef Kai Wong has brought together a great selection of desserts. Of the five options, there was one calling my name — namely, the Alberta Hotel Banana S’mores ($ 12). Chocolate ganache, graham crumbs, bruleed banana, whipped marshmallow, and a scoop of housemade banana ice cream were presented beautifully in a deconstructed manner on the plate. Deconstructed plating can be hit or miss, but this dessert was fantastic. Eaten together or separately, every component was delicious, but I was partial to the ice cream.
While there were some hits and misses throughout the evening, we noticed that there was a lack of consistency from one table to the next. A dish could be underseasoned at one table while the same dish was heavily seasoned at the next. Even more interesting was that two of the same dish being ordered at one table could taste completely different. It was evident on the night of our visit that the kitchen was lacking consistency, which was unfortunate given that the kitchen had been practicing for over three weeks. The Alberta Hotel Bar + Kitchen has huge potential in becoming a strong name in the Edmonton food scene. As a big supporter of local producers, I do hope to see them succeed and strive for consistency in their dishes. While I won’t be rushing back for a visit, I’m eager to return for another bite of that duck breast in the future.

With a grand opening a couple of Thursdays ago, dinner at the old Tavern 1903 space (may it rest in peace) on Jasper Avenue and 98^th St, was one of my most memorable meals for 2015 and something I did not expect on the first day of full service. Outstanding feedback from those who ate during the month of soft opening had given me high hopes and I was pleasantly surprised that those were met.
For grand opening night, a three-​course menu was offered for $ 55, and included an amuse bouche and complementary sparkling wine. With the ‘Beef Tenderloin’ course already going for $ 38 a la carte, it made sense for both Joe and I to go with the three courses as diners were still able to choose which dishes they desired.
Strangely enough, our starters were served before our amuse bouche and sparkling wine, a small hiccup in service to start our night. Joe ordered the ‘Bone Marrow Agnolotti’, one of my favourites for the night. Wild mushrooms and precious packets of agnolotti were sautéed in a brown butter sauce and poured over a celery root purée that was served inside the bone. It was a rich starter, with portions inching towards a main dish, but I’m not complaining. The agnolotti seemed to have lost it’s envelope shape, perhaps the dough a tad too thin, but otherwise a very successful dish.
I ordered the ‘Duck Duo’ (available only on the grand opening menu): a smoked duck breast and pâté, beet macaron, and saskatoon jam. The duck was cooked perfectly, although just a hair under seasoned. The beet macaron had fantastic flavours coming through and melted in your mouth and was eerily similar to the older North 53’s dehydrated beet meringue. My pâté was well seasoned, which balanced the dish overall, although I found myself reaching over to Joe’s starter a bit too often. Sorry Joe.
After some prodding, our amuse bouche came out with our sparkling wine after our plates were cleared. Our server didn’t exactly introduce us to the bites, although she had briefly mentioned the words salmon, goat cheese, and crostini when tempting us to do the grand opening menu earlier on in the night.
Joe seemed to be getting all the money makers that night, his ‘Beef Tenderloin’ (available only on the grand opening menu) was tender, succulent, and absolutely perfect. A large oxtail ravioli accompanied the star of the show, along with a roasted Belgian endive and a smooth potato purée. I only managed to grab a small bite of the purée and without any jus, I thought might have been a bit under seasoned again for my particular taste but Joe wiped the plate clean!
Our server had suggested to order the ‘Pembina Pork Cheeks’ and I had entrusted her with my main order and dessert. She had mentioned that the buttermilk polenta was outstanding. It was. I don’t even like polenta. Rarely do I even order it for fear of grittiness. This was the best polenta I have ever had, and was actually a part of Chef Spencer Thompson’s menu during his battle in Edmonton Food Fight (minus the lamb testicles, obviously). The pork cheek was done perfectly, falling to bits at the first touch of a fork and the whole dish was balanced with a housemade tomato jam and more of those wonderful wild mushrooms. A+. Actually, A++.
At this point I was skeptical that dessert would carry on the high, but Pastry Chef Kai Wong’s menu really pulled through. Joe’s ‘Alberta Hotel Banana Smores’ justified the restaurant’s name in its title, a deconstructed concept of chocolate ganache, finely ground graham crumbs, whipped marshmallow, and a housemade banana ice cream using the kitchen’s new liquid nitrogen toys. Joe got all opinionated about why dishes would need to be deconstructed in the first place, but he’ll need to start his own blog if he wants to share. Doesn’t matter if it was put together all as a single bite or its components beautifully plated individually on the plate, I was a big fan. My ‘Cheesecake’ (a gluten free option!) was fantastic in consistency, and in combination with bites of the red currant jelly and lemon curd made a nice refreshing way to end the meal.
What I loved about Alberta Hotel Bar and Kitchen was its transparency on sources of ingredients. On the back of the seasonal menus, thanks are given to the restaurant’s local suppliers, including Chef Thompson’s family farm, Paradise Fields. I was happy to see a lot of farms and producers listed were easily accessible at the Old Strathcona Farmer’s Market, no doubt through Chef Thompson’s Toast Fine Catering great connections and relationships.
Since grand opening, I have been back a second time (Saturday evening) to which dinner paled in comparison to my first outstanding experience. The potential at Alberta Hotel is amazing and I look forward to another meal! Hopefully they will work out any inconsistencies and become one of my favourite restaurants!

I had the pleasure of checking this place out during their soft opening. We were greeted promptly by the hostesses as we arrived and they offered to take our coats for us (nice touch!) The wait staff were extremely friendly and pretty knowledgeable about what they were serving. Drinks took a while to arrive, but as with a soft opening it was expected that there would be some kinks that need to be worked out. The space is cozy and has a beautiful bar to the right side of the room. We ordered four dishes as we wanted to sample a little bit of everything:
— The warm egg and pancetta salad
— Pembina Pork Cheeks
— Bone Marrow Angolotti
— Housemade Rigatoni
Everything was DELICIOUS! I am not a huge meat eater, so my favorite dish of the night was the rigatoni, seriously I could have eaten 10 plates of this stuff. Everything was the perfect balance of flavors and melted in your mouth. Also, I am a big fan of the salad, the combination of a warm egg placed on top of salad may seem a bit odd, but it is a flavor explosion for your palette — a great starter! For dessert we both ordered something different– with its own in house pastry Chef, how could you not?! I got the deconstructed smores, which not only was to die for, but the portion size was very generous, almost enough for 4 people to share. Unabashedly, I ate it ALL! My fiancé ordered the pear tart and I really enjoyed that too, if you don’t have an extreme sweet tooth like die hard chocolate lovers, this is a great option.
Overall, this is a great place to dine and really worth checking out. A great new addition to not only Edmonton’s food scene, but downtown as well!
P/​S
As for parking, I did not have an issue finding parking less than a block away at an impark lot. (on a busy Friday night with many events going on downtown)
There are many impark lots in the vicinity OR if you are lucky enough to find street parking, it does exist!

Ok so let me start this review off by saying the service was 5 stars, but sadly parts of the meal did not live up to expectation.
I booked my fiancé and I here for dinner last night (Halloween) via OpenTable. Parking was a hassle since this place occupies the old Tavern 1903 on Jasper Ave, across the street from the Shaw Conferene Center. The closest parking we found was east of 97 Street in the skechy neighborhoods… The walk over was cold and brisk to say the least.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by two hostesses and seated promptly. The restaurant isn’t in full service yet so the place was mostly empty upon arrival and throughout dinner.
The space has remained unchanged for the most part since it was Tavern 1903. You still have the two sides of the restaurant: the right hand side being the restored bar with multiple tables; the left side being the more dimmer restaurant side. A beautiful space with tons of potential and tons of windows along the outside wall facing Jasper Ave.
Anyways, on to the main focus… the food.
Starter: We ordered the Steamed Manila Clams to start which were pretty awesome! Plentiful (a few did not open properly so we discarded those), and bathed in a garlic white wine sauce with heirloom tomatoes. Accompanied by two pieces of lightly toasted buttered crostini. The sauce was really good that we asked for another piece of bread each to sop up the rest of the sauce. ⁹⁄₁₀
Mains:
I ordered the Manitoba Pickerel which came in a gin & tomato broth, zucchini, heirloom tomatoes, fennel and fingerling potatoes. Interestingly enough, it even came with a couple scallops and a few clams which wasn’t mentioned in the description. This dish was just okay, lacking seasoning and depth. The main star of the dish, the fish, did not shine and did not add anything positive in my opinion. I actually only finished this dish because I’m paying for it and not because I couldn’t resist all the different components. ⁶⁄₁₀ at best
My fiancé ordered the Alberta Beef Duo which came with sliced flank steak, braised short rib, heirloom carrots and buttermilk mashed potatoes. Also notable upon arriving is that it also comes with a gravy sauce all around the plate which isn’t mentioned in the description either. My fiancé was not thrilled about the fact that the plate was loaded with mashed potatoes and the meat was served atop the mashed potatoes which ruined the bites of meat for him as everything tasted like mashed potatoes and gravy from that point. The braised short ribs were executed well, melting in your mouth, but only came with two bite sized portions. The flank steak on the hand, he commented was a lot tougher to eat (and rightly so since it is a tougher cut of meat) but he found it wasn’t prepared well and lacked the aged taste that he prefers with steak. He rated this dish as a ⁶⁄₁₀ as well.
Dessert: Not to be missed out, they have an in-​house pastry chef who makes all the desserts for the restaurant! I couldn’t resist, and with the prompting of our server, opted for one of her recommendations: the cheesecake with red currant jelly, lemon curd, and sponge crust. Oh it was yummy! I’m lactose intolerant and glady polished off most of the cake with minimal help from my fiancé. I’m happy to report that the dessert course left me in better spirits after the disastrous entrees. ¹⁰⁄₁₀
So to sum up, the food was hit & miss, with both main courses a big miss.
Thankfully, our server, Joanna (Joanne?) was just excellent! She was friendly, very unassuming and does her job very well! She came to check on us the perfect amount and offered her recommendations in a very respectful and open manner which I appreciate! She never made us feel rushed nor made us feel her time wasn’t valuable either. Keep up the great work! ¹⁰⁄₁₀ for service!