Taste of Edmonton 2007

Though I know I said I would cut out the "extras," at least until returning to my pre-Europe weight, I couldn't resist a trip to the annual Taste of Edmonton festival on Monday.

I had previewed the menu somewhat on the website before heading down to Churchill Square, so it wasn't as much of a shock to me that tickets were astronomically priced at $1 each. When taking into consideration portion sizes, and the questionable quality of food cooked en masse in an outdoor tent, this summer tradition has really become an expensive one.

Thus, Dickson and I decided to sample just a few dishes, with the intent on filling up on more reasonably priced fare elsewhere. Out of habit, I chose Hong Kong Bakery's green onion cakes and was pleasantly surprised that they were tastier than last year's version - more flaky and crispy this time around. Dickson scruputously redeemed his tickets on stuffed mushrooms from the Gas Pump and Beijing Beijing's ginger beef. He much preferred the former dish, if not only for its smaller grease rating (and no pictures...just two days back from Europe, I wanted to step away from the camera for a while).

I'm not sure I'll go back to the Taste of Edmonton next year, especially if it is similarly priced. I'd be more likely to skip down south to give Taste of Calgary a try, simply because most of the particpating restaurants are new to me.

Taste of Edmonton runs until Saturday.