A Taste of Edmonton

I’ve been to this event twice and I am in love! Eating is one of my passions and I love discovering local eats! Taste of edmonton allows you to sample different dishes from so many restaurants in edmonton all in Churchill square!
There’s also a beer garden if you wanted to try out some drinks as well. Last time I went, we spent all afternoon snacking and discovering all the great food edmonton has to offer. This is probably the event I look forward to most in this city! Everyone should try it out at least once!

When I was a kid, and my parents didn’t want to deal with the insanity that was K-​Days, we’d go once a year to Taste of Edmonton. As an adult, I still enjoy visiting Taste of Edmonton and spending my tickets on random foodstuff — some better than other options. I don’t always make it out to other food festivals (due in part to my being rather busy on occasion) so Taste of Edmonton is a good one in part for being longer ones and for having a better selection of dishes nowadays what with food trucks and newer restaurants as well as a requirement to change things up on a regular basis.

Loved the event. Always good new food experience. Enjoy the classics like Hurricane potatoes too

My family tries to go every year. As vegetarians, our options are somewhat limited, but we always find enough yummy food to satisfy our family of three. It’s a great way to sample fare from different restaurants around town, especially ones we are not likely to frequent otherwise.

Despite the crazy amount of people for a Monday night, my friends and I all enjoyed the food offerings at this year’s Taste of Edmonton.
Highlights:
— Mama Lee’s (Korean Food): Bul-​go-​gi beef and pork dishes both had excellent flavor and were made without MSG. bonus!
— Moksha: Beef samosa — it was crispy, full of spiced ground beef and had a wonderful dipping sauce
— Fairmont Hotel Mac: Pork taco with kimchi slaw: Messy but full of flavour!
— Zinc: Banana bread pudding: Still my favourite the past few years!
Okay:
— Normand’s: Braised beef with mash & gravy — lacked a punch of flavour
— Nornamd’s: Smoked Bison Carpaccio — too dry for my liking
Misses:
— Café Select: Chicken Marsala Perogies — although the longest line we stood for, ended up being the most disappointing. No flavour whatsoever, one-​noted and had lack of texture variety.
If you don’t mind fighting through crowds and standing in line to try some unique food items, then this is a food event for you. If crowds bother you, try coming earlier in the day when I’m sure they are more tolerable!

I was really impressed with the Taste of Edmonton this year! I’m so glad that they have changed the model a bit over the last couple of years. In the past, dishes ranged anywhere from 5 to 8 or 9 tickets each. This year, the dishes were 3 — 4 tickets each. With some desserts at 1 or 2 tickets each. The beverages and ice cream were the only things that seemed too high.
Of course, since the tickets required are fewer, the portions are slightly smaller. But that just means that you can sample so much more!
I’m really happy to see the inclusion of so many food trucks this year. I don’t get downtown very often, so it’s nice to be able to try them out.
For the last two years, my favourite has been the smoked bison carpaccio (3 tickets) from Normand’s. I don’t usually get the same dish in consecutive years, but this one I definitely needed to try again.
Other highlights this year — The buffalo chicken bomb from O2s (I also tried their loco bread and was disappointed) each were 3 tickets, and the mac & cheese balls (2 tickets) from the Underground Tap & Grill.
The only dish really that I was disappointed with was the loco bread from O2s.
It gets busy of course, but most of the vendors have been part of this festival for many years and have gotten really used to dealing with the crowds.
Enjoy!

Taste of edmonton is a yearly festival in sir winston churchill square that runs mid july for about 10 days. It typically kicks off as soon as the kdays parade is finished.
Parking in dt is limited so try to use public transit or park after 6pm. Since edmonton enjoys free parking at all meters after 6 pm every day and on sundays and holidays! Theres lots of parking towards the chinatown gate and its only a one block walk from there.
If you buy your tickets before the festival starts. You get a 20% discount! It works out to $ 1 a ticket but you gotta get sheets of 40 tickets. They are sold at tix at the square office. Hours are good like 8 am to 8 pm. So try to do this to save some cash.
The festival runs around the square in tents with about 50 venders and food trucks. Each tent normally has 2 items. The tents are run by restaurants in the edmonton area. The items are sharable which makes this festival so fun. Its a really good chance to try a little taste of what each restaurant has to offer.
2015 was one of the best years for taste of edmonton. I was really happy the theme was smaller plates this year ranging from 2 to 4 tickets. Only drinks were 5 tickets. In the past taste of edmonton had plates which cost from 7 to 9 tickets. Which didnt leave too much room for tasting. But its organized so much better now.
Ive gone with friends and family and going with four people is the best. You really get a bite of everything and its easy to cut everything into quarters. I budget $ 15 a person for larger groups or $ 20 each if you are with a partner. Thats plenty to get full on including drinks.
My favourites are underground tap n grill bison sliders with gorgonzola cheese, freson bros markets rotisserrie roasted pig, the old spegetti factorys bam bam shrimp, selects chicken masala perogies with tamarind sour cream, the century hospitalality groups cauliflower fritters and zincs banana bread! Whew. Thats a mouthful. Lol but if you are sharing its just right!!!
To save time bc lines can get long buy your tickets in advance and grab a menu. Know where you are gonna hit and you can easily do the festival in less than an hour!
Taste of edmonton is growing… they have sip and savour tents which i highly highly recommend. The tents have chefs prepare dishes based on a thene. It includes two amazing drinks with entry. They do sell out at these events so buy your tickets online in advance. I was able to attend 2014’s i dare you tent and it was amazing, haggis, tongue tacos, liver pâté, intestine soups, heart stirfrys and other amazing creations by some of the best chefs in the city. Best of all. Its all you can eat. Yup totally worth it!!! If you get a chance dont miss out on this!
Also taste of edmonton has host. Which is an amazing informative look at the business owners and restaurant entrepreneurs in the industry. Lots of the chefs and restaurant owners go here to mingle and enjoy lots of great talks. The food is great and the wine is divine. Its really a social event but i think the only event for the typical foodie is the wine tasting event. Literally like the vineyard reps from australia or france or italy. Perfuse you with the history to explore their wines. You will try amazing blends, some never even poured in edmonton or canada bc its so rare or sold out. Theres also some amazing super pricey wines which honestly i would never pay $ 350 for a bottle but enjoyed it here! If you are a wine fanatic the price is definetly worth it!
Its not all food here. Theres a stage with live bands, a adults only beer garden and cooking lessons. I enjoy the smaller tapas like plates with some good tunes. But i do like how during the daytime hours its kid friendly with crafts and even kid yoga. If you are in edmonton and youre a foodie. Dont miss out on this festival!

We love attending ToE every year and this year was no exception! I typically get a sheet of 40 tickets just to be safe. I was about a ⁷⁄₁₀ on the hungry scale when we stepped onto the grounds and I found myself in front of Bob’s Bombay Curry ‘N’ Hurry food truck requesting the Vegetarian Samosa with Tamarind Sauce and it couldn’t have been been better. Crispy on the outside and delicious spiced potato-​y goodness on the inside. An easy 5 stars, excellent ticket value and probably the highlight for me this year. Here’s a list of the rest of the dishes we sampled and their respective ratings.
1 The Canadian Brewhouse — AAA Alberta Steak Bites — 2 stars — Yawn.
2 Japanese Village — Sirloin Beef on Rice w/​Sesame Sauce — 4 — Tasty + great dollar value!
4 The Melting Pot — Cheese Fondue in Bread Bowl — 2 — Um, where’s the bowl? It’s a roll, and the cheese sauce was too salty.
5 The Lingnan Restaurant — Chinese Mini Donuts — 1 — yawn!
6 Hawkeyes Too — Wasabi Beef on a Bun — 3 — I tried a sliver of the beef only and it was really yummy.
10 Khazana Restaurant — Mango Lassi — 1 — In all fairness, Lassi’s not really my thing.
11 Mikado Restaurant — Green Tea Ice Cream — 4 — Great ticket value & it really hit the spot!
12 Panda Hut Express — Ginger Beef — 3 — Good flavour, texture somewhere between crispy and chewy, excellent ticket value, a dish for sharing.
13 A Taste for Life Ukrainian Kafe and Bistro — Perogies Plus Optional Garnishes — 3 — We got all the garnishes, caramelized onions and bacon, quite good, quite heavy, share this one.
18 Moksha — Beef Samosa — 1 — The pastry was good, but the inside is completely crumbly beef. Cry, who wants to eat a samosa with a spoon?
21. Fairmont Hotel Macdonald — Pork Tacos w/​Kimchi Slaw & Lemon Thyme Aioli — 1 — The Taco portion is a mini wrap and they serve it cold? Textural crimes! Could be improved upon by skipping the «taco» and serving just the Pork with the Slaw.
23 Normands Bistro — Beef Short Ribs & Mash — 5 stars — Perfect melt in your mouth beef ribs and mash that part dances and part floats along your tastebuds. Heaven on a plate!
27 Select — Mac ‘n Cheese w/​Maple Bacon (or Garlic Shrimp) — 2 stars — The bacon was good, but the mac was nothing to write home about, complete lack of stringy-​ness. Ps. I’m still mourning the fact that Molly’s Food Truck wasn’t there this year with their grilled mac and cheese sandwich which was the highlight of ToE for me last time.
36 The Cheesecake Café — Marvellous Stuffed Mushrooms with Goddess Sauce — 3 — Very good flavour, but portion was teeny, two little shrooms, c’mon! The goddess sauce was divine, though!
37 Hong Kong Bakery — Green Onion Cake — 2 — A miss on texture for me as I don’t like fluffy GOCs, they have to be dense & chewy, please.
37 Hong Kong Bakery — BBQ Pork Spring Rolls — 4 — Delish! Hot, Crispy, Flavourful!
40 The Underground Tap & Grill — Mac & Cheese Ball — 2 — Interesting concept, but lacking intrigue, could be improved upon with the addition of pulled/​bbq pork, the sauce was nice, though, creamy tomato.
41 Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse — Bacon-​Wrapped Chicken Thighs — 5 — Juicy, smokey, delish!
The Pie Eatery food truck — Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie w/​Caramel Whip Cream Topping — Zero stars. Honestly, go to the grocery store, get yourself some frozen tart shells and bake em up then plop in a spoon of jello instant chocolate pudding and squeeze on a dab of whip from a can and you have the exact same dish and they wanted 3 tickets for this?
I nearly ate myself into a food coma and still had 15 tickets left over so we’re going again tomorrow! Rain, rain — stay away!

Taste of Edmonton gets some serious lovin’ from me! This year, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of new items. Where else can you sample food from more than 50 of Edmonton’s greatest restaurants?
The hits:
Padmanadi’s Chicken Satay w/​Peanut sauce (I went back for more)
Zinc banana bread pudding with caramel sauce, whipped cream, and brûléed banana (definitely my all time fave)
Hong Kong bakery green onion cake
Little Italy all beef meatball slider (the best meatball you could have)
Normand’s beef short rib and mash
The misses (according to yours truly… But that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t like it):
The Hat BBQ baby back rib (I didn’t think it was anything special. I could make it at home.)
Fantasia chocolate panna cotta (it was way too similar to chocolate pudding)
Select’s mac’n’cheese with bacon (sorry, I just thought it was too salty).
There is so much more I still want to try! Maybe I’ll make it there again ;)

My husband and I came here last night. It was busy but lines were not long. At first we were going to split our tickets but realized we could sample more of the food if we just split our sample sizes. Most of the food samples were adequate enough to share and we still got filled. My favorite food was a mocha cannoli that I got from the Italian Bakery. I love cannolis and I will check out Italian Bakery in the near future. Overall, Taste of Edmonton was pleasant for us.

Taste of Edmonton is not my favourite food festival in the city. Around 40 – 50 restaurants within Edmonton have set up stalls in and around Churchill square, serving small portions of signature dishes. Problem is, most are not exactly restaurants that are known for amazing food or ones that I want to try, AND, it’s more expensive to sample a portion at the food festival than if I went to the restaurant directly.
I will give points for location and ease of access from Churchill LRT station, and the fact that it’s an easy place to meet up for an evening with friends. If you buy tickets in advance online, they are 20% off. Just come early, because lines will get long, especially on Friday nights and weekends!
I much, much prefer Heritage Days because it is way bigger and has tons of unique foods that you’d never otherwise try (even if they aren’t A++ in quality), or What the Truck because there are increasingly higher quality options available from food trucks these days!

This is one of my favourite Edmonton festivals, because I get to try a lot of food from a variety of different restaurants. It was starting to get repetitive, but this year there were many new restaurants and dishes to sample, as well as the more recent addition of food trucks. This is a great place to have lunch or supper when the festival is on.

Taste of Edmonton: Picks and Pans 2014
Number one pick of the year!
1) SELECT
Chicken Masala Perogies with Satueed Bacon and Onion
Unexpected flavors, more Thai than Indian, it was soooooo darn good! More please and that’s coming from a Ukrainian who likes her perogies if you know what I mean!
Number one pick of dessert of the year!
1) EVA SWEET PRODUCTS
Liege Waffle with Fruit Topping
Let’s just say I ended each day at Taste of Edmonton with that dessert. Had no other one. Why? Cause it was damn good, that’s why! Its not JUST a waffle. Secret ingredient… brown sugar in the batter. Shhhhhhhh don’t tell know one!
SABOR DIVINO
Bacon Bullets
Gee can you go wrong with Bacon… nope! Fig with goat cheese wrapped in bacon. The bacon was nice and crisp, not under cooked and inside was lovely
CHEESE CAKE CAFE
Marvelous Stuffed Mushrooms
It was good, however I found the sauce was better and the batter not crispy and cooked enough which easily crumbled
NATIVE DELIGHTS
Nehiyawak (Native) Tacos and Non GMO Organic Bannock
Had better Tacos at Bannock Burger and the bannock was nice, could use icing sugar or something. Very bland to have a «TASTE» of Edmonton
CREOLE ENVIE
Southern Brined Fried Chicken and Southern Fried Green Tomatoes with Creole Aioli Drizzle
The Southern Brined was really disappointing, thought it would be awesome, it was just fried chicken
Fried Green Tomatoes on the other hand were piping hot, very tasty, but could have used more batter on them
ZINC
Crispy Avocado Roll with Cilantro Honey Pesto
I liked it, was disappointed I only got one, and they could definitely use more pesto
GURU — FINE INDIAN CUISINE
Cauliflower 65
Not sure what the 65 has to do with this cauliflower but this is not the cauliflower Mom used to make! This is T-​A-​S-​T-​Y! Not overly spicey for those with sensitive tummies. This was great, had in a few times! For only $ 2.50 you got a nice dish full!
NORMAND’S BISTRO
Beef Short Ribs & Mash
This was very much good comfort food. It was like the beef slow cooked roasts I make with mash potatoes. So for me it was good, but I can make this at home. I was expecting Normand to bring out something with a one-​two punch. Nope not this year.
IRIE FOODS
Jamaican Beef Patties
Sorry but you can get these now at 7 – 11 and Safeway. Very average
KOREAN VILLAGE
Hurricane Potato
Best little potato at the TofE! Add some sauce, some vinegar and ketchup and holy catfish keep your paws of my spud! This is mine… ALL OF IT!
THE MELTING POT
Cheese Fondue in Bread Bowl
Thought it would be heavy and too much! Nope I was wrong. It was perfect! The bun bowl was light and just right and well can you say «CHEESE»! It was delicious and left you with a garlic bang in your mouth
SMOKEHOUSE BBQ
Bacon Bomb Slider
It was good, though the meat looked under cooked which threw me off my food game
LA PASTA TRATTORIA
Deep Fried Calamari with Lemon Garlic Sauce
WORST DISH! Rubber calamari that left a fish taste in your mouth and the only good part was the little bit of lemon garlic sauce. The batter was bland, under cooked and it was lack lustered.

The plates are smaller and cheaper, nothing over 4tickets, which alliws for more samples. The setup is great with more picnic tables available all around the perimeter. A lot of the same food with a few new items and restautants thrown in for good measure.

This was the second year we went to this event and it has gone further downhill.
Without some substantial changes, we won’t be back next year.
For starters, the VIP «Sip & Savour» tent was putting on a selection of daring foods… which was more «Fear Factor» and less «fine cuisine». These chefs could have done much better if not forced to use materials normally reserved for dog food production.
Secondly, the crowd management was atrocious — there is not enough space for the booth lineups and the people to get by them to the next booth.
Finally, the ticket system results in long (and SLOW) lineups in a very concentrated area. Of course, that’s once you figure out where the tickets are being sold.
This event has great promise… especially with the vendors it attracts. Unfortunately, it is the victim of its own success.

Another year, another Taste of Edmonton! Defintely one of my favorite festivals in Edmonton — free admission?! Well, thank you very mcuh!
This year I tried something a little different — instead of mapping out exactly what I wanted (which usally means going for all my favorites and not trying anything new) I decided to wing it, in the hopes that something new and exciting would catch my eye.
It worked for a few minutes — until I tried something new that was not so awesome (in my opinion). After that I was a little gun shy so it was back to the usuals for the most part.
Paired with a little Said the Whale action, it was a pretty awesome experience. The crowds were not too bad — I would recommend going after it rains any day — it really clears out the crowds. And if you go a little later in the evening, thankfully the strollers are few and far between (don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against children! I am not, however, a fan of parents using strollers to clear crowds by ramming into unsuspecting ankles!!!).
Although there wasn’t too much about the food itself that stood our for me, the experience was, and always is great.
Can’t wait for next year (and maybe a few more visits this year!!!).

I’ve been coming here for years, and I’ve never been let down. That’s not to say I’ve never had anything bad from any vendor ever, but the event is an amazing concept, and the overall quality of food is very high. Keep in mind each place gets to select their best couple items to put on the menu, so the coolest places in town are picking their best most original items, and all trying to get an edge and win over the hearts and mind of all the townsfolk to get more customers when the event isn’t running.
Try the Khazana butter chicken, the Irie Foods Jerk Chicken, and the Canadian Brewhouse steak bites. If, you’re a vegetarian, disregard my suggestions, and just figure it out for yourself.

I’m not sure how Taste of Edmonton hasn’t received more than a mere 18 reviews. Either Unilocal isn’t as popular as I once thought, or people simply overlook such a crucial festival to our title of «Festival City».
Taste of Edmonton is a tad overpriced, but that is attributed to supply and demand. Obviously people are coming back every year, and more each time judging by the packed and sweaty crowds, because the cost goes up every so often. Mind you, the portion sizes are more than a simple sampler — so beware of eating an entire sampler to yourself… less you are ravished, you will become full after only a few dishes. Not to mention the alcohol if you venture down that road, as well.
I go every year, and this year was especially fantastic as my three year old could discern what he liked and didn’t like about certain dishes. From a toddlers perspective — everything was fabulous. Especially the lemongrass beef on a skewer, fresh lemonade, scallops and bacon, sausage bites, Canadian Maki, quesadilla Dorado and a bevy of desserts that I dare not mention for fear of excess drool. We even attended in the rain, without an umbrella, completely underdressed and enjoyed ourselves.
Considering the circumstances in which a family with a finicky toddler could attend without complaint — I suppose you could say the experience of such an event depends solely on an individual and nothing else.
Don’t attend this event if you are heavily claustrophobic, impatient, prejudice, cranky, full, unsociable, rude, cheap, or generally a dirt bag. Also — I make it a point to give tickets to some of the homeless. After all, if I can afford $ 50 bucks of tickets to sample four star hotel restaurant foods, why can’t a homeless man grab a pork slider and a pepsi! Have a heart, people!

I had initially brought my cousin down to Taste of Edmonton for a Unilocal event in the Sip and Savor tent but eventually curiosity overtook us and we went and bought some tickets so we could sample the rest of the festival. It had been years since I last attended and I have to say going from tent to tent mirrored what it must feel like for a salmon attempting to swim upstream. The crowds are insane and some of the tents are set up in inopportune places like by planters for instance leaving less room for lines to form and people to pass.
Food items range in cost from 1 – 5 tickets and while some are a great value for the portion size you get others seem a bit tiny. The cinnamon nan bread from nanolicious for instance was a generous size but at another tent my cousin got a small tomato and tofu skewer dipped in some kind of sauce for the same amount of tickets.
Taste of Edmonton also offers live music which I think always helps pump up the energy level at any festival. I noticed quite a few people dancing in front of the stage and having a great time which is exactly what summer in this city should be about. It’s not this cities best festival in my opinion but it’s still worth checking out if you don’t mind the crowds.

Oh Taste of Edmonton, how I want to love you. This is my second summer in Edmonton and I look forward to any summer event involving food. ToE was no exception, but there are still some kinks to work out. Even though this was only my second year attending, I think the event has already outgrown Churchill Square. Don’t get me wrong, as someone who both lives and works downtown, I love the convenience of its location. But either the set up is horrible or there’s not enough space (or probably both), but it gets so damn crowded walking by all the tents, it can get very claustrophobic and icky.
The variety of Taste of Edmonton is fairly extensive for Edmonton’s standards, but some of the food selections and vendors themselves are questionable. Like green tea ice cream for $ 3? You could buy an entire tub of that at your local supermarket for just a couple dollars more. Panda Hut Express? Seriously? Perhaps it’s the Vancouverite food snob in me, but something as increasingly commonplace as green tea ice cream not to mention selecting what is essentially the Chinese version of McDonalds kind of makes you question the integrity of the event itself. Which brings me to my next issue, the pricing. Yes, I understand it’s literally a «taste» of Edmonton, but I found some items to be a bit overpriced. The only thing I could possibly justify the price on (and even then, it’s still pricey when you think about it) were the North Shore style short ribs from Mercer Tavern. I will admit I enjoyed them thoroughly enough that I had them 3 times on separate days.
The pad thai from Numchok Wilai was very disappointing, coming from someone who’s a big fan of their restaurant. My fiancé noted that last year there was some chicken in the pad thai, but this year there was nothing but noodles and bean sprouts. I enjoyed the Culiflower 65 from Guru, having previously had it at their restaurant. There’s something strangely addicting about deep fried sweet and sour cauliflower. It’s a weird combination, but I dig it. The tiramisu in a cup was delicious at first but I think all the kahlua (at least I think that’s what it was?) soaked all the way to the bottom and made the last few bites very unpleasant.
All in all, Taste of Edmonton has the potential to be awesome, but perhaps they should refer to Unilocal for additional vendors and consider lowering the prices (or increase the portions to justify it). 2.5 stars.