New menu at the Sugarbowl, everybody!

Review of the Sugarbowl’s new menu item: Seafood Coconut – Green Curry Laksa

It was the kind of day where the sky outside looked like Mary Poppins was preparing her carpet bag, a kind of day where a hearty meal was needed to stoke the fires of thoughtful creativity. The kind of day that made a new Sugarbowl menu seem like just the right thing.

First glance, my heart picked up the pace as the menu had more vegan/vegetarian options than previously, without any sacrifice to the quality and variety of meat dishes that Alberta seems hell bent on sustaining. Corn bread now a recurring side item, taking advantage of the season’s freshest ingredient. The Baked Brie and Basil in Phyllo, and Sweet and Salty Almonds called my name but I knew there were bigger and better things to come, so on down I looked.

Mussels, another tasty looking treat, served with either Bacon and Beer (I can hear the catcalls already) or Tomato and Sausage. Main menu items: Portobello Mushroom burger, Rainbow Trout (an excellent fish choice, both sustainable and incredibly delicious) and the item of my dreams; Seafood Coconut – Green Curry Laksa. Served with rice noodles, cilantro and bean sprouts, I had found my dish of the evening all too easy to pick. Ordering, the waiter informed me I was the very first in Edmonton to taste this new item. Imagine my delight to venture forth into the unknown waters of Sugarbowl Laska.

Like all Sugarbowl menu items, the dish was reasonably priced and at $13.00 even my publicly funded wages allowed me to indulge. Arriving, the presentation was modest, as any good curry should be and piled high with sprouts making my Irish tongue cluck worriedly about the heat it would bring. Let’s just say, it was pleasantly spicy, a little like a King Khan show.

Some kinks needed to be worked out with the dish on a whole. The scallops were slightly overcooked but the mussels and prawns more than made up and there were plenty for the $13.00 price tag. Crunchy green and red peppers and al dente egg noodles combined in the thick green curry and coconut sauce made for a very satisfying and flavorful mouthful. The sauce was a little too thick for my liking, but personal preference is 9/10ths of the law.

For a source conscience lady such as myself, I very much appreciate that the Sugarbowl buys local and supports local and small scale farms, and proudly proclaims such on their menu. When I asked my delightful server where they buy their seafood from, he answered. Which is a change from the typical level of knowledge many servers have.

End of the meal, with Cappuccino in hand, I give the Sugarbowl’s Seafood Coconut – Green Curry Laksa:

3.5 Power Rangers out of 5.

(For more goodness just like this, you should be following Jenn on Twitter.)