It’s been a hot minute since I wrote a travel post here on the old blog! The last one was for Danielle’s and my trip to Palm Springs just as the world was shutting down in March 2020. Two and a half years later I flew to Edmonton so we could reunite, spend some quality time together and eat all the best food in town. Here are the highlights:

• Tiffin: Whenever Danielle goes to Edmonton, she always hits up Tiffin and I always drool when she tells me about it. I knew this was the first place I wanted to go, and so we went for dinner on my first night in town. Tiffin is a fast casual Indian restaurant, where you can basically order a combo plate of whatever your heart desires. I had butter chicken, basa coconut curry, saag paneer and garlic naan, plus we ordered a couple of samosas. Yes, this was way too much food, but it was all absolutely delicious. I wish we had something like this here! [no pictures because evidently I forgot how to document my travel eats!]

• Zwick’s Pretzels: This is another spot that’s on Dani’s regular rotation of Edmonton eats. Dani normally goes for a snack, but we went for breakfast because she mentioned they have breakfast sandwiches on pretzel buns and I knew immediately I had to have one. I had The Not McZwick which has candied bacon, egg, tomato, cheddar and paprika aioli on a pretzel bun, and this was hands-down the best breakfast sandwich I have had in my life (sorry Eggslut). I also got a bag of Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Nubs for a snack for later, and they were also awesome. [too hungry to take a pic, apparently]

• Duchess Bakeshop: I visited Duchess in 2017 when I stayed in Edmonton for a night en route to Danielle and Blair’s wedding in Jasper, but obviously I had to go back. I picked up a couple of macarons, a pain au chocolate, a butter tart and a mini rhubarb galette. Dani got a mini “The Duke” for us to share and it was incredible – the most decadent little chocolate cake, covered in chocolate ganache. Love this place. [literally have a picture of the empty box with crumbs. I mean, honestly].

• Doughnut Party: Like Duchess, I went to Doughnut Party in 2017, but all the flavours were so crazy and I felt like it was a personal attack because each one featured something I hate (lavender, cardamom, orange/chocolate combo, etc). I was psyched to make a triumphant return, hopefully for some flavours that I actually liked this time! Mission accomplished: Cosmic Brownie, Disco Stick, S’mores and Horchata (although that one was weirdly overdosed with almond extract).

• Meat: This was on my list in 2017 but I missed it, so we went here for dinner on our second night. Dani is mostly a vegetarian (she eats chicken and fish), but surprisingly Meat has a lot of options for her, so we were set! I had a pulled pork sandwich, Dani had a salad with chicken, and then we shared sides of ‘slaw, mac & cheese and a jumbo dill pickle. There was also a flight of BBQ sauces on the table so I tried them with my pulled pork. Everything was delicious and I wanted us to share a Bourbon Banana Parfait for dessert, but we were both so full. Next time! [once again, no pic, smh]

• Wilfred’s: One thing you can count on Danielle and I to do is find the cutest brunch spot in any city we’re in. Wilfred’s was a recommendation from Dani’s friend Sara, and I was obsessed as soon as we walked in. It has a cute, retro diner vibe, and actually reminded us of Palm Springs! Dani had the Lemon Curd Blueberry French Toast and I had the Maple Sausage Sandwich (with a fried egg, smoked cheese and arugula on a housemade milk bun) and we both had Yuzu Palmers to drink (black tea + yuzu lemonade). We loved it and I would absolutely be a regular here if I lived in Edmonton!

• Made by Marcus: On the other side of Wilfred’s is this cute little ice cream place, Made by Marcus. It totally reminded me of Jeni’s because some of the flavours were so weird (Dill Pickle & Peanut Butter, Toasted Hay & Saskatoon Berry). After a delicious dinner that night at P.F. Chang’s (I’ve never been!), we came back here. Obviously I didn’t try anything crazy, because if this was going to be my one ice cream cone of the summer, I wanted something delicious. I went with scoops of Malted Chocolate Honeycomb and Sea Salt & Goat Milk Caramel (which was so salty!). Both were creamy, dense and decadent and I loved it.

• Love Pizza: This is another Dani fave, and we stopped off here before going to the airport. I had a Sweet Heat pizza and we shared some Taco Tater Tots and it all hit the spot before starting my journey home.

Clearly I’m a little out of practice when it comes to documenting my travel eats, so I hope I get to work on that more in 2023!