Restaurants in Edmonton

Continental Treat Fine Bistro's executive chef Elizabeth Palmowski changes her menu of European cuisine on a daily basis, incorporating seasonal ingredients from local markets whenever possible. She helms a diverse kitchen staff, which includes sous chefs from Hungary, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic who help bring her creations to life as well as craft hearty stews and seared meats that hail from their Central and Eastern European hometowns. Palmowski and her team can also accommodate dietary restrictions, offering entire menus of vegetarian and gluten-free meals.

Candlelight and live jazz bands help keep the mood elegant at dinnertime as guests sip Old and New World wines or one of many Trappist beers. To familiarize guests with its massive list of beverages, the restaurant hosts informational wine and beer nights, allowing partcipants to sample libations from around the world, expand their palates, and learn how to sophisticatedly perform the perfect spit-take.

With wines flown from Lebanon's Beqaa Valley to its glass-walled cellar, Parkallen Restaurant collects a distinguished array of vintages from across the globe, leading Wine Spectator to name it a 2012 restaurant award winner. The chefs pair these regional wines with traditional Lebanese and Mediterranean dishes, such as grilled beef-tenderloin skewers, shareable mezza platters, and specialty pizzas topped with feta cheese, doner meat, and other ingredients. After dinner, dangling light fixtures cast a hazy glow as curls of apple-, grape-, and watermelon-scented smoke emanate from tall glass hookahs instead of burning fruit salads.

Hailing from India, Khazana's chefs build a procession of traditional Northern Indian cuisine, often firing their dishes in a clay tandoor oven. They assemble a menu of regional beef, lamb, vegetarian, and seafood entrees infused with authentic spices, as well as a lunchtime buffet brimming with more than 20 sample-ready items. Glasses overflow with drinks such as imported and local beers, wines, cocktails, and lassi, a popular yogourt drink packed with more cultures than a model U.N.

Khazana's name translates to "treasure" in English, and staffers imbue their restaurant's spiced dishes and rustic decor with greater royalty than a hug from a lion. Diners sit at thick bare-wood tables surrounded by decorative Indian tapestries, vases, and tile art. A central open fireplace warms guests with crackling flames emerging from a paved stone pit.

At The Mongolie Grill, a sponsor of the Edmonton Oilers and a preferred restaurant of the team, patrons orchestrate their own stir-fried feasts of fresh vegetables, succulent meats, and 18 different sauces made from scratch, including sweet coconut, peanut, and spicy thai varieties. Spatula-wielding cooks flip diners' custom meals across the sizzling grill, then escort them to tables along with steaming bowls of jasmine or brown rice and house-made soup. To accompany each bowl, patrons can sip from an all-Canadian wine list that includes vintages from Sandhill, Peller Estates, and Gray Monk Estate.

The warm hues of sunset collide with sleek metal accents and bold geometric artwork in The Mongolie Grill’s interior, dominated by the huge circular grill in the center. Dinner conversation takes place over white tablecloths or within cozy booths, which are also ideal settings for five-minute naps.

Each day staff members at Pazzo Pazzo Italian Cuisine fill the chalkboard with specials from chef and owner James Burns's stovetop. Burns sharpened his culinary skills working under restaurateur and stepfather Nello Saporito at Il Pasticcio before striking out to open his own restaurant, according to a glowing 2011 review in the Edmonton Sun. Inside his kitchen, Burns pan-sears jumbo tiger prawns in butter and garlic and marinates quail in cognac, creating scents that waft toward the dining room to influence orders. Pasta specials tossed in his specialty housemade sauces include gnocchi, spaghetti, and jumbo shells stuffed with ricotta and spinach. His maître d’, entertains diners with banter while checking on Alaskan king crab and gluten-free entrees and offering wine suggestions from the extensive list. Indoors, black linen tablecloths contrast with white cloth napkins and bright red sauces, and outdoors, the renovated patio offers additional seating for al fresco dining.

At Cha Island Tea Co., it's not unusual to see short-sleeved musicians strumming acoustic guitars amid bongos and palm trees. Though this scene might seem out of place in the middle of an Edmonton winter, it's all part of the shop's year-round tropical atmosphere. Baristas keep shelves stocked with more than 100 loose-leaf and herbal teas, which they serve in bulk or by the press pot alongside french press coffee. They also pour local and international craft beers, which pair with a range of freshly assembled panini, soups, and sweet waffles topped with chocolate, bananas, or ginger. The small corner stage welcomes local and out-of-town acts ranging from hip-hop DJs to folk and Caribbean musicians.