burrito libre - edmonton,ab

burrito libre
6541 28 ave
780.577.7070


As mentioned before, I adore latin inspired cuisine and I'm happy to see the growing addition of 'fresh-mex' style establishments. I can't help but think back to when your choices for fast 'tex-mex' or 'mexican' style eateries left you choosing from Taco Bell and Taco Time. Not that I'm dining out at these places regularly, but with Mucho Burrito, the ever growing Taco Del Mar, and now Burrito Libre, the options look a little brighter.


Burrito Libre has two locations; one of which happens to be a hop and skip from me. Their recent promotion, bring in a food bank item and receive a free burrito, was something that I meant to partake in but unfortunately I dropped the ball that day.


The menu is laid out in a very straight forward manner, with the focus being on the fresh additions you use to customize your dish. You can choose from a burrito, burrito bowl, taco, quesadilla, or salad.

The burrito (why else would I come to a place with burrito in the name) starts with a whole wheat or flour tortilla base, and comes in either small or large. You then get the option to lay on beans and rice, along with your protein - chicken, shrimp, pulled pork, shredded beef or vegetarian. The last two hot options include little potatoes and a sauteed bell pepper/onion mix.


Now you have graduated to the cold prep, which includes - salsas, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, cabbage, corn, hot peppers, and a few sauces. Wrapped into a tight package, you can choose to add nacho chips and pop to make a combo.

The above is version one (small vegetarian) and unfortunately I don't have a picture of version two (large shredded beef). The vegetarian had rice, beans, pico de gallo, corn, cabbage, cheese guacamole, and chipotle sauce. The shredded beef wasn't much different and both were great. The size and heft, especially the large, is unbelievable. I think you could start doing some Ron Burgandy style workouts if you really wanted. The ingredients are fresh and I think they offer enough options to change things up once in a while. The meat could probably be tastier, but what can you expect with hot plates; at least they don't seem to keep very big dishes of it out. They are running a Cinco de Mayo special in May, $5 burritos, which may entice a few more customers who could be intimated by the price. With a Tim's, Wendy's, Taco Time, Little Ceasers, and Burger King surrounding Burrito Libre, hopefully it can stick around.

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ichiban japanese restaurant cuisine - edmonton, ab

ichiban japanese restaurant cuisine
8750 149 St
780.481.5252

It was one of those days where you are already talking about what to eat later in the day, and you haven't even finished breakfast. Thinking of something casual and relatively fast, we ended up deciding to have sushi for lunch. This meant I was going to be venturing out again into the sushi unknown as my new regular go-to place, sushi wasabi, isn't open at lunch and I would be running errands on a different side of the city. Let the sushi adventure begin.


As I don't dine out very often on the west side, and never for sushi, I was a unprepared for what options were available. So before heading out I checked a chowhound thread and saw a few mentions of ichiban japanese restaurant. With this new information I looked no further, and three of us met up at 11:30 for a little lunch.

The restaurant is located in a strip mall and occupies a tidy little space. Walking in, the place was empty and we had a choice of booths. I'm not surprised considering the time, but it filled up relatively quickly with the lunch crowd giving us that 'good, it seems popular' feeling. My standard go-to 'test' dish has become a chirashi bowl, what better way to see preparation, and with this on the menu the choice was an easy one to make. My fellow diners ordered a super spider roll, sunset roll, maki maki roll, and white tiger roll.

There was still nobody else in the restaurant when we placed our order, so it was a bit of a surprise when another table started receiving their food before we did - maybe because they ordered bento boxes, or maybe this was a sign. When our order arrived I was instantly bummed out. They say we eat with our eyes first, and this is unfortunate because the chirashi dish looked very weak. After digging in, it didn't get better; not one part of the dish did anything to shine. The rice was tasteless and very clumpy, the fish was poorly cut with torn edges and it had a distinct fish smell. Besides two large chunks of imitation crab and very dismal sashimi portions that was their offering. There was no other garnish, vegetable or greenery of any kind in the bowl. I'll eat my way through most things, but I actually gave up with this dish.

Hoping the rolls couldn't be any worse, I sampled a bit and didn't see much improvement. The spider roll was the star of the group, too bad there was only 4 pieces, because the other three rolls were below average. The rice was packed so tight that it ended up being gummy and you really had to chew to get the rice to separate.

Unfortunately something happened to my memory card, as it's now giving me a corrupt data message, so the only photo I have is the above...maybe it's better that way, I won't have to relive the meal again. I really don't know what to say about this experience. It was just plain bad. I feel more let down by this 'established' sushi place then I ever have at a Tokyo Express. The restaurant was doing steady take out business, and like I mentioned it filled up quickly, so they must be doing something right. On this day however, none of what we got was right.

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