10 best dishes we tried in Edmonton this year
Finding the best restaurants in YEG is one thing, but looking for the best Edmonton restaurant food dishes? That’s a tough task.
Thankfully, we’ve tried out so many of the best food spots in the city and have been taking notes on which food dishes we crave more than others, recommend to visitors the most, and absolutely have to order every time we stop by.
Whether it’s a dish that’s been around for decades or was a dish that was only around for a few months in 2023, there were many that could have made this mid-year list.
Here are our top picks for the best Edmonton restaurant food dishes of the year (so far).
Seafood Paella
Sabor
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Sabor is known for paella, whether it’s at the restaurant or at an event prepared for hundreds in one giant pan.
There are three different paellas on the menu here — seafood, chicken and chorizo, or mixed — and you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Fried Chicken Skins
Bundok
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Rated one of the best spots in the city every year, Bundok specializes in small plates and hand-crafted cocktails.
This crispy chicken skin is made with honey mustard and house-made togarashi, making an elegant dish out of a street food.
Burger, She Wrote
High Dough
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All of the pizzas at High Dough feel like wild creations we could have chosen here. Serving Detroit-style pies, the fun names of each pizza are matched by the ingredients used.
The Burger, She Wrote is topped with seasoned ground beef, bacon, onion, tomato, cheddar cheese, mozzarella, secret sauce, and sliced dill pickles. It’s two of our favourite foods combined so how could we not choose it?
Meatball or Vegball
Pals
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Pals opened this year but the adorable sandwich shop has certainly made its mark already in YEG. Every city needs an incredibly great and reliable sandwich place, and Pals has the classics done right.
We chose the meatball sub because we love them, and the fact Pals offers a vegetarian version as well.
This sandwich uses housemade marinara and fresh mozza.
Ginger Chili Chicken Wings
Baijiu
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Edmonton loves chicken wings, so we decided to choose one of the coolest spots in YEG to showcase our favourite wing dish.
Creating a perfect combo of sweetness and heat, these ginger chili wings are made with sesame and green onion as well.
Gochujang Samkyubsal
Hanjan
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Hanjan is one of the most popular Korean eateries in Edmonton.
Gochujang Samkyubsal is a grilled and glazed pork belly with fermented chili marinade. It’s a fun dish that comes to the table sizzling hot. The bits of char come through perfectly making a simple dish of meat with all kinds of unique flavours in every bite. It’s great for sharing too.
Smoked Brisket
MEAT
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Located in Old Strathcona, MEAT serves up juicy, delicious dishes that border on legendary for their flavour.
The beef brisket here is so juicy and mouth-watering, and since it can be so hard to make it right at home, we had to choose it as one of the best Edmonton restaurant food dishes this year.
Peking Congee Arancini
Fu’s Repair Shop
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Fu’s Repair Shop, a hip cocktail bar that’s open late, is fairly new to Edmonton. It’s great any time, but when you’re looking for that perfect midnight snack, we had to choose the radical Peking Congee Arancini.
Made from Peking duck stock congee, fried chicken skin, repair shop chili oil, and red and green cabbage slaw, this is one of the coolest spins on the Italian arancini we’ve ever seen.
The Ben Burger
Woodshed Burgers
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We had to include a cheeseburger on this list, and there’s really no better spot for it than Woodshed.
There are so many burgers to choose from, but it’s the Ben Burger that you need to order when you visit here. Ben Stelter passed away in 2022 after a battle with a rare form of cancer, sparking a massive outpour of support from hockey fans, organizations, and players. He became a fixture of the hockey community and Edmonton in general.
This burger is made with all of his favourite toppings: ketchup, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, bacon, cheese, and beef. Every $1 sold from this now-permanent item will go to support the Kids with Cancer Society.
Vegan Ginger Beef
Padmanadi
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We had to include a veggie option and this dish — which is usually so meat-forward — was an obvious choice to highlight.
The ginger beef here is the top seller, made with soy beef strips and the usual suspects, like sweet bell peppers and julienne carrots in a tangy ginger sauce.
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