Red Diamond House

Fried WonTons

Pork Sweet and Sour

Duck Hot Pot

We live near here and have been tempted to try it for months. The outside is not very appealing and the advertisement that it is "Canadian Chinese" just doesn't seem right. We finally gave it a go late one night after a concert, probably because it was the only place open. 

The staff were lovely, despite a small language barrier. We told them we were hungry and they politely hurried along trying to get us fed as quickly as possible. 

The buffet only runs Friday and Saturday nights, so we ordered off the menu. The fried wontons were nice tasting, not too greasy however there was barely any meat in them. 

I had the duck hot pot only because I eat anything that includes duck. Unfortunately it was very fatty with lots of bone and cartilage making it difficult to eat. The bits of meat that I could get too were tasty and not too dry. 

Blair had the sweet and sour pork, which was tasty as you can't really go wrong with deep frying. He orders the same thing at most chinese restaurants and unfortunately he didn't enjoy the meal too much. 

The best way to think of this restaurant is like a food court chinese restaurant, if you know that my suggestion would be to order something simple that they do a lot of. 

Food Quality and Taste = 6 out of 10

Atmosphere and Service = 6 out of 10

Food Porn - La Ronde

View from Revolving Restaurant, La Ronde

Duck Main Dish

Chocolate Dessert 

Food Porn - Unheard of

Unheard of on Whyte Avenue, Duck with Potato

Unheard of on Whyte Avenue, Desserts Platter

We had driven past the restaurant a few times and decided to go in and try it finally. We later had a few people recommend it so it seems like an Edmonton institution of sorts.

When we walked in to be seated the waiter double checked we were at the right place and asked us to check the menu before we sat down. I think he thought we looked a bit scruffy to eat at such a nice restaurant? But we got pass the entrance and were seated.

The intimate atmosphere was nice and like your old uncles dining room. The menu had a smaller selection then most restaurants and a lot of talk about how to read the menu.

We found out they prefer you book as its a two man show, and despite it being early and only a few other small tables, the guy seemed very busy. This could be because he have good service and there were a lot of little taster dishes between meals.

I had the duck which was delicious and I had to eat it slowly to savor all the flavours. We shared dessert platter which was full of interesting flavours too which popped.

At the time this was one of the best restaurants we had been to and thought to take some friends back. It is on the expensive side and for the money you could probably eat somewhere else for less. However, if your in the mood for a quirky place with old fashion slower style dining and reliably tasty food this would be a good choice!

Food taste = 9.5 out of 10

Atmosphere, value and service = 7.5 put of ten