Heading to Hipster Central: The SUGAR BOWL

On the search for something edible, I "galooped" down whyte ave/ university area. I had already ate at DADEO's before and I wasn't in the mood for sushi (surprisingly), though it was cold I didn't want any pho either. I remember about 2 years ago when I lived around the university area, I had swung by a little place that I would later call "Hipster Central". It had been a while but I recalled their famous Lamb Burger and decided that I had to go. Parking is no easy feat when it comes to this area and thankfully we were able to squeeze into a small area via the assist of the back up camera.

LOCATION:10922 88 Ave NW  Edmonton, AB

WEBSITE: Click Here 

This is the outdoors view of the place. Its actually quite close to another little diner (that place smelled good too) and an old school bike shop.

Here is the front door. Right away you get a vibe of the place... in the summer there is a patio section as well. When we entered there was already a line in the small cramped front entrance. We put down our name with a very hipster staff member who scribbled our name on a tiny pad of paper. The wait was estimated at 15 min (we later found out it would really be more like 30min)

Now at this point I had to go.... Since I was battling a cold and sore throat I had drank quite a lot of tea. I went for the washroom which was located at the very back. The guys washroom was accessible through the kitchen... EW?  Now the washroom was TINY it reminded me of an airplane washroom and just as dirty.

There was no more paper in their automatic paper dispenser.

The tiny toilet enclosure really made me claustrophobic.

After coming out I was ravenous. I stood around watching people eat their food and drooling. I noticed their specials on the wall. What drew my attention was the BING BING BONG.  The asian in me couldn't resist the kimchi and the bed of rice.

While I was trying to patiently wait for a table I took a peek at the chefs behind the crowded and cramped kitchen. They were asian and yes one ginger. This gave me hope.. maybe the BING BING BONG will actually taste good.

They also had a huge board of featured draughts. I noticed that they carried pretty exotic beers and I actually had one before the FRULI STRAWBERRY BEER. I hate beer but if I had to drink one that would be the one.

Off course when you are at the sugar bowl you must somehow take a picture of a bowl of sugar. This is indeed what I did here. At this point I couldn't stand anymore and I couldn't wait anymore. I WAS GOING TO KEEL OVER. So we decided to tough it out at the bar. The service there was much faster and the bartender was quicker to take our order and give us drinks.

I kind of feel bad for him, he was cooped up in such a small place, giving drinks, taking orders, cleaning and also taking phone calls.

Here is some of the beers they had on tap.  After what seemed like eternity (i was very very very hungry) our food finally arrived.

This is what I ordered the BING BING BONG with pulled pork and kimchi on a bed of coconut rice. The bowl is super deep so actually you got quite a big portion and in a edition you get two pieces of corn bread hot and crunchy on the outside but nice and moist on they inside. The rice was perfect and had just the right amount of coconut flavour and lightness. The kimchi and pulled pork mix with some sort of bbq sauce was delicious as well. The kimchi seemed to be aged too which IS my favourite type of kimchi.

Here is the corn bread. I love their corn bread!

This is the famed lamb burger that dustin got. We asked for yam fries instead of regular fries and WHOPEE it did not cost us any extra. I hate their CATSUP... (homemade ketchup) but dustin seemed to like it. Sugarbowl boasts that they use fresh ground lamb in their pattie and give generous portions of their creamy goat cheese. Their Guiness mustard and garlic Mayo made it that much more divine. The greens and pickle was pretty good but not what makes this burger THE BURGER.

I recalled eating this burger 2 years and it being EVEN MORE MAGICAL. Perhaps it is all in my head... But Dustin told me he use to frequent this place even before we met and the LAMB BURGER than was WAAAAAAYYY more magical. 

We decided to share a dessert of Creme Brûlée. They gave us two almond cookies and as I was walking out I saw another person with the same dessert but she had 3 almond cookies. WE GOT JIPPED maybe its cuz we don't look hipster enough. The creme brûlée was delicious with its hard caramelized top and confetti sugar. The inside was cold though but super creamy and not too sweet and rich.

The sad thing to say was the bartender was good at multitasking but horrible at pouring beer. All his beers had too much foam and he would have to scoop it out and try again and again to just get a head of foam. 

And then there was our bill. I guess more expensive then eating at some fast food joint but cheaper than eating korean or sushi.

I would come back again, but maybe earlier I hate waiting in lines and hate horrible service due to how small the place is and how cramped things get.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Great food but poor service and a long wait.