Eye-catching and Delicious

A filmy piece of pineapple covered a light custard, forming what looked like a flower petal with a single piece of raspberry as the stamen. Real yellow and orange petals decorated the top and the flavour was a citrus blend of creamy custard and pineapple juice.

I had the dessert months ago in March when I attended the lunch put on by NAIT students with the help of celebrity chef, Susur Lee. It was a long time ago, but it's one of those dishes that you use as a means of measuring other desserts, which usually just don't quite measure up.

But there are lots of dishes I've found in Edmonton with a similar appeal — both visually and flavour-wise. I particularly like a dish that has an element of surprise - a dish that stands out from the menu for one reason in your mind, and then actually stays in your memory for a different one.

The Gruyere, a sandwich from Dahlia's Mediterranean Bistro stands out because of the surprise factor. It's described on the menu as a rye-bread sandwich with caramelized onions. On face value, it sounds pretty simple, even uninteresting. But the marbled bread goes perfectly with the onions that have a blend of seasonings that remind me of turkey stuffing, one of my favourite holiday dishes.

When I think of really visually appealing food, I tend to think of sushi. At Mikado, the mango tango rolls are, according to the restaurant's menu, a customer favourite. Eel, cucumber and red pepper are inside a roll that's wrapped with mango and avocado. The colours are intense and even the texture is interesting. But when it comes to Japanese food, sushi isn't the only eye-catching dish out there. The carpaccio salmon at Mikado is a salad with bright pieces of fish, mandarin oranges, organic greens and a soy based dressing. 

When it comes to good looking, tasty and simple food, the spinach, feta and tomato omelette at Glenora Bistro comes to mind. The omelette is the perfectly browned, taking up half the plate. A colourful plate of fruit, a side of whole-grain bread and hash browns occupy the rest of the plate.