Restaurant Review: Namo Cafe and Bistro

Location: 824 Edmonton Trail
Website: http://www.namonaturals.com

On Monday, February 8, 2021, restaurants reopened for dine-in service. While our original intention was to head out to Radium for the weekend, due to unforeseen circumstances, we were unable to. Luckily, we had the option of going somewhere nice for Valentine’s Day.

Namo has been on my list for several years now and today I had the good fortune of going today in the company of Mackenzie for a Valentine’s brunch. When I first heard about Namo it was in the context of a restaurant offering vegetarian and vegan fare that was more than just your boring salad. I was mostly curious about how they would go about making brunch vegan friendly. I’m not the most well-versed in vegetarian or vegan substitutes and am always willing to try new things and learn about new ways to prepare classics in ways that use non-animal products. Furthermore, I found out today when perusing the menu and talking to Mackenzie that the place is best known for their fusion dishes.

Chicken and waffles is probably one of my favourite brunch items, particularly because of the combination of savoury and sweet and of course, that’s what I wanted to go with, but Mackenzie was insistent that he was going to order that one, as that is the one dish he orders when he goes and we didn’t want to both get the same thing. I mean, what kind of review would it be if we both ordered the same thing. Haha, can you imagine what a boring review that would be?

According to Mackenzie, the menu has changed since the last time he went and the butter chicken and waffles has now been changed to just a regular chicken and waffle. Honestly, a butter chicken and waffles sounds so much more interesting and delicious than a regular chicken and waffles. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t love the original, but I love butter chicken like it’s nobody’s business and this would certainly be a unique spin of a brunch classic in such a wonderful way. In speaking with out waitress, we found that we were able to have this “off menu” item and for those who have the opportunity to come here and love butter chicken as much as I do, I would highly, highly recommend this dish. The butter chicken and waffles consists of a corn waffle topped with saucy, perfectly cooked, moist, butter chicken garnished with goat cheese, crushed pistachios and rose petals. This has probably been one of the best bites I’ve had at any restaurant to date. As many of you may already know, I do love my spice and this dish definitely delivers on that front. The heat of the dish is balanced by the creamy, gaminess of the goat cheese and the soft texture of the waffle and tender chicken are complimented by the subtle crunch of the pistachio. The only part of the dish that I felt didn’t add much flavour or texture wise were the rose petals; they seemed to be there for a purely aesthetic purpose because unlike rose water, the petals do not have the same overwhelming floral taste and smell. The combination of taste and texture left me hungering for more and that’s what every good dish should do; leave you wanting to keep eating even when you’re full. The vast array of flavour profiles helped awaken the palate and make it more receptive to more; I think I would definitely make this at home the next time I’m craving waffles or making butter chicken and I would even go as far as to say that I would add either a poached or sunny side up egg atop this masterpiece.

For myself, I ordered the Duck Confit Monte Cristo. Like with the other items listed under this section of the menu, it did not come with a side and not knowing the portion size, I decided on getting a side. Tots seemed like a good, safe side and besides, what’s brunch without potatoes. I find with duck based dishes, it’s a huge hit or miss with me. Confited duck is among one of my favourite preparations of this protein. I’m happy that my first exposure to this style of cooking duck was so good. For those who don’t know, to confit something is to essentially salt and cook it in its own fat at a low temperature as a means of preserving it. This can be applied to vegetables that have been slow cooked in fat as well (hence onion confit). Looking at this dish’s menu description sounded good, but never having been here and not having browsed their instagram for a while, I didn’t know what to expect. What I got absolutely exceeded my expectations. For the bread, Namo substituted a French toast made with thick cut brioche, filling it with bacon, bacon jam and cheese, topped with duck confit, two sunny side up eggs and a rocket green (aka arugula) salad and balsamic reduction drizzle around the plate. I’m not completely certain what type of cheese and by simply putting “cheese” on the menu allows the restaurant some flexibility on that front. If they run out of one kind, they can always sub-in a different kind. The only tough thing is that if anyone had dietary restrictions in this regard, they wouldn’t know without asking. It was a lot to take in visually when the plate first landed on the table. I honestly didn’t know how to process what I was seeing in front of me. I started by removing the greens so I could access the egg and sandwich below. With the addition of the egg, it did feel a little like a Croque Madame. The egg was perfectly runny and the yolk was the most beautiful golden yellowy-orange hue. It coated the sandwich and salad like a sauce/dressing adding some additional moisture to the dish. This was followed by the duck confit, which was wonderfully prepared. It was moist and flavourful, but the quantify left me wanting so much more. That said, I think that if there was anymore, it probably would’ve thrown of the balance of the dish. The next thing my knife came in contact with was the brioche was light and fluffy, eggy and sweet, as it should be; it felt like I was cutting through a pillowy cloud. With the brioche being as thick as it was, it was easy to lose the filling of the sandwich. The bacon jam and cheese were especially difficult to find and I was lucky enough to get one satisfying cheese pull out of it. However, it didn’t look like the cheese was evenly distributed throughout the interior of the sandwich and near the end when I opened up the sandwich there were a few “splotches” of cheese on the bread around the strips of bacon with no bacon jam in sight. Personally, I think the dish would’ve worked better if the duck had been tucked inside the sandwich as being between the egg and brioche meant that it often ended up falling off the stack. As if there wasn’t already enough going on on the plate, there was a mini pitcher of maple syrup to add to the French toast Monte Cristo. The depth of flavour in this dish was incredible. Especially if you consider what both freshly ground pepper, the fresh, somewhat bitter pepperiness of the arugula, nuttiness of the grated Parmesan, and sweet-sourness of the balsamic reduction added to each of the bites.

There’s not much to be said about the tot as they appear to the generic variety from the bag, but I do appreciate that the restaurant had tossed them in some kind of spice blend. This might be something I do in the future to fancy up my own tater tots.

Overall, the Monte Cristo was an incredible dish, but it is on the heavier side. I wasn’t actually able to finish this dish and had a lot of help from Mackenzie. Like I said, I would definitely come back for the butter chicken and waffles, even though that’s no longer on the menu anymore. I’m glad they were able to accommodate our request for this.

In terms of accessibility, there is a step up to get into the restaurant and the doorway and restaurant is quite small and cramped, which would make it difficult certain individuals to dine here. Of course, currently due to COVID, those who aren’t comfortable dining in or able to enter the restaurant (or due to the curent cold snap), Namo is on DoorDash and SkipTheDishes. That said, there is something that is lost when ordering take-out or delivery; plating and flavour, for one.

Based on this experience, I would definitely come back to this place again. There’s so much to try. Once all my options are exhausted, then I’ll have the butter chicken again, though I know if I go with Mackenzie, I will always be able to steal a bite. This place was extremely busy given the current climate and conditions and I’m happy to see that so many people are coming out to support a local business, but it did make me a little uncomfortable to be so close to so many people in a packed restaurant. Yeah, there was a capacity limit and plexiglass dividers, but that didn’t make things make me feel any less *insert shivering sound*. However, I am very happy that we were able to join the wait list from home instead of waiting in the cold. I would give this experience a 4.25/5.

                                                                                       Restaurant Exterior

                                                                                           Restaurant Interior

                                                                                       Restaurant Interior

                                                                                         Restaurant Interior

                                                                                                   London Fog

                                                                                              Duck Confit Monte Cristo

                                                                    Butter Chicken and Waffles