MKT Fresh Food | Beer Market — Restaurant in Edmonton

A Promising Atmosphere and Beer Selection, But Culinary Execution Needs Refinement

My recent visits to this establishment, including a return tonight after an initial experience a week ago, have presented a somewhat mixed impression. While certain aspects truly shine, the overall culinary offering has left room for improvement, particularly when considering the pricing.

From an atmosphere perspective, the restaurant excels. There's a genuinely great vibe indoors, which is significantly elevated when weather permits seating outside. This outdoor option provides a wonderfully relaxed setting, making it an ideal spot to unwind. Complementing this inviting ambiance is a truly impressive and very large selection of beers on tap, catering to a wide range of tastes and offering a genuine draw for beer enthusiasts. Furthermore, the service consistently stood out as excellent across both visits – attentive, prompt, and friendly staff contributed positively to the overall experience.

Turning to the food, the experience was less consistent. On the appetizer front, we sampled both the chips and the ribs. The chips were merely "okay," not particularly memorable. However, the ribs were enjoyable and certainly a highlight among the food items.

For the entrée, I ordered the hamburger with added bacon, accompanied by a side of poutine. The hamburger itself was acceptable, earning an "okay" rating. Unfortunately, the poutine was a significant disappointment. The dish arrived with room temperature fries, cold and unmelted cheese curds, and a thin, watery gravy pooled at the bottom of the bowl. This preparation completely missed the mark for what one expects from a classic poutine, failing to deliver the warm, cohesive, and comforting experience it should.

Considering the prices charged, the inconsistent food quality, especially the poor execution of the poutine, created a disconnect between expectation and reality. For the investment, one anticipates a higher standard of culinary delivery.

In conclusion, this establishment offers a fantastic atmosphere and an exceptional beer selection, all supported by excellent service. These elements make it a strong contender for a relaxing outing, perhaps for a warm afternoon or evening beer, especially when outdoor seating is available. However, based on my experiences, the kitchen's performance, particularly with certain dishes, indicates a need for refinement. While I would readily return for the ambiance and a cold beer, I would likely opt to dine elsewhere if a high-quality meal were my...

I’m very conflicted writing this review so I will start off by saying this was probably hands down one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. We ordered the burnt end poutine and the maple salmon, both were absolutely incredible.

The issue that we had was that before we came to the restaurant my friend had called and asked if it was really busy or if reservations were required for the patio and the person he spoke with said no it’s not that busy and it would be fine. Once we got there the hostess asked if she could ask the servers if we could sit on the patio or if they were too busy (there was more than a dozen empty tables on the patio), she comes back and says they said they are too busy right now and that we can either wait 15 mins or sit inside. Now don’t get me wrong 15 mins isn’t bad at all, so we said okay we will wait and we sat at an empty table and my friend asked if it was okay that we at least order a drink as it was hot to which the hostess replied, no you’ll have to wait all together. Again, we said okay fine.

She leaves and comes back again literally 2 mins after and motions us to move over one table over from the empty table we were sitting at to the one next to it and says “the servers said they are caught up now”.

Our waitress comes to the table, and she’s very nice but after taking our drink and appetizer order, we told her we would wait until we ate some of the appetizer before we decided what we would order for our mains. The drinks were great but we ended up waiting an unreasonable amount of time for the appies. She comes up and apologized as to why it was taking so long so then I told my friend that maybe we should order our mains since she’s at the table and it was taking so long for them to bring over the appetizer. So she takes our order for our mains and then she goes to enter it in and she comes back and apologizes that she completely forgot to enter the appetizer and that she put the order in now and we should get it as soon as possible. It was nice to see that she took responsibility for her mistake and apologized but the part that got me was that they automatically charge a 20% gratuity. This seems bizarre to me especially after forgetting to enter our order and having us wait as long as we did. I actually think had they not forced a tip amount on me, I likely would have tipped between 18-20% anyway because the food was incredible but it was kind of a turn off to think it was expected based off the service.

The food was...

I hesitated in writing this because our bartender was really lovely, if not a little green, however the change in the last few years merits a warning. I haven't been to mkt in a few years but since we were on whyte and the food was amazing last time I went, we popped in for some snacks. First off the room is looking rough. The tattered upholstery is showing it's age. We waited quite some time for someone to notice us to seat, but since it was mid afternoon we let it slide. There were three of us, the host sat us with one menu at a visibly dirty table. Straight up, pretty much everything was visibly dirty. The table, the glassware, the side plates that were stacked wet with food stuck in between, the menu needed a wipe and the bathrooms smelled like a barnyard. Though our bartender was sweet he missed the mark on the check in. The food was horrendous. The brisket poutine was the nastiest thing I've ever attempted to eat, the brisket, which was advertised as crispy ends were not at all crispy and resembled small cubes of beef spam. The veggie burger inexplicably tasted like fish and the fish tacos were adequate but nothing to bring a person back. We had to ask another server to bring us the things we needed. Napkins, new not filthy side plates and no one seemed surprised that we had to call them over to get some service. I get it, it's an old building things get dirty and worn. It is surprising however that the room is so ill maintained. The food took forever to arrive despite there only being two tables other than us and we were hoping that it would at least be edible. We forced it in our bellies because we were starving. That turned out to be a mistake as half way home all three of us felt violently ill. I'm not sure what has happened over there but I would give it a hard pass unless you want to be married to your...