Tzin Wine & Tapas — Restaurant in Edmonton

One of the best dining experiences ever! Everything about this restaurant is just right for me in terms of ambience, liveliness, food (!!!), and service. It can be a great date night spot but also casual enough where you don’t feel self conscious at all.

It’s a very small space which allows the owner really get to know his patrons and they serve reallly great food. Keeping it a small space with very limited tables allows chefs to focus on quality. So I def recommend making a reservation to get a spot here! We luckily managed to get a spot on our last night here in Edmonton. We didn’t even know how limited the space was until someone told us days earlier.

The owner, Glenn, greeted us wholeheartedly and is a really fun, friendly person! Holds great conversation and can tell he loves what he does. The menu is small but mighty. We did the “feed us” special which is essentially a chef’s course meal catered to the number in your party. They are flexible on allergies, religious beliefs and preferences (picky eaters). If something on the menu catches your eye, you can request it to be included in the course! Which we requested the paella.

The plates that were served (per my own description to the best of my memory and taste): -mushroom and gnocchi with truffle ricotta: super yummy and flavorful! Everything is so tender that it just melts in your mouth. -falafel: everything here is house-made. I’m usually not a falafel person but this was very good! It had a lot of flavor and it was perfect textured! Crispy on the outside and super moist and soft on the inside. -beef and bison sausage with mustard and bread: absolutely awesome. The sausage and mustard is made in house and it has such a nice fresh-ness to it. The mustard is awesome. -wild boar meatballs with Jack Daniels glaze: melt in your mouth, sweetness from the glaze, juice meatballs. So delicious!!!! -Apple cider cured bacon over toasted bread with apple compote: I’m not a bacon fan, but this was not your typical bacon. If this is how bacon tasted like all the time, I would seriously eat it all the time!!! Sooo crispy yet so juicy and tender. This was our favorite of the night. Glen showed up southern bacon. This took the cake. -seafood paella: all the seafood is locally sourced! Topped with a seafood bisque, this dish satisfied my long time paella craving! My co-worker even said it tasted just like Barcelona.

Last but not least, dessert!!! -Apple curd tart with oat crumbles: perfect tang with the sweetness from the shortbread and crumbles. So so good. -flourless chocolate cake with cherry and almond brittle: the amount of richness and sweetness was perfect in this cake. It had a slight darkness to it which didn’t make it too rich and sweet. The texture was super smooth and we loved it all.

This place has won my heart. Thank you, Glenn, for treating us like family with your hospitality! Hit us...

I got the 'feed me' option, their version of a tasting menu. It was great! Each dish better than the one before.

Albacore ceviche: Good, but missing a bit of 'zing'

Prawns in Vatavan sauce with Fennel:

The warmth of the curry butter sauce contrasted perfectly with the tangy fennel. The prawns were also tender and a great vessel for the buttery sauce

Succotash:

Hearty, homey, comforting. Gnocchi, Bacon, corn, cream sauce Chowder-ey elevated with a Saskatoonberry glaze

Sweet Italian Sausage with fennel pollen burnt peppercorn honey mustard:

Tasty sausage, but a little on the dry side by itself. The honey mustard upps the ante. It adds the Juiciness missing from the sausage itself. The sweet and hot is a winning combination with pork and the fennel and herbs in the sausage add a great aromatic halo to the dish.

Bison Meatball Pickled onions, house bbq sauce, creme freche, aged cheddar ranch.

Warm, tangy, rich, creamy. The meatball is delicious all by itself and super juicy. The sweet and smoky bbq sauce complements the rich bison meat and strengthens the dish's warmth. The aged cheddar ranch ups the creaminess and umami yet again, but also adds a cruicial sharpness from the cheddar to balance the fat. The pickled onions are a 'cherry on top' adding a hint of crunch with a bit more zing.

Bacon Crostini, maple apple glaze

WOW

Flavour explosion!

Sweet and tart! Apple blast starts the bite off. Then as the tartness fades, the bacon's richness and smokiness comes to the forefront. The best bacon I have ever had!

Lemon Curd Tart Freshly torched meringue, raspberry coulis, shortbread crust.

As a dessert, Lemon curd tarts are hard to beat. They're up at the top with Tiramisu and innovative desserts like the hoja santa ice-cream at NOL. This is also a very good lemon curd tart! The tartness is STRONG as it should be and is reinforced with the raspberry coulis. All this tartness is balanced with the sweet and buttery shortbread and the creamy meringue. A great end to...

First off, terrible customer service. I came to Tzin with my sister who is visibly 6-month pregnant. All went well until her husband came by. He came by when we were finishing our last dish, and we asked the host before the husband entered if it was okay if he just joins us and then we'll all leave soon. The host said sure, he brought us a chair. When my sister's husband went in, the host became nervous and immediately said that we guys need to move closer to the table (mind you, we weren't like leisurely sitting there all over the place, and my sister's husband is not a fat guy at all), because the other guests will be coming soon. There was no one in the restaurant at that time but us! Seriously, making a pregnant woman sit closer to the table when no one is sitting at the table next to us? We were complacent and switched places, I dragged myself as close to the table as to be able just to breathe comfortably. Time passed, and as we were leaving, the other customers next to us came and didn't even sit at that spot we were saving for them! We felt rushed out, despite the fact that our 2-hour time limit hasn't expired yet, the plates were cleared off quickly just as we finished our last bite, the host even moved my gift bag. We felt very awkward and uncomfortable. If you let an extra person sit at the table, then do behave accordingly and continue good service. One other point is that were are not native English speakers, and we always get substandard service at posh restaurants, because they think we can't tell their behavior is outrageous, well, that's a whole different story... but it repeated itself at Tzin.

The menu was good, though. Not mindblowing, but good, chefs worked hard. Extremely expensive. The "Feed Me" option ended up costing around 60 bucks per person. Would have not been disappointed if not for...