If you’re of a certain age, you’ll remember a time when shopping malls had weekend art fairs, where some truly mediocre oil paintings were put on offer at more-than-affordable prices. Tacky landscapes, still life and a dog portrait. Well, that grandma’s-basement kinda art is what hangs on the walls at Say Uncle, giving it a sort of ’70s chic.
The restaurant is a collaboration between the people behind Sandwich and Sons and Northern Chicken, so if you expected the menu to be heavy on comfort food, you’d be right.
We dine to the not-so-subtle sounds of Queens of the Stone Age and the Jesus Lizard; for starters, we do Daikon Not-Scallops. Yes, the Daikon is cooked just like a scallop would be and served with caramelized onions and mashed potato. It’s sweeter than you might expect, so it’s perfectly paired with something saltier from the menu.
The taquitos are served with a strong mustard sauce for dipping, and it makes for a fantastic beer-time accompaniment. The burger is served American style — that is, four-ounce patties on the griddle, with melted processed cheese slices. We’ve seen a big return to “American” cheese when it comes to burgers, because there’s something so awesome and nostalgic about it.
But the highlight is the beef stroganoff. The heavy dose of red wine in the gravy makes it feel more like a beef bourguignon with noodles; it’s earthy and filling and the portion size is more than a meal’s worth.
10184 104 St., 780-540-5369, sayuncle.ca
This article appears in the November 2019 issue of Avenue Edmonton
