Nineteen

On July 11th, CJ and I celebrated our monthsary together. But it wasn't just any monthsary... we happened to be dating for 700 days the exact same day! How often does that happen?! Of course, this called for an extra special monthsary celebration... lunch at Nineteen (dinenineteen.com)! Earlier that day, the idea of having lunch there actually didn't cross my mind - I was expecting a date at a more casual food place. However, I soon remembered that Nineteen recently opened up for lunch in addition to their dinner hours! I knew I had to take this opportunity to finally go to Nineteen for lunch with CJ! 

Nineteen is a fine dining restaurant located in Southwest Edmonton. Specifically, it is down Rabbit Hill Road heading south just before reaching the Anthony Henday. This restaurant is very close to mine and CJ's houses and has been open for quite some time now, so I guess it isn't so hard to put together why both of us were really excited to finally go here! We even dressed up a bit more fancier than we usually do. 

Although I didn't think it would be too busy during lunch time, I asked CJ to make a reservation for us anyways. I soon found out that we would've been fine without a reservation beforehand considering there were only a few other diners. We were told we could sit in the main dining area inside, the lounge, or the patio. CJ and I have never eaten out in any patio area before, so of course I chose the patio! It is patio season, after all. 

The lunch menu (first page).

The lunch menu (second page).

The lunch menu at Nineteen varies day by day, so there is currently no set lunch menu available on their website. I found that the lunch menu at Nineteen featured mostly salads, but there were a few more filling options as well. Our server also informed us of their Pasta of the Day, Soup and Sandwich of the Day, and Catch of the Day. I went with the Pasta of the Day, while CJ decided on the Mongolian Beef Bowl for his lunch. 

Mongolian Beef Bowl.

The first dish to come out was CJ's pick - their Mongolian Beef Bowl ($16). When this dish was set down at our table, I was blown away at how beautiful the presentation was! Very vibrant with all the different colours. This dish features sautéed Mongolian beef, diced cucumber and tomato, steamed jasmine rice, a sweet soy glaze and finally topped off with a 63 degree egg. It is also clear that there were some other vegetables present on the dish as well. Although I didn't try it, the Mongolian Beef Bowl appeared to be very refreshing from all the vegetables, yet still substantial from the meat and rice. Watching CJ eat his food, I wasn't sure how he felt about it! He then told me that while it tasted good, he obviously would've liked it better if there was more meat and less vegetables. A typical request from him. 

Pasta of the Day.

Next up was my Pasta of the Day ($16). Yet another eye catching presentation! This dish didn't have a description on their menu, and I didn't want to start taking notes of the full description in front of our server. Luckily, I tweeted at Nineteen and they responded! Yay! The Pasta of the Day consists of grilled chicken breast, gull valley cherry tomatoes, and bocochini cheese with a creamy rose sauce. I thought my chicken was cooked nicely, and the slightly spongy texture yet mild flavour of the cheese was very pleasant. The one component of my dish that I thought could've been done better was the texture of the pasta itself. I think it needed to be cooked longer because I felt that it tasted a bit slimy. However, when paired with the chicken or the cheese, the pasta can easily be overlooked. I didn't really touch the tomatoes - not because they didn't taste good, but because I don't like tomatoes that much! Overall, a delicious and satisfying dish! 

Drinks and dessert menu.

Nineteen also has a very long list of wines available: red, white, sparkling, you name it. This is definitely a good place to go if you're a lover of vino. They also have their non alcoholic beverages, followed by their desserts in this bright orange menu! 

Passion Fruit Cheesecake.

Our monthsary celebration would not have been complete without a yummy dessert! I chose the Passion Fruit Cheesecake ($13) to share with CJ. This dessert also comes with orange puree, fresh BC berries, and mint. To be honest, I was actually expecting the presentation to be a lot better than what was given to us. A small cheesecake with a tiny mint leaf and some berries on the side... I don't think that was worth $13. Nevertheless, CJ and I still dug in, splitting the cheesecake and berries between us. I thought the cheesecake had a nice tang to it and wasn't too sweet. It was also very light and refreshing - perfect to beat the summertime heat! The berries also added on to the sweetness of the dessert, but in a good way. Very delicious! I just wish the presentation was better for the price we paid. 

CJ and I had an amazing time at Nineteen to celebrate our monthsary! I've always been wanting to go here ever since it first opened! I would suggest to celebrate my 19th birthday at Nineteen, or to go there with all my friends before we turned 20. Now, I've finally gone! The pricing at Nineteen is slightly higher than at other places, so we would only come back here if it were for a special occasion. Our server was very friendly and regularly checked up on us to see how we were doing. I thought our first time patio experience was a success! I guess one of the downsides about patios are the bugs flying around. There was actually quite a lot of different bugs crawling or flying near us, but I suppose it wasn't too bothersome. That's one of the given downsides of sitting outside with food anyways. I would recommend Nineteen if you're planning a fancier date with your loved one, or if you want to have a chance to look more slightly put together during dinner time! It was fun for both CJ and I to dress up and look good for each other. 

Thank you Chef Andrew Fung for the delicious food, as well as all the team at Nineteen for the awesome experience. CJ and I would definitely want to come back sometime in the future (maybe with our friends next time too)!