The Common - Average Gastropub (Edmonton 30 in 30)

The Common has over the years worked itself up in popularity to become one of the more popular gastropubs in Edmonton. Touted for its large selection of beers and a new spin on modern cuisine, customers had been frequenting and raving about the restaurant for many years. Thus it was obvious pick and so a group of us made the trek to Downtown Edmonton on a warm spring afternoon to The Common.

On the corner of 109th street and 99th Avenue, The Common is easily missed for drivers on 109th, a historically busy street connecting Downtown to the River Valley. Not helping matters is their small gray signage that is difficult to spot unless one is directing viewing it. Nevertheless, once you are inside, customers are welcomed to a large gastro-pub adorned with large tasteful decor, handsome wooden tables and attentive wait staff.

The kitchen menu is a simple one pager consisting of a surprisingly wide array of smaller starter plates and larger fare. The premise, as per their chef, is to create a new spin on common classics and is easily apparent in such tantalizing dishes such as Truffle Popcorn or Duck Carpaccio. I like the balance and am impressed by the variety of dishes they have available.

The Tandoori Calamari were surprisingly great. These tender pieces of squid are dusted with a curry flour coating and roasted to perfection. Dipping them into the sweet ginger dip adds a layer of sharp sugary flavour to the crispy curried calamari. Fresh fruit, adding freshness and more sweetness, and olives, imparting saltiness, act as accompaniments to finish off the dish.

Short Rib Poutine sounded excellent in concept but was poorly executed. Unfortunately, The Common paired salty french fries with salty braised short rib with salty cheese curds and salty gravy which all unified to give the dish one sole salty flavour. Pitty too because the braised short rib was actually well executed and exquisitely tender.

A unique dish, Rabbit Carbonara combined fresh pasta with chunks of rabbit meat and bacon in a cream and herb based sauce. In truth, the dish could have been substituted with any dark meat substitute as the subtle rabbit flavour was completely overwhelmed by that of bacon and of heavy cream. On the positive, the pasta was well cooked al dente and paired well with the bacon and cream.

Lamb Popsicles, a playfully named dish, was unfortunately simply average. The lamb chops, while being a nicely prepared medium rare, was devoid of seasoning even when dipped in the currant based sauce adorning each chop. Even more egregious were the deep fried "risotto" balls which were starchy and grainy and lacked any creaminess on would normally find in anything with the word risotto.

Chicken and Waffles was the best of the our three mains. The two pieces of chicken breast were nicely cooked and had a aromatic herbal crust to them. Pairing them with the apple bacon relish adds in fattiness and luxuriousness to each bite of chicken. The waffle was ordinary and acted as a starchy base onto which the flavours of chicken and bacon can dance.

We were more enthused overall by the appetizers at The Common than their mains. Although each protein was cooked well, we were let down by most of the flavour profiles accompanying them. In truth, the inconsistency in the food makes The Common a difficult restaurant to recommend. There are tasty things to be had, but you might need to wade through a few mediocre dishes to find them.