WORTH THE WAIT
Baijiu is a real adventure
It was 6 p.m. on a coolish Friday in that shoulder season when Edmonton, like a Darwinian poster-child creature, emerges from filthy ice into a world of brown-black, litter-encrusted muck, in wait for the promised greenness and cleansing to come. In other words, not necessary humankind’s traditional notion of the perfect setting for a vibrant downtown street life.
And yet, there they were in March, hundreds of seemingly happy, attractive, generally welldressed young adults moving in and out of the doorways of 104 Street or headed to Rogers Place, where the Lumineers would soon be doing their semi-infectious neo-folky thing. Promoters of the new coliseum and Ice District five years ago, or downtown cheerleaders long before that, couldn’t have projected a more fetching portrait.
A goodly number of these working-for-the-weekend citizens on said day were streaming into the charming old Mercer Building, whose far-sighted developers have also demonstrated patience before their current (deserved) rewards. There have been fits and starts among the tenants, but the Mercer Tavern and Rostizado have been unqualified successes of late. On the Friday under discussion, they were absolutely packed, as is often the case.
It’s seems safe to posit that Baijiu (pronounced “bye-joe”) will make it a successful diningdrinking trifecta at the Mercer. It too, was bursting at the seams. It took us around 75 minutes to get in this latest no-reservations hot spot even at an absurdly early hour, but the staff will text you when a table is ready.
There are other, lonelier establishments nearby to have a drink or shopping session before the call.
Yes, it was worth the wait. It’s a big, skinny-ish space with arguably the niftiest, friendliest, American-style long (!) bar in town on one side facing a line of small tables with retro tufted banquette-style seats set against the wall. The walls, BTW, are gorgeous — variously original reclaimed brick or tropical floral murals right out of a Raffles Hotel brochure, circa 1938. The music on the box is totally listenable, with a broad nod to noninvasive hip-hop.
The concept here is “cocktail bar and eatery,” serving flashy house-made cocktails and (generally) smallish Asian-inspired sharing plates. As in other establishments of this increasingly popular genre, you can use Baijiu in a number of ways, from dinners to snacks early or late to simply bending your elbow with a relatively small but considered
and interesting variety of potables.
If you be drinking robustly, you can spend a lot of money here. Cocktails are in the mid-teens, bottles of wine begin at $50
(5 oz. flagon at $11) and the three beers listed on the menu range from $10 to $15. By all means try a cocktail or two. We shared a Kowloon Shakedown and Last Days in Vietnam ($14, each) and found them, well, interesting. I’m a wine bore.
Advise the server — ours, Alia, was exceptional — of your intentions appetite-wise and they will guide you through a genuinely intriguing and manageable menu of 18 dishes.
Over a long, spirited meal, our party of four gave the open kitchen in the back a whirl via dan dan noodles ($14), pork and shrimp lion’s head dumplings ($11), Korean brussels sprouts ($9), three Sichuan confit chicken legs ($18) and slow roasted pork ssam ($35).
They were each very good indeed and I would order all but one (see below) again. Presentation is fine but not fussy per se — “don’t sweat the technique” is printed on the back of the drinks list.
But using cheap chic Chinese dishes — the blue-on-white kind at the back of any Chinese market — was an inspired decision.
That said, the lovely sauces for the chicken are served in a perfect yin-yang pattern deserving of oohs and ahhs around the table.
Hip and tasty though all this certainly is, no one is trying to reinvent the wheel here, and those sad ones among us who are afraid of phrases like “Asianinspired” need not worry. This is pretty straightforward culinary territory, and there is nothing wrong with that if executed this well. I look forward to trying the tom ka clams, stir fried cabbage and red braised pork bao, among others.
The only regret was the pork ssam. If a bit on the fatty side — comes with the territory, you guess — it was delicious in lettuce wraps, no question. But in a universe of “pulled” or “confit” meats, it just isn’t worthy of such an elevated price compared to the rest of the fare. Speaking of confit, don’t pass up the chicken legs, delicious even cold the next day.
The two desserts on hand — fried bao ice cream sandwich and Japanese cotton cheesecake ($7) were luscious and admirably restrained on the decadence/ guilty scale.
I almost forgot. Baijiu (means white spirit or liquor) is the kind of vibrant, locally hatched establishment that makes some of us feel alive and living in a real city. Others might find it too loud or something. You’ve been warned.
Owner Kevin Cam (North 53), his partners and staff have fashioned a beautiful thing. May they pass many moons here.