One of the best and most underrated areas for amazing food in Edmonton is Alberta Avenue. This part…read moreof the city has had its issues over the years but now it's a mecca for incredible cultural dining experiences all along 118th Avenue. One such place is Samosa House, a family-owned Somali restaurant with absolutely no online presence. Named as a Favourite Value Eats spot on the Edmonton Food Faves We Crave 2022 list, I was excited to give Somali food a try.
The location itself doesn't look like much on the outside and the inside might be the epitome of a hole-in-the-wall... But at this point we know not to judge a book by its cover. Visiting on a Sunday evening, I entered into the somewhat confusing space. There weren't any other customers and it appeared that this was the type of place where we were meant to order at the counter. There were several glass cases fitted with warming stations, however there was no food to be seen in any of them. The most wild of all was the dining space - a small area crammed full with large booths wrapped in faux leather and emblazoned with the bright blue Somali flag. At first I didn't understand the colour scheme but then I looked up the country's flag and it all made sense. The booths are arranged in a maze-like formation unlike anything that I have ever seen before. There were no other decor elements but there was a TV mounted to the wall showing the TLC channel. It was odd, but again, I was more interested in letting the food do the talking.
The people working were incredibly sweet and friendly. It was obvious that English was not their first language and they couldn't have been more kind and welcoming. This was especially true for the older woman, who I assume owns the place.
Somalia is the easternmost country in Africa, situated on the Horn of Africa. I am not familiar with Somali food and there were many terms on the menu that I did not understand. While this was overwhelming, I wanted to do my best to sample as much as possible and to get a feel for this country's cuisine. I did notice a few similarities between Somali and Indian food, but only in a few instances. It's always so exciting to try something brand new for the first time! I appreciated the effort that the woman working made to offer some guidance and after our order was placed we entered the booth maze and found a place to sit. The food was brought out to us once it was ready.
Starting with drinks, I noted a lot of interesting shakes to choose from with flavours like mango, orange, and banana. However, I went for the Sweet Somali Chai Tea ($1.50). As a person who already loves chai, I was very interested to try the Somali version. I was asked if I wanted milk in the chai and I replied yes. Served in a cozy little mug, I was impressed by the frothed milk on top. I found this chai to be a lot sweeter than the Indian version - and I loved it! It still had that aromatic, warm-spicy flavour profile but with a lot more sweetness. I would certainly enjoy drinking a cup of this chai any time!
With a name like Samosa House we obviously knew that we needed to try the samosas!! The Samosas ($2.00 each) are sold at an incredibly reasonable price point and have become the type of item that people like to stop in and grab on the go. Offered in three kinds; beef, fish, and vegetable, we tried all three! Served with basbaas, a bright green hot sauce, this condiment is eaten with all sorts of Somali dishes. Ultra crispy and golden, I marveled at the uniform triangle pockets before me. The dough seemed less thick than an Indian samosa and I wanted to grab and bite into one immediately! Each samosa is served piping hot and positively packed with filling. I was pleasantly surprised to find contents that actually looked fresh and real - not some indiscernible mystery mixture. The beef samosa was stuffed with a spiced beef mixture while the vegetable one contained bright veggies like peas and carrots. However, the fish samosa was my favourite! (Everyone at the table agreed.) The fish was flavourful, well-seasoned, and was the most unique. We all wanted more fish samosas! I loved dipping each one into the zippy green sauce, the reason for their popularity seeming obvious.
There are lots of food items on the menu that I was not familiar with, such as; muufo, buur, mindazi, malawax, and baajiya. We tried to get as much information as possible but I couldn't help but feel that I was missing out on delicious food simply by being too ignorant to the cuisine and its terms. Upon further research, I now know that muufo is a flatbread similar to naan or injera and that we definitely should have ordered this! Buur and mindazi are African donuts and they sound amazing. Malawax is a sweet crepe and baajiya is a fritter. I am now armed with much more information and I will be ready for my next visit!
Samosa House also offers meals. They're essentially plates of food that could serve as an entire meal for one person - or you could share it