AKA Wine Bar

Nice place, nice staff but chef can’t cook! I felt we paid way too much for food that was less than mediocre. Will not go back.

This has been on my list for a while to try for brunch, as the menu looks fantastic.
Went about 1pm on a Sunday. Sadly, they were out of the amazing sounding banana bread french toast. Instead, I got an order of 2 eggs, potatoes, toast & sausage, as well as shared the quinoa waffles. Waffles were fantastic, as was the rest of the food. However, the portions were small — maybe 10 chunks of potato, 2 pieces of french bread-​sized toast, 1 sausage and the two eggs. It was good, but for the price, you could get the same taste in larger portions elsewhere.

I stopped in with a friend during our wine tasting adventures on a Saturday night. The place is very small and was very busy. The new owner, Toshi, was serving the tables and I immediately noticed his happy and bubbly personality. Over a tasty glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, we ordered a few appetizers to share amongst ourselves.
The flatbread was splendid. With just enough cheese and meat not to overpower the bread, it was a great tasting dish. The gnocchi was absolutely incredible. Cooked perfectly and served in a fantastic light sauce that made me want to start doing a strip tease on the table. The lamb didn’t work quite as well with me, unfortunately. The sauce served with it was great, but the lamb itself was far too fatty and wasn’t seasoned. The view as soon is you walk into the restaurant is of the bathroom which was a big design flaw when it was originally built.
All in all, the service is fantastic (Toshi can make you laugh with a simple flailing of his limbs. Kind of an Asian Kramer hehe) and the food is great in this little restaurant nestled on Edmonton Trail.

We came, we ate, we left… with not really much of an impression. AKA is nice, the décor is lovely, with three chandeliers hanging across one wall, and dark high tables. It’s a tiny space too, and not overly noisy.
Being in for brunch, it was a menu of higher-​end looking brunch items (like a croque madame, which is what I ordered) and price points being around the $ 13-​$ 15 mark. Our food came out quickly enough, and it was tasty enough. But, what really lacked here was the service. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, but for a spot like AKA Winebar, I was expecting something a little more. There was no one consistently looking after coffee refills, and we had to flag down our bill at the end of the meal even though we had finished our meals about fifteen minutes prior to that. I don’t know if they just felt short staffed, had new staff, or what… but it could use some polishing.
What I did enjoy was the coupon attached to my brunch menu for $ 10 a dinner on my next visit. Maybe they’ll do better for dinner.
April Underdog Challenge: ¹²⁄₃₀

Hit this sweet little spot for some weekend brunch — Bridgeland style. I met up with a friend who lives in the area and this place was his recommendation. He mentioned that it is run by folks from Winebar/​Brasserie in Kensington as well as Muse. Though I have yet to try brunch at Brasserie in Kensington — I have heard nothing but sweet praises about their brunch offerings — I was really looking forward to trying AKA to see if I could have a similar experience to what people are getting at Brasserie.
Both myself and my friend ordered the same thing, the standard 2 egg breakfast with bacon. We also decided to get an order of banana bread french toast to split just because it sounded so good. The food came out fairly quick, which is nice when your stomach does not care to indulge the concept of «time».
The eggs were good, nice yolks and cooked over medium the way I like. The potatoes were quite terrible, burned and actually tasting of char. It was a bit of disappointment that the eggs were placed on top of the charred mess, I would have preferred to just sweep the hash-​browns to the side and focus on the near perfect eggs. The banana bread french toast was enjoyable, however it could have used more maple syrup.
I would maybe come back and try some other things on the brunch menu, but maybe I would sub out the potatoes — they really just weren’t for me. I will keep this on my list for an evening place, I like wine bars and small plates. I think I would prefer to judge AKA for what it initially set out to be — a wine bar.
Bridgeland has such a plethora of brunch establishments worth checking out — and places that are just focusing on brunch alone — but the main draw of AKA when you are out brunching in Bridgeland is the likelihood of getting a table without much of a wait.

One of my favorite brunch places! Yay for mimosas!!! The most recent brunch I had was the vegetarian scramble. It was greeat!
It gets a little «cozy» in there so I suggest going at non peak hours.

I tried to get into OverEasy Breakfast on Edmonton Trail at 10 a.m. on a Saturday. No dice. I was too hungry for patience, so I wandered to AKA Wine Bar, because I noticed the brunch sign in their window on the way by from my parking spot, which was a good km away from both restaurants. :)
The menu is a few dollars pricier per meal than I am use to paying. My breakfast was $ 15, and my coffee was $ 3.50. However, the meal was pretty good, the service was amazing and most importantly… I didn’t have to wait in line. :)
For breakfast, I had the Fried Chicken and Waffles. I’m serious. That’s what I ate. I normally do not eat fried chicken period (unless it is chinese food). However, when I saw it on the menu, of COURSE going to try it.
So this is what showed up:
Two quarters of a round waffle, with organic maple syrup. The waffle was made out of quinoa. Its hard to describe, but it was soft, yet crisp at the same time. My intial thought was that they deep fried the waffle because of the texture, but the more I thought of it, it may have been slightly pan fried in butter after it was made in a waffle iron to make it slightly crispy and heavenly on the outside.
They made a little «sandwich» out of the two waffle quarters, and put the fried chicken drumstick in between the two waffles. On top of the waffle… a poached egg.
Man… I have re-​read what I wrote twice. I know it sounds like I am describing a truck stop breakfast, but it was lovely. If I wasn’t so flipping hungry after the OverEasy Breakfast wait, then leaving, THEN getting seated and ordering… I would have taken a picture. It was high-​end all the way. It was presented like something out of a decadent dining establishment in an airline magazine.
I’m pretty open, but… I couldn’t quite fathom eating them together, so I pulled apart the little tower of heaven and ate the two waffles first, then the poached egg. Then, I used my fork and pulled apart the drumstick and that was it. Everything I ate, indivudally was tasty. A little bit of the organic syrop touched my chicken, and I have to be honest… I wasn’t upset about it.
The waitress asked me how everything was after, and I told her that it was definately good. Would I order it again? Probably not. Not because it wasn’t delicious, but simply because it was tried for the sheer curiousity of seeing it. It didn’t disappoint me, but I would likely try something a little more traditional the next go around.
The food portions here aren’t very big, which is perfect for me. But if you are looking for a lot of food, this is not where you want to go. If you are looking for a nice, tasty breakfast with a beautiful ambience, and wish to leave satisfied instead of stuffed, check out AKA wine Bar for brunch.

Went here last Saturday morning for brunch because Diner Deluxe had a lineup coming out the door. And I hate waiting in lines. So AKA Winebar across the street beckoned.
I ordered the Salmon Gravlax Eggs Benedict and my bf ordered the truffle omlette with mushrooms. The brioche bread they used for their eggs benedict seriously rocked my brunch. Soft, yet crispy! Mmm! The truffle omlette was really good too.
Coffee was $ 3.25, which was a bit steep I thought, but the OJ was amazing! Fresh, sweet, not too much pulp, and not too tart.
Apparently Tuesdays is BYOW (bring your own wine, or free corkage, whatever you want to call it in this city)… which is funny. I dont understand how a WINEbar has a BYOW night. But hey, not complaining!
WIll be back!

I wish there was a wine bar like this in my neighborhood, I would be a frequent customer.
I have been here for casual brunch a few times and both times everything was handled very well, with the usual breakfast offerings and pleasant and efficient staff. I’ve not been for lunch or evenings but would assume they are even better as that seems to be their raison d’etre. Nonetheless they do fine casual brunch.
So, when you encounter those long weekend breakfast lineups out the door at Over Easy and Diner Deluxe, there is another player within walking distance. Easily better breakfast than Diner Deluxe, but maybe not quite as good as Over Easy’s.

How can Aka get better. Well how about brunch on the weekends. Make sure you call ahead as it’s pretty full.
How can I convince you. How bout thick slices of French bread with truffle syrup or spreading your toast with creamed cranberry butter. That’s right talk about making a meal pop with creamy pinks… So fashionable and so Devine.
I can’t say enough good things about this place, wait one more… The desserts.
Check it out and this one to your taste bud must visits

At least they’re trying…
I live in Bridgeland so I’m always interested in finding a new shop or restaurant to check out that I can walk to… AKA is in the space on Edmonton Trail that was formerly ‘Noon’ (which itself was a place that I never actually made it to — in part because to this day I still have no idea what it was… was it a bar? was it a restaurant? There was just absolutely no clue… but I digress). The good news is that they’re trying! From the same folks that brought you Muse and the Kensington Wine Bar, AKA is yet another wine bar/​restro-​lounge concept that tries to be funky-​slick-​cosmo. In some ways it reminds me of a very (read VERY) small Ming (the lounge on 17^th Ave) with food service. Service was fine; food was decent (the former Sous Chef at Muse is the Executive Chef here — which self proclaimed title, frankly, sounds a bit pretentious given that there are MAYBE 25 seats — if you all squeeze in and use some lubricant you could possibly get 30… did I mention it was small??). I had the lamb ribs and a bacon and carmelized onion tart and they were ok (the lamb ribs could have been so much more though if they ditched the breading and punched up the heat… the tart was decent but a bit overboard with the onion and the bacon — less is really more sometimes). As a previous reviewer mentioned, the location is a bit difficult… it’s right beside a porn shop, a coin laundry and a sketchy pub (albeit a pub that’s presently getting a complete make over that I’m pretty reved up about — Bridgeland sooooo needs a pub!)… part of inner city Bridgeland that’s still in ‘transition’… if AKA is any indication of where the area is heading, I’m certain that things will turn out just fine. I look forward to checking out AKA again some time but for now I’m going to give them 3 stars.

I am all for bringing new businesses in the Bridgeland/​Crescent Heights area. This one is up the hill on Edmonton trail kitty corner from Diner Deluxe. Bridgeland is a pretty amazing area to live in, but there is nothing to do here. This area has it’s fair share of italian restaurants, but their pricey, and full of gray hairs.
Never in a million years would I think this venue would ever been turned into a wine bar. Here’s my thoughts.
It’s small. I mean 35 seats small. The layout was the best they could do with what they had to work with. The décor, loved it. Wasn’t trying to be anything it’s not, elegant with some funk.
Our waiter was attentive and kind. Nice selection of wines to choose from and the menu was nicely laid out.
I don’t want to give our food a bad review but… don’t get the chef’s platter. It was as if everything was pickled (red peppers) and the mushrooms were boiled in balsamic vinegar. Everything seems to have come out of a can/​jar/​plastic wrap. I won’t let this stop me from going back, as I never even tried a sniff of anything else.
They’re trying, and I applaud them for it. The location is certainly not ideal, you have to park in front of a Adult Only Video store (which I never even knew existed there) it’s pretty seedy. When my friend went out to smoke (tisk tisk) she came back saying how wonderful it was hang out with all the old dirty men heading into the XXX.
Oh god, but don’t let it sway you. Cross the river to the dark side.