Alberta Avenue literally has no shortage of delicious, cheap and culturally diverse eats in Edmonton, and I’m thrilled to see that another gem has been added to the neighbourhood:
Green Onion Cake Man, the man who introduced green onion cakes to Edmontonians back in the 80s, has come out of retirement to launch a storefront for his famed savoury, Chinese pancakes.
I wrote about Edmonton’s Green Onion Cake man Siu To, back when he teamed up with Edmonton Tourism and Get Cooking to launch green onion cake cooking classes. He’s also been selling his cakes on weekends at a few local markets, but it’s been a long time since you could order Siu To’s green onion cakes in a restaurant setting—until now!
The perfect green onion cake.
Green Onion Cake Man is located at 9132 118 Avenue, in the heart of Alberta Avenue, a gem of a neighbourhood, literally steps away from a number of some of my favourite ethnic restaurants in the city.
At the time of writing this post, Green Onion Cake Man has only been open for a few weeks (as of September 2018), and had already become a popular spot on the Ave. When my friend Diane and I went for lunch this week, there was a steady stream of customers ordering green onion cakes mostly to go.
The simple, but delicious menu at Green Onion Cake Man.
The menu at Green Onion Cake Man is expectedly simple. You can get your green onion cakes to stay or go. To stay it takes them about 7 minutes to fry up. To go, you’ve got an option for pan fried or toaster ready.
One of the most delightful aspects of Green Onion Cake Man, aside from the sweet family who serves you, the crazy fragrant smell as soon as you enter the restaurant, and the totally delicious green onion cake, is the low, low prices of the food.
Green onion cakes ($4) from Green Onion Cake Man!
A green onion cake (round disc, cut into 4 pieces) to stay is just $4. I also ordered the awesome hot and sour soup, which comes in at $3. To go, they’re selling a pack of four green onion cakes (four round discs) for just $7. Make that a 3-pack (12 cakes) for just $20. These come either pan fry ready or toaster ready.
They’re selling spring rolls and samosa rolls in packs of 25 or 50, at basically 60 to 85 cents a roll.
SUCH. GOOD. PRICES!!!
My awesome bowl of hot and sour soup that cost just $3 (and comes in a biodegradable Eco Cup).
When I posted on my Instagram about the green onion cake and hot and sour soup costing me just $7, I got so many “what???” messages, like surely I had made a typo but no guys. Green Onion Cake Man is not only offering quality food, they’re also selling it at prices so low you won’t understand it, but you’ll love it lol.
Inside Green Onion Cake Man, located at 9132 118 Avenue.
Green Onion Cake Man is a small space. When you enter, you get the counter right away, and behind it, a pile of green onion cakes are getting cooked. To the right of the entrance and the service counter is a small dining area with about 16 seats. It’s not a fancy place, but that’s totally not what you’re looking for here anyway.
Green Onion Cake Man is such a great little spot that specializes in just literally a handful of dishes they do best.
I love restaurants that do that!
You don’t need a huge menu if you can offer just a few really good, specialty items.
A lovely location
The beauty of Green Onion Cake Man’s location, as I’ve mentioned, is its proximity to other delicious and super affordable restaurants along 118th Avenue.
Next door you can get $3 empanadas from Paraiso Tropical Latin Food Market. Down the road west, you can visit Popular Bakery for some Portuguese treats, or down east you’ll get to Handy Bakery, El Rancho Spanish Restaurant, or Passion de France. Mama Asha Cafe is a few blocks away, as is the The Carrot Cafe, and Caribbean’s Finest.
When Diane and I went for lunch, we got our green onion cakes, soup, and then stepped next door for some empanadas. It was a quick, delicious and cheap lunch— $10 for me (for the green onion cake, soup and empanada) and $7 for Diane (green onion cake and empanada). She was back at her office after 40 minutes (she works closer to 118th Avenue) and I was back after 50 minutes (I work downtown). It was a perfect little lunch. The food was fresh, flavourful, and so, so affordable.
And it just reminded me once again why Alberta Avenue is a wonderful neighbourhood in Edmonton.
It’s also got a bunch of great Instagrammable Walls too!
Read The Star Edmonton’s article on Siu To, Green Onion Cake Man’s restaurant.
So have you been to Green Onion Cake Man!? What did you think??
Linda
