It was like a trip back in time!

So, last night, Jenn and I decided to break out our new student's union coupon pack and try going out for supper. We had a coupon for the Red Diamond House on 82nd Ave and 75th Street in an unfashionable strip mall about 2 blocks from our place. The plan was to then go out to cinema 12 for a $1.50 movie, but by the time we sat down to supper we were both so tired that we decided that we should just go home after and hang out.

The Red Diamond House was busy on a Friday night, packed with 40+ aged white people in large groups packed around large round tables. The menu has pictures on it so that you know what you are getting without having to interpret complex Chinese words like Chow mien and Chop Suey and the always mysterious "Sweet & Sour Chicken". This place reminded me of a larger and more prosperous Bon-Kee. Anyone remember the Bon-Kee on 16th Avenue in Calgary? I think there's a stripmall there now. Needless to say, this place serves Chinese food the way it was in a hole-in-the-wall joint twenty years ago. As good as it was (and it was an excellent example of the style) I was so overwhelmed by the nostalgia that I could barely manage a second trip to the buffet table.

The Friday buffet was more expensive than I would have expected, but we had a coupon, and the a-la-carte menu is not badly priced. I'm not sure I would go back, if I didn't have another coupon, but mainly because there are so many other places in Edmonton I haven't tried yet. If you are jonesing for that style of Cantonese and western cuisine that you just don't find anymore (and Peace River had more stylish Chinese food than the Red Diamond House, at all three restaurants, so you know that this place is seriously retro) this is the place for you.

This restaurant gets three and a half pots of Chinese tea out of five. It would have gotten more, but you actually can't get chopsticks there.