Stick to the beer and pizza at Mimi's Pub

Brother and sister Al and Shanaz Rahmani did the Greenfield neighbourhood a service by purchasing a derelict gas station in the parking lot of a strip mall on 40th Avenue.

They spent nearly $1 million to turn the crumbling structure at 11403 40th Ave. into a beautiful restaurant. They named it after their mom, Mimi, who lives across the street. 

While the room at Mimi's Pub speaks to the hip and the modern, the menu is typical of any pub in any part of the city, offering chicken wings, dry ribs, burgers, pizza, a few salads, some pasta and a handful of grilled proteins. 

When I visited last July, one dish reflected the owner's Persian roots — a minced, pressed lamb patty called kofta available two ways: in a burger and on a skewer. 

A confusion of flavour

Meat on a stick is always enticing but this Mediterranean version lost its appeal in the confusion of items that accompanied it: drab onion rings, focaccia and dry, leafy greens.

My next visit started off on a more promising note with a bowl of piping hot, savoury tomato soup topped with a spoonful of tangy ricotta and served with a wedge of focaccia for dipping.

The soup was rich and the bread, on this occasion, a welcome addition to the plate. 

At six months in, I noticed a few changes to the menu.

The kofta skewer was gone but a warm beef carpaccio was added. No amount of explanation from the server could convince me to eat a warm version of this classic raw beef dish.

I chose the yakitori chicken skewers on the server's recommendation that, "Everyone says they're awesome." 

They weren't.

The chicken pieces were spongy and soft and the tingling sensation on my tongue indicated the meat was plumped full of saline solution or had bathed too long in a salty marinade.

Onion rings were again the chef's chosen side, this time glazed with balsamic reduction or teriyaki drizzle. It was hard to determine beneath the overwhelming flavour of sesame seeds.

Puddles of pesto guarded the entire lot, and because pesto has no connection whatsoever to yakitori chicken or onion rings, it fit right in.

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With two Italian chefs in the kitchen, surely the pizza would be a safe choice and I thought it only fair to return a third time to sample their pies.

At $19, the mare e monti is a super deal. Each slice of the gigantic pie had two or three chunks of sweet, tender shrimp, grilled zucchini and sliced mushrooms.

A drizzle of garlic oil wound its way through the golden crust of cheese adding some oomph to an otherwise mildly-flavoured pizza. 

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And perhaps, this is where the restaurant's strength lies. Not in the jumble of offerings like deep-fried avocado, yakitori chicken or pasta Bolognese with blue cheese, but in the basics. Pizza and beer.

You can never go wrong with that. 

You can hear Campbell's reviews on Edmonton AM every second Friday. You can also see more of her reviews on her blog, Weird Wild and Wonderful, and can follow her on Twitter at @wanderwoman10.