Restaurant Review: Dolly's Cocktail Bar

DOLLY'S COCKTAIL BAR

9902 109th Street | dollyscocktails.ca

Instagram: @dollyscocktails

Co-Diner: Ms. Schill

Searching for someplace to go for a girls night out on the town? Look no further than Dolly's Cocktail Bar! Slap on your sparkly dress and a pair of heels (or wear whatever the heck you want) and make your way to Downtown's pink palace! You'll remember this location as the former home of Fu's Repair Shop and Prairie Fish & Chips before that. The Edmonton Food Faves We Crave 2024 list named Dolly's as Favourite Patio and the pictures that I've seen of the back terrace look completely adorable, complete with colourful lanterns. Unfortunately, my visit was in October and it wasn't quite patio weather anymore. I turned up on a Friday evening with one of my best girlfriends in tow and we were ready for the biggest Barbiecore night of our lives! Imagine our surprise when we discovered that Dolly's had been transformed into the "Black Lagoon" for the month of October in the spirit of Halloween. (I probably should have looked into this in advance but I was unaware!) I was expecting Cyndi Lauper and Aqua but instead I got Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson. The whole restaurant was draped in the most spider webs that I've ever seen. There were giant spiders hanging from the ceiling and spooky skeletons in every corner. It was a vibe, that's for sure!! But certainly not the one that I had been anticipating. Bits of pink paint and sparkly chandeliers peeked through in some areas and the neon "Dolly's" sign on the wall allowed me to imagine what the Barbie dreamhouse-esque space normally looks like just a little bit. Otherwise, Dolly's was fully transformed into the moody Black Lagoon. I should've worn fishnets instead of glitter. The servers were all very friendly and we were quickly seated at a comfortable table along the hot pink velour banquette. Dolly's invites you to sip, snack, and stay in their minor-free glamorous escape. The house cocktails and mocktails are a major part of the experience (it is a cocktail bar after all) and I was excited to get a cute pink beverage into my hand! There was also a menu of Black Lagoon-themed cocktails that were all served in fun tiki-style vessels. This menu included themed foods as well. I personally had my eye on the Pink Palace Royale cocktail which I saw on the menu online. Made with a special collab gin with Strathcona Spirits and Licor 43 (one of my favourite liqueurs), this sounded like everything that I wanted in a cocktail and more! Other drinks had names like Dolly's Dreamhouse, Bubbilicious, and the house shot was called the Bend & Snap - exactly the sort of drinks that I had come for! However, I was sorely disappointed when the server told me that the drink I wanted was no longer on the menu. It seemed that I could only order a Halloween beverage. I fumbled to find anything that Elle Woods would approve of and settled on a mocktail called Pretty in Pink ($9.00) and the server suggested that the bar could add vanilla vodka to turn it into a proper cocktail. I agreed.

Strawberry, cream of coconut, lime, soda, mint.

Honestly, I was just relieved to get something pink onto the table! I enjoyed this icy-fresh cocktail a lot and it delivered most of what I had been hoping for. The sweetness of the strawberry and coconut was really fun! The lime and mint added a mojito flair. A very cute and well-composed beverage but I was sad that most of the girly drinks didn't seem to be available. When it comes to eats at Dolly's the food is what you would expect to see at a party, with the idea of sharing at the heart. I loved the idea of Dolly's Funhouse (which is an epic plate of nachos), and dishes like wings, tacos, and mac & cheese. However, the dish to order at Dolly's has gotta be the Girl Dinner ($50.00 for two). It's a must-share so grab your girlies and prepare to chow down!

Truffle tots, chickie tendies, aji verde, aji rocoto, pineapple sweet & sour, Dolly's salad.

They had me at tots. The Girl Dinner platter arrived looking extremely appetizing and somehow exactly what I wanted to be eating in a place that looked like this. The portion was exactly right for two people and I loved the pretty floral printed plates that we were given to dish our tots and tendies onto. As previously mentioned, I enjoy a tot. (I have a suspicion that Napoleon Dynamite really imprinted on me.) But truffle tots? Now that's just a home run! Topped with sea salt, truffle oil, and parmesan cheese, these golden potato nuggets were fried to perfection with a crispy outside and a soft and fluffy inside. I could have eaten them all. They were awesome to dunk into each of the sauces and when the rest of the food was gone we were still popping tots into our mouths. We couldn't even finish them all because the portion was so generous! The star of the meal were the chickie tendies; two giant chicken tenders, of which we each got our own. I loved this chicken! The batter was really flavourful, well-seasoned, unique, and oh so crispy-crunchy. The chicken within was very tender and juicy, proving that an elevated chicken tender does (and can!) exist. It was great to try all three of the dipping sauces provided and it was interesting that none of them was a typical plum sauce or ranch. The Latin edge to the sauces brought a ton of excitement to the plate and added lots of flavour to every bite! The aji verde was medium in spice and made with cilantro and peppers. The aji rocoto was the spiciest of the three and packed a neon orange punch of chili pepper flavour. Finally, the pineapple sweet & sour was Dolly's answer to a heat-free dippy and I enjoyed the hint of Asian notes in this one. I appreciated that the salad wasn't a throw-away item but instead a dish in itself created with mixed greens, spiced candied pecans, orange supreme, avocado, and passionfruit vinaigrette. There was plenty of salad included and I noted the great textures and how well-dressed the entire salad was. There's nothing worse than eating a plain, naked leaf when you're expecting a properly-constructed salad! Needless to say, Girl Dinner was a whole lot of fun, extremely filling, and pretty dang tasty. There's always room for dessert! Especially if it's ice cream (it fills in the cracks!) and even moreso if it's pink and cute! It had to be the Pink Palace Sundae ($14.00), another perfectly sharable dish between friends.

Little Bear vanilla gelato, guava & strawberry compote, mango coconut jelly, strawberry wafer crumb, whipped cream, maraschino cherry.

Served in a boat-shaped dish banana split style! I thought that the mango coconut jellies were a very unique idea because I've only really seen jellies like this used in bubble tea. I'm almost certain that the wafer cookies used in my sundae were vanilla ones - not strawberry as described. Additionally, the wafers were not in a "crumb" form at all. They could have had the foresight to add two cherries since there was two people sharing the dessert as well. Overall, I enjoyed the sweet and tart bites of ice cream combined with the various components and the sundae succeeded at being the playful dish that it was meant to be. Dolly's Cocktail Bar delivered on being an ideal restaurant for a girls night out. I would love to visit again when the decor is back to normal and I'd be able to experience the space as intended - maybe with the usual cocktail menu as well. I certainly wouldn't refuse another plate of truffle tots... And maybe some mozza sticks next time? It's exciting to visit a restaurant that is ultra-themed like this one is and I definitely believe that there is a market in our city for these types of experiences - something that takes us away into a fantasy world through drinks and food. Barbie herself would approve!