Pez

Hi, fellow burger lovers. Just a reminder that the Burger Club is meeting on Sunday, April 30th at 6pm at Burgers Etc. Their address is 4091 Hastings Street, Burnaby, BC. I have about about 10 people who have PM'd me that they are coming so will make reservations since it is a small venue. Thanks. See you then, Cheers, T

I also visited the Arian restaurant on west 4th with a friend of mine who is Iranian. The people behind the counter were very nice and happy to introduce me to their cuisine (though I have been a big fan of Persian food for years - particularly chicken with barberries). We happened to be at the restaurant the day the Persian new year celebrations were occuring and while the Arian restaurant on the north shore was lined up out the door, we were one of only a handful of tables occupied. When I asked my buddy about the difference between the Persian restaurants on the north shore and Arian on west 4th, he mentioned that the one on west 4th was more non-Persian friendly in terms of the fact that the food was displayed on a hot table so people could see something that appealed to them/were curious about and ask questions. We both thought that the food was good and was incredibly reasonable - I had my chicken with barberries, he had a beef stew dish (that I can't remember the name of) and we split an amazing eggplant spread. The Georgia Straight wrote a review a couple of months ago: http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=15663 As for the salty, fizzy yogurt, if you have it enough times, you can grow to like it. Cheers, T

See you there. Cheers, T

I guess it depends if you are a chocolate person or not. My favourites are the chocolate cupcakes with the bright pink icing and sprinkles. I'm not a pink fan, but for some reason I find it the most buttercreamy tasting of the cupcakes. On holidays, if you go very early, they have special big holiday cupcakes, e.g. Thanksgiving I picked up four huge cupcakes with turkey decorations, etc. on them. Please keep us updated when they open up. Cheers, T

Hi, fellow burger lovers. If everyone is game, let's have a Burger Club meet on Sunday, April 30th at 6pm at Burgers Etc. They close at 7:30pm, but won't kick us out if we go later than that. Their address is 4091 Hastings Street, Burnaby, BC. They suggest reservations since they are busy Sunday, so please PM to give me an approximate count. Thanks. Also, in looking back at the Burger Club history, I came across this burger evaluation sheet which I thought was cool. http://www.thestagingarea.com/burger.pdf See you then, Cheers, T

I second the Solly's suggestion. They have 3 locations - one on Main and 28th, one on Broadway just west of Macdonald, and one near the new Canadian Tire on 7th and Yukon. Very good especially if you hit them in the morning when they are warm. Cheers, T

Hi, fellow burger lovers. I'll be helping Lee with setting up Burger Club meetings and we're thinking of having one on Sunday, April 30th. My personal choice for a venue would be Feenies , but I know that the Burger Club had a meeting there last summer so am open to suggestions. Alternate venues? Cheers, T

A friend of mine who likes his food in mass quantities is coming to visit and it's all-you-can-eat or nothing. I know of a few decent buffets/all-you-can-eat places (Saffron, Shabusen), but thought I would see if anyone had some good suggestions. Cheers, T

Sadly, I don't think that I'm up for a burger eating contest. Though I have probably consumed my body weight in Feenie burgers, I was persuaded to have it with the extra short rib on Sunday. I have to say - wow! It was truly amazing with that extra meaty goodness in it, but, for me, impossible to finish (yes, I left one bite left on the plate - probably shouldn't have had it with the poutine or the charcuterie plate as an appetizer). Also, given that this is the Burger Club thread, I think we should briefly hang our heads in homage to the Rodeo Drive-in burger shack in Surrey which is now closed. Always sad to see a historical food place close down. T

Last three: Baru on Thursday (again all, thanks for the recommendation) Feenie's on Sunday (had the burger, but with short rib this time - excellent, but too much food) Arian Perisan Restaurant on Tuesday (finally a Persian restaurant in Kits!) Cheers, T

Where is Solly's. Sounds wonderful. Would like the address. Samasutra ← Here are the addresses: Solly's Bagelry Limited 189 E 28th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5V2M3 2873 West Broadway 368 West 7th Ave (this is the newer, bigger one) My personal favourite is the one around Main and 28th as I believe it is the original Solly's. It is quite small though so better for pickup. On nice days, they have a few chairs outside. Let me know what you think. If you like chocolate, I would also highly recommend the chocolate rugula. Yum!! Cheers, T

Thanks all for the Baru suggestions. I went on Thursday with a friend and had their ceviche tri-sampler along with their pisco sour and a mojito. All was good. The sampler was amazing. I'm not a plantain person, but really liked it there as an accompaniment to the ceviche.

Check out Pho Century in the little mall on the corner of Willingdon and Kingsway (the one with the IGA in it). Good food, nice atmosphere. T

I've not had the Kelowna bread so can't draw any direct comparisons, but the chocolate babka at Solly's is bread with really yummy chocolate throughout. Might do in a pinch. As an added bonus, they also sell the chocolate babka spread separately for extra chocolatey goodness Cheers, T

Last four places of the week: Bin 941 for after the winefest nosh Las Margaritas - haven't been since my university days and felt like old times Pho Century - little hole in the wall in a strip mall location with some amazing Vietnamese food Food from the Festival du Bois in Mallardville last weekend - tortiere, sugar pie, maple syrup candy, smoked meat sandwich, poutine - all the good stuff! Cheers, T

Just a couple of blocks away, my favourite hangout would be Feenie's. My loyalty first developed when I was in the process of renovating a year ago and would show up for lunch in casual clothes (actually covered in paint) and they treated me well regardless of the state of my attire. Now that renovations are somewhat complete and I have a washing machine working, I tend to show up better dressed and they always do their best to find a table for me. Good food, reasonable prices, great atmosphere!

I just wanted to throw in my thanks to Lee for organizing a great evening and Julian and Jeff for being gracious hosts. From start to finish, we were there for more than three hours making it a very entertaining evening. I think everyone else covered off the evening in great detail, so I'll just add my two cents. I think the overall opinion is that the target demographic is really the person who probably grew up on fairly mainstream fare and wants to have more interesting food, but not too interesting. That translates into food being sweeter, less spicy, stronger flavours toned down from the original version - in many cases asian as they seem to be mixing more mainstream fare (like ribs) with asian-influenced cuisine. A case in point would be the green beans - for the more seasoned diner, we have either had something similar at a Szechuan restaurant or cooked it at home with garlic, onions, dried little shrimp, chilies, etc. The CC version would be what I consider to be Szechuan green beans "lite" - garlic and onions, but none of the more flavorful authentic additions. As for the burger, this time it was less dry (than on my anonymous visit), but the patty seemed not beefy enough (I can't explain it any other way). The burger and condiments were fine, but you really couldn't taste the beef and I like that big beefy flavor in my burger. We did reference Feenie in our discussion and while they aren't trying to be Feenies, when you are looking at $10ish at CC for a blander, smaller burger and $12ish at Feenies for a big, juicy burger, I don't see much of a difference in price points, just quality. As with most of the group, I also liked the sablefish dish, but I believe it was in the mid $20 range which I honestly can't see myself paying at CC. Having said that, they have managed to change my mind about CC - I had only visited twice prior to the Burger Club visit (and one of those times was for "research"). I could definitely see myself on their patio on a hot summer day drinking those brazilian alcoholic kiwi drinks and munching on a couple of appies. I think my biggest surprise was the extent that they do want to use good quality ingredients, e.g. real key limes for their key lime pie (not frozen or bottled), etc. I guess my only suggestion is that, if they are prepared to do the research and spend the money on high quality ingredients, to trust the ingredients to stand on their own and not bland them down. I would have loved to have had a nicely balanced tart/sweet key lime pie (you know the kind where you can feel that tingle in the back of your mouth), but they so overwhelmed the lime with sugar, it just ended up being very sweet. Again, thanks to everyone for a great evening. I always look forward to talking serious food with new friends and I had a great time. Also, again thanks to Julian for giving us interesting insights into different techniques and a peek at his amazing test kitchen. I look forward to our next burger meet. Cheers, T

I have had the cart vs. a la carte debate frequently with friends and I have to say that I like the carts for a number of reasons including the fact that there is always something new and different that I wouldn't know how to ever order, but when they lift the lid and the flavours waft up, I'm always keen to try. With that as the intro, I have to say Sun Sui Wah is my hands down favourite. Over the holidays, I was probably there every day for a week and had a different dim sum combination daily depending on who I was dining with. I also really like Imperial. As a family standby, Flamingo on Cambie (not the Fraser one) is popular with the parents, but we have stayed away from Pink Pearl since a bad last visit a few years ago. I keep hearing about these $2 per dim sum basket places, but have been a little too scared to try them. Cheers, T

Going on a Sunday is one of TO's best kept secrets. We always just walk in, no wait. Cheers, T

Also Jamie Kennedy's wine bar (no reservations taken) and Perigee for an evening of high performance food theatre (10 courses or so).

As a Vancouverite who recently moved back after four years in TO, I have to say that going to some of the higher end restaurants in TO is a nice treat. Don't get me wrong, Vancouver is a fabulous restaurant city, but TO really knows how to do shishi. I think the food quality in the two cities is comparable (though significantly less expensive in Vancouver and better seafood here as well), but TO knows how to "do" decor. Bymark is one of my all-time favourites, but would also highly recommend Canoe. For funky, try Supermarket. Of course, the all-time touristy thing to do is head down to St. Lawrence market and have real back bacon sandwiches - can't find that here in Vancouver and they are tasty. Lee Wai Heen is impressive for decor as well though I prefer having less expensive dimsum elsewhere. Cheers, T

Jump is okay and, for the price, you can definitely do better. Instead of Hot House for brunch, I would go to Mildred Pierce for brunch over lunch/dinner. They are well-known for their brunches for good reason. Can't comment on the others. Cheers, T

As a Vancouverite, anything Rob Feenie - Lumiere, Lumiere Light and Feenie's. Jean Georges by Jean George Vongrichten Marcella Hazan for anything Italian River Cafe cookbooks French Laundry/Bouchon for inspiration anything by Daniel Boulud I've got a few more, but am mentally going through my 300 or so cookbooks trying to prioritize Cheers, T

Sorry to keep going back to Bill Granger, but I've been wanting to buy one of his cookbooks for some time now, but am not too sure which one to start with. I know this was asked a few times in this thread, but didn't really see an answer. Sydney Food keeps being mentioned. Cheers, T

The Feenie's short ribs are a favourite at my house. The problem is that, while good on the first day, really it has to be eaten on day 2 and 3 to fully enjoy the true meaty, juicy goodness. I usually make it while cooking another dish so that we aren't tempted to eat it right away. On an aside, and as a person who lived in TO for a few years, I'm curious about the Susur cookbook. Interesting format. Anyone cook from it yet? Cheers, T