Pez

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I have Tin Tin and Nashi Pear fantasies. Me, a fountain of the good stuff, mmm...so good.... Cheers, T

I use it a lot when I travel, but am thrilled that it is now operational in Vancouver. When it came to DOV, if they weren't on OpenTable, I didn't bother trying to make a reservation. I"m trying to convert all of my friends to it. Beats the back and forth of phone reservations. Cheers, T

Oops, also forgot Go Fish (okay, so maybe it wasn't that slow an eat-out week). Had been wanting to go down forever and finally made it down on a sunny, cold Saturday. Fresh, luscious halibut with a crispy coating, mmmm.....drooooling.... Cheers, T

Does anyone know when Dan on West Broadway is going to re-open? I heard that they closed after a fire and were going to re-open, but that was months ago. T

Oops, forgot Mona's Lebanese Cusine. Fun, good food. Will try it on a weekend next time since I've been told that they have a dj and an amazing belly dancer. Cheers, T

Now that DOV is over, back to some of my usual favourite places, the past two weeks have seen me at: Feenie's (for brunch, lunch and dinner) - eggs benedict on croissant...is there any other way to begin a sunday? Ajisai Sushi Josephine's (family dinner) Sun Suh Wah (dim sum with friends) Banana Leaf (take out sambal prawns, beef rendang and mee goreng) Cactus Club (burger research) Burgoo (rain = stew) Abigail's Party (I think that's the name, to try out a new sunday brunch place) Daily visits to Crystal Palace for work lunches. It was a slow eat-out week since I was recovering from DOV. Cheers, T

After checking out the website, couldn't wait for the opening and am happily signed up for the pre-opening event. Salivating even now..... Cheers, T

As part of my commitment to science and a true evaluation of the CC burger, I visited the Broadway and Ash location last night with a friend who is not a foodie, but loves a good burger. To make it as scientific as possible, I didn't tell him about the purpose of our visit since I wanted us to both try the burger with an open-mind. We both felt like having the JD barbecue burger. My impressions of the burger are that it is a fast food type of burger with a higher end price tag. The patty was fairly flat, overcooked and dry like you tend to get at fast food places, but then to offset the dryness, it was drenched in bbq sauce. The fries were so over salted that they actually sparkled in the low light of the restaurant (my friend thought the use of sea salt was nice though). Very crispy though once we scraped off the salt. For an additional few dollars, I would rather go to Feenie's where they provide a large, moist, tasty (non-preformed) burger with lots of good quality condiments or save the bucks and go to a Wendy's type of joint if I feel like cheap, fast burgers. (The JD bbq burger was 9.50 with the other beef burger, bacon and cheese costing 10.25 compared to Feenie's 12 burger.) CC tries to straddle the two types of burgers with poor results. It will be interesting to see what we are served on Thursday. Cheers, T

As I'm one of the lucky winners, I also will go test the burger before the 16th. Great idea! ← In order to satisfy my analyst background, I'm also visiting the CC incognito in order to gain a benchmark against the Thursday burger. Reports to follow. Cheers, T

Having been away from my hometown for a few years, this was my first DOV. I've been to NYC's restaurant week and Toronto's summerlicious/winterlicious several times, so it was exciting to have the opportunity to participate in this event. I think my biggest observation was that similar problems plague these types of events (from a diner's perspective since I"m not a restauranteur) in all cities. There are restaurants who seem to participate with the long-term view of attracting new customers - food and service is of the high standard that they normally offer. That may mean using a less expensive cut of meat, like beef short rib, but doing amazing things with that short rib. Other restaurants participate, but almost grudgingly with everyone from the hostess to the wait staff treating you like you are riff-raff - surly service, food that is substandard, etc. I can honestly say that DOV wasn't any different. I had both types of experiences, e.g. so-called new york steak that was all gristly and dry, all the way to the most amazing lamb shank that I've had in a while; a waiter that treated us like we were garbage (even though we ordered an $80 bottle of wine) to one that treated us like long-standing guests. We have already made plans to return to some of the good restaurants and others, that I had been excited to visit, will never see my dollars again. I've heard the same thing from friends regarding their good and bad experiences and word does get around. Will I do this again? Definitely! The chance of finding that new fabulous restaurant makes it all worth while. As a complete aside about naming restaurants where we have had bad experiences, I understand that lots of people read these posts so there is a responsibility to think it through before posting and being clear (vs. the generic "it sucked"), but having heard some of the rants from friends who are the normal joes off the street and have experienced terrible food/service from restaurants because they aren't "someone" (and having shared the same experiences at the same places), I think, because we do have access to this type of forum, we should name names. When I visit other cities, I visit their forums and they are very honest about the good, the bad and the ugly. I think it helps the average person differentiate from the hype and the reality of some places. I can think of at least a handful of places where I have heard nothing but good things from reviewers (and some of the more high profile egulleters), but my experience as an anonymous diner and the experience of the average diners that I know have been completely different (I think we probably all know of these types of situations). Just my two cents. Cheers!

I'm at a middling 8. My only excuse is that I've been away for a few years As for restaurants that I'm surprised didn't make the list, Cassis (though is it still under the radar?), Pair (see prior question) and Ajisai (which has some of the arguably best sushi in town). I have heard that the Ordinary Cafe is great and, given that it is just down the street, will definitely be next on my list. T "Great women are like fine wine...they only get better with age."

Hi, just moved back to Vancouver after too many years away. Can anyone attend a Burger Club event? Sounds very tasty. T

They do deliver to Canada, but I would be responsible for the duty once it hit the border and, in past experiences, the duty has sometimes added up to more than half the cost of the item purchased. It just seems easier to find it locally where the price quoted is the final price - no surprises.

Thanks, I'll call them. T

After 15 years with the same old pots, I'm ready to invest in some good cookware. After reading a number of egullet discussions, I've settled on Falk Culinair - at least one good sauciere to start. Is there a place in Vancouver that supplies it? I know that the online Falk Culinair site will ship it here, but I figure with shipping + border fees, it's probably easier to find a local store. Help please! Also planning to buy a Staub "cocotte" even though I love my Le Creuset just because I've read enough in the braising forum to be very curious. Is there a place in town that sells Staub? T