Daddy-A

I really recommend this place. And the corn bread was good. Not too dry. Well, the food in the festival is pretty average. The crab was a perfect way to have a break (you can't pick a crab clean QUICKLY) and run out for more beer between claws. We go every year ... keep in touch A.

This is not correct.First of all, no matter what you have for a countertop, you should NEVER put a hot pot on it. Use a trivet fer crissake! Seriously though, "temperature shock" can cause dammage to any surface. I've seen a Caesarstone (same as Silestone) countertop with a crack in it after someone place a hot pot on the exact place where a frozen turkey once sat. It's such a problem that most manufacturers mention it specifically in their warranty. I've had Corian for almost 3 years in the kitchen and have had to place hot pots directly on the countertop twice (emergency situations - hands were burning!) and I had no damage. If the countertops had suffered some damage it could have been repaired ... so well in fact that you wouldn't be able to see the repair. Quartz countertops like Silestone, Caesarstone, Zodiaq, etc can scorch. Granted, you have to have a screamin' hot pot, but the polyester used to bind the quartz will scorch under extreme conditions. If this happens no repairs are possible. So here in a nutshell is the comparison I make with my clients: CORIAN - Pros: Repairable Invisible seams (inconspicuous is the word DuPont uses) Seamless Corian Sinks Won't stain 10 year transferable warranty CORIAN - Cons: Looks "artificial" Easily scratched (but easily buffed out ... if you like to buff ) QUARTZ- Pros: Natural Looking Won't stain Difficult to scratch 10 year warranty (Silestone. Not sure about the others) QUARTZ- Cons: Seams are visible Not repairable Fewer colours than Corian I chose Corian primarily because it had a colour that worked with my design. Both types of surfaces (and granite too) will essentially perform the same in the long run. A.

It is with regret that Ling & I have decided to postpone our grudge match. I was going to say she bailed, but you'd all know I was fibbin'. Scheduling conflicts are the culprit. We have however begun plans for "Pulled Pork at 20 Paces" followed by a "GB Pudding Cage Match". Johnny's is supposed to be at the Fair this year. However, I think Hunky Bill will be seeing my eatin' money this year. A.

So this inconvenience I have called a "job" got in the way of my trip to GI and tomatoes from Milan. Is his trip to the truck market a regular thing now, or was this a one-off? A.

Could it also be perhaps "twice-cooked pork"? Here's a thread from earlier this year. An event catered by Aurora? Lucky folk! A.

Hey, don't knock Disney ! They now serve alcohol and you can go to a wine tasting in the California Dreaming Adventure Park. That should make the trip somewhat bearable - I know it did for me ! ← Just wait 'til your kids are old enough to explore California Adventure by themselves like mine are!! Okay kids, go and ride California Screamin' as many times as you like. Mom & Dad have a flight of Pinot to get through ... Sweet Back to the PNE ... Keith, with the exception of the pekoras at "Curry in a Hurry" I crave absolutely NOTHING from the Fair. For me, it's more of a morbid curiosity to see if the burger at Jimmy's can get any soggier, or if kettle corn is really as addictive as crack. And yer right, it ain't cheap. A.

Last time I was there it was venison carpaccio ... time for a return visit! A.

You ain't just whistling Dixey! HERE is the link to the US Customs & Border Protection web site, and the answer to Malarkey's question. Here's a partial quote: So as long as it's not beef sausage, sounds like you're good. (you may want to print out that web page just in case ) Have a great trip! A.

The only good thing about the PNE this year is watching me out-eat Ling. There ... I said it. The gauntlet's been thrown down. Oh yeah ... I merged the two PNE threads as well. A.

Oh yeah. That too We'll take pictures. A.

Just want to jump in here and remind everyone that the disussion needs to remain non-political as per the eGullet User Agreement. As you were .... A.

You may want to check out Arne's link. I do not think it is sold out. I can indeed confirm it is NOT sold out! I just received this from the "Outstanding" folks: No excuses now ... except for apathy! A.

Living in the same city/province/country as Sam ... *sigh* ... he's right. Most of us are pretty laissez-faire. Although, there was this one time ... True story: Had dinner at a local "greek" restaurant with a friend. Usual fare - tsatziki, hummus, spanikopita, etc. My dining companion was an excellent greek cook, and commented to me the tsatziki tasted kinda wierd. I tasted ... it was Kraft "Creamy Cucumber" dressing with some shaved cucumber!! In addition, the spanikopta was soggy and chewy ... crap by any standard. Except the owner's apparently. We told the waitress we didn't want them as they were inedible and to please remove them from the bill. Yet when the bill was presented, the aforementioned items were still there! We brought this to the attention of the waitress who informed us the owner said we had ordered the items so we had to pay for them. We asked to speak to the manager. He repeats his point. We repeat ours. Nobody's moving, so I say "Fine, just give us the items we returned and I'll take them home for the dog" (over the top?? ). He says they're already thrown out. "Then we're not paying for something we didn't receive" and we go to leave. He screams out "THIEF" and yells at the waitress to call the cops. We sit down on the couch, not wanting to cause a further scene, and wait for the cops. While we're waiting, anybody who comes in asks us if we're waiting for a table. We politely inform them why we're waiting. Two couples leave. The police arrive. Manager explains his side. Cop takes my dinner companion and I outside and says "Simple contract law ... you ordered, you pay. The fact that it wasn't any good doesn't play here. If you want to sue him later for failure to deliver, different story. Bottom line, pay the man". So we did, and I never returned. And I told everyone I know this story. He went out of business less than a year later. A.

Here's the LINK. Not only have I not heard what wines are being paired, I don't even know who the "featured" winemaker is. A.

wow Sam, you're pretty worked up. consider that, for some, incense isn't just a fad. I like it 'cuz it covers up the smell of my pot .... .... roast. A.

With a cool name like Pez??? Sure!! You are most welcome to any Burger Club Event. Just PM Vancouver Lee to let him know you'll be attending (saying so in forum works too, but PM-ing means VL will see it for sure) and then show up at the time and place set up for the meeting. Welcome to eGullet! And welcome back to the Wet Coast. A.

A cold, bbq'd lamb's rib ... washed down with a Granville Island Maple Cream Ale. A.

Those are the pearls of wisdom I've missed from you TFA. Welcome back. As long as tobacco is legal, the rest is a moot point. Can you believe it's been 10 years since the smoke-free rules have been in place? A.

Both good points ... but we really need to keep the discussion focussed on the restaurant, the food, the man ... I think it's pretty safe to say that we'll have different opinions on many subjects. That's exactly why we exist. Reviewing the reviews is not what eGullet is about. A.

By God! She's right! There are a grand total of 5 threads with "Thai" in the title, with a total of about 10 posts! Seems odd for what was once the most popular cuisine ... Does Cambie & 19th count as "downtown"? (3364 Cambie). If not, they have a downtown location (102-888 Burrard) but I've never eaten there. A.

Welcome to eGullet Silvermink! Sounds like a good reason to come to a Burger Club meeting ... Myself ... I'll be on Mayne Island, drinking and kayaking. A.

Dammit! That's why Bad Girl wasn't at Trout Lake on Saturday! We picked up some organic corn .. will report back after dinner tonight as to whether or not it was worth it! A.

Abra ... it was more like we were "through" Seattle than in it! We'll be back. Must do Salumi when it's actually OPEN! A.

Not to be outdone by Ling ... Our Portland Road Trip. Hopefully next year we'll be able to get a few of you to join us! I've had my youngest son with me this week. Wednesday was a visit to The Kolachy Shop to try out the Chicken Tandoori kolachy, and the Potato/Roasted Garlic soup. Soup on a hot day? It was awesome! As too was the kolachy. My son was so impressed he know owns a Kolachy Shop T-Shirt and informs everyone who will listen it's his favorite restaurant. Thanks Keith! Later that day we stopped into Watermark for a pre-volleyball snack. Tim Pawset was righ-on about the tartare ... WTF am I supposed to eat this with? The Prawn Spring Rolls were good, but they prompted one of two great quotes about Watermark from my son: "Dad" he said with honest glee, "these taste just like Chicken McNuggets!" The second quote was about the "decor": "This looks just like RDS Skateboard Park!". Thursday was Fish Tacos at Go Fish! which earned a close 2nd place to the Kolachy Shop from my son. A.

Armed with the experiences from last year, my wife "J" and I made a return visit to Portland for the annual Oregon Brewers Festival over the July 29th weekend. Portland has fast become one of our favorite cities, not only for dining, but for it's character and ease of navigation by feet. Before the brews, a BBQ stop was in order. We met Amy Anderson and her BBQ team at the Canadian BBQ Festival in Vancouver, and promised to visit her restaurant The Road House just outside Olympia, WA. The drive alone was worth it. No offense to the fine people of the Pacific Northwest, but the I-5 has to be the dullest stretch of road I have ever driven. Notice the competition pits out front and the obligatory hog parked out front. The place had that wonderful smell of cherry and apple smoke, combined with meat. The restaurant itself is a decent size with a beautiful garden patio out back. We grabbed a table outside and ordered up a combo-platter. L to R: Brisket, Chicken, Ribs, Butt. Sides: Potato Salad, Slaw, Corn Bread All in all it was excellent BBQ. Nice subtle smokey flavour, and very moist. Personally I like the vinegar dressing on my butt, but this was served naked. Being a recent convert to smoking, I appreciate the naked approach and know it means they feel it tastes fine on its own. The chicken and ribs were both excellent too, but if I had to eat a couple pounds of just one thing, it would have to bee the brisket. Aboslutely fall-apart tender with a perfect amount of smoke. Something for me to strive for. Pecan Pie Dessert! Not as dense a filling as I like in a pecan pie, but the shortbread crust was frikkin' amazing! It was nice having a full stomach for the rest of the drive. I'm not going to spend much time talking about the Brewfest. Not that there's anything wrong with it ... it's just that after 5 or 6 beers, any notes I made were garbled at best and certainly not to be trusted. And since these are micro-brews, you need to go visit their local brew-pubs to get most of them. Bottom line? Get ye to the Oregon Brewers festival next year. PM me if you'll be going 'cuz we'll definitley be there. After night number 1 at the festival, we were a little hungry. Not too much thanks t the BBQ feed earlier, but enough that we decided to partake in something Portland does very well IMO - Streed Food. I truly wish city hall in Vancouver, BC would lighten up on the food-reg's because the food you can pick up from the street vendors in Portland can be truly inspired: Chicken Tacos Day 2 saw a return visit to the Portland Farmers Market at PSU. You guys are so lucky to have this market! Even though this was my second visit and I knew what to expect, the market was still impressive. Some images: Lunch: Tomale w/ Chicken Thanks again to extraMSG for meeting up with us again and showing us around the market. Hopefully we can return the favouor one day! We returned to the Beer Fest with a picnic basket full of items from the market. The best item we picked up? Dungeness Crab You should have seen the looks on peoples' faces as we unfolded our picnic blanket and spread out the feast of cheese, fruit, bread, and CRAB! BTW, I find the wheat beers go best with crab, and that the rosemary panini from the Pearl Bakery taste really good with the crab liquor. We had dinner reservations for 9, so a quick stop at the On-Deck Sports Bar & Grill (910 NW 14th Ave. / 503.227.7020) a gave us a chance to rest from the heat and watch a little beach volleyball on one of the dozens of plazma screen TV's (I was in HEAVEN!). Not much to note about the food. It wasn't bad ... pretty standard pub food ... but the onion rings were a stand out. Dinner that night was The Park Kitchen which we enjoyed so much last time we just had to come back. I have no pictures as I refuse to use a flash in a restaurant (kinder, gentler diner than I am), but this post from our trip last year shows many of the same items we enjoyed this year. The Deep-fried Green Beans with Bacon was a stand-out ... I mean, what ISN'T beter with bacon? We had the Flank Steak again, Crab (?) Ravioli and a salad of Tomato, Cucumber and Toasted Wheat. We shared a bottle of 2002 Viognier from an Oregonian vineyard. I can't remember the name, but no worries, it's no longer available. One small point from our Park Kitchen experience: when we sat down, our waiter told us the kitchen would be closing in 30 minutes, so if we wanted anything from the "hot" menu, we should order it sooner rather than later. I have nothing against kitchens closing at a reasonable hour. However, it would have been nice to know this detail when I made our reservations as I might have made them earlier. Sunday was spent touring Portland on foot. Books purchased at Powells, wine purchased at Whole Foods (bottles unavailable in Vancouver) and general window shopping. Dinner was at Jakes Famous Crawfish: Do these Crawfish look famour to you? Dining in Portland on Sunday is slim compared to the rest of the week, so I'll admitt that Jake's wasn't our first choice. A couple people had mentioned it to me, and I do like crawfish ... and it is famous right? Other than the crawfish ... meh. It was okay, and to be honest, I wasn't expecting much. The service was accpetable. Our server was polite, informative, but not very engaging, "J" had the Rockfish and I had the Sturgeon (which I was convenced was chicken for a bit). Good sauces, not sure I like mashed potatoes with fish though. I'll definitely opt for clarklewis next time (we couldn't get a reservation for the time we were there ) Another place I want to mention is Vino Paradiso (417 NW 10th). A new-ish wine bar with a really cool wine cellar, and a couple of owners who really love what they do. Excellent wine list. Can't really comment of the food as we only had some loives and a charcuterie plate. We stopped by twice for a break from walking and beer and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves each time. On the way home (Monday) we wanted to stop in Seattle for a sandwich at Salumi. Saddly, Salumi closes on Monday ... which I'm sure I knew, but was still disappointed. We made our way up to the 5 Spot on Queen Anne. Gaspacho w/ Shrimp Salad Calle Ocho Arepas (sweet corn pancakes with cheese) and Plantain Chips I had no idea this place was so Cuban or I would have visited much sooner! The Gaspacho was a little to chunky for my liking ... flavours were great, texture not so much. The Arepas were terrific but would be even better on a damp morning in November. Thanks for reading! A.