Mooshmouse

Can I offer some help? Inside the red and gold foil packets are strawberry-flavoured hard candies that have a chewy centre. A childhood favourite of mine, I still have a soft spot for them when CNY rolls around. Happy Year of the Golden Boar!

Beverly Hills Cop.................. " I make eet mahsellff" Love that scene, our first intro to Bronson Pincho ← You got it... none other than Serge himself!

'Nuther one: *cappuccino with a "leetle tweest" of lemon in it*

All right... here's another one: *Sometimes the spaghetti likes to be alone.*

Nice, insomniac... you're on a roll!

Try this one on for size: Gimme a grape or an orange, and none of that stinkin' root beer!

Is dining in Richmond an option, or would you like to stay in Vancouver proper?

The Philippines has Jolibee, a veritable fast-food empire. As you can see from their product list, they offer more than just burgers: there's fried chicken, Filipino-style spaghetti, a traditional noodle dish called pancit palabok, beef or tuna meat pies, burger steak (essentially the equivalent of a salisbury steak served with mushroom gravy and rice), and lumpia shanghai (deep-fried spring rolls). Another popular subsidiary of Jolibee Foods is Chowking. With takeout and delivery options available to its customers, Chowking serves a variety of both Chinese and Filipino dishes. Note that both Jolibee and Chowking have branched out internationally including stores in California. Jolibee's website indicates that their Las Vegas location is slated to open some time this month.

Looking forward to your feedback. We're heading there again in November and would definitely benefit from your dining reconnaissance. Buen provecho!

Try Cafe des Artistes or any of Chef Thierry Blouet's restaurants. You won't regret it.

Rona, here are a couple of photos from Afternoon Tea at a couple of different spots here in Vancouver. Hope these are of help! The Secret Garden Tea Company Bottom tier (savouries): Mini croissants with black forest ham, tarragon chicken salad on cheese scones, egg-salad pinwheels. Centre tier (semi-sweets): petite scones with berry jam and Devonshire cream, lemon pound cake. Top tier (desserts): lemon tarts, blueberry tarts, triple-layer chocolate fudge cake. Bacchus at The Wedgewood Bottom tier (savouries): egg salad and cucumber on white, shrimp salad on wheat, a smoked-salmon round, chicken salad on a multigrain roll. Centre tier: Bakewell and fresh fruit tarts, lemon white-chocolate layer cake. Top tier: warm sweet fruit scones with Devonshire cream and jam, fruitcake, chocolate éclairs. The Fish House in Stanley Park Bottom tier: lemon tarts, mixed-berry-and-chocolate-cookie mousse, apple strudel, chai-spiced butter balls. Centre tier: egg-salad pinwheels, cucumber and goat's cheese finger sandwiches, house-cured salmon on pretzel bread, ham on an asiago biscuit. Top tier: organic currant scones served with Devon cream and either raspberry or blueberry jam.

Last November, we took an eight-day trip to Puerto Vallarta with a group of friends. We ate most meals at our villa, courtesy of two staff cooks, interspersed with a few trips to a local panaderia for breakfast fare and a couple of mid-afternoon tacqueria crawls. Though I missed the sojourn to Maria Candelaria, my travelling companions gave it positive reviews. Our one dinner off-property was at El Arrayán. As you can see from the website photo, it's a charming setting with an open-roofed courtyard. It started to rain on the night we were there, and it was rather quaint eating dinner while rain was falling just a few feet away. On the whole, the food was all right... photogenic enough but nothing stellar tastewise. I've certainly had better meals in Puerto Vallarta and would likely try another restaurant on my next visit rather than return to El Arrayán. Here are a few shots from our dinner. Marinated Goat Cheese served with a Mexican herb salad One of the night's best dishes. Three kinds of smoked peppers gave it a nice kick. Tostaditas with Escabeche Duck Perfect example of an appetizer that photographed better than it tasted. Ceviche Colima with baby scallops and avocado Grilled Fish with Axiote sauce Nothing to write home about. Despite the sauce, the fish itself was dry and overcooked. Conchinita Pibil The bite that I sampled from a friend's plate was rather tasty. Beef Tenderloin with Mole Especial Disappointing. Beef was stringy and tough. Surprisingly enough, one of my favourite dishes was a Fear Factor inspired appetizer: cricket tacos. They were astonishingly tasty, toasted until crispy and then tossed with chiles and salt. From what I understand, they're usually a bar snack eated with mescal or cerveza. Not everyone at our table would try them, but one of my dining companions and I found ourselves popping the remaining crickets on the plate like beer nuts. Go figure!

Their honey-dip doughnuts are nirvana when still warm out of the oven. It'll be tough to stop at just two!

Another regular, I see. Nonna is always super nice to my kids as well. I haven't been in a few months, so I hope they haven't been affected by the new Bosa location. ← Moccia, right? With the black awning?

That'd be Casa Verde, a casual family-run restaurant located at 3532 Commercial Street (604-876-7647). Note that it's cash only. Among their notable dishes are lulas grelhadas (squid pan fried in olive oil, garlic and lemon juice), frango no churrasco (barbecued piri-piri chicken, available on weekends only) and batatas a rodelas ("dollar-cut" chips, some of the best damn fries in Vancouver).

I'd say the eighties. What else? Microwave popcorn New Coke and Coke Classic (thank God) Mud pie and turtle pie Daiquiris Jelly Bellys Chicken "fingers"

Spinach dip served in a bread bowl Chicken Kiev McRib sandwiches Sushi Fettucine Alfredo Baked potato skins (covered in sour cream, chives and bacon bits) Popcorn shrimp Long Island Iced Tea Wine coolers

Like every good Filipino, I've got a weakness for all things baked... particularly bread. So, for merienda the other day, I packed away more than a few pieces of Jonah Ensaymada. It's a slightly sweet, brioche-like bread topped with butter, sugar and cheddar-cheese shavings. Jonah Ensaymada

Don't you mean Vancouver culinary icon Chef Michel Jacob as opposed to Chef Emile Jung of Au Crocodile?

Goma tsukune, or so it's called at one of my favourite local yakitori/robata restaurants: ground chicken moulded around a skewer and topped with black sesame seeds. Also sliced asparagus wrapped with thinly sliced pork. Same pork wrapped around garlic chives. Heaven.

Well, apparently pickled sausages are a Czech thing; they're called utopenec. Perhaps try a Czech or Polish deli?

Yeah, what the hell is up with that anyway? Why'd they punt the best thing on their menu?

I'm drooling! Boy Bawang... are those essentially chichacorn? What a horrendously addictive snack. I swear that people can smell me from 10 feet away every time I tuck into a bag of them. The fish crackers are another favourite of mine as are cheese-flavoured Clover chips. Can't forget the garlic peanuts. Be still, my snacking heart!

There's always Toddish McWong's Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner! Here's a menu link: haggis wonton and haggis lettuce wrap, anyone?

No, the old location has changed hands. mtigges, bear in mind that Chef Daniel was solo in the Rupert Street kitchen. Senhor Rooster's new larger location on Renfrew necessitates line cooks; perhaps that accounts for the discrepancy in your experiences.