Mooshmouse

Speaking of okonomiyaki, friends of mine have given good reviews to the cheap-and-cheerful Clubhouse Restaurant located at 255 West 2nd Avenue. It's definitely on my "To Try" list.

I saw some of their products for sale at Whole Foods when I was there last night; didn't buy any though so no report. Edited to add: it is Wild Sweets I'm referring to. ← Thank goodness it isn't recycling day yet. There was an article featuring Dominique and Cindy Duby, owners of DC Duby Chocolates, in the Arts & Life section of last Wednesday's Vancouver Sun. According to the Sun: If anyone's looking for Lorna early tomorrow morning, you'll find her camped outside Urban Fare's doors waiting for them to open. Or trying to break in.

Holy eGulleter convergence Batman! Da Francesco is fast becoming the Italian equivalent of HSG. Three tables of us this evening (that I knew about, anyway); we were about 2/3 of the way through our meal when Pao-Pao came in with three friends followed closely by canucklehead with two dining companions. By the time we left, there was only one empty table in the house. So much for a quiet neighbourhood pizza place! Seduced by the siren's call of penne in rose sauce, the Mouse family ventured to Da Francesco once again, this time with my Mom in tow. The only new, untested dish on our table this evening was my Mom's Linguini al Fruitti di Mare... damn, that was one huge pile of pasta. Loaded with prawns, squid, clams and mussels. Very tasty. She'll be swimming in leftovers for days. No pizza for us this evening; two orders of Chicken Parmigiana evened the tally for our group. But I believe someone at PaoPao's 4-top ordered a vegetarian, so I'll leave the pizza reviews to him. And I saw our server bring the biggest calzone I've ever seen to a neighbouring table... now there's the dish to order if you're hungry. Dinner was, once again, great. Italian comfort food at its best. They do serve gelato, if that tickles your sweet tooth at all.

Now where did you hear that ? I do not recall any "party", only a friendly gathering around the teapot to congratulate the winners. ← I didn't know that they served cleansing ales out of a teapot. And that teapot must've been pretty damn big.

See you there! Look for the family with the really cute preschool-age boy as shown in my avatar, or listen for the people making lipsmacking noises while consuming vast quantites of osso bucco and penne in rose sauce.

Address for Da Francesco is 2671 East Hastings, 1/2 a block east of Slocan. We're heading there tonight!

Prairie oysters

What? No highly entertaining drunken post from Andrew? No spelling errors. You can't be too drunk.

Thought I'd ask a question that might add a different perspective to this discussion. What's the difference in minimum and average wages for FOH staff in the U.S. versus Canada? Could this account for the difference in tipping habits between Americans and Canadians? Most people I know are in the habit of doubling the G.S.T. (Goods and Services Tax which is 7%) and then rounding up to the nearest $1 or $5; this is for good, not great service. Tips for great service run, on average, in the 20% to 25% range.

In the Yaohan Osaka supermarket, you have your choice of regular OR black sticky rice. You then get to pick FOUR different fillings, some of which include the dried pork, preserved veggies, marinated eggs, beancurd, ham, salmon, eel, seaweed, spicy mushrooms and several others - total = $2.25! (if I remember correctly) ← Yummy... thanks for this Fluffy! I don't get to Richmond on a regular basis, but I'll try to schedule a stop at Yaohan Centre when I'm next out that way.

I first tasted 100% Blue Mountain Coffee 12 years ago, early on a foggy morning at a plantation high in the Blue Mountains above Kingston. It was an earth-shattering drinking experience: rich, smooth, freshly brewed coffee with beans straight from the roaster. And I've never tasted anything quite like it since. I bought two bags just before leaving Jamaica to bring home with me but have never purchased it here in Canada for the same reasons that Owen has already cited. Expense and the anticipation of a certain flatness, plus the fact that there really is no going back after having it pure, straight from the source. But I'll get back there one day.

My kind of food... Filipino home cookin'! And I'll second the comment about Bill's pizza... damn, that looks tasty!

I'm with you on that one sistah! The prices at Nick's horrify me, especially vis-a-vis the food quality and the prices at Da Francesco just three minutes away.

I guess there are two drawbacks to booking a table for 8 at Shiru-Bay on a Saturday night. One is subjecting 4 couples to the Yaletown weekend parking tango. Granted, it's not much more fun along Robson Street, but at least there's almost always parking along Alberni. And the "pretty not small" prices... from what I gather, it's a bit more reasonable at Hapa and I'm rather hesitant about obligating people to spend money on a bigger-ticket meal for a birthday celebration (Ian's, not mine!).

Perfect. Just what I was hoping to hear... thanks Shelley! On another note, I've never been to Shiru-Bay and was hoping to try it out sometime soon, if not for this dinner. Do they take reservations?

Coop, thanks for the reply. Our meal certainly isn't going to be quiet... since when is any meal of mine ever quiet! sasskitty, did you go on a weeknight or a weekend? And was the restaurant full?

The Boston Pizza/nevermind crowd?! Let me clarify my query by saying that I've been to Hapa a number of times, but only as a two-top. The food isn't an issue as we do enjoy it; rather, it's the consistency of service that I'm questioning.

Hapa Izakaya is on my shortlist for an upcoming 8-person dinner. However, I've heard negative reviews about their service of late, especially since the expansion into the premises next door. Does anyone have comments about a recent dining experience at Hapa? Thanks in advance for your feedback!

It is so. I drove past today on a birthday-gift buying expedition and noted that there was a pink and white sign plastered over the front door that read something like "Coming in April" or words to that effect.

The occasionally oblivious one here, asking how Sami's (Sami Lalji's place) on West Broadway and Oak has been closed. Anyone know when and why?

I'm interested to hear what he has to say. Thanks for that TFA.

A somewhat grey spring day called for some comfort food, which is exactly what was on the table for dinner last night with fellow eGulleter VancouverLee and his family. Mezethes Courtesy of Minerva's, an excellent local Greek deli. Mini spanakopita and cheese pie with tzatziki atop tabbouleh. Paired with a 2003 Ironstone Symphony Obsession. Mediterranean Stew Tomato-based stew with cherry tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, pitted kalamata olives, garlic-stuffed green olives and sundried-tomato-stuffed green olives. Served with two loaves of ciabatta bread: one garlic and one artichoke. Paired with a 2002 Quail's Gate Merlot; second bottle of red was a 2002 Masi Valpolicella. Cheese Course Clockwise from the top, basil chevre from Salt Spring Island Cheese Company, Saint Martin brie and bleu d'auvergne. Served with sesame crackers and rosemary-raisin-pecan Raincoast Crisps. Dessert, courtesy of VancouverLee, was a wonderfully rich gingerbread cake dusted with icing sugar and served with creme anglaise and raspberry coulis. I'll leave it to him to post a photo of his tasty treat.

After Dave's, Karole's and Deborah's posts, I'm hesitant to post about such pedestrian fare. However, risking the fate of relative blandness, here are the places I've/we've visited over the past week or so. The new JJBean on Main Street this afternoon with Ian and Noah for one cappuccino, one americano and one chess game (the boys... I was a mere spectator) by the fireplace. Damn. That's one sexy coffee shop. This was after a quick visit to Solly's for a pastrami with dijon on light rye and a sprinkling of bagel chips on the side, a potato and onion knisch and a couple of jam/nut/raisin rugelach. Josephine's on Thursday for Filipino lunch with Noah and some friends. We ordered family style and shared pancit guisado (Filipino chow mein made with clear rice noodles, shredded chicken and julienned vegetables), BBQ chicken, laing (taro leaves and prawns simmered in coconut milk), lumpiang shanghai (mini deep-fried pork and vegetable spring rolls served with chili plum sauce), and sinigang (a sour fish soup with kangkong/water spinach, tomatoes, onions, chili peppers and white fish). And steamed rice of course. No Filipino meal would be complete without it. Dessert was cassava cake and a bowl of warm ginataan (a creamy dessert containing tapioca pearls, coconut milk and cream, rice-flour dumplings and chunks of jackfruit, taro root, burro banana and sweet potato). Wednesday lunch with fellow eGulleters at Long's Noodle House (yes, I had a Coke to counteract the MSG) followed by the requisite desserting at Notte's Bon Ton. Lunch on Tuesday with Noah and my cousin at Seb's. I ordered seared scallops with mango on lemon pepper spaghetti, my cousin had a buffalo burger, and Noah wolfed down his order of scrambled eggs, turkey sausage and toast with housemade strawberry preserves. Edited to correct a memory lapse.

Lucy, your foodblog has been a visual and culinary feast. Joyeux Paques et mille fois merci pour tes photos et tes mots qui sont si inspirants.

Anyone checked out these new digs yet? Just upstairs from the Epicurean, offering dinner service of fairly traditional Italian food. Inquiring minds want to know.