Mooshmouse

For those of you who haven't yet been indoctrinated into the cult of Vietnamese iced coffee, it really does give you the ultimate sugar and caffeine rush. Because of it's sweet, creamy goodness, I've often been sucked into the trap of ordering one to follow up a late-night Vietnamese food fix. Then I'm left wide awake on the sofa until all hours of the morning, channel surfing and finding nothing on but Planet of the Apes or Star Trek reruns from the William Shatner era (tribbles anyone?).

Ok, here's the drill: 1. Wait patiently until all coffee has dripped into the glass which has the condensed milk at the bottom. 2. Promptly remove coffee container once it's empty, stir the condensed milk vigorously until it has completely dissolved in the coffee. 3. Slowly add ice to the coffee a few cubes at a time. 4. Ask for a straw so you can still stir it using the added ice to cool the coffee. If you're a fan, you HAVE to try out the yellow canopy place on Fraser and 17th. It's on the east side of Fraser, best Vietnamese coffee! ← Welcome to the craziness mangez! Be prepared to forfeit a good portion of your life to the sucking time vortex that is eGullet. Preliminaries aside, I'm of the opposite school when it comes to drinking Vietnamese iced coffee: I'm with you on steps 1 and 2, but I add the coffee to the ice. That way, every little bit of coffee cascades over the ice as it's poured into the glass, thus ensuring a more uniform level of coolness for your initial sip. As far as the drip factor is concerned, it's kind of like pouring cups of Chinese tea at dim sum without dripping onto the tablecloth. It's all in the technique. And whenever I've had iced coffee, I've always been given a long-handled spoon for stirring; comes in handy while the ice melts as you're able to stir and prevent errant watery sips. And mangez's right: you absolutely cannot miss this yellow-awninged Vietnamese pho place on Fraser at 17th. It's the only one that garish in the immediate vicinity.

Said it in the Food Media forum, and I'll say it here too. Quite simply, well done Jamie!

Quite simply, well done Jamie!

I have not been aware of any other use of coconut milk in a Filipino savory dish except for this Adobo sa Gata. Every other coconut related dish that I know of is a dessert (i.e. Halo Halo, Bibinka, Macapuno Cakes, etc.). ← I spent the first five years of my life in Mindanao, Davao City to be exact, and I love spicy food. Cane vinegar infused with garlic and chilis is one of my favourite condiments for chicken or fried fish. I've even managed to convert my caucasian husband to the joys of vinegar as a condiment. Laing is the first savoury dish with coconut milk that springs to mind. Using coconut milk, pork, taro leaves and shrimp (optional), it can be bumped up to spicy as noted in this recipe. From what I gather, it is a Bicolano recipe.

I, too, have to chime in on Leslie Stowe's rosemary, pecan and raisin Raincoast Crisps. They've definitely become my favourite tv watching snack of late, eaten with yogurt, fruit, cheese or just on their own. Invited some friends over for dinner last night and dished up some crisps to accompany our cheese course of Caron double cream brie and Wensleydale with blueberries. Delicious. In fact, I think I'll go help myself to the leftovers of that cheese course right now. Another item high on my snacking list is the roasted eggplant/garlic/sundried tomato dip from Urban Fare. Accompany that with some spinach naan cut up into triangles for dipping and I'm all set for CSI!

I succumbed to the pressure of last week's discussion and headed straight to The Kolachy Shop for lunch on Monday with my son. Sure enough, there's Arne sitting by the front door, polishing off a reuben kolachy of his own. Noah and I joined him, ordering two reubens of our own and one apricot kolachy for dessert. Yummmmy. Hamilton Street Grill twice. Tuesday evening for the Santa Rita wine tasting (Neil and Brian could more expertly enlighten you on the menu, but the Triple C was extraordinary) and Friday apres-yoga for Vancouver Island honey mussels with a glass of Yalumba Viognier and hanger steak. Of course, warm gingerbread pudding too with peppermint tea. So much for yoga. The room was absolutely slammed on Friday evening; Neil, you've definitely got a good thing goin' on. Thai Away Home on the Drive for a quick and cheap dinner with Ian and Noah. Emphasis on quick, vis-a-vis peppyre's experience last weekend. Chicken with cashew nuts, served with soup, rice, green salad and a spring roll. Not exactly flaming hot, but certainly not bad. I'm still exhaling the aftereffects of their sweet, garlic-laden salad dressing.

I'm drawing a blank on pizza in the Kits area, but I'd suggest Yuji's if you're up for a cuisine change. Some of the best izakaya and sushi you can get in town... or out of town for that matter. 1/2 a block east of Arbutus on West 4th Avenue.

Ling... what, no warm gingerbread pudding?!

Thanks Ling! He's quite enamoured with older women, and I know he'd think you're gorgeous... now, if you're willing to wait...

Upon further reflection, I believe my Wild Bluefin Tuna Tartare was surprisingly and deliciously paired with a Muscat, and my Soy Marinated North Pacific Sablefish was paired with both a Chablis and a Yalumba "Y" Series Viognier 2004. Outstanding on all counts. Perhaps Jeffy Boy will have more luck with the wine recall than lemon curd or I did.

Gotta say, child-minding while you're on vacation is the best thing ever. During our recent Palm Springs trip (well, Indian Wells and Rancho Mirage), we had a (well-referenced) babysitter look after our little one for a few hours while we had a romantic dinner on our own. What a great splurge that was. We'll definitely be taking the all-inclusive, kids' program resort route when our son is older. One thing that we greatly appreciated while on vacation is how accommodating many American mid-scale and upscale restaurants are when it comes to children. Kids' menus featuring healthy, non-fried food at reasonable prices while Mom and Dad enjoy a good quality non-chain restaurant meal. Something that's significantly lacking here in the Lower Mainland unless your child is an adventurous eater or likes ethnic food... thank goodness our son has a well-rounded appetite. Not saying that patrons of Cru or Parkside should be saddled with a toddler at the next table, but it'd be nice for families to have more options than White Spot or Milestones.

Oooh, Arne, did you make it to Cafe des Artistes? Ian and I had one of our best meals there a few years ago and have been dying to return ever since. Dinner was so good that we photographed our dishes even before the advent of our "serious foodie" days.

Never speak of this place again...it is my favourite secret!!!! ← Okay then Brian. Two clicks left on the decoder ring and a right-eyed wink should suffice the next time I want to refer to, well, you know. I just wish they were open on weekends.

Cactus Club in Yaletown for post-yoga takeout on Tuesday night. I know, I know, Cactus Club, but their Bandara Salad with grilled cajun chicken is perfect for an apres-exercise meal (the chopped dates are the best part). Sushi King, one of our neighbourhood sushi joints (to borrow Ling's phrase), for more post-yoga takeout on Friday night. Fast and decent on the taste scale for a cheap local eatery. Noah loves their beef udon soup. An Alaska roll (salmon, crab, avocado), tuna nigiri sushi, and a ridiculously large house roll. West this evening with Jeffy Boy and Lemon Curd. We were lucky to catch Chef Hawksworth before he leaves for the UK, and our dinners certainly did not disappoint... a fair shake better than beef stew in a bread bowl! It's Jeffy Boy's job to rave about our fabulous meals; however, to quote West's menu, I had the Wild Bluefin Tuna Tartare with golden brook trout caviar, spiced citrus dressing and baby greens, followed by soy marinated North Pacific Sablefish with pine mushrooms and oxtail broth. The taster of White Truffle Risotto that Chef brought us was damn fine. Dessert was Passionfruit Souffle with white chocolate creme anglaise accompanied by one of the best cappuccinos you can get in Vancouver. I'm remiss in forgetting what my wine pairings were, but the company and conversation were so good that the specifics slipped right past me.

We have a 3-year-old son and sympathize wholeheartedly with your situation. Life is one giant logistical exercise at the best of times, especiallly when it comes to scheduling downtime alone with your spouse/partner. Clearly, every bite of every meal out counts more than double what it used to in your previous life! I'm with Foodie in Vancouver's suggestion on Cru. It's consistently good, and I've never yet been disappointed with a dining experience there. There's also Bistro Pastis on West 4th Avenue as well the Pear Tree in Burnaby which is definitely worth the drive. Of course, it goes without saying that West is another excellent choice... we're heading there ourselves for dinner this weekend. Savour every morsel and let us know what you choose!

Ahhh, Cap'n Crunch -- the breakfast of champions. Every time a girlfriend of mine came along for a ski weekend, she'd bring a box of Cap'n Crunch with her. We'd come pretty close to polishing off that box in two days... nothing like fueling your first morning ski run with a straight hit of sugar. There's also Sugar Corn Pops. I've been known to buy a box of these once in a blue moon.. and not share them with anyone. Also Rice Krispies. With a teaspoonful of sugar in the milk, of course!

I'm fond of craptastic, myself. [snip] Crapriffic is also good... ← Crapulence is my variant. The depths of crapulence, absolute crapulence or something like that there. When it's just my husband with me at the dinner table, neither one of us is very polite if something offensive crosses our palates. I've been known to say, "This really sucks ass." Of course, what do I do immediately after that but say, "Here honey, taste this and tell me if it's as bad as I think it is." He then replies, "Like I'm gonna put that in my mouth..." and then gives me one of these looks:

On a dare, damn it, on a dare!! ...yeah, kinda like daring me to eat that last bite of warm gingerbread pudding with pumpkin gelato. Oh, no, no. I couldn't possibly. And they say that Filipinos are such demure wallflowers. In Bourdain's words, "What do they know?!"

My knee-jerk reaction would be Chambar... about a 6 or 7 city block walk from the QE Theatre. Link to the Opening thread is noted below: Chambar -- Opening and Reviews Not too far for me to walk on a dress-up night... unless, of course, I'm in a floor-length ball gown and stilettos...

I officially succumbed to all the waffle talk and made them this morning for myself, my son and my Mom. All prepped just so. It's horrible to bite into a piece of pizza and get nothing but a gap in the topping. People, please. Build 'em good like s'kat does! And I'm the absolute opposite of you when it comes to water. It has to be as cold as cold can be before I drink it. If a pitcher of water has just been put in the fridge and isn't quite cold enough yet, then I'll drop a couple of ice cubes in it. I even put ice cubes in my water bottle so I don't get a slug of lukewarm water when I'm in the middle of a workout.

Not only does there have to be syrup in every waffle square, but the butter has to melt before you add the syrup. That way, you get that luscious taste of buttery, syrupy goodness. And, of course, eaten quickly enough so that your waffles don't get soggy. Absolutely 100% with you on the dipping. I must be regressing, as that's my 3-year-old son's favourite way of eating sliced veggies in dressing, toast in honey, you name it. Nothing like cookies dipped in milk... except when you accidentally hold the cookie in too long and have to fish it out of the bottom of your glass with a spoon.

To eat all the plain rice by itself and then eat the side dishes by themselves - yeah, that's truly weird! You actually have met people who do that? ← Heck yeah... served a meal to one or two of them, in fact. It was all I could do not to stare while they were eating. To make matters worse, they ate all their flavourful side dishes first and then ate the plain rice last. Which means that the rice was plain and cold.

I'm absolutely floored by people who don't like their food to touch on a plate. And by people who eat all of one food item before moving on to eat another, especially those who eat their rice last without any accompaniments or condiments. Not that this is wrong, mind you. It's just completely foreign to my eating experiences while growing up in a Filipino household. The variety of dishes served at the dinner table all go on your plate at once. Soup or meat/veg and sauce atop your rice, which is why Filipino food is traditionally eaten with a fork and spoon. I have friends who are horrified at this prospect and it never ceases to amaze me.

Dear God peppyre. Step away from the cow. I'm not sure that the glint in your eyes when you drive past a farm is a healthy thing.