FannyBay

I have heard really good things about the food here from some of my friends. It's not the greatest 'hood but not bad. I also heard that he will make things that are not on the menu if you call ahead and a friend of mine says that the Paella there is fabulous (you have to call ahead for it I think) which is great as someone else told me they were really disappointed in the Paella at Senova. Having said that, isn't Paella a Spanish dish? The good thing about Senova is that even if it's not great (and I don't know that as I haven't been) it will bring attention to the other Portuguese places in Vancouver.

Wow, I didn't know we were even allowed to cook on coals here for air quality/health board, etc, etc, though I think I saw some little hibachi style cookers at a Korean place on Denman. Savory Coast cooks a lot of their food in a wood fired brick oven, it's delicious and you can taste the wood. Can you taste charcoal when cooking on coal?

I can't recall if it was a Dem Bones or a Tony Roma's the last time I ate at the rib place on Pacific. I do recall though that they used "liquid smoke" to flavour the meat and as I prefer to avoid chemical compounds when dining, I haven't been back. The Ribs at MB were a bit tasteless and too "fall off the bone" when I last tried them as well, nothing you could get a good chew on. I loved the ribs at Ouisi Bistro but be warned they are very spicy! For spareribs that aren't like the ones you are talking about here, the spareribs in black bean sauce at Dim Sum are yum, just little guys. I had them at Sun Sui Wah recently. For dry ribs the ones at Earls are pretty good, salty but they are supposed to be.

Does anyone know if Apres opened up again? Who owns it and what it's like? I heard good things about it when it opened but then I heard it closed.

"Westbanker's Mark Anthony will be in the house with Mission Hill ,Yalumba and Rodney Strong" Kirk, do you mean Westbanker's Anthony Von Mandel? Mark Anthony is married to JLo

I love the Whitespot/BC Ferries Clam Chowder, and you're right it has gotten better again lately. By the way Jamie, I too recently ate at Joe Fortes and not only was the meal terrible, the prices were outrageous, in fact I was at Gotham's a few days later and item for item Joe Fortes was more expensive. I had the Halibut Cheeks at Joe Fortes, can't remeber if it was a special or a regular item. Not only was it almost inedible, but I felt ripped off as there were only a few cheeks and the rest was little pieces of regular halibut.

I have some thoughts on the Globe and Mail review but first my thoughts on Diva at the Met. I dined there recently. I did not enjoy the experience and I really didn't enjoy the food. I found the suggested wine pairing by the waiter best as an increase to the cheque average, and therefore his tip (when I asked to see a list to make my own choices I noticed he had, in every case, recommended the most expensive, and often the least appropriate, wine by the glass). The food was uninspired, though I suppose quite well executed, however every dish displayed that rather annoying Nike style "swish" of some root vegetable puree that seems to be on all the restaurant plates right now. But I also want to say that I paid attention to the food, I paid attention to the menu descriptions and the ingredients (and consequently knew when the wrong wine was suggested), all which I expect a restaurant reviewer to do, and which it appears Gill does not. So…being in the biz, I sniffed around. I understand from the staff that when Gill was "dining" at Diva she constantly left the table to go outside and smoke (which I understand she routinely does), which is why her meal took so long, and she got rather drunk (which I understand she also routinely does). My guess is she took the menu home and wrote her review based on a rather cloudy memory and some kind of need to be the next Joanne Kates, best known for her ability to write unkind remarks, rather then her ability to properly and fairly review a restaurant. Gill may well have had a point in a number of issues, and there are some things she says that I agree with, however her mandate seems to be established before she sets foot in a place. I don't respect her reviews and am glad they only appear in the BC edition of the paper where they can do little damage.

I am sorry, but using the word "crap" to describe food is just unnecessarily mean . How awful for the chef, she must be devastated! Not sure what credentials Ms. Gill has to be a judge of food and quite frankly after reading this it makes me really question her credibility. Granted she is a good writer but is she writing for shock value? Our own little Geraldo Rivera of the food critic's world? Just what does she know about food? I have heard lukewarm comments on the food, but if the food was this bad surely we would have heard from someone else. I will be interested in seeing J. Maw's review as he clearly has an educated palate.

The hot dogs at the Jericho Beach grill (upstairs) are fantastic. I mean really fantastic!! Tried the Ikea hotdog, can't beat that price can you? OK they are quite tasteless but for a calorie refuel it's a great value at 50 cents - The condiments alone cost more. Best dog experience though has got to be at the Nat - Baseball, beer and hot dogs - I can now die and go to heaven! They have sauerkraut (something I love even though I don't seem to know how to spell it) and they also serve those really good pickles which you can load up on. They cut them like bread and butter pickles but they are those great kosher pickles. Granted the beer is rather pricey, but well worth it just to watch those boys of summer in their tighty whiteys, yum!

When will this restaurant be opening and what exactly is their concept? I have heard some odd descriptions floating around and apparently their PR person has been biting everyone's heads off for second-guessing the actual concept (although it would appear she is somewhat unable to describe it herself either?) I have heard tapas, sharing plates, snall plates and - Naked Bistro! which I assume referres to either the food, or the room decor, though not I hope to the guests? Actually looking back at the earliest posts on this thread it seems that naked is going to mean food without sauces and raw foods? I guess we will find out when it opens. Is it a health food concept?

Jean-Yves and Minna, the owners of L'emotion, sold about a year ago to a chef called Walter. I have not heard any reports one way or the other since then. Jean-Yves and Minna were sowewhere this past year, I think she had a baby, but have now purchased Portabello restaurant beside Feenie's and Lumiere. I understand the concept will be similar to La Regalade in West Vancouver. Always a great idea to open a restaurant near other busy restaurants and it will be nice to have more and more reasons to be able to dine on the Westside. They are going to open in September.

Here's the thing about mark-ups...Generally the only thing a restaurant makes any revenue from, and therefore profits, is the sale of food and the sale of beverages. After you deduct the cost of the plates, glasses, cleaning products, staff, electricity, water etc., as well as the actual cost of the food or beverage, there is not that much left. Add linens to tabletops and linen napkins, you double your expenses. Add expensive glassware and china, you add another cost. And you haven't even paid your rent yet! When you order wine in a top restaurant you expect to get crystal stemware, waiters in designer uniforms, state of the art washrooms, hostesses at the door and starched linen. Therefore the cost of the wine should be higher, or rather the markup higher. If you are a restaurant like, say Henry's, the little diner on the Westside, or a pizza place on Commercial, you should not expect such a mark-up as they have no linens, uniforms or expensive glassware. Some restaurants have a higher mark-up because they are carrying 100-$200,000.00 and more in wine inventory and that's a huge investment that needs to pay off. Their clients pay for the privilege of ordering wines that they cannot find in liquor stores, old vintages and wines that they can order 6-8-10 bottles of for a large party. And some restaurants, such as Earls, are able to offer very good, sometimes great wine prices because they buy in bulk (they have the same wine lists in all their restaurants and yes, they get discounts for their bulk purchases) and make their profits more from volume. Occasionally you find restaurants that charge ridiculous markups for no apparent reason, (like a certain restaurant in Yaletown that shall not be mentioned) or restaurateurs who have such a love of wine they want to share that with their guests like Ousi Bistro, a fairly casual Cajon restaurant up on South Granville that has a flat $20.00 per bottle mark-up and serves all their wine, no matter what the price, in crystal Riedel wine glasses as they believe it tastes better in good glasses. (I think the glasses are more expensive then many of their entrée prices!) However, a 100% markup seems to be the norm in Vancouver and we can count ourselves lucky that we don't live in London where 300 & 400% markups can happen.

Victoria is a beautiful city, if you have a car drive to Sooke or back towards the ferry near Sidney, there are some nice wineries there. In Victoria Zambri's is a must. They serve a more casual, almost deli style lunch which is excellent and a very good dinner. Stop by Canoe for a beer and some cold oysters as a mid day refresher. Dinner at Cafe Brio for sure (book ahead) and L'Ecole Brassier. Make sure you ask for a front table at Brasserie as the back gets very hot. Places to avoid are Herald Street Cafe, new owners, or a multitude of new owners have left it dirty, inattentive and thoroughly dreadful. And speaking of dreadful, The Fairmont Empress Hotel! The lobby and outdoors of the grand old lady may be impressive but the service is terrible, the food and beverage below standard, as is the service in the restaurants and lounges. The Afternoon Tea is just about the biggest rip-off I have ever seen. In fact I once heard a rumor that the reason the Tea is $55.00 per person is because some Food and Beverage Director, new to the hotel, hated it so much he wanted to cancel it all together. The powers that be would not hear of it so instead he doubled the prices figuring that would stop anyone coming. Now they still get the same old bagged tea, pre-made tea sandwiches and mushy fruit salad, but at twice as much! Take a picture of the old gal and go elsewhere!

Wow, it really is amazing how much some of you can eat! And how often! I am impressed! Went to La Terrazza this week on the recommendation of a friend who received a notice of the restaurants 7 year anniversary promotion. 7 different appetizers and 7 different wines, all at $7. Supposed to just be in their lounge but they had no problem letting us sit on the patio and order from the special menu (we asked first) We had 5 of the 7 items between 2 of us, and that was almost too much (though not for some of you based on your comments!) The items ranged from a small (but still good value) plate of 3 fresh oysters with various accoutrements, to a tomato and bocconcini salad that was fabulous to a really sublime pasta bolgnese dish that was quite a large portion for the price. The salad used regular bocconcini rather then the buffalo mozzarella that same salad uses on their main menu but it was still excellent, but the bolognese sauce was the same as the dining room menu and it was amazing! I understand they make their bolognese with finely ground tenderloin! It was perfect with a Chianti available by the glass. The other 2 dishes were a house made sausage (apparently made by the chef's family who have a farm in the interior) with a creamy polenta. We had a scallop dish that was wonderful - my friend liked that one the best. I as you may have guessed, loved the pasta bolgnese. We had a beautiful fresh fruit dish that we shared for dessert that had gooseberries in it! I haven't eaten gooseberries since I was a little girl and picked them off the bushes in my parent's backyard, delicious! The topped it with a basil gelato that they get from that great Gelato place on the East side, can't recall the name, you know, the one with all those wild flavours like blue cheese and walnut, balsamic vinegar, garlic! Anyway, we loved the little menu, the food was great and the value excellent. Had a peak at their regular menu which seemed very nice, will have to go back and try that one night.

There is never anough goop on the Nacho's in restaurants and one is always left with dried up naked chips at the bottom, but having said that, my favourite is still The Galley at Jericho Sailing Club, the platter is so big you don't need to get the the naked ones on the bottom, and the setting - 2nd to none. Get too messy and you can just jump in the water!

Didn't know whether to add this to the Farners Market thread or the Vancouver Island thread but as this was the most current... There is a great article (the 1st of a 2 part series) by Mia Stainsby in todays Vancouver Sun on the Cowichan Valley, Duncan Farmers Market and other great food stops in the area. I don't have a subscription to the Vancouver Sun on-line so can't link, maybe someone else can.

I tried to paste this article by Angela Murrills in but I gather that's not allowed. I am going to try and send a link to it as it's a great article on farmers markets. Dining Dining Archives Spring means a surge of fresh produce and farmers markets too By angela murrills Publish Date: 12-May-2005 http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=10094 also see www.bcfarmersmarket.org

Gosh, all the times I have eaten there it seems I have never had to use the ladies (I clearly wasn't drinking enough!) I will have to remember to not go before I leave home next time so I can check it out!

I assume you mean to cook? Never seen them here, and too bad as they do make the BEST stock! They have fresh crayfish on the menu at Ousi Bistro up at 14th and Granville and I was just there for a "Crayfish Festival" I think it went for 10 days-2 weeks or so and seemed to have about 8 crayfish dishes. We had a dish that sounded like that German dessert, Claffoutie (sp?) but can't recall what it was other then it was excellent, and had a crawfish boil that was amazing (though should have worn something old and black when eating that!) I wonder if they would give me the shells to make stock with, hmmm

Amacord in Yaletown is very nice, excellent Gnocci. Nice family owned, don't think there are booths though. One rung up from there, Quattro on 4th is very nice. Lovely room, no booths but cozy corner tables. And one futher rung up, La Terrazza. Yaletown again. Beautiful room. Great food. Nice corner round tables. No booths again. Easy parking though! Nick's on Commercial Drive - Disgusting! Cippriani's on Main Street - Incredibly disgusting! Enoteca at Cioppini's in Yaletown - Incredibly expensive! Zambri's in Victoria - Nothing like it here, it's fabulous! Fanny Bay

Although it's unoriginal, I have to say that Les Amis du Fromage on West 2nd really has the best selection and if I'm in a hurry, which I always am, I can preorder a selection of cheeses by giving them a dollar amount and they have it ready to go and I have even dropped off a platter and had them make it up with me, with little signs for each cheese and everything! A great value! I usually pick up a big piece of Parmigiano Reggiano on Commercial Drive, same store I buy dried cod, but can't remember the name, sorry! The best buys for Parm is on “The Drive” Hillary's, the cheese shop in Cowichan Bay is fabulous if you are ever over there and I agree with a contributor that mentioned Thrifty's. All the Thrifty’s support producers in their own regions and areas, which is why you get different products at each store unlike Safeway or Urban Fare that has year round agreements with producers in Mexico and California and in the middle of August fail to have a single piece of BC fruit on their shelves! But I digress...I have bought some amazing cheese at the Thrifty's in Sidney, Ganges on Salt spring and the one near Duncan out on the highway. I have also shopped at the one in Tssawassen but haven't bought cheese there. Thrifty's quality is great and their prices excellent. I have also picked up some excellent cheese at Oyama, although I tend to do it only if I am at their counter picking up other meat. The place I really avoid is Dusso's, the biggest rip off in the market! Oh, almost forgot, the BEST deal on goat cheese and various feta cheese is at Parthenon on West Broadway. Best deal on olives there as well

FYI for future reference, Capers does carry premade fresh pie crusts (don't know about puff pastry) made with butter, however you can only use them for pies you fill, then bake, as they met if baked empty for a filled pie.

There really isn't much parking right off Island. The parking lot you refer to might be part of the Honda Bike dealership, or be the gravelly area just up the street. ← There are already transit stops just off the island, so tour buses probably wouldn't be able to stop & park in those areas, but drop-off and pick up might be possible. ← I don't think the locals would tolerate it. There are already sizeable crowds right on their doorstep waiting for the number 50. There is also the extra exhaust etcetera. ← With the one who shares meals away for a couple of weeks, my supply of crackers and cheese and dry cereal eaten right out of the box was depleted and I felt the urge to go grocery shopping for some fresh veggies today. The weather was so glorious I couldn't stand the thought of being inside a grocery store so I walked to Granville Market. Two things happened, one I think you might want to be aware of and another event, a few moths ago somewhat related, came back to me that I thought I would share. First, I was shocked that all the taxi's waiting for flags on the island were running their engines. They were lined up along side the first set of shops and by the Arts Club parking lot. I noticed the first one as there were no other cars driving by when I walked by so you could hear the engine running, then I listened as I walked by all the other taxis and they were all running their engines. The market should be banning that! Next, and this is what I wanted to point out. I did a pretty small shop today so I really noticed what the prices were, in fact in the back of my mind I was thinking abut what the veggies I bought would have cost at Safeway or Urban Fare. I bought one avocado, 4 small roma tomatoes, 2 heads of romaine and a small bunch of green onions. The bill came to $8.15.... I wrinkled by brow and said, gosh, how much was that avocado? (Knowing exactly how much it was) Without saying a word, her fingers moving back to the terminal and making a quick motion, the cashier then said, $5.45...without so much as a sorry, let me check that or anything. Kind of like she was caught, and oh well... It made me wonder how many times I have been overcharged there, especially with all the large shops I have done. The grocery stall I was at was the one right in front of the Donut place and I've shopped there many times. The reason I shop there, rather then the one across the way is because I once shopped there for a really important dinner party. Carefully chose perfect tomatoes, limes and lemons, lettuce etc. It was quite a large shop so when she gave me just two bags I was surprised and questioned her. Are you sure it's just two bags? Yes, yes she said, I asked was she sure? Yes she said. The lettuce was in the top of both bags so I just took her word for it but when I got home 10 minutes later and unpacked I realized I was missing half the groceries and there should have been at least one or 2 other bags. I drove right back and rather then wait until at least close to closing, they had put all the product back on the shelf. How greedy! Then they ran aground and grapped the missing veggies using my bill. So after spending much time picking perfect and perfectly ripe vegetables, they grabbed smaller tomatoes, crappy brown lemons and limes, limp vegetables. I was furious, but running too late to do anything about it and have never shopped at that stall again. I am really beginning to question the merchants. There is obvious price fixing, with all the same products like grounbf beef, lettuce, apples exactly the same price in all the stalls and shops, flowers being sold at full price which were less fresh then they should be. I love the market, but are we being taken advantage of?

Don't know if we are still "allowed" to post but having done the Sun Run this morning, the only part of my body I can move are my fingers so I am spending the afternoon at the computer. Steak - I LOVE Gotham! Think the food is simple yet suburb, and the service is the best anywhere in the city. There is nothing more satisfying then craving something, like steak and potatoes, and getting just what you wanted, served up as best as you have ever tried it. Worst steak (or beef as Vancouver Mag say's. Jamie, sorry but...what were you thinking? Best beef? How can you possibly say that the quality of beef they use at Memphis Blues is better then Gotham, Hy's or Hamilton Street Grill, It just isn't!) Truth be told, I don't get Memphis Blues - The prices are outrageous for the level of service and food. The place is dirty, the service staff snarly and the food, OK. Last time I was there I got cold over-cooked fries, tasteless pork, beans and our bill was huge! Their food cost must be amazing…