inanimate

I'll tell you all this much. Nachos at the Soho in yaletown are the worst in vancouver. Poor quality chips, covered in cheap cheddar and microwaved until the chips have lost most of their crunch. sour cream and bad salsa come with for $7.95.

I tried my first beard papa puffs in hong kong earlier this year and was disappointed as well. Just not quite as dreamy as I had heard all over the place. I'd stick with an Anna's cake house cream puff now.

That's the one. They do plain, vanilla, and then a blend of fruits and vanilla. Yeah, it's a bit runny, but that freshness is unmatched by the sugary alternatives out there. That they're local and organic also makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I just hate that I have to travel across town to get any.

While I love liberty yogurt, it can be a bit too much when I'm trying to eat healthy. my other favourite yogurt is Fraser Meadow Yogurt (I've found it at Donald's Market and the IGA by broadway and arbutus). They manage to keep some of that yogurty tang that I love and it just tastes fresh and natural. It's not too sweet like most yogurts. Just yogurty and awesome tasting.

I used to moan about vancouver not having a Williams - Sonoma but the week they arrived, I suddenly worried about all the local shops that have done a great job keeping up with the changing market for housewares. With that thought, I decided to focus on locally owned stores like Ming-Wo and Cookworks and even the Kitchen Goodies in metrotown. Think global, shop local etc etc.

I went to Tio Pepe's on commercial drive after reading some pretty positive reviews on dinehere. Wasn't thrilled with the menu, and wasn't thrilled with the food. Feta cheese on my refried beans? Authentic mexican? The carne Asada was dry and boring. But there didn't seem to be much on the menu that wasn't. I'm still dying to get my hands on the huge delicious fish burrito I had in Crescent City California or the menudo that I got in portland. I don't get it. Why can't anyone do good mexican in this city?

Is it now Happy Day Metro House?

Didn't love the last pie I got at lombardo's but I'm really looking forward to going down to bellingham to have another sofia at lafiamma. so good.

Interesting as I entered the thread thinking about my visit to the rockwater resort a few weeks ago. I found the menu online from the bed and breakfast I stayed at (beachhideaway.com which was awesome). Checked out the rockwater site to see a revised menu no longer featuring duck, but that was fine. It did list a slow season prix fare menu for ~$28 that seemed like a great deal, but mainly the menu looked quite nice. Went there with the girl and had a seat with a great view. Got the menus to see no mention of the prix fare menu. It being a nice date, I didn't feel like bringing this up with the waiter. Of course, I have to take some responsibility for not inquiring about it, but you must understand that no guy wants to look cheap on a date. Note: the slow season prix fare is still listed on the site as of this post. I ordered the wild boar belly confit, she the apple ginger gazpacho to start, both of which were delicious. The boar belly was crazy good, served with gooseberries and rhubarb and was perfect. A little coarse salt on top really gave it a wonderful salty first impression but gave way to a more subtle seasoning underneath. Her gazpacho was much different than expected, since it was composed of tiny cubes of apple, peppers umm... my memory is failing me now, but I think a green apple and ginger sorbet on top, but despite the odd configuration, delicious and a great surprise. I ordered the pork chop main which was excellent. I brine a lot of pork at home, but this set the bar even higher for me. It was really phenomenal. She ordered the ribeye which came closer to medium than the medium rare that she ordered. She didn't want to send it back, but neither of us loved it. To make her happy, I shared quite a few bites of my porkchop with her which she loved. Nothing on the dessert menu leapt at me, but had I ordered the $28 prix fare, I'm sure I could have picked something to eat. Service started well and the waiter was quite pleasant, but when the table next to us decided to start ordering food (and lots of wine it seems), our waiter seemed a bit overwhelmed and it became a bit hard to get some attention. Gorgeous view, some great plates but a slight stumble on the steak. Well intended service but again some minor stumbledge. I'd go back, especially if I was to stay in their crazy waterfront tent suites. They don't come cheap though. Oh, also ate at molly's reach of beachcombers fame earlier in the day and found ther poutine to be quite excellent. They seem to toss it in the broiler after applying the cheese and it comes out with some beautiful browning that made the taste and texture fabulous. it may not be traditionaly but it was mighty good. My crab and shrimp croissant was doing me fairly well except for the chunk of crab shell I found in one bite which really did a lot to leave me with a not as awesome memory of it.

Chilo's Taquiera just opened on Richards, across from Atlantis. I stopped in for lunch the day after seeing them on my way out of my favourite sushi joint and was overjoyed to see street style tacos in yaletown. The al pastor and tongue tacos were great. The shrimp tacos were a hit surprisingly (2-3 good sized seared shrimp with cheese melted on top) and the quesadillas were good if a bit odd. (flour tortillas, meat, kraft tex-mex cheese mix (umm?) red onions and cilantro). Only two salsas to be had, but both were pretty good. $1.50 tacos, $2 jarritos, $6.50 quesadillas. Cash only currently. I'll be back.

I hit the mouse and bean for lunch on friday just after noon. Service was insanely slow and our food took over an hour to get to us after ordering (which did not fare well for the three of us that had jobs to return to). Two of us ordered soup and 2 quesdillas, the others ordered enchildas. My tortilla soup was barely warm when it arrived but was tasty, as were my quesdillas, but I'm never going back.

My friend managed to track down a 2kg jar of pickled ukrainian sausages at the freybe store. I'll check back in when I've put them inside me.

thanks all for the feedback. before I attempt to make any myself, I figure it's a good idea to taste someone else's pickled sausage (yeah, I said it) to know what I'm getting into first.

Just visited last night for the first time since the move and even after having read the comments here, I left a bit surprised. They've definitely changed the feel of the place, from a comfortable local hangout with great food to a large, dark, somewhat weird dancehall of a place. The white napkins tucked into the glasses and oil lamps at each table didn't create that same relaxed neighborhood joint that made me love the old location. The place was rather cold and I kept my jacket on during my meal to keep my nipples from stiffening too much. Service was slow with only one waitress covering about 7 tables. We ordered the bbq mushrooms and patatas bravas to start. The mushrooms were really disappointing. I've had them before, but they were undercooked this time and still had their slightly crunch rawness instead. They arrived only slightly warm and would have sent them back if I weren't so reluctant to make a fuss. The patatas bravas were much better. I would have preferred the potato wedges were fried to give them crispy edges, but the tangy onion sauce on top was great. While we were having our appetizers, a gentlemen whipped his huge korg keyboard out and all hell broke loose. The house lights dimmed, the red rope lights went up, two spinning multicolored light balls started spinning and the most ridiculous tunes I've heard in months started filling the restaurant. People got up and hit the dance floor and I was suddenly starring in my own movie, best classified as an offbeat comedy. My mouth hung open as I was enveloped in a scene best described as surreal. One older gentlemen's silver belt often caught the light and woke me from the dream state this scene seemed to be putting me into. Our entrees arrived after a fairly lenghty wait; beef ribs, bacalau and a steak for the three of us. While quite tasty, my bacalau arrived barely warm. It tasted like I would have expected though I hadn't had this particular dish before, but found it a bit overbearing and reminiscient of a huge brunch plate of salt cod hash. A salad on the side though nontraditional might have lightened and brightened the plate nicely. The beef rib was good but wasn't the low and slow braised rib we might have imagined, the steak was described as "a bit funky" by my friend but the few bites of it I had seemed fine. The sides on those plates were left alone for the most part. The music and dancing continued and I felt like I was a child again at a wedding against my will, waiting for my parents to tell us that we could finally go home. I turned to my friend who had suggesting coming and said to him "you remember how we talk about our favourite little restaurants disappearing? I think senhor rooster has disappeared" The senhor rooster I knew and loved dearly is very very different now. The menu while similar is different. It's more expensive and some of the simple favourites are gone. It's no longer just a comfortable neighborhood joint where I could stop in for half a cornish hen and fries to dip all those lovely sauces in for $10 (and also have the option for horse when I felt like it). Talking became near impossible with the music playing and I found myself not wanting to come back anytime soon. I'm 28 and not into hearing moon river and don't be cruel being covered by a solo keyboard act while I have dinner with friends. Senhor Rooster has not turned bad, it's just turned different so much so that I don't feel that love I used to for it and sadly, it feels like a little piece of me died last night.

In a conversation with my hair stylist, pickled sausages came up and I became intrigued. Where does one get good pickled sausages? I thought I saw some at columbus market on renfrew but it turns out those are packed in oil. suggestions?