mangez

I would pick West, Le Crocodile for the best French over the others mentioned. I agree, Lumiere would be another choice if they weren't renovating the kitchen. For Japanese, this is trickier as you have a bunch of those funky restaurants such as Wabi Sabi, Chopsticks, En, or you can have good fish at reasonable prices but boring setting such as Okada, Kiyo or Tama Sushi. Personally, Tojo's does absolutely nothing for me. Other considerations: Cioppino or il Giardino - If they want Italian. The former you can really get ripped and the latter, nicer atmosphere without the noisy open kitchen. If they can't decide between Italian and Japanese, they can consider Enoteca which is next to Cioppino. Bluewater Café claims to offer something similar but I haven't been there recently. I'm not a fan of Restaurant C. Cin Cin's is also quite nice if they want to eat somewhere on Robson Street. Parking can be a pain though. Kirin on Alberni - they have those $100 per head seafood sampler which is ok, quite presentable and stress free ordering for Chinese food. Your uncle can pick up a nice bottle of wine from the liquor store a block away and open it at Kirin without paying corkage. Five Sails - They may like the 'grand' formal setting with the view. Good place to go if it rains and indoor parking is important. Another interesting stopover may be a pre-dinner smoke at La Casa del Habano. Your uncle can pick up some Cuban cigars while everyone can smoke indoor, something rare in Vancouver. In fact, if you know the people well, they'll even let you... (PM me).

Yeah?! - I've had some stupendous meals from Mark. Particularly when Yaletown was first opening up there was an italian place that he was cooking at and it was spectacular. ← I think that was Alabaster. Then it run by Adam Busby, who moved on to Cascabel ( Smoking Dog site ) , then to Dubrule Culinary school . ← Gotta put in my two cents for Alabaster. Brilliant food in a warm, inviting room. One of my long-gone faves. ← Yes, surely miss the panacotta from Mark in the Alabaster days. And Il Barino, such fond memories. A decade has slipped by! So who makes the best panacotta these days?

Excellent thread! I wonder what happened to Gianni Picchi nowadays? We really miss his rich creamy heavy pappardella first at Gianni's then briefly at Beachside Cafe!

As mentioned in another thread, our favourite Indian restaurant: Indian Oven - Indian, casual $$ 2006 West 4th, Vancouver BC, 604-730-5069 • what to order: shahi paneer (home made cheese curry dish) malai chicken (Malaysian style chicken curry) butter chicken (Indian style chicken curry) saag gosht lamb (Spinach lamb curry) More 'killer dishes' than Vij's. Although Vij's lamb (the one with the yellow colour curry, last on menu) and ribs dishes are also first class. IMHO, Indian Oven is definitely more athentic and less pretentious. Best thing about Indian Oven, underrated with no lineups.

Checked out Cafe D'Lite on Saturday. We had the Hainan chicken rice and a (Hainan chicken) Laksa. The chicken rice was very good, and yes - well presented. I was underwhelmed with the Laksa however. The flavour was OK, and it was good and spicy, but the broth was too thin. I like a thicker, creamier broth that sticks to the noodles a bit (as well, no doubt, to my arteries). I still have Kedah House and Mui's on my list to try. Must first rush back to the Curry House at Landsdowne Mall in Richmond to recalibrate by Laksa sensor with the gold standard. ← Went to Mui's Garden again last night. Forgot to mention they make one of the best sweet and sour pork in town. The coconut cream based curry beef is also first class. Laksa wise, I prefer Kedah over Cafe D'Lite. For those who like Indian food: Indian Oven - Indian, casual $$ 2006 West 4th, Vancouver BC, 604-730-5069 • what to order: shahi paneer (home made cheese curry dish) malai chicken (Malaysian style chicken curry) butter chicken (Indian style chicken curry) saag gosht lamb (Spinach lamb curry) Not exactly best value but VERY YUMMY.

I'm glad to hear that Okada is a good place as I read about it somewhere fairly recently and have been interested in checking it out. ← I second Okada, try their unagi battera if you like BBQ eel.

Please jamiemaw no need to feel bad, we are used to both writers and restaurant owners self-promoting here. No seriously, perhaps there should be a non-food related area for similar topics? (Edited: It's all your fault, that coffee dessert sounds too yummy you got me into a bad mood.)

I wonder what steps a restaurant owner needs to go through to resell wine privately collected? I thought restaurants are only allowed to resell wine purchased from the liquor stores? It will be interesting if the insurer insists on seeing the taxes paid on these stolen bottles as I'm sure most of them were not purchased from the BC liquor stores.

Based on your requirements, my vote goes to le Crocodile over other restaurants mentioned in this thread. A block away from Robson, and should not be too far off your budget if you order wine by the glass.

While they're not particularly 'chic', for good reliable food with excellent service, I would recommend le Crocodile, if your client likes French food. They are not on the DOV list. We were there from 8:30 to 11:45pm on a Thursday, and were told that the table next to us were there since 5pm. You can definitely stay as long as you want with absolutely no pressure at all from the professional staff. le Crocodile (604) 669-4298, Smithe and Burrard Sts. in downtown, with underground parking. They also have the $10k+ 1945 Haut Brion and Mouton Rothschild if you truly need to impress your good clients.

I'm a big fan of the blackened creo steak at the Cactus Club Broadway and Cambie location. Very yummy.

Thanks guys for the notes. Perhaps it's just me but I find the menu not very appealing. One crossed off from my list. DOV or not.

Went to Kedah House the first time, the curry chicken noodles was A+, 'chendol' (dessert drink) also very good, authentic yellow sugar was used but too bad they use ice cubes instead of shaved ice. Went there at 5pm the place was empty (best time to go). Yes, Cafe D'light's chicken is better than their rice, but I like their chilli and ginger garlic dipping sauces better than Mui's. My favourite dish at Mui's is their beef curry! Their sweet and sour pork is also good. Ok, another GOOD place not mentioned, Orchid Delight in Burnaby across from BCIT, right next to the 7 Elevan. Best Chow Kuay Teow (stir-fry flat noodles from Singapore) in town, another CLASSIC. Their pan-fry oyster crepe and their stir-fry chicken and chilli, cashew also very yummy!

Yeah, I agree, it's insane! In many ways, they deserve to be slaughtered, together with couples going out for Valentine's Dinner. Pardon my silliness, I suppose it's supply and demand.

I found out a little more info, the trick in milking the cows (my innocent friends from overseas), was to continuously pour refills on the champagne without the guests asking. Probably some vintage stuff I'm sure. They also added those caviar and what not. The scary part was that there were at least half a dozen childen (not drinking). Perhaps they were serving blood orange juice? Horror, horror.. PS For wine lovers, it's hard to justify ordering good wine from any fancy restaurant's list. I rather pay $50-100 corkage than to pay $1k wine you can get for $250.

That's a great pick. It's also available for take-out. ← I love the Hainan chicken dish at Mui Garden! Hard to beat. ← Our favourite Hainan chicken dish: Cafe D'Lite - Singporean, casual 2817 W Broadway, Vancouver BC, 604-733-8882 • closes at 6pm and does not open on Sundays • best 'Hainan chicken rice' in town! presentation beats Prata-Man and boneless chicken beats Mui's!

Some friends of ours were up at Bearfoot on NYE, 25 of them, and they're not even into wine.. $16k. Horror.. horror..

For what it's worth, there is a 20% discount on both kinds of kobe beef this week at Nikuya. According to the Japanese lady, they only do this twice a year.

I like The Cellar jazz club on West Broadway. Great music and the food is pretty good too. My husband has been complaining lately that he can't find a decent veal schnitzel, goulash or spatzle anywhere. -Christine ← Thanks that's very interesting, will have to check out The Cellar one of these days. Can you casually walk in or you always have to make a reservation?

Real goose liver, Kobe beef from Japan, hairy crab from China, old world vintage wine? Agree about the missing good sandwich shop, what about a nice dessert bar or jazz lounge? Some may miss a nice cigar friendly joint with good port wine?

West Restaurant. Honestly, I never was too keen on this place (been there about 5 times) until last night. I think the wine we brought has something to do with it. A 79 Cheval Blanc tends to make everything perfect regardless. Well, we made a last minute booking and got a seat next to the kitchen at 8:30pm. Not a bad setup as we managed to bribe the chef with a nice glass of wine and our food tasted extra yummy. Corkage was reasonable at $25 considering the decent glassware and decanters. We had the main course portion of the truffle risotto, very pricy at $54 (we only found out when paying the bill, 2 grams of white truffle and some risotto costs $54 each) but it was super tasty. I was pushing my gout limit and had the pan seared goose (duck I suppose in Canada) liver, it was better than the double roasted cold version also available. Tried to have a sauterne by the glass, only got the Aussie equivalence. Still went well with the liver. I was fortunate enough to have a very attractive lady dropped some cash with her bank card on the floor next to my seat, and then the waitress assumed that it was mine and gave it to me. I returned the money to the manager and didn't think twice about it. Oh well, a silly mistake! I should have at least talked to the blonde but I suppose with my pregnant wife next to me, I was asking for trouble. Back to food. Also had the steak tartare. Quite good when you consume it with the slightly over salted fries. In fact, my wife seems to think everything was slightly overly salty but with the 79 Cheval Blanc, everything was fine to me. Wife had the Alberta Wangyu beef, I really liked it. In fact, I think I'll hit that place was it 'chocolate' or 'butter' who recommended the place, on E Hastings to pick up some ourselves. The Wangyu was more reasonable at around $30. Much better food than I can remember, better than the Ouest days for sure. Too bad didn't leave room for desserts. I like West much better than Chambar which was a serious disappointment. But then, perhaps it was not a good review of the place as I had a cold when tasting their dishes. 9.5% Beer was good, but mussels was very average and no decent bread for dipping. However, honestly, I much prefer the mussels at Salade De Fruits Café or La Regalade. Service was poor at Chambar and I don't' think I'll ever go back. Food was not impressive, my beef was cold. Also went to Cru on Wednesday which was pretty nice. The seat (not the bench) however, started sticking to my rear end after two hours. They should have used breathable leather instead of vinyl, the unpleasant sensation reminded me of a long haul flight to Asia. Wine pairing was ok, food was better than the other new places I tried out on Main Street, Aurora? cannot remember the names. Probably will have some Vietnamese noodles for lunch with this visiting guest, Au Petit Café has good beef noodles, the beef quality is better than that place on Fraser with the yellow awning but the latter still serves the best Vietnamese cold coffee in town. Any fans of the chicken rice at Cafe D'Lite on Broadway here? Another good lunch alternative. Enough talking, have to catch some sleep I need the energy to put more things in my mouth later today.

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. ← Thanks, it's great news to hear another fellow Vietnamese coffee addict. This is indeed a fine support group. You're right Mooshmouse, if you go to a trusted restaurant where you know the amount of ice is in the proper proportion, by all means, be bold and chill the coffee all at once by pouring it straight into the glass of ice. It's certainly more dynamic as you sip the perfectly chilled coffee when your fingers caress the condensation from the melting ice! However, this Fraser Pho place lately had been rather generous providing a large jug of ice yet not giving me an extra empty glass, making this pour-coffee-over-glass-of-ice a lost art! They also serve pretty good spring rolls there, and there is an interesting rice dish I can't remember if it's number 26 or 29. A mixture of various local Vietnamese dishes on 'baby rice', quite authentic as you add your own fish sauce on top.

Pho something ... yeah. That oughta narrow it down! I love Vietnamese coffee ... but I'm never sure how to drink it. There's the glass with the condensed milk and the coffee dripping into it, and then there's the glass of ice. So, do you add the ice to the coffee or vice versa? I'm guessing it's adding the ice to the coffee because I did it the other way the first time I tried it and made a hell of a mess! A. ← 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!

Thanks peppre and Daddy-A for the warm welcome. So back to the topic, have you guys tried those Vietnamese dripped coffee? My favourite one is at this Vietnamese joint on Fraser and 17th. Pho something, it has a huge yellow canopy and a big TV inside. Best Vietnamese coffee I have ever had, nice and strong.

My personal experience at 39th & Cambie liquor store: 1. Go try out Staff's Recommendations on the racks. 2. Get staff to recommend stuff they have personally tried. Ask for the biggest bang for the bucks. I find staff there most familiar with wine between $15-30. 3. I just printed the latest Wine Spectator Top 100 in 2004 and will just bring the list to the store for random matching. For higher end stuff, I usually do my own homework and now it may be a good time to buy from the US? I used to ship goodies to my locker at Seattle Wine Storage in the early 90s but since they have changed the state law not allowing them to accept out of state shipments at the location, I may try the Letter Carrier Instead? By the way, does anyone know any good shippers willing to deliver wine to BC from Ontario or Alberta?