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PaoPao

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Everything posted by PaoPao

  1. Lucky Diner is closed and a for lease sign on the window.
  2. I'm so happy, finally a great Taco in the hood ... that is if this is THE Chilo.
  3. ^ How did you like Jules' Bistro? The Sun gave it a good review this week. Helen and I enjoyed our dinner. Simple richly sauced dishes (cassoulet, lamb shank etc..). Small compact wine list with French and BC selection reasonably marked up and just a nice looking room and friendy service. I'd go again. Stephen ← Last night we tried Jules with 9 other of our friends. What originally started out as reservations for 6 grew quickly to 11 and Steffan (sp?) accomodated us no problem. Everyone at the table mutually agreed that this place is really fantastic. Loved the food, wine, atmosphere, service ... everything. I ordered the Escargot and the Steak Frites ... others had various selections such as the duck, cassoulet, etc ... I had a chance to taste them all and enjoyed them too. Steffan is a warm and jovial host and we wish him great success. We'll do our part in contributing to it as we will be back often.
  4. Hi Forest Whitesands is a great hotel. It has undergone a refurbishment. It is a large hotel, and the food there is the typical buffet meals. However there is a great Brazilian restaurant there with a great salad bar. I am not sure if they are still doing well. Mombasa beach Hotel would be a 2 star by international standards. Local food - the locals eat Mandazi's and tea for breakfast. These are like dougnuts. Lunch and dinner consists of fish, maize meal (ugali), beans, stews, etc. You will find that the hotels have local nights, when you can sample these foods. A lot of coconut also gets used. The Tamarind is a 15 minute drive from Whitesands, as is Aquamarine. Missono is 10 minutes. You could also go into the old town in Mombasa, and sample dishes such as mishkaki (meat skewers). ← Just recently we stayed at the Whitesands for a week, nice hotel and location. We ate at the Brazillian Steakhouse while there. While the salad bar as previously mentioned was very good, the meats they served were average and over cooked. It was a better meal eating in the restaurant that is included in your room fee. There is a small seafood cafe in the resort as well by the beach which was nice. There are a number of restaurants close to the resort by the beach, none really looked good enough to try.
  5. looks like u didn't the version with sweet spicy sauce. i would never order korean fried chicken without it! ← Your right, I had the version that was just fried ... the one with the sauce made the crispy skin look mushy which I'm not too fond of. I'll try it next time though. I had something similar at Jang Mo Jib once where they served the fried chicken in a tandori cooked in the sauce, while decent the shear amount of sauce on the chicken was over the top at least for my tastes. Maybe thats why I think the Spicy Chicken at LA is so good, the spices are in the breading so you taste everything and not just a mouthfull of sauce.
  6. Last night as we were passing H-mart I thought of this post and went in for a whole fried chicken. The batter reminded me more of tempura puffy coating and it didn't have much seasoning. The chicken pieces were also mostly de-boned so I'm not sure what portions of the bird we were eating as they all looked the same except for the light and dark meat. This didn't particularly strike me as good, I think my favorite is still LA Chicken. Last Sunday when passing Renfrew on Broadway I did see a place that has a huge sign advertising Fried Chicken and Donuts, anyone been?
  7. Last night we had the pleasure of dining at La Buca. I really like the simple design and comfortable atmosphere. My wife had the Osso Buco which was fantastic and my favorite of the night. For mains my friend and I both had the Saltimbocca which was very good as well. The other dish ordered was the Pumpkin Ravioli which our other friend enjoyed very much. We all started with salads or soup and ended sharing a tiramisu and a chocolate mousse cannoli .... all very tasty as well. Washed down with a couple bottles of wine we were out the door for $70 pp including tax and tip .... a nice value. Our service was very attentive and knowledgeable. My only disappointment was after a beautiful meal like this I really enjoy an espresso with my dessert, unfortunately they have none because of space restrictions. Ah well. We will definitely be back.
  8. Last night a group of us dined at Rare. The experience was fantastic all around. Delicious food, amazing service, great wine selection, and a very comfortable atmosphere made this the most memorable meal of our DOV experiences summed up over the years. Thank you to all the people working there for a wonderful night.
  9. Yesterday my compadre and I had the great pleasure of having lunch at Cilantro & Jalapeño located at 736 Broadway ... a block or two west of Cambie. They make everything fresh everyday. A very good menu on the wall lists all the basics from Burritos, to wraps, to tamales and Taco plates. In a cooler they also have available for purchase a number of items including delicious Guacamole, Salsa, and Cilantro and Lime dip among other things. I ordered a Big Burrito with the organic ground beef .... around $7.00 which came with a small salas and rice. It was very good and the whole plate was cleaned in no time. Washed down with an icy Mango Jarritos .... this lunch is pretty tops in my book. I believe they are a sister store to a place in North Van called Jalisco something. Anyway, friendly service, good, hot, tasty food and a nice location means I'll be back for sure.
  10. After 22 days exploring the absolutely beautiful country of Kenya we concluded at the "must go" Carnivore in Nairobi. Our experience was very similar to the review given, except no Impala. Evidently because of the new government in power starting 4 years ago .... no big game is allowed to be served. This was very disapointing as we had just spent the last 3 weeks listening to our guide describe how delicious each of the animals were that we had been seeing. The basicis were served but they had been cooked way to long and even at the beginning of dinner service were dry and tough. I wouldn't waste my time there again for such a lousy meal. Too bad as I had really looked forward to it.
  11. Jonker Street - Simply Malaysian, on Pacific and Beatty. I had been eyeing this place since they took over the Orange Chopstick and did their remodel. After seeing it was now open Mrs. PaoPao and I decided to drop in and try it last night. Now I have to admit my experience with Malaysian food is not indepth but since the Mrs. side of the family is Indonesian I have had my fair share. Alot of amazing home cooking by aunts, adventure eating in Los Angeles, etc. To start we had the Roti, for the mains we had the lahksa and a combo plate with curry chicken, beef rendang, spicy prawns, and coconut rice. With two limonatas the total bill with tip was approx. $35. The food was really nothing to brag to my relatives about. Tough mushy beef, watery curry, over cooked noodles that fall apart annoyingly ... just really a disappointing meal. Conversely though about two weeks ago we tried the new Malaysian place (forgot the name) on Robson by Seymore. That place we both thought was very good.
  12. Alright, here it goes ... Have to say that overall the place is good. The food, the service, the speed of getting your food and drinks, etc. We had one salad, two drinks, two entree's, and one dessert ... with tip was just shy of $100.00. I think the thing I miss about the old Diner was that we would spend half that for a better meal and be stuffed instead of satisfied. The old Diner never really overwhelmed me with the over the top quality but you sure got more than you $'s worth IMHO. Now the Lucky Diner reminds me of Brown's or Milestones or any other restaurant around. Which may be a good business model but for what I appreciate in restaurants, it presently lacks. It's different, but a diner to me is alot of greasy good food at a great value in a relaxed atmosphere. The Meatloaf I had tonight was nice, but it wasn't Grandma's meatloaf that I've enjoyed so many other times before piled with green beans and mashed potatoes. Tonight it was two discreet slices with a few green beans and a whipped conical looking portion of mashed potatoes surrounded in sauce. Nice looking to be sure but a far cry for what I expect or want to see in a diner. I'm not sure if Heather still has a hand in the desserts, but compared to what was previously offered where dessert was the one of the highlights, the pecan pie we had was pretty ordinary. Ah well, it was good while it lasted. I do want to go back and try their Hot Dog and Burger ..... maybe I just went in with too high expectations of what was. The thing that I am excited about though is Sean's experience and presence coming to a Diner. For sure menu's and recipe's will be tweaked to become an institution like all of the other in the chain. Best of luck to Sean and Scott and hopefully we'll get to see more of the greasy spoon than the silver one.
  13. Last night one of our best friends was celebrating her birthday and we headed to Frederico's. She is a classic Italian princess in only the very best of ways and was looking for an Italian supper / night club experience which this place fit the bill perfectly. We had a great seat by the dance floor at which all throughout dinner a very talented musician and singer sang all the classics with the help of a keyboard and accordion. We started with Chianti and stayed the course for 3 more bottles throughout dinner. For the appetizers we shared a Prawn dish, the cured meats Anti-pasta, and the bruschetta. Mains for everyone were the Eggplant, Tenderloin, Prime Rib, and the Veal. All in all I would say the food was alright to good, nothing ground breaking to drop your fork to but decently solid. Service was excellent and as we had a birthday girl the large cake we brought with given instructions for the surprise was performed beautifully. There must have been ten b-days there last night and people had come to party. Dancing went till midnight or so on the jam packed dance floor to Fredericos selection of favorites spanning old Italian classics to the new one by Justin Timberlake. He's a talented guy and definitely loves to entertain. Overall we had a great time and we would definitely recommend trying it. Go Th - Sun though for the live music.
  14. Ahh juice box wine brings back fond memories of sitting in a park in Barcelona with my sweetie. After an hour of working up a sweat gesturing at the local meat and cheese counters because we don't speak spanish ..... that wine went down pretty easy. I'm all for this, and cans and hell even swizzle stick tasters if they got 'em.
  15. PaoPao, I'm a member of the Vancouver Club in downtown and will be hapy to take you there to keep me company as we relax with our cigars in their cigar room. BYOC and I'll be happy to share the scotch. By the way, tried out the East India Solera from Lustau, a sweet sherry, can't wait to pair it with a nice cigar. It got 94 points by Robert Parker and only retails at $19.50. ← Pm sent ...
  16. Good call, I've also heard Espresso goes nicely as well...
  17. What are some good comfortable places around that you can go and have a nice drink or three, smoke a cigar, and for the extra bonus point ... have a big screen TV? I am familiar enough with the smoking laws that these activities are usually relegated to patios and on a cursory investigation have heard that The Sandbar and Joe Fortes are decent. I'm not a big fan of eating while smoking a Cigar or really any smoke around me while eating, but it's hard to beat a nice scotch / cognac / whisky and cigar. Probably one of my favorite parts about it is knowing that for the next 60 to 90 minutes is dedicated to relaxing. On a side note, I have found as my palate is educated in the subtleties of Cigars, my awareness of details in food and wine has grown also. A very nice benefit that I had no clue would develop.
  18. In your original post you had inquired about Burgers and then Drinks after. I would throw my hat in the ring for Browns on Mainland street, close to Davie in Yaletown. They have a very good Double Double burger as well as a full bar. Plus other good drinking establishments are very close by. Lickerish is still open up the street on Davie if you liked that place, or there is George, Opus, Afterglow, etc all within stumbling distances. I agree with Canucklehead regarding Kirin, fantastic food and prob the best Chinese cuisine DT.
  19. ^ Thats cool. As a patron of restaurants versus an operator, it's pretty easy for me to say this stuff. The ToY or any other group event i'm sure is a logistical nightmare and my hats is off to you for managing it. I'm surprised to hear that the small plates menu was not popular, just out of curiosity which restaurants did this?
  20. You know I was thinking about this statement and it reminded me of a conversation I was having with a group of friends about the ToY. Most of us live in Yaletown or close proximity so that may bias the consensus but no one really seemed excited about the event. As evidence, not one person had reserved for it. Most seemed to agree that they had favorite dishes in certain restaurants and just were not interested in the menu offerings especially having to pay $25 / $35 / $45 for alot more food than they would want or order usually. It really does not seem to be much of a deal for them, charity or otherwise. I was trying to think of things that would be enticing for myself and the others - maybe if the restaurants would be willing to offer smaller tapas dish's on a variety of their menu items so the individual could pick and pair what they wanted, that would be interesting. An offering that would really let you taste multiple samplings from the restaurant that you want but on a smaller scale than the entree portion's. Now I'm quite sure ToY will be a raging success without our pickiness, but I just thought Neil and the others behind the event would care to know a different opinion of some the Yaletown locals.
  21. Just put in my order for 4 Cassoulets at Oyama. They will be ready to pickup Nov 16th - 19th! Mmmmmm can't wait!
  22. Tonight my amigos and I tried Dona Cata with high expectations, and I am thrilled to say the tacos exceeded them. On the menu we're 5 different Taco choices and I tried 1 of each chased by a refreshing Jarrito's. Each are fantastic in their own right but then you get to add from their choices of salsas which really sent them to the moon. Jenner (sp?) the young owner was very hospitable and definitely knows his way around a taco. For $1.25 each it's hard to just have a couple. As we sat there stuffing our taco holes, we couldn't help but compare with Chilo's just 2 blocks north. Now, it is unfair to really compare unless you have eaten both in the short term so after we finished we headed to Chilo's. Now, I gotta say I am a bit biased because I absolutely adore Chilo and Lupe. But this excursion was on the merit of the taco and the taco only. Sitting down I ordered 2 Suadero and 2 Cabeza tacos, and then a Suadero Quesadilla to share. Man Chilo knows his way around tacos! I have to give the edge to Chilo. IMHO they are a bit more moist and flavorful. Then when you add the other ambiance of getting to hear the history of Poncho Villa, and the wrestling mask of the Blue Demon. Well, again, I'm biased. The food is really fantastic in both places and I look forward to trying many of the other items at Dona Cata soon. We ended our Taco feast at Dairy Queen at which I had a small cone, a nice palate cleanser. Ole'
  23. I just stumbled across "Flavours" magazine the other day at the 41st and Cambie Liquor Store. They had two issues there that are complimentary. I really like the magazine! Lots of good articles on wine / food pairings and interesting recipes for food and drinks. Great colorful food porn as well.
  24. Oh man Flowbee, if everything tastes as good as your pictures then I am soo excited to try this place! Thanks for a great discovery!
  25. Not sure about the size you are looking for but Costco has big tasty cheesecakes.
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