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I think Szechwan Restaurant (on Saba Road, Richmond) has a similar dish that has pork blood and tripe in a hot pot.

Hehe, believe me, I've thought about that too..... but then I thought about what happened to Adesso (albeit, hopefully, only temporarily)......

I've bought it defrosted at the IGA on West Broadway. You can also get them in Chinatown (a store on the corner of Gore and Union or E. Broadway, I think). It is the same vacuum-packed product from Quebec. Cleanly gutted (for the most part) as I recall. Just hack it up into 4 to 6 pieces when you get it home.

Best lunch deal in town: Mistral's prix fixe. We have been taking advantage of it for a couple of months now. Food and service are excellent. Decent wine selection by the glass. Minna is an excellent congenial host. Nice patio. The price is a steal given the generous portions, variety of choices available and quality of food. It's puzzling to us that Feenie's a few doors down is always busy, while Mistral sits only half-full at most at lunch times. I like Feenie's too, but Mistral is by far our preferred place to dine. We took some pictures last week. All the items on the different menus are interchangeable. So you can order a starter from one menu, the main from another and the dessert from yet another. I think we've tried just about every item on the menus at different lunches or dinners. Our favourites are the two salads, the onion tart, the bourride, the cassoulet, and the chocolate mousse. Goat Cheese Salad Onion Soup Chicken Breast stuffed with Prosciutto with frites (in place of the Beef Tripes that day). The Beef tripes are good too, I've had it at dinner time. Saffron Bourride (large chunk of halibut in there) I don't usually eat dessert but their chocolate mousse is really good. Lemon tart I hope this post is not too big. It's my first attempt at posting pictures.

Satima. Taiwanese "fusion" as far as I can tell. Strange menu. They serve lunch, dinner AND afternoon tea.

A week ago, we made a reservation for tonight. We thought it would be a relatively quiet time to try out his restaurant on a weeknight. Plus it's close to the Orpheum where we'll be going tonight. Two days ago, they suddenly remembered that the restaurant is booked for a private event until 7pm tonight. I guess it will be awhile before we can try this place out.

Continuing with the noodle theme on this thread, Noodles Supreme Asian Bistro (apparently that's yaletown-speak for a Cantonese noodle house) has opened for a week now at 126 Davie St. In addition to their pan-asian noodles, they also have other dishes, kung pao this and curry that etc. Had take-outs of Won Ton Noodle and chicken wings there last week. Although the noodle and the soup were packed separately, the noodles were over-cooked and mushy. The 6 small honey-glazed wings came on a bed of crispy noodle. A bit sweet to my taste, but otherwise OK. Yaletown can certainly do with a Chinese restaurant (Yopo is too small), but this one may be a little too much like another Hon's. Edited to ask a question: I read that there's going to be a Lombardo's at Smithe and Burrard. Does anyone know when and where? Is it going to be between Earl's and the openning-soon Azia?

We tried Kei's a couple of weeks ago after a lunch at Orchid Delight (the oyster omlette was excellent, btw). It is indeed an authentic Japanese bakery. Very "kawaii". It's "european kawaii", in fact. We asked the Japanese owner/baker about the origin of the name "Kei's". He explained that the names of the people around him, who have influenced his life, all start with "k's". He even gave us two free buns to try (8 for the price of 6!). Some buns have cute names like "Mom's special" or "Cheese No. 2". The best one is probably the one with a piece of banana inside. I liked their buns well enough, but I prefer the softer, airier texture of the buns from Chinese bakeries.

Hugel Gentil, CSPC#367284 $16.95, not the exact same cuvee but similar style and philosophy. ← Thanks. I shall pick up a bottle and try it next time I am back in Vancouver to compare. The LCBO had the Hugel (a little cheaper at $14.95) but the 2003 seems to be out of stock right now. ← Or try this one: http://www.bcliquorstores.com/en/products/604413 ALSACE ONE - PIERRE SPARR 03 SKU #604413 / UPC #03263530020017 Price: $18.99 Volume: 750 mL Alcohol: 12.5 % Sweetness: 00 Country: France Locality: Alsace It's made from Riesling, Gewurztraminer, pinot blanc, pinot gris and muscat.

Wind Sand? Is that Foong Sai - where Foong mean's "Phoenix" denoting a chicken dish and Sai - is Sai Geung or Sand Ginger which is lesser galanga. Or is Wind Sand something completely different? ← "Wind Sand" is the literal translation. "Foong" as in Wind and "Sa" as in Sand. I have no idea what's in it, although "sand ginger" would be a good guess. They are my favourite deep fried chicken wings (well, the ones from Phnom Penh are the co-favourites). You can get them from that stall that sells the "Tiny Car" noodles.

The best Xiao Long Bao I've had in a food court is from that Shanghai stall in the Aberdeen Centre food court. Much better quality than I expected from a food court place. A serving of those plus the "Wind Sand" chicken wings from that other stall make a complete meal for me.

New Cupcakes spotted openning on W. Broadway (2800 block I think), right next to another new restaurant called Satima that serves Asian "fusion" cuisine.

Roast goose has been available in several BBQ shops in Chinatown for a while now. No need to order in advance. You can see them hanging along side their duck counterparts. Our favourite is from Dollar Meats. Around $28 each, I think. We find that half a goose is more than enough for two people.

← Too bad. Adesso was our favourite casual Italian restaurant. Best braised rabbit I've had. Can't say I'm too surprised by the news. I recall several months ago, on a Sunday night, we were the only table in the entire place. I guess the fact that it was the night of the Oscars telecast may have something to do with it as well. I'm glad they are are keeping their chef and looking forward to their new location. Onto other news, Beijing Restaurant (885 Hornby) is closed. Kimono Japanese Restaurant will be openning there soon. Apparently, there is already one in the 400-block of Granville.

You can find fresh duck eggs at Pacific Exotic Meats, 130-8211 Westminster Highway, in the same mall as Tsim Chai Noodles. As the name suggests, they have all kinds of interesting exotic meats there. Not everything is labelled in English though, just ask the shopkeepers for help.

Orchid Delight is openning June 1, on the 2400-block of Burrard at West Broadway (next to Papaya Hut).

Ostrich is one of our favourites. We usually stock up in the summer when Goldwing Farm sets up shop at the Farmer's Market in Vancouver. I have seen ostrich served in some Chinese restaurants (e.g. Mui Garden). Congee Noodle House at E. Broadway and Main serves an Ostrich congee.

Enthuze (871 Denman Street) is closing on May 14. Owners are heading to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Paris.

We tried out 1215 last week. The most memorable dish was the miso-marinated beef tongue (melts-in-your-mouth soft and very rich). The chicken dish was also good. I don't remember what it was called. It was kind of like Agedashi Tofu using chicken instead of tofu. We preferred to call it Agedashi Chicken Karaage. We found the squid stuffed with garlic rice a bit over-cooked. The seared blue-fin tuna special was OK, nothing too special. We also had a salad with prosciutto and soft tofu, which was an interesting combination, but we probably won't order it again. All in all, we found the restaurant's future promising.

The all-Robson edition: Flamenco Cafe is now "Cinch" (1517 Robson), serving Lavazza coffee, paninis and such. Copper Onion Curry Bar is now a Ho Ho Fastfood outlet. When did that happen? Koreana (1256 Robson, upstairs) is now "Indian Flavours" (as opposed to the similarly named "India's Flavour" and "Flavour of India"). Warm earth-tone interiors with dark wood. Above-average wine-list. Even a website: http://www.indianflavoursrestaurant.com/ Tried their Rogan Josh (tender pieces of lamb in a creamy, slightly zesty sauce), Chicken Tandoori and Eggplant Bhartha (not as salty as most other places). We'll still go to India Bistro (another favourite of ours in the neighbourhood) for the fun atmosphere, but we'll return to Indian Flavours for the higher quality of the food. Shinpo (Bute and Robson) has renovated and is now "Shinpo and Shinpo". Similar-looking Korean and Japanese menu. The posters and pictures outside on the Korean items seem to be of much higher quality than the Japanese items. Is this a chain restaurant in Korea? And finally,a detour to Commercial Drive, Sash is now subtitled "Global Soul Food", with menu items like lamb shank braised in mole sauce, fish-fingers (i.e. salmon on sticks) and Vietnamese-style ceviche.

Visited the H Mart today on its grand openning. Very impressed with the large array of fish and seafood (fresh, frozen, living, salted, dried and canned) available. Tubs of hot bean paste are displayed in their own section. Bought some cooked, pressed pig's ear ( which are simply labelled as "Boiled Pork") to try. They are more thickly-sliced than the ones served in chinese restaurants, with slices of raw garlic and hot peppers on the side, and a container of orange sauce with teeney tiny shrimps in it. I've never had pig's ear served that way before. Interesting, to say the least. Great addition to the neighbourhood.

Do you have a website?

Yeah that machine caught my eye, they have some pretty cool kit there eh ! But what does the clover thing do ? yeah make coffee i take it but how ? I would be interested to hear the machinics of it, and how it differs from regular coffee brewed in a more traditional way. ← We tried the Clover machine coffee at Artigiano two weekends ago. It is basically an automated french press machine. You dump in freshly ground coffee. The machine then sprays hot water over the coffee grind. After a few minutes, the coffee is sucked out from the bottom via a vacuum underneath (instead of being pressed down manually by a plunger). The result is pretty much the same as a cup of coffee from a french press pot, as far as we can tell. We decide that we prefer the coffee from the espresso machine at Artigiano.

On our way back from Steveston, we went to Tsim Chai Noodles On Westminster Hwy on Sunday as well, for afternoon tea. I had the Beef Brisket Noodles in Soup. Very flavourful meat. The noodles have a very nice "toothy" texture (kind of like the Chinese equivalent of "al dente") as well. It was my partner's first visit and he had the Pork and Preserved Duck Egg Congee, which he always orders at these places. He declared it the best congee he's had in Vancouver, despite finding two bits of egg-shells in it.

India Bistro (1157 Davie St) is surprisingly good.