*Deborah*

I was picturing some highfalutin' Shake 'n Bake scenario...

Photos of the Feenie Burger to come (I got some decent burger porn!) later today. I like a burger joint with valet parking, but maybe that's just me (there's your solution, Lorna, let the valet guy park your car! then nobody can make fun of your parking job.)

Last night was a weird confluence of events: having a wretched head cold AND having money in my wallet, I ordered in spicy stuff for dinner last night, from New Grand View (yes, thank God, they still deliver to my neighbourhood despite their recent move). I ordered Hot and Sour soup, extra-spicy General Tso's chicken, and Shanghai Noodles, which are my new staple instead of fried rice, although I really should get something with vegetables in... I guess I broke the threshold as I got free eggrolls with that, total including tax was $24.45. The Hot and Sour I didn't want by the time the food came (very hot, in exactly 45 minutes as promised), so I can't really say anything about that (hope it heats up well!), but the chicken was just great, spicy enough that I had some tingle in my mouth afterward (and could taste through my poor dead tastebuds). Extra garlic in there and peppers, with broccoli and celery, sprinkled with sesame seeds. I expect it to be even spicier today The Shanghai noodles are nice and thick in their sauce, but not overdone and mushy, with a few shredded veggies and some thin shreds of (I think) beef, all fried up. I have some good leftovers to carry me through a few days! Apologies for the lack of pictures, blame it on the cold.

HEV-ee ← the "Creu" part is like the oo in goody, not the oo in toot. And the "set" I would say nearly like say, but a bit shorter...more like the eh in meh. ← I'd use a "z" consonant for the "s" in "Creuset." Is that incorrect? ← No, not at all...in describing French I'm usually concentrating on how to convey the vowel sounds, but it's definitely a Z sound rather than an S sound. *sigh* Clearly, I'm better at speaking in French than making phonetic descriptions. I left out the whole R question, too; in an English context, I don't always bother to say French words the same way I would if I were in Paris (or if I were in Montréal, which would be different again) so just avoided altogether the whole throaty R/non-throaty R. Completely properly, it's the throaty R. In a North American shop, chances are very good that it's not a throaty R, for me.

HEV-ee ← the "Creu" part is like the oo in goody, not the oo in toot. And the "set" I would say nearly like say, but a bit shorter...more like the eh in meh.

BAD! Is that where the cougars eat before they go to wine tastings?

Oh, I'm with you on the mashed potatoes, for sure. I like lots of "hot" foods cold, but mashed potatoes isn't one of them.

My last Davie Street Vera burger was dripping...I'm pretty sure there was meat juice in there along with the toppings. *drooling* Must go to Moderne burger soon to try them!

Divalasvegas: you cannot have expected a level of truth in advertising that would lead each restaurant to seek out each patron's mother's meatloaf recipe and duplicate it for them on demand? Rather, pity the chef, whose mother's meatloaf clearly did not compare to that made by yours. In my house, it's my dad's meatloaf that rules. But don't tell my mother that.

Cau?

UGH! that's where I had those nachos. I had forgotten. I may be OK with canned olives, but I completely draw the line at barbecue and BAKED BEANS on nachos. Sorry. I'm glad you enjoyed yours.

That was my wedding-cake-baking egg frenzy in January. Just the only pic I had handy.

I have a small pan my mother brought me from Spain, visible in this pic ...you could borrow it for appropriate compensation...I'm thinking sangria might do.

Back when I lived on Bowen Island and would stop at the Troller Pub (not to be mistaken for Troll's Fish & Chips restaurant) in Horseshoe Bay on Friday afternoons for a couple of attitude adjusting beverages prior to catching the ferry, my girlfriends and I would almost always order nachos. I love nachos, but I am not particularly picky about them: if they have a goodly amount of cheese, lots and lots of jalapeños, and some black olives (even canned, I don't care), and come with some salsa, some guac, and some sour cream, then I'm a happy girl. So by my criteria, the Troller has good nachos. I'm not sure what nacho purists might say about them though. Also, I have not sampled them in many a moon. Edited to change "loved on Bowen Island" to "lived on Bowen Island" although either is correct, really...

I can't eat there for that very reason, the aroma simply turns my stomach.

They made an inferior sandwich for the wrong guy...provolone instead of blue? Shocking!

I've never heard of sweet soft pretzels :scared: Warm, salted, yellow mustard, preferably off a cart in Philly or New York; at GM Place in a pinch.

Not particularly luxe, but the Jasper Inn was nice when I stayed there a few years back, I had a studio room on two levels. They have a restaurant, but I didn't eat there. I have no restaurant recommendations as I was mostly eating in my room on that trip. The coolest part of staying there was watching the elk eating the flowers from the hanging baskets in the parking lot. I have some pretty funny pics.

My first entry in this thread...and I didn't know if I should put it in the PMS thread Dinner tonight: a half-pound of strip streak (I think that's what they called it on the label ) on the George Foreman and some pickled beets (I've been craving beets!) and the greater part of a bag of salad with hothouse English cucumber and good quality Russian dressing (another craving...what can I say?). Pretty good! and some Pralines and Cream ice cream later, more than likely.

Oh, wait, I forgot about The Ivy (it was very long ago). So 7.

I have eaten at only 6 of those restaurants. Clearly, I'm not eating out enough, contrary to what my banker keeps telling me.

There was okra!! I picked a few big chunks out. But the gumbo is soooo good, I will even eat bits of okra.

There is. How great would it be to instead of having the irritating ice cream man shatter the peace with his tape loop of "The Entertainer" cranked to eleven on his loudspeaker the soothing tones of the soup man were to ring out. In Indonesia a guy with a cart wanders the streets making fresh bowls of soup from his self contained cart. Think Mr. Tube Steak but with Laksa. And mobile. l ← Like Mr. Kim in The Fith Element! the airborne junk pulling up to your (highrise) window!

I have a grocery bill here...I am very brand-driven when I notice a difference: I get Quaker oats for oatmeal (the big ones) versus the destroyed supermarket ones; I buy Catelli pasta over the supermarket ones because I do notice a difference in taste, but I usually won't spend double the money for the fancy stuff; I usually buy the Bick's pickles versus no-name; and nothing but Heinz will ever be my ketchup. I prefer to buy Green Giant frozen veg, but will cave and buy Safeway if they're on sale. I usually buy decent jasmine or basmati rice. I buy Hob-Nobs (excellent oatmeal cookies) exclusively, but will get budget fig bars, ginger snaps or sandwich cookies from time to time. On the other hand, I buy more Peek Freans than any other cookie. I suppose if my budget constraints were greater, or I were feeding kids, I would buy more generic/store brand items.

I'm guessing that Philly's scene has improved drastically in the 10 years since I left...La Truffe was one of the "best" then and I have seldom been so unimpressed with a "good" restaurant. I did enjoy Le Bec-Fin. I left when the Striped Bass phenomenon was happening...and have not eaten in a Stephen Starr resto, preferring substance over style and trendy people any day, which I understand was what Striped Bass was like, then: good food, but very loud and flashy. (I avoid loud and flashy here in Vancouver, too.) When people try to compare Vancouver to cities like Philadelphia, I have to look at relative populations (I think we're at maybe 25% of Phila's population? maybe less, if you include the Main Line and other suburbanites who dine in the city), so obviously there's going to be a number differential off the bat; and I look at the fact that Philadelphia was founded more than 100 years before Vancouver, and hence has a little more tradition than we do; and then I look at the relative "lifestyles" which I will illustrate with the relative lack of pinstripes and exponentially greater incidence of fleece we have here. I'm not expressing myself well, but I don't think it's a fair comparison. ETA: I would say many of our restaurants rely on the scenery, rather than the decor.