flowbee

I know this is an old thread, but i just had to put yet another vote in for Budapest Cafe on Main. I've been there about 3x and enjoyed every time...always left stuffed and happy, with doggy bag to boot. My only previous schnitzel experience was at the German pub/restaurant/club at Victoria Dr & 33rd, but the schnitzel at Budapest was much tastier and crispier. (Is it a German schnitzel vs Hungarian schnitzel thing?) I love their spaetzle! <digression> I loved the spaetzle so much, I tried making it at home by pushing batter through a slotted spoon over a pot of boiling water, and it worked! It was a bit laborious though, and kinda messy. I want one of these Spaetzle Makers </digression> The big platter where you get a bit of everything is the best -- a no-brainer way of ordering. Anyone know if any of their beers are good?

another taiwanese place called Lingering Flavor: here we got a combo with beef ribs (deep tasty ribs!) on the left (also includes some veg and a soy sauce marinated egg), your typical beef noodle soup on the right, and deep fried chicken ankles on the top right. they sprinkle a bit of spicy chili powder on the finished product. the crispy batter and the crunchy cartilage is great! google map it's located right beside the London Drugs...weird location, but convenient! Edit: i took this picture around Nov/Dec last year.

i just watched it! thanks for the heads-up. it was...uh...interesting. vera's looks good, but could the cook at wally's press the patties even more!? they even weigh them down with a cement spreader....ugh.

about durian...i love it to death! however, i gorged myself on it for a whole summer a couple years ago after being introduced/subjected to it. i'd bring one home every weekend...sadly, i think i burned myself out on it. most of the ones available around here are from thailand, and they've been frozen. the frozen ones turn out really really creamy/custardy. the fresh (never been frozen) ones are harder to find, but the flesh is quite different...more firm. but it's still all stinky. the trick is to resist opening one until it's ripe. when it starts cracking open by itself, it's getting ripe

is that the spongy thin long noodle usually served near the end of chinese banquets? i love that stuff! kids love that stuff! although it scares me cuz i think they're flash fried in oil like how most instant noodles are...my mom had some in the cupboard and it was big round block of dry fried noodles which (i guess) get soaked and cooked.

i have an obsession with "stinky tofu", which is a taiwanese dish that's basically fermented tofu that is deep fried. it's been compared to halitosis, foot odor, etc. i find it really delicious! when you put it in your mouth, the aroma wafts throughout your mouth and nose like a really nice cheese. it's so awesome. couple links: wikipedia review/analysis unfortunately it's been banned in my city, so i can't find it anywhere!

yeah, we recently discovered this place as well. i had the spicy beef noodle soup with thick noodles. it was good, except it was just way to spicy to enjoy. now, i love spicy food, but this was just killing me! that layer of chili oil on top of the soup, combined with the temperature of the soup, oh man... next time i'm getting non-spicy with thin noodle, and a side dish of chili sauce... the thick noodles were also clumping and sticking together, so maybe the thin noodles would be easier to eat. we also had the deep fried tofu, which was really smooth and creamy inside. definitely yummy! too bad they don't serve it "stinky-style" the ground pork on rice was excellent--the tastiest i've ever had, although i've only tried it at Crystal Mall, Lingering Flavor, and some places in Richmond before...but i like how they give you a lot of pickled veg on top. that and the short grained rice is a great flavour combination. their green onion pancake and beef wrap is ok...i always want more sauce and meat inside, but most places are kinda stingy. plus i'm kinda sick of that dish cuz it's just so heavy and filling. but i'll definitely go back there to check out their other dishes. i do like how it's clean and it's 24 hours

i have to mention Cheong Le market on Rupert and E. 22nd (map). It's actually sorta across the street from Senhor Roosters. It's a vietnamese-run grocery store with a deli counter beside the checkouts. We used to buy a lot of banh mi from there when i used to work in surrey, and I'd just swing by there after work to buy some to supplement dinner, or go there on the weekends to stock up on nem nuong and durian and buy a nice banh mi lunch -- a nice reward for all the hard work grocery shopping. They've got vietnamese snacks/desserts too, just like at Kingsway Deli. Anyways, we've always found the banh mi there to be tasty and reliable. they were $2.25 although it might have changed cuz we haven't been there in a while. i think the little extra kick from the maggi sauce is what makes it. i know the bread's not as fresh as TBD, and the ingredients are probably the exact same stuff as at other places, but after sampling banh mi from all around the city, we always liked how it tastes at Cheong Le a little bit better. Cheong Le opened up a second location on Victoria Drive near 49th (there used to be a liquor store there in the late 80s), and they've got a banh mi counter there too, but it's not as good...turnover is poor there. btw, i love the "fried meat sticks" (i call them that. they look like pale yellow/orange hot dogs) at Kingsway Deli. I just chomp on them straight. well, maybe with a crusty bun and a beer... my father-in-law really liked them the last time they were in town.

wow, i'm flabbergasted! although i don't doubt that it happened in the least. i do love their singapore chili crab though it's common to be hustled out the door at asian restaurants when it's really busy, but that's the first time i've heard of that particular technique. maybe try banana leaf next time?

man i'm stuffed! here's what we just had at Chilo's Taqueria: Top 2 tacos are carnitas, bottom 2 are beef (they say it's a part of the cow called "salero", it's from the side of the cow...not sure about the spelling). We loved them...my wife loves stringy meat (like beef brisket cubes), so she was all over these. In the upper left is my mug of cerveza Some people might think the meat is a little dry, but I thought it was very flavourful. The owner recommending putting the red salsa on the pork and the green salsa on the beef. The salsas were good, and actually had a bit of heat to them. Corn soup served with tortilla chips...we put them in the soup, so I guess it's sorta like a tortilla soup. Tomatoey base. We added a squeeze of lemon and some herbs that they had on the table. Beef tripe soup. Had that stinky tripe smell...but not that I minded at all. I loooove tripe! This one was served with warm tortillas that I put the tripe into and ate. Seems like it was cooked a long time, the tripe was very soft. Yummy! We thought both soups would taste the same, but they actually tasted pretty different from each other, so they're probably seperate soups. They also had a third soup with shrimp (owner said it was a "brown soup"), which we might try next time. There's no written menu, but I think the soups were $5. The tacos are $1.25 each. We already love this place because there are so few places in the Lower Mainland that serve tacos simpy like this (ie. tacos singley, not part of a combo platter).

I found a place in my neighborhood called "Chilo's Taqueria". I think it just opened up. I've eaten there the past couple weekends, and it tastes pretty good imho. Reminds us of the tacos we ate at street stands in the back alleys of Cabo San Lucas (don't laugh--the trip was free). They've got cabeza, lengua, etc. They serve them with just onions and cilantro. 1 green and 1 red salsa at the table, limes, salt. $1.25 each, you just gotta try em English is not very strong there, so maybe brush up on your spanish before going. As far as I know, starting April 1st they're gonna have regular hours... M-F 5-10, S-S 11-9. Right now, I think they're just doing weekends until their big opening. Give it a shot and tell me what you think! Here's a map link: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=51...015719,0.048752 The exact address is just a guess, but it's definitely on that block, beside the <s>Esso</s> Chevron station. There's another mexican/honduran restaurant a few doors down, but me and my wife have tried some of their stuff and were not impressed at all. But definitely give Chilo's a try...now Victoria Dr. might not just be known for pho and banh mi btw I'm new here...my first post!