Vancouver Lee

Since the thread is titled "Openings and closings", I thought I'd add an opening I noticed this weekend... The Kathmandu Cafe at Grandview and Commercial. It seems they intend to open in April. The sign in the window (and the very basic web site) speaks of Nepali and Tibetan food. Sounds interesting....

Our Easter dinner tonight was Rack of Lamb prepared with a marinade and rub as described in Ron Shewchuk's book "Barbecue Secrets". Awesome. The lamb was accompanied by roasted beets, a green salad. Hot brownies with chocolate ice cream for dessert.

Here is dessert: Gingerbread with Creme Anglais and Raspberry Coulis

Wow, Lee, that looks good. I submit that horse meat for breakfast is more a sign of a died-in-the-wool eGulleter than having leftover bearnaise! We tried to make it over the Columbus today, but somehow we were sucked of course by the lure of pizza from Da Francesco's!

Holy Eating Out, Batman!!! Three more meals out in the last 2 days. Tuesday, lunch at the aforementioned Memphis Blues. I, too, had a pulled pork sandwich with extra sauce that was great. Fries, a Boylan grape soda and tons of napkins to accompany it. Wednesday lunch, Long's Noodle House with Canucklehead, Mooshmouse, Mooshmouse Jr., Peppyre, Daddy-A and Ling. Not much to look at, and I'm not totally sure what we ate (other than turnip cakes ), but it was all delish. I left mostly full, and I got change back from the $10 I put in to cover my share of the bill. Thursday lunch: The Keg on Thurlow. Frozen shrimp cocktail and a middling prime rib with baked potato and a side of shrooms. An unfortunate end to one heck of a week food-wise. Tonight: Kraft dinner in front of the TV.

I totally agree, Appreciator. My original reaction to horse meat was "yuck", but I forced myself to put that behind me and try it. I'm sooooo glad I did.

Yes and Yes. I don't recall the exact wine, but I think Eric was going to email Moreno for the details. I think Moreno said the winery only produces 50,000 cases a year. It was lovely.

I'll step in for Lee ... The full gallery: Horse Meat Dinner at Bis Moreno Be sure you put a towel down on the keyboard first!! A. ← Thanks, Arne! You can also click here for an off-site hosted photo...

It was, Lorna. We were thinking about you, too, sitting just upstairs!

It was a tenderloin.

We didn't ask. Moreno did say that cooking horse more than MR at the most results in tough, flavourless meat. I assume that would apply to all cuts.

The full gallery: Horse Meat Dinner at Bis Moreno

Here's the main course: Horse Meat at Bis Moreno.

This course was spring salmon and sea bream which were both done ceviche style with lemon juice and sea salt. The two sauces were a thyme and lemon sauce with the salmon and ??? (I don't remember ) ← Amazing what a good night's sleep will do - it was an arugula sauce. I have the photos now, too. I'll post them shortly.

I know this is a DOV thread, but I wanted to add a post-script to my earlier comments about my disappointing meal at Bis Moreno during Dine Out. I had the pleasure of enjoying a private chef's tasting dinner tonight that was truly excellent in every way. Service, food, wine, value - it was all truly stupendous. It would seem that Bis Moreno was having a bad night when we were there, as they proved tonight that they are first class establishment. Moreno's cooking is tremendous and the staff are excellent. Well done, guys, and thank you for a truly memorable night. To my fellow eGulleters, don't hesitate to give Bis Moreno another try - the DOV experience would seem to be an aberration.

Shelora, I did think of you tonight at Bis Moreno. I cannot over-emphasize how good our horse tenderloin was. I'll post details about our meal in the "Last 3 Meals" thread, but some info we picked up tonight from Moreno is more appropriate here: 1) He gets his horse meat (indeed, most of his meat) at Columbus Meats at Renfrew and 1st. Apparently they sell between 1/4 and 1/2 of a horse every week. 2) Columbus gets their horses from Alberta, where they are raised for slaughter. 3) Jamie was quite right in his post upthread - the older a horse is, the more tender the meat. Curious, as that's exactly the opposite of beef. 4) One of the gentlemen dining with us tonight (a non-eGulletter) ran into a guy recently who is the meat export business. It seems that an entire planeload of live horses is shipped from Calgary to Japan each week. The horses are finished in Japan, and the choice ones are chosen for human consumption. 5) It costs about $4 per pound more than beef. For those of you curious about the taste, it's better than the very piece of beef you've ever had in your life. Seriously. There is just the slightest hint of gaminess (spelling???), but if you didn't know you were eating horse, it could easily pass for beef. It's served rare, and the meat is buttery-soft. If it were readily available and wouldn't squick the odd dinner guest, I'd cook, serve and eat it over beef in a heartbeat.

My last post was Friday, and here it is on Monday and I've already eaten at three restaurants!!!! Woo-Hooo! It's good to be back in the groove! Saturday night: Kalamata at Broadway and Cambie. Very good greek food in a non-fancy, home-style place. Great value. See the Over/Under thread for details. Sunday night: Adesso with the eGullet army. Monday night: The horse meat tasting dinner at Bis Moreno. Edible Vancouver arranged for a private chef's tasting dinner at Bis Moreno for those interested in trying horse meat. The timing was too soon after the Adesso dinner, I suppose, as the only eGullet folks to attend were Eric and myself, and we were joined by Ron Shewchuck, a very nice fellow who writes a column for Toro magazine about meat, and is also the reigning Canadian BBQ champion! Moreno had 5 courses planned for the three of us. I deeply regret not bringing a notepad along to record all the details of what was served, as sitting here typing this (only a few hours later) I cannot recall all the details. I'll do my best (Eric, please correct me if I make any mistakes): We got started with a Campari and soda cocktail and a roasted pheasant with asparagus sauce (plus a white sauce that I've forgotten) amuse-bouche. First course was asparagus soup with white truffle oil. Moreno told us it's one of his signature dishes, and I can see why. Incredible. Second course was a pairing of fish, one being a salmon and the other a white fish that I also cannot remember. Eric - HELP! Moreno has a wonderfully delicate touch that really shines through in dishes like this (particularly in the sauces). My third course was (Eric and Ron had something different - I'll let Eric explain) homemade agnolotti with braised veal topped with a tomato sauce. Melt-in-your-mouth pasta and rich tasty veal made this pasta a real treat. I understand that Bis Moreno has a pasta tasting menu that is now very high on my "must try soon" list. And then, the main course: Grilled Horse Tenderloin. We were all just blown away at how good this was. Moreno served it rare, as apparently the flavour evaporates and it gets tough when cooked beyond MR, and the meat was honestly like butter. It had been marinated in a touch of red wine with a sprig of sage, a bay leaf, carrots, celery and onions for 7-8 hours, and cooked on a flat grill. There was the slightest of gamey tastes in the outer crust, but you really had to look for it to notice it. You would have no problem at all passing this off as beef, and you'd have people raving about how wonderful it was. Truly, it was better than the best piece of meat I've ever had in my life. Desert was, in the words of Moreno, "Grown-Up Jello". Quail's gate Reisling and sheet gelatine with red grapes suspended in it. Yum yum yum. There were 5 different wines served, individually paired with each course. There was not a weak wine in the bunch - each was excellent. The somelier really knows his stuff. In the words of Ron, the pairings fit like a jigsaw puzzle. I really wish I brought a notebook with me so I could remember what they were! Hopefully Eric's memory is better than mine. Ron promised to email me the photos he took, so as soon as they are available I'll post them. I'll also edit this post as I remember more..... I'll never look at a horse the same way again.

Jamie, have you had the portobella mushroom burger at the Fairmont YVR? ← No, at least I don't recollect it. Is it a whole portabella in lieu of beef, or is the mushroom sliced and added as a topping? Before you respond though VL, I'd better 'fess up that in our household, we pretty much use portabella/os as replacement hubcabs for our fleet of vintage Fiats. ← No hubcaps on the "Airport Burger", Jamie, they slice it up and use it as a topping.

Dave, we found the lamb at Kalamata to be pretty good. Large portions of both shoulder and chops and very reasonable prices.

Of course not!! Of course, this is coming from the woman that is always single at these things. ← Table for 3, Tricia, Lee, and Sasha? James had to cancel for tonight. ← Holy Short Notice, Batman! I'm stag tonight - no babysitter and Tricia was out for a run late this afternoon and hurt her ankle.

If it does, you'll have company. I'm going stag, too. :-)

Here's another one to add to the Underrated list: Kalamata Greek Taverna on Broadway, a few doors East of Cambie. I dined there this evening with our neighbours, who are pseudo-regulars there. It's a nice neighbourhood restaurant with quite good food. The saganaki was excellent, as was the lamb chops and the prawn & scallop souvlaki. The wine list is rather uninspired but is very inexpensive, and what is lacking in wine is more than compensated for by the food. Don't go if you're in a hurry - service is slow, but very very friendly. Reservations are a must (on the weekend, at least).

It occurs to me that Godiva's is meant to be entertainment, not a documentary on life behind the scenes in a Vancouver restaurant. Shouldn't we be judging the show through that lens? I'm sure real forensic investigators don't drive Hummers and wear Armani suits, but that doesnt stop CSI from being a very popular series. Disclaimer: I have yet to watch the show. Got it on tape but haven't found the time yet. Perhaps Level 10 Suckitude will make me less generous.

After two weeks of non-stop soul-destroying work, I'm happy to report that my real life has resumed. My last three restaurant meals (excluding a kid-requested trip to Wendy's): Hy's in Calgary for lunch on Tuesday. This meal started off promising but in the end was very disappointing. My seared ahi tuna appetizer was good. Nicely peppery crust and fresh, flavourful tuna. But unfortunately my filet was overcooked and nowhere near as flavourful as a filet was supposed to be. If I wasn't there with a customer I would have sent it back and asked for a properly cooked one. I didn't bother to order a veggie (why delude my body into thinking this meal might have some redeeming qualities?) but the gym-bag-sized potato wasn't completely cooked through. Go Fish! for lunch with the eGullet mafia today. As usual, who can say anything bad about a meal with such a nice group of people??? I had Go Fish's awesome fish and chips, and deeply regretted not ordering the soup. Cru for dinner tonight with my wife and my sister-in-law and her husband from Turanna. We did the small plates menu, and shared the following: ceasar salad, capraccio, lobster, papardella (<-- spelling?) bolognese, short ribs, duck confit, and the mushrooms. Simply awesome. This was our first visit to Cru, and we were very impressed. Terrific service and even better food. My sister-in-law thinks we totally rock now. At the risk of being branded a heathen, I must admit I don't recall exactly what we were drinking - it was an Oregon pinot, but beyond that...???. After dinner at Cru, we ventured into Yaletown for dessert.......bet you can't guess where? Yup, two more people drank the kool-aid at Neil's place. Neil, for someone who didn't like Godiva's, there's an awfully big ad for it in your men's room. Not that our guests from Toronto minded, however - they have somewhat of a "connection" to the show, and were most happy to see the publicity.

Jamie, have you had the portobella mushroom burger at the Fairmont YVR?