canucklehead

Thanks for the heads up Anchoress - I was in the neigbourhood and really enjoyed my breakfast. The sides included sweet caramelly yams mixed into their home fries - very good. JJBean house coffee, nice side salads with all entrees. Its a great neighbourhood joint - friendly ethusiastic service, and cooking that has a slight twist - without getting ahead of itself. Hatch (RIP) on Main St could have taken a cues from Roundel.

As Arne said - I thought lunch was quite good. Restrained but well executed cooking. Pricing puts into direct competition with places like Feenie's - which is a difficult position. Still - the room is comfortable and the banquettes generously sized. Funny thing about eggs - I probably would have loved that degree of doness. I recently went to lunch at a neighbourhood diner (Roundel Cafe on E. Hastings) and I orded my eggs sunny side up soft. Ideally - they would be completely liquid, just warmed through and slightly thickened. Mmmmmmm. The came cooked through on the bottom - a slight disapointment for me. Everyone else I know though - likes their eggs cooked through. Perhaps a doneness chart is required - like for steak.

What a lovely issue -- I especially love the two heart-warming and witty excerpts from Anny Scoones' books. I was in hog-heaven reading and re-reading the publication, until my thoughts started drifting off to the upcoming Christmas Party Dinner -- HOLD ON A SEC! It's not quite snout to tail coverage really... ... it has left out the venerable Caul Fat!!! So, could anyone be so kind as to let me know where in the Lower Mainland I might be able to get caul fat? It's urgently needed for my Christmas dinner...! ← You'll have to contact a good butcher obviously. I check with Windsor Meats in West Van or Main Street first, then maybe Peter Black and Son's. Good luck.

Finally checked out Ho Yuen Kee tonight with two other friends. Did not have the stuffed duck that sushi boy was referring to - but it was still all good. The place is totally what the average working class HK family would go to for dinner - it felt like I was in a Mongkok (Hong Kong) restaurant trying to be fancy (complete with crazy baroque dining chairs). The menu offers a wide range of dished done in the HK fashion. The cooking is fast n' furious and the flavors are clean and fresh. Not the super-refined cooking of Sea Harbour - but done just as well in its way. We had Dungeness Crab over Sticky Rice, Beef Brisket and Turnips (thinly sliced brisket and braised daikon in a clear broth), Chui Chow Duck (duck poached in soy based sauce served with garlic vinegar) and Stirred Fried Choy Sum. The crab is wok fried and served over sticky rice tossed with shallots, roe, and frozen corn(!). Great dish - crab was HOT, fresh and stirred fried quickly in a light sauce to preserve its fresh flavors. The rice was awesome - perfectly toothsome, absorbing the crab flavors - and the corn totally worked to bring out the sweetness of the crab and cut the richness. The beef brisket is served in a very clear broth deeply flavored with star anise - a very clean fresh preparation - absolutely delicous. The duck is an excellent example of Chui Chow cooking - the duck is served at room temp with a dip of white vinegar and raw garlic to balance the richness of the duck. Dessert was fresh soft tofu with ginger syrup a warm, soft, and light tasting (a little bland) textural experience. Everything was $100 t&t included. The crab was probably about half of it - ~ 3lbs @ $13.80/lb. Good!

Went last night and enjoyed the food tremendously. Stand outs for me were the oysters with horse radish snow - fresh, refreshing flavours that did not overwhelm the oysters, foie gras bon bon's - fluffy mousse w/ tart fruit puree and pistachios, slow cooked lamb loin w/candied butternut squash, and the desserts - a chocolate fondant, and a nutmeg pannacotte (perfectly set between liquid and solid). $42.50 for three courses, $69 for a bottle of 2004 Black Hills Note Bene - tremendous value. Cooking is really assured and confident, no hint of opening week jitters - the "composed" plating and flavours skated that line between innovation and simplicity perfectly. Service is a little nervous feeling - but it's really a minor point. Really enjoyable evening. Great job guys

Do you mean O Thai? I went this Friday - kinda underwhelmed also.

I walked past Rare on Saturday night. The room was busy and seemed to have the nice buzz of happy diners. In fact - whenever I go by lately - it seems consistently full of people enjoying their food. When all is said and done - those are the reviews that matter the most.

I've always thought that Heather had created a really great place with Diner - I am glad that she has decided to continue with producing her top notch baked goods and desserts at her new venue. They were always of the highest quality and delicousness. Obviously the new team is going to make a tremendous run with Lucky Diner. As an absolute fanatic of Salt - I am really looking forward to checking this place out. Their restraining order against me runs out soon - ha! I thumb my nose at the law.

← I got the book very recently and I am enjoying leafing through it - it is nice to see ingredient lists (halibut, venison, etc...) that are so tailored to the PNW. The recipes look like they will produce lighter and brighter food then the usual Moghul cooking that is found in restaurants and other cookbooks. I know what you mean about the liquid measures - they seem very high. How has the seasoning tasted? If it seems adaquately seasoned - then it would seem that's the expected final product. I was eating at Vij's recently and I noted just how light the sauces were (perhaps some would say watery) - but the flavors were still bright and fresh. I am looking forward trying out some of the recipes soon.

FYI - From Chris Brown of Rise Bakery The Pannetone and Panforte sound amazing...

Dude - that's pretty hardcore - especially with how hot some of these things get. When I got the pan fried buns ('san jeen bau') at Chen's Kitchen - they were smoking hot - even after sitting for about 5 minutes - molten lava HOT. I hope you always have a glass of ice water to help you cool things off - I don't think hot tea would be useful if things got out of hand.

Sorry sam - I am confused - is what you are looking for unsweetened cocoa powder? Or sugar free cocoa mix?

Dude - went based upon your recommendation and you know what? I think we have a new XLB Champeen. They were swollen and full of soup like the place on Granville St, but thin skinned and the soup was clear, bright, light and delicous. Very Very GOOD! I mean - I can't think how they could improve. Damn you - just when I thought I found a Vancouver XLB place that could satisfy my needs. Also had the pan fried buns (also full of soup - but molten hot like magma). And the best chinese dessert I have had in a very long time. Black sesame seed puff pastry. Delicious - the pastry skin was so flaky and light - perfect foil for sweet, dark - almost bitter - filling. Excellent! The pastry is all made in house - the quality is certainly top flight. The owner's daughter apparently has opened an outpost at the Metrotown food court - but I have no first hand knowledge of the place. It's my understanding is that the owners have owned other places before and have looked hard for the current location. Their track record seems to be things are very very good at first - but then if they get too busy - quality goes down hill as they can't keep things cooking quickly enough. So for the sake of maintaining quality - they have implemented a "no new customer" policy. The cut-off was today at lunch. From now on - they will require that you produce an old bill to show that you are a "old time customer". No new customers allowed until and old one dies. Don't go and get them all busy now. I mean it.

Is it indeed pork shoulder? That's what I thought too, until Henry's mom and my parents all insisted it was from a part of the upper thigh. I know, of course, that "ti pang" is the name of the pig part--do you know whether it's shoulder or thigh? I plan on making this dish for some guests next week. Thanks. ← I think your Parents may be right - looking at the picture it looks like it could be the shank end of a ham (the part closer to the knee of the pig - the butt end would be closer to the shoulder or rump). A whole shank end ham can weigh as much as 10lbs so there must be more trimming of the 'leg' end to get a nice round thick meaty piece. When I lived in Shanghai - my mom would come visit and she would always go to a yunan ham shop near by - it was hung with whole legs of ham that is really the Chinese version of proscuitto (or is THAT something else Marco Polo took back with him to Italy - I kid of course). She would always insist that she only get the piece from the upper thigh - not the coarser butt end and not the less meaty shank end. She would buy something like 10 at time and pay a heavy premium - the other customers would look at her like she was some crazy HK lady. Our parent's generation seem to know these things instinctively - and insist on the best quality possible. Let us know how your version turns out and share the recipe if its a winner. I suspect its a lot of work (boiling, oven braising, defatting the sauce.... phew!)

Went and checked it out - in Chinese the name means "Old Place" or "the Regular Place" - meaning old hang out. The XLB were very good - swollen with soup and the broth itself was clean and sweet. Came with shredded ginger and good vinegar. The skin was a little thick - and I would have to say that I like the Shanghai Wind ones a little better. But really, when the XLB are this good - this is splitting hairs. The rest of their dim sum items are quite good also. The Shanghainese Sesame Cakes were savory, flakey and filled with a sweet meaty filling (sounds odd - I know). Not greasy at all. And the day we were there - the Wo Tip or Chinese Fried Dumplings were very good - crispy skin and juicy. The filling was a mix of pork and chopped spinach - not quite as savory as the XLB. Also had the preserved vegetable/shredded pork with hand pulled noodles and broth. Nice clean tasting broth and good chew to the noodles - a bland contrast to the stronger flavored things we had been eating. Thanks for the heads up -its a great place. And for those of us who live in Vancouver - it means that we don't have to schlep all the way to Richmond for a good soup bun fix. The servies is great and the waitresses speak reasonably good english. Not too busy so it was easy getting a table. Their front door closes very slowly though - so the cold air kept rushing in - the place was freezing. Small price to pay though. Next up - I want to head back to Top Shanghai and try out the braised pork shoulder that Ling posted about - looks incredible. Also I've heard good things about the new Shanghainese place on Park Rd in Richmond. As it has been pointed out by others - all the new and exciting places opening up seem to be Northern Chinese food. Have not heard of a new Cantonese place causing a buzz in a while. PS - LauraF - I can't think of a place that will deliver good Soup Buns - plus you need to eat them fresh and hot - not the sort of thing that travels well at all. If you have a steamer (even if it is a vegetable steamer) - you can steam XLB at home. Lay a leaf of lettuce on the steamer and then place the frozen XLB on top and steam until they are hot and juicy. Balsamic vinegar sharpened up with some white vinegar and sesame seed oil would make a good dip. I think Hon's sells them and they can certainly be picked up at TNT. Will not be as good as eating in a restaurant - but certainly much better than delivery.

Bitters are stocked at supermarkets also (with mixers and club soda). Should not be a difficult to find. A could of dashes of bitters even in ginger ale and lemon/lime sodas are nice and refreshing.

I've been hitting HSG as my go to place when I get a steak craving. Had the 24oz Rib Eye - and it was perfectly done (MR on the Rare side). A tremendous steak at an excellent price (same steak at Morton's or Gothams would be double the price) - great service and a good selection of drinks. Great food done in a relaxed and easy manner. Perfect for chilly evenings.

I think we had the same thing: "Golden Sand" pumpkin or similar (that's what we determined from the Chinese characters). I don't think they're made from panko... just seemed to be some egg and flour batter and then fried. A big plate of just that for $8.95. ← I think that "golden sand" may be the salted duck egg sauce. Genius!! Thanks for the heads up - I am definitely going to try this place...

Here is a video of my brother's octopus meal - that tentacle really wriggles. My brother is laughing at the sheer ridicoulousness of it all. That being said - he said it was very good and obviously fresh.

My brother is in Korea right now and his hosts ordered up live octopus delicacy for him. Could not say 'no'. The tentacles are definitely moving and he had to chew hard before swallowing - but he said they were suprisingly delicous.

Woo Hoo - thanks for the heads up - I LOVE diners.

You may want to try out Chinese Vegetarian while you are in Vancouver. It's Bhuddist based so even onions and garlic are not used (makes the food too pleasurable apparently). However - oddly enough - I have seen dairy used at these restaurants - so technically they are not Vegan. Here is another vegatarian listing for you to check out. A number of Chinese places are listed. Word of advice - stay away from anything that proports to mimic meat - pressed tofu and gluten - nasty!

I went over a year ago - it was good but I have not been in a while. Here's the orginal post. I liked it alot at the time. Just haven't found the time to go again.

I got to sample a little of Wim Tas's chocolates today and they were very very good. Some of the flavors were particularly interesting - rose infused and earl grey infused ganaches. The flavorings were subtle but present - and did a nice job of accentuating the dark chocolate. It reminded me of the stuff you can get from RichArt (sp?) - but less showy. If you get a chance to sample them when they are at GI on the weekend - do so. I think they are pretty darn good. Oh - but I was mistaken on getting a discount (see above) - still I will be getting some this year for the holiday season.

I usually end up at crystal hunan across from crystal mall in burnaby. I haven't had much other hunan cuisine to compare it to really, but I've always really enjoyed the food here. ← That was mentioned upthread - I've been wanting to try it. Is it on Kingsway near Metrotown?