canucklehead
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Posts posted by canucklehead
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^I'll ask my parents when they get home where the HK Maxim mooncakes came from. They frequently go to Empire Supermarket so perhaps they got them there, but I'll double check and make sure.
Oh - they are HK Maxim mooncakes... so going to the Maxim bakery on Victoria will only result in disappointment for me. See how confusing it is for the consumer?
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They also got a box of the HK Maxim "iced pastry" ones. They had coffee, strawberry, chestnut, and mango flavour. I liked the coffee one best, but they were all good. (For those who aren't familiar with this style of mooncake, the filling is more like a light ice-cream than the regular bean paste stuff.)
Where can these be purchased? T&T Supermarket?
I did not see them at T&T when I was there... I am going to check out the Maxim's on 41st and Victoria (inside the London Drugs Mall) on the way home. More taste tests!
BTW - this was the branch of Maxim's that made me think that the Vancouver business may have been purchased by the HK mothership - it looks exactly the same as a HK branch. Local business that use HK business names need to be careful - I remember that a local business was sued by a HK business and lost - the judge said that the local business was using goodwill that had been generated by the original HK business.
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This pastry, unlike the ones you unfortunately got, was great! They're not exactly ice-cream as they only need to be stored in the fridge as opposed to the freezer. Once they are out of the fridge, they soften up pretty quickly though.
Ahhh - the bakeries told me that this is the week that they start with the "Iced" patries - I am guessing that they don't hold as long as the normal pastry.
You know - the whole time I lived in HK, I never had the Iced style (or any Mooncakes really). Mid Autumn festival weather in HK is still soooooo hot! The idea of eating anything heavy was really unappealing.
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They also got a box of the HK Maxim "iced pastry" ones. They had coffee, strawberry, chestnut, and mango flavour. I liked the coffee one best, but they were all good. (For those who aren't familiar with this style of mooncake, the filling is more like a light ice-cream than the regular bean paste stuff.)
Are these diffrent from the style that I posted above? Where they frozen ice cream mooncakes? I've always thought that would be a good idea for a product - Ice Cream Mooncakes. I wish Hagen Daas would get on it.
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Canucklehead - In previous posts, you've raved about the food at Sea Harbour. I had a chance to go on my last trip out to the west coast, and had a very memorable meal there.
The other day, while strolling through an Asian supermarket in Calgary, I stumbled upon boxes upon boxes of mooncakes - made by Sea Harbour. Just wondering if anyone had tried them, and whether or not they were up to par with the rest of their offerings.
I have not tried them - and now you've got me all curious. In HK - alot of restaurants sell mooncakes as they usually have a pastry chef on staff. Now that you bring it up - I think that I saw Gingeri in Vancouver also have mooncakes on sale. I think that they are definitely worth a try - let us know if they are good.
I may do some recon here myself...
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Whole paycheck stocks turkey all the time - both whole and cut-up. Non butter basted. It'll cost big bucks though - you can call ahead to ensure availability and price.
They are also doing a whole cooked Thanksgiving dinner that promises to feed about 6 people for something like $180. Roasted turkey, stuffing, your choice of potatoes, and a choice of three side dishes - can't remember if they include a dessert.
I am so paranoid about a dried out turkey - that I don't think I could ever outsource Thanksgiving dinner.
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Canucklehead-Thanks for taking one for the team. Looks like I need make a trip out to Anna's.
Ling-Is Keefer Baker located on Commercial?
I love mooncakes. Sometimes a big hunk of bean paste wrapped in pastry just hits the spot. I assume there are imported mooncakes available from Hong Kong? Would the quality be better or just (somewhat) stale?
Gosh - no need to thank anyone - just my gastro-curiousity getting the better of me.
Is Keefer Bakery still located on Keefer St in Chinatown? That a good call from Ling - classic old school Chinese-Canadian bakery. Them and Maxim's just up the street are alot of fun to visit. I may just check out their product just to compare.
I wonder if Maxim's is owned by the Maxim's group in HK - I don't think they used to be - but their signage and packaging is so similiar - it makes me think that there has been a change.
When I lived in California - I got the one's sent over by Wing Wah - but I think the local product in Vancouver really stands up to the HK versions. As for going stale - they seemed to be made to last forever. There should be scientific studies conducted to see which ones last longer - Mooncakes or Christmas Fruit Cakes.
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Well - the mid Autumn festival approaches and mooncakes are piling ever higher in Chinese Bakeries. The are supposed to commemorate:
- Some beautiful girl escaping to the moon
- The old man in the moon and his pet rabbit (I don't make this shit up)
- Secret note passing using the mooncakes as the delivery vehicle and smashing the rule of foreigners
Or some combination thereof - but really its just an excuse to hang with family and friends and stare at the big ole moon. Nice sentiment really.
Mooncake time!
Let's not kid ourselves - these are acquired tastes. Lard is very evident and lots of sugar. Still some are much better than others....
I went down to a number of bakeries to check out their offerings. First off Anna's - who have high quality HK style cakes and pastries. I had high hopes for these guys. They only have two offerings - totally old skool and traditional - Red Date Paste with Salted Egg Yolk, Lotus Seed Paste
Tremendous top quality ingredients and preparation. Smooth cutting - high quality egg yolk - the Lotus Seed version is like a muted nut butter - smooth and sweet. The Red Date actually illicited an involuntary "mmmmm" out of me. I liked it! I could probably could eat this one whole.
Next stop was Pine House Bakery - which has a much wider selection of traditional fillings. However - I despise their baking - their bread is dry and cottony and their cocktail buns uses margerine or golden crisco instead of real butter - replusive. Still - I had no choice in the matter - I had to sample their wares.
Sweetened Mixed Nuts, Sweeted Mixed Nuts w/ Ham. These are my mother's favorites. I think them terrible - like someone took all the worse parts of a Christmas cake and stuffed in lardy pastry. Perhaps their sophistication is beyond me - orange peel undertones with mixed chopped nuts that seem just this side of bitter. The addition of ham does not add some sort of proscuitto goodness - think more in terms of cured pork belly. Sounds delish eh? Still good examples of what they are. They also had Shark's Fin mooncakes - but I did not get any. Too weird.
Now on to TNT's offerings. Have you had their baking? Let just say they are a desparate last choice for me... okay let's not prejudice the tasting here.
Dates with Walnuts and Salted Egg Yolk, Longan and Salted Egg Yolk. The date concoction is terrible - kinda like a date candy that the old man down the street who smells of brill cream and dirty fedora carries around - he reaches into his pocket to offer you some never before seen type of date treat - you can't say no, so you accept it and it feels warm in your hand from being in his pocket all day. Medicinal, sickly sweet and mothbally - bad bad bad. And they are cheap with the crappy salted egg yolk. Disaster.
The longan is much better - you can taste the dried longan (kind like a concentrated lychee) and the egg is actually pretty good. However - it also highlights how crappy the pastry is - stale oil tast prevails. A nasty suprise.
Now its on to the newer style offerings. Even Chinese kids will refuse to eat crappy pastry no matter how traditional its supposed to be. Continuing with the TNT offerings....
Tawainese Pineapple Filling, Taro in Iced Pastry, Green Bean in Iced Pastry.
When they call it "Tawainese" I am not sure if it is to assign credit or blame. The Tawainese have produced some real food homeruns - their soup dumplings are a fucking dream... but they also chomp on betelnuts like there's no tommorrow - so can you trust them? The Pineapple filling smells very fruity - and tastes like a light fruit jelly - unfortunately it also agains highlights how terrible the pastry is... in fact the pastry's rancid taste overwhelms the delicate filling. Very sad.
The iced pastry is really a mochi skin - so it really does not have any taste. I like taro sweets - when they are good - there is a musky fruitiness - when it is bad - it literally tastes like woolly socks. These unfortunately are vintage Hudson's Bay socks - blech. The green bean filling tastes so shockingly of lentils, I am taken aback. No pretense of fruit flavors - its a bean - get used to it. I decide not to.
So what did I learn today? As with all foodstuffs - buy quality - go to a good source that is picky about what they sell. Anna's were very good - and worth trying at $3 a pop for the mini-cakes if you are curious about traditional mooncakes. I wonder if Michelle's makes mooncakes - I suspect that the would be top notch also.
Now I have to unload the dozen or so mini moon cakes taking up room in my refrigderator.
- Some beautiful girl escaping to the moon
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I saw some seconds at Homesense in Richmond the other day - cheeeeap - but they are second quality - so choose carefully.
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I dreeeaaam of the day that DTF will open a Vancouver branch. My meal at their Tawian mothership was an orgy of dumpling goodness.
There are increasing numbers of Nothern Chinese and Tawainese living in Vancouver - I am not sure why DTF is not here yet. I think feeding Keith Talent's family alone would support their business model. Until that day comes - continuing this conversation is just plain cruel.
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I drove by it a few weeks ago and it was like something from Heaven had drifted down and parked it self in Industrial Park Land. I had to really concentrate on driving because the tears in my eyes were making hard to see the road.
It better not dissapoint me when I actually go for a visit.
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So, need some input, please? Is there any consensus on a good XLB spot in Vancouver? Meeting up with a gf for dinner, and as she is 6 months preggers, she gets to to call the shots, which includes not driving all the way to Richmond. Anyone been to Green Village (Broadway&Nanaimo) lately? She's thinking of some place in the area of Main & 32nd, but I suspect this is Long's which doesn't seem to be favoured on this board...
If Richmond is out of the question - there is a place on Kingway right by Victoria that is pretty good (Ningbo?). Pao Pao has a better grasp on the name.
Many people like Longs - but I am not a huge fan. But I only went once for lunch - but I did not like the XLB. But there are many who would disagree with me - and it may be worth a second shot.
Green village serves XLB for lunch - but I am not sure if they have them for dinner. Not bad - not great either.
Stay away from dim sum places like Kirin and Sun Sui Wah. Though the dim sum may be fine - the XLB at these place are notoriously disappointing.
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True Confections also has branches in Kits and Downtown. Be thankful that Cheesecake Etc turned down your request for a large cheesecake.
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There are two Victoria's - the first is in Sun Hung Kai, the other (newer) branch is in Citic (it says it's in Central but actually it's between Wan Chai and Admiralty). People who frequent each branch say theirs is best. I've only been to Sun Hung Kai.
I can't remember if I said this before, but Victoria specialises in Shanghainese dishes. I've never had the har gau there or siu mai. I love the hairy crab xiao long bao, cheung fun with XO sauce, shark's fin dumplings...
Their roasted pork is very nice too - but the now that winter is approaching - the big show stopper is Flower Crab steamed in Fai Dui wine (and chicken fat) - amazingly delicous and at the end of the course have them toss yee mein in the sauce. Obviously - don't put the empty crab shells back in the dish. I'm tearing up thinking about it...
So good - you'll have a smile on your face for the rest of the day.
The Modern China place in Times Square is good for a quick feed if the queue ain't too long, but I do wonder why the queue is the way it is there...If Hong Kong had a national sport - it would be queing. They HATE the idea that there may be something that they are missing out on. Years and years ago - when McDonald's had their around the world Snoopy promotion - the queue ran from the Pacific Place McDonalds - through the mall, down through the subway station and then around the block of the transit hub. Seriously it was hundereds of people... for a plastic Snoopy dressed up like Uncle Sam.
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that's a shanghainese thing - drunken prawn and druken conches - both live and raw (well dead - drowned in wine). I had that alot in Shanghai when I lived there.
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You may also want to check out Izumi-Ya Japanese Marketplace in Richmond. Ph:604-303-9946
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Last time I was at Havana - the special was a stir fry! And I ordered it! It was terrible - but I have no one to blame but myself. I have not mastered the art of sitting down and looking at the menu and then getting up and leaving when things are looking bad.
BTW - Havana seems to consistently win best Latino Restauarant in the reader's choice Georgia Straight awards. So there you go.
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Stovetop - why do that to us? For a second I was all happy and excited - and then I crashed landed into a pool of tears.
I agree with Jason - Havana on Commercial is heartbreaking in its lack of Cuban food (or Latino even). I think there is a market for a restaurant called 'Shanghai' that will specialize in the bestest perogi ever.
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After trying once again to get into Noodle Box- last time it was a Monday and they are closed Mondays, this time it was 8:45 on a Sunday night only to find that they close at 8:00 pm although they really closed at 7:00 (I know still doing the shake down etc. but hey guys, this is Vancouver not sleepy Victoria we can handle later hours!).
So we ended up walking half a block to the new branch of Zakkushi and it turned out just fine. The place is tiny and super cozy - this is going to be tough to get into in the winter time. The prices are probably the same as at their Denman branch which is really inexpensive for such a small place in Kits. Little skewers start at $1.80 each., the idea is mainly charcoal grilled bites of food with some noodle dishes, tofu and a couple of salad items.
We let them do their thing and select 5 or 6 items for us. Standouts were the Beef Tongue, Raw Octopus in Wasabi and the grilled Hamachi. They close at 10:30 on Sunday night. Take note Noodle Box.
I am not sure what's happening at Noodle Box - had lunch there once and everything seemed ready to go - I am guessing that staffing issues are keeping hours of operation difficult to manage.
I saw that Zakkushi space and man - it looks very good - like a super tiny cozy Japanese country inn. But as a guy hurtling towards middle age - I am not sure I am keen on climbing in and out of the tiny spaces to sit and eat. Why do restaurants do this - stuff people into ridiculously close quarters. I don't go to the Bins or Lolita's because they seem hell bent on stuffing people together like sardines. Ugh!
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It's a popular cut here in Vancouver - due in no small part to the Hamilton Street Grill.
I find that it takes a marinate very well - and in fact benefits from strong flavors to balance the rich beefiness. The two recent treatments that I've liked the best is a Korean style marinate (sake, soy, ginger, garlic, scallions, and chili flakes) and a lime based marinate. Both times the meat was grilled rare and then sliced thin. Simply tremendous.
But the cut is the classic onglet steak used for steak frites - so a simple salt and pepper grilling is all you need. As noted above - if you purchase the hangar steak with both 'lobes' fully intact - simply remove the gristly connective tissue between the lobes. I usually pan fry it up and gobble it down - cook's treat.
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I have also never seen the mantou thing except in the US. The pancake is clearly superior for reasons already discussed.
In fact - it took me forever to find a local pancake provider in Vancouver so that we could have peking duck at home. One duck per person is about right...
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This will be my last post from my two week trip to Seattle and Vancouver. I had a great time in the Pacific Northwest.
Kent - thanks for all of your write ups - always great to see your hometown through a visitor's eyes.
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It has a rich almost beefy taste - the first time I had it - the first thing I thought of was beef marrow. Soft and melting on the tongue - most excellent.
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I think Zachery's is great too - especially since you can't anything remotely related to Chicago style pizza in Vancouver. I remember going and seeing these thick pizza's that had small diameters - and thought I could a whole one on my own. I think I can get through two slices.
At the other end - I would be curious to hear about the thin Neopolitan style pizza's being made at Delfina's. I am a big fan of Delina's - and I suspect their pizza's would be top notch.
Truth be told: Where've you eaten lately? (Part 3)
in Western Canada: Dining
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I am a big fan of Sea Harbour also - though I must admit I have not had the Shark Fin offerings there (partially guilt, partially I'm too cheap).
You should check out the Shark Fin offerings at Gingeri also - they have whole meals built around Shark Fin and Abalone. Their treatment is lighter - not a lot of heavy sauces. Very good. The only mistep in the meal I had last time was the use of frozen veggies in their ginger rice - WTF!. As I have posted previously - I think that their desserts are top notch.