canucklehead

In south Vancouver - I have heard good things about Baan Wasawa Thai on 41st and West Blvd and went and checked it out. I have been told that is very close to what people have eaten in Thailand. Thai run and owned. However - I went and found the food sweet. It may be very well something that I am going through because lately - it seems like all Thai food is insanely sweet to me. Perhaps someone else who has been to Baan can give some input. As to why there are not more Chinese people running Thai restaurants - there are already few doing so. SE Asian places like Thai House and Tropika are all Chinese owned. Why there are'nt more I think is there are'nt alot of Chinese people who live in Thailand - the same way that there are in Malaysia, Indonesia, and other SE Asian countries. So the cuisine is not familiar. Japanese food has a huge influence in Taiwan and HK - therefore Chinese people feel more comfortable opening Japanese restaurants - especially if the target market are other Chinese people.

As I have said in another thread - I think that Sea Harbour in Richmond is the best choice for Cantonese food right now. I can't think of anything in Chinatown for dinner that would be worthwhile. Though I am not a fan of shark's fin myself - Sea Harbour could probably do a very good one for you - cooked slowly in a bain-marie to lock in all the good stock flavour. PM me know if want some specific recommendations - but check out the vancouver chinese food thread for more details. I'm afraid that I am a bit of a picture nerd. For chinese food - the best quality is definitely in Richmond. Kirin for dim sum, Shanghai River/Wind for shanghainese food. However - the difficulty is that you will need at least 4 people to have a decent selection of food. For a more fun dim sum experience - there are downtown places like Floata or Imperial - where there are carts and more gregarious service. Don't go to Sun Sui Wah - it seems like to me that they are going through a bad period with food for some reason.

I was down and Whole Foods and they sell loads of stuff that for the life of me, I cannot figure out who is buying the stuff: Topping the list right now are pear cactuses and pine mushrooms (matsatuke). I have no idea what to do with cactus and I refuse to believe some West Van trophy does either. They also stock a tonne of dried chiles and peppers - please Shelora come over here and run some sort of tutorial. The pine mushrooms are really delicous - and bravo to Whole Food for even stocking the little guys - but at $50 a pound - I cannot imagine who is buying the stuff. Definitely not the kind of mushrooms one tosses on top of a pizza (SACRILAGE). Are these glamour products simply put on sale for show - or is there a whole class of gourmets that I have not met yet (and what website do they post on)?

Check out the ones at Patissire Labeau - the filling is excellent.

Big boobs, no? Cheers! ← That sounds more like second base than two points. But I am guessing that you may be right!

Dropped by for lunch yesterday with Daddy-A and I must say I really enjoyed everything about Nu. First off the room is nothing like I expected. Nu did not take the safe route but decided to make a statement. No neutral understaded colors, no fishnets hanging from the walls, no indoor water features. I think the result works - the room has that sexy late 70's feel - like a great Roxy Music album cover. It is a comfortable casual space that on the water feels like some sort of deluxe take off lounge - fresh yet strangely timeless. However, most importantly the food is excellent. Nothing disappointed. Deep fried olives to start Stuffed Chicken Wings, Foi Gras Croquettes Gruyere Onion Soup, Crispy Braised Pork Belly I can't even begin to start describing the food. Perfect balance of richness and freshness to keep the food from being too heavy. At the end of the day - the food was really about simple cooking and highlighting the natural flavors of the ingredients. Real Nourishment. The pork belly was very very good - really deeply flavored that begins with good sourcing. The croquettes were perfectly executed - full of oozy richness lifted by the most lemony (not sharp though) vinagrette. The chicken wings were devoured in seconds. And the soup was soo good - soothing sweet onion-y-ness. Did not get a chance to the try the truly 'nude' selections of prawns and crabs. Next time. The FOH has that good balance of friendliness and professionalism - made you feel comfortable even though they tower over you when you are sitting in the restaurant's pod chairs.

Where do Chinese Families go when they want good food - but also want decent prices and don't really care about the decor? A place like Koon Bo on 41st and Fraser I went with my Uncle and Aunt as a Autumn Moon Festival thing. The food here is cantonese and quite good. In fact, their roasted squab has been the best I have had recently - crispy, meaty and roasted to a perfect doneness ($16 for each squab). The other thing that we always seem to order is their version of a hand shredded chicken salad - it comes with shreds of jellyfish, slivers of preserved vegetables, crispy won ton skins and sesame seeds. It makes for an appealing appetizer. We also had BBQ duck, Scallops w/ Gai Lan, and my guilty pleasure - Sweet and Sour pork. It was all quite good and fed all 4 people handily for $70. Dude - I hear you - everything does end up tasting the same in a Hot Pot. I prefer doing it at home so that I can concentrate on getting the best vegetables.

GG - I agree with you - they look great, but taste so so. I thinly slice them and sauteed them with thyme, garlic, and butter. I cooked them for a while to get them to brown up - I found that they had alot of liquid and needed cooking out. I also agree with the bitterness. Much more successful are the 'abalone' mushrooms. They cook up sweeter and really do resemble chinese-style abalone.

I find that when I want take out - I don't want the fancy take outs highlighted in the articles. If I want that kind of food - then I go to a restaurant. When I want take out - I get a big pile of chicken wings to eat in front of the TV. If I am cooking - then I'll make some simple homestyle food. These places offer a niche in food that for whatever reason - I am simply not interested in - I am not curious about trying it out at all. I really like cooking and I get tremendous satisfaction feeding those I care about. Buying this stuff somehow feels false. Perhaps egullet is the wrong group of people to pitch this idea to. edited to add: oops sorry - did not see Daddy A's post above

Dude - I get asked if I am Margaret Cho all the time - talk about an ego killer. As for favorite chefs - the usual suspects such as Feenie, Hawksworth, Vij, Clarke etc... But I think I like Nico at Chambar the most. His food has depth, consistency, and discipline - but it is imaginative and fresh at the same time. He has really adhered to the $20 limit on his entrees while still being generous to his diners. Last time I was there - I had a large portion of fantastic elk loin for $20 bucks! Insane I tell you. BTW - I think that it would be okay if he broke the $20 barrier. I know people who have worked with him - and they echo your sentiments exactly... Is he still at Cafe de Paris? Anyone gone lately?

Okay - Chilliwack 'pie', 'landing strips'.... Gosh - there must be a joke in there somewhere - but I can't string it together. Or maybe my mind is in the gutter.

I disagree. $50.00 including a seven dollar tip. Pretty good value too. Not quite Shanghai Wind, but them the surroundings are about one hundred times fancier. Fantastic restaurant. Really really good. ← Keith I am glad you liked SR. Really - it proves to me that you and your family are soooo Hong Kong - it is almost like a form of parallel evolution. That being said - I too am very keen on exploring the rest of the menu at SR. Though I do like the Soup Buns at SW - I am much more interested to returning to SR. The service and the surroundings are top notch and the quality of the dim sum (small plates) seem very high. I was trying to be diplomatic - but I am glad that you found declaring a winner easier.

Dude, if Memphis Mike was there again this year, you missed out BIG TIME. His pulled pork is almost as good as mine! Seriously thought, he did brisken and pork last year. Both were fantastic. A. ← Memphis Mike WAS there! Fart! I did not try his brisket - the line up to his booth was insane - it never fell below 30 or 40 people the whole time I was there. And I thought - well - how could it measure up to the Daddy A pulled pork. Stupid me. Ack - those line ups were insane. And the egullet decoder ring got me nowhere...

I went a couple of weeks ago and I thought it wasn't bad. The food is plain - in a good way. I hate the pseudo-morrocan-tofu-suprise school of vegetarian food. I had a grilled pear and cheese sandwich - very good clean flavors, and a blandish pasta salad - you may want to keep the salt shaker near by. Vegatarian chocolate cake was not as successful. It is a nice little room and really enthusiastic staff. The guy serving us tried to convince us that the carob-fondue at Foundation would cure us of our chocolate cravings and show that carob was clearly superior to chocolate. He was lucky Ling was not in the room - you ever see a girl beat up a guy - not pretty.

Hey Ling, How was the food at Sun Sui Wah on Main? My fiancee and I are looking at them for our wedding banquet! Wes ← Dude - Congratulations!! My cousin had his wedding banquet at the SSW in Richmond, where I expected the food to be better than the Main st location. It was a little disappointing - they were cheap on the seafood and the squab was terrible. That being said though - I think the food at most Chinese banquets always taste the same to me. I prefer Kirin over SSW - but even there, I have watched them serve the large tour groups and the food doesn't seem interesting. In SSW's favor - they were super organized, timed the courses well, and worked closely with the bride and groom on all the details.

I worked at Benny's Broadway location back then - and I think that the cheesecakes were made on site. The owner was an uber-jerk and I quit after about 2 weeks.

Well - I've got a ton of stuff to do at work - but instead, I decided to check out the two big Richmond Contenders for best soup bun: Shanghai Wind vs. Shanghai River Battle Soup Buns Now - I have always gotten the places mixed up. But they are very different from eachother. Shanghai Wind Soup Buns Shanghai Wind 'Two in One' soup Shanghai Wind is a small little place that seems to be fully run by Shanghainese people. It is all very rustic and the food there seems to be at its best when it is focused on 'homestyle'. The soup buns were great (none of that 'ham' taste this time) - plump full of good soupyness. Excellent skin - strong enough to hold it all together - but thin enough to let the filling take center stage. They were really excellent. I also order something called 'two in one' soup - basically a broth with delicate bean thread and two different kinds of meatballs and vegatables. Oh - really good - warm, comforting, very very homey. Shanghai Wind's (english) menu is so incredibly difficult to decipher. I kept an eye on other tables and got the soup - basically by pointing at someone else's order at another table. Well - I thought - this is over before it even began. I mean - Shanghai Wind is popular for good reason. How could Shanghai River compete? It was looking like a TKO man. Shanghai River Soup Buns Shanghai River - Pork in Sesame Cake First off - Shanghai River is a great looking restaraunt - big tall ceilings, clean tableclothes, a ton of staff, and a glass enclosure so that you can watch your buns being made. The HK side of me took an immeadiate liking to it - not surprising as it is HK staff run - but the chefs are from Shanghai. The soup buns - were really good also. Smaller and with a more delicate filling - but the flavor was stronger - with an almost black pepper finish. The skins were also very delicate - really gossamer holding in all of that soupy goodness. The skins broke on a couple of my dumplings - and you could see that they use a strong soup base inside the dumping (the soup was almost golden in color). Definitely a restaurant style dumpling. The sesame pork thingy was awesome. Ground pork napped in an onion and hoisin based sauce - served in a crispy sesame pastry. Good Good Good. This place specializes in a range of little bites like this (the menu proclaims 'King of Dim Sum'). The menu is very easy to read - lots of pictures and english translations that make sense (at least to me). Surprisingly - both places are similarly priced - so the value equation was strong at both places. Shanghai River has really civilized surroundings and their dim sum list (shanghainese style) is something that I will check out again. But - the soup dumplings were a bit better (I like homestyle) at Shanghai Wind. I declare ---- a TIE!! Well - really I was the winner - I ate 14 dumplings, powered my way through three bowls of soup, and had two pieces of the pork sesame cake.

Here are pictures of Feenie's offerings: Alsatian Pizaa Short Rib Sandwich Salmon - well something - did not get the description

I called and asked if the pastry was all-butter and they said yes (jeez - I hope so, I've got co-workers who only eat halal food - do not want to be the one that accidently feeds them lard...)

I heard that C ran out at about 2:30pm or so. They might have had a quick restock but when they ran out again - they decided not to bring in more food. I think everybody was surprised by the crowds - the guys from Chi told me that they had to re-stock mussels for their booth repeatedly. Gosh - they guys from C must have been really busy - between holding down the fort at the mother ship, working things out at Nu, and running a super busy booth at the taste of the city. Yikes. I agree with you on the feenie pizza - kind of bland and the constant reheating did it no favors. But that short rib sandwich was pretty good.

Do you work for my friend? He is always on my ass to get the name right. When I see a $3 burger - the rest is a blur.

I went down to a Taste of Vancouver and it was busy. A good friend of mine is one of the principal organizers and he said it was their busiest year yet. There were long line ups for tickets and food. There was an interesting mix of restaurants that showed up - Feenies (good short rib sandwiches), C (ran out of food early on), Chi (completely mobbed), Maurya, Mosaic, Kiwi Pie, Chutney Villa, Nandos, Mouse and Bean, Wild Rice, etc... It fun was to sample alot of food for not alot of dough - kind like the Anti-PNE food forum. Vera looked like they were a big hit and ran out of food by about 6pm - very popular burgers. No big chains were there - except for Kelsey's. It was a really nice day - lots of families and a pleasant busy buzz. You got to hand it to Feenie and Robert Clark for supporting a local event - I don't think that participating builds their clientele - but their booths had alot of tasters - people who would otherwise not get a chance to try their food. IMO though, the venue is perfect for people whose demographic are families and younger people. I felt like to me that the big winners were Maurya - who got to introduce a whole bunch of people to their restaurant and Vera's - busy and people loved their burgers (people around me were having two at a time). The goal of the event is to make sure no-one loses money, and maybe make a little. Hopefully nobody lost their shirts.

I am going to throw my hat in the ring for Michelle's in Kerrisdale. As per Mooshmouses blog - their portoguese style egg tarts are outstanding with a flaky all butter crust. There other breads are very good too - that super soft fluffy asian style bread. I like there bbq pork buns also... I think that I will be out shopping for Chinese baking...

Andrew - great review. I did'nt notice the typo until you pointed it out. 'Nu' appears correctly everywhere - except as a bold caption under a picture of Len and Robert! It is a pretty funny mistake - and completely at odds with a very strong recommendation. Looking forward to trying out Nu soon myself.

I think that the event is tommorow - is anyone going? I have heard Feenie will be there and he has promised no weinee. We can all be thankful.