sadistick

After the fantastic suggestions I received from some of you prior to our trip out to BC in the summer, I figured I would once again put my taste buds at your discretion. We will be staying out in Surrey BC (near our clients) for 2 days in early BC - Primarily I am looking for some good sushi, but if there are any other suggestions as must try's around the area, they would all be appreciated. Cheers,

Very interesting....Especially when the top steak houses in Toronto all cook their steaks at super hot 800+ degree temps. Surprised you did not use the garlic clove method as I found that idea to be of interest. Thanks.

So...I have a pack of some nice kosher chicken liver to cook up tonight... As with most of my liver adventures, I stick to Bacon/Onions/seared to med and de-glaze with balsamic... Now I am not one to stray too far from a good thing, but I was thinking...what else can I do with these!? I know the Italians have a pasta sauce that includes chicken liver, but I have not been able to find it for the life of me, or at least, from a reputable source. So I ask to you, what would you do with the livers to spice things up a bit? Cheers.

Interesting topic... My family and I love lentils of all sorts. One of our favourite ways to prepare them - Boil them with some veg & bay leaves... When almost cooked, drain and put in a separate pan which you have pancetta cooking in (bacon or procuitto works as well) sautee them in the fat, season with S&P....when almost done, finish with some fresh lemon juice and some reallly good EVOO. Enjoy.

Mmm...that ones making me hungry, Mifi.

I like the idea of fresh peas in Carbonara...may have to steal that one! Doing mexican tonight...pulled chicken in a chipotle sauce, pureed corn with cilantro, chillies garlic and lime then pan fried to caramalize and spicey guac...all topped off with some pickled red onions.

If you don't mind a suggestion - Make an actual tomato soup (not too thick) and use that as your liquid to cook the risotto. The result will be the most flavorful tomato risotto you will ever have. I also like adding some oven dried tomatoes at the end for a bit of texture and extra flavor.

Mifi - What liquid do you use for your Heirloom tomato risotto?

Alright, so what would you recommend Daniel? So far I have 3 or 4 suggestions here that not all seem to be able to agree on...granted there will never be 100% agreement, but some more recommendations would be helpful.

Thank you all for the prompt suggestions - Typically I do not go out for Italian food as I find I can prepare Italian fare as well as most places. 'Hautified' Mexican cuisine sounds intriguing to say the least and we are at a DEFINITE loss for quality Mexican food up in Toronto. More suggestions are as always welcome and appreciated!

Good day to you all! I will be headed down to NY on Oct. 1st for business and will be staying at the Marriott Marquis at Times Square. I have been to NY in the past, and have had fantastic meals at the likes of Vong, Gotham Bar & Grill, Fresh as well as a few other tasty meals. I will be arriving in the evening and am not looking to travel long distances from the hotel. Looking for some great eats (under $50/person would be nice) that are within walking distance (I can handle a bit of a walk, but nothing crazy!) Many thanks in advance.

Great to see this topic rearing its head again. Unfortunately this summer has been horrible for tomatoes up here in Toronto! The huge rainfalls and lack of sun have not made for the greatest of growing seasons for our sun loving friends. Thus each tomato is prized even more! I still cant get over that box for $5. We're growing that small red one with dark stripes as well weinoo...really tasty with some arugula and evoo.

I would suggest than rather striving for a CRISP SP fry, why not attempt a caramalized one? The flavour is far superior, and it is oh so delicious!!! Recently we have been cutting them in round slices, then in half, tossing them with some EVOO, S&P and depending on our mood, various spices (anything from ground dried chipotles to curry and/or Gara Masala) The key I have found is to get the oven to around 350 and keep mixing them around...this way its more healthy than frying, and for me, even more delicious!

Only 1 response in 2 weeks!? Sheesh.....

Thanks for all the replies folks, much appreciated! For starters - I will have a rental car, with a GPS thankfully!!! How far are these places (drive wise) from the hotel, if you have any idea? We dont have great mexican up here in Toronto (or VERY few and far between) so the Fiesta Hut sounds interesting... I am not looking to spend an arm and a leg (even though I can expense it) but about $50 for dinner is the approx budget. Rooftop - much appreciate the invite, but I will be there Tuesday night. I am not really looking for Italian, as unless its very high end, i typically can make and prefer my own italian cooking and dont often head out to dine Italian style. Also - I will be coming in from Newark Airport so if there is something along the way to the hotel, that may be an idea as well... I love Thai food, so Wondees sounds interesting as well, as does Portuguese.. Lastly, would prefer closer/more convenient over anything as I am not the fondest of driving at night in an unfamiliar place...lol Thanks again

Ok - I know this is kinda last minute, but it is what it is! I am headed to CarlStadt, NJ for an overnight biz trip and will be staying at the Hampton Inn (304 Paterson Plank Rd) and was wondering (as I would prefer not to eat hotel crap!) if there is any decent place to get a bite to eat for dinner? Thanks for the help in advance!

Thanks Peter... I try to romance her a bit when we can get away from the city a bit, we stay at this pretty amazing B&B that is on a hill side facing the mountain, he has done some amazing landscaping there and you can go up to the third 'tier' of the backyard and there is a fire pit with chairs there, last time we were there he bought some amazing local sausages and we got wine, cheeses and breads in St Jovite and had a great evening. My plan is to not eat in Tremblant at all, as it is way too touristy, pricey, and to be frank...crappy. We had one nice meal in St Jovite last time which we may go back to...and there is a little Beer store that has some amazing micro brews there as well, which I must go back and buy MORE of this time!

Good Afternoon! The Fiance and I are headed out to Tremblant at the end of the month, and we were wondering what culinary adventures the kind folks here at the gullet could recommend for us. I know one night we plan on grabbing a bottle of wine (any suggestions on something that we can get which we cant get at the LCBO?) and some great cheeses... We have 2 other days/nights where the food is not planned. Suggestions would be appreciated! Cheers.

First off - A big thank you to everyone who helped me plan my path through the kitchens of Vancouver. What a beautiful city it is...Reminded me a lot of San Fransisco actually... Some touristic highlights - Stanley Park - Luckily we had amazing weather, with rain only 1.5 days out of the 6 we were there...one of the non rain days we headed out to explore Stanley Park...wow! Talk about a slice of heaven, let alone right next to a large downtown city. We explored the rose garden and took the trail to Beaver Lake and saw some 2 amazing Blue Harrin's as well as a variety of other wildlife - we took the creek trail out which felt like we were sucked into a rainforest, absolutely gorgeous. Grouse Mountain - I am proud to say we survived the Grouse Grind in just under 2 hours - Easily one of the hardest things I have ever done...but amazingly beautiful once we reached the top. Something we will both remember forever. Festival of Lights - We were fortunate enough to be there to watch the USA blow some shit up in the air! lol - but really, it was pretty amazing seeing downtown streets closed off and seeing (probably) hundreds of thousands of people coming down to the water (not to mention the hundreds of boats in the bay!) to see the show - amazing fireworks! Now on to the important part...the food! Some memorable notes: Noodle Legend (I believe its called...) - All freshly hand made noodles, we had the one with the beef broth and pork chive dumplings...very fresh tasty noodles, very affordable too! Okada - Hands down the best sushi we have ever had! Fantastic service, such a sweet girl... We started off with some of their daily specials.. Tried something I have never had, let alone seen before....super tiny baby squid marinated in soy sauce. I cant say that I was sold on first bight, but it was very interesting, nice and tender and a soft, delicate flavour. We then had some of the most amazing tuna, prepared in a way I would have never thought of - marinated in a soy/garlic sauce - large cubes of sashimi - I detected a hint of smoke in the marinade and confirmed with the waitress the 'special' soy sauce indeed had some bonito in it. On to the sashimi - We had wild pacific salmon (the most amazing salmon I have ever had! None of this orangey/fatty shit we get here!) and some fantastic big eye tuna. We also had some Fluke and Flounder sushi, and some freshwater eel...all amazing!!! And we were full for under $100 - Fantastic place!!! Cobre - We took our hosts out for dinner here as we had heard some good things while in BC about it. We started off with a variety of tacos - ranging from chorizo and potatoes to grilled pork loin/grilled pineapple and other treats...very tasty - oh and their margaritas were delish! We then had some of their mains (all shared) - we tried the chicken taquitos which were nice, nothing special....had their beef short ribs which were a bit too fatty even for beef short ribs, and then had this amazing deep fried breaded dish with garlic/eggplant and spices and a very nice sauce. Good place - would go again, but be more selective with ordering. Vij's - After a 1.25 hour wait (we went to chapters to read some magazines!) we finally got a table, and another 25 minute wait for someone to realize "oh...noone has taken your order yet!?" - - Needless to say we were not impressed with the service, but good thing the food made up for it. I started off with a few spoons of their Crab with Caramelized spicy beets...fantastic stuff!!! We then had the samosas which were excellent as well. Then shared the Duck curry and the pork loin/ribs curry - both were delicious. Service sucked, food was great...would I go back...not too sure, depends on the lineup! One thing to note - we stayed at the Granville Island Hotel and ate at their restaurant the first night - their Chilli Calamari was AMAZING! Very strong and powerful flavours, but really tasty! All in all, we loved BC, and cant wait to come back!

Thanks for the heads up Canuckle...Although I do not think we will be able to make it out to Richmond, I appreciate the suggestion none the less. I am ready to do some serious walking so that I can (hopefully) eat more and not bring back any extra weight with me! Cant wait to see beautiful BC!

We need a larger variety of street food vendors! stupid city councilors.....

Thanks for the great responses!!! We will be staying at Granville Island hotel for half our journey so we will try out GoFish for sure! Any suggestions as to a particular chinese restaurant that does excellent seafood? Perhaps a dish recommendation? If it helps - we will be near stanley park for the first half of our stay, and GVIsland Hotel for the rest. Thanks again!

I know of Go Fish - But they appear to be only fish and chips type place...unless I am mistaken - - Anything you would specifically recommend there? What about some Shellfish!?

We are leaving on Thursday and I figured I would squeeze another question in for you fine folk. I am guessing that BC has some amazing seafood - with that being said, where are the cheap but awesome eats to be had to sample some of BCs freshest seafood? Almost all cities by the water have their claim to fame cheap amazing eats - Whats Vancouver's? Cheers

Just found out for our first 3 nights we will be staying at a friends place right beside Stanley Park And for the 4 remaining nights, we will be staying at Granville Island Hotel. If that helps anyone with some walking distance recommendations (lunch and dinners please!) I would appreciate it!