transfattyacid

gee your a geezer !, i thought you were a lass aswell . oh yeah i can see that now you mention it , i always thought your pic was taken in your living room with a very bright table lamp giving it mood. well it`s good to see watermark is getting some good press. i came across a very apt Jane Grigson quote the other day " We have more than enough masterpieces. What we need is a better standard of ordinariness."

Just read this thread in the Vancouver forum, and the subject of giving out your credit card # to confirm a booking came up . I think this is a good discussion point. Giving the paranoid and skeptical amongst us a chance to voice there concerns about security. Conversely a platform for the chefs and restaurant owners to educate their customers about the economic impact of the no- shower`s. Personally, i see it as a commitment issue, but thats my very humble opinion. Maybe there is a middle ground, ie selling tickets to an special event ? any thoughts people? if so get involved below .

i wholeheartedly agree. i wholeheartedly agree.

I`m quite fond of the pig variety. I`ll leave that one open We ( and by that i mean egulleters ) are not your average punter, yes we are trying to keep guard of the high ground, but this thread, and it`s sister thread on the topic of Watermark seems to me as futile as a bmw driver Criticising the local bus service. Your average tourist punter WILL be having a great ol` time here, if for no other reason than he / she is on holiday. when it comes to having something to eat that average tourist punter will be spoilt for choice, and like a rabbit in the headlights will head for safety. So where`s safe round here then ? Earls..?... yeah probably there`s a menu with something for every one at Earls a menu with real words on it and a dollar value that speaks the language of most. and i aint ever had a bad meal there . So lets use earls as a bench mark . If there was a branch of Earls on kits beach would you still moan ? Would you still question the culinary standards of tourist driven restaurants ? If you ventured into a more independent / higher end restaurant and paid double for your meal would the experience be twice as good ? Are we affraid that these people may not be that bothered about the culinary details that we are so uptight about , and would be more than happy with a ceasar salad , steak frites, a bottle of red and maybe some ice cream for afters, as long as the veiw out the window is different to the one they spend looking at for the rest of the year ?. Ok so we win straight of the bat if our gourmand is used to spending pounds sterling. or if he / she is used to shopping for a good dinner in New York, Paris , Milan , Ludlow and London. As even the highest of high end price points in this city does not reflect what they are about to enjoy. Our gourmand will have done some homework and got the restaurants sussed out and booked. and will no doubt be wondering why no other waterfront restaurants serves bacon born from octupi. Are we affraid that these people will expect the world on a plate and a view to match, pushing up the price points out of the grasp of the locals, who used to cherish the details that they are so uptight about , and would be more than happy with a chance to dine in those places that are now no hope for a table, even if it means eating ceasar salads, steak frites and a bottle of red and maybe some ice cream for afters for the rest of the year ?.

On eating in kamloops. A conversation with a concierge . "where`s good to eat round here ?" " boston pizza , thats a good restaurant " We buckled under this profound statement and went to boston pizza. it wasnt half as bad as we had imagined . but it was kinda amusing to hear it said out loud. The next day ( avoiding front desk conversations ) we found what looked like an independent restaurant ( the brickhouse ? i cant remember the name ) which was closed for a private function, and by judging what was being veiwed by their guests on the OHP they were a 40 strong delegation of gynecologists.

yah , a great combination indeed . One of my favourite embellishments for grilled veal chop is an anchovy and rosemary butter slowly melting into the meat. i ask you , what more could you want ? ( save a wedge of lemon, a chair and a sharp knife ) . The rightly famous Cantabrian Anchovies are simply fantastic to eat in salads. Anchovy and Egg sauce with poached Cod is also devine, an old english preparation that entails, bechamel or a well flavoured fish veloute, chopped hard boiled eggs, chopped anchovy fillets and loads of fresh chopped parsley. maybe not so great at the height of summer but with a double helping of mashed potatoes it gives me something to look foward to in the colder months . HELL YEAH ! and i`ve been an addicted ever since.

Happy Birthday! enjoy the day

I also have an Embarrasing admission to tell . Hopefully this post will let me come to terms with it, so i can be proud of my experience, and get on with my life. Back in April of this year, Mrs fattyacid and I took some time off work and did a little road trip to kamloops and kelowna , whilst in kamloops we dinned very low key, hitting up the ' laminated menu ' joints like it was going out of style. One of these places was so delightful and so memorable the experience is now permanently imbedded in my consciousness. The establishment in question was Tony Roma`s . Honestly, egullet it blew me away.I kid you not. Now i`ve tried very hard to understand what made this place so good , the decor: was it the flags hanging everywhere that made this expat feel most welcome so far from home, or was it the service : the waitress was very friendly indeed. or was it the ribs, bloody hell they were good. or maybe the atmosphere :it was just so relaxing , a breath of fresh air even. Could it have anything to do with that fact that I`m from a land where ribs don`t feature in the culinary sensibility of the populous, or have cultural significance. It`s just that the ribs were so damn tasty, basted with Tony`s original sauce and i chose baked beans and coleslaw as side dishes. Do you think that as a cook seeing and preparing fine dining dishes, day in day out that you become numb to it, and in the pursuit of career aspirations one can easliy become blind to what defines eating out to the majority of the hard working citizens of North America ?. But explain this :- 5 months down the line and the taste is still in my head. Long live Tony Roma`s " its famous for ribs i tell you " p.s As soon as we were back in Vancouver we eat at the our local branch of Mr Romas empire, alas it just didn`t live up to our kamloops experience .

fair play. awww , I`m getting all paternal :] Im a great believer of removing the haute from french cuisine and you find the real cooking . what a great experience to enjoy ' en famile '

hi pissaladiere . Yah, we spend about the same, granted there`s only the two of us at the moment , but thats gonna change soon. It`s also comforting to know that the middle ground and budget dinning in Vancouver is, imho, were all the best cooking is done anyway , so i dont feel like we`re missing out . When we (very) occasionally break the bank and venture to a high end restaurant and put dinner on the credit card, i`m always left asking if it was worth it, not that i don`t understand the economics behind serving cote de veau, paying rent at a premium location and providing a means of subsistence for skilled kitchen and floorstaff, i just get itchy if the bill is more than $70 a head. Maybe it because i`m at that point in my life where priorities don`t include mincing round glowballs sipping martini`s. Tell me , did you take the kids along to the above or not ?

Not that i`m an expert in chinoisary or any thing, but i interpreted it being kinda similar to the above quote too . a piece of pork belly ( crackling intact ) marinated then slow roasted, slicd / chunked into managable sized pieces and crisped in a hot oven for service. forgive me if i`m barking up the wrong tree.

good point . "Heres your tomatoes , but dont put them in the fridge " " Thanks Milan , heres your check but don`t put it in the bank " Never let Milan in your cold room , he just goes mental. half of the pleasure of his great products is his character. Milan if your reading this , don`t go changing

Just saw tonight on my way home that Cafe de Marseille, on Cornwall ( @ Yew ) appears to be closed. There was a sign on the side of the premises announcing the arrival of a thai "restaurant " * in it`s wake . sorry to be vague i was speeding . i kinda feel bad about it , dont get me wrong i like thai food , but Cafe de Marseille seemed too be doing ok. I never went , i see to much of that sort of thing at work, but thats a tough spot. so maybe i`m to blame :[ This thai eatery will be the 4th business to occupy that shop since i`ve lived here ( 3 years ) * i use this term in its broadest sense Stop Press : i just nipped down to have another look and the sign read`s " Ken thai food to go " Mrs Fattyacid and i will have to try them when they open .

oh very true Sarah. One of the many problems that face successful restaurants is hype, you have too much then you open yourself up to customers with unrealistically high expectations, conversely not enough hype and your empty. Opinions should flow freely here and Mr Vij has a right to answer them, and he has very eloquently. But how many other restaurant owners and head chefs will we see posting on here out of defence., and wouldn`t it be better for egullet and its members to have these industry figure`s here because the want to be involved as opposed to keeping y`all in check ? or to put it another way In a discussion about food and restaurants would you prefer to get nuggets of culinary inspiration and wisdom from Vikram or hear him defend himself from the nit-pickers any way how are ya ? long time no type

Sunday lunch at Earls on Broadway and Fir. I`m not ashamed to say that i`m quite partial to laminated menu land and hurl`s as we so affectionately call it, is one of the better ones aint it . Realistical they are good restaurants arn`t they . i was hoping for ruben sandwich which i had at their branch in Vernon , but alas its been replaced on the menu , so roast chicken quesadilla was consumed in its wake, it was alright. Monday lunch , flying wedge , sorry Gerald i was very tempted to go next door but we had plans for moderne burger for dinner . well the pizza filled a hole, but wasn`t great. Monday dinner Moderne burger plans were dashed, as they close on mondays dont they :] * takes mental note * Any way didn`t have the energy or indeed the inclination to trawl the length of broadway for some thing else. So despite of what i`ve previously stated about wages and short people i swallowed my pride as the missus dragged me into Feenies . I was glad they weren`t that buzy as i dont mix well with the type of human that normally inhabits feenies chairs. i started with a caramelised onion and corn ravioli in peking duck broth. my broth was just the right side of saltyness from a soy sauce based stock ? ( correct me if i`m wrong colleen ) the ravioli stood up to this strong flavour with chantrelles and broad beans as additional flotilla. i had a feenie burger to follow , see original dinning plan, which was alright, i goodered up my burger with a side order of poutine ( nice serving vessel ) which is, dare i say worth a return trip for that alone, yeah next time i`ll have poutine goodered up with a side of burger .

I just saw the owner of Viva Fine Foods on the tele being interviewed about this very topic, i only caught the last bit of his interview but the tone did sound like he was concerned about the loss of takings if this law would come in to effect. ( if i`m miss quoting Micheal then please forgive me, as i`m sure he is concerned with public health too ) In Viva`s case i`m sure it targets people buying a coffee and lighting up on the patio. but what if that same smoker under the new law purchases their coffee to-go, and loiters on the curb on Yew and smokes there instead ? what difference does that make to the health and safety (and enjoyment of Viva`s cakes) of non smokers on the patio ? Now i can understand the watermark thing,the lovely ocean breeze is some thing worth preserving, but lets say, a patio on broadway at , lets say, fir ?, granville ? like a rogue smoker is gonna make a difference there ! The issue is a result of government cowardice. Why not target the tabacco industry ? but thats not economically feasible is it ? So lets dump the problem on the restaurant industry instead. let them figure it out . they all ways do what they are told .

Interesting thread this one. Am i alone in thinking its great to see Vikram joining egullet and offering his esteemed opinions. But the fact that Mr Vij has been drawn out from his Quiet "lurker" status to defend his establishment, seems to me as the wrong way to get one of this cities greatest restaurateur`s involved in egullet. anyway as you were

No comment. But what are vera burgers? ← you can comment if you like. i won`t be offended . RE:- Vera`s, thanks Mooshmouse you got there first. also look out for a guy called gerald ( hmmm no relation to the house music pioneer ) , he post `s on egullet in the vancouver forum , he owns vera`s and i`m for ever indebted to him for providing the planets best burgers . i would bear his children if it was biologically possible peace out TFA

[1] food from pigs [2] vera burgers [3] (tied) coffee/ franks red hot sauce . yeah i`m a savage .

to be honest , i can`t really remember . i watched the first few episodes when it was aired in england and didn`t bother to watch it again. can`t say i laughed at the jokes, can`t say i found it entertaining . lenny henry is a very funny guy. kitchens are very funny places , the show was not . but i am amazed that it gets such a high regard over here ( vancouver that is ). some of the lads at work love it. so maybe its cultural , who knows ? any way how`s you ? ps sorry about the lack of punctuation an` all that , if theres any pedants reading this .

i recall this being one of the worst things lenny henry has ever done . to be frank it was just shite ! i only watched it to perv on his wife. i`ve met a lot of north americans who thing its great

i`ve tried the two mentioned above which are very good and would have been my choices ( saying that i do a mean dog round my house ) . shame hot dog jonny`s closed before i could try`em out , surely this place could have been the hot dog answer to vera`s. any other thoughts . * bites tongue * resisting temptation to make childish innuendo about feenie`s weenie * bites tongue * ( Daddy A will be proud )

Awwwwwwww.

Joes grill on 4th. for the eggs benedict, ( and waffle combo`s when i can`t face sauce Armageddon ). Chez דяÅПﻜFÅדדуÅ©ID™. for the best marmalade on toast in town . the others are mere pretenders. imho.

just to throw a wrench in the works again . the opposite of this thread would be an interesting one . Vancouver restaurants are we to soft on egullet ? do you, or should you give any stock to an internet chatroom ? as there is a balance between industry and non industry types on here what is the general consensus about the website ? could it be said that the owners of restaurants that participate on egullet organise special dinners for all to attend, so they can get it over with. get the best table prepared , ply these geeks with fine food and wine throw them all in limos and off they go to the strip club after for hookers and blow ( or what ever the female equivalent is ). hope fully to never see these people again . ( a magnetic device by the door that could wipe out the memory of digital camera`s hmmmmm i wonder if thats legal ? ) should restaurants start banning those ( a`la sean heather ) for not agreeing with them online ? the more this place gets over the top the less restaurants and owners will take you seriously . any comments or am i just stirring it again ?