snacky_cat

Mmmm... tried the brioche at Sen5es yesterday morning. Very good! Exactly the right size for my style of breakfast - sort of tennis-ball sized - and highly portable. I opted to forego the non-eating-and-walking-friendly jam and butter, and ate it plain. The dusting of sugar on top was a nice touch. Next week I'll hit Artiggiano and try some of their offerings (which reminds me that Canadian Maple Delights next door does an awesome Terra Breads walnut toast with maple spread for cheap like dirt.)

Fearful of an eGullet-induced expanding waistline, I have recently altered my eating habits. As a result of this, I can no longer survive going until noonish sans nourriture and have gotten into the habit of eating some type of muffin-like object on my way to work in the morning. Unfortunately, I have yet to discover a conveniently situated tasty-muffin-proffering establishment. Please help. My morning walk takes me from Richards and Nelson to Burrard and Dunsmuir. The ideal morning muffin place will be situated somewhere along any of the routes connecting these points. It should not be a Starbucks (not that anyone here would suggest such a thing ), and it doesn't have to be just muffins. I will happily eat any sort of grain product, as long as it's not horribly bad for me (as much as I could go for a pain au chocolat chaque matin, I think that would defeat the purpose of the whole exercise.) The baked good must also be portable, so I can eat it as I walk. If anyone has any good suggestions as to places and particular treats that I should try, bring 'em on. Also, if anyone lives along that route and wants to invite me in for breakfast, well, that's good too

Ohhh, PaoPao - thanks for the heads-up on Banano. I am definitely going to try that sometime in the next couple weeks... My favourite hole-in-the-wall is Caffe Presto Panini on Hornby St. (same block as Bacchus). It's a tiny little Italian place with two things on the menu: pasta and panini. The best way to dine there is go as a twosome and split a pasta dish and a panini (they'll happily split them for you, and each of you gets your own little pasta cup, a panini half, and a little carrot salad and some greens). Nothing on the menu is over $9.95 (most dishes are $8.95), and they have the tastiest tiramisu around. It's usually packed at lunchtime, and the owner keeps it open until 7 or 8ish at night for the small dinner crowd. I believe the Georgia Straight once mentioned that many of the photos of Italy dotting the walls were done by Vancouver School photographers, including Jeff Wall. A little culture with your pasta is always a good thing.

I really like Pizza Guys (1232 Howe Street, 682-6666) - they do a few pizzas with a garlic cream sauce base that are delicious! I usually end up ordering either the artichoke pizza or the California BBQ Chicken. The pizzas are far from frou-frou, but the prices are good, they deliver, and the garlic cream sauce is addicting. They're right by the Fitness World at Howe and Davie. That's smart. I bet they pipe pizza smell into the gym to drum up business.

This thread along with a few recent Indian meals set me to wondering if my all-time favourite Indian restaurant in the world was still running. It was called Shan e Lasalle, and was uncermeoniously plunked down in the middle of a 1960s strip mall in a generally forgetable suburb of Montreal. Even though it didn't look like anything special and the menu offered dishes that you could find at just about any Indian place worth its salt (or chutney, as the case may be), what set it apart was the amazing home-cooked quality of the food. It's difficult to put into words, but the flavourings were delicate, it was off the fresh-o-meter, and there was non of that greasy heavy-handedness that is so prevalent. According the Montreal forum, the other day was Shan e Lasalle's LAST night in business, so now I can no longer console myself with the "One day I'll go back and eat their food again" thought. I have to begin the home-cooked hunt all over again. So, do any of the places that we've mentioned so far in this thread merit a visit? The primary criterion in judging them will be: 1. Mystifyingly delicious "home-cooked" quality of the food - The dishes themselves might be standard offerins, but their quality should taste like nothing else you've ever eaten. That was how I would describe Shan e Lasalle. 2. Perferably small family-run place. - Shan e had about 12 tables. Son owned the restaurant and managed the business end. Mom worked the room and made the sweets. Dad cooked in the back. Maybe I should head down to the gym now and pre-emptively work off all the butter chicken.

Wow - how bizarre that you should happen in on their last night in business! I'm glad you got to try it out - it really is (was) a great little spot, and I'm sure that if I were still living in Montreal, I'd have been there with the rest of regulars tonight. I guess this means I'll have to find a new favourite Indian spot...

This cat stands by the "Best in..." honour In every Indian restaurant I've eaten at since Shan e Lasalle, be it in Montreal, New York, or Vancouver, I haven't found anything that comes close to the wonderfully home-cooked taste of Shan e. The dishes are standard Indian fare, but they're flavoured so nicely and don't have that mass-produced, greasy feel that you get at a lot of Indian places. It's just good, cheap, and incredibly delicious honest food. They do an amazing okra, a butter chicken that is to die for, and it's fun to start off the meal with Tamarind Bombs (they have a different name on the menu, but if you ask for tamarind bombs they'll know what you're after) - puffed up crackers that you crack with a spoon and stuff with filling and tamrind chutney, before popping the whole thing in your mouth and crunching down. It is a bit of an effort to get there, but it really is worth it. And don't forget to pick up a box of sweets when you're done - they have some amazing stuff, including a great milk cake and a carrot-based dessert called Gajar Halwa that I could never get enough of. It's enough to make me want to hop on a plane and head there for dinner tonight!

I lived in Montreal in the 99-01 period, and my absolute favourite restaurant in the entirety of the city had to be Shan e Lasalle. It was located in an easy-to-miss strip mall of the 60s variety on the east side of Ave. Dollard. While out for Indian the other night, I wondered if the place was still open... Any of you know? If it is open, I highly recommend stopping by. They offer a buffet lunch, which is particularly varied and delicious on Sundays, and their dinner menu is great. It's a small, unassuming place with low prices, but the food has a wonderful, genuine home-cooked quality to it.

If you have a car at your disposal and pocket money to spend, a trip to the Gourmet Warehouse is always fun. Mother of snacky_cat and I often hit this place on our mom-and-kid shopping trips. Lots of interesting products (including an awesom selection of olive oils and balsamic vinegars) from around the globe, as well as some great cookware and cookbooks. It's not cheap, but many of the products do sell for 10-30% less than in the downtown boutique type joints (although some of the ethnic products can be had for a better price in the right neighbourhoods around town). Anyway, it's a good one-stop shop. Just cross your fingers and hope the chicken plant in the neighbourhood isn't in stink mode the day you visit. That stench will turn anyone off of food, even the snackiest of cats. Their website has a map, as it's tricky to find.

Sugar Sweet Sunshine. That's the name of the other place I was trying to think of. It's on Rivington and we attempted to go there, but were waylaid by shopping in Nolita. Anyone tried one of these?

The Horseman is a fun place to go every once in awhile if you're looking for average but interesting food in an amusing setting. It's like an exotic Chuck-e-Cheese for big kids. You can sit at a normal table, but everyone save for the knee or hip replacement set opts for the pillow lounge area - low tables, comfy cushions to sit on and lots of draped fabric create a sort of Arabic tent illusion, if you replaced the cars going by on Broadway with camels. The food itself is not wildly amazing, but for the price it's satisfying. It's a mélange of Middle Eastern and Greek style items (lots of flatbreads and dips), with an amazing variety of meat. They offer a lot of platters to share, so you can eat your way across the menu fairly easily. And you will never, ever leave hungry. In fact, it can get rather difficult to squeeze your stuffed tummy out from under the low table, and without the leverage provided by a chair, you sort of have to roll around like a Weeble to get enough momentum to heave yourself up off the floor.

I was visiting NYC for a shopping trip this past weekend when, on my way to scour the racks at Marc Jacobs, I passed the Magnolia Bakery. Their cupcakes' notoriety stretches all the way to my hometown of Vancouver, BC, so I figured I'd stop in and try one of the little guys. It was the single most dreadful cupcake I have ever encountered. And I have done battle with many a cupcake in my time. Not only was it frightfully overpriced (my all-time favourite cupcake is 69 cents Cdn., which is roughly 0.000001 US cents), but it was so horrible I gave up halfway through. The cake itself was dry and tasted extremely floury - so floury that it was impossible to recognize it as a vanilla cupcake. The icing was just way too sweet as well. The sole virtue of the cupcakes was they looked absolutely adorable all lined up in the window. Sadly didn't make it to Cupcake Cafe or another cupcake joint I was told about in the Nolita area, but I have to admit that after the Magnolia's poor showing, I was wary of wasting another $1.75 on something that tasted like a failed HomeEc project. What does everyone think about the Magnolia Cupcakes? Did I just happen to pick the wrong one (it was vanilla, with pink icing), or are they generally weak? And why is that such a little cupcake spurred my most vitriolic eGullet post yet?

I fell in love with the Cardamom Creme Brulée at Lumiere Tasting Bar during this year's DOV. Very delicate flavour, and the little dude was only about an inch in diameter so I was absolved of the usual custard-induced atherosclerotic guilt that usually goes along with eating a regular portion of that stuff. My favourite low-rent treat is cupcakes from the Port Moody IGA Bakery. I haven't yet checked out whether the Marketplace IGA near my place offers the same treats (in typing that sentence, I suddenly realized what I ought to do after dinner tonight), but I usually end up in Port Moody once a week for family dinner, and it always ends with these cupcakes. I figure I've probably had about 200 of em in the last couple of years. Best 69 cent value in town. Incidentally (though somewhat related to the "Sweets and the City" title), I just got back from New York, where I tried the Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. To put it mildly, they were crap. I think I may go explore the New York forum for opinions on these most vile of cupcakes. Oh, and I hate Cupcakes' cupcakes too. They are far too sugary. If you put one in a cage with a lab mouse, I bet you could induce sucrose-proximity-associated spontaneous diabetes.

Just got back from a lunch at The Mouse and the Bean - the best (and cheapest) Mexican food around, and the friendliest staff. I just want to hug them after I eat there. Or bring them a mouse statue for their collection. Their quesadillas are amazing, and I stole a few bites of Snacky Cat Dad's mole, which was delish. Wonderful corn flour tortillas too. Had two lunches this weekend at The Gallery Cafe (working at Robson Square for the next two weeks, so I'm sure this number will increase). The best fast food in town, in a pretty space. The entree options change daily, but they always have an amazing selection of paninis (I have the Californian a lot) and the desserts are crazy. 4.50 for a nice big glass of BC wine too. Also, their rotating cast of young foodie trainees are always very handsome. Another thing I like about this place is the glasses-and-ice area they have - you can take the can of pop you acquired in the lineup and pour it into a nice big glass filled with whatever amount of ice tickles your fancy. A tiny luxury. And Friday night was the great HSG meal. I woke up still-full the next morning And tonight is Chambar!!! I have a waffle-shaped hole in my tummy.

DJ Chef Kris and a few of my friends used to run the Sunday night in the downstairs LMB lounge. If you were ever there., you'd recognize me as the one who was alwasy knocking back bowlfuls of red wine and teetering on the edge of my bartsool whilst issuing proclamations about the quality of records being played. He always wanted to go the big apple, and I haven't seen him out at the local bars or clubs lately so I imagine he got his wish. He was a good party buddy. Is Darrell the bartender (LMB and then Fiction) still at Fiction, or did he depart too? He's a sweetheart.

One of my favourite places for quasi-Indian is The Original Good Morning. First of all, you cannot beat that name. Well, maybe you could if you called your restaurant Uncle Soupy's Mega Ultra Fun Happy Den. Anyway, great name. The restaurant itself is totally unassuming (on Kingway out near Joyce) - it basically looks like a cafeteria, and you scribble your order on a paper scrap and bring it up to the cashier. The food is good and cheap, and is of the Ugandan variety. Evidently Uganda was filled with Indian expatriates until Idi Amin sent them packing, so the country's cuisine is an interesting blend of Indian and African. My favourite dish on the menu at the OGM is Moggo. Again, great name. Perhaps I will henceforth refer to this dish as The Original Good Moggo, which is even better. Or O-G Moggo, or, bah, I digress... The Moggo is cassava fries spiced with a chili powder mixture and served with different chutneys for dipping. YUM. Their butter chicken is also tasty, as is, well, everything else on the menu, and the naan is great, with a little bit of an African flatbread vibe to it. I have also heard wonderful things about Tamarind and Chutney Villa, and am going to try to get to those as soon as I eat my way through the ever-expanding list of must-tries.

You crack me up, you Lord of Romance, you! Birthday felicitations to you- enjoy your special day!

February 14th is approaching, signalling the mass influx of bridge-and-tunnellers into the "nice restaurants" for V-day face-stuffing (doesn't "I love you" sound so much better when spoken through a mouthful of duck confit, with meat spraying everywhere?). Though I am usually LOATHE to go anywhere near most restaurants on the 14th, preferring to do a nice dinner on one of the days either side of the main event, the snacky_cat schedule does not permit this luxury this year, so dinner on the 14th it is. We have reservations for 8:30 at Chambar. Where are the rest of you going? Is it the 14th for you, or another day? And how long ago did you make your reservations (I called ours in about 3 weeks ago, at the same time I was making a reso for later that week).

I grew up in Port Moody and one of the suburban locations-of-the-damned is the big corner restaurant space at North Rd. and Cameron. I think it's a produce market now, and may have been a bubble tea place recently, but it was a Lone Star Café for sometime, and before that it was a Fuddruckers. The unusual thing is that both the Fuddruckers and the LSC were always quite busy. Maybe there's something about the Burquitlam air that makes successful chain restaurants want to pack up their Western Canada operations after occupying that space. Personally, I miss the big vat of squeezy cheese at Fuddruckers. The stuff at 7-11 simply does not compare.

Brix was Mr. Snacky Cat's favourite DOV restaurant last year, and we've gone back several times for dinner. Oddly enough, the DOV menus we've had there have sometimes been a bit better than our experiences when ordering a la carte. I recall once having a bite of Mr Snacky Cat's wasabi mashed potatoes that were a little imbalanced in their wasabi:potato ratio. Worrying about if your food is going to hurt tomorrow is all fine and good when you're in university and 25-cent hot wings make up a large portion of your food budget, but one should not have to live in fear of sensitive-area-spice-induced irritation when dining out at most classy joints (Korean excepted.) I like the room a lot, as it straddles the boundary between intimate and bustling nicely, and have nothing but good things to say about their wine list and parisings suggestion. And the summertime terrace is one of the prettiest in the city, methinks.

Hi Karri - Welcome from a fellow newcomer to the forum As I mentioned in my first-ever eGullet posting, I would crawl across broken glass to get to your Gaufre de Liege. Heck, I'd even given up the first-born Little Snacky Cat for a stack of those waffles! I bet the waffles would be cheaper to raise in the long run anyway, and they probably wouldn't disobey their curfew and hide their report cards. Anyway, I digress. I just want to send a little love Chambar's way and let you know how much I enjoy your restaurant. Mr Snacky Cat and I have spent several delightful evenings there, and I have been consistently pleased with every aspect of the experience. The FOH staff have always been kind enough to slot us in on what is often rather short notice, and we've received the same careful attention from the staff whether the restaurant is quiet (which I have seen once, on a Monday at 5:30, and which certainly did not last for long!), or packed to the rafters. The ambience is lovely - just the right blend of lively and classy, and don't get me started on the food! I am planning on eating my way through you whole menu, and my calculations put me at the halfway point now. Though the waistline of my trousers might not be looking forward to it, I certainly relish the chance to munch through the other half. One aspect of Chambar that I find particularly wonderful is the fact that the whole experience comes at a surprsingly moderate price. Despite having a number of 2-person dinners that included stomach-extending amounts of food and liver-taxing fountains of wine, I have yet to crack the $100 mark, even after tax and tip (and I'm no chintzy tipper either! The service I have received there is always top-notch and is duly rewarded.) Oh, and I love the double Aeroplan Visa miles! I wouldn't be surprised if I earned a free ticket just on Chambar dollars alone in the next year or two. Hope I don't have to buy two seats after all those waffles, though. I'm delighted to have you guys here, bringing such a wonderful experience to this city's diners at such a fair and reasonable price. I'm happy you're in it for the long haul, and Mr Snacky Cat and I will be right there with you. We'll be the really stuffed looking ones with the chocolate waffle sauce all over our faces We'll see you on Valentine's Day. We've got our reservation made and we're looking forward to the latest round of Snacky Cat vs. The Menu.

The Railway Club is definitely a favourite. Mr Snacky Cat is a professional musician, so needless to say we spend rather a lot of time here (and will be there again tonight, in fact...). You can settle in and drink for HOURS, if you are inclined towards smoking you can do so either inside or outside, the trains are fun to watch, and Stan is the best doorman in town! The food from "the dining car" is actually pretty tasty too- the quesadilla is cheap and cheerful. Not sure whether it counts as a bar or a pub (maybe a "bub"?), but The Morrissey is a frequent hangout, and the site of the Mr and Mrs Snacky Cat first meeting. The best canned music in town, good pub fare, and a comfortable, lively atmosphere. Steamworks is good place to go when you have a large group that is looking for good beer and may or may not want to eat. I have often been called upon to book last-minute parties for 20-60 people, and Steamworks has come through every single time. Spending the night sampling their menu in one of their private rooms is fine way to lose a few hours. On the west side, another bar-pub-restaurant that has eaten away many years of my life is Elwood's. At UBC, I minored in Elwood's. Do not get me started on the many, many stories I have about this place. Like the time that...