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Vancouver

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Everything posted by Vancouver

  1. Any chance their BBQ chef will relocate to provide those lovely ribs someplace else?!?!?!
  2. Anybody know what happened to the Smoking Crust on MacDonald? Their number seems to be permanently "temporarily busy." and I read elsewhere they were papered up.
  3. Yes, I love that huaxi noodle place! That and the place around the corner with the chicken knees are my two go-to places in the food court!
  4. That sounds very promising (once the licensing issues are done).
  5. Hm....Joey Wong. Does that ring any pizza bells?!?!?!?!
  6. That is good news. Is it already open? Same recipe?!?!?!
  7. Pie by Night on Granville is closed. Bummer. It was a decent NY slice.
  8. Gotta also love the chairs in front by the entrance door that are roped off and reserved for residents only, so they can watch who comes and goes to the restaurant.
  9. Cooking classes would be good. Perhaps all the other "Mexican" restaurants in Vancouver should sign up!
  10. There used to be a Hunan place that had proper heat levels at the south end of Cambie near Marine Drive. They had those white chiles, tongue numbing peppercorns, etc. I can't remember the name of it. I think it closed a long time ago - but I wonder what happened to the folks from there?
  11. I know it is not what you are looking for for this occasion, but my favourite lamb dish in town currently is the cumin lamb at The Place on Granville.
  12. I look forward to hearing from both of you what you think of it! Honestly that was the first of the two I tried there. I had it several times and loved it. Then because everyone keeps talking about the beef roll I tried that. I decided I would go back to the cumin beef on sesame flatbread going forward!
  13. It is fairly different. The cumin beef has a lot more spice kick to it, and I find it much more flavourful overall. The bread is also less greasy than the beef roll from the times I've had it. The cumin beef dish really focuses more on the beef and less on the wrapping. The beef roll seems to focus on the wrapping more, and also gives you the dipping sauce as well. Try it once, it is fairly small and inexpensive. Can't hurt to add one extra dish!
  14. How disappointing. Sounds like they are making the customers pay for the renovations but didn't improve the food. That stinks!
  15. I've been back a few times since as well. I have to say my favourite dishes there are now the sesame flatbread with cumin beef (served as a deliciously spicy and crunchy sandwich), the lamb dumplings, and the shan-xi noodle soup (one of the chefs makes it with a nice spice kick).
  16. Victoria Seafood (the dim sum place in the mall behind the Hyatt) opened up again yesterday.
  17. I agree about the feel of the room. You describe it better as feeling like it is waiting for something else to arrive. That is what I was trying to communicate with the "the room feeling a bit cavernous (even though it is a small room)" remark. But you said it much better. Eatrustic, based upon the tequila list they gave at dinner, and looking behind the bar, I don't think they have everything they list on their list available for service yet. I wonder if there might have been some issues importing some of those to Canada? Cheers!
  18. Thanks for the clarification on your thoughts. I get what you were trying to say. The food is really basically just modern Mexican cuisine - similar to what you would get in some modern restaurants in Mexico. The same way we have modern Canadian cuisine, or California cuisine, etc.
  19. I haven't been to Cobre to offer comparisons. I should clarify though, I don't find Tequila Kitchen to be fusion really. It really draws quite heavily on interior mexican cuisine. From looking over Cobre's menu, they seem to be Pan-Latin a bit more.
  20. The style of the food reminded me a bit of Fonda San Miguel. The ambience was quite different though from Fonda San Miguel, with Tequila Kitchen being much more casual and the room feeling a bit cavernous (even though it is a small room). Hopefully introducing the various flavours in Vancouver will have a similar effect in creating a demand for authentic Mexican ingredients as Fonda San Miguel did in Texas in the 70's. (Particularly those lovely chiles that they use in various ways in the dishes.) I hope they also bring in some additional flavours like various moles, Veracruz style seafood preparations, and some cajeta based desserts.
  21. Ok, tried out the tasting menu tonight. This is a welcome addition to the Vancouver scene. The feel is very casual and comfortable. Even more than I expected considering the Yaletown location. The staff was all extremely friendly and helpful about explaining the soft opening menu, drink selection, etc. The soft opening menu is very good value and gives a broad exposure to the various flavours they will be producing. You start off with tortilla chips (perhaps baked, or if fried they were not greasy at all) and a Mexican ricotta dip that was seasoned with chiles. A very nice opening. This was followed by a ceviche plate that had two types of ceviches. One was octopus and mango based and the other was halibut with pico de gallo. The highlight was the small dish of chile sauce that was between the two ceviches. It had a lovely complexity and heat that really complemented the ceviches. Next was a trio of quesadillitas accompanied by a pico de gallo and salsa verde. One was mushroom filled; one was filled with poblano peppers in a cheese, corn, and onion base; and the third was filled with crab and topped with guacamole. These had a nice variety of flavours with the mushroom filled one perhaps having the most distinctive flavour. The next course was a mexican style black bean soup presented with thin fried tortilla slices and a decoration of sour cream (just decorative, not overwhelming). The soup had a subtle oregano flavour that really worked well. Next was the meat course, which was composed of three different meats. The first was duck breast in a hibiscus and serrano glaze. The sauce was superb. The sweetness and serrano blended perfectly. The duck was good, but just slightly too cooked for my taste (not terribly overdone, I just like my duck more towards the rarer side). It moistened up nicely when combined with the sauce. The second was the lamb shank that had been shredded and blended in a tequila based salsa. The meat was extremely tender and the sauce rounded out the flavour. The third, and perhaps the highlight, was the chile glazed pork ribs. The chile sauce has 5 different chiles, and most notably had a smoky hint of ancho. The sauce was complex and layered, and went extremely well with the tender ribs. The meats were served with a size of string beans and carrots. The carrots had a hint of citrus. There were also some corn tortillas served very hot. I would love for them to make there own, but for premade tortillas they were steamed and as good as those can be. Overall a successful main course. Dessert was a mexican praline with a tasting of vanilla ice cream on top. There were two pralines. One of them was covered in caramel sauce and the other in a mexican chocolate sauce (with the distinct cinnamon flavour). The pralines were moist and an enjoyable conclusion to the meal. All of the above was priced at a mere $25. Quite the steal to get familiar with a bunch of the flavours they will be offering. Apparently the soft opening tasting menu will be ending in about a week and a half's time. So get it while the getting is good! They offer a variety of tequila based cocktails, margaritas, and beer. I sampled the margaritas and they were certainly passable. Come to think of it, I can't think of any other margaritas I've had in Vancouver so I don't have local comparisons. They were what I would expect from a decent margarita though overall. Overall I am looking forward to seeing what else they start to offer as the menu rounds out. The $25 tasting is a steal, and the flavours make me look forward to what else is coming. Cheers!
  22. I certainly hope it turns out better than Gregory Short's entry into the Vancouver market in the role of Executive Chef at La Vallee. What a let down!
  23. A bit of a thread bump...Considering the number of new places since this thread was started (and that St. Moritz and Senses closed a while ago), I wonder if there are any wonderful ones to check out that weren't mentioned here?
  24. Same experience with the lunchtime crowd on the weekends. Get there at 11:30 when it opens and no problem. By noon or so and there is a line! I guess that part of town is becoming the "ramen district" with 3 establishments so close to each other. I can't think of any other ramen places in other locations around town - except for that one down in Marpole which is not particularly good. (Don't even know if they are still in business?) Are there any others too? (Since this is now the "ramen thread" - even though it hasn't been renamed yet?
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