nondual1

Welcome back! The world-famous West is on Granville Street, but it is a bit far to walk all the way -- so, you probably would want to just hike your way to the first bus stop on Granville and then take a Granville bus (route 10 probably) to get there and back. If you prefer more exotic flavours, there is also Vij's in the same Granville area. Downtown core is just a aqua-taxi ride away from Granville Island. Once you get off the boat, a good walk away is Okada Sushi, one of the few sushiyas still run by real Japanese chefs. Although by no means the best in Vancouver, it should be decent enough for you -- as it is for many Japanese expatriats. Please take a look at these and let us know if you need more suggestions. Enjoy!

It appears that, since ramen is such a work of the artisan, consistency has always been the issue. Who's the person standing in front of the stockpot makes all the difference. I remember first visiting Kintaro within weeks of its opening and fell in love with the place, it being so so so much better than Ezogiku, then the only other authentic ramen shop in Vancouver. It stayed good for several years, until the owner decided to venture out and be an investor rather than just a ramen-master, handing over the noodle-strainer to lesser and younger chaps. I have never been back since he could no longer be found behind the counter. The story seems to be repeating itself somewhat at Motomachi Shokudo. Benkei's quality, while remaining mostly acceptable, varies quite a bit. The broth is also a bit too rich for my taste -- but then I am on par to redeeming my fifth free bowl of ramen from them regardless! I have only been to Menya once when it first opened; I like some, but not all, of its offerings. Deli Nippon's okonomiyaki comes in three flavours: pork, beef (I think...) and Italian. Again very simply-prepared and not the over-done ones like some others. But since it is Hiroshima style, you'd better like ramen if you ordered it. Where else can one get respectable okonomiyaki in Vancouver anyway? But Deli Nippon's miso ramen is truly something to try.

I am surprised at how child-friendly DB Bistro Moderne is. While dining there a month or so ago, I found a big party with several children, with high-chairs/boosters and all, taking their time with their dinner. The servers were tremendously courteous toward them and somehow the rest of us diners hardly even noticed there were children. DB Bistro Moderne has a patio and is in a safe neighbhourhood, which could be assets for children who "cannot sit still".

Deli Nippon A new ramen place opened up only months ago in the most unlikely location: Knight Street on the south-west corner of its intersection with Kingsway. Despite its name, it's really not a "delicatessan" by any means; rather, it's a ramen specialist that serves up ramen that reminds me most of what I had in Tokyo, Japan. Unlike the Robson area shops, it is not fancy either in decor or in menu choices: miso or shoyu, less chasu or more chasu, with gyoza or without. That's it. However, it is possible to order gyoza by itself, and Hiroshima-yaki (called okonomiyaki here) is also available. Now being summer, cold noodle is featured as well. All very reasonably priced at between $6 to $8. What it does serve up are all high-quality, precisely-flavoured and consistent. The noodle always has a very pleasing texture and holds its form to the last bite. The soup, while layered with flavour, is neither oily nor weighing on one's stomach. The shoyu soup is the lighter of the two but the miso is loaded with surprises, unlike some of the others that are salty but not much else. Whereas the other shops, as good as they are, have their ups and downs, DN's ramen tastes the same in the half-a-dozen visits I have made so far. Incidentally, every time I went, I spotted Japanese patrons eating there: that should be taken as a sign of how authentic this place is. Deli Nippon is at 3913 Knight Street in Vancouver. The phone number is (604) 568-6101. It is closed on Monday; on other days, it's open from 11:00AM to 8:00PM.

That's about the only winner I would agree with. Did the judges taste these dishes themselves or were just voting based on the contenders' reputation? In almost all categories I have tasted better dishes elsewhere. And since when is geoduck and scallops one and the same? Even the Diners' Choice Award portion seems to have suffered from ballot-stuffing.

Hotel restaurant? How about Yew at Four Seasons?

Shi-Art (食藝) at Richmond Centre is also open early for dim-sum. Spicy Court (映月軒 at Cambie and 41st) is but a hop, skip and a jump away across the river; it even offers a discount if you settle your dim-sum bill by 11:00!

Empire Supermarket (102 - 4600 No. 3 Rd, Richmond) seems to carry a variety of them.

Drove by Metrotown this evening and both of the Hunan places were dark. This being a Saturday, I would venture a guess that they are no more. I noticed that there are two other Hunan restaurants along Kingsway (in Vancouver rather than Burnaby). But I have not heard anything about them or tried them myself. BB

Is Crystal Hunan the one with Chairman Mao's portrait or not? Last time I drove by, there were two Hunan places across the street from Metrotown/Crystal Mall -- my guess is that you ate at the one just a few doors from the Willingdon intersection. This is the older one, about which I have heard quite a few good words. Don't know about the newer one with the portrait -- perhaps Lee would be kind enough to sample both and report back...? Shiang Garden is a Cantonese dim sum house, and, despite its slide lately, can be counted among one of the best in town. No wonder the har gow was fantastic; also no surprise that the xiao long bao was a total disaster -- Cantonese dim sum houses rarely, if ever, make dim sum from other locales, including Shanghai, well. If you like the Sichuan style of tripe, be sure to check out Yum Yum in North Vancouver. Among a few other dishes such as sliced pork with garlic sauce and chicken with home-made sauce, the tripe there (known as Szechuan shredded beef on the menu) are really capable of giving Golden Szechuan a run for "your" money. Be sure to tell them you really like it the way Sichuanese take it. And if you like your xiao long bao to be bountiful with soap yet don't mind the wrapper to be slightly thicker than usual, do give Xianheng in Richmond a try. I ought to write a fuller report of this place... if anyone is interested, that is. Thanks for making trip into town and giving your support to Chinese dim sum! BB

Fish markets in Chinatown (e.g., Pender Market and the one at the corner of Gore and Keefer) and even T&Ts often do stock live "groupers" and can be had at around $9/lb straight from the tank. Whether these are "real" groupers is up for debate, but they look and taste somewhat similar to the ones we often treasure in Asia. I think true groupers, which are coral fishes, are not found close to Canadian waters. On very rare occasions, T&T at Keefer Place would have true groupers flown in from Asia and for sale at exorbitant prices (like $20/lb). Frozen ones abound, but they are hardly worth the trouble, really.

Trying to play catch-up here, so please bear with me... About Ho Yuen Kee: It has long been one of the favorite places to go to if one doesn't feel like lighting the stove-fire at home. But I sometimes find it a little on the pricey side; which brings us to another old favorite -- Au Wing Kee. Au Wing Kee, formerly on Fraser, has risen from the fire (!) and re-opened on Kingsway (2600 block). Its home-style cooking always offers excellent value; but its HK-style wonton noodles is simply *the* standard this side of the Pacific. About Chen's Shanghai in Richmond: It first opened some 6 or 7 years ago in the exact same spot as Shanghai Wind. At that time, it was mainly a noodles and buns house, which explains its expertise in Xiao Long Bao, with a minimal offering of entree dishes. When Shanghai Wind took over the address, it re-opened on Leslie (I think), adding a full menu of entrees and the works. I ate there once or twice but they were hardly remarkable. I don't think business was that great either, thus they moved again. I have not checked out this new revival -- I am not tired of Shanghai Wind yet, so no hurry. But if anyone is interested in trying a different style (more upscale as oppsed to the home-cooking style of Chen's and Shanghai Wind) of Shanghai cuisine, do go to Xianheng (No. 3 & Cook). Their fried stuffed bean-curd skin ("xiang ling"), wine chicken ("zhao Ji") and pork belly in preseved vegetables ("mei gan chai xiao rou") are among their house specialties. I like their fish in soup ("da tang huang yu") as well, but it might not be as well appreciated by others. Xianheng is technically a Zhejiang, the province wherein Shanghai lies, restaurant and I have heard it from Zhejiang natives that this restaurant is as authentically Zhejiang as it gets. About James Snack: This place offers very "technically-correct" clay-pot rice, despite the fact that it uses Japanese-style casserole pots a la Daisho. I am a frequent customer of that food court, because... ... besides James Snack's rice, one can find the best BBQ pork ("char siu"), one of the best bak kut teh ( http://www.answers.com/topic/bak-kut-teh ) and arguably the best braised beef offals in the Lower Mainland there. Even the Northern Chinese stall there offers respectable food. I could dine there everyday if only gas prices would come down more...

What a lovely issue -- I especially love the two heart-warming and witty excerpts from Anny Scoones' books. I was in hog-heaven reading and re-reading the publication, until my thoughts started drifting off to the upcoming Christmas Party Dinner -- HOLD ON A SEC! It's not quite snout to tail coverage really... ... it has left out the venerable Caul Fat!!! So, could anyone be so kind as to let me know where in the Lower Mainland I might be able to get caul fat? It's urgently needed for my Christmas dinner...!

Just came back from dinner there; ordered as follows: 1. Chicken Satay; 2. Fried Radish Cake; 3. Hokkianese Prawn Mee; & 4. Hainanese Chicken with Rice. The prawn mee was a bit plain and the seafood ingredients could have been fresher. The Haianese chicken was all right, but not quite as good as Cafe D'Lite's (on West Broadway). But the satay -- especially the peanut sauce condiment -- was one of the best in town and the fried radish cake was quite authenic and hard to find elsewhere. Around $50 for two with drinks. Service friendly but leisurely. This place is a good introduction to Malaysian/Singaporean food for those who are not familiar with it, for it has a wide array of choices that are relatively risk-free. It's easy to find and park. There are a few other dishes that I would go back to sample. This is restaurant I would recommend to others. Orchild Delight is open Tuesday to Sunday till 9:00pm.

So far, so many of you are repeating the same refrain that it is illegal, but few, if at all, are providing any support for it. I would be thrilled if Neil could call up the same person in Victoria that he talked to and ask him or her to supply the citation in the Act or the Regulations where it says point-blank that it is illegal to bring in a bottle of wine. Absent such a citation, the Provincial Government lacks the authority to say it is so.

Look, I certainly understand and respect restaurants' decision to not allow patrons to bring in their own wines. Just as no patron may reasonably expect to be allowed to bring a Big Mac into HSG and consume it there, it is no more expected that he or she may be allowed to bring a Yellowtail or Mouton-Cadet along, especially when there is a perfectly well-stocked cellar to choose from. As business-owners, Neil and others may certainly refuse such intrusion as a matter of course and of business policy, without abash; but then they may bend their "policy" a little for loyal customers, big-spenders and so on, all the same without abash. Allowing in outside bottles is, any way you look at it, a special favour, not an obligation. So, there's no need to pass the buck for making such a business decision or to yield to the whims and fancies of a particular bureaucrat who happened to answer your inquiry call as if he or she had the power to over-ride the letter of the law. Last I checked, the Charter of Rights -- is that a game of words as well, one wonders? -- is still in effect and Stalin has not returned from the dead. And how many of us have never met a bureacrat who is clueless about the very law he or she is paid to administer? As patron, I would certainly look more favorably -- and dine more frequently -- at establishments that allow outside bottles. I would just as certainly take care not to abuse such privilleges. That does not mean I would not go to restaurants where such privilleges are not afforded -- but any restaurants that add insult to injury by claiming something legal to be illegal would have a hard time getting my business at all. Too bad if not more of us see things the same way...

Chef Jeff: Could you share with us the basis for your assertion of "technically breaking the law" with regard to allowing an outside bottle to be served? As we saw above (yesterday), that does not seem to be what the law says. Could there be something that I am missing? I could certainly understand that there are far more financial reasons for a licensed establishment to disallow outside bottles than to allow them; but isn't it a bit wimpy to hide what essentially is a business decision behind a legal front -- "It's not that I want to make a few more bucks off you serving you wines you don't really want, it's just that the G-man won't allow me not to!" So, once and for all: where does it say bringining in outside bottles is illegal?

Hold on a sec, folks... Assuming the above-quoted is all the law regarding BYOB, it would appear that BYOB is in fact *legal*. It does not say "purchased from *and* served by the licensee." In other words, whereas pulling out a bottle from within one's baggie-pants and starting to gulp straight from the mouth of the bottle is illegal, it appears to be legal if one hands over the bottle to one's server, asks nicely that it be served -- by opening it and providing the necessary glasses and so on -- and then receives said service. Can anyone provide any case law to dispute or support that reading of the law? And regarding taking a bottle home: it would appear, from the above, that establishments without an off-sale license may not sell an un-opened bottle to a patron to be taken home. I wish it was otherwise: everytime I see a Burrowing Owl merlot on a wine-list, I have to try very hard to suppress the urge to ask if I may get one (bottle) for the show and one (preferrably case) for the road. They are so hard to come by... Edited for font

Are we sure that we really can take bottles home from dining establishments? Any establishments or only those with an separate off-sale store? And are we talking about un-opened bottles or bottles that are opened but not finished? Who's doing the enforcement, by the way -- the VPD or the LCB?

Just checked their web-site: they are going on summer vacation (although rumour has it that they might be changing hands) starting July 29. So, may or may not be an option for now.

Why not give Saveur a try? It's: 1. Downtown; 2. Only been in existence since last year, so less of a chance of your friend's having been there; 3. Casual, cozy and warm, the server being the proprietress herself; 4. Very good food, it having received a couple of rave review from food critics Enjoy!

That's some of the best food-writing I have come across in quite some time! I wonder if we can nominate Jamie for the Governor General's Literary Awards, perhaps greasing the wheels a little with a couple of those Go Fish salmon tacos...? Thank you, Jamie!

Along with the above-linked story, CBC also runs stories that Telus and CBC itself (!), in separate labour disputes, are also facing strikes. Which got me thinking: Containers of wines (and other produce) are sitting on the dock facing spoilage. School kids are on summer vacation. Men and women are walking off their jobs. The sun is making up for missed performances last month. ... why don't we just all gather at the port, open up the containers and have one Olympic-sized tail-gate party?? I'll bring my Weber and a corkscrew, if someone will loan me his or her lawn-chair...!

Just as this year's shipment of Bordeaux is starting to make its way here?? How disastrous! And if anyone thinks the retailers are going to dump the spoiled inventory and put on the shelves only those bottles shipped post-strike (whenever that might be!), think again! I don't think I want to pay money for any imported wines for six months to a year -- until the spoiled wines are flushed out of the system completely. Time to buy and drink locally, my friends! A toast to the thriving BC wine industry!

Wow! ... and how come there's not a smilie for cyber-bow...? I am down for 7, but I am getting too senile to be sure. And I actually have a couple that I think are even under the radar for whoever that wrote the Vanmag thing (Mr. Maw?): Foo Faa: The Thai place tucked behind the 7-11 at the end of Robson and Cardero. It's very authentic (as opposed to the many Westernized-Thai places that serve over-sweetened food) and some of the dishes are so well-made that even Salathai, Montri and Sawadee cannot match. It used to offer a Thai hotpot, which, sadly, had to be discontinued for lack of acceptance. Kalvin's: Seeing how folks appreciate Vogue in this thread, I think the Kalvin's and the restaurants (Vogue and the one that's tucked behind Izumi-ya off No. 3 in Richmond) that are off-shoots from it are not more "on the radar screen." These are very good Sichuan-influenced Taiwanese restaurants and, although not under the radar of the Chinese diners by any means, don't seem to be frequented much by the mainstream. Kalvin's is on Victoria, across from the Chevron gas station. OM Vegetarian: Located on Cambie across the street from Choice's, it is an ecclectic vegetarian place offering both Chinese and non-Chinese dishes. A world apart from the heavily-sauced Bo Kong and other traditional Chinese vegetarian places, I think it is a good alternative for vegetarians who want to take a break from Naam and Indian. I am so glad that VanMag is pointing out the roads less travelled and Lee bringing our attention to these worthy restaurants. I will make it a point to try out the remaining 18 or so on the list.