BCinBC

Stopped by Koni last night and talked to Zarko about the stock. He says it's actually quite good for risotto, not too salty but definitely be careful how much you add because the flavour is quite concentrated. So I've invested $6 in a jar and will give it a go this weekend, maybe incorporating Trout Lake FM peas (a result of Daddy-A's sell job). I also learned that except for the imported items, the deli is stocked with all handmade meats. They have a master butcher who makes, amongst other things, the liver pate, sausages etc. We had sausages last week (really delicious) and I picked up 150g of pate last night (roughly 1,000,000 times tastier than the stuff you get pre-packaged in Safeway). Weekends they do weisswurst - see you there Saturday! One final note for all you smokers out there, the Marpole Grand Market currently has a special on pork butt, $2.49/lb. Daddy-A, I may come a-knockin (unless the house is a-rockin).

Okay, City of Vancouver allows BBQs at some of its beaches - Jericho, Spanish Banks etc. but no open fires. No fires allowed at Ambleside either. However, I have learned that City of Richmond will issue beach fire permits. Not sure of the circumstances, cost, etc. but I will dig up more and post updates. The alcohol thing, if we avoid ostentatious displays we should be okay. I know they crack down at the fireworks, but otherwise I've had beers <etc.> at the beach before and no big deal. Then again I haven't done so with Moosh or anyone else prone to high volume conversation... The other option, possibly, is we all treat Peppyre real nice and maybe we'll get an invite to join her. Except how do we cross the boarder with a trunk-load of live crabs? Maybe play the old diversion card, sacrifice another vehicle by lacing with <illicit substance> while we cruise through with crustateans and stock pots?

Sorry that I’m posting in the DOV thread, but this is the only place I can find Mosaic mentioned in this forum. Commander-in-Chief, do what you must… I’m not a big hotel-restaurant person, but sometimes there are gems. Diva is the obvious one. Well, due to relatives staying at the Hyatt last night, dinner was at Mosaic. Party of four. For appys N and I both had the Cardini salad - Caesar but semi-deconstructed, or is that semi-constructed? Baby romaine, “garlic dressing”, fried capers, croutons, shaved parm, and two anchovy fillets in an X on top. Very crisp and fresh, the dressing was creamy and garlicy but not overpoweringly so, I quite liked it. The anchovies were a bit weird, I’d prefer them pasted into the dressing, but oh well. One note: the salad a bit heavily dressed, so if that’s not your thing, ask the kitchen to lighten up – they are very accommodating. Another had the Mosaic salad, which was an assortment of lettuce, smoked bacon cubes (mmm), walnuts, GS apple julienned, and roqueford crème. Did not try, except for the bacon. Mmm. Fourth appy was the stuffed wontons as Appreciator mentioned above. The first bite was a little too subtle for me to pick anything up (I was eating my semi-Caesar), but the second was much more defined. It was a light texture packed with taste similar to good beef balls – insert joke here – at dim sum. Mains were: two scallop prawn lobster risottos, NY steak, and “pot roast” short rib (mine). The risottos were lobster-based, which made them pretty luxurious to start, but then they were finished with mascarpone. Yikes! Scallops were huge, dimensions similar to a baseball steak but of course smaller and white (except for the beautiful sear), 3 per plate. Chunks of lobster abounded too. Do I have to re-mention the creamy and richness factor? Steak was a nice rare, but served a little cool (not blue, just cool). Served with a potato gratin I think and baby string beans, neither of which I tried. The “pot roast” was a short rib chunk deboned (after braising I presume), so it was like a cube of meat that fell apart on touch. Tase-T. Then oh man it was served with some damn rich macaroni and cheese too. Fortunately I managed to cram it all down, along with some serious samples of the others’ plates. Dessert: I ordered (and N shared) the maple crème brulee, which was soft and subtle, but could have used a thicker crust. However the madelines and mini-mocha it was served with were pretty friggin delicious. The cookies soaked up the coffee real nice, but didn’t fall apart despite their tiny-ness. Other two shared the GS apple pie a la mode with caramel sauce. Once again, I didn’t try this because… Here’s the thing. If you go to Mosaic for a birthday, anniversary or any sort of occasion, apparently they just give you this 6”x6”x8” tall chocolate cake. It is really huge. It is enough for 8 people easy, 12 normal people, or maybe 2-3 Lings. The four of us ate less than a quarter of the monster, after we ate the other desserts. I took the rest home, and have managed to give away a little less than half after lunch today to 3 other eGulleters. The cake is very rich, buttery chocolate, moist, not grainy. Mostly it is insane. We still have a small chocolate tower at home. And I am not really a choc-cake guy. They took a Polaroid, I will try to get it scanned and maybe post it some day so you can appreciate the scale. Memo to Mosaic: you can serve a smaller one, say 3”x3”x6”, it will still be impressive! Anyway, with a bottle of Quail’s Gate Reserve pinot noir 2003 it rang up to about $250 NIC tip. It was a delicious meal, our server Oscar was quite cordial, and except for a couple of minor slips (which weren’t Oscar’s fault) the evening was excellent. Sadly the room was pretty dead, so I’d agree with Appreciator - this place is flying under the radar.

Peppyre, you don't say! Kokanee is my favourite of all of our macro-brewed beers, and I do find it refreshing in the locker room after hockey. In fact it is usually the resident beer in our fridge. Even after Labatts bought them out, I think they pretty much kept the operation intact (not that that changes anything for you!). Well if we have you over, I know to just stick with a couple bottles of Goats do Roam anyway.

Ha ha, Black Label. I second that emotion. This is the most vile of all beers eminating from Ontario. In residence in first year university, people used to buy it because they were homesick or whatever. Insert joke here. On the last day of classes in absolute desparation, I tried to drink one warm. Made it through 3 sips, then had to dry out... until we got to the beer garden. A close 2nd is anything you can buy in Blaine (which is just over the border in Wash State) for $8 per flat. Hamms, Pabst, Raineer... They are all the same, which is bad. Cripes, college kids will drink anything.

Similar to Chloe's story, around age 8 or 9 we had to write poems on our favourite foods. Most of the kids of course did hot dogs or spaghetti. I think I was the only one who wrote about prime rib with wild rice.

Victoria remains home for my Mom and my brother’s family. N and I return every once in awhile for special occasions, but I swear the only thing that we end up doing there is either eating or catching up on sleep. This past weekend was no exception. Saturday dim sum: Don Mee Restaurant. This place is owned by Mom and a few others, so take the disclaimer as you will, but I still think it’s the best dim sum in town. The beef rice noodle rolls were particularly good that day, but the sticky rice was also up there. They do old-school Cantonese style dim sum (carts), rather than the Hong Kong style (cards), but I think the throngs of tourists that go through there find it quainter (is this a word?). One other note about the disclaimer: the flip side is that I have been along for the ride checking out the competition many times in my life, and therefore I feel very comfortable judging dim sum. Besides, I’m an honest guy, I wouldn’t lie. Saturday dinner: Wild Saffron. Annexed to Swan’s Pub on Store St, the setting of this bistro-style resto is warm with yellows and oranges. We were shown to our table right away, as the place was fairly empty at 6:30. Incidentally, it started to fill around 8-ish, at which point my sister (who currently lives in Tronna) and I both noted the evolution in dining times from when we’d left. Back in 1990 people were just perusing the dessert menu at 6:30 and back in bed watching Masterpiece Theatre at 8. Anyway, most folks ordered the green salad to start; I got the 3-course set menu which featured a green salad as well, but mine ended up being significantly smaller than the others. At a $24 prix fixe, who could argue? Except that I didn’t think salad, even microgreens, were going to break the bank for the sake of aesthetics. But not a big deal. My salad was fine, fresh and was light, thought I will say that the mango vinagrette needed more, well, mango. My wife and brother ended up sharing the cheese fondue for their appy. This was clearly the thing to get – it had to be almost 2 litres of very tasty gruyere?-based fondue, accompanied by a plate full of goodies such as dried figs, dates and apricots, walnuts, apples and grapes, carrots, celery, the standard bread cubes… Wow. But waaaay more than two people should be sharing this for an appy. In fact, if you each ordered a green salad and shared the fondue for dinner, you’d probably be damned full afterwards. But that was a delicious and XXL fondue, and the figs were very cool additions. Now I think the time taken to consume the fondue (which wasn’t even successful BTW, despite my help!) threw the kitchen off a bit, because the mains for the most part came out a little dry. The salmon and scallops apparently suffered, as did my rabbit and pork tenderloin and my brother’s ahi tuna and pork. But the lamb sirloin that my uncle got was pretty fabulous. Rare side of MR and juicy. Again, the latter was the pick of the course. Dessert was limited to my blueberry tart w/ smoked banana ice cream, plus a matching order for my nephew. The ice cream was really tasty – very strong banana flavour, though if there was smoking going on it was wasted on my taste buds. Maybe that’s what produced the intensity of the flavour? I actually would have been happy with two scoops of ice cream and no tart, but then I like strong ice cream flavours. Actually keep the cookie/wafer thing too, that was good. Through the meal we had a couple bottles of the Estancia pinot noir 2001 which was nice, fruity start and dry finish. Confession: I have a bottle on my rack at home, and thought this was a perfect occasion to test it out. I think I’ll give my bottle another year or so, for the fruit to mellow. I'd give them another go; next time I'd either stick to the set $24 menu, which IMO is a steal of a deal, or go for 2 salads plus the fondue. Oh which reminds me, they also had a chocolate fondue on the dessert menu. Also "for 2". Sunday brunch: Fireside Grille in Royal Oak off West Saanich Rd. We’ve been to this place before, moreso for a convenience standpoint – proximity to brother’s house and Mom’s old place, ability to deal with brother’s son fairly efficiently, etc. The food has been okay in the past. This time, while I would not say that I was blown away by anything, I was definitely more impressed. We arrived early so we got the pick of the mussels and clams, roast pork, omlette station, cheese plate and dessert table. All good. Actually it was just the blue cheese that I liked, the camembert was salty as all ****. Plus the usuals of a buffet brunch like bacon, sausages, poached salmon, peel & eat shrimp, various salads, what looked like fresh baked scones and croissants… Again, nothing earth-shattering but a good spread at what was probably a very reasonable price (I didn’t catch the cost but I bet it was less than $20 pp). Plus I filled up real good so as to not require a refuel on the ferry. Also if you're visiting on a summer weekend, try to go earlier because another swarm of tourists came in behind us and ravaged the buffet like a cloud of locusts. All in all a fairly successful trip. The only regret was that I was really hoping to make it to the Rosemeade because of Memo’s post in the 1 night in Vic thread.

Looks like this idea is picking up steam (hey I could have said, "This idea is beginning to reach a rolling boil" but that would be stretching). Let me do some research and get back to yas. Incidentally Peppyre, why mid-Aug? Public beach fires are generally out, I think Ambleside is the only one around here that allows? The deeper we get into summer, the worse it will get...

I finally got around to trying WingNuts last Friday. I went with my wife, her sister and a friend of theirs and there were a few beers prior and during so we weren't exactly the quietest patrons there. Anyway, the beer really put us in a wing mood. The Friday special is 30 wings for $15.99, which isn't cheap, but turns out is totally worth it. A year ago I was working half-weeks in Calgary, and we used to go on wing binges as they were $0.15 each in most places. Let me say that these wings blew any and all of those cheap pretenders away. We started with 60 wings: the middle hot, Jamaican jerk, Thai spicy peanut, and honey garlic, and a side of fries (for extinguishing purposes). The middle hot were hot enough - too hot for two of my tablemates to eat - however I thought they had a nice taste besides the heat. It is indeed a Frank's RedHot base. My sister-in-law and I plan on returning to eat 12 of the "uber-hot" (added chilis to Frank's) to get onto the wall as Canuckle mentioned. The jerk were okay (edited to add they were not real jerk as I know it; they were wet with sauce, for one thing, whereas I think of jerk as drier and much spicier - as introduced to me by Trinidadians), the peanut were good, but I was most impressed with the honey garlic. For the first time in my life, the garlic was actually a stronger taste than the honey, and it was good! All of the wings were crispy outside, juicy inside, no trace of raw meat which sometimes plagues pubs. Someone else mentioned the small sizes above, but they seemed normal to me. Which is much larger than the pidgeon wings we were eating during the avian flu. Having not had quite enough wings, we ordered a half-dozen of the kung pao plum. I think these are the way to go for a good cool-me-down if you're trying to get on the uber-hot wall. These or the honey garlics. Not hot like actual kung pao. (edited to add I will never again order 6 wings, it is too sad to see the basket only half-filled with delicious wings). To finish we had to have the Mars bar. Now ever since I've heard of this, I have been a staunch disbeliever that this could be good. No way would I enjoy this, I thought. But I tried it anyway, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I think it's less sweet than an actual Mars bar - or maybe this is an illusion given the premise of deep frying a candy bar, then adding powdered sugar on top. It is warm and gooey inside. It is not bad. I don't think I'd eat a whole one myself, but it caps an already-gross dinner (when you stop to think about it) pretty well. Now the deep fried Smores bar... Gagging at the thought!

Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have said anything! At least Canuckle didn't pull a Tom-Hanks-at-the-Oscars moment. Aside from the tears. I have long obsessed over the cool-ness of the traditional New England clam bake, or Louisiana crawfish boil, etc. and the fact that we have not embraced this ourselves (or at least I haven't, in the same manner). The westcoast dungeoness is a much praised creature - so I would totally be into steaming / boiling a whole wack of them, laying them out on a picnic table covered with newspaper, and having at them!

At the risk of sounding too chatty, the recent contributions by Canucklehead and Keith Talent in this thread epitomize the reason I am drawn to eGullet: well written summaries of new / fun / exciting food experiences. Cheers, and back to crab and lobster talk...

I too am suspecting (hoping) book. Otherwise, I imagine the episodes taking the form of jovial interview / narration overlaying cheap Crime Stopper style re-enactments of said bad moments... Which might be funny in a Saturday Night Live context, but could get old quick.

Had one of the lunch specials at Budapest yesterday; my first foray into Hungarian cuisine was "Sz... cabbage" with pork paprikash. The Sz... is a region or county - or possibly a tribe? - in Hungary. My understanding of the proprieter's answer obviously was not complete. Anyway, the dish was kind of like a stew of shredded cabbage and tender braised chunks of pork. Spiced very nicely, though there was no discernable heat to the dish despite the brick-red colour of the broth (which I assume was due in part to paprika). In fact the broth was delicious, mopped up with bread. Cabbage is funny, I prefer it cooked over raw, even though it loses it's texture. But in this dish it still had some body, it was not mushy. I will definitely return to try the sausage platter on their regular menu. And there's more pork paprikash in my future as well... Another source of porky goodness. Oh yeah, note to Shellback: I was told that the chef is Slovakian - again, unconfirmed info here - so that even though the cuisine is Hungarian, there is a slight Slovak twist. I am not qualified in the slightest to discern the subtle differences between Hungarian, Slovakian and Czech food, but I think the latter two must be pretty similar. BTW my source is originally Czech himself.

I'm not sure if this is meant to be drill-sargeant abusive (Okay ladies, yer all gonna drop and give me 20!) or a nod to my girlish figure. If the latter, should I take that as a compliment? Gender confusion aside... Yes I've not lived in Victoria for 14 years, but I have been back the odd time or two. I've seen and been impressed by some of the development in Esquimalt, had brunch at some "new" waterfront place a couple of times, but I tell you under that facelift it still seems like the same old naval port it was when I left. Again, I'm not disputing that there is good food there, I'm wondering who is eating it on a regular, business-supportive basis. Three turns at a place in Esquimalt is indeed what I would call miraculous. What happens on a Tuesday? Or does it matter? Does weekend revenue = entire week revenue? Just curious. Like Memo said, in the spirit of the thread, I can definitely see this as a "1 night in Victoria" stop. But from your accounts, Shelora, maybe sleepy olde Victoria is shedding some of her granny-ish image, and the benefits are spreading towards even the quietest of burbs. I hope so. Cheers, Brian

Interesting (perhaps) as a side note, smokers always relish that cigarette after a great meal. Aside from the psychological addiction (stimulus = eating, response = smoking), ask them why they love that post-meal smoke? Because that's when a cigarette tastes best. Similar with the tradition of post-meal cigars (and brandy).

That and 'roid shakes. Oh sorry, make that "BALCO flaxseed suntan oil".

I grew up in Victoria, and have no idea where the English Inn or Lampson street are, so I looked it up on mapquest. It is in Esquimalt. Are people actually eating here? Admittedly I left in 1991, but at that time there were not a lot of people willing to spend $25-30 on dinner mains (which translates into say $75/person for a 3 course meal + drinks + tax + tip) in Victoria, much less Esquimalt. To this day I can't believe the Arbutus Grille in Brentwood Bay (where I spent 14 years of my life) is still surviving. It's not a reflection on the food either, but on the available clientelle. And I'm not trying to be a snob; guess I'm just asking if the face of Victoria and surrounding area dining has changed that dramatically. Remember too that there is already established destination competition in Sooke Harbour House and Deep Cove Chalet. The food does look good, and I wish them the best of luck.

Maxmillan, I saw the "concentrated stock". (The idea is that you dissolve a small amount into a larger amount of water.) They have a couple others besides beef - chicken and lobster? Anyway, my question is: how salty is it? Is it suitable for having in the fridge to make say a risotto or quick sauce, where the flavours are going to be re-concentrated? Anyone?

Oh right, being on business or out of office/town makes sense. Especially when it's a free wifi versus paying $X/hr for a DSL connection in your hotel room.

Keith, you are either a man of internal balance or excrutiating conflict. You hatred of smilies is pleasantly, or infuriatingly, offset by your love of Hello Kitty pens. I get the cafes and malls, but can someone enlighten me on who is going to the pub by him/herself to get a beer, maybe some wings, and a wifi connection? Or do people go out in pairs/groups to restaurants to surf anti-socially but together? I have never had a wireless laptop so I'm in the dark here.

Not totally true. I have worked with old school construction superintendents who yell at similar volumes, with as many expletives, and with as much "intimidation" as shown on HK. Some worse. One of these guys is also one of the most respected superintendents I've known (respected by his underlings, peers and superiors). He is very knowledgeable, has developed many a superintendent or foreman from apprentice, and has a brigade of workers who follow him from job to job. He also has one of the biggest hearts I've seen on a job site, in that he truly cares about people. Yes most younger superintendents are not as menacing nowadays, for whatever reason (changing style, legal?). But I have yet to spend one day on a construction site and not see at least one dressing-down incident, regardless of the off-site nature of the superintendent. It can be a response to a safety issue or quality or simple feet dragging, but hey sometimes it is the only way to get a message across. What someone else said earlier is totally true: you do your job, you won't get yelled at. No it's not the norm for every workplace, but it is out there.

Watched it. Once again a reality show showing little reality... The winner of the show is going to get their own kitchen. Okay, you think that these the home cooks, the financial advisor, or even the "freelance executive chef" will be able to run the resto, even after 13 weeks or whatever under Gordon Ramsey's tutilage? Most can't plate a dish right now, let alone coordinate everyone else on their team to plate simultaneously. Maybe in 5 or 10 years they'll develop the right stuff, but not 13 weeks. Having said that, if there has to be a winner then I think the mother of 6 is the best candidate. Discipline, timing, budget consciousness, control in a chaotic environment are all ingrained. Anyway I may or may not continue watching it - there are much better cooking shows out there, but the thing is, I still like Gordo!

I've eaten at both Doc Morgan's and Blue Eyed Mary's. Doc M's is more of a drop in casual place. Besides many a pitcher of beer accompanied by pub food, we actually had a "family" dinner there once to show off the west coast to a crowd from the UK. They did a BBQ that night (ribs, chicken) which was okay, although I opted for the prime rib I think. There is nothing earth-shattering on the menu; however, if you know anyone with a boat, coerce them into sailing lazily over to Bowen, buy them a beer and some appys at Doc M's, and then sail home. One of the best ways to spend a summer's day. It was just last night that N and I were trying to recall what the hell we did for our anniversary last year. Answer: Blue Eyed Mary's. Much more of a destination place, so if you don't make a reservation, you are probably not getting in. Chef Carol is ex Bishop's. I can't remember what we had, though it is fairly safe to assume that I had red meat (filet mignon maybe?) and N had fish (prawns?), but the evening as a whole was totally enjoyable - despite the late summer rains. I'll blame this episode of memory blur on the overwhelming romance of the evening... *If you are without a boat or a place to stay for the night, note with particular importance the time of the last ferry!

That's Kaorouji in Houhai. I wasn't impressed by the restaurant either. There is a much more stylish and hip Vietnamese type place next door called Nuage. I really like the Houhai/Qianhai area. While there are a lot of bars and cafes lining the streets facing the lakes, the hutongs behind these streets are more interesting. In summer, a bar opens on a tiny island in the middle of Qianhai, and you have to be rowed in a wobbly boat to and from this bar. Great fun! ← Okay I've dug up a pamphlet. The place, in English, is called "Barbecue Ji" which sounds like it could be the translation of Kaorouji (sorry, Mandarin skills nonexistant). It's located in "Shishahai" (a bit of a stretch to "Houhai"?), was established in 1848, and has hosted an assortment of world figures including George Bush Sr in 1973.

Elitist or not, I wish to add Cedar Plank Salmon to the list. I have ranted about this in the past (although a recent post in a Vancouver thread indicates that it may only be a west-coast phenomenon; I am too lazy to go pick up a link). Anyway I do not order it, and am pleased to see that it is going the way of the sundried tomato. Hmm, sundried tomato is to mullet as cedar plank salmon is to grubby flannel shirt? (yet I still love the music) Daddy-A: admittedly if I saw the words "steak frites" on the menu at say Denny's, I'd be pretty pissed. Then again, if I was actually in a Denny's I'd have to be pretty pissed... But steak frites done right in a small French bistro - still a beloved classic!!