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rm_blizzard

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Posts posted by rm_blizzard

  1. Went to Pasparos at 3rd and Lonsdale tonight. It's been way too many years since the last visit. Definitely worth a trip to North Van if you've been looking for good Greek food! We split a platter for two - roast lamb was falling off the bone and delicious, nice tender calamari, plus moussaka, dolmathes, spanakopita, tzatziki and the regular veggies, rice potatoes. Two big plates. Great flavours, great value.

  2. Thanks for the report on Ocean 6 Seventeen, Annanstee. I thought their menu looked quite interesting and now, if we get the opportunity, we'll give it a try if we can get into town from Pemberton again.

    We went for an early 5:30 seating at Chambar (our first time there) on Saturday and I must say that I was wondering what the experience would be like given that I read, but infrequently participate in a number of boards and there seems to be have been a fair bit of negativity among some industry types about the whole event. (Loved the comment about "virgin neo-citrons" on WF, though.) So while I had some trepidation about being rushed, the restaurant being crazy busy, etc. our experience was first rate.

    Much of the wine list was a little too high end for our budgets so we went with the wine pairings offered as part of the DOV menu. I can't comment on the quality other than to say we enjoyed each greatly. For dinner, two of three of us started with the watercress and endive salad with pear, candied pecans and a gorgonzola dressing. Menu said pear was red wine poached but ours wasn't - that would be the only minor flaw, if it could be considered such, in our meal. The salad was excellent and a seemed to be a better choice than the prawns to start.

    The highlight of the dinner was definitely the mains. My brother and I both had the braised beef short ribs, rosemary pomme puree, with roast onion and bok choy. The beef was fork tender and very flavourful. Presentation was photo worthy. My wife had the moules fites and loved them. They were cooked just right and had a beautiful mildly spicy broth. We all had the Belgian waffle for dessert and it was a fine finish to a memorable meal.

  3. After reading Deborah's comments I checked my reservations (made yesterday) for HSG, Rare and Chambar. All three say that they do not qualify for DOV as well. Contacted Chambar and their vmail box full. Ryan at HSG didn't know anything about this; he checked my reso for me and said no problems...

    I've already had to cancel Rare :sad:

    I have a feeling OpenTable had this note to discourage people from booking way in advance of the release of DOV participants to the public and simply hadn't updated the website by early yesterday.

    On another note - I thought JJ's Fine Dining at VCC actually had one of the better DOV offerings (rack of lamb at 15 bucks!). They sold out at 10:30 this morning.

    Edited for clarification: I canceled the reservation for Rare because of a personal commitment I wasn't aware of at the moment I booked, nothing to do with OpenTable confirmation or Rare.

  4. Rex Rotisserie and Grill

    I did a search and found no references to Rex here on eG, so I guess this thread is apropos. Located on the plaza at Bentall Center Rex probably does the vast majority of its business at lunch and for after work drinks. It was very quiet when my Mum and I visited a week ago Friday. Nothing trend setting food wise, but very solid. Kind of reminded me of the Park Royal Hotel in terms of food, but definintely not as staid in terms of clientele and decor.

    Rex was running a $25 three course table d'hote Monday - Friday during August (maybe earler?). I noticed tonight on their website that there's a new menu for September that looks interesting: Rex Grill. Hope to go again if I get back to Vancouver this month - want to try the half pint Guiness stout chocolate mousse...

  5. A weekend of good food and a couple of service miscues for us....

    Friday night - Toshi's. Lots of waiting for lots of sushi. Worth it.

    Saturday night - Rekados. My wife is filipina and we've been to dozens of parties, weddings, etc and the food has always been amazing. We rarely venture into Filipino restaurants; however, and when I read a few comments on this board I thought Rekados will be a must visit on the next trip into town.

    Shared some lumpia shanghai to start which were pretty good - nice crisp wrapper, decent amount of ground pork filling, spicy sweet dipping sauce and a very tasty pea shoot garnish. Next we had tanigue - two almost boneless fish steaks covered with a coconut milk based sauce with curry, shrimp paste and spices. Very good. The excess sauce was great over rice. We also had grilled short ribs and pancit bihon (fried rice noodles) . The short ribs were flavourful but quite tough - wouldn't order them again.

    The bihon order never arrived and when we asked our server we were told the order was misplaced in the kitchen. We had basically finished dinner and would have been quite happy to call it a night. Our server insisted on bringing us the order - on the house (we ended up having it today for lunch). The manager also brought out a complimentary trio of ice creams mango, ube (purple yam and jackfruit) a scoop of each on a chinese style soup spoon.

    Rekados will be a great place to bring our non-filipino friends in future to introduce them to the cuisine.

    Sunday night we went to Northern Delicacy and encountered more kitchen mistakes with our orders. This was our second visit and again the food was very good. Tea smoked duck was the highlight (thanks for the recommendation Lord Balthazar).

    However, both times we've been to Northern Delicacy there have been miscues with the orders. Last night our first dishes arrived very promptly. Then we waited. And waited. Servers came round wanting to clear our tables. No, we said. We're just starting. Tea replenished several times. Servers checked with kitchen. Still no food. We summoned the manager. He checks and informs us there's been a problem with the computer. Apologizes profusely. Five minutes later the remaining dishes arrive. Total time elapsed between second and third courses - between 45 minutes and an hour.

  6. Wife was at an ECE conference in Richmond last weekend, so my son and I had a couple of days to explore and try some new places.

    Thursday: Haven't been to Lombardo's for a couple of years as we tried Marcellos a few times when in the area. So the three of us decided to stop by on our way in to town and were very glad we did. Shared a large salmone pizza. Very generous with the smoked salmon. Service was slow, but friendly. Dessert at Mario's (Amato) Gelato on Quebec Street.

    Friday: Lunch at Athene's on West Broadway on our way out to the Museum of Anthropology and Nitobe Gardens. Used to frequent this place way back in my UBC days. Decent lamb souvlaki, my son loved his calamari.

    Friday dinner: Northern Delicacy in Aberdeen Centre. Loved their steamed pork dumplings and handmade noodles.

    Saturday afternoon: Pajo's at Steveston fishermans wharf for fish and chips. A little oily. but light batter and generous portions. A very nice spot on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

    Sunday: Mum's day bruch at Cheers, North Van. Nuff said.

    Sunday evening - 60 kms on the bike to start working off the extra pounds...

  7. Chanced upon Northern Delicacy in Aberdeen Centre while visiting Richmond on Friday. We started with steamed pork dumplings (xiao long bao?). I've read about these but never tried them. We could have binged on these.

    Next we had fried green beans with minced pork, beef tenderloin with celery and green onions, and fried noodles with chicken, ham and shrimp. We really enjoyed all these dishes, but the noodles were our favourite.

    The only disappointment was a dish called sliced chicken breast braised in spicy sauce which we ordered after seeing it being served to adjacent tables and asking the server what it was. While it looked good, our serving was mostly deep fried batter with a few scraps of chicken. We left most of it.

    We will definitely return. Anybody have any recommendations on dishes we should try next time?

  8. Griffin's at Hotel Vancouver is worth checking out in my opinion. I'm not a buffet fan at all, but I have been to Griifin's a couple of times for dinner (though most recent was about a year ago). Very good appetizer and dessert buffets are available as add ons to your main course. I remember a good seafood chowder; skipping the salads and pigging out on smoked salmon, crab legs, mussels, and prawns as "appetizers"; having a good but un-memorable main course; then finishing myself off at the dessert table.

  9. Funny, we were there today for lunch and service left something to be desired, also. Terse is how I'd describe it. But nothing close to your experience! It was our first visit and we quite enjoyed the food - house chicken, rendang and nasi goreng. We'll return (and order the fried bananas, too).

  10. Thanks to all who provided advice. Here’s a brief report on our recent visit to Vegas over Christmas. Christmas dinner was at Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill at the MGM. Glad we has made reservations thorough Open Table, as it was a zoo generally. Started off with a beetroot and feta salad, followed by braised beef short ribs and caramelized shallots with fettuccine. SO had the veal ravioli with sage, crimini mushrooms and porcini oil. Although no kids menu per se, our son was offered a few selections and chose his regular - chicken strips and fries. Everyone was very happy with their meals. The highlight of the evening as definitely dessert – a triple chocolate tower – chocolate mousse top layer, white chocolate (mousse again? can’t quite remember) and a dark chocolate praline bottom.

    CaliforniaChristmas2005151.jpg

    Boxing Day was massive overindulgence at the Spice Market buffet lunch. Waits weren’t quite the 3 hours we had been advised to expect, but the hour and a half or so line-up was well worth it. The New York strip loin roast was butter knife tender. Smoked salmon, Alaska king crab legs, tandoori chicken, dolmades were more than sampled. Desserts looked great but were only average tasting. Very child friendly, except for boredom during the wait.

    Final night went to Lotus of Siam. My expectations were probably way too high based on the rave reviews and my anticipation of the “best Thai food in America”. It was definitely very good, but still a bit of a letdown. Excellent stuffed chicken wings to start pleased our son and pretty much filled him up. The Issan sausage, roasted duck curry and pad thai were all very good. After dinner we went back to the Strip to take in some of the free shows. Stopped in at the Bellagio café for dessert. Not much selection left by nine pm, but the tiramisu in a white and milk chocolate cup we had was pure decadence.

    CaliforniaChristmas2005221.jpg

  11. Somewhat off topic, but thought this would be of interest to banh mi fans in Vancouver. Just returned from Christmas vacation in southern California and chanced upon this banh mi fast food outlet called Lee's Sandwiches in Garden Grove, Orange County in the heart of Little Saigon. Bread baked every half hour, wide selection (including "Euro" sandwiches), good quality, pretty cheap prices, always open.

    Here are a few photos - all exteriors as the camera was an afterthought...

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    Lee's Sandwiches seem to be rapidly expanding in California. Any opinions on how would this concept go over up here?

  12. I am going to be visiting Las Vegas for three days with my family over Christmas and would like to see if there's some up to date info about child friendly dining (we have a nine year old).

    We are going to do at least one buffet and would like to try the Bellagio. However, their website has an under 18 policy that appears to only permit children to restaurants where you have a reservation. Am I correct in assuming then that under 18s are not allowed at the Bellagio buffet? If this is so, what would be a good alternative these days?

    Other child friendly recommendations would be appreciated. We're definitely going to try Lotus of Siam.

  13. Yesterday was a two family PNE day with kids. None of us (except the kids of course) were interested in eating midway food, so we decided to go for dim sum before hitting the fair. Went to East No. 1 Seafood Restaurant at First and Renfrew where our friends are regulars. We are dim sum rookies, but our friends run a chinese restauarnt so they did the ordering and we had quite an adventure - curried squid, deep fried taro root with pork, ducks feet, braised short ribs, sticky rice, pork buns are some of the dishes I can remember.... there were too many dishes to remember them all. Total bill for six came to $35 before tip. I think most everything on the menu as $2.50 except for some of the larger plates. We really enjoyed it. No idea how this place compares with others in town, but it was packed and there as a line up the whole time we were there.

    After an afternoon of rides we decided to head off site again for dinner. This time we walking up Hastings a couple of blocks to Slocan to a Vietnamese place called Bao Chau where our friends are also regulars. We shared an excellent bowl of pho (grilled chicken with lemongrass in a beef stock) and a combination plate which came with two large, crisp spring rolls filled with ground pork and a skewer of chicken. The dinner also came with a salad roll pre-wrapped in plastic (?) Had it for a snack tonight - not bad. Dinner for two about $15 before tax & tip.

    Today we tried Go Fish for the first time. I had the fish tacones, wife and son split halibut and chips. Halibut and chips was definitely the better choice - lightly battered fish, nice size portions. My tacones were very skimpy on the fish and quite bland tasting. Bit of a letdown after reading all the positive remarks on this board.

    Tonight after a day of school supply shopping we stopped for a quick meal on the way home at Presto Cucina on Marine Drive in West Van. Pretty decent thin crust pizzas and pasta at a reasonable price in a semi fast food kind of environment. You order and pay at the counter, take a number and food is brought out to your table. There are definitely better choices in the neighbourhood though.

  14. I'm not much of a reviewer and haven't posted much here before, but I had some good experiences this eek I thought I'd share. Wednesday got a chance to check out Moderne Burger. That was Plan B, as by the time I found the location of Go Fish, my first choice, they were closed for the day. Got a lamb burger and fries for take out on the way back to Pemberton from a meeting in Victoria. For me it's been almost 30 years since I've had such a memorable burger (I have very fond memories of the original Hard Rock Cafe in London, circa 1976, before the franchising and onset on mediocrity-food wise).

    Friday was back in Victoria for more meetings. Visited Zambri's for lunch and had a very simple and enjoyable linguini with clams and mussels in a white wine sauce. My lunch companion had a roast chicken leg with mustard and arugula on a bed of polenta which she also enjoyed very much.

    Friday night back to Pemberton for dinner at the Wildwood Bistro. We started with shared mussels and clams in a garlicky white wine broth. Very nice plump mussels, better than Zambri's in my opinion - I wanted to compare. Also shared a nori wrapped tuna spring roll which was a little too light on the tuna but otherwise quite tasty. For the main I had potato crusted halibut with braised leeks in a green peppercorn sauce. My wife had a salmon fillet served with a herb pesto. The Wildwood is well established in Whistler has been a welcome addition to our little town since it opened last December. The menu and prices are much like Earl's with the overall food quality comparable if not a little better.

  15. My advice is to pick up copies of the Pique Newsmagazine and the Question when you arrive. It's been a slow summer in Whistler this year and there are quite a few deals to be had - especially if you're not going to be there on a weekend. For example, Tuesday night Apres French Bistro has a two course prix fixe menu for $28, Brasserie val d"Isere has a 3 course menu for $29.95 all summer and Wildwood Pacific Bistro has mains in the $10 - 20 range. If you like sushi, a very nice meal can be had at Sachi Sushi for $25/person. Finally, every Thursday Fifty Two 80 at the Four Seasons has a seafood BBQ and buffet dinner (prawns, oysters, BBQ salmon, Atlantic lobster and Alberta beef plus dessert for $42. From the positive reviews of Fifty Two 80 elsewhere on this board, this may be the deal of the year.

  16. The Blue Heron at Porpoise Bay in Sechelt is definitely worth a visit and has long been considered one of the best restaurants on the Sunshine Coast. Beautiful setting and excellent seafood. The chicken and prawn satay is a perennial favourite.

    Another memorable meal our family had about a year ago was at the Upper Deck at Secret Cove Marina (20 minutes north of Sechelt). This very fine restaurant is situated in a floating building at the end of the marina. On a nice day the view is unbeatable. I had rice noodles with prawns and scallops in a sweet chili sauce; my wife had something from the fresh sheet. There was no kids menu, but our son got the best ever chicken fingers made for him. We were raiding the dip - wonderful. It was also fun watching the gin palaces coming and going.

    Further north the Ruby Lake Resort is the place to go if you're heading that far. It would be advisable to make reservations in advance at any of these places this time of year.

    We're heading up to the Coast on the 23rd for our annual visit. We hope to visit all of the three I've mentioned.

  17. Stopped by Sunrise Market at Powell and Gore this afternoon and thought it would be appropriate to contribute to this thread. I've been shopping there for years - the variety, quality and especially prices are excellent. Great selection of asian produce.

    Very fresh gai lan today at .99/lb. Manila mangos for 1.29 - 1.79/lb depending on quality/ripeness. They seem to be coming in from Mexico thse days though. Good, but definitely not as sweet as those from the P.I. New potatoes were .39 a pound. I think I paid 1.29 last week at Kins.

  18. One of our favourite coupon places each year is the Singapore Restaurant at 546 W Broadway. My wife lived in Singapore for a couple of years before moving to Vancouver and she raves about their spicy eggplant dish. They also have a tasty, mild beef curry dish. This place is very inexpensive; with the coupon, ridiculously cheap.

    Here's a pic of the eggplant dish:

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  19. Friday night we drove down to Whistler to our regular family night out place - Sachi Sushi on Main Street. Sachi is a locals favourite and offers very good quality and value. Pique newsmagazine readers voted it Whistler's best sushi and second best restaurant overall last year. Sachi was the first place I had tried a tofu dish and their spicy agedashi tofu is now a must have every visit. We also shared a number of rolls (the spicy tuna, chop chop and mango rolls being the highlights), nabeyaki udon and yakisoba (quibble, they used udon noodles rather than soba that night).

    On to Vancouver Saturday for the rest of the weekend for a visit with family. we had an opportunity to break from our normal city trip routine and try out a couple of places I've read about here over the past couple of months...

    Saturday night went to Mui Garden on Main Street to try the curried beef brisket. The menu has a few helpful photos as we had to point to the green bean dish (couldn’t find the English translation on the menu). It was another good one - mildly spicy and came with pork the waitress said was shredded, but looked almost julienned. Our eight year old son loved the sweet and sour boneless chicken. The only "miss" of the evening was the house special chow mein. Pretty much steamed Mr. Noodles with a couple of prawns. scallops and pieces of BBQ pork and a tasteless light brown sauce.

    Today on the way to Science World we stopped for lunch at Marcellos. We shared a large Quattro Stagione (sp?) pizza. Haven’t had pizza from a wood burning oven in years - love that slightly burnt flavour of the crust. First visit there and definitely will return. Nice atmosphere and very kid friendly (at lunch time, anyway).

  20. I was going to suggest Zambri's (read about it originally on this board). Went there a few weeks ago while at a planning conference and everyone in our group of five had a most enjoyable meal at a very reasonable price.

    Just checked though and it's closed Sundays too. Definitely one to try on another visit in my opinion.

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