kontemporary

That is a good way of putting it, merlin. I'll be sure to remember it next time I order steak. Usually I tell the waiter I want the steak between blue rare and rare.

And for people who don't subscribe or normally read the Sun (like me), I did also manage to bump into quite a good article on the same subject today while reading the Termainal City. Click Here

Speaking of Red Pepper, they are finally open as I went past yesterday on Broadway!

Err I'm not seanw but I can tell you that the Samurai on Davie and Cambie are completely different. The samurai on cambie is known for "big portions" and very poipular for takeout and platters, as I think most of their sushi has more fish than rice. The samurai next to Takis Taverna on Davie is not the same, but is a cheap place to get decent sushi. Packed with lineups most nights, so it will be a slight wait. Not as long as Stepho's though.

Well I can tell you Diavolo is more a loungish/bar type place, rather than a restaurant with the actual food. Think marmalade or Sip. Haven't been there myself. I know for many people that Hapa Izakaya is a mystery restaurant - certainly because people cannot look inside from the painted over windows and see the table settings and food.

Seems like a fish taco craze is hitting Vancouver! Here's Lolita's Website, or at least the beginning works of it. Too bad Nu's opening is invitation-only.. but I'm sure many diners are expecting nothing but the best. Could it be that Alexandra Gill is an egullet-lurker?!

I think albacore tuna is safe to consume, just not ahi? Also need some further clarification on this one..

On the topic of tipping, I must have to say I have been victim of "circular logic" so to speak from waiters before at many surprising restaurants. Perhaps it's in their profession but waiters will undoubtedly approximate the tip customers giev before they even begin offering services, everything from what the customer is wearing to ethnicity to age to accents and to pulling out the unexpected coupon. What is the take on this in general, when the servers expect a low tip so poor service is given and voila - a poor tip is given! And as human beings with the mindset of always believing one is completely correct, this reinforces their stereotypes in terms of tipping and continues the circle even more. So for as my solution, if I notice unequal service or am experiencing bad service, I tend to complain to the maitre'd or manager and try to break out of the tipping stereotype to get my point across. But this really all goes 180 with Chinese restaurants because many of them pool tips completely. Or if they don't pool tips, they must experience poor tipping from many customers who believe so. This has an advantage because then service with then undoubtedly be indifferent, but then there is no way customers can "reward" good service with tipping - as it all goes in the same tip pool. And since the pool is so big, a large tip will only cancel out a bad tip. Waiters also lack an incentive to then give "good service." But if the Chinese restaurants DO give waiters the tip, then no doubt will they experience better tipping from caucasian customers as opposed to their misinformed asian counterparts. And thus, there will be service irregularities.. and another need to break out of a circle logic soforth. Who would realized there was so much discrimination in the waiter's world... but kudos to all the honest waiters out there.

Well no, that's not to say Alexandra Gill has an ignorant palate as you imply, because she is a food critic and darn good one at that. However I as well don't support her using the word "crap" to describe the works coming out of the Watermark kitchen as I'm sure the chef behind it all is working very hard on making things better. Criticism should never stoop down to that level, and I wish she made a review much more constructive than summing up the entire critic in one sentence. But of course we must remember that this is the exception, and not the whole.

Well I just walked by today.. and it didn't look like they were ready to be opening tomorrow. Perhaps my judgement may be wrong. Still paper on the windows, and wooden boards on the floor. C's patio was also completely packed today.. But i'm sure that's not unusual for the hot summer days.

Thanks, canucklehead, I'm never gonna look at honeymoon rice the same way ever again now.. Is the squab at Sun Sui Wah (or other Chinese restaurants) dusted with five spices? I can't really ever tell when five spice seasoning is used unless i'm eating BBQ pork.. 75-100 per head seems quite steep at Sun Sui Wah.. but I'm thinking a lot of it is from the cost of the shark fin soup course. Heck I'd rather spend that money on a tasting menu at West. The other day I had a dinner at Imperial downtown, and I had to say that a lot of courses were hit-and-miss. Our vegetable and noodle courses were done very poorly. Service was also.. a bit of a nuisance, because I was saying that we wanted multiple dishes for the table of different variety, but the server was adamant on changing the sizes of different orders on the menu to accompany our party of nine. On other occasions the servers forgot about certain requests. But that is not to say everything went wrong - as one of the dishes, the taro-stuffed roast duck, was one of the best duck dishes I've had in a long time. That was yummy. And the soy-steamed prawns were done very well. Dishes are a bit more expensive than Sun Sui Wah. I'd recommend Sun Sui Wah for better consistancy in its dishes, but Imperial has better location/view.

Haha, I realise this is only something an eGulleter would say in Vancouver

That's a sad loss, I do my occasional stops at Café de Marseille sometimes on Kits beach.. they had good desserts. A bit pricey, but yummy. I wonder how the Thai place will compete with Urban Well and Mahoney's (or was it Malone's?) nearby. Or just further up the block with Tangerine and Adesso.

I'd imagine the soon-to-open "Nu" to be full of culinary nudity.

There's House of Dosas on Kingsway and.. Knight (?) I believe. The fire was on the other side of the street, so they should still be in business. The food I had there wasn't too bad, and they ask for how spicy you would like your meal. The décor was very minimal and I didn't like the table setup. I'm not familiar with Sri Lankan cuisine, but you can try out this hole-in-the-wall if you wish.

After a very short business duration, Green Olive Café has closed and a Vietnamese restaurant, Pho BC, has taken its place.. On Davie Street, Indian Bistro has taken over.. Vu Le Vu I believe?

Sounds like someone needs to cut down on the French cuisine

Oh you showed that waitress alright!!

Goubouli is actually a really old restaurant in Tianjin, China. I don't speak Mandarin, but the translation is something along the lines of "even the dog wouldn't eat there", so named because the original chef was reputedly very very ugly. I'll grant you the name is crazy, but the dog is crazy too; the dumplings are excellent. Here's my question: why is there a chain of restaurants, with head offices in Vancouver, named "Cactus Club"? They don't even have a southwestern theme. ← What about Blue Water Café? It's not a café! And unless you're talking about after-dinner coffees, then there isn't coffee for sale!

Not really a restaurant, but I do love ordering "Fukien Fried Rice" at Chinese restaurants too

Wow, I managed to be correct Lolita sounds good.. I think they need to lighten up the place a bit though. I've always thought that the space/room Random was in was particularly dim. It didn't have that attraction that pulls you into restaurant.. like Chambar does with a warm "feel" you can just see from the outside. Does anyone also know when Nu is gonna be opening? I walked by today, and construction seems.. off? It didn't look like it was ready for an opening for.. tomorrow. The papers were still on the window, and it looked like construction was still being done.

I don't think it's a matter of hyping up the restaurant more than it actually is, but letting people know there is a restaurant. With Watermark it had publicity (be it bad or good) since the start of construction. Perhaps the idea is that restaurants don't even need to be a publicist, but maybe ads around town. So far I've only seen Coast, Glowbal/AfterGLOW, Feenie's/Lumiere, and Wild Rice advertising on the transit systems. I think restaurants should put more effort around on attracting people to the restaurant, not necessarily hyping them up for something they'll be disappointed at (which publicists are good for). Food critics and word of mouth is great, but not everyone reads the dining sections in papers and maybe not everybody has eGullet-like food-crazed freaks

I like O-Kee Wonton House on Granville Street. I can't figure whether they did that on purpose or not.

Which is why certain restaurants need to hire publicists. It will not only be good for the restaurant but good for the people as well.

Some information on the restaurant takeover of Random. The new place is called Lolita's, and is slated to be opening August 15. However, on my tipsy way back from the fireworks tonight I saw it opened with people sitting at the tables and martinis in their hands. Or was I seeing things....... probably not, but the restaurant seems to have retained most of the interior décor (but I should really have gone closer to be saying this) and I'm not sure if Random had a bar before.. but I think I saw a bar.. or did I. I'm puzzling myself, I'll check it out again some time.