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Cool thanks! The burger for some reason doesn't look as big as I thought..don't get me wrong it is indeed ridiculous. mmmm burger...

Slightly off topic but Flowbee if you ever find yourself in Port Moody - Try Rohani's Roti . It's done in a Trinidadian way but the roti there is really good and spicy. Yumm! Wash it down with a ginger beer and your senses go into overload.

I've read about the Witch Burger. Some of us were planning a trip out to MR to check it out. There was a review of the burger about a year back and the reviewer and his friend could barely get through half. Knowing what's in it might make you even less likely to try it That would be a wonderful outing! You know. I actually quite enjoy the White Spot burgers so I'm not surprised they made #4 along with RR. I'm game for Burgers Etc so whenever it gets organized let me know! I've never been and I'm guessing it will now be very busy

That's an interesting comment. The problem is that generally if you are going to warn your friends about a place you might do it very openly without much restraint. If you want to warn a community about a place you kind of need to double check your facts and be wary that you may be treading on people's toes. I guess that's what makes for the restraint on bad reviews because it really is subjective.

Ok. I tried making halibut cheeks tonight and well...Chef Brian how the hell did you make em taste like they did at the Black Box and Blind dinner? I mean seriosuly. If there's one thing to do to learn appreciation of a restaurant's core competencies it's trying this stuff at home. Whatever 'cirtus' was used to poach these suckers my attempt left a lot to be desired. We even split our halibut loot into 3 piles to try three different preperations. Whatever you did to make em taste - well - sweet and succulent I have to tip my hat. Not a clue. I need to try more ways to prepare it. To think someone just brought these in and said 'have fun you have 1 hour'. I really know now...that took a lot of balls. A side note, my 'feenie's leek tart with home made puff pastry' went OK...but also needs work. There's a hell of a lot of butter in puff pastry....my god. Ignorance is bliss..

The problem is that it rings true though. I won't mention any names but I myself have been pressured to sugar coat bad reviews and I've gotten PMs from fellow gulleters regarding the same thing - how they don't post bad reviews anymore for fear of repercussions. When you get to know the proprieters of a place you don't feel as open about giving a bad review. Period. Once burned, twice shy. If I write a bad review and get slagged for it because it is in some way my fault I'm not going to do it again. But it's human nature to immediately shift to the defensive when someone attacks you (you being your restaurant, your employer etc...) so I don't blame people for trying to rationalize the horrible experience. my 0.02

...unless you guys are avid downhill mountain bikers....then 3 days isn't enough The most westcoast/BC moment I ever had was being in Whistler in the summer watching these ridiculous mountain bikers tearing down the ski hills doing jumps. One in particular was ripping it down the slopes and doing 360's off these jumps. I recall saying "wow, that guy is NUTS!" and the guy pushing the stroller next to me smiled in appreciation. The biker got to the bottom, took off HER helmet and proceeded to pick up the baby in the stroller making kissy noises. The guy who was pushing the stroller smiled at me and said "my turn!" - kissed his wife and took the bike up to the chairlift. What a mom!

I think the investment of time and effort is directly proportional to just how much I liked the food/experience there in the past. I don't think it was so good to warrant any more effort on my part but I appreciate the feedback from people who seem to be part of the industry. A lot can happen 'in the back' and who knows why people do the things they do. I mean border guards can be wonderful or evil depending on their mood. Human nature I guess.

No he didn't and I was reflecting on this. I believe it probably is the only one that takes time to make. 15 minutes (the call was placed enroute back home). But the concept of something being misplaced and then having the kitchen just state "shit we're out of bananas! Stop the presses!" is in the realm of possibility. Some good comments and I decided to wait till the next day to call the manager about this incident. Although I feel relieved my complaint was heard I got the impression that he was kind of surprised but got no indication that there was any plan of action. What I got was "oh. well I didn't know we were out of bananas but you got them when you ordered them over the phone. Oh that's good. Thanks for calling." I think maybe my server was a twit. I wish management paid more attention to people who actually take the effort to point out problems they had. I admit that my statement about never returning was a little unfair (especially before calling the manager) but I was a little 'in the heat;. Regardless now I am not and I'm not sure I will go back. I wasn't looking for a free meal but I was looking for an acknowledgement of something happening and perhaps a promise to look into it. I can totally understand the 'bad customer' thing. Sometimes you need to meet bad customers with bad service to get them out. I guess what really got me was that we got the shove out the door shortly after leaving a fairly generous tip (after all at the time it wasn't their fault they ran out of fried bananas right?)

I was given a wonderful recipe for an asian inspired braised lamb shank. The recipe uses bananas and I bet you can make a tonne of the "braising liquid" and freeze it. In fact I have a tub in the freezer. I think my tub used like 3 bananas. [LINK]

The 'Ex' is a good conversation piece but the construction is pretty cheap. I use it but not all my knives fit in the pre-assigned slots (I put the knives it came with in a drawer ;p (the pearing knife isn't bad actually). I do like how they at least made the base heavy enough that I can pull by 7" chef knife out without toppling the whole thing. I get a lot of comments on the block though. Next knife block...definately a magnetic bar (unless I buy ceramic knives).

I'll add this line to yours: No, it's just pre-packaged sushi that's sold at gas stations (In Montana!!). So Wrong! Yes. Montana at a truck stop. Sushi. Yes my friend tried it. Yes he regretted it for 6 days after.

I agree with Brian here. The creme brulee at Pear Tree is a real treat. In fact after learning how to make it from cooking class (nwcav) I tried to reproduce this delectible dessert without success. I've only been to Pear Tree twice but it's about time to give them another visit. Such a small space but such good food!

I know someone who likes spray cheese. No I havn't tried it. But i believe it is made of some kind of oil product (ie contains no dairy). How about spray marshmellow? I saw a can at a store and on the side - honest - it said "Wonderful on Steak".

Umm. I don't have any words. That looked like a night to remember and one that no one should have ever turned down an invite to... What an amazing night. Although I don't possess the hollow leg that Ling does so perhaps I would have gone home that night in an ambulance. LB looks like you throw good parties!

It occured up until we asked him why another table seemed to have Bananas and he said "oh yes that was the last one". The possibility was then further refuted when my friend picked up the bananas from the very same waiter (who did not recognize her). I will admit that it may have been a one of occurance (if they average 7/10 for you) but I certainly don't consider myself presumptious by nature.

Three of us went to Tropika (on Cambie) for a little pre-birthday dinner to enjoy some Roti. We were seated pretty promptly and aside from one of the chef's specials which was realy salty and served with iceburg lettuce, the food was pretty good. At the end of our meal the waiter asked us if we wanted dessert. I had been waiting for this moment....fried bananas with ice cream! He brought the menu and as he dropped it on our table said "we are out of fried bananas and ice cream". I was deflated. Beaten. But hey it happens right? After paying, another waitor started violently cleaning the tables saying "thank you, bye, THANK YOU, BYE BYE. BYE". Oookay....I guess we ought to leave. We got home and were talking about how rude that waiter was. I tried to defend them by stating that they had a line of people so they were trying to move us so they could fill the table. Regardless it was rude how he handled it. Then it occured to me. Do you think they told us they were out of the dessert because they wanted us out of the restaurant? It was a joke really but one of our party was really interested in investigating this possibility. She called them and ordered fried bananas and ice cream. They said they had it and would have it ready in 15 minutes. She actually went to pick it up (just in case the person on the phone didn't know they were out). So they lied. They very obviously wanted to get us the hell out so they could put more warm bodies in their seats. I'm totally flabergasted. This whole thing has really left a bitter taste in my mouth. I mean if they really wanted to move us out why offer the dessert menu at all? I will certainly never return to that particular restaurant. Ever. It's one thing to tell us that they are out of a particular tasty dessert and it's another to lie about it to get us out.

That is my favorite dish at Phnom Penh without a doubt. Glad to see others like it too. I think if there was anything that describes a true father son bonding moment it's having dad order this dish and having me wrap and carve it up. I've been trying to stay healthy so.. Sunday Night roasted pecan and kiwi salad with some thick balsamic - Simple is so good. Smoked sausage with potato, mushroom and leek soup - I had no clue what to do with leeks but this experiment went well. Lorna pointed me to a tart recipe which I intend to try next. Monday Night Chicken Saltimbocca (sp?) - I used some basil between Proscuitto and the chicken - The pounding is SO satisfying - After searing the suckers I took em off the heat and looked around for a deglazing agent - I'm sure some might frown but i had a jar of pickles in the fridge ... - Just a table spoon or so mixed into the pan to deglaze then follow up with some chicken stock - A little butter to monter - Delish! Hint of dilly flavour (not too much) Tuesday Night CRU I ordered the smoked albacore tuna (YUM). This really is quite stellar. Sandy had the Caesar - I Like how they left the lettuce in big pieces for you to cut and assemble. Proceeded to the Carpaccio . Also very good and really nice hunks of asiago shaved on top. I respect an establishment that doesn't skimp on cheeeeeese. I had the tenderloin with blue cheese (look at how well it's melted mmm) - I loved the leek and mushroom bread pudding too. Damn! Sandy had the Albacore Tuna Steak - It was pretty good but I found it too gingery. Finish off with some Cheese * Poplar Grove Tiger Blue, Naramata, B.C. (semi-hard, strong, cow’s milk blue) - Classic! * Majorero Maxo, Spain (firm, truffle-like, raw goat's milk) - Quite like Chevre * Taleggio, Lombardy, Italy (creamy, savoury, semi-soft cow’s milk) - I swear this reminds of being inside a barn! * Five-year old Cheddar, Quebec (firm, sharp, raw cow’s milk) - So sharp, so good. Desserts consisted of Goat Cheese Cake - Really nice with a hint of tartness. Brown Butter Almond Cake - The ice cream was marvellous - some kind of unique tasting honey and the cake was not as heavy as I had thought. Bitter Chocolate Torte - Wow. Really dense and SO good. Anyone else notice that CRU has a deceptive lighting system. The whole time the outside looked "light out" and we were surprised how early it must be...till I checked out my watch and it read "11:30pm". Holy crap!

Kudos! That's very exciting! Now I have a reason to visit!

^ The Halibut cheeks and Filet I believe came from the seafood vendor on Granville Island. The Lamb shanks came from Armando's. Sandy referred to the rabbit at "bunnies" but did not succeed in deterring me from eating them

Ok what the heck is a watermellon radish?? That explains why I couldn't find any watermellon in the dish! (wait i just found the link...you already answered my question)

Pictures are up! [Link] I wrote some comments with each picture so if you actually click into one it will bring up some text. I was going to link them here but I already wrote the text into my album so I'll be lazy. We missed pictures of several wines and one dish (the salmon). If anyone has more pics feel free to post em. P.S. I really am not a wine expert so apologies if I got some of the wine names/years/etc wrong!

One and the same. Yumm. taro is good too.

Black Box and Blind ---------------------- I wanted to thank Chef Brian, Tim and Eric for a very memorable evening. I think there were 22 of us mad people in Rare One last night (Sunday March 12th) to try one of Eric's little experiment. - 22 people were broken into 11 pairs. - Each pair was tasked with bringing a BC sourced ingredient - Chef Brian and his staff have NO idea what we're bringing - At 6 we all show up and "surprise!" look Chef Fowke, have fun! - With each course, Eric poured us a BC wine and a non-BC wine blind - We were surveyed on which one we liked better AND which one we thoguh was BC sourced. The dinner was wodnerful! I can't believe you guys pulled off what you did with literally no warning on what was being brought to you. I have pictures which will be posted later but Ijust wanted to say a big thanks to everyone involved. It was nice to see and meet some fellow egulleters! I'm sure others will post as well but I'm going to keep the dinner writeup till i can post the pretty pictures. Bottom line - Food was a showstealer. Wow. amazing. And in such timely fashion. I never expected such a well oiled kitchen machine in such a virgin restaurant PLUS the fact that the kitchen is tiny! You guys do amazing things in such small spaces! - Wine was very surprising! We had some wines (some from Eric's personal collection) which were pegged as much more expensive international wines but ended up being very reasonably priced BC wines! Look for the writeup with pictures shortly ...

I'm sorry but I have never been a fan of Nyala. If House of Selasie were to open on Main I'd be a regular.