makanmakan

i did, upthread!! i love their lamb chops and scalloped potatoes and asparagus. yum!

after posting about delilah's we decided that it was time we went back for a visit! we waltzed in just after 7 without a reso and was told that we could have a table but had to be out by 8:30 as they had a reso for then. we decided on sitting at the bar and it was a fabulous decision. we were highly entertained by monty(the bartender) and had a great night of drinks and food. we had martinis (of course). lemon drop and a milano to start. we orderd dinner and decided that we would have a 4 course and a 2 course. roasted garlic and onion soup with basil to start. it was pretty good with smokey flavours and nice texture. my only gripe is that it could have been a tad bit hotter in temp. then the vanilla smoked trout and salmon tartare with pickled beets and the mussels with chipotle cream was next. i loved both of them. the mussels were plump and perfectly cooked. the chipotle was well enjoyed with the bread that sopped it all up. the tartare was lovely and delicate. it was served with half a hard boiled quail egg and a dollop of tamago and a few slices of toast. very nice. we enjoyed that course with a champs d'alize for me and a george's boca raton for him. next up was our mains of roast chicken with wild mushroom demi glace for him and the tenderloin with veal stock and fresh horseradish for me. both excellent and the tenderloin was perfectly grilled with a slight moo left in it. a glass of tinhorn creek pinot for him and a coonawara cab for me. next up was desert. oh the sweet stuff. dark chocolate terrine sitting on a little bit of creme anglais with a glass of quady elysium. we left with satisfied bellies and taste buds and well entertained by the bartender and staff that came by to pick up drinks.

i've had a really good one from choices if you can believe it. now, i'm not sure how authentic it is, but i've been told that it is, from a german friend of mine who's dad is a baker. it's chock full of nuts and raisins with a bit of peel, the marzipan is more real almondy rather than almond essence-ish, and it's covered in icing sugar.

i can't believe i forgot a west end institution. delilah's!! they had a change of chef sometime this year and we had a great meal there accompanied by the wonderful (as always) entertainment in the form of symone! their martinis are legendary as well. good times are always to be had there.

ooooohhh, i just read the cru special events thread and realized i had seen it before. definitely the tuna carpaccio....that picture is pure food porn! yay moosh, for the pics!

thanks so much, everyone, for taking the time to feed my obsession on this dinner. heh. i think the short ribs and mac'n'cheese will definitely be ordered after all the praise! oh, and the goat cheese cake too. sounds yummy. moosh, t'is a girls' night out, so a frou-frou mim-tini will be very appropriate! i'll try to remember to take some pics like a good egulleter, and report back.

Hi y'all, finally, the time has come for my first visit to Cru this sunday. I'm so excited A question for all you seasoned cru'ists, any must have dishes? Thanks, much appreciated!

good calls on all above restaurants. i won't repeat above recommendations as they're all good and regularly visited by us. another fave place in the 'hood for me is samurai sushi, on davie just off thurlow. good quality inexpensive sushi and other goodies. usually packed with lineups and open late. a note on cafe luxy. i do like it for a good carb fix but the last time we did a take out from there, my other half bit into a huge chunk of glass in the midst of his pasta. we did tell them about it the following day as we walked by, but we have been too nervous to cash in on the comp meal promised to us. i'm sure it's a one time deal, but...glass...eek! black tuna....we were there this past weekend and had a really good meal with exceptional service. i was, although, horrified to find that they had bluefin and sea bass on their menu. poncho's on denman. not too bad mexican food, with live music at times. they have a fun spectacle called the poncho's coffee! good greasy down home weekend diner brunch. theresa's on both davie and denman, the grove inn and the templeton on granville (not quite west end, but it's close enough!). cuz sometimes, we need to have a $5(or so) breakie on hungover weekends! i haven't been for years, but i've had a couple of good meals at yoshi's on denman and georgia as well. anyone been recently? if you're craving for ramen, run to kintaro, on denman just north of robson. hot steaming bowl of ramen in a heavenly broth. another good neighorhood goody is tapastree on robson, just west of denman. simple good food, nice ambiance and good service. patio in the summer. if we're craving pho, there's a good cheapie on denman, next to cupcakes. their subs aren't too bad either. i think it's called pho's #1. for a quickie and healthy lunch, visit the dish on davie btwn thurlow and burrard. they do a turkey special everyday. turkey meatloaf with baked fries and mushroom gravy. turkey and tofu on brown rice. turkey dinner with mash, stuffing and gravy. good fresh juices and some of the best chocolate chip cookies known to man. for a cultural night out, try liliget feast house. aboriginal food in the most interestingly designed basement space. we've only dined at zagros once (on davie and thurlow) but the persian food we had there was quite good. another one to return to to try more dishes. there. i've racked my brain and there's our neighborhood haunts. welcome to the hood!

^^that looks and sounds delicious! i'm always on the lookout for other laksa sources in the city. lee, is that sambal i see on top of the laksa? what else do they have on their menu? one of the things i miss most about the home land is a dish called rojak. it's a different version than other rojaks served here, which is more like a salad of veggies. it's pretty much steamed vermicelli with shredded chicken, deep fried tofu, shredded cuke, and slices of hard boiled egg topped with a big dollop of peanut sauce (almost the same as the one used for satay dip).

i'm not in the industry, but i am in a tipping industry so i always have a tipping karma thing in my head. depending on the type of restaurant and food i go out for, on average, it's usually 15%-20% for standard service and up to 30% for exceptional service. chinese restaurants, usually around 10%-15%. when there is awful service, i'd love to be able to tip way less, but my conscience gets to me.

a client brought in some mini cupcakes the other day, and with this thread in mind, i just had to try them again. chai cupcakes and cranberry orange cupcakes. both did taste like what they were supposed to, but oh, way too sweet!! thank goodness they were the mini ones! yup, they're still way too sweet!!

we checked out habit with some friends last week and had a great time! we were there around 8:30 and the place was about 3/4 full. it was nice to see familiar faces in the staff from tangerine and they were just as friendly. there were 5 of us and beers and wines were flowing about. i quite liked the wine list, small but well thought out. i had wanted to try their house red as it was well reviewed a couple of weeks ago by anthony gismondi (remembered him saying to buy this by the case!). it was the heartland stickleback, a blend of cab, shiraz and grenache. we quite liked it for an easy everyday table wine. it was definitely nice to see some different selections on the list, rather than the usual suspects. food! we started with the pan fried oysters with a cornmeal crust served with a creamy dip of some sort. it was so good that we forgot to take a pic of it before it disappeared! the oyster was perfectly cooked, very fresh and moist and the aioli was a nice pair with it. mezze platter. duck sausage (delicious), pepperonata like spread, mixed marinated olives, cheeses (gorgonzola and a firmer spanish cheese), steamed cold marinated mussels (very good). served with a basket of mixed bread. carrot and brie perogies and morrocan spiced chicken wings the perogies were a disappointment for us. flavourwise, it was not too bad, could have used a little bit more brie. for me, it was the texture. the dough was overcooked, hence with the soft, mushy filling, it was all a mushy mess in my mouth. i would have rather had a more al dente dough for more of a toothy texture. the chicken wings. my god, we ordered another batch the moment we tasted our first ones! it was deliciously spiced and glazed. one of our hilites of the night. the trio of dips. a red pepper dip, an olive homous, and a baba ghanoush with a basket of mixed bread. the dips were all good. by this time, i was well sauced with the wine, so i can't recall much in detail of the food from now on.... but i will try. sablefish cakes on top of potatoe latkes and a horseradish aioli this was also one of my favourites of the night. the fish cake was so flavourful and the fish was fresh. the aioli was subtle and didn't overpower the dish. the latke was y least favourite component of the dish. buffalo flatiron steak with tostadas and black beans this was my absolute favourite of the night. upon the first bite, there was a party in my mouth! the buffalo was cooked med rare to perfection, with such a nice mexican flavour. the beans were delicious and the crunch and the smokey flavour of the tostada was a nice addition to the dish. ceasar salad with pumpkin seeds this was alright. not bad but not memorable. the lettuce was fresh and well dressed. the pumpkin seeds were a nice add on for the delicate crunch. my only grumble was that it didn't have enough of an anchovy kick for me. lamb shephard's pie we loved this dish. so comforting and a great twist on an old favourite. lamb curry topped with mashed potatoes. c'mon people, how can you go wrong with this?!! the curry was nicely spiced and delicate in flavour, the lamb was tender, with chunks of veggies in the stew. the mash was good, simple and well done. dessert menu! as you will see, we ordered all the desserts. not that we weren't already full, but y'know how it is! apple and fig roll i hate to admit this, but i just realized today that i forgot to taste this! i was told that it was quite good. creme brulee with ginger snaps deliciously spiced with a mix of fall flavours. nicely textured and you've gotta love that sugar crust! the ginger snaps were so good. chocolate brownie with mocha ice cream oh, chocolate goodness. warm, soft, rich chocolate brownie. rich, smooth ice cream. need i say more?!! well, there you go. we left stuffed and drunk after a bill of $270 after tax and tip. we loved our experience and the food. we tried almost everything on the small but interesting menu. i hope that the menu will see changes periodically. we will be back for sure. the room is very cool, simple and clean, very canadiana. perfect blend into the main street scene. last and only gripe about our night. while our whole experience was great, some of us ended our meal with tea. i was so disappointed to see that our teas were twinning and safeway select brands. with so many great artisanal tea companies in the city, i was hoping for something a little more interesting than what we were given. it felt like the tea purchasing was an afterthought for them. i know i'm being somewhat picky, but i like my tea and i like to have quality tea after a quality meal!

lee, your posts and pics always make me so hungry. in this case, it brought me back to my childhood as well. there is something very comforting for me, in eating from stalls. a few people have told me about a good malaysian/singaporean stall in a food court in richmond. would it be this one?

You'd probably like the cupcakes at Uprising Breads (I know I do ) - their smartie cupcake is a chocolate cake, cream cheese icing, and - surprise, surprise - smarties on top. We stop by there for morning coffee and muffins occasionally and I have been known to forego my muffin in favour of a breakfast cupcake. ← ooooohhh, you probably shouldn't have told me that! they're on my way to work when i'm at my other half's house (which is now). dangerous.

i think they do do it from scratch. secret confession time. sometimes, if i am craving a cupcake, i'll pick up a mix (dark german chocolate of some sort) and make cream cheese icing to smother on top. it makes me happy and i like it better than the cupcakes cupcakes!

nope, not a big fan of their cupcakes at all. they're very pretty to look at but i find that i'm always disappointed when i take a bite. the chocolate cake doesn't taste like chocolate at all, in fact, i find that their cakes all taste the same. sweet....and that's not even including the icing! i still haven't found a favourite cupcake yet in this city.....maybe i'll have to try snacky's iga find!

we had a great meal at the bacchus bistro at the domaine de chaberton winery this summer. wonderful food, very friendly service and very nice wines, and not to mention the incredible setting.

^^ yup, bc, that looks like the burger we had too. i've never had their old burger so i have nothing to compare to. i do recall though, that it was so damn big i had to do the burger squish and take the tomato out in order to fit it in my mouth! my other half kept on saying that i really have to try the burgers etc. burgers. he keeps on insisting that it's the best one that he's had so far. he also claims that their baked beans is in high competition to the ones at memphis blues (my fave bb's in town)! just a thought though, our server was pretty blank faced when asked about the test burger. you'd think that the management would give the f.o.h. staff a heads up when they change staple menu items. mind you, i know nothing about running a restaurant, but that's what i would do anyhow...lol!

Sorry to hear that Makan x 2. Did you ask your server to ask a manager about it? Fear not, however, as I'll be trying to contact the folks at CC tomorrow to arrange a Burger Club visit for some group burgasms. ← no, we didn't. guess we could have but we were exhausted and starving and couldn't be too bothered by then! ah well, guess we'll just have to wait for the group burgasm! btw, the fresh fries we ended up getting were quite good. liked the crisp outer and very tender inner.

we tried for a cactus club burgasm tonight and were sadly disappointed. our server had no idea what we were talking about regarding the turbo burger that was being tested out and had a rep about town already. so, as we were salivating for burgers still, we ordered a couple of burgers. he had cheddar and bacon and i had cheddar and shrooms. they were alright. weren't terrible and weren't jaw droppin', hootin' and hollerin' amazing. we also had to ask for new fries as ours were barely luke warm. ick. we will try again, once we know for sure that the turbo is attainable. the beer was good though next up, burgers etc.

ooooohhhh, bugergasm at the cactus club. insert *drool* smilie here!

years ago, a couple of friends and i were going to a rave in chinatown. we had to walk down a lovely dark alley somewhere just off main and pender. as we were leaving, a suspicious looking man was walking towards us, and as we clutched each other tighter, he opened up his coat and reached inside to reveal a huge block of cheese. as he got close, he muttered "wanna buy some cheese?". we ran out of there like bats outta hell! true story! oh yea, the black market cheese is amongst us.

now that's tough. i can ALWAYS justify a pair of shoes!

Stay several feet away. ← that's it, i'm wearing my armour!

good to hear of the moderne success! after reading arne's post about burgers etc., told my other half about it and as he works close by, he decided to go for lunch. happy to report back that there's another huge thumbs up! he had a burger with swiss and shrooms. in his words "very good burger, moist, juicy(lots-o-drippings) nice toppings, great kaiser- slightly crusty". someone had the sampler platter and said it was good. he tried the sausage...said it rocked, nicely spicey with a slow burn. i think i need to go to diner for a burger fix now