makanmakan

a bit of a main street weekend for us. tried cafe montmarte for the first time on saturday night. one of those places i never got around to. i like the cozy atmosphere in there and the service is warm and prompt. we were there pretty early as we had a wine tasting fundraiser to go to afterwards. had the soup which was tomato basil (such a simple thing but oh so good) which was slighty chunky, had a nice zing to it. nice big pieces of fresh basil mixed in. next up was a pizza. simple tomato sauce, fresh tomato and fresh mozzarella. good, clean flavours. after that was a mushroom and cheese crepe. it was delicious! came with a little side salad and two crepes fully stuffed with oozy melty, mushroomy goodness. the crepes were slightly crisp on the edges and a nice texture all the way through. it was a good amount shared by both of us. had a decent glass of french merlot and capped it off with a yummy capuccino. last night saw our first time at wingnuts! finally! was it ever worth the visit. there were four of us and the monday special was 15 wings for 7.99. we decided to order four flavours. honey garlic (had to, since it's been raved endlessly on this thread), roaringly hot, jamaican jerk and roasted garlic parmesan. my favourite was the honey garlic, hands down. the hot one was plenty hot for me. the heat slowly creeps in and gives you a good kick in the butt. the jamaican jerk was alright. it was almost too wet with sauce. the garlic parm was alright as well, too creamy maybe, but the flavour was nice. since we were there, "when in rome", right?!!....we decided to go for dessert! shared the deep fried mars bar and smores. ooey gooey, hot and crispy. a little too sweet for me, but i liked the batter. once bite of each was enough for me. next flavours have already been decided!

not sure if this has been posted yet, but we were at wingnuts last night and was informed that they've secured a location in lonsdale quay area for the next burgoo. they're also looking for a location for a second wingnuts!

i'm not brian, but may i have the recipe? please and thanks! off to dream of oozy stinky cheeses.....

reporting back! gourmet warehouse had cocoa barry, valhronna, callebaut and scharffen berger. sorry, no cluizel. and i forgot to ask if they were planning to get it in.

I've read about Haute Chocolate--it just recently opened, didn't it? I might try if I'm feeling ambitious, but my driving skills and sense of direction are laughable. I did go to Urban Fare last week to look for the Michel Cluizel chocolate; it's not to be found yet. Irishgirl: Thanks, I've been meaning to get to Chocolate Arts...I haven't treated myself to their chocolate in a long time! I'll have to look up Fabulous Foods. (And I've since acquired some Bensdorp...thanks to Alistair. I think I'll do a bake-off and a blind-tasting sometime in the next two weeks to compare the cocoas.) ← lol, it's easy to find. haute chocolate is on marine drive in dundarave village. trust me, you won't get lost! good point, irish girl. i have to go to gourmet warehouse today so i'll check if what they have. ling, if you need any volunteers for that blind test, i'm sure i can find some time for that. i also have a scarf to tie around my head to ensure i can't see anything!

well, i finally made it to an event and met some other food nuts! it was great meeting you all and sharing a feast of game meat! i had the buffalo. have to admit, i am a bit conservative when it comes to game. treading slowly. first time for the buffalo and i liked it! a lot! it was lean but moist, great flavour, topped with a huge mound of fried onions and mushrooms (can't not have those) and some swiss cheese. on the visit to the condiment station, i piled on some tomatoes, pickles, dijon, a few capers, and that yummy corn relish. fries that were good while hot, dipped in some garlic mayo. a couple of heinies and left smelling like a mixed wild meat patty! my partner in crime had the caribou, also piled with some fried onions and swiss cheese. i had a bite and it was a bit stronger in flavour than mine but was definitely okay with it. he topped it with some tomatoes, capers, sprouts, dijon, pickles and corn relish. both burgers were done with a touch of pink in the middle and being such lean meats, kept them both moist. have to mention the service was great. very efficient and quick. the poor server was alone and had help from the busboy and mr. stormin norman himself. no mistakes on our orders and the beers kept on coming! great music in the corner, amusing dude on his guitar. if you haven't been to this place yet, do yourself a favour and go!! next up, elk. gotta get to the muskox. seems like everyone else had that! looking forward to the next one!

in case you can't make it to rangoli, and depending on where you live, capers also carries the "boil in a bag" take out pouches. i htink that they have about 6 different "flavours". also great for camping! in style, that is

must.try.stilton.brulee.

you beat me to it! we just drove by. i think it's called the red burrito, and the side note said something about your neighborhood burrito and taco joint.

hmm, that's too bad. i think the rep also mentioned haute chocolate in west van as well. did i also mention urban fare might be carrying it? btw, i checked out your brownie recipe....eek! going to have to try that out very soon....maybe tomorrow!

Makanmakan, If you are in a baking/deep-frying sort of mood, you could try making Hum Chim Peng at home. Here's a recipe I found on the Net. Hum Chim Peng ← thanks lannie! not sure if i will attempt it, but i might. seems like a long process. me=impatience! as for balut.... i'm suddenly not very hungry.

Is it "Hum Chin Peng"? They are light doughnut buns usually filled with a salty five-spice powder mixture or red bean paste. They taste great when they're freshly fried and you dunk them into a hot cup of kopi-o or Milo! I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but they have huge "hum chin peng" for breakfast at a place near Kingsway and Victoria (near the Canadian Tire). ← YES!!! my chinese is so bad that i couldn't bring myself to try and call them what my bastard chinese thought it was. it's the five spice ones that i have a weakness for. thanks! will definitely try to look for the kingsway and victoria joint! milo

NTB also has really good "dai bow" (Big Buns). I like big buns ← and you cannot lie

i don't know what these are called and so far, the best ones i've ever had in vancouver are in new town bakery. they're called chinese cinnamon donuts at ntb. i grew up on them in malaysia and remembered them to be a little bit more salty/sweet than the ones here. and not as dense. does anyone know of other bakeries that have better ones? if you know what i'm talking about? danka!

it is worth the trip to go to simply thai in yaletown. as for right downtown close to the seabus, the only ones i can come up with are thai house on robson (which i think is yuck), tropika on robson also has thai food, and sala thai on burrard which i've only eaten at once and thought it wasn't as good as simply thai.

i also loved that mac'n'cheese as well. i could probably find out the recipe for you as the chef is a friend of mine! he's now at the galiano inn and spa. i'll be visiting him sometime this month! my other dish would probably be the sea bass and cilantro congee or the salted pork and century egg congee at congee noodle house. and andrey's wild mushroom risotto with that amazing demi glace at parkside ← Could you really? that would be soooo wonderful!!! yes, I inquired on his whereabouts as I was hoping he was somewhere else in Vancouver so I could still get some of that glorious MnC...wow, you're like, my tastebud double! I also love the seabass congee, and my word, Andre's mushroom risotto? Pure Luxury. ← i will ask for it and pm you with it as soon as i get it!

hart house was one of our dine out vancouver picks last year and it was one of my favourites. delicious food, great wine pairings, very friendly and great service and the room is so cosy and very comfortable. AND easy parking! thanks for the heads up. been wanting to go for another visit. this is a very good excuse!

isn't this what you industry folk call "cougar pop"?!!

^^^ thanks for a good morning laugh!!

it is surprisingly good! and so easy! will be enjoying leftovers for lunch today! hope you feel better....leftovers always make me feel much better!

swoon...beautiful! we called it steamboat in malaysia and it has been way too long for me!! thanks for the great photos! we did ham (a la coca cola, thanks to an intriguing nigella recipe), potato gratin, baked mashed yams with pecans and brown sugar, asparagus tossed in brown butter and lots of cracked black pepper, crunchy salt and shaved parmesan. dessert was a cheesecake and strawberry rubharb pie from savary island pie co.

I'll second the Comte, and throw my favourite blue into the mix: Fourme d'Amber. A. ← thirding the comte and adding in munster gerome. i also stumbled across this. might help. not all french cheeses, but it has a good quick description of various cheeses. it was a wine and cheese tasting done with alice spurrell of les amis. http://southworldwine.com/Feb2005_tasting.html

btw, i asked the rep for michel cluizel about cocoa and she said that it is coming. watch for it!!

so, my hangar steak and gingerbread pudding "deflowering" happened on saturday night. it was the first time for both of us at HSG. such a nice, warm and cosy space. our servers were super attentive (we had a trainee as well as the trainer) and very friendly. since i had looked at the menu before getting there, and read this thread as well, i knew what i was having! started with the martini special (can't remember what it was called but it had coconut rum in it!) and he had the classic gin. both were enjoyed with the amuse of a baby quiche, which was very tasty. i had the mushroom ravioli (add another vote here for adding this to the regular menu) and he had the soup. YUM! then we both had the grill plate. omg, the hangar steak, beefy, cooked to perfection and so very good. the lamb chop and the polenta were wonderful as well. dessert was the gbp for me, of course, and he had the apple pie. i HAD to give up a few bites of the gbp and it killed me!! we did the wine pairing as well and each wine was perfectly matched with each bite. well done! it was great to finally meet neil. in my head, i always want to call him "nwyles"! he was very busy in the kitchen but poked his head up and introduced himself. we will definitely see you again, neil. we were most impressed by every part of our evening there. thanks! dreaming of the gbp....

it might be because i'm really hungry right now but..... wow, those pictures, i mean those dishes and baguettes/epis's look amazing! i think i have to save my pennies and take this class on the next round!