makanmakan

gorgeous looking meal, ling! adding sushikan to my ever growing list! in addition to our dov meals, we went to banana leaf on broadway last weekend with my family to celebrate chinese new year. it's been a while since i'd been here and it was a pretty great meal. needless to say, we pigged out! bak ku teh. a chinese/malay pork herbal soup. good, but not exactly the same as what i remembered from back in the homeland. crab with kum heong sauce. this is my all time favourite crab dish (other than the crab at sun sui wah). savoury, spicy and simply delicous. chicken satay. we also had the lamb satay. both very good. is it bad that i want to put that peanut sauce on everything i eat?!! okra, eggplant and green bean in sambal sauce and in the background, mee goreng. lamb curry and in the foil package, alaskan black cod grilled in banana leaf in a spicy dry shrimp sauce. both lip smackin' good. we managed to save a tiny bit of room for some dessert. goreng pisang (deep fried bananas) and kueh dadar (the green things). kueh dadar is a crepe, flavoured with pandan (screwpine leaf), filled with a coconut and gulah melaka (palm sugar). this sadly, was not a good example of how good this dessert can be. the crepe was a bit dry and flavourless and the filing was not quite sweet enough. the deep fried bananas, though, how can you really go wrong?!! crunchy, hot and good. the only gripe was they need to change the oil. very soon.

She is, Steve, and it does! ← does it ever! i have got to get back to have their braised short rib again

here's my very late report on our first class of the serious foodie program january 2006! chef tony did not disappoint me as to his humor and very obvious passion of what he does! for once, i am looking forward to mondays! vancouver lee is also in the class and as we found out at the end of the class, so is barolo (hi!), and another friend of mine. we did the same soup as the last class did. gypsy/aztec soup. simple, yummy and a good chance to practice our skills on the knife. a few pics. our soup simmering away. el producto finito this was a pretty easy class. i did learn a few things though. broth versus stock. simmer instead of boil. and a tip on never buy hot house peppers as it's mostly water and the skin is thick and less flavourful yet more expensive. the soup was very nice. the veggies retained a slight crunch, the broth light and the fresh avocados and tortilla chips added really nice textures. it was paired with a glass of torres vina esmerelda, a blend of muscatel and gewurztraminer. looking forward to tonight and will try to remember to take more pics!

better late than never! here are some pics from our cru night. ok, not all the courses are documented and i blame the alcohol! the herb crusted lamb loin. simply delicious 'shroom risotto. awesome duck confit. crispy skin, oh duck skin. dark chocolate torte. chocolatey goodnes

first off, ling, that peanut butter ganache cookie, looks dangerous! it combines some of my favourite things together. you are now my pastry goddess! i will be trying that out next time i have some time to bake. i finally had time to upload some pics. here's my first adventure from the feenie's cookbook. the roast chicken with tomatoes, roasted peppers, olives and capers. the beginnings of the butter braised tomatoes with fresh rosemary and thyme and loads of butter finished tomatoes the chicken roasted in my beloved cast iron pan plated with baked saffron risotto, beets and brocollini the finished sauce was delicious. it was done with some capers, kalamata olives, garlic, and stock (thanks to the stock market), and a handful of fresh herbs thrown in at the end. briney and savoury and zingy! the butter poached tomatoes were also very good. we used the leftovers in omelettes a few days later. i will definitely make this again!

i think i need a little skoolin' from you for when clients no show! that was a good laugh, neil thanks~!

we had dinner there with another couple on friday night and had a great evening after a 25 minute wait for our table. it was another rainy night and there were about 11 people waiting for 3 tables in their very squishy front entrance. once we got to our table, everything went pretty well. the service went fairly well other than having to ask for the wine menu a couple of times and longer than usual waits for visits from the server. we ordered a bottle of notta bene, sadly, they were sold out so we went for a bottle of the 2001 osoyoos larose. definitely not a let down. i had the soup, the flat iron steak and the raspberry parfait. i liked the soup, actually. thought it had a clean, fresh flavour with a hint of smoke. the steak was very tender and had a good beefy flavour. mine was done a tad over med rare while my partner's was perfectly med rare. the desserts were a bit too sweet for me. oh, and the order of frites and oysters disappeared rather quickly before our first courses came! yum! all in all, it was a nice evening and our server ended up being quite amusing by the end of the night. it had been years since i'd been to pastis and will go back to try the brunch menu. no wobbly table for us, btw! although, our table setting almost bit the dust as i wiggled into my banquette seat and had the corner of the table cloth under my butt! close, but no cigar

^^ooh, thanks for that reminder about the gift certs! we saw that when we were there a couple of weeks ago and commented that we should stock up. just wanted to also add that so far, during this dov, c was our favourite, hands down. i loved watching the service in the room. such a well oiled machine!

wow, quite the culinary adventure you guys had!! the perfect hosts/hostesses to show you around as well! very glad you guys had a great time here. thanks for the pics and descriptions. everything looked so yummy. moosh, that ginataang bilo bilo looks and sounds just like the malaysian bubur cha cha. it's been ages since i've made it. hmm...time to go find some ube!

pastis tonight!! boy, my pants are starting to get tight

Actually, Mark Taylor worked with Township 7 to create his House Red blend. Glad that your meal was stellar on all accounts! ← lol, you're right! in my fuzzy state this morning, i know i was thinking Township 7, but apparently, my fingers had other plans. Hope you have fun tonight, ElizR! I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience!

This is just a quickie post on our lovely dinner last night. (work is beckoning ) I'll post some pics later as i have a few! We had a 9:30 reso last night and arrived to our table of 6 ready and waiting for us. I'd only been once before and for the rest of our party, it was their first. Just like my previous experience, the service was attentive, but not breathing down our necks. The food, of course, was the star of the meal. A couple of us did the $35 menu and the rest of the table did the $25. We started with an order of oysters (which i can never resist) and an order of fries. Both were polished off pretty quickly. I love their fries. Perfectly salted and crispy and the aioli, well, garlicky mayo. 'nuff said! The oysters were exquisite. Half a dozen of little oysters, didn't ask what they were, so sweet and so fresh. Topped with an orange ginger mignonette that also had some sesame oil goodness in it. Delicious. I had all this with a glass of the Blue Mountain Brut. Yummy! My first course was the smoked tuna carpaccio. I had this the last time I was there on the recommendation of Mooshmouse and I couldn't resist. Smokey, tender, slightly salty, melt in your mouth albacore tuna with some beets and baby greens on top. I could eat this everyday and be a happy woman. The wine pairing was very nice as well, although i can't recall what it was. For my second, i chose the lamb loin. Oh my god, this was sooooo good. The lamb was very tender, perfectly done med rare, and a lovely rich sauce was cradling it. It came with a little tart of puff pastry topped with some sauteed veggies. Nice, just not mind blowing. Paired with a glass of the Cru blend by Tinhorn Creek. My dessert was the bitter chocolate torte. Oh, this could be my new favourite chocolate dessert. The texture was a bit truffle like, maybe a bit firmer and the flavour was rich rich chocolate and just slightly sweet. The stewed fruit under it was a nice accompaniment with it. So was my glass of Fonseca port. Other starters ordered was the ceasar salad (always so good), the mushroom bruschetta, the beef carpaccio (so good) and the carrot ginger soup (also very good). Other mains were the duck confit (crispy skin atop very flavourful, tender meat and sitting on top a very nicely sauced papardalle), the seared albacore tuna, and the wild mushroom risotto (so very good, rich, creamy sauce). The risotto could be my new favourite mushroom risotto. Previously, my favourite was Parkside's. Half the table had the chocolate torte, and the other half did the creme brulee. The creme brulee was very creamy, soft, and with a nice crust on top. Classic and very nicely done. We all had a great night and left with full bellies and a new favourite restaurant. I now am nursing a little bit of a headache from all that I drank. Ouch Just an extra note on the people there. We were the last table there and as we were getting ready to leave, had a chance to chat with the staff there. They were so friendly, very gracious, and quite amusing. We definitely didn't feel like they were trying to get us the hell out of there.

nice one, elizr! we're going there next week and we've never been there before. definitely looking forward to it now! thanks

Cru for us tonight! we'll be the piggy table of 6! Has anyone done a Cru DOV yet??

thanks for the review! we're going there on friday and was eyeing pretty much what you had. hopefully they'll have fixed the tables by the time we get there!

yes, we stocked up too, yesterday. RIP kiwi pie co. thanks for the good eats, good times and the copious amounts of champagne and sausage rolls yesterday! by the way, there's talk of them resurfacing at a later date. the owner is talking about pairing up with a caterer friend of his and opening a deli, maybe in the dunbar area. and the pies will make an appearance there!

awww, sorry to hear that, laura. i was looking forward to meeting you too. i guess it'll have to be an egullet pig-out instead! good luck with the healing!

thanks, moosh and bc. i'm ok with the steel (but real lessons would be grand) but it's the wetstone skill that i'd really like to learn. i have one that's gathering dust in a big way.

we were there last week and it was cash only still. but they do have a kick ass carrot cake now!

just have to report that we went to india bistro last night, on davie and loved it! we'd only done take out from there a couple of times before and always liked it, but after last night, it was love. we started with the onion bhaji. indian onion rings, but so much better. light chick pea batter, fried to perfection and served with a tamarind dip. next up was some papadum. grilled, light, crispy and nicely spiced. our mains were the murgh coconut chicken and the eggplant bartha. the chicken was in a coconut milk curry, very nicely spiced with a good medium heat. the eggplant was first grilled, then cooked with spices, ginger and other good things that made my mouth and lips very warm. the spices were very fresh as well. we paired these with some rice and some garlic naan. the naan was lighter and softer in texture than i'm used to. we quite liked it and it sure made for a good sopping tool! all that, with a couple of beers (kingfisher for me and raj for him) and the bill was just shy of $45. and now they deliver......

we just added another restaurant to our dine out marathon. don francesco's. has anyone been yet? worth it? i just love the story of the owner and his wife. what can i say, i'm a sucker for romance!

how about the india bistro on davie street? we had a great dinner there last night. very reasonable, great service, and the food was delicious.

i already have a knife, but what i will be embarrased about is just how dull it might be!! i hope we learn how to sharpen our knives properly.

pez, the ordinary cafe is wonderful. the meal we had there was amazing. fresh ingredients, simple and clean flavours. it's just a shame that we haven't been back. it's the "over the bridge" thing! this is a good reminder to go back again.

^^ thanks for the heads up! we are doing aurora in a couple of weeks and it's our first dinner there. lamb cheeks it is! definitely looking forward to it.