tinyhandful
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Posts posted by tinyhandful
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thank you so much kate, for your suggestions (your blog is fabulous btw!). a girlfriend of mine says that her "favourite restaurant in the ENTIRE WORLD" is in bordeaux. too bad she can't remember said favourite restaurant's name. *sigh*
clue #1: by the opera.
clue #2: only serves beef dip & fries
does this ring a bell to anyone?
apologies for my ignorance, but is beef dip/french dip even really french? -
i will also be in france in may for 3 weeks (first time--YAAAYYY!) and am waiting on bryan's reports with bated breath.
i found very reasonable hotel rates through venere.com much better rates than expedia/orbitz/priceline/etc... for the same hotels. one can also google "venere discount code" for a -4% coupon.
take care all
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absolutely brilliant joe! thank you so much for all of your hard work. it is very much appreciated.
the petit ami and i will be in bergerac/bordeaux/paris from may 1st to may 21st. this marks my first trip to france and his first trip off of the continent. as we are both recent university graduates, we will be sticking to a budget and we really appreciate all of your suggestions.
we will definitely report back with pictures
take care all!
ps-if anyone has any dining suggestions in the bordeaux/bergerac region & surrounding areas, it would be very helpful!
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i'd have to say that bistro pastis' valrhona chocolate cake is the best half-baked/lava/chocolate cake i have had in recent memory...
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the food at Portobello Ristorante is fabulous. all of their pastas dishes are priced at $12.50 and other entrees (osso buco, halibut, veal) range from the mid-teens to mid-twenties. my only gripe with Portobello is that their service is clumsy and slow most of the time.
here's the dinehere.ca profile of portobello: click me!
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i've lived in kits for 20+ years and am surprised that no one on this thread has mentioned Kerkis on W. 4th & Dunbar or Olympia on W. Broadway, next to Minerva's.
both places serve great food and are family restaurants, but the biggest difference is the service. though Olympia gets a vote for its homemade pizzas, i have never had worse service at a restaurant (one of those nightmarish stories of bussing your own table and the non-existant server)...very possibly a one-off but i still haven't been back.
instead, Kerkis has been satisfying my greek cravings. also, their lunch menu is extremely reasonable for the amount and quality of food. my personal favourites are the chicken liver appies and their lamb souvlaki. the atmosphere is much livelier than the aforementioned, especially if you choose to sit at their appetizer/tasting bar. Kerkis is located where Lorenzo's used to be and offer plenty of free underground parking (bonus!).
yummy yummy yummy....
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Iam guessing these are the ones? You can order them online:
http://astore.amazon.com/cuteseller08-20/detail/B000J2JW6W
I dont think costco have any left but just call their richmond store and ask.
yes indeed! those are the ones!!! too bad i can't just pluck them from my screen.
i think i'll save myself the trouble of driving around everywhere and just order them from amazon. (absolutely brilliant! thanks D90!) and at $10 and change US for 2.2lbs ain't too shabby.
thank you to and everyone for all of your suggestions. they were very much appreciated.
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no luck at costco downtown...
the only truffles at Patisserie Bordeaux were the ones that they make in-house. the last time i had visited must have been 10+ years ago and i forgot how wonderful it is there. the chausson and the pear frangipane didn't get a chance make it home for a picture op.
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my mother received a box of Truffettes de France truffles for christmas while down in SFO, brought them home, and my friends and i DEVOURED them over new year's eve.
i now owe her a box.
my unsuccessful attempts at finding another box have been at the following:
-meinhardt
-capers (w. 4th / cambie st.)
-choices (w. 16th / shannon station)
-urban fare
-safeway
-iga
-T&T, richmond
-shoppers
-zellers
these little guys are by no means gourmet, nor are they expensive, but i can't seem to track them down anywhere. this has now become a bit of a quest.
YVR egullet-ers: has anyone seen them around? and what should my next plan of attack be?
any advice would be appreciated.
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for high end: i'll second/third/fourth Saito's over Nishino's. their sushi/sashimi is always well above par, they have an extensive sake list, and the best part, their GREEN TEA TIRAMISU. mmm....
in terms of more casual sushi/japanese, i would suggest sitting at the bar at Hiroshi's . Hiroshi's sushi is creative yet still traditional. he also highlights one (or more) seasonal ingredients and makes a full fresh sheet of items with them. a highly underrated neighbourhood restaurant on eastlake (a much better choice than i love sushi, imho).
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a reputable vietnamese friend advised me to go to "Pho Thai" (no Hoa), and said that it was near the intersection where Kingsway met Main and Broadway and across the street from Kingsgate Mall. i was unable to find it via google, but does he mean Pho Thai Hoa?
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In HK - Victoria Harbour in Wan Chai has pork and hairy crab roe XLB's that are very very good.
omg omg omg...it's been just over a year and i've forgotten all about hairy crab roe XLBs. boo you canucklehead, for reminding us that we won't be able to get them here!!!
lol!i still stand behind Long's XLBs as i find SW's wrapper too thick, and SR to be good, but much too pretentious.
one thing that i've never understood was how shanghainese places that specialize in XLBs make a profit...making and wrapping those little suckers are so time-intensive. it's still surprising to me that you can get one for around, if not less than, 50 cents!
i've heard that well made XLBs have at least 16 folds. has anyone else heard of this?
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glad you'll be coming back up to visit us during the long weekend.
i really hate to give this place up since they only seat about 25-30 people, but if you love xiao long baos, try Long's Noodle House on main street (mandarin: xiao long ji; cantonese: xiu long gae).
they have all of your yummy old-skool shanghainese favourites. for lunch, they close at 3pm, so i usually get there around 2:15pm and not have to wait for a table. between my bf and i, we usually just get one green onion cake, one order of xiao long bao (6 pcs.), and one bowl of noodle--either the braised chicken & veggie in soup if we're feeling blah, or tza tzeung meen (translation: fried sauce noodle (?)-wow, my parents would have a coronary if they ever saw how badly i butcher chinese...*sigh*) when we feel like a bowl of "chinese spaghetti" as my bf calls it.
the 3 items, more than enough to share between the two of us, usually puts our bill just under $13 CDN. crazy, eh?
keep in mind, like many chinese restaurants in town, they only accept cash.
they're on the west side of main street, between 32nd and 33rd.
have a wonderful visit!
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i'm sorry you only had good time, and not an amazing time at Crush. both my bf and i worked for Jason & Nicole before we moved north to vancouver. Jason really does put out some incredible dishes, most notably the foie and the short ribs--order an extra side of gnocchi with it...mmm! and in their defense (though they do not need this, nor have they solicited it), it has been very crazy for them with both the opening of the upstairs (i believe the kitchen stayed the same size when they doubled their seating), as well as the birth of their first child. give it some time and another chance...i have no doubt that Crush will win you over.
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I could not agree more, however, the Ordinary has been closed for a few months. Chef/owner Dennis Huang is now at The Grammercy Grill on Arbutus. In my opinion, this is an underrated restaurant. The food is of phenomenal quality, the room is cosy and the service is attentive.
oh no...is the ordinary closed? for good???
i find both the service and the food inconsistent at grammercy grill. we loved it at first because we followed susan and bill up from their former restaurant down on w. 1st / york (where vintropolis currently is, i believe...?) but after a while, the food and the service seemed to have fizzled out.
maybe i should give it another go with a new chef at the helm.
over: tropika-was there for a friend's birthday last night and the food was overly oily and mediocre at best, especially for the price that you pay.
under: has everyone forgotten about aurora bistro? this may be a good thing (for me) since getting a table is still relatively easy.
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one vote for 1181 on davie street. drinks were incredibly creative and surprisingly reasonable. the real draw? the space itself--absolutely stunning. the owners of 1181 are also architects/interior designers. here's an article + pictures from canadianarchitect.com: click on me!
thank you to the staff at 1181...we had a wonderful time!
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my bf is giving me trouble for not including HIS favourite restaurant down in seattle on my list...i omitted it because it's asian, and i feared that you're all asian-ed out since you live in van.
but Little Thai is a wonderful little hole-in-the-wall. it's right in the U-District and it's run by two sisters, Warinee and Kunya (they're actually THAI too! BONUS!) and a random slew of other family members... my bf says that you have to get the little spring rolls (delicious, and great to share--1 order gets you about 10 or 12 and includes a great sweet chili sauce--sometimes they can be a little greasy, but a little grease that tastes this good is easily overlooked!) if you're a fan of pad thai, little thai will not disappoint. Warinee has been nice enough to invite me and my bf into her kitchen to "teach" us how to make it (we still can't make it NEARLY as good!). very kid friendly and lots of booths.
so go to Little Thai for dinner, then take a stroll through the U-District, and about 3 blocks north, just past 45th ave, you'll find The Mix ice cream bar...a much better and local version of Cold Stone. if you've never had a hand-mixed custom ice cream, you've gotta go. i know it's cold, but it'll be worth it! plus, here are some coupons to make it more convincing! (from what i remember, a small ice cream-which is PLENTY-is about 3 US dollars and change with the 2 free mix-ins coupon)
side note: was wandering around on citysearch and Tutta Bella was just named Best Pizza 2006 by their editors. here's the link if you're interested: click on me!
talking about good food in seattle makes me miss it so much!!!
Have you tried Auntie Anne's on Kingsway in Vancouver across from Safeway (between Boundary and Joyce)? It's not the nicest place, but the food is great and the roti canai is outstanding.but i will definitely seek out Auntie Anne's in the next couple of days. thanks for the suggestion! (no worries, i will gladly take good food + bad decor over good decor + bad food anyday!)
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granted we've got a lot of asian food in vancouver, seattle also has its stand-outs. i lived in seattle for 6 years before moving "home" to vancouver last month. my favs that i always make time for are:
Malay Satay Hut in the I.D. (International District)...their website doesn't seem to be responding, but here is the stranger's article on it. it's along the same lines as Tropika (in vancouver) but much less oily and definitely less expensive! amazing roti canai, tung choi (water spinach), and mango chicken... mmmm....
i do apologize for this addition to your already growing list of lunch-only options, but Dish between Ballard and Fremont is an absolute must (along with Besalu and Salumi!). Dish is definitely the spot for a big, cozy, home-y (i know that's not a word, but go with it...) breakfast. you won't be able to find a better Eggs Benedict anywhere near our neck of the woods. they don't have a website, but here's the citysearch profile on them. (Cash & Check Only)
i have to agree with dandelion, you don't have to travel so far into Rainier Valley for amazing neapolitan pizza anymore since they opened up a Tutta Bella between Wallingford and Fremont on Stone Way. their pizza is great but their tiramisu is heavenly....
i have yet had a chance to try Tilth in Wallingford but how can you miss with organic ingredients and Maria Hines (ex-Earth & Ocean at the W) at the helm?? Wallingford is a very kid-friendly neighbourhood, so i can't imagine Tilth being too uptight.
keep in mind that seattle is much, much more relaxed than vancouver *gasp!*. so i'm sure that most places you'll choose, bringing kids (well-behaved kids-a bonus!) shouldn't be a problem.
if you're craving sushi, you're better off waiting it out until you come home. seattle, relative to vancouver, has a lot of mediocre, over-priced sushi.
Cafe Juanita is aways excellent but i'm not sure about its location (kirkland). they're quite a big drive away from seattle.
i'm also a little biased to Crush since i used to work for J & Nic, but also wonderful...
oooh! and Canlis too...
the last few choices may be better enjoyed on another trip sans les enfants, as they're quite romantic.
have fun!
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has anyone been to paprika bistro in victoria? i've been trying to find time to get over to the island just to eat there.
(i found out the hard way the last time i was there that they close on mondays
)here's the website: http://www.paprika-bistro.com/
this may be redundant information, but george szasz of paprika bistro is the son and i believe grandson of the proprietors of the fabulous hungarian restaurant, appropriately named, szasz on granville street back in the day (former occupant of the space that west currently resides in--am i right?).
if paprika is even half as good as szasz was, that's doing pretty good already. mmm...i can't wait!
EDIT:
Vancouver Island's best eating spots are varied. We want to hear about those spots in the north above Victoria even extending to Tofino. Any highly praised restauarants in these regions would be most welcome. Judith Gebhartalmost forgot to mention la pommeraie at merridale ciderworks in cobble hill. i went there sometime in the summer for a beautiful sunday brunch. the food focuses on fresh local, and when possible, organic ingredients. the surroundings are so scenic and serene supplemented by the fact that the staff treated us like family (the good kind of family)...you'll never want to leave.
honourary mentions also go to the dining room at the aerie resort for high-end formal dining, and the malahat mountain inn for a more casual fare. both are wonderful places from what i remember.
have a great trip to BC judith!
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relish is a good choice for the age group. Our daughters (18 and 21) enjoy it and we don't have any problems taking them there. Certainly a better experience than our last family birthday at Joey's. Don't get me started.
thanks Karole, good to know. Joey's was automatically vetoed for the fact that it is a chain restaurant (why does this matter?? if it's good, it's good, and vice versa no? ) and for not accepting reservations.
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Is there still a Chuck E Cheese by Loughheed Mall ?
lol, funny that you say that Neil, i voted for HSG, and was the one who called this afternoon and talked to you asking whether or not you had a webpage that i could direct the young'ns to.
unfortunately, i was out-voted... so Neil, you will NOT be seeing a group of 10 chuck-e-cheesers, arguing over how to split the bill and who gets to pay for the shared appies, this saturday night. boo hoo, i know.
our party will instead be tormenting the staff at relish...
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I'd go to Diner in a heartbeat. We've been to four different b-day parties there and the people loved the place each time. Good solid tasty food and fantastic fresh desserts. We just came from lunch there and my sweety for dessert had the Blackberry Pavlova with fresh Black berries out of Heathers garden. I had a just out of the oven Peach Shortbread ...... the best. My best friend had a party there and she cooked a Blackberry Coconut cake for him that everyone still raves about.
Heather makes great desserts. Craving some now.
sorry to be such an EG noob, but where's Diner? I have an outrageous task of finding a reasonable (entrees hovering between the teens and the low 20's) yet trendy for a b-day party for a bunch of 18 y.o.s who have requested NO CHAIN restaurants. any ideas? i'd like to at least enjoy my meal since i won't be able understand/follow a word of what my company will be saying! --> dinner is for this coming saturday night with no rezzos as of yet (for 10 ppl!), of course. *sigh*
Bordeaux - Good eats
in France: Dining
Posted
silly me... found out it was actually just STEAK & FRIES and the restaurant is L'Entrecote. has anyone been? is it worth the trip?
i will be making a rezzo at La Tupina shortly, but when googl'ing Le Cape, i couldn't find any information. does anyone know of a website, address, or phone number?
thanks much!