Dumpling Girl

I didn't mean without a reso. I made a reso at Guu over a week ahead, and that's how I found out about their closing that night. I made it for a smaller number, and would warn the restaurant that I would probably be adding on, and see if they're okay with that.

Hi Everyone, I was going to have a group (between 6 - 20 people) have drinks and nibbles after work on Monday, May 8 6 pm at Guu in Gastown, but they're closing that night for some sort of meeting. We'll be travelling like a pack from Main St. skytrain station, so here are some of the things I liked about Guu that I'm looking for in another place: - right next to a skytrain station, so easy to get to on transit. Some people might be coming from elsewhere, so it was going to be easy to find too. - cheap! (cocktails are only around $4-6, food is very flexible and cheap too) - people can just drink, or drink and eat a little, or eat a lot - good food - friendly service that can deal with a large group, but that doesn't have to completely reserved ahead of time. It was going to be fairly easy to add on people at the last minute at Guu because early on a Monday evening, it's not that busy. - casual I'm thinking it might be worth going to one of the other Guu's even though the location won't be as convenient. I wish DV8 was up and running still. But maybe there's somewhere near a skytrain that I'm not thinking of. Commercial St? Granville Station? Honey Lounge is an option, near Stadium Station. Or that Tap and Grill behind Granville Station. Has anyone ever been to Adega, a Portugese Restaurant on Main St., near the Georgia viaduct turn off? Any suggestions? Thanks! Nancy

Yeah ... that's a fair comparison - NOT. I understand where Nancy is coming from with the comparison ... but Daniel is no John Bishop and Senhor Rooster is no Bishops, and I'd guess that Daniel would agree. Making that comparison is way off the mark. Senhor Rooster's is a nice place, but it's not the Second Coming. Would it make my list of Best Values? You betcha. Top 5 easily. Would it be on my list of places to suggest to someone visitng from out of town? Not even in my top 50. Time for a little perspective. A. ← I actually agree with your comments about getting some perspective, Arne. And if anyone wants to read my full post (shameless plug: at http://nancyland.blogspot.com), I was only making the comparison with the hospitality and personableness of the chef/host and the very obvious passion for food that comes through when he comes out of the kitchen. And the great value (being an East End kid originally myself) and definitely not fancy schmancy interior is what I'm talking about when I say "East End [version]". Also, the lack of pretension. So for me, the comparison is valid. Using it as a title was meant to grab some attention And because my article was about grappling with why this little ethnic restaurant serving tasty food is getting so much attention compared to hundreds of other ethnic restaurants plugging away and serving tasty food, and why it elicits my own affection too, and I really think it's about that hosting ability/passion about food (Bishopness? Bishopity? Bishopocity?) that is in large part what people note and like Bishops. Yes, of course everyone is an individual and John Bishop didn't invent being a good host/showing passion for food. But he's a nice enough fellow, and good enough at it, that I don't mind using him for shorthand. It's the "dinner party feel" he's known for, that I was mostly speaking of. Anyhow, Senhor Rooster's would definitely rank in my top 50 to recommend , but I'd tag on, go for the rack of lamb for sure. Less refined perhaps than what you'd get at Bishop's, but I can't see it getting any better than what I had the first time at Senhor Rooster's. It was wonderful. Since that post, I've had the pork and clams, and was disappointed with the dryness, and had also read here that the chicken can be dry. Sauces definitely wowed me more the first time too, but they're still tasty. But as I've been exploring in my articles lately, I really think if service and the feeling you get from the staff is exceptional, it's much easier to forgive imperfections in the food, and still come away with a great dining experience. And I do recommendations based on budget anyway. It's just not fair to expect the same food quality or experience with a high end restaurant with a low end, and that's definitely not what I meant with my post. When out of towners are asking for a recommendation, I'll ask what they want to spend. Bottom line? Everyone read my blog! Cheers, Nancy

Nuts! I kept meaning to try the Ordinary Cafe. Heard good things. So it's already the Sushi Bar? Hmmm...I wonder how it would have done if it was called The Extraordinary Cafe?

Just wanted to mention one more special on the board that is really worthwhile. It's the stuffed camembert, which was really delicious. It's actually more like it's smothered (rather than stuffed)with a creamy shrimp sauce. Yummy. I shared it with two other people (we also ordered the salt cod fritter ball thingies as an appetizer), and honestly, I was wishing I could have just eaten the stuffed camembert all by myself (or alternatively that we had ordered three of them, hee hee). I tried to get us to share the lamb chops as an appetizer, but I was vetoed. Next time I'll know to really force the issue (or just have it as my main. I just wanted to try something different this time). The lamb there is SO good. I had the pork and clams and also found the pork a bit dry. My friend ordered the fried quail, and we had little nibbles of each others, but after we had both finished our meals, we wound up both admitting we liked the other's meal better. ha! Should have 'fessed up earlier! The dish of clams is huge. Would also be a good one to share as a communal appy. We got our squeezy bottles of sauce right away. I kind of like the little glass jars more, aesthetically, but the squeezies are more practical, I guess. Anyhow, it was another really nice meal overall.

Here are my thoughts, with the old qualifier "I don't know much about this kind of food, I just know what I like." I tried Zagros on Davie only once, (several months ago) and didn't find the food all that interesting to me. For some reason, I guessed that it didn't appeal to me because of the general flavours of the Persian cuisine, and not because of individual restaurant's abilities. On their window it says something like, "If you like Greek food, you'll love Persian." While it wasn't bad, and it was certainly interesting to try something I hadn't had before, I'd have to say I'd much rather have a standard Greek meal than what I had at Zagros (sorry, can't remember the exact dishes, but we tried several). And I'd rather have an Afghan Horsemen meal than Greek. I went my first time a few months ago, and was actually pretty impressed. Flavours seemed bright to me (I remember even the salad and salad dressing, though similar to a Greek salad, seemed noteable to me). Of course, all this means very little, as it's completely a matter of personal preference (for example, if I had to rank Asian cuisines, at the moment, I'd put Japanese and Chinese at the top, followed by Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean, and at the bottom Korean). Nancy

Wonderfully quiet restaurant - Amarcord, a little Italian restaurant in Yaletown. I think Parkside is great, too. Just a little note about the service at Aurora - as much as I understand the impulse to protect one of your own, it's true that honesty here can be really constructive. I believe the warmth of the service at Aurora depends hugely on who is serving you there. I've only been a couple of times, but it's a small room, and if you feel like when you are sitting in a restaurant that you wish you got the other guy as your server, then there's something to that. However, I had very competent and efficient service both times, and I wouldn't hesitate to go back (but it's a much different feeling from going back to either Amarcord or Parkside, or say, Guu, where I feel like I'm almost guaranteed warmth).

Wow, you have dessert after breakfast? This is one of the reasons I love checking in on eGullet - to hear about the eating habits of like-minded people

How can that be? edited to add: oh, nevermind

My fav buffets (back when I still did them. Trying to watch my portion sizes these days) include the Chocoholic buffet at Fleuri. I think the quality of the desserts are much better than the dessert buffet at Griffins(Do I have the right hotel restaurant? It's kind of casual, with booths and black and white tiles everywhere. I was definitely not impressed). Also the El Caravan at 809 Seymour St. downtown has (or used to have) a nice lunch buffet 11:30 - 2:30 pm (maybe weekdays?). Great little bunch of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes. Yes, it's always a tradeoff - you can't expect a la carte quality in a buffet, but I think these two do pretty well. What's that place on Kingsway, somewhere near Joyce - Samosa House? They used to do an alright Indian buffet. I've always wanted to try the PICA Seafood buffet one of these days, so please report back if you wind up going. Nancy

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I just came back from Seattle, and had a fabulous time. LOVED Zoe, LOVED Union's Happy Hour, and (a place my friend brought me to) LOVED Dix's Barbecue (Yes, I met the man). Anyhow, more details later, as I'm at work right now, but I'll let you know all about it, or provide a link to my blog postings once they get written. My Zoe experience was the best, I think. Best service I've had in a while, and some things that were SO tasty (their foccacia and their gnudi in particular).

Well, we've already made a reservation for Restaurant Zoe for Sunday night, March 19, and I hope it goes well. I'll let you all know. (I hope I don't get the same server, Nana-Kat ). I'll try to check out the other recommendations too. Thanks, everyone!

I think we're going with Restaurant Zoe, so far. As for cheap and good sushi in Vancouver, I really like Yuji's on W. 4th and Maple St. (just as much as for their creative cooked dishes as their wonderful and interesting sushi). I also like Okada Sushi (downtown), but you can find something worthwhile eating at very very cheap hole-in-the wall places too, like Sushi Maki (downtown, 989 Hornby). They're all over the place. For example, a great one is Matsu Sushi #204-403 North Rd in Burnaby near Lougheed Mall. When I say cheap, I'm talking $9.50 Canadian for a decent chirashi. But you can also find NOT very good, very cheap sushi is about 300 other places in town, so you have to be careful. Another good moderate one is Ajisai Sushi Bar, 2081 West 42nd Avenue in Kerrisdale. There's a couple of recommendations I've had from friends that I just haven't had a chance to try yet: Toshi's (off Main St.) and Sushi Yama at Broadway and Fraser.

Thank you all for your replies! Vancouver has a similar promotion at the end of January and beginning of February, and it sounds like it's just as hit and miss there as it is here, from the Cascadia thread, often due to the servers and staff treating people worse because they think assume they will be unsophisticated diners, cheap and tip badly. However, I managed to have a fantastic experience this year, with brilliant service and excellent food (at Parkside Restaurant), and I definitely felt like we got a bargain (in that case, we were getting a $49 three course meal for $25). We wound up spending more on the wine than we normally would, so it still wound up being a bit of a splurge. Anyway, I'm hoping that we pick a restaurant that isn't going to be snobby, so I really appreciate your recommendations. I will just eliminate Nishino right off the bat because good, relatively cheap sushi is just too easy to find in Vancouver. Oh, if anyone thinks there is a place I absolutely must try while I'm down there, and it's not a 25 for 25, I'd love to hear about it. I'll be down for a few days. Nancy

Yup, thanks. We knew that already, and were planning for a Sunday night dinner.

Actually, the name is part of the appeal for me.

Hi Everyone, I'm visiting Seattle for a weekend in March, and would like to have dinner at one of the "twenty-five for $25" restaurants. Here's the website: http://www.nwsource.com/contests/restaurants/25for25_0306/ Please help me pick! Which one would you pick (and why)? All suggestions are much appreciated! If you're curious about Vancouver restaurants, please check out my food blog, Nancyland, Vancouver Foodie Fun. You can get a good idea of my taste there too. Thanks, everyone! Nancy edited to add: P.S. Location is not a problem. We'll have a car and don't mind driving if the restaurant is worth visiting.

Wow. Sounds like you would need to strap him in a baby car-seat to get him home. hee hee! Can you imagine driving along and seeing someone with a giant lobster in their car-seat? Even with the sale, $120 lobster...I'd make sure he was strapped in and comfy!

It was Friday night for us, actually. Sorry we missed you! ← Ahh, it wasn't you all then. That makes more sense now, since that big party was busy taking pictures of each other, and not the food Hope to run into you sometime! If anyone suspects they see me at a restaurant (I try to discreet with my camera, but you can only do so much when you need the flash), please feel free to come up and say hi! I'm going to keep Senhor Rooster's on my list of possibilities for group dinners. Great food, such reasonable prices, and he seemed to have no trouble with that huge party that took up nearly the entire restaurant (except a few small tables on the side). They got big platters of meat to share.

I've been feeling lately that I was a personal cheerleader for the restaurant. Glad to hear that someone else loves it too! If I had done that CBC On the Coast interview about favourite Vancouver restaurants, I would have named Yuji's as my current fav. I've gone about 4 times, and have enjoyed everything I've had there so far. Taka-san's daily roll creation has been good to me both times I've orderred it. One was a trio of rolls, each using a different colour of tobiko (flying fish roe). Really pretty, and tasty. I'll have pics of my most recent trip posted fairly soon on my blog. Nancy

I suspected that huge group was an eGullet crowd. I was there Saturday night. My friend had the horse, and I thought the slices he had were pretty tender. But I liked my rack of lamb (yes, I ate nearly an entire rack!) more. I'm so glad I went, and I'm already looking forward to going again.

I just had to say that I really love your attitude, kurtisk! Aurora is lucky to have u.

Just thought I'd throw out a couple of ideas. I was thinking it wouldn't be any effort at all to avoid both wheat flour and eggs in a Japanese restaurant, if you avoid the tempura batter, and tamago sushi, and a few other items that are deep fried in batter. Sorry, I keep harping on this restaurant, but I'm really digging it lately - Yuji's Japanese Tapas on W. 4th and Maple. A nice small place that shouldn't have any trouble keeping track of the food restrictions, and so representative of Vancouver, I think (well, at least more than Milestones! See recent Westender reader's vote article...). At least with sushi, all the ingredients are very obvious, so it wouldn't be a matter of having the chef come up with new menu items for her, and she could feel like she could order freely from the regular menu. How about Chinese Hot Pot where you cook your own food together at the table in a big simmering pot of stock? I've only had it recently at Top Gun Hot Pot at Metrotown, but there are lots of places to get this elsewhere, maybe someone else knows. Or Korean barbeque where you grill your own meat at the table, like at Shabusen downtown, or there's a Korean restaurant on Broadway (near Granville?) that does this too? No hidden ingredients at all in either of these two. Afghan Horsemen can actually do their vegetarian platter vegan, so I imagine if you call ahead they could ensure a egg and wheat free platter. Though, it is somewhat spicy, and part of the charm of that restaurant is sitting on the floor, so if your Mum is not into that, it might not be the best choice (they do have lots of regular tables too though). My line of thinking was just to go to ethnic restaurants where eggs and wheat don't normally play a large role in the cuisine anyway. The other way to go, as it sounds like you had at Paprika, is going to restaurants who are particularly good at accomodating for food restrictions, without making a fuss, so I will leave others to recommend those, as I don't have experience with that.

Just wanted to say that I loved those sushi pics, Ling! Okay, briefly, here's my last three: Senhor Rooster! My first visit tonight, and it's not overhyped in the least. Had the Piri Piri Prawns to start. Loved trying all the sauces. There were 7 - the one not labelled was hotter than the rest. My friend had horse! And it was tasty, like beef with a slightly different flavour, and it was served with a tomato-based sauce with oregano. I splurged and had the rack of lamb (I can't believe it was an entire rack). It was wonderful - so tender, and with a beautiful rich sauce. For dessert, we had a really nice, creamy caramelized milk dessert, called Babas de Camelo, which had a lemony flavour. Also Daniel gave us a taste of a sour cherry liqueur that he made himself. Definitely worth the trip out to East Van. Pho Number One Quick special Vietnamese sub and coconut bubble tea. Very satisfying. It's the Pho place next to Cupcakes on Denman, near English Bay. Lupo Cafe (Georgia at Burrard) Was waiting in the area in the evening, so I stopped in for a glass of red wine, and a snack. I had the cheese platter (beautiful presentation), and the wild mushroom risotto croquettes with creme fraiche, which I liked a lot. It's an odd combination in there. The high styling presentation with the casual feel of the service and the room. I find it very comfortable though. Especially since I was alone and in the mood to do some writing in my notebook. Nancy

Do you mean to spray your countertops and kitchen surfaces? Does anyone else just use a little vinegar and water at home? Doesn't that do the trick?