CdnLifeguard

This past friday myself and 5 friends made it to Parkside for dinner. Just to start, I have to say it was the best DOV experience I have had to date. Service was attentive wtihout being nosy, and the food was excellent. Between the 6 of us we had all three of the standard DOV appetizers. While I didn't have an opportuntiy to try the soup, I did have the salad and had the opportunity to try to Onion and chedder pie. The salad was great. Light crisp with the slight vinegar tang. While it is merely a salad, I have been disappointed many times by quickly thrown together salads during my DOV experiences. The onion and chedder pie....Wow...An amazing sweet onion flavor with just enough cheese to help hold it all together. Sweet and savory together, leaving me wanting so much more. For the mains, between all of us we covered two of the DOV option and the Rack of Lamb adder (+$9). My choice was the Duck Port-Au-Feu. I did find the duck slightly chewy but aside from that I don't have much else negative to say. The choux farçi (similar to a shrimp-less wonton) were amazing. The filling was soft with a slight crunch, flavorful but not overpowering. The tortellini was great also. Sort of wished I could just have a big bowl of the broth filled with the tortellini and choux farçi. My SO had the Filet of Cod, and as shes not the biggest fish eater I did have a chance to partake in a few bites of it. Wonderfully cooked cod. Perfectly cooked throughout; retained some body without being undercooked. A slightly hot/peppery broth that encouraged you to swirl your fork and cod around to ensure you got a bit of everything in each bite. Two others at our table ordered the rack of lamb addition tot he menu. Unfortunately I don't really remember what came with the lamb. Had a topping on it which I didn't enjoy but that was just merely a personal preference. But the lamb was quite flavorful. Dessert......of the six of us, four choose the Trio of Chocolate ice-creams. I could probably try to review the dish, but I know I cannot describe it well enough. Simply put it was beyond amazing. And the alfajores, Mmmm. With every bit you could feel tiny little sugar crystals crunch between your teeth. Again, brilliant. Two others choose the Pannacotta. I ended up eating half of my SO as she was disappointed compared to the ice-cream. By no means was the Pannacotta not good. Sweet and creamy with tangy blood orange topping. I most definitely enjoyed it, but as I mentioned compared to the ice-cream it just didn't stand up. Overall I was extremely impressed with Parkside. As I said at the top of the review it was by far the best DOV experience I have had. Our server was always near, but not always over us. He was prompt and attentive, always there to fill a near empty wine glass. The food itself was extremely well done. Each option gave you a true idea of what Parkside can do on a daily basis. And with the chocolate ice-cream to wrap up the meal, you just cannot go wrong. Overall, a solid 9/10.

So with DOV 2008 in full swing, lets here everyones reviews of Vancouvers Best Restaurants. On Friday, we dined at Gastropod. We arrived a bit early for our 9:00pm reservation, and aside from the bartender calling to us that someone would be with us in a moment, we were left standing in the foyer for 5 minutes until we were approached. Once seated we unfortunately we left waiting for another 5 minutes or so, before our drink order was taken. Instead of the wine pairing, we settled on a bottle of '06 Blue Mountain Gamay (Very tasty!) Looking over the menu we decided on our choices. For appetizers we had the Cauliflower Soup and the Oysters with Horseradish 'Snow'. While maybe it was my under-developed palate, I found the Horseradish 'Snow' and Sauternes jelly overpowered and difficult to deal with. There was so much 'stuff' on the oysters that there was no way you could 'gracefully' slide the oyster into your mouth, and should you try to fork the oyster you were stuck using a knife (or finger) to ensure you had some jelly and snow. While the oysters themselves were relatively good, I would have almost been happier with just a bit of hot sauce and a plain oyster. The soup on the other hand we found extremely enjoyable. Creamy and bacony with a strong but not over-powering cauliflower taste. Very nice. For the main, I choose the 36 Hour sous-vide pork. Overall the dish was quite good. The pork was a bit tough in some sections, and it could have handle a few more spinach leaves and mushrooms, overall I was quite happy. My girlfriend was stuck between the Spring Salmon and the Chicken Medallion. She finally settled on the chicken, only to hear a bit later from the waitress mentioning to the table beside us, that they were actually out of the Salmon and the chef was doing to 6 scallop dish. We were slightly disappointed by this as my girlfriend would have loved the scallops but we were never told of it. As with the pork, the chicken overall was quite good, slightly fatty tasting and slightly on the small side though. For deserts we had the Chocolate Fondant and the Cheesecake. The Fondant I found to be amazing. Gooey, chocolately goodness on the inside with a flavourful raspberry sorbet on the side. By far my favorite dish of the night. The cheesecake also was extremely good. Creamy, melt in your mouth goodness. It came with a lemon ice which while very tasty, was very lemony and we could only eat a bit each before it was too strong for the mouth. Overall, we found the food quite good. The service though did leave a bit to be desired. We felt we were rushed at first, and then we were left waiting at the end of the meal with empty wine glasses and we had to ask for the bill. While I do understand with DOV most restaurants are busier than usual, I would assume that they would take the necessary precautions to ensure they have adequate staffing for the nights. Overall, while the food was quite good, the service really wasn't nearly as good I would expect. 7/10 Shane

Making dinner the other day, I did a chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms, a bit of onion, garlic, sage, thyme, rosemary and basil. I wrapped it with prosciutto and then roasted it off in the oven. Came out really good, but it needs a sauce. As its a roasted chicken breast, there really isn't any juices aside from a bit of fat from the prosciutto so there really isn't anything to work with. I was hoping all you eGulleter's can give me some ideas on a good sauce idea to go along with this main. If it matters, as a startch, I will mostly use either mashed or roasted potatos. Thanks so much, Shane

I will never again sneak a piece of scalloped potato from the pan and shove it in my mouth without testing how hot it is. Now have a blister on my chin and on my lips from the burn that I got. That'll teach me not to wait!

Using Sunflower Oil and turning on the stove element to high

Just got a new carbon steel and I am starting to season it. Did some research online and the basic method seems to be: Heat wok Rub with oil Let cook in Remove from heat and let cool Repeat I have been doing it this way, but now I have a section of wok that is sticky. The rest is smooth and oily, but this one section is all sticky. How do I fix this sticky section? Scour that section and go back to seasoning? Thanks, Shane

Went out to that place today. Picked up a wok for $6.00! Talk about a deal. Now I just got to get it home, season it up and try it out!! Thanks alot for the input, Shane

Boo. Does anyone happen to know what the place was called? Or can you recommend somewhere else....? Thanks, Shane

Where is a good Asian store in either Richmond or Burnaby to find a nice, cheap carbon steel wok? I know a fairly good one shouldn't be more than $20 or $25 or so but I just don't know where to find one. Any recommendations? Thanks, Shane

So I am doing a roast tomorrow evening with mashed potatoes and yorkshire puddings. The roast I am doing is not too large as it's only dinner for myself, and 3 ladies. (Yes I know, a rough life!!!) Whenever I do a roast I end up with not alot of drippings. And of course with the yorkies and potatoes you cannot have too much gravy. So how do I stretch out my drippings to make the most gravy? My standard way is just to use the drippings in the pan with some water and then something to thicken, either flour or corn starch. Works great, but I just never have enough drippings, so I always just add some beef stock and work from there until I have enough gravy to my liking. Is this the best way to go, or is there a better way to do this? Thanks so much, Shane

Maybe it's just me, but when I was young, I loved helping mom spin the salad to dry it. And also, doesn't it just take a few good spins to get the moisture out of the leafs anyways? I don't think the 30 seconds of exercise will kill any of us foodies.

Like a few others, mine is Cheese. Sure I can handle melted cheese on my Pizza, or in a similar application. But try to get me to eat a raw piece of cheese. NO WAY. I still try it every while hoping, that it's just something childish and I am afraid to like it. But alas, every time I try, I nearly vomit. This is not just your Safeway Cheeder cheese and such, but actually good cheeses still do it to me. As much as I wish to enjoy them, I just cannot. Can't even force it down.

Any idea on where to find Passionfruits in town?

So many great dishes I have seen here over the past few months I have been a member. Tried out a few, and I can't wait to try out many more. Here is tonights dinner, Vietnamese Beef on Rice Noodle and Veg.

So my Grandmother is coming over for dinner for her birthday on Sunday. I want to make some sort of traditional Dutch dessert. Any ideas/recipes that anyone else have tried and enjoyed? Thanks so much!

Be careful with it though as it may brain your damage...

Thanks so much for the input. Next time I make curry, I will definitely spend the few extra minutes and make my own curry paste. As for storing the paste, how well does it store frozen?

I love Thai style curry and I love to make it. The problem I face sometimes, is that I cannot get the curry flavour I want without making it way too hot/spicy. I use jarred Thai Curry paste and coconut milk as my base. Sometimes it comes out flavourful, other times I need to add alot of curry paste just to get the flavour, but then it is of course way too spicy for some people. Any ideas? Thanks!