Ling

I'm glad Ming Tsai won too, not only because he seems to be such a nice guy, but I think his dishes were much more creative (foie gras creme brulee with chutney!) Bobby Flay's dishes didn't look all the different from what he's done before, and although the green/orange sauces are attractive, I would like a different plating style from him. Some of Flay's dishes looked a little dry, particularly the first dish of grilled duck breast in the flour tortilla wrap. And I'm pretty sure shumai is a Chinese dish, not something you get at a Japanese restaurant like the lady in the middle said. edit: Flay's duck dish with the blue corn wrap did look delicious with all that dark, syrupy sauce.

That's a beautiful plate of sausage and beans, msfoodie! Tonight for dinner, I had: -breaded and pan-fried porkchops -some sort of Chinese melon (mo gua--fuzzy melon?) cooked with Chinese dried shrimp and lots of shittake mushrooms -soup made from pork shanks, dried loogan, and snow fungus (and a big bowl of Harvest Crunch granola right after!)

I've already polished off half a box of Harvest Crunch Granola today. I haven't really eaten cereal in years, but these crunchy granola clusters are hard to resist. What's your favourite cereal, and what do you eat with it? (Big bowl, big spoon, and 2% milk for me.)

I should have noted that my dad hasn't had real tarte tartin before, but he loves anything with puff pastry, so that's probably why he liked his dessert.

Here is another recipe I found. http://www.mysticbunny.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/belgian.html

I've only eaten once at Le Gavroche and we had such terrible service we never went back. This seems to be an isolated incident though, judging by the comments about Manuel in this thread. Glad you had a great dinner, Arne! (I'm a fan of Tinhorn Creek's wines too--have you tried their Gewurtz?)

For breakfast, I had my first-ever slice of pannetone (Tre Marie brand). The pannetone smelled heavenly when I took it out of the plastic wrapping!

Well, if you're looking for affordable food, I've read that Splitz is good for burgers.

I think I was 10 or 11 the first time I had sashimi, and I hated it. I've been hooked on it since I was about 13-14, though! The first time I had sea urchin (uni) it was a bit "off" (not that fresh, smelled and tasted like garbage) and I didn't touch it for another 2 years. Now, it's one of my favourites things to eat when I go out for Japanese food. I really disliked bitter melon and eggplant when I was younger, but I love both vegetables now. There wasn't much I didn't like to eat when I was a kid...

percyn, you know I'm a big fan of all your meals but I think I've fallen in love with that picture! I had beer-braised shortribs and blue cheese polenta tonight, coincidentally, but they didn't measure up to my expectations. (I didn't cook it--ate it at a restaurant.)

I have to revise my "most delicious thing" since the shortribs were a bit of a disappointment. My most delicious thing was the sugar nut pie with coconut ice...or maybe the chocolate cake with thick chocolate ganache I had after my first dessert.... Dessert never fails me!

If I'm cooking, then I like the planning first, followed by eating. If I'm baking dessert, then nothing trumps eating!

Actually, I ended up having 2 desserts tonight. (Had to make up for yesterday's cheese dessert, right? ) The nut sugar pie with coconut ice was good, and I had most of my mom's whiskey and dark chocolate pot au creme. Then I went out for coffee and ate a slice of chocolate cake (4 layers with chocolate ganache, raspberry sauce, and whipped cream.) OK I'm full.

Isn't the Rimrock Cafe one of the better restaurants up there too? (And I had 2 meals at Boston Pizza up in Whistler not too long ago. What's to like? It's food to fill you up when you're hungry and it's snowing outside, but it's definitely not food to savour. Even in the "casual dining, chain-restaurant" category, I would choose Earl's over Boston Pizza. )

Just got back from the Irish Heather. The service was fine and so was the food. Started with the salmon ravioli, as did my bf and mom. My dad had the salad. Both the ravioli and the salad was fine, if unremarkable. Then I had the beer-braised shortribs and the blue cheese polenta, which was also fine. The meat was tender, but needed a bit of salt. It wasn't incredibly flavourful, and the portion (for us) was on the small side. My mom and my bf had the whiskey and chocolate pot au creme, which they both enjoyed but the accompanying sugar cookies were underbaked and had that raw dough taste. My dad had the tarte tartin which he enjoyed very much (I didn't get to sample that). I had the sugar nut pie with coconut ice and this was the highlight of my meal. The tart was chock full of nuts, and it wasn't very sweet at all. I especially liked the coconut ice, it was rich with the coconut milk, but refreshing at the same time. We then ordered the curry fries, which my bf liked very much. I was kind of indifferent, because I like my fries very crisp and these were thick and soggy. My bf likes soft french fries though. We all had beers, though I don't recall exactly what everyone drank. I had the "Black and Tan" (Guiness and a lighter-coloured beer) but I liked my bf's "Guiness and Black" (Guiness and Ribena) better. (Then we went for coffee at the Elysian Room and I had the "decadant chocolate cake" because I was still hungry. ) All in all, the Irish Heather wasn't a bad experience. The food was a pretty good deal, with the desserts being the best part of the meal.

^My dad worked as a busboy at Hy's (in Vancouver) when he was in his late teens/early 20s. Oh the stories he tells about the kitchen....

Sure, I will ask her but she never uses a recipe and all measurements are approximate. I'll PM you with what she says in the next few days, OK?

You know what's weird? My Chinese name is "YuenLing" so I did a double take the first time I heard about YuengLing lager. Tonight my dessert will be sugar nut pie with coconut ice (at a restaurant).

This morning, it was my mom's steamed, then pan-fried daikon "cake" (with loads of Chinese sausage, dried shrimp, shiitake, etc.) a.k.a. "lo bak go" Tonight it will be the beer-braised shortribs with blue cheese polenta. No, I haven't eaten it yet--but I just know it will be great!

I've always suspected that the Callebaut at Superstore was of a cheaper quality because of the price, but I use it anyway. Does anyone know what kind of Callebaut I'm buying (maybe Irishgirl?)

Well, usually I have something sweet, but today I had some Colston Basset stilton and some Shropshire Blue because both my cheeses are drying out a bit....

The mac and cheese looks particularly good. I love melted cheese.

stir-fried Taiwanese cabbage with sesame oil and soy sauce

HSG has their DOV menu until Feb. 10th.

I just walked by Patisserie LeBeau today on my way to Les Amis and thought about this thread! The lights weren't on in Patisserie LeBeau though, so perhaps they were closed? I remember many years ago, my parents took us out for breakfast on a family vacation and I ordered the most delicious, chewy waffles. I've never had waffles like that since then (must have been at least 10 years ago--can't believe I still remember the taste!) Perhaps I was eating a Gaufre de Liege? I still remember it came topped with a mound of whipped cream and strawberries, but it is the chewiness that I remember most fondly.