Ling

chocolate chocolate chocolate For dinner last night: 10 large, chewy, hot-out-of-the-oven Chocolate coconut oatmeal cookies. Today I had a "gourmet" double chocolate chip cookie, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, and chocolate brownies. Yummmmm...I love chocolate-y chewy things around this time.

Just wanted to add that I believe the Stock Market only has soup starting at 11am.

I was flipping through the local paper yesterday and saw a coupon for 50% off a second entree of fish tacos from Papaya Joe's. The restaurant is in Richmond. Don't know if the fish tacos are good there though.

I checked the name of the restaurant on 41st...it's Grand Honour. I love their Chinese banquet menu there (especially that pea shoot and shreded dried scallop dish I posted about). I haven't had hot pot at Grand Honour. I usually have hot pot at home since it's easy to do and the ingredients are much fresher. My parents buy the huge trays of super thin pre-sliced meats from this wholesale place. I got food poisoning from Landmark Hot Pot on Alexandra Rd. (in Richmond) before. Also peeked into their kitchen when I was on my way to the bathroom...that place is dirrrrrrrrty. I haven't been to Gar Lok Seafood restaurant.

What is bung? I love tendon! I love it when it's cooked down to a nice, soft mushiness. I don't know if that's the "right" way to enjoy them, but it tastes damn good to me. I had a tendon obsession about 2 years ago. I ordered tendon and noodle for dinner every night for about a week. I only have it maybe once a month now, when my parents make tendon and beef brisket. I also love tongue and liver. I never understood why people think liver is gross. It's always been one of my favorite meats, even when I was a kid. I love gizzard too, especially salted gizzard. My bf loves pork intestines and pork blood.

I've seen "chicken dumpings" on several menus. My favorite is "meat source on rice".

When are you going to Granville Island? I posted a thread about Terra Breads but I still haven't tried them yet. Looking forward to your recommendations! Oyama sausages are indeed super tasty. There are a lot of bakeries inside the market. I would do a trip around the market first and see what catches your eye before committing to breakfast and lunch. I always buy the first thing that looks good, eat it, and then lament the fact that I didn't take the time to look around, as there ALWAYS appears to be something even tastier just around the corner.... ...or maybe I'm just too damn greedy.

Is diet tonic just plain soda water? I've never heard of it either. VERY much looking forward to hearing about your Thanksgiving!

I love: -brie -goat cheese -havarti Basically anything mild and creamy I like. I also like blue cheeses if they're in a pasta sauce, in a salad, or with some sort of dense, nutty bread but I haven't started to appreciate the stinkiness on its own yet.

Redhead: How generous!! I can't wait. Btw: I found sweetbreads on the menu at Pastis. (Bistro Pastis? Pastis Bistro? I don't know what they changed their name to). It's an appetizer portion though, for $13.50.

Atkins' approach is not high-fat, it is decidedly low-carb. I was under the impression that Atkins is high-fat, at least on Induction. The recommended ratios are something like 65-70% fat, 20-25% protein, and 5% carbs (of your total caloric intake). I've poked around on some of those Atkins support msg boards and the general consensus appears to be that more fat is desirable, since excess protein can be converted into carbs. Most ppl seem to keep their percentages in the 70% fat, 25% protein, 5% carb range.

Wild Rice has sweetbreads on the menu? I used to go there often, but haven't been back since this summer. I never noticed the sweetbread dish though...is it new? Wow...thanks for the tips on preparation. So what do they taste like anyway? They look like white brains to me. Kind of gelatinous?

I kind of mentioned this in the El Patio thread, but I've never eaten tripe that hasn't been steamed and covered in black bean sauce or some spicy sauce (both dim sum dishes). Where can I find tripe on the menu in Vancouver? And are sweetbread dishes available anywhere other than a top-dollar restaurant? I've never had sweetbreads either! I tried looking for it once at Urban Fare, but I couldn't find it. I had to make rabbit instead. Does anyone know where I can buy sweetbread? And do you have a good recipe for it? Oops...there I go rambling again....

I don't know how they've survived, but I think they won some honorable mentions for their tapas fairly recently from Vancouver magazine. I'd consider going back if only for the tripe dish. I've only had tripe dim-sum style. Are there any other restaurants in Vancouver that serve tripe? And maybe we were just unfortunately stuck with the bitchy waitress. I hope they're not ALL like that there!

Is Taco Del Mar good? I always drive by it, but I've never eaten there.

This is what I ate last night: -Pate (described as being "coarse chopped" on the menu, but essentially looks and tastes exactly like one of those pate blocks you can get from Save-on-Foods) -hommus and pita (really small portion for 5 bucks) -Spanish meatballs (4 big, relatively juicy meatballs covered in tomato sauce, some grilled red peppers, and diced fried potatoes. This was the best dish of the evening...but that's not saying much. I would consider ordering it again though.) -Grilled sardines (with lemon and olive oil. Ugh...never getting this again. It cost 8 bucks and there were 4, not-so-fresh sardines on the plate. Anyone could easily make this at home with fresher sardines. In fact, I bought 10 sardines that were triple the size this summer for 5 bucks.) The server was super rude! There were maybe 20 guests yesterday and she kept muttering under her breath about how disorganized the party was. I didn't really know what she was complaining about, since it was just like any other birthday dinner I've attended. We weren't loud or obnoxious either--and we weren't bothering anyone since we had booked the upper level of the restaurant. During the dinner, she asked me if I wanted another drink, and I said no thanks. Then she asked the guy sitting next to me if he wanted another drink, but he didn't hear her since he was talking to his friend. So the server turns to me and says, "He doesn't get one since he wasn't listening." WTF?! The guy sitting next to me hadn't even seen the server approaching since he was talking to his friend and she was standing behind him! I wanted the tripe on the menu, but it wasn't available. I might go back for that. The fried artichokes that several people ordered looked good, but some ppl said the fried chicken dish tasted just like KFC extra crispy. I looked at some of the entrees ppl ordered (pasta, meat dishes) but they looked pretty ordinary to me. Bread was warm, toasty, and soft. Butter came in those little butter packages. All in all, a mediocre restaurant with one very mean-spirited waitress! Food was cheap though--our meal (for 2) cost just over 30 bucks with tax and tip and a diet coke.

Nevermind, I found El Patio's menu and they don't have fish tacos. Perhaps Las Magaritas (sp?) on W. 4th has them? or La Bodega?

Hey, maybe they serve them at El Patio. I'm going there tomorrow so I was looking at some info on the place. Apparently they serve a lot of Mexican seafood dishes, but I can't find an online menu.

I'm going to a birthday dinner at El Patio on Tuesday. Is the food good there? I don't know much about this restaurant, other than it serves tapas or something.

I prefer to eat hot pot at home. Some of those places in Richmond aren't very sanitary. I like dim sum at Sun Sui Wah best, although Shiang Garden is good too. I like the shark fin soup at this Chinese restaurant next to Ebei sushi on 41st and Granville. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but they are famous for their abalone too. Anyway, it is right next to the Ebei restaurant (I think it is called "Grand Honour"). Even though I don't think it's quite as well known as Kirin or Sun Sui Wah, I had the best Chinese banquet-style dinner there ever (and I've eaten quite a few of those! ) They also have an awesome peashoot (<--is this the correct term? I only know the vegetable name in Chinese, sorry!) and dried scallop dish. This restaurant is usually really packed.

Damn...all these different varieties. I wish there was some way where I could buy 1 slice from each loaf. The apple and thyme one sounds really interesting. That's 2nd on my to-try list. I'll also get some of the smaller rolls that were suggested. The butter and parm reggianno suggestion sounds divine! I'm glad the bread keeps b/c the loaves look pretty big. I think they serve the pecan and fruit bread at Lumiere with the cheese course, am I correct? It's been 3 years since I've been there, but I still remember I really liked the bread they had at the restaurant.

Yes it was! Can you tell me if he's been on FoodTV or something? Because as soon as I saw his picture on the wall, I knew I'd seen him somewhere before but I couldn't remember where. The food is fab there! I would definitely eat there again next time I'm in Whistler. The day before Chef Bernard's, I made the regrettable decision of eating at Portabello (the casual restaurant directly across from Chef Bernard's). I was really excited to see this salad with heirloom tomatoes on the menu, since I'd never had heirloom tomatoes before. But when they brought the salad, the tomatoes were nothing like the ones I've seen on TV--they were tasteless, mealy, barely red, with lots of seeds. I think they were Safeway tomatoes.

I remember my goat cheese omelette came with toasted, seedy Ecco il Pane bread on my last vacation up in Whistler. I thought the bread was delicious too. I like chewy, thick-crusted breads. 2 votes for fig and anise! I don't think this would be a flavor I would have chosen, so thanks for the rec. I think I'll try this one first. I'm curious about the fig, grape, and apple breads--are they sweet? Do they have chunks of fruit in the bread?

I remember reading that when I was very young. (I went through a phase when I was 10 or so when I LOVED reading etiquette books...dorky, I know.) I eat asparagus with my fingers if they're just grilled and brushed lightly with oil (no sauce). I just like eating with my fingers...seems a little more sensual, no?

While you're in Seattle check out Kidd Valley. It's a fast food restaurant but the burgers are might tasty. http://www.kiddvalley.net/ I've only eaten at Jack-in-the-Box and Fatburger in Seattle. I think both chains are better than what we have up here. What do the locals think of these two chains?