Ling

^ Please don't lump us all together. I pay for all my meals out of my own pocket and so I only "review" the restaurants I've been to several times, with the exception of Vera's. I don't believe I've ridiculed any of the restaurants I've been to, either.

Yesterday: apple turnover, cookie dough, half a bar of Valrhona Saturday: Korova cookies with peanut butter cream in the middle, mango strawberry mousse cake Friday: more Korova cookies, a very rich hot chocolate with whiskey foam, a really nice cheese plate (including my first Humboldt Fog) and candied hazelnuts, caramelized pineapple-lime sorbet, chocolate bavarois and Sauternes ETA: I also made a pound cake yesterday. Mmm!

abalone: my parents tell me they made abalone and chicken congee for me as baby food, so this is probably one of the first solid things I ate as a child tongue: ditto bird's nest soup (aka bird spit?): same raw oysters: maybe 12? foie gras: 18 foie gras with Sauternes: 19 sashimi: 10 uni: 17 black truffles: 18 sweetbreads: 21 escargot: 17 stilton: 20 venison: 10? alligator: 22 horse: 22 polenta: 21 monkfish liver: 22 sevruga caviar: 22 bottles of wine with 3 digit price-tags : 22 1995 Dom: 22 brussel sprouts: 21 Hamburger Helper: 21 (my bf at the time made it for me ) raw quail egg: 17

I think this really depends on who you're dining with. In the first scenario, I would choose face-to-face with friends (either male or female--doesn't matter.) If I were on a date in a more formal restaurant, again, I would sit face-to-face. I prefer sitting adjacent to my date if we were in a casual restaurant or a lounge. Second scenario--side-to-side on the bench with a date (assuming this is a casual restaurant, as formal restaurants don't usually have benches). Face-to-face with friends. Third scenario--I would sit with my friends on one side of the table. A huge gap in the middle of the table seems to create weird distance.

I've heard of restaurants trying to foist "false" morels (aka Spring morels) on diners. If I received a dish of these at a restaurant that clearly stated "morels" on the menu, I would say something to the effect of: "Perhaps I am mistaken, but I was under the impression that I was ordering morels, as your menu indicates." I wouldn't be rude, but I would definitely speak up. With the tarte tartin--I was served a "tart tartin" of the same description last year (slices of apple on puff pastry) and wrote about it on EG in the infamous "Irish Heather" thread in the Western Canada forum. The owner of the restaurant read my review, but I don't think he addressed my thoughts about how the classic dessert was interpreted at his restaurant.

Thanks for all the recommendations above! I had dim sum with my parents and my bf on Friday at Jade. I believe this is my second time there, but the first time was a long time ago, and we went with little recollection as to whether we had enjoyed our first experience there. We ordered a variety of the usual dim sum dishes, and while they were above-average in presentation, we seemed to agree that the food was above-average at best and nothing was really worth going back for, except for the pineapple-topped bbq pork buns. The glutinous rice steamed in the leaves (loa mai gai) was really mushy and there wasn't a lot of filling. The wrappers on the shrimp dumplings (ha gao) were again a bit mushy (steamed for too long?) and lacked the toothsome chew I look for. The curry cuttlefish was tasty, and the fried taro dumplings (woo gok) were crisp and greaseless, but the filling for the latter was a bit blander than I hoped. We had a few other dim sum dishes that I'm forgetting, and a good noodle dish (crispy noodles covered in sauce, with beef and yao choy). I also ate at Golden Szechuan in Richmond yesterday and the food was, on the whole, very good. We ordered way too much food for two people! He insisted we order a vegetable, so I picked the green beans--if I'm eating a vegetable, it better be fried. The Szechuan green beans were appropriately wrinkly and not terribly greasy considering they're deep-fried, then stir-fried again with aromatics (sometimes I order this dish at other restaurants and it comes drowning in a pool of oil). It didn't come with ground pork--apparently, the inclusion of pork is perhaps more authentic? The ma po do fu (spicy tofu with minced pork) was great--lots of chilli oil and black pepper. The la rou (smoked Chinese bacon, which is more like pure pork fat with the odd stripe of meat) was good, but not as good as the version we ate recently at Hu Nan. Hot and sour soup was also good, but not the best I've had. The pan-fried round pieces of dough that are rolled with Hoisin sauce and beef were delicious! We'll definitely go back to Golden Szechuan!

Another option could be to grab some pate at Oyama (the goose liver and black truffle one is my favourite), some cheese from Les Amis, some good bread and fruit, and have a quiet picnic somewhere.

This is an argument against cake. Cake has to work too hard (and I don't mean the cook has to work too hard). In its simplicity, pie achieves all this. It is the Coco Chanel of desserts. ← I see the fillings/frostings/ganache that usually accompany a cake as part of the cake itself. A German chocolate cake would not be a German chocolate cake without the fillings/frostings, for example. Pie may be simpler, but I get infinitely more joy out of eating a good slice of cake. (And yes, I make a decent pie too.)

I do the same with my excess pie crust, but who can argue with the crisp, sweet crust on a pound cake? Mmmm....

What makes the bread pudding at The Ram so worthy? Does it come with sauce? (I love a boozy caramel sauce with bread pudding.)

Take the ferry and go to The Rosemeade!

I agree!

You are mean. Mean , mean , mean . Where's the recipe, already? That looks sooooooooo good. I have a wonderful date cake recipe I could post in exchange... I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours! ← It's not the same recipe posted, but this one looks fantastic! Thankful Butterscotch cake

Ferran Adria has a dessert "recipe" where he melts dark chocolate and olive oil over bread, and I think he adds a sprinkle of fleur de sel or something on top too. I've tried the combo, and it's good.

I've done the tortilla and Nutella thing before, but I crisp up the Nutella in the pan first, with lots of butter. Also good with cinnamon and sugar. And Nutella from the jar is almost a daily thing for me.

I agree with Ame in 2, disagree with Slanted Door in 1. TSD was perhaps the most disappointing meal I had in the Bay Area on my recent visit. Ame was indeed excellent. ← I also disagree with Slanted Door. It was also the most disappointing meal I had during my recent trip to San Fran. Not that it was bad, but it was just mediocre. And there's much, MUCH better food to be had.

I'd probably grab something quick out of the Stong's deli case.

GAK. Blasphemy. Snobbery aside, I didn't know that puddings were a very popular dessert item on menus. I certainly don't see it very often. I guess sticky toffee pudding (and spin-offs, like ginger cake with caramel sauce) don't quality. I'm very interested in what you come up with, though. I love baked tapioca pudding with lotus seed paste--you can get that some dim sum restaurants in Vancouver.

I agree. Although I make pretty good chocolate cream pies with a ton of heavy cream and good chocolate. Also agree with what many posters have said about how a good pie is much easier to find than a good cake.

With all due respect, the best cakes also offer all the salty/sweet/crunchy/gooey things one may find in a pie. Take, for example, a birthday cake I recently made. 4 layers of rich, deeply-chocolately cake (from scratch, with lots of Valrhona cocoa and chocolate) salty--salted caramel sweet--the cake itself, and the various fillings crunchy--layers of dacquoise gooey--a soft, whipped ganache layer In addition, a cake can be plated artistically with various garnishes (e.g. brittles, caramel cages, etc. ) that offer height and dimension, enhancing its visual appeal. Temperature difference--ice-cream may be served alongside, as may various warm sauces. You can get some tang and colour with a berry coulis too. CAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEE!

Valrhona 71% Noir Amer bar

Where's Ling when you need her? Any other Montreal residents out there? I would love to know! u.e. ← Au Pied De Cochon is the place in Montreal featured most recently in Bourdain's No Reservation. Looked like heaven to me... ← YES! It is Au Pied du Cochon. Their speciality is foie gras stuffed in PIG TROTTERS! They have duck in a can--duck cooked in a can, with foie gras. They have FOIE GRAS POUTINE! I am going to Montreal just to eat at this restaurant someday! Also, the chef was featured in Gourmet magazine about 2 months ago. He said they ONLY use venison in the restaurant--venison in ALL dishes instead of beef, b/c he doesn't like the flavour of North American beef. VENISON! FOIE GRAS! I've gotta get to this restaurant....

I would go for the cake but only if it was dense and moist, and not covered with shortening-based frosting.

You could do cupcakes baked directly in flat-bottomed ice-cream cones, then decorate them with coloured frosting and sprinkles. They look like ice-creams, but you get your birthday cake too! Very cute. You can also add sprinkles and sparkler candles! Here's a photo. You could also do individual tarts if you're considering something other than a cake. You could do different fillings, like pastry cream and berries, lemon curd and Italian meringue, ganache and salted caramel... A tray of cream puffs with different fillings would also be very nice! I'm sure you've seen the Pichet Ong thread...that's a great recipe to use for choux pastry. Or you could also do napoleons! Oh wait...those require slicing...how about meringue nests filled with whipped cream and berries? That would be pretty for spring. I hope you have a wonderful birthday and I hope all your birthday wishes come true!

Thanks doc and molto e for taking the time to take such beautiful pictures and for the accompanying write-ups! There seems to be something wrong with my computer and I can't open the menu on their website. May I ask whether the tasting menu is in the same league as FL, price-wise?