Truth be told: Where've you eaten lately? (Part 2)

[kevfoodvan]

Last three places eaten:

1) Earls Paramount: Nice location, food and service is consistent throughout the chain. No problems with ordering due to special dietary need.

2) Boston Pizza in Burnaby: For lunch a small two topping pizza, again playing it safe. Decent food and service.

3) Today: Vera's Burger Shack on Cornwall: Excellent service in regards to special dietary needs, nice location and tasty burger. Definitely will be back.

The owners probably hired more Chinese staff thinking that they can better serve their Chinese speaking customers in Richmond, that's all.

Haven't been to Jang Mo Jib do they have good BBQ? Any good dishes to recommend? If it has good food, we'll certainly visit regardless of the servers' or customers' nationality or language spoken.

It's kind of like, a Chinese restaurant where they cater to more of a Western taste. Anyways, that's what I was thinking when I was eating there.

Anyways this JangMoJib was on Robson, where there's a lot of Korean restaurants.

I was considering going to the "hole in the wall" one on Denman.

I didn't really like their bbq bulgogi. They don't do the grill it yourself, so it comes out on a sizzling plate. I didn't like how they paired the veggies up with the beef. I had the Galbi the time before that and that was pretty good. I also had their tofu soup (deong gang / miso flavoured) and I liked it. I did not like their seafood tofu soup.

I haven't tried any Korean restaurants in Richmond.

I've only gone to ones on Kingsway, Coquitlam and Downtown.

Last Three places eaten:

Joey's (Coquitlam), It was alright. My friends loved it. I wasn't crazy about the food but their crab dip was certainly interesting. I had the burger and also shared the chocolate souflee. I had their green salad with dried cranberries (replaced the fries with that) and I enjoyed that a lot. Some of their lettuce weren't cut small enough I thought. All in all, the salad was very tasty and I was happy that I chose it instead of my regular choice of Caesar. The burger and soufle were highly recommended but I was a bit disappointed. The dessert seemed a bit overdone (it was crispy); it was kind of a lava cake instead of your usual puffy choclatey goodness.

My friends had the ribs and the maple glazed salmon. The salmon was very good and ribs were good.

Forgot my other two:

Coquitlam:

Insadong: it was quite good. I posted about this in the Korean Galbi thread. I would definitely go back with 4-5 people and order a combo A for BBQ.

Borandsi:

A nice cafe with BBT and board games ($3.50 per person per hour).

I had the Pat Bing Soo (Korean red bean ice) for Five dollars.

YUM!

http://vanshops.com/category/category_view...dx=26509&page=1

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[Lise]

Burger Haven, New Westminster -still hanging in there after all these years, serving pretty good burgers

Mr. Greek, Maillardville, Coquitlam - pretty good 10.95 souvlaki special with very cheerful, downhome service

St. James Well, Port Moody - Can't get enough of their seafood boxties (and their Harp beer is great too)

[samasutra]

New York last week

My business partner and myself headed to New York on a 3-day binge. We are opening a cured meat, cheese and wine tasting room and were looking for some inspiration. Both of us are big  Mario Batali fans and were interested in checking out the Salumeria sections that have become features in several of his establishments.

We were quickly sidetracked, managing to clock up 30 plus establishments.

We ate: quail, langoustine, squab, Paris ham, lamb sweetbreads, hangar tartar, béarnaise ice cream, sturgeon, trout, corned duck, quail eggs, pork belly, fiddleheads, octopus, razor clams, mini burgers, English chips, charcuterie, pounds of cheese…I can’t remember everything.

We visited (ate or drank or both) : Del Posto, Morimoto, Bar Jamon, Casa Mono, Tasting Room, WD 50, Dash Dogs, Tide, Liquor Bar, Turks & Frogs, Tom & Gerry’s, Pop Burger, A Salt & Battery, Hogs & Heifers, Otto, Gramercy Tavern, Artisanal, Le Pain Quotidien, Dean & Deluca, Spotted Pig, The Otheroom, Vesuvio Bakery, Wine Bar, Teany, Blue Smoke, CBGB & the Porto Rico Importing Co.

For a full report view our blog at www.waiterblog.com, click of SALT Blog

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Did you get sick after eating and drinking all of this.....I just cannot imagine trying to digest it. Wow, I am impressed. What is a Salumeria section??

Samasutra

Edited May 14, 2006 by samasutra (log)

[rm_blizzard]

Wife was at an ECE conference in Richmond last weekend, so my son and I had a couple of days to explore and try some new places.

Thursday: Haven't been to Lombardo's for a couple of years as we tried Marcellos a few times when in the area. So the three of us decided to stop by on our way in to town and were very glad we did. Shared a large salmone pizza. Very generous with the smoked salmon. Service was slow, but friendly. Dessert at Mario's (Amato) Gelato on Quebec Street.

Friday: Lunch at Athene's on West Broadway on our way out to the Museum of Anthropology and Nitobe Gardens. Used to frequent this place way back in my UBC days. Decent lamb souvlaki, my son loved his calamari.

Friday dinner: Northern Delicacy in Aberdeen Centre. Loved their steamed pork dumplings and handmade noodles.

Saturday afternoon: Pajo's at Steveston fishermans wharf for fish and chips. A little oily. but light batter and generous portions. A very nice spot on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Sunday: Mum's day bruch at Cheers, North Van. Nuff said.

Sunday evening - 60 kms on the bike to start working off the extra pounds...

[Ling]

Sunday

lunch

Take-out from No. 9. The Yang Zao fried rice was not very good, but the Singapore-style vermicelli and the "Goan Chow Ngao Hoa" (stir-fried broad rice noodles with beef) were OK.

dinner

At Feenie's. Drank a bottle of the Joie 2005 Rose (it said 2004 on the menu, but the server offered to get us something else when I pointed that out. We stuck with the bottle...it was a refreshing.) Started with the charcuterie (duck prosciutto, Finocchiona, and cognac pate,) which came with a nice selection of pickled onions, olives, and a hunk of Parm. Split the duck terrine with cherries and onion jam, which was a lot sweeter than I remember. The mushroom tart tartin was wonderful as always. Also split the mission trout. I had the chocolate fondant with cinnamon ice-cream for dessert, and my bf had passionfruit and Poire Williams sorbet, and the caramel fleur de sel ice-cream.

Monday

lunch

We ate at Traditional Taiwanese Restaurant today and the food was excellent. The dan dan noodles (which I'm pretty sure were handmade, though it doesn't say so on the menu) were very chewy, and the sauce had a nice amount of crushed Szechuan peppercorns. I also really liked the Taiwanese pork sandwich (meat comes sandwiched in those plain Chinese steamed buns), and the BBQ pork rolled in green onion pancake was really good--better than any other version I've had in recent memory. The chive pancakes (pan-fried pockets filled with chive, bits of egg and vermicelli) were also good, but not as tasty as the other three items.

[chocomoo]

Dinner (2 weekends ago) - Maurya

Lamb biryani - yummy! I don't normally have Indian food, so it was nice (I got the mild version, which had the perfect amount of heat). At the end of the dinner though, the waitress accidentally dropped a bowl of curry on the floor, with my friend's jacket acting as a nice little shield. There were curry spots all over her jacket (both inside & out), but luckily her jacket is tan-coloured, and the restaurant will be paying for the dry-cleaning bill. Absolutely no argument from them when we asked that they pay for the dry-cleaning.

Mother's day dinner - Golden Ocean

Velveted scallops with Chinese kale, spicy salt ("jiew yeem") deep-fried pork chops, "long lei" fish 2 ways (chunks of fish meat & bones deep-fried - nice & crispy), steamed chicken in broth, crispy chicken with fish sauce (it was good but not really that different from regular crispy ("ja jee") chicken), honey garlic spareribs, steamed tofu with mlk (?? it's called "king san" tofu - the result is a really silky tofu that's perfect with rice) that's topped with seafood & diced Chinese kale, and one more dish I'm forgetting. Baked tapioca pudding with red bean for dessert (not too sweet). The place was bustling as usual.

Saturday dinner - Mark's (off West Broadway)

My friends & I weren't very hungry, so we opted for 2 appetizers & a pizza. Sounded promising enough: yam fries with balsamic reduction, spinach & artichoke dip, & pizza topped with goat cheese, banana peppers, roasted red peppers, and prosciutto.

The dip was ok, nice & cheesy, but the tortilla chips were deep-fried, so were quite oily. The yam fries, however.... kinda oily and CRUNCHY. My friend likened them to deep-fried carrot sticks. Barely discernible yam flavour too. The balsamic reduction might have saved the fries if it had been more flavourful.... Not vinegary enough & not enough of it. Finally, the pizza - when we ordered it, I was likening it to the pizza/tart I've had at Fiction, that had the prosciutto & arugula draped on it (DELICIOUS!). But the prosciutto on the pizza at Mark's was cooked.. It was ok, just not what I expected. We got the remaining 2 slices packed up, and the box arrived with a little bonus - a curious little ant. MMMMMMM, I'll take 5 of those! I understand that restaurants have insect problems now & then, but maybe they should try to keep them away from takeout containers.

[ddueck]

1. Keg

Boring, but good. My wife wasn't feeling good and the Keg was her definition of comfort food. A good choice for a hunk of meat.

2. Stephano's

Every Mother's Day Stephano's has a Sunday Brunch. It is a thoroughly enjoyable way to eat all your favorite Greek treats in one meal. Some items suffer by being served on a steam table, but the smoked salmon made up for it all. Every year it is a huge family production for all of us to go there and the experience is always excellent.

3. Frogstone Grill

I don't hear about this place on Egullet (probably because it is not downtown). It is a family-style restaurant which means nothing is too interesting or challenging. What it does offer is well-prepared, fresh food that tastes like you would expect it to taste. This is another place I can bring kids and grandparents with all of them having something they like. They make their own Guacamole tableside. This place reminds me of White Spot, but with a little more character and a little more flavour.

[Ling]

Saturday dinner - Mark's (off West Broadway)

The yam fries, however.... kinda oily and CRUNCHY.  My friend likened them to deep-fried carrot sticks.  Barely discernible yam flavour too. 

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You don't like crunchy yam fries? I do...I guess it's a matter of personal preference. The best yam fries are at Elements in Whistler! Thin-cut, salted, super crisp, not greasy at all. It came with some sort of aioli.

[D90]

Saturday dinner - Mark's (off West Broadway)

The yam fries, however.... kinda oily and CRUNCHY.  My friend likened them to deep-fried carrot sticks.  Barely discernible yam flavour too. 

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You don't like crunchy yam fries? I do...I guess it's a matter of personal preference. The best yam fries are at Elements in Whistler! Thin-cut, salted, super crisp, not greasy at all. It came with some sort of aioli.

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I second that. Its a Garlic aioli.

[eatvancouver]

Saturday dinner - Mark's (off West Broadway)

The yam fries, however.... kinda oily and CRUNCHY.  My friend likened them to deep-fried carrot sticks.  Barely discernible yam flavour too. 

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You don't like crunchy yam fries? I do...I guess it's a matter of personal preference. The best yam fries are at Elements in Whistler! Thin-cut, salted, super crisp, not greasy at all. It came with some sort of aioli.

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I second that. Its a Garlic aioli.

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I believe aioli is, by definition, garlic.

Edited May 18, 2006 by eatvancouver (log)

[kontemporary]

The meaning has been skewed quite recently, especially here in Vancouver (god knows our definition of tapas isnt spanish).. an aioli is a garlic mayo, by definition, but people are coming up with things such as wasabi aioli.. which by definition should be a wasabi garlic mayo, but really in most cases is just wasabi mayo. so it's really just a pretentious way to say mayonnaise in essence these days.

[chocomoo]

Saturday dinner - Mark's (off West Broadway)

The yam fries, however.... kinda oily and CRUNCHY.  My friend likened them to deep-fried carrot sticks.  Barely discernible yam flavour too. 

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You don't like crunchy yam fries? I do...I guess it's a matter of personal preference. The best yam fries are at Elements in Whistler! Thin-cut, salted, super crisp, not greasy at all. It came with some sort of aioli.

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I do like crunchy fries (in fact, they're my favourite!), but it was the YAM that was crunchy - these were about the same size as the fries in Feenie's poutine.

Edited May 18, 2006 by chocomoo (log)

[Vancitygirl]

Monday - West for the Innis and Gunn dinner (Kobe Flank Steak!)

Tuesday - Mito Sushi on Granville for lunch, Monk McQueens (no highlights) and the Gramercy (Gnocchi) for snacks -

Wednesday - Red Star for dim sum (note - egg tart and eggplant are not the same thing although they sound alike) Aurora Bistro for the South World Wines and Slow Food dinner (crip skinned BC salmon)

[John Jameson]

Did you get sick after eating and drinking all of this.....I just cannot imagine trying to digest it. Wow, I am impressed. What is a Salumeria section??

Samasutra

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I long ago gave up any notion of seeing my girlish figure again.

That said we did take care to sit at the bar, order only small plates, share everything and pace ourselves. A lot of the establishments that we visited were open early 'til late so we could have a small early lunch, followed by a small late lunch, etc.

We also walked whenever we could.

At any rate the blog is fixed and ready for viewing, however it does take a while to download due

to the amount of photos attached.

Cheers,

Sean Heather

SALT BLOG

[frogprincess]

wednesday - fish on rice in burnaby : 0 ( first time there and def the last. once a year i get sucked into thinking that there is such a thing as good quality all-you-can-wat sushi....when will i ever learn?!

thursday - marcellos on the drive, first time there and def not my last. loved the pizza, the salad with artichoke, ham and shrooms was just all right.

friday - stella's on the drive, ordered 6 tapa dishes to share between 3 people. cajun mussles were fresh and spicy and the other dishes were delish :0 )

[Ling]

Yesterday in Seattle:

Sweets and Savoury

-lemon bar

-coffee cake

-asparagus, blue cheese, bacon, and roasted red pepper sandwich

Baguette Box

-truffled French fries (twice fried)

-coconut milk-braised, then fried tofu sandwich with pickled daikon

Dinner at Mistral. The dishes tasted better than my recent meal at The French Laundry.

ETA: left out the bacon in the S&S sandwich...

Edited May 28, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Vancitygirl]

Tuesday - Diva at the Met for their new tasting menu - absolutely excellent halibut saltimbocca

Wednesday - Sanifar grand opening - kanaga wrapped tiger prawn

Thursday - Sanifar AGAIN! - ahi tuna spring roll

Friday - Harrison hot springs hotel bar for a mushroom and cheddar burger

Saturday - Gramercy Grill for roast chicken

Edited May 28, 2006 by Vancitygirl (log)

[Lise]

WOW!

[Vancitygirl]

Ling still reigns supreme with her dining ventures. Keep trucking Lorna.

PS - I've nicknamed myself foie gras (fg for short) since I feel like I am force feeding myself in the name of culinary adventure.

FG

[Ling]

^Thanks I'm sure there are people on this forum eating even better than me, but perhaps they just don't post about it.

[Lise]

Yes indeed, I think this is my favourite thread. Great fun to live vicariously through others' dining adventures. Keep it up :0)

[Ling]

Friday:

I had lunch at the food court in Richmond Public Market, which I already covered here. We had xiao long bao, hot and soup soup, potstickers, and these pan-fried dough things with meat inside. Nothing made me want to go back for more.

Dessert was at Chocolate Arts on W. 4th (salted caramel, Poire Helene, and a brownie.) The chocolates were delicious as usual.

I had dinner with some friends at Cru. Everyone enjoyed their food and the service was wonderful. The only "off" bit of the evening was that two of my friends ordered the mussel and clam dish, and both had perhaps 3 clams on their plate that were unopened. My bf and I split the smoked tuna (our favourite), the short-rib with mac and cheese (the meat was a little salty, but still very tasty and an incredible deal at $15), the duck confit with greens and bacon dressing (also very tasty) and the seared Abalone mushroom with asparagus and manchego. We each had a glass of the Township 7 Cru Blend, which was great, and he had a glass of Quail's Gate pinot noir which neither of us liked. I also had another glass of really good wine, but unfortunately, I forgot the maker. Ended the night with lemon tart and basil tart with strawberry sorbet and vincotto, which was a very nice combination of flavours indeed.

Saturday:

We had dim sum at Empire Seafood in Richmond. The best thing we ordered was this dim sum dish of fried taro paste with minced pork, Chinese mustard, and scallop. I also really liked the tendon and tripe dish (especially the tripe, because that honeycomb really holds onto the sauce), and the steamed fish maw with chicken. The latter had a really subtle, pure flavour that my bf found bland, but hey, more for me! The shrimp dumplings were steamed for a bit too long, and the Shanghai stir-fried thick noodles were just OK.

Edited June 5, 2006 by Ling (log)

[*Deborah*]

Last night I took the maternal unit to Parkside for Mother’s Day, her birthday, etc.

I started with an Italian Job (orange and lemon juices, Limoncello, Orancia, maybe some vodka too?) and Mummy had a Campari Orange. We had a bottle of the 2002 Domaine de la Grange des Pères.

Tthe kitchen sent out an amuse of an espresso cup with the sablefish chowder, v tasty indeed, nice mirepoix, creamy goodness.

Then I had the parfait de foie gras, because what else could I have? and Mummy had the fricassée of prawns, green and white asparagus, and mushrooms. Actually I might have had that if I liked asparagus, it was pretty to look at and the mushrooms were good.

For mains, I had the halibut dish immortalized in my blog, because it was so damn good I’ve been thinking about it ever since. It was good this time, too Mummy had this lamb loin with braised lamb cheeks dish that she was too full to eat more than a little bit of...it looked heavenly, and she brought it home for dinner tonight.

For dessert...banoffi pie. I had to google this dish. Banana toffee...say no more say no more, nudge nudge. A cinnamon graham crust, with a light toffee blancmangey pudding; caramel and chocolate sauces. Sliced bananas with caramelized sugar on top. Maybe the best dessert I’ve had at Parkside (although...that’s a hard choice), and if there hadn’t been so much foie gras on my first plate, I might even have finished it

Mummy brought hers home to have for breakfast.

I had a Monte Cristo coffee (some enterprising soul topped it with ice cream ).

And so, the broken record that is me talking about Parkside is still stuck on "delicious." Michel was working, and he and Tony provided the usual warm welcome and impeccable service we've come to expect.

Oh, and the new BC Liquor Store freebie mag has a little feature on Charles the bartender, including a Negroni recipe and how to make the syrups. I will have to pick that up

Edited to correct emoticons.

Edited June 5, 2006 by *Deborah* (log)

[christabel]

two bits from the island

lunch today - Kim's Vietnamese - so divey it's wonderful (just avoid the toilets if you're faint of heart)

dinner last night - Azuma Sushi - best black cod I've had in ages - like butter and only $5.

Last week - Cafe Ceylon - new restaurant - good effort and high end South Asian, needs a little work.

[kevfoodvan]

The last three were ASA Sushi in Kerrisdale, Senova, and Sanafir. All the places catered to my special dietary needs.