Three days in Vancouver

[mamster]

I spend several days last week in Vancouver, BC, and ate at a number of restaurants, mostly Chinese.  Of course, I also made a stop at Vij’s for some of his remarkable Indian food and because whenever I’m at Vij’s I feel like a celebrity, even though nobody there knows me.  Apologies in advance for the occasional vagueness in food descriptions;  I was on vacation and didn’t much feel like taking notes, so I’m doing my best from my notebook.  All prices are in Canadian dollars.

Vij’s (1480 W. 11th Ave, 604-736-6664) has been mentioned many times on eGullet already, and I have little to add: the place is brilliant.  They don’t take reservations, so our party of six waited in the bar for forty-five minutes.  While we waited, we enjoyed free chai, little pooris, spicy chapatti, and wonderful cayenne-dusted cassava fries, crispy yet moist.  Once we were seated, Vij himself took our order.  If you look up "impresario" in the dictionary, there is a picture of Vij.  If he had told me to go grab him a couple of 50-pound sacks of rice from down the street, or help him wash dishes, I would have thanked him for the opportunity.

None of the great service would matter, of course, if the food wasn’t good, but it’s beyond good.  One of our appetizers was a crisp cauliflower crepe;  I don’t remember what was on it, but if you see it on the menu, get it.  I had a black cod entree (called sablefish here; that’s the same thing, right?) which was nicely cooked and came with some sautéed beets.  I’ve never before met a beet I liked, but these were fabulous.  The best dish at the table was either the curry lamb lollipops (tender and crusty from the grill) or the saag paneer, creamy spinach with chunks of firm cottage cheese, served with more of those cassava fries.  Rice and naan are included in the price of your entrée;  the assorted freebies help make the customer feel like a monarch of some sort.

The other important thing to know about Vij’s is that it’s cheap;  there was no entrée over $24, and the portions are hearty.  There’s an interesting flat-rate wine list (I think the bottles were are also $24, and all wines are available by the glass);  I had a BC-produced gamay that complemented my fish perfectly.  It’s one of the few non-Beaujolais gamays that I’ve enjoyed, and I enjoyed it a lot.

The only thing wrong with Vij’s is the noise:  it’s louder than heck in there.

Hon’s Wun Tun has numerous locations around the Vancouver area.  I went to the one on Robson street because there’s a 10% off coupon (and maps and addressed to the various locations) on Hon’s]http://www.shinnova.com/hons_on_robson/location-e.htm]Hon’s web site.  I got an order of pork potstickers ($3, and several other fillings are available) and an enormous plate of noodles in XO sauce ($6.95) with assorted meats and vegetables (char siu pork, chicken, onions and peppers).  The XO sauce, a spicy sauce made with dried scallops, is made in-house, and it gives the noodles a subtle coating whose heat sneaks up on you.  The potstickers, also made at Hon’s, are excellent, with a good ratio of seared to steamed surface area.

The place itself has a cool layout.  A large central dining area is ringed with open kitchens along two long walls, and there are a lot of cooks.  So lunch at Hon’s is never boring, even if you’re dining alone.

A friend took me to Bo Kong (3068 Main Street, 604-876-3088), a vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown.  (I didn’t write down any prices, but it was inexpensive.)  I’m generally skeptical of vegetarian restaurants, but this one has a deservedly good reputation.  We had a large plate of gai lan, which was a little tough and impossible to eat with chopsticks, but nicely trimmed and flavorful.  Our other entrée was tofu masquerading as rolled chicken skin, served with vegetables in a brown sauce.  The tofu was crispy and satisfying, and if I closed my eyes I could almost pretend there was some chicken skin in there.  Other people at the restaurant were enjoying a variety of hot pot dishes that looked great;  I’ll try one of those next time.

On the way out of town we stopped in Richmond, which someone on this board called “Asia West.”  They were not exaggerating.  There are several malls catering to a mostly Chinese clientele, and they reminded me of some of the smaller malls in Asia.  The malls have food courts, and some of the mall restaurants looked interesting (lots of steam tables, though), but we stuck mostly to the Osaka supermarket inside the Yaohan Centre (2600 - 3700 No. 3 Road).  It’s a market comparable to Seattle’s Uwajimaya but despite the name, the Osaka has more of a Chinese focus.  Because I don’t associate fish sauce with Chinese cooking, I was surprised to find Golden Boy nam pla, a premium brand of Thai fish sauce that I’ve never seen for sale in Seattle.  I stocked up.  Osaka also has a nice display of Chinese cleavers, a section of house and table wares, and a case of prepared foods that from a distance looks like the deli case of any North American supermarket, until you notice the huge bowl of squid.

By the Osaka’s cash register, in prime impulse-buy position, was a box of cuttlefish snacks.  The box trumpeted:  “Chewing Gum of the Orientals!”

They sell rice cookers at Osaka, but if you’re looking for one, try the housewares store on the second level of Yaohan.  They had a 10-cup Zojirushi fuzzy logic model for $188 Canadian, which is almost 50% less than what they charge for the same model at Uwajimaya.

After shopping we went to the Richmond branch of Vancouver’s famous dim sum palace, Sun Sui Wah (102 Alderbridge Place, Richmond, (604) 273-8208).  (Incidentally, I ran into one of my classmates there, and when I got back to Seattle, I told another classmate about this, and he said, “Which dim sum place?”  I told him, and he said, “Oh, Sun Sui Wah is great.”  I guess everyone’s been but me.)

At dim sum, the best cart always rolls by right after you’re full, so I watched fried squid and siu mai slip just out of my stomach’s reach.  Before that, however, we had some great stuff.  There were those pan-fried pork puffs that look kind of like duchess potatoes (anyone know was this piece is called?).  An unusual scallop dumpling had a thin slice of scallop covering some fresh shrimp, steamed in a cup made of dough.

Of course, it’s easy to impress with pork and fresh seafood.  The gai lan at Sun Sui Wah was cooked to order on the cart in a boiling tub of salted water.  Gai lan is supposed to offer a little resistance, but too often it’s served basically raw.  This was a great cooked vegetable.  We also had some steamed vegetable-mushroom dumplings and a big plate of wide noodles (kind of like the Thai pad si-ew) cooked with soy sauce and rolled up like carpets into chewy little bundles.  The meal came to about $20 per person.

Be forewarned that SSW in Richmond is closed in April and most of May for a complete remodel.  The facilities were already pretty nice, so I’m looking forward to seeing it after the renovation.

Thanks very much to anil, Fat Guy, and cabrales for making recommendations;  now all my Vancouver friends think I’m some kind of genius at picking restaurants, and I owe it all to eGullet.

I also made a couple of stops at La Casa Gelato, but I gave that its own thread.

[cabrales]

mamster -- Bo Kong is so strict about adhering to vegetarian principles that certain Buddhist organizations have their gatherings there. Another attractive set of dishes involve large mushrooms that mimic different forms of meat, based on the dish. This place also has a family-type atmosphere. One slight drawback is the undue use of green in the decor. (But green decor is a pet peeve.)

Other interesting things one finds in many of Richmond's Asian malls are food courts with predominantly Asian stalls. Quick congee with thousand/hundred year egg and with Chinese donuts; chicken curry or fish balls in curry (there is a particularly strong stall at Yaohan's mall); the standard Chinese barbecued duck and pork; nice Asian-style coffee or Taiwanese style flavored "bubble tea" (referring to tapioca balls plentifully added -- can also be added to most coffees); stir-fried or soup noodles. The great thing is that a diner can buy an item from each of many stalls. The prices are extremely inexpensive.

[mamster]

I forgot to mention that we did have some bubble tea at Parker Place;  the same place that sold the tea also had a huge, gorgeous steamer full of herbal jelly, which people around us were buying for medicinal purposes.  I'll check out the food courts on the next trip;  I intend to head back up pretty soon and maybe buy a rice cooker.

[cabrales]

I forgot to mention that we did have some bubble tea at Parker Place;  the same place that sold the tea also had a huge, gorgeous steamer full of herbal jelly, which people around us were buying for medicinal purposes.  I'll check out the food courts on the next trip;  I intend to head back up pretty soon and maybe buy a rice cooker.

mamster -- There are some pretty nice rice cooker models around (esp. the Japanese brand with an elephant as its logo and with the name beginning with "Z").

I am not a big fan of bubble tea, but taro and almond (separately) are probably among the better varieties.  Note one interesting phenomenon at these stalls is the ability to have a cup of tea mixed with coffee -- this tastes better than it sounds, particularly with the type of milk utilized.  Some bubble tea places have sweet egg-based items that look like little cylinders connected to one another (often made on a waffle-making-type contraption). This is a special type of egg dessert that is very cheap and potentially worth trying (if just-off-the-stove).

On the herbal jelly, most types are indeed herbal. However, certain malls have jellies that contain essence of (i.e., not necessarily full-fledged) Asian turtle. If you are interested (it is legal) in this special type of jelly/drink-like substance, I can inquire and give you an address.

Other dishes to consider at these food malls: (1) braised beef belly, Chinese style, either on its own or with soup noodles (usually available at noodle stalls), (2) Singapore style scented chicken rice, with extra spring onions, (3) tripe or other offal (be very careful which stall), (4) marinated, soya flavored cuttlefish (this is often found at the stalls for roast duck and pork), and (5) salty egg (not the same as thousand/hundred year egg).  ;)

[Jinmyo]

INote one interesting phenomenon at these stalls is the ability to have a cup of tea mixed with coffee -- this tastes better than it sounds, particularly with the type of milk utilized.

This is usually tinned sweetened condensed milk. "Longevity Brand" for example.

[mamster]

Does "longevity" refer to the shelf life of the can or to you after you drink it?  Or both.

Cabrales, thanks for the food court advice.  I always appreciate a trustworthy tip and will try to have some food court adventures next time I'm in Van.  The only place on my list that I didn't make it to was the President, at the Radisson Hotel in Richmond.  Have you tried it?

The friend who took me to Bo Kong is not a strict vegetarian, but he is violently allergic to chicken, and he can never avoid chicken broth at non-veg Chinese restaurants.  I'd never heard of such an allergy before I met him, but it's quite serious, anaphylactic shock and the whole nine yards.

[cabrales]

Does "longevity" refer to the shelf life of the can or to you after you drink it?  Or both.

It's been a while since I last visited an Asian grocery store, but I think Jinmyo is referring to the brand.  The applicable can (larger than the smallest Carnation cans, and kind of fat in shape) has a white label with the picture of an old man with a long, white beard, bearing a long Chinese-style cane. This is an interesting condensed, sweetened milk for possible utilization, depending on one's preferences, in coffee and certain other drinks. Many Vietnamese places use this milk in their drip-style coffees.  :D It's much denser (in a good way) and aromatic than Carnation, for example.

Separately, I have not been to the President. I like Kirin on Cambie Street (in the large mall; note there may be two with a similar name) for dim sum and other Chinese food as much as I like Sun Sui Wah. SSW sometimes offers geoduck (the subject of another thread in this forum), which I like quite a bit. The best preparations are simple -- sliced geoduck is brought to the table raw, immersed by the diner in some bouillon momentarily, and then dipped into a sauce (e.g., wasabi-based; alternatively, soya sauce with spring onion).

Speaking of geoduck, in the wintertime, certain hotpot places around Richmond are a good venue for sampling the item. Offal is also available, along with a generous sampling of meats, seafood, etc. One frequently has a choice as to the bouillon/other base used in the hotpot (e.g., spicy; bouillon; curry), and a range of sauces for dipping. Some places offer split hot pot cooking equipment, whereby diners can sample two bases for the hotpot.  One of the hot pot places I have received recommendations about is "Chun Chow" Hotpot (that's not the English name) on Cambie, likely in the 40s. If you are interested in hot pots, I can inquire as to the precise name. ;)

[heyjude]

Mamster also left out Kaplan's Deli (from whom we just got take-out). It is the closest I've seen in the northwest to an East Coast Jewish Deli. The owner who is from Roumania and talks just like my Bubbe gave us generous tastes including 6 slices of pickled beef tongue. So, I bought a pound. They do have a large menu for table service, too. The smoked sable that I brought home for my husband was perfection and I was glad he didn't ask the price. I paid $6.95 per 1/4 ounce which came to $56 for the slab. The cinnamon roll was like the ones my grandmother baked every Friday. I let it get stale and ate it dunked in cold milk. Gey essen.

[cabrales]

heyjude -- Given you live in Vancouver, do you have any thoughts on (1) good hot pot places, (2) geoduck, or (3) based on recent visits, Pho Hoang? The spicy soup at Pho Hoang seems to differ in taste from period to period. Also, do you have any input on "Hong Kong style" Western food "cafes", like Gloucester on Cambie? I had the pork chop spaghetti with a nice tomato-derivative sauce, diced peas and carrots, there a long time ago.  ;)  

Sorry for all the questions, but, finally for now, have you received word of what the oyster bar at the airport is like?

[heyjude]

cabrales, you don't have to be sorry about all the questions, but I don't have the answers because I live in Seattle. If you get answers (maybe from Ckbklady whose avatar is similar to mine, but I lean left and she is upright) ,please share. Your heart and stomach are leaning in the right direction. Next time we spend time in Vancouver we'll continue the quest.

[Jinmyo]

It's been a while since I last visited an Asian grocery store, but I think Jinmyo is referring to the brand.  The applicable can (larger than the smallest Carnation cans, and kind of fat in shape) has a white label with the picture of an old man with a long, white beard, bearing a long Chinese-style cane. This is an interesting condensed, sweetened milk for possible utilization, depending on one's preferences, in coffee and certain other drinks. Many Vietnamese places use this milk in their drip-style coffees.  :D It's much denser (in a good way) and aromatic than Carnation, for example.

Separately, I have not been to the President. I like Kirin on Cambie Street (in the large mall; note there may be two with a similar name) for dim sum and other Chinese food as much as I like Sun Sui Wah. SSW sometimes offers geoduck (the subject of another thread in this forum), which I like quite a bit. The best preparations are simple -- sliced geoduck is brought to the table raw, immersed by the diner in some bouillon momentarily, and then dipped into a sauce (e.g., wasabi-based; alternatively, soya sauce with spring onion).

Speaking of geoduck, in the wintertime, certain hotpot places around Richmond are a good venue for sampling the item. Offal is also available, along with a generous sampling of meats, seafood, etc. One frequently has a choice as to the bouillon/other base used in the hotpot (e.g., spicy; bouillon; curry), and a range of sauces for dipping. Some places offer split hot pot cooking equipment, whereby diners can sample two bases for the hotpot.  One of the hot pot places I have received recommendations about is "Chun Chow" Hotpot (that's not the English name) on Cambie, likely in the 40s. If you are interested in hot pots, I can inquire as to the precise name. ;)

cabrales, that's exactly right. That's Lao zi on the label. And yes, the best for Viet coffee.

[cabrales]

Sun Sui Wah has a website:

http://www.sunsuiwah.com/ssw_english/e_seafood.html

(including depictions of geoduck dish and Dungeness crab, aka "Vancouver crab)

[col klink]

I saw that picture of geoduck. I've eaten geoduck before, with excitement no less but that was at a sushi restaurant where it was thinly sliced.

But egads, seeing it whole like that, I don't know. Without the shell there it looks like it could be part of a horse's anatomy. :wow:

[cabrales]

col klink -- Geoduck is a tasty enough product for me to have started a thread about it(click here) a while ago.  The linked website contains a picture too.

[cabrales]

Sun Sui Wah

I confirmed that Sun Sui Wah, like many other Chinese restaurants in Vancouver, allows BYO wine and charges no corkage fee.   Imagine a Bienvenue Batard Montrachet with certain non-spicy renditions of Alaska King Crab (which the restaurant can provide in two different preparations).  That might have to wait until my next visit, assuming seasonal availability of the item.  

After having sampled the dim sum at SSW again, I continue to prefer Kirin for dim sum (the one on Cambie Street, in City Square or City Place? mall).