South end of Vancouver

[BCinBC]

Moosh - although I probably should be walking around with a Lipitor drip, I have instead decided to take the French approach: vin rouge.

[Keith Talent]

My wifes hairdresser says we're a couple of Hongers. Now, not only is that racially offensive and semi witless, it could well be true. Only I suspect it's a term that only the affected demographic could use. Kinda like Chris Rock and the N word; Funny is he says it, bigotted asshole if I say it.

Anyway, I'm taking a pass on La Amigo (French/spanish mashup, with some gender confusion, it's like I named it.) The whole spagetthi O's on toast thing focused through a chinese prism is just too odd for me. I suspect it's a comfort food issue, didn't eat it in my youth, sure as hell not starting now.

[Keith Talent]

Worst advice I've ever been given;

*Check out Enron stock, their quarterly results are fantastic.

*stick with the HK version of borcht.

*Have kids, they make your life richer

*No those pants don't make you ass look fat.

[canucklehead]

My wifes hairdresser says we're a couple of Hongers.

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Well - to be clear, being a Honger is not really a racially motivated term - while eating in South Vancouver (to keep things on topic).

I've met you and your lovely wife briefly - and you two could pass for a certain tribe of Honger. Here is a quiz:

- Brooks Brothers IS casual wear

- The maid can never seem to get the trifle right

- A Range Rover is needed to get up to the top of the Peak

- G&T, need we say more

- Martin Amis is a GENIUS.

If you said yes to any of the above - then you are a classic Expat Honger. Sorry but it is true.

As for HK Borscht - it NEVER contains beets. It is like a food version of that game where you sit in a circle and whisper a phrase from person to person and see what you get at the end. Another example - in HK chicken wings in soy sauce are also known as Chicken ala Swiss. I won't even begin explain why.

[Keith Talent]

Okay - Now my head is spinning, If there are no beets in the borscht, what the hell is in there? If you say bitter melon, I'm heading out for a bowl right now, because this I've got to see. There are very few things I'll refuse to eat. Bitter melon is one of them. Memo to the people of northern asia it's called "BITTER MELON". Not super sweet and jucy melon, no the key identifying feature is the fact it is bitter. ANd not pleasantly bitter like when your maid makes you a perfect G&T, It's like chewing on viatmin C bitter.

I have no idea how a culture that got so much right with their food managed to screw some things up so badly.

[Ling]

^I find bitter melon pleasantly bitter. It's an acquired taste, I guess...I didn't like it when I was a kid.

[Badiane]

If there are no beets in the borscht, what the hell is in there?

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I could provide you with at the very least 6 borscht recipes, all for different types of borscht, that do not and never have, contained beets...

[Keith Talent]

I could provide you with at the very least 6 borscht recipes, all for different types of borscht, that do not and never have, contained beets.

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I think by definition the eastern european and/or jewish versions contain beets. I have heard other groups like the Mennonites that call any soup borscht. I've never gheard of a Russian/Ukrainian/Polish/Whereverastan that didn't have beets. Then again, yesterday at this time I was also ignorant of the fact that various chjinese joints were serving "borscht", so the limits of my knowledge are finite, and if you ask my spouse you'll hear they're very finite.

[Badiane]

I think by definition the eastern european and/or jewish versions contain beets. I have heard other groups like the Mennonites that call any soup borscht.

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I've been outed...I confess, I am in fact a cultural Mennonite (as opposed to a religious Mennonite). But not all soup is borscht...sometimes its a moos, and sometimes, well, it's just soup

I wonder if the chinese/laotian/cambodian etc versions stem from the fact that many immigrants are sponsored into Canada by Mennonites, and there is always some crossover of culture. If you attend the Mennonite Central Committee annual Relief Sale, you will find traditional asian specialties right along side the Farmer Sausage and Roll Kuchen.

But I suppose this is a topic for a different post on another board.

[mangez]

Canuckle,

Having said all that I do want to try the minced beef with egg on rice, because unless they add bacon on there I don't think they could create a more cholesterol-centric plate. I bet they also add token frozen peas too, to assuage the guilt.

Maybe tonight, as the wife is not around so I won't subject her to the insanity...

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Gentlemen, do remember to add extra ketchup yourself on the dish to balance the heaviness. And sorry, it's purely cholesterol-centric no frozen peas.

And Amigo in Richmond, I do recall having their African chicken steak (with a creamy tomato sauce) which was quite interesting. Lots of MSG but very tasty.

By the way, tried out the dumplings at Shanghai River, prefer the dumplings at the Aberdeen food court more. The meat tastes less porky, if you know what I mean.

[Daddy-A]

For a lunchy atmosphere ... um, this may be a stoopid question, but is Pocions open for LUNCH?  I have a job going right around the corner from them and am always looking for lunch options (ask anyone )

Not a stupid question AT ALL!!!!! Yes, they are open for lunch...be warned however...REALLY SLOW SERVICE:):) Really friendly though, which seems to make up for it!

I finally managed to make it to Pocions for lunch today. I have a thing for borscht so I had a bowl along with a Reuben. $8.95 for the soup sandwich combo, which weemed a little steep, until the meal arrived at my table. A large (not huge) bowl of bright pink borscht (seems the sour cream was already added) and 3 halves of a Reuben. Way more than I could eat, so I'll be enjoying the sandwich this evening as I watch my son race BMX in Pitt Meadows.

The soup was excellent. Very basic with nice chuncks of potato, cabbage and beet. Personally I like a little more beet, but this wasn't a distraction. I was more concerned about not being able to stir in my own sour cream but that's a childhood thing and best left for the shrink's couch.

This was close to the best Reuben I've ever had. Why not the best? Not enough 'kraut and the bread wasn't rye-y enough. Missing caraway seeds perhaps? It did feature some yummy Russian dressing though which many places leave out. Sacrilige!

I don't know if the service was slow ... I was the only one having lunch at the time. Everyone else was having coffee and talking about violins I'll go back when I'm not recovering from a weekend feast of pulled pork.

A.

[BCinBC]

Okay I know this is outside my own described boundaries, but N and I went to Coco Pazzo last Friday night. We both like this place, not just because of proximity, but also because I think Chef Ken B is cooking good, simple food. In fact I'd add this place to the "casual" Italian if I wasn't so lazy. (It's as casual as Quattro on 4th.)

Started with an asparagus, tomato and feta appy - which was the highlight. Talk about fresh, vivid flavours. The sauce was (I think) a reduced balsamic, almost smoky-meaty, maybe added a touch of beef stock? - anyway it really rounded out the body of the veg's.

N had prawn and beetroot risotto - it was a risotto weekend for her - which showed up a bright pink colour. I was just temped to type Pink Triad Alert! Pink Triad Alert! but was able to restrain myself. Anyway, the flavour was not that beet-y, unless you took a chunk of beet with the risotto. Prawns were huge and cooked nicely though (butterflied and fried). She said my mushroom pea risotto two days later was better, what a sweetheart / suckup, to which I replied I didn't have to cook 50 of them.

I had linguine vongole (clams) in a tomato sauce, rather than white wine. Yikes, the plate was literally covered with clams, so that I could not see linguine. The pasta was a nice al dente, the sauce fresh and light. Spring comfort food, if there is such a thing.

No dessert, but did get a 1/2 L of forgettable Mission Hill PN (I wish they would expand their wine list, and/or perhaps delve into more less-than-bottle offerings, but oh well I could always have ordered a bottle and corked it). $98 pre-tip, but we're on the mailing list so we got $25 off. Obviously it's not exclusive as we are on it, just drop off a business card and you too can be on the list.

One more thing: we sat outside for the first time this year, it was a little cool but otherwise very pleasant. If you're in the neighborhood, give this place a try. Coco Pazzo is on W 57th @ E Boulevard.

[chocomoo]

There's a Chinese restaurant called "Silver Palace" right on the corner of Fraser & 49th. It's in a tiny strip mall that also has a Starbucks. I go with my family all the time, and it's our new favourite non-dim sum Chinese restaurant for lunch. The noodle/rice/etc. dishes are all reasonably priced, and include dishes such as Singapore style fried vermicelli (with thinner vermicelli noodles than I've had before, which I like), fried sticky rice with taro, preserved Chinese meat & sausages, & Chinese mushrooms, and seafood fried rice with abalone sauce. They're really generous with the amount of non-noodle/rice ingredients in the dishes (as opposed to other restaurants I've been to where I've had fried rice that only had a couple shrimp in it), and the ingredients are also good quality (meat isn't chewy/tough, seafood isn't fishy, veggies are fresh). The noodles & rice are also nicely fried, not greasy or clumpy & tasteless.

They also have non-noodle dishes available during lunch, things that would normally be served during dinner, except that they're in smaller portions. There's a deep-fried tofu that I really like, made with soft, round egg tofu.

The congee is also delicious, and IMO, even better than Vivacity's congee (in Richmond). The consistency is not too watery & the rice just the right texture (not too mushy & not hard). Flavouring is just right too! Plus they serve it piping hot in a ceramic pot - I've never seen congee bubbling in the pot like that before - apparently they heat the pot until it turns a searing red before they ladle in the congee.

There are also more pricier items on their menu if you are in the mood (apparently well-priced for the quality), such as whole abalone and shark's fin soup, among other things. Silver Palace is apparently well-known for these pricier dishes which I have yet to try.

Lastly, the tea, which is of much better quality than I've had at other noodle houses. I think it's Iron Goddess (aka Ti Kuan Yin, or something).

[BCinBC]

A quick plug for a new Vietnamese place that just opened last Friday (and that I noticed Saturday) on the foot of Main at Marine. It replaces the coffee shop in the tiny plaza/strip mall on the NE corner, and is neighbored by a purified water outlet and an adult video store. New and therefore remarkably clean, it still kind of looks like a coffee shop with its small tables and cushy chairs (I never visited the place previously).

I had a "Vietnamese baguette" with "meatballs" - no pate or daikon, but it did have pickled carrots, non-pickled cucumber and cilantro. And it was tasty. Other flavours were 5-spice chicken and Vietnamese cold cuts (or something like that). I think I will try the chicken next. At $3.50 per, they are slightly more expensive than those you would find on Kingsway etc, however the convenience factor for me is huge.

I had a complementary custard bun while I waited, which while not being a custard bun fan myself, was okay. They also have Vietnamese coffee, poured over ice - this will be the new vortex for my funds during the work week. Now if only summer would kick in...

PS: as per Canucklehead's entry into the Chinese in Vancouver thread, we also finally tried the 1st HuNan place. Nice flavours, now more heat required! I didn't even get a runny nose, let alone face sweats.