Pad Thai At Your Own Pad

I made Pad Thai tonight for the first time...sort of...or at least a Pad Thai-inspired noodle dish. I didn't have some key ingredients around such as bean sprouts (substituted julienned broccoli) and tamarind pulp (substituted Japanese "bulldog" sauce, vegetable and fruit sauce for dishes like yakisoba, which has a similarly sour, sweet, and fruity quality, I'm guessing). I was also missing garlic chives and green onions, so I sliced up a yellow onion instead and started with stirfrying that. I did have Thai rice stick noodles, tofu, prawns, eggs, red chili, and fish sauce though. I was very pleased with the result, especially the mouth-feel of the noodles.

I found a great detailed explanation of how to make it (not exactly a "recipe") online at Chez Pim that is really worth checking out if you've never made it before, or even if you have and want to refine your technique. Apparently, it's closer to the Pad Thai sold in the streets of Thailand from carts and doesn't have that mysterious red oil stickiness that seems to be more common in western Thai restaurants. Give it a try.

If you'd rather eat out, I recommend the Pad Thai at Maenam Thai Restaurant (1938 W. 4th Avenue, between Cypress and Maple St., 604-730-5579), the second incarnation of Gastropod. Actually, everything that I ate there was super tasty when I checked it out shortly after it opened. Really, really tasty. Really.

For a trip down memory lane, here is my last meal at Gastropod before it turned into Maenam.

Okay, I didn't eat ALL of this. Some of it was for Bac'n Girl and Ginger Beer Man too! Well...alright, I admit, I ate most of it. Very rich. Too much food. And a very good time.

But I am very happy with what the chef has done with the Thai menu too. I thought I had pics from that night as well, but I was probably too gaga to remember to take photos. It was an "anniversary" date night that included walking over to the Stanley for a great production of Les Mis. Again, very rich. Too much food. And a very, very good time.

Remembering Hopscotch 2008

Last year, I was treated to a fantastic night of scotch tasting at the Hopscotch festival, which ran November 11 - 16th, 2008. Ginger Beer Man won tickets for us, and we must have sampled about a dozen premium scotches along with tasty bits of food, some beers, and even a tequila.

Pre-sale tickets will be on sale for this year's event on October 1st. Just sign up for their email newsletter on the website, and the event runs November 16 - 22nd, 2009.

The grand tasting event tickets give you admission to the Thursday or Friday main tasting event, five tasting tokens ($1 each) and a little souvenir tasting glass to use as you hop from booth to booth. You buy more tokens at the event, and there is even a complimentary shuttle afterwards (though after all that scotch, it was a great night to waddle off happily to the Main St. skytrain station on our own, from the Rocky Mountaineer Station off terminal (near Home Depot). Various seminars are also included during the evening, so if those interest you, get your name on the list early on in the evening. We wound up needing all the time to make our way around the booths.

Last year, my first year at the fest, was a spectacular event. Some of my favourite tastes of the night were:

• an old single malt by the name of Penderyn (misplaced my notes, but I think this was my favourite)
• fall off the bone ribs made with Jack Daniels and Rickard's beer.

I highly recommend the event. I remember the night fondly.

Foodies at the Movies: Julie and Julia

Julia Child, foodie blogging, cooking, women finding themselves, and relationships...this movie had everything I needed to get me excited before I even stepped into the theatre. And I have to say, it didn't disappoint. Meryl Streep does a charming, amusing, believable AND respectful portrayal of Julia Child. For a huge Julia Child fan who grew up watching and loving her cooking show, an irreverent impression could have easily killed this movie for me. Not to worry though, she had it covered and managed to beautifully convey that love of food familiar to many of us and is so fun to watch in people. I also wound up caring for and rooting for Julie, the writer who vowed to cook every dish from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook in a year and blog the entire experience. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and recommend it for foodies and non-foodies alike. Ginger Beer Man saw it with me and enjoyed it as well, so I don't think you have to be a food blogger to get it, but it certainly doesn't hurt. This inspires me to make a top ten movies for foodies list. Coming soon...

Trade-offs

I was thinking about the "breakfast of my dreams" and I started wondering if I really know what I want. The ultimate breakfast place I wrote about has everything I've dreamed about except that I can only go there some of the time. It's expensive and indulgent, and not something I want to do every day. I don't imagine the same spread at a place that I could afford to visit everyday. I am happy with the idea that if I find a breakfast hang out that I could go to every day, that it won't be quite as exciting and filled with the same variety and quantity of treats. I don't even bother fantasizing that I could have it all and have it there all the time. It's a trade-off. A part of me wants to keep dreaming of the ultimate everything place that will always be there for me. A part of me thinks that I will find the perfect everyday sort of place much more easily and would enjoy it more if I didn't spend time fantasizing about having it all. Experiencing the indulgent place is nice though, and it is comforting to know that I can be that satisfied, albeit rarely. Hypothetically, if for some reason all the restaurants in my vicinity were wiped out except for one, and I had the power to decide whether that one would be the fancy indulgent place that I could only go to once in a while, or the reasonable place that fits most of my needs that I could go to all the time, I'm not too sure what the right choice would be. Would I get bored of the second option after a while? Would I be content with the limited time with the first? Meh, I'd probably move.

Breakfast of My Dreams

I finally found the breakfast buffet that I've been questing for years. Some place that has great food, great service, great ambiance and is right downtown. I must admit it's on the expensive side for breakfast ($26.00/person), but it's incredibly satisfying, a beautiful all you can eat spread along with made to order omelettes if you wish, and the price includes bottomless tasty coffee, teas and fresh juices (orange, apple, grapefruit, cranberry). It's the big breakfast buffet at The Westin Bayshore's Currents in Coal Harbour (1601 Bayshore Drive, 604-682-3377). It's served from 6:30 - 11:00 am, which is fantastic for someone like me who likes to sleep in on a day off and have a long leisurely breakfast with a copy of the newspaper (plenty of all three major papers here are provided at a big round table at the front).

For good food, I want all of the hot breakfast favourites in unlimited quantities, "properly" done. Crisp bacon, eggs that are not overcooked (a made to order egg option helps a lot with this, good sausages, a variety of pastries and fruit and some interesting or unusual items, and of course, decent coffee with easily accessible refills (but I'm not too concerned about whether this is due to a diligent server or a help yourself coffee station). In this case, it's super attentive service where they ask you if you want refills before you even think of it yourself. And their theme is "superfoods" so there are all sorts of fun items rich in nutrients, like a variety of nuts and dried fruit including high quality dates. They also have some great smoked salmon, and a beautiful salad, and different items such as roasted yams or veggies. There's a variety of fantastic pastries in nice reasonably small sizes, and even little portions of thick fruity smoothies. Their yoghurt muesli is tasty too. They even have a eggs benedict type dish in the hot buffet section, and as I said earlier, it's nice to have the option of having an omelette or eggs made to order as well.

In terms of good service, I want a place that actually makes me feel welcome even though it's early in the morning, and I'm not really a morning person. For buffets, the servers pretty much just need to not get in the way. The food is always ready when you are, so you're not waiting for someone to bring you things generally. Essentially, you just need to staff to keep things clean, the buffet station looking nice and inviting, and sometimes to provide coffee, juice, water, and made to order items.

For ambiance, I like to have a place relaxed enough that I can read the newspaper and bonus points if they provide those newspapers, and especially if there is enough for everyone, and you don't spend every morning just coveting the paper at someone else's table. I generally like a place that is clean and comfortable. I'm pretty flexible about the decor. I do tend toward pretty surroundings but am happy with eclectic or old places as long as it's not ugly or uncomfortable. I like big windows and good natural light in the morning. This place is beautiful, comfortable, and has expansive windows looking out onto a pool and landscaping.

Generally, I like good value, where I feel like the price is fair. That sometimes means that it is incredibly cheap, but sometimes it means that you get such a good experience that it feels worthwhile. This falls in the second category, and is actually on the lower end of the big fancy hotel brunches in town, which can go up to $40+ per person.

I like the fact that there is no wait and it's quiet, where I can easily get a window seat. I almost worry that telling too many people about it may ruin the serenity of the place, but it's a big room, and they seem to have their system down too, so I'm sure they could handle a crowd if need be. I didn't feel rushed ever, so it's a great place to catch up with someone over a long breakfast.

It's a splurge (in calories and temptation as much as in price), so it can't be my regular breakfast hang out, but it's nice to know that the breakfast of my dreams does exist and is there for me any day of the week that I want it. There is an a la carte menu also for those who have more restraint than I do...or perhaps for those who don't have enough restraint for a buffet.

Bandidas Taqueria

I am trying to get back on the blogging wagon.  Hopefully I'll be galloping along at full speed soon, but in the meantime, I'll try to at least post some quick and dirty recommendations.  Check out Bandidas Taqueria, a relatively new vegetarian Mexican inspired restaurant that gives great value, friendly service, and tasty tacos, nachos, burritos and more.  

Prices are fantastic, with two tacos at around $4 to $5.50 with interesting ingredients like breaded spicy walnuts or roasted yams and a half litre of yummy sweet sangria for $11.  We also ordered a "small" order of nachos that included roasted pineapple.  The four tacos, generous plate of nachos, and the sangria were enough to stuff us silly.   

Their environmental conscientiousness makes you feel good about visiting this neighbourhood spot on The Drive.  And they even blog!

Catch Gastropod Before It Creeps Away

Gastropod is closing down on May 2nd, so make your way down to this Kitsilano gem in the next week or so if you can.  Not to worry though, Angus An, the chef, will still be cooking at that location when it reopens as the authentic Thai restaurant, Maenam.  It's unfortunate that the economy has prompted some fine dining establishments in town to downscale, but perhaps after Maenam is up and running, Gastropod may be resurrected again in a different location.  I'm hoping to have one last meal there before the closing though.  If you haven't ever been, it's definitely worth checking out.  I'm looking forward to trying Maenam as well.