Prepare to Descend on the Richmond Summer Night Market on Sunday, July 6th, at 7 pm

This Sunday will be my first trip to the Summer Night Market in Richmond this year, and I'm inviting fellow foodies out to meet me. Meet me 7 pm in front of the food stalls. I am unsure of the exact layout of the site, but I am guessing that there will be one main entrance to the market, so proceed through that and continue until you find the cluster of food stalls (hopefully this will be obvious and in one location). I will hover there precisely at 7 pm, wearing a small official nancyland button, and will have buttons to give out. Look for a small group of drooling foodies looking like they are waiting for other foodies. We will gather there, and then pounce upon the food stalls so if you make it there later, look for us amongst the goodies. If you plan on coming to the market to look for us, leave me a comment at this post or an email and we'll look out for you. Bring cash in the form of loonies and toonies, an empty belly, and friends.

Like a Roving Colony of Ravenous Foodie Army Ants: new Nancyland Meet at the (Richmond) Summer Night Market!

I've been waiting and waiting for the Richmond Summer Night Market (12631 Vulcan Way, behind Home Depot on Sweden Way) to open. First, I was just waiting for the summer to come; then I heard about the original founder cancelling the event due to the lease running out; and then found out that Paul Cheung, Lions Communications, was a new organizer that had rushed in to save the day (yay!); and then I heard about legal problems, construction sabatoge, and finally (and the most heart-breaking) plumbing problems which delayed the food vendors for weeks after official opening. But the word on the virtual street is that the food vendors came back last weekend (June 21st), and things are in full swing!

So that means that I can finally make an outting to the market, and I'm inviting Nancylanders to join me in wandering the food stalls as a pack, devouring all the Asian street food that crosses our path like a ravenous colony of foodie army ants. I will announce a trip for next weekend, either July 4,5,or 6th.

Transit from Vancouver looks pretty easy. Get yourself to Metrotown station and take the 430 Richmond Exchange from Bay 8 and get off on Bridgeport Road, just west of Sweden Way or take the 98 Burrard Station B-Line to Bridgeport Road and then transfer to the 407 Gilbert that travels along Bridgeport, getting off just before Sweden Way. There are pay parking lots as part of the market too, details can be seen at the link to the summer market website.

Post a comment (or email me at nancyland.vancouver.foodie.fun@gmail.com) if you are interested in attending and feel free to leave a preferred date. I am looking at starting early in the evening, at 7 pm when the market opens, so that we have empty bellies to start, and the grazing serves as dinner.

Jonker Street Restaurant

Just one visit so far to the little Jonker Street Restaurant (1128 Pacific Blvd, at Cambie St. 604-688-8565), and I was thoroughly impressed with the Malaysian food there. It seemed very authentic, tasty, with fresh bright flavours and not too greasy. The room is bright, casual and clean, and the service is very personable. It seemed like the man serving us was the owner, and he was a great host. It has a very relaxed atmosphere.

I must have roti canai ($2.80), a flaky somewhat sweet bread served with a curry sauce, anytime I see it on a menu. So Bac'n girl and I started with sharing an order of that (next time I'll get my own order) and an order of gado-gado ($7.50), a mixed salad of tofu, bean sprouts, green beans, potato and boiled egg, and covered with a tasty peanut sauce. The Roti Canai was one of the nicest ones I've had, and the Gado-Gado was a perfectly crunchy and filling salad. Bac'n Girl had been advised by a Malaysian friend that would serve their KL Hokkien Me noodles ($9.50) with the traditional bits of deep fried pork fat that you might find if you ordered the dish in Malaysia (but omit it if you don't ask for it...I'm thinking they probably found that the typical Yaletowner would not be attracted to "deep-fried pieces of fat" on a menu). The bits of fat were delicious of course, and the thick yellow noodles with mixed seafood and vegetables braised in a special dark sauce were great. I ordered their Nasi Jambori ($13.90) with was a sampler of chicken curry, beef rendang and prawn sambal. It was served with boiled egg, side salad, pappadum and jasmine rice. Everything was very tasty, and I loved having such a variety of dishes. I was impressed with the quality and freshness of the little salad too, and it was all very filling. I remember enjoying their big plump prawns in the spicy sambal sauce. In fact, we both noticed that someone sitting beside us ate everything on their plate, except for two big prawns, and it seemed such a waste that we were tempted to say that we'll eat them. They have some Malaysian drinks too, and Bac'n Girl and I ordered a couple of those too, though I can only remember that mine was cold and sweet, and hers was a hot tea. And for dessert, the Sago Gula Melaka ($3.80), chilled sago (a root starch, like tapioca) pudding served with coconut milk and fragrant palm sugar was perfect.

I'll definitely go back, and it's a great addition to this area; geographically just outside of the hub of snobby trendoids that makes up much of Yaletown, but worlds away in terms of atmosphere and value. If you park in the Urban Fare underground parking lot, Jonker St. will reimburse you for the first hour.

Kitsilano Farmer's Market and Greek Day on Broadway

I'm checking out the nibbles at two summer events today:

1. the Kitsilano Farmer's Market at West 10th Avenue and Larch St. runs Sundays 10:00 am - 2:00 pm throughout the summer.

2. Greek Day on Broadway between Blenheim and MacDonald Avenue is just on today, Sunday, June 22nd, from 11:00 am - 9:30 pm.

If you happen to spot me there today, ask for the first ever Nancyland collectable item. I will leave it as a surprise for now, but I can tell you it has Ha Gow, my little dumpling character on it. I'll be wearing one myself, and I'm wearing grey pants and a black top. And then there's the free jazz down in Gastown all day, with the last band going on at 6:30 pm.

Century

I was pleasantly surprised by Century Restaurant and Bar (432 Richards St. between Pender and Hastings St., 604-633-2700). Even though I know enough to take the reviews on a particular post-your-own-restaurant-review type website with a grain (or a big pinch) of salt, I was still a bit wary having read the reviews after choosing the restaurant. Well, I wound up having a really satisfying meal there with great service, and left completely impressed. The restaurant has changed chefs a few times, so this restaurant has likely been different places at different times during its short life, possibly explaining the mixed reviews in its past. The building itself has certainly been different places during its long life, starting out as bank at the turn of the century. However, there's no dispute online or otherwise that the current decor is amazing, and I was looking forward to seeing it. The architectural details of the 1911 bank are all there, with the beautiful barrel vaulted ceilings, chandeliers and even the old bank vault. The restaurant design is also gorgeous with it's hip Latin cowboy feel, Che Guevara and cowboy murals in rich browns, and beautiful suede-covered curved booths. The seating was not only attractive but extremely functional and roomy. Sitting in the half circle bench feels very cosy, and the half circle tables can be put together for larger groups. The restaurant is actually a bit smaller than I imagined and very comfortable. It's a room that makes you want to live in it. Imagine it as the ultimate party loft with a big bar for all your swanky parties...even if you don't have swanky parties now, with a pad like that, you'd have to start.

But when we arrived at the beautiful refinished heritage building, we initially felt a bit of trepidation as there appeared to be only one customer - a man at the bar - and no staff in sight. In actuality, there was a table in the back around the corner, and the one server was just away getting something. Another large party did arrive later in the evening, but I do hope that people come to this restaurant and keep it alive.

I started with an "El Che" ($7.75) - one of several tasty sounding cocktails. I liked it so much, I even reproduced a version of it at home later. It's made with pomegranate vodka, apple juice, fresh cucumber, and fresh jalapeno. Spicy hot and refreshing at the same time. The server was sweet, genuine, down-to-earth and personable (which seems to be increasingly rare in the mid to fine dining scene). And she made a great "El Che" too.

The evening involved a bit of indulgence. First, this was simply because I was dining with Bac'n Girl. We seem to naturally enable each other's food splurging on any occassion. Secondly, we were talking about boy trouble, and that always seems to warrant a "what the hell, go for it" attitude with the ordering. I'll start worrying when I start instigating the boy trouble just to get the great post-break-up wallow-meal. Until then, it's merely a happy side effect.

Bac'n Girl has a thing for chicken tostadas apparently, so we had to order it. This one ($10) with its fried corn tortilla and chicken topping and mesclun, was nice and tasty, though I could have taken more spice and heat in the chicken filling personally.

We then had their queso relleno's ($10), which was on top of cheese crisps that tasted just like parmesan crisps (though the menu now says warm manchego) with a tasty chipotle potato filling on top.

We then went with a fairly safe choice by sharing a nice steak. We chose their Alberta ribeye ($22), and the fun thing about their mains is that you get to choose the sauce and two sides. Mix and match can be fun if there are some tasty sounding choices, and you are cocky like the two of us in our food matching skills. We decided easily on the green peppercorn port sauce, grilled veggies and barbecue frites. No regrets at all. The steak was properly cooked to our preference. In other words, we ordered a medium rare and received a medium rare, just the way it should be. It had tasty charred bits of fat on the outside and a rich flavour (ribeye is my preferred cut), and the accompaniments all had good flavour too. I remember the sauce being particularly tasty.

I like the Latin-inspired menu quite a bit, and there seems to be many things on there that I would like to order. There very easily could be some misses on that menu too, but we didn't order any that night.

The dessert menu was similarly tempting. I settled on the Century cheesecake ($7) - a continuation of the Latin themes, this was an avocado lime cheesecake, sour cream mint topping, praline crust, served with fried plantains, sesame candy, lemon sorbet, raspberry coulis, and strawberry garnish. The cheesecake was delicious. It was smooth and creamy and really tasted of avocados and limes. The crust was a perfect accompaniment (a bit of a sticking point for me, as I seem to be a bit particular about pie and cheesecake crusts in general). The fried plantain slice was fantastic with it too, and the contrasting texture and acidity of the lemon sorbet was also a great choice. With dessert, I had a nice satisfying post-meal coffee in one of the most comfortable mugs I've ever held (use it in your right hand).

Bac'n Girl had the Dark Chocolate Fortress ($7), a somewhat phallic mocha glazed, dark chocolate tunnel with a crème anglaise centre spilling out the end, served with French Vanilla ice cream and almond brittle. This was also very good.

I found out later that the old bank vault is actually a private dining room. That is SO cool - definitely worthy of my mental list of possible large dinner party venues. That tickles the same part of my brain that made me as a child vaguely yearn to have a birthday party in a McDonald's caboose whenever walking past one. Their upstairs lounge has a perfect name to reference the old bank building, "Heist." I'd like to check that out sometime too. I think this place might be suffering a bit from an awkward location, but it is not difficult to find. It just seems to have a bit of an "out of the way" feeling. Which makes it even more appealing to me, as I don't always like the hustle and bustle of the latest new thing. I like the idea of a secret little retreat. I think it's worth looking for. On this one visit, I saw reasonable prices, good flavours, an interesting menu, comfortable seating, great service and a great relaxed atmosphere (mid-week). I'll check it out again.

Krazy for Kingyo

"Kingyo (871 Denman Street at Haro St., 604-608-1677) has style, charm, good taste, and a sense of fun." I wrote that sentence quite a while ago, after one of my first visits to what is now one of my favourite restaurants in the city after several visits. And looking at the sentence now, they sound like attributes I might look for in a date as well.

But what I realize is that there are even more important attributes that I like about Kingyo - an authenticity, a sense of family/teamwork, a spirit of generosity, a vitality, a positive energy, and a general gratitude that you are there, which are all things I really want in a date that I could be serious about. My point is that there is a lot of depth to this restaurant, which may not come across in peeking through the window because it is a very slick, dimly lit, stylish restaurant, which is usually packed with all sorts of happy, shiny people. But it is as much about the human warmth delivered by the staff (front of the house and kitchen act as one unit with it's open kitchen and with kitchen staff even popping out from behind the counter to greet regulars and joining in on some merriment), as it is about the amazing food and the fun atmosphere. It seems that all the Lower Mainland izakaya people are tied to each other in some way, and I think this place was started by some ex-Guu staff.

You can get a lot of information peaking through a window though, sometimes. I think the moment I really fell in love with this restaurant was shortly before last Christmas, when I happened to be walking by, and my eye caught a glimpse of the most adorable fuzzy reindeer costume. Then I realized that ALL the serving staff had on these ridiculousely cute reindeer costumes and were actually doing their entire shift in them. Here's the key though - they all looked happy doing that. That amazed me. I do have a thing for mascot costumes anyhow (and yes, I actually collect pictures of mascots, even though I'm in my thirties). I had to go in and have a meal. Damnit, now that I think about it, I should have gotten a photo with one of them to add to my collection (crossing my fingers for this Christmas). So I guess the sense of fun is way up there on my list for me.

The good-naturedness of the restaurant is infectious too. One visit I had the pleasure of meeting and really, in a sense, dining with, one of the regulars - a very drunken old Japanese man. He explained to me that he had lived here in Vancouver over 30 years but his English still wasn't very good. I was seated at the counter, and he was seated next to me, and one of the very first things he said to me, in a thick accent, slurred with the effects of his heavy drinking at another establishment, and with an apologetic yet unashamed giddiness was "I'm sorry, I'm very very drunk!" He clearly loved this restaurant, and insisted on ordering food for me, and explaining Japanese culture to me through the food. I resisted at first, but his drunkeness was cute and non-threatening, and he was pushy, and who am I to refuse the windfall of a chance hands-on class on Japanese food culture? Kingyo's positive energy was everywhere, and they happily welcomed this drunken old man like their own each night, pouring more red wine into his glass, as he set about to educate me about Japan. Although I've once lived in a Japanese home in Osaka for six weeks, and I've been enthralled with the cuisine since my first sushi experience at 12, I still managed to learn new things from this stranger this strange evening. It played out like my very own personal food version of the Karate Kid (except for some weird male-female dynamic that I was trying to avoid).

"Take the beef tongue off the hot rock now, Daniel-san...Beef tongue on, beef tongue off...Here are the three salts...This is sansho. Try it...No, you eat the prawn's head. It is only good part. You eat it. Yes, eat the eyeballs. All of it."

"Okay, Drunken Mr. Miyagi"

Eating the deep fried prawn head (only after insisting Drunken Mr. Miyagi eat one first), trying sansho mindfully, learning about the special rock needed for the hot rock dish, and really thinking about the pickled ginger cleansing my palate between different types of sushi and sashimi to be able to appreciate each sushi piece were all revelations for me that evening. He watched me intensely each time I tried something, which made me a bit nervous, and he even got on my nerves when he was telling me I needed a man, but in the end was just a harmless old divorced man who drowns out the loneliness four - five nights a week who told me how happy he was that night because he met me, and asked nothing from me, other than my company and the opportunity to share his culture. It was one of those cool little odd experiences that usually happen when you're travelling in a strange town, and this little restaurant is almost enough to make you feel like you've travelled to some far away place. It was also fun because I so rarely get to play the Daniel-san role in a restaurant, and most naturally revert to the Miyagi role of introducing other people to my finds, and they ask me food questions with the assumption that I am the wise one and I know the answers.

My last visit at this restaurant was a really delightful one, where I excitely introduced Captain Pickled Herring to the place. We sat at the communal table with the bamboo in between. It's a very functional design element - enough bamboo to feel not too exposed and have a sense of privacy, but because it is all one table, other diners tend to talk to you and recommend things to eat.

We had a stone bowl dish because I love that crusty effect when the rice sits for a while on the hot stone bowl. We had their delicious negitoro sushi ($6.80 for three pieces), some salmon sashimi, and a nice mixed shredded veggie tempura. The meal was full of the excitement of new experiences and possibilities. Seeing the place through new eyes made me appreciate the details more and reminded me how special certain touches are. I think I've been enjoying the hot towel custom any time it happens, but maybe I've started to take it for granted. And I've gotten too used to the whole crew yelling welcomes and thank yous upon entering and exiting.

There is never a shortage of items to order, and there is a full page of specials too. On my first visit, I was told they had some fresh tai (snapper) that they recommended. Tai isn't usually an item that gets me that excited, but it wasn't until that day that I realized how good it can actually be. It must have been the freshest tai I had ever had. It really blew my mind that I could still experience something new like that, considering the amount and quality of sushi I've had in my life. I also had their pretty sashimi trio, served on a half bamboo stalk, garnished with Japanese maple leaves ($14). The presentation of their food is amazing, and the cute little goldfish logo (Kingyo means goldfish, and is a recurring image in Japanese art) can pop up delightfully as a little carved carrot garnish. Their cocktails are fun, and they have a Japanese children's soda that comes in a special bottle, which is served with grown-up vodka. I like their fruits icecube sangria ($6.50) and their lychee cocktail. When Bac'n Girl and I went, we wanted to order everything on the menu. We managed to narrow it down to six dishes, and got out of there at a very reasonable $62 (after tax, before tip, including a cocktail and tea). The prices are quite good, really (despite what you might read from diners on another site). There is a bibimbap stone bowl dish ($7.20) in addition to the unagi rice one. Their chicken kara-age ($6.80) is the thinking diner's chicken kara-age, with its accompanying three types of salts to taste and discern. Pork cheek ($6.80) was delicious. And of course, we just couldn't resist ordering their "famous invicible and undefeated Tan-tan noodle" ($8.80). Don't worry about it being overhyped - theirs is a delicious rendering of the Shanghainese dish.

If you go and there's a wait, get on the list, leave your cell phone number if you have one, go on a little walk, and come back. Or practice catching flies with chopsticks. You don't run into a place like this every day. A restaurant like this is worth the wait.

Best Vancouver Restaurant Name Ever - Gastropod!

Anyone who knows me knows that not only am I obsessed with food, but I'm also obsessed with invertebrates (more commonly known as "bugs") and all things zoology related. Gastropod means stomach foot, and is the name of the wonderful group of animals that includes the beloved snails in the French dish, escargot. It's my favourite restaurant name ever, I think. However, escargot is not my favourite gastropod ever. That spot is taken (at least for the moment) by the stunningly awkward creature called the Dromedary Jumping-slug (Hemphillia dromedarius). Yes, to me, the key word here is "jumping." Imagine in the depths of the Vancouver Island forests, a very rare (rare enough to be considered BC species at risk) hump-backed brownish slug, that sort of flails about quite vigorously to evade predators (do check out the slow-motion action on the video clip). This animal is so marvelously weird, you'd think I'd have made it up. But no, they're out there. Anyhow, I digress. This blog is about Vancouver restaurants, and perhaps you might be more interested in Gastropod the restaurant (1938 W. 4th Avenue, between Maple and Cypress St., 604- 730-5579), rather than various writhing or non-writhing slimy beings.

Okay, so onto some photos taken in August 2007 when Bleuet came into town. A Bleuet visit means one thing in particular to me - some good eating is going to happen! This woman can out food/wine-geek me! And that is a lot of fun. So after this great group meal at Gastropod with really fabulous food from Chef Angus An, and great atmosphere, I figured I'd be going back soon, but it has yet to happen, so I'm posting my first visit photos now...and maybe some Nancylanders out there can pipe up about their more recent Gastropod experiences. So here's to eating with your eyes (and not many notes because it was just too long ago)...

I'm still a fan of foam, and this one was really tasty, covering yummy chanterelles.

A Foie Gras dish (ordered by some of the others)

The Scene, with my red wine flight in the middle

Pork Trio

Halibut

How Hip People Eat Black Forest Cake

Molten Centre Cake Before

Molten Centre Cake After

Gelées for Everyone

Latino Love

I've been on something of a Latino kick for the last half year or so; taking a Spanish language community centre course, falling in love with Spain, and going on a pilgrimage through central Mexico to see the overwintering Monarch butterflies have all contributed.

I used to eat flour tortillas once in a while before all this, but now I have a huge stack of yellow corn tortillas sitting in my fridge, and I'm discovering that practically everything tastes good with them. Last night it was merguez (spicy lamb) sausage from Oyama, with organic kale buds fresh from the farm, avocado bits, and rice, for example. This morning, it was fresh eggs picked up at a Langley farm where I could see the chickens walking about. Having seen them with my own eyes, free run might be overstating it...more like free milling, but at any rate, they were delicious eggs.

Of course, the tortillas here and whatever I stuff in them just doesn't compare to the experience of getting blue corn tortillas freshly made in front of me with a hand press at a little stand at the base of a Mexican mountain before a hike up to the huddle of fir trees "drenched" with masses of Monarchs who have had their own amazing journey across the continent. Those blue tortillas filled with just queso and flor de calabaza (cheese and squash blossoms), accompanied by the much needed cup of coffee, and combined with the clean, chilly fresh air of the early morning and the anticipation of the sight that we had travelled so far to see, it was the ultimate breakfast and the best meal I had on the trip.

Blue Corn Kernels

The Masa

So the tortillas have a lot to do with just reminding me of this great trip. And this has affected my restaurant choices lately too. I've gone to an unremarkable Mexican restaurant off Marine Drive (near Granville), that's not really good enough to mention (however there is one on Granville that isn't bad). I continue to enjoy the El Salvadorean fare from Rinconcito Salvadoreno (2062 Commercial Dr., between 4th and 5th Avenue, 604-879-2600).

And Baru (2535 Alma St., just south of Broadway, 604-222-9171) recently got bumped up on my list of restaurants to try. Just one visit so far, but I enjoyed the atmosphere, service, and the food. I went for drinks and appetizers with Wine-o, and the food was fine, but not spectacular (say, like Lolita's, though I don't really like going there because it's so slow). Shown in the photo below are the dishes we chose. We had their Baru Ceviche ($12) which had large, firm chunks of shrimp and halibut, with fresh lemon juice, avocado, tomatoes, onion and cilantro. I really enjoyed this. The Octopus Tiradito ($12), very thinly sliced octopus with fresh lemon juice, had a nice texture. Latin Chips were crispy, thin, fried cassava, yam and plantain chips served with three salsas. I thought the Latin Empanadas, three little corn turnovers filled with beef, were pretty tasty.

I also had an interesting drink from their cocktail list called the Pisco Sour ($9), made of pisco, blended with egg white & fresh lime, producing a white frothy drink. I'm a big fan of tequila, and a snifter of premium tequila served as dessert. Although it was a bit of a splurge, I was tempted because they had a brand I hadn't tried before and probably isn't available in the LCB. Even if it were available, I'm not likely to pay over $100 for a bottle of something I'm not even sure I like. The 4 copas ($18), was pleasantly sweet, full bodied, and fragrant, but a bit on the harsh side for me. I enjoyed the experience, but I'm still on the lookout for the perfect tequila.

There are a number of interesting main dishes ($18 - 20) on the menu, as well as other interesting sounding items. The room is cosy and modern, and the place was packed by the time we left, even though it was the middle of the week. I would go back. I might check out the live music on Tuesdays, and their main dishes.

Service Superstar

Generally, I take a lot of dining risks. I like to try new places all the time, and I understand how variable dining experiences can be for even the restaurant who has everything down. There are busy nights, being short-staffed, personal emergencies, overworked staff, and all sorts of things that can suddenly go wrong. So everyone deserves to be cut a little slack on occassion. But there are also times when I want to make sure that I am going to have great service. Maybe I'm treating myself after a rough week at work, and I'm just not in the mood to risk having my meal ruined by some snarky or oblivious waiter. Where do I turn for sure-fire great service? Hotel restaurants. Fine hotels are a shrine to good service - it's a core part of the product that they provide, from the moment you check in, to housekeeping, and right down to their dining establishments. It's definitely a priority, and on top of that they also need to be able to impress an international and very particular clientele. Therefore, you wind up having an establishment in town that meets the highest service standards in the world, rather than doing just enough to appease the laid-back locals. There is likely some sort of formal training program in place, and all the details of the craft of fine dining service are imparted to all the staff. Incidentally, hotels are also a great place to find a clean washroom, especially when you are sightseeing in a town and doing a lot of walking.

The other easy sure-fire good service option, besides hotel restaurants, is to find a good authentic Japanese restaurant, because you're just not likely to find a snarky server in a Japanese restaurant. It can be a less formal experience (for example, it doesn't involve bringing you all sorts of cutlery throughout the meal), but can be just as detail-oriented.

So who's my service superstar for this post? A gentleman at the downtown Hyatt's Mosaic Bar and Grill (655 Burrard Street at Georgia St., 604-639-4770). I didn't get his name, but he is an older Chinese gentleman with glasses who is a true professional server. I'm certain he takes pride in a job well done. The other benefit of hotel restaurants is that many tourists staying at the hotel come dressed in various outfits, so service is not dependent on what you wear, at least not at this hotel. The menu at Mosaic is also very interesting, with plenty of dishes that sound good to eat. I had their tasting menu, and in particular enjoyed their butter-poached lobster starter and the amuse bouche that evening - a hot, creamy potato-y soup served in a shot glass. The environment is quite soothing, with low lighting, comfy chairs and big windows overlooking the city street-scene of Burrard. There is also a more casual lounge side which would be a nice spot for a relaxing drink. I don't hear too many people speaking about this restaurant, but I think their menu is really nicely put together, and wish I could provide a link to it, but they don't have it posted on the website. They have a Sunday brunch buffet ($35) menu posted though, which sounds great. Obviously, fine dining in hotel restaurants can cost quite a bit, but if it's well done, I think it's well worth it. Drop in for a cocktail and an appy for a lower cost version of the treat.

The Joy of All Day Breakfast

The Thorn Tree Cafe (3204 Dunbar St. at 16th Avenue, 604-737-2577) is one of those little restaurants that I wish was on my block, so I could wander down, bleary-eyed and be treated to a comforting breakfast and a copy of the newspaper any time I want. I stopped by for a great plate of breakfast at lunch time the other day. It's quaint and comfortable, with simple wood furniture, and a great breakfast menu complete with a few benny's for about $8-9. I had the standard two-egg breakfasts (about $5-6) and I really liked their chunky "hash browns." There's a Spanish influence here, and hot sauce is brought to the table with the ketchup. The coffee was good. The poached eggs were the type that are made in the mold, rather than in boiling water, but it was still tasty, so no biggie. It's a simple place - exactly what I want in a neighbourhood breakfast joint.

Restaurant Types at Risk - Cart-style Dim Sum

Restaurants are as susceptible to the whims of fashion as skirt lengths and those poor little Mexican dogs, and Vancouver sees its share of trends. Of course as trends come, they must go eventually, and I want to lament the demise of a couple of my favourite restaurant types. It seems that the dim sum cart is a dying breed, giving way to the presumably less labour-intensive dim sum method of marking off your choices on a printed list to order from a server, who brings your choices directly back to you. With this checklist method, you don't get the feisty dim sum cart waitresses yelling out their items as they santer around the room with their towers of steam baskets. You don't get to peruse the array of food before making your choices. Sometimes, to convince you which item to get, a waitress will lift up the top of the steam basket to show you the contents. You don't get to eyeball your favourite item winding its way around the crowded room until it gets to you. And you don't get to just point and point and point at whatever delights you. And you don't get to eat a little, chat a little, evaluate your hunger, eat a little more, and re-evaluate, and so on. With the ordering by checklist, it feels like you must plan out the whole meal ahead of time, which to me, is so not in the spirit of a leisurely dim sum experience.

But today, I visited Harbour Pacific Chinese Seafood Restaurant (4524 E. Hastings, at Willingdon, southeast corner, in Burnaby, 604-294-8059) and they were kickin' it old school with their dim sum. I was quite pleased with it overall, and a good variety of items came out, all on carts, at a nice rate, especially for a holiday Monday about noonish. They were nicely busy, but there wasn't a wait for a table. We didn't eat any ha gow or other similar dumplings, which tend to be a handy measuring stick with which to compare dim sum places. However, everything we had seemed to be of good quality on this one visit. We had deep fried tofu stuffed with shrimp and served with black bean sauce to dip (a nice touch, as opposed to just slopping it all over the crispy tofu, risking premature sogginess). They served some nice pieces of gai lan as garnish for their rice roll stuffed with beef. Their cha sui pastry and cha sui baked buns were great. The beef tendon and chicken feet were good. They had a steamed garlic fish dish that was quite nice, and a little unusual. And we had some nice coconut jelly. I think we got out of there for about $22 for three people. So this place basically fulfilled my dim sum wish list. The carts and food variety are important, as well as good execution of classics (I have to have rice rolls), and a few unusual or unique items. The place has baroque style chairs which are pleasingly slightly out of place, and the service is very friendly (at least with my parents around). The women pushing the carts were also pushing some of the food- i.e. making their recommendations, which I find charming and reminds me of old dim sum times. I'm sure there are more cart dim sum restaurants around, so let me know your favourites.

The other dying restaurant type that I'm sad to see go is the old Chinese Canadian flashback to the 70's diner. Usually it is a Chinese family who run a diner with all-day breakfasts, and typical diner fare like burgers and fish and chips, but who also put up Chinese dishes like chow mein and stir fries. Is it racist for me to say you can count on Chinese people to make a mean plate of fish and chips or fry an egg properly? And there's just something so comforting to me about eating a good plate of chow mein while sitting on duct-taped repaired vinyl booth seating. Don't ask me why. It just works for me.

Perhaps some sort of recovery program could be put started to ensure that we have these restaurant styles for generations to come. Can you imagine them disappearing from Vancouver for good?

Relaxed Fine Dining...No, I don't mean Earl's!

Hitting an atypical balance between full service, casual comfort, and serving food that is worth eating (even when you're watching your calorie count), Senova (1864 West 57th Avenue, just east of West Boulevard, about five blocks west of Granville, 604-266-8643) has become one of my favourite Vancouver restaurants. People from the neighbourhood come dressed in jeans (and some are dressed up), and sit nestled in the warm wood-covered surroundings, and get the sort of service you would find in any other stuffier fine dining establishment. And all the fine dining details are there - like a great bread basket served with butter. It's really nice bread, served generously. They even give you a delicious little plate of marinated olives too. It's very Vancouver to me - dressed down, with it's open kitchen and homey feel, but with fantastic flavours and perfect service. Service and decor are warm and inviting like a big spoonful of honey in a hot cup of tea.

They serve food from the Iberian peninsula - Spanish and Portugese. I've been there a few times, and I would have nearly everything again. Pillowy soft salt cod fritters ($9) with a thin crisp outside shell are served with a thin fiesty piri piri. I've had these twice, and the first time they were really dreamy. For those who can't handle the heat, don't worry, there are plenty of dishes for you. Sunday was prime rib day (though this may change), and it's a straight ahead dish with some nice veggies. I've had the caldo verde with chorizo ($8), a tasty potato and kale soup, and an excellent grilled squid dish smothered in capers and other yummy bits. If you see the squid dish, I highly recommend it. They also fillet their sardines, and those are great too, served with a tapenade and sweet peppers ($9). I had their pork and clams, and it was so tasty. Some of the pork cubes seemed dry and some were really succulent. They all looked pretty uniform in size, so I'm not too sure how this happens unless different cuts of pork get tossed in. But the whole combination was just so tasty, it's a minor quibble. It's a surprisingly generous portion for an appetizer, and I'm starting to give myself a craving just remembering the dish. I enjoyed their version of the classic tomato salad as well - goat cheese instead of bocconcini, with tomato, greens, and a balsamic vinagrette. I've had more appetizers than mains (in the spirit of tapas), but Bac'n girl enjoyed her duck breast and duck confit main. And I've enjoyed their prime rib. Main courses run about $25-32, I think, but you can choose from any of their dishes for a $35 three-course meal or $45 for a four-course meal (with a small upgrade for certain dishes). They'll do wine pairings too, but I always find myself driving to this restaurant. For dessert, I have had a fantastic warm chocolate bread pudding that they make with their cornbread, and Bac'n girl and I have had a dessert trio as well, which was fun to try, but I remember truly enjoying just one of the three. I think the favourite was a cheesecake, and the meringue was fine, and then there was a brulée. I would go for the bread pudding over any crème brulée dessert, as I'm a bit of a stickler for a super thin sugar crust. I happen to be a fan of bread pudding in general though, but theirs was memorable. The trio changes though, so it's worth asking about.

There are still dishes on the menu that I want to try. And apparently there's paella day and roasted suckling pig day too. They're also open for lunch most days of the week. I honestly think it's one of the most underrated restaurants around the city, but they seem to have always have a steady stream of people in there, probably from the surrounding neighbourhood, as their name (good neighbour, in Portugese) suggests. It would be a great stop on the way home with an out-of-town guest who has just flown in at YVR. I also think it's worth the trip if you just want to go for a nice dinner somewhere. At least there's free parking.

I first went to this restaurant after I came home from my first and only trip to Europe, which was mostly spent falling in love with Spanish food. I really think that we should have more Spanish restaurants in town, especially with the abundance of seafood available here. Senova is a good start though.

Junk Food Wars!

I have an idea for the ultimate potluck party: ultimate junk food inventions! Everyone should bring some ultimate junk food creation, with prizes for Creativity, and Best Taste. Maybe some random prize categories should be added, such as Most Complex, Best Food on a Stick, and Best Use of a Pork Product. I was inspired by a couple of posts I found on the internet. First, I saw a picture of the tornado potato, a whole potato, spiral cut, stuck on a stick, and deep fried...and dusted with cheesy powder, of course. This is apparently a fairly recent addition to the Korean street food scene, which is rife with all manner of junk food on a stick. I think it's brilliance on a stick; that's what I think! Then at the end of the article, it mentioned deep-fried Coca Cola! Apparently it was served at the Texas State Fair, and involves coke batter, deep-fried, topped with coke syrup drizzle, whipped cream, and a cherry. This is exactly the type of thing we need our best minds to be working on! What sort of junk food creativity has caught your eye recently?

Giving Me the Chicken Eye

Okay, this is just for any of you long time Nancylanders: The chicken's eye was closed. I'm sure you all needed to know that. No chicken eye this Chinese New Year's, yay! It's looking like a good year already, I guess! And it's my year too! That's right. Rat, and proud of it. Too bad I don't believe in astrology, because I quite like being both a rat and a scorpio.

Name That Vancouver Restaurant #8 - A New Favourite Restaurant

When I started this blog, I decided to list my current favourite restaurant in my profile section, and let myself change it whenever the whim struck me, and I was particularly pleased with a restaurant. I feel a whim coming on. So let's pull out everyone's favourite Nancyland Game (yes, it's the only Nancyland Game), Name That Vancouver Restaurant! This little "new (relatively) neighbourhood" restaurant serves food from the Iberian Peninsula. It's owned by someone known for his romantic French restaurant, but hales from Portugal himself. Let's see how long it takes for someone to "Name That Vancouver Restaurant!"

I'll also document my past blog favourites here, and when they randomly held the esteemed spot. They tend to be places I have a desire to go back to over and over again. The exception was Rare, as I never got the chance to go back to it (and changes have taken place since then, so I can only really talk about that one great time).

January 2005 - October 2005: Guu with Garlic (15 + visits)

October 2005 - November 2006: Yuji's Japanese Tapas (10 + visits)

November 2006 - January 2008: Rare (only based on one visit. Still a regular at Yuji's)

January 2008 - ?: *Today's Mystery Restaurant* (2 visits so far)

Southern Barbecue Roundup

Having spent a few years in the American Deep South, I have a deep affection for that regional style of barbecue, where the meat is slow cooked for hours from indirect heat. Actually, it probably didn't take years for the fondness to develop. It was more of a love at first bite thing. A group dinner at Migz (2884 West Broadway, just west of MacDonald St., 604-733-3002) prompted me to try this place, and I was certainly excited at the prospect of another place in Vancouver to get my beloved barbecue. Memphis Blues brought barbecue to Vancouver. I tried Dix barbecue in Yaletown once, was terribly disappointed with food, service and atmosphere, and continued to return to Memphis (both the Commercial and Broadway locations). Well, it's back to Memphis again for me. The dinner at Migz was organized to catch their Dine Out Vancouver menu. I'm not a big DOV fan, but I will give them credit and say they did a nice job of making their Dine Out menu a good bargain. Migz was in full sports bar mode that night, with a blaring hockey game that made it difficult to hear each other, and resulted in a hoarse voice for me at the end of the evening (though the waitress was kind of enough to turn down the sound in our corner for us when someone asked). There was heavy rock mixed in with the game at some points. I will give them credit though - we all felt like we got a good deal for our $15 (for Dine Out) including a small salad -mine was actually dressed really nicely with a sweet, fruity vinagrette, a plate of two side dishes and either pulled pork or a handful of ribs, and a small piece of pie. The pie was great. I chose the pecan pie, and it was served with a little whipped cream. (I don't think I've ever met a pecan pie I didn't like though). The ribs were fine (but not something to write home about) and the pulled pork was watery and not very flavourful. There wasn't any extra sauce on the tables (a standard down south), and they were kind of skimpy with it on our plates. I would not have pulled pork there again. The room was packed with the young, loud, beer-drinking sports bar crowd, which I might actually tolerate if the food were worth going back for. Not this time. For those looking for cheap drinks, their highball special of $3.95 was a good deal that night. Service was great. I'm sure the restaurant will do just fine. But it's hard to compete with a place like Memphis Blues and their beautiful Elvis platter. I won't be back to Migz.

Another Great Restaurant Bites the Dust

Waaaaa. My favourite neighbourhood sushi place will be closing down, after 25 years. I've mentioned Sakae, at the corner of Alberni and Thurlowe before. It's a little secret gem, tucked underground and out of sight that had sushi and authentic dishes with just a bit higher quality than the myriad of Japanese restaurants surrounding it, out in the open. They also had this amazing dinner set of $25 that included clam miso soup, big bowl of rice with topping (some chopped salmon bits), fantastic sashimi (or sushi or something else, depending on which set you choose), fancy cold appetizers, black cod (aka sablefish), soba noodles, pickles, some sort of seaweed dish, and chawanmushi. This place had great quality food that just went that extra bit. For example, they grated fresh horseradish into their wasabi, giving it a bright and fragrant quality. It looks like the couple that own it have just decided to retire, now that their lease is coming to an end. Their last day is January 31st, and it was closed on Sunday night when I found it was closing by the note posted on their door. I'm going to try visiting before the last day and I'll miss it a lot.

Tomato Fresh Food Café in Kits

After travelling through Mexico for twelve days exploring the fascinating cuisine of that country while being careful to not get sick from contaminated water, I was all too ready for a restaurant with a vegetable (okay, fruit) in it's name, as well as the word "fresh." After all the spicey goodness, fried thingies, loads of meat and cheese and tortillas and sour cream, all I really wanted was a big salad. So, having been a bit out of it lately, I discovered that Tomato Fresh Food Café (2486 Bayswater Street, at Broadway, 604-874-6020) had moved to Kits, (incidentally, perfectly close to the Hollywood theatre which has great double features). I feel badly for all those Cambie Street businesses that have been suffering due to the construction, and I'm glad that Tomato is alive and well. I was also happy to visit after they've had a chance to adjust to the new location.

The new place is a big (really big!), open, comfy space with pleasant lighting and has at least one exceptional server. I'm not sure how the others were, but the one waiter we had was perfect. He was enthusiastic, prompt, refilled our water glasses, and was exceptionally polite. For example, my dining companion asked for the "cream brulée", and I watched as the server quickly stifled the urge to repeat "crème brulée" to avoid correcting him. I also saw that he was checking on us throughout the dinner, yet trying not to be obtrusive or interrupt conversation. He even automatically refilled our bread basket without asking if we needed more. (For those of you thinking this is a given, I once had a waiter at O'Doul's who had the audacity to ask me if I wanted more bread or do I want to skip the empty filler. He made some other comment later about restraint with dessert, I think too. If I wanted to be nagged about my weight or my eating habits, I'll just go to a nutritionist or a doctor. That's not what I pay for when I go to a restaurant!). To be honest, I would go back simply because the service was so good. I also talked to a very pleasant woman on the phone when I called ahead to see if I should make a reservation. However, I was greeted by one of the other servers, and I suspect that I was lucky and wound up getting the best server that evening.

I enjoyed my meal, including a Raspberry Ma Ma, one of their two cocktail specials for the night. It was something that I was expecting to be on the syrupy sweet side, but turned out to be quite the "grown-up" cocktail, and very nice. It was early, so quite quiet in the big restaurant, and perfect for conversation with my friend, Hamburglar.



I had this yummy starter dish of veggies: roasted tomatoes, long stem artichoke hearts, grilled asparagus with feta, hazelnut oil and grainy mustard dressing ($9).

Then I had more veggies: The Westcoaster is a dish of warmed Indian candy smoked salmon, sweet peppers, organic celebration greens and goat cheese, tossed in maple balsamic dressing ($15). I polished it all off and enjoyed it, but it is a dish of sweet upon sweet upon sweet, so it is probably not for all tastes. The maple balsamic glaze is a bit cloying, so I think I would have enjoyed a little bit of lightness or acidity to counter the sweetness of the salmon and sweet peppers, but I should have expected it with the description. I really liked the chewy Indian candy.

Hamburglar's cannelloni stuffed with ruby chard, ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan baked in a savoury tomato sauce ($17, or $19 with chorizo). I had a taste of the sauce, and it seemed quite nice and bright with lots of fresh basil.

I had the warm, upside-down pineapple cake with vanilla gelato or sorbet. It was pleasing enough. The crème brulée was very nice.

Had I not been veggie-crazy that night, I certainly would have gone for their tuna special or their free-range chicken, or the bouillabaise or their antibiotic and hormone free beef tenderloin. My salmon dish had the Ocean Wise stamp, and it's nice to see a restaurant be mindful of these things, as well as supporting fresh local products and organic farmers. I've heard a couple of times what a good value this place is, but dinner prices don't seem that low to me, with the meat mains ranging from $23 - 28. However, I think they have a $28 three course special (possibly the tuna on the fresh sheet when I went - I didn't pay too much attention). Oh, and the bread basket to start you off was quite good. They also has a good-sized wine list. So while it has a casual feel, it has the details of a fancier place, so the prices definitely feel fair. But it's not cheap. It strikes me as a nice safe date restaurant for early on. I should note that my dining companion was sick later that night, but I was fine. This place is also open breakfast and lunch. I can definitely imagine it being a popular brunch spot.

I Miss Summer!

Remember the days of sitting on a seaside patio sipping a crisp white wine, and eating seasonal local produce like heirloom tomatoes, while the sun leisurely sets itself down in a clear sky? I can't wait for those warm summer evenings! I love that the days keep getting longer. Here are some photos of a summer meal on the Nu (1661 Granville Street, just under the bridge on the Concord Pacific side of False Creek, 604-646-4668) patio to remind you what it was like. I had an heirloom tomato and longbeen salad with a little shaved fennel, a big bowl of mussels with a really nice glass of white wine I wish I could remember, and this lovely fresh cherry tart with black pepper sorbet. I remember stellar service, complete with competent wine recommendation, and a cosy little lap blanket to keep me warm as the sun set next to the Granville Island view.

Simple and Beautiful - Heirloom Tomato Salad

Cherry Tart with Black Pepper Sorbet

This dessert was delicious, though quite different from the brilliant mini desserts that were originally on the menu. I really enjoyed the black pepper sorbet with the rich cherry tart. And something that doesn't happen too often these days for me - I actually had a hard time choosing because several desserts on the menu piqued my interest. I really enjoy the little service details at Nu too, such as their regular coffee coming in a cute silver pot, giving you several cups of coffee. This was a spur of the moment quick meal that renewed my faith in Nu. Now if we could only get them to take that damn music off their website.

Expectations

I was thinking about expectations today, and I'm starting to think one way to have real success is to set up people to have relatively low expectations, and then surprise them by exceeding them. I've talked about this before in several posts, including my experience at the very casual (and now closed) Lucky Diner where the food quality and service really knocked my socks off because of how casual the restaurant was. The photo above is another example. It's the "portabello" brunch dish at Lift Restaurant in Coal Harbour. They highlight the portabello mushroom in the menu description, and make it the star of the dish. But then the dish comes, and you have this bounty of fresh seafood surrounding the single mushroom cap, and some nice little potato pancakes, and suddenly you're thinking "Wow, look at all the seafood!" It's quite a nice dish, and you can't beat the view on a sunny day, but be warned that the service was just so-so when I went on a weekend afternoon a few months ago. The hostess initially tried to stick me at the bar because I was alone, even though there were tables, and I had a hard time flagging down a server to even take my order, and managed to only flag down the other server two times when I needed one, rather than the one assigned to my table. Good service at the fine dining level usually means not having to "flag" someone down at all, and at the most, it should just take a bit of eye contact.

Expectations are also set by what you receive at other surrounding restaurants. I wasn't even consciously aware that I was getting used to a certain amount of underlying snobbiness in fine dining service until I walked into Senova for the first time, and was pleasantly and warmly greeted by the host, given my pick of tables, and checked on throughout the meal by the server and the host. That meal was a success because they exceeded my low expectations based on my recent experiences at other restaurants. I ate out constantly in Spain, Italy and France on my trip for a couple of weeks, and never ran into the service problems that I've had here...not even in the simplest places there, and they don't even work for tips there, plus they had to deal with a tourist that didn't even speak their mother tongue. I really think we could do better here.

I am aware that I am a person prone to having high expectations in a lot of areas of my life. Right now, I'm realizing that sometimes it's nice to have slightly lower expectations, and to just be mellow and enjoy things for what they are. But around the corner, there's usually a pleasant surprise waiting. Here's to getting your expectations exceeded.