On a particularly lazy day when we did not deserve to dine out, Lil Sis and I went to Shoppers Drug Mart near her place and the old-looking Il Fornello looked appetizing. There are several locations around town and with seven locations around GTA, we were going to try it sometime so why not that evening? We went in almost resolved to order just one dish to sate our appetite for Italian food but the prices were not too bad and who wants to cook the other half of dinner when we get back anyways??

We ordered the linguini salmone with smoked salmon, peas, and lemon tarragon sauce. I had recently had a taste of smoked salmon and wanted more. The cream sauce was good but a touch too thick. Lil Sis ordered the fichi pizza with marscapone, proscuitto, figs, shaved grana padano, honey, and arugula. She was trying to decide between two pizzas, wary that this one might miss the mark but it was “her risk” so I pushed for the “weirder” one. And it turned out really fantastic! It was a divine pizza with the tastiest combination of toppings. Who would have thought that?

Downtown Toronto location at 214 King Street West (at University)

Alice Fazooli’s (Markham)

One evening, Lil Sis was jonesing for a big box restaurant meal. It’s not often she requests that at all and I was excited for what we might get to try! There is a “plaza” at 404 and Highway 7 with an embarrassment of big box restaurants including The Keg, Jack Astors, Destiny Teahouse, Marlowe’s, Caffe Demettre, and some Malaysian place to name the ones I can remember. The Keg was too much of a treat, Destiny didn’t offer what she wanted, and Marlowe’s has scary signage so we tried out Alice Fazooli’s which has four other locations around GTA.

There was something about the description that Lil Sis and I both ended up getting the Salsiccia dishes (one pizza and one past). Salsiccia is Niagara Berkshire pork sausage so perhaps we wanted to have a taste of the wine country. The Pizza Salsiccia was topped with the sausage, fresh Niagara artisanal mozzarella, chili oil, basil, arugula, and lemon. The pasta was very pedestrian, a ragu with the sausage, spinach, and roasted tomatoes. Instead, both entrees were underwhelming (the pizza just a little less so) and overly salty. Sausage’s fault or kitchen’s fault?

Downtown Toronto location at 294 Adelaide Street West (at John)

Me Va Me (Vaughan)

When we were up at Bathurst and 16th, Lil Sis pointed out Me Va Me as a restaurant she went to with Big Uncle and our cousin Warner. They went to an older location and I salivated at the sight of the shiny new location serving up Arabic cuisine.

What should two little girls order to maximize what they try yet also be budget conscious? We decided on ordering a trio of dipping sauces, selecting green eggplant salad, matbuha, and a marinated mushroom salad. Of course the button mushrooms were tasty and we ate all those up with the pita bread provided. Mathuba consists of cooked tomatoes and roasted red bell peppers. It was nice, but I found I didn’t like it so much in such quantities. To be different, we ordered the green eggplant instead of the more popular baba ganoush and that was our downfall. Cilantro was not listed as an ingredient but it was definitely there and we couldn’t eat it.

We also ordered the grill delight with a skewer each of lamb, tenderloin, chicken thigh, and chicken breast. While the lamb was chewy, the tenderloin was really delicious, tender, and juicy. It’s a good bet if you had to pick just one type of meat!

Panera Bread (Richmond Hill)

I have loved Panera Bread since learning about it in 2005 ahead of my trip to L.A with Lil Sis. It’s so pedestrian for Americans but “exotic” for me such that I was excited to introduce NPY to Panera at Northgate near Seattle. The only way to kick it out of my system was to have easy access to it, in Canada! There are four locations in GTA, one of them in Toronto at 322 Yonge Street, but I was visiting the Richmond Hill one.

Besides their great bakery (like breakfast souffles), I love their Pick 2 combos and just before I would not longer have telecommuting days to spend at Panera, they advertised a great sounding combo: roasted turkey artichoke panini with mac ‘n’ cheese as a deluxe side. I almost balked at the $12 price tag for “soup ‘n’ sandwich” but softened a little when I was reminded that their own label of kettle chips is included. I found the panini to be overwhelmed by the other roasted vegetables and not the artichoke. The mac ‘n’ cheese was a nice sized portion and had a bold taste and fancy tasting ingredients.

Downtown Toronto location at 322 Yonge Street (at Edward, north of Dundas)

Druxy’s (in the PATH)

I remember Druxy’s from when it was the closest place to go eat when I was working at Ericsson in Mississauga… over fifteen years ago. It has changed a lot since then, a sandwich and smoked meat shop where I would get bagels and seen better times and toughed out the leaner times. I’m still impressed by their presence around downtown Toronto these days and love their reliable offering.

At Druxy’s they challenge you to try as many of their 40 salad toppings as you can when you get a design your own salad and I like how, unlike the sandwich shops nearby, they don’t charge extra for “fancy” toppings like avocado and tofu. Their smallest salad is $6 and they really pack in the toppings and toss the salad evenly with your dressing of choice. For me, it’s a meal with ample leftovers.

Vina alerted me to their design your own grilled cheese where you can get a basic grilled cheese for around $2 but you can changed the bread or cheese and add ingredients like vegetables and meats for extra. I love getting their eggy challah bread and you can have breakfast-for-lunch with a slice of sausage in your grilled cheese!

Red Lobster (Richmond Hill)

In early November, Lil Sis and I had cause to celebrate and we eschewed a celebratory dinner at The Keg for one at Red Lobster. We had been curious about the kind of reputation RL has north of the border and had been seeing the surf ‘n’ turf advertisements on television. Lil Sis already knew she was going for surf ‘n’ turf was was I going to, too?

We were in on a Monday evening which was very quite at the Richmond Hill location (among 7 in GTA). After we ordered, we were presented with crunchy cheese and scallion scones. They were warm and fluffy and I loved them, hoping dinner would be just as good.

Lil Sis ordered the surf ‘n’ turf consisting of a grilled Maritime lobster and peppercorn sirloin. She thought the steal was somewhat low in quality and the lobster was undercooked. But then there was the matter of my lobster…. Trying to keep things “light”, I ordered the Harbourside Lobster and Shrimp meal with shrimp both on a skewer and in garlic butter, rice pilaf and baked lobster tail. The shrimp were good enough but my lobster was so tough and dry, entirely like nothing I’d ever had before–lobster tail that had sadly been ruined.

Downtown Toronto location 20 Dundas Street West (at Yonge)

Baton Rouge (Toronto)

Oh, I remember my first encounter with Baton Rouge. It was back in 2007 when I visited Ottawa and Mona and I went there for a late night bite. It was before I rigorously photographed everything (new) I ate so I can’t remember what I ordered! With two locations in the heart of the city (and at least six more in GTA, I guess Baton Rouge is Toronto’s Earls, Milestones, and Cactus Club (Earlstone Club?) and you know I’ve eaten at those chain restaurants countless times. And while I personally rank the food at Cactus, then Earls, then Milestones, I just might rate Baton Rouge even worse. Ouch, huh?

We went to Baton Rouge after a night out, ahead of a day at CNE (Vina and Rita, not me) and I went for lunch fare in the form of a pulled pork sandwich with cinnamon apple slices as a side. It just tasted sweet to me and I was disappointed since this is Baton Rouge. The plating was careless and the apple slices were mushy. The best item we ordered, I think, was the Mississippi calamari with Cajun spice.

The chicken tender salad has all the ingredients that please me: fried chicken tenders, mixed greens, croutons, chopped egg, bacon bits, sliced avocado, and marinated hearts of palm and artichokes. I ordered it with honey mustard dressing. The whole thing was embarrassingly massive (I couldn’t finish) and the nutrition content is appalling (970 calories). The chicken tenders were not battered in bread crumbs or the like but a thick batter like you would find on fish & chips. A little too thick, I think. Otherwise it was quite tasty, because it had to be.

Downtown Toronto locations at 277 Front Street West (at CN Tower) and 216 Yonge Street (at Eaton Centre)

Faubourg Paris

As we admired the beautiful bistro area behind the cafe of of Faubourg Paris in Kerrisdale, I was asked how I learned of the place. Well, I don’t recall. When NPY and I couldn’t go to L’Abattoir (new-ish French restaurant in Gastown) and I was in the mood for holiday high tea, it kind of came together. I do believe it was Urbanspoon afterall.

I got a little worried because in the bistro so far at 12:30 were ordering lunch while we were set on trying out their Pink Tea–three girls and NPY because NPY and I like our tea tradition, matching everything we eat. As we got deeper into the afternoon, more of the new tables were also ordering the tea set. I urged NPY to get something warm and so he ordered a lovely, rich cream of mushroom soup.

Here are my thoughts on the Pink Tea items, listed in the order that I ate them!
* passionfruit soufflé we were urged to eat this first or early as it would deflate, so we ate it first. The passionfruit was strong throughout and the texture was really light, porous. A really nice start.
* smoked salmon and wasabi cream I don’t like the idea of flattened bread and wanted to get into this item for which we had two each first. It was okay, not brilliant.
* chicken, apple, country ranch dressing I loved the look of the mini herb-dusted focaccia and enjoyed the bread as much as the creamy chicken salad in between the slices.
* cucumber, roast beef, coriander cream Another beautiful mini loaf but I don’t like roast beef (which almost tasted funny to me) or cucumbers. The coriander cream was barely palpable.
* cranberry scone Nice scone that was dry enough and fluffy enough with tart cranberry bits. I learned I don’t like orange marmalade.
* apple-cinnamon cake We ate this first of the desserts (aside from the soufflé) because it looks so boring and healthy! It was just a couple of bites, rich, moist apple-cinnamon-nutmeg cake or muffin.
* mini passionfruit opera This was a beautiful piece with such delicate layers and passionfruit top layer.
* lemon tart The tart shell was crisp rather than dense and buttery and the lemon custard was not so sweet yet delicious. My measure is whether or not it made my tooth ache! Lovely sugar crystals ringed around the tart provided a sweet crunch.
* chocolate mousse Just scrumptious, rich, dense chocolate mousse topped with light whipped cream.
* parfait A nice tart and refreshing end to our tea!

Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe

Continuing on the French theme, I wanted to try Thierry Patisserie. I heard of it first at Follow Me Foodie and when Lynn Chen visited Vancouver for VAFF, she tried to go but it was too busy. Sometimes I wonder how NPY gets away not knowing about the hottest new places in his own city but he surely won’t forget this one as he commented on how it’s a nice turn for the city with the arrival of places like Thierry and Faubourg, bringing culture, elegance, something truly nice. That means he likes it.

The menu is designed by the executive chef of CinCin so I could console myself that it was like eating there (because I don’t know when I will!). The Quiche Lorraine was packed with mushrooms and bacon but also still creamy. NPY who doesn’t usually like quiche liked it. I think it was the mushrooms and bacon taste!

Then came the difficult choice of what to have for dessert! There are so many choices and a slice of cake runs at least $6. They have a beautiful passionfruit cake but we were at Faubourg (above) just the day before and had two passionfruit desserts. I considered having an opera slice (just like the day before) but it looked the least popular based on there being many slices left. What would both NPY and I like? I heard that people were ordering a chestnut slice (Chinese people!) and I made up my mind to order it but it was sold out! So I settled on macarons–one cranberry and one lime. Why haven’t I seen a pistachio one in a while? The crazy thing about the macarons is that in addition to the sweet jelly layer between the biscuits, there was buttercream! Lime flavoured buttercream in the green one and regular buttercream with a fresh crushed cranberry in the red one. We were smacking our lips and it was a nice size to finish off our meal (which also included an apple turnover, not pictured, and some small madeleine samples).

Kintaro Ramen

Not having found a good ramen place in Toronto (I don’t think they exist), I was adamant about getting ramen in Vancouver. Kintaro (where I have never before been) or Ramen Santouka, the new darling restaurant. When we reached downtown on Friday night at 11 p.m. after I got in, all the ramen shops were closed. It frustrated me. So we tried again three days later on a rainy Boxing Day.

NPY looked worried as I kept putting Kintaro ahead of any of the other shops and Ed and Olive were really great sports. We queued at Kintaro for just about twenty minutes during which time NPY and I wandered around the corner to check out Ramen Santouka. It looked like Santouka wasn’t yet open as there were about 25 people standing outside. Oh, that was the queue for the restaurant. So NPY was resigned to Kintaro. Our orders were taken as we neared the front of the queue and when they could arrange for us to separate but neighbouring two-tops along the wall, we took the offer. It’s not like it was the kind of meal where you linger and have conversation. When we got our seats, the queue for Kintaro was much longer.

NPY seems to have developed an affection for vegetable ramen and orders it where we go. At Kintaro, he got to chose his broth and he went with a milder shio and in medium weight broth. To get the full experience, I ordered the miso ramen in rich broth with fatty (versus lean) barbecued pork slices. To be fair, I did not eat all of the really marbled meat alone, giving NPY half of the pork portion to fatty up his vegetable ramen dish! The rich miso ramen was crazy cloudy and the noodles were just perfect.

Would we go back again? It’s definitely good enough but a little hard to justify the line-up when there are many other stellar ramen shops in the immediate vicinity.

Fatty Cow Seafood Hot Pot

NPY and I laugh about that time back in ’07 or something when we went to hot pot with Andy and Lil Sis right before Lil Sis and I got onto a red eye flight to Halifax where I really wanted to sleep. But wearing constrictive jeans and feeling so full as if I was continuing to expand was very uncomfortable and I moaned about that flight ever since. These days, I fly wearing more comfortable garb and tentatively have hot pot. During the first December Vancouver trip, we had hot pot with our friends in Burnaby at Top Gun. This time, it was NPY’s mother’s birthday and we went to Fatty Cow, a great hot pot addition to Vancouver proper.

There isn’t a great deal to say about their hot pot except it was good, we’d be back. The restaurant is renovated and nice and modern in the dark wood and chrome kind of way. We were a party of eight and they connected two four-tops with a stainless steel connector which I think they often use to accommodate parties more than four. That mean each four-top had their own hot pot pot and they wrote different table numbers on the order sheets but they brought all the food to the other table and we didn’t ever see our vegetables. It was frustrating. We ordered the double soup with clear tofu and nappa cabbage in one half and spicy broth on the other. The spicy was super spicy and we cooked most of our food in the clear broth. Some items I thought were just fine in the spicy broth, like basa fillets, tofu, and vegetables. At the other table, they were not boring at all with tom yum in one half and satay in the other!

Peaceful Restaurant

Now that I’m not in Vancouver for a while, where do I want to go when I go back? Actually, I wanted to try Lin’s on West Broadway which is supposed to have some of the best XLB in town and I also wanted to try their chicken “fen pi” salad. But we were disgruntled and tired after moving all afternoon and Peaceful was a welcome choice. We walked several blocks in my old ‘hood but did not stroll because we wanted to be in and out in an hour… and it started to drizzle a little.

If I had my way, our order would be two of my favourite dishes: potato roll and Shandong noodles. But I didn’t feel like interfering and NPY ordered the tomato and egg noodle that his mother once chided him about (it’s easy for her to make it at home) and in order to make it somewhat novel, I ordered the chicken clear noodle salad.

“Oh,” NPY said, “my mom makes that.” With moist pieces of chicken and perfectly chewy sheets of noodles? With a well-balanced sesame paste, tender spinach, and a sprinkle of chili oil? “Well, no, not the noodles… or the sauce.” I happily chewed on the noodles. Craving satisfied.

Suika Japanese Izakaya

Ack, I should have written my review of this meal earlier, like immediately after the early December trip. Of all the short trips and weekends I was in town, both Kitty and Cari were free and I first suggested Joey’s on Broadway. But it’s loud and generic and I’ve been there countless times. At the last minute, I change the venue to Suika, just a block away and we didn’t look back.

We all agreed upon the deluxe “suika” box which was a lot of fun to pick at. I didn’t like any of the nine dishes overly so it was good it was not too much per portion. Asian kakiage was like the Korean and Japanese omelettes, a little chewy, with pieces of seafood and a lot of cilantro laced in. Fortunately the cilantro did not infuse too much flavour. I felt like this dish desperately needed the dipping sauce because it was quite plain.

When looking over the menu, we decided on the mackerel salad of the salads but I bungled it up and pointed to the mackerel pressed sushi just below it, aburi “shimi-saba” sushi. I was really apologetic because Cari doesn’t really eat sushi but cured mackerel was as good as cooked for her and it turned out to be one of my favourite dishes of the evening. The mackerel was brilliantly marinated and cured and it was a truly flavourful sushi. In the Tokyo oxtail ramen, I wasn’t a big fan of the noodles (just okay) but the broth and meat were delicious!

Cari advocated ordering Chinese poutine and I wasn’t going to argue! Busy talking, we didn’t really get to it until the cheese had hardened again. Spicy ground pork is a nice topping and they had the good taste to use good shoestring fries. Chicken karaage sounded like a good idea but I really have to be wary when they are talked up so much. I wouldn’t normally order it except at all-you-can-eat Japanese and at those places, “chicken karaage” is a chicken wing. And when it is a piece of chicken and battered, it’s supposed to be better? I don’t see the thrill of it.

Egg pudding, asparagus chawan-mushi, is a lovely idea but when I have it, I wonder why I don’t just make it myself (granted, mine is a little grayer and less appetizing loking). It was a smooth, light dish. Finally, we got the matcha brulee to share. People have been blogging and raving and was I going to be disappointed?? No! The frozen matcha custard was like ice cream and I loved the caramelized sugar. With a dollop of whipped cream and red bean sauce, it had all the right essences of Asian dessert tastes and oh-so elegant.

Red Wagon Cafe

Everyone’s talking about this Red Wagon place for brunch that has the pulled pork pancakes so that’s where I arranged for us to have brunch with Franked. They arrived before we did and put their name down. Silly host said it would just be an hour and offered them a mug of hot coffee. We waited for an hour outside on a chilly December morning. At least it wasn’t raining.

I had to order the pulled pork pancakes with sweet barbecued pulled pork layered between thick pancakes. Jack Daniels maple syrup was drizzled over the pancakes and I ran out of the sweet, strong nectar with over a whole pancake left. They would charge me for more JD syrup so I got much less fabulous plain maple syrup. I found the pancakes a little too thick and not fluffy enough. NPY ordered the much more balanced smoked salmon scramble which was made with house smoked salmon.

Petit Four (Commerce Court)

For a few months, Vina raved about the under-200 calorie desserts from Petit Four and little did I know that I would have easy access to this shop in Commerce Court as well!

First, I tried the tiramisu (right) which I thought was just divine and a perfect portion in a 2-oz. glass; they provide the small spoon for small bites. That day, Vina tried the salted chocolate nougatine and reported back it was very good, her favourite so far, so I got it next despite wariness about nougat. The salty pockets were delightful as a salt-lover and the wafers of nougatine were more like chocolate toffee so I’m in agreement. Most recently, I tried the double chocolate ‘n’ cream which had milk chocolate and dark chocolate mousse. It was all topped with light as air whipped cream.

Sushi Q (Commerce Court)

On my way to Far Niente Four to pick up a chilled dessert before picking up a hot lunch, I walked by Sushi Q. Then I backtracked. It’s a sushi stand in the style of pumping out maki rolls in clear containers and placing them in an open, refrigerated bin for you to fetch your own. I mulled between brown rice salmon and brown rice avocado until I saw the “Salmon Lover” combination of salmon-avocado maki (white rice) with two salmon nigiri that pumps up the price. It doesn’t hurt to try it once….

Alas, it was about as poor quality as my iPhone photo. The maki rice was cold and almost hard. The salmon was a few hours from truly tasting off.

Tamarind Indian Kitchen (BCE)

Vina told me about Tamarind so I made the trek to BCE following the PATH signs carefully. She really likes their chicken tikka (not fattening) and they seemed to give her favour and gave her extra on her combination. For my part, I was just a normal customer. Chicken tikka has no sauce so it does not float my boat and so like a normal customer, I got the butter chicken, incidentally the highest priced curry combination and tied with the chicken curry that also sounded good.

The butter chicken is so red in colour from a great amount of tomato used. I was a little worried about the pieces of cilantro that were chopped and throughout the sauce. However, it only lent a smoky flavour that was not offensive. The butter chicken was good, not too greasy, and chicken toed the line between mushy and of questionable quality and too white and too dry. Still, the place is overpriced even if it is on par with other Indian quick service restaurants.

deKEFIR (Bay Adelaide Centre)

I have to hike a little (relatively) to get to deKEFIR from my office but there’s nothing wrong with that!! Vina asked me if I had tried it because it’s a healthy yogurt but really pricey! Prepared for that, and having read their website, I went over. They gave me a sample of their frozen kefir which tastes quite a bit like the Pinkberry style of yogurt but more tart. It makes a nice snack and they have the usual fruit and granola toppings. The associate told me that the frozen kefir is sweetened so I was as little worried about the parfait which I had my heart set on.

To top my regular kefir yogurt, I selected their signature walnut-sesame and their holiday feature topping of ginger cookie (I got upsold) and she drizzled some honey over the top to sweet the otherwise plain yogurt. The yogurt was thinner than I thought it would be and kind of flowed around the toppings and that was okay because the regular is a very small cup and I enjoyed the toppings with a slight tart yogurt coating. I especially liked the essentially candied walnuts and the ginger cookies had a nice zing but were just a touch too sweet. I really don’t know if the fruit toppings would have worked for me in a parfait given it was so runny.

They have another offering that is a smoothie. The website recommends a most decadent sounding combination: fig and walnut smoothie. I can just imagine it with the candied walnuts but I didn’t see the figs laid out amongst the toppings.

The Cereal Bar (Commerce Court)

The Cereal Bar apparently appeared on Dragon’s Den and received a good response, well-received by the audience. In the Commerce Court food hall, it looks out of place, and seems less busy than the other (chain) quick service restaurants.

There are just three choices: cold cereal, hot cereal (oatmeal), and parfaits. As much as I wanted to have a cereal in honour, the run-of-the-mill cereals like Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes, and Vector did not entice me. I could have gotten cereal in a parfait but still went with the “value-added” granola and it turned out I was going to be running around a bit running errands before I could sit down to it.

As usual, it interests me when I get to design my own and watched the associate as he squeezed blueberry Astro yogurt into the bottom of the cup and layered it with pumpkin granola. I had a choice of three toppings which I selected strawberry and peaches (canned, of course), and clodhoppers for a dessert feel. It was a hearty but light lunch. I ordered the large which is $4.95.

The Soup Nutsy (TD Tower)

While Vina’s office sits above one of the food courts, it’s hard to say which restaurants are “mine”. There are three shops at the base of the escalators I take including good ole Bagel Stop, la prep Fresh Food, and The Soup Nutsy. At least there’s Soup Nutsy. Perhaps you can even ascribe the Duke of Devon to my building, where I had lunch my first day. They have good fish & chips and you can get a modest half-order.

Soup Nutsy is nuts! In that their queue for food between 12 and 1 is extremely long although it moves fast enough. That’s why it is prudent to check their website and figure out which one you want, read up on the ingredients. Otherwise you will get confused by the acronyms following each soup describing soups as Cream (C), No Cream (NC), Dairy-Free (DF), Spicy (S), Low Fat (LF), No Fat (NF) and a few other descriptors. I keep changing my mind at the last minute upon peering into the open cauldrons of soup and I surely won’t hold up the line to ask for a sampler!

On my first visit, I tried their Caribbean chicken stew and did not enjoy the presence of sweet potatoes. One small soup is an $8 meal but does come with a big slice of bread and your choice of a piece of fruit or pre-cut vegetables. Soups are grouped into Seafood, Vegetable, Meat, and Chilled categories, each priced differently. On my second visit, to be “defiant”, I went for the combo which is one price regardless of the soup you pick. My combo consisted of my soup and a blue cheese and fruit salad that came with balsamic vinaigrette–it was indulgent. And I was going to order West Africa Sengalese Peanut Chicken soup before seeing how thick it looked and I switched to what I imagine to be a perennial favourite: Sherried Beef Stroganoff with Green Peas. Lovely creamy with tender pasta ribbons and melting pieces of beef.

Then I was back the next day to get a rice bowl. I checked the daily soup selection online and thought I might try the Jamaican crab bisque. Since there was no one in line, I asked for a sample and tried it. It was rich and a little spicy and it was thin which is better than something creamy. But did I want a whole bowl of that? The associate-in-training scooped what I determined upon taste to be brown rice into the medium bowl and as he was about to ladle in soup, I told him I changed my mind to the sherried lobster bisque. Yes, another sherry infused soup. I guess… and no regrets. It was full of ingredients like lobster and green and red peppers and just the right thickness that it looked lumpy but was not choking. I agreed to the loyalty card which will sit firmly in my desk drawer. No need to blow all my money at Soup Nutsy although it’s so tempting….

Brick Street Bakery (First Canadian Place)

I could smell the pies from a distance in the otherwise neutral-smelling PATH and stepped into the big bakery space. I love being able to look around in a bakery and select items a la carte. When I looked at the dessert case and saw the lemon tarts, why did they look so familiar? Because just the the day before, I was in the Distillery District where there was another Brick Street Bakery location. They seemed to be out of pie in the Distillery District so I didn’t order anything. All three pies, shepard’s pie, steak and potatoes, and tarragon chicken, were available. I could try all three, they sound so tasty, but I went with the chicken tarragon which was really good. The crust was hearty and it was a good size pie for just $6.

Four (Commerce Court)

To wrap this PATH dining post (which probably won’t be the only one!), Vina and I went for after-work drinks after I was in the job almost three weeks and she just four weeks. Yay–celebrate! We went to Four which is halfway between our buildings and advertises $4.44 1-oz. cocktails after 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and you can order three appetizers for $25 (or five for $40). Sounds like a screaming deal and fun way to try out the place!

Four is on OpenTable.com so I could get another 100 points making a reservation the same day and at 5:30, the place was swinging with all their tables full and people standing near the bar and mingling with colleagues or new friends. We kicked off with a Red Lotus each, a lychee cocktail with vodka, SoHo lichee liqueur and mix. Lip-smackingly yummy. And since we anticipated the feast, we saved our appetites and not-so-coincidentally ordered the three highest-priced appetizers to make up our trio.

We ordered the crab and corn cake. It almost looked disappointing that there was just one cake but it was thick and split well. There was a hint of cilantro but it wasn’t so strong and it was a nice bit of crab. The mango and jicama slaw was really nice and refreshing.

We also ordered mini bison burgers which came topped with avocado and monterey jack cheese. The cheese I could taste and the bison was tender. It was perfect to have two mini burgers. Our third appetizer was the mezze plate with lamb skewers, tzatiki, and pita to build your own pita. The lamb was a bit underdone and too chewy for our liking.

For round two, Vina went for a 2-oz. White Pear Cosmo while I tried another 1-oz. cocktail, the Bloody Maria.  A really fun evening and we’ll try really hard to do this once a month and try other places!

Shake Shack (Midtown, Times Square)

We could see the new midtown Shake Shack from BiNK’s apartment and determine that at the time we got into New York and the Times Square area at 2-ish, there was no line out the door so we could not get it out of our mind to not go there immediately. Last time, in 2009, I ordered a hot dog while NPY ordered a Shackburger and we did not share although NPY decided it was the best burger he ever had. That means I spent two whole years of wanting my own!

The magical combination of sirloin, chuck, and brisket was juicy and fragrant and we gobbled our burgers really quickly. NPY wondered in the middle of the trip if we’d go back so we were back at lunch hour on Sunday and it was a zoo! We tried the ‘shroom burger which is an expensive and small burger with the oddest crusted portobello “patty”. We still like the original Shackburger best. Next time, I’m trying the scary-sounding Concrete!

Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien (Midtown)

The Shake Shack visit the day before was unplanned but meeting up with Alfred to check out Burger Joint, “the hidden/secret burger restaurant”, was planned. I think I first heard of the restaurant years ago from ljcfyi blog and “hidden” was something easy to remember while the restaurant has apparently remained popular over the years. For a moment, I worried that it was so hidden I would not find it but I looked for telltale curtains and just around the corner was the little neon sign depicting a burger and an arrow.

It is a tight squeeze in the Burger Joint with the order counter, grill, queuing area, and seating occupying just about 200 sqft (could be my bad estimate) of space. There was an overhead list of instructions to most efficiently give your order and I was so anxious that I forgot to mention how I wanted my meat cooked.

It was a delicious burger nonetheless, very juicy and hearty, and a really fun New York experience to hit up that place.

Bouchon Bakery (Midtown)

Last time, we did walk by Bouchon in Time Warner Center but, for the life of me I don’t know why we didn’t order anything. Perhaps I was looking for something really unique I had never heard of or seen before and I’ve since grown up to accept trying things that I have seen or had before but appreciate a different restaurant’s take on it.

So, after visiting and lingering at the hilariously fun temporary Museum of Conan Art exhibit, we got some coffee and baked goods from Bouchon and, not finding any seats upstairs, enjoyed them in the caf area of Whole Foods on the basement level.

The super chocolate-y pain au chocolat was indeed unique but it frightened me so I ordered an Oreo-looking TKO which I now know stands for Thomas Keller Oreo. The dark chocolate biscuit was soft and chewy and the white chocolate ganache sandwiched in between was a dreamy filling. Alfred’s chocolate macaron was also good but even better was the pistachio one NPY and I got a few days later. And the pistachio one was pretty and green.

Rice to Riches (SoHo)

In 2009, we went to Rice to Riches which I heard about from Lil Sis. We went not once but twice and I got two orange Solo containers and rice pudding spoons which have been great reuseable containers over the years… until I disposed of them during the move a few months ago. It was nothing new to try but we had saved room by not ordering much at Teariffic in Chinatown and I decided not to order anything if they could not accommodate my request for a green container.

Well, you can figure out they did give me a green container and instead of a white/cream-coloured rice pudding I went dessert mode with the chocolate hazelnut rice pudding with toasted pound cake crumbs. The volume of food is large although it is stated to serve one person but I felt fine because it is light on taste with the fun contrasting texture of lumpy rice pudding and crunch crouton-like cake crumbs.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria (Brooklyn, DUMBO)

While we did pick up a slice at the pizza shop next to Century 21 in the financial district, it was not the right experience so I picked a couple of pizzerias this time to make sure we had a proper thin-crust New York pizza and we checked that off the list when we went to Brooklyn and queued up to get into the famous Grimaldi Pizzeria under the Brooklyn Bridge.

I imagine there is a constant line to get into the famous eatery and we found the end of it while wondering just how long we would have to queue for starting from 2:30 and if we wouldn’t be full still when we went to dinner. The Asian places we went to so far had clipboards where you sign yourself up but I saw no such system at Grimaldi’s. Instead, we observed the host pop his head out of the restaurant and shout something like, “Two more!” before letting the heavy wood door slam shut. The people at the head of the line would figure out which is the next party of two and they would enter the restaurant. Once, in the 30 minutes we waited, the host came out to see which bigger groups were in line for him to save his bigger tables for.

Upon being seated at our table in the restaurant, a welcome thing, we learned just how they managed to handle the constant crowds. Besides having a very simple menu, we sat cafeteria-style with our two-top table attached to three other two-tops. Being that the place was packed with tourists, it was a bit of a fun style of eating and I could lean over and ask the couple next to us what size pizza they ordered and the two couples to my left struck up a conversation that started with asked how the food was and learning they all hailed from the L.A. area.

While some part of my wonky logic would drive me to order a lot because we waited for half an hour, there were other spots to hit up before dinner and we ordered a six-slice small pizza with three toppings: pepperoni, mushroom, and olives. All the red pizzas came with tomato sauce, cheese, and basil. I would have preferred salami or anything other than the dried hard pepperoni disks, the mushroom was barely there, and thus the olives were relatively overpowering. My crappy selection of toppings aside, the pizza was delicious, with good tomato sauce, really good mozzarella cheese, and thin, fresh crust.

Holey Cream (via Seamless Web)

Oh, the thrill of living in a big, fast, tightly-packed, demanding city: BiNK introduced us to Seamless Web for which they have an account and can order from a mind-boggling variety of restaurants home delivery of good food through one integrated system. She suggested Holey Cream and described a donut ice cream sandwich that made me champion the place even more. I wasn’t going to eat it but I wanted NPY to have it!

I went with a blah fat-free (and it tasted like it) coffee almond frozen yogurt and took over customizing NPY’s donut ice cream sandwich with three different ice cream flavours (red velvet, peanut butter chocolate, cookies & cream), adding waffle pieces, and sprinkling it with pink and purple (they forgot the purple) sprinkles, cocoa puffs, and gummy bears. It took two sittings for NPY to finish this dessert.

Norma’s at Le Parker Meridien (Midtown)

BiNK raves about Norma’s and takes all her visitors which means she knows her way around the menu very well. We were green newbies by comparison. I checked out the menu the night before and marveled just how inventive their brunch menu is. Despite that, NPY ordered the most normal eggs benedict where the twist was using pancakes instead of English muffins… so his is not pictured! I ordered the Super Cheesy French Toast and started to get anxious that I would just die from the volume and cheesiness. It was ultimately manageable (unlike the Foie Gras French Toast, I hear) with a cheese-coated ultra-flakey croissant-like bun and most crispy applewood smoked bacon. The accompanying gravy was thin but very savoury to dip some toast and the greens. The potato pancakes were ordered for us all to share but I couldn’t appreciate it much after working and putting away my own meal. The pancakes were okay but it was the sweet carrot puree that I did not initially see as complementing potato so much that was tasty.

BiNK raved about and ordered the Waz-za which is an innocent-looking Belgian waffle  topped with fresh fruit and stuffed with something like a thick and creamy yogurt fruit smoothie. The bananas were slightly seared for the brulee effect and taste. They also ordered the Artychoked Benedict which I would have wanted NPY to order–all he needs is for the poached egg to be present–but couldn’t vouch for the creation until it arrived and is just about the best Benedict idea ever. Instead of Hollandaise sauce that makes my head reel to think about, they used a truffled porcini sauce, a perfect complement to artichokes. I loved my taste of it but it still might have make me keel over if I had to eat a full or even half portion.

Southern Hospitality (Midtown)

BiNK pointed out Southern Hospitality one night but could not recommend we go there for food. And that it is owned by Justin Timberlake whom NPY likes. The next night, we were only looking for somewhere to drink and traditional places like “social” did not appeal and other places like Ember Room were full. At least we could say that we had been to JT’s restaurant. And they had free wi-fi!

Which meant I could check into Southern Hospitality on FourSquare and learn that NPY’s Coors Lite could be comped and he decided we could order an appetizer, at the risk of ruining our appetite for dinner later, and we went with fried green tomatoes, a Southern classic dish neither of us had tried before. They came three to the dish with BBQ ranch dipping sauce. The crust was beautiful, uniformly crispy and fresh and the green tomatoes were firm and a touch sour. It was a good choice that nearly seemed healthy!

Lobster Place in Chelsea Market (Chelsea)

“What’s Chelsea and why are we going there?” NPY asked. I didn’t really know what we were getting into but our afternoon in Chelsea was really nice. It reminded us of a bigger version of Gastown and there were wondrous sights. After eating, we would walk along the High Line which was a really nice and efficient way to walk uptown, but first we went to Chelsea market which I warned him would be like Granville Island’s prepared food section… only better!

The bakeries like Fat Witch and Eleni’s were nice to visit but I wanted a small meal and I was holding out for a meat pie from the Tuck Shop and/or a proper clam chowder from the Lobster Place.

Lobster Place is a seafood market that reminds me of home (Clearwater on Bedford Highway) with fresh and stinky seafood being sold and prepared food offered at the back. A row of serve-yourself soup cauldrons were on a table and it was a no-brainer to go with the red Manhattan clam chowder over the creamy New England clam chowder. The chowder had broken clams and potato and was hearty and just the right small meal to tide us over to the next place!

#24

<< Go to 2008 list < Go to 2009 list

Did you know that last year around September, I kept checking the Vancouver Magazine website because that was the month during which they had released the 2008 and 2009 Best Things to Eat and Drink in Vancouver lists. It would happen that when I was so diligent, it was the year they skipped.

This year, at least at this time, I do not call Vancouver home but I will be back and so I am still eager to tear apart the 2011 list that I pounced on as soon as my friend, Alfred Pang, tweeted about it!

As usual, what I’ve tried is bolded and there isn’t much this year–it seems to me that they’ve gone more upscale and less accessible. What I will be able to try is italicized.

1. Jungle Pork Curry – Hawksworth
2. Goat Cheese & Fig Salad – Rocky Mountain Flatbread
3. Octopus with Pesto – Cin Cin
4. Kobe Burger – Stackhouse Burger
5. Celery Root Linguine – Raincity Grill
6. Frosted Flake Pancakes – Jethro’s Fine Pub
7. Himalayan Pink Salt Caramels – Purdy’s
8. Dinner Rolls – Beyond Bread
9. Spicy Miso Chowder – Sushi Q
10. Chocolate Banana Cake – Ganache Patisserie
11. Pork Cheek Terrine – Refuel
12. Pear Rosemary Jazz – Benton Brothers Fine Cheese
13. Green Walnut with Grappa Preserves – Vista d’Oro
14. Raspberry Cardamom Jelly – Edible Canada (Granville Island)
15. Castelvetrano Olives – Whole Foods
16. Singapore Pork Jerky – BKH Jerky
17. Lemon Meringue Pie – Acme Cafe
18. Tea Leaf Salad – Bo Laksa King
19. Sweet & Sour Eggplant – Ensemble
20. Korean Fried Chicken – Zabu Chicken
21. Taro Slush - Dragon Ball Tea House
22. Heirloom Tomatoes – Whole Foods
23. Single Malt Gelato – Bella Gelateria
24. Chicken Sandwich – La Brasserie
25. Veal Shank – Tableau
26. Coconut Fro-Yo – Pinkberry
27. Prawn & Papaya Salad – Le Do
28. Beef Tartare – Bao Bei
29. Punjabi Amuse-Bouche – Vij’s
30. Slapjack Chowder – Rodney’s Oyster House
31. Orange Fritter – Union Market
32. Oxtail Soup – En Restaurant
33. Halibut Gnocchi – Cioppino’s
34. Risotto Cakes – Finest at Sea
35. Pulled Pork Pancakes – Red Wagon Cafe
36. Poached Egg with Summer Truffle – L’Abattoir
37. Sawmill Bay Oysters – Maenam
38. Beddis Blue – Les Amis du Fromage
39. Horseradish Monterey – Benton Brothers Fine Cheese
40. Alpindon – Les Amis du Fromage
41. Fried Wild Rice with Bacon and Crab – Red Star
42. Banana Daquiri – L’Abattoir
43. Bianca Pizza – Nicli Antica
44. Northern Divine Sustainable Caviar – C Restaurant
45. Fried Chicken – L.A. Chicken
46. Bourbon-Infused Maple Syrup – Old Faithful
47. Roasted Garlic Country Bread – Fieldstone Artisan Breads
48. Taiwanese Pancakes – Wang’s Taiwan Beef Noodle House (I’ve had the “pancakes” and been to the restaurant but haven’t had the pancakes at Wang’s.)
49. Hotel Georgia House Cocktail – Hawksworth
50. Bistecca Fiorentina – La Buca
51. Silver Sage Chardonnay
52. Pistachio Macaron – Thierry
53. Box Sushi – Toshi Sushi
54. Red Racer
55. Phillips Hoperation Tripel Cross
56. Fat Tug – Driftwood Beer
57. Tuna with Melon – Guu Garden
58. Power Shandy – Astoria Hotel
59. Halibut Tacos – Feastro Food Truck
60. Cranberry Raisin Ginger Loaf – Purebread
61. Muesli – The Dish
62. Vitello Tonnato Sandwich – La Ghianda
63. Toroniku Miso Ramen – Hokkaido Santouka Ramen
64. Maple Bacon Ice Cream Sandwich – Meat & Bread
65. Butterscotch Pudding – Cafeteria
66. Japanese Slider – ShuRaku
67. Lavender Chocolate – Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France
68. Wildflower Honey – Fairmont Waterfront
69. Tamago – Dan
70. Grilled Pita – Nu
71. Deep-Fried Oreos – The Fair at PNE
72. Buddha’s Hand – Whole Foods
73. BS Rose
74. Corn Dog – Peckinpah
75. Blackberry Ice Cream – The Udder Guys (Whole Foods)
76. Smoked Meat Sandwich – C’est Bon! Zako’s Deli
77. Bolo Bau (Pineapple Bun) – Lido (Have had dozens of bolo bau and enjoyed claypot rice at Lido.)
78. Barbecued Salmon – Yellowhead Market
79. Nettle & Spot Prawn Ravioli – Campagnolo
80. Pumpkin Spice Doughnut – Joey’s
81. Spicy Avocado Rolls – Ki
82. Sour Beer – The Alibi Room
83. Pain au Chocolat – Faubourg
84. Smoked Beef Tongue – Big Lou’s Butcher Shop
85. Chicken & Waffles – Two Chefs and a Table
86. The Anaconda – The Factory
87. Chicken Karage – Kingyo (Had chicken karaage in many places and visited Kingyo once.)
88. Bresaola Pizza – The Bibo
89. Louis d’Or Cheese – Les Amis du Fromage
90. Creamy Hot & Sour Soup – Mango Thai
91. Thousand Chili Chicken – Peaceful Restaurant (I don’t know if I would ever try this dish but have been to Peaceful many times, love the Shandong noodles and potato rolls there.)
92. Grand Marnier Souffle – Le Crocodile
93. Croque Madame – Petit Chavignol
94. Dungeness Crab Cake – The Shore Club
95. Lychee-Basil Lemonade – Roaming Dragon Food Truck
96. Coconut Drink – The Tiki Bar at the Waldorf Hotel
97. Fresh Berry Sundae – Emma Lea Farms
98. Nachos – Jericho Sailing Centre
99. Potato Tornados – Richmond Night Market
100. Sweet Cherry Tarts – Tartine Bread and Pies
101. Smoothie (banana blended with Medjool dates, almond butter, raw cacao, raw maca, soy milk) – The Juice Truck

1. Add eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and salt to the mixing bowl.
2. In the pan you will make the crepes, melt the butter and add to the mixing bowl.
3. Beat together the ingredients until it is smooth, no lumps.
4. In the pan on the large element at heat ~4, ladle the batter and immediately swirl the pan to spread it into a circle. (That is, don’t put down the ladle first!)
5. About 10 seconds after the edges turn brown, flip the crepe to cook quickly, then serve.

Dancing Goat Coffee

I’ve long enjoined NPY to take us to Nanaimo and he’s been perplexed why. Well, there’s a great spa everyone talks about in Parksville and Nanaimo might be go for something, being such a familiar name. I was only right on the first count and Nanaimo is famous just because of their confection bar. Otherwise, it is a bit of a drive-through town on your way to something prettier, like Comox Valley or what have you.

In any case, the ferry deposited us in Nanaimo, The Harbour City, and coming from a harbour city, I wanted to compare and contrast. (Halifax wins.) We also got some breakfast since we took a nice and early ferry and didn’t eat on board.

Dancing Goat Coffee has a nice deal on breakfast, $6 for eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast, and coffee. We couldn’t really argue and enjoyed its outdoor patio from which you can glimpse the harbour through some trees. We took a different path back to the car and came across Mon Petit Choux Cafe which was more happening and we’ll stop there next time we’re just passing through.

Cherry Point Vineyards

The 90-minute drive between Nanaimo and Victoria took us all day because we broke it up with many stops. After we hit a couple of tourist attractions in Chemainus and Duncan, NPY wanted something a little more grown-up and we started noting the winery signs along the highway. Cherry Point Vineyards was not a large detour after we left Duncan so we stopped by there shortly before they closed for the day.

We did the wine tasting and tried the 2009 Ortega-Siegerrebe (sweetness 1, very light and pleasant, we bought a bottle), a rose (tasted tart as expected and kind of artificial, we did not enjoy it), and Cowichan Blackberry (one of their dessert wines, a deep red with a nice spiciness that definitely pulled by on the sweetness which was rated 8; we also bought a bottle, just $19).

Ferris Oyster Bar 

Upon NPY’s colleague’s recommendation, we hit up Ferris Oyster Bar the first night we were in town. NPY gave me a choice between Ferris and Il Terrazzo and I went for the one with flair and a more special meal.

We aren’t raw oyster eaters so I ordered the baked oysters sampler where we could try all six creations. I also ordered an oyster chowder and crab melt. We were not shying away with some non-seafood main!

I was really happy the oyster sampler arrived in separate dishes instead of in the shell as I meant for NPY and me to share every last one of them. We started with the Rockefeller which was a nice and savoury way to start. Then we had the Seahorse (horseradish, butter, lemon) which was tasty but you couldn’t taste the horseradish. Next we had Cornelius (cornflakes, butter, fresh thyme) which I thought tasted like candied onions–I kept trying to scrape the cornflakes off the dish. Half way through, we attacked the Bottecelli (pecorino romano, cracked pepper, lemon, breadcrumb) which was so pungent the toppings overpowered the poor oyster. In the home stretch, I finally got us to try Beach roast (fresh lemon, tabasco) which had a delayed heat sensation and it was a nice and clean oyster to be our penultimate. I saved the Webster’s boot factory (crab, smoked salmon, cream cheese) for last because it looks like a small decadent meal. It was indeed with great flavours of dill and the oyster in addition made it a most sinful seafood trio.

I loved how the server was considerate enough to bring each of our dishes separately so we did not have to worry about the next dish cooling, like the oyster chowder. It was thin but so creamy with delicate little halved potatoes and two plump oysters. I don’t know what the green oil drizzled over was. Crudely, I thought it tasted like a liquid Alfredo… but better. As we ate the last baked oyster, I realized that our crab melt might very well be topped with some similar mixture (minus the oyster, alas) and I was right. The previous two courses were quite filling so I was happy our “main” was just a baguette each with a salad preceding it to temporarily cut the rich taste. I ate the last baked oyster wanting more dilly crab goodness and the crab melt-topped baguette was perfect.

Ottavio Italian Bakery & Delicatessan

The next morning, we set out for Oak Bay which I vaguely recall running through during my first marathon back in 2006. While I just followed the other runners, NPY actually referred to the marathon route and a map to find places to meet me and so he recognized more than I did. Contrary to what I thought, shops and cafes do not line the beach so after we did glimpse the sandy stretch (pretty), we looked around Oak Bay Avenue for food. Ottavio is a perfectly groomed house abutting a gallery both elegantly set up for Oak Bay explorers.

All I ordered was a coffee and a caprese panini and the total came to over $11! What a tourist-oriented place! I was starving so I though the panini was perfect with thick slices of tomato, fresh bocconicci melted just right, and really savoury ciabatta that was generously herb-buttered.

Abkhazi Gardens Restaurant

For just a few hours later, I had planned for us to visit Abkhazi Garden and enjoy afternoon tea. I do very much want to visit the famed Buchart Garden but the admission is tremendously steep and I did not turn up any deals. Abkhazi admission was $10 each and I dragged NPY around slowly to photograph every neat and colourful flower and take portraits with the beautiful, lushly green backdrop.

I called in advance to inquire about afternoon tea and to make a reservation. I did not need to make a reservation and tea consists of a selection from three teas (all from Silk Road Tea) and three tea pastries. I ordered the Royal Abkhazi blend “Russian style”, scones, and a lemon bar.

“Russian style” tea means to add strawberry jam to it and drink it black or with milk added. I was modest with my jam and did not really taste it. When I did, I must say I didn’t really take to it (perhaps because we were eating already sweet dishes), but I can try it at other times! Although the service was tremendously slow, the server was really nice and offered that we could have one each of strawberry and buttermilk scones. They are a generous size and warm from the oven. NPY enjoyed the scones particularly for even if they were mass-produced, they baked to comforting fluffiness. The lemon delight bar was garnished beautifully and it was a lovely treat to top off our afternoon tea on the patio overlooking the garden. The crust seemed to be partly mixed in with the curd which is different but with good crust, it was tasty anyhow.

Veneto Tapas Lounge

Based purely on the menu, I selected Veneto Tapas for our second night. I was a little nervous because NPY doesn’t usually take to tapas so well and you just never know if it will be worth it. Reviews for the place were also quite good. While NPY nailed down a main dish, I wanted to maximize the tastes we would experience so I ordered a trio of tapas.

It was a little difficult to choose but ultimately I selected the chicken tapas trio (why must the vegetarian one be all spicy?) and was fairly pleased with the size of the portions. We dug into the red curry marinated chicken wings first which was pretty light in flavour. Only when the order arrived did I clue in that “chicken salad” meant the sandwich filling but I was not displeased because the chicken was smooth and tender, the bacon was smokey, nuts gives it flavour and crunch, and the baguette was Texan-style with herb butter. Then we moved onto the center bowl of tetrazzini that was very grown up pasta. The flavour of sherry was strong and the pasta was creamy, smokey, and addictive. The Thai shrimp linguine was the “meat” of the meal but it was weaker in my opinion. There was nothing special about the curry sauce used and the pasta was a little overcooked even, but the shrimp were big and fresh and we surprised ourselves leaving satisfied and full.

Floyd’s Diner

NPY requested a brunch place for our third day so with the help of Yelp, I picked Floyd’s Diner. I wasn’t quite prepared for just how retro and hipster the place would be. Their menu is super fun and I was torn between several items and NPY advised me to get the hash. He, of course, went with the eggs Benedict. I sincerely wished he would get the American Idol benny with avocado, bacon, brie, and pesto hollandaise sauce but he’s a big boy who can order for himself. At least he got the pesto hollandaise sauce, for what it’s worth.

After receiving my B.C. Hash and digging in for a few bites, I stopped the waiter to ask if it was a half-size they brought me and he confirmed it was, laughing that he is often asked that. I did not sign up for so much food! Until you get full (rather quickly), the savoury combination of salsa on eggs and potato and thick sausage is really good. I think the cheese pushed me over very quickly. Being so full and not even done my dish, I only had a bite of NPY’s Eggs Ben-Hur which had roasted vegetables.

Victoria Soda Shoppe

NPY was the one interested in the Soda Shoppe and after I felt like the gelato shops were a huge rip off ($6.95+tax for two scoops), I was on board. While large boards showed beautiful ice cream creations in logo’ed cups, the disposable cups were nothing to photograph. Who wants to see an already melting ice cream float picture?

It seems most shops (at least the tourist ones) is on board with Island Farms and we were glad to have it, too. I merely got a Rocky Road cone while NPY got, of all weird tastes, a mint chocolate chip root beer float. Not being a soda drinker, I don’t really get floats. I thought the tastes would not work out but he quite liked it.

Ebizo Japanese Restaurant

Haha, two and a half days away and we finally succumbed to an Asian meal. For this one, I let NPY find a restaurant as I felt my good-restaurant-finding mojo was drying up.

After Vancouver, the prices are just appalling with nigiri starting at $1.95, no udon noodle soups, and rice bowls starting around $12. On principle, we just weren’t going to go nuts. The salmon don salmon was fresh and NPY loved the rice. I ate my share of negitoro roll which was adequate.

Irish Times Pub

We kept passing by a couple of similar-looking pubs on Douglas and one that stood out in particular, for personal reasons, was the Bard & Banker. The heritage building housing it is beautiful but when it came down to where to enjoy a pint (as they say), I picked Irish Times Pub which looked more happening, “cooler”, and piping out music from a live band. The only problem we found was that while trying to be cool on the patio, we were constantly inhaling secondhand smoke as there was a couple of spots that seemed to be logical for smokers to stand by and smoke. Ugh.

At Veneto I had seen they had a trio of desserts for $9 and I wanted to stuff that in as well but refrained. So it was do-over time when Irish Times had a trio as well. I love having a selection and feeling power in having a choice. There were four desserts to chose from and I ignored the Guinness chocolate brownie.

We started with the apple rhubarb crumble because it was warm and the vanilla bean ice cream was melting fast. We enjoyed it as much as we could with the tartness I think comes from rhubarb. Next we attacked the orchard fruit & white chocolate bread pudding. The white and dark chocolate was so wonderfully rich, punctuated with dried apricot and cranberry. We dipped each bite in the Irish Cream sauce that was pooled beneath and I reveled in bread pudding–I don’t know how I didn’t know it before. We took a short break before topping the dessert off with the Bailey’s Creme Brulee. It was good, grown-up and smooth and light and a perfect wrap to the trio.

The Local Kitchen

After a couple of evenings in Victoria walking around the same streets along the waterfront, we got quite used to seeing The Local Kitchen at the corner of Bastion Square. It looked like a cool place to go and although there was no brunch items, the lunch looked really good.

NPY ordered the turkey club sandwich which I assured him would be cut into quarters and be good. Not only was it not cut into quarters (because it would then look ridiculous), it was supertall! NPY did not like it much and unfortunately I could not share my dish with him. I ordered the salmon burger which was listed to have Asian slaw and peanut sauce. It did not advertise that it was a spicy sauce. (I don’t think it did.) I certainly did not order it for the Asian slaw and flavour and learned through disappointment that salmon burger does not equal salmon sandwich as a burger means a patty. I also wasn’t very thrilled with the tomato basil soup that I ordered instead of fries. NPY pinpointed it when he commented that it tasted like pasta sauce.

Halfway through my first year, a lot of students completing internships came through my department, some of them were new to the city and they did not know about the researcher-administration “divide”, invited me along, and I started to join them for lunch. And, like many things in life, I wondered why I didn’t do it earlier. We have different personalities but there are some fun conversations and we explored some restaurants together, and when we all started to go separate ways this spring and summer, there were really fun going away ‘dos!

Last week, I proposed a “Taco Crawl” to my colleague Rafe who, like someone leaving Vancouver for good in a couple of weeks, wants to milk as much out of the city as possible, happily came along.

A little while ago, I happened upon the Ursu Korean Taco truck downtown and it was fairly good (see below). But I had heard more raves about Coma Food Truck and it practically comes to my door on Wednesdays. On the last Wednesday before they they moved to a permanent downtown location, I made a point of trying it.

There are only five menu items from the truck, three Korean dishes and two Korean-Mexican fusion. We ordered the kimchi vegetable quesdilla, spicy pork burrito, and seaweed rolls. The quesadilla was quite oily but a nice tangy spicy taste with cheese, eggs, corn, onion, red and green peppers. The tortilla takes on a brilliant orange hue. I liked the seaweed rolls best of all; stir-fried julienned vegetables and vermicelli are rolled in seaweed, battered, fried, and glazed with yuzu sauce.

When Rafe and I looked at our Coma Food Truck haul, he shook his head and admitted we ordered too much. But I really didn’t want to let go of the idea of a crawl which entails at least two restaurants. Fortunately, it was a nice summer day and he was in no hurry to get back to work. La Taqueria is on the way back to the office and we had time to think since there was a line-up out the door.

The chalkboard menu describes all the taco fillings and we deliberated while we waited to approach the cashier. I asked Rafe his opinion on me ordering the tofu and he was not impressed. I also liked the sounded of the mushroom taco. But he convinced me to get taco cachete, braised beef cheeks, while he ordered taco al pastor which he says is an indicator of the caliber of the restaurant. It seemed like everyone was ordering 4 tacos which filled a plate beautifully and they were a “deal” for $9.50 (individually ordered tacos are $2.50 each). I was glad to be able to ask them to hold the cilantro. The beef cheeks were so tender and tasty and Rafe said that his was the best taco he’s had outside of Mexico! There are so many other fillings to try another time!

We did not visit Chronic Tacos, which is pretty much also on Cambie, because we were so full and we had already visited it with a larger group back in March. I like the casual style of the eatery and there are ample menu options. On my first visit, I ordered a Baja fish taco topped with cilantro-laced guacamole. On my second visit, I learned not to order guacamole or cabbage and was fairly happy with lettuce, their pico de gallo sauce, and fresh corn tortillas. We also ordered the tostada bowl which was substantial and delicious.

With the taco shops popping up (I’ve blogged about it recently), we wondered which ones would survive. Rafe was skeptical about Chronic’s future but I think they might make it because they are licensed and have the televisions and screen hockey games and UFC matches. We caught a play-off game there and I liked how there was no pressure to keep ordering food and the fare was tastier than many a local pub food. We wonder if not-yet-open Mucho Burrito will struggle though.

Although not on Cambie or part of the taco crawl, I thought I would include my Ursu Korean BBQ truck meal anyhow since it was eye-opening and made me want to seek out the other Korean-Mexican food trucks. As you can see, I wanted to sample soft and hard shell, mild and spicy sauce, and a couple of toppings. Compared to the spicy chicken hard shell taco, I enjoyed the mild tofu soft shell taco best of all. I’m really taking to the use of corn tortillas and will not accept flour tortillas for my tacos going forward.

1. Archer Farms Buffalo Macaroni & Cheese (made with real blue cheese and spicy cayenne red pepper sauce)
2. Archer Farms Midnight Blend popcorn with blue corn kernels
3. Summer Oreos, seems to be the original flavour but the stuffing is dyed blue
4. Laughing Cow Light — Blue cheese wedges
5. Trader Joe’s Blue Granite Jack Cheese slices

Blue Granite Jack Cheese Slices

The obvious one to start with for me was the grilled cheese, using a slice of blue jack instead of that awful processed orange-yellow “cheddar” cheese. The substitution went over quite well. With the jack cheese blended in, the slice is squishy when melted and delightfully a little resistant to the bite.

But NPY and I can’t eat 8 grilled cheese sandwiches so three slices went into an Alfredo Blue recipe. I suspected the jack part of the cheese would mess up the recipe and it did indeed, melting into clumps I couldn’t break apart. The recipe still came out beautifully with a wicked pungent zing to the classic dish.

Midnight Blend popcorn

Pop some Midnight Blend alone? Pop some regular popcorn with it to compare? I mixed it together figuring I could pull out the blue ones to photograph, making work for myself. But when it was done popping, I was grateful for the mixture because then you can contrast–if you squint–the two kernels. Midnight Blend are the starched blue-white colour ones while the regular popcorn has a yellowish tinge.

As for the taste, it’s difficult for me to pinpoint what the Midnight Blend tastes like. Not as nutty as regular popping corn, more light on the palate. That’s all I can describe of it. Aesthetically, Midnight Blend is a winner: it’s like putting 95 bright white paper next to your usual paper stock.

Buffalo Mac ‘n’ Cheese

The pasta that comes with the Archer Farms (Target house brand) Buffalo Mac ‘n’ Cheese were “gourmet”: fatter, short, macaroni tubes. This shape might mean that less water gets stuck in the pasta canal when you try to drain it. Except the instructions for preparation just indicates to cook the pasta in the sauce in a pot, no draining required.

The pasta dinner was quite nice. The sauce was not too salty and quite pungent from the blue cheese when it came down to it. As promised, there was a touch of heat that lingered from the cayenne pepper.

Laughing Cow Light Blue Cheese wedge

There is something quite ceremonious about opening up a box of Laughing Cow wedges, pulling the red string around the circumference of the container to break the tape and separate the top lid, pulling the red tab to magically peel off the top of the wedge. And it spreads with such ease.

The blue cheese wedge is one of the least “blue” of the Blue Food, as in there were no blue cheese flecks, but there is a distinct blue cheese aroma. When actually eating it, the blue cheese taste was much more faint, overpowered by whatever the underlying cheese product might be. The website recommends spreading it with fresh pear slices and walnuts… it sounds like a super idea and method to get in fruit and nuts.

That reminds me of a really great baguette sandwich I had at Finch’s that had a blue component: a fresh-baked baguette topped with blue Brie, Anjou pear, prosciutto, roasted walnuts, oil, and vinegar. I usually do not like prosciutto but apparently it just has to be in the right company.

Summer Edition Blue Oreos

These are really blue! It was marvelous opening the package. Each Oreo cookie is also imprinted with five different summer-happy messages. Taste? I thought the first one I ate was less sweet than a regular Oreo but it was just the blue affecting my taste buds. Subsequent Oreos tasted as perfect as the original flavour.

How do you eat your Oreos? I dunk mine in milk until they soften (and hopefully do not disintegrate and drop into the cup), pop it in my mouth, then take another gulp of milk to soften the part that did not get dipped, where my fingers were. Blue bliss!

While I marveled at the Blue Theme, Lil’ Sis was not so impressed. You can imagine that blue food isn’t quite natural-looking and can be unappealing to most people with sensibility. So it’s just as well that most of the Blue Foods (save for the processed treat, Oreos) were not really blue out of the package or when cooked!

Bob’s Burger and Brew

We’ve seen this burger joint near Seattle Premium Outlets and the nearby Walmart Supercenter countless times but have never been to. When Eda said there weren’t that many food options near the shopping area, I felt tasked to find somewhere to eat. Bob’s Burger sounded decent so we ended up there after a couple of hours of driving for a big lunch requiring immediate shopping/walking afterwards!

The chalkboard specials were fish burger and clam chowder and somehow both of them ended up being part of my meal! I chose the fish burger over a beef burger and soup as the side over salad or fries. The “fish burger” was actually two pieces of battered and fried fish-and-chips fish (cod) on a bun. The bun was slathered with mayonnaise and tartar sauce was further proviced. Thank goodness for the mayo because the tartar sauce was really weak. The clam chowder was oddly goopy. NPY ordered a mushroom chicken burger that was not much to photograph but he said it was good.

boom noodle

That fish burger earlier at Bob’s did a great job of sticking to you so we weren’t overly hungry for 7 hours. And even when it was a decent time for dinner, many dining options didn’t sound appetizing. So we went for boom noodle, somewhere we had all been to before, for some noodles and happy hour items.

While Eda, Olive, and NPY ordered ramen (misos and NPY’s tonkatsu), I ordered two appetizers, the edamame puree and a plate of green beans. The edamame dip was pretty thin, light in flavour and we really enjoyed dragging the cucumber slices, yuzu pepper, and sweet potato crisps through it. The green beans were drizzled with silkyo miso, a nice portion. Comforting ramen and vegetarian appetizers were the perfect counterbalance meal.

Cheesecake Factory

NPY and I are behind in watching Happy Potter so we could not join Eda and Olive taking in the newest installment from plush leather seats at Lincoln Square Cinemas. So we were off on our own and decided to get dessert. Hmm, dessert options for us around the central hotel were to go to Joey’s or hit up Cheesecake Factory.

I didn’t mind going to Cheesecake Factory again because I was dreaming about the red velvet cheesecake I had last time–it was a towering cheesecake with layers of red velvet cake between the creamiest layers of cheesecake, topped with cream cheese icing. And just as I was thinking about ordering it to complement NPY’s original strawberry cheesecake, I spied its nutritional content and changed my mind to the lemon raspberry cheesecake. Because… the red velvet cheesecake has twice the number of calories as the basic cheesecake, at 1,540 calories per slice! Alas, I will not be allowed to eat my own slice of red velvet cheesecakes unless I’ve run a half-marathon (13 miles=1,300 calories). Sheesh.

The lemon raspberry cheesecake had raspberry-vanilla sponge cake, lemon cheesecake, raspberry sauce, and lemon icing. It was a little overpowering on the raspberry side, which neither of us liked too much. We switched halfway through and I had some of the original cheesecake. It was perfectly creamy with a gorgeous cream cheese aftertaste.

The Brief Encounter Cafe

We tried to go to Twisted Cork in the hotel for brunch but some equipment was acting up and their brunch menu was not available. A breakfast buffet did not seem ideal. So we head out to Brief Encounter Cafe which has some good reviews. It’s an original old-fashioned diner and I’d have to say I was a little uncomfortable between booth seats with weird springiness and slightly water-spotted cutlery. But I don’t fuss too much when it’s not my recommendation.

Olive and I ordered the German sausage with potato pancakes while Eda ordered the Pressley’s Potatoes, the latter being a cheesy vegetable scramble. We found the German sausage was overly salty. The potato pancakes were made from shredded potatoes, pancake batter, and scallions. While the batter made the potato pancakes more moist, I think I would have preferred it without pancake batter–I was quite confused whether butter or maple syrup was appropriate.

blissberri

While scrolling through the list of all restaurants in Bellevue on Urbanspoon, blissberri appeared early in the alphabetical list and the name caught my eye. It’s another frozen yogurt chain and I persuaded the group to go there instead of Red Mango, which is also in Bellevue Square. I didn’t think it would be open since the website still says “Coming Soon!”

The blue bird logo kind of hearkens the Twitter bird and the brand just seems very modern from the all-lower case name, mention of “bliss”, and misspelling of “berry”. We soon learned that it is a self-serve yogurt shop with twelve flavours and a range of toppings. I went with original tart yogurt topped with granola and mango boba. The boba beads burst when  you bite them without much flavour. I also got the pomegranate-raspberry yogurt topped with strawberries, blueberries, and a blackberry. Finally, I also got the chocolate thin mint flavour topped with chopped Kit Kat. It was like a new-fangled Neopolitan frozen yogurt! We loved our little treat and I loved the freedom of the many flavours and self-serve concept. We even had it again the next day!

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

We only learned about Happy Hour menus within the last two years and now we kind of plan our meals around them. So we planned our first full day with lunch at 12, early happy hour at 4-5 and late happy hour at 10–nicely spaced out!

Our early happy hour meal was at Ruth’s Chris that Olive told us about. He’s the ardent carnivore so Ruth’s Chris had good options. We kicked off with some drinks: glasses of wine about $4 and my lemondrop martini for $5.

The prime rib sliders, although grilled with butter, were dry. I don’t know if NPY and I got the dry bun and lack of vegetables because Olive ordered his sliders first and that’s how ours came as well. I ordered the tenderloin brochettes in an overly sweet sauce but the meat was really divinely tender. Eda ordered the seared ahi tuna which Olive said was correctly seared and most “seared” tuna I’ve seen so far was over-cooked. It was a nice fresh morsel but I did not like the spicy mustard pool under the tuna. We also got the Caesar salad to feel better from the vegetable intake. Prices and portions were fantastic and the atmosphere was swank.

(Oh, while I was looking up Ruth’s Chris, I learned that they have expanded to Canada–Alberta and Ontario, so far–and I wonder if they have Happy Menus….)

Wild Ginger at the Bravern

Wandering and driving around Bellevue, I find it awesome to come across sponsorship by and headquarters of huge tech and internet companies such as Microsoft and Expedia. I had found the Trophy Cupcakes shop at The Bravern which in turn lead me to take a closer look at the Shops at Bravern–they are super-high end so we never went. But we did enjoy our late dinner on Saturday there, surrounded by high-end condo towers and office buildings with the name Microsoft across the top. This Wild Ginger location was huge with upstairs, downstairs, bar seating, and private rooms. We were seated in the hallway along windows with private rooms behind us so it felt like we were enjoying quite a bit of privacy. We were intrigued how the top floor of a building a block away was lit up and I guessed that it was a games development company and there were many screens to test out the product, or the competition. The waiter told us it is the 911 call center which was fascinating.

Drinks were cheap with $4 cocktails but they were a bit watery. I order a tofu satay skewer to start things off and it was a nice bite but nothing spectacular. It also gave us some picked vegetables to munch on. The rice bowls were just $8 so we got the only non-spicy one, the Thai tofu bowl flavoured with kafir lime leaves and basil. It was flavourful but light. We ordered vegetables to meet our daily requirements and the portion sizes were good. I also ordered the duck sliders which took a long time to come out. It turns out that when I asked for no cilantro on my meal, they had to remake new plum sauce because it was chopped finely and added to it! I’m not a fan of plum sauce and found it overly sweet and fruity but it was a great deal better without a cilantro infusion! The steamed bun concept was a hit.

Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung opened its first Pacific Northwest location around this time last year but we haven’t been to Bellevue for nearly two years and I could only read about other people’s visits. So NPY, Eda, and Olive were kind of haplessly dragged along to this “tourist trap” which pricked me a little to hear. A tourist trap is P.F. Chang’s, I think. DTF is a successful dumpling restaurant from Taiwan making a global expansion.

As we walked the Sky Bridges between the central Bellevue towers, we would pass by DTF’s window open to the kitchen where dumplings were made in an organized assembly line process. The people milling about waiting for a table could watch the process for a while to pass the time. On the first day, I shied away from the idea of a DTF meal given the limited-looking menu online and the perpetual queue to get seated. But the style of the restaurant has pretty quick turnover and when I picked that DTF would be our Sunday lunch instead of brunch, the menu options expanded greatly since they were serving dim sum.

It was a little weird to have the concept of “family-style” explained to us by our Caucasian server but it was the portions that threw us out of whack a little. We are used to portions of 4 Cantonese dumplings like siu mai for an average of $3. When it comes to xiao long bao (XLB), the basket usually has just 6-8 dumplings. The 10 pieces indicated for XLB and most of the dumplings means you will fill up on one dish. Upon learning so, we had to order accordingly.

The XLB were quite nice but pricey at $9.50 for the 10 pieces. The dumpling skin was nice and thin–it really should be when it was so exactly made–but I found the dumplings were no very hot by the time the server got to our table with our basket and there wasn’t quite enough soup with the delicious minced pork.

Because there were 10 XLB, we were leary about ordering more dumplings so we proceeded with ordering fried rice, hot & sour soup, steamed buns, and a stick rice roll.

The shrimp fried rice arrived and we paused. It was nicely presented as a rounded mound with shrimps laid on top but we couldn’t help being depressed how it cost $9 for that small amount of rice. It was well made, however, tossed nicely with shredded egg and scallions. You could taste that the shrimp was not cooked with the rice. We ordered the medium size of hot & sour soup for $5.75 and shared it amongst three of us. It was really tasty with fresh ingredients and a vibrant Chinese red vinegar lent tang to the black pepper heat.

There was another moment of pause when we looked at the two pork and vegetable steamed buns. We knew there would only be two and that it cost $4.25. At the very least, we traditionally expect three, but up would go the price tag! I really liked the minced pork and chopped vegetable (bok choy) filling–it was refreshing and light–but the bun was not light at all, very chewy. We wouldn’t be able to bite in except the bun skin was thin. The sticky rice was also interesting. It was a hybrid of the lotus leaf and bamboo leaf sticky rice with highly flavoured rice. The filling was simple, just a piece of pork belly, but NPY liked it! The price hindered him from ordering another one.

It’s kind of funny how we ended up having three Asian meals, one per day. Either we just can’t handle that much American food any longer or we’re maintaining a sense of balance! After our meal, which was satisfying and less costly than a brunch would have been, we wondered if we would return. It is priced higher than even high-end dim sum spots in Vancouver although the quality is higher and apparently so, so we probably would not return unless with guests who insist on a taste of the global chain.

Top Pot Doughnuts

When I visited Seattle for the first time in decades in 2005, we came across Top Pot Doughnuts. Back then, Lil’ Sis and I refrained, I think, but this time we had Olive and NPY along who are enthusiastic. I spied the Valley Girl Lemon doughnut while NPY wanted the jelly-filled one. Olive kindly went around the corner to pick up doughnuts while we were getting ready to go to DTF and NPY and I enjoyed the highly powdered and yeasty donuts after dim sum! I thought the lemon filling was just perfect.