Oh My Calico!

The End.

2011-12-10T16:26:00.001-08:00

As some of you have noticed, I've stopped blogging. It's been a much needed break, I must confess. In the end, I realized after these many months that I actually miss blogging, and I particularly miss sharing cool stuff with the world out there (regardless of who reads my blog, you know?).

What I did not miss was blogging food reviews. After a year or so of writing about restaurants, it just became a chore, and I became increasingly irritated about the bad food I was eating and paying for. Bad food was making me angry! But I learned that I don't particularly like writing bad things about other people and places - sure, it feels good at the time of writing, but it didn't sit quite well with me. Plus, I felt myself getting competitive about my stats, and it just brought out the worst in me. And people were emailing me demanding things. So, the step back.

Anyhow, there are a lot of food blogs out there, some of them great, some okay, and some not so good. But there is a lot out there, especially in Vancouver.

I will continue blogging at The Forgotten Thing. It will feel like reverting into my own bubble, but that's rather comforting to me at the moment.I'm not sure if I will continue posting at Oh My Calico about non review food stuff, but we'll see.

Hell, at least this move has been good for my wallet.

Wishing you all the best, friends.

Eating Brooklyn

2011-08-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

So I know I've been really slow at updating the blog with travel pictures, but bear with me, okay? We're outta Philly! After 5 days in the city, we took a train to NYC. The train ride was just around an hour and a half, and quite enjoyable. I just love trains.

When we arrived in Penn Station (thoughts of Mad Men came to mind), we got really confused. There were so many connections, people, exits - we didn't know how to get to Brooklyn, and it was my idea to stay a night in Brooklyn, so I had to get us there - by subway, of course.

Anyhow, we made it on the A Train, though not without a lot of frustration. The hotel we stayed at was one of the best ones we've ever been to. How much can I say about Brooklyn? We loved it! To me, this was the best part of NYC. There was such a feeling of community, lots of old neighbourhood stores, interesting streets to explore, and not too many people.

When we arrived we decided to go for a late lunch, and I had been craving Asian food for a while, so we decided to go to Joya, a Thai restaurant near the hotel. There were a lot of good reviews on the Internet, so I was pretty excited.

I was surprised at how modern and hip the place looked - when you go to Thai restaurants in Vancouver, you nearly always get that functional space filled with Thai knick-knacks, but this place was pretty cool looking, with exposed brick, lots of wood, and an open, stainless-steel kitchen.

We started off with Thai Iced Tea, one of my favorite sweet drinks. This version was wonderful - just the right proportion of evaporated milk to tea, and just enough sweetness to not be cloying.

I had been thinking about having a sour soup for days, so we ordered the Tom Yum soup ($3.50). This was tasty, though it had a little sweetness that I don't generally like (just a personal preference). However, there was a nice balance of lime, fish sauce, and chillies in the bowl.

We also ordered shrimp Pad Thai ($6.95), as a benchmark of authenticity, as it were. While it didn't come with the traditional accompaniment of chives and lime (lemon was given instead), I was pretty impressed at this version. While it was a more wet and sweet than what you would get in Thailand, the flavours were great, with one of that annoyingly sweet red ketchupy stuff that a lot of restaurants use for Pad Thai.

One of my favorite dishes is Gai Yang ($8.95, I think), which is grilled (usually whole) chicken. A lot of restaurants don't do a good version of this, but I was so wonderfully surprised by this half grilled chicken we got, which came with a side of sticky rice (yes!), and mango salad.

The chicken was moist and delicious. It exceeded my expectations! The sticky rice, a traditional accompaniment, was good as well. The only disappointment was the mango salad; the problem was that they used a semi-ripe sweet mango along with a sweet dressing, so the whole effect was disappointing. Sour green mango really should have been used, but they are pretty hard to find.

We were bowled over at the food and the cheap prices of Joya, and we really wished that we lived in Brooklyn so we could eat there all the time.

We were pretty stuffed at this point, but when we were walking along Court street, we noticed a whole lotta people lining up for Italian ices at the Court Pastry Shop. Italian Ice (known as Water Ice in Philly), is ice that's ground to a velvety smooth consistency with fruit or other flavours. I got pineapple, Shane got pistachio. It was refreshing on a warm summer day. Hmmm, why doesn't someone open up an Italian Ice joint in Vancouver?

For dinner we went to the New St. Claire Restaurant, a cool-looking diner near the hotel. We were trying to find a specific restaurant, but got lost instead. So we settled upon the place around the corner.

Shane got an omelette (around $9). The food was pretty mediocre.

Since they had a bunch of Greek stuff on the menu and because I wasn't that hungry, I got a plate of dolmates. This was just okay, similar to what you would get any where else.

Shane got a couple of beers to take back to the hotel.

Eating Philly - Part 3 - Morimoto!

2011-08-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

We splurged on a meal in Philly at Morimoto, of Iron Chef fame. Both of us dressed up, and talked ourselves into the $80 tasting menu.

The restaurant was one of the most beautiful restaurants we'd been in; the walls were covered with an pearl-like iridescence, with modern white tables and lit from within with coloured lights.

Morimoto has their own beer, brewed by Rogue. The is the flight, which included, soba ale, and hazelnut ale.

A very delicious guava cocktail.

First course: tuna tartare, in a moat of soy-based sauce/broth. The sauce was pretty salty, but went well with the fish. I didn't particularly love the ultra smooth texture of the fish though; it reminded me too much of baby food.

Fish carpaccio. Delicious.

Sashimi salad. Wonderful

'Sangria' cleanser. To be honest, this didn't taste like sangria.

Morimoto hazelnut ale.

Seared salmon with an anchovy broth. Not my favorite, because the sauce smelled a little too strong. It was crying for a little bit of acid to balance out the plate.

Amazing Peking duck inspired dish: duck, green onion crepe, kimchi sauce. The highlight of the meal.

Sushi

Cheesecake with blueberries. The cheesecake was very light, with a slight gelatinous texture.

We were really full when the meal ended. The whole meal lasted for about 2 and a half hours, and service was very professional. A great experience.

Eating Philly - Part 2

2011-07-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

A croissant from Metropolitan Bakery . This looked really good, but it wasn't heavenly, as I had expected. it was less flaky than it looked, and was a bit chewy.

Another roast pork sandwich from Dinic's, this time without cheese and with roasted peppers. Delicious - perhaps even a better combination.

Being in Philly, we had to try a true cheesesteak sandwich. Of course, the top contenders people mention are Pat's or Geno's, but Jim's Steaks is always mentioned among the best as well, so we decided to pay Jim's a visit. To be honest, I had a bit of anxiety about ordering these sandwiches, because I hear that you had to do this a specific way, like 'whiz wit' if you want one with cheese whiz and onions, but when we were in the line, that worry eased somewhat, because people were not following that rule. Even though we arrived at around 3pm, we still had to wait for about 15 minutes or so in line. We both got one with provolone and onion, with a side of hot peppers.

The verdict? Those cheesesteaks were damn good - the meat was tender, onions gave it nice flavour, and the cheese gave it a creamy saltiness. The bun was soft and soaked up the meat juices. The only imperfection was that the meat could have used a bit more seasoning, but it was a great experience overall, and worth the wait.

For a couple of days we could not figure out the beer situation in Philly. They had liquor stores which sold wine and spirits, but no beer. But we found this beer/specialty food store called The Foodery which had an AMAZING selection of beer, along with a store cat. We got blueberry beer, peach beer, and a cider, among others.

We return to the Reading Market again with take out from the Down Home Diner. I kind of love eating in hotel rooms. I got the fried chicken dinner, with 3 generous pieces of fried chicken, collard greens, and mash potatoes. This was okay - the chicken was moist, but lacked seasoning, and even though I was most exited about trying southern style collard greens for the first time, I didn't actually like it. The greens had a strange, sweet taste. I'm not a big fan of sweet and savory, so I couldn't eat it.

Shane got the meatloaf with mash and boiled vegetables. The meat loaf was a lot better seasoned, and tasted really good with the potatoes. I had a bit of food envy.

Eating Philly - Part 1

2011-07-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

Shane and I recently visited Philly and New York for a little over a week. We had some great eats! Here is day one:

One of the best places to eat is Reading Terminal Market, an indoor market full of food stalls. There is quite a popular Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish) food section, which is only open for business from Wednesday to Saturday. I tried a pretzel roll stuffed with sausage and a real Philly pretzel from Miller's Twist. These are handmade soft pretzels, which were buttery, salty, and pretty delicious.

One of the more popular eateries at the market is Dinic's Roast Pork. On the days that we went, there were huge lineups of about 50 people.

This is the roast pork sandwich with provolone and broccoli rabe.

The pork, while a little mild in flavour, was tender and dripping with juices. The components all worked with each other and made for a big yummy mouthful.

We bought a few cookies from the 4th Street Cookie Company to try.

The cookies were quite large. They were rich, slightly chewy on the inside, and quite sweet. Very good cookies, though not as good as the Cookies of Course cookies in Vancouver (am I biased?).

We went for dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy, an Italian American place near our hotel. The place was full of families and had a nice, though slightly formal, feel.

Shane ordered the lasagna, which was quite gooey and delicious.

I ordered Linguine di Mare, a seafood pasta. This was just okay - though there were lots of prawns, mussels, and clams, and a few pulverized bits of lobster, the sauce/broth was a bit bland. It was a disappointment.

Quite a day of eating, no?

Stay tuned for part two...

Big Lou's Butcher Shop

2011-03-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Big Lou's Butcher Shop is one of new restaurants that opened up in the new year; the restaurant is located in a couple of blocks from Chinatown, and is from the owners of the nearby Two Chefs and a Table. While the food is similar to Meat & Bread, in terms of being a sandwich joint, the place is unique because it is primarily a butcher shop first and foremost.

The space and design of the restaurant and shop has a charmingly old-fashioned, yet graphically modern feel. The meat display is wonderfully attractive, with meat laid out in a most pleasing way. The meat itself is locally sourced.

There is also a selection of pickles (asparagus, bean), and various spice rubs.

While the store is quite spacious, the eat-in dining area is quite minimal, consisting of just a bar facing the wall and some (quite uncomfortable) stools. The butcher art is quite a nice touch.

Here's the porchetta sandwich ($9), with a Boylan Black Cherry soda, which Brigid ordered. The sandwiches came attractively wrapped in custom printed paper and white string. The pork itself was very flavourful - juicy and well-seasoned. While the sandwiches had bits of crackling, the pieces that were included where quite hard, nearly teeth-breakingly so. In comparison with the porchetta sandwich at Meat & Bread, Big Lou's version is not as good, due to many tiny reasons; however, it is still a pretty good sandwich.

Amanda got the Bulgogi chicken ($9), which didn't look like what you would find in a Korean restaurant. However, Amanda reported that this was pretty tasty, although she wasn't fond of the grilled long stalks of green onion that was in the sandwich, which were stringy and hard to bite off. To be honest, I'm not sure about the 'Bulgogi' and the 'Bahn Mi' on the menu - it seems a little out of place, especially considering there are a few really amazing & cheap bahn mi places just a few blocks away.

I had Big Lou's Chicago Style sausage sandwich ($7.50), with house made sausage, pickles, mayo, pickled peppers and mustard. This had some problems. While the sausage itself was tasty, with hints of fennel, the outside didn't have that crunch and pop that a well seared sausage has - it was instead really chewy. There was also way too much mayo and pickled peppers. These elements, along with the mustard and pickles, made the sandwich taste really unbalanced.

While the location is a little out of the way, Big Lou's is certainly worth a visit. The store's commitment to local food and product is certainly admirable, and hopefully there will be a few tweaks here and there to make the space more inviting and the food a little more refined.

Shaktea

2011-03-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

I love teas. It's one of my favourite drinks, and I love especially the sheer variety of teas - you can try tons of teas and still be astounded at a new flavour that you didn't even know existed. Somehow, there doesn't seem to be many tea places on the East Side of Vancouver, so when Shaktea opened up a few years ago, it was pretty unique. Now, we've visited here a few times - most of the time to get some loose tea; but we hadn't gone there for tea service in a long while.

The interior of Shaktea is filled with warm colours and had a cozy feeling. Aside from a few choice seats near the window, there is not much seating at all. However, the display of jars of tea is pretty neat.

They also always have three pots of tea to sample: usually an herbal one, a rooibus or honeybush one, and a black tea, all sitting in three glass teapots.

It was moderately busy when we arrived, and we managed to snag one of the last couple of free tables. We were given the menu right away, but it took almost 15 minutes to actually place our order. Even though other people all around us were placing orders, the servers seemed to forget about us. In the end, we actually had to flag someone and ask her if we could order.

From the time we were there, service seemed to be a problem; people would sit there without menus, without having orders taken, and given 'reserved' tables with a warning that they couldn't stay very long. The service wasn't too joyful.

I got the matcha latte, which arrived in a unique ceramic bowl (around $4). This was delicious - creamy and with a nice green tea flavour. One of the nice things about this place is that they always give you a few mini gingersnaps with your tea. It's a really great touch.

Shane had the Earl Grey latte ($4.25), which arrived in a small tea pot. The tea was unsweetened and had a very aromatic and wonderful Earl Gray flavour. The amount of creaminess was perfect. The teas did take a very long time to arrive though.

We also ordered a chocolate pistachio cookie ($1.95). Unfortunately this was very dry and lacked a distinct pistachio flavour.

The teas at Shaktea are great. And if you can find a time when they're not busy, so much the better. However, they do need to improve on the customer service aspect if they want to garner customer support.

Vera's Burger Shack - Main St

2011-03-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

I always have mixed feelings returning to the Main Street area. One reason is that when I lived there about five years ago, it was not so trendy and hipster-y as it is now. It's become a little too popular these days. But I also have pangs of jealousy because there is so much cool new stuff that wasn't there before, like the new community centre and library, and all sorts of up-and-coming restaurants. Vera's Burger Shack is one of those places that wasn't there when we were around. So when we were in the neighbourhood and after unsuccessful attempts to visit Benkei Ramen on 5th (closed) and Lucy's Eastside Diner (too busy), we ended up at Vera's for lunch.

Now we had gone to another Vera's years ago but never actually been back for a while.

The restaurant occupies a place that used to be a cafe, as I recall (Pedro's Coffee?), and the interior feels a little like a worn old shoe. Not that the place isn't clean or anything (well, there were crumbs at our table...), but it had the feeling of being used too many times. However, the seats were comfortable enough.

The menu is pretty extensive, ranging from basic burgers, to specialty burgers, to hot dogs and sandwiches. The choice is pretty dizzying at first. Of course, the price of the burgers is just for the burger itself; the sides are not included.

I went for The Natural Burger ($7.89), which features organic beef. The good thing at Vera's is that you can customize your burger with whatever toppings you want; this time, I went for pickles, tomato, lettuce, hot peppers, and mustard. All in all the burger was good: the bun was soft but toasted, and the meat itself had a good flavour. The patty was juicy, if a little overdone and lacking in seasoning.

Shane got the Power Burger ($8.69), which featured a fried egg, fried onions, and cheese. This one was pretty good; the egg had an appropriately gooey yolk, and the whole thing was a yummy mess. Of course, with this kind of burger, the patty becomes second fiddle, which may be a good thing in this case.

Both of us shared a side of fries ($3.99 for the combo with drink). This was a disappointment. The fries were dry and had an unappetizing puddle of oil at the bottom of the basket. It just wasn't good, and it may speak to a lack of care in the preparation of the food. I mean the reason that a person would choose Vera's over McDonald's or some other joint is that they care about the quality of the burger, right? I'm not sure if we felt that difference, to be honest with you.

Will we return to Vera's? Maybe.

But would it be our first choice? No.

Romer's Burger Bar

2011-02-21T21:50:00.000-08:00

We were in the neighbourhood to catch a movie at the nearby Fifth Avenue, so we decided to pay a visit to Romer's Burger Bar, a relatively new burger joint in Kits. Being in the neighbourhood, we could have easily gone for a more healthy option, but we wanted a really good burger.

The decor is dark, with deep red booths, high tables with bar stools, and lots of mirrors. Cozy nightclub vibe, if you prefer.

Romer's burgers are purportedly gourmet, with natural, free-range local meats. One advantage to the set up of the menu is that the burgers are sold alone, without any sides. This gives the customer the option of choosing their various sides, which range from fries, to onion rings, to veggies and salads.

The bad news is that for a single burger here (priced from $9 - $20), you're more or less paying for the price of a full meal at any other burger joint. The sides range from $3 - $8, so a whole plate does add up. But if the burger is good, it's worth it, right?

I ordered the 'Wicked Deadly Cheeseburger' ($11) which was topped with five types of cheese, onion, greens, and a Russian tarragon dressing. This was good, except that the only cheese you could taste was the goat cheese. Perhaps this was a proportion problem or the nature of the goat cheese itself, but I couldn't tell you what other cheeses were in that burger. The burger was an okay goat cheese burger, though I wasn't terribly blown away. Yes, the bun was nicely toasted and had a sumptuous softness, but the meat was a little dry, overdone, and really under seasoned.

Being a man, Shane felt it appropriate to order the 'Man's Man Burger' ($11), with bacon, cheddar, onion strings and tomato. This was also okay - the onions added a nice crunchy texture, but the problem again was the overdone meat and the lack of seasoning in the meat. There were no meat juices dripping on to the plate, you know?

Of course we had to try the poutine ($8). This was a terrible disappointment. The fries were crisp enough, but the problem was with two of the three components: gravy and curds. The gravy was quite minimal and bland, more of a drizzle than the more appropriate puddle. The cheese curds were also minimal and lacked that pleasant toothy squeak. The whole dish was weirdly un-hot (not a real word, but appropriate for this occasion).

For dessert, we tried the apple pie ($6), which arrived with a side of mascarpone cream. The pie was another disappointment, a bland, cold disappointment; the crust was thin and more chewy than flaky, and the apple filling was just standard. By far, the best part of the dish was the generous dollop of mascarpone.

By the end of our meal, we sad to have spent so much money on a burger joint. It could have been so good. But we just wanted to turn back time at that point.

Crow & Gate Pub (outside Nanaimo)

2011-02-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

Although we have family in Nanaimo, Shane and I rarely eat out in the area. However, we did hear about this English style pub called the Crow & Gate pub that was nearby, so we decided to pay a visit when we were out their with my mom. The restaurant itself is outside of the Nanaimo area, and is actually located in Cedar. It's definitely located in the middle of nowhere, and the entrance is not very noticeable. The pub itself is impressive; it's almost like you were driving into a Tudor estate, with immaculately green lawns, and distinctive white and dark-beamed buildings.

Surprisingly for a mid-afternoon, the place was packed. The interiors were what you may expect in an old English pub: lots of beams, dark wood, benches, and a real crackling fireplace. Very cozy.

The menu itself was small and written on a chalkboard. Like a lot of pubs, you seat yourself and order at the bar. The food then will be brought to your table. The menu items were reasonable, though not cheap; soups were under $8 and mains were from $10 - $14. I was disappointed to see non-traditional English stuff on their menu, but I suppose this reflects what the people demand.

My mom ordered the Boston clam chowder, which arrived in a large, flat bowl with a couple of slices of bread and butter. This soup was really good - creamy, rich, and with a really nice clam flavour.

Shane ordered the quiche of the day, which arrived with a side of green salad, potato salad, and some bread. The quiche was pretty good - creamy and cheesy, with a tender though somewhat limp crust, it certainly wasn't the best quiche either of us had ever had.

I ordered the bratwurst pub plate, which had two sausages, the same side salad and potato salad, roll, and inexplicably, a long strip of cheese. I wasn't bowled over by the sausages, to be honest. It was a tad salty and plain tasting. I am not a fan of sweet salad dressings, so did not like their house dressing at all. The potato salad was also heavy on the mayo and a tad sweet as well.

I was also bothered a little by the fact that everyone had the exact same plate (side salad, potato salad, roll), despite the difference in the orders. This probably eases the work of the kitchen, but it would be nice if they put in a little more effort.

That being said, we would definitely come back, just because of the setting and environment of the pub. The place has a wonderful feel. Plus, they do sell the most wonderful beer and ciders on tap.

Rebar Modern Food (Victoria)

2011-02-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

On a recent visit to Victoria we visited Rebar Modern Food, one of the most famous vegetarian eateries on the West Coast (heck, they even have a cookbook!). I have heard many raves about the place from people I know. Despite the fact that I'm a die-hard omnivore, I do appreciate vegetarian cooking.

The restaurant is located right downtown Victoria, in the Bastion Square area. It's a little hidden because the restaurant is somewhat below ground. Inside, the surroundings are quite lovely and warm with bright walls, colourful tablecloths, and various knick knacks (plastic godzilla, anyone?). We were greeted warmly at the door and we were free to choose any table we liked.

For breakfast, I chose the 'Migas' ($13), which was eggs scrambled with peppers, cilantro and topped with tortilla strips and a salsa verde. The scramble came with pan-fried red potatoes, toast, and homemade jam and ketchup. This was just okay - it needed a bit more seasoning, and could have used quite a bit more kick to the salsa and scramble itself. The potatoes didn't have the best texture and could have used a dash of salt. However, the bread, jam and spicy ketchup were fantastic.

To be honest, I was much more impressed by what Shane ordered. He got the wild mushroom omelette with spinach and chevre ($12), which came with the same potatoes, toast, jam, and ketchup. This was delicious; the mushrooms had a perfect earthly flavour, and was complemented by the tart creaminess of the goat cheese.

For the first time at Rebar, it was a pretty enjoyable experience. The atmosphere is great, and while the food is a little pricey, the quality ingredients definitely make up for it. We will have to come back for a deeper look at the menu.

Meat & Bread

2011-02-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

Sigh. There are a million blog reviews of Meat & Bread on Urbanspoon, so why even bother writing about the place?

Well...because it's really damn good! Meat & Bread is one of those new restaurants with a really simple concept: really good sandwiches, and quality ingredients. Their location at Hastings and Cambie is utterly perfect for me - literally a five minute walk from work, which is a good and bad thing. So this review is cobbled together from three separate visits, and these occasions made me like the place even more.

First of all, how cool is the menu? Small menu, with limited choices, which is a really good thing (they do have two staples: the porchetta sandwich and the grilled cheese). The whole restaurant has a modern / retro feel that makes one feel a little nostalgic.

Look at those wooden floors! There is very limited seating here; aside from a few tables near the front of the restaurant, the place features a big, stainless steel communal table (hi, neighbour!).

Along the side are water jugs, glasses and napkins, along with an impressive wall of condiments for sale: mustard, sambal, and salt. The whole thing is beautifully composed.

This the beauty shot. That is the porchetta - free-range pork rolled with herbs and topped with golden crackling, surrounded by piles of ciabatta buns.

Here is the porchetta sandwich ($8), pork with salsa verde and bits of crackling. The first bite was heavenly, and heaven just went on and on, with tender, well-seasoned, juicy pork and the surprise crunch of fatty skin. Can I confess that I would like to munch on a bag of those cracklings?

The salsa verde didn't do much for me, however, and it made the bun a little soggy at times. The sandwich is served with a dollop of delicious mustard, and a surprisingly tasty sambal sauce. To be honest, the sandwich reminded me exactly of the one I had at a Tuscan market in Italy, which I remember as one of the best meals I've ever had.

On another visit, I tried the meatball sandwich ($7), which didn't consist of whole meatballs, but more of crushed variety. While the meat wasn't spectacularly flavourful, the sauce had a nice spiciness and the sandwich had a nice layer of Romano (?) cheese. It was a comforting dish.

A friend of mine had the grilled cheese ($7), consisting of Gruyere (I think the cheese changes) and onions. She liked it a lot. She also had a side of tomato soup, which she also liked. However, I must say that the sides, at $4 for a small bowl, is not the best deal.

The restaurant also boasts quite an unusual dessert: maple bacon ice cream sandwich. It's served between two thin waffle wafers. It was quite good, though not mind-blowing. The bacon goes surprisingly well with ice cream and lends a chewy texture amidst the creaminess.

Meat & Bread is a great addition to the neighbourhood. The focus of the menu is impressive, and so is the whole look and feel of the place. I must, however, refrain from visiting too often. Porchetta is not a friend to my health!

An Update, A Fork

2011-02-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

from Song Dong's 'Waste Not' at the VAG

Sometimes, silence is good. Silence means thinking, or being busy, or just feeling like doing nothing much.

I've been thinking about this blog a lot, how sometimes it just feels weird writing non-food related stuff on here. I mean, who cares about that other stuff, right? Plus there just seems to be an out-of-nowhere quality when a post about craft or art pops up. So upon long reflection, there will be changes to this blog - mainly a separation of sorts. I've decided that Oh My Calico would be just about food (cooking, restaurant reviews and such), and a new blog, called The Forgotten Thing, will be about other stuff.

If you are curious, come over for a visit.

Bo Laksa King's Bubbles and Bits

2011-02-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

Since last year or so, we have heard lots about Bo Laksa King, ever since Chowtimes reviewed their first location on Joyce Street. Chowtimes raved about the food and many bloggers followed with great praise and many reviews. A visit to Bo Laska had been on my list for quite a while, especially since we learned that the chef and owner is from Burma, which is where my family is originally from.

We were in the neighbourhood of their second (and now only) location on Hastings Street, and decided to finally pop in. I must say, the exterior did nothing for the place, with the broken 'Open' neon sign and many pictures of bubble tea. In fact, without knowledge of Bo Laksa, I would hardly know that real food was actually served there.

The interior is simple and utilitarian, with black plastic tables and chairs and dark teal walls. When we arrived for an early lunch, we were the only customers there and this felt a little awkward.

We were pleased to see a number of Burmese dishes on the menu, but we decided to go the non-Burmese route, to save comparisons with my mother's cooking. We ordered the chicken satay, which arrived in a rather impressive arrangement, with 3 skewers arranged tee-pee style on the plate with sides of rice and peanut sauce. The chicken itself was pretty good, with a nice grilled taste. However, the peanut sauce was a little on the sweet side, without the balance of spicy and savory. As an appetizer, we were very impressed by the size of the dish.

Here is their famous laksa ($7.50). This came in a huge bowl filled with tofu puffs, shrimp, fishball, chicken, beansprouts, and a whole boiled egg. You had a choice of yellow egg noodles or the rice vermicelli, and I got the vermicelli. The noodles were well cooked, not too soft, and the soup had a nice coconut creaminess. However, I felt that it was lacking a little in spice; the soup was very mild. I also though that the soup could have used a bit more salt, because it tasted a little bland.

Shane ordered the Mee Goreng, a Malaysian fried noodle dish. I heard that the owner's wife was Malaysian, so we had great expectations of this. Unfortunately, this was the weirdest Mee Goreng I'd ever tasted. The noodles had a sauce all over it, and it was extremely sweet. I'm not sure what happened, but it was really bad.

So our first experience with Bo Laksa was a rather mixed one; I must confess that I left the restaurant a little let down. Perhaps my expectations were too high? Nevertheless, we are willing to return, if only to try the Burmese dishes, which will be the ultimate test.

The Kingston Lounge

2011-01-14T20:47:00.000-08:00

I was browsing through the site Gawker and came upon this amazing story about the abandoned and forgotten North Island, which was once a quarantine hospital for smallpox, TB, and which once housed the infamous Typhoid Mary. Apparently a photographer named Richard Nickel Jr. went on the island and took photographs of the ruins--from the old hospital now overrun with vines, to the cage-like solitary rooms used for heroin addicts in their withdrawal, to the lonely collapsed seats of the school auditorium. The images are incredibly sad but beautiful too.

His blog, named The Kingston Lounge, has the entire photo essay complete with the whole, rich story of the island. It is one of the most fascinating things I've read in a while.

I can't wait to explore his other photo essays of his other visits to historical sites; I'm now a big fan of 'guerrilla preservation and urban archeology' (pretty cool term, no?).

South Castle Korean Restaurant

2010-12-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

Our Korean friends, Ana and Kay, took us to a new Korean restaurant called South Castle that had recently opened up on Austin Avenue in Coquitlam. The original restaurant of the same name is in North Vancouver, and apparently the Coquitlam location is the second branch of this restaurant (around Austin Heights Pizza area - I didn't take down the address, and somehow there is no trace of this location in the internet!).

Our friends warned us that the restaurant is very specialized and caters to mostly Korean customers.

The restaurant is on Austin Avenue, and is the location of a string of failed restaurants. The decor is very typical for a Korean restaurant, with lots of wood, and booths. However, the first thing I noticed about this place as we walked in was how busy it was; all of the tables were nearly filled, and the servers were running around. As a consequence, our service wasn't that great and was quite rushed.

There isn't your typical menu at this restaurant; in fact, the only menu they had was on one wall, and it was entirely in Korean. However, this doesn't seem to be a huge deal because the menu consists on variations of one dish - sausage encased in intestine, and soup with lots of intestines.

As usual, we were presented with an array of Korean side dishes. They were good, though not remarkable.

The only thing that didn't have intestines in it was the bulgogi soup, which is what Shane got ($8.99). This arrived in an impressive stone pot type vessel in full boil. In addition to the slices of marinated beef, the soup had lots of green onion, veggies, a few strands of potato noodles. Shane enjoyed this, although for me, the soup had a bit too much sugary sweetness.

The rest of us went for their specialty, which is the intestine soup with sausage ($10.49). According to our friends, this is 'soul food' and the ultimate comfort food for Koreans. Apparently South Castle does a near gourmet version of the dish and is of a quality that you would unlikely find in Korea. Like the other dish, it arrived in a rollicking boil. This too, was filled with onions, bean sprouts, and green onions. I was very surprised at the amount of pepper that was in the soup; it tasted overpoweringly peppery, which was a very different flavour than I'm used to. Some of the intestines were enjoyable, and the sausage was pretty interesting, though the thick intestine casing made it a little too chewy. However, the dish had too much intestine for me. Near the end I couldn't really eat any more.

I was very pleased that I was able to try this specialty dish. I definitely would try this again, though it's not a dish that I would crave on a regular basis. Judging from the number of customers, this restaurant seems here to stay.

Christmas Cookies!

2010-12-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

This weekend was spent inside with a sore knee (yoga injury, if you can believe it), and lots of baking. Both Shane and I had work parties and events coming up, and I somehow felt like making Christmas cookies, which is something I never, ever do.

These are wonderful 'Triple Ginger Cookies' from one of my favorite cookery writers, Heidi Swanson from her blog 101 Cookbooks. The recipe is wonderfully healthy for a cookie (of course, I just used a mixture of all-purpose and whole wheat). These are the perfect size for a discreet gingery hit; they are crisp on the outside and slightly chewy.

These are 'Crisp Chocolate Bites' from the book Cookies by Williams-Sonoma which I borrowed from the library. I added a teaspoon of cayenne to give it a kick. It turned out pretty well, though it could have done with a minute or so less baking. These suckers are surprisingly spicy, but in a nice way.

And now, the classic Mexican Wedding cookie, from the same book (though the recipe is everywhere). These are definitely my favorite - nutty, buttery, and oh so very rich. I don't like a lot of icing sugar, so they look a little plain.

Finally, I made two batches of a sugar cookie recipe from the same book. However, since this recipe calls for a cup and a quarter cup of butter per batch, it is more like a shortbread. Indeed, the cookie cutter shapes I cut out ended up being pretty fragile. So I gave up on that and made really ugly balls / lumps instead.

The batch pictured above have rosemary as a flavouring. This really worked - it didn't taste too herby at all, but the rosemary added a mysterious depth that made you wonder.

The second batch below had the addition of citrus (lemon, orange, lime, kaffir lime leaf). This turned out pretty well, with quite a pronounced aroma.

So...the decorating. This was harder than I anticipated, and I really didn't like working with icing, which really ruins the cookie with sickly sweetness, in my opinion. So I ended up mostly 'painting' on a really transparent, colourful sugar glaze.

All in all, a pretty productive weekend. At least I got the baking urge out of my system!

Pied-a-Terre

2010-11-30T21:33:00.000-08:00

(Bear with me, I'm catching up on a backlog of food posts. Here's one from a few weeks ago....)

Amanda, a friend from work, and I had a chance to have a leisurely lunch when we were out of the office visiting various places for one of our projects. We decided upon a French bistro on Cambie called Pied-a-Terre. As you can see from the photos, the restaurant is very distinctive looking, with a playful flying pig mural on the side of the building contrasting with its rather stark, elegant, vertical facade.

Reservations are recommended for this place because it is quite small. The interiors were a delight, with a fancy black chandelier, dark framed mirrors, a chalkboard menu, and tasteful wooden tables and black leathery banquette and chairs.

The lunch started out wonderfully, with a stack of warm slices of French bread that were utterly divine, with a crunchy (but not hard) crust and a fluffy interior. These came with a generous portion of butter. This was amazing - one of the best breads I've had.

Both Amanda and I had the unfortunate disposition of being gluttons, so when we saw the Table d'Hote option of three courses for $25, our eyes widened and we impulsively went for it. You only live once, right? For the first course, both of us chose the quail on a frise salad. This was very decadent, to have the whole bird to yourself as an appetizer, no less! The quail was delicious, with a really mouth-watering grilled flavour and delicately cooked flesh. The salad was also really tasty, with morsels of pork nestled among the greens. (Note: my dining companion who does not eat red meat or pork didn't enjoy this - the quail tasted too 'gamey' for her palate)

For the main course, Amanda ordered the trout with capers, served on a bed of vegetables. The portion was very generous. She liked this quite a bit, and loved the size of the meal, even though she couldn't quite finish the whole thing.

Amanda also wanted to replace the bed of vegetables with fries, so the server gave her an extra side of fries at no charge. I found that to be pretty impressive. Look at the size of that!

In fitting with the theme of the day (gluttony), I went for the steak frites with peppercorn sauce. This was huge, and along with the main components, also came with creamed spinach and a herbed breadcrumb topped tomato. The dish was enjoyable; the fries were well cooked, golden brown and crispy, the vegetable sides were really pleasant departures from the regular steak frites. The meat was a nice medium rare and was well seasoned. My only comment would be that the steak itself was a little tough and needed quite a bit of chewing. But considering the cost, this is pretty understandable. All in all, a very hearty dish.

We were utterly stuffed at this point. But who can pass up dessert? Amanda chose the simple vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. Judging from its appearance, the ice cream looks housemade (thought it did seem a bit too 'melty'). She enjoyed this, although she thought that a bit more chocolate sauce would have made it perfect.

I got the Napoleon with sour cherry compote. The sour cherries were absolutely amazing - the tartness cut through the richness of the cream on top and between the layers. However, there was a major problem with the dessert, because the pastry layers were so thick and hard that it was impossible to cut through them. As a result, the layers and cream went all over the place. It was not very elegant to eat.

We very much enjoyed our lunch at Pied-a-Terre. For the amount of food, the service and quality of the ingredients, it is quite the deal. The whole meal was an experience, and was one of those meals where you felt like you were in a different country on vacation.

I would definitely comeback to this restaurant. They know what they're doing.

Pagliacci's - Victoria

2010-11-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Pagliacci's has been around since the 1970's and has quite the following. Every time we've visited Victoria, we've seen long line ups outside the restaurant; for this reason, we've avoided it, but this time we decided to try it when we went for dinner with Shane's dad. Being from Victoria, Shane had tried the restaurant before, but not in a long while.

Luckily, the weather was clear the night we decided to go, so the wait wasn't too bad even though the line was really long. However, the restaurant was well aware of this and brought us each a beverage as we waited. We thought that was pretty great and quite rare for a non-fine dining place.

The interior of the restaurant was filled with knick knacks and bright yellow walls. The space was really small, and tables were jammed into the restaurant with very little room for people to move. We were probably six inches from the next table. It was a little uncomfortable.

The complimentary foccacia bread was amazing and unique. It was flaky, buttery and utterly rich. It was really irresistible.

Demsey's Lasagna ($14), touted as a favourite of Bob Dylan's, was surprisingly delicious. The handmade pasta was still slightly chewy instead of the usual mushy stuff that you'd normally get. The meat sauce was delicious and had a wonderful basil flavour. On top of that the whole thing was really cheesy, and you had decadent strings of cheese as you portioned it to your mouth. It was probably one of the best lasagna's I've had. Would I order this again? Yes and yes.

Shane had "The Heart of Saturday Night", which had artichoke hearts, capers, olives, red peppers in a tomato sauce over fettucine ($14). The pasta was well cooked, but the sauce lacked punch. With those ingredients, you might expect assertive, briny flavours, but the whole dish tasted really bland. The tomato sauce lacked the freshness that the lasagna had, and even the olives and capers imparted no flavour. In fact, we had to add a bunch of salt to this dish to make it palatable.

I've thought of the lasagna many times since this visit and can't wait to return. I had my doubts about this place before I went, but I now understand the long line-ups!

The Giant Sparrows

2010-11-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about Vancouver recently have been the public art that have popped up as a result of the Olympics. One such piece that has captured the imagination are the giant sparrows in False Creek by artist Myfanwy MacLeod. They are really astonishing. Seeing them tower above you is quite the experience.

There is a great write up about the project from the City of Vancouver here.

Aren't they just the most wonderful things?

Pig BBQ Joint - Johnson Street Location

2010-10-26T20:25:00.000-07:00

A week and a half ago we spent the weekend in Victoria to visit Shane's family. One of the things we wanted to do was return to Pig BBQ Joint, which was one of the many highlights of our last trip. I thought about their pulled pork sandwich a lot. Perhaps this was part of the reason we ate at this place not once, but three times.

To our surprise, when we walked over to the restaurant, we found that the location had (temporarily) closed and that Pig had moved a few blocks away to the corner of Johnson and Blanchard. What a difference! The old joint had seats for about five people and was literally a hole in the wall, but the new digs are large enough to seat about 30 or 40 people and are very swanky in comparison. Apparently, they had only been open at that new location for two weeks.

The decor was full of personality and cool, from the chalkboard menu, to the multi-layered wooden pig, down to the blue water spout above shelves of mason jars.

The iced tea was a steal at $1.50 and arrived in one of the aforementioned mason jars. This was not too sweet and utterly refreshing.

The first time, both of us ordered a pulled pork sandwich ($6), and we saw a curious thing on the menu: the deep fried macaroni ($4), which of course we had to order. The sandwich did not disappoint; it was as good as we remembered, with tender, subtly smoky pork, a tangy sauce, and a mustardly coleslaw. Delicious.

As for the deep fried macaroni and cheese, it was as you'd expect: amazingly crunchy on the outside while being soft and creamy on the inside. The only flaw was the seasoning - the macaroni and cheese should have used a tad more salt and cheese.

For our second visit, we tried the pulled pork meal ($10), which consisted of 1/2 pound of pulled pork, beans, and cornbread. The pulled pork is again excellent. The beans are a little sweet, but the cornbread is very good, especially with the sweet herb butter they provide.

On our third visit, our gluttony continues, with Pulled Pork Poutine ($9), which arrived steaming hot. The portion was huge. This dish was interesting, though neither of us knew if this was entirely successful. The pork didn't add much to the poutine, strangely enough, and the curds were too 'melty', and should have had more of a squeak when you bit into them. Lastly, the gravy was a tad salty. However, we were really glad we tried this.

Finally, the Fried Chicken meal ($12), consisting of 3 pieces of chicken, coleslaw and cornbread. The chicken was wonderfully crispy and well-seasoned, and the meat was wonderfully juicy, even for pieces of white meat. After sharing that huge poutine, we couldn't finish all the chicken, so we saved a piece for the next day. The chicken was even really good cold.

Every time we paid Pig a visit, the place was jumping and incredibly busy, which made us ever so happy. However, a part of me is glad we don't live in Victoria - coming here so often would really fatten us up!
Anyhow, Shane got himself a Pig BBQ t-shirt and wears it proudly.

Charm Modern Thai

2010-10-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to try Charm Modern Thai ever since it opened. In fact, we visited the restaurant a couple of times in hopes of a weekend lunch, but were disappointed both times because the restaurant was closed. The premise of Charm is that of "classic exotic Thai flavours with a slight Western modern influence".

However, we were in the neighbourhood for an evening movie and decided to try this place again for dinner. My experiences with Thai food in Vancouver have been mixed to say the least, and I've been trying to find one that would bring back memories of growing up in Thailand.

The interior of the restaurant is posh, plush, with red walls and booths, and gold accents. It's pretty refreshing to see a Thai restaurant that had a contemporary feel without the usual Thai kitsch. However, with the music and the darkness, it had a little too much of a 'nightclub' vibe.

We both ordered the Thai iced tea ($3). Though it was missing that characteristic bright orange hue, the tea was very good, with a nice balance of sweet and creamy, and a prominent tea taste.

The first dish we shared was Lemongrass Mussels ($10), which were steamed in a lemongrass, galangal, chili, Thai basil, lime and wine broth. It arrived in a large white bowl with a couple of slices of garlic toast. As soon as I tasted the broth, I was sold - the broth had a real punch with lime, herbs and chili, and was absolutely heavenly. It very much reflected the broths you would get in Thailand. The mussels, however, were on the tiny side; there was little meat inside and the morsels were far from plump.

For the other dishes, we decided to try out the classics, because what better way of testing out a Thai restaurant? We got the Papaya Salad ($10). Strangely, the server did not ask the level of heat we wanted for this dish. Anyway, it looked great when it arrived, piled high in a bowl, but like some other places, the salad was piled on top of a foundation of iceberg lettuce, giving the impression of a bigger portion than there actually is. I'm not a fan of this strategy.

The salad itself had good elements: the look of it, the texture of the papaya, the addition of carrots, the taste of fish sauce. However the dish was entirely too sweet. A great som tam has to have a balance: the sweetness needs to offset the lime and chili, but this dish did not have that. This was disappointing because the salad looked so good.

Next was the Larb Organic Chicken ($10), which is a salad of minced chicken with spices, herbs, lime and fish sauce. Again, our spiciness preference was not asked. This arrived with a side of iceberg, which is okay (but why iceberg?). The intention is to have the larb with the lettuce, almost like a lettuce wrap. This is because normally the larb would be really strong in spicing and flavour. Again, the elements were outwardly great, but this dish really lacked seasoning as well. I've never had a bland larb gai, but this was really watered down and nearly tasteless.

The Pad Thai ($12) was one of the dishes that I'd heard that Charm does really well, so we are excited to try it. When it arrived, it certainly looked impressive, with the nest of carrots, and a few lonely stalks of chive. However, it looked a little off - there was no lime wedge, and normally you would have a larger side of chives to eat the noodles with. The noodles also looked really wet, which was not a great sign.

A good thing about the dish were the prawns, which were large and juicy. However, that was the end of the good stuff. Quite simply, the noodles were too soft, and were quite broken up; this is really bad. But the far larger sin was again in the flavours of the dish; the noodles were way too sweet. I mean overwhelmingly sugary. We couldn't even finish this dish. This is one reason a wedge of lime would have been a godsend here.

It's very possible that I'm being overly harsh here, but why would you ruin pad thai like this? This dish does not resemble anything you would get in Thailand. It just makes me shake my head.

After the disappointment of the dishes, we still decided to give dessert a chance; we shared the Thai tea ice cream ($4). Unlike the other dishes, this dessert had awful presentation. A scoop of ice cream in a glass bowl topped with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry? Really?

The taste of the ice cream was actually very good, with a great Thai tea flavour. Why don't we have this flavour in the stores? It would be a great addition to any gelato shop! But we did have a major problem with this dessert, however; the ice cream tasted really old, and had icky, congealed lumps throughout, like the kind you'd get with ice cream that you'd left in your freezer quite some time ago. Why would you serve this to your customer? It baffles the mind.

We were thoroughly let down with our dining experience. While the restaurant calls itself having modern Thai cuisine, they need to have much better classic dishes (or not have them at all on the menu). I just don't get it; do the compromise in flavours make for a better restaurant?

While it's true that I'm probably quite a lot tougher on Thai restaurants than other cuisines, it's because I seriously want these restaurants to be good, and I go into them with a great hope. It's tough to be let down so much. Disappointment is the word of the day on this one.

Salsa and Agave

2010-10-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Last week we were in Yaletown and decided to try a place that we heard had great, authentic Mexican food. When we approached the restaurant, it was a little confusing because it looked like there were two locations of Salsa & Agave, separated by only one or two stores. After a minute we realized that one location is solely dedicated to take out and the other was more of a sit-down restaurant. Nevertheless, the restaurant is very small, with only about 20-30 seats. The decor is nothing special, but the deep red walls are pretty unusual.

Our server was very helpful, asking us if it was our first time to the restaurant, and offering to answer any questions that we have about the menu, even though the place was quite busy with the lunch crowd. The great thing is that the server never tried to rush us at all throughout our meal, even though by the end of our lunch the place was hoppin'.

Shortly after we sat down, our server brought complimentary salsa and chips to our table. The chips were pretty standard, and the salsa was moderately tasty, with a pureed consistency. We prefer more lime and spiciness in salsa, but I suppose this is a matter of taste.

For drinks, I ordered the Horchata, a rice-based Mexican drink. I'd never tried it before and I was pleasantly surprised by the delectable cinnamon flavour. It was a little too sweet, but still pretty refreshing to drink, especially after the ice cubes started to melt. Shane ordered the purple hibiscus drink (not pictured), and it was sourish and very sweet, and not our favourite.

We ordered a set of 4 tacos for $8. We choose two of carne asada, one pastor, and one chorizo. The tacos were palm-sized with a double layer of tortillas, and were accompanied by a red salsa, finely chopped onion, cilantro, and generous wedge of lime. The chorizo filling had a subtle kick and went really well with a squeeze of lime. The pastor was the most intriguing looking, with large chunks of pork in a red sauce; however, it wasn't very memorable, and could have used stronger seasoning. The carne asada was probably my favourite in terms of taste; it was nicely spiced and tasted pretty good. However, the beef was a little unappetizing looking, cut into thin squares and cooked to a deep gray colour.

While the tacos were certainly enjoyable, we much prefer those sold at La Taqueria. Those tacos had better cooked protein, and the flavours have a lot more punch.

We also shared the beef enchiladas ($12) with green tomatillo sauce. Overall, the dish tasted good and had a comforting feel that dishes with baked cheese seem to always have. However, there were a few issues with this dish. First, the beef filling was identical to the ones used in the carne asada tacos; this made us feel like we were eating the same dish, that there was just one way they made beef. Secondly, the rice lacked flavour, and more than that, it was a little overcooked, with broken grains. However, the beans were smooth and rich tasting, and the tomatillo sauce had nice flavour and tang.

Would we come back here again? Yes, but only if we were in the neighbourhood. Salsa and Agave's food is moderately good if you are in the mood for Mexican, but it is not exactly the ultimate food experience. The cuisine lacked a certain freshness and burst of flavour. We were expecting a lot more, and we were a little disappointed.

A Canadian Thanksgiving

2010-10-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in Canada, and despite not celebrating it while growing up, it has become one of my favourite holidays. This is, of course, because of the food, and the fact that it is the only time of year that I ever feel like making a big holiday dinner.

As usual, our Thanksgiving was small and celebrated on the Sunday, not the holiday Monday; we invited only a couple of friends (I find making things small greatly alleviates any stress). Strangely, this year was one of the most relaxing cooking experiences I've ever had for a holiday dinner, partly because I did a lot of cooking before hand.

Sigh. There is something so wonderful about feasting.

We tried the Cheesecloth method of roasting turkey this time, after being inspired by a show on the Food Network. It's pretty simple: you soak cheesecloth in a mixture of melted butter and wine, cover it over the turkey, and bake away. I didn't have any white wine, so we used Apricot ale instead. The turkey turned out pretty well, with really nice, crispy skin.

Here's the plate: turkey, mash, turkey & ale gravy, ginger & carrot glazed carrot, roasted sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts with bacon & Italian parsley, stuffing with walnut & apple, and homemade cranberry sauce (SO much better than the canned, I promise).

Top that with pumpkin pie, and we were golden.

Hope you Canadians had a great day yesterday!

Acme Cafe

2010-10-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

On one of our rare sunny days, I took Shane to Acme Cafe, which has been open for only a few months. Because I work nearby, I had been there 3 or 4 times before, but it was Shane's first visit. The look of the place is wonderful - it has a feel of a 1950's diner, but is distinctly modern in its colour, lines, and minimalist decor. There are booths, window bar seats, and a horseshoe-shaped counter top.

Shane ordered the Crock Pot Feature ($12.50), which that day consisted of a beef stew. This was served with a green salad and a bun. The stew looked lovely and hearty, with potatoes, carrots, and onion, and it was very filling. However, the meat was a little tough and the seasoning needed to be tweaked. It definitely could have done with more slow cooking. The bun was nondescript. The salad, on the other hand, was delightful: fresh, crisp, and with a nice balsamic dressing.

Having had sandwiches at the cafe previous times with mixed results, I opted for the Chicken Pot Pie ($12.50). The pastry dome that covered the bowl was a sight to behold. The crust was flaky and very fun to crack. However, the contents of the pot pie was a little less successful; the interior was more soupy than stew-like, and like the beef dish, this also benefited from a healthy shake of salt and pepper.

Having eyed the baked goods and desserts on our way to our table, we could not resist one of their fabulous pies. Apparently, each flavour is different everyday. On this particular day, one of the choices was a peanut butter pie.

The slice of pie, to put it simply, was a work of art. The crust was delectably flaky, on top of which was a potent layer of crunchy peanut butter, a rich custard-like layer, and a creamy layer of sweetened whipped cream. This pie was heavenly, and very unusual, with a distinct peanut buttery sweetness.

Come to Acme, if only for the pie. Despite the average food, we would definitely return - for the baked goods and dessert!

Introducing Mr. Sexsmith

2010-10-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Anyone love Ron Sexsmith? If not, you should. He is probably one of the most talented contemporary singer-songwriters out there. His songs are sensitive, subtle, and all about the complexities of emotion. Plus, he is Canadian and has a wonderful, clear, sincere voice and delivery.

This weekend we saw the documentary 'Love Shines.', which had its premiere at the VIFF on Friday. Apparently the filmmakers followed Ron for seven years and this is the result. The film is fantastic - you get a real sense of Ron, and you glimpse into the artistic process and recording process quite a bit. It's really, really good, even for people who have never heard of Ron Sexsmith, I expect. The last showing is on October 15, and then it will be doing rounds on the film festival circuit before appearing on TV.

The wonderful thing about the show is that Ron and Douglas Arrowsmith, the filmmaker, appeared at the end of the screening for a Q&A. I was a little giddy!

Here are a couple of really bad shots from the balcony, where we were sitting. (Douglas Arrowsmith is on the left and Ron Sexsmith is in the centre.)

Art of the Everyday: Song Dong & Robert Adrian

2010-10-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

Last week we went downtown and renewed our membership to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Then, we took a look at a few of the exhibitions that were currently on: Song Dong's 'Waste Not' and a group exhibit called 'Everything Everyday'. Exhibits at the VAG are usually hit or miss for me, but these group of exhibits made it the most wonderful Vancouver gallery day. A lot of the pieces resonated, and there were moments where you connect with the art, which is a feeling that's out of this world.

Song Dong's exhibit was an installation of all the objects that his mother collected over the years. We may understand her compulsion as 'hoarding', but it seems much more complicated than that. It speaks to the values of previous generations, cultural history, mourning, and the value of things. Ultimately, the art shows the relationship between mother and artist son. The exhibit is huge, and very impressive, just in terms of size. The detail and immensity are astounding.

On the same floor, there was a group exhibit of everyday objects transformed into art. Like a lot of group shows, there are things that stand out and things that would make you shake your head. But probably my favourite piece was Robert Adrian's 'dictionnaire par images', made in 1979. He took out pages from a picture dictionary and created tiny clay sculptures of the object as they were on the page. Perhaps it is my love of miniatures, but I found this piece to be charming and poignant, considering these objects are more than 30 years old!

The other exhibit that blew me away that's at the VAG right now is the American artist Kerry James Marshall's first solo exhibit in Canada. His paintings are amazing and tell stories of the African American experience. He draws from religious icon imagery, pop art, Basquiat, advertising, Naive Art....

The canvases are just beautiful and reflects on the history of African Americans, especially during the Civil Rights era. Although he's a past recipient of the MacArthur 'genius' grant and quite well-known in the US, I'd never heard of him before. What a discovery.

Go Thai

2010-10-09T08:49:00.001-07:00

Living on the border of Burnaby/Coquitlam/New Westminster, we often embark on long walks in random directions. On one of these occasions, we started walking down North Road and found ourselves in the Sapperton neighbourhood in New Westminster. We passed by a Thai restaurant and decided to visit.

Go Thai is located on Columbia Street, right before you get into the core Sapperton strip. It's a little curious looking, because the location and the building is where you expect a fast food chain should be. However, we were curious about this place because apparently the owner is a woman from North East Thailand.

The restaurant is minimal and has very little ambiance, with unremarkable furniture and decor. However, I am always in some strange way charmed by places that are unapologetic about how it looks. It's kinda ballsy.

To our delight, the restaurant had a pretty decent Thai Iced tea ($2.50), being appropriately very sweet, orange and a distinctive tea taste. My only complaint is that it could have used a wee bit more evaporated milk. However, this was refreshing and a brilliant counter to the spicy food that was to follow.

I was very excited to see sticky rice on the menu, because up in Northern Thailand, this is a staple food, and you rarely see this in Thai restaurants for some reason. The portion is small ($3.00), but it's presented in a traditional rice basket. We ordered dishes that would normally be eaten with sticky rice in Thailand.

We ordered a variety of Thai staples, one of which is Som Tam ($8.95), or green papaya salad. This is a very standard dish in Thai restaurants, but few dishes do it well. This version was very good, with a nice balance of sweet, sour and salty. However, the salad was extremely spicy, even though we asked for 'medium' levels. It was so good that we couldn't help but finish the whole thing!

We also ordered the Larb Gai ($8.95), which is minced chicken served like a salad with onions, spices, cilantro, chili, and lime. This was really good and fresh tasting, though the dish had a touch too much sugar. However, the only thing I didn't like about both salad dishes is that they were served on a bed of iceberg lettuce, which made the dishes look a lot bigger than they were.

Next, we had the Gai Yang ($9.95), which is grilled chicken. In Thailand, people would grill a whole chicken over charcoal on the streets, and you can buy it in every street corner, cut up, and served with a sweet and sour chili sauce. This dish had echoes of that, but it was a pale comparison. The meat itself was chicken breast which was nicely seasoned, but slightly dry. There was a distinct grilled flavour, but not as intense as it should have been.

Finally, for dessert we had the deep fried bananas and ice cream ($4.95). The portions were very generous, and this dish was good, though not spectacular. The bananas were soggy rather than crispy, and the ice cream was just regular, plain vanilla ice cream.

All in all, we were happy to have discovered this hidden gem of a place, considering how reasonable the prices are. It's not just like in Thailand, but I'm not sure I'll ever find that place. However, we'd definitely be curious to try a lot more of their dishes.

A Peek

2010-09-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

This is a little glimpse that a project I've been working on. These are a couple of lino cuts that I carved. I'm pretty used to carving rubber blocks, but this was the first time I've returned to lino since high school. The texture of the lino these days is so much better, so much easier to cut.

You'll see prints and/or the final product sometime in the future, I assure you. For the moment, the end product is a little under wraps.

For those of you who recognize the subject of the carvings, I tip my hat to you.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

2010-09-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

Some of you have heard of the Hunger Games Trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins, I presume? Shane brought the first book home last week, and I have been devouring the series ever since. Plot-wise, it's a little Battle Royale set in a North American dystopia, but the story is still very compelling (even though it's a 'Teen' book). It's a page-turner, and Collins crafts a very flawed, very strong and at times admirable heroine in Katniss Everdeen, who survives because of her single-mindedness. There are moments that will make you cry, and these moments are surprising because they are ones of unexpected kindness. As far as trilogies go, this one ended as it should, though I suspect it's not as satisfying as people would have liked it to be.

The books take you some where, and the journey is pretty incredible.

Re-Up BBQ

2010-09-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

One of the best things that happened in Vancouver, food-wise, was that the City of Vancouver created a pilot project for new street food carts. Although the carts have been slow to pop up, their arrival brings about a refreshing change from the usual hot dog stands.

Re-Up is probably one of the early success stories of the project; almost from the beginning, there were lineups during lunch hour. The tiny silver cart is located on Hornby near the Vancouver Art Gallery, near the fountains and Olympic clock. My friend Brigid and I went for on our lunch break to check it out. I first tried Re-Up the week after it opened (without my camera), and I was curious to repeat the experience.

The odd thing about Re-Up is that it's not very clear when they open - the first time I visited they opened at around 11:15am, but on this particular day they opened for business a little after 11:30am (generally the opening time is 11:20am). There were a few people milling about, and it was pretty obvious that they were eyeing the little silver truck.

We both had the sweet tea ($2), which was sweet, strong and very refreshing. The tea had an intriguing floral flavour that I couldn't quite place - a little of rose or violet, which was very unusual. It was very good.

Now we come to the goods. Re-Up has only one thing on the menu - the pulled pork sandwich ($6). The pork is smoked off premises and is warmed before serving.

The Portuguese bun is warmed, stuffed full of pork, topped with vegan BBQ sauce and coleslaw. The result is a sandwich that's overflowing with meat and crunchy cabbage. Don't wear your dress clothes with this one, folks. It's a messy bite, but so incredibly delicious. The pork is tender and moist, with a nice smoky flavour, and the sauce is wonderful - slightly spicy and nicely tangy. I've never liked coleslaw, but this coleslaw is surprisingly good.

We sat on the steps of the art gallery in the sunshine and ate our sandwiches, enjoying every mouthful, and sipping cool, sweat tea.

Even though I was full, I felt like I could've eaten another one of those.

Re-Up is addictive, indeed.

Organic Lives

2010-09-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

My co-workers are mostly vegetarian and vegan, so we took the opportunity one day to visit this organic, raw vegan restaurant after doing a site visit for work. The day happened to be the wettest day in August since 1958 or something. Can you tell by the picture?

Organic Lives is on the corner of Quebec and 2nd Avenue, and is housed in a big red brick building. Even with the signage, it was a little hard to tell that there was a restaurant inside; in fact, I must have walked by the restaurant every day when I lived in the area.

Okay, when I first heard about this restaurant I was skeptical, because what can there be except salads? But looking at the restaurant's website I was intrigued by the various food preparation methods. Although none of the food is cooked, there is a lot of dehydration, blender use, and some really complicated processes.

The first thing that I noticed about the place is that it is quite warm, despite the lack of stoves. One of my co-workers explained that this was because of the industrial size dehydrators they use. Although the seating is quite limited (around 20ish seats?), the restaurant had a large kitchen/prep area and really high ceilings. There is a bar area on which you can perch and watch the food preparation.

Along one side of the restaurant, there are products that you can take home with you, like coconut water, dehydrated pineapples, and various nut butters.

The menu is quite interesting, because it's very 'normal', with things like lasagna, wraps, sushi, pizza, and nachos. This makes dining here less intimidating for people, I guess. But when you read the descriptions and the food actually arrives, the utter ingeniousness of the dishes is pretty astounding.

Now, on to the food!

Side Earth Salad with Cilantro Lime dressing

Side Garden Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

I had the lasagna with Caesar salad ($14). The lasagna was made with thin slices of zucchini, and tomato, a nut-ricotta like cheese, sun dried tomato sauce, hemp-basil pesto. This was beautiful to look at and even more beautiful to eat. Everything was super flavourful and fresh tasting. The nut 'cheese' had the most uncanny resemblance to ricotta, but tasted even better than the original. However, the star of the dish was definitely the Caesar salad. The Himalayan pine dressing was tangy and complex and utterly delicious. The 'crutons', made from almonds, was amazing. I was amazed at the vibrant flavours this dish had.

The Sicilian Wrap ($12, with side salad)

Thai Curry ($12, with side salad)

Everyone loved their dishes. By all accounts, everything was intensely flavoured and delicious. It was such a surprise for me, because many of the ingredients I had never even heard of! And I was astounded at how good everything tasted. Even though the dishes here are a little bit pricey, it is worth the money considering the organic ingredients and the intense amount of preparation involved in the dishes.

I want to come back and try everything on the menu!

Pique vs. Swiss Chard

2010-08-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

Pique managed to rouse herself from a nap and jumped up onto the dining room chair. Her nose must have told her something.

A little nibble....

A little sniff....

The cat always wins.

The Coquitlam Farmer's Market

2010-08-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have lately become more aware of food systems and food security (especially through work). It is really important to support local growers, and with this in mind, we decided to get some groceries at the Coquitlam Farmer's Market today.

The market is located in the parking lots of the Coquitlam Recreation Centre, and continues until the end of October. There are a lot of produce growers, a few bakeries, a handful of meat sellers, and quite a number of crafts/arts stalls.

I am a huge fan of Gary's Kettlecorn. It is the best popcorn I've tasted: sweet, slightly salty, and most of all, tasting a lot like corn.

Here are our spoils: cauliflower, organic swiss chard and carrots, beats, heirloom tomatoes.

Apples

Green figs, cleverly stored in an egg carton. The inside is beautiful, almost like a pink sea anemone.

East is East - Main St.

2010-08-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

Located at the corner of Main St. and 28th Avenue, East is East is centrally located right in the middle of the Main St. bustle. This location offers both a take out option (with a take out window), and a sit-in restaurant experience. The cuisine is Middle Eastern/Indian/Silk Road inspired, and is quite popular with the locals.

Stepping inside the restaurant is an unexpected experience. The walls are hung with darkly colourful Afghan carpets; cushions are placed all along both walls, and the seating is close to the ground, behind low, wooden tables. It was like entering an Arabian Nights fantasy. The only off note was the heavy aroma of burning incense which was smoky and overly sweet.

Upon our arrival for lunch, we were warmly greeted, and were immediately brought glasses of water and a sample of chai in a tiny while espresso cup. The chai was wonderful - sweet, milky, and with an intense spiciness that was unusual. It may be the best chai in the city (sharing the honor with Granville Island Tea Co., perhaps). Of course, the little sample made us want more, so we ordered a whole cup of the beautiful chai.

Both of us ordered the roti wrap. Shane ordered the Peas and Paneer wrap, which came with a side of salad and a portion of the dhal soup. I had the Afghan Nomad, a curried lamb wrap. The Peas and Paneer roti was good and mildly spiced. The lamb was absolutely tender and well seasoned with just enough spice. The rice with raisins gave a wonderful sweet accompaniment to the lamb. The side soup was hearty, and had an unexpected hint of tangy flavour. It was very good. The only misstep was the lack of dressing on the salad, although the greens and beets tasted fresh.

To be honest, I was not expecting to like this place, but the food and decor lured me into its charms. Top that with a world shattering spicy chai, and the restaurant had me in its embrace.

Main St. and Wool

2010-08-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went up to Main St. I grew up in that neighbourhood and we lived right on Main and 12th in a crappy, infested apartment for two years a few years back, so it holds a special place in my heart. However, these days, the main purpose of visiting the area is the wool shops. My favorite wool place is Three Bags Full, between 28th and 29th Avenues. It's a cozy place with a great selection of wool (including Cascade 220 and all sorts of Noro).

I bought quite a large quantity of Drops Alpaca - 4 balls of ruddy cinnamon, and 10 balls of a medium gray. My plan is to one day knit the Still Light Tunic, a wonderful, simple tunic with front pockets. It looks easy, and best of all, really comfortable to wear.

Veera is a genius for making up this pattern. It's beautiful!

Everything in Moderation

2010-08-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hi folks - I've been awfully lazy with the blog lately. But I will try to do better. Meanwhile, here are a couple of pictures of Pique, doing what she does best.

A note on commenting on this blog: I've had a lot of SPAM posts - weird proverbs and comments in foreign languages, so I've put a moderating function on the blog. If you try to comment and your comment doesn't show up right away, it is in my inbox awaiting approval. I normally don't like to do this kind of thing, but it's gotten to a point where it's become necessary.

Thanks. Keep reading and more to come. Promise.

About Dreaming and Inception

2010-07-26T19:42:00.001-07:00

One of the best movies I've seen in a while has been Inception, the new Christopher Nolan movie about a group of corporate thieves who enter into other people's dreams in order to steal company secrets. The plot is more or less incidental, but it does set the stage for a really fascinating exploration of dreaming, thought, and consciousness. What's great about the movie (aside from being lots of fun) is that it opens up a whole new world of possibilities within the human mind. Because we know so little about our brains, it makes you wonder 'what if?' and 'why not?'.

The whole premise of the movie is based on the knowledge of knowing when you are dreaming. Think about it--when we dream, what we see in the dream is what is accepted as reality. Even though a few things may be strange about a dream, you don't notice it at the time, and simply absorb it into the present dream consciousness. However, there does exist the much documented experience of dreaming while knowing you are dreaming, called Lucid Dreaming.

When you know you are dreaming, then you are able to control your dreams-- for example you can see someone who you haven't seen in years, do things that are impossible in real life, like fly or move through walls. Nightmares can be turned into healing experiences.... The possibilities are endless. The difficult part is that it takes quite a bit of training to have regular lucid dreams, although some people have them naturally on occasion.

Where to start?

Stephen LaBerge is one of the scientists who pioneered the study of Lucid Dreaming, and any one who is interested should check out his books. His website, the Lucidity Institute, gives lengthy excerpts from his books and other information. He gives practical advice on how to start lucid dreaming and gives tips on dream techniques. The first step is of course to remember your dreams, because if you don't remember you've had a lucid dream, then what use is it? The trickier next step is to realize that you are actually dreaming in the dream, and there are reality testing methods that can help you do this.

Of course, Lucid dreaming is very different from the dream states in Inception. There is no such thing as group dreaming, and research has shown that dream time more or less corresponds to the actual time passed in waking life. There are many other differences, besides.

It is a movie, after all.

A Bear for Baby...

2010-07-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, we went to a little baby's first birthday. It was really interesting to see the Korean tradition of the 'dol' celebration, and see people I hadn't seen in years.

For the occasion, I made a purple bear, from the book The Happy Hooker. This was my third go at this pattern, and it was quite a bit easier this time around.

I hope baby Charlotte loves this little cub and gives it a good home!

Burnaby Village Museum

2010-07-26T19:14:00.000-07:00

Burnaby Village Museum is one of the places I used to visit with my family when I was a child. So it was quite a treat to return to the museum after many years. There weren't too many people there, so we felt we had a lot of the museum to ourselves.

The museum is unique to the area, constructed as a 1920's era village that you can walk around and enter different businesses and domiciles.

Here is the stained glass in the church:

The impeccable classroom.

The inside of a working-class home.

My favorite, the printer, complete with working letterpress!

The barbershop:
To top it off, they were playing Buster Keaton's 'Balloonatic' and 'Seven Chances' in the old fashioned theatre. I would've stayed for the whole show, but there was lots to see.

We had a great time.

Wings Tap and Grill

2010-07-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Wings Tap and Grill opened on the corner of North Road and Lougheed, taking over from the Greek restaurant that used to be there. One afternoon, we decided to pay this new location a visit.

The interior was shiny and new, with lots of black wood and comfy booths. There were flat screen TVs everywhere, and we noticed that every seat had a clear view of a screen.

Shane ordered the Fiji Blond by Lighthouse, and I ordered the Wings Flamin' Caesar. The beer was light and refreshing, and the Caesar was actually quite good, with a great kick and the right amount of seasoning. The only thing is that it was really sludgy at the bottom of the glass.

We ordered Nach'r Average Nachos ($8.99 + $1.49 for guacamole), which looked really impressive when it arrived at the table. However, there were many things wrong with this dish: the nachos were really thin, with a weird texture, and tasted very similar to cardboard. The cheese was tasteless, and ended up being more on the plate than on the chips. The salsa was obviously from a bottle, and the guacamole had no resemblance to avocado, being really runny and devoid of any taste. A huge disappointment.

The good thing about this place is that the namesake wings are really good. We were lucky enough to visit on Sunday, when the wings are on special for $0.39 each. We ordered ten wings of Maui Lime and ten of the buffalo hot sauce flavour. These were great - the outside was crispy and the wings were nicely cooked. The hot wings had just the right amount of hot sauce, and the Maui Lime and slightly sticky and sweet flavour. The wings were done right.

However, what came with our wings was something a lot less appetizing. Our server plopped a rusty metal bucket on our table, and it seeing the wet, barely rinsed, rusted bucket was a little...well, disgusting.

Nevertheless, the place is a great for casual eats and is pretty family friendly. A good addition to the neighborhood.

Choon Ha Choo Dong Korean Restaurant

2010-07-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

One evening, we met a few friends for a Korean dinner. Since a couple of our friends (who recommended this place) were Korean, we left most of the ordering to them. The restaurant is on Broadway, near Main St., where there used to be another Korean restaurant. Anyway, the space itself is a little hard to find, since the restaurant is actually located up a dark set of stairs. The interior is similar to many other Korean places: lots of wood, with many booths and semi-private 'rooms'.

We ordered the BBQ combo ($49.00), which came with rice cake and dumpling soup, chapchae, sashimi, assorted marinated meats, and dumplings. There was a vegetarian amongst our group, so we also ordered vegetarian bibimbap as well (alas, no picture of this). The soup arrived in a large bowl, and was very flavourful, with a delicate beef broth. There was plenty enough to share.

Ana and Kay always say that you can judge a good restaurant by the quality of their side dishes. The complimentary banchan at the restaurant was excellent. The kimchi was bracingly sour and the sprouts, potatoes and everything else was particularly tasty.

One of the best dishes that we had that night was the fried dumplings. Simply, these were the best dumplings we have had at any Korean restaurant. The outside was crispy and chewy, and the vegetarian filling was delicious.

The sashimi was good as well, though I was more excited by the other menu items.

As it often happens when I'm dining with friends, I tend to forget to take pictures. Here I only remembered after all the meat had been cooked! The meat was very well marinated and had great flavour. Nothing really beats cooking our own meat at the table.

Finally, there came a sweet rice water at the end of the meal. It was a little to sweet for me, but it was still pleasant.

We were lucky to have the inside scoop on this place. This is probably one of the better Korean restaurants in Metro Vancouver. We will definitely be back.

Hawker's Delight

2010-06-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

My friend Rachel introduced me to Hawker's Delight years and years ago. I remember stepping inside and being reminded of what it was like to be at a roadside restaurant in South East Asia: a little sketchy and basic, but knowing you'd be getting really cheap, great food.

Hawker's Delight is a hole in the wall on Main Street and King Edward. It's a really no frills place. Don't expect any service or special attention here. You get your own water and napkins, you know? To me, there is something a little refreshing about how non-fine dining this place is.

The menu is smallish, and what's great is that there are pictures of every item on the menu, so you know what to expect even if you may not know the name of the dishes. The cuisine is Malaysian / Indonesian / Singaporean, and the prices are really, really great. Almost all of the dishes are six dollars and under, and that is a bargain these days.

I ordered the Laksa (around $6), a coconut curry broth with noodles, egg, fried tofu and chicken. This was pretty tasty. There was a good amount of spice and seasoning, and the broth had a nice richness. The noodles slightly overcooked, but it was a decent bowl of food.

Shane got the Mee Goreng (around $5), Malaysian style fried noodles. This was good and pretty tasty, although it was not the best Mee Goreng around. However, for the price, it was an amazing deal.

We also ordered 6 pieces of satay at $0.75 each. The pork was nicely cooked, with lots of charcoal flavour, and it was surprisingly tender. The satay came with a peanut sauce with was a little too sweet for my liking, but it went pretty well with the pork.

Hawker's Delight is a great place. It's always consistent and reliable, which is saying quite a lot. It is one of the best cheap eats you'll ever get in Vancouver.

Going there feels like visiting Asia.

La Belle Patate

2010-06-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry about my absence from the blogging world. Things have been a little crowded in my work and life! So bear in mind, the next few dining reviews are not going to be super current.

If some of you have read my reviews, you may know that I don't shy away from fatty foods, especially poutine, which is probably one of my favorite things to eat. There is something special about fries, cheese curds and especially gravy. It is one of my failings.

So one day we were in the West End to see a movie, we decided to pay La Belle Patate a visit. This place is relatively new, and specializes in poutine. They have other stuff like hot dogs too, but those things are more of an afterthought.

The interior is surprisingly pleasant and clean-looking. There were leather-esque booths and chairs, and mirrored walls that make the place look twice as large as it actually is. The menu is written on chalkboard right above the counter.

Not being too hungry, Shane decided to try the smoked meat poutine ($7.50), while I opted for the traditional version ($5.50). The food arrived very quickly. The portions were quite small, but given the richness of the dish, neither of us was complaining. To state it simply, La Belle Patate does a good poutine. The fries were decent, but the star was the cheese curds, which were squeaky and chewy and melty at some points. The gravy had the right amount of saltiness, and elevated this poutine from its competitors. I felt that the smoked meat could have been saltier, but Shane thought it had a nice balance. Perhaps I'm just a poutine traditionalist, after all. There is nothing more perfect than potato, cheese curds and gravy.

This place does do a 'beautiful potato' indeed.

A Brief Pause...

2010-06-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

hello world, I'm still here...am having a busy few weeks. Will be posting this weekend. Promise!

Introducing...Sequencia!

2010-05-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite board games is Sequence, a game that uses a playing board with rows of playing card images. You can work in teams or play individually, and the goal of the game is to try to get rows of 5. This game involves a lot of strategy, but is simple enough for kids to play.

However, while the game is excellent, I'm not in love with the look of it. It lacks 'the pretty'. So I developed a new version of the game, using cards from the Loteria, a Mexican bingo game. I first came across these cards at the now defunct craft store Ruby Dog on Main St., and loved the images and the wonderful colours. So I made the first incarnation of Sequencia a few years ago, using just plain cardboard (you can learn Spanish words like 'Borracho'!). However, the original Sequencia board got pretty beaten up after a while (incidentally, because I was teaching ESL at the time, I also made an 'ESL' version of the game, which taught irregular verbs -- this was a great sucess!).

Recently I wanted to make a sturdier version of Sequencia. So I bought some Loteria packs from Xochico, got some foam board, and the decoupage glue Mod Podge. I mapped out the sequence of the original board game, and corresponded the Loteria cards to that, so the placement of the cards would be as accurate as possible. Then, I made work with glueing the cards with Mod Podge, and coated the whole board with 3 coats of Mod Podge. The result is a glossy and sturdy board. Nice.

The only thing I would change is that I would NOT use foam board again. It's best to go to the hardware store to get some wood boards for this. The foam board does wicked warping when it dries. I had to weigh my board out with heavy books, and it turned out okay.

Sequencia, any one?

Brasserie "L'ecole" - Victoria

2010-05-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

We were in Victoria around the time of our anniversary, so we decided to splurge one night on a fine dining restaurant called "Brasserie L'Ecole". I was pretty excited, because I had heard that this French bistro was one of the best restaurants in Victoria. One thing to keep in mind about this restaurant is that they don't take reservations, and they don't have a set menu. Instead, there is a 'fresh sheet' everyday.

The restaurant itself is located in Chinatown. There is a very cool mural on the side of the building.

The restaurant itself was pretty small, and has your typical bistro feel - Toulouse Lautrec posters, red walls with dark wood trim.

Here was the day's fresh sheet (I know, I've been really slow to write about this).

I normally don't take pictures of bread, but I couldn't resist the cute little butter pot. The bread was good, though nothing spectacular.

For appetizer, we shared some Frites with Parmesan, garlic, parsley and truffle oil ($8). This was so good - the potatoes really tasted like potatoes (potatoey?), and the fries were exceptionally well seasoned. The garlic and the Parmesan really gave these potatoes a yummy savoury quality. The aioli that accompanied the frites was probably the best I've had, because it had a pronounced vinegar flavour which went especially well with the greasy fries. As you can see, the portion was huge. We were impressed.

Shane ordered the Boeuf Bourguignon with parsley potatoes ($22). The bowl came piled high with the stew. It looked really good. It tasted even better. The beef was cut in large chunks which were meltingly tender, and the dish had an incredible richness of taste. Everything about it--the texture, the seasoning, the flavours--were perfect. Shane was in heaven, and I was quite jealous.

Similarly inspired by reading 'My Life in France' by Julia Child (an excellent read, by the way), I got the Rock Fish Meuniere with vegetables ($23). For those of you that haven't read the book, 'Sole Meuniere' was the first dish Julia had in France, and it introduced her to the exciting, sensuous world of French cuisine. The rock fish, when it arrived, looked spectacular. The presentation was lovely. The fish was cooked nicely, with a nice sear on the edges. However, the fish was a little underseasoned, even with the addition of capers. It was also a little too greasy for me, though of course how could it not be, being fried in butter and all. But I guess in comparison with the robustly flavoured Boeuf Bourguignon, the fish really suffered.

However, the vegetables, which were served on the side, were really delicious and incredibly well cooked. It was the first time I had tried fiddleheads, and I really liked it (fresh, green tasting, with a subtle slippery texture). The veggies were the best part of the dish.

Check out this coffee presentation. It's cute, no?

Yes, we had dessert, even though we were really full. The creme brulee was very good, with a really thick crust yielding to the eggy goodness underneath. It didn't blow my mind, but it was a pretty nice ending.

Dining at the Brasserie was a very special experience. There was so much care put into the food, and you can't help but admire and appreciate that. I would definitely come back. For the Boeuf Bourguignon.

The Noodle Box - Victoria, Douglas St.

2010-05-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

One evening, we were on our way to an event and decided to stop by The Noodle Box. We were curious about this place because it always seemed busy and popular. There is a Noodle Box restaurants in Vancouver, but there seems to be a great many more in Victoria.

The interiors are nice--modern, though a little generic.

Shane ordered the Spicy Peanut Box with pork ($11). One thing I can say about this place is that the portions are HUGE. Two people could easy share a dish and be stuffed. The noodles were actually pretty tasty, with a not too overpowering peanut flavour. The coconut milk added a nice richness to the dish. However, the problem with this dish is texture. It's a gloopy mess. Fried noodles are supposed to be a little crispy and chewy, not overcooked and dripping in gluey sauce, as this was. You would not find this on any street corner in Asia.

I'm not sure why I did it, but I went for the "Tom Yum" with Prawns ($11). Again, this was really big. But see the red oil slick at the top of the container? Let me assure you that it shouldn't be there. It was a little unappetizing. I taste the broth. It is fine. Not great, but fine. The weird addition is the noodles. Why would you do this? This is unheard of in Thailand. The noodles again were overcooked and emitted that white starchy flavour that just ruined the broth. However, I can say that they were tremendously generous with the shrimp. These were huge, plump and pretty delicious.

I wouldn't say that the food here is bad--actually in many aspects they provide tasty meals. However, don't come here looking for any authentic Southeast Asian dishes.

Pizzeria Prima Strada - Victoria

2010-05-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

After reading Andrew Morrison on Vancouver's lack of authentic pizza, we put pizza on the list of things to eat in Victoria (also check out Foodosophy's informative review). Who can pass up Prima Strada's Neopolitan pizza and their authentic ingredients (including flour from Naples, local artisanal cheese, and house made charcuterie)?

We arrived during the lunch hour and the place was packed; however, we were lucky enough to get the last booth that was available. The decor of the place is clean, stylish and comfortable. Of course, the star of the space the large brick wood-fired oven in the middle of the restaurant. Apparently the temperature in the oven is about 700 degrees.

To start, we ordered the 'Antipasti Misti' ($13), which consisted of prosciutto, salumi, various cheeses, olives, chickpeas, nuts, and bread. Although we were a little disappointed by its size, the ingredients were stellar. The olives were especially good. Our only complaint was that it only came with three slices of bread. Really? That is not nearly enough bread to eat with the salty ingredients.

Our first pizza of choice was the Margherita ($14.50) which consisted of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese from Fairburn Farms, basil and sea salt. The pizza was impressive. The dough was crispy yet soft at the same time, and the pizza had great flavour. The tomato sauce tasted very fresh, and the basil was especially good on the pizza.

The second pizza was the Rucola e Crudo ($16), which is tomato, parmigiano and mozzarella pizza topped with fresh prosciutto and arugula. This was great. The saltiness of the prosciutto and parmigiano gave the pizza great flavour, and the freshness and bite of the arugula contrasted nicely with the hot crust.

We thoroughly enjoyed this dining experience, and will definitely be back. You can definitely taste the care in preparation and the quality of the ingredients. Bravo!

Pig BBQ Joint - Victoria

2010-05-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

Pig BBQ Joint is literally a hole in the wall off View St. in Victoria, a small space with only a handful of seats. The decor is basic but pretty stylish, with a blackboard menu and a pretty cool sign. The restaurant claims to serve authentic Southern BBQ and smoked meat, so we were pretty curious to try it out on our last trip to Victoria.

First of all, we almost didn't go in because it was so dang small. To sit inside the restaurant you'd have to be up close and personal with the restaurant staff, and I didn't feel like doing much of that then. However, the smells of smoked pig drew us in.

First, we ordered the pulled pork sandwich, which, at a measly $5, was an amazing deal. Fitting with the theme of the restaurant, there were no plates, or baskets, or even paper--the food was served directly on their black plastic trays (however, the eco-friendly disposable wooden utensils were a nice touch). That weirdness aside, the sandwich was incredibly beautiful: a large soft bun stuffed to the hilt with meat topped by a red BBQ sauce. We weren't prepared for how good this tasted. The meat was the star--tender, incredibly well seasoned, and topped with a tangy and not too sweet sauce. The bun was soft and a great partner is absorbing all the meat juices. So, so good. The perfect sandwich. Ever.

We also ordered the special of the day, which was a rack of ribs with cornbread with thyme butter and beans ($13). This also came right on the tray, which was a little disconcerting. However the ribs were tender, flavorful, with a real deep to the bone smokiness. The sauce is amazing. The cornbread was a good, though a little dry (the sweet thyme butter is a nice touch). The beans were also tasty, with a medley of beans and vegetables to almost resemble a vegetarian chili.

However, the ribs paled in comparison to the pulled pork sandwich, even though it was great. It's like comparing a Vermeer painting to a work from a guy off the street or something. Or comparing heaven to purgatory. Or something like that. Utter perfection always makes everything else seem imperfect, no?

If you are ever in Victoria, this is a must visit. It is glorious meat. Don't bring your vegetarian friends here, of course. But this place would confirm your allegiance to the carnivorous side.

Victoria Weekend

2010-05-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

A week and a half ago, we went to Victoria for a literary event. We had a great time even though the weather was the proverbial 'Monkey's Birthday'.

We visited Miniature World, which is a place I dearly loved as a child. Even though I hadn't been back for over 20 years, the place was almost exactly the same. But I found myself attracted to the more historical/landscape scenes, rather than the doll houses.

Some of the models were pretty impressive.

Scenes from the Canadian countryside....

World War II airplanes....

We also took short walk in Beacon Hill Park. Although the park is right in the middle of the city, there was a feeling of wildness to it. So many beautiful wildflowers.

We stayed at the magnificent Magnolia Hotel. They upgraded us to a corner room on the top floor and the view was great. They had new robes which were incredibly plush and soft. I love hotel rooms.

Day / Night View from out the hotel window....

Reading corner

King-sized bed

We had a great weekend. Worth even the hours and hours of travel time.

Havana Cafe

2010-05-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

The Havana has been around for years, and it's a mainstay of Vancouver. What's neat about the restaurant is that it houses both a gallery and theatre, which often feature local artists. The decor is pretty cool too, with that vintage, rusty and hip feel, with its picture frames hung askew and walls artfully covered in scratch graffiti ('scraffiti'?). One thing you will notice if you've ever visited or walked past the place is that the restaurant is always busy, and there almost always is a lineup. There is another thing the restaurant is known for, but I'll get to that later.

We came here for dinner before a show at the Cultch (formerly the Van East Cultural Centre), so we had some hours to kill. Surprisingly we were seated right away, even though the restaurant seemed pretty full.

For appetizer, we shared the Beef Taquitos ($10), which is braised beef, pickled cabbage, salsa, greens and sour cream atop small soft tortillas. We didn't expect much, but we were blown away. The meat was tender and flavourful and savoury, and was the best thing about the dish. The pickled cabbage was tasty and gave a nice contrast in both flavour and texture, but we found that there was too much of it. The salsa and sour cream seemed like an afterthought, and didn't add much to the whole experience on the plate.

For the main, Shane ordered the Media Noche ($14), which consisted of pulled pork, black forest ham, and swiss cheese. He chose the yam fries to accompany the sandwich. I took one bite of this, and all I could taste was the ham. Shane felt the same--he could barely taste the pulled pork. The yam fries, on the other hand, were stellar. At most places, when you order yam fries, it doesn't actually taste like yam, you know? But these babies tasted like yams--they were 'yammy'. Ahem.

I took a bit of a plunge by ordering the 'Spanish Paella' ($19), because Havana's food is not really Spanish or even totally Latin (look, if you have hamburgers, Jerk chicken and pasta on your menu, you're not exactly authentic, ok?). But paella is one of my favorite dishes, and it's a dish I never make at home because it requires a lot of time, ingredients, and special equipment. So I was tempted.

So how was it? I had a few issues.

1. It's not served in a paella pan. One of the best things about paella is the crispy rice crust at the bottom and edges of the pan.

2. The rice was soggy. Sadness. It was very wet, and there was a lot of liquid.

3. No saffron. As well as flavour, saffron imparts an angelic golden colour to paella.

4. It had coconut milk. I can understand being experimental with this, but this added nothing except for a distasteful flavour which was similar to the coating left on your tongue after you've drunk a glass of milk.

I was disappointed. Why put something like paella on the menu if you can't do it well?

Now, back to a really good thing about the restaurant, something that it's known for: the drinks. This is the darling mojito. I don't like alcohol, but I was surprised that I liked this drink. A lot. It was minty and lemony and fizzy. So good.

In fact, most of the tables around us had jugs of the stuff. That and jugfuls of sangria.

So our experience at Havana was mixed--really good appetizer and drinks, but a couple of entrees that were on the not-very-good side. Will we return? Yup. For the drinks and appies.

Safari Snack House

2010-05-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

While we were in the Deer Lake Park area, we came across a small complex of restaurants and little grocery stores right on Canada Way near the entrance to Deer Lake. One of the restaurants was a place called Safari Snack House which advertised the "Best Samosas in Town". This piqued our curiosity, so we went in.

The place itself is not just a restaurant, but a mixture of retail, take out and catering space, with a few small tables for eating in. The atmosphere is lively and friendly, with locals stopping in, and large, colourful murals of zebras, giraffes and lions.

The menu items were pretty interesting, with many East African dishes with a touch on Indian influence. Almost all of the menu items were under $10.

We ordered the Kabab ($5.25 for 4), which were different from anything we've ever had. These were really tender balls of gound meat which were deep fried to a deep brown crispness. The meat was delicious and nicely spiced, and the chutney that came with it was a tangy and wonderful complement.

Next we had the vegetable samosas ($5.25 for 3). These didn't look too impressive when it arrived, but these were great. The pastry was particularly good and crispy, and the filling was corn, potato, and peas.

We also ordered Mogo ($5.95), which was a huge plate of spiced, thick cut cassava fries. We'd never had cassava fries before, and it was different from regular fries. The texture and taste vaguely resemble potatoes, but the cassava is much denser and has a sweeter undertone (though it's not sweet). We enjoyed this a lot, but it was a bit too much for just the two of us.

For dessert we had a deep fried rice and coconut cake. The fried dough on the outside was crispy and chewy, and the inside was soft and pillowy, but the whole this was really oily. It was astounding the amount of oil that came out of the cake.

We really enjoyed Safari Snack House. It is different from anything we've tried, and we will definitely come back. However, our meal was a bit much because everything was deep fried. We felt a little unhealthy after this visit.

Burnaby Stepping

2010-04-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

It has been particularily nice and sunny here in the Vancouver area, and recently we took advantage of this by going for a long walk one morning.

Along the trails in Burnaby Lake park grow a whole lot of skunk cabbage. Despite the name, these plants don't smell too badly from a distance. The plant's yellow flowers are very beautiful.

The weather was lovely - sunny and not too warm. Even though we are quite close to the city, these paths make you think you're in a different place.

The lake is immense and still.

We are quite close to the road here, but it feels very peaceful.

This is a small bridge leading to the Burnaby Sports complex.

We ran into a lot of public art during our walk, like these two metal eagles near the playing fields.

And these vibrant mushrooms someone painted on to a concrete barrier just before the pedestrian overpass that leads to Lake City Way skytrain station.

Here is the nifty new pedestrian overpass. The skytrain station is on the other side.

Finally, the stain-glass like effect at the skytrain station. It's very unexpected and beautiful.

Anton's Pasta Bar

2010-04-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

Last week we decided to go to the Hastings area, because it was an area we haven't explored that much. Originally, we had wanted to have lunch at Bombay Bhel, but it happened to be closed for lunch that day. So we headed next door to Anton's. We'd never been to Anton's before, but have heard lots about it--namely their extremely large portions and longer line ups.

The place was full, but we didn't have to line up at all. The atmosphere is minimal, but friendly. There were lots of families and young couples. Even though the place was pretty full, the service was quick and warm.

I ordered the Linguine Alla Siciliana ($10.99), which was linguine and anchovies, red peppers, capers and olives in a tomato sauce (similar to a puttanesca sauce, I think). This was great--I love the saltiness and briny quality of the sauce, and the noodles were fresh and slightly chewy. I wasn't expecting to find homemade pasta here, so this was quite a surprise. There wasn't too much sauce, but there was enough to coat each noodle. I liked it a lot.

Shane had the Linguine alla Cabonara ($10.99), with pancetta, egg and cream sauce. It's actually one of my favorite dishes, but I couldn't stomach ordering a whole bowl of it myself. I did have an extensive tasting of Shane's dish though. Obviously, it's very rich, and good. My only criticism is that it could have used a tad more salt, but Shane was okay with it.

Even though we got only the lunch portion (the dinner portion is $14.99), both of us managed to eat only half of the bowl. It's very filling.

I was surprised at how much we liked Aton's. I was expecting some cheap, out of the box pasta, but the dishes were surprisingly well done. We would definitely come back here, especially to try out the dinner portions.

McGill Library - Burnaby

2010-04-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

I am quite fond of libraries, but Shane even more so. It seems that everywhere we visit, we end up visiting a library. A while back, we were in the Hastings area and decided to visit the McGill branch of the Burnaby library system. It's relatively new, and is really nice inside.

Lots of high ceilings and windows make the space a lovely place to spend the afternoon.

Sitting on comfy armchairs...

...as you watch the park goers from its windows.

Oru

2010-04-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

My co-workers and I decided to visit the new Fairmont Pacific Rim that just opened in February. The hotel is in a gorgeous location right near the new Vancouver convention centre; the building has a beautiful view of the water. I was pretty excited to try Oru, the new restaurant because I was told that the restaurant is a 'Pan-Asian' restaurant, not meaning fusion, but with actual dishes that were authentic to the dishes' respective cultures.

The restaurant itself is on the mezzanine level of the hotel, and is a huge room with crisp white tablecloths and shiny glasses and silverware (and bright orange chopsticks). The service was polite but a little slow, but always befitting a fine dining establishment.

We were asked if we wanted a 'bread basket' and we said yes. So two of them actually arrived, with maybe six quarters of naan bread and a pappadum, which were accompanied by a green mint chutney. The bread was warm and delicious, with charred parts that indicated that it had been cooked in a tandoor oven. However, at $8 for a basket, the price was a huge surprise at the end of the meal. Ouch.

I had checked out their menu online and was excited to try their ramen, which was raved about by the Georgia Straight magazine a few weeks prior. However, we were informed that the menu had recently changed, and that the ramen (along with a few other dishes) were off the menu.

A bunch of us tried the banh mi subs instead ($14-16).

meatball sub

tuna sub

I had the lemon grass chicken banh mi, which I forgot to take a picture of...! The bread was absolutely wonderful - warm and crispy crust, with a soft interior. However, the rest of the sandwich was just ok. The chicken itself consisted of dark meat, but did not have any lemongrass flavour or that nice charcoal taste at all. Plus, there was too much mayo in the sandwich (mayo...really?). It was all bland. The matchstick potatoes served as the side was ok--a little salty though. But what I found weird was the amounts of the potatoes each person got--some of our containers were half filled, some overflowing....

That being said, my co-workers liked the tuna and meatball sandwich quite a lot. The shrimp one looked a little disappointing, because there didn't seem to be a lot of filling there.

shrimp sub

Another co-worker ordered the murgh makhani ($16), a chicken curry with rice, naan, and chutney. This was merely okay. He would not get it again.

My other co-worker ordered the caramelized beach scallops and spot prawns ($22). She was really disappointed in this dish. It arrived cold, and she didn't enjoy it at all.

All in all, the visit was a disappointment. It did not live up to the hype, I would say. It is very overpriced for what you get, considering you can get a good bahn mi in Chinatown for less than a third of the price being charged here. For this price, we all were expecting really good ingredients, but this did not happen.

Hyacinth in Springtime

2010-04-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

Lovely Lynn gave me this hyacinth plant in this long and simple vase. Slowly over the Easter Weekend, I watched the plant grow and gradually blossom. It was the perfect companion to spring.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Some People Like to Fuel Obsession...

2010-04-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

So last week was my last week at work. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but the goodbyes were pretty sweet, warm and fuzzy.

Mary, Allison and Brenda (who drove all the way to the States!) got me a couple of Fiestaware dishes as a going away present. The bowl is in 'Cobalt', and is a very deep blue. We used it this weekend to hold some glass noodle salad.

The long platter is in the delightful 'Buttercup'. It is perfectly in character with the Easter haul I got from work.

Thanks, dear lovelies! I miss you guys!

A Bit of Sewing

2010-04-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

Our cat Pique has always been an indoor cat (though she likes to go out on the balcony if, and only if, it's not too cold out), so she has never had to wear a collar. However, yesterday I was altering the collar of a button-down shirt by cutting a more open, rounder collar and hemming it by hand with blue bias tape.

Shane had the genius idea of making the cat wear the leftover collar. After we finished laughing, I realized that she looked quite distinguished. She doesn't seem to mind wearing it for a while, but of course we removed it after a bit.

Handsome, no?

Me-N-Ed's Pizza Parlor

2010-04-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

One Friday, equipped with our Entertainment Book, we decided to try Me-N-Ed's Pizza. We've had take-out from there, but for some reason we'd never visited the restaurant before, even though I grew up in the area. The Coquitlam location is located in the main drag of Austin Avenue, near the Safeway a bunch of little neighborhood stores.

We arrived on a Friday evening, and the place was really busy. There were lots of families and teenagers. Even though the restaurant has been there for as long as I could remember, the place looked pretty decent and felt new. There were wooden booths, and a large, open fireplace right in the middle of the restaurant. All in all, the atmosphere is extremely cozy and comfortable.

For an appetizer, we ordered the hot wings ($9.45 per dozen). Unlike a lot of places, the wings from Me-N-Ed's were baked, not deep-fried. This made the wings have a very soft texture which was different from the usual wing experience. However, the sauce wasn't very hot--the wings could have used a ton more hot sauce, but then again, that's my personal preference.

For the pizza, we ordered a half/half large ($26.55). Shane chose the Soprano (Bocconcini, fresh tomatoes, capicollo, onions), and I chose the Roasted Garlic and Smoked salmon (roasted garlic, smoked salmon, goat cheese, capers, dill). The pizza came piping hot and looked really good. I loved the Smoked Salmon half--the smoky saltiness of the salmon, the briny saltiness of the capers, the creaminess of the goat cheese, the sweetness of the roasted garlic. It was so, so good. I was less impressed by the Soprano (though it was Shane's favorite)--the whole thing tasted a little bland to me, but then again, I prefer stronger flavours.

What's unique about Me-N- Ed's pizzas is their crust. It's quite thin and crunchy, but there were crisp layers to the crust, almost like phyllo dough. It gives the pizza a really crispy texture. It's not at all 'doughy'.

We would come back to Me-N-Ed's for sure for their pizza (not the wings though). Our experience was only marred by really slow service--we must have waited about 25 minutes for the wings to arrive. The pizzas themselves are on the pricey side, but then again, the product is different from the usual pizza joints.

The restaurant does quite a feat for distinguishing itself from its competitors.

Sha Lin Noodle House

2010-04-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

I remember Sha Lin Noodle house being one of the first restaurants to offer Chinese handmade noodles. Of course, this was quite a few years ago, and since then, there have been numerous handmade noodle joints that have popped up in the city.

The restaurant is located on Broadway, in the block between Cambie and Ash. It's a very unpretentious, utilitarian sort of place. Like a lot of smaller Chinese restaurants, you don't come here for the atmosphere.

Shane ordered Ja Jeun Mein (around $7), a dry noodle dish with a pork sauce and topped with julienned cucumbers. Shane choose the 'pushing noodles'-- you have a choice between 'dragging' (long, thin strands), 'pushing' (slightly thicker and irregular), and 'cutting' (larger noodles, which are sliced off a piece of dough). The noodles were perfect--chewy and with a great texture; the sauce was also really good--the meat was tender and the thick sauce coated each strand of noodle in savoury brown deliciousness, and the cucumbers gave a delightful fresh crunch to the dish. The only thing that is a bit of a flaw was that the sauce was a little too salty. Shane liked this a lot.

I had the chicken soup with dragging noodles. Again, the noodles were wonderful and well-cooked, but what I wasn't expecting was how utterly flavorful the soup was. Most of the time at Chinese restaurants, the stock isn't much of a highlight, but this soup had a clear and delicate chicken flavour. I'm a soup person, and I loved this dish. It is the perfect bowl of noodle soup for me.

We also ordered a side of pork dumplings with chives ($6). Instead of the meat being boiled along with the dough, the pork was actually cooked (stewed?) beforehand, and had the shredded texture of a really good pork bun filling. The chives gave the dumplings a really nice, herb-like, 'green' taste, which was really great.

Our meal at Sha Lin is definitely one of the best meals we've had in a long time. And to top it off, it is incredibly cheap and a great value.

Highly recommended and we'll definitely come back.

Mystical Boat

2010-03-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

Odilon Redon is one of those artists I've loved for a long time. I used to hang out in the the art section of the library at university, just randomly browsing through books, and it was there that came across Odilon Redon. His paintings, charcoals and pastels are very dreamlike (some are even quite scary, Goya-like), and he addresses the internal mind and emotion in a most beautiful and intimate way.

This pastel image, "La Barque Mystique" (which I found here) seems to incapsulate where I am at the moment. It's a lovely image, quite optimistic in its golden sails and bright blue boat. The boat seems to be sailing sturdily on the sea--or is it resting, nestled by the meadow and green grass? Both seem to be true.

Last week I quit my job with a big company and accepted another job at a non-profit. It's something I've been contemplating for a while, but the opportunity never came up until now. I liked my old job (and loved my co-workers), but I feel I'm moving closer to 'rightness', that elusive feeling where you feel aligned with who you are....

Such a mysterious blue boat.

Sun Soak

2010-03-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

Today it's been very rainy and grey, but we have been lucky enough to get some sun in the past few days.

We all enjoy the light and warmth.

Especially this cat.

The Pantry - Coquitlam

2010-03-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

The Pantry is one of those chain restaurants that's been around for quite a long time. We don't come here very often, but sometimes it can be interesting to visit and experience quite the throwback to an earlier time.

The restaurant is located at the Best Western on North Road, and it has the feel of a motel restaurant in a small town.

The decor is very 1980's, with plushy, wildly patterned booths, and pictures of happy, smiling people. Very 'family restaurant'.

We arrived in the morning, so Shane ordered the Pantry's Special Breakfast (around $10) with 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, shredded hash brown, and two pancakes. The meal was pretty comparable to what you would get at Denny's or IHOP. It's lots of food that tastes okay, but not necessarily of the best quality.

As I recall, the Pantry used to have a great Clubhouse ($9.95), so I opted for that instead of breakfast. The sandwich was pretty good. My only criticism was the turkey. Although it definitely was real turkey, it wasn't the roasted and carved type of turkey which is best, in my opinion. However, the bread was nicely toasted without being so hard that it cuts your mouth (this characteristic I call 'stabby'), and the bacon was really well cooked and still had a slight chewiness. The fries were pretty standard, but good.

It was an average meal, though the atmosphere is friendly and fun. Plus, the conversations you overhear are pretty fascinating--about people on the road, their plans for the day, and where they're from. Interesting.

New Spring Szechuan Restaurant

2010-03-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

A while ago, we were in the Burquitlam area and decided to try a nearby Chinese restaurant that was recommended by our friends Ana and Kay. The restaurant is located on Cottonwood avenue, across the street from the Burquitlam Plaza complex.

We arrived for an early dinner, and when we entered, there was no one to greet us. We just stood there for a few minutes, wondering if we should leave or not, but a few moments later, a friendly woman ran into the restaurant, saying she had just popped out at the nearby convenience store to get lottery tickets.

We were the only people in the restaurant, so had our pick of seats. The interior was plain but clean.

To start, we shared a fried roll ($2.50), which arrived golden brown on the outside and soft and slightly sweet on the inside. As was custom, this was served with a small dish of condensed milk to dip the bread in. This was tasty, and not too oily.

We also shared a small bowl of dumplings in spicy and garlic sauce ($5.95). The pork dumplings (wonton style) were pretty good, though not spectacular. However, what made the dish was the spicy, garlicky, and slightly vinegary sauce that topped the dumplings. This was tangy, pungent, and mouth-wateringly delicious.

We also tried their Hot and Sour Soup ($6.50). For a small size, this was quite substantial. The soup was tasty--with a great level of sour and heat. It's not the best hot and sour soup I've had, but it's quite decent.

We also tried the dry version of their Tam Tam (or Dan Dan) noodles ($5.50). Though the noodles weren't handmade, they were nicely cooked, with a slight chewiness remaining. The sauce was delicious--not too much like peanut butter, which is why sometimes I really don't like this kind of noodle, but this one was great. There was a nice amount of saltiness, and the sauce was lipsmackingly good. I really loved this dish, but Shane was disappointed in the noodles, having had a lot of handmade noodles in the past.

We were really happy with this dining experience. New Spring is a great little neighborhood restaurant: the service is friendly, the prices are very affordable, and the food is tasty.

Blossoms and Blue Blue Sky

2010-03-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

The cherry blossoms started blooming in February here in Vancouver--a month or two early. These trees line many streets in many neighborhoods in the city.

So gorgeous.

North Road Art

2010-03-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

Along Lougheed Highway and North Road in my neighborhood, there are these metal electrical boxes which was one of those things in your vision that you never really see, because it becomes just part of the urban landscape. Well, a year or so ago, they covered these green boxes with this rather interesting historical photo collage. It makes me think about the rather young history of BC, and really how much has changed.

For something I see everyday, it definitely brings a smile to my face.

Dough So Dear

2010-03-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had some friends over for dinner, and I made bread, using Jim Lahey's No Knead Bread Recipe that was adapted by Mark Bittman in the NY Times here, or his book How to Cook Everything. The recipe is fool proof, with just four basic ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast. What makes this recipe so unique and easy is that after you initially mix the ingredients, you just have to let it rest for 18 hours or longer. This helps the bread develop lots of flavor and texture. After the waiting period, all you have to do is shape it and bake it.

Of course, being loosey -goosey with the recipe (something you should never do with baking, they say), I made a few changes....

This is the dough after mixing up flour, salt, water and yeast, and after I've formed it into a ball to rest. The recipe calls for instant yeast, but I only had traditional so I used that instead. Of course, with traditional yeast, you have to proof it in water and a bit of sugar before adding to the flour.

The dough becomes bubbly and very wet after the 24 hour period. As you can see it has more or less doubled in size. What a wonder! It smells really good too, a little like beer.

The yeasty mixture is then dumped onto a floured board, where you shape it. I added some rosemary, sage and thyme to the dough and this point, and gave it a couple of minutes of good kneading. Even though the recipe is a 'no knead' one, I actually like slapping the dough and feeling it under my palms. [note: see the Claire Denis film Nenette et Boni for some dough action]

The dough is sent to rest for a couple of more hours. I followed a few other bakers' advice and set it on parchment paper for easier handling. Heat the oven to 450 degrees with your baking vessel. Then transfer the dough on to the freakin' hot baking dish. This is when the parchment becomes very useful.

Here's where I deviated the most. The recipe calls for baking in a covered dish (preferably a Dutch oven, which is on my most wanted list), but alas, I don't own any appropriate baking dishes with covers. Instead, I baked it, uncovered, in a cast iron frying pan. To achieve a crunchy, chewy crust, I spritzed some water in the oven every 10 minutes or so.

I must say, the results were wonderful! I'd made this bread many times before, but the bread had never ever risen this much. Was it the traditional yeast? I have no idea. But the bread was a voluminous golden brown creation, with a chewy crust and a fluffy and flavourful interior.

This was quite heavenly all warm and spread with butter.....

A Fiesta of Riches....

2010-02-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

If you'd read my earlier post about Victoria, you'd know about my sudden interest in Fiestaware. For those of you unfamiliar with the brand of dishes, Fiestaware (made by Homer Laughlin China Company) are these vibrant and brightly coloured art-deco style dishes that was first made in the States in 1936 and discontinued in 1973. Fiestaware was then reissued in 1986 and is one of the most popular everyday dishware in the States.

After some research, I found out that it's really hard to find Fiestaware retailers in Canada. It's really popular in the US, but some how it didn't really cross the border.

But look! The lovely Brenda offered to pick up some Fiestaware when she went down to the States this weekend. Plus, the dishes were on sale! I was the happiest gal in the world.

They are more vibrant and colourful than I'd imagined. These colours make me so giggly and giddy. They are solid, with great weight and thickness. I'm sipping tea from a 'scarlet' cup right now.

Please allow the following indulgent pictures.....

dishes drying on the dish rack

my cupboard

Honestly, I can stare at them all day.

Thank you Brenda!

Chambar

2010-02-28T17:35:00.000-08:00

Chambar is one of our favorite restaurants in Vancouver, and it's where we often go for a special dinner before an event. This time we were going to Hal Willner's Neil Young Project, and I was forward-thinking enough to have made reservations a month or so beforehand because downtown was absolutely crazy and crowded that night. There was an Olympic hockey game featuring the Canadian men's team, and the city and the restaurant were hopping.

We were led into the back room of the restaurant, which is a lot more spacious and which has a great deal more natural light than the restaurant's main room. The room is lovely, with large windows, solid wood tables, and leather-like banquettes along either exposed brick wall. On this particular night, they had a giant screen set up with the hockey game.

We began the meal with some mixed olives ($6). The black, green and red olives arrived on a elegant long serving plate, mixed with caper berries, and topped with a tangy sauce of sundried tomato. Strongly tangy and briny, the olives really whetted our appetites.

Shane ordered Le canard aux epices ( Spiced Duck -- $29), and this arrived on a large square plate, the elements arranged beautifully. There were 3 thick pieces of pink duck breast, a couple of pieces of sauteed , caramelized apple, pureed butternut squash, and a glistening tamarind sauce. Everything was impeccable and delicious. The duck was incredibly tender with spicy cinnamon flavours, and the puree was buttery and utterly smooth on the tongue. The tamarind sauce was unexpected and surprisingly tangy and savory.

I ordered what I usually order at Chambar, the mussels Congolaise ($22). This arrived in a large covered black pot, and the mussels were cooked in a tomato, coconut milk, lime and smoked chilli, and topped with cilantro. The mussels were well cooked and tender, though they weren't as large as I've had there in the past. The star was the broth--this was delicious, and I just sipped it up like soup.

Of course, accompanying the mussels was a side of fries, which arrived in a small bowl. They were crispy and golden brown.

By the end of our entrees, we were full, but we decided to try the dessert tasting platter ($20). These were: basil sorbet, vanilla pot de creme, raspberry tart with lime sorbet, and chocolate mousse. These were indulgent and outstanding. The highlights were definitely the basil sorbet, which was refreshing and unusual, and the rich and light chocolate mousse.

In addition to the platter of desserts, the dish also came with a selection of truffles: raspberry truffles, and a dark chocolate one. These were the perfect ending to a delightful meal. Oh, that and the shootout goal, that is....!

(a very special thanks to Allison and Mary, the best people to be around!)

House of Tofu Soup

2010-02-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

House of Tofu Soup is a restaurant that I'd heard about here and there from various friends. It's right in our neighborhood on North Road, and we often pass by it when we go out for walks.

The restaurant is surprisingly very large, with rows and rows of high booths and wooden tables, which lent a privacy to the dining space. The atmosphere is definitely one of a family restaurant, and while we were there, there were groups of young people, and families with young kids.

The service was a little bit weird. We were led to a booth and must have waited 15 minutes for tea and a menu, even though at the time, we were one of only a few parties dining. It was strange, because we'd thought they'd forgotten about us or something.

As is the custom of most Korean restaurants, first came the banchan-- kimchi, picked turnip, seaweed, and mashed potato. These weren't bad, though we weren't really fond of the mashed potato, which was too sweet.

For appetizer, we had fried dumplings. These were crispy, and filled with pork. They were quite tasty, though I didn't care for the dipping sauce, which I felt was too sweet.

Shane ordered the stone bimimbob ($10.99), with is rice served in a sizzling hot stone bowl and topped with egg, beef, carrot, radish, and raw egg (which cooked in the hot bowl). All this was served a giant stone bowl in a wooden pedestal, and it also came with a side of tofu soup. Stirred up with the red pepper sauce, this dish was really good and filling.

I decided to order the famous tofu soup (in mild, medium, or hot), and opted for the hot seafood version ($9.99). This arrived in sizzling stone bowl, and came with a side of rice (and peas) that was also served in a stone bowl (the 'burnt', crispy rice that's stuck on the bowl's side is quite tasty). The soup itself was rich, tasty, and spicy, and the tofu was deliciously silky and soft. I enjoyed adding the raw egg and observe it cook in the soup. However, the dish was a disappointment. When I think about a 'seafood' soup, I expect squid, shrimp, octopus, clams maybe, but the 'seafood' in this case consisted of tiny shrimp (inch-size and smaller), with their heads and shells on, long antennae, and feet. I had no idea what to do. Was I supposed to eat the creatures whole? Or was I supposed to peel these tiny things? I really didn't enjoy this dish. There were a whole lot of these creatures, and I was reminded at how bug-like shrimp are.

The experience was a disappointment to me, especially compared to what Shane got--his side of soup was the same size as my main dish (not that I would want a huge bowl of that soup, mind you), but it's the principle, you know?

In the end, I'm happy to have tried this restaurant. We might come back again, but heck, I would never order the same dish again...

Olympic Black Hole....

2010-02-28T09:41:00.000-08:00

So I haven't been blogging too much this month, but this is something I blame on the Olympics here in Vancouver. I found myself riveted in front of the TV, watching anything and everything from snowboard cross (awesome) to curling (a fascinating and strategic game), and was unable to do anything else.

I didn't check out any of the activities, aside from walking around downtown, where crowds made me a little claustrophobic, but we did manage to go to Hal Willner's Neil Young Project, a 'Cultural Olympiad' event. Over the past couple weeks, I have noticed people being so cheerful and patriotic. It's pretty neat to see.

Thank goodness today is the last day with the final culminating event: the hockey gold medal game between Canada and USA.

Go Canada!

p.s. more blogging to come later today.

My First Sweater - Finished

2010-02-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I first started this sweater, the Seamless Hybrid by Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears. Today, it is finished! To be honest, it was a bit of a struggle, because at times I had no idea what I was doing and what Ms. Zimmermann was talking about in her vague knitting 'recipe'! But the trick was to just plunge in, I think. As most people have noted, the tricky bit is when you start the shoulder saddle and move on to the back; but I found out that you more or less figure it out as you go along.

The sweater turned out a little too short, eventhough I was determined not to make this mistake as a lot of others seemed to have made (sigh...). But I'm hoping to change this by washing and blocking it (it is blocking & drying right now --- these pictures are pre-blocking, which is pretty good, no?). It fits Shane really well, and he seems to like it.

I learned alot while making this sweater (like provisional cast on, knitting from cast on edge, kitchener stitch...heck, everything!), and I know that my next version will be so much better than this one. There are a lot of little mistakes I made while knitting this sweater, but I think only someone with a good knitting eye would notice (um...like my mom). In the end, knitting a sweater was a lot easier than I thought.

Heh.

I'm pretty damn proud of myself.

Workplace Gluttony

2010-02-14T16:33:00.000-08:00

Last week it was Mary's birthday at work, and one of our co-workers brought in some cupcakes from Cupcakes, this local cupcake bakery that's been around for years. The cupcakes themselves are a little pricey at $2.95 each, but they are quite heavenly. I'm not a huge fan of cupcakes, but I'm a sucker for ones with cream cheese icing like those coconut ones (the others in the picture are a chocolate cupcake called 'Diva', and a lemon one).

I'm afraid we've started a birthday tradition in our department.

I fear for our waistlines....

Salade de Fruits Cafe

2010-02-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

Living in Vancouver, I'd heard that Salade de Fruits was a really great French bistro, but because of its location in Kitsilano, I'd never gotten a chance to visit. One Saturday morning we were in the area, so decided go there for brunch. Salade de Fruits is located at Vancouver's French Cultural Centre, right next to the centre's French library. With golden coloured walls and eccentric French decor, the place gave off a comfortable vibe.

When we arrived, it was really busy, with only one table left, right next to the entrance. It was not the best table, especially with the long, long, line ups that came after. Shane was constantly being jostled by people coming in and out, and people kept staring at both of us (and our food).

The restaurant has a great breakfast menu, with a variety of eggs bennys, omelettes, and more savoury breakfast dishes. Shane chose the classic benny with ham ($8.99). This came with merguez sausage, potatoes, and a bit of fruit. This was delicious. The eggs with poached to a near medium, with bright orange yolks; the hollandaise was creamy and rich, and the merguez sausage was really good, and an unexpected addition. Being a benny conniseur, I asked Sh how this ranked; he replied that it is one of the top benedicts in the city. Oh la la.

I had been craving seafood for a few weeks, so I got the moules et frites ($13.99). To be honest, I didn't expect much, but when it arrived, I was extremely impressed. It arrived in a huge black pot, with a generous quantity of mussels bathed in a creamy broth. I'd never thought I'd have a mussel experience that would rival that of Chambar, but here it was. The mussels were huge and plump, and exceedingly delicious. It was so delightful.

That was merely the first half of my meal! The second part to it was the frites. These were heaped on a large plate, and were crispy and well seasoned. I wish I could have eaten more of these, but the mussels really filled me up.

Being jostled and stared at aside, this was a truly memorable brunch. Everything we had was really good, and the prices were amazing (especially for the mussels!). I definitely look forward to coming back--at a way quieter time, of course!

Crochet Taxidermy!

2010-02-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

You know when sometimes you are met with something so unexpected and astonishing that it blows your world? Well, few days ago I ran across this article on Dazed Digital about this amazing crochet artist named Shauna Richardson. She crochets these amazing life-sized animals, and mounts them like taxidermy animals. These creatures are unbelievably life like and so beautiful. In closeups, you can see each stitch that went into the work.

I'd never think of this idea, but it is so dang brilliant! For more of her work visit her site here.

Qoola Frozen Yogurt Bar

2010-01-31T21:04:00.000-08:00

After the movie we decided to try the brand new Qoola in Metrotown, which just opened in January 2010. Having never gone to any other Qoola locations, we weren't sure what to expect. But it's basically a self serve frozen yogurt bar, where you get your own paper cup, swirl your own frozen yogurt into the container, and put any toppings you want.

The first thing we noticed is that the cup they provide is HUGE. This is the tricky bit, because you pay by the weight, and you naturally want to fill that big cup, right? Beware. But what's great is that they have a lot of choice as far as frozen yogurt go: chocolate, vanilla, green tea, mango, lychee, and original.

I opted for the original and mango flavours, with a little strawberry and pineapple on top. The original is great, with a real yogurt flavour and a nice tang. The mango was really good too, with true mango flavour. The fruit was refreshing.

Shane got the green tea, and lychee flavours, with mango on top. Both were tasty, with the green tea being very mild having a subtle tea aftertaste. The lychee tasted very much like lychee, with slightly smoky undercurrent, if that makes sense.

We enjoyed the Qoola experience quite a lot. Both of our favourites was the original. However, it is a tad pricey. Each half-filled container was around $3.50, so a full container would be a whopping seven bucks. Still, we'd return for a once in a while treat.

Abdul's Barbeque

2010-01-31T20:30:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to Metrotown to see "Up in the Air" (pretty good, but a little forgettable). We decided to go over to Crystal Mall before the movie to check out this Middle Eastern place that I'd first heard about through a Chow Times review. It was a little hard to find, because the storefront actually faces the street.

This place is a real hole in the wall-- 3 or 4 metal tables, and barely enough room to walk around. The feeling is more of an eat and run or take out place. There were pictures of the menu items on the wall, and an electronic bell which rings as you come in. Mr. Abdul himself was there, and he was very friendly.

We decided to go for a couple of shawarmas--I got the beef and Shane got the mixed meat (chicken, lamb and beef, all Halal). They were around $7 bucks each, and were an amazing deal, considering how large they were. They were the biggest shawarmas I've ever gotten and filled with a generous quantity of meat and vegetables. The meat was pretty fantastic, with lots of crisp brown bits. But a bit of warning: the hot sauce is incredibly hot. These Syrian shawarmas are a lot different than the regular kind you'd get anywhere else. The meat and sauce are strongly spiced, which I imagine can turn off milder palates. But we loved it.

We were very full after that huge wrap, but like an idiot I wanted to try Abdul's falafels. Mr. Abdul said it would be a wait of about 15 minutes because he fries them fresh, unlike other places which fry them before hand and nuke them in the microwave. Upon hearing this, we were sold. We got a side of 4 (around $4), and they were worth the wait. These pucks were quite large; they were crisp on the outside, but incredibly soft in the middle. The seasoning was spot on, and the sauce that was put on these babies was lemony and really, really good. These falafels made me happy.

We will definitely come back for more--especially for the falafels. There is nothing that makes a place more perfect than a wonderful, friendly owner who obviously takes pride in his food.