Baan Thai Restaurant - Victoria

I was a little weary of trying a Thai restaurant in Victoria, but we passed by this place one night walking on Fort street and it seemed really popular. As you may or may not know, I'm particularly picky about Thai food because I was born and partially raised there, and because I've visited Thailand quite a few times and nothing is really comparable to the food you get in Thailand.

So we went in and we were pleasantly surprised at the interior because, aside from the window, there was a lack of Thai knick-knacks that almost always litter a Thai restaurant. Instead, the interior was warm, bright, and modern. However, what we weren't impressed by was that we had to stand there at the entrance, waiting for a table, without even a smile of acknowledgment, for five minutes. At this point we almost walked out because I was starting to get a hinkey feeling about the place.

The menu. There were the very usual items: curries, stir-fries, tom yam soups, fried noodles, and fried rice. There didn't seem to be anything to distinguish from any other Thai place at all. Also, there seemed to be lots of chicken dishes, and a distinct lack of pork/beef dishes for some reason.

The ordering of the food was a little strange. First, we wanted some Thai iced tea, but were informed that the machine was broken. Then beer from the tap--again, the tap was broken. I wanted to try their larb chicken, but they didn't have that. They also didn't have the gai yang (grilled chicken).

Okay.

At this point I was a little frustrated. However, the good thing is that our server (who actually seemed to be the owner as well), was actually Thai.

So we ended up with:

Chicken curry (around $12 bucks). This was okay. I mean, it wasn't bad, but it's hard to screw up a Thai curry, you know? There wasn't anything special about it---the taste was one note. Sometimes, with good Thai curries, you get this amazing depth of flavour, with kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass, etc., but this was just standard. It was still good to eat, mind you.

The second dish we got was the Pad Krapow Gai (around $12 bucks), or chicken with Holy Basil (a very different herb from regular basil, I assure you). I was really disappointed with this dish, because it seemed like just a regular stirfry. First of all, the pad krapow you get in Thailand is dry, with sharp holy basil flavour, but this one had lots and lots of sauce. Way too wet. There was only a mild vague basil flavour.

The experience was disappointing. Baan Thai is good if you're not picky and you're looking for standard Thai food. It seems to be very popular, in any case.

Irish Times - Victoria

On our first day in Victoria, Shane, his sister and her boyfriend,and his dad decided on a pub lunch. Shane's sister had been to the Irish Times before and was impressed by the food, so we decided to go there.

The pub is located right in the heart of downtown, on Government Street, in a large, white stone building. The facade was quite impressive. The interior is typical: lots of wood, booths and solid tables and chairs. Nothing feels particularly 'Irish' about the place, however.

The pub had an impressive selection of beer on tap, but at around $8, each pint is quite pricey. The menu has a sprinkling of 'Irish'/'British' fare, but it was mostly the usual burgers, sandwiches, pizza (!), and generic stuff.

For food, I chose the bangers and mash. This was very good. I wasn't in love with the type of sausage (it was a little too firm for me), but the meal was quite good. It varied from the traditional quite a bit, and the sausages were served with both a potato mash, and a yam mash, along with a sweet onion chutney, and corn and peas. I was impressed with all of the flavours, and liked how each bite was different. However, at $14.99, it was a tad overpriced.

Shane got the Irish Stew ($13.99). He enjoyed this. The stew had a distinctive lamb taste, but wasn't too overpowering. The dumplings were a doughy and delicious.

Everyone else seemed to enjoy their food. The pub has a good selection of beer, and the food is quite good. Don't expect anything too authentic, however.

Victoria Visit

After visiting Shane's mom in Nanaimo, we drove to Victoria to visit his dad and grandma.

I'd hadn't really spent any time in downtown Victoria before, so I was very excited to be staying in a beautiful hotel right in downtown. Both days were sunny, so we spent a lot of time walking all over the city (the city is very walkable, unlike Vancouver!).

We stayed at The Magnolia Hotel, which is a boutique hotel right on Courtney Street, next door to the Victoria Bug Museum. The room was very impressive, with large windows on one side, a flat screen TV, a sitting corner with two comfy armchairs, side table and lamp, and a bar area with a separate sink.

The bathroom was very impressive. It was large, with a granite counter top, separate shower and tub, and Aveda bath products (my favorite and what we use).

I love hotel rooms.

There was even a continental breakfast buffet that came with the room. We were impressed by the self-serve waffle maker. All this, for only $81 per night! I think it was low season, because it's usually not that cheap.

We spent a lot of time visiting Shane's family. I'm pleased to say that Shane's grandma loved the little brown bear. This is Molly, my father-in-law's dog.

Victoria's Chinatown is very small, but quite charming. It is in a better area of town than Vancouver's Chinatown, so it had quite a different feel. There are little alleyways, and lots of murals of prominent Chinese families in Victoria.

It is in Victoria that I discovered Fiestaware! We stumbled upon this kitchen gadget store called Haute Cuisine on Broad Street, and fell in love with the window display of colourful Fiestaware. Of course I'd heard about many people's obsession with old Fiestaware, but I wasn't aware that a new line was on sale. We were looking for a sugar bowl and a butter dish, which we don't have at home, and so bought these on sale. Aren't they cute?

Royal BC Museum

Before our holiday to the Island, all I wanted to see in Victoria was the Royal BC Museum. I hadn't been back since I was a little kid, and I had really fond memories of it. It's a huge museum, which 3 floors full of stuff--we have nothing to compare to it in Vancouver. It's also really interactive, with lots of dioramas and recreations of scenes from the past.

I've never visited NY's Museum of Natural History, but I was impressed and charmed by the BC Museum's natural history exhibit, which includes a replica of a wolly mammoth (with sound effects!). This bear looks remarkably alive.

The seaside scenes are wonderful, and full of light and water sound effects. It was almost like being at a beach....

Another part of the museum is the life-sized recreation of a 19th century town that you can walk through. This is a clothing shop, filled with really elegant clothes.

This kitchen scene was really lovely; it's as if someone were to step back in to the room at any moment---

Even though many of these exhibits are quite old (both Shane and I remember them from our childhoods), it was still fresh and wonderful to see again. Incidentally, the museum also has a wonderful First Nations exhibit, and frequent temporary exhibits.

Miku

A few days before Christmas, my co-workers and I went to a nearby Japanese restaurant on West Hastings called Miku. To those familiar with the area, the space previously housed The Spotted Prawn restaurant, but this new Japanese spot took over earlier in 2009. A few of my co-workers had paid Miku a visit prior to this, and they were very impressed. The restaurant's speciality is 'aburi' style sushi, which is lightly seared (with a blowtorch!) fish with light French sauces.

We had reservations for 12:30 and when we arrived, the place was entirely packed. The restaurant has a very open feel, with high black ceilings and amoeba-like light fixtures floating from it. Lots of light from its large windows, granite, curves, pristine dark stone tables, and sparkling dinnerware.

Three of us got the same thing: the Miku Zen ($20), which is a selection of 4 items from the kitchen, 4 items from the sushi bar, and miso soup. The food was impeccably presented, and oh so beautiful to look at, from the shapely lacquer miso bowl, to the wooden box that cradled the 4 kitchen dishes, to the white, leaf-shaped plate that held the sushi pieces. It was a little hard to dig in because it was so gorgeous.

The kitchen items consisted of: soba noodles in a sauce, Chicken Nanban, Aburi Tuna, and a wakame and green salad. I didn't care for the noodles, as they sat in a strange and bland cornstarch thickened sauce, and while the salad was okay, with nice textures of seaweed and fresh greens, the dressing severely lacked any acid. It was crying for lemon, or ponzu, or vinegar....

However, the Chicken Nanban, a kind of high-end chicken nugget topped with a tartar sauce, was amazing. The cubed chicken breast morsels were moist, tender and very well seasoned. The other highlight was the wonderful aburi tuna. The tuna was slightly warm, with a distinct lightly grilled taste. This was so good.

The sushi selection was equally impressive. This consisted of ebi, tuna, and two pieces of Aburi Salmon Oshi. What's great about each of the sushi pieces is that they came topped with its own sauce, so you don't have to fiddle with any soy sauce. This allows the fish to stand out, I think, instead of possibly being overpowered by soy. The ebi and tuna were both quite good, but the stand out was definitely the aburi salmon. Each piece was topped with a creamy sauce and a slice of jalapeno, and was still warm from the searing. This was delicious. The slight charring brought out the flavour of the fish, while the sauce complemented the salmon's fattiness, and the jalapeno slice cut through the fat and gave the bite a nice warm kick.

The miso soup had chunks of tofu and wavy pieces of seaweed, but it was pretty standard.

One of my co-workers ordered the sushi tart, which consisted of layers of rice (not described on the menu), salmon, avocado, ebi and tobiko. She seemed to enjoy this.

I definitely recommend Miku, for those looking for beautifully presented and tasty Japanese food. I was very impressed by their unique dishes, and would love to taste more aburi-style sushi. Delicious to look at as it is to eat!

Happy New Year!

It's the first shiny, newborn day of 2010, and I wish everyone the most wonderful and peaceful year and decade ahead. Thanks to all of you that read my blog, the very small handful of you!

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of a walk in the fog over the holidays on Cedar, Vancouver Island. We spent the holidays visiting Shane's mom in Cedar, and his dad in Victoria.

over the bridge....

island advertising....

the river....

a fish carcass. In the summer apparently you can see the salmon run from here...

the water was nearly frozen over....

Midam Rice Cake House

After our meal at Bool Chul Pan, Ana and Kay wanted to take us to a Korean dessert place that they had recently discovered. It's located in the same plaza on North Road, but on the lower level, tucked in an obscure corner. To be honest, we wouldn't really know that this place was there if we weren't led to it. Incidentally, you can find some reviews from other bloggers here and here.

As we entered the restaurant, I was surprised at how spacious and large the restaurant was; the place was bright with florescent light and had high ceilings and a number of dark wooden tables and chairs. Off to the side, there is a glass enclosed display of miniatures and various rice cakes that people could order before hand for a special occasion.

As we sat, we were given an extensive dessert menu. Even though we just had a large meal, we still decided on a dessert each. They all ranged from $6-9 dollars, and are HUGE.

Kay got a persimmon slush, and this tasted exactly like the fruit. It was light and refreshing.

I had the green tea ice cream and rice cake. This came with a side of sweet beans and a drizzling of strawberry sauce. I enjoyed this--the ice cream went well with the rice cake. However, I would say that because the rice cake was this huge slab at the bottom, the dessert was a little heavy and hard to get into.

Shane ordered the coffee and red bean slush. This arrived in a huge pile in a really big bowl. Quite impressive. First there is the huge pile of shaved ice and coffee, then the sweet red bean, then the ice cream. Around this mountain were small pieces of plain rice cake. I'd never seen anything like it. Taste-wise, this was interesting. The rice cake pieces were soft and chewy, the coffee-soaked ice crunchy, bitter and cold, the red bean sweet and yielding, and the ice cream cold, sweet and creamy. It was an unusual and exciting experience.

Ana had a similar dessert, the red bean slush. It was pretty similar to the one above, except that her rice cakes were coated with a peanut powder, which gave the rice cake a subtly sweet, nutty flavour. Of all the desserts, I liked this one the best.

We were also given complementary little rice cakes with a sweet filling. We all thought that was a nice touch.

I can honestly say that this was one of the most unusual desserts I've ever tried. It was fun and really eye-opening. We would definitely come back for more of the chewy, tender, rice cakes!