(Note: A month ago, I wrote this post but, upon further consideration and some external feedback, I chose not to publish it. Instead, I just hinted I had something to say. However, looking at how things have “evolved” in the last month or so… Well, let’s just say it ended up being a case of “I might as well”… Leaving with a bang??? Anyway, please keep in mind this was written over a month ago. Some dates might no longer be applicable…)

It has been a while since I have written a post of this type and I wonder if it is due. In the last couple of months, there has been quite a buzz in terms of popularity of Vancouver blogs, specially if we consider that major sites like Urbanspoon has targetted Vancouver itself as one of the places with the greates activity. But, what does that mean? Better restaurants? More food bloggers? Everybody has anything to say? So, in reference to Canadian’s government thoughts of removing the pennies, here are my $0.05′s worth… But, first an announcement as well…

When I first started blogging, I did it in part to have something to do, an activity of sorts. It was not a smooth trip: I had a couple of false starts which eventually molded into what it is today. Was there a target or a purpose? In a way, it was mostly for fun, something to keep myself busy. Furthermore, as it said, “it is not the destination, but the journey“. And, alas, I must announce that I have announced that this journey has reached what might be a long stop, if not the final stop. Yes, it has always been the journey; however, at the same time, I knew it would last only that long. After all, aside from revisiting the same places over and over, there are only that many restaurants worth visiting. And, have we mentioned that this activity is expensive (unrelated to HST and what not)? Regardless of why, once I flush the remaining pending posts (which includes a personal apology to a very dear friend of mine), I will call it quits.

I am sure a lot of people will be wondering why, not to mention some might be celebrating because this bastard will finally stop bashing everybody left and right. On the personal side, I was planning to “close shop” anyway by July this year. This is, to quote myself, by then, a life changing event would have taken place which would prevent me from blogging. Actually, that is not 100% true; rather, while I could continue blogging, I would rather not do so. However, looking at things around me, specially as mentioned as the subject of this post, it is my perception of the state of food blogs in Vancouver. To be more specific: It sucks and I don’t feel I want to play this game anymore.

Back when an Urbanspoon mention came out, an Urbanspoon Prime member blurbed in the Prime forums that quantity does not mean quality. After all, that’s not the lesson we have learned from all-you-can-eat and/or buffet places? However, I defended the quantity perspective in the sense that with more people voicing their opinion, readers will benefit. While I still stand by that opinion, there have been several a truckload of problems with Vancouver’s picture. I will point several of them here.

I am going to start with, once again, pointing the amount of food bloggers (according to Urbanspoon, over 300). But, wait, I don’t necessarily have issues with the amount of food bloggers per se but the quality of the posts. To me, blogging is more than just saying I went to restaurant X or Y and ordered dish A or B. Then, may be, whether you liked it yes or no. Actually, if you were to read my posts in the past, specially those from two years ago, they actually felt in those lines. However, there was a learning curve and, after some sort of false starts, my writing style changed. In fact, some people have mentioned my harsher attitude has changed (whether for good or bad is to be determined, but given the announcement above, who cares?). What has changed? I don’t only describe what I order, at times why I ordered it, but also a description of the dish and why I liked/disliked it. Furthermore, if I have some background about those dishes (specially Latin American ones), I am more than willing to provide those details. Then, based on my thoughts, I will mention if it is worth my moola to return or not. Granted, I am no food critic and I only order one or two dishes. However, I look at it at the perspective of a John Doe visiting a restaurant and said restaurant has only one chance to wow me. After all, with so many in restaurants in town, if you can’t deliver and provide a good impression, I can easily go to the next one. Unless, of course, somebody can prove me wrong which, at times, I am willing to do a revisit.

However, here is the core problem I perceive with a lot of the new blogs: lack of depth. While I will accept that I haven’t visited every single new blog and do find some of them actually “interesting”, for the most part, it seems they are taking pictures and then write something short out of it. Content? Oh, I went to such and such restaurant and had such and such dish. Every thing was great! (More often than not). You know what? If that’s what is being written, why I waste my time checking those sites? I might as well go to Yelp (which has its own issues) or DineHere (likewise, has its own issues). At least, it is a one stop shop.

If I have to wonder where or how all this started, I would guess social media has become so popular, where everybody can do it, so why not? If that’s the case, I don’t care. I started over two years ago before social media was as commonplace as nowadays. And, while it has its own good points, the problem is that such there is too much carelessness makes me want to stay away from it. In other words and, once again, I don’t want to play that game. Take for example, what Diana Chan who writes Foodology wrote in her personal blog.

After 4 months of food blogging, Foodology.ca is number 13 on their Vancouver leader board of blogs. This is a major achievement because my goal was to be top 20 by Christmas, but clearly we have surpassed this amount. There are about 260 blogs about food in Vancouver! 13/ 260, thats pretty amazing!

That sounds good, a young woman like her should have high ideals. However, when a site she is part of, called Nocturnal Vancouver (link won’t be provided but you can easily Google it), start stealing pictures from known sites without given proper credit (rectified “after being notified”), that’s when we have issues.

To further “complicate” things, are the blaggers, specially those who have been for some extended period of time. I have mentioned them before and, once again, I will call them out. People like Richard Wolak (aka vanfoodster aka Vancouver Foodster) and Erin Ireland [oddly, food editor columnist for MetroNews Metro Vancouver (corrected by appropriate sources)] is what makes me cringe in pain and disbelief. On one side, Richard is known not to eat a lot of things and, in Erin’s case, she does not eat dishes with carbohydrates (to quote herself. Also, when we met for the first time and she wanted to go to Samurai Sushi; I convinced her to meet at Miko Sushi instead and she ended up eating mostly sashimi). So, you wonder yourself… If that’s the case, how can you write about this subject if you don’t/can’t actually eat said dishes??? Worst of all, why people actually read/listen to them?

To those who had to spend a bit too much time back in high school or university in their class(es) of logic or discrete mathematics, will have heard of argumentum ad verecundiam or argumentum ad potentiam, also known as fallacy by authority. In other words, somebody who is a well known public figure suddenly has (or believe to have) the knowledge and power, plus can make a judgement “just because he/she says so”. In Richard’s case, it is said he wrote a book about coffee (don’t drink much coffee so I don’t care) and, as for Erin, well… You can visit her site and decide yourself. But, wait, how about I do the homework for you? Take, for example, a visit by Mijune and Richard to the same place the same night: Mijune’s post vs Richard’s post (will open a new window). Seriously, tell me which one you prefer… In Erin’s case, this is a quote from her article on Lin’s Chinese Cuisine:

“(In reference to xiao long bao) … earn them an easy diagnosis of Asian comfort food, and of course, perfect delicacy for ringing in the Year of the Rabbit.”

Let me dissect that for you: XLB is Shanghainese and while it is in China, hence Asia, it does not automatically mean all Asian people will eat it.

This, of course, can be extended to people like Andrew Morrison of Scout Magazine, whom, I will admit, having worked in the front of the house does give him some insight of restaurant operation; but, you have to wonder his impartiality when he has been directly involved with the restaurants.

Can anybody possess all knowledge? Good luck at that. That’s why I am always open to criticism. In fact, I expect people to tell me I am wrong! It is not an issue of knowing it all but, if you don’t know, do some digging and due diligence before writing it down. If not, it becomes a case of a blind guiding the blind and, next thing we “know”, Mexican food represents all Latin American food. Oh, shoot… >_< Anyway, the killer part from these blaggers is that, aside from the fact they are clueless, they organize events for profit. In Richard’s case, one too many event to count. Notice that I am not necessarily against food bloggers organizing events. If there are good cause(s) behind it and there is disclosure, I believe it is kosher. After all, if the intend is to bring the two groups together, why not? But, when it is for $$$, you are doing PR work. If so, can you really be impartial and/or honest?

And, now, this brings the worst of all cases… Whenever you read written colums from local newspapers, i.e., The Globe and Mail or Vancouver Sun, you expect a level of quality as well as a code of ethics. That’s why these writers are usually the first ones hit when an economic downturn occurs. I mean, they need to have a huge expense account to eat at restaurants at least twice at different times of the day or on different days of the week to have a better grasp of what is going on. Me? Ha, again, I only have that much $$$. I am certain that restaurants have identified these writters and I am not surprised that dining anonymously is not easy for them. At the same time, though, I am certain they try their best to be impartial. However, what happens when that impartiality is brought to question? Since these writers write for the printed media, they have some level of control over it. Of course, editors, probably due to pressure from advertisers (including some of those restaurants) might axe those articles to save face. That might not occur with bloggers. While some of us stick with a well defined code of ethics, it is not something we all are bound to. So, would it be ethical if somebody shouts aloud a “will blog for food” and invite readers along? If you are scratching your head, that’s what just happened with Ben of Chowtimes (link not provided but I am sure you will find it).

Before anybody jumps ahead and tells me I am a hater or jealous of his popularity, don’t bother. Aside from the fact I have an extremely thick skin (“I am rubber, you are glue”), not to mention this might be one of many parting shots, my dislike for his behaviour is known and documented. To bring you down to memory lane, I wrote a post (will open a new window) called “Blogging, Perks and Accountability” almost 20 months ago, in which I called him out on the spot. And, guess what? Ever since, other than in one dinner, we haven’t seen each other face to face. Do I care? Absolutely not, as I have no respect for him. Of course, he will say that he discloses everything and what not. Believe me, ladies and gentlemen, that is pure BS. See, just like him right now, I was also part of FoodBuzz, a network of food blogs. Some time ago, they required all their members to do full disclosure as part of their community guidelines (you can check them here). That begs the question: if it wasn’t because of such changes, would they have *really* initiated their disclosures? And, if you look at the post before that said disclosure, would you have been able to tell it was (partially or fully) comped?

So, why bring him out of the sudden? Because I was made aware of a post where he writes:

I am proposing:

* A win for the restaurant
* A win for the lucky chowtimes readers
* A win for chowtimes

You see… it seems to us that restaurants spends big bucks advertising their AKC (Alaska King Crab) offerings in the papers. I am suggesting that the restaurant save the money for advertising one less time. Instead use the money for even greater exposure for your restaurant.

The restaurant need to think about this unique situation too. The Chinese restaurants advertises in the Chinese papers targeting Chinese customers. There are a lot of English speaking readers out there who would love to try this and chowtimes can deliver a whole new demographics to the restaurant.

So, what I am proposing is this. Any restaurant interested, to give chowtimes a table of 10 serving a feast centered around the Alaskan King Crab. For free of course with the cost coming out from not advertising on the papers for one day only.

For chowtimes, we will invite 8 lucky readers (chosen by random draw) to join us in the feast. I am sure this will be much appreciated by readers and will also draw much attention to your restaurant.

In return, we will blog about the AKC feast but of course the food and service better be good. This is because we will write honestly about our experiences and we will draw on the feedback of the other guest diners.

Does anybody want me to spell “sell out” for you? How the $#%^!#@$!@# can a claim be made about impartiality and honestly when you are already calling the food and service better be good? What makes you different from a PR person like Richard Wolak? Worst of all? When I checked that post, there were only a handful questioning the intent. The rest? Free food!

Alas, that really disappoints me. People have descended into our primeval stages and just think on free food rather than looking at the broader picture of the meaning behind it. I still remember going to events like Eat! Vancouver, where people queue up for samples at times almost elbowing others. However, even when they have some samples, they might not consume the portion served and toss the rest. Or, as I was told, in an open house of a certain restaurant where people were like vultures when plates of food came out.

Am I criticizing my readers? May be, may be not. I personally know some of them and, for the most part, they are good and knowledgeable folks. It is those who just follows the hype that makes me shake my head. You are intelligent people and you should know better…

With that said, how about some highlights? If you were to ask me whom you should read, who would I suggest? Again, there are fine folks out there still writing and can provide good perspective of things. Of course, this is not an all-inclusive list and it is based on those I frequent. So, without further ado…

• Mijune (Follow Me Foodie) and Sherman (Sherman’s Food Adventures). I have known both of them for a long time and I admire both of them. In both cases, they are knowledgeable and, while I do have some differences (more Mijune than Sherman), they are honest about their thoughts. And this is despite they have participated in events (including the only one instance I have participated and where I have witness how they do things). I would like to believe they have influenced me for the better in some aspects.
• The Foodosophy team, specially shokutsu and gastronomydomine (who goes around under other aliases as well!). Alas, I have never met them and, if I do have an opportunity to do so, I would certainly like to buy them a round. Not only their posts are well written but also knowledgeable. One of the post that have really inspired me was a conversation they had between the team members called Foodosophy of Sushi. Believe me, it is worth your time.
• Chris – OK, I am cheating here. Chris is a fellow blogger from Edmonton but, if you read the way he writes his posts, it conveys simplicity yet delivers the message. Granted, our perspectives are at times but it does reflect what I would expect from a blog.
• Matt and Joe from Vancouverslop. They are now closer to the media business side of things but they are still entertaining.
• Other “older” (as in time blogging) bloggers, including Kevin, Gloria, Ann and Dee, Joyce, Victoria, Karl and (the still MIA) Jessica. While they might not be as descriptive as Mijune, Sherman or Foodosophy, they still provide good reads. In some cases, they do participate in media events (for example, Joyce) but they do provide disclosure.
• Some general which just happens to swing (the same way I started) into food blogs or cooking, including Parker Pages, Doesn’t Tazte Like Chicken (who has gone MIA), Gratinee and TS/JS [eatingclub]Vancouver. Likewise, some oldies whom have gone inactive…

“Wait, what about the rest of the people in your blogroll?” Well, some of them do not necessarily apply from a Vancouver standard. For example, monchichi, whom I really like her style, is in the UK; and Mimi whom I have “met” recently. But, for the rest, it is in part, blogroll courtesy (Yes, Jenny, that includes you! ) and, well, just starting blogs.

And, just for fun, how about some final parting shots?

To Grayelf: If you know how bouncing light works, you will realize that, in the setting we were in, it didn’t really “bother” anybody – unless you were looking directly at the flash. Plus, don’t dare to criticize my end results when your own pictures suck.
To Raul: You a foodie? Despite I hate that word, you calling yourself that makes me choke. Why say you don’t like caesar salads when you don’t eat cheese? Attending all events and claim everything is good and, supposedly, willing to pay for it? Give me a break. The day you actually do it the same way most of us do it, THEN, maybe then… You might be popular but that’s about it.
To Melody: Don’t give me BS. You say you won’t write anything negative but only on the positive. That means your opinions are biased. Likewise, because of your tour company, you work closely to some restaurants. Would you bite that hand that feeds you?

So, that’s all for now. It was a long post. Probably too long. In the end, I hope it describes why I am uninterested in continuing and cut it short sooner than expected. But, if you got all the way down here, my only question for you is… What are your thoughts about the state of Vancouver food blogs?

Update: While I don’t mind/care people attacking me, attacking each other(s) will not be condone. From now on, all comments will be moderated. As you have seen, there has been attacks to me and I have approved it regardless, despite I have had the choice not to do so. If your comment does not appear, feel free to guess why.

Seasons in the Park
Queen Elizabeth Park
W 33rd Ave & Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC

In a way, this might be my last post. As mentioned previously, I will be hanging my camera and keyboard and call it quits once my queue of pending posts is done. While I am sure I have stirred something in that previous post and might one day disclose the actual details in that post, in the meantime, I can only say I am grateful of what this blog has provided me. I wandered to new restaurants, met new people (some on-line only, some in real life), established friendships. Some of them closer than others, of course. So, similar to my Octopus’ Garden, this post wasn’t supposed to happen. Instead, while I was at Seasons in the Park, my friend whom I was having brunch with (and whom I met via this blog!) likewise suggested I should end up with a bang. Well, when such request is made, I guess I can’t say no!

Seasons in the Park, located in Queen Elizabeth Park (a photo essay here), is part of the Sequoia Company of Restaurants, which also includes Cardero’s (in Coal Harbour), Teahouse (in Stanley Park) and Sandbar (in Granville Island). Under normal circumstances, I won’t have come here; however, a Buy a Tab gift card courtesy of Sherman as a Christmas present sort of sealed the deal. At least, he didn’t send me a gift card for *cough* a Glowbal Group restaurant! So, thankful for this gift and not wanting to leave that unused (which would, of course, disappoint Sherman), that gave me a good reason to come here. Furthermore, it was spring and, while the flowers were just starting to bloom, if the food wasn’t good, at least the view might be a good one! What view? As in this view:

Of course, making good to the name of this blog, I won’t let the view distract me and focus on the food itself. (But, of course, when the company is good…). Now, I must comment that I am not necessarily a fan of brunch. I personally like to have my breakfast prior to 9:00 a.m. and have lunch around noon. Dinner usually is more flexible as I can snack during the day. But, brunch? At times, I feel that I might be starving, specially if I skip breakfast, but halfway full if I chose to eat something earlier. To save myself from that situation, I think of an 11:30 a.m. brunch as an early lunch but, alas, depending on the restaurant, it might be “too early” for some heavier lunch fare. This time, I think I was able to manage it quite well and after ordering, we got some bread and butter.

Just for sake of discussion: for such type of restaurant, how relevant it is for the restaurant to churn their own butter? Putting the butter argument aside, the bread arrived warm and we had a brief discussion of whether the bread was made in-house, yet another possible topic of discussion. But, regardless of how it was made, it was just bread and we just had a piece each to begin as we sort of knew we might be needing it later for one of the other dishes…

As in this dish: mussels and fries. We ordered this to share as an appetizer. The broth was on the lines of a Thai curry and we both thought it needed a bit of acidity to balance the sweetness – some lemongrass would have worked great! Now, it wasn’t extremely sweet; however, it was more on the lines of showing contrast. As for the mussel themselves, typical of Pacific mussels, they were plump and none of them came closed. My only one quibble would have been that I would have preferred the dish to be served pipping hot; however, it is possible that, because we were seated outside and was taking some pictures before digging it could have affected the temperature when we dig in. As for the fries, they were decent and the chipotle mayo certainly help. And, of course, to soak some of the broth, there was the bread…

Dish #1 was their QE Park Benedict – baby spinach, roasted roma tomato, hollandaise, roasted potatoes. I originally suggested the smoked salmon version (hey, meat!); however, after tasting it, I will have to admit this one is quite a good option as well. Granted, no meat per se; however, the remaining components made up for any lack of meat goodness. Particularly, the roasted roma tomato, which maintained its consistency and provided a light mix of sweet and acidity. But, how about the egg itself? How about this?

I won’t deny it, this was well executed: whites were firm and the yolk poured out to cover the tomato and the muffin. Alas, that’s when yet-another-quibble hit: the hollandaise didn’t make much act of presence. It was there, OK, just that the texture of the yolk basically took over and there wasn’t anything telling you “I am hollandaise, I am here!”. As for the potatoes, it was probably the weakest link of the dish. It was just OK and probably a bit over salted. Otherwise, nothing extraordinary…

Moving to my dish, I ordered steak and eggs. When I mentioned above about “heavier lunch fare”, I wasn’t joking. I mean, a steak for (br/l)unch? Well, if it is in the menu! First, the eggs… I will have to say I wasn’t really impressed by it. Now, there was nothing wrong and that might have been part of the problem. By the looks (i.e., colour), you could tell they were good quality eggs, just that the texture of this scrambled egg was too dry for my liking. For comparison purposes, check the scramble eggs I had in Culina at the Muttart (in Edmonton). There, that scrambled egg still had a soft, silken texture to it, something I hope here would have achieved… As for the steak…

It was ordered medium rare but this was more on the lines of medium than medium rare. But, wasn’t really in the mood of arguing but eating so I left it as is. And, you know what? It worked fine. Given it is a sirloin, I wasn’t expecting it to be extremely tender but you could easily cut it without much effort. What sort of killed it was the cabernet demi-glace which I felt it added a bit too much saltiness. Fortunately, the egg was there to compensate. So, as a heavy (br/l)unch dish, it worked fine fine as is.

And, to make things overkill, we ordered wild mushroom risotto. Now, not sure if the outdoor issue I mentioned regarding the mussels hit here as well: after sitting there for a while, when we eventually “attacked” it, it felt not warm enough and a bit dry. How so? How about some shredded cheese still in shredded form rather than “mixed” in? (Plus it didn’t “melt” when “mixed” in?). OK, I might be nitpicking here. However, for risotto, I would have preferred mine a bit more on the wet side. Otherwise, it will resemble rice cooked Chinese style but with too much water added. Flavour wise, it was fine as it was loaded with mushroom pieces.

After the meal, we were having some interesting conversation about why there were some shortcomings despite the type of restaurant it is supposed to be. We thought that it is possible that they might lower things a little bit because they want to attract more people rather than more specific customers. For example, people are used to eat scrambled eggs cooked through rather than a somewhat runny, softer version. If that’s what people expect, why take it away? Could I have asked it to be cooked differently? Well, of course but, then again, I wasn’t sure how it would come to begin with. Could I have sent it back? Nah, I was hungry by then! Regardless, by sitting at their patio with good company, I learned why this restaurant is held in high esteem. While it is not extraordinary, it is at least above par. With that in mind, it is good enough to keep you there and a priceless setting is just icing on the cake. While I might not come back on a regular basis, I know this is a good option if I want to enjoy some of the things Vancouver has to offer.

Octopus’ Garden
1995 Cornwall Ave
Vancouver, BC

Confession time: This post wasn’t supposed to happen. In fact, due to timing, my last post was supposed to be that of the Vancouver’s 1st Foodie Festival and then hang my camera and keyboard. However, in some sort of unfinished business type feeling, I knew I had to visit some places – one of them was Octopus’ Garden which is the topic of this post. Under normal conditions, I might have gone regardless but chosen not to blog. However, I was with good company and, despite knowing my intentions of stop blogging, gave me one final push and suggested I should blog it. So, as one of my last post, I might as well go out with a bang!

Octopus’ Garden is a small sushi restaurant in the Kitsilano area which could easily go unnoticed by pedestrian traffic. However, such are the places that I really like: low profile that can deliver good food. And, in Octopus’ Garden’s case, it also has some call to fame: the option for omakase, aka, “I entrust you”, aka, you leave it to the chef. From other people’s perspective, it can be considered a tasting menu of sorts but the commonality is that you don’t make any decision (aside from ordering it that is, though, alas, I wasn’t asked for preferences…). In fact, that is the call to fame of other places including Tojo’s (though, of course, Hidekazu Tojo himself will tell you he has other claims to fame as well). And now that I bring Tojo’s, there is a really important consideration: fellow blogger Sherman, thougt Octopus’ Garden can be considered better than Tojo’s because it does not have all the attitude from the later. So, given all things combined, there were high expectations for this meal.

After arriving, we were seated in a separate/secluded area of the restaurant. In fact, one thing that I considered odd was the layout. It allows some privacy at the expense of how many tables can be set up. If this is something the restaurant is willing to do, it means they really trust what they can crank out to keep customers coming. That’s all good but, for this meal, I was only worried about what would be served to me that night. And, yes, since I mentioned so many times “omakase”, not ordering it would be short of shooting myself on the foot. But wait! It wasn’t in the menu! It happens it is not listed in the menu at all: you just have to ask. For the price ranges, it starts at $60. Granted, Sherman went for the $100; however, my dining companion isn’t the heaviest eater in the world so we ended up going for the basic $60 version.

For drinks, we went for tea. I was given the option to choose from four different teas and I narrowed it down to pear green tea and a tea called Starlight – Green tea & Oolong tea naturally flavored with raspberry, currant and strawberry. In the end, I went for the later. Despite I didn’t know what was coming in terms of food, one thing I was sure: overstating the obvious, food would be savoury and it would be interesting to have something fruity to pair it against. And, for the most part, it worked! You could easily tell it had some berries hints to it, though, at the same time, for some odd reason that brought me some memories, as if I have had it previously. Hmmmmm…. That made me wonder, after the fact that is, how would have the pear green tea worked…?

And now, the food. We started off with octopus sunomono. Compared to sunomono served in other sushi spots, these had a really light hint of acidity. That is, it didn’t have an overpowering acidic taste, just enough to get you wanting to have more food. The slices of octopus were firm but by no means chewy. Not sure if good or bad but it didn’t have too much of a taste. Good way to start off but didn’t necessarily wow me based on expectations.

I didn’t get the complete description of dish #2, as, again, good company was keeping me busy and entertained. From what I recall, the yellow parts are fish + roe. The purple pieces were octopus wasabi. Extremely slimy but were also crunchy. The wasabi part of the name was a bit of a misnomer; you didn’t really get that “kick” we usually associate with wasabi. OK, exaggerating here. There was a bit of that feeling but not to the extent of having to include it as part of a dish name. The cured sausage was just that, nothing more, nothing less. But, they “key” here was the ankimo, aka, monkfish liver. That piece was creamy but, for some reason, it felt there was something missing, as the grated radish didn’t really do much for me. Hmmmmmmm…. Am I starting a trend? It was OK but not mind blowing…

Am I over using odd references a bit too much? If so, how about yet another one here: a miso-like soup with a really crispy lotus chip and a dumpling. It had a consistency of a thick soup, and quite savoury I must add. The dumpling was OK, nothing to write home about, it somehow felt like an Asian version of a matzo ball. However, what really made it was the lotus chip, as, despite it was submerged in the broth, it maintained its crispiness. I think that would have been something I could eat a bowlful of. But, in the end, there were that many chips (as in one) and too much broth for its own good.

At times, I have “complained” that restaurants make fancy dishes just for the sake of hype and/or to attract customers, not necessarily because they are good. Here is a case of such dish: uni shooter. Here, rice is added to a glass, some liquid, a sea urchin roe and quail egg. I was supposed to stir this and then drink it. While you couldn’t really “feel” any slimy texture, it was devoid of almost any taste. The only thing I was able to savour was the piece of mint at the top. Not even the “wasabi”. Sorry, didn’t like this one at all.

We weren’t served one but two different pieces of fish: black cod (?) and red snapper. The black cod (?) was a huge chunk and it felt borderline over cooked. A squeeze of the lemon did some favors to that piece of fish, though. Not much different from most large pieces of grilled fish so, as a result, not much to comment. However, that was not the case of the red snapper. First of all, they gave us one of the best pieces of the fish: the collar. Unlike a piece of fish filet, the meat in this area has a different texture and does not dry up so easily. A piece from the belly section was served along. So, in a way, fat on fat? Yup, the fish itself had a fatty texture to it, a bit slimy; but, I like it this way so it worked fine to me quite well, despite it needed a bit of hands-on to finish it.

It was almost impossible we didn’t have some form of sushi. In this case, we had sashimi, rather than actual sushi. The pieces included black cod, salmon, squid, octopus, flounder and tuna. One thing I will have to admit and that is their really good knife work. See that white piece below the slices of raw fish? Well, that’s not paper: that’s a thinly sliced piece of daikon radish used for decorating purposes. It was almost as thin as a sheet of paper… As for the sashimi itself, alas, I can’t say I enjoyed it. For some reason, it felt… Bland? Now, before anybody even think of bashing me about soy sauce or wasabi and what not, yes, I lightly dipped some before consuming each morsel. However, there was something strange with the fish itself. For example, in the case of the salmon, that unique salmon oily texture wasn’t there, no matter how hard I tried. In the case of the squid, the oba aka, Japanese mint, was the key element, same with the roe on top of slice of flounder. But, past those, I wasn’t sure what to make up from the remaining ones. It felt slightly disappointing…

I wished we were served nigiri sushi but, given we were sharing dishes already, I am sure they thought things might be easier. Here, their dragon roll which contains avocado, unagi and red pepper. I won’t deny it looks great visually, from construction perspective to knife work perspective. However, the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the maki itself. Once again, it was OK. Probably slightly above average but not something I can’t live without. I will give them credit to the fact the creaminess of the avocado was there, the sweetness of the red pepper was there. What killed it was that unagi didn’t make an act of presence despite you could visually see it there. I wonder how this would have been had it been nigiri instead…

Finally, to close, Sada-san dropped by and asked us if we were read for dessert. At that point, we were getting full so, sure! And this is one of those instances I have to admit I had a really interesting dessert: deep fried brownie, topped with ice cream. You know how are brownies, you know about vanilla ice cream. Need to say more? In fact, personally I thought this was actually the highlight of the dinner. And, remember, this is coming from a person who is not that much into desserts! Of course, I had to be nitpicky and find a flaw of sorts: the batter used for the brownies was slightly chewy. Regardless of how you like your brownie, I thought that chewiness gave an odd contrast to the brownie. But, still that was a minor detail and, again, nitpicking.

Overall, I felt it was a bit of a contradiction. In a per dish perspective, I thought the dishes were OK… As an OK due to expectations. Had I got these dishes because somebody else ordered for me, it would be a bit of hit (the red snapper) and a bit of a miss (uni shoot). But, combined, it would be above average in the bigger perspective of things. However, I was somehow expecting more and, well, as served, didn’t work. Could it be that my recent visit to Kimura skewed things a little bit? Or could it be I should have gone for te $100 price point? Regardless of which one it is, I am still curious and would be willing to go again… And, who knows, this time, break the bank?

I have mentioned it previously and will say it again: I hate the word “foodie” with a passion. Until now, the only instances I sort of don’t care much is when some local food bloggers use it (Mijune of Follow Me Foodie or Joyce of VanFoodies). Why I hate it? Please, don’t let me go there… In fact, aside from the cases already mentioned, the only instance where I would agree to use the word “foodie” is to construct the word foochebag. Feel free to guess where it comes.

However, when this last Wednesday, I will actually let is slip completely. Why the sudden change of heart? Because of an event called Vancouver’s Foodie Feast, organized by James of Bella Gelateria along with fellow bloggers Sherman (of Sherman’s Food Adventures) and Mijune. Wait, am I not the person who hate participating events and bash those bloggers who are in for the $$$ (aka, PR and blaggers)? Yup, that is still true; however, in this case, this event was for a good cause. In addition to getting us together, it was also a fund raiser for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society (something that I have previously blogged). With such reason, why should I NOT participate?

Those who know me, know that I am a bit “anti-social”, in the sense that I might not necessarily be the person going out to meet others. However, in this case, food bloggers in Vancouver sort of know who is who. Even then, given the popularity of late of food blogging, I didn’t know several of the bloggers attending the event (specially “new” ones) nor I was particularly interested in meet and greet. Of course, there were exceptions: Mimi of Cute Pig, whom I asked for restaurant recommendations while in Edmonton. So, in a way, I am still “unknown” to a lot. Do I care? Not really! Now, I did notice something quite odd: While I missed some of the more familiar bloggers (Elaine of Parker Pages or Darina of Gratinee), most of the bloggers who went, were the more “independent” ones! I.e., those blaggers I mentioned above were MIA! Makes me wonder… Could it be they are so used to free food that they couldn’t spare the admission fee (did I mention for a good cause)? I am digressing here so back to the event itself…

I will apologize for one thing: I didn’t take pictures of the venue. Instead, I spent most of the time taking pictures of what matter more: Food! Oh, c’mon, given my blog name, what do you expect??? OK, I took some other pictures here and there but, for the most part, it was food only. Also, I won’t comment much on the food. After all, it is really unfair to give a negative comment, considering the restaurants wanted to contribute for the event, not for me to bash them. Furthermore, this was more on the lines of sampling dishes, not necessarily representative of what you would get in the actual restaurant, so any thoughts would be unfair and unrepresentative. I must also mention some of the restaurants have been on my radar for some time, so, in a way, it would be a matter of time.

Here are the links and addresses to the different restaurants participating in the event:

• El Barrio – 2270 E Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC
• One Planet Catering
• EBO Restaurant – 4331 Dominion Street, Burnaby, BC
• Falconetti’s – 1812 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC
• La Belle Auberge – 4856 48 Ave, Delta, BC
• Hapa Izakaya – Various locations
• Mochikas – 1696 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC
• Red Star Seafood – 2200 – 8181 Cambie Road, Richmond, BC
• Bella Gelateria – 1001 W Cordova Street, Vancouver, BC
• Kitchening with Carly
• Mancakes

Now, notice something interesting from this list? Probably with the exception of Bella Gelateria and Hapa Izakaya, the remaining restaurants are somewhat low profile? I.e., they are not necessarily ones that have a huge PR department to attract customers. As a result, I will have to give kudos to Sherman and Mijune for the selection. It would have been quite easy to select some high profile restaurants and let it run. Not here. The selection was varied and the food served was good, despite the setting. What else could you ask for?

I must also mention different organization involved by either promoting or providing support:

• Urbanspoon – which I am an active collaborator. Special thanks to Kate and the Urbanspoon t-shirt!
• Justin Lam of Three Sixty Photo – who was the official photographer. Pictures of the event can be found here and here (Facebook links!)
• Steve Tan – who took videos from the event, including Mijune’s video

Overall, this was a really enjoyable evening. What’s more important is the fact that with the success of this event, there is the seed for further events like this have been planted – something I look forward in the future.

Le Do Vietnamese Restaurant
2292 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC

Ah… East Hastings… An area I use to frequent but, ever since I quit Magic, I haven’t dropped by at all. It is not that there is something wrong. There are some good grocery shopping places, like Freybee’s outlet store (at Hastings and Victoria) if you are looking for cold cuts or sausages, Donald’s Market is a good option (Hastings and Nanaimo). And then there are “unique” eating places like Bao Chau and Seri Malaysia. Could it be traffic in the area? I don’t know. However, by pure sheer of events, PO and I ended up in that area and I “suggested” we give Le Do a try.

When we arrived, actually other options were considered. For example, Red Wagon which opened recently, as well as the before mentioned Seri Malaysia. However, I chose to visit this place in the end because it has been on my list for quite some time and felt I had to do so. Despite we arrived at the later parts of lunch time, the restaurant wasn’t packed full. But, then again, it was a weekday…

I just realized an odd trend of mine: When in Asian restaurants, I seldom order drinks and fall back into tea/water. Could it be that, for general consumption, it works well? Or because, somehow, when in Western type restaurants, there is that odd need to drink anything else aside from water? Regardless if this is true or not, PO ordered a drink. OK, I will admit I didn’t get the name correctly – salted lemon drink? Just as the name suggests, this slightly salty, a bit citrus-y but overall refreshing. Not something I would have ordered but, regardless, it was interesting on its own terms due to the combination of basic tastes.

To share, we ordered Goi Cuon (or was it Nem Cuon?). In a way, I was distracted when ordering and it could have been the later. The difference in terms of the item in the menu? Both are salad rolls, the former being prawns and pork and the later being listed as “patties pork”. Regardless of the name, it had some nice pieces of sausage-like pork but they were muted by all the rice noodles. The greens inside didn’t help much. Had it had from fragrant herbs – like Thai basil – it would have been better. However, in this case… It was just OK.

In retrospect, had the description been more… Interesting (?), I would have gone for the Le Do Spicy Roll – 1 piece of spring roll wrap with noodle, lettuce and cucumber (spicy). Why? Because the description does not necessarily make it enticing enough! So, what is in this roll? OK, I will let fmed explain it to your here.

Moving to the pho, PO ordered dish #3 from their menu, Pho Tai Bo Vien – rare beef plus beef balls. For the most park, he thought it was OK, not necessarily the best he has had but it got the job done. But, there was something that he kept sort of complaining: the beef wasn’t rare! I guess next time he should order the rare beef on a side so that the soup does not start to cook it… Regardless, it looked like the basic pho so I will trust in his judgement… And, as for myself…

Bun Bo Hue. The first notable? The cabbage. To my understanding, this is something that is added in-lieu of banana blossom. The only other place I recall having this served? Tràng Tiên in Edmonton… Given that Edmonton has better Vietnamese food than Vancouver, I will welcome that addition. As for the rest of the bowl… Well, it sort of went sideways. The basic meats were there but not more unusual suspects like pork knuckles or congealed pork blood. The broth felt more on the lines of the basic pho broth with some hot sauce like oil added on top. But, alas, not spicy at all. The one credit I will give them was that it had some lemongrass flavour to it. However, that didn’t really make it stand out to some other more basic bun bo hue in other places.

After the meal, PO and I compared some notes and, overall, it felt… Average? Sorry, probably I ordered the wrong dishes or it wasn’t necessarily the best time of the day. Regardless, what we ordered didn’t necessarily wow us and left of wanting more. Probably I should go back and try something else? But, if I do so… What? In the meantime, I will just leave it as a maybe

Peckinpah
2 Water Street
Vancouver, BC

It is sort of known that I don’t necessarily like fancy restaurants. That does not mean I won’t go to them, just that a lot of times, those restaurants carry heavier price tags and a lot of that price tag is not translated necessarily into what ends up on the plate. Instead, it goes to things “around” it – like ambiance. However, at times, that’s what can draw people together for a meal. I mean, a dive is not necessarily conduciveto get people together and spend 2+ hours just to catch up.

So, how does that relate to Peckinpah, a somewhat recently restaurant opened in Gastown? Well, for one, it is the area, as Gaston is one of the places I call “usual suspects”, i.e., areas of town where people go for ambiance (the others people Downtown, Yaletown and Kitsilano). The second part is that out of all possible cuisines, this is BBQ, one that has humble origins… So, how do these do combine together?

Not far from places like Irish Heather (where the Long Table Series take place), there seems that one element has to exist: booze. I mean, if you are in the area for a social gatherings, I guess the element of social lubricant has to exist. This is pretty obvious when, in the two page menu, half of it is dedicated to drinks. And, I will have to say that, in a really wacky turn of events, I ordered a Raven Cream Ale.

OK, at this point, some people will be raising their eyebrows and wondering what the hell was going on. Why? Because I am not that much of an alcohol consumer (as a result, I won’t say much about the drink). In fact, I am currently wondering… Why the #!$!@#$ I ordered it! See, I have only ordered alcohol in really limited instances (for example, when I went to Jules Casual French Bistro). And, because I have low alcohol tolerance and like to be in all my senses, I just order soda/pop. However, in this case, there was something going on in my mind and it is “safe” to say I wasn’t in all my senses – which, alas, might be reflective on parts of my thoughts of this place.

But, too much personal stuff, back to the restaurant… Despite its small menu, I had a hard problem deciding what to order. First of all, I wasn’t excessively hungry. Instead, I just wanted to eat something and move on. Peckinpah just happened to be there. If it wasn’t there, I might have ended up going to Vera’s next door. Second, on the day I went (and seems to be still true as of the date this post is going up), their BBQ orders are of single meat type, despite you can make half orders. In other words, there are no options to mix-n-match meats. Translation: given I was by myself and could eat only that much, I better order the “right” one. So, instead of me guessing, I left that to the bartender/cashier. His suggestion? Beef brisket. At that point, I raised my eyebrows, as if having doubts why I was suggested that. But, OK, well, if you are running the restaurant and this is your suggestion, I will hold you accountable for that suggestion!

Wait, wait, wait. That’s not beef brisket?! Yup, that’s not beef brisket. That is their pork corn dog (beef also available; however, since I was going to have brisket…) with three mustards. Before jumping to the food, yes, sorry, lightning conditions were terrible for picture taking. So, sorry… Once again, back to the food… This ain’t your run of the mill fair corn dog. It was indeed a meaty pork sausage. The batter was quite light. In fact, if it wasn’t because it held some of the greasiness, you might say it was something similar to a really light tempura. Alas, the mustard almost didn’t work. The grainy mustard or what I thought was a Dijon mustard felt too sweet to my taste. I wonder if it was because of the ale or because my mind were playing games… Regardless, I wasn’t not necessarily impressed by it and will leave it in the “OK” category.

OK, shoot me… Yes, I wasn’t THAT hungry and, even then, I ended up ordering a big plate of food (and this is half order!). Had they allowed me to do a mix-n-match type platter, I might have not ordered the corn dog. As for the half order, I had the option of ordering two sides to go along. It ended up going for southern greens, baked beans; this is in addition of the cornbread.

I have some mixed feelings about the baked beans. If I were eating it by itself, I am sure I would have eaten a bowlful of it. But, then again, I am a sucker for this type of dish. However, at the same time, despite I saw some pieces of meat mixed in, I wished it had either a bit of tomato flavour in it or something smokey. While it could have had one (or both), likewise, it might have been MIA. As for the greens, not much to say. I just wanted some vegetables. The cornbread… Once again, mixed feelings. In a way, didn’t feel that much like cornbread the way I have had it in the past, where you can feel a little bit the graininess of the cornmeal, here it had a fluffy texture. And, what’s even stranger? I noticed it was in a large block (imagine a cake) and then sliced into squares. When I saw that, for some reason I thought “polenta”? Of course, it is a far cry from polenta but I couldn’t shake that feeling. A bit of honey on the side would have helped but that would be on the lines of personal likes.

Now, to the meat. Again, I ended up ordering beef brisket. When it was served, right away that sense of “I made a mistake” kicked in, specially when I couldn’t visualize a smoke ring. Now, if we take out any preconception of BBQ, I will have to admit it was a good piece of meat. It still felt juicy, thought it wasn’t too “warm”. As for texture, it was tender to a point but still required knife. And what I mentioned about smoke ring was confirmed after I took the first bite: couldn’t taste much of a smokiness taste to it. In other words, good “meat” if we take out a lot of considerations but, by then, can it still be considered BBQ?

As I mentioned above, I wasn’t necessarily on my right state of mind when I went there. However, looking back, I did realize and notice a lot of things. For example, why I was suggested brisket… OK, what happenes is that Peckinpah labels themselves as Carolina style BBQ. And what does that mean? Pork is usually the meat of choice. Granted, they might be trying to cater as many people as possible. But, even then, when you say “Carolina style”, shouldn’t at least specialize in pork instead of beef – and, as a result, suggested something pork instead? The second part is that I didn’t feel the “love” that day. In fact, the kitchen looks like a normal running kitchen, not that much a BBQ shop. Meats were carefully wrapped, sliced when ordered and carefully wrapped back. And then the comment I mentioned above about the cornbread.

Once again, it is possible I wasn’t in my right state of mind the night I was seated at the bar and eating my food. However, the pictures and some facts do not lie. As a result of that, I can’t necessarily say the food was good. As a drinking hole, well, again, not much of an alcohol drinker so that is not an enticement for me to come back.

peckinpah

Lully’s Sandwich Mobile Cart
650 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

Back when the original set of food carts came out, the one that we had to admit was a bit “different” from the rest was PanDa Fresh Bakery. While some of them would be as expected in other cultures (skewers from Chinese Skewer King and Satay King), others went for fusion (Cartel Taco, et al) and some went for old school type (pizza from Ragazzi, pulled pork sandwich from Re-Up and crepes from “>Kimono Koi Crepes), the folks from PanDa made a twist by offering stuffed croissants. Alas, it seems things went sort of sideways and they have come back in the form of Lully’s Sandwich.

Located just outside of Granville Skytrain Station (Granville Street exit), it has one thing that their old location didn’t have: foot traffic. After all, for food carts to work, you ought to have a lot of that. Without pedestrians, people might as well go to a sit down restaurant! Of course, without a good product, that would be meaningless. And what are they offering now? Montreal smoked meat sandwiches and, in an interesting twist, they seem they are associated with Lully’s Sandwich Bar from Victoria to bring their smoked meat goodness to Vancouver. Of course, there are some bigger questions with the main one being: would a restaurant formula work on the streets? Of course, with the caveat I have NOT being to Lully’s Sandwich Bar, I can’t say how they operate over there and can only based my thoughts on what they are offering from that cart. Instead, I will make a trip to memory lane and compare it to Kaplan’s Star Deli (it’s Downtown location which has closed). (Of course, I could have tried to compare it to Carnegie Deli, that might be an apple/oranges comparison of sorts, as I had their Woody Allen, which has pastrami and corned beef).

Of course, I am jumping ahead. After making my order, aka, telling them I wanted small, medium (the one I ended up ordering in the end) or jumbo stacked, they start putting some packed cuts of meat into a steamer. Of course, that might raise some questions: would it be good doing it this way? Actually, this method is a workable solution. Under normal conditions, the meat would be steaming and cut to order. However, when purchased in big slabs and taken home, guess how would you re-heat them? Suggested method is usually to cut them into pieces and them steam it for a couple of minutes. Sure, it takes away some authenticity but, given we don’t have the same consumption volume as in Montreal, we have to give some to get some. And the cooking alternative might be what needs to be done…

And here it is, the medium Montreal smoked meat sandwich, served with a pickle. Not necessarily a big fan of pickles so won’t say much. I had the option for yellow prepared mustard or Dijon mustard. OK, I went for the “untraditional” route and had it with Dijon. The rye bread, was a bit… Generic? But, the main question is… How is the meat?

The first part that left me with mixed feelings was the fact the meat was borderline sliced type. Now, Carnegie Deli did that with the Woody Allen and Kaplan’s did that with their Montreal Smoked Meat. However, I had sort of different type of expectations for them, specially because they were reheating them eat, they could have had it roughly cut. I guess, for purposes of consistency, they went for the sliced method.

The question would now be, how does it work as a whole package? In a way, it felt sort of mixed, the main problem for me being the texture. While piled high (I don’t want to imagine the jump extra), when I bit into it, there was no “resistance” from the meat. I am not sure about you, just that, I was expecting something to chew. In this case, it became too soft for me. From a taste perspective, actually, it was savoury and a smoke-like taste, characteristic of this type of meats. Because I asked for Dijon, it gave a contrasting “kick” something that others might not necessarily appreciate. In that case, I guess regular prepared yellow mustard would be for you.

So, how does that make it overall? Well, two things hit hard: the first one is price. One of the issue I raised back with Panda was it’s price. This sandwich is $7.50 which, from a street food perspective, it ain’t cheap. Of course, given they are bringing it the smoked meat from Victoria, I guess there ought to be some overhead. But, if we put that aside from a moment, there is the second factor with was (literally) external ones. The day I went was a cold day (as in borderline 0C) and it cooled down really fast after I unwrapped it (and, of course, to take a picture first). Compared that to eating it at the food court in Pacific Centre: weather won’t be an issue. In the end, if I were to share it with somebody as a snack, it would work. Back by myself as a whole sandwich… I didn’t necessarily convince me. But, once again, I am sure others will appreciate it.

I have mentioned previously that I am not a big of desserts: If I am by myself, chances are I will skip it. However, when I am with others and they want it, I might as well tag along. Out of all forms of sweet treats, pies falls in sort of an in-between. Of course, I like the savoury applications: pot pies, pocket pies (empanadas, et al) and so on. Sweet versions? Well, I have made blueberry pie myself, so I would certainly eat it. But, a recent experience gave me the most bitter sweet one of all: a slice of humble pie.

Recently, I asked a friend, OCDGirl, if I could cook for her and her friends. There was one caveat: for other reasons, it couldn’t be in my kitchen, plus she would be along for all the ingredients purchasing. The day of the cooking, we had lunch first and then I presented the ingredients list. At that point, OCDGirl’s jaw literally dropped. But, before I go there, here is the original menu I had in mind:

Green beans in pesto (5 ingredients)
Sauteed rapini with garlic and chili flakes (3 ingredients)
Mashed sweet potatoes and yams (3 ingredients)
Braised short ribs (7 ingredients)
Salmon en papillote (7 ingredients)
Poached pears (6 ingredients)

That begs question #1, why???? I mean, why did I want to cook for others to begin with? Truth is that while I have cooked for myself, I haven’t done so for others, not to mention for more than 3 people at a time. Cooking for others would be in part a test for myself. That brings of course, question #2, have I tried these dishes before? Yup, I have tried all of them and the one that takes the longest is the short ribs (3.5+ hours; with an hour tops for cooking, the rest is spent in the oven). However, the one problem with this list is that it does require a lot of prep time. But, while that might be in my mind, for OCDGirl, such a long list made things appear complicated, as one thing she kept insisting while shopping for ingredients was that her friends like “simple” cooking. But, given I was the person cooking, I sort of overlooked her thoughts.

Unfortunately, what followed would be considered a nightmare in terms of cooking. I will spare you all the grainy details, but among things that happened includes me triggering the alarm not once but twice and the oven was full of grease at the end of the day. Some dishes had to be salvaged because of things that happened in between and so on. Let’s just say that several people weren’t happy with what was going on (especially OCDGirl). At the end of the day, they seem to enjoy the meal; however, I wasn’t sure if that part of it was said out of courtesy. The worst was yet to come, of course, during the next day or so, I was feeling extremely disappointed at myself and that sense of failure.

A couple of nights afterwards, I was invited to tag along for dinner and, that night, we had hot pot. There were only two things that were actually done at home: slicing the beef and prepping the vegetables. The rest where bought from the supermarket. In other words, that was their definition of simplicity. And, despite I am not the biggest fan of hot pot, I will have to say, that night, it tasted really good, plus their company was great.

At this point, some of you have to wonder what is the point of the whole story? As mentioned originally, it is a story of humility. At times, I have spent countless hours in the kitchen cooking because, truth is, I like to be there. However, I am also carried away with what I like. When you cook for others, you can show your “love” in what ends up on the plate; however, there is something else in the bigger scheme of things: people. If you are spending a lot of time in the kitchen, you are not spending time with them. I have mentioned a lot of times that, when I go out to restaurants, it is the company that makes the dinner better. Even when food is average at best, the fact you have somebody whom you are enjoying the meal with will raise your experience. It does not necessarily matter if the beef you are serving happens to be wagyu flown from Japan or a cheap cut of meat. And while you do have to cater to some special needs (allergy, restrictions), it is you cooking. You can show what you like, that “love”, but probably not at the expense of not being able to enjoy things. In this case, by me overlooking that “simplicity” warning, triggered a set of events that I still regret.

So, to all of the people involved here, my sincerest apologies. You have indeed taught me a lesson that I won’t forget (and, if I do, they have been “authorized” to kick my butt). And, to OCDGirl, thanks a lot for your patience…

Red Persimmon Taiwanese Cuisine
2133-4500 Kingsway
Crystal Mall
Burnaby, BC

Ah… Crystal Mall… The parking hell hole of Burnaby… Whether by design or due to how it is used, I don’t care. Whenever I need to go there, I just take Skytrain or just park at Metrotown. However, that brings the other question: why to go there to begin with? Yup, their well known food court. While not as modern as, say, Aberdeen Centre, one thing and lacking some options as in Yaohan Centre, one thing it can’t be taken away: it has good eats of it’s own. So, I was there one of these days looking something for dinner but was a bit too tired to think. In other words, hoping to go there and decide based on what was available or fancied. On that night? Red Persimmon.

One of the reason I remembered Red Persimmon was that, some long time ago, I visited another stand in the same food court called Beijing Restaurant. While this one closed (to be replaced by Xiang Yuan Qiao Bridge Rice Noodle), what I did remember from Beijing Restaurant was rou jia mo, aka, Taiwanese burger. From what I got afterwards, in addition to this place, there was one other that sell the same goodies: Red Persimmon. That was the reason I ended up here. Now, I am jumping ahead… First, another dish I ordered that night:

While I wasn’t extremely hungry, I was “hungry” enough and knew the “burger” won’t be enough. Looking at the menu, I found this rice bowl + pork for just under $3. What? $3? Yup, no typo here. For under $3, you get rice in a bowl plus some minced pork. In a way, this would be the type of food I would be eating in a down day – a comfort food of sorts. Was it good? The ground pork ain’t necessarily a fancy cut: it could have been “butt” but, again, it really does not matter. What did matter was that it was cooked through and, when served, it was served with the juices as a result of the cooking, which moistened and flavoured the otherwise bland rice. Furthermore, they had a small container of hot sauce. And, let me tell you, “hot” might be an understatement. If it wasn’t because I added it only on one side, I would have certainly regretted it, as it was spicy enough to make me sweat profusely… Now, would I order their larger version? Probably no, unless it came with some veggies, as otherwise,

And here it is, what in the menu appears as a burger, but, far from it being a burger, this looks more like a braised pork sandwich. Once again, at under $3, this is a deal. Better (and cheaper!) than a Big Mac or a Whopper. Why should one go for those if you can have one of this? Well, probably if you are not used to this. Regardless, it is a good option. The pork was soft but not extremely so. Enough for it not to “break” down when eaten but not too mushy. The pickled mustard greens gave a bit of crunch as well as some contrasting flavour. The layer of peanut (?) and sugar (?) added another layer of contrasting flavour. Overall, the combination worked quite well. However, for some reason, this is not something I necessarily want to eat on a daily basis, despite it is pork… For some reason, it was starting to feel heavy after eating it halfway. Probably as a once in a while…

So, indeed, Red Persimmon is a good option in Crystal Mall food court. With the departure of Wang’s (for XLB), I was starting to wonder which of the remaining stands would make me come back. In the case of Red Persimmon, it seems to be a good starting point. Hope the rest of their menu were as good as these two dishes I ordered.

Kimura
3883 Rupert Street
Vancouver, BC

If I were to visit a restaurant, how often should I do a re-post? Once, twice, thrice? More often than not, unless there is something catastrophic or the experience between the first visit and the second visit is extremely different, I don’t believe there is such need, specially if the time gap between these are extremely short. After all, your experience have documented and capture that essence, is there really a need to do so? After visiting Kimura with Sherman in summer 2010 (wow, we did tackle a lot of these hidden places early!), I was hoping to return for their omakase – or leave it to the chef, which can be considered a tasting menu of sorts. So, in what seemed to have a been a lot of coincidences, when Chris (Eating is the Hard Part) was arranging with me restaurants to consider for his visit, gastronomydomine of the Foodosophy team wrote a post about omakase at Kimura. Result? A flurry of text messages started between Chris and myself. Omakase at Kimura it was…

While making the reservations, I told them ahead of time we would for the $40 omakase. Now, there was no specifics as if that was supposed to be a a possible price point; rather, I threw the number. Given they didn’t say anything at all, I confirmed the time for the meal and from there we went.

Arriving that day to the restaurant was a bit of an adventure in its own ways. It was “snowing” that day (as in flakes that never stick), Bin had to take a small detour and, as a result, he had to cab in and so on. When we arrived, I was disappointed we weren’t given the option to seat at the bar. Now, I am aware it is an option; but… But, still, we were seated close enough to observe most of the action so, at least, there was a consolation prize of sorts. Anyway, after warming up and confirming we want to go for the $40 price point omakase, food started to arrive, starting off with…

An appetizer trio consisting of jelly-ied pigs ear and hock, grilled sardines with shiso leaves and kabocha pumpkin. The best description of the ears would be in the line of a dense, savoury jelly. The one thing I wish it had was a some snap from the pigs ear. I mean, you could see it, but, at the same time, it wasn’t “there”. The grilled sardines, which, by itself is an oily fishy tasting, errr…, fish (?), maintained those characteristics. The meat wasn’t soft or flaky; instead, it almost felt as if it was a single chunky piece. And that worked fine for me, given I grew up eating it like that. As for the kabocha, unlike some other forms of cooked pumpkin, this one was borderline dense and heavy. It was lightly sweet which provided some contrast to the other savoury parts of the appetizer.

Trio of oysters. Now, I am a bit of a person with mixed feelings about oysters. I mean, I will eat it and, if I were to put in an oyster eating competition, I could certainly eat a lot of them. However, I won’t go ballistic if I don’t have them. Plus, procuring them in good conditions is a pain and, depending on the restaurant, it might charge an arm and a leg. Granted, there are places where buck-a-shuck is offered but these are quite popular so there might be packed or have long lines. In Kimura’s case, Mr Kimura himself told us these were flown directly from Japan. Does it guarantee it is better than local BC ones? Given I am not crazy about oysters, what I can say is that these had a clean taste and the three forms of roe provided some crunchiness and saltiness to it. Even Sarah who had some hesitations happily ate them!

Salmon carpaccio with a sesame, soy sauce dressing. There were two types of salmon: a more orange-y one plus a reddish one. I wonder if they were using farmed salmon or one of the more orange-y type wild salmon. I would lean towards the later but, regardless, the dressing was quite strong. It wasn’t bad just that it overpowered the salmon itself. Would I order it by itself? Not certain.

Ankimo, aka, monkfish liver, aka, foie gras of the sea, on a squid ink sauce. Yup, you got that right, this is a piece of liver, not too different from foie gras. Well, there are some key differences; for example, this wasn’t seared and, despite it was creamy, it had a clean taste. Quite a sharp contrast to the monkfish liver I had at Guu Garden… The sauces didn’t make much of a difference but, hey, as long as it didn’t detract from the key part, I am good!

Oyster tempura, mushroom and okra. Another oyster dish? Well, won’t complain here! Now, I don’t think “tempura” is the best description, as it wasn’t really crispy; instead, the batter had a chewy texture to it. As for the flavour, it had a light sea taste to it (but not as in a bad “spoiled” way). The mushroom was shiitake and, if you have had it before, you know it has a quite pungent taste to it. As for the okra, it is either a like it or hate it for a lot of people. In my case, I liked the creaminess of the inside so I am good as is. However, I am jumping ahead! There is one thing that my picture didn’t really capture and that was a bit of edible golden spray. Yup, Mr. Himura spray something glittering golden on the plate. But it was mostly for show as there was no taste behind it. Hey, at times flare works!

If there was a dish that ended up in a strange spot would be this one: shrimp on risotto, which wasn’t really a risotto in the straight sense of the word. It felt more on the lines of rice molded in a ring and then the top and bottom cooked in a way similar to grilled onigiri. It gave it a crunchy exterior and a somewhat creamy interior (but, once again, not to the same point as a risotto). Alas, it ended up slightly too bitter for my taste. The shrimp on top (served with salsa) ended up being a miss as well. How so? Slightly overdone which translates into a chewy morsel.

As soon as I saw this little cup, my eyes glittered. Before the waitress could name the dish, I yelled “chawanmushi!!!“, to which the waitress could help but give a big smile and just nod. So what is this?

Translated as “tea cup steam”, this is an savoury egg custard, not too different from my very favourite dish: Chinese steamed eggs. However, this one contains a strand of udon so, technically, it could be called odamaki mushi. Regardless of the name (or technicality), I will have to say “I like it” no matter what. But, don’t let me jump ahead: in addition to the strand of udon, it also had some chicken, a piece of shrimp and mushroom. It wasn’t really salty and the consistency was stiffer than how my mom would make the Chinese version. But, once again, I just call it good eats! (Sorry, this is a biased statement!).

Of course, the (nigiri) sushi course… From top down, battera sushi, red tuna, o-toro, flounder (though, I thought it could have been halibut), surf clam and unagi. From the rice perspective, other than the battera sushi, the rice in the rest was loose to the point it could easily crumble if you were to try to pick it using chopsticks. So, yes, hands were used. Also, I didn’t really dip it in soy sauce, as Mr. Himura brushed the appropriate pieces before they were served. As for the fish, I will just say it was fresh. Sorry, there isn’t much to say other than it was good.

To close, some green tea ice cream. To be blunt… Nah, didn’t care much for this after all the other dishes served.

Overall, for $40, this is quite a deal. I mean, they were 9 dishes. If you were to average it, that would be under $5 each. And, we are not talking dishes made out of cheapo type ingredients. Oysters? Monkfish liver? Sushi??? So, indeed it is worth every buck. But, of course, let’s not abuse a good thing. If would certainly come back, given it has a good price point and good dishes. Just that, if I do so, it would most likely be once every six weeks or two months.