White Tower
1359 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

If you are looking for Greek food in Vancouver, you can pretty much go anywhere. Probably you might have favourites but, if you go around town, there will be one every dozen or so blocks. In the case of Downtown Vancouver, for most people, there is even a “default”: Stepho’s, a restaurant that, in a way, has mastered the art of generating enough volume of customers to make it possible for them to lower there prices to an almost ridiculous level – to an extent that people are willing to queue up just for a plate of Greek food. But, then again, there is Takis Taverna a couple of doors from Stepho’s. If you move to Denman, there is Olympia Pizza and Pasta and Maria’s Taverna. After walking so many times in Robson, I thought there might not be any… That was until a day, PO and I were looking for something quick in the area and we ended up going to a place I believe has been there forever: White Tower.

When we walked in, the oddity was that the restaurant was empty! Probably because it was a sunny day? Regardless, after we sat down and as the meal went, there were some suited businessmen taking another table and a small family yet another table. As we looked at the menu, we ended up going for the easy way out: their lunch specials. In their case, they had two so PO ended up ordering one and I ordered the other one. First, the bread from each of us orders:

In PO’s case, his order came with a piece of toast, in my case, a piece of pita. The toast could have had a bit more of garlic (as in garlic toast?) but, otherwise, it was OK. As for the pita… Well, again it was OK. Come to think about it, it was just average at best but, oh, well, it is bread so we weren’t to picky about it.

PO chose special #1 ($9): lasagna. OK, OK, this does not necessarily shout Greek but Italian. But, you know what? Lasagna might have some Greek background, not to mention there is a similar Greek dish called pastitsio! In the end, if it is good, that is what matters the most. As for the one here, the sauce could have had a bit more spices but, otherwise, the pasta had a nice fresh texture to it. PO finished the whole plate, which, by then, I had to ask: how does it compare to the one from Ciao Bella? He thought it might be apple and oranges, in the case of White Tower’s, it had a bit more “home” feeling. And, from the sample I had, I will have to agree.

As for myself, I went for special #2 ($10), chicken souvlaki, served with rice, Greek salad, roasted potatoes and tzatziki, which I used mostly as a spread for the pita. The rice was almost the parboiled type but, at least, it had some seasoning hint in it. As for the salad… Well, it is quite similar to the ones you can find in almost all Greek places so I am not sure how to really separate them from the rest. The potatoes was OK; not the biggest fan of potatoes but, at least, it did what it was supposed to do. And, finally, the chicken souvlaki… I will have to admit it was nicely grilled but it was slightly dry. A slight squirt of the lemon did some wonders but not enough to counter the dryness.

I will have to admit that despite some issues, the food was good. Unfortunately, given it is walking distance from Stepho’s, there will be that comparison. But, if you let that go, not to mention if the consideration that “other” dishes are available here (including pasta and pizza), which can prove to be a plus if you have a party and people wants different dishes. In the end, the food is good in its own ways and that is what matters.

Giovane
1038 Canada Place
Vancouver, BC

For some reason, embedded in my head is that concept that most hotel restaurants are… Well, disappointed. Of course, given that I travel on a budget, the hotels I end up staying aren’t necessarily a five star hotel; instead, they are usually your regular hotel chains, i.e., Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton, et al. And, then again, even if they have fancy locations, I seldom end up staying in those. After all, why should I? If travelling on business, it is my customer’s money, not to mention I spend the whole day at the customer’s site; if it is leisure, chances are I am only there to sleep and some basic necessities.

But, even when I stay in the “fancier” locations of those hotel chains, more often than not, the food has been average at best. But, then again, Fairmont is a luxury hotel chain so comparing them to the other chains might be akin to comparing apples to oranges. With that in mind, I went to Giovane, the “cafeteria” located in the recently opened Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel and little sibling to Oru, the main restaurant in the hotel. Hey, I wasn’t in mood to fork big bucks to Oru, given the mixed feedback!

From what I have seen, Giovane can be “broken” down into three distinct sections: a coffee shop, a pastry/bakery shop and a deli. Now, deli might be stretching that definition, given they have salad, soups, pizza and sandwiches. Now, I will focus a little bit in the deli part given I am not much of a coffee drinker and I am not crazy about sweets. Having said that…

Instead, I am a tea drinker. Here, a cup of, you can guess it!, Earl Grey. I will have to say their leaves they use are actually quite good. A nice hint of bergamot oil yet not to “dry” to the taste. It was quite enjoyable. The only thing that puzzles me is the leaf strainer. It looks “barbaric”… I mean, how about getting me a small teapot? Hmmmmmm…. OK, being nitpicky here!

For this visit, I was there for breakfast and I ended up ordering their Italian Sausage Strata – onion, sausage, tomato, sweet pepper, parmigiano, croutons. The reason I went for this was that their breakfast sandwich didn’t look too exciting. Why? I had that odd feeling I would have gotten better value if I had gone to Timmie’s for the breakfast sandwich! And, while there was also their “Giovane” Breakfast – Soft poached eggs, asparagus, prosciutto, piave vecchio, toasted croutons, I had some wacky feelings about it and ended up ordering the strata instead.

To me, strata is a savoury version of a bread pudding but this one felt more on the lines of a quiche – or, to be more technically correct given this is “Italian”, a frittata. The reason is that I didn’t feel anything that had a bread texture. But, putting that aside, I didn’t particularly liked the combination of flavours. In a way, they didn’t really add up; instead, it felt like each component was fighting for supremacy over the other. Furthermore, that eggplant layer created a “divide” between the top and bottom layer: the top having the vegetables and the bottom having the sausage. The crouton, was actually quite interesting but, hey, I was there for the quiche, I mean, frittata… I mean, strata…

To go along, I also ordered a side salad, here, a tomato and bocconcini salad. I put it in that order because over half of the “salad” was bocconcini! Now, the day I went (over a month ago), tomato wasn’t really in “season” yet so they weren’t that sweet. Given the case, I won’t be too harsh on them. The one part that was odd was the basil. Notice it is staring to get brown? Well, it seems they had it prepared ahead of time and had the basil tossed by then. Probably I am being too demanding? :S

At this point, I will have to say I wasn’t particularly impressed by their breakfast options. But, at the same time, people was telling me that wasn’t necessarily their forte. OK, I thought. Let’s give them another chance. So, on another day, I was there again and debating what to order: either pizza or sandwich (and salad/soup).

Behold, their green onion, chorizo and corn soup with a porchetta sandwich – Braised pork, shaved fennel, garlic aioli, fontina. The reason I chose soup and sandwich over the pizza was because the pizza was prepared and left on top of a counter which would be reheated when order. I guess that’s what you get for $9… However, that wasn’t enough reason; instead, it was rather because they didn’t really look that good which lead me to go for the sandwich instead. Granted, the sandwiches are also in a cool display case rather than outside but I believe sandwiches can last longer than pizza under this condition…

Despite I shouldn’t, I was actually quite surprised by the soup! Well, corn is in season, right? Here, the corn wasn’t completely creamed, instead, you could still feel some texture of the corn kernels. It was sweet but not excessively so. That sweetness was “cut” by some spiciness from the chorizo. A really good combination. The green onion was somewhat odd, though. Given it was sweet and a bit spicy, the “freshness” of the green onion didn’t work that well. Fortunately, you could easily scoop it out.

Out of all sandwiches, I chose to go for porchetta. As a reminder, one of the best porchetta sandwiches I have ever had is from Salumi in Seattle (though the other sandwiches were just average…), not to mention I believe I can make a good enough oven version of a pulled pork. So, in a way, high expectations. In this case… It disappointed. For one, I thought the amount of pork was a let down. Furthermore, there wasn’t much of pork taste and the cheese, while there, didn’t help much in terms of flavour. The saving grace was the bread, which was quite good, as it was crispy but, c’mon, I am not here for the bread; I am here for the pork!!!

So, after having giving Giovane two chances, I believe there are better options. In fact, recently I went to Creme de la Crumb, a just opened pastry shop, and their similarly set up sandwich was better than this. However, I am also sure people will be saying something about pastry/bakery and coffee. If that’s what you want, by all means, go ahead. Since I am not much of a coffee drinker nor a sweets person, I had to go for the remaining option. In this case, their “deli” didn’t really work for me. And, with that, my thoughts of hotel restaurant/food. (I guess I have to go to hotels in Asia before this opinion change…)

Ciao Bella Italian Restaurant
703 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC

Alas, good things always seems to come to an end. After my trip to Panama, everything started to settle back to its usual routine, including lunch at work. In the past, PO has been my *cough*victim*cough*, I mean, partner in crime. However, for this lunch, I was able to gather another “recruit” – CN. With this “hobby” of visiting restaurants, there is always that element of expectation but also that element of discovery. So, with that in mind, we were settled for lunch. Then the usual question… Where? A couple of weeks prior, PO and I went to Le Bistro de Paris and mentioned the relationship with Ciao Bella Restaurant. So, we though “why not?”. And to Ciao Bella we went…

When we got there, we had the option to sit inside or the patio (which was partially covered). It was a bit cold but sunny at the same time so we (actually, I) chose the patio. Hey, that means better light conditions, you know! Anyway, going back and forth between different lunch options, we finally decided on our orders, just in time for…

Complimentary bread. Now, this being an Italian restaurant, I guess the expectation was olive oil and balsamic rather than butter. But, after the butter/balsamic of Tomate y Amor, well, let’s just say it would be difficult to top. At least, the bread was steaming when it arrived and replenish so, no complains about it.

CN and I both went for soup – here, minestrone soup. My expectations for this soup was low so, regardless of what was served, I won’t have complained at all. Anyway, as for what was served, there was your combination of vegetables, though one was lacking: beans. Whether this was good or bad, well, it does not really matter.

On the other hand, PO went for melanzana alla parmiggiano – baked eggplant, tomato basil sauce with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. At first we thought it was something else, namely, a lasagna (which, was what PO ordered). But, after “cutting it through”, it actually resembled a lasagna, in the sense it was layers of eggplants. As for the sauce, it was OK, though, oddly, neither too acidic or too sweet. But, the combination of cheeses made it savoury enough.

CN ordered fettuccini carbonara. In my opinion, something along with Fettucini Alfredo are dishes that years ago would have ordered but not nowadays. Too much cream, cheese and dairy! But, then again, it wasn’t me ordering it, hehehehe. I sampled one (literally) noodle and I thought it was a bit dry. However, that might be because I tasted it before CN tossed it (as part of the sauce have settled already). But, based on the noodle I tasted, it did have some heavy cream taste, something that I am sure a lot of people would like.

As mentioned above, PO went for lasagna della mama – layers of pasta, meat sauce, cheese & bechamel, mamma’s recipe. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of it cut through. Had I done so, you would have seen layers of pasta and a really heavy meat sauce. How heavy? Well, there was about the same amount of pasta and meat sauce! I sampled a little bit and the “meatiness” was quite noticeable. PO managed to finish it in the end but barely so. I think PO was lethargic the rest of the afternoon…

As for me, I went for the special of the day, which was fresh BC salmon and pasta (had the option of vegetables), which came also with the minestrone soup mentioned above. I will have to admit the salmon was quite good: It was really dark orange colour to it and, best of all, some actual fish taste, not a bland piece of fish. However, the capers didn’t really add much to the salmon but, fortunately, it wasn’t too strong enough to get into the way.The penne (didn’t have option for pasta or sauce) was OK, though the sauce didn’t bind too well with the pasta. In a way, it felt too thin and, as you can see from the picture, almost a poodle of liquid.

I will have to say that I had mixed feelings towards some dishes. For example, the lasagna would be something I would definitely order, as well as the salmon (but not the pasta that came along). The fettucini carbonara not necessarily because, well, too much creaminess. However, the one saving grace overall is that the dishes weren’t that expensive. For example, CN lunch order was $10 (pasta and soup). I am not necessarily crazy about Italian food but still I have to admit this is a decent option. Would I come back? Despite those mixed feelings, I will have to admit I will.

Calabria Bakery
5036 Victoria Drive
Vancouver, BC

This is a case of me blaming somebody else for a post. In this case, I am blaming Jessica! Long time ago, she had a quest for the ultimate cannoli which, in a way, I took over but also dropped since I don’t have desserts that often. But, looking across the street of Lam Hoa Quan, there was Calabria Bakery…

One thing that did not necessarily attracted me was how dark it looks from outside. However, with enough goodies on display, I was curious to find out what they had. After going back and forth, I picked up some and took it home. And, to start off…

Haystack

Unfortunately, I did not have a piece of these so I can’t necessarily comment about it. What happened? Errrrr… Long story, let’s just leave it there, OK?

Tiramisu

Given that it is an Italian bakery, there was no way I won’t have a piece of tiramisu. Now, for some reason, I am not sure if I would call this a tiramisu. The top layer had a creamier consistency compared to what I am used to. When I was taking that piece out of the box, I held in on the side for a moment and rather than giving itself in (hence, making a mess), it retained the shape for a moment. Think almost the consistency of cream cheese. However, when I bit into it, it was actually softer than what I thought at first. I wasn’t that sweet; instead, I had more coffee overtones than sugary ones. As for the bottom layer, it had the texture of a light fluffy cake. I found this quite acceptable.

Cream horn

This might be a little bit of lost-in-translation. I was there for the cannoli and I indeed asked for one. However, I pointed them in the display and somehow it seems I pointed them to the cream horn instead. I didn’t catch this “error” until I got home.s Oh, well… The exterior was in lines of puff pastry and despite the big sugary crystals, they weren’t overwhelmingly sweet. The cream center was, well, a cream filling; I couldn’t taste anything interesting out of it.

At that point, I wasn’t that excited about the offerings but you must keep in mind that I am not THAT much into sweets anymore. However, the fact I didn’t have a cannoli would have meant a bigger epic fail. So, one day, I dropped by again…

Sicilian Cannoli

For some reason, there was an emphasis on the “Sicilian cannoli” portion so on my second visit, I explicitly said “Sicilian cannoli” without pointing anywhere. Now, I know lightning looks strange but I wasn’t going home anytime soon and was afraid of how the filling would react on a semi-long trip. Anyway, this is more on the lines of what I have had before and… I don’t know. The filling was not sweet, it felt it was just ricotta cheese without anything else to bring up a notch. But what really threw me off slightly was the shell: it had some oily parts, as if they were fried in low temperature (hence the dough soaked some of the oil). Notice in the second picture above how the paper bag “soaked” that a little bit, not to mention it is something noticeable on the top? I am willing to give them the benefit of doubt and say it might be the moisture of the filling; however, it didn’t taste that way.

While the cannoli didn’t really impress me, I will give them some credit for the rest of the desserts and breads. Sure, I didn’t buy any of those but, at least, they were enticing enough. They also have amaretto cookies which was mentioned as gluten free (this is for Peter and Darina!) and some whole pies which, well, if it wasn’t because I was by myself, I might have gotten one to share. Would I come back? I think it is a good possibility, specially considering that some of the pieces were relatively cheap and given the neighbourhood. Having a break for non-Chinese goodies might be a good thing!

Sciué
800 W Pender Street (Location visited)
126 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

Once again, it was during those hectic Winter Olympic days… Actually, they weren’t THAT bad because, thanks to arrangements from my workplace, I was able to finish work earlier which let me wander around the different houses and pavilions (and I blogged about them here). That arrangement also allowed me to go to Downtown core itself for lunch and, for today’s post, one of those places that seems to be close yet a bit too far: Sciué

Truth is, I am not sure what would be the best way to describe Sciué… Coffee shop? Sandwich shop? Restaurant? Sure, the entrance tells you it is also a bakery but, one thing is what they say it is, another is what they actually sell. One thing that you won’t miss is the fact they are Italian based as, well, they sell a lot of Italian goods, including what I ended up ordering for lunch…

Yup, that is pizza alright. But, wait… Why it looks like rectangles? Well, it just happens they don’t sell it by slice, as almost any other places nearby. Instead, think of ~17.5 cm/~7″ wide flat bread. You then tell them how much you want and they will cut a piece for you. That piece is then weighed (for cost) and reheated before it is served to you. Of course, you can’t tell them “I want 100g”; instead, you estimate how much before it is cut. While I am OK with this approach of guessing it yourself the same way you would when ordering cold cuts in a deli, I didn’t quite like the fact I could (easily) find the price per gram in the menu, nor have an idea of how many grams are the slice I am asking for, nor the fact they were quite “fast” at the weight scale (they just put it and removed it right away: I couldn’t really see how much it was that slice). Had I known in advance, I might have hesitated on ordering this for lunch…

As for the dough/base, it is of course, quite different from the one found in Ah-Beetz. The end result is more doughy and chewy, yet the more charred portions had a crunch bite to it. In a funny way, that worked well, as despite the “small” portion, it ended up quite filling due to all the chewing you had to go through. As for taste, I could swear it was somewhat similar to the taste of sourdough…

The toonie is for reference purposes

I will admit I am a fan of almost all form of edible fungi, even if it is the plain/simple button mushroom. In this case, it imparted a meatiness to the slice, which made meat unnecessary. I will admit I wasn’t paying too much attention to the cheese (chances are, it was mozzarella); however, what I will admit is that it wasn’t that milky substances found in other places – it actually tasted like cheese. From that perspective, I will give them some credit…

Slice #2 was one of the “salad” type pizzas. In this case, after the flat bread has been prepared, some garden salad and, in this case, salmon was added to the top. I will admit I got this one out of a whim because, well, it has salmon! The base had a creamy dressing which help the green salad – both complemented the smokiness of the salmon.

Now, this last one is dedicated to Jessica (of Yum-o-Rama). See, some long time ago, Jessica embarked on a quest for cannoli and, in a way, I took over that torch. Unfortunately, I dropped it because, I wasn’t really looking too hard. However, after noticing they have cannoli, I had to order one.

Now, they didn’t fill up upon ordering so, purists, don’t bring your pitchforks, you were warned! As for taste… Well, it was good yet it was OK. The filling was creamy and not too sweet. The cocoa powder didn’t really add much, unfortunately. The part that went sideways was the pastry: think of it more on the lines of a soft (not chewy) cookie. While it kept its shape, after the first bite, everything started to crumble down. In a way, it wasn’t a pretty sight. However, I am sure others won’t mind this and will be happy with this otherwise messy cannoli.

For the most part, the food was above average but one thing wasn’t: price. I am all in for quality food but when I pay almost $10 for the flat bread/pizza plus $3.25 for the cannolo, well, it is a hard hit to the wallet. At the same price, I can think of better lunch options. OK, I will give them some break considering they are in Downtown core and their customer base might not care as much. On the same token, that is the reason I am not that interested in coming back…

Luca’s Ristorante
1 Walter East Foran Boulevard
2019 State Route 27 (Location visited)
Somerset, NJ

Back in my old days of computer gaming (early 1990s), there was a magazine called Computer Gaming World (CGW). Gaming in the old days… 256 colours in 640 x 480. I am digressing here… So, what that (now defunct) magazine has to do with food? It just happens that until the later days of the magazine, it never gave a rating. It gave the games highs, lows and a general thought of the game and the writers opinion, leaving up to the reader to then decide whether he/she should get the game or not. You can say that my writing style is heavily influenced by this magazine. OK, what that has to do with food, some of you might still ask. Again, one thing I tried to do on this trip was to try different cuisines. Short of East Asian (other than Ichi Umi) and African, I have bounced back and forth. Today, it is about Luca’s Ristorante. The reason I came here? Because of all the high marks given by people, which led up to it being the number 2 restaurant in New Jersey, according to Urbanspoon…

But that still does not explain the relationship between CGW, Urbanspoon and Luca’s Ristorante! OK, here is the explanation: If you look at the Urbanspoon page for Luca’s Ristorante, you will notice the amount of positive feedback; however, if you keep on looking closely, you will notice that most of the reader reviews are people who have written exactly one review. While I accept the fact some people might want to put only one review (probably because they do not eat out often or similar reason), when over half of them are exactly one review will raise some eyebrows. Still, I wanted to find out myself…

And that led to yet another getting-myself-lost-while-driving silly experience! Although this time I did not have to go through highways and missing exits, I was challenged by the rain and the darkness of the area. Unlike most of the roads taken previously, most of the driving was through a large section of residential area but, for some reason, it was poorly lit. Given that I was driving slightly below the max allowed speed (due to conditions), I made a couple of wrong turns and that set me back up for almost half an additional hour to my road trip there! Don’t believe me? I am sure that Sherman and Anita can attest to my lack of sense of direction on the roads!

When I arrived, I found it interesting this restaurant was located in a strip mall, not that different to those you can find in Richmond, BC – with the exception that, rather than having another strip mall next to it, it was mostly empty lot in the back (or, at least, as far as I could see which was less than 25m!). Yet, there was some multi-culturalism present: next to Luca’s Ristorante, there was a middle-Eastern/Indian type cafe. After I walked past the door, I was greeted by a “long” corridor to where the maitre’d station is and then it separates the dining room into two. Since it was empty at that moment, I was given the option to sit anywhere. I chose the very corner of the restaurant, as far away from any potential customers who might be arriving later. The reason? Lightning…

While it was serviceable to an extent (and not as bad as Baru Latino), it was far from ideal for a picture taking perspective. This meant that I had to use my Speedlight. It was a good thing, I thought, there weren’t any customers yet but, not long after, two couples took a table in the same area where I was. Fortunately, they were far enough. That also meant I shouldn’t take my chances and try to snap as many pictures as possible as fast as possible. Anyway, to the food!

After I made my order, I was given this bowl of complimentary bread. I will admit the bread was quite good. Three different types of bread, all of them still warm. It wasn’t that fluffy but it had a good consistency to it. The one I found somewhat out of place is the middle one which had some fruit in it (blueberry? raisins?). Since I was expecting something neutral or savoury, it caught me slightly off guard. Out of the two dips, I liked the pesto to the right which enhanced the savoury-ness of the bread. The left one… Well, I was still trying to figure out what it was. I thought it would be olive oil and balsamic with the twist of some herbs on top. However, it did not have that olive flavour. I did not bother to ask either because, overall, the bread was good on its own.

To start off with, I had the… Sorry but I do not remember the name exactly. (I tried to take a picture of the menu for reference purposes with my iPhone but it was too dark to make anything out of it). Yes, yes, the general idea is that of mozzarella di bufala caprese, i.e., tomato, mozzarella and basil but, in this case, it also had some capers, grilled red peppers, oil and balsamic vinegar. While simple, this dish was good, in fact, better than expected. I knew that the tomato would be a challenge, specially because they used what seems to be a beefsteak tomato and tomatoes in general weren’t “in season”. And while the tomato couldn’t hold to that creamy texture of the mozzarella, the grilled peppers shined and took over that complimentary role. The sweet pieces mixed really well with that herb taste of basil and the oil and vinegar. The capers were mostly for show and don’t think it added much (not even some saltiness).

With my pasta dish (more in a moment), I received a side salad. The truth is, I could have lived without it. OK, OK, I wouldn’t mind eating more greens just that, well, it wasn’t that much to comment about. They might have grabbed some mixed greens from a bag and added some tomatoes on top and call it a salad. The dressing (not pictured) was better, though, as it provided some savoury notes to the otherwise average salad. (And I am among those who can eat salads without dressing!).

As mentioned above, I had pasta. In the case of Luca’s Ristorante, they have fresh pasta and, well, pasta. Since they make that distinction, I thought I might as well go for the pasta fresca. In this case, Gnocchi di Spinaci Genovese or Spinach dumplings served with braised sirloin and caramelized onions in a white wine sauce (the last part not 100% accurate as the picture I took is extremely dark). When I was served this dish, the waiter first brought a cloth napkin and put it folded into a square the table. Then, he brought the tajine like pot (except it did not have a hole on top). I was wondering what I was supposed to do with it until he put his hand on top and, in a theatherical act, he makes me wait and wait and then uncover this dish. And, then, he asked if I wanted some “Parmesan cheese”. I said yes and, using a grater, he topped some (or “until you say stop”). Authentic Parmigianino? Uncertain, but I am not going to argue on that point.

At first, the liquid was still bubbling, so I knew I had to proceed with care to avoid burning myself. After “mixing” it around, I took my first bite. Now, I know that pasta is a tricky business, specially if you bring it up to an Italian. Most people like it al dente, some others like it mushy. I won’t condemn anybody about this because, well, it is personal preference. In the case of gnocchi, I like it light and fluffy, though if it has a slight bite to it, I think I can live with it. In this case, I found its texture to be slightly chewy. While it did not have to chew hard (as in, say, a bowl of tong yuen, aka, Chinese glutinous rice ball soup), it had a chewier consistency than what I expected. The sauce, which, as mentioned above, started as bubbling liquid, started to thicken as it started to cool down. However, because the gnocchi was mostly smooth (baring that indentation, as if made with a thumb), the sauce did not really “cling” into it. As a result, I ended up eating this dish with a spoon rather than a fork, which I felt somewhat odd. Finally, the meat was an epic fail: partially thanks to the cut, it ended up dry, which did not help much to the beef taste as it was struggling to begin with. Size wise, I will have to say this would have been better to share rather than eat it by myself. Heck, I barely made past half the tajine!

On the way back to the hotel, I couldn’t help wonder… Why was everybody raving about this place? Did I order something wrong? While there were hits, the pasta dish, what a lot of Italians considers (or, at least, it is said) to be the key dish failed. If you fail on that, the rest of the meal will be incomplete. Of course, I did not have the dinner Italian style, still, I can’t help how I would have reacted if I was given that as second dish (after the antipasto) and I did not like it. Overall, I think it has good points but not high enough, specially to the extent some “reviewers” mentioned. Because of that, I don’t think I would come back if I am in there area again.

The Wine Bar
Calle Eusebio A. Morales, El Cangrejo
Panama City, Panama

In life, there are friends and there are FRIENDS. When I moved to Canada, I did not tell to almost any of my friends. Before anybody jumps into any conclusion, you must understand that moving into a new country on your own is not necessarily easy and emotional attachments to your previous country might detract you from your new home. However, even then, there were FRIENDS who, despite I severed almost all contact, had faith in me (how they found out, I don’t know). One of these FRIENDS is GN, whom I met way back from high school. So, when went to Panama a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had to treat GN for lunch/dinner. Of course, it would be GN’s choice. And the place we ended up was The Wine Bar.

Sure, there were tables outside but, down there, being so hot, almost nobody uses them!

I must mention this was not the first choice; instead, it was Benningan’s. Yes, that “casual dining” US chain. However, I asked GN if we could go for “something else”, hinting a Panamanian type restaurant. Alas, my argument was not enough; however, at least, we did not end up there. The Wine Bar was the GN’s next option.

The Wine Bar is part of a group of restaurants from a Swiss chef who moved to Panama long time ago. His flagship restaurant is french, while others include Swiss, Italian and, in this case, a wine bar/casual gourmet.

We arrived around noon and seated quickly. During out meal, the amount of customers was inconsistent. For a while, there were only a couple of customers. 15 minutes later, it was 3/4 full and so on. In a way, it did not really help the fact our meal lasted for around 2 hours (not that I ordered that many dishes; however, we had a lot to catch-up which was fine). One thing I wished though was a table closer to the window. No, it was not that much for the sight, rather for lightning. Unfortunately, those were already taken…

My usual (infamous?) shot of condiments at the table. Yes, that’s a bottle of oil and balsamic!

I had a bit of problem with the menu. I have not been to this particular location; I have been to one of their sister restaurant – and only once long time ago, so I was not sure what to order. Most of the dishes were Italian. In fact, you could customize your own pasta dish. Choose the sauce type (tomato based or cream based), meat and pasta and they will prepare it for you. However, GN has been there a lot of times so I let GN do most of the ordering.

After our order, the bread arrived and the waiter poured the oil and balsamic in a small saucer. I won’t say I was really thrilled with the bread. Even if I overlook that, it felt it was sitting there for a while. Sure, it was warm, just that I was expecting something fresh out of the oven (as, I did not “feel” that fresh bread elasticity). Or at least buns that won’t dry up so easily as sliced bread. As for the balsamic/oil, while it did help slightly, it wasn’t the best I have had.

This would be my contribution to the meal. I insisted we should order some starter and this was what we agreed upon: Funghi Aglio (USD $8), mushroom with garlic and a good dose of oil as well. I really liked this dish. It had a strong garlic taste, yet not overpowering. Also, it was salty, yet not too salty. The only part that disappointed to a certain extent was the selection of mushroom, in this case, button mushroom. Now, I must admit there might have been a bit of lost in translation. While I do know that funghi is the generic term for mushroom, I am not sure if Italians would call button mushroom funghi. At this point, I did manage to find a good use of the bread, hehehe.

Oh, the drinks! I personally did not order any; however, GN did order a glass of sangría (USD $3.50). I had a small sip and found it a bit too sweet for my usual liking of alcohol (and that is even considering I like Riesling and Gewürztraminer).

While we were having a really good time, we did notice that the food took awfully long to arrive – about 30 minutes or so long… But, it eventually arrived.

First, GN’s dish, Cannelloni Cardinale (USD $7). I am not sure how to describe it other than, well, it was like most of the cannelloni I had in the past. In GN’s opinion, it was not long enough under the broiler/salamander to “burn”/caramelize the cheese on the top. The filling itself… Well, I don’t think I remember very well. It was creamy, yes, just that it had a lot more potential that did not come to fruition.

This was my dish or “GN’s other option”. The dish name is Frutti de Mare (USD $11) with white sauce on fusilli, meaning seafood in a creamy sauce. For the seafood portion, I easily detected clams, shrimp, (mini) scallops and I think there were some pieces of fish (which one, I am not sure). Just in case, let’s take a closer look at the dish:

Again, creamy it was, though a dash of olive oil (oh, my heart!) would have been a really good addition. Sure, it was on the table; however, it was one of those instances were you wanted to taste the dish “as the chef intended”. I found the seafood slightly disappointing, as if they were not fresh enough. I must make emphasis on this comment, as there is a lot of seafood in Panama. If you can’t procure fresh seafood there, you are doing something wrong. When I though I was over-critical, GN agreed…

After clearing the plates, we debated if we should order a dessert to share. And, sure, we did that and here is what we got:

No, it is not a piece of cake (though it could have easily been that). Instead, this is a piece of flan or crème caramel or egg custard or… (you get the gist – USD $4.25). In my head, flan ought to be soft. However, in this case, it was a bit too dense for my liking. It was sweet but not overpowering. Had it been softer, I would have liked it a lot more.

Overall, I was slightly disappointed and GN agreed. Who am I to argue with somebody who frequents this place? ^_^;

Domenico’s Italian Restaurant & Lounge
3702 West Truman Boulevard
Jefferson City, MO

On night two of my stay in Jefferson City, I was not really in mood to drive around. That was partially because of the weather condition: though not rainy, it was windy and chilly. So, instead, I was hoping for restaurants nearby, with the caveat it couldn’t be a chain or in the mall. Once again, I took a suggestion from my clients: Domenico’s.

Once again, it seems I was suggested a well-known place. I arrived just after 6:00 p.m. and they were half full already… On a Tuesday night! Now that’s something a lot of restaurants would be jealous of.

Did I mention something about the artificial sweeteners on tables?

A glance at the menu (available on-line, here) and I was torn. Should I go for the stereo-typical pasta? Should I go for steaks? What about chicken, veal or seafood? In my case, my answer has always been “something I can’t get locally” or “something different”. And that answer came in the form of veal. How come veal, if it is something that is available here? If I go through the process of elimination, that would be the dish I seldom have. As for the order itself, it started with the option of salad or soup – I chose soup.

The soup of the day was cream of broccoli. In retrospect, I think I should have gone for the salad, as I hadn’t had my share of vegetables for the day. Sure, the soup had broccoli but… As for the soup itself, it was not smooth; rather it was quite thick. The broccoli itself wasn’t too noticeable. It was almost as if it was added as an afterthought. Not bad, not good…

As for the bread, it was better than a lot of places I have been to but not extraordinary. Once thing that was really noticeable was the butter: it was not yellow-ish but almost off-white. It was quite soft I must say, thought not overly overpowering. In fact, I was doubting it was butter but something else.

As for the main, as mentioned above, I went for veal…

In particular, this dish, called Veal Marco: “Topped with provel cheese, fresh mushrooms, broccoli and our white wine, lemon and butter sauce, seasoned with a hint of garlic and cracked red pepper“. I won’t say I tasted the cheese, garlic or red pepper; however, I did notice that odd combination of white wine, lemon and butter. Any hint of crispiness from the breading of the veal was “lost” thanks to the sauce. By no means that meant it was bad; instead, it gave a really interesting contrast.

The dish had two lows, the first one being the side pasta. I had the option to go from “white sauce” (i.e., creamy) or “red sauce” (tomato). I chose, as you can see above, the red sauce version. It was acidic/sweet, fine but nothing else stood out. The other low was the slightly overcooked broccoli. The deep green colour was long gone and there was almost no texture left.

To finish the meal, I opted for a dessert, in this case, their Amaretto Cheese Cake. The cheese cake on its own was bland. But, the combination of Amaretto and layer of toasted almost really brought it up. One thing I must mention is that the Amaretto caught me completely off guard. It was my first time I had it and, while I couldn’t “taste it”, it did “hit” me (as a reminder, I have low alcohol tolerance).

Overall, I found out why this place is highly regarded. It had some odd issues, sure. However, it might be due to my concept and expectation of some of the dishes, not that they were bad in any way.

Arris Pizza
5 Locations in Missouri, plus a location in Oklahoma
115 W High Street (Location visited)
Jefferson City, MO

Since I have been travelling “a lot” in the last six months (compared to the last 5 or so years), every time I stop at a new city, I ask the locals for something unique of the region. When I was in Baltimore, I went for crab cakes; in Merrillville, due to its proximity to Chicago, deep dish pizza; in Philadelphia, cheese steak; and so on.

When I was in Jefferson City, I asked my usual question and, at first, they were bewildered. In a way, they couldn’t think of something “local”. And I won’t blame them, some places with such a massive influx of people, it becomes a melting pot and no cuisine becomes “dominant”. And I can easily relate that, since there is no such thing as a “local” dish in Vancouver. Oddly, when I asked for a restaurant location (at that point “anything works”), I was able to find one of the regional “specialties”. And that is the subject of today’s post, Arris’ Pizza

It seems Arris’ Pizza is a local institution. After it was first mentioned, almost everybody agreed on that suggestion. Who am I to question the locals? Anyway, a 10 Km or so drive it was on a chilly, windy, dark night so it better be good!

On Sunday’s random post, I mentioned about condiments and here is the one found in Arris’ Pizza’s tables. One thing I found “odd” was the presence of artificial sweeteners by “default”. I mean, I understand they would provide it if you had coffee or tea at the end of the meal… However, I think I found out when a nearby table asked for iced tea and the waitress asked if they wanted it sweetened or unsweetened.

As for the food, when I asked (my clients) what they would order, they did disagree a little bit; however, there was a constant: their Greek salad. Again, whom am I to disagree? And here it is:

I will admit it right away: this is the oddest “Greek” salad I ever had. The ones I have had in other places are mostly cucumber and tomatoes, plus other veggies, like green peppers, onions and olives, and, of course, feta cheese and olive oil. However, as you can see in the picture above, there was too much iceberg lettuce for my liking. But, the cheese/dressing used was able to detract the blandness of the iceberg lettuce thanks to its pungency/tanginess. Regardless, I was disappointed. As for the “main”, I ordered a pizza.

Why pizza? It just happen that there is such thing as St. Louis style pizza (on the same lines of Chicago or New York style pizza). From what I was able to gather, rather than mozzarella, it uses a blend of other cheeses (provolone, swiss and white cheddar), not to mention the crust tend to be on the crunchy side. As for the one I ordered, I chose the House pizza which has “ground beef, mushrooms, red onions, green peppers, pepperoni, cotto salami, and our Greek sausage“. Before I continue, notice something strange about the pizza above? For example, the slits? Yes, it was not cut into wedges like the one most people is used to (or at least I am); rather it is cut into squares. Again, it seems to be a local thing – so long and “forgotten” that, when I asked why, nobody from the staff knew.

As for the pizza itself, I found it strange. In a way, I am used to have some acidity from the tomato sauce; however, I couldn’t really taste it from this one. Before anybody comments “but, what about ‘white’ pizza?” Well, true but, in that case, I am expecting it not to have that tomato acidity. Here, I did not find it. Notice, I am not calling it bad; it was different. As for the rest of the pizza, there was a good balance from the ingredients. One thing that I think they could have improved was the type of mushroom – like using fresh rather than canned. Despite it was covered by the cheese, after eating so much mushroom, I could tell just by the texture.

In the end, I couldn’t finish it and packed half of it to go (yeah, my hotel room had a fridge). I was also given these two chocolates. Overall, I can’t say I love it; however, I can’t say I don’t like it either. Probably if I was served more of this, I might learn to appreciate it the same way the locals do. Unfortunately, I don’t think any place here in Vancouver serve them. Still I enjoyed the experience and certainly would give it another chance.

Sbarro
Several locations around the world
3600 Country Club Drive (Location visited)
Jefferson City, MO

On my first day in Jefferson City (my final destination after my crazy trip and overlay through Denver), I faced the same old dilemma. Where to go for lunch? The problem with my work location is that, aside from being in the middle of nowhere (not literally but close), anything nearby required driving. In fact, my second day there, I was taken out out to a Mexican restaurant (which won’t be blogged because I did not bring my camera, not to mention it would be odd trying to explain why I was taking pictures of the food) and, just to get there, a 10 or so minutes drive in highway was required.

Anyway, target #1 was a nearby mall, which was next to the hotel I was staying at. For some odd reason, this mall, Capital Mall, barely had anything in the food court. Hungry, running out of time, I settled on the first thing that was not available locally – Sbarro.

Now, to those living in Alberta, sorry! I know there are Sbarros over there, just that, as far as I know, there aren’t any in Vancouver, OK? Anyway, something that caught my attention was a dish I haven’t heard before: Baked ziti. After ordering it, I came to realize it was a pasta casserole dish made with penne. Hmmmmm… Let’s try again: think lasagna where, rather than using lasagna, you are using penne pasta.

I had the option of going for a salad or meatballs; I went for the later. My order also came with a drink and a bread stick. The bread stick was meh so I won’t comment on that. Now, back to the ziti, I am not sure if it was the time of the day (it was around noon) or what but I found the sauce a bit too liquid-y and not thick enough. It did have some tomato flavour but not too much. As for the meatballs, they were better than Olive Garden’s so you can make your own conclusion.

Overall, I won’t say it was good or bad. It did serve its purpose which was to fill me up. And, specially given the poor options available in that location, I won’t complain much.