Swiss Donair
8308 144 Ave NW
Edmonton, AB

I have mentioned a couple of times that, in some parts of Vancouver, you can see a lot of shawarma/donair/falafel shops popping up every couple of blocks. Is this madness? Well, if there is demand, places like these will keep on popping out. So, when I was in Edmonton, my reaction was a bit of mixed when I kept seeing them as well! However, a bit of digging, I noticed something different so that gave me enough reason to try one of them as well. After shuffling between a couple of places (hey, after all, I only have that much stomach space!), the list of places narrowed down to two: High Voltage Food Coffee & Bar and Swiss Donair. Yes, you can guess which one I ended up.

I will put this one out before anybody jumps in. Notice that I mentioned shawarma/donair (I will leave falafel out for other reasons), as if they were the same entity. In fact, I should have also added gyro, as well; not to mention tacos al pastor! Truth is that they could be used interchangeably depending on the context so I will leave it in the sense of meat in a vertical rotating spit, sliced when ordered, then placed in bread (in the form of pita bread) and topped with some condiments. With the caveat that, depending on the combination of meats, it could deviate into specific ones. For example, in Vancouver, more often than not, you will see shawarma made out of chicken. In Panama, gyro made out of “mystery meat” was the norm. (Yes, gyro is Greek; however, I ate my big share of gyro back in my younger years!). In the case of Swiss Donair, it was made of some ground meat (in their menu, beef). Because of this, a direct 1:1 comparison to Vancouver can’t be made… Or can it? Keep on reading!

Due to some mix up in transit schedule and delays, I cancelled one of the places I was supposed to go. Oddly, that resulted in me arriving quite early. As in 11:00 a.m., around the time they were opening. Of course, that creates an odd situation: would the meat be piping hot? I saw the meat rotating weren’t extremely big so, needless to say, they weren’t fresh – chances are carry over from the previous day. But, provided it is carefully packaged/prepared, it might not be necessarily an issue. Now, one thing I did notice: While they cut the meat from the spit, they reheat them on a griddle. Of course, this could be a one time instance due to timing rather than the norm, again, considering the time of the day.

Now, here is the one detail: What to order? I would have wanted to do a head to head comparison by ordering the chicken version but that was not to be, as I didn’t see it in the spit. However, given that I have had the beef version at Donair Dude in Vancouver, a comparison of sorts could be made. Of course, it might still not be a 1:1 comparison. Instead, it would be something on its own. And this is the one I ended up ordering.

I know, in the picture above I am sure you would have asked yourself: Are those fries? You never see them here in Vancouver! Well, just because you see them or not see them here, does not mean it can be served differently somewhere else! In this case, they would serve it as a combo with fries. One thing I noticed right away is that it had some light seasoning. From that perspective, it was a nice touch to the otherwise regular fries. Now, as for the fries itself, could it be a frozen one? Not sure but, given that I am used to eating it without them, chances are this is a one of. Not bad but not something I would order again. (If going in a group, may be one person order it but that’s about it!)

As for the donair itself, I ordered the beef “super”. While there was no description as to what makes it “super”, I would assume it is the amount of meat in it. Truth is, this one was big! (Aside from this and the regular, other options include cheese, mushroom and jumbo). When ordered, I was asked if I wanted the sweet, dill or garlic sauce. I went for the sweet sauce. Now, here is the odd note: If you have ever heard of Halifax style donair, that sweet sauce is what makes it “Halifax style”. Alas, that might not have been the best of the options. I mean, it wasn’t bad, just that it ended up being a mix of savoury and sweet, something that does not always work for me. I guess I should have gone for either the dill or garlic one… But, hey, if you like this combination, by all means!

As for the meat (OK, beef, as per their menu), you don’t necessarily taste it as beef. Instead, you taste the spices added. And, you know what? I didn’t really mind it wasn’t necessarily beef tasting, as it served as a part of a whole. In perspective, I don’t think I should have ordered the Super as it was a bit too much beef, borderline to the point of meat overload (I can’t believe I am saying this!). If this was so much, I don’t want to know how much meat would be in the Jumbo version! The vegetables did what it was supposed to do but they limited themselves to the basic lettuce, tomato and onion. Would I have preferred some other extras? For example, tabouleh or pickles or what not? While it would have been nice additions, actually, as is it was good enough.

In the end, would I go for this, a gyro (in Panama) or a shawarma (in Vancouver)? Truth is, each one is a beast of its own with endless combinations and permutations. And, in regards to Donair Dude, due to local preferences, such a long distance comparison might be unfair to either one of them. I would have liked to try some of the other similar places on this trip but, alas, only that many eating chances. But, would I come back? At this point, difficult to assess; until then, I will just leave it as a question mark.

Aladdin’s Cafe
720 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

I have mentioned in the past that Middle Eastern restaurants have been creeping around Downtown Vancouver. While not as “noticeable” as, say, Starbucks, you could easily find one every couple of blocks. And what is not to like? Meat spinning in a spit, carved when order (OK, not always) or falafel, which are then dressed with tahini and hot sauce. Well, aside the fact that a lot of these places are small and tend to be packed. On a day for lunch, I was just walking around and ended up near Robson and Granville. And looking for a place for a quick lunch, I eyed Aladdin’s Cafe, which happens to be right next to a Babylon Cafe

How come I went to Aladdin’s Cafe rather than Babylon? My experience at their other location (namely Robson Market) has been inconsistent. Depending on who is preparing your dish (either wrap or plate), time, humour, position of the star or what not, the dish served can be paltry or loaded. While this is a different location, there are no guarantees the experience will be the same. Instead, I chose to try “something else”, which ended up being Aladdin’s Cafe.

Upon walking in, you could see the spit there spinning and cooking the chicken. Ah… I would hate to work in that area considering you will spend the whole day smelling food. Anyway, I went to the back of the restaurant to make my order. One thing that was noticeable right away was that prices were a bit wacky: Prices of wraps (or donair or… Whatever you prefer to call it) are similar to that of other nearby similar shops. However, the plates are easily over $1 if similar comparison was made. Given the plate provides all the components from the wraps and more, I went for this option.

Wait! Not only that, I went overkill here! Normally, one would order either a falafel plate or a chicken shawarma (or, as they have it spelled, shawerma). However, they also offer a combined version called “shawafel”, i.e., it has both falafel as well as chicken. Given it would be just $0.50 extra… Why not?

One note about the falafel. This is an odd beast to tame. While most of us would prefer food to be prepared fresh, in the case of the falafel, except for some limited places (Babylon if they are just making their batch for the day or Abdul’s), chances are you will be hearing that microwave beep. I have no issues with this one if it wasn’t for one issue at Aladdin: they were bone dry. Now, I know some falafel might not be moist and that is fine, that’s why you have the sauces on top. No, in this case, it was dry beyond salvation… >_<

The chicken, while it was cooked fine, I felt it was sliced a bit too thin and somehow ended up a bit dry. While the sauces were partially able to salvage the situation, in the end, it was to no avail: the chicken itself was “lost”. It is funny this happened as it can be easily addressed, which brings the major question: Did they even realize the “issue”?

As for the rest of the components, it was a bit of hit and miss. The salad was a bit odd in the sense the lettuce was shredded way too thin for my liking. On the flip side, the rice was decently flavoured, but was similar to the parboiled version. And then the hummus. Now, I like mine a bit thicker, the way it was served, for a restaurant of this type, it is OK. The pita wedges it was served along was from a bag so not much to comment about.

In the end, I felt a bit cheated. After walking from the West End, still with a lot of other options, I was disappointed with the food served, specially considering its higher price, compared to similar businesses. Would I go back solely for their wraps? Well, considering how the meats/falafel were served, I think I would rather go to Babylon instead, if not be adventurous and try other options instead.

Pita Fresh
1175 Davie St.
Vancouver, BC

Some time ago, I made the remark that there has been a lot of Middle Eastern eateries popping around Vancouver Downtown area. In Robson at Granville, you can find Babylon Cafe, Maison Falafel a couple of blocks east. And then, if you go to Granville Entertainment District, you will find a similar share of such places. Further down in the West End, a similar phenomenon occurs. Could it be shawarma and it similar brethren like donair and gyro (heck, even a taco al pastor!) is trying to take over silently without us realizing it? Well, if that is the case, I don’t mind if what they sell is something tasty. Today’s post is about a place that, depending on the perspective, could be considered Middle Eastern with some Greek touches as well: Pita Fresh in Davie Street, what seems to be their second location (the first one located near the Waterfront Station area).

One thing that set it apart from the other similar places is that they are not limited to the usual dishes found in other similar Middle Eastern eateries, namely, falafel and shawarma (in the form of plate or wrap): they also had baked chicken and souvlaki. I guess this might be because of the layout of the place, as it is larger, hence more kitchen space. However, what really caught my attention was “something” else: lamb. No, really! With Stepho’s a couple of blocks down, I couldn’t help but wonder how they would fare in a lamb to lamb competition, considering that Pita Fresh’s plate was priced below Stepho’s. With that said…

OK, I will admit that under $8, I was expecting a little bit too much. So, when I got this plate, I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad. I mean, I can’t help but feel sorry for the vegetables. They look outright awful! Granted, chickpeas won’t look better but any green(er) vegetables shouldn’t suffer and end up borderline brown! Anyway, taste-wise this vegetable mix did what it was supposed to do so I will leave it at that.

The rice was average nothing extraordinary but, once again, should I have expected more? And, finally, the potato… Well, calling it average would have been an overstatement. It was just bland pieces of spuds with some yellow hue on top. I have definitely have better.

Finally, the lamb… Just in case, the piece is shoulder and, while it was quite tender, seasoning was lacking. I mean, there was a light lamb taste but I had to try quite hard. Darn… One thing did surprise me: for this type of restaurant and $8, that piece of lamb was quite decent!

One interesting feature is the fact they have sort of a mini side/dressing station for you to scoop sauces (including a garlic one) and some pickled vegetables. Of course, it is just a mini-side, not for you to filling up with it!

From a lamb only perspective, I will definitely have to say skip; specially considering Stepho’s is nearby. However, I will have to admit some of their dishes looks interesting. But, even then, as mentioned at the beginning, there are a lot of other Middle Eastern places serving the same dishes and, seating aside, don’t think much else is provided.

Al Basha
3143 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC

My dislike for Richmond is quite well know. Crazy drivers, small parking spaces, badly design parking locations, the list goes on and on. However, that isn’t the only part of Metro Vancouver I do not frequent. Vancouver West Side is another of such areas in town, despite there is no particular reason. Probably because of those houses I don’t think I will never have enough moola to purchase? Or, perhaps because there is that sense of “falsehood”. Probably because most of the restaurants are the type where there is more hype to be seen rather than what it is served on the plate? Or because, well, I have had a bad track there? Regardless of the reason, after my visit to the area on Greek Day, I found out there were actually small interesting shops. One of them happened to be Al Basha and I made a mental note to return “soon” and that is what I did…

One thing that works really well for Al Basha is their operating hours: They close at 3:00 a.m. Now, I was there ~10:00 p.m. so it was still way before their closing time but, compared to the other restaurants nearby which was starting to close, at least you know it will be there for you. After walking in, I was greeted by the enthusiastic owner. Now, enthusiastic as in the sense he was all smiles and quite chatty. When he noticed I was holding my camera (the zipper of my camera bag just broke at that moment), he was telling me about his photography adventure and so on. Well, I guess there are things that you can or can’t expect! But, back to the food…

Similar to a lot of shawarma places, there were your usual wraps and plates. I ended up ordering what they call the “Al Basha” plate, which is basically a shawarma plate. Here, it is served with rice, salad and hummus.

The salad was a simple one so no complains… Actually, it had a fair amount of dressing; now, not overdressed but dressed enough. The taste of some of the components of the salad really came out. For example, there was some sweetness in the tomatoes as well as sweetness (and some sharpness) from the onions. Some people might hate this so just leave it as acquired taste.

The hummus wasn’t as watery as some places I have been (like Falafel King) but one touch that is quite evident in the picture is the “drizzle” of oil on top. OK, some of you will say “fat tastes good!” Yes, agreed, but, when I tasted some of it without the extra oil, let just say it hold its own.

Finally, the chicken shawarma itself, served on top of rice. Unlike some places, it wasn’t the regular white parboiled rice. Unfortunately, I didn’t really ask if there was a specific type of rice or seasoning and I didn’t try to find out what it had exactly. I could have tried but let’s just say I was hungry! ^_^;;; The dressing plus the chicken was quite flavourful and each bite made me want to keep on eating… Yes, it had that “savoury” characteristic… (Not necessarily due to salt; sure there was some but it wasn’t overwhelming nor I felt thirsty afterwards).

Despite it is slightly more expensive compared to similar restaurants in Vancouver’s West End, I can still say it is worth the price difference, specially if you are looking for late night eats. As for me, I won’t necessarily drive here, unless it is 1:00 a.m. (at other times, it is a real hassle) and want something to eat and I am in the area. But, still, it is a good option. One final positive aspect on this trip is that it proved me there is some good eats but without some of those “negative” attributes in my head mentioned above.

Donair Dude
1172 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

Last week, I wrote this tweet:

Just noticed/realized something: There are a lot of shawarma shops open/opening soon in the West End! Boom of Middle Eastern food?

Years ago, when I was living in the West End, I remember only a handful of such Middle Eastern eateries. There was Falafel King (with a second location in Davie) and Mediterranean Grill. Now, there are a couple of Babylon Cafe locations, Donair King, Sammy’s Hot Wing (which, could fall into the category of being there a long time as well), etc. etc. So, when FOODgrl wrote about yet-another such shops – Donair Dude – I was wondering… Was there anything that would make them stand out from the rest? Yes there was…

I have sort-of a person confession. Several years ago, due to business, I went to Halifax and Sydney/Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. While I was fighting the dreaded jet lag (which I am not that good about, plus it sucks NS is 4 hours ahead of us), I didn’t really wandered around the hotel area. I ended up going mostly to the hotel restaurant, as well as well known chains (*cough*The Keg*cough*). Of course, it didn’t help the fact I was with my boss and co-workers who are more meat-and-potatoes type. While there were a couple of instances I could have slipped those meals and have them by myself, I didn’t. What sort of hurts me in a personal way is that I didn’t go King of Donairs, as there was one somewhat nearby the hotel. Why this particular place? Because, story goes, it was the place that invented the Halifax donair. And why I bring this up? Because Donair Dude mentions they make Halifax donair…

Guess what? Yup, I ordered one of those! Wait, notice something… Interesting? Yup, that was the one point that FOODgrl made mention in her post: these donair are grilled! But, wait, this isn’t the first instance I have seen grilled donairs – Donair King, a couple of blocks away from Donair Dude, grills them as well. Battle of the grilled donairs? It sounds good to me!

Since I mentioned Halifax donair, I ordered them of course. Unlike the shawarma type wraps we see quite often in similar Middle Eastern shops, where the meat is usually chicken, here, the Halifax donair is a donair kebab. When I was there, there was some meat (in the meantime, let’s call it “mystery meat”. While I am sure it can be regular meat, calling it “mystery meat” has some charm of its own) spinning in a spit; however, when this one was prepared, they were using pre-sliced. Some of the charred goodness gone but, still, quite good… Add some feta cheese (additional $1), wrap, grill and you are good to go.

Wait… Isn’t this the same then as a gyro? Well, I have had my share of gyro as well (mind you, in Panama, out of all places!) but, aside from the fact that it does not have tzatziki, what makes it a “Halifax donair” is the sweet sauce. Some of you might be saying “that’s it?!”. Well, I must say that the combination of pungent feta cheese, some crispiness of the veggies, savouriness of the meat and that sweetness of the sauce combined in a mysterious way, which resulted in a really tasty experience. Now, I won’t say it was due to the grilling – it helped but I wished it was crispier; but, alas, I simply can’t explain what it is. Let’s just say that, if you have had your big share of shawarma wraps, the Halifax donair is a really interesting twist.

What? You thought one and that was it??? I also ordered their chicken version! It just happen that, for $10, you can get two of these small wraps plus a pop (single donair/wrap goes ~$5 each for the regular size). So, for comparison sake, I got the chicken version, which, you guessed it, is similar to the shawarma you can find in other Middle Eastern places. Of course, there ought to be a main difference and, in this case, it is the “salad”. Here, as mentioned above, it is a crispy salad of sorts. It worked quite well if you are looking for something “refreshing”. So, if I compare this to other wraps, it would be at par, for the most part.

Overall, I must admit it was quite a good experience (however, I won’t endorse – and most likely dispute – their “Best in BC”). Now, I wasn’t a glutton and finished the second wrap. At most, I ended up having a third of it. While I wish it was closer to my workplace, at least it makes the walk worth it. And, given their decent price, I can see myself coming back. The question now is… What will that Greek themed restaurant across the street (final touches being worked on, as of the day this post goes live) offer that can out do Donair Dude? Yeah, I know, donair, gyro and shawarma are different things but, at the same time, they are so similar that, for an outsider like me, it is almost the same. And, did I mention a lot of shawarma shops???

Darya Restaurant
1795 Pendrell Street
Vancouver, BC

I have walked Robson, Denman and Davie Street so many times that, for the most part, I am aware of all the restaurants. Or so I thought. When I was walking back one day from English back to work, I noticed a restaurant just off Denman that, last time I remembered, was a Chinese restaurant. I guess it went under and now a Middle Easter/Persian restaurant – Darya Restaurant. Since I had lunch already, I put that in my lunch to visit queue. That opportunity came a couple of weeks ago and, as it has been a lot of times already in my lunches on work days, PO was tagging along.

Despite it was sunny, that day was quite cold. It was a good thing they were already preparing things as we were hungry! The layout was quite… Odd. Think of it as a cafeteria, where you have a counter with hot boxes; but, the owner (?) told us to sit and brought us the menu. At the risk of stereotyping, when I looked at it, the usual suspect of skewers were in the menu. However, I wanted something else. And so did PO. Before we even made our orders, we were presented with this.

The “dip” on the side was a form of thick yoghurt with either onion, shallot or cucumber. PO and I were debating a little bit as to what was it and we couldn’t agree. How come we couldn’t distinguish one from the other? It just happened that it had some mint in it that masked a lot of the slightly crunchy ingredient. Regardless, the yoghurt itself was quite good. However, I was partially disappointed to be served with generic pita bread. Then again, it was “free”…

After we finally decided and made our orders, we were curious as to what drinks they have (no mention about drinks were made when we ordered). In the end, PO ordered a drink similar to Orange Crush and I ordered a carbonated yoghurt drink (right). Probably calling the orange drink similar to Orange Crush might be a stretch. To paraphrase PO, it tasted like those vitamin C tablets. As for the yoghurt drink, it falls in the category of acquired taste. It has some light fizziness but the taste itself was on the lines of acid (as in lactic acid in milk). It was quite odd, as I would have expected carbonated drinks to be refreshing or sweet, not acidic. Neither drinks would be drinks I would re-order…

By then, our entrees arrived. PO ordered lamb shank, a dish I would have ordered had he not done so. Visually, it was good and the Chinese in me thought “hey, that’s a lot of rice!”. The rice is actually dill basmati rice with fava beans. It was good and not-so-good at the same time. It was good because the dill gave it a different twist; however, the basmati rice lacked a bit of fragrance I am used to. Don’t get me wrong, it is basmati, makes no mistake; however, probably because of the way I am used to, I wasn’t wowed. As for the lamb… OK, probably because both of us are used to the way Greeks make it,  we thought it was subpar. It was tender, alright; however, it was bland. In fact, it was almost devoid of any taste. We weren’t sure if the content of the ramekin was either broth to dip the lamb or it was sort of a soup. We thought it was too fatty to be soup but too thin to be a dip. At $13, PO wasn’t that thrilled with it (though, was still amazed by the amount of rice).

As for me, I went for something more simple: Gheimeh Stew – “sautéed yellow split peas, chunks of beef, tomato paste and omani limes, topped with thinly sliced fries and served with basmati”. It also came with a salad which, well, it was quite generic if you look at it. Oh, well… The rice was OK, not much to comment about (specially if we compare it to the dill basmati rice). However, the let down was the split peas. Don’t get me wrong, I really like my legumes just that, in this case, there wasn’t anything exciting to mention. It didn’t have that much of a tomato taste either, which I found odd. Could it be my standards for rice and beans are higher because I grew up eating it?

All in all, either because the dishes we ordered was shared by other cultures (and their versions were “better”) or we had some odd expectations, we thought what we had was quite subpar. It is possible it is authentic Persian; however, if it does not suit my taste, it does not really matter. But, I am willing to give another Persian restaurant (hopefully not this one) a try, provided if somebody tells me what to order…

European Deli
1220 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

In general, I try to be as responsible as possible when it comes to timing. Now, that does not mean I will be perfect; there will be times I will slip. When it comes to work, despite I have flex time, I am usually there past my usual required work hours (though, that might actually “mean” flex time, as in anytime before 9:00 a.m., and anytime after 5:00 p.m….). As for appointments, something similar: if I have an appointment at 11:00 a.m., I try to be there by 10:55 a.m. This is quite unlike some culture I am aware of where, if you say 11:00 a.m., people believe you actually mean 11:30 a.m….

On one day, I had a doctor appointment for 11:00 a.m. I usually avoid these hours because, well, it means I have to take an early break. However, to make up for that time, I started really early that day. Fortunately, that doctor’s appointment was relatively fast and, rather than go back to work directly, I decided to have an early lunch. Looking for places in Davie Street, I saw the usual suspects and after walking some streets, I was almost resigned to places I have been several times in the past. However, that’s when I noticed European Deli and its note of selling deli sandwiches…

When I walked it, it had the looks of your usual deli. Some stuff in cooling displays, some fridges, grocery stuff and so on. Nothing special. One of the attendants was talking to a elderly couple and, in an odd twist, they were talking in Spanish. Nothing odd for me, it was instead the emphasis of the shop of it not being an European store but a Middle Eastern one. Yes, that was somewhat contradicting itself as the store name is “European” Deli…

But, to the food. They had some of the same items you would see in Caper’s or Safeway, like lasagna and salads; however, they also had some middle eastern/east European dishes like burek (something I had not long ago). To bounce around the globe, I ended up back in Canada, specifically Montreal by ordering a Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich.

It is a really basic sample: shaved smoked meat with some dijon (really strong, BTW) bread and a side pickle. I am not necessarily a fan of pickle but it was OK. As for the sandwich, I can’t say there was anything extraordinary. I mean, it was basically deli meat between slices of bread, what else can you expect? At under $6, it had its decent share of meat but it ain’t Carnegi Deli (but, then again, that place would charge > $10 for that signature sandwich).

However, if there was one thing that caught my attention that would certainly make me go back was that day’s soup of the day: Ash – “parsely, spinach, cilantro, green onion, noodles, chickpeas, lentils, red kidney beans… Served with fried mint, onion and kashk (a thick whey similar to a dry chixed that’s mixed with water) on top” Persian home style herb soup. While the description is completely vegetarian, similar to the Tibetan Mantu, Mijune’s dish at East is East, it has a gamy taste to it. Since its components include legumes, something I really enjoy eating, I must say I quite like that texture and taste of it. I could have easily eaten a full bowl of it!

Given the “basics”, i.e,. the sandwich, I think I can say it is your basic deli sandwich; something you wouldn’t have high expectations based on the shop. If that is the case, that is serviceable. In the case of that day’s soup special, as mentioned above, I really enjoyed it. While I can’t comment on the rest of “interesting” items because I didn’t have it, I think it has something to offer, but, then again, that’s assuming you are not coming with the highest of expectations (though, they proudly have notes about the “Best” hummus and baba ganoush in yesteryears). As for myself, if they were to prepare ash again, I would certainly go back.

Abdul’s BBQ
Crystal Mall
4500 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

About a month ago, I wrote a post about Falafel Maison, a Middle Eastern, shawarma restaurant in Downtown Vancouver when reader Koji mentioned Abdul’s BBQ, a similar place in Crystal Mall (overlooking Kingsway). This is a place I have been in the past; however, that was before I started blogging. For some reason, I haven’t been back in a long time and when he mentioned it, I thought, hey, why not!

While I have no yardstick when it comes to such Middle Eastern restaurants, in the past, I usually went for their shawarma plate (nowadays, it is more of a coin toss). Again, since I was ware of the possibilities here, I decided to go for that again:

The twist here in Abdul’s BBQ is that, in addition to chicken and beef as most other places, here they also have lamb. But, depending on the combination, that will set you off accordingly. Anyway, in my case, I decided to go for both chicken and beef ($10.50).

Unlike most other places, where you are given hummus and tabouleh at most, here they also provide coleslaw and a salad. In my opinion, these were unnecessary, mainly because they were subpar. I would have been happier had I had more tabouleh. But, that’s me…

The meats weren’t that exciting; however, the fact I was there late on the day had something to do: in this case, I was served almost the remaining pieces of chicken in th spit. It was warm, yet the meat itself wasn’t that juicy. I have had better in other places… The rice below it is your average rice, not much to comment about…

While the other parts where unnecessary and average, here is the *one* part that makes Abdul’s BBQ different from the rest: their garlic/hot sauce they spread to the pita bread (even in the pita bread served with platter). It had some hint of nuttiness but, even “better”, it was the hot sauce (or I should actually say paste). One of my issues with hot sauce/paste is that, depending on who makes it, the sauce just “burns” your tongue; instead, there are instances of hot sauces that entices you to eat more. In the case of Abdul’s BBQ, it falls in the later category. Yes, despite I was sweating bullets, I wanted to keep on eating!

All in all, it was sort of mixed feelings. The pita bread (or rather with the hot/garlic/sesame pastes) was great; yet the rest was sort of average. On the day of my visit, there were other customers willingly wait 15 minutes for their falafel wrap. I thought, well, if they are willing to do so, I should give it a try, then! And that’s what I did on another day but, to make it “complete”, I ordered their chicken wrap as well.

One thing that Abdul’s is really different from the rest: they prepare the falafel to order, which means they have to reheat the oil everytime. I find this sort of a mixed blessings. Places like Babylon Cafe will make some large batches in the morning and go from there (while reheating them as the day goes). Making it fresh is a good thing; however, the 10+ minutes wait might be an issue to some. Anyway, here is the wrap.

I asked them to make it hot and they did not disappoint. Yes, it was spicy hot! At that point, I was starting to sweat bullets but couldn’t help myself stop eating! The falafel itself was OK but, again the paste/sauce was the star.

To make it overkill, I also had the chicken wrap and here it is with a “closeup” of the pieces of chicken. The same problem that happened to the plate happened here: It was mostly the last pieces from the spit and it lacked some juiciness. Once again, the hot/sesame/garlic sauce/paste salvaged the situation…

In a way, the food was good but disappointed at the same time. In the case of the meat, I wished it was juicier but, for some reason, given its location (and I would assumed demand), it might not be possible. Still, the hot/sesame/garlic sauce/paste… Did I say that again??? Yeah, it made up for a lot of shortcomings. If they would sell them, I would surely buy a tube or two. As for the rest, well, for the most part, it was average. The one issue that was a bit skewed was price. Given the cost of the plate was over $10 and the wraps around $5 and $6; if I were to come back, I will stick with the wraps, as they are better priced (read, price similar to other places in Vancouver).

Falafel Maison
516 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

During the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, there were some restaurants I hoped they were open on time during the Games. One of those restaurants that barely opened in time was Santouka. One I wished it had open but failed was Gyuu Don Ya. And how I found it was still closed? Because I walked all the way there! Since I was hungry and needed to eat quick, I browsed nearby options. Kushi Box? Nope, done. Viet Sub? Matoi Sushi? H-Mart? Done and done. Among the remaining ones was Falafel Maison. OK, lunch it is!

In what seemed to be a bit of foresight by the owners of the restaurant (compared to Kushi Box), they did have some seats inside plus a table outside. What they did not have was a bit of imagination: their menu was basically the same you can find in almost any such shawarma/falafel shops in Vancouver. But, then again, it might not be their fault, chances are that might be the easiest set up for most of these places… Why fix something that is not broken?

With that in mind, ordered the “usual” wrap (though, of course, there was the platter as well). The main difference being that container to the left, which ended up being lentil soup. I am not sure how they make their soup but I know how I like my soup. In my case, I prefer it slightly thick; alas, here, it was quite watery. While that is something I can live with the fact it felt really salty wasn’t. Somehow, I wished I didn’t order it…

For the “main” part, their shawarma wrap. For the most part, it is similar to most shawarma I have had (probably with the exception of Babylon Cafe, which is wrapped more tightly). Unfortunately, that is where the comparison ends: While it had its usual sauces, herbs and greens, the amount of chicken was disappointing. In fact, there were bites that had almost no pieces of chicken! Furthermore, a problem similar to that of the soup occurred as well: I thought it was a bit too salty.

I apologize if this is a really short blog post but the truth is, had I tried to make it longer, it would start running into one too many negatives. It is just that with all the shawarma shops in the Downtown area, I was hoping it would at least at part with others (which, for the most part, as mentioned above, almost all these shops are similar). But, alas, it ended up being subpar.

East is East
4413 Main Street
3243 West Broadway (location visited)
Vancouver, BC

Sherman (of Sherman’s Food Adventures) is “the man”. It was his turn to organize the next Vancouver food bloggers gathering and he managed to pull out the largest one ever. How large? I was able to get 8 food bloggers (plus guest) us in a Long Table Series at the Irish Heather. This time, he was able to get writers of 15 blogs (plus guests) of us! In attendance….

Sherman of Sherman’s Food Adventures – Post is up!
Mijune of Follow Me Foodie – Post is up!
Kevin of 604 Foodtography
Jenny of My Secret Eden – Post is up!
Victoria of Victoria’s Food Secrets – Post is up!
Jonathan of Food and Tell
Jessica of Yum-o-Rama – Post is up!
Joyce and Frank of Van Foodies
Wilson of La Petite Vancouver
Anita of La Petite Foodie
Darina of Gratinée – Musings on Food & Culture
Melody of Gourmet Fury
TS of [eatingclub]Vancouver
Angie of Sea Salt with Food (home of the infamous Hasselback potatoes recipe!)

Of course, myself…

In total, we were about ~20 of us. How come I don’t know the exact number? Since our party was so large, they couldn’t really sit us in a long table (a la LTS) or in a round table (a la Chinese restaurant). As a result, we were broken down into two groups. Furthermore, at the end of the night, when we were outside chatting, the manager/owner even came out asking Sherman if everything was fine. O_o

Due to somewhat bad timing on my part, I did not arrive at 7:00 p.m. sharp, the time we were supposed to meet there. But, in the end, we were able to shuffle in the group. I ended up seated with Ricky, Jenny, Kevin, Anita, Mijune and W (Mijune’s guest). Because of that delay, we ordered way after the others. After I was seated, we were presented with these:

These were two mini cups of heavily spiced Chai tea. I drink half of one (there were two types) and chose to stop as it was starting to overload my palette. It was quite interesting but, to me, too rich to start off with. Anyway, once orders were made, I received my drink:

Rangoon Rain, which is a yogurt lassie with peach, lychee, pineapple, coconut and banana. As a drink, it was OK; the problem was that I couldn’t really taste much of the ingredients except the banana. No, not even the coconut! While it did have some texture of some fruits, it was hardly noticeable. My biggest peeve of this drink is its size. At $5 and around 8 ounces, I would expect something more than 8 or so ounces, specially considering this is not an alcoholic drink! (On that note, they did not have alcoholic drinks in their menu to the consternation of at least two bloggers!).  Furthermore, I ordered the large and got the small one instead. When I told them about the error, I was told I could get a “refill”. However, it seems that a refill is not exactly a refill: you pay a full glass. Now, I know this is not pop and unlimited refill, I wasn’t expecting it to be. However, it it was just confusing.

Ricky (Jenny’s guest) ordered Peshawari Bazaar, another lassie which has cucumber, mint, salt and cumin. Salt???? In a drink? Yup, that is no typo, ladies and gentlemen! Now, I have had odd drinks with cucumber in the past and I will have to admit this one tasted really strange. I think it was Kevin who mentioned this tasted like a “drink version of a Tzatsiki”. I think that description suits it perfectly…

Now, to the food! Actually, a small detour here… Before we went there, I checked on-line and, well, I wasn’t sure what to order. When we arrived, the partially dim lights and the joking we were doing with other food bloggers did not help with the thought process. However, somebody said something on the lines of “do you want to not-share?”. I know, this sounds really strange, given that, at times, we do go in group and share our meals because we want to try different dishes. The concept of “not sharing” is foreign to us! I will get back to this topic in a moment; just keep in mind we were “not sharing”, OK?

Anita had the Afghan Nomad which I will summarize it as a lamb burrito. No, really! There was some rice, beans and pieces of lamb inside that wrap. Aside from a strong gamey taste, I found it was OK at best. Sorry not much to comment on this one!

This is Kevin’s order: Khichiri – brown dill rice w/ ground beef, spinach & mushrooms, topped with dehydrated yogurt, tomato & onions. I will have to admit it was a really odd dish at first. Dehydrated yogurt? Regardless of their odd description, at the first bite… Well, if I didn’t know it was ground beef, I might have said it was lamb instead. Why? I had a gamey taste to it! Not sure how they make that but it worked in its own ways. It tasted similar to eating a stew where you added some barley into it and then topped by the yogurt. A dish I might order, if I was there by myself.

Mijune’s dish – It was a form of vegertarian dumpling… OK, let me try again: imagine a really soft version of a spinach ravioli; however, it contains no meat and had a gamey taste. Does that sound like a contradiction? Well, that is because it is a contradiction! It was really soft and that gamey taste was quite good, though I am not sure how vegetarian it is considering the gamey taste. Once again, something I would order.

The following set of pictures is what I ordered. More details in a moment so, please, bare with me, OK?

Eastern Platter

Clockwise from 12 o’clock: lambe kebab, saag paneer,afghan and coconut rice, dhal soup

Clockwise: Lamb kebab, Afghan eggplant and the Afghan rice

Clockwise: Afghan and coconut rice, dhal, lamb kebab and baked salmon

Dishes in the middle: Afghan eggpland and chicken masala (?)

Baked salmon

Thai tofu and, once again… Eggplant!

Eggplant and peas and cheese

Chickpeas

There were three dishes in the menu as part of the Eastern Platter that I did not take pictures: the minced beef kebab (which looks like meatballs), alu gobi and mango butter squash.

Now, here is the “not sharing” portion. According to the menu, the Eastern Platter comes with the two versions of the rice, a roti, salad, dhal soup and two of the dishes above. If eating by yourself, you can re-order any of the other dishes – after all they are small dishes. However, if you are sharing, you are “locked” by your two initial selections. So, as a joke, when we were ordering, we made emphasis on the we are “not sharing”. Figure THAT out. Of course, also as a joke, we were telling Sherman that he took us to an all-you-can-eat!

But, jokes aside, some of these dishes were hit or miss. While I did not take written notes, I have a lot of mental notes. I could write down most of them but that might be a bit of a chore given all these dishes. Instead, I will provide a quick summary:

• Lamb kebab: Really gamey, not chewy at all but weak sauce
• Chicken masala: Dark meat (though, for some reason, my initial piece was white), weak sauce.
  Minced beef kebab (not pictured): In practical terms, meatballs. It had a good texture but, again, weak sauce.
  Baked salmon: Slightly overcooked (still good, though) but, I think I am repeating myself here… The sauce did not do much.
• Saag paneer: The “cheese” did not really work as it was grated on top but, despite its mushiness, it was something I would expect from a spinach dish.
• Afghan eggplant: The winner of the night. Soft eggplant but it was better seasoned. Probably because of the fact it was eggplant?
• Alu Gobi (not pictured): I don’t recall eating this one so… No comments.
• Thai tofu: The sauce did nothing to improve the usually bland taste of the tofu.
• Peas and cheese: Might be a bit misleading here, the cheese is not a cheese sauce or cheese cubes but paneer. It was OK but… Weak sauce?
• Mango butter squash (not pictured): The oddball of the night. To quote Kevin, it looked like baby food. Past that, it was quite decent due to its unique sweetness.
• Chickpeas: Did not get to try.

During the whole meal, we were having funny chats, me blinding people beside me with my Speedlight (though I wasn’t the only one firing their flashes – Sherman’s table was even worst!). A couple on the front where there was a couch were looking at us really funny the whole time while we were shooting. So there you go that sense of wackiness!

As for the food, in general, it was mostly hit or miss. If you try the platter, some of the dishes seems to have been watered down to appeal the masses, though, still there are gems in it (like the eggplant). The non-platter dishes suffer a similar hit or miss. Like the “lamb burrito” above was a dish I thought could have been better but felt flat. On the flip side, both Mijune and Kevin dishes were excellent. If I were to come back, I think I will stick with these more unique dishes instead.

So, Sherman, once again, thanks for organizing this. You have set up the bar way high for the next one!