Coco Rico Cafe
1290 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

Way back to June/July last year, during the World Cup 2010, PO and I went to some of the sport bars in the Robson/Denman area of Downtown Vancouver to have lunch and, well, watch some games. One of the places we tried to go was Coco Rico Cafe, given their emphasis on TVs to watch sports. However, on the day we went, something really odd happened: despite they are even open for breakfast, when we arrived, we were told the kitchen was closed and, given we were there for lunch, basically we were turned around. Ever since, we have mentioned it again and again, wondering if it was worth visiting. When we were running out of places nearby to visit, we decided to drop by. It might as well be as good as any time, ain’t it?

Upon walking in, it is pretty obvious they have their share of TVs. However, given the small space and layout, some people might have to turn around to be able to watch the games. But, hey, when you are watching the game! However, we weren’t there to watch any games but for the food and, after some discussion back and forth…

We started off with a pizza – their Coco pizza. While they had entree type dishes (namely pasta and some steak/beef dishes), we ordered dishes that would be on the lines of what would be ordered if you were there for a game. And, I guess pizza sort of fit that profile. When it arrived, I made a funny remark, on the lines of “doesn’t this look like Delissio/DiGiorno/frozen pizza?” As soon as we took a bite, that remark wasn’t that funny anymore. If you have had their crispy pizza, you then have a very good idea of what to expect. If not, let’s say that it felt as a cracker with some savoury ingredients on top. Was it really a frozen pizza? Let’s just say I am not sure I want to find out…

Since we ordered a dish that can be considered an entree, we could order 10 wings for $2.50. Take THAT, Zabu Chicken!!! OK, you might wonder what is that container on the side. For some strange reason, we chose to order the sauce on the side and that’s where it went. On that note, among the sauces they had, we went for the honey garlic. While some of the wings were on the small side, at least, it wasn’t fried to crisp to the point the meat was almost jerky/non-existant. So, from that perspective, it was good.

To make up our last dish in this meal, we ordered their seafood platter, which has sauteed shrimp, fish and chips and mussels. Depending on your perspective of what it should be here, it can go both ways. Shrimps felt more on the lines of cocktail shrimp (i.e., cold shrimp with cocktail sauce), while the mussles were cold with some salsa. The fish, unlike a lot of restaurants, had a thin batter, though, alas, the pieces themselves were small and resulted in a bit of overcooking. Still, as fish and chips, it was good in its own ways, specially considering their tartar sauce was thick and a bit acidic. In fact, at one point, we were starting to dip the fries in that sauce!

Overall, the food was just OK at best with some small highlights. However, let’s face this: it is a pub/sports bar. Should we expect better? If it was really good, that might already be a surprise by itself. But, in this case, it wasn’t. In fact, if I were looking for a sports bar, I can think of other places nearby, like Fogg N’ Sudds across the street.

Famoso
4 Locations in Edmonton
1 Location in Calgary
11750 Jasper Ave NW (Location visited)
Edmonton, AB

OK, I made a big blunder for this post. In a way, I got carried away with some details that I completely overlook the bigger picture. One night, for dinner, I was planning to go for Italian with Dumbfries (*), which sort of ended up in a coin toss between Famoso and Violino Gastronomia Italiana. Yes, as you can see for the title of this post, Famoso was the “winner” that night. But, of course, there is one other question: why Famoso was one of the options? (Violino was based on a suggestion). As mentioned, it was a case where I got carried away…

(*) Technically Dumfries but Dumbfries stuck!

See, there is a soon-to-be-open restaurant in Vancouver called Nicli Antica Pizza. The interesting selling point of this restaurant is that it would be the second pizzeria in Canada that will be certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), the first one being Pizzeria Libretto in Toronto. So what that has to do with Famoso? Well, it has happens that, according to their site, the ingredients and methodology they use to make their pizza are pretty much the same established by the AVPN, except for one major detail – something I had to double check and found out after the visit: while they seem to do everything by the book (?), they are not certified. But, as o-toro of the Foodosophy team wrote: “For Famoso, this could possibly be difficult due to the franchise structure of this organization“, I think this would make sense. The question is whether, without this certification, how good would their final product be? (Of course, with the caveat that I haven’t had the “real thing” and will have to compare it to what I like… Until Nicli open, that is). Or even a simpler question: is their pizza good regardless of that certification?

Anyway, Dumbfries and I went, it was middle of the week; however, despite that, the restaurant was packed. If fact, I think we got the last table! Now, the restaurant itself isn’t that big but, at least, it seemed to be a well oiled running machine – though I wish our waitress wasn’t as stiff/unemotional. I know, I seldom make mention of things like this but, at the same time, I couldn’t help notice that. Fortunately (?), the order is done at the cashier, not at the table… And we started with:

Hummus plus flat bread wedges. OK, I will have to openly say this is one of the strangest pricing I have seen plus I will admit I should have asked for more details before ordering this. What is the pricing issue? Well, we were not given complimentary bread (not an issue per se) and the small dish of hummus was $1, while the wedges were $3. Normally, I would expect it to be the other way around or would have expected something larger, specially considering that they use a lot of flour. Anyway, had I known more about our second dish, we might have skipped the wedges. But, back to this, the hummus was a bit on the dry, chunkier side and I wished it had a bit more garlic in it. Otherwise, it wasn’t that bad but, otherwise, something I can do at home. As for the flat bread, it had an oily feeling and I wish there was something else. That is, it felt a bit… Simple?

Given we will be ordering pizza later, we ordered a salad to have our share of vegetables for the day. As for which salad, I left that to Dumbfries; the salad ended up being the Gorgonzola Walnut Salad – Crisp romaine lettuce, tossed in our Gorgonzola walnut dressing topped with crushed walnuts, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and semi-dried cranberries.. Dumbfries asked for the dressing to be on the side, something I consider to be a smart move considering a lot of restaurants overdress their salads. Now, notice there are two wedges in the salad? Yes, had I known they included wedges in the salad as well… No, it is not a case of me being cheap, just that it won’t have been necessary for $3. :/

But back to the salad. I am not sure but, for $12, I was expecting something else. In this case, it is just that it was too simple; in fact, this is something I would have done myself – dressing aside. Heck, you can get a chicken, pecan, apple, chicken salad at Costco “cafeteria” for $6! And, on the topic of the dressing, we were trying to guess what was in the dressing and it somehow felt like a pesto at first but, after tasting some Gorgonzola, I wasn’t sure. So, with this, we had our share of vegetables but the salad as such wasn’t too exciting. But now, moving to the pizzas…

We ordered two pizzas: Margherita and prosciutto arugula, the later from their white pizzas (aka, pizza bianca). As you can see from the pictures, it indeed has that leoparding. Past that… Well, disappointment for the most part. Let me break it down:

In the case of the Margherita, while the tomato “sauce” had some tomato characteristics, it felt, well, too basic. How so? It lacked some sweetness or some acidic notes. Then there was the basil. I was disappointed it was added before it was baked rather than after. Of course, some recipes will tell you it is added before, just that, in this case, I couldn’t really “taste” the basil so I would have preferred it after. Details, details.

In the case of the arugula… I don’t know… It felt it was just a piece of dough baked with some bocconcini (which I couldn’t really feel/taste in this case) and olive oil, then topped with the arugula and the prosciutto. If that was the general intent, it didn’t work for me as there was no “integration” of the ingredients. Granted, baking the greens and the prosciutto would have been heresy for some but, still, the end result didn’t work. But, as is, I thought there were a bit too much bitterness in this dough. Before you say “hey, it is the arugula!”, no, that was when I didn’t have some of it on top but eating the baked dough by itself.

One issue that was shared by both pizzas was the texture of the dough. I don’t know about you but it was really chewy, to the point Dumbfries was thinking it was an exercise itself eating this. And I will have to agree. Unless, that is, that’s how it is supposed to be. If so, I prefer more the bread-y texture from other places, or even the almost cracker texture from places like Ah-Beetz. But, of course, to “solve” this debate, will have to wait for Nicli…

With all the disappointments, Dumbfries thought we should give a try to their dessert which ended up being their “Authentic Tiramisu”, which, according to their menu, it is imported from Milan. If your expressing is one of “WTF”, yes, we were having some serious doubts as well. Now, as for this one, it was actually good: moist and loaded with coffee taste. Now, whether it is actually imported from Milan, I won’t argue to much; however, I have had similar tiramisu in other places which does not make such claim…

In the end, I will have to say I wasn’t particularly impressed by Famoso. The concept of the ingredients source might be good; however, it is the final result that didn’t work for me. As a result, I will have to give it a pass. Now, does that mean Edmonton pizza picture is behind Vancouver? Well, not exactly. Unlike in Vancouver, I don’t think I saw that many (if any) pizza by the slice places; in fact, after leaving Famoso, I learned of pizza places that were at par or “better” than Famoso. But, until I try those other places, that point is still up in the air. I just won’t use Famoso as reference.

Boudin Bakery
Bistro Boudin
160 Jefferson Street
Fisherman’s Wharf
San Francisco, CA

Under “normal” circumstances, the burgers I had in In-N-Out would have sufficed. OK, probably had I made the fries animal style as well and order a 3×3 (i.e. three beef patties). So, here is the reason why I didn’t: Given I was on vacation, why not make the most out of it? How? Well, how about another restaurant in the area? With so many options, though with the caveat of it being a touristy area, the obvious question was… Where? How about something San Francisco is known for? Namely sourdough bread? How about clam chowder? Or, how about clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl? Given that Chris went to the sit down area of Bistro Boudin and it was a bit of a let down, Sherman and I decided to go to the quick order area instead…

In addition to this order-serve-and-eat-outside/cafeteria type of place, it was also a market of sorts full of books, souvenirs and so on. Again, this is a touristy area, what else should I expect? After making our order, it was wait for them to call my name.

Did you think we came all the way just for a single dish? Ha! In addition to the chowder, we ordered a pizza made with their sourdough. And to further make it simple, it was the tomato, garlic and basil pizza. Now, had we ordered a third dish, for certain, I would have gone for the crab cakes; alas, it was only the two of us… Or, my twin or my other ego or…

Were the topings good? Well, it is a matter of perspective: on one side, there was no shortage of soft tomatoes, which had a side effect of making the base cheese and dough slightly mushy after a while. The garlic was still a bit raw, so it might be offensive to some people. The basil didn’t really “show up” because it was added before baking (hence “cooked” through).

As for the dough itself, it didn’t develop leopard spots; however, since they were using a small electric oven rather than a larger, hotter one (to bake the breads?), I guess I shouldn’t have set my expectations too high. Now, it wasn’t bad but, as usual, it could have been better. But what I thought failed was that the key “feature”, the sourdough, well, I don’t think I tasted much of it.

Now, here is something that can be interpreted in more than a way: they served the chowder in the bread bowl as soon as the order came in to the prep area. It can go both ways because soup starts to get cold but, at the same time, the bread “soaks” the creamy soup. We were wondering if we should have asked them to prep a new one but chose not to in the end.

The chowder was mixed: while it had clam taste and noticeable pieces of clam, the pieces of potatoes partially overwhelm them as well. Furthermore, there wasn’t much of an expected bacon taste. Did I miss it? Finally, the one thing I wished it was different was the consistency. Rather than creamy, it was starchy, most likely from all the potatoes. In my case, well, I prefer mine creamy.

As for the bread bowl, alas, once again, mixed feelings. It didn’t have that “crunchiness”, crusty, hard texture I prefer from a sourdough. However, the bread did soak some of the chowder and, by itself, it had some airy consistency. All in all, by itself, as bread… Well, it wasn’t as good as people touted it to be.

In the end, Bistro Boudin failed in some aspects and ended up being your tourist trap. In fact after our meal, I was wondering if we should have gone to some of the other nearby places selling chowder in a bowl; however, in the end, we didn’t. Given the location, I wasn’t too hopeful they were that different. Of course, I could be wrong, so if somebody point somewhere else, I will give it a try next time I am there. Just not Bistro Boudin.

(Side note: I have been told that, due to its location, i.e., a touristy area, the final product is sold at this location is at a higher price than inside town. Whether this is true or not, it does not have any major impact in its hype and food).

Central City Brewing
13450 102 Ave
Surrey, BC

Bacon… Let’s face it, almost everything taste better with bacon (assuming it was prepared correctly, that is). In fact, I don’t know anybody who, after eating a well prepared piece hasn’t gone back for more. Yes, it is fatty, it might not be the healthiest of options. But, with some moderation, ahem, it is a thing of beauty. With that in mind, a couple of weeks ago, when I went to Pho Tam, Sherman made mention that Central City Brewing Co. had a bacon tasting menu. However, on that day, it was not to come true so I mulliganed it for a while. Until three weeks ago, that is. Since it was a monthly special (as in September, which means it is no longer available. However, we ordered other dishes!), I thought it was a now or never situation. In a try to get others to join, I dropped an invite to fellow bloggers; however, due to short notice, only Elaine and Sherman ended up joining me on this bacon adventure, huahahahahhaa!

Update: Elaine post here and Sherman’s post here.

Technically, I arrived first and was walking around the Surrey Central Mall when I ran into Elaine who was also in the mall doing some shopping. While walking around, I found an “interesting shop” which I decided to take a detour (with the caveat that I was going to be late for Central City Brewing). Since Elaine had plans to do some additional shopping, I guess it worked fine for us. Yeah, the organizer being late at the event…

When I arrived, one thing struck me right away. If you changed the name of the place from Central City Brewing Co to “Cactus Club” Or “Earl’s” or any of those infamous “casual fine dining” restaurants, it might have not made a difference. The high booths plus, ahem, uniform of the waitresses, plus the ambiance and so on. Had there been more customers (it wasn’t packed on the Saturday night we were there), you won’t have been able to tell at all!

When I arrived (late), Elaine and Sherman more or less had an idea of what to order and I was, basically, catching up. Originally, we thought to share a tasting menu and order other dishes to supplement. Since we have been breaking bread with each other so often, there are somethings that need not to be mentioned and we sort of had an idea of the other dishes to order. Feel free to call it freaky…

After we made our order, Sherman mentioned that his work colleagues were seated at a different table and suggested us to drop by to take a picture of *their* orders. At that point I couldn’t help myself think: (1) Has Sherman “trained” them so well that, even when he is not eating together, they ask him to take the pictures first? and (2) Do we have no shame on taking pictures of food of the *other* tables??? In my case, “me don’t know the meaning of shame!” Anyway, here are some of the dishes they ordered.

Sorry, I am not sure about the exact description (except of the last one, of course, being mussels). Back to our table, our dishes eventually started to arrive:

Bacon and corn cakes – part of the bacon tasting menu. Now, I am not sure if this is supposed to be regular size of an appetizer or, given they saw us taking pictures, it was served this way. If it is a regular size of the appetizer, I think it is quite a larger serving! Now, you might be asking, where is the bacon? There were some pieces of it in the corn cake; however, while it would have added some flavour, the key here wasn’t that much those pieces. Instead, we sort of agreed they use the fat rendered and added it to the corn cake mix because even the pieces without any bacon was full of smokey bacon taste. If you love bacon, this would be a thing of beauty… Except for one minor detail: had the corn cake not be so soft. Otherwise, we all thought it was a winner.

As an “appetizer” to share (overstating the obvious, we shared all the dishes), we thought about mussels, with the big question being *which* variation. In the end, the blue cheese one (may I say, with bacon???) was ordered. I will have to credit from several perspective here: only one mussel ended up un-opened, they used Pacific mussels, the blue cheese was there but did not over power, the bacon was there just to impart some flavour but not take away from the other ingredients and the use of fresh herb on top. There were some so-so points, like the use of bread rather than fries. I know, they didn’t call it mussels and fries but c’mon! Anyway, the bread wasn’t that bad – nicely toasted – but I have had better. For the most part, we thought this dish was a winner except for one small detail: $15. Had it been $12, I think I would have liked it a bit more but, at $15, not as much. Could it be because we are in Surrey?

The second dish of the bacon tasting menu was a real odd ball: country bacon terrine, served with bread, house pickled veg (sic) and condiments. I am not sure what was in the mind of this dish creator because: (1) a terrine is not something I would consider as an entree but an appetizer, (2) almost none of the characteristics of bacon came up. In fact, other than some bacon wrapping the terrine, I am not sure if it would be categorized as a “bacon” dish. But, moving on, the terrine was quite hard, not even “spreadable” by any means. At least the bread wasn’t really thin (as in crostini thing) which would have made these impossible to eat. Still, I am not convinced on this dish. I mean, rather than doing a terrine, how about braising some pork belly instead and serve it on top of mashed potatoes?

For our first entree to share, we ordered pizza. We sort of agree about this (without much talking about it); however, what we did not agree was which one. They gave me the option to select and I chose the Margherita (Sherman and Elaine were thinking of a “meaty” one). However, upon further consideration, they thought it might have been a good idea, given its simplicity and because it would have been the only dish without meat.

The pizza wasn’t that bad, I will admit. Now, I won’t compare it to, say, Ah-Beetz, but, if I had to compare it to Ragazzi, this was actually quite decent. The way the toppings were added was a little bit disappointing; however, it ended up being a case of not being that bad because I have had worst. Not sure if that is a good sign in the end.

Entree number two to share was one I suggested to “add” and mainly to try yet-another-dish in the menu: their fried chicken – half a boneless chicken stuffed with cream cheese, caramelized onion and mixed herbs, coated with a blend of 9 secret herbs and spices served with coleslaw and baked mac’n'cheese. If there was a dish with a juxtaposition of strange, wacky, surprising and unexpected, it would have been this one. When this arrived at the table, all of us looked at it with a “WTFH is this?!”. I don’t know but, visually, I thought a bucket of KFC chicken would have looked better…

Starting with the sides, the coleslaw was literally a slop, as it had way too much dressing. At least it wasn’t really overpowering. If you leave it aside for the dressing to drain itself a little bit, it wasn’t that bad of a coleslaw. The one that struck odd to Sherman and Elaine was the mac’n'cheese: according to them, it tasted as if it was made from a box of Kraft Dinner. Before anybody bash me for not realizing that, in my defence, I must say that I did NOT grow up eating Kraft Dinners. In fact, I have eaten it only once (which I even blogged! Check it here) and it wasn’t baked. I will have to agree with Sherman and Elaine’s assessment: it was grainy and tasted one-dimensional, i.e., other that the “cheddar” sauce flavour, there weren’t other cheese flavour in it.

But back to the chicken, although the menu mentions it is a boneless fried chicken dish, I can’t help but to ask how they came up with that. Here is the reason: the bones help it with the flavour! But, at least I must given them credit that, to compensate, a cream cheese mix was added. It wasn’t a bad combination actually, though it didn’t help much in the odd visuals side. In the end, though, while a nifty trick, I have had better (from not so reputable places, according to the general population).

Finally, to conclude, the dessert from the bacon tasting menu: Maple chocolate bacon cheese cake. OK, let me try that again: MAPLE, CHOCOLATE, CHEESE CAKE AND BACON combined together! Who knew! And I will have to admit, other than the chocolate which was hard to notice, the combination of maple, cheesecake and bacon actually worked! Some creaminess of the cheesecake, sweetness of the maple and savouryness/crunchiness of the bacon. If there was something to make me want to eat dessert, it would have been this!

One thing I didn’t mention but, for compleness sake, was that the $35 menu includes beer: one for each dish. Since Sherman was driving and I have a low alcohol tolerance, that meant that Elaine would end up drinking these. One thing we did notice from the first was the lack of bubbles, which seemed to indicate a flat beer. But, again, since I didn’t try them, I will it to Elaine to comment, hehehe.

Had I been there by myself (a possibility had nobody agreed to join me), I wouldn’t have thought much about this place. However, thanks to Sherman and Elaine, things were “more interesting”. As for the different dishes, it was a bit of hit and miss – if you are there for the sense of adventure, it might not have been that bad. Now, if I were to do a straight comparison with Cactus/Earl’s/Joey’s and similar types restaurants, Central City Brewing might not fare as well (in terms of food). However, considering this is Surrey, with SFU next to it and near a transit/Skytrain hub (though an infamous one), I will have to give them some credit.

Ragazzi Pizza Truck
499 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC

Am I creating a trend for this week? Nah, not really. In sort of a follow-up from yesterday’s post, on another day, I decided to drop by Chinese Skewer King‘s (CSK) “neighbour” in terms of food carts: Ragazzi Pizza Truck. Located in the northwest corner of Burrard and Pender (on Burrard), they serve something a lot of Vancouverites look as a $1.50 snack: pizza. Given the predominance of these shops in Downtown Vancouver (for example, just drop by Pender and Seymour), you’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’… Oh, wait, wrong topic. But back to question: how would a pizza cart compared to those already established already?

As seen in the picture above, one thing is pretty obvious: Ragazzi is not same lines as other food carts – instead, as their name would have suggested, it is a food truck. Because of this, the day I went, I completely overlooked it and almost ended up back to Chinese Skewer King. While I know I have navigational issues when driving (I tend to miss exits), when it comes to reading a map and navigating in the city, I don’t have that such issue. The problem that day was that I completely overlooked it because I was walking on the east side of Burrard Street, going northbound. I noticed a truck; however, I didn’t know that was Ragazzi’s truck. It took me a couple minutes (and blocks, thinking they might be somewhere else that day) that I came back and finally saw the signs.

By the time I got there, it was almost noon sharp but, in contrast to CSK, there was no queue. Of course, I couldn’t help myself wonder why. Anyway, I look at their menu and they made things simple: 4 types of pizza slices, though they did have a full pizza menu. Given their operating size, I guess it allows such dual operating mode. Add some drinks and you are pretty much good to go. In my case, one whole pizza would have been too much so I ordered two slices plus a drink.

Given Vancouver’s “green” attitude, one of the initial complains of CSK was the fact they served their skewers inside a styrofoam container. Let’s just say that they heard and, on my second visit, if you order to go, it will be served in a paper bag which is then put into a plastic bag (if you ask it to be to go). Granted, it still created some wastes but it is not styrofoam. For Ragazzi, I couldn’t help myself wonder why it was served on such container (at least this one could hold two slices). See, once again my mentality of food carts serving food that you would consume on the streets hit me. Is there anything wrong to serve it in one of those cheap flimsy cardboard plates rather than putting it in a box? At least give the option if you are eating it nearby or if it is “to go”. Then again, that brings the question of “where to eat in”? I think Vancouverites still have a lot to learn. Simply do what people in Portland do! Set up some plastic chairs outside – as show in my post of Nong’s Khao Man Gai. But enough babbling, to the pizza now.

Out of the options they had, I ordered two. I decided to go for a vegetable option (primavera) and a meat option (Prosciutto & funghi) – The other options were Rustica (Salami, Bacon, Potato, Onions) and Hawaiian. What??? I didn’t order the rustica? Well, no, for other reasons. Anyway, after making my order, it was a bit of a waiting game. At this point, I was slightly confused. Since they have only four type, I would be under the assumption they would be almost ready to serve. Of course I could be completely wrong on this one. But, it shouldn’t have taken ~5 minutes for it to be served because it wasn’t really hot either (I mean, they weren’t preparing the slices individually!). Probably I am wrong about the operation method but, at the end, it was odd regardless

Anyway, slice number one, the prosciutto and mushroom. I will have to admit, the prosciutto gave it an unique saltiness so, from that perspective, I thought it was quite good. As for the mushroom, it added some meatiness which, again is good. The only caveat to all this is that it wasn’t that warm to the taste, despite the cheese was still soft (i.e., melted and haven’t solidified back yet).

As for the vegetable one, interestingly, the bits of pesto (hence basil) could actually be tasted so, again, I am surprised at that fact. The rest of the vegetables were a bit of hit and miss, mainly because some overpowered the others (for example, artichokes). The same issue that happened to the prosciutto and mushroom happened here as well so, from that perspective on that day, it was consistent.

Now, as an additional FYI, before I ate the slices, I took a picture of the bottom. Well, no leoparding of the crust. However, despite that wasn’t there, I will give them some credit: it was thin (not necessarily as thin as, say, Ah-Beetz), which sets them apart from other places that makes them quite doughy. The texture itself was borderline crunchy, though there wasn’t that much chewiness. Now, not to the extent of a cracker but it definitely had some crispiness into it.

After eating the two slices, I had to stop for a moment and think. Would I come back? The answer I arrived was no. It goes back to what I have been saying about my concept of street food, i.e., something affordable, cheap. In the case of Ragazzi, it seems they took their whole pies, divided the price evenly by 8 and rounded up to $3 to account for the cost of operating in a cart/truck. From that perspective, I didn’t think I could say I liked it. Now, had I been to Ragazzi, the restaurant and had ordered the same, I might be impartial about it. But, as it is, I would rather go back to 2001 Flavours for slices or Ah-Beetz if for the whole pie (though Firewood, as per Mijune‘s post suggested, might be an option I am willing to try).

Brado Restaurant
1399 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC

Cake-Ya
2415 Clarke Street
Port Moody, BC

Last week, there were a couple of post featuring meals I had with people I have met while food blogging. For the most part, these were events I organized myself. But, in an interesting twist, how about something organized by another food blogger whom I haven’t met previously? Specifically, somebody who, currently, is not even here in Vancouver? It just happen that Phyllis of me Hungry! was in town (who happens to have lived here in Vancouver) and Jessica of Yumorama organized a mini-meeting of sorts, which, in the end, only Sherman and me showed up. Because of a poutine run she had last time she was here, the suggested place was, once again, another poutine place! And one I visited in the past… Brado Restaurant. But, that brings the question… How is Cake-Ya, a small dessert shop located in Port Moody has to do with Brado?! Read to find out more!

First, what we went for in Brado… In my previous visit to this restaurant, I had the wings and poutine. While it is also a pizza parlour, the ones under the lamp didn’t look appetizing at all. This time, we went for something that combine both. Yup, you read it correctly – Brado combines pizza with poutine. Let me try again…

I will have to say it was a touch of genius. After all, it shares a common ingredient: cheese. And, given that pizza uses a sauce, how about using gravy in lieu of it? Tastewise, it was aided by some “extras” added to the crust – these included some oil and what tasted like garlic. Might be wrong on that one but there was *something* in it that made it really savoury. However, what really failed in this concoction was, oddly, the fries. There wasn’t anything wrong with it; instead, it was the fact it was carb (from the pizza crust) + carb (from the fries). More of the same didn’t really work for me.

So, from a pizza perspective, the fact it was baked to order would certainly have an impact on the end result, specially compared to what I saw on the night I went there. So, if you would order the whole pie, well, it might be interesting. As a poutine pizza, unfortunately no… too much of the same type of ingredient detracted from the overall dish. That brings then the next question: how is the poutine by itself then? Well, on that always search for good eats, Sherman ordered a plate of poutine. Specifically…

Montreal smoked meat poutine. The smoked meat was in the form of shave pieces of the meat rather than chunks (as served in some other places). It was on the salty side but, oh, well, what do you expected from this type of meats…. One thing that was was noticed almost right away by Phyllis was the fact the gravy was on the darker side. It seems people likes them that way here, hence the tone. Finally, the texture of the curds. It started to melt away to the point we were wondering if it was mozzarella instead.

In the end, Brado can be a rough gem but the fact that you need to be here in a group (to have things made to order) detracts me from going back there by myself. However, the one thing that would certainly prevent me from doing so isn’t Brado itself but its neighbour who runs a Middle Eastern/shawarma place. We were there around 3:00 p.m. and, while there were customers, he was cleaning his area with industrial strength bleach. How the !@#!@#$ you can do that when customers are there eating? It is literally shooting himself on the food (either than or he was trying to piss of Brado…). >_<

And now, the reason this post also contains Cake-Ya…

Given that Phyllis had only that much time here, I thought I should try to find something unique, something that she won’t have quick access of during her short visit to Vancouver. Given that Sherman recently wrote about this Japanese dessert place in Port Moody, I thought, hey, why not! So, I went to Cake-Ya and grabbed some goodies including…

Shortbread, regular and matcha

Matcha roll

Creme caramel, different versions

Just in case for shokutsu, sorry, they didn’t have daifuku ready yet eathat day… >_<

Now, they actually didn’t have the matcha roll, by the time we started to eat these, we were starting to get quite full. And I personally didn’t have any of the shortbread so I won’t comment on those! The roll was quite light but the I thought the beans tasted a bit hard (could have been softer). As for the creme caramel, it was a bit of mixed thoughts, however it might be more related to me preferring savoury dishes over sweet. In my case, I thought they were quite thin/light plus the fact some of the flavoured taste of the creme caramel wasn’t that noticeable (matcha, et al). However, others where a lot better, like the cheese version. Acquired taste? It is possible I might come back, alas, it is in Port Moody…

To close this post, Jessica, thanks for organization it, Sherman, thanks for inviting us for the poutine and, Phyllis, it was really nice to meet you and thanks for the pizza!

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…

Uncle Fatih’s Pizza
1685 East Broadway
1187 Denman Street Vancouver (location visited)
Vancouver, BC

There is that “complain” that pizza in Vancouver sucks. While it is true that we do have a lot of cheapo pizza parlours, we also have great joints like Ah-Beetz (though, of course, you have to drive to Abbotsford). There are other places I have my target on, including Ragazzi and The Firewood Cafe, but there is one reason I haven’t acted on that wish to visit them: I can only eat that much. To a certain extent, that is why I have no shame admitting I go to cheapo pizza parlous: I can eat two slices and no risk of bad pizza leftover (even when “as is”, it was good). For today’s post, I visited the “second” location of one of the most popular cheap/late night pizza places: Uncle Fatih’s Pizza (which I blogged previously in a vs. match against 2001 Flavours), this time in Denman Street near English Bay.

I am not sure if I should be surprised they are opening in this place. About a year ago, there was a location of Sarpino’s in the space that is now occupied by a Babylon Cafe, yet, we have Nat’s New York Pizzeria and Flying Wedges further down the road (not to mention Panago’s, Domino’s and Pizza Hut). So, in a way, there is a market, the question is whether there is a market for pizza by the slice in this area… (As a reminder, not far away is Granville Street has its share of such places).

I went on a day when the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games was still kicking in full force and, surprisingly or not, that area of the West End was quiet. We all know a partial reason as to why but, regardless, this lack of foot traffic meant the pies won’t as fresh as their Broadway location, where they usually crank out one every couple of minutes just to keep up with demand. With that in mind, I just randomly selected two to satiate the noon hunger…

Notice that white dab on the right? That would be a dressing they have available for free. Whereas some places will charge you for a side dressing, this location of Uncle Fatih’s does not. However, that begs the question: is it really necessary to begin with? Now, the slices were lukewarm and that was despite it was reheated partially in the electric oven. The fact I chose to sit outside (to take advantage of natural sunlight) and was a breezy day did not help with the temperature issue here.

Unlike Ah-Beetz, do not expect fancy dough, specially considering these were baked in an electric oven. Heck, considering these are “cheapo” pizza, I am not sure if I should be complaining at all! Anyway, despite its looks, it had certain “crunch” feeling to it; however, I won’t call it crispy by any stretch of imagination.

And while it was loaded with toppings, I won’t say they were too exciting. I could faintly taste some of the components, like the onions and the peppers but, again, because it cooled down after the picture session, they were borderline the same as a cold pizza. At this point, I am sure some of you might say I can’t give an honest opinion of their offerings. However, that might not necessarily be the case. I have had similar ones while waiting in their Broadway location and, for good or for bad, they were almost the same. Based on this oddity, I can safely say that, if you liked the ones from their Broadway location, you will like it here. However, if you are the people who prefers Flying Wedges, Uncle Fatih’s might not necessarily be for you. In my particular case, I will still go to 2001 Flavours!

Artichoke Basille’s Pizza & Brewery
328 East 14th Street
New York, NY

Here is the challenge: three meals in New York, where to eat… What to eat! Rather than me scratching my head, I set up three criterias:

1) Ask a fellow blogger (not necessarily from New York) for suggestions.
2) Ask a friend who lived/has lived in New York City for a suggestion of a place that will not break the piggy bank.
3) Go to a semi-iconic place.

This post tackles point #1 (point #2 will come noon today and #3 will be tomorrow Saturday!), where I asked fellow blogger Sherman for a suggestion of a place I should visit in New York City. He pointed out several ones and, while it was all good, I had one problem: Transportation. For the most part, I was relying in either walking around or public transit which meant my range would be really limited (with my “central” location being New York Penn Station). And, while I have been told that NYC’s public transit is quite good, after a couple of runs with it, I prefer Vancouver’s… Anyway, I thought that after my visit to Ah-Beetz in Abbotsford which serves NY style pizza, I might as well try a pizza from New York! Of course, there are the iconic places, like Di Fara and Lombardi’s; however, there were issues with both places: either, it was too far or had to buy the whole pie. And, then, there was Ray’s which ended up being like a chain… That would have been all good but, instead, I went for a somewhat unconventional option: Artichoke Basille’s Pizza & Brewery.

Now, Artichoke Basille’s (from now on, referred as Artichoke’s) is not near NY Penn Station either: An almost 3Km walk… Yeah, yeah, I could have taken transit but I was still having problems figuring out their system and thought I might as well walk this distance. Couldn’t I have walked to Lombardi’s? Actually, I did later that day, as I was in SoHo, but… Anyway, I arrived just after noon and, as seen above, behold, there was a line already! Fortunately, they were relatively fast and was my turn after almost 10 minutes in the line.

When it was my turn, I asked for two slices (more on that in a moment). When the cashier heard that, she looked at me as if asking me “are you *really* sure”. I just smiled and paid for my order. In the meantime, they were calling each previous customer to pick up their slice. I thought that was odd because…

Yup, some of them were already prepared, sitting there, waiting for customers to order it. Even then, they did not take a piece, put it on a plate and give it to the customer. Instead, they were reheating some of the pieces first. Under normal circumstances, that might be an issue: in the case they have been sitting there for a while, even reheating it won’t bring it back. To “counter” that issue, Artichoke’s have only four types of pizza: artichoke spinach, crab, “Margarita” and Sicilian rather than six or eight as seen in some pizza parlours.

As mentioned above, I ordered two slices, the first one being the “Margarita” – The obvious reason was to compare it to the one from Ah-Beetz. Right after I received my order, I ran into a small problem. There aren’t any tables! Instead, there were some benches outside and a makeshift counters (that is where I ended up eating). Also, I understood why the cashier asked me the “are you sure” question. The piece was !#%!@#$ huge. That single slice was longer than the plate’s diameter! Furthermore…

It was way thicker than the one from Ah-Beetz. At that point, I had to tell myself: no comparison can be made given such difference. Too bad…. The “Margarita” had some sweetness from the tomato but wasn’t too overpowering. The cheese provided a slight creaminess and saltiness to the pie. An almost perfect combination of the two that made me want to just keep on eating. The basil disappointed a little bit because it wasn’t really aromatic; however, I won’t complain because it had to go back to the oven which might have “destroyed” all the flavours it had. The dough was crispy but not too doughy. As seen above, it had its “leopard spots”, considered by many to be the indicator of a good/controlled oven and a good dough. That might be true; however, there was something distracting. As mentioned above, it was thick and, in the end, really heavy.

For the second piece, I went for the slice that gives the shop its name: artichoke spinach. The dough was even slightly heavier than the “Margarita” but I soon found out that was required. That is because the best way to describe this pizza would be some pizza dough with an artichoke spinach dip on top. Had it been too thin, it would have not been able to “hold” that mix. Flavourwise, it was really savoury (not salty, though), again, similar to an artichoke spinach dip. And, similar to the “Margarita”, I wanted to keep bite after bite.

After eating about half of each slice, I gave up. There was no way I would have ended up eating both slices! Still, I do not regret not finishing them; on the contrary, I might have regretted it had I overeaten… In the end, while this might not be 100% representative of NY style pizza, I really liked it. Not perfect but has some unique characteristics I appreciate. Would I come back? Well, it depends: I might want to go to Lombardi’s first; otherwise, yes!

Ah-Beetz
2664 Gladys Avenue
Abbotsford, BC

So far are you willing to drive for good eats? 10 Km? 25 Km? 50 Km? How about driving that distance for pizza? What? Yup, you got that right, pizza! While we have a lot of pizza shops in Vancouver, the general opinion is that we could do better. So, “looking around”, I became aware Ah-Beetz, a pizza shop, in Abbotsford, out of all places, which makes authentic New York style pizza. That claim made me curious enough to make that trip!

But, going there by myself… I mean, if it was one or four of us, it would take almost as much gas and one can only eat that much pizza, right? That’s why I wanted, ahem, volunteers. So, a couple of months ago, I dropped an email to some fellow food bloggers checking with them if there was any interest to do exactly that. While there was, we couldn’t agree in where/when and other logistic details. Those plans were hanging on and on until gastronomydomine of f o o d o s o p h y wrote about it. At that point, I knew I had to go no matter what – even if that meant going by myself and having only one type of pizza. Fortunately, Sherman of Sherman’s Food Adventures and frequent commenter Anita were interested as well… So, a short road trip it was!

Update: Sherman’s post is here!

This small pizza shop is operated by a husband-and-wife team: Terry and Heather Deane. As soon as we stepped in, you could feel the passion behind the pizza and its making. No making a pizza in a rush to throw it in an oven and the put it in a box for delivery. Now, the pizza was made with patience and love. While we were taking this pictures, Terry did not seem fazed or curious as to why we wanted to take pictures. After all, the previous week somebody asked to film him in action… Wait, film?! When we heard that, I had an odd hunch which was confirmed when, later while eating our pies, the name “Kevin” was mentioned. Yes, THAT Kevin! Anyway…

But back to the pizzas. We decided to order two small pizzas rather than a large one. That way, we thought, we could try more than one type. I personally asked for the one above – Margherita: tomato sauce, aged mozzarella, fior di latte, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil & Grana Padano. I did so based on the principle of simplicity. When we received it, rather than dig in right away, we started to take closer looks. First noticeable thing? Its thinness:

Yup, it is THAT thin! If you stack more than three credit cards or a couple of paper napkins, that would be thicker that this pizza! At that point, Terry made mention of another important characteristic and, to find out, we had to lift the pie and look at the bottom:

This effect is called “leoparding” or “leopard spotting”. I will not even try to explain it other than to provide this link.

But, back to the pizza. I think I don’t have an easy way to describe it, specially because I can’t make any analogy based on any pizza I have tried in Vancouver. Let’s start with the dough. While it has some crispiness to it, it wasn’t 100% crispy as in a cracker. Also, it wasn’t dough-y as in bread. And, add to all that, it has a slight elastic texture that made each bite bounce slightly. And, ah, the ingredients… As mentioned, simplicity as it best. All the ingredients were flavourful, starting with a hint of sourness from the dough, some savoury-ness of the cheese, a slight sweetness from the tomatoes, some fragrance from the basil. None of the ingredients overpowered the other and, instead, everything were complementing each other with each bite. As mentioned, simplicity at its best…

The second pizza we ordered was the Di Fara: pepperoni, artichoke hearts, tomato sauce, aged mozzarella, fior di latte, lots of fresh basil, lots of extra virgin olive oil & lots of Grana Padano. The difference between this and the Margherita is the addition of artichoke and pepperoni. These two extra ingredients were enough to make it different in its own ways: the artichokes in the form of a different texture and the pepperoni in the way of a contrasting flavour. For example, see the extra “fat” from the pepperoni? Yes, it was good… (drool).

The fold…

Unlike other mass produced pizzas, there wasn’t a “poodle” of oil at the bottom.

Yup, that’s basil… Freshly cut after it is out of the oven!

Some of the meats, they prepare it themselves!

There were a total of 16 slices and we estimate Sherman and I had 6 each while Anita had 4. Did I mention some of us are heavy eaters? OK, OK, actually, their pizzas are quite light and I could swear I could have eaten an extra two slices more. But, still, delicious… (drool again).

After our pizzas, we were chatting a little bit and Terry and Heather gave us more details of their operations. How about some of the ingredients made by themselves or, as seen above, use freshly cut basil? Did I mention they have to prepare some of the ingredients with enough advance? In fact, if they run out of dough for that day, that’s it! Why this rather than getting them from a local producer? One of the reasons is consistency – by preparing it themselves, they have full control over the product.

Terry, Heather, thanks for sharing your passion. It was education, not to mention delicious!