Yu Kee BBQ Kitchen
111 – 2609 East 49th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
Some of you might be wondering: Am I not the one who “complains” about Chinese restaurants and do not visit too many of those? True… So, why another Chinese restaurant post, then? Well, *another* might be stretching it but, while I can do Chinese for a full month, truth is, I do not want to bore you with visits to Chinese after Chinese after Chinese. Besides, there are a lot of other non-Chinese restaurants out there! Of course, there is another reason why I do not blog too often about Chinese restaurants: you can seldom go there by yourself (compared to say, Vietnamese where you can still get a decent meal).
So how I ended up in Yu Kee, a small Chinese restaurant in Killarney Market? While I have known of its existence for a long time, all the previous instances I have been there were a bit of a failed attempt: for the most part, I arrived too late. However, that was before they opened a proper restaurant side, which, unlike their previous iteration, they are open until 10:00 p.m. And the fact that Anita dropped me an email asking if I was interested in checking it out, that pretty much sealed the deal.
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Tagged as:
BBQ,
Chinese,
Duck,
Pork,
Soup,
Vancouver
Meat & Bread
370 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC
Last year, Sherman visited Salumi, which is better known for being a deli shop opened by the father of celebrity chef Mario Batali. In that post, readers bashed him left and right. To quell the horde of people with pitchfork demanding Sherman’s head, sort of a compromise was set up: how about readers point out what was the dish he should have order and, next time either one of us was in that part of Seattle, try to get it. After my visit and Sherman’s re-visit, we came to one conclusion: It is the one sandwich that seems to be THE key dish there, the rest could be hit or miss. That one sandwich was their porchetta sandwich.
However, going all the way down to Seattle, not to mention on that really narrow window where they are open for business is sort of a crazy proposition. Instead, it was rather a matter of finding something in Vancouver that could be equivalent to it. So, when I found out that Meat and Bread, a restaurant which signature dish happened to be *that* one sandwich at Salumi, I was jumping to give it a try…
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Tagged as:
Lunch,
Pork,
Sandwich,
Vancouver
Honey Hole Sandwiches
703 E Pike Street
Seattle, WA
One of the “interesting” features that is seldom mentioned is that of Vancouver being *really* close to the US. Border crossing queue aside, you should be able to go to the US from Vancouver in around an hour (or less). Once there, two or so hours later, you hit Seattle, another major US city. Sure, you could go from Windsor, Ontario to Detroit, Michigan or Hamilton, Ontario to Buffalo, New York in about the same time but, c’mon, there is no comparison here. So, on Thanksgiving, I chose to do a day trip “just because”. While timing worked great, weatherwise, it ended up being awash: It was miserable and detracted me from some outdoor activities. Well, I was on that side of the border so… Let’s go to eat!!! Originally I had two places in mind: Latin food in the form of La Isla or more “regular fare” in the form of Honey Hole Sandwiches. The later was chosen because, well, it was an odd combination of timing and circumstance. Does not matter how or why, what matters is that I was there and it was time to eat!
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Tagged as:
Pork,
Sandwich,
Seattle
Chronic Tacos
382 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC
Here I go again, to another taco shop. Somehow it has become such a popular dish there is a need to open yet-another-location. OK, OK, Chronic Tacos an American import is not necessarily new(est) kid on the block, not to mention they sell other tex-mex fare (like burrito) but, lately, I think I have seen one too many places selling tacos popping here and there (namely, Cartel Taco and Arturo’s Mexican To Go). Of course, while some taco shop are “traditional” (as in La Taqueria and Doña Cata) others add that dread “fusion” twist, like Roaming Dragon and Cartel Taco, Chronic Tacos does not hide one fact: it is not necessarily meant to be authentic Mexican fare, rather the Californian iteration, based on the original version. With that in mind…
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Tagged as:
Fish,
Mexican,
Pork,
Seafood,
Vancouver
Jules Casual French Bistro
216 Abbott Street
Vancouver, BC
On Monday’s post, I made reference to my visit (along with Sherman) to Luda. I am sure some of you might wonder how we come up with ideas of where to go and when. Well, it is as simple as this:
(Receiving an email with the subject “Random dinner”)
“Do you want to go to restaurant X”
“Sure, why not!”
The only issue at times is when there are more people. Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to food, to me, it falls in the category of the more the merrier. However, that also involves a bit of logistics to make sure everybody can make it, to a place everybody wants to go. After all, we want to eat, not fight over minor details. But, in this case, Sherman suggested Jules Casual French Bistro in Gastown. While I am not a fan of Gastown (nor Yaletown, Kitsilano or West Side for that matter), I am willing to venture to these areas, if I know there is something worth trying or with good company. For the food itself, not necessarily so because, more often than not, based on previous experiences, it is over-hyped, over-priced and, for the most part, it is more of a be-seen type environment. But, given I was in good company…
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Tagged as:
Dessert,
French,
Gastown,
Pork,
Seafood,
Vancouver
Luda
2683 E Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
Long time readers can remember that, some time ago, I made reference to the area near Hastings and Slocan (east of Nanaimo, a couple of blocks from the PNE). Specifically, I used to go to a nearby game shop to play Magic the Gathering; however, I haven’t been there in a long while. Reason? Aside from the cost of the game (which has become ridiculously expensive nowadays), I have moved on to other things. One day, I chose to drop by and, while I didn’t play, at least it was good to see people I used to play this game with. On my way out, I noticed that Louis Garden closed and replaced by a Chinese restaurant. Given that I seldom go to Chinese restaurants mainly because going by yourself is sort of pointless, I made a mental note and check with that one person who I am certain will drop by that area without much hesitation and, at times, short notice: Sherman. So we did on a Tuesday, just to find out it is closed on Tuesdays! If you need an example of epic fail this would have been it! So, we mulled it for another day and, dropping by the area again on a Friday, I checked again with Sherman and, bam!, he was good. Even better? Since two can only order that much, he brought reinforcements in the form of “Rich Guy”!
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Tagged as:
Chinese,
Pork,
Seafood,
Vancouver
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.
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Tagged as:
Chicken,
Pizza,
Pork,
pub,
Seafood,
Surrey
