Kadoya
1063 Davie Street
202 – 1184 Denman Street (location visited)
Vancouver, BC

Sherman: “U working today?”
Me: “Yes, working today. Wait, do you know what that is??? ”
Sherman: “LOL, Rich Guy and I are going for lunch in Downtown, if u want to join us”
Me: “Where?”
Sherman: “Not sure, was gonna go to Toyama… Do you want to join us? I can pick u up to give u more time”
Me: “What time are you guys planning to go? PO might join us; however, he has a call until noon”

(Couple of minutes later)

Me: “How about Kadoya if not all-you-can-eat? English Bay”
Sherman: “Have u been there?”
Me: “No”
Sherman: “The one in Denman right?”
Me: “They opened a second location in English Bay, across Raincity Grill”
Sherman: “Rich guy says he can make it around 12:30 p.m. Is that too late? Do we need a reservation?”
Me: “12:30 p.m. is fine. So Tomoya or Kadoya? Given the party size and despite I don’t like it, Tomoya might be a better option”
Sherman: “No, Kadoya is fine. I’ll make a reservation for 5?”
Me: “Sure, English Bay location, right?”
Sherman: “Yah”

Once again, if you wonder how some of us food bloggers get together for a meal, more or less this is how it works. One day, Sherman, dropped me that text message and that’s what ended up in Kadoya’s location in English Bay. Next question?

Kadoya has been a well know place of sorts to “sushi” aficionados. However, I personally haven’t been there for one reason – the same reason why I have it in quotes: their specialties are the rolls, aka, maki sushi, not that much nigiri sushi. I have mentioned in the past that rolls is something almost anybody can make and it is a matter of tossing things together hoping it works. If the fish is not cut properly or it is somewhat fishy (no pun intended), it is covered somehow and most people won’t notice. But, the fact they have opened a second location would indicate people have been going there and, as a result, the restaurant felt a need to expand to accommodate the additional customers. So, it ends up being “majority rules”. So, despite my hesitation, of course, we had to give it a try so this could have been that opportunity.

If people look at the address, this place used to be occupied by Sakari Sushi. The fact they are no longer there means something. Anyway, went I arrived, I noticed they did make some minor arrangement in the layout so, if you have been in that restaurant, your ambiance experience might be different. Given I was first, I tried my best to do what Sherman would have done: take the best spot with natural light. Alas, that table was already occupied so I had to settle with the next best thing which was the table beside it. Hey, at least I didn’t take one of the booths (which was the table they were originally planning to give us!).

Now, to the food!

They have daily specials and, on the day we went, this was it: Spicy chopped salmon. Part of the interest on ordering this was related to the fact we wanted something non-roll and this fit the bill quite well. Having said that, this was actually quite good. Temperature was fine (i.e., no frozen texture), good texture, good sauce, which did not overpower the salmon. No complains at all and the fact it was $9 was icing.

Once again, another non-sushi dish: yakisoba, in this case, we chose beef as the meat. For what it is supposed to be a sushi restaurant, I will give them some credit as it was decent. Not necessarily the best but the fact that it didn’t suck. My only criticism was that it had a bit too much sauce, something that the noodles itself sucked by the end of the meal. Not my first option in the end but workable at least.

Yet another non-sushi dsh: chicken teriyaki – which arrived to the table sizzling. Similar to the yakisoba, I will have to give them some credit, plus the fact the chicken wasn’t fried and the sauce not extremely sweet as done in some places. Otherwise, there wasn’t anything extremely outstanding. Serviceable but that’s about it.

One interesting note about Kadoya is that they have a lunch and late night special. For $10, we had options for some appetizers (your usual suspects, including goma-ae, edamame, seaweed/wakame, etc.), nigiri sushi (3 pieces), rolls, sashimi and, more importantly, their specialty rolls (4 pieces) and, out of these options, we choose three. While we could have gone for sushi, the fact we were a party of 4 (PO couldn’t make it in the end) and I am sure people would give us hell for not trying their maki/rolls, meant we should give these specialty rolls a try. In the end, we made two order of these specials and they ended up being: Dragon, Kadoya, Volcano, Paradise, Canuck and King. Here is one problem: Tell all came at the same time and no description was given as to which one is which!

With all these specialty rolls, for kicks, we ordered a regular roll with a twist: their California Tempura roll, which is, basically, a deep fried California roll, with the drizzled sauce somewhat similar to catsup. Oddly, it wasn’t that bad but not something I would order again, as there wasn’t anything exciting about it.

Overall, some of my initial conceptions didn’t change: if their specialty are rolls, it didn’t necessarily wowed me. The cooked items were workable so I will leave that as neutral. The one that actually caught me off guard was spicy chopped salmon, which was indeed quite good. But, is that enough to make me come back? Well, given it is a dailiy special and not available on a daily basis, it is somewhat of mixed feelings. So, in the end, I will have to say it is not necessarily for me but might not necessarily be against to coming back – provided I have the option of ordering non-roll dishses.

Delightful Cuisine
1745 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

For good or for bad, in the couple of blocks near the corner of Robson and Denman in the West End, you tend to get more ethnic restaurant than other parts of Downtown Vancouver. For Japanese, you have different ramen places like Santouka, Kintaro and Motomachi, izakaya like Kingyo and Guu. Then you have several Korean restaurants like Kim Bob Chun Gook, Nor Boo Korean Restaurant, Ap Gu Jung and so on. For Thai, you have Khunnai Chang and Tangthai. However, given there is only that much space in the West End, this growth has come to the expense of others restaurants. For example, Rooster’s Quarters in Denman closed some time ago to be replaced by Pomegrante, which failed as well to now be replaced by Dajia, a Japanese restaurant, which over saturates the existing market. Notice I didn’t mention some that, otherwise, would be ubiquitous like Chinese (there is Main Dining Restaurant, Chongqing, Hon’s and Legendary Noodles) and Vietnamese. Ah, Vietnamese, the one that a lot of times is overshadow by the other ones mentioned above. But, then again, their presence in Downtown is a bit muted and it seems they focus more in the Kingsway and Fraser Street area instead. So, to a certain extent, having one nearby seems to be a good thing. When Delightful Cuisine took over the former spot of a French restaurant (which confirms the above), the question was would it fulfill those expectations?

Unlike previous lunches, where I went by myself or with PO, for this one instance, I ended up going with a large group of work colleagues. It seems they were curious as well about this place so we ended up gathering a 5+ group. The more the better?

It was a rainy day and we sat at the corner. After we were given the tea, I noticed something quite odd – it had a light vanilla scent that nobody was able to pinpoint what was the reason behind it. I won’t say it was better or worst than regular tea, just different (or preference). Still, it was… Odd? Moving to the food now, some of us order spring rolls as appetizers and here they are!

Here is their “regular” spring roll and their shrimp/seafood version. I will have to say these ones caught me completely off guard. The “regular” spring roll was actually decent, in the sense it was balanced between ground/minced meat and some vegetables. However, the winner was the shrimp one, as the shrimp was snappy and had some actual shrimp taste! Still, you don’t necessarily go wrong with the regular spring roll (it does a decent job).

Yeah, you could have seen this one coming from afar. They only have that many items in the menu which can be a good thing or bad. In this case, I will lean towards the good side as less dishes mean the kitchen can perform quite well. So, while they had banh mi which we didn’t order, they had your usual pho and curry. Given you see the bean sprouts, pho it was. Now, before somebody asks, in the lime and jalapeño was served in a separate dish.

Alas, I am not Sherman, who has “trained” his dining companions to order different things so he can snap as many pictures as required. In the end, pretty much everybody ordered their pho bo. Oh, well… For the most part, they were OK, they weren’t really that impressed with it.

As for myself, I went for the bun bo hue “just to order something different”. It wasn’t that spicy (had to complement it by eating the jalapeño peppers) and the broth was quite light – no hint at all of lemongrass or something that would have separated it from the other pho shops. The meats were the basic ones, again, with no unique characteristics. It felt… Generic.

OK, one of my work colleagues didn’t really want pho of any kind and ended up going for something “different”, in this case, their curry. Because she was seated on the other side and I was using a 35mm prime lens, this was the only picture I managed to snap. Sorry! What I can tell you is that it is among the blandest curries I have ever tasted. It was mostly a coloured broth. Ouch.

I will have to say that, despite it was generic, you only have that many Vietnamese options in the area (Chau, which some considers expensive and Pho Number One – I won’t count Vina). So, it is a take it or not. In my case, I would rather drive to other places for pho or have other dishes in lieu.

Great Wall Mongolian BBQ
717 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC

I have bashed at times the all-you-can-eat concept a little bit too much at times. You have to admit it: How much “quality” you can provide when you charge a fix price and there is almost no limit as to how much a diner can eat? OK, sure, hotel buffets charge an arm and a leg and the food can be quite good. But, then, they have mastered it to a certain extent. For the rest, it is a matter of balance things out: calculate based on the average case scenario (though leaning towards the worst case scenario) and hoping most of the customers won’t consume as much.

With that in mind, PO and I went one day to Great Wall Mongolian BBQ (name of the restaurant) for Mongolian BBQ (type of cuisine). The twist in this case is that you fill up a bowl with different meats, vegetables and noodles. Add some sauce and it is then cooked for you on a large griddle. What’s so funny about this? Because Mongolian BBQ (the cuisine), despite the pamphlet they provide explaining their cuisine, is neither Mongolian nor it is “BBQ”! Anyway, we were up for it…

As for the $$$, it is quite straight forward: $8 lunch if you are setting yourself up for a single bowl or $10 for all-you-can-eat (lunch) or $12 (dinner). At the $8 price point, it is not that far from, say, a plateful of pad thai in Khunnai Chang ($9) so it isn’t necessarily expensive, just average. The question is whether the $8 is worth it. As for the how things are done, how about some pictures to illustrate things (and rather than using my dSLR, these pictures were taken with my iPhone).

Select your meats: there is the option of beef, chicken, pork and lamb (!). They are thinly sliced but rolled up to take more volume, I guess…

Add some vegetables and noodles (the later which I will regret later…)

Some sauces of your choice

Have it ready to cook on the griddle.

Some stirring around and done!

The cooking process can take around 2 to 3 minutes; however, if the line is long (like what happened to us on our visit, after we sat down, a party of almost 20 tourists walked in), it make take forever. As for me “regretting” what I picked, here is the reason why…

In addition to what you can fill up in the bowl, you are also served a mini-spring roll, a small cup of (egg drop) soup and fried rice. None of these were good but at least it served its purpose of filler. As a result, I shouldn’t have filled up my bowl with noodles! I mean, what is the point of more carbs?! (On that note, on the table, there is a note asking customers not to waste food and pick only what they believe you can eat). But, back to what was ordered.

In my bowl, I filled the bottom 1/3 with lamb, as I saw absolutely no reason to choose either beef or chicken and then added some slices of pork. After the noodles, I forced the bowl down by adding some vegetables and tofu. I will admit the vegetables didn’t look that bad (i.e., wilted, brownish) but then again, it could have been an illusion due to the lightning conditions. Finally, they have 12 sauces which you can combine. Me being Chinese, I went for garlic oil, some chili sauce and soy sauce. Once it was cooked, I sprinkled some toasted sesame on top.

I will have to admit, for $8, this isn’t that bad. Granted, the meat wasn’t that lean to begin with so don’t set high expectations. However, one thing that actually worked in their favour was that the lamb was extremely gamey and, if you like it, it spread its flavour quite well around. The noodles, since it was partially cooked before it went to the griddle, kept its texture. But, alas, the one component that should have worked better but didn’t was that wok hei feeling. I guess, since they don’t want to be scrubbing that griddle every time something is being cooked plus avoid using a lot of oil, they would try to prevent that wok hei effect to begin with by dousing it with some water. It worked in both ways as the resulting sauce was actually quite strong. But, given the choice between wok hei or sauce, I would say gimme some balance.

Now, we didn’t end up going back for seconds (for an additional $2) because of the huge lineup created by that party, not to mention I had to go back to the office for a conference call (unfortunately, given I work with customers all over, there are times I can’t avoid calls at 12:30 p.m.). As for me going back to this restaurant, I have the bad habit of finishing everything that is on the plate and, given I am serving myself, that can prove to be extremely dangerous. As a result, I might instead go for pad thai on another restaurant or something on those lines instead. However, for the novelty, it is not bad.

White Tower
1359 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Dish
1068 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

There are times when we “lament” restaurants do not do homestyle cooking. But, then again, why should it? I mean, if you can cook it at home, chances are, you might not want to get it in a restaurant! However, that is assuming you belong to that culture… For us Chinese, it is the issue of where you were born (or your parents were born) but, overall, you can find Cantonese and more recently Shanghai, Taiwan and Beijing. Some regions… Well, that might be more difficult. But, how about Western style home cooking? Given that “meat-and-potatoes” stereotype, I guess it would be “easier” to tackle that concept. And that’s more or less what is served at The Dish (plus, given we are in Vancouver, the concept of being “good” food).

One thing that I have lamented lately is the fact I have been “grounded” (as in not travelled for business) and, because I have been quite busy, not venturing to some other places in the West End except those close to my workplaces (as in less than five block radius). However, on this day, I took an early lunch to do some blood test (no fasting necessary) so, on my way back, I chose to stop for lunch. Most of the places nearby were… Well, I wasn’t that interesting that day. However, then I spotted The Dish. While there wasn’t anything enticing about it, as mentioned above; instead, it was that concept of being “Fabulous Nourishment”.

When I walked in, I noticed they had a plate of food on a counter detailed (or showing?) the dish of the day: a turkey dinner: turkey dish with stuffing, mashed potato ad gravy. Also, they had a wrap but, you know what? Despite turkey is not my favourite form of fowl, I would certainly be interesting on checking what it has to offer. So, for that I went.

After paying it, I walked outside and sat at one of the two tables there. After a short wait, I got the plate above. Well, I will have to admit it looks quite home-y! I mean, this is no fancy cooking on fancy china. This was, for the most part, a down-to-earth dish most Canadians or Americans would easily recognize.

I won’t say I necessarily like this stuffing. It was a bit too mushy for my liking. The mashed potato, on the other hand, was killer! In addition to it been fluffy and having a light consistency, it had an interesting hint of coconut. Really interesting twist which I will have to admit I liked. The cranberry sauce had a tangy taste but not too strong. Not necessarily outstanding but it certainly did its job.

The turkey, ah, the turkey… I wasn’t given the option of white/dark meat and, alas, I was served white meat. Now, if you prefer chicken white meat, please give dark meat a chance. It is really more flavourful (though more fatty, of course). As for these slices, it had a slight dry consistency but, still, it was moist enough not to choke. And, on that note, the gravy had a really light taste but didn’t feel “artificial” (as in made from a mix). Again, similar to the mash, it is good in its own ways!

Overall, the food was quite similar to what you would find in somebody’s home. While it was the “special” for one day, I am almost certain other dishes are prepared in a similar way, i.e., literally home style. While not my “home” style food, still, I can see myself coming back. (This is regardless of the “fabulous nourishment” note it has).

Checkers Bar & Grill
1755 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

OK, OK, the World Cup is over but I still have posts in the queue from those days… Sorry? ^_^;;; So, similar to my posts to Fogg N’ Suds and Dover Arms Pub, PO and I chose to go to pubs to watch the games – except that day there was no game. Despite that, PO was fine to visit a pub just for kicks (or drinks). At first, we were planning to go to some pubs in English Bay but, guess what? When we arrived, despite it had a sandwich board outside and the doors weren’t locked, there was absolutely nobody there! We took a peek around and there was absolutely nobody. So, without further hesitation, we just turned around and look for the closest pub and, among the several ones, we ended up going to Checkers Bar & Grill.

At first, we were confused as to where we ended up walking into. It wasn’t until we realized the entrance was shared with the Best Western hotel. Oh, boy, hotel food? Anyway, we turned left after the entrance and that’s where it leads to the “pub”.

Unlike the Great Bear Pub where, despite there was no sign of whether we should sit ourselves or wait, not long after we walked in, a waitress spotted us and told us to take any table. That meant a table that has some good light source, which translated into one near the window… And here is the “oddity”. Staff aside, I think we being in the restaurant brought down the average age of the dinners by over a decade! I guess it “helps” the restaurant has a special menu designated specially for customers of a certain age group…

After we got the table, here comes the “usual” question: What to order? In the case of Checkers, it had some usual suspects but we decided to go for their specials. In PO’s case, that ended up being one of the daily specials in the form of…

Grandma’s Meatloaf Sandwich – Fresh meatloaf served with sourdough bread topped with sauteed mushroom and gravy. Served with the option of salad or fries. I am not sure what is the general though of the gravy, whether it should look similar to a demi-glace or that brownish colour; regardless, to me it looked really odd… But, as for the sandwich, it came with two large pieces of meatloaf, which was a bit too grounded for my liking, not to mentioned it desperately needed seasoning. Wonder if it was targeted specifically to the group we observed?

As for me, I went with the other special that requires a purchase of a drink: their steak sandwich – A 6 oz. sirloin steak smothered in mushrooms and served on garlic toast. Normally, had I ordered it by itself, I would have been $16. During certain times of the day, with a purchase of a drink, it will be ~$13. Suddenly, it sounds like buy the sandwich, get the pop for free?

But, back to the sandwich. I wasn’t expecting any form of melt-in-your-mouth type meat. I mean, after all, this isn’t fine dining… The done-ness level was good enough for what is being paid. Tastewise, there was some noticeable beef but, past that, it is pretty much similar to most of such sandwiches of this type you can find. As for the rest… Well, that’s where some question marks kick in. What’s up with the same mushroom served over both the meat loaf sandwich and this sandwich? Where is the top bun??? The bread actually managed to soak whatever was falling down from that perspective, it did its job.

In the end, the food served here was… Average at best, considering the fact this is a restaurant in a hotel? Even if it wasn’t it wasn’t exciting at all and, for the same price, I might as well go to another nearby restaurants as the price range is about the same and, in a lot of other cases, better food. However, given the age group of the customers, that also means something, just that that something does not apply to me.

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???

Dover Arms Pub
961 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC

Following my post on Wednesday on Fogg N’ Suds, on another day, PO and I were out for lunch and, once again, we chose to go to a place were you could watch the football games. Of course, in the West End, that translated into a pub. Instead of going to a place in Robson, we chose to Denman and that resulted in Dover Arms Pub, an English theme restaurant/pub. With such a large exterior location, I can’t help wonder myself why it has taken me so long to visit it!

When we arrived, the game has already started and there were a lot of customer seated on one side of the pub. I chose to seat on the other end because, well, I wanted some sunlight! One thing that became quite evident is that you have to be patient. The waitress took her time to come over to do anything, from bringing the menu, to drinks and the food. But, then again, probably the other customers were keeping her busy and didn’t really focus much on our side of the restaurant (which, until the end of the meal, it was pretty much PO and I).

We started up with an appetizer, which ended up being something not necessarily English: hummus (and, at the same time, some drinks, which, were Molson Canadian and pop). I will have to say the full description of this dish was quite interesting: Roasted garlic and spinach hummus. What arrived was somewhat unexpected.

First the pita bread: I was of the thick variety (if actual such thing exists, just look at the picture above). To an extent, it felt more like a filler than anything else! I would have certainly preferred the regular flat variation. The other “problem” is that it was quite bland but, hey, it is just bread so I won’t comment too much about it. As for the hummus… Well, that is the part that confused us quite a bit. Probably my expectations is a smooth paste, which I could then scoop with the pita bread. Obviously, we couldn’t do it with this thick, chunky paste. And when I mean chunky, I do mean chunky: there were still pieces of chick pea as we went through the dip. On that note, we ended up using a knife and then spread it on top of the “pita bread”. Flavourwise, it didn’t work in anyway. I mean, it was fine, just that I could taste either the garlic nor the spinach….

PO chose to go for the pulled pork sandwich, the dish I would have order as my second option. Visually, I will have to admit it does look quite good. I am not sure if serving the coleslaw on top was a good idea. It is just that it being a wet “salad”, plus the fact they added sauce to the pulled pork, it ended up being quite wet. I think it being served as a side would have worked better. As for the fries, meh, it was the generic version. I tried a piece of the pork form the exterior and it was quite… saucy. I think there was too much sauce but still decent. However, I found out a reason why: while the pieces from the outside were partially moist, the pieces from the inside weren’t so. In the end, I think I wasn’t so excited about it as I can do better…

Given I was in an English eatery, I thought I should order something English as well. Yup, that’s bangers and mash. One odd thing you will notice immediately is the carrot. Yup, that is baby-cut carrots. I won’t hold anything against them for using this. After all, this is a pub, I won’t expect much in terms of vegetables… As a result, the broccoli was OK, not much to comment about.

The mashed potatoes was good and bad. While it was smooth, it was still stiff and lacked some liquid, either milk or broth. At that point, I was wondering if this was made out of a pack… (There were some pieces of skins so, at that point, I didn’t care much). Furthermore, some spice was badly needed, as there wasn’t much taste at all. I guess that’s why it had a heavy serving of gravy… On that note, I will admit the gravy was quite good. It wasn’t salty and had a slight hint of fried goodness. I can’t pinpoint if it was beef or pork, though. Regardless, it was good. And, finally, the sausage… I won’t say it was spectacular or anything, it was just OK. It was pork based and the meat wasn’t too smooth but there weren’t much chunks either. It was crispy on the outside and, when cut, it had a slight snap on it. So, the cooking method was good, the sausage wasn’t the best.

In the end, the food wasn’t spectacular by any means but, then again, this is a pub, where food might not be the main focus. If we look from that perspective, I would call it is quite decent – the caveat, of course, is that I am not much of a drinker. Now, if I were to compare this to Fogg N’ Suds, for some reason, I prefer the later.

Fogg N’ Suds
10720 Cambie Road, Richmond, BC
1323 Robson Street (Location visited)
Vancouver, BC

Unless you are living under the rock, or probably an American or Canadian without any too much connection outside of North-America, the Football World Cup is currently going on in South Africa. Yes, football, as in that sports that you actually use your feet to kick a ball 90% of the time, unlike *ahem* American football. Go ahead, we can have a discussion about naming conventions and what not but, unlike, NBA, NFL, MLB or even NHL, where the “championship” is local (read: North-American minus Mexico), the FIFA World Cup is a global event. It is a simple sport and, if you want to play, you only need a team and some open space. Hell, at times you can even “improvise” a ball and some sticks to mark the goal. Rules are quite simple and, unlike the before mentioned sports, what is called on the field sticks. No instant replay, no fancy technology. (Sorry, England, you got your Wimbley Goal 30+ years ago…).

Now, putting all those issues aside, given the time difference and, in part due broadcasting, one of the games were scheduled around noon our time, which means going for lunch to watch the game! Going to a fancy type restaurant for lunch to watch a game sounds a really bad idea so, instead, PO and I went to more adequate places to watch the football games: a pub. In this case, we went to Fogg N’ Suds, located in the same block as Hon’s in Robson. In fact, it is right in front of Dea Bak Bon Ga on the second story!

The day we went it was still the initial round so, oh, well, the games might not have been as exciting as the ones playing this week in the round of 16/round of 8. Still there was your share of customers going there for drinks and pub fare. In PO and my case, food and drinks as well.

In PO’s case, let’s just say he can handle alcohol way better than me so he started with some beer. Feel free to call me wimp for ordering just pop but, hey, you don’t want to see me do my work while tipsy! Anyway, they have quite a long list of beer including some specials so variety might not be an issue. As for PO’s beer, he didn’t quite like it but, as he mentioned, he should have asked for more details – the beer was wheat based and he does not quite like that type…

We decided to share an appetizer so we ordered chicken wings, specifically, buffalo wings. I will have to say these wings look bad, as it they were quite small. Furthermore, it didn’t have much in term of spiciness. If I have to compare them to the ones from Wings Pub & Grill or House of Wings, these were definitely subpar. The only saving grace was that they were cooked nicely but, then again, how difficult it would have been to do so?

For our “main”, PO went for a burger, specifically, the American burger – BBQ sauce, side bacon and cheddar. It is quite large, it had all the fat components and will set you back $13. Will keep the rest of the details as I ordered a similar one but a small twist…

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a tweet saying “Is this burger “shameless” enough to be called a shameless burger?“. Well, that is exactly what I ordered, their “Famous Shameless Burger”, which has mushroom, cheddar, bacon and an all-beef wiener ($15). I was so ashamed to order this that I ask for a side salad rather than fries! (Of course, the waitress had a confused look when I wanted that side of greens).

As mentioned above, it had your share of fat intake for the day. It put my previous experience with the wiener in a burger experience to shame (OK, that didn’t sound right…) Anyway, all the fact did add up to something as the meat patty was actually acceptable. It wasn’t undercooked nor burnt and, in fact, it was still moist to a degree. The bacon was also good as it was quite crispy. The cheddar was meh but I wonder if it was real cheddar rather than some form of processed cheese… As for the wiener, unfortunately, it was the worst part of the burger. While I was given the suggestion to take it out before eating it, I went to eat it as is. From a structural perspective, there was a challenge but that wasn’t something I cared much about. Instead, is that the taste of the wiener didn’t complement the burger. In fact, it tasted like an over-sized cheap sausage… (OK, once again, it didn’t sound correct…). Probably had they used a different version? Like a wurst?

Had I scaled back and went for something similar to the American burger, I think it would have been an interesting experience. But, overall, the food is what you would expect from a pub. Nothing fancy and not necessarily exciting either. While the wings were subpar, the burger was decent (though, the question is whether it is worth the $12/$15). But, if you go to a pub for the reason most people go for, i.e., drinks, Fogg N’ Sudd seem to provide a good alternative. However, in my case, since I am not much of a drinker, that partially answers the question.

Michi Waffle & Expresso Bar
1319 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

To quote Sherman, “you got lots of good eats here!”. Now, he wasn’t referring to Surrey or Delta; he was referring to the West End, where Mijune, Sherman and I was after the event in Prestons, which we left early. Normally, after such event, it would have been everybody going home or some other activity. But, in this case, it wasn’t that hard to “convince” them to try a semi-new waffle/coffee bar in Robson Street, near Hon’s. Hey, we are all for some good time and, well, food! (Not to mention, we had the subject-matter expert in hand for this!). That place was Michi Waffles & Expresso Bar.

The setup of Michi is more similar to that of a lounge and, since it was empty when we arrived, we snatched the couch (and the small coffee table). OK, it was supposed to be shared by all customers; however, considering that we were sharing the food (not to mention some goodies Sherman graciously brought from OUTSIDE this shop) plus three drinks, we pretty much grabbed all the space available. Yeah, we can be such space hoarders at times!

Given that the place’s name includes waffles that automatically meant we were going to order waffles. Now, none of us are coffee drinkers so we left that part of the equation out. One thing I am not sure if I should be disappointed or should be OK with it was the fact all the waffles were sitting in a cool display. Won’t that affect the texture of the waffles? Shouldn’t it be on display outside? Shouldn’t it be made to order? I guess each business has there own way to prepare food and, rather than arguing on those aspects, we rather make a judgement based on what is on the table, starting with the drinks.

Matcha red bean smoothie

Ice Wild Berry

Tea, Earl Grey, Hot!

I didn’t try either Mijune’s (matcha red bean smoothie) or Sherman’s (ice wild berry) drinks so I can’t say for certain how good/bad they were. Instead, I will suggest you check their posts, here and here… As for me, yeah, tea (Earl Grey, by now you can pretty much guess it!). I know I ordered something “bland” but, hey, at least, it is something that allows you to determine how good the company is about the supplier of things like this. I mean, if they don’t pay particular attention! As for the tea, I will have to say it was quite good. It had a dry taste which matched quite well that hint of Bergamot orange taste. And, now, the reason why we came here…

Originally served with only two waffles, we ended up adding a third waffle to share. One each, you know! The three waffles are the original, matcha and chocolate. It was served with a sliced banana drizzled with chocolate, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a compote – in our case, blueberry. The banana and chocolate was OK; it is a good combination but it is one of those borderline basic tried and true ones so I won’t go into deeper details. The ice cream was actually quite decent. Not necessarily the best in the world but I won’t complain about it. But, the compote was really good. While it wasn’t that sweet, had it been sweeter, it would have turned into a blueberry like sauce, something I might have not enjoyed it that much. As it is, it was a winner. And, now, the waffles, themselves…

Now, I am not that much of a waffle fan in the straight sense of the word. I would eat it but not necessarily in a hurry to go and get one. For the most part, I would rather go for a crepe but that’s a different story. In the case of the waffles here, starting with the original, I thought there was some level of chewiness which I found OK, though at the same time I wish there was some more crispiness on the exterior. Since used that as a baseline, when moving to the matcha, I found… Emptiness? I don’t know about you but, to me, the current use of green tea in products is darn overrated/exaggerated. In this case, I didn’t taste that much of matcha (which is already subtle to begin with). In fact, had it been a blind taste, I would have easily confused it with the original version. And, finally, the chocolate… The one word that can describe the chocolate version would be “cake”. Given its texture, it tasted more like a cake than a waffle so you can draw your own conclusions. It wasn’t bad but, given I prefer eating dark chocolate, there is a limit on how much I can tolerate. But, if I had to choose, I would easily go for the chocolate version among the three.

One thing I will have to admit was that service here was top notch. As mentioned above, Sherman brought some other goodies which required some re-heating. Mijune had the guts to ask them if it could be nuked in their microwave and they were fine with it (the assumption was that we would eat it there). Not only they re-heated it in the microwave, they plated them before bringing it out! Furthermore, everything that required attention from them was done without any fuzz and almost discretely.

But, as for the shop in general, well, I am not a fan of sweets and all that. While I had a really good time with Mijune and Sherman, it didn’t change my mind about waffles and certainly not about sweets. However, it is a good place to hang and might be better than Starbucks a couple of doors away but, as for food, well, I am not convinced. Probably somebody else will like it better than me…