Archive for July, 2007
Monday, July 30th, 2007
Well, we don’t exactly have the secret White Spot Triple-O sauce recipe - but there are many theories about what makes that absolutely legendary taste. We’ve scoured the Internet, talked with theorists, and got information from informants and believe we have some good theories of what it is made of.
In case you don’t know what we’re talking about, White Spot is a line of restaurants on the west coast of Canada and makes some of the best burgers in in the region. Their signature “Triple-O” sauce and toasted buns is what distinguishes itself from the run-of-the-mill burger you get elsewhere.
It’s been speculated (not confirmed) that the sauce was actually developed at the University of British Columbia’s Food Sciences lab and was commissioned by White Spot.
These days, if you ask for extra Triple-O sauce (yes! you can!) at White Spot, you’ll notice that you get little cup that has a white sauce and a red sauce on top. Let’s get right down to the theories. Let’s talk about the white sauce first and then the red sauce.
Theories for the white sauce:
- Mayo (Homemade, traditional style)
- Mayo with Honey and some paprika
- Sweet Mayo with cayenne pepper
- Mayo with some onion powder and cayenne pepper
- Mayo with melted butter
- Mayo with Orange Juice -hence Triple O? (probably not since Triple O meant triple the sauce)
Theories for the red sauce:
It seems like most people are in agreement that the red sauce is nothing other than:
Red Relish (also known as Hamburger relish) - eg. Bicks brand
So there you have it - the maybe-secret-recipe to the White Spot Triple-O Sauce. We’ll be trying some of these theories out ourselves at the next BBQ and will be reporting back to you soon. Please leave us a comment if you have other theories or insights!
Posted in Articles | 16 Comments »
Sunday, July 29th, 2007
My family went to Shiru-Bay Chopstick Cafe in Yaletown last week to celebrate my mom’s birthday. Shiru-Bay is a Japanese izakaya restaurant that serves interesting twists to many Japanese-inspired dishes. The environment is funky and you are greeted as soon as you walk through the door by a chorus of friendly staff.
First, we ordered the ebi chili mayo (shrimp with chili mayonnaise). It came with some deep fried wonton wrappers that added to the crunch of the shrimp. The chili mayo was the right amount of spiciness for me but there was some extra chili sauce on the side for those who needed it.
Next came the negitoro & avocado tartare, which was served with some pieces of garlic toast. The creamy tartare went great with the crunchy pieces of toast.
One of the specialties at Shiru-Bay is the Hiaburi Shime Saba, which is fresh mackerel that is seared by the server right at your table. The saba is then brought back to the kitchen, where half of it is turned into a salad and the other half is served as sashimi. The buttery saba went great with the crunchy veggies in the salad and was just as good on its own in the sashimi.
The last time I was here, my grandpa really liked the duck, which was served with some black olive mashed potatoes and a tangy cranberry balsamic miso sauce. The tender duck went great with the tangy sauce.
We had to eat some salad to balance out our meal so we had the crab & avocado salad, which was served with some wasabi mayo. The vegetable content in this dish was a bit lacking though and there was a little too much mayo for my taste. It seemed like it would be better served as a spread with some crackers.
The edamame also added to the veggie content for the evening.
The KaraAgeJyan also sounded interesting. It was deep fried chicken served with grilled veggies and spiced ponzu sauce. The chicken was light and crispy but to tell you the truth, my favourite part of this dish was the veggies. They had a nice grilled flavour and the ponzu sauce went very well with it.
I don’t remember the name of this dish but it was one of the daily specials. The reason we got this dish was because it sounded very healthy and we needed a reprieve from the fried dishes we were eating. 
There was a daikon radish, tomato, egg, and fish cakes served in a clear broth. The fish cakes were very tasty.
Another favourite of ours from the last time we were here was the crab croquette. An empty crab shell is filled with a creamy crab spread and then baked in the oven. This dish was very rich and would have been better if there was more bread for us to put the crab spread on.
We also tried the fresh scallop and spinach salad. The scallops were lightly seared on the outside and then tossed into the salad, which also had slices of strawberries and toasted pecans. The serving of salad was very generous and came in a nice big bowl.
We also ordered the Keihan, which was steamed rice, chicken, and shitake mushroom with dashi broth. The broth came in a teapot and we poured that over the bowl of rice. This dish was nice and light and I would imagine the perfect thing to have on a cold and rainy day.
The kimchi udon was also a hit the last time we came so we ordered this again. The udon was bouncy and chewy, just the way I like it. The kimchi added a tangy and spicy hit to the dish.
For dessert, we shared the natto ice cream. Natto is fermented soy beans and although this sounded like an odd combination to go with ice cream, it is actually very good. The natto and ice cream is mixed in front of you and it gives the ice cream an elastic consistency, similar to salt water taffy.
Overall, it was a terrific meal. I like izakayas because they give you a different variety of Japanese foods from what you typically experience in a sushi restaurant. Because the dishes are tapas-sized, you can order several dishes and try a little of everything. The service is normally quite good here but this time, it was a bit lacking…perhaps due to the Saturday evening busy hour.
Details:
1193 Hamilton St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-408-9315
Summary:
Food: 
Service: 
Price: $$ and a half
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 6 Comments »
Thursday, July 26th, 2007
I went to the Taiwan Beef Noodle House last week at 8390 Granville St. I had always driven past this place and noted the busy parking lot but had never actually ventured in. When Andrea suggested that we meet here for dinner, I quickly agreed.
Inside was pretty quiet, despite it being the prime dinner hour (around 7:30pm). I suppose this place is more of a lunch stop for people.
My baseline dish for any Taiwanese restaurant is the fried chicken with rice. Hands down, this is my favourite dish. For those of you who have never tried this before, it is less heavy and greasy when compared to American-style fried chicken. The batter is light and a bit saltie as well.
Of course because this was my first time here, I had to try the fried chicken with rice. At $6.50, it was comparable to the same dish at other similar restaurants. It came with some pickled cabbage, tofu, and stir-fried veggies. The chicken tasted great…crispy but not oily. However, the rice was very dry and tough to eat.
We also shared a small plate of 3 Taiwanese appetizers: seaweed, marinated tofu, and pickled cucumbers. The cucumbers were very crunchy and refreshing. The seaweed was cut more thinly than I was used to but also very tasty. There was nothing special about the marinated tofu but it was also very good.
Andrea had dumplings with noodles in soup. It looked pretty tasty with crunchy bean sprouts and other assorted veggies but the dumpling content in the soup was quite low.
Chuck had a bowl of the beef noodle soup. You get to choose between thick or thin noodles for both this dish and the dumpling noodle soup. I’m more of a thin noodle person but this looked quite tasty.
In all, this place was ok. I probably won’t get a rice dish again next time though…but they also have the fried chicken in noodle soup. Perhaps I will try that next time. For the 3 of us, the total bill came to around $20 so I really can’t complain. It’s probably better suited as a lunch place though.
Details:
8390 Granville St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-266-7966
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Asian, Chinese, Reviews | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, July 24th, 2007
I went with John and Louis today to the Pittsburgh Cafe at Crystal Mall in Burnaby. It is actually spelled “Pittsburg” but I am a stickler for spelling so I refuse to spell something wrong on purpose, even if it was spelled incorrectly on a sign. It is a Hong Kong-style cafe that serves a mix of Asian and Asian-style Western dishes.
Coincidentally or not, the three of us all ordered basically the same thing. Louis and John had the curried pork cutlet with rice and I had the curried chicken with rice. What can I say, it was a day for curry.
First came our drinks. This was basically the only place where our choices differed. The mini meals we had all chosen came with our choice of a drink. Because we all chose cold drinks, there was an extra $0.80 charged. But at a base cost of $7.25 for each of our mini meals, this was a pretty good deal.
I had a cold Ovaltine, which is a kind of chocolaty malt drink. Sometimes this can taste pretty watered down but today, it wasn’t bad. Louis had the iced lemon tea, which came with fresh lemons that you had to mash with your spoon in order to release the lemon taste. John had an iced Hong Kong-style tea & coffee drink.
Louis and John each had the curried pork cutlet with rice. The pork was lightly breaded and deep fried and then immersed into the curry sauce. It also came with some roasted potatoes and deep fried onion strips.
The rice came on a separate plate and was probably equivalent to 2-3 bowls of rice. More than enough for lunch…especially when you have to go back to work afterwards.
I forgot to take a picture of my curry chicken with rice but just imagine the same looking dish of curry as above, but substitute the pork with chicken. My chicken was a bit on the salty side but the potatoes had a nice roasted taste and the curry sauce was just the right amount of spicyness.
Pittsburgh Redux
I went to Pittsburgh Cafe again a couple of days later with Louis, John, and Dustin. Here are some shots of the meals we tried this time around:
John had a baked spaghetti with meat sauce. It was made Hong Kong style, which meant the sauce is a bit sweet and ketchupy, especially when compared to Western-style spaghetti dishes.
Louis and Dustin both had the baked chicken with a cheese alfredo sauce. Apparently, this is a popular choice with people. The sauce looked to be a bit on the heavy side but Louis assured me it was very tasty.
I had the baked beef tongue and tomato with spaghetti. If you have never tried beef tongue before but you like the taste of beef, you should try this at least once.
Details:
1687 - 4500 Kingsway, Burnaby
Tel: 604-438-6263
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Asian, Chinese, Reviews | No Comments »
Monday, July 23rd, 2007
A bunch of us went to the Chili Pepper House at 3003 Kingsway in Vancouver for Gene’s birthday. This is one of a few Chinese-Indian restaurants in the area…another notable one is the Green Lettuce just down the street on Kingsway. The owners of this restaurant are Chinese and grew up in India, which means that they have an interesting take on the food here. Because there were six of us, we decided to order a bunch of dishes to share. Gene comes here pretty often so he did all the ordering for us. For almost any dish, you can choose between 1-3 “chili peppers”, meaning mild, medium, or hot. We picked medium spicyness for everything.
First came the hot and sour soup. The soup was thick and spicy. It was a bit more sour than the Chinese-style hot and sour soup I was more accustomed to.
Next came some fried green beans. The beans were fresh and crunchy with a hint of spicyness. Just the way I like them.
The fried chicken noodles were next. Think of them as your typical soy sauce chicken fried noodles but with a kick of spicyness. The noodles had a nice bounce to them and were very tasty.
The haaji prawns are always a favourite and this time, it was no exception. If you like spicyness, garlic, and prawns, this is the dish to get. Even though we asked for medium spicyness, this seemed way spicier.
Next came another fan favourite, the Manchurian veggie balls. The best way to describe them is to imagine balls of chopped veggies (carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, etc) deep fried and then drenched in spicy Manchurian sauce. There is a lot of sauce with this dish though so it is best eaten with some rice.
And for our last dish, we had the Manchurian chicken. This was cubes of chicken deep fried and then drizzled in the same Manchurian sauce as the veggie balls.
It was a great meal and we were all sniffling at the end due to the spiciness of all the dishes. I normally find that they are heavy on the sauce here so if you are not into that, you may want to get some dishes that are “dry”. Another alternative is to make sure you have a healthy serving of rice to soak up all the sauce. This place is quite popular and by the time it was 12:30pm, the restaurant was packed.
Details:
1-3003 Kingsway, Vancouver
Tel: 604-431-8633
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Indian, Asian, Chinese, Reviews | 13 Comments »
Monday, July 23rd, 2007
Mabel took me out for dinner at Guu with Garlic at 1698 Robson Street the other day. It is one of the three Guu restaurants in downtown Vancouver. Guu with Garlic is one of many izakaya restaurants that are found in the Vancouver area. For those of you who have never been to an izakaya restaurant, think of it as a Japanese-inspired tapas bar. Shared plates are the norm here as well as a noisy and friendly environment.
Mabel and I had been waiting to come here for days and were appropriately hungry when we walked through the door. Even though it was on 6pm, the place was already packed and we were lucky enough to grab two open seats at the counter.
We started with the okonomiyaki, which is a Japanese pancake. This is available at all three Guu locations and is my absolute favourite dish to order when I come here. The outside is light and crispy while the inside is soft and packed with veggies and seafood. The sauce provides a tangy/sweet contrast to the savoury pancake.
Next came the beef carpaccio. Lightly seared on the outside, it was drizzled with wasabi dressing.
When I go to any izakaya, I always have to try their ebi chilli mayo as it’s my benchmark. Basically, it is deep fried shrimp with chilli mayonnaise and a light sprinkling of veggies. The batter for the shrimp was heavier than I was used to and so was the copious amounts of chilli mayo. It was good…but I’ve had better.
Next, we had the kakuni, which was a stewed pork belly in a sweet sauce with a soft boiled egg on the side. Pork belly is one of my favourite cuts of pork when done correctly and this was no exception.
This concluded our first round of ordering. We were still hungry, so we saw fit to order four more dishes.
The best part about sitting at the counter is that you can see what everyone else is ordering. We ordered a kabocha-korokke, which is deep fried Japanese squash with a hard boiled egg in the middle. This is all then drizzled with a mayo-like sauce. The squash was sweet and went surprisingly well with the surprise egg in the middle.
We also ordered a kimchi udon, which came with green onions, seaweed, and spicy cod roe. The udon was nice and chewy, the way good udon should be.
By now, we were starting to get full..but we still had two more dishes coming…and dessert! I ordered the Tori-Karaage, which was deep fried chunks of chicken with a side of garlic mayo. I thought I was actually ordering some chicken wings, which I had seen other people get…but this was still pretty tasty.
And for our last dish (before dessert!), we had the grilled saba (mackerel). The mackerel was done just right…crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. It was also generously sprinkled with slices of deep fried garlic. Hey, this is Guu with GARLIC, after all. I liked the fish itself, but found the sauce and garlic to be too salty.
By now, you are probably horrified by how much food the two of us had eaten. But we did pack a bunch of things to take home. After all, we had to save room for dessert.
We shared an avocado cheesecake and a green tea ice cream. The cheesecake had the slightest hint of avocado and had a rich graham cracker crust. It tasted light but rich at the same time. The piece of cake was very small but was enough for us.
The green tea ice cream was lighter in texture and flavour when compared to the Mario’s Gelato flavour that can be found in most places in Vancouver. It was sprinkled with small rice crackers, which looked like sesame seeds from afar. This provided an interesting contrast to the smooth ice cream.
Mabel and I had a great time at Guu with Garlic. The atmosphere was fun and we got to try a large variety of dishes. It is always fun when you go to places like these with someone who is willing to try different things.
Details:
1698 Robson St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-685-8678
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$ and a half
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 1 Comment »
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