Archive for January, 2008
Monday, January 7th, 2008
Jenkins and I always walk past the BBT Cafe in Kerrisdale on our way to Michelle’s Cake Shop but never ventured inside. We were wandering around Kerrisdale one day looking for a place to go for dinner and decided it was time to try out BBT Cafe. It is a Taiwanese-style restaurant which also serves…you guessed it! Bubble Tea! Our objective this evening was strictly for dinner, so the bubble tea review will have to come another day.
Jenkins and I started with a plate of pork dumplings. We were given bottles of vinegar and soy sauce so we could create our own dipping sauce concoction. The dumplings were cooked just right and the skin was nice and chewy, which I like.
Jenkins picked the chicken curry with rice. I can’t remember the exact price but I think it was $6 or 7, which is a pretty good deal. The chicken curry was cooked Japanese style, so it was a bit sweet and not spicy at all. What was especially nice about this was that it came with a lot of veggies. 
I went for the peppery fried chicken with rice. This is my benchmark dish for Taiwanese places and BBT Cafe’s rendition was quite tasty. I like my chicken to be more peppery but I liked how this version did not have too much batter and was not very greasy. I also had a multitude of side dishes, including bok choy and corn, black bean and tofu, and orange slices.
The dishes we tried at BBT Cafe were quite good and we will definitely be back. When we are in Kerrisdale, we usually go for White Spot or one of the Japanese restaurants so it is nice that we have another option open to us now. I can’t remember the exact price of our dinner but I believe it was $20 or less, which is a great deal for dinner. The service is a bit slow though and it takes a while for the food to come, so just keep that in mind when you are eating there.
Details:
5979 West Boulevard, Vancouver
Tel: 604-266-2195
Summary:
Food: 
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Asian, Chinese, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Sunday, January 6th, 2008
Jenkins and I went to Kirin Seafood Restaurant on Cambie at 12th (City Square) one weekend for dim sum. It has been a while since I was last at this particular Kirin, since I normally go to the one in Richmond. This Kirin is located on the top level of City Square mall.
It was a clear day and we were seated right by the window so we had a nice view of downtown. My picture here doesn’t do it justice so you will need to use your imagination.
Jenkins was in the mood for fried rice so we only ordered a few dim sum items. First up was some siu mai (pork and shrimp dumplings). This was piping hot and very tasty. The pork made this dumpling extra juicy.
We also had some Chinese doughnut wrapped in rice roll wrap (jah lurng). Kirin differentiated their version of this dish by adding shredded pork. The doughnut was extra crispy and the shredded pork was a nice addition.
There was a small dish of XO sauce included with our lunch, which I used to dip the siu mai and jah lurng in. It was quite spicy, so I didn’t need to add very much to give the food an extra kick.
The har gow was very tasty. The rice wrap was thin and cooked just right. My only complaint was that the har gow could have been a bit bigger.
Jenkins and I decided to try the honeymoon fried rice. I like this fried rice because it has two sauces, which means twice the flavour and twice the fun! The white side is a cram sauce with peas and shrimp while the red side is tomato-based and comes with chunks of tomatoes and chicken. Both sides were good although I always prefer the tomato side more. This dish was also a bit small, although very tasty.
I always find the dim sum at Kirin to be a tad too expensive although the food is always very good. The service here is also very efficient and attentive. Even though the restaurant was busy, it is not as busy as the other Kirin restaurants so we were able to get a seat easily and by the window, no less.
Details:
555 W 12th Ave, Vancouver
Tel: 604-879-8038
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Asian, Chinese, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008
A bunch of us headed to Foo Lai Ho for some cheap dim sum one day for lunch. We were actually planning to go to Oscar’s for some Hong Kong style cafe goodness but it was closed for renovations. Since we hadn’t been to Foo Lai Ho for a while, we decided to stop there for lunch. Louis was so excited to be back that he insisted on taking a picture in front of the restaurant.
Foo Lai Ho has an old-style dim sum system going on in that everything is pushed around on a cart. First, we selected the steamed beef rolls. These were pretty good, although there was more rice roll than beef.
The steamed sticky rice was very good and came in fairly big portion sizes. It also came with Chinese sausages, pork, and mushrooms inside.
One of my favourite dim sum items is the fried eggplant with shrimp paste. The one at Foo Lai Ho is not too bad and they are quite generous with the shrimp paste.
The deep fried shrimp in wonton wrappers was pretty standard. Surprisingly, it was not too greasy even though it was deep fried.
The deep fried tofu with shrimp had more tofu than shrimp. Again, nothing new but it was pretty good.
There wasn’t very much meat in the steamed BBQ pork buns…
Most of the items at Foo Lai Ho are what you would find at most dim sum places. The deep fried taro and shrimp was something new though and quite tasty!
Unfortunately, the egg tarts were cold and the crust was not very flakey.
The cold chicken and jellyfish salad was quite tasty although I would have preferred it with more chicken. It’s also possible that this dish was prepared a while ago as the deep fried wonton skins were a bit soggy.
The pastry wrap in the BBQ pork puff pastry was too thick for my liking and I would have liked it with more BBQ pork.
The shrimp spring rolls were quite good but tasted very similar to the other deep fried items with shrimp.
I didn’t like the thick skin on the har gow (shrimp dumplings). The shrimp on the inside was pretty tasty though.
The dim sum at Foo Lai Ho isn’t spectacular, but at $2/dish, you really can’t ask for much more. At least the quality of food and service is always the same so you know what to expect! There are also quite a few shrimp dishes, which is surprising when you are only paying $2 for each item. If you are looking for a fast and cheap dim sum fix, this may be a worthwhile place to check out.
Details:
3048 Kingsway, Vancouver
Tel: 604-430-0443
Summary:
Food: 
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Asian, Chinese, Reviews | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
Juanita, Tricia, and I headed over to Le Marrakech for some Morroccan food one evening. This restaurant had opened fairly recently (in the last year or so, I think) and we had heard rave reviews so we figured it was time to try it out. It is located in 52 Alexander St in Gastown.
The inside is quite dim and decorated Morrocan style. We had actually hoped we could sit on the floor on some cushions, but this was not available. 
The tables were also quite low but the seats were of regular height, which made the seating a bit uncomfortable at times.
Most of the dishes are share style, although they could also be eaten individually. We decided to share a few appetizers and entrees. First came a chicken “pie” with orange blossom honey and almonds wrapped in filo. It was then sprinkled with cinnamon and some icing sugar. The filo was light and crispy and the combination of the chicken, almonds, honey, and cinnamon was a tasty and interesting combination.
Next came a combination of three salads. I don’t remember what this one was now but I think it was a creamy tomato-based spread.
Eggplant salad, which turned out to be baba ganoush. This was the best of the three salads. The eggplant was creamy and quite flavourful.
The tomato, cucumber, and mint salad was surprisingly bland. It was difficult to taste the mint flavour.
We were recommended to eat the salads with some Moroccan flat bread. What we got though was more like store-bought whole wheat bread that didn’t have any flavour at all.
Next came a seafood stew with mussels, prawns, scallops, and salmon. For some odd reason, it also came with a grilled meat patty on top. We weren’t too sure what that had to do with seafood stew though. The prawns came whole with the head on, but were extremely small. The meat patty was also pretty odd and didn’t seem to go with the dish at all.
We also ordered a braised short rib with cous cous in a tagine. The cous cous was a bit overcooked and quite mushy. Even though this was supposed to be a short rib, the “ribs” seemed to be more of a beef brisket than anything else! It was quite dry and did not have very much taste.
The three of us had pretty high expectations for Le Marrakech and we were disappointed with our experience here. With the exception of the chicken filo, everything else was lacking in taste and was not cooked very well. I have heard several good reviews from other sources (including websites and newspapers) so I am not sure why our experience differed so much from theirs. When I got home, I looked up Le Marrakech on a couple of websites and people either loved it or hated it. I guess I just happen to fall in the latter camp! The food was also quite expensive for what you get at about $18-25 for an entree.
Details:
52 Alexander St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-688-3714
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$$
Posted in Moroccan, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
Happy New Year, everyone!
My team went to Dona Cata for some Mexican food one day…and also to celebrate Gene’s service anniversary with the company. This place was recommended by Gene and doesn’t have the usual Tex Mex food that is offered at most Mexican places.
There is a large selection of salsas and dips at the front of the restaurant for us to use on the various dishes that are ordered. A lot of them are quite spicy but the variety is a nice deviation from the usual salsa that is offered at most places.
We tried a peanut salsa on the tortillas that were served when we sat down at the table. The peanut flavour was quite light, but that may have been because this dip was quite spicy so it was hard to taste anything else.
I am a big fan of torta subs so I decided to try the chicken torta. All the meat here is steamed so I found my chicken to be quite dry. Also in the sub was tomatoes, onions, lettuce, avocados, and mayo. Despite my sub being served immediately after it was made, my bread was already soggy.
I also ordered a mini tortilla with pork and pineapple. The mini tortillas are $1.25 each and seem to be the most popular item here. If you want cheese, I think it costs an extra $0.25 but I like mine without cheese. There are several different meat fillings you can choose from, including chicken, beef, and pork. I added some green tomato salsa to mine. I enjoyed this way more than my torta sub. The tortilla shell was soft and the pork filling was spicy and tasty. I like how because each tortilla is individually priced, you can mix and match and try several different types.
The next time I am here, I will skip the torta sub and order just the mini tortillas. With the different types of meat filling and salsas available, you will have to make several visits before being able to clain you have tried everything.
Details:
5076 Victoria Dr, Vancouver, BC
Tel: 604-236-2232
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Mexican, Reviews | No Comments »
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