I had been a while since I last met up with Miguel so we organized a dinner one evening and joining us were Cedric, Louis, and Dustin. It was more convenient for the majority of us if we met downtown and since I was tired of being the designated restaurant chooser, I left the decision up to the others. We ended up meeting at Cafe Luxy, which is on Davie Street close to the Shopper’s Drug Mart. For some reason, I had never noticed it so I was looking forward to checking it out.

Cedric had described Cafe Luxy as a downtown version of Anton’s so with my expectations adjusted accordingly, I checked out the menu. We all ordered pastas, which also came with garlic bread. It was pretty standard tasting but there was a nice amount of butter although a little more garlic may have been good. I had wanted to eat a part of my garlic bread with my pasta but it took forever for our pastas to come out so I gave up.

The pastas also came with a Caesar salad but I wanted to be a little healthier that day and asked if they had a regular green salad instead. My green salad came with some balsamic dressing and as you can see below, it was fairly lacklustre. The carrots seemed to be shaved with a vegetable peeler and the tomato was a little sad looking. The balsamic dressing was also a little acidic for my taste but I like for my balsamic dressing to have a little more oil to balance the flavours out.

As I mentioned earlier, it took a really long time for our food to come out and I’m not sure if they were understaffed that evening or if it was typical. Cedric noted that the kitchen staff seemed to be different from the regular crew that he normally encountered so I’m not sure if that was why the food took so long to come out. Cafe Luxy has an extensive pasta-centric menu and after some deliberation, I decided to have the linguine con chorizo, which came with bell peppers, baby corn, and chorizo in a spicy tomato cream sauce. The flavours turned out to be a little odd and I didn’t feel that the baby corn went very well with the chorizo and there were a little too much bell peppers. The tomato cream sauce wasn’t bad but it wasn’t spicy at all and I felt that the pasta was a little overcooked.

If you are just looking for a large quantity of pasta at fairly reasonable prices, I would say that Cafe Luxy is a good option for you. It’s definitely not the place to have authentic or dare I say even well-made pasta. The pasta isn’t bad but just not the type of pasta that I normally like to eat and I think it’s intended to appeal to a certain part of the population. From a value perspective, it isn’t bad though as the portion sizes are definitely generous and I had enough pasta for lunch the next day as well. If you are an Anton’s fan and are looking for a similar option in downtown, check out Cafe Luxy.

Details:
1235 Davie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-669-5899

Summary:
Food: 2 out of 5 stars
Service: 2 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

Jenkins and I met up with Jenkins’ mom for dim sum one sunny weekend afternoon. Jenkins’ dad was supposed to come as well but there was a slight mix-up in coordinating the date and our original lunch for four ended up being just for three. I had previously reviewed Top Shanghai Cuisine a few years ago but it had been quite a while since my last visit and I had never actually been for dim sum before.

Jenkins’ mom was pretty flexible and decided to let me and Jenkins do the majority of the ordering. We thought we weren’t very hungry that day but we ended up ordering a good mix of dishes anyway. We started with the spicy wontons. I kind of expected them to be similar to the Cantonese version but the Shanghainese version was completely different. The small pork wontons came dressed in a sweet and spicy peanut and chilli sauce that was delicious. The peanut flavour was further heightened by the crushed peanuts on top. I would say this was a fairly spicy dish but it didn’t bother me at all. This dish was quite a hit at our table and we ended up saving the sauce as a condiment for some of our later dishes.

One of Top Shanghai Cuisine’s specialties is obviously the xiao long bao so we definitely needed to order some. I thought that the skin was slightly thicker than my previous visit but still gave way easily to the juicy pork filling inside. I think this place still ranks among the better xiao long bao eateries in the city.

One of Jenkins’ favourite dim sum items is the pan-fried pork buns. Nothing out of the ordinary with the offering here but it was well made nonetheless. The bottom was quite crispy and the filling seemed to be the same as the pork filling used in the xiao long baos. Even though the pan fried buns were not as juicy as the XLBs, they were definitely juicier than the version at many other restaurants, which I liked.

In hindsight, we probably shouldn’t have ordered the pan-fried dumplings because they tasted like a cross between the pan-fried pork buns and the xiao long baos so we really didn’t get a lot of variety. The only comment I can make here is that they were fried nicely, with the bottom being nice and crispy. Similarly, the filling seemed to be very similar (if not the same as) the filling for the XLBs and pan-fried pork buns.

We also wanted to order a filler item so we perused the noodle section of the menu for some options. I really like the sticky rice cakes so I wanted something that had that and Jenkins settled on the Shanghai rice cakes with vegetables and pork. I thought the sauce was a little on the salty side but the rice cakes are generally pretty bland so it soaked up a lot of the flavour so the saltiness wasn’t overwhelming. I enjoyed the chewy consistency of the rice cakes and the veggies provided a nice crunchy contrast.

Overall, we had a pleasant lunch at Top Shanghai Cuisine. As I probably noted in my previous review and as many other people have noted, service really isn’t the best here so you have to go in with fairly low (if any) expectations. That being said, the service at lunch seemed to be slightly better than what we’re used to during the dinner service. The food here is quite good though and their dim sum menu is a nice change from the usual Cantonese dim sum fare that I’m used to.

Details:
5880 No. 3 Road, Richmond
Tel: 604-278-8790

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 2 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

Having grown up in and around the Oakridge area, I’d often noticed Tony’s Beef Noodle right across the street from Oakridge Mall but for some reason, I never ventured inside. Maybe it was because it always seemed empty in the evenings or maybe because I always had other plans in mind for lunch. In any case, Jenkins and I happened to be in the area one weekend afternoon and decided to finally check it out for lunch.

I debated a bit about what to order but in the end, I decided to order the small beef noodle in soup. As you can see in the photo below, the broth was not too greasy and it also had a ton of great beefy flavour. Instead of thinly sliced beef shank in many other beef noodle places, the beef here was actually thick chunks of beef, which were cooked quite tender. The noodles were a tad overcooked for my liking but overall, the beef noodles exceeded my expectations. I should also note that the small order of the beef noodle was more than enough for me that day.

Jenkins decided to order the crispy salty peppery chicken with rice. This was pretty substantial and also came with half a marinated egg, some cabbage, and tomato with egg. The chicken was indeed quite crispy with a pretty thick batter. I would have liked for there to be slightly more chicken so that the pieces were juicier but this is my personal preference when it comes to this dish. It went quite well with the rice though and the tomato with egg added some moisture to the dish. Even though the tomato and egg was just a side dish, it was actually one of my favourite components of this dish.

Overall, Jenkins and I enjoyed our lunch at Tony’s Beef Noodle. For days when we’re at Oakridge and don’t feel like eating at the food court, it’s nice to know that this place is conveniently located just across the street.

Details:
5754 Cambie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-327-5061

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $

Jenkins and I have been long-time fans of Ebi Ten so when we learned that there was going to be an addition to the Ebi Ten family in the form of Ramen Jinya, we were eager to check it out. I’m not sure if all of the Ramen Jinyas worldwide are owned by Ebi Ten but the Los Angeles location of Ramen Jinya was voted as one of the 10 best dishes of 2010. With such promising accolades, Jenkins and I had high hopes.

We went to Ramen Jinya for dinner one evening and although it was fairly busy, we only had to wait a few minutes before snagging a table. I decided to choose the shio tonkotsu ramen, which was advertised as the pork premium rich broth and limited to only 20 servings a day. The noodles used at Ramen Jinya are the straight egg noodles rather than the curly noodles and I find that this generally means the noodles have  a firmer texture. The pork was nice and fatty, as was the broth itself but I felt that the broth exhibited a lot of fattiness without the richness in flavour. Although certainly not the worst ramen I’ve had, I felt that there was a bit of a greasy aftertaste to this dish that I didn’t really like.

Jenkins went the slightly less glamorous route and decided instead on the shoyu tonkotsu ramen, which was the original pork broth. Interestingly enough, the original pork broth seemed darker in colour but I found the flavour of the broth to be pretty much the same as my supposedly richer pork broth. I tried this dish again on a subsequent visit and found that both times, the broths suffered from the same greasiness but lacked a richness which is usually present in such ramen broths.

Jenkins and I felt that Ramen Jinya put up an attempt to bring tasty ramen to the other end of Robson Street but if you are really looking for a good bowl of ramen, I’d recommend that you stick to the Denman side of Robson. If you’re in a pinch and desperate for ramen, Ramen Jinya may be the place for you.

Details:
270 Robson Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-568-9711

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $

A few years back, Jenkins and I went to Sushi Maro for dinner one day. I think it may have even been before this blog was created so it was quite a while ago. In any case, the food was terrible and service was a little suspect so we never ventured back. Recently though, a co-worker mentioned to me that he often gets takeout from Sushi Maro for his family and Jenkins heard a lot of good things as well so we decided to give it another shot. One thing we did notice upon entering was that the decor had changed so it’s possible that there was some type of ownership or kitchen change as well.

We weren’t overly hungry that day so we decided to share only a couple of items. We started with the sushi pizza, which is also one of our favourites from Sushiyama so we thought it would be fun to do a little comparison. It took a while to come out but I think it was worth the wait. The deep fried sushi rice on the bottom maintained a nice crispy exterior and a chewy interior. I thought it was a little difficult to eat since the pieces of tuna and salmon were cut into chunks, which fell off as I bit into each “slice”. That being said, I thought the sushi pizza was quite good, with the creamy avocado and sashimi slices being quite fresh and contrasting nicely with the crispy pizza base.

The Maro combo also sounded interesting so we decided to give that a try. It consisted of a dynamite roll, spider roll, California roll, and a salmon roll.

Nothing too spectacular about the Dynamite roll but I thought it was pretty tasty. The rice was nicely seasoned and the prawn tempura was not over-battered. There was also a good rice to filling ratio. The spider roll was also pretty tasty and pretty solid. Similar to the prawn tempura in the dynamite roll, the soft-shell crab was not over-battered and there was also a good amount of crab in there. My only (minor) complaint was that the crab was probably put into the roll immediately after coming out of the fryer so the entire roll was a little too warm for my liking.

The California rolls were pretty standard but the sesame seeds were nicely toasted, which gave the rolls a hint of a nutty flavour. Sushi Maro uses only wild salmon so the salmon rolls here had a great flavour that is lacking in the salmon rolls made at other places using farmed salmon.

Jenkins and I thought our meal at Sushi Maro was pretty solid. The sushi pizza was tasty and their rolls were well-executed and made with fresh ingredients. Since our original visit, Jenkins and I have gone back quite a few more times for lunch and dinner so we’ve definitely become converts. For a reasonably priced sushi dinner in downtown, Sushi Maro is a pretty good option. I think I still like Yamoto Sushi more as a downtown option, but Sushi Maro is slightly closer for me so I go there when I don’t feel like walking too far.

Details:
220 Davie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 778-371-8332

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

In Save-On-Meats’ original incarnation, I had always wanted to go and check out their burgers and steaks but for some reason, their hours never jived with my schedule. Every time I wandered over there, they happened to be closed for one reason or another so when they announced that they were closing, I was a little disappointed that I would never get my chance to check it out. When I heard that the owners of Boneta were going to re-open Save-On-Meats, I was pretty excited that I would get my chance to check it out again…even though it may not be exactly the same as the original restaurant.

One sunny afternoon, Jenkins and I walked over to Save-On-Meats and saw that many people had the same idea to check it out for lunch that day. It was pretty busy but we were able to snag a seat after a 10 minute wait.

We decided to order a coffee triple thick shake to share. Flavourwise, the coffee flavour was really evident but I would have liked the shake to be a little thicker. I also thought this shake was on the small side as there was hardly anything left in the metal cup. As far as shakes go, I would say that I prefer the ones at White Spot or Moderne Burger more.

I had checked out the menu beforehand so I knew what I wanted to order but was briefly swayed by their daily special of a BLT with egg sandwich. In the end, I went back to the Save-On-Meats Burger, which came with bacon and cheese. I also decided to order a side of coleslaw rather than fries in an attempt to be healthy. I found the burger patty to be on the dry side although the cheese helped to hide the dryness a little. The burger was also a tad small and at $6, I think you pretty much get what you paid for. The purple cabbage slaw was quite tasty and full of crunch and not too much vinaigrette dressing. In a way, I actually preferred the coleslaw to the burger.

Jenkins decided to have the clubhouse, which came with roasted chicken, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes. The clubhouse turned out to be much smaller than we expected, with only two slices of bread rather than the usual three slices. He said the roast chicken was a little dry and lacked flavour so it was helpful that there was bacon in this sandwich. Jenkins ordered mashed potatoes with his side and similar to my coleslaw, he preferred the potatoes more than the actual sandwich. He said these weren’t healthy mashed potatoes at all and he could really taste the creamy buttery goodness mixed in with the potatoes.

Save-On-Meats is a neat little diner with a throwback menu. Although they obviously tried to keep the prices low, the trade-off came in the form of portion sizes and in some cases, the quality of the food wasn’t exactly what we expected. Since I’ve never been to the original Save-On-Meats, it’s hard for me to make a comparison but I heard from other people that they enjoyed the food at the original more. It was really busy on the day that we went so service was also pretty slow. As long as you’re not in a rush and not too hungry, the wait is bearable.

Details:
43 East Hastings Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-569-3568

Summary:
Food: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $

I was recently contacted by De Dutch Pannekoek House about a Facebook promotion they were running in December to have people choose between savoury and sweet items. The incentive for people to participate is that if you like the De Dutch Facebook page and vote, you get a 25% off code to use at De Dutch. In addition, each vote will give you an entry to win a $500 gift card to De Dutch, to be awarded on December 24. I was asked if I’d be interested in checking out De Dutch and blog about their December promotion and since it has been many years since I last dined there, I thought it would be a good idea. I was sent a gift card for $50 and since that was definitely too much for just Jenkins and me to use up for breakfast, we also invited Grick and Snoopy to come along. We decided to meet up at the New Westminster location since it was close by to where we were going later that day.

Snoopy used to be a regular at De Dutch so while we were perusing what to order, she pointed out some of her favourite items to order. Jenkins ordered an orange juice and Snoopy and Grick had coffees (free refills) while we looked at the menu.

To maximize the variety of our brunch, Snoopy and I decided to split a couple of items. I wanted something with meat but wasn’t overly hungry that day (surprisingly) so I decided on the Abby Perogie pannekoek. This pannekoek came with DeBacon, which is like a thinly sliced Canadian bacon, potato, and onion. It was topped with some cheddar cheese and served with sour cream. I’m not a huge perogie fan but I actually liked this pannekoek quite a bit. The potato added some “meatiness” and the bacon added a hint of saltiness. I was afraid initially that there would be too much cheese but the amount here was just right. My pannekoek got cold quite quickly but I think that was due to the fact that it was so thin more than anything else.

Snoopy chose a sweet pannekoek, which worked out really well with my savoury choice. She decided on the pear and maple syrup pannekoek. The pear wasn’t very sweet and I would have liked for it to be a little softer but combined with the maple syrup, it wasn’t too bad. I preferred the Abby Perogie more though.

Jenkins and Grick were a little on the boring side and decided to order the same thing. Their only difference in the Boer’s pannekoek were their eggs and choice of toast. They were originally going to get the Boer’s option on the main pannekoek menu but then saw there was a slightly smaller option which had a smaller pannekoek and sausage slices instead of links so they decided to order this smaller version instead. Jenkins’ eggs were slightly overcooked and he noted that the hash browns were a bit bland but he liked the pannekoek after he added some maple syrup to it. I sampled one of the sausage slices and I found it to be pretty juicy and flavourful.

We had a pretty good time at De Dutch Pannekoek House. The service got a bit slow at times when the restaurant started to fill up but in general, they were quite good about keeping our drinks topped up and making sure we had everything we needed. I asked Krista today what she thought of De Dutch since she had lived in Holland for a few years. Although it sounds like De Dutch is nowhere near authentic according to what she tells me, I still enjoyed what we ordered there.  Krista did note that she had not been back to De Dutch for several years so perhaps they improved over her previous experience.

Details:
102-1035 Columbia Street, New Westminster
Tel: 604-521-2288

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

Jenkins and I decided to check out the New Oxford Pub in Yaletown for dinner one evening. We both happened to have the Thursday off and did not feel like making dinner ourselves.

I was feeling rather indulgent that day and I was also pretty hungry so I suggested to Jenkins that we start off with some nachos. The plate of nachos that arrived at our table was huge. There wasn’t really anything unique about these nachos but they were really well executed with layers of cheese, tomatoes, olives, and jalapenos hitting every nacho. It bugs me when the bottom nachos are left completely bare but that wasn’t the case with the nachos here. There was also a healthy amount of side dips, including guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. I suspect that the salsa was not made in-house but I enjoyed eating the creamy guacamole more anyway.

Since it was a Thursday, I decided to go with that day’s special of steak frites for $13. I thought it was quite a good deal but admittedly, my piece of steak was quite small. In my case, it turned out to be just right since I had eaten so many nachos before my main course arrived. The flat iron steak was quite lean but fairly juicy and I didn’t feel the need to dip it in the accompanying beef jus. My fries were pretty good but standard.

Jenkins decided on the blackened chicken sandwich, which came with toppings of butter lettuce, tomato, cheddar, and some chipotle lime mayo on a brioche bun. He noted that the chicken was a little dry but still enjoyed this sandwich. He liked how the lime mayo added some zest to the chicken. Jenkins was a little healthier than me and opted for a side house salad instead of fries. I always like goat cheese with my salad and I thought it added a nice rich contrast with the tangy vinaigrette.

Jenkins and I had a nice meal at New Oxford. It has an interesting spin on traditional pub food and the items we tried all seemed fairly dependable. I think the menus at most Donelly Pub Group restaurants are fairly similar so you can probably try these items at most of their other locations.

Details:
1144 Homer Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-609-0901

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

One sunny Saturday afternoon, Jenkins and I met up with Tricia and Darren for lunch at Verace Pizzeria and Enoteca. We had just been at a wedding and were looking for a bite to eat before heading off to the afternoon events. Darren suggested that we go to Verace since it was fairly close to where the wedding ceremony was. I had heard about Verace and had wanted to try it out so this seemed like a good opportunity.

Since it was lunch, we had the option of ordering one of Verace’s regular meal-sized pizzas (12”) but we also had the lunch option of ordering a slightly smaller pizza (8”) but it would come with a side salad for the same price as the regular meal-sized pizza. All four of us decided to go for the lunch option since Darren said the Caesar salad was quite tasty here.

Ever since my first trip to Italy where I was exposed to eggs on pizzas, it quickly became one of my favourite pizzas to eat. I never really found this option available in North America though so I never get to eat my pizza like this unless I’m making it at home. The barely cooked egg on my Pane Frattau pizza added a nice richness to my pizza, which came with just some tomato sauce, mozzarella and grana padano cheeses, and olive oil. The crust was not as thin as what I had at Nicli Antica but had a nice slight chew to it. I think the pizza could have really benefited from a thinner crust but I really enjoyed the toppings. As for the Caesar salad, my portion size was larger than expected but I would have liked the dressing to be slightly creamier. Darren noted that the guy making the salads was not the regular guy that was there on the weekdays, when he usually visited so that was too bad. In addition, the weekend salad guy forgot our croutons but that was quickly rectified when we pointed this out to our server.

Jenkins wanted some meat on his pizza so he decided to go for the diavola, which came with salami, capicollo roasted red onions and peppers, grana padano cheese, basil, and olive oil. He noted that the salami wasn’t very spicy and he liked how there wasn’t too much peppers as that sometimes overwhelmed the pizza. Jenkins had the same observations as I did about the crust and noted that he also preferred the one at Nicli Antica more.

The prices at Verace are pretty reasonable and I think it’s a pretty good option for pizza although not the best there is in Vancouver. That being said, they are located pretty conveniently right next to T&T so you can always time your visit with a grocery run. I wouldn’t mind going back to try some of their other pizzas or sandwiches one day.

Details:
189 Keefer Place, Vancouver
Tel: 604-669-5552

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

Bistro Sakana in Yaletown used to be on of Jenkins and my go-to places for Japanese food in downtown. For whatever reason, we hadn’t been for many years though so we decided to check it out one day when we were in the mood for Japanese food but didn’t want to wander too far from home. Luckily for us, this was before the weather turned super cold so we were able to sit outside rather comfortably.

We started first with the soba salad. Many items on the menu didn’t have a full description so we originally thought this would be mainly noodle with some veggies thrown in but it turned out to be quite the opposite. The soba salad was actually mostly mixed greens with a few bundles of soba and mixed with a ginger soy dressing. The dressing was pretty tasty but we both found this salad a bit bland.

We also ordered some tuna sashimi, which came marinated with the same ginger soy dressing from our soba salad. The dressing actually went better with the meaty tuna and this dish had a nice freshness to it.

I’m a huge fan of the aburi sushi at Miku so when I saw that Sakana had aburi salmon available, I decided to order it. It was very similar to Miku’s version in that the wild salmon was sandwiched between two layers of sushi rice and topped with some more salmon, mayo, onion shavings, and a slice of jalapeno. Taste-wise, it was close to Miku’s version but I liked how I could taste the charcoal smokiness used to torch the top of Miku’s aburi sushi more. If I wasn’t comparing with Miku’s version though, I would say that the version at Sakana was a good attempt.

Jenkins and I also ordered a variety of sushi and nigiri. The salmon and tuna nigiri was quite fresh and I would say better than average. The same also went for the negitoro roll. I can’t remember the name of the roll at the bottom but it was almost like Sakana’s version of a house roll, with tuna, salmon, and avocado. I liked the meaty freshness of this roll and the light drizzling of sweet soy went pretty well with the ingredients in the roll itself.

By this time, Jenkins and I were still a little hungry so we decided to splurge for dessert as well. The deep fried banana was Sakana’s version of Jenkins’ Malaysian favourite. The lightly tempura battered bananas were sweet and creamy, going quite well with the big scoop of vanilla ice cream right in the middle. The caramel was not overly sweet, which I liked since it didn’t overpower the ice cream and bananas but I felt that the chocolate flakes seemed a bit dry and weren’t very necessary.

Overall, Jenkins and I had a nice time at Bistro Sakana but nothing particularly stood out to us. I don’t know if my preferences have changed or if Sakana has changed but it doesn’t seem to be as good as my last visit there a couple of years ago. That being said, the ingredients used are all still quite fresh and that is also reflected in the price. As far as dining options go, Sakana isn’t bad if you are looking for Japanese food in Yaletown but it’s also not the best.

Details:
1120 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-633-1280

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$