Archive for the 'Reviews' Category
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Today’s post is going to be extra long because:
(1) I have not been posting as regularly these days and I’m feeling guilty 
(2) I happened to eat at Water St. Cafe twice during a 3-week span so I thought it would be better to post about both visits at once
The first dinner was a gals’ night out with Tricia and Juanita. It’s always fun to meet up at a new place for dinner. I’ve never been to Water St. Cafe before but both Tricia and Juanita had and were happy to go back. It also didn’t hurt that we had an Entertainment Book coupon that gave us a free entree.
After we ordered, we were presented with some fresh bread. There were two different kinds and they were both warm, which I enjoyed. The butter was also easy to spread, which is something too often overlooked by many restaurants.
Tricia and I shared the spinach salad, which came with tomatoes, goat cheese croutons, pancetta, pine nuts, and a red wine vinaigrette. The crispy elements in this salad went really well with the soft spinach. I also liked how the vinaigrette was very light and didn’t drench the salad.
Juanita had a Caesar salad to start her meal. This looked very tasty and Juanita enjoyed it quite a bit.
All three of us chose pasta entrees. First up was Juanita’s clam pasta in white wind sauce. This came loaded with clams (some fresh and some canned) and looked delicious.
Tricia picked the spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli. Although there weren’t as many pieces of ravioli as she would have liked, the ravioli was quite big and it was very tasty. Even though initial thoughts were that the dish was kind of small, it turned out to be very filling.
I chose the pesto linguine with chicken. I found the pesto to have too much oil puddled at the bottom but it tasted great overall. The linguine came with a lot of chicken chunks, sundried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. I only ate half of this and ended up bringing the other half to work the next day.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable meal. We were too stuffed for dessert but luckily for you, we had dessert at the second Water St Cafe dinner…
Fast forward a few weeks and I was back at Water St Cafe for a Father’s Day dinner with my family. I’ll highlight some of the dishes we tried as well as dessert.
We decided to share a couple of appetizers that day and settled on the smoked salmon and the bruschetta. Although I enjoyed the tomato and basil spread on the bruschetta, I like my bread to be a bit toastier and crunchier.
The smoked salmon was very good. There wasn’t anything very unique about this dish but it was done well. The dill cream cheese went great with the salmon and triangle toasts.
Gricked decided to have the potato gnocchi with shrimp, prosciutto, and squash. If this sounds filling, it really was! Even after sharing with all of us, he still had about half left over, which he ended up bringing for lunch the next day. The shrimp and squash made for an interesting combination and this was a very tasty dish.
Most of us were too full for dessert but we decided to share a couple of items anyway. I decided to have the flourless espresso chocolate tart. For some reason, I thought this was going to be like a chocolate lava cake but it turned out to be more like a dense truffle tart. It also came with some preserved cherries, which went pretty well with the tart but created a watery soup in my dish, which I could have done without. I would have also enjoyed the cherries if they had a stronger flavour.
My grandparents and my mom chose the tiramisu. It tasted pretty standard and nothing stood out about it though.
The next time I’m at the Water St Cafe, I’ll probably do without the dessert and just stick with a main course. Their pastas were great but I’ll probably try their non-pasta mains next time just to see how they compare. I should also note that on my second trip to Water St Cafe, service was extremely slow and they seemed to be quite understaffed despite it being Father’s Day. I didn’t keep count but it must have taken us at least 20 minutes just to get the bill at the end.
Details:
300 Water Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-689-2832
Summary:
Food: 
Service: (mostly due to the slow service the second time around)
Price: $$
Posted in Vancouver, Lower Mainland Cities, Italian, Reviews | No Comments »
Monday, June 16th, 2008
We had a team lunch the other day and as is often the case, I was tasked with picking the restaurant. It had been a while since I was last at Green Basil and after a quick consultation with my teammates, we decided that Green Basil would be the location of our lunch outing. I was first alerted about Green Basil when it opened about a year ago and have always enjoyed its convenient location near Metrotown and its yummy lunch specials.
For only $6.95, you can get a lunch special, which includes a spring roll, a small (and I mean small!) salad, soup, rice, and your choice of entree. There are quite a few eligible entrees to choose from, including curries and a variety or meat and vegetarian dishes.
Almost everyone in our party decided to go with the lunch special. Before the entrees came, we were presented with a plate of spring rolls. As you can see, the size of the salad is pretty meagre but I really enjoyed the slightly tangy dressing on the salad. The spring roll was a bit greasy on the outside but was very crispy.
I’m not sure what the name of this soup was but it was hot and slightly tangy. It came with some carrot and cabbage pieces as well.
I really enjoy the green curry with chicken at Green Basil. Green curry is one of my favourite items to order at any Thai restaurant but what I like about the dish here is that it’s very spicy but has a slightly sweet taste to it as well. There were quite a few pieces of chicken with my dish and a lot of curry for me to drizzle all over my rice. I also liked how the vegetables in this dish were not overcooked and provided a nice crunch.
Christina sat next to me so I was able to snap a picture of her lunch special as well. :) She had the black bean chicken, which came with a lot of veggies as well. This is a good alternative for someone who is not in the mood for a spicy dish. Christina also noted that this dish had just the right amount of sauce to go with her rice without having everything swimming in sauce.
This was quite an enjoyable lunch. At $6.95, it’s pretty comparable to what you can get in the cafeteria at our building and this definitely beats cafeteria food any day.
Details:
4623 Kingsway, Burnaby
Tel: 604-439-1919
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Thai, Asian, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
My family celebrated Mother’s Day a little early this year and we decided to go to Trafalgar’s Bistro. I actually tried to book this dinner through OpenTable.com but it showed the restaurant as full. For some reason, this has happened to me each time I try to make reservations at Trafalgar’s so I always end up calling in. The only thing that really bugs me about this is that I’m unable to collect points for my reservation.
There was a set menu available that day, which had three courses, including dessert from Sweet Obsessions bakery next door. For each course, you can choose from a small menu of 2-3 options so it does provide a bit of variety. At $39 for the set menu, it is quite a good deal.
I went for the set menu and started with steamed mussels in rosemary, ginger, and white wine. The accompanying crispy crackers provided a nice crunch. The mussels were a bit small but tasted very fresh. The rosemary and ginger went very well together and the ginger really gave the mussels a slightly spicy taste.
For my main course, I had a wild mushroom fettuccine with asparagus and a grilled duck breast. The pasta was a bit oily towards the end but I really liked the abundance of wild mushrooms in this dish. The duck was pan-fried nicely and cooked to a nice medium. This dish was extremely tasty and very filling. The asparagus also provided a nice crunch.
For dessert, I was in a chocolaty mood so I chose the triple chocolate mousse. It had layers of dark, milk, and white chocolate. Sometimes, mousse can be a bit rich but this triple chocolate mousse was light yet flavourful. The three chocolates go very well together and it didn’t take me very long to polish off my plate.
Yet another enjoyable meal at Trafalgar’s. It’s a great place to go with your family and also with friends. They do tend to book up quite quickly though so if you are going with a larger group (more than 4), be sure to make reservations early.
Details:
2603 W.16th Ave., Vancouver
Tel: 604-739-0555
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$$
Posted in West Coast, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
A new sushi place opened up sometime last year along Kingsway and Boundary-ish. Lucky for me, it is quite close to where I work and even luckier for me, the sushi is tasty and reasonably priced. :) I have been here several times since I found out about it from Corbi. To reward me for my frequent visits, I even have a stamp card where I can collect small discounts (5-15% off) and free California rolls!
Mabel and I came here for lunch one day and also to take advantage of my free California rolls reward from my stamp card. :) I guess the owners recognize us and realized we were frequent visitors so we were also gifted with some octopus sashimi. It was fresh and quite tasty. I really enjoyed the slightly chewy texture of octopus.
That day, I decided to go with the tuna and salmon don. It’s one of my favourite dishes when I go for sushi because it’s almost like nigiri sushi but you assemble it yourself. ;) The salmon and tuna pieces were very large and tasty. I’m not sure what type of tuna they use here, but it tastes almost like toro and seems fattier than regular tuna in other restaurants. The tuna and salmon don here is great because they don’t put in very much rice, which assists me in not overeating. :) At $8.50, it’s really a good deal.
My tuna and salmon don also came with miso soup.
Mabel chose the chicken udon. The noodles were slightly chewy and had several chunks of chicken. Mabel enjoyed it quite a bit and she mentioned that it was a good size for lunch. If I recall correctly, this was $8.75.
The California rolls were very tasty and not just because it was free. :) It comes with a small drizzling of mayo on top but I usually ask them to hold the mayo so I can be slightly healthier. Even without the mayo, these rolls are very good.
Overall, it was another enjoyable meal at Sushi King. The next time I go back, I’ll order something different and try something new to blog about. :) Service can be slow at times though because there is basically one guy making all the sushi and it has become quite busy during the weekday lunch hour.
Details:
3520 Kingsway, Vancouver
Tel: 604-431-6283
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
I’m going to take a break from my trip blogging to review a few restaurants I’ve visited since I came back. If I don’t blog about them soon, I’m going to forget what it was that I ate.
Connie was leaving Vancouver and going back to Asia so Derek, John, Victoria, and I joined her for dinner one evening. Both Victoria and I had been wanting to try Pied a Terre for the longest time and we were finally presented with the opportunity! Pied a Terre is a small French bistro on Cambie St and is actually owned by the same people as Parkside and La Buca.
We all decided to start by sharing a couple of appetizers. First came the steamed mussels. They were steamed in some white wine and shallots. I usually enjoy steamed mussels as much as the next person but these mussels had a fishy taste. Perhaps it was because mussels are not in season? I’m not really sure when mussel season is actually though.
Despite the fishy taste of the mussels, the broth was very tasty and we enjoyed dipping our bread in it. Yum.
We also shared some fries, which came with ketchup and mayo for dipping. I prefer mayo myself, but find that people either love mayo or hate it with their fries. :) There was nothing too spectacular about the fries though…they were just…fries.
For my main course, I had the beef shortrib bourguignon. It was a stewy dish and came with pork belly chunks, peas, and mashed potatoes. The dish may have looked small but due to the yummy shortribs and potatoes, it was extremely filling. The rich beef and sauce went great with the potatoes. Even though it was a rich and filling dish, I didn’t feel too heavy or stuffed afterwards.
Connie had the halibut cheeks, which she noted was also very filling. I was later told that the halibut cheeks are made differently every so often.
I was full enough after my main course that I could have just gone home. But of course, I had to try dessert. :) I wasn’t feeling too adventurous that day so I just stuck with the chocolate mousse. It was very chocolaty but tasted light at the same time. Sometimes, after a few bites of chocolate mousse, you’ve had enough. However, I probably could have eaten a second or third serving of this chocolate mousse. :) It also came with a shortbread cookie on the side.
Connie was the only other person who had dessert and she chose the creme caramel. It had a nice firmness to it and you could really taste the egg in the custard. I also liked how the caramel sauce was not overwelmingly sweet.
Pied a Terre definitely met my expectations. Even though we went on a Monday night, it was already packed at 6PM! The service was prompt and friendly and I was really impressed by the food. The prices were also quite reasonable. I’ll definitely be coming back for a repeat visit.
Details:
3369 Cambie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-873-3131
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in French, Reviews | 3 Comments »
Monday, May 26th, 2008
In our Jiangmen hotel, there was an “eating street” right on the second level of the hotel. Basically, it was a large restaurant but organized into several different storefronts that offered food from all the different regions of China. You can visit as many stalls as you want and everything is tabulated onto one bill. I ate here a couple of times while I was at Jiangmen and really enjoyed how this allowed us to sample several different restaurants/stalls in a single meal.
There were six of us one day for lunch so we decided to go to the eating street so we could sample a variety of different items. First up was a fried curry rice. It had an excellent curry flavour and was very tasty.
We had to sample some dim sum…after all, we were in Guangdong province, one of the birthplaces of dim sum! I found the siu mai (pork and shrimp dumplings) here to be ok but I’ve definitely had better in Vancouver.
The crab and seaweed dim sum looked pretty interesting so we gave that a try as well. This was actually so popular that I didn’t get a chance to try one myself. I’ll just have to assume it was quite tasty.
The braised pork with veggies went very well with rice. The oil had been rendered out of the pork so it wasn’t too oily.
The ja jiang mein was spicy and very tasty. The noodles were made fresh on the spot and you could really taste the difference.
The vegetables were served with preserved (i.e. 1000 year) egg. I really enjoyed this dish because the egg adds a different taste to the overall dish.
I expected the tan tan noodles to be the peanut sauce version that’s found in most Szechuan and Taiwanese restaurants in Vancouver. This version had no peanut sauce and had a clear soup base but was very spicy.
Now it was time for dessert. We all shared some almond pudding and some black sesame pudding. They were both very tasty but also very thick…meaning they were quite filling.
The glutinous rice with red bean is a popular dessert item for us when we go for dim sum. The beans were left whole instead of ground up in a paste so it made for an interesting texture contrast against the gooey rice part.
We also had a thin pancake with red bean paste. I enjoyed this quite a bit because it was nice and crispy …but not oily at all.
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $ (I think all six of us ate for around $20 Cdn!)
Posted in Jiangmen, Other Cities, Asian, Chinese, Reviews | No Comments »
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