Ho Yummy

Review: Viet Sub

There are several places that are my go-to lunch or dinner places whenever I’m looking for a stand by or am in a rush and since I go to them so often, it doesn’t even occur to me to blog about it. One such place is Viet Sub, which opened last summer on Robson Street and is very close tow here I work. I was thrilled that I no longer needed to hike over to Chinatown to satisfy my Vietnamese sub craving.

Although Viet Sub also has pho and salad rolls, the subs are definitely the best thing they offer.

I’ve tried all their subs by now and I like them all to varying degrees but my regular standby version is the cold cut sub ($3.25). I think bread plays a huge part in Vietnamese subs and can make or break them; in the case of Viet’ Sub’s bread, it is crispy on the outside and is not too doughy. The types of cold cut used seem to vary from day-to-day but generally have at least Vietnamese bacon and ham. They are quite generous with the amount of meat they put in and it is a good ratio of meat to veggies (i.e. cilantro and pickled radish & carrots). You also have the option of adding Jalapeno peppers but you have to request them when you put in your order.

My only complaint is that the pate seems to be absent from these subs but Viet Sub attempts to compensate for this with a nice drizzle of their special sauce. Other than that small complaint, I am very happy that yet another cheap and tasty lunch option is now available downtown. When I feel like splurging, I also enjoy ordering the special sub ($3.75) or the BBQ sub ($4.25). In terms of sauce and flavouring, they are both quite similar except the special sub has cold cuts whereas the special sub has a combination of pork, beef, chicken, and meatball.

Details:
542 Robson Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-569-3340

Summary:
Food:
Service: n/a
Price: $

Posted in Lower Mainland Cities, Reviews, Vancouver, Vietnamese | 16 Comments »

Review: Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh has been on my list of places to check out for the longest time but I never went due to my aversion to waiting in lines. Every time I walk by Phnom Penh, even if it’s at 2 in the afternoon, there is a crowd of people waiting outside! Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and went with Louis for a weekday lunch. We went at around 12:30PM and even though there was a crowd of people as usual, we left our name with a server and due to several no shows who had also left their name, we were seated after a brief-ish 15 minute wait.

Louis is always a great eating out buddy because our tastes are fairly similar and he likes to share several different dishes. I’m always for variety so this works out perfectly for me. Since it was a cold day outside, we decided to start with a bowl the Phnom Penh noodle soup, which was basically equivalent to the “Dac Biet” at Vietnamese pho restaurants. The broth was very flavourful and did not seem to have too much MSG in it. There was a good amount of various meats but other than that, these noodles seemed fairly standard.

Next, Louis and I had one of Phnom Penh’s specialties, the butter beef. Thin slices of raw beef were lightly seared on the edges and marinated in a soy vinaigrette-like sauce and topped with a lot of cilantro. There was quite a lot of beef and with the delicious sauce, this dish went very well with the bowl of white rice we ordered.

Finally, we finished our feast off with a half order of one of Phnom Penh’s most popular dishes, the deep fried chicken wings. The wings looked so good that in our haste to dig in, I forgot to take a picture until half the wings were gone. The wings were lightly coated in what I think was a corn starch batter, so they were super crispy without being too heavy. The wings were then tossed in a salty jalepeno coating. Both Louis and I agreed that these were one of the best wings we’ve ever tasted, just the perfect combination of crunchy outside with a juicy interior and a spicy salty coating.

For the wings alone, I highly recommend Phnom Penh even though they have such large crowds. Throw in the butter beef and I think you have a must-visit. I understand now why there are such long line-ups and I will definitely take Jenkins here sometime…hopefully soon!

Details:
244 East Georgia Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-682-5777

Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $

Posted in Lower Mainland Cities, Reviews, Vancouver, Vietnamese | 4 Comments »

Review: Joyeaux Cafe & Restaurant

I needed to buy lunch one weekday and luckily for me, both Craig and Edith were in the same boat. Since it was a cold and rainy day, we decided to go for pho and Edith mentioned that she found a pretty good place downtown called Joyeux Cafe and we wouldn’t have to walk very far.

From the outside, you would never guess that there was pho or Vietnamese food instead. I have actually walked past Joyeux Cafe several times and did not know they served pho! Inside, Joyeux Cafe seems to have an eclectic mix of menu offerings from brunch to sandwiches to Vietnamese food.

I decided to order the special beef noodle, which had a little of everything, including beef brisket, tendon, tripe, and beef balls. There was no option to choose the size of the noodle soup but the bowl that was brought to me was actually quite large. The noodles themselves were pretty good and I was quite impressed with the abundance of meat products in my noodle soup. I had been to another Vietnamese place downtown and they probably had only 1/2 the amount of meat and actually cost slightly more. The soup base itself was pretty standard and not spectacular, but again, was one of the better ones I’ve had downtown.

Edith told me that Joyeux Cafe fills up quite quickly during the busy lunch hour and it can be hard to find a seat at times. Luckily for us, we did not go for lunch until close to 2PM that day so it was easy for us to find a table for 3. Orders are made at the front counter and your dish(es) will be brought to your table.

Details:
551 Howe Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-681-9168

Summary:
Food:
Service: n/a
Price: $

Posted in Lower Mainland Cities, Reviews, Vancouver, Vietnamese | No Comments »

Review: Sugarcane Vietnamese Cafe

Andrea and I met up one day after work for dinner. She suggested going to Sugarcane Cafe in Kerrisdale because it was kind of in the middle for the both of us from where we were coming from. It opened fairly recently and Andrea told me it had quickly become a favourite of her family’s. Sugarcane Cafe serves Vietnamese fare but it is different from many other Vietnamese places in Vancouver in that it does not have very much pho options on its menu.

Since Andrea had been to Sugarcane Cafe quite a few times, I let her do the ordering. We decided to share a couple of dishes rather than order separately. First, Andrea ordered the chicken brochette platter with spring rolls, which were called Imperial Rolls at Sugarcane. The chicken brochettes were very juicy and had a ton of great lemongrass flavour. I also enjoyed the imperial roll quite a bit. I’m pretty picky about my Vietnamese spring rolls and I liked how there was just the right combo of meat and veggies and the skin was crispy but not oily.

I was a bit hungry that day so Andrea suggested the chicken and rice clay pot for our second dish. It was pretty hearty and would be a great and homey dish to eat especially during the winter. The chicken came with onions, bamboo shoots, and wood ear fungus, which made for a slightly crunchy and very tasty combo. It was also quite large and we had some rice leftover, which I took home for Jenkins to eat.

I went to Sugarcane Cafe expecting to order pho and went away with no pho but I was still very satisfied. The dishes are fairly priced and very generously sized. I suspect that there is some MSG used but not as much as many of the Vietnamese places I’ve been to. Sugarcane Cafe is a nice alternative if you’re in the mood for Vietnamese food that’s over and above the regular pho fare.

Details:
5633 West Boulevard, Vancouver
Tel: 604-261-9233

Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $

Posted in Lower Mainland Cities, Reviews, Vancouver, Vietnamese | No Comments »

Review: Chau Kitchen & Bar

Jenkins and I met up with Ben and Suanne of chowtimes.com fame one evening for dinner. It was our first time meeting up and my first time meeting anyone from cyberspace and I must confess that it was almost like a blind date! :p We ended up having a great time with Ben and Suanne though and kept up a steady stream of conversation on a variety of topics throughout the evening.

We settled on meeting at Chau Kitchen and Bar because Ben had been on the hunt for a more upscale Vietnamese restaurant in the Lower Mainland area. I had heard of Chau opening up in late 2008 and thought that it might an interesting place to try out.

While we were perusing the menu, our server brought us some cucumber-infused water. I am a huge fan of cucumber water because I always find it so cooling and refreshing. I especially liked the cucumber water here at Chau because the cucumber taste came through quite strongly. What can I say, I am easily pleased.

In hindsight, I think the dishes at Chau are best eaten tapas style and shared by the entire group but when we went, each person decided to order his/her own dish to eat. Jenkins decided on the grilled pork salad rolls, which had come highly recommended by Victoria. The presentation was certainly fancier than what we were accustomed to at most Vietnamese restaurants. I was used to the more traditional salad rolls that had shrimp so I actually liked the variation with the pork instead. I also liked the dipping sauce combo of an apple-based vinaigrette and the more traditional hoisin sauce. I only wish that they had provided more of the apple sauce for dipping because I felt that it complemented the pork flavour more than the hoisin.

I was trying to be healthy that day so I settled on the grilled eggplant with a light chili sauce. At $8 for this dish, I certainly expected it to be more substantial than just a few pieces of eggplant. The sauce was more of a sweet soy sauce and I could not taste the chili at all. Although the taste was not bad, I think it would have been much tastier if there was more of a chili kick to it.

To bulk up my meagre dinner choice, I also added a bowl of rice. The rice went well with the eggplant and did a good job of soaking up the eggplant sauce.

Ben could not resist the highly acclaimed (according to the menu) spring rolls. There was a choice of the signature chicken with taro or vegetarian. Ben chose the chicken version and was nice enough to give me a small piece to try. The skin was very light and crispy and not oil at all. Although the chicken taste came through (obviously), I could not taste the taro. Ben’s opinion was that the spring rolls were good but definitely not worth the $11 price tag. As for Jenkins and me, call us uncultured but we actually thought the spring rolls at Vina’s in the food court was of equal taste and quality. Ben – perhaps you should try the spring rolls at Vina’s and let me know what you think! The prices at Vina’s are definitely cheaper, that’s for sure.

Suanne chose the white basa fish with caramel sauce. She was nice enough to let me have a taste as well and I actually found the sauce to be somewhat similar to my eggplant sauce. The caramel flavour was not very strong and it tasted like another soy sauce-based sauce. Suanne also ordered rice to go with this dish.

All of our entree choices were quite small so we all decided to order dessert. Jenkins and I chose a creme caramel with an espresso granita on top. The icy espresso granita was a good pairing with the creamy and eggy creme caramel but on its own, the granita was very bland. I found the icy granules to be on the big side so all the espresso flavouring just flowed into the creme caramel itself so it was necessary to eat all the components together. Otherwise, you’d just be eating ice granules if you just stuck to eating the granita.

Ben and Suanne’s was the fried banana with coconut ice cream. Instead of frying the banana in a batter, it was wrapped in a spring roll wrapping and then fried. Although Ben remarked that it was different from the fried banana available in Malaysia, he still thought it was tasty and well done.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with Chau. I went in looking for something different from what I was used to but I found most of the items fairly regular tasting and much too expensive for what we got. Although none of the items we ordered tasted bad, the value just wasn’t there and with the exception of Jenkins’ salad rolls, none of the other items seemed very unique.

In any case, it was great to meet up with Ben & Suanne. I wonder when we’ll meet again and what our next culinary adventure will be!

Go here if you’re interested in Ben & Suanne’s review of Chau.

Details:
1500 Robson Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-682-8020

Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$

Posted in Lower Mainland Cities, Reviews, Vancouver, Vietnamese | 1 Comment »

Review: Ba Le French Sandwiches

One of Jenkins and my favourite places to go for Vietnamese subs is Ba Le right at the corner of Kingsway and Fraser.  We found out about this place a few years ago and it is a great place to go for cheap and delicious Vietnamese-style subs.  If you go between 12-1pm, it is usually packed with people waiting for their sub orders.

Ba Le’s main item are their subs but they also have other Vietnamese foods, such as desserts, sticky rice, and ham.  Right above the front counter though is the sub menu.  The subs all range between $2.50 to $3…pretty reasonable!

I had the “special” sub, which is $3 and has a combination of two types of cold cuts, along with the regular hot peppers, parsley, and pickled veggie mix.  I like this sub because the cold cuts are fairly light and the bread is very crispy.  Occasionally, it is loaded with too many hot peppers so I have to pick some out. 

Jenkins always orders the chicken sub, which is also $3.  It has the same mix of peppers, parsley, and pickled veggies and the chicken is lightly tossed with mayo.  I think this is also quite tasty, although the mayo does make the bread a little soggier than the “special” sub…although the bread is still pretty crispy overall.

Depending on how hungry we are, we usually eat between 1-2 subs per person.  There isn’t really a place to eat our subs at Ba Le so we usually take it home to Jenkins’ house and eat it there.  At $3 max per sub, this is definitely a place for good cheap eats.  Jenkins does note that he thinks the sandwiches have some amount of MSG in them because he is often thirsty afterwards.

Details:
21-701 Kingsway, Vancouver
Tel: 604-875-6322

Summary:
Food:
Service: n/a
Price: $

Posted in Asian, Reviews, Vietnamese | 3 Comments »