Jenkins and I were invited on Saturday to preview the latest offering from Vancouver’s Foodie Tour: food carts. I had gone to one of Michelle’s tours last year along Granville Street and quite enjoyed it so I didn’t see why this time would be any different. I thought this would be a great opportunity to try some of the food cart offerings around the downtown area as I had definitely been to less than I would have liked. We met at 10:30 in front of the Granville Canada Line station but it was around 11 before the tour actually started going.

As I had suspected earlier, our first stop was the La Brasserie Street food cart. They were running a little behind that morning, which was why it took a while for us to get started.

I had been to La Brasserie Street a few times before and really enjoyed it each time so I was looking forward to this, even though it was not new to me. The chicken sandwich was just as good as the other times with the crispy fried onions adding a nice crunch to the otherwise soft and moist sandwich. Jenkins noted that he would have liked for some of the larger chicken chunks to be shredded even more so it could soak up more of the house-made rosemary beer sauce.

Since it was the first stop of the tour and the day was particularly sunny, I was glad that La Brasserie Street also gave us each a drink with our sandwiches. In addition, we were also given a butter tart each. Jenkins was pretty smart in getting us to share one since we needed to pace ourselves for the remaining carts. At first, I objected but this ended up being some good foresight on his part. As with the last time I had the butter tarts, I thought the crust was nice and buttery but the filling was a little too sweet for my taste. I also would have preferred some nuts to give the tart a little bit of crunch.

Our next stop was one of Vancouver’s oldest food carts, Japa Dog. I had first reviewed Japa Dog in the early days of Ho Yummy and then again when they opened their Pender Street location so it was definitely another food cart that I was quite familiar with.

We each got half of a Terimayo dog, which is one of Japa Dog’s original offerings. As usual, I added some wasabi mayo to the already present regular Japanese mayo, seaweed, and teriyaki sauce. I quite enjoyed this and it was nice to try one of the original flavours since I usually opt to try the newer creations.

Our next stop was finally to a location that was new to me: Bun Me. To be honest, I had walked past this place a couple of times but never checked out what they had because I’m pretty particular about my banh mi and I honestly did not know what to expect. The baguettes at Bun Me are baked fresh daily and made using a special recipe that its owners had developed.

Bun Me had a couple of offerings and the one we had that day was the lemongrass chicken banh mi. Although we had only a third of a baguette, it was quite a generous portion and seemed to be larger than most other banh mi I’ve tried around Vancouver. The lemongrass chicken was quite juicy and flavourful and if you like your baguette to be crispier and crunchier, then the one at Bun Me would be right up your alley. I was pretty impressed with the banh mi here and wouldn’t mind trying it again the next time I need to buy lunch.

By this point, I was starting to fill up but we still had two more stops to make. Our next cart was Kaboom Box, another cart that I had walked past several times but never tried any of their offerings.

We each got a generous portion of Kaboom Box’s poutine. I’m not sure if this is their regular size or if it was smaller for the tour, but I thought it was a pretty large portion nonetheless. Unlike traditional poutine, Kaboom Box’s version uses a vegetable gravy with miso and is topped with mushrooms and green onions. Having gone to Montreal quite recently, both Jenkins and I didn’t think this was very comparable. I would have liked for the fries to be crispier and although I appreciated Kaboom Box’s attempt to make the gravy more universally appealing, I felt that a regular beef stock has a stronger flavour that allows the gravy to hold up against the fries and cheese. Lastly, and I’m not sure if it was due to the hot day, I found the cheese curds a bit on the soft side and would have liked some more texture and bounciness to it. All that being said, I wouldn’t mind coming back another day to try out some of the sandwiches, especially the in-cart smoked salmon sandwich.

Our last stop was at Nu Greek Street. I was surprised to hear that this was the street cart offering from Nu Restaurant and even more surprised to hear that Nu had recently changed its offering from West Coast to Greek food. To be honest, I had not been all that impressed with Nu previously so I was hoping that their foray into Greek food would be more successful.

We each got mini versions of Nu Greek Street’s chicken souvlaki pita, which came with tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki sauce. The tzatziki sauce was actually made with owner Harry Kambolis’ grandma’s recipe and I liked how it was quite thick and tangy, which went quite well with the moist chicken. Although the pita was a bit bready for my liking, it did a good job of soaking up all the juices from the chicken, tomatoes, and tzaziki sauce.

Jenkins and I had a great time at the Food Cart Foodie Tour. It was nice to revisit some carts we had been to previously but what we really enjoyed was sampling the new ones. The carts that are visited on each tour vary depending on the day. Tours are held each Saturday starting at 10:45AM and end about 1:30PM. They cost $50 per person and tickets can be purchased via Foodis Tour’s website. Be prepared to be stuffed and even though you walk from cart to cart, you definitely don’t walk enough to shed the calories you consumed. Jenkins and I were so full afterwards that we didn’t eat dinner until quite late!

Details:
Time: Saturdays from 10:45AM to 1:30PM
Cost: $50/person
Tickets: http://foodietour.ca

Jenkins and I were driving down Hastings Street on a mission one afternoon. After having been on my list of places to check out, I was determined to finally pay a visit to Le Do for some Vietnamese food. After hearing about it from quite a few people, I really wanted to give it a try. It was a pretty small space inside but even though it was during the busy lunch hour, we were able to snag a table towards the back.

We decided to order one dish each and also a sandwich to share. My choice was my go-to item in many Vietnamese restaurants, which was the pho with mixed beef parts. Since I was also planning to share a sandwich, the small bowl was more than enough for me. The broth was clear and had a lot of great flavour to it so I didn’t feel the need to add too many additional sauces to my soup base. There was also a good variety of beef parts with my noodles and I liked how the beef tendon was cooked through without being overly stiff or soft. The noodles were also slightly chewy, which I liked.

Jenkins decided to try something new and had a vermicelli bowl with pork brochette. The pork brochette were actually more like pork sausages and appeared to be grilled. He gave me a little sampling and I really liked the firmness of the brochette and it had a great flavour to it. It was the perfect complement to the vermicelli and the crunchy pickled vegetables.

Although our dishes had all been quite good up to this point, I was disappointed with our spicy chicken sub. The shredded chicken was quite bland and not spicy at all. In addition, the meat was quite dry and could not be saved even with the ample sauce that it came with. The bread was also denser than what I usually like, but this can be chalked up to personal preference.

Banh mi notwithstanding, Jenkins and I still enjoyed our meal at Le Do. I liked how many of the dishes allowed you to choose the size you wanted so you could order a smaller size and perhaps sample more items if you prefer. Of all the items we sampled, I definitely liked the pork brochette the best and would be back just to eat that dish again.

Details:
2292 East Hastings Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-253-3508

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

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: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

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

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: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

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: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $

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

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: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

Jason and I met up at Pho Van for dinner one day. It is located at 3370 Fraser St in Vancouver.  The pho here is pretty good and is the one Jenkins and I usually go to when we are in Vancouver.

I started with a fresh coconut juice, which I have been drinking a lot of lately.    I like drinking it when I have pho because I find that the coconut juice helps to offset the spiciness of the soup.

I ordered the pho with mixed beef parts.  I like the pho here because they are always generous with both the noodles and the beef ingredients.    Even if you order a small bowl, you still end up being quite full just because there is so much stuff in your bowl.  My noodles also came with some pieces of daikon radish, which was different, although I was too full to eat it. 

Jason’s noodle soup was spicy and his noodles were thicker and also a little chewy.  It also came with a sprinkling of cabbage and had miscellaneous items such as a pork hock, some beef, and ham.  I had never tried this before but may just order it the next time I come here.

I like the pho at Van Pho because they seem to have less MSG than most pho places I go to.  Jason also noted that their pho is denser and packed with a lot more noodles and meat than your normal pho place.  The inside of the restaurant is also relatively clean and the service is always quick and efficient.

Details:
3370 Fraser St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-872-2879

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

Jenkins and I went to Pho Viet the other day at 8291 Ackroyd Road in Richmond. I had always driven past this place but never ventured inside. After reading about Ben’s experience there and hearing Grick rave about it, I decided it was time I checked it out myself.

Since it was my first time here, I decided to try the special pho (usually option #1 on most Vietnamese restaurant menus around the Lower Mainland). It came with bean sprouts and some lime wedges.

As Grick had indicated to me before, the pho came out very quickly. Mine came with beef steak, fatty flank, tripe, and tendon. Most of the time, this dish also comes with beef balls…but not the one here. Other than that, I found it to be very tasty and the amount of beef, tripe, and tendons was very generous. My large bowl came out to be $6.

I also had a glass of coconut juice with chunks of young coconut. It is different from regular coconut in that the meat is very tender. This drink was very refreshing and helped to soothe my burning tongue after eating the pho I had spiked with chilli sauce.

Jenkins got a dry noodle with lemongrass chicken. It also came with a side salad of cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, and bean sprouts. The chicken was very flavourful and I liked the noodles because they were al dente and not mushy or overcooked.

This noodle dish was also served with a small bowl of sauce with chillis and fish sauce. It makes the dish less dry and is meant to be poured over the noodles and chicken.

I liked this place because the food came out quickly and the dishes are priced reasonably and very tasty. I’ll have to come back soon to try some of the other items they have on the menu.

Details:
125-8291 Ackroyd Rd, Richmond
Tel: 604-273-6399

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