Ho Yummy

I headed over to Spicy Court one day for some dim sum with Jenkins’ family.  Spicy Court is located diagonally from Oakridge Centre and is pretty close to Jenkins’ family and some of my family members.  As a result, I tend to go there pretty often.  :)  If you order your food and get the bill before 11AM, you can also get 10% off your meal.

We started with sui mai (pork dumplings) as this is one of Jenkins’ favourite dishes.  The sui mai at Spicy Court are quite big and juicy.  I usually break it into four pieces with my chopstick so it’s more manageable. 

Jenkins’ family introduced me to this chicken and noodle dish at Spicy Court.  They are a pretty healthy bunch so this dish is right up their alley.  The noodles come in a light broth with shredded chicken and lettuce.  The bowl is fairly large and makes for a good filler dish. 

It was the first time I had tried the scallop and spinach rice rolls at Spicy Court and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  The scallops were quite large and plentiful and went very well with the spinach.

Shredded chicken with jellyfish is one of my favourite dim sum items…as mentioned several times before.  I don’t think the one at Spicy Court ranks among the best I’ve had…although that doesn’t stop me from ordering it!

Jenkins always likes steamed bbq pork buns.  There is quite a bit of filling in this version at Spicy Court…which is much better than when all you get is the white bun part.

We also had some steamed bean curd stuffed with pork and bamboo shoots.  Nothing too special about this dish but it was still quite tasty.

Spicy Court seems to be mainly a dim sum place and can get quite busy during lunch time.  Sometimes, it even seems busier earlier in the morning because everyone is scrambling to get their 10% discount before 11AM!  The dim sum is a good price for what you get although the selection can sometimes seem a bit limited.

Details:
101-5638 Cambie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-325-1189

Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$

I first went to Po King a while back when my grandparents introduced it to me.  It’s a relatively cheap Chinese restaurant that opened a few months ago and offered dim sum for $2.99 per dish.  As such, it’s pretty busy at lunch and it’s best to get there a bit before 12 (at least on week days) if you don’t want to wait for a table.  Po King is located along Kingsway about a three minute drive east of Metrotown.

Most dim sum restaurants these days require you to order from a sheet and the dim sum is then brought to your table.  Po King kicks it old school by bringing carts of dim sum around.  One thing to note though is that the rotation of dim sum can be pretty scant at times so if you see something you want, it’s best to grab it right away.

The bean curd with pork and bamboo shoots was quite tasty.  Sometimes, this dish can get a bit oily but Po King’s version was not so.  Because there is so much pork packed in the bean curd wraps, it is actually quite filling so it’s best to ask your server to cut them in half.

I am always a fan of these Chinese beef balls, especially when there is an accompanying vinegar dipping sauce.

These bbq pork buns also have a sweet topping which makes for a unique combination of salty and sweet.  My aunt first introduced these to me quite a while ago and they always make for a tasty filler dish.

We sure do like our bbq pork buns!  We also had the regular version with no sweet coating on top. 

My grandma ordered this dish of steamed eel. There were quite a few bones so it is some work to eat it but also worth it. 

I really enjoyed this dish of fried leather jacket fish in Maggi sauce.  The bones weren’t too difficult to navigate and the crunchy outside of the fish went very well with the Maggi sauce.

We were still a bit hungry so we also ordered some fried noodles with chicken and veggies.  This dish was made fresh so the noodles were nice and crunchy.

One of my favourite dim sum dishes is the shredded chicken with jellyfish “salad”.  I would say that there was more jellyfish than chicken and I found it to be a bit watery towards the bottom.  It tasted good though and I liked the pickled sweetness of the pickled ginger and turnips.

Po King is a great deal for the type of food you get and the price.  I’m really glad that another good dim sum place has opened up near where I work.  I’ve already dragged my co-workers here a couple of times since first going there with my grandparents. 

Details:
150-5665 Kingsway, Burnaby
Tel: 604-436-2986

Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $

With lots of great sunshine this week, local strawberries are now ready! I have many wonderful memories of heading to Richmond farms as a kid to pick local strawberries and wanted to share this experience with my little niece, who’s turning 3 years old this summer.

In this world of multi-million dollar condo developments in the Lower Mainland, there seems to be only one farm in Richmond providing the U-Pick Strawberry experience - W & A Farms at 17771 Westminster Highway.  The farm has ample parking and was already quite busy when we arrived at 10am. It was also very hot in the open sun so don’t forget your hat and sunscreen!

Strawberries cost $2 per pound, and you are encouraged to bring your own containers.  You can purchase containers there for $1 each, and they also have cold water for sale.  The price on these berries is comparable to those at supermarkets during high season.  However, the experience was rewarding and educational for us, and the strawberries tasted great!

There’s something to be said about picking something fresh off the vine and popping it into your mouth shortly after.  The strawberries were soft, ripened on the vine, and bright red and juicy inside and out.  There is certainly a difference from, for example, fruits shipped from California and ripened in a refrigerated truck or warehouse.

Our local bounty yielded 12 pounds which cost us a total of $24.  They estimate the weight of your buckets, or you can get them weighed before getting your hands dirty.  Make sure to not get carried away!  In hindsight we bought more than we could eat.  And eat we did!  They were fresh, juicy, and delicious.  We washed them up and made strawberry smoothies, and we’ll likely freeze some for future use. They also make a really nice surprise treat for friends and family members.

There was nothing on the signage indicating these were organic, but I did not notice any “pesticide-y” tastes.  One other note is that these strawberries are generally small to medium in size. There are the occasional larger ones but it appears that the Farm’s own berry pickers begin their work at the crack of dawn and are near the end of the field when the farm opens up to the public.  I am curious as to what the prime, larger local strawberries retail for, so I will keep my eyes open next time I’m at the market.

We are fortunate that we can take advantage of such a yummy local harvest. Take advantage while you can!  I think buying local produce provides fresher food, supports our communities, and reduces our carbon footprint.

The Strawberry Growers Association has more information on farms in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley on their website http://www.bcstrawberries.com/FarmList.php

Details:
W & A Farms
17771 Westminster Highway, Richmond
Tel: 604-278-5667

Over a nice meal at Sakura Bistro the other night, gigi and I mulled over the idea of interviewing Mia Stainsby of the Vancouver Sun to get her thoughts on being a Restaurant Critic and Food Writer over the years.  We figured that she must have had many interesting experiences and of course, share our love for ho yummy food!  She graciously agreed to answer some questions for us, and a couple of them made me chuckle.  I really enjoy Mia Stainsby’s articles in the Vancouver Sun and always look out for them. See my Q&A with her:

Q. During Christmas you wrote a great article about must-haves in your kitchen. Any new and exciting gadgets or items you’ve stumbled upon since?
A. Ice shaver, from Fujiya…very simple, inexpensive device. You freeze a block of juice or whatever, in the plastic container; when frozen, place it in the shaver and whirl the handle. It makes a soft, fluffy, frozen treat that can be low-cal if it’s say, fruit juice, and it satisfies my evening cravings for ‘just something’. At Gastropod, the chef uses it on a oysters on half shell dish.

Q. Can you tell us about your favourite dining experience and what made it so special?
A. Hmmmm. Maybe last summer, a dinner at Le Guirlande et Julie under the arches of Place des Vosges in Paris. A favourite spot, a beautiful night, made more intense because it was our last evening in the city. That’s a fave for now, anyway.

Q. When dining at restaurants, we sometimes take photos of our meals.  This seems to bring on suspicions that we are reviewers and can occasionally result in “different” service.  We know that the Vancouver Sun conducts interviews after the fact to protect anonymity, but do you have a memorable experience being recognized in a restaurant? If so, how did this affect your meal?
A. One that stands out from long ago… they didn’t know who I was, only that I was writing notes under the table. From then on, I was escorted to washroom and watched nervously and then escorted out to street as I got up to leave. I certainly didn’t feel like an ordinary diner, let’s say.

Q. What’s your favourite dish you like to cook at home?
A. Right now, it’s paparadelle pasta with my little machine. I hang the noodles to dry everywhere, on backs of chairs, on railings. I liked it with beef bourguignon in the cold weather. I think I’ll be moving on to grilled pizzas very shortly, though. I guess, too, I was into Caesar salads recently because my husband ever-so-cautiously asked if we could stop having Caesar salads the other day. I made up a huge swak of dressing with a Rebar recipe, using roasted garlic and it hadda be used.

Q. Can you tell us about the first time you recognized the impact of your reviews on a restaurant or chef?
A. When a friend of an owner threatened to break my knees. But I still say it’s not my (or anyone’s reviews) that make or break restaurants — they do that on their very own.
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, Mia!  I don’t know about you readers out there, but I am curious about this ice shaver…

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: $$

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: $