VanEats: Restaurants

Moderne Burger Sneak Peek Photos posted on flickr

Roland AtRolandTanglao.com Tanglao — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:52:03 GMT

Peter of Moderne Burger sent me the same photos that Andrew posted on UrbanDiner and I have posted them to flickr to further publicize the re-opening. Check out Peter's Moderne Burger Sneak Peek Photos on flickr. And see you at Moderne Burger (we hope to make it out there Saturday night fingers crossed!).

Deluxe Moderne Burger to Re-open Friday June 27, 2008!

Roland AtRolandTanglao.com Tanglao — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:33:53 GMT

Go Moderne Burger go! Full skinny from Andrew Morrison at Urban Diner. Fingers crossed that it re-opens without a hitch on Friday.

Mini mini review - La Buca

Roland AtRolandTanglao.com Tanglao — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:29:40 GMT

Since we haven't been doing so great at writing restaurant reviews, I'm going to start writing even briefer reviews. La Buca (4025 MacDonald Street, 604.730.6988) is a simply decorated but smart looking restaurant in the middle of nowhere (OK it's in Dunbar but there ain't much there). Compact (I always wonder how they make money with such a small room) enough that they can't fit an espresso machine but expansive in flavours. It's well priced Italian menu full of classics. e.g. a very large portion of spaghetti vongole for $17.50 and and Coniglio in umido (rabbit, porcini, etc) for $24.50. We usually share an appetizer, one of their big pastas and a main between two and come away with a happy tummy and a reasonable load on our bank balance. And it's even decently kid friendly. We've seen parents with their kids when they open at 5p.m. so we're thinking of bringing our four year old the next time! Make a reservation or show up at opening time, they are always busy! Highly recommended.

Ken's Chinese Restaurant - First Visit

Roland AtRolandTanglao.com Tanglao — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 03:33:55 GMT

Ken's Chinese Restaurant (1097 Kingsway, 604 873-6338) is a bright, cozy Hong Kong style eatery which means among many other yummy things Hong Kong-style Milk Tea and Hong Kong versions of "western food" (which I don't care for but the Hong Kongers seem to love; to each his own!) and lots of families of Hong Kong Chinese heritage enjoying cheap, cheerful and tasty meals.

Last Saturday for dinner, took advantage of their $25 special: 1/4 ~~Hainese~~Hainese-like chicken (or ~~roast~~ duck, Jr. likes chicken so we didn't try the duck), slow simmered soup, two dishes (we picked pork with Taro and mushrooms with Chinese mustard greens (the kid is obsessed with mushrooms)) and one of my favourites red bean soup for dessert, enough to feed two adults and a kid for two meals!

The verdict was three thumbs up; the kid loves Chinese restaurants and we loved the fatty pork with the taro. We only erred in ordering two dishes with same kind of sauce. This restaurant is very close to where we live, so we'll be back!

Check out some photos of what we had below:

Mushrooms with Mustard Greens

Pork with Taro

Hainese-like Chicken

Hong Kong-style Milk Tea with Ice aka Dong Lai Cha

Turkish coffee and Moroccan food at Kasbah Bazaar and Cafe in Gastown

Roland Tanglao — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 04:53:45 GMT

Near Gassy Jack in Gastown, very close to the Salty Tongue, Blake's and Bryght is recently opened Kashbah Bazaar and Cafe (north west corner of water and Carrall). Yummy Turkish coffee ($2.50) and Morrocan cafe food. Watch for the bistro Le Marrakech bistro from the same team to open soon at 52 Alexander. Check it out and let us know what you think!

The bistro will soon to be on the web at www.lemarrakech.ca

Dona Cata's tacos rock at $1.25 each

Roland Tanglao — Sun, 27 May 2007 01:52:23 GMT

Finally tried Dona Cata's (5438 Victoria Drive, 604 236-2232) tacos. $1.25 each! The bargain of the century. My favourite was the al pastor. Flavourful pork with pineapple. Add a generous dollop of one of their delicious homemade salsas like the radioactive but tasty chipotle and you have heaven for less than a toonie! Highly recommended.

Stella loves the steak frites at Jules Bistro

Roland Tanglao — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 01:30:37 GMT

Stella loves the Steak Frites at Jules Bistro. $15 for 8 ounces. Have to try it soon. Thanks Stella!

Jules - casual French Bistro in Gastown

Roland Tanglao — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:52:12 GMT

Walked by Jules - a casual French Bistro (216 Abbott Street, 604 669-0033, website soon at www.julesbistro.ca) that just opened this week and spoke with a friendly staff member (chef? owner? regardless a very pleasant person). They feature casual french bistro dining with all the classics like Boeuf Bourguignon and are open for lunch ($9 soup and sandwich special) and dinner Tuesday to Saturday. Congrats on the opening and look forward to trying it.

Web Directions North food recommendations

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 07:50:53 GMT

There's a fantastic conference called Web Directions North for web designers and developers happening Feb 6-10 at the Renaissance Hotel . The website has some great dining suggestions, here are some more:

For those willing to venture farther afoot for breakfast, Brioche in Gastown has excellent coffee and breakfast - omlettes and pastries and coffee and more (and excellent lunch too!)
Kintaro for Ramen at 788 Denman Street, 604 682-7568 - great for a cheap and cheerful lunch and dinner
Raincity Grill for a splurge if you are looking for "west coast cuisine" - a classic!
If you have a car, Au Petit Cafe for Vietnamese sandwiches, coffee and Vietnamese food in general
Chinatown is a bit of a walk but these restaurants are worth it: Phnom Penh (Cambodian and Vietnamese food), The Boss (great place for breakfast. Favs are congee and pepper beef noodle) and New Town Bakery (order special B, noodles with bok choy and pork, my fav and Hong Kong Ice Milk Tea or just get a chicken buns aka "bola bola" and spicy bun aka "mah laht bao" to go)
Also if you have a car: Green Village (northern Chinese dumplings and noodles) and Green Lettuce (Bombay Style Chinese Food!)
there are so many more! Email us if you need further suggestions

Raincity Grill's New Year's Day Brunch was fab!

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:31:30 GMT

Barb and I went on a rare "date" and we racked our brains as to where to go for lunch on a holiday like New Year's Day.

Inspired on my vision of back bone stew from Jang Mo Jib a while back, we figured Korean on Robson or Denman. But we ended up somewhere different.

Out of the corner of her eye, Barb spotted Raincity Grill and that it was open! We parked, and walked back and had a fabulous brunch.

Barb had the ling cod which she pronounced fresh (one of the highest compliments that one versed in Cantonese food culture can give!) and tasty and I had duck with hand rolled pasta. Delicious! Not over cooked and duck is one of my favourite things.The kitchen didn't skip a beat from the previous night's party clearly!

Since we didn't stay up to midnight for New Year's Eve, we had some celebratory drinks: I had a Kir Royale ($10.50 splurge with BC sparkling), and Barb had freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. With two coffees, the bill came to $53 before tip. Not inexpensive but not expensive and definitely a great treat.

Like Bishop's, I trust and hope Raincity Grill will be around forever. The room is 'luxe without being pretentious, the staff doubly so and it's just a great relaxing (gemuetlich is the German word that comes to mind!) place for eating a beautiful, delicious meal at an unhurried pace.

If only we had the time and money to go to Bishop's and Raincity Grill as often as we'd like!

Herewith photos of our food:

Barb's Ling Cod

My hand rolled pasta with duck

Kwong Chow Noodle House - great deal lunch deal - $5.75

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 20:13:37 GMT

Last Saturday after the Heritage Hall market, we went to Kwong Chow for a cheap and tasty lunch. For $5.75 you get slow simmered Chinese soup, one of their lunch specials and coffee. Still highly recommended in 2006. We had 3 dishes for less than $20. Enough food for four but there were only three of us.

Here's what we had:

Congee with beef (or was it chicken :-) ! ?)

Fried Rice with Beef:

Noodles with Pepper Beef:

And my favourite Chinese vehicle for caffeine! Hong Kong Style ice tea:

Pinpin value meals - highly recommended

Roland Tanglao — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 02:49:54 GMT

Adobo Chicken with Rice value meal at Pinpin:

Boneless BBQ Pork Skewer value meal at Pinpin:

We went to Pinpin (6113 Fraser Street 604-322-3086) yesterday for lunch and tried their "value meals". For $7.95 you get soup of the day, rice and meat, seafood or shrimp. We had the Adobo Chicken with rice value meal (adobo sauce consisting of garlic, vinegar and soy sauce on the side, with grilled tender, juicy chicken) and the Pork BBQ value meal (boneless bbq pork done in that inimitable juicy, sweet Filipino style). Delicious and highly recommended along with the rest of their menu (we've tried nilagang baka, pancit palabok, kare kare, bicol express, etc. in previous visits and loved them all)

Green Village has great northern style Chinese food - ignore the Courier's Cheap Eats "review"

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 05:14:58 GMT

Despite what the Courier said in a recent Green Village "review" in their Cheap Eats section, Green Village is an amazing place for cheap, flavourful northern style Chinese food, you just have to know what to order. Here's what to order for lunch (you can probably get these for dinner as well, if not ask the staff to suggest some real northern style Chinese food): deluxe stuffed sweet rice, steamed pork buns, shredded turnip pan cakes, fried rice cake with shredded pork, sweet and sour salt puff pastries, shredded pork chow mein, sweet soya milk, etc. More details over on our Green Village review (if you don't trust us :-), check out Tim Pawsey's Green Village Review also in the Courier; the reviews are both old but Barb was just there two weeks ago and the food is as delicious and inexpensive as ever). Mmmm I am getting hungry thinking about it!

Gojo Little Africa on Commercial - Anybody been there?

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 09:40:35 GMT

If anybody has been to Gojo Little Africa on Commercial a few doors south from Modern Motorcycling, (2816 Commercial Drive) please leave a comment or email us.

Pinpin and Rekados - Both highly recommended

Roland Tanglao — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 12:47:12 GMT

Pinpin, 6113 Fraser Street 604-322-3086, (like Rekados) is another Filipino restaurant with waiter service. Hopefully both will find a profitable niche. We love them both. Pinpin is more informal while Rekados is more sleek and stylish. And most importantly the food at both is delicious. Check them out! Coming soon, photos and a more detailed report on both restaurants.

Rekados Filipino Cuisine - 1st Visit

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 04:16:52 GMT

Rekados Filipino Cuisine (4063 Main, 604 873-3133, no website but somebody has put up a Rekados myspace account!) is a Filipino restaurant with waiter service (something I have been whingeing :-) about for a long time!). And the wait was worth it! I really enjoyed my first visit with my Dad last night. My highlights (besides the excellent waiter service): the crispy pata (roasted pork rind with juicy meat on the inside; $9.95) and the Pancit Palabok (noodles with pork rind shavings, egg, prawns; the finest in Vancouver although I hear Cucina Manila's version is great but I have never tried it since they are always sold out; $8.95)

Had a nice chat with two of the owners (Larry who was serving and Charlie who is the chef) and found out that the restaurant has been over six years in the making! Definitely coming back for a full mini-review!

Rena recommends Thu Hien's Vietnamese sandwiches

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 19:56:20 GMT

In response to our previous item asking where to get good Vietnamese food in Cedar Cottage and Kingsway, Rena recommends Thu Hien (located close to 23rd and Knight, will get phone number and exact address when we go visit) for their sandwiches.

Thanks Rena! More please. Email feedback AT vaneats.com or leave a comment if you have a recommendation of your own.

Best Vietnamese on Kingsway and Cedar Cottage?

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 03:56:38 GMT

Ben Garfinkel of Industrial Brand Creative is looking for good Vietnamese in his new neighbourhood of Cedar Cottage and Kingsway. He's found Tung Hing Bakery and Kingsway Deli but would like some more recommendations for great Vietnamese on Kingsway or Cedar Cottage.

His current favs (not in Cedar Cottage or Kingsway) as documented on his blog are:

Au Petit Cafe
Ba Le Sandwich Shop

We love Kim Chau which is in the Kingsway area and is more of a place to buy Vietnamese sauces, condiments , prepared food and desserts although they do sell sandwiches, but we'd like to know some more too. Can anybody recommend great Vietnamese places either in Cedar Cottage or on Kingsway? Please leave a comment or email us.

Ben.z Noodle House on Seymour - Opening Day

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 07:00:33 GMT

We were at Ben.z Noodle House (536 Seymour Street, 604 688-8385) for opening day. A few glitches (we had to wait longer for the table besides us who ordered after we did, my ice coffee was pre-mixed by our server instead of percolating at our table), but the food was decent (pho for $7). A great addition to the ESL ghetto :-) around our office. We'll be back in a week or so for a full first visit report!

Aurora Bistro's Summer Menu - $48 for 3 courses including Wine

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 05:31:53 GMT

The Aurora Bistro summer menu is fantastic. $48 for 3 courses and a corresponding flight of wine. Yum! Barb and I tried this tonight and it was delicious (seared scallop with bacon and pea risotto, sour cherry roasted garlic roast chicken and we're not even going to write about the delicious artichoke and potato appy). Highly recommended.

Rekados has launched and they have a blog

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 17:16:56 GMT

Rekados (4063 Main Street at King Edward, 604-873-3133) the new waiter service Filipino restaurant that I blogged about earlier, has opened. Congratulations! Check out the Rekados blog for updates. Hopefully we'll get to it soon! Let us know what you think. Drop us an email or leave a comment.

Rekados - new Filipino restaurant with table service opening in July

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 05:59:49 GMT

I found out via email from Teejae Conwi that he and several partners are opening a new Filipino restaurant with table service (yes, my whingeing has paid off :-) ! ) opening in July. It will be called Rekados and will be located at King Edward and Main and the partners trained in Vancouver and worked at the Arbutus Club for years. Excellent! Can't wait to try it!

O Lupo reviews Zako's Deli

Roland Tanglao — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 12:38:21 GMT

[ROLAND'S NOTE: If you have want to review something or have a tip, email or leave a comment. And I love poutine :-) ! Too much time in Ottawa I guess.]

by O Lupo, the Roving Palate

500 W Broadway #102 (One block E from CC)
604 709-9202

The newly opened Zako's Deli on West Broadway features the sort of
devotion to veritable Montreal Smoked-meat, gently steamed, that could
pass muster (or mustard) with even the crankiest of Snowdonâ€™s
pensioners.

Seemingly slight points of order--like the iron rule that S-meat
sandwich bread should always be steamed, not toasted; that pickles
should crunch, not sag, when you bite into them; and, that coleslaw
should bear no trace of mayo or (shudder) ranch dressing--are a big
deal at Zako's, as they
should be!

After two months or so in business, this bright spot could use just the
slightest fine-tuning, perhaps some better signage to let uninitiated
West-coasters know what pleasures lie in store when they
order.

Also, I sincerely look forward to the day when I can turn from my
heaven-made-flesh of a sandwich and say, "Hey, Saleh (the friendly
owner), a side-order of latke over here." For now, the fries and â€˜slaw
are your best bets.

Apologies to poutine enthusiasts; I've never been a big one for the
stuff, so I have yet to sample Zako's. The much-praised gravy, curds
and taters are another of the house specialities.

Taco Mexico Rico is at 309 West Pender

Roland Tanglao — Fri, 26 May 2006 03:54:57 GMT

Just to clarify our previous item about Taco Mexico Rico, the new location is 309 West Pender and the phone number is 604 688-7426

Taco Mexico Rico has moved to Pender

Roland Tanglao — Thu, 18 May 2006 16:24:41 GMT

Taco Mexico Rico (formerly known as Mexico Sabroso) has moved to Pender (I believe almost directly south of their old location on Hastings) as you can see on the photo above. I've updated our review and we'll get the exact address and more info later.

Lan's Restarant - first visit was excellent

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 05:56:39 GMT

A few weeks ago, for an off site company gathering we tried Lan's Vietnamese restaurant (1481 West Broadway, 604) 738-2338) for a very late lunch. Wow! We were too tired to think and just ordered the dinner for four for $38 and it was fabulous. Lots of spicy and flavourful food (lemon grass pork, spicy soup, chicken and more!). More than enough for four. Definitely will be back.

Kiwi Pie Company is closed - Robson location to be replaced with Japanese restaurant

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 05:49:18 GMT

Sad to report that indeed the Kiwi Pie Company on Robson is closed (and Kingsway location as well). The Robson location will be replaced with a Japanese restaurant.

[VIDEO] Boris, Troy and I talk about H-Mart's new Korean Food Court on Seymour and Robson

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 06:50:24 GMT

Watch the Video

Hmart at the SE corner of Seymour and Robson on the 2nd floor (Adam's Hmart mention) is a hit with me! Cheap, cheerful Korean food! $8.50 for Beef Rib Soup! Yum! (1 minute, 3 seconds recorded April 3, 2006)

videobloggingweek2006

Vancouver Hole in the Wall Favourites

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 07:05:40 GMT

At the Adaptive Path Buys You A Beer at the IA Summit event (which was not a formal part of the IA Summit) on Saturday, I met longtime blogger Peter Merholz of Peterme fame who besides being a world renowned expert on Information Architecture and an Adaptive Path-er, is also a foodie.

And Peter was looking for hole in the wall restaurants like the kind Chowhound (why they don't have a Vancouver specific board I'll never know) would recommend.

Here are my recommendations Peter:

Au Petit Cafe (must have the sandwhiches, and the Vietnamese coffee)
Double Double (must have the Chinese doughnuts)

We have lots of other recommendations but they are not hole in the walls in the strictest sense of the word (e.g. Phnom Penh, Green Village, Green Lettuce (Bombay Chinese food, yum!))

You can also check out:

egullet's thread on Hole in the Wall restaurants (which hasn't been updated recently but still has some great tips).
Egullet's Western Canadian Forum is a great resource and a thriving community (again why don't they have a Vancouver specific forum? setting up forums is cheap and doesn't cost you anything with modern software! I love Calgary and the rest of Western Canada but life's too short to cram all these great places into one forum :-) !)
Egullet's Chinese Restaurant thread (as of this writing that's the latest in the thread; there appears to be no way to have the most recent updates first or RSS feeds for thread so tracking eGullet is shall we say more difficult that it could or should be, again something that could be easily cured with more modern software) also has lots of great Chinese hole in the wall suggestions (as well as normal restaurants).

Pinpin - new Filipino sit down a la carte restaurant at 45th and Fraser

Roland Tanglao — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 04:46:01 GMT

If anybody else has tried Pinpin (6113 Fraser, 604 322-3086), please let me know. It sounds great from the following email which I received today!

QUOTE

Roland,

You were looking for a sit-down ala carte Pinoy restaurant in Vancouver. You should try Pinpin restaurant in Fraser and 45th Ave. 6113 Fraser Street. Ph # 604-322-3086.

We had dinner there last night (Sat) and it was good. The place was packed with a constant line up at the door. They just opened a month ago. Anyway, we had pork barbq which is excellent, sweet and sour fried tilapia yummy, lomi really good, lumpia shanghai and oyster cake. Saraaaap.

UNQUOTE

Darla recommends Trafalgar's Bistro in Kits

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 06:20:23 GMT

We've been to Trafalgar's Bistro when it was called Trafalgar's (2603 West 16th Avenue 604 739-0555) at Sweet Obsessions for dessert (peanut butter chocolate mousse cake is recommended but it's no longer on the dessert menu which still sounds great by the way!) but never lunch or dinner even though we used to live a 10 minute walk from there. Darla's Trafalgar's Bistro review sounds enticing. $10.95 gourmet lunches! Mmmm. Added to our long list of places to try.

Renee formerly of Gladys on 4th cooks Sat and Sun Brunch at Katzenjammer

Roland Tanglao — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 03:26:26 GMT

Peter Caulfield again emailed us to say that Renee formerly of Gladys on 4th in Kits cooks Saturday and Sunday Brunch at the recently re-opened Katzenjammer. Great. Looking forward to checking it out!

1st Visit: Diner in Yaletown

Roland Tanglao — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 06:48:19 GMT

Actually it was my second visit to Diner (1269 Hamilton, 604 444-4855). I went there for breakfast in February. This time I was by myself and had the much praised meatloaf.

After two visits I am hooked! The staff is friendly and the food is delicious and the vibe of the room is non pretentious and friendly. This time I went for lunch. The meatloaf definitely lived up to my expectations. It's moist, flavourful and a huge portion. As others have commented it comes with a tomato relish which is on the cold side. Perhaps it woud be better if it was indeed on the side of the plate rather than on top of the hot meatloaf and potatoes.

Anyways, that's a minor quibble since the dish is satisfying "warm your heart" food and brings back great memories of the meatloaf my Mom never made that I have retroactively added to my "food fantasy" childhood together with Schweinhaxen and my favourite German dessert mohnkuchen!

Speaking of desserts, I am coming back soon to try them at Diner. The meatloaf was very filling so there was no way I could have finished a dessert!

Hungry Dave's Breakfast at Diner in Yaletown

Roland Tanglao — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 07:06:24 GMT

I really enjoyed my Hungry Dave's breakfast (at least I think it was called Hungry Dave's, why can't restaurants use names like Roland, what's wrong with Hungry Roland's breakfast :-) ?) Saturday morning at Diner in Yaletown (1269 Hamilton, 604 444-4855).

I was hoping for the meatloaf that I had heard about in the Courier and elsewhere but alas only breakfast is available in the morning. It was a yummy breakfast with an incredible amount of food (3 eggs, we asked for two, toast, 2 kinds of meat (I chose sausage and bacon, a waffle with cream (yes!) and potatoes). All this for $10.95 in a rare for Yaletown, non pretentious, comforting, cozy space. I'll be back for the meatloaf!

The Templeton and Take 5 Cafe - Two great places with Free WiFi for OSCMS 2006 Attendees

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 07:53:39 GMT

Attention, fellow OSCMS attendees. Need some fresh air or just a change of scenery to motivate your open source software development? I suggest the following two places. They both have delicious food and free WiFi: The Templeton (great diner style burgers both meat and veggie and breakfast, open at 9a.m.) and Take 5 (VanEats Take 5 Review) at 429 Granville (open 7a.m. - 8p.m. Mon to Fri; great coffee and food). Both are great for impromptu hacking sessions; especially Take 5's comfy couches! The Templeton being a diner is much smaller but it's nice and cozy

Adesso Bistro in Kits - 1st Visit

Roland Tanglao — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 02:31:51 GMT

Barb, the kid and I enjoyed a delicous brunch (menu in PDF format) today in Kits at Adesso Bistro (2201 West 1st Avenue, 604 738-6515). A great lucky dip. We just were looking for something that wasn't too packed and moderately baby friendly. The room is quiet and comfortable and the food is fine. And the staff was very friendly and loved the kid! Really enjoyed my lentil soup with roasted pepper and my Adesso Colazione ($12 with pancetta, yummy spicy chorizo, scrambled eggs, fruit and potatoes!) and Barb loved the chicken in her panini. With a coffee, a soup, a tea, a frittata and a panini the bill came to $35. We'll be back (kid willing!) for a full review.

Katzenjammer re-opens

Roland Tanglao — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 02:14:35 GMT

According to an email I just received, Katzenjammer has re-opened! Great! Can't wait to check it out!

Libby's evening re-opening was fab - I bet the supper will be fabber!

Roland Tanglao — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 06:38:55 GMT

East Van (especially those lucky enough to live close by) is lucky to have Libby's. And now we are even luckier as they have re-opened for supper. I went to the re-opening last night and it was just like what I imagined evenings there would be: a little mellower with lots of neighbourhood people dining contentedly. Can't wait to check it out in person and also get takeout when we want to dine in but don't want to cook or journey more than 5 minutes from home!

Stephen Wong's Chinese restaurant picks

Roland Tanglao — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 07:20:47 GMT

These are the favourites that Stephen Wong mentioned at yesterday's event at the Vancouver Public Library with Stephen, Gung Haggis Fat Choy creator Todd Wong and ~~organized by~~ Janice Wong, author of Chow: From China to Canada, Memories of Food and Family~~Chow from China to Canada: Tales of Food and Family~~:

Legendary Noodle (hand made noodles made by an ex-astrophysicist, get the lamb shank noodles!)
Green Village (northern style food)
Shanghai River (dumplings etc)

Libby's re-opens evenings on January 19, 2006

Roland Tanglao — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 06:21:07 GMT

Stephanie the owner of Libby's (VanEats Libby's review) told me that by popular demand they are re-opening during the evenings starting January 19th when they are kicking it off with some complimentary bevvies and appies. As the youth say, sweet! Looking forward to some delicious takeout from Libby's as well as occasionally eating there when we have a babysitter!

From Libby's Kitchen News page.:

QUOTE

We're expanding into evening hours and we look forward to seeing you 'post 5pm'! As of January 19th, our new hours are as follows!
Mondays CLOSED
Tuesdays 7am til 5pm
Wednesdays 7am til 9ish
Thursdays 7am til 9ish
Fridays 7am til 9ish
Saturdays 8am til 9ish
Sundays 8am til 5

UNQUOTE

Take 5 at 429 Granville now open until 8p.m. Monday to Friday

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 07:58:52 GMT

My second office, Take 5 Cafe (VanEats Take 5 Review), at 429 Granville is now open Monday until Friday until 8p.m. A perfect place for after hours meetings or geek/power user gatherings if you need free WiFi (like tonight's Mobile Monday Vancouver Meeting 1) or just for chilling out!

Java Jazz website is actually at www.javajazzbistro.com

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 06:59:10 GMT

UPDATE: Marcus is NOT from Java Jazz. My apologies for saying he was!

Happy New Year All!

Got a nice email from Marcus from Java Jazz. Their website has moved to www.javajazzbistro.com.. I really like their Filipino Food FAQ which is a very short but sweet intro to Filipino food. Check it out!

Libby's has a website!

Roland Tanglao — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 06:49:41 GMT

One of our EastVan favs, Libby's, finally has a website. Check them out at LibbysKitchen.com for info about their yummy food and art openings like the one tomorrow from 2-4p.m. with Lucie Walker!

Gala Seafood Restaurant in Richmond - 1st Visit

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 07:24:22 GMT

We really enjoyed our lai fun (stir fried rice noodles with bean sprouts and onions see blurry photo above) at Gala Seafood Restaurant (Union Square 8300 Capstan way #1008, Richmond, 604 261-3388 - apparently they moved there a couple of months ago from Vancouver). Perfect texture! And the dim sum was tasty and inexpensive ($2.75 a steamer). Hopefully we'll be back soon!

1st Visit - Josephine's Restaurant

Roland Tanglao — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 07:55:20 GMT

I did it! My mom's in town, so I decided to take her to Josephine's Restaurant (2650 Main Street near East 10th, 604 876-8785). And I was pleasantly surprised! The room is open and spacious and well lit and the food is delicious. Much clearer and cleaner flavours than both Galing Galing and Goldilocks (I can't recommend Goldilock's savoury food unfortunately (it's OK but I like Galing Galing and Josephine's much more); their sweets and cakes are fantastic though!)

Click on the photo above for an annotated large photo labeled with my favourites. I had a combination plate for $7.50. This included sinigang (sour tamrind soup) plus two selections on top of a huge mound of white rice (why do Filipinos eat so much rice :-) ?). I chose mongo, a mung bean stew, (which we call balatong in our dialect) and BBQ pork. The pork was great; it had a wee hit of hot pepper, yum! The sinigang was nice and sour and not fatty which is how I like it! The balatong was OK; this kind of dish is always better home made but if if you don't have time to cook this definitely hits the spot.

Mom had pancit guisado (stir fried Filipino noodles). It was tasty but mine is better :-) but of course some people don't have that option!

Minor whingeing: food is served cafeteria style which I have complained about before. Like Galing Galing, if you get there within 2 hours of closing (we arrived at 7p.m. and Josephine closes at 8:30), they start running out of food. Since the food is served cafeteria style and not cooked on demand (except their pancit palabok which is cooked fresh), if you get there late in the day, some of the food may not as fresh as it could be.

All in all though, I was very happy and will be back for the palabok and to try some of their desserts which looked great!

Tempo Doeloe in Amsterdam

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 07:27:48 GMT

I recently spent some time on business in Amsterdam and enjoyed the Indonesian food at Tempo Doeloe (Utrechtsestraat 75 1017 VJ Amsterdam, telephone: 020-625 67 18, reservations REQUIRED, very small restaurant and you have to ring a bell to get in!). It's definitely a couple of notches above Vancouver's Pondok Indonesia (which I love) in terms of quality (it should be since there are lots more Indonesians in Amsterdam since it used to be a Dutch colony) and price. Had the spiciest food I've had in quite a while there. Luckily it was only one of the many courses we enjoyed! Worth checking out if somebody else pays.

My favourite breakfast and brunch = Dim Sum or Congee

Roland Tanglao — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 06:29:21 GMT

The places mentioned in this piece are great (read the whole thing at TasteOf604 to find out where!), but my favourite breakfast or brunch is either dim sum (e.g. at Spicy Court or Sun Sui Wah) or congee at a place like The Boss in Chinatown. What's yours?

From Where's My Sunny-Side Up?.:

QUOTE

The problem with working a 9-5 job (in my case a 9-6 and sometimes even 7 or 8...), is that even on the days that I'm NOT working at 9, I still wake up as if I do. So what do I do early Sunday morning when 10am is already considered "I slept in"?

UNQUOTE

Sciue's Pasta e Fagioli Soup is amazing

Roland Tanglao — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 06:48:02 GMT

Sciue's (110-800 Pender at Howe) Pasta e Fagioli Soup is amazing; lots of flavour (in particular umami!), and depth. More later on this promising 3 week old restauant!

Java Jazz is a "real" restaurant and serves Filipino food but it's in New West

Roland Tanglao — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 05:21:49 GMT

In response to my plea for "real" (with table service) Filipino restaurants, SaabKen once more points out Java Jazz. Sorry, it sounds great but it's in New West and not Vancouver and I don't get out there very often. If anybody else, has a suggestion, please leave a comment!

Mexico Sabroso is now Taco Rico

Roland Tanglao — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 07:58:47 GMT

Mexico Sabroso is now Taco Rico and has been for over a year now! I updated our review. Check out our Mexico Sabroso/Taco Rico mini-review. Finally, I went there Tuesday and the food is still fab no matter what it's called.