Tag Archives: vancouver
Vancouver

Mini Guide to Vancouver

by Samantha Wong on 2011/02/23 in Featured Article, Food and Travel, Foodie Guide, North America

It’s been approximately one year since the Olympics, and it has to be asked: is Vancouver a city worth visiting? The answer? a resounding YES!!! It’s so easy to disregard one’s hometown (and let’s be honest… there are plenty of hometowns out there that have very little interest) but lucky for Myself (and you), I’m making a miniature Vancouver “Must Do” list of places to see, dine at, and visit! In no particular order (other than how they’re popping up in my mind)

Whistler Panoramic

Whistler
For a skiier/ snowboarder, it’s imperative to visit Whistler-Blackcomb. As a general rule, snowboarders prefer Blackcomb’s wide powdery runs (my favourite runs? cloud 9, ridge runner, and ross’s gold) whereas skiiers rule the roost at Whistler. There are many ways to reach Whistler (renting a car, greyhound.ca) and different options for booking a place to stay (whistlerblackcomb.com, alluradirect.com, vrbo.com). As for restaurants to visit? I’ll delve a bit further into this next week!

Steveston
“It’s so far away!” is a lament commonly uttered by Vancouverites regarding Steveston, Richmond. Really, depending on where you’re located, it can be a mere half an hour away. This place is adorable with an old-town historical feel, independent shops selling unique tchotchkes, and of course: great food! Visit Pajos (Pajos – Famous for Fish and Chips) or Dave’s Fish and Chip

Granville Island

Vancouver’s Granville Island is akin to NY’s Chelsea Market or Seattle’s Fish Market. It’s a great place to get fresh fresh food and drinks, see some of the local artisan crafts, and chill out for a lazy morning. I like Cat’s Social House, Granville Island Brewing Co., and Sandbar.

Sushi

An in depth review’s pending, but visitors should definitely take advantage of the fresh fish available in the pacific northwest! A few personal favourites: toshi (where locals will wait for an hour or more), and miku.

Dim Sum

For a guide to Vancouver’s delicious dim sum, check out my Dim Sum post here

[Pictures courtesy of Flickr: .mused, DrewFromSydney]

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dim-sum

Vancouver Dim Sum

by Samantha Wong on 2010/12/21 in Featured Article, Foodie Guide, North America

dim-sum

Dim sum. Dim sum. Dim sum. Oh dim sum…. how do I express my ardent love for you? I crave you once a week and force friends, family, and even strangers (hellooo awkward first date) to enjoy you with me. I snob people out if they don’t share my exacting standards for you, and regardless of how broke I may be, I never sacrifice quality for price when it comes to you. So, dear food trotters, you might have a shadow of an idea of how much I love dim sum, and be wondering: Where does this weirdo get her fix? Easy. I have three restaurants I am 100% down for, and a few others I deign to dine at. (What a snob, I know).

I love Kirin (I’m partial to the Richmond, Vancouver West, and New Westminster locations), Western Lake (4989 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, 604-321-6862), and Sun Sui Wah (both locations are great). Kirin and Sun Sui Wah are big fish in the Vancouver dim sum pond, and the two have multiple locations. The restaurants are “huge” (both restaurants are popular venues for Chinese weddings, baby banquets, and other important occasions), and the service is prompt, friendly(ish), and professional. You won’t see carts being pushed around here, and the wait staff (depending on when and how often you go) are friendly and attentive. As a disclaimer, I feel like I’m constantly critiquing Chinese restaurants service, but honestly, the waiters always seem more brusque than in western restaurants… or perhaps that’s just my shoddy Chinese that disallows that connection. Both restaurants are on the higher end of the dim sum price range (I can easily spend $20-$30/ person here), but given the high quality of food and mid-to-upscale atmosphere, it’s completely worth it to me. For my “local haunt” when I don’t feel like adventuring too far away from home, I visit Western Lake. My grandma is a “celebrity” here. Actually, Victoria street has a large elderly Chinese population and as my Chinese counterparts will agree, there’s nothing the older generation loves to do so much as wake up early, sit around, and chat with their friends and family. Western Lake is a great place for that generation to go to because they open early (9AM dimsum!), have hugemongous portions (their siu mais have to be on steroids, they’re double the size of normal siu mai’s), and are well priced ($10-$20/ person). Their downside? They are a small location, and when you mix in the older crowd that loves to sit around and ba wai (take up space!) you’re guaranteed a long wait time. But you made a reservation? So? You still have to wait, like all the rest of us chumps. I recommend visiting this place on a weekday or right as they open.

For the dim sum n00b I recommend ordering a few different things to figure out what one likes, but if you jump to my articles of a couple dim sum places in the Bay area , you can get an in-depth list of what I like to order as a per usual thing:

Taipan, Palo Alto
Koi Palace, San Francisco

dim-sum-2

Extra notes: while yumming-cha at Western Lake, you MUST order the XO radish cake (cubes of radish cake pan fried with XO sauce… soooo good — as a note within a note, their secret-not-listed-on-the-menu XO sauce can be ordered as a little side dish if you enjoy XO, but bewarned, you may have an additional charge of $2) and if you like eggplant, I would recommend getting the shrimp-paste eggplant dish (eggplant slices with shrimp paste smothered inside). I would avoid their boon tong gow (dumpling soup) as it’s little more than wontons in broth (ick)… stick to the other two restaurants for the delicious boon tong gow. Also, I am totally “RUINING!” the taste of the true dim sum delicacies, but I like to order a small dish of Worcester sauce to flavour my dim sum. This sauce is my panacea for terrible dim sum, and a touch heightens delicious dim sum for me. Think of it as ketchup for the asian lunch. Mmm…

Also, as a complete dim sum snob, I have to favour Vancouver dim sum’s to all other cities I’ve tried. Toronto? Been there, done that. There are a few that are decent. San Francisco? You can read my reviews. Beijing? Sorry mainland, you don’t quite mimic Hong Kong dim sum as well as one might think… and Hong Kong? As the originator, you’re “undisputedly” “the best”. This means you come with a price premium too though. Disagree? Agree? Leave me suggestions for where to visit, wherever you might be based!

[Photos courtesy of mischiru, 1. turnip cakes, 2. Dim Sum 004, 3. dim sum city, 4. dim sum from happy harbor restaurant, 5. Dim Sum 005, 6. Dim Sum Dreams, 7. Dim Sum Dessert, 8. Dim Sum Paradise in Paris, 9. Dim Sum at Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant]

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Mexico’s Day of the Dead – Dia de Los Muertos, ¿Que es eso?

by Samantha Wong on 2010/10/21 in Featured Article, Global Food Events, North America

My favourite holiday is, hands down, Halloween. It’s the one holiday that revolves around partying, dressing up in something OTHER than your typical “nice” clothes, and eating candy! From young to old, everyone can enjoy the spooky celebrations. If you’re like me, you’ll do your best to prolong the holiday, from having themed costume parties weeks in advance to adopting other cultures analogous halloweens. Myself, I like to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, a two day Mexican holiday akin to Halloween. (Aside, I actually like to celebrate all Mexican holidays but that’s another story).

I was initially thrown by this holiday: “What is this holiday where they celebrate death? Why do they eat candied skulls and make “Bread of the Dead” pan de muerto? And what’s up with the decorative skulls everywhere?” However, IMHO, the holiday isn’t that odd when you consider that the whole thing is a celebration of departed loved ones. They once loved to eat and drink, now that they have gone onto another stage of their life, life after death, it stands that they would like to occasionally return and celebrate the earthly joys they once enjoyed. I know that no matter how much I food trot, I like to return to my hometown and just relax for a few days; likewise, I can imagine food trotting to earth posthumously! It’s really just a bigger journey, right? The candied skulls and Bread of the Dead are foods for the dead as well as the living to savour! Pan de Muerto is a traditional Mexican sweet dessert bread served in the time leading up to and during Dia de los Muertos. It is typically decorated with bones (to bring good luck, so run Mexican beliefs). And what of the “creepy” skulls? In Aztec culture, skulls were viewed as a symbol of death and rebirth, a way to honour the dearly departed. Truly, the Day of the Dead, is not a horrible macabre holiday, but a celebration of life! After all, what would life be without death? The holiday falls right after halloween, on All Souls and All Saints Day: Nov 1st and 2nd. It lasts two days because the first day is for remembering loved children while the second day is dedicated to honouring departed adults. It is also socially acceptable to remember people that are not personal acquaintences, such as those killed in disasters or catastrophes during the year.

It is one of my travel goals to visit Mexico during Dias de los Muertos. If you can’t book that plane ticket either, I highly recommend celebrating this holiday with a few decorative skulls, perhaps a bread of the dead, or maybe even partaking in your city’s adapted Day of the Dead!

In San Francisco, you can join the Mission St. Procession or listen to the Dia de los Muertos symphony.

In Vancouver, you can attend the Parade of Lost Souls: Secret Souls Walk or taste test Zocolo which is offering a Dia de los Muertos special menu: $25 for 3 courses from Nov 1st until Nov 15th.

If you are travelling to Los Angeles or Texas around halloween-time, these cities have vast Mexican populations. I can only imagine how incredible it would be to be a part of the Dia de los Muertos festivities!

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Why Go On A Food Tour – Vancouver Edition

by Nancy Huynh on 2010/08/13 in Food and Travel

Ever get stuck in a tourist trap on vacation?
Yep, me too.  But fret not! There are ways to minimize those odds.

I’m on vacation right now kicking back, hiking, and eating; in particular, eating my way around Vancouver.  I knew that Vancouver would have some amazing food, most notably Asian foods, seafoods, and locally sourced foods.  And sure, I knew the names of a few popular restaurants: Guu, Blue Water Cafe, and Salt, but with the bewildering amount of restaurants and bars across the Greater Vancouver area, how could I know which places would be a hit or a miss?

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Oyster Love

by Samantha Wong on 2010/08/12 in Food and Travel, North America


Oysters are one of those foods people either love or hate. Clearly, as the title of my post is oyster LOVE, I am on the love side. But no worries… if you haven’t yet been converted, let me share my top five reasons to love oysters!

1) What other foods yield precious accessories? A chicken burger? pfft.
2) Oysters are incredibly healthy: they are low in fat, cholesterol and calories (a dozen oysters are around 75 cals!) and high in essential minerals. Further, oysters are a great source of vitamins… A, B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), C (ascorbic acid), and D (calciferol) to name a few!
3) Oysters are an aphrodisiac! Actually, there is little evidence of oysters imparting sexual powers, but IMHO sexual prowess is in the mind. Eating a few oysters with someone you are trying to flirt with will certainly allow you (or him… or her!) to nudge the conversation in that direction…
4) They can be enjoyed in a panoply of ways: do you like them best roasted, rockafeller style, in soups, motoyaki style, or raw?
5) They just taste so darn good! You know how when you were eleven and had your first sip of wine, how disgusting it was? I hope that you appreciate wine now, so you can get my parallel example here (and so you can enjoy life a little bit more), but yes… back to my example: If you weren’t an immediate oyster lover, after a bit of perseverance, I have no doubt you will become an oyster lover!

If I’ve managed to pique your interest, jump for some oyster types to try out and location recommendations (Vancouver and San Fran) to taste test them!

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Quest for the Perfect Sandwich Pt 1

by Samantha Wong on 2010/06/26 in International, North America

Trust me; I am no sandwich lover. As someone who for a long long time couldn’t be bothered to cook, I lumped sandwiches in an inglorious category of an “easy to make and somewhat healthy” staple of home food, consisting of deli meat, cheese, maybe a tomato if I was feeling fancy. Ordering a sandwich at a restaurant, on the other hand, is typically a calorie-laden overstuffed affair of Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and regardless of how much mayonnaise and ketchup there is, the sandwich always seems so dry and unsatisfying. I also dislike the hands on approach necessary to eating a sandwich… it’s just too darn messy; yet, eating a sandwich with a fork and knife seems so she she la la that I judge myself for eating in such a fashion. Who needs that stigmatism, even if it is all merely taking place in my imagination?

pictured: a Ba Le banh mi.... yummy!

Enter Bánh mì. Thanks to years of french rule, vietnamese subs perfectly combine european and asian elements: a wonderfully crusty baguette stuffed with some sort of meat — pork, vietnamese sausage or chicken are popular choices — and pickled carrots, daikon, cucumbers, cilantro and chili peppers.

Really though, waxing poetic about vietnamese subs isn’t going to make you understand the poetry of this sandwich. Some MmMmmGood wisdom for enjoying this delicacy:
- these are best enjoyed at specialty VIETNAMESE SANDWICH shops; don’t compromise your experience eating this at a pho place, i implore you.
- price-wise, these should be under $5 CND. Many places also offer specials such as buy ten, get one free. The most authentic (and best) Vietnamese restaurants are typically cash only.
- it’s best to visit the restaurant early in the morning… before the sandwiches sell out! You want your pick of the bunch, don’t you?
- many of the places serving the BEST vietnamese subs (I find, at least) you’ll want to drive to the location. Sorry, but IMHO hoofing it to the best sandwich shops in Vancouver and San Francisco is scary.
- eat them toasted!

and now, for some restaurant recommendations:
In Vancouver:
My favourite, Ba-Le serves up $2.75CND sandwiches. They have tried to bilk people out of their free 11th sub, so ask when you pay. Ask for “the regular” (pork). I like to do half spicy, half non spicy, or alternatively you can ask for peppers in a bag, where you put peppers on at your own daring. Other than that, do not expect any atmosphere of any kind as they have maybe, one rickety table? Take their subs home and devour… 20 seconds in the microwave then toasted in the toaster oven… amazing amazing amazing.

Located: 633 Main Street #121, Vancouver, BC V6A2V4
(604) 662-8108‎
you can also check out some photos of Ba-Le here

look at all those fillings!

Au Petit Cafe is a bit more upscale and diverse. Their location isn’t hard or scary to get to, but I would rank them down for poor service (family run and you know those kids don’t want to work there), the hoards of crowds who already know about this place, and their, quite simply, not-as-delicious subs! They serve pho, spring rolls, and other Vietnamese dishes and you can visit them online here. That said, Au Petit Cafe is still very good; they would take my top spot if not for Ba-Le.

Located: 4851 Main Street, Vancouver, BC V5V3R9
(604) 873-3328

In San Francisco:
Saigon Sandwiches has 4.5 stars and 1196 reviews on yelp. That’s pretty consistently good, wouldn’t you say? I travelled on foot from Union Square (Downtown) and was a bit terrified of the people we encountered (think homeless crazy people… as much as I bluff, I have minimal to no street cred). The sandwiches are around $3.25-3.50USD. I felt the daikon/ vegetable ratio overpowered the meat/ bread ratio, but if I was living in SF for an extended period of time, the sandwiches from this hole-in-the-wall hit the spot. Again, if they aren’t that busy, you can nicely request that they heat the sandwich up.

560 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 474-5698
you can read more reviews here

Saigon Sandwich

At Home:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/vietnamese-style-sandwich-banh-mi-recipe/index.html

this recipe seems rather easy and authentic… I haven’t yet had reason to try it but as soon as I do, I’ll review how it compares to the above recommended restaurants.

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The Diamond

by Samantha Wong on 2010/06/19 in North America

Vancouver’s Gastown is most certainly a place to check out as a traveller or a proud resident of the beautiful city. While I fall into the latter category, I admit to only recently haunting this up-and-coming area; I mean, really? A steam clock? How fascinating. (By the by, I am saying that with killing sarcasm). However, now that some developments in the area are underway, Gastown is no longer a derelict place where homeless people congregate. Though there are trace elements of that, Gastown’s business is booming with boutique retailers, trendy nightclubs, and innovative restaurant/ bars.

One such restaurant to visit is The Diamond. Situated between and on top of an Indian restaurant and a cheapo $1 pizza joint, The Diamond is truly a gem. The decor nods towards 1920′s lost era; Gossip Girl fans will understand what I mean when I say that The Diamond successfully conveys Chuck Bass’s whole decadent debauchery theme. My only complaint is that the seating is rather tight, something that can easily be a pro if you’re looking to meet some interesting individuals or a con if you’re seeking to share some gossip. The pricing is good to fair, with every dish and drink ringing in the around $10 mark. But what of the flavours and portion sizes?

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