Green Basil

Viv and I were heading to Stupidstore at Metrotown and needed a place to eat. We figured that Sushi Garden would be convenient since it is only across the street. However, as we got there, the usual lineup was out the door. I've been there before and really wonder to myself, is it really that good to lineup for? Well, I guess that question will be revisited another day. Not having a backup plan, I was just about to drive further down Kingsway when Viv suggest we try Green Basil which was a couple of doors down. Perpetuating the Asian stereotype, I jammed on the brakes and zipped into the first available parking spot (safely of course). We just had some really good Thai food at Lhy Thai a few days ago, so we were ready to do a comparison. Heading into the restaurant, we were greeted with a clean and pleasing decor. The server was all ready to take us into an inside table; but I asked if we could sit at probably the worst table near the entrance because I needed light for my pictures. Sometimes, I wonder what restaurant staff are thinking when I take a crappy table. I did that at Lhy Thai too; rather than take a spacious table, I took a small table closer to the window.

Conveniently, I had the Entertainment coupon for Green Basil with me, so I proceeded to order more than we could eat. I seem to always fall into that trap since psychologically I feel that there is a deal to be had, I might as well get more food. The first dish to arrive was the Pad Thai and honestly, it looked scary. There was no colour whatsoever, except for the chili flakes and green onion. I've never seen such pale looking Pad Thai in my life. Fortunately it tasted better than it looked; however, the flavours were weak exhibiting very little tamarind and fish sauce. Despite this, there was a decent amount of spiciness and plenty of shrimp in the dish. Luckily for us (and for this post) the rest of the 3 dishes were much better. The Chicken Green Curry was both plentiful and spicy. The coconut milk tempered the heat a bit; but the curry was far from mild. The same could be said about the Eggplant with Beef. There was not shortage of spice and flavour. The Duck Red Curry was beautifully presented in a half pineapple. The curry was also spicy; but the ample amount of pineapple and coconut milk brought sweetness to the dish.

Although the meal at Green Basil was not the best Thai food I've ever had, it was acceptable, Pad Thai withstanding. Portions were larger than most other Thai restaurants and prices were very reasonable. We personally really enjoyed the pronounced spice in the curries and the stir fry; yet I can see that this may not be for everyone. Furthermore, the restaurant was clean and the service was very attentive.

The Good:
- Portions are larger than other Thai restaurants
- Prices are reasonable
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Flavours were a bit off (ie. Pad Thai was bland, curries could be too spicy for some)

Au Petite Cafe

For only the second time this year, I was able to make it out for golf. Snake reserved a tee time at Langara. Vandelay and Costanza rounded out our foursome. To classify this round of golf as interesting would be a an understatement. On the 11th hole, I ended up breaking my 9-iron on a tree limb with my follow-through. Then, on the 16th, I managed to hit a post that was no wider than 6 inches resulting in the ball ricocheting backwards for negative yardage. I really need to go out and play more, my game is in disarray. Regardless of that, I had plenty of fun, especially with some good company. Naturally, after a round of golf, we were in need of nourishment. After a brief discussion, we all decided on Au Petit Cafe on Main street. Mind you, I not sure why we chose hot Pho on an extremely warm day.

We arrived at Au Petit at around 2:20pm and it was packed. Snake was flabbergasted as to why it would be full in the middle of the afternoon. Luckily for us, a table for 4 was just opening up for us. Upon taking our seats, Snake was inundated with spitting. He glanced over at Vandelay and Costanza ready to retaliate with a horking motion when I stopped him. I pointed up at the leaky air conditioner, averting a full scale war - I felt very much like a Canadian at that point. Vandelay was the only one who had been to Au Petit before and highly recommended the Iced Coffee. I wasn't originally planning to order one; but everyone else got one and I felt left out. Yes, I seemed to succumb to peer pressure quite a bit... Vandelay also suggested we try the Banh Mi. Interestingly, we all ordered one except for Vandelay. I have to say it was darn good Banh Mi. The bread was crunchy and there was ample filling. I had the Banh Mi Dac Biet which, in addition to the usual ingredients, was filled with crushed meatballs.

Costanza was conflicted, he wanted to have the beef stew; but it came with more Banh Mi (minus the filling). He didn't want to have 2 loaves of bread. Ultimately he settled for the Hu Tieu Bo Kho (Beef Stew and Rice Noodle Soup). I tried some and it was fabulous. The broth was rich and a bit sweet without being oily or salty. The beef was oh-so-tender. Snake and I both went for the Pho Tai Nam Bo Vien, which consisted of raw beef, beef meatballs and cooked beef. The broth itself was quite light in flavour and colour; yet it still emanated a strong aroma (a good thing). The portion size wasn't exactly big; but it was enough, especially since we had Banh Mi's already.

I'm not really a coffee drinker; but let's just say if all coffee tasted like the one at Au Petit Cafe, I'll become one. The Cafe Sua Da or Dark French Iced Coffee with Condensed Milk was absolutely to die for. I got some feedback from Costanza since he is a coffee connoisseur and he loved it. The rich coffee taste tempered by the sweet milk was decadent. I could've used another 5 of these; yet I would probably be awake for the next week as a result. If I sound pretty excited over a small Vietnamese restaurant, you would be correct in your assumption. What can I say, the food was good, service was friendly, price was right, coffee was outstanding and Snake got all wet. Perfect meal.

The Good:
- Excellent iced coffee
- Really good Banh Mi
- Delicately prepared and great tasting food
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- It's petit alright, very tight seating
- Not only does the A/C spit, it's not very effective

Prata Man

If you can believe it, the first time I ever visited Prata Man was in 1995. Yes, that was 14 years ago. It was recommended to me by a coworker at the time; yet I was hesitant. Drive all the way to Richmond??? Yes, I was paranoid about Richmond back then too. What I found at Prata Man was some of the best Hainanese chicken in town. Yes, I do realize there are plenty of other places with really good Hainanese chicken; but for the price, it's a pretty good value at Prata Man. Let's get this out of the way as well - Prata Man is a dive. You won't find fancy lights, expensive tile, artwork or trendy banquettes adorning a wall. What you will find is a modest restaurant with mismatched wobbly wooden chairs, an industrial looking floor and plain walls decorated with their "specials". Most people really don't even eat-in; rather, they get takeout.

The story behind Prata Man, as I've been told, was that the recipes and techniques behind their Hainanese chicken were left behind by the original owner. However, as for their other dishes, I'm not so sure. I sincerely hope that the roti prata recipe was not a legitimate one, because the ones at Prata Man are just plain horrible. Rather than being flaky and a bit airy, the ones at Prata Man are like a solid disc of dough. You can probably kill someone with it by throwing it a la James Bond (Goldfinger - the hat). Fortunately, the Satay Skewers are pretty good. They come in either chicken, pork or beef. Stay with the chicken and pork; the beef requires you to gnaw at it like an animal. In addition to being incredibly inexpensive for such meaty skewers (less than $1.00 each), they are nicely grilled and full of flavour. One problem is that the flavour is predominantly sweet. Add the sweet peanut sauce to it, and the flavour composition becomes very one-dimensional.

But seriously, the main draw here is the Hainanese chicken. Many people get it for takeout since there are 2 specific meal deals. You can get a whole chicken with 5 bowls of rice, soup and condiments for $19.00 (eat-in $20.25). For half a chicken, 3 bowls of rice, soup and condiments, it only costs $13.25 (eat-in $14.25). At these prices, you do get a good amount of food. Moreover, the chickens they use are quite large. You'll find that the skin on the chicken is not as gelatinous as other versions; however, the texture of the chicken itself is quite tender. Most of the meat is de-boned except for the back sections and parts of the thigh. The chicken is then bathed in a light soy-based sauce that shows hints of fish sauce. The clear consume soup that accompanies the chicken is dominated by the taste of ginger. I personally like it; yet it could be a bit strong for some people. The requisite chicken rice is pretty good; but I would have preferred more chicken fat mixed in (I can't believe I said that).

Yes, it's a hole-in-the wall. Yes, it's not aesthetically pleasing. Yes, the staff read newspapers and magazines when they are not needed. Yes, some of the other dishes are not very good. But, the Hainanese Chicken is solid and inexpensive. After 15 years, I still make the trek to Richmond for it.

The Good:
- Solid Hainanese Chicken
- Really inexpensive (take out specials are incredibly affordable)
- Friendly staff, when not busy reading the newspaper

The Bad:
- The worst roti prata I've ever had
- Some of the other dishes are not that appealing
- Face it, it's a dive

Pajo's

Alright, after grabbing a Screamer from Danny's Market, we headed over to Steveston for some lunch. Yes, I got dessert before my meal. While driving along Williams and making a turn onto #3 Road, I ended up following a student driver. Great. I was following a student driver in the heart of Richmond. What did I do wrong to deserve this inhumane punishment. Luckily I was able to pass the student driver and carry on my merry way. My restaurant of choice today was Pajo's, which is known for their fish & chips. In fact, Pajo's can be seen as some sort of novelty since their location at Steveston is right on the pier (translation: tourist trap). However, despite this, I've always enjoyed Pajo's fish & chips.

Today, Viv and I decided we were only going to share a meal since we were planning to eat an early dinner. So that we could get a little of everything, we went for the One of Each, which included one piece each of halibut, salmon and cod. Included with this were fries, tartar sauce and lemon wedges. This set me back $13.00. Influenced by Kim (I'm Only Here for the Food!) I decided to take a picture of all the condiments while I was waiting for my order. If you look at the bottom right hand corner, there are 2 small cups of ketchup. Yes, they were mine. I decided to get the ketchup before I received my order because I knew I wouldn't be able to dispense the ketchup while holding a cone-shaped paper container. Well, for the first time in my life, as I turned around for a split second to get my order, someone jacked my ketchup! For only reasons known to the thief, they took ketchup that had already been dispensed. Suffice to say, I was a bit confounded and a bit ticked off because I had to go back for more ketchup (we were seated on the upper level of the pier).

If you look at the picture of the condiments again, you'll notice something is missing. Yes, it's the malt vinegar. Where was the malt vinegar? Well, it was actually at the table behind us. I can't believe they took the only malt vinegar and hogged it for themselves. First ketchup stealing, then malt vinegar hoarding? What has this world come to??? Despite it being quite easy, I'm not going to blame this on Richmond. In terms of the fish & chips, it's pretty decent. The fish is fresh and the batter is not too thick. Nicely fried, crispy and easy on the grease. Chips are crunchy without being oily. Not the best fish & chips I've ever had; but considering the venue, it's solid. I find the prices quite reasonable for what you get. It ain't cheap; yet not exactly gouging either. And yes, there is the novelty factor as well. You can't really beat the fact it's right on the water and especially on a nice day like today; the whole experience cannot be replicated in a restaurant.

The Good:
- Unique location
- Decent fish & chips
- Prices are reasonable considering it's a touristy location

The Bad:
- Not really enough places to sit when busy
- Aggressive crows and seagulls, do not leave your food unattended

Danny's Market

When you hear the name "Screamer", a few things might come to mind. A loud baby? A boisterous fan? A car peeling out? Miss Y? Well, the Screamer I'm referring to is the beverage and/or dessert which consists of a slushee and soft serve ice cream. Yes, it's quite a simple concoction, but oh so yummy and refreshing on a hot day. You'd think something so relatively easy to make readily available. Wrong. To the best of my knowledge, there are only a few places that you can obtain this tasty treat - Baguette Time (thanks to Five Loaves for the info) in Vancouver and Danny's Market in Richmond. Since I was heading to Richmond today, I targeted Danny's Market on my GPS as a necessary stop. The first time I had a Screamer was at the Calgary Zoo last year. I couldn't believe I hadn't tried one sooner, the thing is plain awesome. My favourite by far is Orange Crush slushee and soft serve. This is the closest thing to a Creamsicle. To give credit where credit is due, the only reason I knew of Danny's Market was because of other bloggers: Five Loaves, Yum-O-Rama and 604 Foodtography.

The Screamer itself is a bit hard to drink with a straw at first. It's best to let it melt a bit, mix it up a bit or use a spoon. Don't let it melt too much, then it becomes a mess. As Danny & Jeremy mentioned, the Screamer can be a meal in itself. Don't try this after you've eaten a really large meal. But, I do recommend that you try one, even if you live a distance away. It's that good. Add in that it's only a little over $4.00 for a large with extra ice cream, it's easy on the wallet too.

The Good:
- It takes a slushee to a whole new level
- It's reasonably priced
- They don't skimp on the soft serve

The Bad:
- It's actually quite filling, not really something you want to have if you're full
- Not really a negative, but there are not many places you can get this

Lhy Thai

*This post is 3 years old, apparently things have changed, take it with a grain of salt*

A bright, warm and beautiful sunny day; it inspires us to be happy and relaxed. For me, it inspires me to go find somewhere to eat. Wait, I don't think the weather has anything to do with it. I'm always inspired to eat! Even when I was badly stricken with the stomach flu back in March, I still continued eating (including cream puffs!) Well, today was a nice day and I was in search of eats. I briefly considered Hon's, but I regained my senses and decided on something else. No offense to Hon's but there are better choices. My choice today was Lhy Thai on Edmonds in Burnaby. If you've never heard about this place, I don't blame you. I drove right past it without noticing it. I had to look up the address again on Urbanspoon with my Blackberry (what a plug!).

Seating arrangements at Lhy Thai are a bit tight to say the least. The people next to us were having a conversation and I felt like I was a part of it. In fact, the gentleman next to me was raving about a Greek restaurant on Davie that served large portions at low prices; but he couldn't remember the name. I couldn't help myself and blurted out,"Stepho's". I'm not sure if he was appreciative or creeped out by my sudden interjection into their conversation. Sheepishly, I continued looking at the menu. With much excitement, Viv and I were impressed with the prices. Nothing was over $6.95; in fact, looking at the dinner menu later, only 2 items are over $10.00.

Viv ended up choosing Combo #2 (Green Curry) for her meal and I went for the Combo #3 (Red Curry). No, there was no Combo #5 like the time at Kam Wah. We added a Phat Thai Gai (Chicken Pad Thai) for good measure. Included in our combos were rice, spring roll and pork satay (Viv's)/fish cake (mine). First and foremost, the veggies in the curries were fresh, crisp and aesthetically pleasing. Flavour-wise, the curries were well-balanced with the red curry being a bit sweeter than the green curry. The spring rolls were crunchy and light tasting; but a bit on the oily side. The satay and fish cake were pretty standard, nothing much to say about them.

Everything was quite good until we got to the Phat Thai... It was fabulous! One of the most flavourful Pad Thai's I've ever had. The al dente rice noodles were caressed (nice word eh?) by sweet tamarind and spicy chili. The picture doesn't do it justice. The colour of the dish was a deep red, rather than the neon red you'd find on run-of-the-mill versions of Pad Thai. The flavours were both intense and rich. Furthermore, the dish was packed with dried tofu, preserved turnip, green onion, sprouts, egg and crushed peanuts.

I've read some comments regarding Lhy Thai and they have been quite negative concerning their portion sizes. Well, first of all, look at the prices, I think the portions are fair for the dollar value. Moreover, much like pasta sauce or curries, you don't need a tonne of it for your rice. You only need enough. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Lhy Thai and the service was friendly and attentive. I would categorize this place as definitely a hidden gem.

The Good:
- Authentic Thai Food, they even have a certificate proving it!
- Excellent prices
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- Seating is a bit cramped

Pasta Polo

After picking up DT (we'll call him Rich Guy from now on) from the airport today, I made the long trek from Richmond to Coquitlam. For my troubles, he gave me a really big bag of Cornick. I looked at it all confused. What the heck is Cornick? The only other Filipino snack I am familiar with is Clover chips (which rock by the way). It turns out Cornick is somewhat similar to Corn Nuts; but they are not as hard. Not wasting a second, I dug into the bag and I couldn't stop eating it. Rich Guy suggested I save some for Viv. I promised that I would try. One side effect of eating too much Cornick is that you'll have garlic breath that's radioactive! Having just returned from a really long flight from the Philippines, I figured Rich Guy would not have anything at home to eat for dinner. Mind you, even if he did, he'd probably still go out to eat. Right there and then, we decided to meet for dinner at Pasta Polo in Coquitlam. On my way to Pasta Polo, I saw the sign right on Lougheed at Lansdowne; however, when I turned in, I totally missed the entrance. If you look at the picture, you'd miss it too. The main door reminds me of a nightclub.

We decided to get a variety of dishes which included Mussels Marinara, Avocado & Shrimp Salad, Italian Sausage Penne, Meatballs Florentine with Linguine and a kid's Pepperoni Pizza. Arriving steaming hot, the mussels rested on a white wine marinara sauce. Each one of the sweet mussels were open, welcoming in the broth. Stunningly colourful, the salad arrived with a bevy of greens, avocado, shrimp, strawberries, tomatoes, kiwi fruit and prawns. Wild berry herb dressing and mozza toast was served on the side. I realize it's difficult to get excited about a salad; but this one was a winner. After the first 2 dishes, the food so far was very good; yet, surprisingly, once the pastas arrived, the meal began to fall flat.

Both pastas were served on deep dish plates; thus, there was more pasta than met the eye. Incidentally, all the pastas are organic and freshly made. We found the Meatball Florentine with Linguine a bit bland. Although there was plenty of fresh tomato flavour; there wasn't much else. Moreover, the linguine itself was a bit mushy. However, the meatballs were pretty good being packed with lean meat and spinach. Conversely, where the linguine fell flat, the Italian Sausage Penne was a bit more flavourful. There was a bit of spice to the sauce due to the spicy sausage, peppers and onion. But yet again, the sauce still managed to be a bit bland and the pasta was a bit soft. The texture really didn't make me want to eat more of it.

Where the pasta fell flat, the pizza did not. Since my son is not a big eater, we all sampled his pizza and it was pretty good. The thin crust was crunchy and not oily at all. Taste wise, it had just enough sauce and there was plenty of mozzarella cheese. I went away from the dinner at Pasta Polo a bit conflicted. Many people have recommended this place to me; yet I wasn't blown away. Did I have unrealistic expectations? I had asked Rich Guy and Viv during the meal about their thoughts. Both thought it was okay, but nothing really incredible. When I'm on the fence regarding a restaurant, I ask myself - did I want to eat more of the food? The answer was: "some of it". I did want to eat some more Cornick though... Therefore, I'll file this under the indifferent category.

The Good:
- Very reasonable prices
- Friendly service
- Some good dishes

The Bad:
- Pasta was far from al dente
- Pasta sauces were a bit weak/bland