Dutch Wooden Shoe

We woke up today with the munchies and without food in the fridge. Originally, we were going to take Whipping Girl's advice and try Fantastic Restaurant. Apparently they have all-you-can-eat Dim Sum. If this makes some of you cringe, I hear ya because we have been to Fantastic before. It was a long time ago and we were not overly impressed. Maybe it's better now? I'm not even sure if AYCE Dim Sum is a good concept since there are quite a few inexpensive Dim Sum places. Well, it was a moot point because we ended up going to the Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe instead. When I had asked Donna Chang where she wanted to eat, the Dutch Wooden Shoe was near the top of her list. Apparently, Whipping Girl had wanted to try this place as well; but she had already turned down the offer for some morning eats. She was choked that we went without her. She learned her lesson - never turn down a dining opportunity!

The Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe resides at an old De Dutch Pannekoek House location. The menu and concept of the restaurant remains quite similar to De Dutch; but with a few different twists. In addition to some fusion Pannekoeks influenced by Mexican and Italian cuisine, there is a certain Indonesian flair as well. I can only surmise that the Dutch colonization of the East Indies has some influence. Consequently, you see things like Nasi Goreng and Bahnmi Goreng on the menu. I went along with this and ordered the Nasi Goreng which was a Pannekoek filled with Indonesian fried rice and ham topped with a fried egg. Spicy Peanut Sauce, Hot Sauce and salad were served on the side. First off, let me say I've had Nasi Goreng and this was no Nasi Goreng. With that being said, if I just accepted it for what it was, the Pannekoek with the side sauces was pretty darn good. Definitely something a bit different. On a side note, they actually messed up my order and made a Vegetarian Pannekoek instead. The HORROR! Well, not only did they quickly fix my order, they gave me the vegetarian one for free. I poked at it and gave some to my daughter; but I really didn't eat it. Viv had the Boeren or Farmer's Pannekoek. Piled on top of the Pannekoek were 2 Eggs, Ham, Bacon, Smoked Sausage, Hash browns and a side of Hollandaise. Almost exactly the same as De Dutch, this particular breakfast is a good amount of food. However, it is $3 cheaper here and practically the same.

Vandelay opted for the Windmill Waffle which was topped with Smoked Sausage, Spinach, Tomato, Fried Egg, Hollandaise and Edam Cheese. He generously gave me a sample so I could try it. The waffle was a perfect balance of crispiness and softness. Combined with all the ingredients on the plate, this was one delicious breakfast. Donna Chang went for "THE" French Toast with Apples. Presented beautifully on the plate, with a side of baked apples, the french toast was delicate. The nicely baked apples were slightly sweet and a bit tart, an excellent compliment to the buttery egg toast. I normally do not make a big fuss about my son's food because it is either quite standard or he doesn't really even eat it. He's a really picky eater. Today, he chose the Dutch Wooden Shoe Shaped Pannekoek with Chocolate Sprinkles. Nothing really exciting you say? Well, he finished the whole darn thing! This is significant because he NEVER finishes his food. Suffice to say, it was a major event, at least for us. Well, if even the pickiest of eaters ate all of his food, albeit not a lot, it bodes well for the restaurant. The adults of the table concurred because the food was indeed good. With slightly lower prices than De Dutch and serving essentially the same things with a few twists, how could you not be happy? We sure were!

The Good:
- Something different from the usual breakfast fare
- Reasonable prices compared to the De Dutch
- Good Portions

The Bad:
- Seating arrangements are a bit cramped

Iki Japanese

What a beautiful day for a wedding! Yes, the endless days of sunshine for the GVRD have been a blessing for all those who are getting hitched. Fortunately for us, today's wedding was indoors at the Vancouver Museum. However, much like all weddings, we had to wait around for photos, while my stomach was growling. When it was over and done, we headed back to the car and I did my best "Superman" routine and changed into casual wear. Not fun being in a black suit on a warm summer day! Since we were in Kits, we headed out to Iki Japanese Bistro for some lunch. I've tried to visit Iki for a while now; but nobody on my softball team seemed too interested. Every time I mentioned about going to Iki, I get the usual, "It sounds like icky!".

When we arrived, it actually took a little while to find a parking spot. There were actually quite a few spaces available; but most of them were under trees. You might be wondering why that is significant. Well, I have this thing about parking my car under trees where it subsequently gets "sapped". So, I would rather circle around for treeless parking spot than park closer. I was lucky to spot one nearby and all was well. It's good that I didn't take too long, because not long after we got seated, the restaurant began to really fill up. Since Iki is a relatively small restaurant, it doesn't take a lot of customers to fill the place. On that note, I think there ought to be more staff because the servers seemed overworked. Despite this, they provided friendly service and attended to everyone the best that they could. What sets Iki apart is their brown rice sushi. Yes, there are other places that serve brown rice sushi; but Iki supposedly was one of the first and one of the best.

One dish that they are known for are their Yam Fries. I noticed almost everyone in the place ordering the fries. It's much like Phnom Penh where everyone orders the fried chicken wings, you can't go there without eating it. Well, there is a reason why everyone orders the yam fries because they are in one word - awesome. For $4.oo, you get a mound of these delicately battered fries that are kissed with a balsamic reduction. I really liked how crispy they were; yet the yam was still a bit firm. Served on the side was a Hollandaise sauce, which really tasted more like honey mustard. We much preferred the spicy mayo on the bottom of the dish as a dipping sauce. One item that caught my eye and I really wanted to try was the Lobster Miso Bisque. When it arrived, it wasn't really what I was expecting; but it did have a nice fragrance to it. Essentially, it was miso soup infused with lobster (possibly using the shells). At first, I was a bit disappointed since it just tasted like miso soup. Viv was having the regular miso soup and told me to compare. After I did that, I began to appreciate the taste of my lobster miso a bit more. However, I still enjoy a traditional lobster bisque much more.

Still on the lobster theme, we decided to try the Lobster Roll. For $9.00, it was a pretty good value. Wrapped in a crispy tempura coating, the roll consisted of lobster meat, asparagus and avocado with lobster miso sauce on the side. The roll itself was a bit bland and even the lobster miso couldn't bring it to life. However, with a touch of soy, the roll tasted much better. Seeing how an 8-piece sashimi order would cost $10.00 already, we went for the Bento Box F ($11.50) which included 6 pieces of Tuna and Salmon Sashimi, Chicken Teriyaki with Brown Rice, Edamame, Tempura, California Roll and Salad. This seemed like a much better deal and offered a good selection of items to sample. The brown rice California Roll was really large with a plethora of imitation crab nestled inside. The texture of brown rice isn't for everyone; but we didn't mind it. With perfectly cooked white meat and only modestly dressed with sauce, the teriyaki was solid. Much like the yam fries, the tempura was crispy without being oily. Although being only modest in size, the slices of sashimi were fresh and sweet. As you can ascertain, the meal at Iki was solid all around. The prices seemed reasonable for the quality and quantity of food. I most certainly do a return visit. Now only if I could convince my softball team to try it...

The Good:
- Food made with care
- Available choice of brown rice
- Reasonable prices

The Bad:
- They need more staff
- Not really good for big groups

Washington Avenue Grill

In the latest installment of "On the Hottest Day of the Year", Ma (not my own mom) and I made our way out to White Rock for some lunch. I owed her some money and decided to repay her with a nice meal. So with the T-tops off, we hopped into her 300ZX. It was a pleasant ride, except for the really hot wind that kept blowing in my face and the sun beating down on me. We decided to try out the Washington Avenue Grill right on Marine Drive. WAG, as it's called is affiliated with The Vault out in Cloverdale. That would probably explain a familiarity with the menu at first glance. Situated in an old house right on the beach, WAG offers a beautiful view and a nice sea breeze. That breeze was very welcome since there was no A/C. I personally think I'm on a streak in visiting non-A/C restaurants in the last month (also the hottest month so far).

We started off with 2 appies, Dry Ribs and Rice Noodle Wrapped Fried Shrimp. Fried probably a tad too long, the dry ribs were indeed dry; but the dipping sauce helped rectify it. The fried shrimp reminded me of the ones I had at Eat Vancouver, which is actually a good thing. Encrusted with a crispy noodle coating, the perfectly fried shrimp were a delight to eat. For our mains, I went for the Seafood Hot Pot. I assumed it would arrive in an actual hot pot; however, it was served in a large square bowl instead. Maybe it was cooked in a hot pot? A bounty of shrimp, salmon, halibut and mussels resting on top of rice noodles were bathed in a considerable amount of red curry broth. The whole dish would've benefited from a little less broth. Not only does it hinder the presentation of the seafood; it would be a little hard to finish it all anyways. I had to order a side of bread to soak up some of the liquid. With that being said, the seafood was fresh and cooked perfectly. The broth itself was quite light and did not overwhelm. Ma had the Chicken Penne with Portabello Mushroom Sauce. This dish was very rich. The pine nuts on top added both texture and flavour to the pasta.

For dessert, I had to go with the NY Cheesecake with Blueberry Compote. It was beautifully presented. Despite being rich, the cheesecake was not all that smooth. It almost had a doughy quality to it. Taste wise, I really liked the blueberries - good flavour without being too sweet. However, I wished there was a stronger cream cheese taste. On the other hand, Ma's souffle was outstanding. It was chocolate decadence without being overly sweet. The sweetness came in the form of ice cream on top of the souffle. The overall experience at WAG was pretty good. The beautiful scenery on a nice day with the cool sea breeze in between bouts of heat and sweat added to the ambiance. In addition to the view, the location has loads of character and charm. The food was more than acceptable, if not a bit standard. Prices were very reasonable for the venue and the portion size. However, I didn't notice until we were gone that I had been charged much more than the menu prices. I'm not sure how that happened. Either the server made a mistake and charged me dinner prices or the menu prices had changed. Whatever the case, that bothered me somewhat. But, I won't take away the fact that the service was very good. Much like the Vault, WAG doesn't blow me away; yet it is a decent place to grab some food and enjoy the view.

The Good:
- Excellent venue, inside and out
- Reasonable prices and good portion sizes
- Good service

The Bad:
- Food was not bad, yet it was predictable
- Discrepancy between bill and menu prices

Dai Tung

*Restaurant is closed*

Alright, who turned on the furnace in the GVRD? When the mercury rises above 34 degrees Celsius, it becomes really uncomfortable. There was no way that I would even consider turning on the stove in heat like this. Sure, I could go out and use the BBQ; but really, standing over a hot grill in the blazing sun was not an option as well. We really needed to find a place with A/C. For some strange reason, Dai Tung came to mind. Yes, the very same Dai Tung that has some pretty good Dim Sum at reasonable prices which I never get to eat. I've only been successful a handful of times getting a table for Dim Sum since the place is pure nuts. This is further complicated by the fact I hate lineups. Seeing the lineup at Dai Tung is the equivalent of me following a full-faced visor wearing driver going 30 km/h down a one-lane street. I avoid at all costs!

Fortunately, dinner is never even close to being that busy. However, for the price, the dinner menu is actually quite good here. Ever since they renovated the place, they have maintained a level of cleanliness that includes the washrooms. But, for some strange reason, there is a part of the faucet that is missing which makes it quite difficult to use. Well, at least the washroom is relatively clean which is a serious bonus at a Chinese restaurant. Since the A/C was freakishly cold, we actually decided to have the Daily Soup which was Watercress with Pork. Despite there being a good selection of other soups, I usually go for the daily soup because it's slow cooked and that results in a flavourful broth. The watercress soup was served boiling hot and it was not salty. We also got the Live Crab with Cream Sauce on top of a bed of noodles. Although the crab was cooked perfectly, the cream sauce was not really all that creamy. Instead, it was more of a starchy milk sauce. Mind you, it still tasted quite good. The server recommended the next dish - Fried Whole Talapia Hot Pot. Turns out it was a great choice. The whole fish was fried perfectly with crispy skin and soft flesh. Plenty of onions, green onions, ginger and whole garlic cloves provided a aromatic flavour to the dish.

We couldn't go to Dai Tung and not have their signature dish - 5-Cup Spiced Duck. The meaning behind the name is that there are exactly 5 cups of ingredients used to make the duck. The result is an extremely tender duck bathed in a sweet vinegary sauce. Trying to satisfy the veggie quota, we ordered the Pea Shoots in Broth with Beancurd Stick, Gingko Nuts and Wolfberries. This is a very delicate dish that is only lightly seasoned. The natural flavour of the pea shoots are not masked by the usual garlic stir-fry. The dish was cooked perfectly and was a refreshing contrast to the flavourful duck. As always, we were presented with the complimentary Sweet Red Bean Dessert Soup. This version had small tapioca pearls and was only slightly sweet.

For those who only go for the Dim Sum, I encourage you to try the dinner at Dai Tung. It's pretty good and the prices won't break the bank. Service was friendly and attentive. Our plates were changed consistently and our tea was refill promptly. Add into the fact that the restaurant is kept clean, you have a solid choice for Chinese food.

The Good:
- Food is quite good, dinner and Dim Sum
- Prices are reasonable
- Relatively clean restaurant

The Bad:
- Dim Sum lineup is pure chaos
- Very few parking spaces available

Balkan House

Once again, we were meeting with MagMagMug for some eats. TS and Donna Chang were not able to meet up with us at Rodney's, so we set up another rendezvous. Trying something a bit different this time, we settled on the Balkan House. TS was not exactly pleased since that would mean she would have to drive all the way out to Edmonds. I think there is an imaginary line around Fraser Street in Vancouver that she never crosses. Next time, I'm going to setup a dinner in Langley just to spite her. We really don't eat Eastern European food that often and didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, days prior, Jessica (Yum-O-Rama) had visited the Balkan House and blogged about it. Since we were going on a Sunday, we had the opportunity to try the buffet which runs from 4:00pm - 8:00pm. Vandelay, Donna Chang and myself arrived relatively on time after navigating through the street closure on Edmonds. It's part of the Sunday street closures in the GVRD.

Now, if you are ever in a restaurant with a buffet, it's hard not to look at it and wanting to try it while waiting. We gave TS half-an-hour to arrive before we decided to attack the food. Among the items at the buffet included Coleslaw, Bread, Scalloped? Potatoes, Rice, Roasted Potatoes, Veggies, Pork with Mushroom Sauce, Roast Pork, Vienna Schnitzel, Veal & Pork Sausage, Roast Chicken and cake. For $15.99, the price was reasonable since most of the dishes were around that price already. Because the food at Balkan House is predominantly heavy meats, don't expect to go back too many times to refill your plate. I only made it back twice and the second plate was modest. By virtue of being a buffet, I found most of the meats a bit overcooked. Thus, it was not the best indicator of how good the food should be. The meats were conservatively seasoned except for the roast pork, which was a bit salty. However, that was probably the best meat at the buffet since it was really tender. It reminded me of the Kintaro fatty pork.

The service at the Balkan House was quite friendly and attentive. The servers did their best to make us comfortable. In terms of ambiance, I found the restaurant to be stuck in a 70's time warp. It has the 70's lounge type decor and atmosphere. Either they are trying to be retro or they have no intentions of renovating. The clientele was predominantly European which indicates authenticity and popularity. The place was bustling with activity throughout our dinner. The buffet provided a good sampling of the various dishes at the Balkan House. I'm looking forward to trying some of the other dishes on a non-buffet night. I'm not sure if TS is going to join us though since New Westminster is like another world to her.

The Good:
- Really good service
- Unique cuisine, especially in the GVRD
- Great for carnivores

The Bad:
- You're not going there for the decor
- Food can be a bit heavy (if you do not like meat, but I do!)

Ningtu

*Restaurant is closed*

It always seems like every Chinese restaurant that serves Dim Sum are completely full on weekends (some on weekdays too!). We honestly tried to think of a place that we didn't have to lineup. Well, there are places where you don't have to line up; but they are either not very good or very expensive. Seeing that we did not want to wake up super early to go for Dim Sum at 9:00am, we finally gave up on the idea. Alternatively, we decided on Ningtu for some Shanghainese Dim Sum instead. Unlike Richmond, where Shanghainese restaurants are a dim a dozen, surprisingly there are not many to choose from in Vancouver.

We met up with my brother-in-law, his fiance and my father-in-law at Ningtu right when it opened at 10:30am. Thus I was able to snag the only window seat in the house. We were meeting partly because my kids are going to be the flower girl and ring bearer. However, the first 2 times my son was supposed to be the ring bearer, it has been an epic fail. First time, he was so frightened, I ended up being the ring bearer! Second time, Viv had to keep giving him M & M's while walking down the aisle. Let's hope this time is better. Mind you, in practice sessions, he's been dragging his sister around like a rag doll. Okay, I'll stop digressing.

I've been to Ningtu a few times and their Shanghainese Dim Sum is way better than their dinner items. However, this is all relative because I believe that places like Shanghai River and Top Shanghai are better than Ningtu. Since I hadn't been to Ningtu for quite some time, we ordered an array of items to determine how it stacks up to the competition. We started with the Chicken in Wine Sauce. The chicken was cooked perfectly so that it was fully cooked; yet still tender. Flavour-wise, it was more salty than wine flavour. With that being said, it was still a good dish. Shanghainese Dim Sum would not be complete without Xiao Long Bao. When it arrived, my father-in-law made a comment that the Xiao Long Bao didn't appear to be hand-made. He used to run a large Chinese restaurant in town, so he's usually pretty knowledgeable with these things. He stated that the buns seemed way too uniform and perfect; thus leading to the speculation that they were not made in-house. However, we were not completely sure. As for the Xiao Long Bao themselves, they were actually really juicy and tasty. The only negative was that the outer skin was a quite chewy.

Once again, we ordered the Hot & Sour Soup. This is another great "indicator" dish to see if the restaurant knows what they are doing. It appears that they do because the soup was pretty good. It had nice depth of flavour in the soup base and there was a good mix of sour, salty, sweet and spicy. We also got a couple of noodle dishes, the Szcheuan Beef Noodle and Chicken Noodle. Underneath the generous amount of beef and tendon was a really large amount of noodles. The broth itself wasn't as flavourful as I would have liked; but overall, it was decent. The chicken noodles were for the kiddies, so we really didn't eat it. Another popular dish at Shanghainese restaurants is the Beef Roll. Some places wrap five-spiced beef with onion pancake with cucumber and hoisin; however, much like Shanghai River, the roll at Ningtu was more like a baked pastry. One major difference was the inclusion of kimchi-like cabbage along with the beef. You know what? That really changed the complexion of the dish. It added both spice and a crunch to the otherwise soft pastry.

The one item that we didn't particularly like was the Fried Salty Donut. The colour was unappetisingly dark brown and it was not crunchy at all. The whole thing was mostly chewy. Yet, most of the dishes were solid; if not a bit unspectacular. It may not be as good as Shanghai River and Top Shanghai; but it holds its own where it is located.

The Good:
- Decent Shanghainese Dim Sum
- Fairly decent service
- Reasonable prices

The Bad:
- Dinner is not as good

Red Onion

*Restaurant is closed*

Honestly, I have to admit it. I really didn't feel like playing softball tonight since it was burning hot. Alas, the lure of eats afterwards keeps me going. Picked up Milhouse along the way and we ended up going to the wrong field. It wasn't bad, we were only at the adjacent field, so we didn't have to reroute too far. We're not as directionally challenged as Miss Y! The field we did end up playing on was terrible. The grass was so dry, even routine grounders became home runs. I'll officially use that excuse as to why we lost. After a brief discussion as to where to eat, we ended up going to an ol' standby - the Red Onion in Kerrisdale. In addition to the usual crew heading over to the Red Onion was Dr. 911 and Siena. She was not really all that thrilled with the nickname of Mrs. 911 for some reason or another, so we gave her Siena instead. Dr. 911 seemed quite happy with Mrs. 911; but he had no say in the matter

We ended up moving some tables together in order to accommodate our table of 9. I was a bit concerned with the lack of light where we were sitting. However, I was scoping out a neighbouring table which was right next to the window. Like a hawk, once the table opened up, I snapped it up and forced everyone to shift their tables over. They are such understanding teammates! I ended up getting a Cheeseburger and a large order of fries which I shared with Milhouse. There is an option of adding $2.25 for a side of fries with your burger; however, if you can find someone to share the large ($3.75), you get substantially more fries. And those very fries are pretty darn good. They are freshly cut and quite crispy. Much like some other good burger joints such as Moderne Burger, Vera's and Splitz, the burgers at the Red Onion are fresh. They're not the biggest nor juiciest burger; but are good because they are made with care and choice ingredients. Of course, Miss Y had to order something completely random at a burger joint - Quiche. It's just like the time she had a REGULAR hot dog at Japadog. Predictably, the quiche was passable, if not forgettable.

Judes and Hot Chocolate had the Chicken Burger. Rather than a chicken breast, the bun revealed pieces of chicken. No matter, the chicken was moist and flavourful. Almost everyone else had a burger (are you listening Miss Y?); thus, I didn't bother taking pictures of their food. I'm sure they were thrilled because that meant they could eat right away without waiting for me to snap a photo first. Boss Woman especially gets annoyed at that, it's probably why she stole the egg from the Bibimbap last time at Jang Mo Jib. Everyone seemed quite satisfied with their meal at the Red Onion. However, my personal favourite burger joint is still Moderne Burger. After that filling meal, we headed over to Vivo! Gelato for dessert. We walked there in hopes of burning off a few calories.

The Good:
- Freshly made burgers and fries
- Reasonably priced

The Bad:
- Only a small selection of toppings
- Other food does not stack up to the burgers