Sfinika

The Entertainment book, a huge bastion of coupons which we probably will never end up using. I mean look through the darn thing, some places in there are offering 2-for-1 and we still try to avoid them like the H1N1. Actually, I'm sure some would prefer the H1N1. After all, in both instances, you might end up praying to the porcelain god. Now since I've bestowed you with such a lovely thought, lets move on. Hidden in the multitude of useless coupons, there resides some real gems. For example, The Cannery (closing in March) is one of those coupons I look for every year. Searching through the book tonight, I happen to spot Sfinika in Burnaby North. I did a quick look at Urbanspoon and Dinehere for some info on the place. Hmm... Seems like a solid place.

With a poorly ripped out coupon in one hand and grumblings from my stomach, I called up Wolvie and made sure she brought her coupon as well. Yup, we had 4 of us tonight and we used 2 coupons. That made for some affordable eats. Of course I never actually end up saving any money since I end up ordering more to compensate for the discount. Normally, with Greek food, it can be quite heavy and there is really no need to get a big appy. In fact, we normally share one Calamari and we're good. Well, me and my "stomach is bigger than my pants" rule came into play. I ordered the biggest, most expensive appy on the menu - the Appetizer Sampler. Included in this platter were Keftedes, Spanakopita, Dolmathes, Kalamari, Pita Bread, Tzatziki and Humus. Honestly, all of it was pretty good. The Keftedes (Greek-style meatballs) were browned up nicely and had a strong onion flavour. Despite what some people think, I do not hate onions. In fact, in this case, I really liked the flavour. It's the consequences of eating onions which is the problem... (TMI!!!) Crispy and light (well, at least the phyllo), the Spanakopita was stuffed with the usual feta and spinach. The Dolmathes were not wrapped too tightly and I prefer it that way. The rice and meat were soft as a result. The Kalamari was also very good with a nice crunch and easy to eat texture. The only thing we wished for was a bit more zing in the Tzatziki.

We all started with a Greek Salad and this one was pretty good. The cucumbers and tomatoes were fresh and colourful with plenty of zing from the dressing. For my main, I once again went with the Roast Lamb. Hey, I love lamb! It was pretty tender in most spots except where the meat had less fat. Not much you can do about that really. It was well-seasoned with plenty of garlic flavour. I absolutely loved the texture of the roast potato. It was cooked all the way through without being mushy. Although I would've preferred a lemon potato instead. I have to say the rice was a complete miss. There was quite a bit of moisture and was bordering on soggy. Wolvie went for the Beef and Chicken Souvlaki. She smartly asked for it to be plated without the skewers. This way, you won't have rogue piece flung across the room while trying to remove it. These little morsels were well-seasoned with discernible garlic and oregano notes. Naturally, the chicken was more tender than the beef; although by no means was the beef tough.

Viv decided to depart from the usual and order a random dish. She chose the Yemista, which is a baked tomato and pepper stuffed with beef, rice and tomato sauce. Call it a personal preference; but we thought it was only okay. Not that it was offensive in any way, it just wasn't all that interesting, to us anyways. Everything just seemed a bit mushy and tasting like tomato. Not being interesting at all, Italian Stallion had more Dolmathes, except his were bathed in a simple lemon dill sauce. We all enjoyed our food at Sfinika. Nothing mind-blowing; but solid Greek food nonetheless. The service was friendly and the Entertainment coupons were a bonus. However, without the coupons, the prices are a bit on the higher side.

The Good:
- Most of the food was well seasoned and prepared correctly
- Friendly service
- Decent portions

The Bad:
- Regular prices are a bit high
- Would've liked a lemon potato instead

CRU

*Restaurant is now closed*

At one point in my life, I looked forward to my birthday. Hey, I got presents and who doesn't like presents? It was especially fun since we had a large group of friends who would "chip" in to get a killer gift. Well, sadly those days are gone since everyone has their hands full with kiddies (and their gifts). Furthermore, as every year passes by, it just serves as a reminder of our advancing age. Viv thinks that I have not mentally aged since 20, so at least I can stay young in theory. Tonight, we decided to celebrate my birthday a bit early at CRU. Bubbly M had been here before and decided to join us as well. Yah, it might seem a bit strange to have another couple celebrate my birthday with Viv; yet, that's what we did with Bubbly's birthday last year at the Hart House.

Our reservation was originally for 2 people at 5:30pm. However, when I increased it to 4 people, I was notified that we'd have the table until 7:00pm. In my mind, that didn't seem like an issue. However, the evening went a bit sideways due to a large party dining at the same time. Everything in theory would've worked out fine if we had gotten our order in promptly. However, M&M were a tad late and part of our order got queued behind the large party. More on that later...

Viv and I shared a few items starting with the Smoked Albacore Tuna. Visually appealing on the plate, it was topped with beats, crispy shallots, micro greens and truffle vinaigrette. Honestly, no complaints here. The combination of subtle smokiness, the crunch and aromatics of the shallots, the tender beets and the smooth citrusy vinaigrette was an illustration of balance. If the tuna was balanced and gentle, the "Cellar Door" Caesar is a bold version of the usually standard salad. With grilled romaine and an obscene amount of shredded asiago, this Caesar is not devoid of flavour. However, the real star is the garlic butter croutons. Probably prepared with excessive amounts of butter, these large bad boys are crispy and melt-your-mouth goodness. This salad is absolutely delicious. Only thing negative I can say about it is that the large amount of asiago completely dominated the flavour profile of the salad. Mind you, that is probably the intention as well.

For my "main", I went for the Crispy Duck Leg Confit with spatzle goat cheese hash and bacon dressing. Most of the duck meat was tender; however, some portions were a bit dry. I did like the skin despite not being as crispy as advertised. It's probably due to the bacon dressing being so darn smoky and sweet (curiously not salty at all). I really liked the goat cheese flavour dimension to the dish. It really livened up the hash of napa cabbage and spatzle. I wasn't a big fan of the spatzle since it was a bit too chewy. Viv had the Syrah-Braised Beef Short Rib with Mac 'n Cheese. The meat was perfect balance between tender and meaty. The accompanying sauce was more
subtle than its appearance exhibiting smoky and red wine qualities. The mac 'n cheese was a total miss, it was way too salty.

Our food didn't stop there, we also shared the Miso-Marinated Sablefish. Since it's so expensive, the portion size was predictably and understandably small. The perfectly cooked fish was tender and melted in our mouths. We felt that it was a bit salty (a bit too much miso). The sauteed kale was absolutely perfect being fully cooked while still retaining a slight crunch. Good thing too since the cauliflower puree was ultra smooth and understated taste-wise. Our last dish was the Hand-Cut Fries with dijon aioli. The extremely generous mound of fries were crispy with very little in the way of potato-ness. Didn't matter in this case since they were good nonetheless. We ended up passing them over to M&M because they were famished. Why you might ask? Well first of all, their dishes were not very filling. Bubbly had the Tomato Soup to start. Unlike the typical version, this one was a tad chunky which gave it a nice texture. It was a bit tart, not too sweet and had an underlying spiciness. The crisp croutons were a nice compliment to the soup.

Chill had the Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio to start. I did not get to sample this dish since Chill is a big eater and he needs all the food he can get. Once again, much like the time at Pied-a-Terre, all I got out of him was "good". Then came the wait. In fact, it was roughly a 45 minute wait until their next dishes arrived. However, this was mostly due to the fact we didn't get our order in on time before the large party. Our server did apologize many times for the delay. Finally, they each received their order of sablefish. Unfortunately, their portion sizes were smaller than ours. Bubbly also had the Cavatelli Bolognese which was prefectly al dente. The shape of the pasta helped hold the nice tomato flavour in its crevices.

Personally, I thought the food was pretty good for the prices. On the whole, it was well executed and thought out. Service was attentive and friendly under the circumstances. Bubbly was not amused at the wait and thought that the situation could've been handled differently. However, I respectfully disagree with her since our entire party was not present at the designated time and thus, our order was not put in prior to the large party. She was quite adamant that she had a terrible time and that it was the restaurant's responsibility to keep all parties happy despite the large table. I do agree with that to some degree and possibly they could have provided some bread in the meantime; however, the rest of us didn't feel that it was really too big of a deal. Ultimately, the food was good, atmosphere was simple; yet elegant and the service was solid.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Food is generally executed quite well
- Decent portions (sablefish withstanding)

The Bad:
- Dining area is very tight
- Long wait between courses (understandable in this particular situation)

Taverna Gorgona Revisited

I originally visited Taverna Gorgona in early 2009 and did not have a very good experience. In fact, all my previous visits were inconsistent. What made it really bad the last time I dined there was the nice mold in my Greek Salad. Yup, that would destroy anyone's enthusiasm. Well, as of December 2009, Taverna Gorgano is under new ownership complete with new kitchen staff. The new owner, Franco, contacted me with concerns about my post since it really didn't paint a great picture of the restaurant. No kidding... Mold in food, not a great endorsement indeed. In light of the changes made at the restaurant, I was willing to put up a note stating the place was under new ownership and I would revisit in the new year. With a meeting in Ladner today, I thought "might as well". So I tried to replicate exactly what I did last time. I went at lunch around the same time. I sat in the same seat and ordered the same dish, which was Roast Lamb.

The last time, not only was the salad moldy (it also was drenched in balsamic, a no no), the lamb was dry and flavourless while the rice was wet. I was eager to see if there would be any noticeable differences in the food. When the plate arrived, I immediately knew that there were indeed changes. First, the salad was extremely fresh and not doused in balsamic. Second, the rice was not water-logged. Third, the lamb was very tender and well-seasoned with lots of garlic flavour. I also enjoyed the Tzatziki very much. A bit chunky, with cucumbers and garlic, it was flavourful and thick. Moreover, the lemon potato was delicious being tart and soft while retaining its shape. This dish was like day and night over the last time.

If an entire roast lamb dinner was not enough for lunch, Franco brought me his own mothers' hand made Spanakopita. The thing was enormous! The phyllo was prefectly crispy on the outside and it encased a massive amount of spinach, feta and onions. I really liked that the spinach was fresh; rather than frozen. I could really tell in the texture and taste. This was one of the most flavourful Spanakopitas I've ever had with big hits of feta, onion and pepper. There was supposed to be dill in it too; but I really didn't taste it much since the onion and pepper taste overwhelmed everything else. This may mean different things to different people. I personally loved it; however, I can see some people preferring a less intense filling.

If that wasn't enough, Franco was gracious enough to also bring a slice of Ekmek. I've had many Greek desserts before; yet never this one. It's essentially a custard cake consisting of Kataifi pastry on the bottom, custard in the middle and whipped cream on the top. A thick, sweet syrup finishes off the dish. Despite looking like a sugar shocker, the Ekmek was pleasantly light. The syrup itself was quite rich and almost tasted like burnt caramel. I gotta say that I was impressed with the changes at Taverna Gorgona. At the very end, Franco wouldn't let me pay for the meal. I really wanted to pay since I did not visit the restaurant with the intention of free food. However, he was extremely gracious and appreciative that I came out to re-evaluate. Rest assured, I would not hesitate to come out again and gladly pay for my next series of meals.

The Good:
- Food has plenty of flavour
- Excellent service (this is based on previous visits, front of the house staff has not changed)
- Reasonable pricing

The Bad:
- The filling in the Spankopita could be a bit too peppery for some people (I hope Franco's mom isn't reading this!)

Salsa & Agave

The horror! Viv heading out to dine at Salade de Fruits without me!?!? I guess this is payback for all those times I've eaten without her. I knew this day would come. The plan was to drop her off at Salade to meet with her sis-in-law while I went home with the kiddies after the Stanley Park Christmas train. Well, on our way back along Beach Ave, I had a great idea. Why don't I stop by Salsa and Agave first? Yes, then I can pick up some food for myself! I always have a plan in my head to eat something and this was no exception. So I parked across the street and ran in to pick up a few things. A quick glance at the menu and I decided to try a Chicken Torta and 4 Soft Tacos.

So after the requisite pictures, I started to devour the torta (I was hungry) and it was pretty decent. A good amount of roast chicken, refried beans, onions, tomato, avocado and mayo were wedged into the soft bread. It said something about jalapenos, but I honestly didn't taste any. It is a bit plain compared to the ones at Las Tortas; yet for only half the price ($5.00), it's a much better deal. For my 4 tacos, I originally wanted to get one Lengua (tongue); but they were *GASP* sold out! No tongue for me tonight??? A bit disappointed, I went for one each of the Chirizo (Sausage) and Pastor (pork) with 2 of the Pollo (chicken). Despite the fact they were a bit cold by the time I bit into them, you would never confuse it with La Taqueria. I thought they were okay; but not anything special. It was all a bit bland to me and that included me adding plenty of pico de gallo too. By no means was the food terrible, it was fine. It just didn't live up to the hype, which can be a kiss of death when people have unfulfillable expectations.

The Good:
- It's relatively cheap for what you get
- Good location, unlike many other Mexican restaurants
- Courteous staff

The Bad:
- Didn't live up to the hype (for me at least)
- It could've been the things I ordered; but I thought everything lacked flavour

Bakery Nouveau

Okay, what do you call a person who randomly serves you yummy food? No no, not a waiter or waitress. And no, I'm not talking about Costco. Although it's a treat to do "brunch" at Costco every now and then... Really, what kind of person would go to Seattle, visit one of their most popular bakeries and bring back goodies right to your doorstep. That person would be Kim (I'm Only Here for the Food!). Yes, he is an excellent foodie. I think the last time someone brought me back food from Seattle was Vandelay with his dozen of Top Pot donuts. Thanks to him, I get a dozen every time I'm down there. Wait, I really should despise him for doing so!!!

Anyways, Kim was gracious enough to get 3 items for me to try. He wasn't even mad that I went to Steveston Pizza without him! Er... at least I hope he is not mad? I really wonder if he added anything "extra" to the pastries... Alright, the first item was the Twice Baked Almond Croissant. Looking very similar to the one from Thomas Haas, this one was a tad smaller. I'm not sure if the croissant experienced any degradation due to the fact they were purchased earlier in the day. However, it was not as "crunchy" as the one from Thomas Haas. Furthermore, I thought the chewy honey(?) sugar (?) found on the bottom a bit too sweet. It was not bad; but as I said to Kim, it would've been better if I hadn't tried the one from Thomas Haas first.

The next item is a peculiar one - Peppermint Cheesecake. The cake on its own without the peppermint top layer was quite light for a baked cheesecake. Furthermore, it was not overly sweet (Viv thought there should've been more cream cheese taste). I particularly liked the Oreo crust since I've never really liked the traditional graham cracker crust. Now, when eaten with the peppermint layer, the cake suddenly becomes more sweet, resembling a peppermint candy. Not necessarily a bad thing; yet it does initiate a few question marks when taste hits brain processing. For me, I liked it. For Viv, she wasn't as sure.

Lastly, we tried the Lemon Pastry (resembled a Danish) which was actually lemon filling surrounded by balls of puff pastry. Again, it was a bit different from the traditional French version of a lemon tart; but it was decent in its own right. Probably suffering from a bit of staleness due to sitting in the car, the pastry was not crisp. It was quite buttery though. I did like the creamy and tart lemon filling. It wasn't too sweet or too tart. As a whole, I would've preferred a traditional tart shell since it was a bit too much to eat as a dessert. However, taking into account that it was eaten under less-than-perfect circumstances, I liked all 3 items in differing degrees. Thanks to Kim for introducing me to Bakery Nouveau! Watch me bring home a dozen Top Pot's and a dozen pastries next time...

The Good:
- Items appeared to be made with care
- No overwhelming flavours, quite balanced
- Pastry is buttery, just the way it should be

The Bad:
- Texturally, the pastries could've been crispier (but might be due to the time sitting in a box)
- Kim is supplying me with buttery treats... He's trying to kill me...

Lingering Flavor

*Now closed*

So what exactly is a "lingering flavor"? Is it the unmistakable result of eating too much chili? Wait, that's a "lingering odor". Alright, let's try again. Is it the burning sensation in your mouth after eating suicide wings? Well, I certainly hope not. I guess it could possibly be the essence of The Cannery's lobster oil or the strong earthiness of Blue Water's truffle fries. Ah yes, those are certainly desirable lingering tastes. Now if a restaurant dares call itself "Lingering Flavor", it really needs to live up to it. Furthermore, it'd better be a darn good flavor since there would be no repeat customers if it wasn't.

This modest bubble tea and Taiwanese hole-in-the wall resides right next to London Drugs near Kingsway and Joyce. I've been eying this place for awhile and finally had the chance to pay it a visit with Costanza. He'd already had eaten lunch; but I dragged him along for some company. I actually was over at his house to help him with some of the renovations. So from now on, I'd help him with one condition - eat out with me after every visit! LOL... I'm now resorting to coercing my friends to eat with me! Since he wasn't hungry, he decided on a bubble tea with mini-pearls. On a side note, I must say that the Lingering Flavor "mascot" is a bit troubling. Resembling Pacman whose a bit too excited seeing Mrs. Pacman in lingerie, it just doesn't look right. If I were them, I'd get my money back from the graphics designer.

Now the bubble tea itself was incredibly sweet while the mini-pearls were cute; but a bit too chewy. As for my Spicy Beef Noodle, it was decent. The soup base was indeed spicy; yet lacked the richness you'd expect from a beef noodle. The meat could've been a bit more tender as well. But it was cheap and fast, I have no big complaints. I decided to do a few side dishes as well: Marinated Pig's Ear, Tripe and Chili Dried Fish with Peanuts. The texture of the pig's ear and tripe were soft while being chewy as the same time. There was a good amount of flavour as well. The dried fish was only passable. It's possible that their version is different than what I personally like, which is a slightly sweeter taste. It was mostly just spicy. Add that to the spicy beef noodle and the taste really did indeed linger.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Quick eats
- Food is decent

The Bad:
- Not a lot of seats, you can't really linger
- Bubble tea is on the sweet side, the sugar really lingers

Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar

Honestly, we weren't planning on visiting Blue Water anytime soon. It's not that we don't like the place; in fact, we've been here before and it was a great experience. Rather, it's not the cheapest place to dine at and there is no way we'd bring the kids. My son won't eat a burger, let alone a whole lobster! Well, fate would have it that we'd end up here regardless. How did this happen? For starters, we purchased a Blue Water gift certificate for my parents as a Christmas gift. Then, Vandelay goes ahead and gives us one for our Christmas gift. So we decided that we should all go together rather than separately. Guy Smiley and Girl Smiley was kind enough to take care of the kiddies while we made our way into Yaletown. Blue Water is an interesting restaurant. On one side, you have a Japanese sushi bar and the other, there is your typical North American kitchen. Thus, you can dine on one or the other or a little bit of each. We chose the latter.

Seeing how we had 4 people rather than just Viv and I alone, we went all out and got the Blue Water Seafood Tower. This 3-tiered monster has all of 1 whole lobster (normally a crab), Tuna Gomae, Seaweed Salad, Smoked Salmon, Mussels, Prawns, Spicy Tuna Roll, Oysters, Scallops, Real Crab California Roll and Red Tuna Tataki. At $138.00, this is no wimp of an appetizer. Frankly, it was actually a bit much for even 4 of us to share as an appetizer. Ah, what the heck, we didn't come to Blue Water for chicken strips! Technically, we were suppose to work our way up the tower; but everything looked so good, I just started digging into each plate randomly. On the top plate, the lobster was cooked perfectly, soft enough to chew while the meat retained a slight resistance. A side of flavoured mayo served as a dip for the lobster (to my mom's delight, she loves mayo). I thought the tuna gomae was excellent. Coated with toasted sesame seeds and a light shoyu dressing, the flavours were subtle and aromatic. The last item of the top tier was the Jellyfish salad. Resembling something you'd find in a Chinese appetizer platter, the jellyfish was crunchy with its distinctive "snap". Unlike the Chinese version, this was aggressively seasoned with soy, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and sugar. There may have been sake in it as well (not sure though).

Fresh mussels and prawn cocktail highlighted the middle tier. As expected, they were fresh and naturally sweet. The freshly made cocktail sauce was a nice compliment to the prawns. It was light tasting and not too strong (cheap cocktail sauce is like pure ketchup). In addition, there was a spicy tuna roll, oysters on the half-shell and a smoked salmon flower. Not much to say about the smoked salmon other than it was quite difficult to unwind. The oysters were fresh and sweet. The spicy tuna roll was somewhat of a disappointment. It was not really all that spicy and the sushi rice was a bit mushy. However, it did taste good with the expected gentle hints of sugar and rice wine vinegar. The bottom tier consisted of scallops, more prawn cocktail, more oysters, a real crab Cali roll and red tuna tataki. All but one of the scallops were fresh and sweet. One was barely open and it was not as fresh. We really enjoyed the tuna tataki. Not only did it look nice, it was sweet and was encrusted with herbs. I'm not sure if it is just me; but I find real crab rolls a bit bland. I guess by their very nature, the crab meat is not very flavourful, thus it gets lost when you dip it into soy and wasabi.

After the "appetizer", we were actually a tad full. Despite this, we had already ordered an entree each. Departing from the seafood, my mom selected the Beef Tenderloin with golden chanterelles and red wine reduction. Served on the side was a green chard macaroni gratin with blue cheese. Despite being mainly a seafood restaurant, the beef tenderloin was cooked a perfect medium rare and melted like butter in my mouth. We did find that the red wine reduction was a bit too tart for our liking. Maybe with the addition of more butter would have helped temper the tartness. The side of macaroni was too salty. It had all the components of a good mac 'n cheese, especially with the chard (added a nice colour and textural balance); but the salt was just too overpowering.

On the topic of overpowering, we also ordered a side of Pomme Frites with truffle oil and aged cheddar. Normally, I find that truffles and/or truffle oil are usually added as a accent to dishes. It generally gives a nice earthiness to a dish as either a balancing agent or something aromatic. However, in this case, there was a pronounced earthiness with the fries. There was no holding back with the truffle oil here. Add the cheese component and the fries were fantastic. Earthy and nutty, these crispy pomme frites are the real deal. If you do pay a visit to Blue Water, don't forget to add this to your meal.

For my main, I decided to go with something light in the form of the Pacific Rim Seafood Soup. Nestled within the aromatic and light tasting broth was wakame, enoki, tuna, salmon, halibut, prawns, scallop, spot prawn, mussels and a shrimp wonton. Once again, the seafood was pretty much spot on in terms of cooking execution except for the fish. I do realize that it's difficult to have "just cooked" fish in a soup; however, I would've preferred that it was more on the rare side. Otherwise, a pleasant, light soup. Viv decided to go for one of the featured items of the night - Seared Albacore Tuna with kumquat nage butter and coriander infused basmatti rice with summer squash and eggplant. We thought this was the least successful of the dishes. The tuna itself was fresh and cooked perfectly; however, the whole plate was bland and a bit too light. We realize that the intention was to be subtle; yet it was so subtle, we
barely detected any flavour in the dish. Moreover, the whole dish was soft and mushy lacking in textures. Personally, I don't like rice submerged in liquid. It gives the rice a weird texture that is normally reserved for soup.

My dad wanted to eat healthy and he went for the Sashimi Platter which included wild salmon, hamachi, red tuna, tuna, sablefish, scallops and ebi. As you can see from the picture, everything was fresh (with that nice gloss, we call it "ling" in Chinese) and colourful. Well, it'd better be for $34.00! Of course, being a fine dining establishment, we didn't expect the slices of fish to be big and they weren't. This is definitely the case of quality over quantity. Being a bit full, we all decided to pass on dessert except for Viv. She chose the Okanagan Apples & Cranberries. It consisted of cake, cardamon ice cream and cranberry foam. Alright, unless I'm completely wrong, the cake did not resemble fondant as the described in the menu. Rather, it was a moist cake with nutmeg and cinnamon. It was topped with apples and a wonderful cardamon ice cream. A good amount of sugar-sweetened apples were topped with a tart cranberry foam. A refreshing, if not ho-hum dessert.

Overall, the meal was quite good, especially the seafood tower. That was a treat indeed. However, the entrees were not as spectacular. We all agreed that the tenderloin was executed quite well; but the tuna was disappointing. The seafood soup was good; yet again, it was nothing outstanding. Throughout our meal, we were never waiting for service, the service came to us, which is a good thing. Generally, Blue Water is a good bet in Yaletown for seafood; you just need to be prepared to pay for it.

The Good:
- Fresh seafood
- Unique combination of sushi bar and Westcoast cuisine
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- It ain't cheap
- You probably can get nearly the same quality of sushi for much cheaper elsewhere