Bao Bei

Alright. Sometimes I think that certain restaurants get an unfair rap based on their expected cuisine. What I mean by "expected" is that the food is similar; yet different than the originating ethnic cuisine. Indeed it brings up the dirty F word - fusion. However, some of these places do not advertise to be fusion nor authentic. So my question is: why do we trash them? We most certainly cannot dine at these type of establishments and expect the same food you'd get at a "real" ethnic restaurant. If you wanted that, then go to the authentic place. For example, there is Terracotta. It's advertised as "modern" Chinese cuisine. Well, that's fair enough. I do not see authentic or claims to be in that statement. So, to be fair, we can only judge the place on what they serve. No, we really shouldn't be comparing directly with say... Shanghai River. Two totally different establishments with two very different target audiences. Same with Miku. If one wanted plain ol' sushi, then go to a plain ol' sushi joint. Miku specializes in Aburi Sushi (which is authentic by the way) and that is what you'll get. Now it brings up another place - Bao Bei.

The brainchild of Tannis Ling, former master mixer at Chambar, Bao Bei is NOT a Chinese restaurant. Rather, it is a hot spot for those who are on their way to a club or just want to pick up some late night snacks. Thus, to compare it to a wonton noodle joint is plain ludicrous. With that being said, one can legitimately say that they do not like it due to personal preferences. As I stated in my Terracotta post, there are times that I really don't want to chill in a wonton noodle joint. After all, the atmosphere does not lend itself to lounging with a drink. It's strictly eat and leave. Besides, the only drink available would probably be Tsing Tao. So after a full day of eating and dessert at Bella Gelateria, Eunice, Whipping Girl, Grayelf and myself made our way to Bao Bei for drinks and some snacks on the side.

I'm not a huge drinker; but when the situation arises, I'm more than game. I decided on the China Libre (Flor de Caña Black Label rum, Ribena, Coke, lime), mostly because I like Ribena. And this drink was very tasty, I can see someone easily downing 10 of these easily. As for our food, we started with Crispy Fishies with roasted peanuts and chilis. This little dish was, in fact, very traditional. Looked and tasted much like any other version from various Taiwanese restaurants in town. Fish were indeed crispy with a nice sweet and spicy flavour. So a good start. Too bad our good start didn't last. The Crispy Daikon Cake was certainly crispy - way too crispy. It hurt trying to chew it. It was so stiff that we thought it was taro cake. For me, it just tasted like oil, don't order this. Next up were the Mantou with braised beef shortrib, hoisin, scallions, pickled cucumber and roasted peanuts. I actually liked these little bites. Compared to the ones at Terracotta (which are fried), these were much lighter and less greasy. I liked the pickle, really nice zing to lighten up the rich short rib.

Now something that I've heard lots about, the Shao Bing. Consisting of crunchy sesame flatbread with braised pork butt, Asian pear, pickled onion and mustard greens, this was pretty decent. Nice take on this Northern Chinese dish. The flatbread was crispy and I found there was a good balance of ingredients where we found tart, sweet and savoury components. That was supposed to be it for our food order; however, Grayelf bumped into a friend and invited him over to our table. He had ordered the Beef Tartare (Pemberton beef tenderloin, preserved mustard root, crispy shallot, ginger
root, quail egg, watercress, burnt scallion oil and lotus root chips) and insisted we try it. In terms of concept and presentation, this is very similar to Beef Yuuke (found in many Izakayas). The tartare was executed quite well. The combination of tender beef and raw egg made for a certain level of smoothness. Although there were hints of zing from the ginger and shallots, the tartare would've benefited from more acid. The taro chips made for an excellent eating vessel.

Last dish was the Rekong Beef Noodles with house-made square egg noodles, braised Pemberton beef, blistered organic tomatoes, local watercress, shallots, cilantro and broth. I found this offering to be underwhelming, especially for $12.00. With that being said, the noodles were perfect and the side dipping sauce was delicious. I gotta admit that Bao Bei was not as bad as people have made it out to be. Sure, not everything was to my liking; but it was decent enough and the drinks were excellent. With all that being said, the prices are high for this type of food. So if this is not your cup of tea, head over to the nearest Chinese greasy spoon; just don't compare it to Bao Bei, they are 2 totally different entities.

The Good:
- Really good drinks
- Great vibe
- Some dishes are actually quite good

The Bad:
- Pricey for what you get
- Place is small and cramped
- Good for snacks, not good for dinner

L'Abattoir

So we are already quite familiar with Melody and her Vancouver Food Tours as well as Michelle's Foodie Tour. I never thought that suddenly there would be an impromptu Sherman's Food Tour. No, no, Melody and Michelle needn't worry. I'm not about to invade their space. Rather, this was the result of Eunice (NY Crumbs) contacting me a few weeks ago. She wanted to try a bunch of things in Vancouver and wondered if I could help her out. Me? Help someone find good eats in Vancouver? Would I!?!?! Duh. So after a few probing emails, we figured out a plan for a full day of chewing. Joining me was no other than Whipping Girl. Boy, she has been MIA for quite a long time. Now, this food tour of sorts had to be focused, in terms of location. I was not planning on taking a big detour to Richmond. And honestly, it wasn't considered for other reasons. Eunice was staying in Downtown and the plan was to stay roughly in that area. Thus, I realize there are better choices than the places we chose; but relative distance was the determining factor. So at 11:30am, we picked up Eunice and headed over to Go Fish. Grayelf, TS & JS met up with us there. We ended sharing cod & chips, scallop sandwich and an oyster tacone. After that we were planning on going up the street to Lin; but they were closed! For the love of... Okay, backup plan, we head over to Long's and you guessed it, closed. What's with closed Tuesdays??? Fine, last ditch effort without heading to Richmond, we finally succeeded at Shanghai Village. Still decent eats, we were satisfied. Well, not really satisfied because we proceeded to Chinatown and made a pit stop at New Town and then an unplanned stop at Phnom Penh. C'mon, how can we not take Eunice for some Fried Chicken Wings and lemon pepper sauce??? Yum! Then it was off to La Belle Patate for a Traditional Poutine. Eunice was not really sure about it, even after trying it. Unlike previous visits, I found the fries to be quite dark and limp. Not a good day I guess. From there, we hightailed it over to L'Abattoir to meet up with TS/JS once again and Ann/Dee from MePlusFood.

Located in the heart of Gastown sandwiched in between Cork & Fin and Vera's, L'Abattoir opened in early July. From then on, there has been a steady amount of buzz about the place. I was fortunate enough to sample an item during the Hot Chefs Cool Jazz event and was looking forward to an actual meal when the restaurant officially opens. While waiting for our table, we ran into Melody. She was doing one of her popular Gastown food tours. I sheepishly told her I was giving Eunice a "tour" and she gave me the evil eye. LOL... After a short wait, we were seated at the back of the restaurant in a dining space with lots of natural light and pretty decor. I thought the stainless metal menu holder (with L'abattoir engraved on one side) was pretty cool. Of all the cocktails available, the Hanky Panky stood out. Of course it did. I just really wanted to ask for some "hanky panky". Whipping Girl and TS just looked at me in disgust. I'm so juvenile... We were presented with 3 different types of complimentary baked goods including Bacon Brioche, Anchovy Swizzle Sticks and Housemade Flatbread. I love both brioche and bacon, so for me, that rocked. I also liked the anchovy sticks. Plenty of flavour and a nice crunch.

Eunice and Whipping Girl ended up sharing 3 appetizers starting with the Confit of Albacore Tuna with smoked pork fat, crispy bits and egg. TS/JS also shared an order. It was universally agreed that this appy has potential. The tuna was perfectly cooked having a nice texture. We were divided over the presentation. Whipping Girl and I thought it was pretty, while TS/JS thought it was messy. We realized that the brioche and pork croutons were there for mostly a textural contrast; but we all felt it was not really all that necessary, especially the overpowering greasy saltiness. The interesting use of the egg whites and yolk was a nice touch in my opinion. The one dish I had already sampled at the Hot Chefs Cool Jazz event was the Dungeness Crab and Chickpea Toast. The brioche toast is formed into a cylinder and is filled with crab custard, chickpeas and carrot pickles. This starter also divided the table. JS/TS didn't really like it since they thought the custard was goopy and fishy. For me, I am a bit indifferent. I liked the sweet fluffy crab; but I did agree that the custard was not exactly appealing. While some didn't like the presentation, WG and I thought it was creative. Third appy was the Mostaccioli Pasta with mozzarella cheese, Borlotti beans and zucchini. Both WG and JS thought this was a nice simple dish, though not a lot of flavour going on. JS surmised that it could have used a touch more acidity to liven up the flavours. Despite this, the dish overall was unusual (points to them for that) in that it used beans as a "sauce" for the pasta. Both of them agreed that the pasta was nice, not mushy and not too chewy either. Mozzarella cheese quite good, springy and rich (but not too rich). JS summarized that the flavours, as it were, were "muffled," kind of like listening to music in the next room. Each individual flavour in the dish (pasta, beans, cheese, zucchini) came through well enough but it needed something else to make it all in stereo or sound surround or whatever sound technology is the cutting edge nowadays. This was good -- but could have been great.

The last appy that WG and Eunice shared was the Raw Pacific Oysters with asparagus strudels, potatoes "en escabeche" and lemon butter sauce. I was able to sample a large portion of this dish because they didn't care for it. The phyllo wrap was slightly burnt while the components on the dish didn't seem to be in harmony with each other. Although, it was nicely plated. However, the appy that I chose, Poached Egg, quinoa, swiss chard with homemade ricotta cheese, tomato sauce was a big hit. Such a simple dish; yet the subtle flavours really worked well with each other. From the fresh tasting tomatoes to the firm pop of the quinoa, it was pleasant scoop one after another. So far, the plating was one of the highlights. Upping the whimsical quotient a notch was the Poached halibut with mussels, spinach dumplings, ragout of early summer vegetables & basil and garlic sabayon. The layer of sliced zucchini created the "scales" for the piece of halibut. JS remarked that it was nicely-cooked, as the flesh still retained a bit of give. She liked the presentation of the plate overall: it looked very fresh, very garden-y (although maybe it reminded her of Hieronymous Bosch's garden, with the cucumber scales and all). All of the vegetables on this plate were marvelous, better than the fish (which TS thought had a hint of fishiness), which needed a little bit more seasoning (salt and a touch of acidity).

Dee ended up with the Roast Flank Steak with sweetbread, potato fondants, charred onion and fried peppers. I sampled the steak and it was quite moist. The star of this dish had to be the fried cracked peppercorns. The intensity of the pepper flavour combined with a hard crunch made the slices of meat come alive. For my main, I went for the Leg of Lamb cooked with Indian spices, coriander fritters, slow cooked tomato and raita. As for the lamb, it was cooked perfectly; thus being tender. I could've done without the coriander fritters, they were much too strong tasting. The tomatoes were awesome. One bite and it bursts with a sweet tartness. The accompanying Swiss chard was cooked perfectly; if not too salty, exhibited good colour and texture.

Overall, all of us agreed that the meal was pretty solid, especially considering that L'Abattoir is a fairly new restaurant. Of course there were many minor issues that were part of the critique from JS/TS and Whipping Girl; however, they enjoyed the meal as a whole. There is nothing that is perfect and of course, personal preference has a lot to do with it. If we take into account the ambiance, level of service, pricing and food execution, L'Abattoir is a very welcome addition to what is quickly becoming the gastronomical heart of Gastown.

The Good:
- Excellent service (and that is before they found out what we were doing)
- Creative plating
- Great ambiance

The Bad:
- Some minor execution issues

Super Mario's

Normally, when we go shopping in the States, we hit the Seattle Premium Outlets while bypassing Bellingham. Yes, there once was a time where Bellingham was the place to shop. That would probably explain the construction of Bellis Fair. Even then, we never roamed the streets of Bellingham looking for eats. I think my parents exclusively brought me to Royal Fork buffet. Yah, it didn't exactly set the culinary scene on fire. You see, there were (and still are) no real buffets in the GVRD. Now we have Old County Buffet and that satisfies the "quantity-over-quality" urges every now and then.

Today, we dare to venture into areas of Bellingham we'd never been before. Better yet, we were on the lookout for a taco truck. With the lack of good street food in Vancouver (although there are recent developments aiming to change that), we had to head to Bellingham of all places. Located on N. Forest, Super Mario's serves up Salvadorian and Mexican food from a catering truck. Apparently, one of their signature items is the Wonder Burrito which comes in chicken, beef, pork or tongue. I got the chicken since Viv doesn't like tongue (beef tongue that is...). Filled with rice, beans, lettuce, guacamole and chicken, the burrito must've weighed a pound. Nothing particularly amazing about the burrito other than it was a good value.

I also got 4 Tacos with one each of all the meats including beef steak, chicken, pork and tongue. As you can see in the picture, there is a massive amount of cilantro on top with onions, radishes and lime. Other than the tongue, the other 3 meats were very dry and in the case of the beef, over-seasoned. The pork was actually quite stringy. On the flip-side, the tongue was quite tender. I would definitely say the ones I've had at La Taqueria in Downtown Vancouver to be better in overall execution. Whatever the case, the novelty of a taco truck in the most unlikeliest of locations made it a must-visit. Sure, the food didn't blow me away; but the burrito was an excellent value. There is much more on the menu that I did not get to try and for that, I'd do a return visit based on that.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Good portions
- Novelty factor

The Bad:
- Food was alright, not wow quality though
- Well, it's a truck, don't expect restaurant facilities

Pirate Pak Day @ White Spot

I'll admit it. I have a soft spot for White Spot. Ever since I got my first Pirate Pak and laid eyes on that chocolate doubloon, the scoop of melting ice cream, burger, fries and drink all laid out neatly in a paper ship, I've been a fan. Sure, there are much fancier burgers to be found in Vancouver nowadays; but I keep coming back to the "Spot" for their mayo, Triple-O ladened burgers. Now my son and daughter have the same love for the paper pirate ship; although my son only opts for either the mac 'n cheese or grilled cheese. We dine at White Spot a fair amount relatively since I usually am out trying new stuff. I guess the family-friendliness of it all works for us, particularly the Pirate Pak for the kiddies. However, each time we are here, I longingly watch my kids enjoy the Pak while I'm left out in the cold. How I wish to be under 10 years of age once again... Well, Viv thinks I'm permanently juvenile so I guess that is not a stretch. No Pirate Pak for me... until now!

On August 18th, White Spot is once again doing Pirate Pak day. For the first time ever, there will be an ADULT version of the Pirate Pak. Starting at $9.99 with the Legendary Burger, you get endless fries, coleslaw, soft drink, ice cream and that precious gold coin all served in... wait for it... the same paper pirate ship! Nostalgia! Reliving your youth! Be a kid! Whatever you call it, I call it an awesome idea. What is even more awesome is that for every Pirate Pack sold on August 18th, $2.00 will go towards the Zajac Ranch for Children. It is a longtime B.C. charity dedicated to bringing a summer camp experience to children with serious medical conditions. These deserving kids are given the opportunity to participate in activities including horseback riding, swimming, water sports, canoeing, arts and crafts, archery and much more.

When White Spot contacted me (and many other bloggers as well) about spreading the word about this event and fine cause, I had no hesitation. Furthermore, I'll be honest. I'm completely biased since I grew up with the Pirate Pak and it is very dear to my heart. So I grabbed the whole family and headed out to the Georgia & Cardero location for a sneak peak of the adult Pirate Pak. As such, White Spot was gracious enough to comp all of our meals. For my pak, I ended up with a Monty Mushroom (add $1.49 for the mushrooms and cheese). Viv decided on the Mediterranean Chicken. I'm not sure if that is exactly available as an option on the 18th; but the B.C. Chicken Burger is on the menu for sure. Presented exactly like a Pirate Pack should be, there was a definite novelty factor. With refillable soft drink and fries, ice cream and gold coin, this is actually a very good value. Too bad they don't offer the adult Pirate Pak as a menu item! As per usual, my son made it clear he wanted the Mac 'n Cheese. Oh and he also made it very clear that he wanted the gold coin too. My daughter did the more classic Pirate Pak with a Cheeseburger.

For an extra $3.00 bucks, you can add their Blueberry Pie. Knowing that my daughter is literally the blueberry monster, we got an order. She practically ate the whole darn thing. My son would take a week to accomplish that... if he actually ate fruit. How fun was that? I had a Pirate Pak! It's been a loooong time since I could say that. Make sure you do the same on August 18th, it'll be fun and it's for a good cause. For today (and on the 18th), I didn't have to live vicariously through my kiddies and have evil thoughts of stealing their gold coin.

Royal Fork

*Royal Fork is now closed*

Ah yes, the Royal Fork. You and I go back a long ways don't we? Way back in those elementary years, I would remember my parents taking me across the Peach Arch border crossing into Bellingham for some buffet action. You see, the good ol' American all-u-can-eat never really caught on in the GVRD. Sure, there was the Copper Kettle and Uncle Willy's; but that fad didn't last too long. Only one Uncle Willy's left! So we'd tack on a visit to the Royal Fork with shopping at K-Mart (yah, really, that long ago!) and the sort. Yup, that was pre-Bellis Fair and outlet shopping! Talking about ol' skool! I remember loading up on mashed potatoes, corn and fried chicken. Then upon returning to the table, get a lashing for picking up such stupid fillers... You see, the "Chinese" etiquette for dining at a buffet was ingrained into me at an early age. Well, the Royal Fork in Bellingham is long gone. Besides, Old Country is bigger and better (loose definition of "better"). So today, as we were in Burlington already, a quick jaunt over to the adjacent Mt. Vernon led us to... Royal Fork.

With both kids in tow, it is almost deja vu as I am now taking them to Royal Fork. Unfortunately, there is no way I can ingrain any "Chinese" buffet etiquette into my son since he will not eat anything. Yah, mac 'n cheese all the way. Wait, throw in some croutons and tater tots as well. Oh the shame... Price-wise, it is $10.99 for dinner and 80 cents per year for the kiddies. That doesn't include beverages. From the price alone, I'd hit up Old Country instead. Or better yet, drive 20 minutes south and dine in much more style at the Tulalip Casino buffet. However, that is not the point of this visit. The reason is pure nostalgia and the fact that the kiddies could be kiddies without anyone caring.

After we grabbed a seat, I took a look at the offerings. At the first hot food station, there was mac 'n cheese, corn, carrots, green beans, mixed veggies and tater tots. The green beans were so mushy, I've had better from a can. I've heard of candied yams before; but candied carrots? The boiling liquid had so much sugar in it, the carrots were sweeter than eating Starbursts. The mixed veggies were so pale that it would make Nicole Kidman jealous. Over at the adjacent hot food station were cinnamon buns, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fries, fried fish, sole and gravy. I gotta admit, the fried chicken was pretty good. Still tender and juicy with a nice crispy coating. I swear the mash potatoes had some weird aftertaste. You know, like the one you get from instant butter flavoured potatoes? I only hope this wasn't the case. Viv dared to have the fish and honestly, no buffet can do fish correctly anyways.

The last hot food station consisted of shrimp bow tie pasta, fried shrimp, fried oysters, Spanish rice, roast beef and ham. Surprisingly, the oysters were pretty good, as with the shrimp. The bow tie pasta was okay; but the shrimp were overcooked. Roast beef was tender; but the ham was saltier than a Bukkake Soba (sorry, I just had to slip that in there). As for the salads, they did the job; however, some items didn't look all that fresh, especially the fruit. The honeydew looked to have suffered refrigeration damage of some sort. Surprisingly, the dessert station was quite diverse. That doesn't mean it was necessarily good; but at least there was choice. Fresh waffles, build-your-own strawberry shortcake, peach cobbler, apple crisp, chocolate cake, pistachio cake, cheesecake, sugar-free pudding and soft serve made for a good variety. The one thing I could say about the desserts would be "cafeteria-style". You can make what you want with that.

I know buffets are absolutely the last place you'd normally find great food and I get that. However, the Royal Fork is not very good. Plain and simple. Sure, it'll fill you up and it's great for families; but as Viv put it, "I wanted to eat to fill myself up; yet I really didn't feel like eating any of it". Old County is better if you really wanted to do a buffet. As for nostalgia, I think it's best that Royal Fork remain a memory.

The Good:
- If you wanted to stuff your face
- Good for families
- Well, it isn't exactly expensive I suppose

The Bad:
- Makes fast food look attractive
- Some items were very poorly made
- Some things didn't look that fresh

Legendary Noodle (Main Street)

*Restaurant is now closed*

For me, I call it the "trap". Trap? What trap you might ask... Let me explain. The trap I am referring to is the seemingly endless "featured" restaurants on the Food Network. You know, the ones that a celebrity host/chef visits and raves about. Funny how none of them visit any restaurants that suck. I'm sure you will never hear Rachel Ray replace her "yum-o" with "yuck-o". Or better yet, find Guy Fieri exclaiming "That's crummy!" over his catch-phrase of "That's money!" That's right, the celebrity endorsement (well, sorta) strikes again. Much like how Don Taylor boasted about his "no pain" visit to Dr. Pollock, we fall into the dreaded "trap". Hey, if they like it, I should too! How very wrong that can be... Although I knew about Legendary Noodle for awhile now, it wasn't until Bob Blumer's Glutton for Punishment that it became a must visit for me. Yes, I fell into the "trap". You see, they were one of the featured restaurants in the Xiao Long Bao Competition (which Lin ended up winning). So with unrealistic expectations, we headed over to the Main street location for dinner. I ended up dragging Costanza and Elaine with us as well.

Known for their hand-pulled noodles, Legendary is very much a hole-in-the-wall establishment. Another similar, albeit more well-known (not necessarily better) restaurant is Sha-Lin. Naturally, the first thing that Costanza wants to order is the Beef Brisket, Peppers & Gai Lan on Rice (in a noodle joint of all things). Yah, call it foreshadowing; but none of us were holding out any hope that it would be good. And man it was no good. Topped by a flavourless and greasy sauce, it was like eating rice with brown-coloured water. The few bits of meat were okay though. I originally wanted to get their award winning Lamb Shank Noodles; but other than myself, no one wanted lamb. So we opted for the Beef Noodles instead. I have to wholeheartedly admit that the noodles themselves were very good. A bit chewy, a bit starchy and just soft enough. However, the broth was bit too light, bordering on bland. The soup base lacked depth. I could barely taste much meat flavour. We also got the Shredded Pork & Pickled Vegetable Noodle Soup and due to the topping being stir-fried, this resulted in a much more flavourful product. Just like the beef noodle, we got the thin noodles and they were perfect.

Now for the biggest disappointment of the meal. The Xiao Long Bao. Yes, I know that this should not be their specialty since it is predominantly a noodle shop. However, they were featured in the XLB competition at the Richmond Night Market last year, one would think that it would be at the very least decent. Sadly and amazingly, they were one of the worst XLB we've had other than Cantonese Dim Sum and frozen. Yes, I am being harsh here; but there was absolutely no juice in the dumplings and the skin was relatively thick and gummy. Maybe my expectations were too high? I guess I should have taken a hint when they finished 4th out of the 5 competitors with Bob Blumer taking 5th. That probably explains Lin winning so handily. Look at the competition! Where was Shanghai River, Shanghai Wonderful or Wang's???

I guess the disappointment was slightly tempered by the decent Pan-Fried Dumplings. Albeit greasy, the dumplings were crisp while the pork filling was flavourful. Continuing on the grease theme, the Stir Fried Shredded Pork Noodles were so oily that I had issues picking them up with my chopsticks. In fact, once finished, there was a disturbingly large pool of oil on the plate. Despite that, the cut noodles had a nice chewy consistency bathed in dark soy. We also liked the plethora of crunchy veggies. Curiously, this large plate of noodles cost roughly the same as the small plate of rice.

Our last dish was the Green Onion Pancakes and honestly, they were more like fry bread than pancakes. They were crunchy and stiff with little in the way of green onion flavour. In fact, we could barely see much in the way of green at all. At the very least, they were not greasy. Wow. I never in a million years thought this meal would turn out the way it did. How can it be that so many people like this place? I'm not saying that it was terrible; but it definitely wasn't good either. Practically everything was greasy and had execution issues. I can't believe these XLB were in a competition to tell you the truth. That totally blows me away. To be fair, the noodles were not bad, so they are able to make something right. Excuse me while I figure a way to crawl outta this trap I seemed to have fallen into...

The Good:
- Fresh and well-prepared noodles
- Uh, you were expecting more good?

The Bad:
- Greasy food
- The Xiao Long Bao were in a competition? No way...
- Not as cheap as you think it might be