Kimura

Awhile back, Kim had suggested that we try Kimura, which is a small Japanese restaurant located across from Golden Oscar. Time had passed and we never got around to it. Believe it or not, we have real jobs in addition to our obsessive blogs! Besides, there are so many places we want to try out, things get pushed to the back burner. Now, when Vandelay and Donna Chang suggested we meet up there for dinner, I decided to give Kim a shout. Hey, I don't want him all upset that I ate behind his back! LOL... It's like food cheating! Now, the interesting thing about this place is the owner-chef Itsuroku Kimura. He has spanned the globe with his cuisine from Shanghai to Mexico. Thus, the food may have a few twists here and there that you would not see in a run-of-the-mill Japanese restaurant. In addition, there is a touch of jazz to feed your soul as you satisfy your palate. Be sure you don't have a big group or at least make a reservation because the place is small. Also, there doesn't appear to be A/C, so if you can't take the heat...

As per usual, Kim arrived first and I decided to take the parking spot in front of him. I backed up so close, he was beginning to show fear in his eyes. Little did he know my car has a backup cam! LOL. So after taking what seemed forever to order, we decided on a wide range of items to sample starting with the Sashimi Platter. Consisting of red tuna, salmon, snapper, oyster, hamachi, tuna tataki, and something that I thought was flounder, everything appeared and tasted fresh. Nothing amiss here and in fact, the platter was very well plated and expertly prepared. On a separate sheet, there was this special combo which include 11 pcs of nigiri, 4 pcs of maki, a mini udon and a side of groovy jazz sounds. We decided to get 2 of these combos to share. It then occurred to me that we double-ordered the groovy jazz sounds as well. Vandelay exclaimed we would be getting the jazz in stereo as a result. Cheeky... Now, according to the menu, the Nigiri consists of 1 piece each ebi, hamachi, salmon, tako, squid, hokkigai, mackerel, red tuna, albacore tuna, unagi and "something". Yes, it actually stated something on the menu. Well, there was a piece of fish we couldn't identify, maybe it was the something species of fish (I thought it maybe skipjack). Strange, but as you can clearly see, there was no tako present. As for the nigiri in general, the fish was quite good and tasted good on its own due to being brushed with sauce. The much talked about Haenuki rice used here was pretty good. However, for me, it seemed to lack some flavour. The 4 pcs of maki turned out to be the standard California Roll. I really liked the toasted sesame seeds on the outside. Nice nutty flavour. For some reason or another, the rice did not fare as well here compared to the nigiri. No idea, but it seemed almost gummy. Maybe too much rice to filling ratio?

As for the Mini-Udon, guess who ate it? Yes, my son loved it and practically finished it all. I liked how there was a nice plump clam nestled within the broth. I didn't like the soggy tempura bits though. That has never been really appealing to me. As for the udon noodles, they were still chewy (which is good). The broth was quite tasty having depth. To get a sense of the menu, we went for non-sushi items starting with the Fried Pork Cutlet. The large and meaty cutlet was fried perfectly crisp without being oily. However, the meat was a little on the drier side. I wasn't sure what the accompanying sauce consisted of; but it was sweeter than the standard tonkatsu sauce. Strangely enough, my favourite part of this dish had to be the mashed potato salad.

Moving on to another classic Japanese fusion dish was the Beef Curry Rice. Typically, Japanese curry is very sweet and very yellow. The version here was neither. First, it looked a lot closer to actual Indian curry than Japanese curry. Second, it was actually spicy, which gave the sauce a whole lot of depth and body. I personally liked this curry quite a bit. We then moved onto a very standard dish - Assorted Tempura. We mainly ordered this for the kiddies. My daughter loves the prawn tempura and usually eats the thing whole (good girl!). But my son only eats the tempura batter (WTF?). Well, too bad for him, because the batter was not all that crispy. This resulted in a soggy tempura which was not to my liking and especially to my son's disappointment.

Last dish was the Zaru Soba, which was ordered for Vandelay's son. Accompanied by a cute quail's egg were the usual condiments (grated daikon, ginger, scallions, wasabi & tsuyu). The soba nooodles had a nice al dente texture, otherwise, it was a pretty typical zaru soba. It's nice that they served it in a basket since that is the "zaru" in zaru soba. Most other places serve it on plates, so they really should call it "Ceramic Soba". I digress. To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to think of this meal. It was typical and non-typical, all at the same time. Some of the twists were very subtle, so at first glance, it just seems like any other Japanese restaurant. But it's not. The food was pleasant enough and the prices were quite reasonable for what we got. It's different enough to separate itself from the multitude of generic Japanese restaurants that plague our city.

The Good:
- Carefully made food
- High quality ingredients
- Interesting and different

The Bad:
- May confuse those used to generic, "Japanese" restaurants
- No A/C and small dining room

Rangoli

Awhile back, in January, I promised to treat Anita to a meal. Due to mitigating circumstances, it never came to fruition (ooo... I'm using big words! That University education really paid off...). As such, I've been trying to get her out for the last half year. Our schedules just never seem to coincide for this to happen. Although, it could be that she is just trying to avoid me... Fortunately, that was not the case and finally, we settled on a time and place. For the longest time, I've been wanting to give Rangoli a go. You see, I'm am very fortunate to be near some of the best (and cheapest) Indian food in the GVRD. Thus, I am very curious how Rangoli stacks up. We must keep in mind that Vij puts his own spin on Indian food. Those looking for the usual items, may not find it.

I arrived a bit early and was forced to wait because our whole party wasn't present. Yes, when a restaurant is so successful, not only do they not take reservations, they won't seat you unless everyone is there. I guess that is fair. That is the exact policy at Vij's as well. You can't imagine how excruciating it is to watch all the tables fill up right in front of your eyes? LOL... When Anita arrived with R, we only had a brief wait. You see, Rangoli is not exactly a place to linger since the seating arrangements are not exactly posh. The minimalistic "Ikea-like" decor is functional, if not, uncomfortable. Well, that is the concept since it also doubles as a take-out store which offers prepackaged food.

We stated the meal sharing the Lamb, Beef & Lentil Kebabs. As the name implies, it consisted of 4 "sausages" comprised of ground lamb and beef with lentils. Date-tamarind chutney was served on the side. I really enjoyed this appetizer. There was no absence of flavour when I bit into the moist, meaty kebabs with definite hits of fennel and garlic. The chutney acted as a nice sweet counterpoint to the savory and slightly spicy kebabs. For my main, I went for the Lamb in Cumin and Light Cream Curry. Hidden beneath peppers and onions lay a decent amount of tender lamb. Naturally, there was a good amount of cumin; but it was not overwhelming. I found the flavours to be subtle and not too heavy. As with Vij's, I'm not a huge fan of the naan. I find it a bit dense and doughy. Anita ended up with the Tamarind and Yogurt Marinated Grilled Natural Chicken. This was another mild-tasting dish. I thought the chicken was quite tender with only a hint of tamarind. I found the sprout salad to be quite good, if not for being something different. We thought the best of the dishes we ordered was the Beef in Puréed Onion and Cinnamon Curry. It was bold tasting with a definite onion and ginger flavour. I only got a hint of the cinnamon which elevated some sweetness. Although the serving bowl was small, it was packed with tender chunks of beef that had soaked up all sauce.

Since we weren't completely stuffed from dinner, we went ahead and ordered dessert. Much like Vij's, Rangoli is not known for their desserts; so there are only 3 options. Well, we all had a different one and covered them all. Anita decided on the Meeti Roti which reminded me of fry bread with hits of gooey sugar throughout. Nothing particularly exciting about the dessert itself; yet it was pleasant enough to eat and good for sharing. For myself, I had the Rice Pudding with some slivered almonds on top. Only semi-sweet with discernible grains of rice, the pudding was slightly watery. Once again, nothing mind-blowing. It was alright. I liked the crunchy almonds, it provided a nice textural contrast. Lastly, R had the Coconut Pudding. When it arrived, the pink colour confused us a bit. I guess we were expecting white. Topped with fruit, this dessert was very refreshing, if not a bit boring. I didn't notice a strong coconut flavour personally.

Although the food wasn't spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, we were pleased with our meal. Sure, the prices were on the higher side; however, it is not unreasonable considering the location and compared to other Indian restaurants in the area. In terms of the portion size, it is indeed modest. Once again, that is not unusual for an Indian restaurant. Usually a little sauce is enough for the amount of rice and naan provided (think pasta sauce). If push came to shove, I probably would eat at any one of the Surrey Indian restaurants instead for half the price. But, if you are specifically in the Granville area and don't mind spending the money, Rangoli serves up some tasty food.

The Good:
- Food is actually quite flavourful and well-executed
- Service is efficient
- Nice location

The Bad:
- Pricey (ok given its location)
- Not exactly comfortable seating
- Portion sizes are on the smaller side

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.