Show Case

As I have been chiming about over and over again - fine dining and young children are not necessarily a good mix. Sure, this is highly dependent on the individual children and different restaurants. However, as a rule, most fine dining establishments are not exactly kid-friendly. So how do we get around this problem? What if a family wants to go for some unique eats other than the usual chain restaurants such as Red Robin or Boston Pizza? And with some of the prices creeping up at these chains, it's almost makes sense to eat something better. Well, other than the odd fine dining establishment that embraces families, the venerable hotel restaurant fits the bill. Of course by virtue of this, some compromises must be made. Often, hotel dining does not equate to creativity nor exciting eats. There are exceptions; but really, they have no choice. Think about it. A hotel caters to many different people differing in age, nationality and preferences. Consequently, hotel food needs to be somewhat neutral and safe. With that being said, hotel restaurants also means kid's menus. At the very least, kids are welcomed at these places.

So that was the issue I was facing when picking a place to celebrate my dad's birthday. Where could we go as a family? We finally settled on Showcase in the Marriott Pinnacle in Downtown. More of a "near" fine dining establishment than anything else, Showcase fit the bill for the family. In fact, they sat us in a corner at a round table away from everyone. Perfect in my books. The kids can be kids and I can use my flash without worry. Now, one look at the menu and it is obvious that Showcase is a mesh between fine and casual dining. Case in point, of our 3 appetizers, only the Crab Cakes could be considered fine dining material. And those crab cakes were pretty good. Soft and fluffy on the inside with a crisp coating, these were naturally sweet. The corn and cilantro relish underneath only added another level of sweetness. I liked how there was only a conservative amount of cilantro used; but the dish probably needed some more savouriness.

For our second appetizer, we got the Artichoke Dip with pita chips. The pita chips were fantastic. Thin and crispy, these went well with the cream cheese dip. The dip itself was very cheesy and garlicky. To further exemplify the non-fine diningness of Show Case, we ordered the Yam Fries with garlic mayo. Hey, this is a simple appy, but the fries were crisp to the very last piece. My dad and Viv ended up ordering the same 2-course meal. The horror! Duplicates! Anyways, they started with the Seafood Chowder and it was terrible. Yes, there was plenty of seafood and fresh tomatoes. Moreover, the bowl was really large. But it was as if they poured a vat of vinegar into it. So tart, it could be considered sour. We really should have sent it back. Fortunately, their main course, which was Seafood Linguine, was much better. Well- executed seafood atop al dente pasta in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. Viv remarked that everything seemed right about this dish; yet at the same time it was nothing special. I tried it myself and yah it was not bad for a non-Italian restaurant.

For myself I went for something light due to the many appetizers we had ordered. When the Seared Black Cod arrived, it was indeed very light. 2 small pieces of cod was accompanied by an arugula and fennel salad with tomato oregano dressing. On the side was a grilled lemon which went well with the cod. The fish was prepared nicely being flaky and moist while the salad was a nice mix of flavours (bitterness from the arugula, licorice from the fennel and tartness/sweetness from the dressing). My mom ended up with something heavy in the Rib Eye with black pepper Hollandaise, mushrooms and roast tomato. She couldn't finish it so I basically filled the void left from the cod with the steak. She asked for it to be prepared medium-rare and it was indeed so. However, for some reason or another, the steak was not tender. I do realize that a rib eye is not normally as tender as a NY striploin; but this was bordering on tough. Very strange since the meat was well-marbled. Bad batch? The dish ended up to be quite saucy, maybe too much sauce. The Hollandaise was quite good; however, it was almost overwhelmed by the sweet demi-glace. At least I think it was demi-glace since it was resembling something like teriyaki. Loved the mushrooms though, added a nice flavour into each bite of steak.

Now for the real reason we chose this place - the kiddies! It's nice to have an actual kid's menu available. For my daughter, she had the Hot Dog with fries and fruit salad. For $7.99, there was quite a lot of food. Lots of crispy fries and fresh fruit salad (cut up into smaller bits for the kiddies). The hot dog was... well a hot dog. At least the bun was toasted. My son went for his favourite - Mac 'n Cheese with the same fries and fruit salad. Not much to comment on the mac 'n cheese really. It was alright for kids; but I personally wouldn't eat it. But for a hotel restaurant of this class, the amount of food for the price is quite fair (for the kid's meals). And once again, that is the main reason we came here. Our entire family including the kids could go out for a meal that doesn't involve Red Robin or White Spot. However, the food here at Show Case is average at best. For the items we tried, they were all edible; but not worth the price point. With that being said, Show Case is already one of the more "affordable" hotel restaurants in Downtown. In fact, with some of the menu options, Show Case tends to lean more towards casual dining rather than fine dining. Despite this, there are better eats in this price range nearby.

The Good:
- Prices are okay considering the location
- Family friendly
- Varied choice on the menu including less expensive items

The Bad:
- Food in general is below average

New Lakeview

In the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure that my activity schedule was really all that well thought out. You see, we had just returned from Portland at around midnight on Friday. Then we had to wake up the following morning to do the whole PNE thing with the kiddies. Well, that really wasn't that bad. After all, there was lots of eating to be had! The problem is... I had promised to play a hockey game that night as well. So with the limited amount of time between returning from the PNE and heading off to hockey, I shoveled some Vietnamese takeout into my mouth. Now with legs feeling like Jello, I took to the ice and luck would have it, the game was a bit one-sided. We got outshot by a ratio of 2:1. Now my legs were really feeling it! Not all was lost though because Betaboy promised he'd go eat with me afterwards. That was the deal if I played goal for him tonight. Yes, it was my "gentle" persuasion to get people out to eat. Joining us were ChunkyLover69 (See: Simpsons) and Max Power.

Since we were playing at Moody Park, we headed over to New Lakeview. Only up the block, it was a natural choice. Well, not really... A bunch of people opted to head to the Market Crossing Boston Pizza. 2 problems with that. It's not on the way home for us and honestly, BP sucks. Paying $17.29 for a plate of overcooked pasta with bland, watery sauce is plain lunacy. I don't care how big the portion is. Oh and Bolognese sauce does not have green peppers! Sorry, just me ranting. So, the main draw with New Lakeview are the low prices and large portions. As evidenced by Max Power's Combo A dinner (for only $8.95), it can feed 2 people. Loaded with Chicken Chow Mein, Sweet 'n Sour Pork and Chop Suey, this would put any Manchu Wok or Panda Express meal to shame. ChunkyLover69 had the Brisket Rice Noodles and it was alright. The broth was somewhat weak while the brisket was dry. However, the large portion made up for it.

Betaboy and I shared 2 items starting with the Chicken & Lettuce Fried Rice. This was also on the bland side and the rice was quite dry. However, for fried rice, dry is certainly much better than wet. Lots of chicken in the rice too. We also shared the Fish & Tofu Hot Pot. We got this because the table next to us had it. It looked absolutely huge and stuffed with lots of fish and tofu. Indeed it was a lot of food and very garlicky as well. However, the fish was tad "fishy". Not that they would use fresh fish anyways... And that really says it all about the food here. Mostly okay; but certainly not outstanding. But considering the prices and huge portion sizes, it makes up for some of the deficiencies. Taking into account its location, there is really not much around that can compete; thus, it will most certainly have a steady stream of repeat customers.

The Good:
- Freakin' large portions
- Cheap
- Open late

The Bad:
- Food is okay, but not great
- It's a dive

Hotluck

About a month ago, our hockey team tried to eat at Hotluck after the game. I emphasize "try" because we had arrived at roughly 9:55pm. Hey, no problem right? The placard in the front window clearly states they close at 11:00pm. Nope. When we tried to enter the restaurant, we were promptly denied. "No, we close" was the broken English answer. Huh? Close a full hour early? WTF? Honestly. I really, really cannot stand restaurants that make up random hours based on their own convenience. Yes, I do understand that the staff have their own lives too. But, what is the point of having any posted hours at all if they are not followed? Much like Poco Ocean, it's a crap shoot. Hey, what kinda job can you go in if you feel like it? Wait, I forgot about politicians... Anyways, Viv and I were looking for eats around Metrotown and ended up at Hotluck. Hey, at least they were open this time.

We ended up ordering their Hotluck Pot combo which included 2 predetermined appetizers, soup and rice. The soup was a pretty standard "lo foh tong" or old fire soup, which really means a soup that has been boiled for a long time. We got carrot, daikon and pork soup. Not bad, moderately seasoned with nice big meaty chunks of fatty pork - my favourite part of any lo foh tong. One of the appetizers was the Pickled Daikon and Carrots. To me, that is not really an appetizer. It's more of a throw-in. Whatever, it was pickled and crunchy. The second appetizer was the Szechuan-Style Spicy Pea Curd. I liked the flavour, it wasn't too spicy and there was a nice vinegary kick. The pea curd itself was a bit hard to eat since it was very soft. For the main event, the Hotluck Pot arrived in a very big bowl. Packed with cabbage, celery, seaweed, lotus root, wood ear mushrooms, chiyote, peppers, bean curd stick, tripe, pork, chicken and ham, this was not regular-sized dish. We asked for medium and even at that, it was very spicy. Normally, Viv and I can eat pretty spicy; but this was tongue-numbing. I can see how some people who really like it hot enjoying it; but for us, I found that it was slightly overkill. We could not taste any of the individual components. With that being said, the dish was cooked quite well. Veggies were crunchy and meats easy to chew. Although, we were a bit troubled by the really large pool of chili oil at the bottom of the plate.

Okay, I'm probably basing everything on personal tastes here. As mentioned, I'm sure there are people who will like the tongue-numbing spiciness of the food here. However, for me, it was all I tasted. Hey, I've eaten my fair share of Szechuan cuisine and it can be more balanced than this. Furthermore, the prices seemed a bit high in relation to what you get. Don't get me wrong here, the food was alright and there is nothing inherently wrong. Probably just not on my list of re-visits anytime soon.

The Good:
- If you like spicy food...
- Portions seem good
- They don't skimp on flavour

The Bad:
- If you don't like spicy food...
- To think of it, it's kinda pricey
- Food is greasy

Katana-Ya

Here it is. The last meal before heading off to SFO. After nearly 4 days of endless eating, it has come down to Katana-Ya Ramen. We really wanted to try this since the first night; but late night eats never came to fruition. Chalk it up to being too full. Or maybe we are collectively just getting too old. Sleep over eating? What has this world come to??? Honestly, I wasn't even aware of this place until we noticed a fairly large lineup every night as we walked back to our hotel. Generally, when there is a long lineup, it is either very good, has big portions or both. The fact that we heard people speaking Japanese in the lineup made it extra attractive. Despite a rich breakfast at Brenda's Soul Food and then lunch at L'Osteria, I met up with Kim at Katana-Ya for a second lunch or extremely early dinner. At first, it was only me in the lineup. I had put my name on the list hoping he'd arrive by the time a table opened up. No dice, 2 people had already been seated and Kim hadn't arrived yet. Out of pure luck, as I saw him strolling up the block, the only window seat in the whole restaurant became available. Score! Natural light for our photos! Right there, I had a premature “foodgasm”. Yah, and we hadn't even eaten yet!

As I calmed down, we quickly figured out what to eat and ended up starting with the Mixed Seafood Salad. A selection of tuna, salmon, black cod, hamachi, tai, tako, ika and ebi atop spring mix and onions, this was a nice looking salad for the price. Other than the salmon and tai (which were fishy and texturally strange), the seafood was what it was supposed to be. The dressing was a bit heavy on the shoyu; but went well with the components nonetheless. We also decided to try out the Hawaiian Roll consisting of tuna, salmon, butterfish and unagi. The rice was slightly on the gummier side while exhibiting some vinegar hits. Not great; but not bad either. The components were fresh resulting in a satisfying roll. Of course we could not eat here without giving the Ramen a shot, so we got the most expensive one being the Katana-Ya Ramen. There was a lot going on with this bowl of ramen, it included pork, fried gyoza, chicken karaage, corn, wakame and egg. We went for the rich shio broth and it was indeed heavy, especially on the fat. It wasn't exactly full of depth; yet it was flavourful enough without being too salty. The noodles were slightly chewy; however, we would've liked to see more “snap”. All-in-all, a very decent ramen. With that being said, we agreed that Hokkaido Ramen Santuoka is better for the same price.

Just for kicks, we added the Curry Katsu. Wow, when it arrived, we were taken aback at the portion size. More than enough for one person. Unlike some other Japanese curries I've had, this one was more spicy and curry-like. In fact, it exhibited much less sweetness that is typical of Japanese curries. Personally, I liked the thick spicy curry. Lots of carrots and potatoes along with a large, perfectly fried pork cutlet. The rice itself was not bad exhibiting some chewiness. Well done, I'd order this again. My goodness, 3 meals within 4 hours of each other. Oh well, at least I did a lot of walking. Was the Ramen worth lining up for? For me, if the lineup is short, sure. If it was crazy long, then maybe not. Bottom line is that all we ordered was solid and well- portioned. Nothing wrong with that.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Pretty decent eats

The Bad:
- The washroom is almost as big as the dining space
- Not expensive; yet not cheap either

L'Osteria Del Forno

While relaxing in my hotel room after a filling breakfast at Brenda's French Soul Food, I decided to call up TS/JS. Hey, I had 3 hours to kill before meeting up with Kim at Katana-Ya. Turns out that they were about to head up to North Beach via the famous San Francisco street car. It was a nice day, so I decided to tag along. Besides, I haven't been on a street car for 20+ years. Now I know why I haven't. I got stuck with hanging onto the side which is both uncomfortable and slightly dangerous. I think the person behind me almost lost her camera and arm as another streetcar passed by. When they say stay close to the car and not stick your arms out, they mean it. We ended up taking the wrong car and ended up at the Wharf instead.

Looks like another walk to the next eating destination. We ended up walking up Columbus until we got to North Beach. With the help of my iPhone, we determined that L'Osteria del Forno would be that destination. Good thing too since I would've walked past it otherwise. Ain't technology wonderful? Except when it crashes whilst talking to someone!!! Yes, my small iPhone pet peeve. In terms of what we ordered, I let the girls do the choosing. I wasn't all that hungry anyways after Brenda's French Soul Food and an impending visit to Katana-Ya later. My only request was to order as light as possible. Thus, we started with the Burrata Mozzarella alla Panna with arugula. Heavenly. That is what I would describe the fresh mozzarella. Simply presented with EVOO, it was texturally pleasing. The arugula provided some bitterness as a contrast. TS/JS really enjoyed this dish and so did I! Another light dish in the Insalata Rustica consisting of tuna, white beans, celery, oregano, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This was very mild, possibly a bit too mild. We all agreed that there needed to be more acid in this. Nice textures, no impact in the flavour department though.

Now onto their specialty - thin crust pizzas. We ordered 2 small to share starting with the Pizza Margherita. When it arrived, something struck me as being odd. The crust looked too uniform. It was almost like it was in a mold while it baked. The crust was indeed quite crispy and decently thin. In fact, it was not bad at all. Only thing - it wasn't blistered or even burnt. Maybe I was expecting something different? The Margherita was very mild and I didn't get too much in the way of basil even though I could see it. Maybe some fresh basil would've helped? I know I'm being a bit hopeful here; yet I really wanted to see buffalo mozzarella. Guess not.

The Pizza Salsiccia had a bit more impact in the flavour department. The portabello mushrooms offered up earthiness and body while the Italian sausage gave the pizza some saltiness and depth. Maybe I'm just a sucker for meat pizzas... Finally, TS decided to have some sausage. Okay, I'm not being gross here, she really wanted the Salame di Cioccolato or Chocolate Salami. It consisted of bittersweet chocolate and French butter cookies. It was not too sweet (hence, bittersweet) and the crunchy cookies were a nice textural contrast. A nice, sharable dessert to end off the meal. Nothing blew us away; but everything was solid and the Burrata was just plain tasty. Pizza threw us for a loop; yet it was good to eat and that's all that matters right?

The Good:
- Quaint place
- Decent eats
- Service was good for us (despite other negative comments)

The Bad:
- Not expensive; but not cheap either
- Pizza wasn't bad; yet the crust was not what we expected

Brenda's French Soul Food

Last year, I dared to walk the length of the TL to arrive at my eating destination of Brenda's French Soul Food. Was it worth it? To risk life and limb (and my camera) by strolling through one of the roughest parts of town? Turns out to be yes. It was worth it. Not only does Brenda's serve up something a bit different for Breakfast, it doesn't hurt the wallet either. Fast forward to 2010 and once again I took the scenic route on my way to try some Banh Mi at Saigon Sandwich. You'd think that I was done with the TL for the time being; but oh no, not a chance. In search of breakfast, Kim and I wanted to see if we could get into Dottie's this time around. Good luck there. Nope, an hour wait. Forget about it, we gave up. Off to find other eats. Well, that was easier said than done. In a sea of diners in the Downtown core, they seem to serve the same safe things over and over again. Bacon and eggs is all we saw. We didn't come all the way to San Francisco for that. Consequently, I suggested we head to Brenda's French Soul Food. It was nearby and honestly, I already knew the food would be good. Safe bet.

To our utter surprise, there was no lineup. Last time, I was lucky to score a single seat. This time we not only got a table, we got one with decent lighting. It's really too bad TS/JS couldn't join us! LOL. They didn't wake up in time. Those lazy asses! Unlike the last time, where I dined alone, we could order the Beignet Flight which consisted of all 4 beignets - Crayfish, Apple, Chocolate and Plain. For some reason or another we started with the "best" one in the Crayfish with scallions, cheddar and cayenne. This time, the beignets were softer; but the crayfish filling was still the same, which is a good thing. Savoury and slightly sweet, oozing out cheese with a nice kick from the cayenne, words cannot describe this tasty treat. I was not as enthused with the Ghiradelli Chocolate. Possibly because I am not a dessert person or the fact there was just too much chocolate. Quite heavy as a result. The Granny Smith Apple with cinnamon honey butter was quite good. Reminded me of a fried apple pie.

For my main, I went for a classic Southern dish in the Shrimp & Grits. Compared to the one I had at the Screen Door in Portland, this version was much more savoury and rich. Lots of grits with melted cheddar, nicely cooked shrimp with a mildly spicy bacon tomato relish. Truly satisfying. Kim had another of their daily specials with the Crayfish & Andouille Pot Pie. Hidden beneath the baked cheddar topped biscuit lay nuggets of crayfish and andouille in a savoury spicy roux. Another hearty and heart-stopping dish. Really bold flavours. I was really happy to return to a familiar place where the food is good and the prices are reasonable. It doesn't hurt that it is something out of the ordinary, if not a bit challenging to ones' cholesterol.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- It's different and tasty
- Bold flavours

The Bad:
- Extremely small
- Lineups

Eight 1/2 Restaurant Lounge

Oh great. Viv went on a shopping trip with her co-workers down to the States and both kiddies end up being sick. What horrible timing! I guess I deserve it though. She puts up with my exploits. Call it payback. Yet, an opportunity was born out of a potentially truly ugly situation. You see, my parents decided to give me a hand and feed the kiddies dinner. Hey, a 2-hour window to go out and grab a bite! I wasn't too enthused about doing it alone though, so I decided to check with good 'ol JS/TS from Eating Club Vancouver. They were game with one caveat. We had to go to Eight 1/2 Restaurant Lounge. You see, TS bought a Groupon not too far back and really wanted to redeem it. No problem with that. We were having a heck of a time figuring out where to go anyways. You see, TS doesn't like to travel very far for food. There is like this imaginary wall around Knight Street and beyond. I'm surprised she even made it out to Surrey once for dinner! That's like another country for her!

Situated in a multi-level heritage house, Eight 1/2 is a quaint little restaurant tucked away on 8th Ave, a block West of Main Street. If the outside looks traditional and conservative, it doesn't prepare you for the nice renovations within. Looking very much like your typical modern bar/restaurant, it's a welcoming dining space. Better yet, the Canucks game was on! I could go eat and still watch the game. Unfortunately for us, there was no more pizza dough. So no pizza. What we did end up ordering were 2 appies to start with the first being the Mini Ukrainian Perogies. It seems that the trend towards making mini versions of popular foods is moving along without end. It's just something about little pieces of food. They're so darn cute! Anyways, cute doesn't necessarily mean good tasting. In this case, it did taste fine with the usual potato and cheese filling with caramelized onions. The exterior dough was not too thick and fried up until crisp. A good amount chrizo with sour cream and ancho chipotle drizzled on top rounded out the dish. The only issue I had was the temperature. Everything on the plate was lukewarm. Our second appie was the Halibut, Tuna & Shrimp Ceviche. This was not one of my favourites. There was too much acidity in the mix; thus overwhelming every single component. Furthermore, it appears they blanched the seafood rather than having it "cook" in the lemon juice. Not a huge issue; but I found that some of the seafood taste was lost as a result.

For my main, I went for meat in the form of the 10 oz Grass Fed Steak. I asked for mine to be cooked medium rare (closer to the rare side) and it was beautifully executed. Moreover, the meat was very tender and required very little effort to chew. The simplicity of its preparation allowed for the natural meat flavour to shine. Fluffy, creamy and garlicky, the roasted garlic mashed potatoes were also very good. The same can be said about the fresh, barely cooked carrots. TS went for something usually reserved for salmon. We see cedar plank salmon all the time; but not Cedar Plank Halibut. She thought the halibut was cooked perfectly. The dipping sauce was a citrus-soy sauce concoction that worked although there was not much lemongrass flavor as per the description on the menu. The fish and sauce components of the dish were good. The "risotto" that accompanied the fish was not. It wasn't a risotto by any stretch of the imagination and it was seriously bland. Also, she wasn't sure this risotto-type dish, even if it were successful, complemented the citrus-soy direction towards which the fish was heading.

JS had a hard time deciding and settled on the Pacific Bacon Mini-Burgers. As described on the menu, they are 3 local BC beef patties, Pacific pepper cheddar, alder smoked bacon, Dijon aioli and fresh corn salsa. Overall, the burgers were pretty good except slightly oversauced. Furthermore, the artistic sauce underneath made it messy to pick up. Mind you, sometimes the messier the burger is, the tastier it is. In general, the food with this visit to Eight 1/2 was not bad, except for a few things. With that being said, all of the proteins were cooked perfectly and were quite good. It's really too bad we couldn't try their pizzas because they ran out of dough (and really the reason why TS wanted to try the place out in the first place). However, with the items we did try, it showed that Eight 1/2 is a decent enough place to grab a drink, feed oneself and even catch the game on TV.

The Good:
- Well-executed proteins
- Relaxed and comfortable atmosphere

The Bad:
- A few misses with the food
- Not expensive; but not inexpensive either