Pink Elephant Thai

"IzaThaiYa". Uh what? When I asked Mijune to describe what Pink Elephant Thai was about, this is what I got. You see, it is something along the lines of a Japanese Izakaya; but with Thai food. Thai House's latest venture takes Thai food into the world of little plates. Tapas, little plates or Izakaya - call it what you want, it is seems making things small for sharing is what people want. For me, the best type of sharing food is still Dim Sum... Anyways, despite some skepticism, I accepted an invite to try it out. Once again, Mijune - my new partner in eating - was at the table as well.

We started off with the Spicy Butterfly Jumbo Tiger Prawn dressed with butter, swirled egg, curry leaves, chilis and peppercorn. Although frying a tiger prawn is not exactly something mind-blowing, this was actually quite good. There was plenty of "prawn" aroma intermingled with spice emanating from the peppercorns and chili. I found the egg to be interesting texturally and visually. Next up was the Double "O" Lettuce Wrap. Okay, before your mind falls into the gutter, the "O" represents the ingredients, not the reaction from eating it. However, each to their own, Mijune often does her best porno sounds whilst munching on food. So the double O is actually short for oysters and free-range ostrich. Add in pressed tofu, basil, carrots, onions and peppers, this was a flavourful mix of ingredients. It was more sweet than spicy with a slight crunch from the veggies. Normally, ostrich is quite lean; however, they prepared it in a way that it remained moist.

Our last appetizer was something different named the Floating Market. Consisting of fried spinach tempura topped with tiger prawns and cashews, this really piqued my interest. As you know, spinach wilts very easily. So to essentially make a tempura chip out of it is a challenge. Hey, they were successful at that and not only was it crunchy like a chip, although it was quite greasy though. I could eat a whole bowl of these while watching the hockey game on the big screens here. What helped cut through the grease was the dip consisting of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, chilis and apple. Familiar Thai flavours that gave the "chips" a jolt of heat and zing. Roasted cashews and bits of tiger prawn completed the dish.

Then arrived a dish which I couldn't easily identify at first. It was the Keang Panang Pla or salmon red coconut curry. Buried underneath the plethora of curry was big pieces of salmon which were somewhat lost. Of course, any kind of fish would get lost in the sauce; but it really all about the curry where the salmon exists only texturally. The curry itself was thick and coconutty. It was mild and somewhat sweet. Naturally, it went well with rice. I personally wouldn't order a salmon curry; but this one was not bad. Then something very familiar arrived - Khoa Mun Gai or the Thai version of Hainanese Chicken. Having just tried the one from Portland's food cart, I might've been spoiled a tad. Hence, I was a bit indifferent with this one. The chicken itself was probably better than the one I had in Portland. It was relatively moist. Where it fell short was with the sauces. Again, there was nothing inherently wrong with it, the problem is that I had a very good one recently. The sauces, for me at least, were too one-dimensional being sweet with modest heat. The one I had in Portland was veritable flavour explosion with big hits of ginger and spice.

Another dish incognito was the Pad Thai. Looking at it, not many would be able to figure out what it was. With a big fat fried soft-shell crab on top, it is no wonder why I had no clue what it was. The crab itself was good. Hey, there haven't been many soft shell crabs I didn't like. As for the pad Thai itself, I'm sad to say it was not to my liking. The noodles were of the thin variety which made them susceptible to softening. Furthermore, there was an absence of flavour even with the squirt of lime juice. Too unlike a traditional pad Thai? Possibly. Now from something that didn't work to something that did. The Kra Pau Moo or pork cheek with red chili paste, lime leaves, fresh lemongrass and sliced chayote was excellent. First off, the pork cheeks were cooked perfectly - with its signature bounce while still being extremely tender. The charring on the outside resulted in a nice smokey aroma which worked well with the aromatic lemongrass and spice from the chilis.

Looking very much like the salmon curry, the Coconut Curry with braised ox-tail and pumpkin was fantastic. Well, I've never met a properly stewed ox-tail I didn't like; but nevertheless, this was well-executed. Each piece of meat was moist and melted in my mouth. The rendered fat and tendon was both texturally pleasing and flavourful. Although coconut curry was the actual name of the dish, there was no mistaking the star, which was the ox-tail. It could've been green curry or yellow curry for all that matter. Then going from indulgent to outright sinful was the Braised Pork Hock. Think of this as a braised version of Crispy Pata, and you'll understand how unhealthy; yet ultimately delicious this dish was. Sure, there was tender melt-in-your mouth pork sitting in rich braising liquid. Sure, there was crunchy pickled cabbage that helped cut through the richness. And sure there was an outstanding dip that was garlicky and tart; but honestly, the best part of this was the melt-in-your mouth pork skin. It reminded me of the Chinese dish of braised pork belly with pickled vegetable.

For our last savoury dish, we were presented with the Pla Salmon which was served with fresh lemongrass, lime juice, cashews and sliced apples. At first, I already had it in my mind I wouldn't like it. Hey, it's a salad of sorts and it's comprised of salmon (which can be horribly overdone sometimes). To my utter surprise, the salmon was moist and flaky with a familiar dressing comprised of fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. It was a refreshing end to a relatively good meal. We finished off with a Mango dessert that included sticky rice with sweet thick coconut milk. The mango itself was ripe and sweet. The rice was okay I suppose. I'm not a huge fan of rice in my dessert nor bread. Just a personal preference. The coconut milk went well with the mango, if one was lucky enough to catch a piece with a drizzle on top.

Okay, I gotta admit the food was better than I had expected (Pad Thai withstanding). After all, I'm not really into the whole fusion thing, let alone the small plate fad (other than Dim Sum and Izakaya). With that being said, I can definitely see some people being turned off right away by this. Who are these people? Well, they are the ones who don't like the Thai House or Maenam because they are not authentic enough. That's fair. I fall somewhere in the middle of that anyways. However, I must point out that most of the population out there are perfectly happy with food that appeals to their tastes no matter what cuisine it represents. And on that level, I don't think anyone has the right to judge what other people like or dislike. In fact, I am probably not their target market either (much like my experience at Charm). Despite this, if one wanted a bit of style and goes in with an open mind, Pink Elephant Thai offers up something a bit different where some items may surprise.

The Good:
- Stylish spot to be seen or to see
- Interesting dishes for those with an open mind

The Bad:
- If the Pad Thai is any indication, don't expect authenticity
- A bit pricey for the size of some of the dishes I saw being served

Slingers Food Truck

Once again, I was attempting to track down some more food carts to try - specifically the new hot dog cart offered up by Chef Wolfe from Kaboom Box. As I was pulling up to their location on Hastings at Hornby, I heard a few loud thuds on the room of my car. WTF? What happened??? Totally distracted by the fact, I drove past Burrard and parked on Hastings to check it out. For the love of... The whole car was covered in birdsh*t! It looked as if a whole flock of seagulls ate the contents of a Stagg delivery truck. I was so rattled at this development that I didn't end up going for a hot dog (especially a chili dog). Hence, I walked up to the first thing I saw which was the Slinger's Food Truck. Much like the Roaming Dragon and Coma, Slingers changes location regularly and I was lucky to catch them.

Of the items on the menu that caught my interest was the Angry Mac 'n Cheese. Essentially a regular mac 'n cheese with the addition of spicy chipotle, I personally didn't think it was really all that spicy. It certainly had a kick to it; but maybe I have a high tolerance. Furthermore, I didn't find it that "cheesy". Lots of cheese sauce, just not a lot of natural cheese taste. Ultimately, I think they should've call it "moderately annoyed" mac 'n cheese instead. For my second item, I tried their Veal Parmigiana Sandwich. At almost $8.00, this is slightly more expensive than some of the other sandwich offerings from many food carts. However, the sandwich itself is decently filling. It consists of a crispy fried veal cutlet topped with tomato sauce, cheese, jalapenos and sauteed mushrooms and onions. For me, I thought the jalapenos added a necessary kick and tartness to the sandwich. I found the veal to be relatively tender with a pleasing crunch. I was a bit indifferent with the bun though. Either it could've been a little less chewy or they could've toasted it a bit more. With that being said, it held up to the ingredients, which is most important. It is worth noting that they use biodegradable packaging which I give them the thumbs up. For the 2 items I did try, the food is generally acceptable and generally well-priced. I probably won't go in search of Slingers around town; but I wouldn't necessarily avoid them either if they were nearby.

The Good:
- Familiar items for those less adventurous
- Food is freshly made

The Bad:
- Food in general is middle of the road

Via Veneto

*Restaurant is now closed*

Suddenly; yet not totally unexpected, Amarcord closed its doors in Yaletown last year. I'm not here to speculate why that happened; but if one was to read the many internet posts on this restaurant, it did have issues. Now, earlier this year, the former owner has re-opened as Via Veneto on Broadway. A little less expensive and a bit more casual, Vandelay and I wanted to see this new iteration. Well, this wasn't exactly on my radar; however, Vandelay was having a hard time suggesting a place for lunch since new options were dwindling. This location is not as "sexy" compared to Yaletown; but it is more accessible since there is validated parking at the back.

Before ordering, we were presented with a basket of Focaccia Bread. Sure, it's complimentary; but it was not very good. Dense, dry and bland, even the oil and balsamic couldn't save it. We ended up deciding to share 4 items starting with the classic Carpaccio all' Emiliana. Nothing Earth-shattering here but a solid attempt. The beef was buttery soft while the condiments of capers, fresh-shaved Parmesan, truffle oil and arugula did their job. A quick squirt of lemon made for a well-balanced flavour consisting of earthy, salty, tart, bitter and sweet (from the meat). As our other starter, we went for the Risotto ai Funghi e Pesto with wild mushrooms, parmigiano reggiano and pesto. Although it was quite creamy, it didn't completely "spread" as Vandelay put it. What he meant was that the risotto was slightly clumpy in places. For me, that didn't bother me too much since I found the texture to be fine. The rice was a bit past al dente though. Despite the good amount of mushrooms, there wasn't a whole lot of earthiness. It's quite possible that the cooking liquid was not a mushroom broth. We are forever spoiled by the one we had at Il Giardino.

For our mains, we shared the Spaghetti alla Vongole first. Consisting of al dente pasta with fresh BC Manila clams, garlic, white wine and fresh herbs, this was really good. There were pronounced hits of fresh clam nectar, onion and garlic which helped flavour the pasta. Perfectly executed with quality ingredients. The last dish was the Veal Paillard consisting of grilled milk-fed Veal scallopine with salsa verde. Once again, we were impressed with this offering. The hand-cut pieces of veal were meaty, moist and extremely tender. There was more than enough seasoning that the salsa verde was not necessary. I ended up using the sauce since it was a nice accent to the meat having a nice tang. The accompanying al dente penne was good being simply tossed in olive oil and garlic.

Pretty good. That's what Vandelay and I concluded from our lunch at Via Veneto. We did notice that service was cordial and attentive. Something that was not really a strong point in the old Amarcord. The restaurant itself is configured slightly strange due to the restrictions of the room. Therefore, the entrance is a bit random and sudden, where tables are immediately to the right. However, they have done a good job in renovating the place to make it pleasing and classy. Considering the reasonable pricing (for lunch at least), the quality and overall execution of the food, there was not a whole lot to complain about. Granted, that dinner menu is pricier; but if lunch is any indication, Via Veneto is a good option for Italian eats along Broadway.

The Good:
- Generally solid execution for the dishes we tried
- Attentive service
- Pleasing decor

The Bad:
- Dinner pricing is on the higher side
- Portions are a bit small

Campagnolo Roma

This spring, with the Canucks' Stanley Cup run, has been troublesome for extracurricular activities (particularly sports). You see, the Nux games seem to fall on the nights I play my games. That has resulted in postponements, at least for softball. However, that has not been the same for hockey. It appears that the league does not want to reschedule games. Originally, I had given Gadget Girl the heads up that I probably would be missing our next game since it fell on the same night as game 5. Well, apparently she thought I was joking and was taken aback when I confirmed I wasn't playing the game. With me being the goalie, that didn't sit well with her and suddenly, I briefly considered going for police protection. At the end of the day, I decided to play since the team comes first (or the fact I'd be traded for a bag of pucks if I didn't...). Since our game started at 6:15pm, we were hoping to catch the end of the Nux game when we were done. Of course, with our luck, the game went into a shootout requiring 9 shooters deep per side. After that, rather than doing it all over again, the ref declared it a tie and we hightailed it the locker room to get out of our gear. We ultimately made it upstairs to witness the win that would put the Nux on the brink of their first ever Stanley Cup. With the game out of the way, we then put our attention towards good eats. However, some wanted to go to Earl's... Uh... That was my biggest nightmare! Chain restaurant food? I had to do a heck of a sales job to convince them to head to Campagnolo Roma instead. I reasoned that we could go to a chain restaurant anytime; but honestly, for the same price - how about something more distinctive? So while on our drive on McGill off of the 2nd Narrows, there were people cheering on the street and as I neared a group, I thought it looked like there were 2 guys without clothing... Ewww... Why do the people who shouldn't be naked expose themselves??? WTF?

Okay, let's focus on the restaurant now... Campagnolo Roma is the newest venture of the Campagnolo/Refuel group. Casual, inexpensive and unpretentious, this little place doesn't take reservations. Knowing how everyone else were partying Downtown, we got a table practically right away. I started with a Local Octopus Salad consisting of endivia, charred bread and red wine vinegar. With just the right amount of chew while not tough, this was as perfect as octopus could be. I thought that there was just enough vinaigrette and the crispy bread was a nice textural addition. For my main, I had the classic Pizza Margherita with fior di latte, tomato sauce and basil. For not being an actual pizzeria, I thought this was quite good. The crust was crispy and chewy with only a small part of the centre being soft. The best part of the pizza was the tasty tomato sauce. It was well-balanced between being sweet, salty and tangy. I would've preferred that the basil not be "cooked" since it wasn't that noticeable. Sweet Tooth and Emilicious shared a Funghi Pizza which added morels, button mushrooms, ricotta, roasted garlic and greens. This was also very good with plenty of earthiness and the sweet flavour of roasted garlic. Emilicious particularly liked the thin and tasty crust (perfect ratio of crust to topping) as well as the ample fresh basil on top. They also shared the Spaghetti with garlic, peperoncini, spot prawns (which Gadget Girl had as well) and the consensus was that it was okay. The spaghetti itself was al dente while the prawns were fresh and cooked properly. However, they all felt that the pasta could've stood for more flavour. Not that it wasnt seasoned enough; rather, there wasn't much in the way of distinctive flavour, particularly from the prawns.

Mr. Blueberry and Milhouse both had the Cannelloni al Forno with Swiss chard, pork sausage, garlic conserva. The one thing that stood out about this dish was the ample amount of flavourful cheese baked on top. In fact, the flavour was so prominent, the rest of the ingredients were somewhat overwhelmed. It wasn't necessary a bad thing though since they both enjoyed it very much. They noted that the filling was not very dense due to the large amount of Swiss chard. With what looked like fried pancetta on top, it was crispy and flavourful which gave some firmness to offset the soft cannelloni. As expected, Sweet Tooth went for dessert in the form of the Tiramisu. We all thought it was very creamy and smooth. Emilicious thought it was a nice, light way to end the meal. Excellent presentation in the tilted glass to show layering of marscapone and lady fingers drenched in frangelico. One of the best tiramisu's she's tasted. Milhouse had the Affugato. He enjoyed the dessert despite its simplicity. It wasn't fancy since it was essentially espresso poured over vanilla gelato. Bottom line is that Campagnolo Roma isn't really all that fancy really. The pleasing decor impressed Emilicious as she loved the accent wood paneling that extended from the wall to the ceiling; also the pistachio green, textured wall treatment complimented the wood used... Very simple yet sophisticated. This perfectly describes Campagnolo Roma which features a focused menu, good value and generally well-executed food.

The Good:
- Decent value if quality and execution are taken into consideration
- Simple, yet elegant dining room
- Good pizzas

The Bad:
- Very small and doesn't take reservations
- Focused menu could mean less options for some people

Zawa

Since I was at the Bombay Sapphire Speakeasy event, I had to miss softball. I must admit it was a difficult decision to make since that meant missing out on eating out afterwards. However, Boss Woman wondered why I couldn't attend both the event and join the team for eats. Great Scott! How come I didn't think of that??? Eating back-to-back is not a foreign concept for me. In fact, let's bring Mijune along as well! She's the queen of eating over and over again. Well... and she was a bit tipsy from the event as well. So, instead of getting in her car, she tagged along with my team for dinner. At first, our original choice was the Red Wagon; but it was closed. Fine, we'll try the Brave Bull. Nada. With people becoming annoyed at driving from one location to the next, we finally settled on Zawa on The Drive.

I've always wonder about this place. By the looks of outside, it's hard to predict what type of food Zawa serves. A peek at the menu and there is a Greek/Italian slant to it along with standard bar-type food items. In the end, this worked for us since we had a big group with varying tastes. Silent Bob was the first to receive his order which was the Lemon & Garlic Chicken. Visually, it was messily plated while looking appetizing at the same time. He thought the chicken was a bit overcooked since he could not cut into it without shredding the meat. On the other hand, the veggies and potato were cooked perfectly. Furthermore, the lemon & garlic sauce was flavourful which in turn made all of the components on the plate tasty. Silent Bob also brought along his significant other who we will refer to as Bumpkin. She ended up with the Garden Burger. She enjoyed it; but thought the edges of the bun were too hard. She ended up picking those parts off.

Milhouse also went for a burger in the Santa Fe Chicken Burger. Similarly to Silent Bob, he thought the chicken was dry; but he didn't mind it much. In the end he liked the burger. He substituted onion rings for fries and fried perfectly. They were crispy and rigid; but not overcooked. Mijune went for something a bit different in the Zawa Vegan Burger. Honestly, I was a bit shocked, since we are both meat lovers. Well, we all know Mijune loves her meat... Ahem... Her reasoning was that The Drive has a lot of good vegetarian options, so this burger had to be good. And you know what, she was absolutely right. At first, it looked like a big piece of fried dough. However, hidden inside was a delightful mix of chickpeas, green onions, parsley, dill, basil and garlic. The contrasting crunch of the exterior was a perfect balance for the surprisingly airy filling. For someone who loves meat, I really liked this burger. It had texture and flavour while being substantial as well.

Miss Y had the obligatory pasta dish which was Z's Lasagna. Reminiscent of the type you'd find at places such as Neighbours and Gigi's, this was a solid offering. No, it ain't gonna compete with more authentic Italian eateries; but it was cheesy, meaty and not wet. For myself, I had the Roast Lamb. Frankly, I wasn't expecting too much to tell you the truth. Imagine my surprise when the lamb was super juicy and moist. Practically the whole piece of lamb was uniformly tender. I am not afraid to say that this is one of the better roast lambs I've had in awhile. Now, that only refers to the texture. The one issue I had was the lack of seasoning. Sure, I could taste the rich roasted lamb flavour; but I could not detect enough garlic, salt, rosemary, lemon or anything else. If they could just be more aggressive with the seasoning, this would be almost perfect. With that in mind, the tzatziki was bland as well. It need much more garlic and lemon. On the topic of bland, I had a big issue with the rice. It was plain white rice which was hard and chewy. Fail. And that was the same for Judes' Prawn Souvlaki. She couldn't of cared less for the Minute Rice. The first prawn she ate was a little overcooked and almost rubbery with the rest being okay. The Greek salad was meh. It was basically washed and dumped onto the plate with barely any olive oil or spices. She liked the potato and was more accepting of the tzatziki than myself. In the end, she didn't think the dish was worth $16.00.

While I was ordering my lamb, I initially had the idea of adding a side of Poutine just to try. I didn't end up doing so because Bear got it instead. According to him, the poutine was very good, perhaps not authentic, but much to his liking. The waitress sold him on it by saying the fries were fresh cut and the gravy was "probably homemade". He couldn't verify the gravy was homemade, but he didn't get any allergic reaction to it as he would for pre-packaged powdered gravy full of artificial colour and thickeners. The poutine was a little light on the gravy, but it turned out to be good as the fries stayed crispy. He'd go back just for this. For me, I tried it as well and basically agree with his thoughts; however, I would've preferred the "cheese curds" to be less melted. Bear also had a burger and I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it. Fortunately, Boss Woman got the Deluxe Burger too and it was more or less the same - which was woefully overcooked. Boss Woman needed to add copious amounts of ketchup to eat the darn thing. As a public service announcement of sorts, be warned that the pop here is NOT refillable. The waitress asked us if we wanted refills without informing us that there was a charge. Not cool in my books. In fact, Judes was so choked, she vowed never to return. Now, despite some sub-par items, there were some surprises as well. So if you have a large group, this place can offer up a wide variety of food. However, there are many better options on The Drive.

The Good:
- Unlike many restaurants nearby, Zawa is large and spacious
- Inexpensive drinks (unless u want a refill with pop)

The Bad:
- Not informed of refill charge
- Food is mostly miss with some hits
- A bit pricey

Mei Yee Bakery

For the longest time, there was not exactly a huge selection of Chinese bakeries in town. We were at the mercy of Maxim's and a few other ones located in Chinatown. Now, we can choose from Pine House, The Boss (affiliated with Maxim's), St. Germain, T & T and many other independent establishments. So, for me at least, I much prefer these smaller shops. I find they are a better value since they don't skimp on the ingredients. One of my favourites is Karmony Bakery on Victoria Drive. I've been here countless times already. However, it was time for me to try something new. In fact, the place I did end up visiting is only up the street from Karmony. Across from London Drugs and Maxim's, Mei Yee Bakery is not really all that small. When I walked into the place, it was quite spacious with an impressive selection of goods.

In fact, rarely seen items such as large baked tapioca pudding with red bean paste was available. I was tempted to pick one up; but there was no way we'd finish it. And besides, my son would just pick off the sweet topping and leave the rest alone. On the topic of sweet topping, he actually eats the whole Pineapple Bun now. Yah, he used to pick off the topping and leave the plain bun for either myself or grandpa to eat. Talk about enabling... Anyways, my son dusted off the bun and it was pretty good. I think the pastry dough is not as good as Karmony; but absolutely better than Maxim's. I find the buns at Maxim's dry and lacking in substance. And hey, I love substantial buns! Er... So naturally, the BBQ Pork Bun was better than average as well. I particularly liked that there was a good amount of BBQ pork inside. It was not fatty and the glaze was a good combination of savoury and sweet.

Egg Tarts are a must when visiting a Chinese bakery. It is a good indicator of competency. This one was not bad. I would've liked the shell to be flakier; but it was not hard by any means. I found the filling to be on the sweeter side while being silky. I actually ended up with more than 16 items; but many were of the "pineapple bun-type", so I'm not going to talk about them. However, if I take everything into account, I would say that Mei Yee is a solid place for Chinese bakery items. Much better than Maxim's while a shade below Karmony.

The Good:
- Lots of selection
- Lots of stock (big store)
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- I guess lack of parking in the area?
- Over abundance of "Pineapple Bun" type pastries