Ensemble

*Restaurant is now closed*

I guess it was inevitable. We finally have our very own Top Chef champion opening up shop in town. Well, to be clear, it was Top Chef Canada and Dale MacKay had already opened up shop prior to officially winning Top Chef Canada. Now this is where a strange dynamic occurs. Suddenly, the food is almost secondary to who is preparing it. Sure, a restaurant should generally have good food in theory; however, when you have a well-known chef, that can be the meal ticket in itself. I mean, look at Hawksworth. I certainly enjoyed my meal there; but honestly, I had to try the place out because it's David Hawksworth! So does that mean I need to go have The Burger at Cactus Club again since it is Rob Feenie's creation??? On that note, prior to being on Top Chef Canada, Dale MacKay's claim to fame was heading the kitchen at Lumiere (Rob Feenie's former stomping ground). I had the good fortune of enjoying the Grand Tasting Menu there prior to its closure (and db Bistro as well). In some sense, I already knew that Dale MacKay had immense talent. Sometimes, those with so much talent tend to over-analyze and/or over-think things. That seemed like the case with Dale on Top Chef
Canada. Doesn't matter tough. He won and with a full house on a Saturday night, it seemed the restaurant was winning too.

Since it was so busy, our table was not ready when we arrived. Seeing how we had to wait, they served us a complimentary appetizer in the Flat Bread with bacon and onion. Immediately, it brought back memories of the one we had at db Bistro. Coincidence? And much like last time, it was thin, crispy and mild-tasting. There was definitely the saltiness of the bacon and sweetness from the onions; it just wasn't very impactful. Nitpicking aside, it was fine and well, it was free. Elaine did a bit of researching on the Internet and concluded there were 2 things we had to try. One of them being the Sweet & Sour Eggplant. The plate was presented with 8 pieces of eggplant atop baba ghanoush and topped with cucumber yogurt, tomato and a fried eggplant chip. I found the eggplant to be cooked beautifully where it was soft while not crossing over to mushville. It was sweet with a light tang.

Her second choice also happened to be Dineout Girl's selection as well. So we ended up with 2 orders of the Black Cod with Thai Broth (which was featured on Top Chef). Good thing we got more than one because it was very modest in portion size. The picture that you see was the second order which was bigger than the first. The first one only had one piece of cod, albeit bigger than each of the 2 smaller pieces in the second plate. The cod itself was cooked perfectly being moist, flaky and buttery. The broth popped with flavour, possibly a bit on the salty side though (heavy on the fish sauce). Despite this, it was fragrant and had just the right amount of coriander. The few drops of chili oil didn't have a huge impact; yet at the same time, that was a good thing since it can be overwhelming especially with the cod. Another dish we had 2 of was the Pulled Pork Sandwich with apple-horseradish slaw, salted watermelon with mint and fried pickle. Yet again, this item was featured on Top Chef (and won too). Well, what can I say? This was a solid pulled pork sandwich. The meat was moist and had the just right amount of BBQ sauce which was smoky and sweet. The coleslaw was pretty good, it had a nice crunch with an apple tang and a slight kick. The bun was soft and held up to the wet ingredients.

Continuing on with more watermelon, we had the Tomato & Watermelon Salad with watercress, onion, chives, mascarpone and vanilla balsamic dressing. We rather liked this rendition of a watermelon salad. It was creamy and sweet with a hint of saltiness and tang. The salad was light and refreshing while exhibiting an herby
bitterness. A lot of different flavours going on in what some might consider a simple item. Moving along, Costanza ordered something that had the same deja vu feeling as the flat bread. The Foie Gras Mousse was exactly the same one I had at Lumiere. Not a stretch really, I mean, it was one of Dale's best dishes. So offering it here at Ensemble was only logical. The whipped foie gras was served with celery root, apricot, hazelnut, a touch of balsamic reduction and brioche waffle. The result was a very light foie gras dish with had a good balance of flavours. Viv opted for the Vancouver Island Mussels in a curry broth with cilantro. We found the mussels to be rather small; but the broth was quite tasty. It was fragrant with big hits of curry and much like the black cod broth, it was on the saltier side. The accompanying fries were crisp and potatoey.

The item that stuck out on the menu for me was the Five Spice Pork Belly with smoked miataki, pear puree, pickled carrots & daikon and cashews. The pork belly was prepared beautifully where it melted in my mouth. There was a range of flavours: the buttery-nuttiness of the cashews, sweetness of the pear puree, subtle Earthiness of the mushrooms and tang from the pickled veggies. The pork belly was slightly lost with all of the ingredients on the plate; but in the end, I still enjoyed it, so no harm, no foul. From one plate with plenty of flavours to another that was very mild which was the Roasted Lamb Loin accompanied by radish, shiitake puree, bulgur wheat and black garlic jus. The lamb itself was cooked perfectly. It was both visually and texturally appealing. However, everything on the plate had a "muted" existence. Don't get me wrong, this was a pleasant plate of food and in no way, shape or form was it bad. We just thought it needed a little "something" to make the flavours pop.

The next dish was once again quite familiar and somewhat polarizing. The Cornmeal Crusted Scallops with corn succotash, mushrooms, sea beans and chicken & scallop jus reminded me of the one I had at Lumiere. Seems to be a trend here eh? Well, I don't blame them, why not go with what has been successful? Now to the polarizing part - Costanza wasn't really down with the corn succotash and others were slightly indifferent. For me and Elaine, it was delicious and went well with the perfectly seared scallops. It was sweet and full of pop from the "snap" of the corn niblets. I found that the jus didn't have enough salt to balance out the sweetness of the other components of the dish; yet that really wasn't a huge issue since it was ultimately tasty.

A dish that Costanza did want to try was the Beef Shin and Fritz. I couldn't hide my excitement over that choice since I really wanted someone to order it. When it arrived, I wasn't really expecting it to be shaped like a puck; but when flaked apart, the meat was like "pulled beef" which had some pepper notes and plenty of meaty depth. I particularly liked the crisp edges of the meat. Next, we had the Poached and Crispy Chicken with chicken veloute, morels and fava beans. For me, I consider chicken to be the perfect blank canvas for creative flavours. Where this dish fell flat was the flavour profile. It was far too mild and showed restraint. The veloute was smooth and rich; yet at the same time, having no impact. The morels compensated for this somewhat; but as Costanza remarked, "I've had much more flavourful morels than these ones". We did, however, like the crispy chicken. It was moist and tender on the inside while crispy on the outside. As for the poached chicken, it was super moist and tender.

For our last savoury item, we had the Herb Risotto with tarragon, chervil and chive. Despite its interesting serving vessel, the risotto was uniformly liked by everyone at our table. It was creamy, well-balanced and had good flavour, particularly from the herbs (and not relying on salt). I found the risotto just a minuscule past al dente; but that is nitpicking. Onto dessert, we shared three starting with the Precious Pavolova. Viv and I thought this was a nice whimsical shot at the judges on Top Chef Canada. We remembered this deconstructed pavlova where it was criticized for being too precious (much like many of Dale's other creations on Top Chef Canada). This particular pavlova came with cherries marinated in basil and balsamic along with candied ginger and more basil. For me, this was a pleasant, if not "okay" dessert. Nothing really made it memorable for me; however, the addition of basil did make it at the very least different.

Another dessert, that actually did quite well on Top Chef Canada, was the Souffle. The Souffle of the Day was a Pineapple Souffle with pineapple carpaccio and sorbet with toasted coconut. The souffle looked impressive and didn't collapse despite my photo-taking delay. It was eggy, light and not too sweet. The pineapple and sorbet added more pop to the dessert and overall, it was pretty good. Lastly, we had the Chocolate Fondant with Hazelnut-Nougatine Ice Cream. This was my favourite of the three desserts. The cake was warm, decadent and rich. It was not overly sweet while definitely chocolaty (dark). The accompanying ice cream was good with the nougatine providing a nice crunch. This was a good end to a relatively decent meal. Did it "wow" us? No, it didn't. But it was far better than what I expected. Now that is a bit strange since one would expect a lot from the winner of Top Chef Canada. However, that would be both unrealistic and unfair. We felt that the overall execution of the food was pretty good considering it was a full house and we had ordered a large percentage of the menu. In terms of flavour, there are some tweaks needed in some of the dishes. One important thing to note about the food is that the portions are very modest. If one wanted to be satisfied, I would say that 2 - 3 dishes per person is necessary (not including dessert). Depending on which ones you choose, it can quickly add up.

The Good:
- Generally well-executed proteins
- Service we got was pretty good

The Bad:
- Can get pricey depending on what you order
- Depending on what you expect from Ensemble, the atmosphere is quite loud

Toyama

All-you-can-eat Sushi. Aiya. I knew we were asking for it. More often than not, this type of Japanese cuisine (if you can even call it that) is an exercise in disappointment. Just look at places such as Kawawa, Sui Sha Ya and Kisha Poppo. Definitely quantity over quality. To be fair, there are some acceptable places such as Ninkazu and Tomokazu. It was not our intention to go for AYCE sushi after Monday night softball. Our original plan was to try out Kingyo's latest venture - Suika. I did my due diligence and made sure it was open on Monday nights. Yet, as we pulled up to the place on Broadway, it was *gasp* closed! Turns out of all the Mondays, we had to pick the one they were closed for a "staff meeting". WTF? So as a backup plan, we headed to Toyama for their late night AYCE. Hey, how bad can it be? They do claim to be "Vancouver's best sushi" in all their ads on the Beat 94.5. If you are snickering right now, I don't blame you. When one hear such claims, it is almost an invitation for ridicule.

At the very least, everything started off fine as we got rock star parking right in front of the place along Seymour. To top it all off, it was free too! The restaurant is not very big and the seating is a bit tight. But that is to be expected with a Downtown location. As mentioned, we made it for their late night AYCE for $13.95. For $1.00 more per person, we could've have sashimi included (limit to 6 pcs per person). That is a pretty reasonable price tag for that addition. We didn't end up getting it and instead started with the Nigiri. With this, we could still get a taste of their raw fish. For once, the rice to fish ratio was good. Mind you, there was very little fish too. The slices were razor thin. If we could rate the different fish (salmon, tai and tuna) as one, the consensus was "okay". Nothing particularly wrong while nothing particularly memorable as well. The rice itself was on the drier side and a bit too vinegary.

We also got a variety of Maki Sushi including BC Roll, California Roll, Yam Tempura Roll, Unagi Roll, Tuna Roll and Oshinko. If we had to group them into one again, the best way to describe these rolls would be "typical Japanese fast food sushi". That is not a criticism per se; rather than an observation. Not horrible while not great either. It filled our tummies. Interestingly, there were several options for Motoyaki including oyster, fish and scallop. We went for the oyster and scallop; but they put it all on one plate. With everything looking the same, it was a guessing game as to what we would be eating. Now, the scallops and oysters were okay; however, as you can clearly see, the motoyaki was not really all that broiled. Thus, it was essentially a lukewarm mayo-concoction that was not all that appealing. On the topic of unappealing, the Gyozas were very inconsistent. As you can clearly see, they were all fried up in the same pan or flattop; yet each one had a different texture. These premade gyozas were actually alright with a decent pork & veggie filling. However, some had dumpling skin that was tougher than shoe leather which rendered them inedible. Then surprisingly, some were perfectly cooked.

Hands down, Beef Short Ribs are Bear's favourite food. So it is not a stretch for him to eat a whole serving by himself. Hence, we marked down 25 pieces on the checklist. What you see in the picture is how much we got. Rather than 25, we received 8. Um, how does 25 become 8??? Yes, I do realize that some AYCE joints do the same trick, namely Fish on Rice. C'mon. Honestly. Look at the gyoza. We ordered 10, we got 10. So obviously they can count. So what's the deal on the short ribs? If you don't want to give people what they asked for, why offer it? I mean, they have this "no wasting" policy already. What's the harm? I truly think that this tactic is unethical. Oh, and as for the short ribs, they were chewy and too salty. And for our second order, we wrote down 50 and got 16. So obviously, the count by 8's with the ribs. Must be some kinda foreign math.

Now here is where the thought of Kawawa slowly creeps into the meal. The Yam Fries were not like any yam fries we've ever had. These things were cut up into little slivers and then flash fried I would assume. But these came out more limp than someone who ran out of Viagra. Oil-logged and showing no cooking technique whatsoever, this was terrible. Oh it gets worse! The Croquettes were a complete surprise to us all. Normally, it is filled with potato or pumpkin or something like that, especially when they are fried up in the way they appear in the picture. What was really inside was some dense, sweet mochi. Okay, there is a mochi croquette out there; but it doesn't look like this. Then it only gets worse with beef jerky masquerading as Beef Teriyaki. The thinly-sliced meat was so overcooked and dry, it began taking on properties of Jimmy's Beef Jerky. Factor in the powerful sweet and salty sauce, it was actually more of a beef jerky than anything. Moving along to the Chicken Karaage, it didn't get much better. They were overfried which made the meat hard and a bit greasy tasting. The skin was no longer crispy; rather, it was dried out and was not pleasant to eat. At the very least, there was enough seasoning.

Okay, onto something that was actually quite good. The Tonkatsu was fried up perfectly crisp on the outside while still being moist and tender on the inside. There just enough sauce to flavour the pork chop without drowning it. We ordered this twice since it was pretty good. However, on our second order, we marked down 2 and ended up with the same amount as our first order, which was 1. It appears their abacus was broken. So 1 pork chop is equivalent to 2 pork chops... Sounds like the Government here with the HST. Anyways, another fried item that was half-decent was the Tempura. Consisting mainly of yam and sweet potato, there was this one piece of squash? Not sure what it was. It just looked strange. Whatever, the batter was not too heavy and turned out crispy. Not much more to be said about it.

We had a few more things that were not really worth discussing. They were neither great or terrible. However, the last thing worth mentioning was the Unagi Rice. Milhouse and I both decided to get an order despite it violating the AYCE "maximum benefit" rules. You see, it is a bowl of rice and it fills you up while not being worth all that much. We took a gamble because the last few times we have ordered it in an AYCE setting, it was not too big and had a good rice-to-unagi ratio. When it arrived here, we were really sorry that we even tried. There was a full bowl of rice and a measly piece of unagi. Heck, there wasn't even enough sauce to flavour all of the rice. Serves us right though. We should've never have ordered it. To be fair, they didn't charge us for leaving half of the bowl of rice untouched. If they had, we would've been very P.O.'d. That pretty much summed up everyone's sentiment about the food here. For a place that boasts in their ads that they serve some of Vancouver's best sushi, it cannot be more further from the truth. Again, to be fair, the food is not inedible. But compared to even the local hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant, the food we had was sub-par. Sure, it was in an AYCE format, which could be the reason why it was not that great. Maybe their a la carte is better. Maybe someone can confirm or deny this. All we can say is to avoid the AYCE. There is much better to be had in the GVRD.

The Good:
- AYCE price is reasonable considering its Downtown location
- Heard the service is poor here, not sure why, we got good service

The Bad:
- The food we had in general was pretty poor
- Apparently the kitchen can only count if they feel like it (such as a cheaper item)

Verace Pizzeria

*Restaurant is now closed*

Out of the blue, while in the changing room prior to our hockey game, Apu pipes up about a new Neapolitan pizza joint. Apparently his wife had visited Verace Pizzeria and the feedback was positive. Furthermore, their whole menu was 15% for the month of July. There were several attempts to visit the place; but due to our late games, we never made it out there. I even tried with our softball team; yet we were never really all that close by. It looked pretty grim as the days in July were dwindling. Finally, after our game at Montgomery Park, I made it a point to head over there. “Over there” was right next to the T&T Supermarket near the Stadium Skytrain Stadium. Hence, parking is a little bit scare. Consequently, I volunteered to carpool everyone. Not sure if it was Karma or just plain luck, I got the closest parking spot possible within a stone’s throw to the front door. And about that front door... It’s not very flashy. It can easily be missed, especially located in a roundabout hidden from the main street.

Bear was surprised by the classy decor and the overall style of the restaurant. He didn’t expect an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in this neighbourhood. Well, I wasn’t. So many great places to eat have opened up shop in the most unsual places (see: Acme Cafe, Campagnolo, 2 Chefs & a Table among others). We decided to share a few things starting with the Burrata complimented by pizza bread and a balasmic reduction. Although I still have fond memories of the Burrata I had at L’Osteria del Forno in San Francisco, the one here was pretty solid. Each piece of Burrata was smooth and buttery. Surprisingly, the pizza bread almost stole the show. It was crispy, chewy, flavourful and worked well with the Burrata. I liked how the balsamic added some acidity and sweetness as well. Of course, no visit to an authentic Neapolitan pizza joint would be complete without trying the Margherita. In this case, we had the Verace Margherita DOP which consists of San Marzano Tomatoes, Buffalo Mozzarella and fresh basil. When it arrived, it sure looked good. Reminded me of the one I had at Nicli Antica. The outer crust was pretty good – chewy and charred (or what they call leoparding). At the centre, it was soft, which is normal; but slightly wet. Not as wet as the one I had at The BiBo; but wetter than the one at Nicli Antica. In terms of flavour, the San Marzano Tomatoes were money. So flavourful from the natural sweetness and acidity, the pizza would’ve succeeded on that alone. Of course the cheese was subtle along with the fresh taste of basil. A solid pizza.

As a comparison, we also had a more substantial pizza in the Diavola which was comprised of peppers, cappicola and salami. This particular pizza was naturally more flavourful due to the various meats and sweet peppers. Nice mix of sweetness and some spice from the capicolla. This one was actually less wet in the middle, which we preferred. Moving away from the regular pizzas, we decided to also try the Peppe Calzone. As expected, it was essentially what it represents – a pizza folded over to create a Calzone. So the dough was still the same being chewy slightly charred. There was no shortage of ingredients which may have contributed to it being a little wet as well. To be fair, we cut it apart into 4 sections which is usually the way it was meant to be eaten. So all the juices spilled out. Judes decided to go for the Caprese Sandwich which was almost like our Calzone, except it was not sealed. She liked it. Although, for me, it looked like a lot of dough and indeed she couldn't finish it. In my opinion, I'd stick with the pizzas over ordering a "sandwich". The accompanying Caesar was much like the one we got with the calzone. It was crisp and fresh; however, it was a tad underdressed. The dressing was good, we just didn't get enough of it. After our meal, we were presented with complimentary Hot Chocolate. This was a good hot chocolate. Not sweet at all with dark chocolate richness (and slight bitterness), this was a small little treat.

By now, all of us were on carb overload and I could feel the dough really settling in my stomach. However, that didn't stop some of us from trying some dessert. Bear originally wanted some cheesecake. Too bad it was all sold out. He settled on a scoop of Sorbetto which was refreshing. I got to steal the kiwi fruit from his plate, he didn't want it. In fact, the dessert I settled on sharing with Milhouse, he couldn't have any due to the lemon (which upsets his stomach I think). The Lemoncello Layer Cake was the only thing that stood out on the dessert menu. The description - Lemoncello-soaked lady fingers layered with lemon curd - sounded so good! Well, it was really good. The Lemoncello was very apparent in the ladyfingers which afforded a sweet citrus zing. The fresh lemon curd added another hit of tang which put the whole thing over the top. Where some desserts advertise lemon and the result is flat, this one makes up for all of them. The only thing we would've liked to see was a smoother curd. Some further investigation and we found out their pastry chef had worked for Thomas Haas. Interesting. In fact, the whole meal was quite interesting in itself. The pizza definitely reminded me of Nicli Antica and The BiBo. If I had to rate it, Verace slots in between the 2. That is a compliment, for those keeping track. For a place that has just opened, that is not bad. The only concern I have for them is that some people may not understand the regular pricing. The type of pizza they are serving is not remotely related to Uncle Fatih's around the corner (although I love Uncle Fatih's!), so there is some justification for the higher prices. We ultimately enjoyed our meals and thought we got good value at the discounted price we paid.

The Good:
- Pretty solid wood-oven pizza
- Comfortable digs
- Polite service (not sure what other word to use...)

The Bad:
- A little pricey
- Parking is limited in this area

Vancouver Foodie Tours (Downtown Food Carts)

Last year, I was fortunate enough to be invited to sample both the Granville Foodie Tour and the Richmond Foodie Tour run by Michelle Ng. It is a great concept really. A group of people pay one flat price to be taken to several restaurants sampling their wares. It is a good way to get a taste of everything without having to visit each restaurant individually. Vancouver Foodie Tours is back this year and it does cost more. Last year, it was a measly $10.00 per person because it was sponsored in part by the Downtown Vancouver and Richmond Tourism. Now it costs $60.00 and really, that is still reasonable considering the amount of places visited. This time around, I was invited with other media to experience Vancouver Foodie Tours - World's Best Street Eats Tour edition. With the explosion of food carts in our city, it can get quite confusing what is out there, where it is located and when they are open. The food cart tour is best suited for those unfamiliar to the city and are not interested in doing their own research.

So we met up at the Vancouver Centre Skytrain Station where La Brasserie Street was located. We got to sample half of their Brass Chicken Sandwich. I've had the good fortune to try most of the food carts featured in this tour and one of my favourites was this particular sandwich. I love it when a sandwich gets messy. Much like the pulled pork sandwich from re-up, the chicken sandwich is dripping with gravy which makes the whole thing moist. The buttermilk bun does a good job in keeping things together while the fried onions adds crunch and sweetness. The Butter Tart supplied by Tartine claims to be "World's Best" (not usually part of the tour, we just got to try it). Well, by virtue of not being a dessert person, I'm not the one to either confirm or deny that claim. Personally, I found it a bit too sweet. It was like eating a whole lot of buttery caramel. However, in the end, it was still pretty good, so I'll leave it at that.

From there, we took the walk over to the original "interesting" food cart - Japadog. I'm sure most of you know the story of Noriki Tamura, who came to Canada and wanted to start a business. He originally wanted to do a crepe cart; but due to the stringent regulations at the time, he had to settle on hot dogs. Not wanting to just do a regular hot dog cart, he created Japadog - hot dogs with a Japanese flair. We ended up at its original location and had the dog that started it all
- the Terimayo (which I believe is still the best one). Consisting of a beef sausage, teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, sautéed onions and nori, this makes all the other hot dog stands look boring (however, I'm sure there are those who still prefer a regular hot dog, which Japadog does sell). There is something about slapping teriyaki sauce and sweet mayo onto a hot dog that makes it taste good.

After this we strolled over to where Poke'm used to be located. Now it has been replaced by a Banh Mi cart aptly named Bun Me. The cart reminds me a little of the Nom Nom Truck out of L.A. which was a participant on the Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network. Now we all know that Banh Mi is pretty widely available in Vancouver for roughly $3.00 - $3.75 depending on the store. However, that doesn't really include Downtown Vancouver. Other than a few other places, Bun Me offers up something that is under-represented in the Downtown core. Of course there is a slight premium to be paid, their Banh Mi costs $4.25. Yet, that is still considerably less than many of the other offerings from other food carts in the area. There are only 2 options: Lemongrass Chicken and Tofu. We tried the Lemongrass Chicken Banh Mi today and it included the usual pickled carrots and daikon, hot pepper (if you want), cilantro, mayo, cucumber and their special sauce. I found their bread to be crisp and slightly dense. There was plenty of ingredients packed into the baguette, so in terms of value, it was a winner. As for flavour, I would've liked to see the pickled carrots and daikon to have more acidity and for the chicken to have more lemongrass kick. With those 2 tweaks, I believe that the flavours in this sandwich would sing.

We then headed over to Granville Street where we met up at Kaboom Box. For those who are familiar with Fresh Local Wild, the Kaboom Box replaces it on Granville with roughly the same menu. And about that menu, I remember having concerns about their Po' Boy and other sandwiches crossing the $10.00 threshold. That in itself priced themselves out of the food cart market. I'm happy to report that they have lowered their prices where all of their sandwiches (Po' Boy, Venison and Salmon) are only $8.00 each. We didn't get to sample any of the sandwiches today; rather, we had the Mushroom Poutine. This totally vegetarian dish is comprised of fries, white cheddar cheese curds and mushroom gravy. For me, I liked the gravy. It was just right with a good mushroom flavour. However, the cheese curds were not squeeky and I found them a bit salty. Furthermore, I would've liked the use of a thicker cut and shorter fry. In the end, I felt that half of one of their fabulous sandwiches, in particular the Po' Boy or Salmon, would've been a better representation of their food cart. I'm sure there were cost concerns related to this.

Finally, we ended up kitty-corner to where we started at Nu Greek Street. Incidentally, I had just tried their fabulous pitas the week before. So I was glad to be back. Part of the Kambolis Restaurant Group (which includes C, Raincity Grill and Nu), Nu Greek Street is their first foray into the food cart business. And low and behold, who was helping to man the cart today for our tour, Harry Kambolis himself (Coincidence? I think not...)! We got to sample a smaller version of their Chicken Pita. The star of this thing is the pita itself. It's fresh, soft, slightly charred and I would gladly eat it plain without any complaints. However, with the addition of a fabulous garlicky tzatziki, there are wonderful flavours and textures going on here. This was a great end to a pretty fun time going from food cart to food cart. However, I'm not sure if I would necessarily pay $50.00 for it. I could easily visit all of the aforementioned carts and have a full order of each item for far less than $50.00. Of course I wouldn't get a guided tour with interesting information about each cart. But then again, I'm pretty sure I don't belong to the target market of this tour.

*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*