EAT! Vancouver 2012

So here we are. Another year of eating. Funny how time flies. I know it is a total cliche, but really, I can remember last year's EAT! Vancouver vividly. Well, this year they've moved back into their familiar digs at BC Place where it is more spacious and some free parking can be found (which I did... Score!). And just like last year, I was lucky enough to have a media pass. I was able to get in a bit early and peruse the booths before the hoard of people were let in. As such, I wandered over to Kitchening with Carly where she had a nice display of her Macarons. If you've never tried them, they're much better than the ones found at Thierry. She passed me a salted caramel and it was a flavour explosion in my mouth - creamy, sweet, salty and buttery. As I was munching on the macaron, Carly pointed me in the direction of Republica Coffee Roasters based out of Fort Langley. Okay, I'm not a huge coffee drinker, but after trying their Dark Roast, I was pretty happy. Despite being rich and full-bodied, it was super smooth and went down well without the need for cream nor sugar.

After that, I met up with Sean and we wandered around until we figured it would be good to tackle the Bite of Vancouver. A total of 14 restaurants offer little bites in exchange for tickets. They are $10 for 20. Before we starting attacking the food, we caught a glimpse of David Rocco, Rob Feenie and Bob Blumer being interviewed by Erin Cebula for ET Canada. They were participating in the Celebrity Chef Throwdown (which was only for Friday). You can still catch Rob Feenie on Saturday and Dale MacKay on Saturday and Sunday. After taking the picture of the 3 celebrity chefs, we headed over to Glowbal Group booth where they were offering a few things including a Spot Prawn & Lobster Roll served in a mini-brioche. Too bad the brioche bun was stone cold, as it became quite dense and didn't compliment the filling. However, it is understandable under these conditions. It's not like they had full kitchen facilities... The filling was quite nice with plenty of crunch from the veggies as well as the seafood.

One item I was very anxious to try was the Lamb in Cilantro Sauce on navy bean puree from Mochikas. Yes, I'm not a huge fan of too much cilantro, but this just had an addictive smell. They were still setting up and the food wasn't as hot as it could've been. Hence, I was not able to enjoy this dish as much as I should have. The bean puree was rustic where it still had some texture while the lamb was fork-tender. The cilantro sauce was actually quite mild with a particular saltiness that resembled anchovies. Again, the dish was fine, too bad it was not hot. As a palate cleanser of sorts, I headed over to Bella Gelateria for some award-winning gelato (and sorbetto). The cup in front consisted of Salted Caramel and Chocolate, while the cup in the back was Lemon Sorbetto. Suffice to say, I've said enough about the stuff from here, but yup, it's good. Flavours were intense and the textures, smooth.

As we were looking at the stalls and trying to decide what to eat, we merely bypassed Establishment. However, the aroma of a soup stopped me in my tracks. It was something definitely different - Chef Bongo's Famous African Chicken Peanut Soup. I gotta say that this was probably one of the best things we had from any of the vendors at EAT! Vancouver. The soup was thickened with yam rather than cream or a roux. Hence, it was relatively healthier, yet still rich and full-bodied. The peanut really came through in both flavour and texture where the peanuts added the necessary crunch. Finally, I used my last few tickets at the EBO Restaurant booth. It was a no-brainer really since they were making fresh roti. Much like at the restaurant, the Roti Canai was hand-stretched and made-to-order. It was served with a Chicken Satay Skewer and finished with sweet peanut curry sauce. I will put myself out there and say that the roti here is as good as any that I've had in Vancouver (including Malaysian restaurants). It is flaky and crisp on the outside while soft and fluffy on the inside. Combined with the flavourful dipping sauce, it is one of the highlights of the Sunday brunch at EBO. As for the chicken satay, it was moist and tender with just enough marinade on the outside.

Hey, this is only a small sample of what there is to see and taste at EAT! Vancouver 2012. The show is on until Sunday. Check out their website for ticket and show information.

*Location is closed, moved to 128 Carrie Cates Ct, North Vancouver*

It's so nice to see Vandelay back working in Downtown. For awhile there, I had lost my "go-to" dining companion for Downtown eats. Wait. There's still Whipping Girl, but I always forget about her anyways (I'm gonna get it when she reads this). What's even better, Vandelay is now in Gastown, which opens up an array of eating options. Meeting up for lunch, he suggested we go check out Catch 122 Cafe Bistro on Hastings across from the Woodward's complex. Wow, I haven't eaten at a restaurant on that block since Golden Crown used to exist. Yes, that was a long time ago! It speaks to the revitalization of the neighbourhood, which also means pushing the existing locals further East. But that is another issue altogether.

We arrived a quarter to twelve, which ensured that we'd miss the noon hour rush. The place is spacious, yet not endowed with lots of seating. Right away, it reminded me of the Stumptown in Portland near Voodoo Donut, with its exposed brick walls and open counter. We decided to share 3 sandwiches starting with the classic Croque Monsieur. We liked the thin layer of bechamel on top as it was just enough to moisten the crunchy, buttery bread. Make no mistake about it, this was a rich concoction (which it should be too). The ham was there, yet not salty and the cheese, melted nicely. The side of thick cut fries were crisp and had plenty of potato goodness inside. For our second sandwich we had the Duck Confit consisting of a generous amount of duck leg, dijon, caramelized onions and arugula on a crusty baguette. The whole thing was quite balanced from the sweetness of the onions, brightness from the arugula, meatiness from the duck and tang from the dijon. We had the vegetable navy bean soup as the side and well, it was pretty bland.

Lastly, we had the Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese, which was more like a pulled pork sandwich with melted cheese. It was only lightly grilled sans beurre. This was a saucy, sloppy sandwich which was good, yet probably our least favourite. Hey, don't get me wrong, we still liked it with its sweet BBQ sauce and moist pulled pork. The cheese was a bit lost in the whole thing since it was not really a "grilled cheese". The coleslaw was there, yet had little impact. Due to the high moisture content, I could see why they used a more substantial bread, but I would've liked to see an actual grilled cheese with pulled pork. We paid a bit extra to try their Gorgonzola Poutine and it was well worth it. Starting with the same great fries, the rich demi was flavourful without being salty. The gorgonzola added another strong layer of flavour and sharpness that made the whole thing very tasty. Loved the poutine. In general, we enjoyed our lunch visit to Catch 122. We already had designs on returning for dinner.

The Good:
- Care was taken in making the food
- The decor is a bit stark, yet has that trendy Portland feel to it
- Service was both attentive and friendly

The Bad:
- Considering its location, it is a touch pricey

Pho Boi

*Restaurant is closed*

Usually, whenever Rich Guy and I meet up for eats, it doesn't come cheap. After all, Rich Guy is well-known for avoiding diners, drive-ins and dives... I'm sure he is not a Guy Fieri fan. Too bad really since good food can usually be found in the most unusual of places. However, Rich Guy does make exceptions, particularly when it comes to South Asian food. You see, it is almost unavoidable that many South Asian restaurants are not exactly the most classy of establishments. I'm not saying there aren't any, it is just not that common. Therefore, he had no objections in meeting me for some Vietnamese food at Pho Boi. Now if you look closely at the picture, the parking sign reads "Pho Hoa". Yes, this was a former location of the big Vietnamese chain. Other than the name change, not much seemed to be different.

We started with the Appetizer Combo which included one each of the Shrimp Salad Roll and Spring Roll. In addition, there were 3 fried drumettes. The salad roll was not very good due to the really dry and unchewable (in parts) rice wrapper. On the inside, some basil would've been a nice addition for flavour. As for the spring roll, it was okay. A bit scrawny, but it was crispy and the filling was not gritty and actually quite flavourful. The 3 wings were an utter disaster though. They were fried far too long and they were pretty skinny. For myself, I had the Pho Dac Biet which was pretty standard. What I mean by that is there was an average amount of noodles (which were not overcooked) and a decent amount of meat (which was tender). In terms of the broth, I found it to be mild with only a some hint of MSG. I would say it was somewhere in between savoury and sweet without very little meat flavour.

Rich Guy went with his go-to dish being the Lemongrass Chicken with rice. As you can clearly see, the chicken was far from grilled. Lacking in colour and char marks, the flavour was muted. Sure there was lemongrass and hints of sweetness, but it was weak. Consequently, the "meh" nature of the food here didn't make us forget Pho Hoa. Rather, it almost seems like merely a name change and nothing much else. With that being said, the place is okay in a pinch though, but not our first choice.

The Good:
- Not expensive (well, not many Vietnamese restaurants are)
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- "Meh" food
- Interior needs an update

Go Thai

*Restaurant is closed*

Don't you love a restaurant that just doesn't look right from the outside? I'm not talking about something that necessarily looks sketch or anything. Rather, the place doesn't look representative of the food it serves. Case in point with Go Thai out in New West. If my memory serves me right, the location used to be a donut shop. Hence, it as far from resembling a Thai restaurant one can get. However, Big D indicated that they do, in fact, serve authentic Thai food there. Fine. I'm up to a food adventure. We decided to meet for lunch one day. Arriving first, I found that the place was packed. The only tables left were on the inside not near the window. *Sigh* Oh well, I had to make due with the light that was available.

We decided to split 3 lunch specials between the both of us (yes, if Mijune was here, she'd get 5 for the 3 of us...). Anyways, we started with the Chicken Green Curry. We found the curry to be rather thin lacking in the coconut milk department. However, it still had an aromatic flavour and some spice. The large chunks of eggplant were very nice as well as the vibrant peppers. As for the chicken, it was slightly dry and there was only a modest amount. Most of the same things could be said about the Beef Red Curry as it was watery as well. Once again, that was not a huge deal since the sauce is supposed to go with the rice anyways. It was quite mild with a little flavour added by the bamboo shoots. Interestingly, in both curries, I could see the basil, but didn't get much from it.

Lastly, we had the Pad Thai which was alright for what it was. We liked the fact it was not heavy on the ketchup. However, the noodles were a touch goopy. There was a good amount of big chicken chunks, pressed tofu and pickled veg though. Although saucy, it did have a good balance of flavours including a mild tang. People have to remember that restaurants produce food that the majority of their clientele, not for the small percentage of authenticity-hungry diners. Ultimately, Go Thai is pretty serviceable if someone wanted a quick Thai food fix. Not necessarily outstanding, yet far from bad, it does the job.

The Good:
- Okay eats
- Prices are alright
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- There's better, but not necessarily nearby
- Portions are on the smallish side

El Comal

Sometimes food in weird places can be a real selling point. For instance, let's put a restaurant in the shadiest part of town and people will flock to it. Hey, for it to be located there, it must be good! Well, not necessarily, but it is a start. Then you have "meh" food in the most obvious of places. That is when a restaurant benefits from location, location, location. Then there are restaurants that cannot be found unless you knew of it either by pure chance or someone else telling you about it. Wait, I forgot one more... Restaurants that are located in Richmond. Good food, but extra insurance may be required for one's car.

Now I didn't need extra insurance nor any defensive driving for this food adventure. The location of the restaurant ensured there would be very little traffic. Tucked inside an industrial complex on Winston in Burnaby, El Comal would qualify as one of those secret restaurants. I knew about this place quite a while ago. Someone mentioned it to me, but I never got around to eating there. The day finally came when Big D raved about his meal on a prior visit and insisted we do lunch. Hey, how many times have I passed up food? So Mexican food eh? That's like rolling the dice up here in the GVRD. However, I've had some good experiences with Mexican food as of late with visits to Taqueria Jalisco and Taqueria Playa Tropical. Would this visit to El Comal be 3 for 3?

Looking over the menu, I decided to start with one each of the chicken, beef and chorizo Tacos. These were more Tex-Mex than anything with meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato in a soft tortilla. I found them quite mild including the chorizo. The meats were on the drier side, but these were decent if one wasn't expecting an authentic taco. For my main, I had the Veggie Tamales served with rice and refried beans. For something that looked so flavourful, it turned out to be rather flat. Even with peppers inside the tamale, it was lacking in flavour. The masa was a little stiff, which meant there was less lard (more healthy, but not as tasty!) I'm sure they eased up on the spice level to appeal to more tastes though. Again, this was acceptable for what it was.

Big D had his go to dish being the Beef Enchiladas with salsa verde and salso roja. He graciously let me attack his food for the sake of the blog (what a nice guy!). Again, despite the vibrant colours, the flavours were muted. The shredded beef was moist and in the end, it was pleasant enough to eat. Slick ended up with the Beef Burrito which was quite substantial. It also came with rice and refried beans as well as the same 2 sauces. I never got to try this, but it was essentially the same flavours as the enchiladas which meant it was not exactly mind-blowing. Yet, he enjoyed it nonetheless. Actually, that sorta sums up my experience as well. Despite the lack of pop from the food, I thought the eats were decent. I would go to Taqueria Jalisco and Taqueria Playa Tropical first though.

The Good:
- Interesting eats in a non-interesting area
- Inexpensive

The Bad:
- Flavours are muted
- Not a whole lot of seating when busy

Szechuan House

*Restaurant is closed*

"Do you wanna go for lunch?", asked Rich Guy over MSN. Do dogs sniff their rear ends and lick their balls? Uh, could there be a more rhetorical question? However, the place he suggested made me draw a blank. "Szechuan House near Metrotown, you know on Imperial...", he tried to explain. I thought he was referring to the place right next to Alvin Garden, but nope, it was closer to Beautiful Island. When I told Viv about it, she was in disbelief as well. She was trying to jog my memory about this place we've passed by many a time. Hey, I love food, yet I never said I knew everything! Nervously, I replied yes. Why the apprehension? Well, the place is known for its authentic spicy Szechuan cuisine and that didn't sound like something my kids would enjoy.

No worries, we were sure that they'd have some noodle dish that was not spicy. Besides, Viv and I both love spicy so it would be a tasty meal for us. One of their specialties is Boiling Beef, otherwise known as the "Stir-Fried Beef in Full Special Sauce, Top Finished w/Chilli Oil" on their menu. WTF? I would've never figured out what dish they were talking about by reading the menu name. Whatever the case, we were able to order the right dish and it was a pretty big portion (it'd better be for $15.95!) with lots of tender beef. This spicy concoction was seemingly composed of an entire bottle of chili oil with plenty of chili pepper and Szechuan peppercorns. The result was a tongue-numbing experience. For those who don't like spicy food, just don't bother because this would blow your tastebuds away. For me, I thought it was a good compromise between spicy while still being able to taste the other ingredients.

Normally (in North America), Kung Pao Chicken is more of a mild-tasting, sweet, syrupy dish. The one we had was nothing further from that. This authentic Szechaun version had tender pieces of chicken (that were not battered and fried), red chilis and roasted peanuts bathed in a fairly spicy sauce featuring a good hint of black vinegar. Hence, despite the inherent tongue-blasting spice, there were complex hits of sweet, tang and savoury. Another classic dish we couldn't pass up was the Cumin Lamb which Rich Gal and I lobbied for. As the name suggests, there was a considerable amount of cumin which was flavourful while not overwhelming. I thought it helped temper any gaminess which Rich Guy and Viv were worried about. Comparatively, this was a mild dish with only a hint of spice. Although the lamb was tender, it was slightly on the drier side.

Whenever we're at a Szechuan restaurant, Rich Guy just has to have the Sliced Pork with Garlic & Chili Sauce. His favourite is the one from New Szechuan, but I think the one here was better. The thinly-sliced fatty pork had a nice jellied quality which had the right resistance. It was caressed by a garlicky and spicy chili oil sauce which completed the package. The spice-fest continued on with the Ma Po Tofu. The silky tofu was perfect as practically every piece was intact despite its delicateness. Much like the other dishes, it was laced with a good amount of chili oil and spiciness. Hidden beneath the oil was a thick meaty sauce that clung to the tofu. This was pretty good. Definitely not a wimpy version.

For the kiddies, we got one non-spicy item being the Preserved Vegetable and Pork Noodles. The fresh noodles were both al dente and plentiful. It was topped with lots of preserved veg and tender julienned pork. The kids seemed to enjoy it and in actuality, we liked it too since it acted as a reprieve from the other spicy dishes. I guess it is pretty obvious that this is not a North American-style Szechuan restaurant. No sissy spices here, it's the real deal. If you enjoy burn-a-hole-in-your-tongue spiciness, this is the place for you (assuming you order those dishes). With that being said, we found the spiciness bearable since we could still taste the other flavours in each dish. Definitely a place we will try again.

The Good:
- Real Sichuan cuisine
- It's spicy, but controlled (well, you could request spicier too!)

The Bad:
- Too spicy for some
- Not exactly cheap

Oru

*Restaurant is closed*

I'll admit it. When I received an invite to try out Oru's new revamped menu, I was slightly hesitant. After all, the place had some pretty dubious reviews strewn all over the internet. In fact, Whipping Girl had told me about her experience there and let's just say it didn't make me want to visit the place anytime soon. C'mon, there was an $18.00 Banh Mi on the menu! Sounds like fusion gone wrong (and overpriced). Enough said. Little did I know that Executive Chef David Wong had left to open his own restaurant on the Island. Replacing him is well-traveled and experienced chef Darren Brown, who redid the menu and refreshed the layout of the restaurant.

We were first treated to some appies from the Skybar and then moved onto a tour of the facilities. To say that the food services in the Fairmont Pacific is impressive would be an understatement. It is refreshing to see Darren Brown's influence on the operation. Most of the ingredients are made in-house, right down to the sausages and cured meats. Oh and I can't ignore the BLT we sampled beforehand. This was made with their house-cured bacon and let's just say I could've eaten more than what was offered on the plate. We finally made it back to Oru and were seated with a nice view of the open kitchen. Arriving first was the Sunchoke Soup which was a pure veloute of roasted sunchokes (no onions) with truffle foamed milk. Immediately, there was a big hit of truffle oil. The soup was flavourful, creamy and rich without relying on salt. I liked how it was smooth while retaining some texture. Next up was the Notch Hills Beet Salad consisting of pickled and poached baby Sorrento beets, beet chutney, chimichurri vinaigrette and Cabrales blue cheese. I'm not normally a huge cilantro fan, but there was just enough in the chimichurri to brighten the flavours without making it taste pungent. A beet salad is usually, well, a beet salad. However, the shaved blue cheese on top really made it pop with an Earthy saltiness.

Continuing on, we were presented with the Qualicum Island Diver Scallops which were seared beautifully and served with sesame sweet peas, smoked salmon lardon, preserved lemon condiment all atop a cauliflower puree. The scallops were pretty small, but packed a sweet punch. There was a multitude of flavours going on the plate including the nutty sesame peas, sweet, tangy lemon and the smooth flavourful puree. The small piece of salmon added a salty smokiness which capped off the flavourfest. Then the dish we'd all been waiting for showed up - the Kalua Pork Belly (Fraser Valley pork belly, pineapple, maple-mustard glaze, fried sage, pork cracklings and lotus root puree). Okay, let me get this out of the way first - the pork belly was not as melt-in-my-mouth as I would've liked. However, I'm not sure if that was the intention or not. It was cooked so slowly that the fat had pretty much rendered down leaving mostly meat. For me at least, I like my pork belly fatty and melty. With that being said, there was a lot to like about this dish. The cracklings were crispy and light while the bak choy was crunchy albeit salty. The sweet glaze went well with the pork belly, yet the lotus root puree looked odd in colour. It did taste good though with a nice balance of flavours.

Before the meal, I had pegged the pork belly to be my potential favourite. It turned out that the Sake Cured Haida Gwaii Sablefish took the honours. When curing sablefish with sake, one needs to be careful as it can turn the fish to mush if not careful (like the one I had at NFA). No problems here as was flaky and moist with a beautiful sear. It was served atop an Alaskan salt cod brandade with roasted sunchoke, melted leeks, fennel, chorizo in a tomato-mirin broth. All these ingredients provided all the flavour needed and therefore, the fish was not aggressively seasoned. The salt cod emulated the texture of crab and offered up saltiness (of course). With the mildness of the broth and the conservative amount of chorizo, the sablefish was able to stand on its own.

Moving onto dessert, we were presented with the Strawberry Rhubarb Vacherin with buttermilk ice cream. This ended up to be very refreshing, like a palate-cleanser to a degree. A palate cleanser for what you might ask. Well, we had one more sweet dish which was the Textures of Chocolate. Starting from the top left corner clockwise, we had the Carmella Mousse with textures of puffed rice and praline and Alpaco Consomme with hints of fresh mint. Both of these were made with Valrhona chocolate. On the bottom right, we had the Mi Amare chocolate cremuex mille fieulle made with Michel Cluizel chocolate and on the bottom left, the Mangaro Lait Chocolate Bar with cocoa nib nougatine made with Cocoa Barry. Of these, my favourite was the Carmella. It was essentially a rich and deluxe version of a Crunch bar. Loved the textures and smooth chocolate. This was a sweet end to a solid tasting menu. On this experience alone, it is quite obvious that Darren Brown wanted a more classic approach incorporating housemade ingredients which represent Westcoast cuisine and then some. *Note - this meal was comped*

The Good:
- From this tasting, it appears the food has a direction
- Dining space is simple yet elegant

The Bad:
- Prices are pretty high