Vancouver Foodie Tours: Guilty Pleasures Gourmet Tour

With so many great places to eat in Vancouver, it can be somewhat overwhelming, especially for those unfamiliar with the city. Sure, one could do what I do and plan their day (or trip, if you were a tourist) solely around eating. However, to make it easy, a food tour could do the job. Granted, there are many to choose from and I have yet to try any other than the ones offered by Vancouver Foodie Tours. So I won't go into the discussion of which one is the best. Rather, I can only speak of my personal experience regarding my latest invite. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of going on the inaugural Vancouver Foodie Tour of Granville Street. At the time, that particular tour was sponsored by Downtown Vancouver and it was priced far below cost. Then I followed this up with the Richmond tour and more recently (last year), the World's Best Street Eats Tour. Although they are no longer sponsored, the prices are still reasonable considering everything involved.

With the Richmond and Granville tours are not operating at this time, there are 2 choices including the food carts and the new Guilty Pleasures Gourmet Tour. I was invited to experience this tour (at no cost to myself) by Michelle Ng (who runs Vancouver Foodie Tours). We started this tour at the Downtown location of Kirin. Now, if you read this blog on a consistent basis, you know my thoughts about Dim Sum in Downtown. With that in mind, the tour is based in Downtown and for what it's worth, there are only 3 choices for upscale Dim Sum. Therefore, Kirin is not a bad choice. We had 2 items here starting with the Sui Mai. The shrimp and pork dumpling was quite good. With large whole crunchy shrimp and bouncy pork pieces, the sui mai hit all the right textures and flavours. A dollop of XO sauce made this a tasty bite. Our second item was a Mini Lo Mei Gai or sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. Within the dried scallop-topped sticky rice was a concoction consisting of pork and shiitake mushrooms. This was also very good with moist rice and a filling which was both plentiful and not devoid of seasoning.

After Kirin, we made the stroll over the Sutton Place Hotel where we paid a visit to the Sutton Place Wine Merchant. Here we were served a glass of Domaine de Charberton Bacchus (local winery in Langley) which was accompanied by some crisps and pepper jelly. Although it was nice to sample wine and take a look at nice selection at the store, this was a peculiar addition to the tour. It seemed like too much time to kill at a venue which we really didn't need to be at for more than 10 minutes. However, once we crossed the street and headed over to Ensemble Tap, I knew we were in for a treat. That "treat" happened to be Dale MacKay's Top Chef winning Pulled Pork Sandwich paired with a glass of Red Truck Ale. For those who have been living in a cave or are not from Canada, Dale MacKay was the winner of inaugural Top Chef Canada competition. He opened up Ensemble Tap as a more casual spot to compliment his finer dining establishment Ensemble, which is located only a block and a half away. As for the pulled pork sandwich, I liked it the first time I had it at Ensemble. Since the pulled pork was prepared in a pressure cooker, there was no expectation of any smokiness (such as being prepared in a smoker). However, the pork was still moist and flavourful with a hint of horseradish. The side of Red Truck Ale didn't hurt things either.

Once we finished up at e-Tap, we made the walk onto Granville Street to visit ShuRaku (which was in the original tour). Part Izakaya, part sushi bar, this hybrid Japanese restaurant serves up little bites to go with their extensive sake selection. As such, we got an overflowing serving of Granville Island sake to go with our 2 bites. The first item was the Agedashi Tofu which was fried up beautifully crisp with just enough "sauce" for a touch of salty-sweetness. Then we had probably the best little bite on the tour being the Spicy Wild Salmon Tartar on a tempura crisp. The only bad thing about this tasty morsel was that there wasn't more. After this, our tour ultimately ended at what is regarded as the best gelato in town - Bella Gelateria. We had a combination of Salted Caramel Gelato and Meyer Lemon Sorbetto. I've had both of these flavours before and this was a fitting end to our tour. The gelato was smooth and creamy with a good hit of flavour while the sorbetto was refreshing and balanced.

As with any type of food tour, there is a premium to be paid for a carefully planned and organized itinerary. Hence, for $69.00, some people might expect more food. However, there was enough for me considering it was my "lunch". As for the restaurants involved, they were all worthy choices except for the stop for wine. I found that slightly perplexing and unnecessary. But then again, I'm not a huge wine person. All-in-all, it was a pretty fun experience with eats, plenty of laughs and interesting information given out by Michelle in the 3 hour tour. *Note - this food tour was comped*

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

The Good:
- Interesting experience for visitors and locals alike
- Restaurant lineup is solid

The Bad:
- Not sure about the wine stop, maybe something else would be better?

Vancouver Foodie Tours

Chef's Kebab

A long time ago, I had visited a Filipino restaurant in Surrey where a peculiar "incident" occurred. As I was snapping photos of my food, an "RCMP" officer who was short and tubby approached me and flashed his badge. He questioned why I was taking pictures of my food. Uh... because I want to??? When did it become an indictable offense to do so? Is it illegal to ogle my Tocilog? Wait, that does sound a bit disturbing... Well, it turns out that this "officer" wanted to treat me to lunch after he found out I was doing it for my blog. Right... I hear it is an offense to impersonate an officer too. Well, that restaurant is long gone and was replaced by another joint that has now become Chef's Kebab. As I was running really low on time for lunch, I decided to drop by for some takeout. They tried to convince me to eat-in, but I assured them, that I really was in a rush. Too bad really since fresh food is always the best choice (duh). Maybe, I had fears the "officer" might return?

I ended up getting the Lamb Kebabs for obvious reasons (see name of restaurant). These were a mixture of ground lamb, onions and spices. These were not very gamy, for those who care about that. I think the bevy of spices masked the gaminess. I would say these were pretty good since they were quite moist. This was a large amount of meat for an order of kebabs. For my main, I went for the Goat Curry and it was fantastic. The portion size was so large, it could've easily passed for 2 orders. There was lots of tender goat which had the desired meaty-gelatinous quality to it. The curry was mild, yet not lacking in flavour. I really should've chosen rice for this since there was so much sauce. Instead, I went for the Naan and it was of the chewier variety. To be fair, it sat in tin foil for about 8 minutes before I ate it, so it probably lost some of its crispiness on the outside.

On the topic of fair, I decided to go for an eat-in meal several months later. This time around, I went for the classic Butter Chicken with 2 orders of naan. As evidenced by the colour, the sauce leaned towards the tomato paste part of the butter chicken spectrum. I didn't mind it as the sauce had a nice consistency and was not devoid of flavour. The spice level was quite mild, yet I could definitely taste the spices. I appreciated that they used tandoor-cooked chicken on a skewer. The texture and flavour of the chicken was quite nice. As for the naan, it was nicely chewy with a touch of crispness on the outside (which I expected compared to the takeout). However, I found the naan in general to be pretty thin and flat. Based on my 2 visits here, I would say the food is pretty decent and while the prices are pretty standard, the portion size makes it a good value.

The Good:
- Good portions
- On my visits, the food was prepared fresh
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Location isn't the best
- Pretty small place, best to keep it to a small group

Montgomery's Fish & Chips

In reference to the previous day's post, you really didn't believe we were satisfied with sharing a tray of steamed shellfish and a bowl of watery clam chowder for a meal right? So in addition to more Whales Tails for the kiddies, we went for some more eats in the food court at Lonsdale Quay. Staring right us from our table, which ironically was the same one we sat in the day before (no exactly staring us directly, we could see it through the All Day Cafe), was Montgomery's Fish & Chips. Hey, stay on the seafood theme right? And besides, why not some good ol' fried goodness to go with our "healthy" steamed shellfish? As I was lining up to order, I noticed their daily specials and decided to get both. The first was their Prawn & Chips. Although the 6 prawns didn't look all that substantial, the good amount of fresh cut fries made up for it. The fries were crisp and none-too-oily. As for the prawns, they were fried perfectly being crunchy and moist. The batter was not too thick and crisp as well.

I also got 2 orders of their 1 Piece Cod and Chips. Admittedly, the cod was rather thin and wasn't all that filling either. Granted, it was only $7.15 and in a touristy market. However, it was fried nicely though with a thin batter which was crispy and minimally greasy. The cod was moist and flaky. In the end, the grub did the job and didn't break the bank. Of course there are many other fish 'n chip joints to choose from around town. Yet, Montgomery's benefits from location and a steady stream of customers.

The Good:
- Batter light and crispy
- Prices are okay considering everything

The Bad:
- For our order at least, the fish was quite thin

Screaming Mimi's

*This restaurant is now closed*

While we were munching on grub from Sharky's Chop House and Sausage Emporium at Lonsdale Quay, I kept wondering about the big tray of steamed clams and mussels at the table next to us. I was pretty sure they were from Screaming Mimi's at the other side of the market. I made it a mission to try it out the next time we were in Lonsdale Quay. Well, how about the very next day? Somehow, when I mentioned the steamed seafood to my mom, she wanted to go. So on this return visit, we headed over to Screaming Mimi's for some steamed shellfish. For the heck of it, we decided to give their Seafood Chowder a go. We asked for a cream version and somehow we ended up with this milky tomato broth. I'm sorry to say it wasn't very good. Lacking in seafood flavour and depth, it tasted more like a vegetable soup with some clams more than anything else. Furthermore, it was watery and lacked any form of richness or tang.

Onto what we were really here for - Steamed Mussels and Clams. The deal here is if you order 2lbs, you get an extra 1/3rd pound as a bonus. Despite sounding like a lot of food, the nature of shellfish means there is more shell than meat. We were expecting this and with the relatively reasonable pricing (around $8.00 per pound) with all things considered, we were okay with it. With a sprinkle of seasoned salt and served with a side of melted butter and lemon, this was more a novelty than anything else. We enjoyed it, but didn't love it. However, it is a pretty neat way of sharing some shellfish in a market on a sunny day.

The Good:
- Decent pricing with all things considered
- Interesting way to eat in the market

The Bad:
- Of course with any form of shellfish, it won't be filling (you just have to expect that)
- Clam Chowder needs work

Sharky's Chop House and Sausage Emporium

With the weather finally clearing up, we were looking for a place to go which would take advantage of the big, round, burning thing in the sky (yes, that is the Sun if you had missed it in April). We did consider Granville Island, but the crowds and traffic really didn't suit our fancy. As a backup plan of sorts, we headed over to an ol' favourite - Lonsdale Quay. Honestly, if it weren't for its choice location, I'm not sure if there is much motivation for us to buy anything there. Almost everything is so darn expensive! Case in point, we checked out some Lego at the toy store and wow, it makes Toys R Us look like a bargain. I guess the prices reflect the touristy ambiance of the market I suppose.

One of the main reasons we chose to come here was due to Beaver Tails. You see, my son loves them and well, we spoil him (as well as our daughter). Upon entering the market from the parking lot, I stopped dead in my tracks. What's this? Sharky's Chop House and Sausage Emporium? No, it didn't have anything to do with the sausages either... Rather, it was the heated display of a whole ham hock, turkey and pork chops that caught my attention. And when I rounded the corner and noticed the price of $7.95 which included a meat, mashed potatoes and veggies, that sounded like a deal! We got 2 plates with a mix of 2 meats each. On the first plate, there was Turkey and Roast Chicken with homemade gravy. The turkey was predictably dry. The one saving grace was the gravy which was natural tasting and not salty. The chicken was also pretty dry, but it was better than the turkey at least. It could've stood for more seasoning. The mash potatoes were not the creamy, whipped variety, rather being the chunky potatoey version. We didn't mind it.

For our second plate we had the Ham and Pork Chop with a thick house-made beef gravy. The ham was also dry and a bit salty while the pork chop was really dry and chewy. Again, the gravy saved the day. It was rich and very flavourful. If I had to rate the food based on the meat, it would be subpar, but as a whole considering the price, it does the job. I will give them the benefit of the doubt because the meat is precooked and kept in the warmer until someone orders a plate. However, there is no denying that the meat could be prepared a tad less dry considering it will be exposed to more heat for a period of time.

The Good:
- Great value
- Gravies are home-made
- The people there are nice

The Bad:
- Meats are overcooked

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.

Catch 122 Cafe Bistro

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