Slickity Jim's Chat n' Chew

"Hey, are you free for lunch today?" queried Rich Guy. Funny that he asked... I had accepted the fact that I would be flying solo for lunch. My plan was to hit up a food cart since that really didn't require a dining companion. Yes, it is true, I really have a phobia of eating alone. Well, maybe it has something to do with the mad picture-taking in the corner by my lonesome... Seems quite disturbing to some people. Anyways, I was more than happy to accept Rich Guy's request. We ended up picking a place which he would never visit on his own accord - Slickity Jim's Chat n' Chew. Hey, admittedly, it is not an establishment that fits into his repertoire.

While we were sitting at the bar, I scoped out the window seat as the 2 people there were leaving. Yes, I still am OCD about that since pictures just look so much better with light! To get a better feel of the menu, we decided to share 3 times starting with the Mr. Happy Crab Cake Sandwich. Nestled inside a baguette was 3 crab cakes, lettuce, tomato, home made mayo and guacamole. This was an enjoyable sandwich that could've benefited from some more bold flavours. Sure, it is never a good idea to overwhelm crab meat (since it is a delicate ingredient), but we felt there was no distinguishing flavours present. However, the crab cakes were fluffy and crisp while the lettuce and tomato were very fresh.

For 2 of our dishes, we opted for a side of soup which happened to be the Chicken Vegetable. Uh... That doesn't look like chicken! Well, I swear the meat was chicken, but the broth was so dark... It really didn't matter though because it really needed some more salt, which we promptly added ourselves. Our next sandwich was somewhat of a risk - The Cuban Sandwich. Fact- it is very hard to find a good Cuban in the GVRD. I've had it in Miami before and have yet to find a really good one (except for the one I had at Be' Wiched). Well, the one here was pretty good in my books. Just look at it. Spilling out from the aggressively toasted baguette was black forest ham, pulled pork, pickles, Gruyere cheese and Dijon. Authentic? Hardly. Tasty? Absolutely. I don't really care about the non-traditional ingredients. The bottom line was that it had a nice crunch and the flavours worked.

Lastly, we shared the Fried Egg & Cheddar Burger with roast potatoes. Although the burger patty was made of lean beef, it was moist and not dry at all. The multigrain bun had texture, yet was soft at the same time. Once again, the lettuce and tomato were fresh and vibrant. We loved how the fried egg had a perfectly runny yolk as well. The side of roast potatoes were not to Rich Guy's liking as it resembled boiled potatoes with a slight pan fry. If these were crispier, they would've rocked. Overall, we enjoyed our meal despite a lack of flavour in everything other than the Cuban. Bottom line is that the prices are reasonable and the food is a whole lot more interesting than one would get at a chain restaurant.

The Good:
- Eclectic vibe and decor
- Reasonably-priced
- Decent execution

The Bad:
- Food could benefit from more seasoning
- Tight seating arrangements

Vij's Railway Express

It's funny how I forget about Whipping Girl all the time. When I meet people for lunch, she seems to slip through the cracks. Therefore, I have been making a concerted effort to include her in my food adventures. On a sunny afternoon (as rare as it has been lately), we met up in search of good street eats. Originally, we were going to do Mangal Kiss, but the lineup was a big turnoff, so we headed down to Vij's brand new food cart venture (with Gourmet Syndicate). Yes, we went from one long lineup to an even longer one. Vikram Vij himself was there to greet customers as well as offering cassava fries to the people in line. Since the food cart has been only a week old combined with the name Vij's, the curiousity factor was quite high.

After waiting about 30 minutes, we finally put in our order. It wasn't a long wait before we got our 4 items. Yes, 4 items. Eating with Mijune all this time has totally brainwashed me... We started with the Goa Spot Prawn Coconut Masala Curry first. It consisted of exactly 3 spot prawns, Basmati rice and a wedge of naan. Our first reaction was, "this is really small for $11.00!". It was good though with the prawns being just cooked and exhibiting a natural sweetness. The curry had a noticeable kick and definite coconut slant. I mentioned to Whipping Girl that I wasn't the biggest fan of the naan, just like when I went to Vij's. She promptly reminded me she was there with me... Boy, I really do forget about her! Anyways, the naan is more like a piece of grilled pita and as much as it isn't bad, I much prefer a less dense version.

Next, I devoured the Lucknow Lamb Kebabs all by myself partly because Whipping Girl doesn't like lamb. I say partly, because even if she did eat lamb, I wouldn't share. It was freakin' fantastic. The formed lamb "meatballs" were super moist and juicy with a tasty char on the outside. There was a multitude of spices including heat from chili flakes. The sweet red onion and fresh mint amped up the already impactful flavours. We also got the one vegetarian item being the Coconut Ginger Green Beans. There was no mistaking the flavours as both the aromatics of the coconut and bite of the ginger were there. The beans were, of course, soft due to its preparation.

Lastly, the Jaipur Bison Curry left a lasting impression by offering up depth and spice along with tender bison chunks. I would've preferred to have less little bits of potato throughout the curry, but that didn't make or break the dish. In the end, the food was pretty decent. I'm not sure if one could actually get full on any of the offerings though. There is definitely a premium paid due to the Vij's namesake, yet no one buys a Mercedes because it is inexpensive either.

The Good:
- Good amount of spice and spices
- It's got Vij's name behind it (for those who care about that)

The Bad:
- Portions are quite modest
- Prices are on the higher end of the food cart scale

Che Baba

*Restaurant is now closed*

Boy, we've haven't seen Herbie the Lovebug and Lana Banana in quite some time. In fact, the last time was dinner at Aree Thai. It was nice to see them at Nikta's baby one-month where we chatted about... food of course! Naturally, we made plans to meet up for eats as we left the party. Little did we know it would be that night. With a last minute kiddie shuffle to the Grandparents, we made sudden plans for dinner. Lana Banana suggested that we head over to Che Baba. Oh yeah, I remember hearing about this place almost half-a-year ago which I subsequently forgot about. Hey, there is so much to eat in Vancouver! Its proximity to Les Faux Bourgeois is no coincidence since Stephan Gagnon has a part in Che Baba. Hence, the same idea of affordable good eats reside here as well. Nothing on the menu is over $20.00.

And much like Les Faux, they don't take reservations here other than parties larger than 6. However, there is an outdoor seating area at the back that is "self-serve" where alcohol cannot be consumed. We were lucky enough to score a table in the small dining room. Being a party of 4, it was a perfect way to practically try all of them mains. Yup, the menu is focused consisting of only 2 permanent entrees with daily pasta and fish offerings. We began the meal with 2 appetizers. Originally, we wanted to try the onion tart, but it was sold out. A good sign really because that meant things would be fresh. Our first appie was the Charcuterie Plate with 2 types of prosciutto, sopressata, gherkins and grainy mustard. Since these plates don't involve any cooking per se, the quality of the product is based on its source. We didn't know where they sourced the meats, but it was more than acceptable. Next up was their Beet Salad which was a fairly large portion for $9.00. On a side note, I would like to point out that the $13.00 beet salad we had at the now defunct Three Lions was 1/4th as large. Not only was the portion large, the salad itself was pretty good. There was large chunks of red and golden beets along with goat cheese, candied walnuts, onion puree and arugula with a lemon thyme vinaigrette. Textures were spot on and I especially liked the crunch of the walnuts. Overall, the salad was pretty good except it was on the sweeter side and a touch wet.

For our mains, we decided to share (yay!) and I gave the Prosciutto and Sage Risotto a try first. This was a "brothier" risotto as it wasn't exactly creamy nor rich. It did have the right amount of moisture where it hit a good balance between being soft with still a bite. We could definitely taste the saltiness of the prosciutto and the hit of sage with some onions, yet it was very mild. Instead of the fish of day, we went for their other pasta dish being the Gnocchi with basil and chorizo. These large gnocchi were on the denser side, but no one seemed to mind it. I personally like it denser than fluffy, however, these could've been a touch softer. Flavourwise, this was a hit with lots of fresh basil, bits of caramelized chorizo and parm on top. I particularly liked the nice pan sear which added both texture and flavour.

Onto their 2 permanent items on the menu, we had the Pork Belly Confit with spatzle, kale, chestnuts and roasted apple finished with pork jus. First off, the pork belly was money. The darn thing was melt-in-our-mouths tender. The sear on both sides of the rolled-up belly added even more flavour and a touch of texture. The spaztle was flavourful thanks to the addition of grainy mustard except, it could've been less soft while the kale was perfect. We loved the addition of roasted apple which of course, complimented the pork nicely. Our last entree was the Lamb Shank with celeriac and potato mash, mint and a velvety jus. This was a fairly large portion for the price where the lamb was beautifully prepared. It wasn't very gamy and exhibited the desirable gelatinous quality. The mash had a rustic consistency to it being chunky, rather than creamy. This worked in this case since it helped soak up the sauce. Although there was a fair amount of sauteed mint on top, it was very mild and only provided a hint of brightness.

For dessert, we first shared the Lemon Tart topped with an attractively torched meringue. Immediately after the first bite, I was pretty happy with the crisp thin tart shell. The custard was silky and tart while being very sweet at the same time. This would have been nearly perfect if there was a little less sugar involved. Our second dessert was the Flourless Chocolate Torte with caramel sauce. Despite its plain appearance, this torte was very good. The texture was smooth while the flavour was rich with a smoky chocolate aftertaste. The caramel sauce was surprisingly semi-sweet. The flavours were heightened by the sprinkle of salt on top. At the end, we had gobbled up every little piece. This was a fitting end to a relatively good meal. Sure, not everything was perfect, but really what is? For a reasonable price, we enjoyed a nice meal with great service. Sounds a little like Les Faux doesn't it?

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Decent portions
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Cramped seating
- Limited tables
- Limited menu (however, it keeps things focused)

La Casita

Meeting up with Vandelay for lunch is often the highlight of the week. He is game to eat anything and does his best to accommodate my needs (such as ordering something unique, letting me eat his food and arranging things for my pictures). However, his suggestions for restaurants are often not of the healthy variety. He let me do the choosing for this food adventure and I had originally wanted to try this Cuban restaurant on Cambie in Gastown. Fail. The place didn't even exist! I guess no one sent in the info to Urbanspoon... Therefore, we had to think of another destination quick since Vandelay needed to get back to work. We eventually settled on La Casita since it was close by. Great, Mexican food... Unhealthy again... Curse you Vandelay!

I decided to have the #7 Combanicione which included one Chicken Taco, 2 Texas Enchiladas, 1 Chorizo Chimichanga, rice, beans and salad. I thought the chicken taco was quite substantial with plenty of tender meat that was only slightly dry. There was plenty of flavour from the seasoning and cheese. However, I had an unpleasant surprise in the form of chicken bones. The enchiladas were texas-style, hence the sauce had an "el paso" taco-type taste to it. The tex-mex flavour of the enchilada wasn't exactly my favourite but it wasn't offensive either. I didn't care for the ground beef though, I would've much preferred shredded beef. The chimichanga was fried crsipy and was topped with both salsa verde and a chipotle sour cream. The filling was somewhat spicy and very meaty.

Vandelay had the special of the day which was a salad with Chipotle Prawns and one Flauta. A salad? WTF? Sure... Make me eat the dish with calories enough for the day... The prawns were flavourful with a touch of spice. They were cooked perfectly having a really nice snap and crunch. The Flauta was unusually large and filled with potato. It wasn't bad, but since it was so large with so much filling, it got a bit soft. As expected, the food at La Casita was a hybrid of sorts, compared to the stuff I had in San Diego or even locally at Taqueria Jalisco. I wouldn't say that is necessarily a bad thing. It just would depend on one's expectations and tastes.

The Good:
- Healthy portions (not sure why I used the word healthy)
- Food is fine if you weren't a Mexican food snob

The Bad:
- If you are a Mexican food snob, then you might have some complaints

Pho Quyen

The first Sunday morning hockey game of the season. Ah yes, that signals the start of good weather. Wait, why are we inside playing hockey??? Duh, because it's like A/C! I can't really understand why we ever played roller hockey in the summer though. Try adding hot to hotter... I digress. So the game was pretty much inconsequential, partly because I did my best impersonation of a beached whale and really, the game was only impeding the road to eats. As such, Kaiser Soze and JuJu accompanied me for our inaugural eating escapade of the summer hockey season. Unfortunately, both were in a rush and we needed to find fast eats which didn't involve a drive-thru. We went for the standby which was good ol' Pho. Seeing how we had hit up almost all the nearby places, we headed up to Fraser to try out Pho Quyen.

Seemingly always appearing to be closed, the place does not looking inviting. Not to worry, the dark exterior only hides the bustling activity inside. Despite the decent size of the restaurant, the rectangular tables were somewhat small and for 3 guys, it was cramped seating. It was also a challenge to fit everything we ordered as well. If it were solely up to JuJu, we would've had twice the amount of food! I think he should meet Mijune... So we started with a couple of appies including the Fried Chicken Wings. These were not exactly what I expected, but they were good nonetheless. Consisting of only the middle portion of the wing, these resembled fragrant soy wings than the typical fried version. With the light fry job, the meat was tender and moist while the skin was still somewhat soft. There was no need for the sweet fish sauce since the wings had plenty flavour of its own already. For our second starter, we had the Grilled Pork Salad Rolls. These miniature rolls were pretty good. The rice wrapper was perfectly moisturized (first time I've used that word in food!) where it was neither dry nor too wet. Inside lay rice noodles, crisp lettuce, basil and nicely grilled pork. It was quite strange we got the same sweet fish sauce as a dip rather than the hoisin peanut sauce though.

Kaiser Soze ended up with the Pho Dac Biet which was decent in portion size. The broth was pleasant tasting falling more on the sweeter side. We did appreciate that they were conservative with the MSG. The noodles were al dente and not clumpy while the plentiful meats were good quality and tender. Seeing how the obligatory Pho was already ordered, I went for the Bun Bo Hue. Despite the absence of the pork knuckle, there was still plenty of tender pork and beef. As with the Pho, the lai fun noodles were al dente as well. At first, I didn't have much in the way of expectations for the broth, yet it turned out to be quite decent. There was an obvious hit of lemongrass and there was enough chili oil to add a good kick. Unlike the Pho broth, this was heavily salted.

JuJu didn't go for anything soup-based and had a Vermicelli Bowl consisting of grilled pork, shrimp, bo la lot and shredded pork. This was a healthy portion which was good, but the meat was dry and overcooked. Furthermore, the much hyped-up shrimp skewer ended up to be pretty standard. In the end, this bowl was probably the only thing that was not that great with our meal. Pho Quyen can be categorized as "above-average" Vietnamese food and surely a potential place to re-visit. We just wished it actually looked open from the outside!

The Good:
- Flavours are pretty spot-on
- Fair pricing for the portion size

The Bad:
- For a relatively large restaurant, the tables are super small
- Service is good, but it is hard to flag someone down

Rod's Kitchen and Grill

To say that there is a black hole of eats around the Production Way Skytrain station would be an understatement. Let's see... There's a Subway in the Mac's and a Megabite Pizza... Oh, and let's not forget Sushi Kaku... ew... At the very least, there is Costco across Lougheed Highway. Hold on a moment, there is one place that might be potentially the best of them all - Rod's Kitchen and Grill. Okay, it's all relative when I say "best of them all". I had noticed the place many a time while driving past it on my way home. It wasn't until faithful reader Lotusrapper reminding me in a comment on Sushi Kaku, that prompted me to actually try out the place. Joining me was Big D and Slick who are always on the lookout for good food.

By virtue of being located amongst corporate offices and warehouses, Rod's serves as a typical lunch spot. It is neither fancy nor does it want to be. However, the prices of their burgers seemed a bit pricey considering... To compare, Burger Burger offers up similar (and better I might add) fare for almost half the price. So, I decided to go for their most expensive one being the Bullseye consisting of a homemade patty, bacon, cheese, onion ring, lettuce, tomato and of course Bullseye BBQ sauce on a brioche bun. Okay, the burger was impressive to look at, but it was pretty average. The main issue was the patty. It was dry and far too dense. That was too bad since the rest of the components were quite good. For my side, I went for the Animal Fries, which were a take on In-N-Out's version. This was pretty mediocre with lettuce and tomato on top of the fries with gravy.

Slick had the basic Classic Cheeseburger with Poutine on the side. With fewer components than my burger, the dry patty became even more apparent. It was like gnawing on rubber. The Poutine was okay since the fries were good and the gravy as well. As for the shredded marble cheese on top... not so much. Big D had the Yodeling Mushroom and that somewhat moistened the burger a touch. Yet again, the dry patty struck and it was beginning to annoy us. He was pretty "meh" about the poutine. We were all pretty indifferent about our burgers at Rod's. They're not bad, yet not outstanding either. A few weeks later, I returned to try out their Clubhouse and it was outstanding. It consisted of fresh lettuce and tomato, ham, crispy bacon and tender grilled chicken slices. The fresh cut fries (without any stuff on top) were pretty good. For a lunch place that serves the businesses nearby, Rod's goes a bit beyond standard fare. If they could alleviate the dry burger patty problem, we would have a real gem.

The Good:
- Good on them for making things fresh
- Also good on them for daring to be different from the run-of-the-mill lunch joints

The Bad:
- Not as cheap as you would think
- Burger patties are dry and dense

Chad Thai

Here we go again... Eating with Mijune. Some would think that I'm a lucky guy - pretty lady, lots of food and great banter. However, be careful what you wish for. The byproduct generally involves bloating, discomfort and an increasing waistline. That's right. Mijune is a pusher. A pusher of food that is. "No no, I'm really full, I can't eat another bite". "Oh c'mon, you can do it! Let's order 10 desserts!". It's a death wish I tell ya. I'd have better luck avoiding drug dealers on Hastings more than I could say no to Mijune. So there we were. At Chad Thai. Looking over the menu. She wanted to get everything. Oh my poor stomach...

To start things off, we had the Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad) consisting of shredded green papaya and carrot with lime and tamarind juice, dried shrimps, green beans, tomatoes, fresh chili and peanuts. Right off the bat, the spice level was to our liking. No wimpy flavours here. However, the heat was just enough that it worked well with the other components such as the tartness of the lime and tamarind, saltiness of the dried shrimp and crunch of the peanuts. The really large dried shrimp and hint of fish sauce provided a nice bite as well. Up next was another classic Thai salad being the Larb or Laap (as on their menu). This version was made up of ground pork with lime juice, red onions, green onions, coriander, ground chili and pounded roasted rice. There was a choice between pork and chicken where pork won hands down. For me, chicken ends up being dry and bland. Due to the cooking process associated with this salad, the ground pork was not exactly moist, but it was flavourful. This was due to the good use of crushed chilis which provided a good level of heat. Again, this was balanced by the use of salty fish sauce, acidity of lime and sugar.

One item we've never tried before was their Tom Yum Noodle. We've had Tom Yum soup many times, yet never as a soup noodle. This was a Laksa/Pho hybrid which really worked. The aromatic coconut milk combined with a good level of spice and fish sauce made for a party in my mouth. Add in plenty of tender chicken pieces and al dente noodles, we went for seconds immediately after we finished our initial bowls. Onto a curry item, we had the Beef Penang Curry. It was comprised of peppers, kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil and ground peanuts in panang curry with coconut milk. Compared to some of the other dishes, this was relatively mild. However, beyond the initial coconut milk hit, there was a underlying spice that hit at the end. The beef was both plentiful and tender.

Usually, I shy away from Thai stir-fried dishes because they are not that interesting in the grand scheme of things (or so I thought). However, our server suggested we try the Pad Gra Pao which was a combination of stir fried ground pork with green beans, garlic, fresh chili and Thai holy basil. Just from looks alone, there was good wok heat where little moisture sat at the bottom of the plate. The diced green beans were vibrant and crunchy while the chunks of ground pork were moist. Once again, there was a good amount of heat which was balanced by an equal amount of savoury and sweet. We requested that it be served with a fried egg - Thai-style.

Our last dish of the meal (other than desserts) was the Pad Thai with tiger prawns. As you can clearly see in the picture, there was no ketchup used. I have nothing against the ketchup version because it can be okay if that was the expectation. However, I just have a personal preference to the traditional one made with tamarind. In addition to tamarind, there was the usual ingredients such as tofu, salted radish, egg, chives, bean sprouts and ground peanuts. This had to be one of the better attempts at Pad Thai I've had in a while. The noodles were still chewy and laced with a multitude of flavours including the tartness of tamarind, spiciness of the chilis and nuttiness from the ground peanuts. Add in a the crunch from the turnips and bean sprouts along with big pieces of pan-fried tofu, there was no absence of different textures too.

Now a meal with Mijune would not be remotely complete without dessert right? It's like autobody shops and Richmond... Anyways, we had the Black Bean Dessert first and yah yah, that is not necessarily a favourite of mine nor Mijune's personal favourite either. With that being said, it was fine with firm beans with aromatic coconut milk. It wasn't very sweet, which made it more appealing. Lastly, we shared some housemade Coconut Ice Cream with cashews and palm seeds. I give them props for attempting their own ice cream when it would be easier to just serve it from a tub. However, I found the ice cream to be quite icy. It was more like ice milk rather than ice cream. With that being said, the flavours were nice and it wasn't incredibly sweet either. I particularly loved the addition of palm seeds. Overall, the food at Chad Thai was impressive. The spice level was not wussy-like and neither were the flavours. The food was not watered-down and execution was spot on. Who would've thought that some of the best Thai in the city would be found at this little place in North Burnaby? *Note - we did not pay for this meal other than the tips*

The Good:
- Flavours were not watered down
- Good default spice-level
- Super friendly proprietors

The Bad:
- Spice-level could be too high for some
- Seats are at a premium