Taste Vancouver Food Tours - Gastown

For a city with so many great place to eat, there are relatively few food tours out there. For those unfamiliar with the concept, it is essentially a guided tour of various restaurants and establishments where little bites are served. Think of it as a moving multi-course meal. I was invited by Taste Vancouver Food Tours to check out their Gastown Food Tour hosted by Gassy Jack himself. Well... not really Gassy Jack, but someone doing a good comedic impression of the historic neighbourhood which is named after him. We met up at the Starbucks in Canada Place where we were supplied with lanyards and a headset (which was tuned to the same frequency as Gassy Jack's mic).

As I was mingling with the other people participating in the tour, we were presented with 2 sample sized items consisting of a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino and Banana Loaf. If you've ever had a frap at Starbucks before, this brand new one is pretty much the same except for the addition of crumbled cookie. The best way to "drink" this is with a spoon. As for the banana loaf, it was pretty moist and had a nice spice to it (spice in terms of spices, not spicy). Personally, I would like to see a local place featured in this spot. After this, we started our Gastown Tour with a stop at Rogue Kitchen & Wet Bar for some Lobster Mac n' Cheese. For a food tour with so many stops, this was a fairly healthy portion of al dente noodles, nicely prepared lobster chunks within a mildly cheesy sauce. This was a drier version of mac n' cheese, but it was still moist. It wasn't overly cheesy nor creamy, but the flavours came through. I loved how they didn't put a bunch of truffle oil in it (which usually totally overwhelms the dish). On a side note, I actually returned to Rogue that same night with my hockey team because the lobster mac n' cheese was impressive enough. Furthermore, as you will see later in this post, portion size matters too. It is not that there wasn't enough food in the tour, but to get a sense of an item, it has to be large enough than a small little nibble.

After Rogue, we sauntered across the parking lot over to Steamworks for some brew. We sampled the Copper Roof Ale which had a bite while still going down smooth. We also tried the Raspberry Ale which I wasn't a huge fan of. It started off nice with a fruity kick, but then went down like cough syrup. As a personal preference, I'm not a huge fan of beverage-only stops especially alcoholic ones. A few bites of food (like some appies) would really help enhance the experience. From raspberry ale, we went to Roger's Chocolates and tried their Raspberry Dark Chocolate Truffle. This was not bad since it wasn't too sweet and I could get the bitterness of the dark chocolate. I only wish I could eat more chocolate! Not to fear, more sweets were near in the form of Maple Delights Bistro. There, we were given a sample each of their Raspberry and Maple Shortbread Cookies. Well, I must confess that I find anything maple to be extremely sweet. And these cookies were no exception. On top of the buttery and crumbly shortbread was a super sweet maple glaze. Thank goodness for the tea that was served along side of it. That helped control the sugar-overload. We also got to sample their maple cotton candy (yes, more sugar) and it was predictably sweet.

Moving along, we headed across the street to Brioche. We ended up on the backside of the restaurant on Water Street. The main entrance is on Cordova. At the back are a few seats that compliment the small dining room. Here we were served a decent portion of their 3 Cheese Tortellini with sausage tomato sauce. We were given a basket of bread as a side to the pasta. The tortellini itself was a bit soft with a tasty cheese filling. The sauce was rich, meaty and creamy with peppery notes and a mild tang. This was an enjoyable pasta. After that, we went back across Water to Trees Organic to sample their famous cheesecakes. Now, I'll be frank here. The portion size of the cheesecake was far too small to make any impact. There was 2 to choose from, one being the chocolate cheesecake and the one that I tried, the Pineapple Cheesecake. Although the portion was tiny, I was still able to get the rich, smooth and velvety baked cream cheese in the cake. The pineapple was not very apparent, possibly due to the sample size. I liked how it wasn't very sweet.

From Trees Organic, we took a stroll down to the famous steam clock and crossed the street again to the Water Street Cafe. We were ushered into a private upstairs dining area to sample another small bite. It was a quarter of their West Coast Crab Cake consisting of dungeness and blue crab, pacific shrimp, corn salsa and garlic aioli. Okay, I'm sure it had something to do with the portion size, because I didn't get much fluffy crabness nor much in the way of natural crab sweetness. The corn salsa, on the other hand, was quite apparent with the crunch and sweetness of the corn. Again, I'm not looking for a humongous crab cake, just something bigger than the one we had. From there, we inexplicably visited John Fluevog. Yes, it is wesome that there is a 10% off coupon included in our package, but there was not much to do (nor eat) there. Even for the people who are interested in shoes, the time allotted is not enough to actually shop. We could've done without this stop.

Moving close to the end of the tour, we paid a visit to Peckinpah, which is a Carolina-style BBQ. Generally, their meats are more dry and the sauce is thinner. We were given, once again, a very small sample of their Pulled Pork. I lightly doused it with some BBQ sauce. It was moist and tasty, but then again, it was too small to make an impact. Onto our last stop, Gastown Tea Company, we were served Fruit Symphony Tea with an oatmeal cookie. I really liked the tea, it was aromatic and of course fruity. The little bite of chewy cookie was a nice sweet accent to the tea. Now, despite my criticism, the tour itself is a fabulous deal for only $39.00. Now, the reason why some of the portion are really small is because the restaurants are providing the food for promotional purposes. Hence, we can't expect to much. Furthermore, with 10 food and beverage stops, it might be too overwhelming for some people. But in my opinion, for someone to return, it would be best that the sample size be impactful. The tour operators don't have a lot of control over that though. Yet again, if we look at all the stops and the entertainment value provided by our host, you can't really lose for the price.

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

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Entertaining host
- Lots of stops

The Bad:
- Portions at some stops are too small
- Stop at the shoe store unnecessary

Taste Vancouver Food Tours

All You Can Eat Hot Pot Fresh Juice Shop

*Restaurant is now closed*

It never fails. Softball season starts and the weather refuses to cooperate. I often forget that we live on the Wet Coast. It didn't look good for our Monday softball game, yet we were able to finish before the torrential downpour started. We escaped with only a bit of rain during the game. Honestly, I am a fair weather person when it comes to sports. I don't golf in the rain and I'm not particularly fond of it during softball either. In fact, I don't even like camping. I consider Motel 6 as roughing it. Yes, I'm a wuss. I'll admit it. Anyways, we were cold and damp after the game. Perfect for hot pot. Despite our proximity to Richmond, we opted to go elsewhere in search of a boiling pot of soup. You see, Judes had to make it home early to feed her hungry cat and Richmond was too far away. It's true! We didn't avoid Richmond for the more obvious reasons...

We ended up heading over to All You Can Eat Hot Pot Fresh Juice Shop. Yes, that is the real name of the place. And yes, that picture of the front is really the front! Name and appearance withstanding, the place serves up "Japanese-style" hot pot (aka Sukiyaki, no not the song...). I put that in quotations because it really ain't Sukiyaki. Think Posh, but even less refined (Posh is not authentic either). However, like Posh, the prices are the same for the AYCE menu. Unlike Posh, there are more meat options with the exception of fish. And really unlike Posh, the interior is as unposh-like as a place could be. We were greeted by a very friendly lady (who was probably the owner) upon arrival. We were presented with a large pot on an induction burner. We checked off the limited options on the order sheet and the food came pretty quickly. To get things straight, Japanese Sukiyaki is not like Chinese hot pot. First of all, the pot is significantly smaller and shallower. The broth is soy, sugar and mirin-based and the only meat available should be beef (or sometimes pork). Furthermore, the cooked meat is dipped into raw egg. Now, if one went in with a "it needs to be authentic" attitude, this place would inevitably disappoint. However, we went in with no prejudices and expectations.

Among the things we ordered were all of the Meats (beef, lamb, chicken, pork) which were more or less good. They were still quite frozen though and a bit difficult to slide off the plate. As for the broth, it was very "Chinesey"-tasting rather than Sukiyaki. That was to be expected considering everything. But that really didn't bother us because we didn't expect authenticity. In addition to the meats, we checked off a bunch of veggies and various items which arrived in several large plates. Theses included spinach, tofu, taro, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, yam, rice cake, baby corn, winter melon, noodle bundles, enoki mushrooms, fish cake, zucchini, button mushrooms, fried bean curd skin, tofu puffs, glass noodles and an instant noodle brick. Everything appeared and tasted fresh (well, the stuff that was supposed to be fresh that is).

The nice owner-lady offered us all a free apple drink which was more colourful than flavourful. No matter, it was refreshing and well, it was free. Our overall hot pot experience here was acceptable, especially for the price. Sure, it ain't anything to look at inside and out. Moreover, it isn't authentic nor is there any frills. However, it did the job without going north of $20.00.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Friendly owner-lady
- Food is fine for what it is

The Bad:
- The place has the bare minimum in terms of decor and ambiance
- Limited items for those expecting a Chinese hot pot (it's Japanese Sukiyaki, well sorta)

The Five Point

Visiting late night hot spots is usually a game of Russian Roulette. You win some and potentially lose a lot. That was the case when we tried to get a table for 10 at The Five Point one Friday night after hockey. LOL. Yah right. We'd have a better chance at getting Christy Clarke to ride on the back of Richard Branson sans clothing. Uh... Therefore, we never ended up returning to try again. However, I got my chance when Sean invited me to share in his good fortune. You see, he won a gift card from The Five Point via their Facebook page. Seeing how we were going to meet for brunch on a Sunday after my hockey game, Milhouse, JuJu and Kaiser Soze tagged along as well.

Unlike late night weekends, getting a seat for Sunday brunch was a breeze. We started off with some complimentary Donuts which were served with strawberry jam and cinnamon sugar. These were cake donuts and naturally dense. They weren't bad nor were they great either. Hey, free donuts. We didn't mind that. JuJu and I decided to share their Tuna Bites since someone had recommended it to us. These were togarashi crusted and seared, then tossed in soy and ginger with a pea shoot salad in miso lime dressing. It was topped with crispy taro chips and a side of sesame ginger aioli. I gotta say this was hit and miss on one plate. It really depended which piece we picked up. If it was from the centre of the tuna steak (before it was chopped up), it was nicely rare. However, if it was along the side, it was woefully overcooked and dry. What really saved the dish was the Asian flavours and the wonderful aioli which provided the necessary moisture.

The Carolina Pulled Pork Benny caught my eye and I decided to go for it. It was bathed in a rum & Coke BBQ sauce and served with apple fennel slaw. I had high hopes for this dish and it ultimately disappointed. First off, the poached eggs were nothing but. They were more like soft-boiled. No runny yolk - fail. Secondly, the BBQ sauce was pretty weak and I didn't get much of anything from it. On the other hand, the pork was quite nice being moist and not chewy. The slaw could've been more impactful as it was crunchy with little distinguishing flavours.

Sean had the Five Point Burger consisting of house beef patty, Guinness cheddar, double hickory smoked boar bacon and smoked red pepper aioli on a brioche bun. Since Five Point is related to The Charlatan, I was not surprised that he liked the burger. The brioche they use is one of the best I've come across. He remarked that the beef patty was moist and delicious. The Kennebec fries were crispy, yet were quite starchy inside. Kaiser Soze went for the Stuffed French Toast and not surprisingly, it was a little on the wet side. He neither disliked it or liked it (if that is a good enough description). He did remark that it was a little bland. One dish I didn't put up a picture of was Milhouse's breakfast. It wasn't all that interesting and the scrambled egg was poorly executed - looked more like a folded overcooked omelet. That pretty much summed up the breakfast items we had - poorly executed and disappointing. However, to be fair, the burger was good. Maybe we should stick to dinner eats instead next time?

The Good:
- Service was pretty good
- Nice vibe
- Burger was solid

The Bad:
- Breakfast needs some work, execution was poor

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