My Dinner Table

Categories

I've changed the way I categorize things on the site. I've started the classify posts by genre of food instead of the generic restaurant category I was using. It is going to take a while before I go back and apply the new classifications to all the old posts, so be patient. Also I think if you subscribe to the site using an RSS feed you might get a lot of old posts sent to you as I update their classifications. Sorry about that in advance.

Carts vs. Menu

I went for dim sum with family today at Sun Sui Wah. It's my favourite place in the city. It strikes a great balance between quality of food and the craziness that I expect from a Chinese restaurant. There should be a low roar. Anyway, we had a great lunch. Some fine dumplings. Sticky rice. The best egg tarts I've had in a while. But still there were a couple of things we missed having because the carts just didn't come around, so it had me thinking about the dim sum places that don't have carts but instead menus. I think the carts are crucial to the dim sum experience, but if I'm not getting all the dishes I want are they really better. Do any of you have a preference for carts over menus.

Chicken and Ribs

I had dinner with Nick at Joey's tonight. They would probably describe themselves as casual fine dining. Nick described it as an upscale version of Hooters. I think his description is probably more accurate. Little black dresses instead of hot pants, but I don't think the idea was much different. At least the food is better. I had the chicken and ribs combo. The ribs weren't bad. Nice smoky barbeque sauce. The chicken was moist. Not a bad meal all around. Nothing you couldn't get a dozen other restaurants in its class, but certainly a fair meal at a fair price.
We also had a couple of their desserts as we didn't have starters. First we had what they call their molten chocolate souffle. It really is more of a chocolate lava cake. Pretty standard dessert well executed. Great chocolate flavour. Nice molten centre.

We also had the apple pie. It was quite good. We probably could have split it between us and still been happy. Actually we didn't finish the two desserts completely. There was still food left on the plates by the time we were full. Overall it wasn't a bad meal, but just not something I couldn't get an any number of restaurants in the city.
Joey's 1424 West Broadway. Vancouver. 604-732-JOEY.

Forest Fire Ramen

I had the Forest Fire Ramen for lunch today at Kintaro. Though the restaurant my not be much to look at, they serve some damn fine ramen. Best in the city in my opinion. They only have it on Saturday's. I heard that's because they claim to lose money on each bowl they serve, but I find that hard to believe. Unlike the broth they use for their other bowls of ramen that use a pork-based broth, it is a chicken broth. Dark, rich, salty goodness that is enhanced with the slightly burned green onion. I drank it all down. It comes with some spinach, a boiled egg and a big fatty piece of pork. I thought briefly about asking for the lean, but really, why would I do that. Nothing quite like it. If the only ramen that you've had is the instant kind made from a package, you really need to get yourself down to Kintaro.

Kintaro Ramen. 788 Denman St. Vancouver. 604-682-7568.

Breakfast sandwich

Eli had been raving about the breakfast sandwiches at Tim Hortons for a couple of weeks now, so I finally had one this week. And they're pretty good. Kind of like a sausage and egg McMuffin at McDonalds only better. Having it on a biscuit is a lot better than the English muffin McDonalds uses. They probably are sending my sodium and cholesterol levels higher than they should be, but I figure if I just ride my bike longer I'll be OK.

Lamb burger

I used to eat one of these probably at least once a week when I lived in Toronto. It is the lamb burger at C'est What. It comes with these great herb fries. It isn't the best burger I've had, but I do love them. The rest of the menu is OK. A bit hit and miss. I had the yam fries once, they were terrible. But while the lamb burger is good, the reason why I love going to C'est What is the beer. They have a great selection of cask conditioned ale. The best I've seen in North America. I had the Arkell Best Bitter with my burger. A great light flavoured bitter and because it is served cask conditioned, not overly carbonated. I love it. I wish I could get it in Vancouver.

The picture looked better

I broke down and paid for food on an Air Canada flight. In all the flying I've done over the past year, I've refused to pay for something to eat in a silent protest to their decision to start charging for food. But today, I was starved when I sat down on the plane due some horrible planning on my part and the thought of going five hours before having something to eat was unbearable. So, I on broke down and had the roast beef and roasted pepper cream cheese wrap. At $5 it was reasonably priced, but the picture of it on the menu looked way better. It was mostly deli roast beef and a smattering of lettuce and maybe a tomato. It wasn't horrible. I'd get it again if I had to, but I still am a little bitter about having to pay for something to eat.

Lamb curry

I had the Punjabi Lamb Curry from Rangoli tonight from dinner. I had a tonne of things to do and just didn't want to cook, so I picked it up on the way home. The lamb curry really is one of my favourites from the packages at Rangoli. So simple.

Dona Cata

My hunt for great authentic Mexican food on Friday took me to Dona Cata Mexican Foods. Just down the street from Chilo's, it is also the real deal. Almost everyone in the place was a Spanish speaker. I'd read about it on eGullet and wanted to check it out for some time. My first impression was that it compares favourably with Chilo's. It feels cleaner. Apparently their hours are more reliable. And they have a selection of seven different salsas to try and a wider selection of choices on the menu. Hell, it had a printed menu, something Chilo's doesn't have. Anyway, I started with the pollo con mole or chicken and mole. I'll grant you that it isn't much to look at, but boy was it tasty. The mole had great flavour, though the refried beans that came with it were only OK.

We also ordered some tacos, two al pastor which were marinated pork meat with a special seasoning and two regular cooked pork with spices. These were damn good. Very generous with the meat. And at a $1.25 each, I thought a wonderful deal. I'd go back just for more tacos. They also have a several other things on the menu including the grilled hot subs and something called Alambre that was described as meat, grilled cheese and flour tortillas. All things to try on a return visit.

Dona Cata Mexican Foods. 5438 Victoria Dr. Vancouver. 604-236-2232.

Comments

I've rearranged the things on the site a little bit. I've added a section called recent comments. I did this because I wanted to encourage people to post comments. Some of you post quite regularly, but some just kind of lurk. Well, I'm calling you out. Post a comment. I love getting them, so go ahead and tell me what you think.