Tasting Journey #14 - Primo's Mexican Grill

Primo's Mexican Grill
4509 W. 12th Ave.
Vancouver, BC
604-736-9322
http://www.primoson12th.com/


Located in the Vancouver westside, and on the corner of West 12th & Granville Street, I read that Primo's is a locals favourite.  I've gone by this place many times, but never had I noticed that there is a Mexican restaurant at that intersection.  It just happened that the other day, I was checking out the deals on Groupon, and Primo's offered a $15 for $30 worth of food.  Since it is close to where I live, and since I really need to work harder on completing my restaurant goal, I - without hesitation - clicked Buy.  I knew that I had half a year to find someone to go try it out with me.

The restaurant, from the outside, looked more like a high-end steak house to me.  No typical Mexican red & green colours on the exterior wall, no fancy cactus deco, and no sombrero hat mascot indicating that this is a Mexican restaurant.  From the inside, the restaurant was dimly lit, and was only 2/3rd full (maybe because it was Sunday night?).  No endless pages of menu selection which made it easy to choose from.  Prices were in the range of $20 +/-, more on the higher-priced end for Mexican maybe? 

Similar to most of the Mexican restaurants I've been to, we were served a basket of tortillas as soon as we sat down.  I wasn't super hungry so we ended up ordering 2 tapas and 1 main entree to share.  Deep fried jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese, Jumbo prawns sauteed in spicy garlic butter, and a very basic chicken fajita.  The jalapeno was a good appetizer to start (but only tasted good while it remained warm), and the basic chicken fajita was nothing but ordinary.   The jumbo prawns were by far my favourite for the night.  The prawns sat in a pool of garlic butter with chili peppers.  I loved the extreme garlic-ness of the dish, and the spiciness of the chili peppers.  The dish came with a thick slice of french bread which I easily gobbled up by dipping it in the garlic butter.  To top it off (and to wash down the spiciness), we ordered a pint of Cerveza (beer in Spanish).  Perfect blend for the dinner. 

It is a restaurant worth trying out...even better with the Groupon discount.  Without it, we would be looking at a $55 dinner 2 people.

Tasting Journey #13 - Seto Japanese Restaurant

Seto Japanese Restaurant
155-8460 Alexandra Rd., 
Richmond, B.C. Canada
Phone: 604-231-9493
http://setosushi.ca/ 

Just realized that I forgot to log this restaurant...
Stopped by Seto for dinner earlier last month because a friend of mine, Allen Lin, was in town.  I knew Allen briefly during my time at Nike.  He held a temp job in the CE lab one summer while I was working there. Considering that he was easy-going, and was nice to work with,it only made sense that I played host and spend an afternoon with him.  He was in town for some really random reason; he was in Seattle studying and decided to cross the boarder to renew his visa.  Unexpected, his US visa was revoked when he tried to return to US, and was therefore, "stuck" in Canada.  He hadn't brought along any luggage or change of clothes as he originally planned it to be a day trip.  He is now money-less, friend-less, luggage-less in a foreign country.  What was supposed to be a day-excursion turned into 2-months vacation...

Anyways, so we ended up having dinner at Seto.  Seto reminded me of Daimasu, a long-time favourite go-to place for sushi.  I've had lots of experience with eating Japanese food.  Though I can't say I am an expert, but having opted for Japanese food 90% of the time I eat out, and having lived in Japan for 8 months (not to mention at least 5+ times of visiting Japan), I can tell whether the food is at least, at minimal, up to Vancouver standard. The food was well prepared, and what I thought stood out for me was the wasabi salt (instead of the regular salt 'n pepper) that they had - it really spiced up all the dishes well!  It blended really well with almost every dish, from the agedashi tofu, to the tonkatsu... I need to get my hands on a bottle of this, and I'll be the happiest person on earth! :)

Tasting Journey #12 - Crave on Main

Crave on Main
3941 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
604-872-3663
http://www.craveonmain.com/index.php

Another great dinner with an awesome friend whom I've known for 20 years. Wow.  It always puts me in awe whenever I think about how long we've known each other.  Not because it reveals our age, but on how our friendship never fails to last.  We've been friends since gr. 8, and since university, we've been going our separate ways, having our own circle of friends, and living in different cities.  I guess true friends don't need to connect everyday;  There are friends that you hang out with, and then there are friends that you connect with.  These are two completely different things.

This is the second time that I've met up with Judy since she's been in town.  We talked about work, talked about Lucas (Judy's baby boy), talked about food...all just random chit chats.  There's no need to think about what better to say, and what better not to say.  Our friendship is built on a simple, straight-forward bond.

So back to our topic on food... We were originally planning on going to the Grub on Main only to find out that all tables have been reserved for the night.  So to Judy's suggestion, we decided to head over to the Crave, located only 4 blocks north of the Grub.  Judy recommended the Crave for its beautiful garden located at the back of the restaurant.  Apparently, you'll have the option to have dinner in the garden during the summer time when the weather is warm, and the day is long.  It must be really lovely to have dinner in the garden...just imagine yourself a royal descendant enjoying afternoon tea in a garden full of beautiful flowers and green grass.  hm...^^ Well, back to reality - Since we are still in the season of winter (I hope it leaves soon), and that the weather was dark, wet and cold today, we had dinner inside.

The restaurant size is not huge...probably sits 30 people comfortably, and is around the same size as La Buca.  We had arrived the restaurant around 6pm, and all but two tables were full.  Most of the guests are already well into their entree.  I wonder why such early dinner?  We ordered 3 dishes to share: ahi tuna tempura roll, organic beef crave burger, and a shorty rigatoni.  The portions, to our surprise, were quite large.  Ahi tuna tempura roll was really well made. A large cube of tuna wrapped in a sushi roll, then deep fried.  The roll was crunchy and full of flavours.  Excellent.   The burger was juicy, and patty was wonderfully grilled.  Maybe the organic beef made a difference?  As for the shorty rigatoni, we both thought it was a meat dish (since we are both meat lovers), but it turned out to be a pasta dish with beef stew.  Still very well made, and delicious.  I would say that my tastes buds were happily satisfied this evening.

All 'n all, the experience was great.  I do look forward to revisiting the Crave during the summer time...just imagine....Cecilia relaxing in the garden, sipping wine, enjoying the summer breeze, birds chirping... happy thoughts... :)

Tasting Journey #11 - The Templeton Restaurant

The Templeton Restaurant
1087 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC
604-685-4612
http://thetempleton.ca/

Classic old-school diner, similar to Celine Dion's Nickel's, or Denny's.
Like any other diner, the interior was comprised of red, white and black...and of course, to top it off, the classic juke box.  Cute.  There were a total of maybe 8 tables, all taken, but no line-ups.  Menu selections included items like burgers, fries, fish 'n chips, milk shakes and some brunch stuff.

I wasn't feeling too hungry, so I only ordered their soup of the day (Parsnip Barley).  Zofia was starving (she had completed 14 miles of running AND a yoga class) so she ordered milk shake and a burger.  The soup came with 2 pieces of toast, covered in balsamic vinegar & olive oil; Quite fancy for a diner bread.  Thumbs up.  As expected, the portion was huge, and the taste was great diner-quality food.

Overall, great place for cheap and quick eats but not an ideal place to chill and lounge on a weekend.  We were headed off to a movie screening so it didn't really matter for us.  Would I recommend this place? Nah, I'd probably just go to White Spot or Denny's.

Tasting Journey #10 - Bella Vita

Ciao Bella Vita
703 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC
604-688-5771
www.ciaobellavancouver.ca

We were originally planning on going to The Tea House @ Stanley Park for Dine out today.  We had booked it 2 weeks ago, but right before we made our way to the restaurant, I decided to go online to check the menu. It was then I noticed the fine print on the bottom of the page that Dine Out Lunch is not available on weekends.  Hm... I had said that I wanted to make a reservation for Dine Out, and they had accepted it... Hm... so I called to reconfirm, and needless to say, they don't offer Dine Out menus on Sunday.  We had to find another place quick.  This was when we decided to go try out Ciao Bella Vita, and it was definitely a pleasant find!

Ciao Bella Vita's Dine Out Lunch menu is the same as their dinner menu, with the only different - price.  If dining for lunch, it was $20. If dining for dinner, it was $28.  Perfect.

This Italian restaurant is located near the busy corner of Denman & Georgia.  Though I've driven past it everyday for almost a year (when I was working in N. Van), I have never noticed the restaurant.  It was very low profile in terms of attracting wandering guests, well distracted by the vast bike rental shops in the neighbourhood.

Food was very generous in portion, and well-prepared.   The basa was juicy, and the pickled olives & capers complimented the dish.  The veal was tender and extremely flavourful.  Tiramisu was light, fluffy and not-too-sweet.  The sorbet was quite interesting in the fact that it is coconut flavoured, and I felt that it was more like an "ice-cream", and not the typical light taste of sorbet we would expect. Interesting.

We fully enjoyed the meal. It was still too early in the day to start drinking, else the meal would have been even more perfect if complimented with some wine.  One of us originally had wanted the chocolate mousse cake, but only to find out that they were out.  If I must critique, It would be that it was quite disappointing to see the item on the menu, and not available to try.

   

Did I mention that Ciao Bella Vita is a piano bar?  It has live piano performances every Wed-Sun nights.  I would definitely love to visit this place again at night!

Tasting Journey #9 - Ap Gu Jung

Ap Gu Jung
1642 RobsonSt.
Vancouver, BC
604-681-8252
www.apgujungrestaurant.ca


Restaurant recommended by food addict - Carol,  Ap Gu Jung offered western-style setting but Korean-style cuisine. 

Seeing that the restaurant is packed with people by 6pm, the restaurant, it has got to be authentic.  Unlike most of the other Korean restaurants I've tried, Ap Gu Jung offered 6+ pages of selections to choose from.  Since it was Zofia's first time trying Korean, we had to order some of what I think represents Korean dishes: Kimchi Rice Cake, and Seafood Pancake.  To be safe, we also ordered chicken on skewers.  Of course, there's also the complimentary and unlimited side dishes that is like an added bonus to the meal.

The portions at Ap Gu Jung were all quite large.  Unlike my all-time-favourite Korean restaurant, Jang Mo Jib, I find that Ap Gu Jung's dishes were much more intense in flavouring.  Could be a good or bad thing, I feel.  The dishes were all served in generous portions of thick sauce.  According to my cousin, real authentic Korean dishes ARE supposed to be like this;  Chicken skewers splattered with BBQ sauce; Rice cake fully immersed in extreme spiciness and sweetness.  I very well enjoyed the first bite of every dish, as it always burst rich taste and texture.  However, as we worked our way through the dishes, I quickly get "sauced-out" by the added flavouring.  To me, these dishes are not "team players" - they do well alone, but when combined, not so great.  For example, a great choir is a team consisting of singers that well-compliments each other.  When every sound is at its loudest, it then becomes noise, and not harmony.  Maybe this is just a Vancourite depiction Korean food.  Maybe an excellent Korean meal actually consists of all bold dishes.  Maybe this is why the 20+ year old Jang Mo Jib is so popular amongst the locals.  Maybe.

Tasting Journey #8 - Burgoo

Burgoo
2272 W.4th Ave. (& various locations)
604-873-1441
www.burgoo.ca

A restaurant that offered comfort food in a comfortable atmosphere.  I've heard good reviews on Burgoo, so when I was offered the invitation to dine at Burgoo prior to our movie night, I immediately said yes.  The atmosphere was lovely, and the service was friendly.  We were on a time schedule (less than an hour for food since we had a movie to catch), and the waitress was very helpful in pushing our orders through.  We ordered, we ate, and we left.  We made it to the movie on time.  No reason why we should not offer a generous tip.
The restaurant was dimly lit, perfect for a cozy, relaxing night with friends. 

Food was not as enticing as I had expected.  Kentucky Burgoo, a stew with beans tomatoes, okra and biscuits, was what I had ordered, based on recommendation from the waitress.  The stew was very thick, thicker than spaghetti meatball sauce, and thicker than the fillings you would see in a meatball pie.  It wasn't unpleasant; just different.  I also liked the option of being able to choose either biscuit or mash potato as the base of the stew.  Biscuit presented a lighter option whereas I think I would have been really full if I had gone with the potato option.  Okra also went really well with the tomato base.  Slightly crunchy still, and gave a smooth texture to the sour tomato, and chunky texture of the meat. 

Not a big fan of stew (since I don't like "mushy" textures), but I guess it ain't all that bad.  Would I come back again?  The food selection doesn't appeal to me, but the atmosphere does.  Maybe I'll try a sandwich next time?

Cost: $20 for a bowl of decently sized stew.