Tasting Journey #30 - Felicos

Felicos
8140 Leslie Road
Richmond, BC
604.276.8282
www.felicos.com


I have driven by this restaurant countless times, but never really even thought about ever trying out.  The restaurant is located in Richmond, a city full of authentic Asian cuisine.  Why would anyone thought of trying Greek food?

Hummous + Pita bread

This opportunity came when I was searching for a place to meet up with Judy.  Given that she has a 1.5yr old child with her, I thought it would only be convenient for her if we were to meet in Richmond. With her visiting from Taiwan, Asian cuisines was pretty much out of the equation.  It was either Greek, western or Korean, AND had to be child-friendly.

I googled. Felico came up with great reviews.  This is the place then.

Greek Salad

Judy had Luca with us.  He was a handful.  Actually, twenty handful was more like it, haha.  She was busy keeping him busy, so for ease' sake, we went with the Platter for 2 where we were able to try out almost everything Greek.

There's the very basic hummous + pita bread.   Then there's the Greek salad.  Then came a shared platter of things which I don't know what they are.  But here's some of what was on the plate:

Satziki // Kalamaria - Deep fried squid // Chicken Souvlaki  // Lamb Souvlakia  // Dolmades - Ground sirloin and rice wrapped in grape vine leaves with avgolemono sauce  // Spanakopita - Spinach, feta cheese, onions, baked in filo pastry  // Keftedes - Ground sirloin meatballs, onion

Then, for some tummy fillers to ensure we will be full, if not already, there's our individual plate of: Rice  // Roast Potatoes  // Seasonal Vegetables

 

The Platter

Individual Plate

Portions were huge. I could not finish it. Judy could not finish it.  One observation that both Judy and I had was that Greek food is not aesthetically appealing. They all had a very dark, tonal colour to it. The entire platter was either brown or black. This is not to say that the food wasn't tasty.  Just that you're always surprised by the aromatic taste despite the "low key"presentation.

Felicos serve decent food, but I really have to say that the service was extremely good.  The ambient was very welcoming, and warm.  I could enjoyed myself just as much if I were to just sit on their open patio on a warm sunny afternoon, with a pint of beer in my hand.  I would go back.

Tasting Journey #29 - Section 3

Section 3
1039 Mainland Street
Vancouver, BC
604.684.2777
http://www.sectionthree.com/


Located in Yaletown, this is where we had our team outing dinner.  The resturant is very contemporary and sheek. Service was friendly, but the food was just OK.

As this is a team-outing event consisting of 30+ people, we did not order from their regular menu.  Rather, everyone had to order one out of the 3 available set menu.  

 

Amuse Bouche: fried tofu

Starter: Cocktail shrimp

Appetizer was creatively set on a skewer.  Fried tofu on lettuce with balsamic vinegar. This was then followed by a bowl of cocktail shrimp.  The cocktail sauce had a zest of wasabi that really complimented the seafood.  Entree for me was the roasted chicken breast with cherry tomotao and fettucini.  The chicken was extremely salty, yet the fettucini was surprisingly blend.  I had to carefully proportion my chicken so that I would have one bite of chicken with one bite of noodle to neutralize the taste.

Entree: Chicken Breast + Fettucini

Dessert: Vanilla ice-cream on brownie

Food could be better, but the atmosphere was welcoming.  Would I come again? Sure, why not.

Tasting Journey #28 - Lam Hoa Quan

Lam Hoa Quan
5703 Victoria Drive
604.326.5880
website


I've always been a fan of PHO. I can eat pho everyday, every meal. I enjoy it alot because it is light (perfect for people who are on diet), and healthy (a well-balanced portion with carbs, meat and vegetable).

Whenever I try ethnic food, my conclusion have always been that Vancouver's is still the best.  I think this is a biased opinion because I am, at the end of the day, a Vancouverite, and no doubtedly have grown used to the Vancouverized flavouring, and hence, a preference for ethnic food in Vancouver. This is true for Japanese, for Dim Sum, for Korean...etc.  Pho, is an exception. Regardless of how wonderfully tasting the Pho is in Vancouver, I have to say, the best pho I've ever tried is indeed in Vietnam, recommended by a friend who was, at that time, an expat there.  The funny thing is, Pho is very regional; there's pho from Northern Vietnam, that is made of something sour or tomato-based (I forgot), and then there's the very common pho that I believe is from the southern region of Vietnam.  I prefer the version from the south because it is the most similar to what is offered here in Vancouver.

Lam Hoa Quan is a pho place highly recommended by my co-worker.  According to her, this place is where the real Vietnamese go (OK, so I guess it's like the Richmond of Vietnam where "real Asians" go).  Like all other pho places located on Kingsway, this place looks like any other pho place: minimal decoration, white wall, white floor, square table, tv in the corner, and an old 70's style cashier counter.  Like all other pho menu, there's the special pho, rare beef, cooked beef...etc. I don't see what's so special.

In terms of crowds, I do have to say that it does seem to be busy. Not packed, but there was a constant stream of customers, with a consistent fill rate of 65%, which I would consider good on a Wed night, in the midst of all these other pho restaurants.

I ordered the #1 (special pho).  The food arrived quickly.  Service was friendly. I took a sip at the soup. Nothing mind blowing. The portion was huge, and I was stuffed (if I were to compare this to ramen, this would be the Kintaro size).  They also had lots of other interesting toppings (not sure what they are..probably some sort of tripe, or tendon or what have you's...).  Aside from the quantitative side of the dish, I would say that typically, the deciding factor for a good pho is probably the broth.  Lam Hoa Quan adds ginger to the soup base.  OK I guess, if you're a fan of ginger (unfortunately I wasn't).  The broth is also not as "sweet tasting" as the broth, however, I believe that it is because no MSG was used in the creation of the broth.  Though less "sweet", I would say that the broth is made of true ingredients.  For something that is made fresh, it is probably quite good in quality.

Huge, and satisfying dish for $8? Totally worth it.

Tasting Journey #27 - Paul's Omelettery

Paul's Omlettery
2211 Granville Street,
Vancouver, BC
604.737.2857


It's been a while since I've posted anything. It's interesting and shows much about a person's character I think. Here I am, 3 months after having reached my 25 restaurant goals, and finally deciding to add a post to my blog.  I love to procrastinate.  I keep thinking about it, but I lack the incentive to action it.

Anyways, so this is a good start I guess? I haven't fully abandoned the idea of keeping up this blog, though the thought of it does sound like a lot of work.  Thoughts tend to run through my mind at night, as I lie in my bed, usually within that 5 minute period before I fall asleep.  I thought I had already thought through how I would complete the blog, and the skeleton of this post. I seem to have lost my thought. I guess it's justifiable that nothing really needs to stick nor make sense in the last 5 min before you fall asleep, let alone remembering it. Though I have to say, many of my great accomplishments (like how to intricately respond to an email to piss off a coworker, or how to politically respond to an email related to quality blah blah, yes, it's all about work, and I should be paid over time for thinking about it even to the last minute before my brain turns its light off) came to fruit within that short time span. It's all about "80-20" right?

So, focusing back on my blog.  This restaurant is located near Granville Island.  Well known for it omlettes, the restaurant is packed as a bee (?).  This is Catherine's first weekend after she quit her job from lululemon.  Catherine wanted to meet up with Asmin for brunch, and to thank her for the wonderful advice on leaving the company.  I guess I was the "accompaniment". I don't mind. :)

The service was extremely friendly despite the busy traffic.  Aside from the typical "how are the food?", they did not even "try" or "attempt" to make us leave even after we had finished all our food, and there was a lineup at the door waiting for tables.

We ordered a jar of grapefruit juice to share, and ordered our own omlette dish.  Frankly speaking, I'm not sure what's so good about omlettes, nor am I really fond of them.  All I can say is that it is well made (compared to the ones I've had in the past) in the sense that the egg skin was so thinly crafted and nicely wrapped around the filling that it, aesthetically, looked more like a burrito.  Portion isn't as huge as most of the other popular brunch places, but it is definitely enough. 2 full slices of toast plus an omlette is definitely enough for an early meal.

Lastly, as always, would I recommend this place? Yes.

Tasting Journey X - World's Weirdest Pop-Up Restaurant

The World's Weirdest Pop-Up Restaurant is an event hosted by Bob Blumer as a pre-ramp to his new TV show on the Food Network, World's Weirdest Restaurant.  The show, airing on April 4th 2012, is a 13-episode series where Bob goes around the world trying out unique restaurants.
This event took place in Waldorf Hotel, located in East Vancouver on E. Hastings (near Clark Ave.).  You get the picture.  I have never been to the Waldorf Hotel.  It looks fairly run down, and is a place where I would probably equate a backpacker hotel to.  I'm not sure why this hotel was selected for the event, however, Asmin did mention that a lot of the youngsters come here to drink on weekends.  Maybe this place offers cheap drinks?

 

The World's Weirdest Pop-Up Restaurant event offered a 4-course meal where these individual dishes relate somewhat to Bob's top four restaurants during his filming.  Prior to serving the dish, we were given a 5min sneak preview of the restaurant and an explanation of how the dish relates to it...

First Course - Monkey See, Monkey Do
This dish was inspired by an izakaya in northern Japan where all servers were real monkeys!  The monkeys were trained to serve, to respond to customers such as requests for beer, towel...etc, and to also hand over the bill.  The dish consisted of chicken karaage's that were crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.  And to further tie the dish to this restaurant, Bob also dressed himself in a monkey suit, ha!  I'm not too sure what the hygiene restrictions in Japan is, but I'm sure this monkey play will not meet our health & hygiene requirement for restaurants in Vancouver.

Second Course - Blind Feeding the Blind
This dish was inspired by a restaurant in New York where everyone ate in darkness!  The owner of the restaurant was a visual artist/dancer and was very much into relating to senses of hearing and feeling.  All customers at that restaurant must be blind-folded prior to entering.  A server would then guide them to their seat, and everyone would then complete the full meal in blind fold.  No explanation of the dishes were given.  At the end of the night, when all the food has been consumed, the chief then comes out and declares the ingredients that went into each of the dish.  It was very interesting to see how people's perception of taste changes when visually impaired.  So to tie-in the concept of this restaurant, we were all blind-folded as well.  The dish consisted of a slice of baguette, some type of cream soup, and 2 fried balls made of mayo and seafood.  I don't recall exactly what they were, but I just remembered that I was not able to tell what they were.  They were tasty though.

Third Course - Ling Cod a la John
This dish was actually inspired by a restaurant located in Taipei. Though never been, nor tried, I do recall seeing forwarded emails advertising this restaurant a few years back.  The restaurant is called Modern Toilet, and basically served all dishes in bowls shaped as a toilet.  The most popular dish was curry rice.  Just image what it resembled in a toilet bowl! haha...  Rather than serving a curry dish, we had a cod steak served with a tomato-based sauce.  Since Bob is not able to bring back individual toilet bowls for this event, he actually served the tomato-sauce in a life-size porcelain toilet bowl. ha!

Dessert Course - Glazed and Confused
This dish originated from a restaurant in Portland called the Voodoo Doughnut.  This Doughnut shop served all different shapes and sizes of doughnut, with all different types of toppings.  Their signature and most famous is a maple syrup glazed donut served with 2 strips of bacon.  I guess this is the western version of sweet & salty dish? To relate to this restaurant, we were served mouth-size donuts glazed with maple syrup and drizzled with bacon bits.  Not too bad.

Throughout the entire event, filming also took place.  I wonder if I'll be on TV someday?  One of my favourite moment of the night was when Bob explained about the restaurant in Taipei (third course).  Bob Blumer gave a quick explanation about Taiwan being his favourite country to visit.  He said that Taiwan is a small island located just off China;  It is a country, and its relationship with China is kinda like Canada to US.  Well put Bob!! You may have just risked getting yourself on the wrong side with the Chinese, but you probably have just won the heart of all Taiwanese, haha.  Another favourite moment was when he walked to our table and asked Asmin & I what we thought of the karaage's.  It was when I got a good look of his feature and realized that he's actually much older than he appears on TV. I guess that's the miracle of makeup.

The evening was fun and full of laughs. I fully enjoyed it, but it came with a price.  The ticket itself was $45, and we were asked to pay a gratuity, plus tax on gratuity which I found weird.  The evening ended up costing us $55/person.  Though the food was excellent, and the night was fun, it was still expensive.  An expensive price for the experience.  If I do end up getting famous on TV, then maybe it is worth it. ^^

Tasting Journey #26 - Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie

Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie
163 Keefer Street,
Vancouver, BC
604-688-0876
www.bao-bei.ca


Bao Bei, a Chinese restaurant with a French twist.  Located right in Chinatown, I was surprised how busy this place is, and how well the business is doing, given the price and dishes offered. Did I mention that the chiefs are not Asian either?

Andrea, Asmin and I arrived at the restaurant close to 6pm on a Friday night.  Parking in Vancouver's expensive, but not as crazily expensive as the parking lot next to the restaurant.  It was asking for an insanely $17 to park there! With three minds, and 3 pairs of scissor legs, we found street parking: Asmin kept guard on an empty street meter parking; Andrea ran back to direct me to the spot; and I hit the gas pedal as quickly as I could. After much success, we walked into the restaurant.  The restaurant was already busy, and full.  95% of the customers were all non-Asian.  Interesting.  People traffic in Chinatown has been going downhill for the last 10years.  Once a bustling place to do grocery shopping, the streets are now quiet and dead.  I cannot imagine how attractive this restaurant must be to capture such an audience to Chinatown at such odd hours.

We were asked to wait and sit down at a long table (made of old wooden door with the hinge still on it).  We ordered our drinks and stared across the table at the people sitting across from us sitting one-door away ^^.   We really didn't mean to stare, but we were hungry and the food looked and smelled delicious. It was calling at us.^^

I was also fascinated by the interior where the theme some how split into two:  the front - brushed white wall with some kind of Chinese printing press art piece.  There was also a open bar, and a Chinese sign hung on the wall next to it.  The back - wooden silverware cabinet, floral wall paper with dried flowers hanging off vases hung from the wall.  On all of the tables were traditional square plastic chopsticks (the ones you see in noodle houses), and white with red floral plates (the ones my family also used maybe 30yrs ago).

We started our meal with some drinks while waiting for a table to free up.  The drink selection sounded all very interesting: jinzi (what Asmin ordered), to Dan Dan flip, to Kai Yuen Sour.  They all had interesting ingredients such as egg white, shochu, szechuan spiced rum, ginginer...etc.  I went with the Kai Yuen Sour, which did not end up sour at all.  It was strong because it had Bourbon, which we later found out, was actually American whiskey - a taste that reminded me the latter part of my life in Asia, ha.  By 7pm, the wait for a table was long. I'm glad we arrived early.

Andrea can only eat gluten-free dishes.  So to make it easier for us, she ordered her own while Asmin & I shared.  We ended up ordering 4 dishes: mantou (which to me tasted more like 刈包, Taiwanese Hamburger), pea tips (Asmin's favourite), beef tatare, and Octapus salad.  All the dishes were very well-made, but only one really jumped out at me: the beef tatare.  It was so delicious that I almost swallowed my tongue.  The raw beef was so tender that it tasted more like puree shrimp.  The meat was well marinated and rich in flavouring that it was a perfect combination with the fried taro chip.  I would order it again any other day!

The meal was pleasant, and the food was wonderful.  Given that the portion was small and that we ended up spending $44/person, it is indeed quite pricey (just an affirmation to comments about bringing enough cash). Is it worth the wait? hm...considering all variables, though the food was delicate, I would probably save it for special occasion.

Tasting Journey #25 - Sushi Bella

Sushi Bella
2059 W. 4th Ave.
Vancouver, BC
604-734-4990
www.sushibella.com


WOHOOO~~~~~~ This marks the completion of my restaurant goal!!!!!!! Yay!


West 4th has changed so much in the last few years.  So many new restaurants and chic shops have opened up recently that it is impossible to keep track and try them all.  Among them is Sushi Bella, a new fusion Japanese restaurant located in the heart of Kitsilano.

I first heard about Sushi Bella from Asmin, a colleague of mine who oftentimes buys lunch from the neighbourhood.  The sushi looked delicious, but in a city abundant in Japanese restaurants, the sushi could very well be just another ordinary roll of rice and seafood.  Then, one day, as a committed subscriber to group deals (Groupon, Living Social, Indulge Living...etc. You name it and I've got it), I saw that Sushi Bella was offering a $30 deal for the price of $15.  Considering that it is located in my vicinity, and also still trying to reach my restaurant goal at the time, I bought one.  The next day, I told Aldin about the deal, and he said that since it's so close to work, we might as well get one to share for lunch sometime.  Good idea. That "sometime" was this past Friday.

Sushi Bella from the outside, looked like a western-style restaurant;  door and walls painted in green, no bold advertisement, and only a small window that showed a dimly lit interior.  From the inside, the deco was classic and clean.  Bamboo deco's served as dividers for sectioning, and brown furniture portrayed a very zen, calming style.  Like most local Japanese bistro's, there's an open bar that displayed fresh seafood.

With $30 to spend, we ordered Chicken Katsu, BC roll, Bella roll, and their special roll of the day.  Though I didn't really fancy fried chicken, and though I don't really fish skin of any sort (for those that don't live in BC, BC roll is pretty much grilled salmon skin wrapped in rice & seaweed), I didn't mind it since there were 2 other rolls to indulge myself on.  Given that we are at Bella Sushi, it only makes the most logical sense to try their Bella Roll - real crab meat, red beets, topped with tuna and salmon.  It was awesome.  The special roll of the day was also delicious.  I don't remember the exact content, but it had some sort of tuna tataki on the top, and shrimp tempura on the inside.  The dishes were all beautifully arranged...something that seems to portray a part of Japanese culture where presentation is equally, if not more, important.  And to further cater to a western audience, they also provided the option to serve sushi with brown rice.

I've only had one encountering with sushi in brown rice.  It was not pleasant.  Brown rice tend to stay solitude giving it a grainy texture to the bite, let alone the stiffness.  Though a healthier selection, if I were to eat something, I'd rather enjoy it.  Given that Aldin is all about being healthy ^^, as a compromise, we proceeded with the Special on brown, and the other two on white.  To my pleasant surprise, the brown rice offered at Sushi Bella tasted quite similar to the white.  Though it was still fairly grainy, it was not stiff.  Though I still prefer the sweetness offered with white rice, I didn't mind it.

Comparing to all the other fancy restaurants on W. 4th, I wouldn't rank it as a notable one in the neighbourhood.  However, given that there are not many good Japanese sushi on W. 4th, it undoubtedly is one of the better sushi places that offered quality and atmosphere.  If you have a craving for Japanese, and do not want to go somewhere far, I would sure recommend Sushi Bella.