All Entries in the "Greek" Category

Vassilis Souvlaki Greek Taverna on Kingsway, Burnaby

For the good three quarter of this year, my work life had been consumed with what is called Project “ONE”.  It was an important cornerstone for a series of ambitious projects that will put in place the world’s largest system that will manage and distribute “fares”. You probably have no idea how archaic existing aviation systems are — many of which are still done on mainframes with green-screen monitors.  This is because aviation systems are one of the early adopters of computers and it had been that way for generations.  So the so-called Project “ONE” goal is to move systems out of mainframes to an open system — sounds easy but it’s not.

The eight months of hard work were filled with daily voice, web and video conferences because the various teams are located in many parts of the world with the project managed centrally in Vancouver.  There were quite a bit travel when face-time is required especially when it comes to plannings.  Anyway, this blog entry is dedicated to the “boys and girls” who had so successfully rolled out a swanky new system which is getting rave reviews from airlines all over the world.

To the team members of Project “ONE” — this blog entry is for you.

We had a little celebration for the successful execution of the project by having a lunch at Vassilis.  Timing was bad such that we had been given directive that cost cutting is to strictly enforced because of the expected downturn in the aviation industry viz the meltdown of the financial sector in the US.  Going to an Asian place is out of the questions because the white blokes would end up eating nothing.  So, we eventually settled for Greek.  It narrowed down to either Minoas or Vasssilis.

We eventually decided on the Vassilis Souvloaki Greek Taverna.  Vassilis is located on 6558 Kingsway in Burnaby.  That is at the almost eastern end of Kingsway.  Parking is plentiful in front of the building and you will not miss it along Kingsway.

Question for you all … does anyone of you know why the Greeks like blue and white so much?  I mean, I know the colors on their flag is blue and white but why blue?  Just about EVERY Greek restaurant I know paints their restaurant blue and white.

Inside, it is really spacious with many sections and rooms.  This is because this restaurant used to be a mansion of sorts eons before Kingsway became commercialized.  All over the place … there are these little plants hanging all over the place.  Geez … I was thinking how much time they had to spend watering them.  Despite this, the interior were very bright because they installed sky lights (?) that allows natural sunlight into the dining rooms.

We went on a Friday afternoon.  I expected lots of people but no, it was just half full the whole time we were there.

Most of us took a lot of time figuring out what to order.  Other than Souvlaki, many of us knows next to nothing about Greek cuisine.  You know, hardly anyone ordered drinks at all.

Surprisingly, they have a really tiny 2-page menu only.  It makes the selection easier. I was not very sure but the menus we were given were perhaps just their lunch menu.

Most people will just order the most expensive item because the project is paying!  I had planned for $40-$50 per person but according to the menu, $30 will cover it quite nicely.

We got a couple of their Hot Appetizer Platter.  It has spanakopita, kalamari, artichokes, “fektethes” and tzatziki.  This one is $29 each which I thought was quite expensive and the most expensive item on the menu.  It was great but I would think that this should not have costs that much.

The above is tzatziki, I think.  I said “I think” because this one looked prettier than the blob I normally had with Souvlaki in the food court.  How does one normally eat this?  I use it like a spread on items like bread, the spanakopita and such.  I sometimes apply it on top of the rice too.

The bread was just so-so but it was served warm.  At first glance, the bread looked dry, don’t you think?

I ordered the Paidakia which is described as “charbroiled loin of lamb chops marinated with fresh herbs and spices, served with Greek salad, rice pilaf and potatoes”.  It was quite good.  I wished the lamb chops have more meat because about 1/3 of them are bones.  Although I am not much of a salad person, I must say I really enjoyed the Greek salad on the side.  $16 for the dish above.

I did not go around taking pictures of the team members’ plates because it was quite impossible to move around.

I think the one above is called Saganaki, pan fried cheese ($9).  I wanted to share with you the rusted through plate they served this in and that for some strange reason we all accepted that it was kind of great it was served on this.

Paris Series: Climbing the Eiffel and Gyros Dinner

After all these days in Paris, I had not climbed the Eiffel. I was at the base of the Eiffel a couple of night before but did not climb it because I was so dead tired. This time, I timed myself to start the climb before sun sets.

There are three platforms on the Tower. The first two floors can be reached by stairs or by lifts. Taking the elevator to the 2nd floor costs 7.80 Euros while stairs costs 4.00 Euros with double the fun.

Climbing up Eiffel is not easy. There are signs on the tower’s trivia after couple of landing. It was interesting reading and also a good chance to catch a breather.

The first floor has the largest platform. There is quite a few displays and exhibitions of past and recent history here. There is also a post office on this level. Weird … is there a story behind this post office?

The view from the second floor towards the Champs de Mars Park looked so beautiful. As much as I wanted to walk all the way to the end to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower from that end, I balked at walking all the way to the end. It must have been at least 3/4 of a mile end to end.

This is the view to the top from the 2nd floor. The public can only get to the top through the elevator. I saw there there is a spiral staircase one can take to the top.

The ride from the 2nd floor to the top costs about 3.70 euros, I think.

There are two levels of platform at the top. The bottom platform is entirely indoor. It was pretty crowded.

And then it started to rain … shucks … I can’t take any decent shot from here. Anyway, you can’t get much of a shot out a window.

I went up to the top platform which is open air. Saw a faint rainbow. That little rainbow got a lot of people excited and were jostling to take a picture of it.

It’s kind of hard locating the Paris replica of the Statue of Liberty below. The replica is presented as a gift from the Americans as appreciation for the Status of Liberty given by the French to New York. BTW, did you know that the engineer that built the Statue of Liberty in New York is also Gustave Eiffel?

It was very cold up the tower. The rain came down in hail. Freezing!

The view from the top is beautiful especially at night.

Another night shot from the top platform …

After the trip to Eiffel, I took the Metro to Little Athens, or at least I think that was the place I went to. The train is a double decker.

I went to this Gyros place for dinner — it’s (relatively) cheap and has two big juicy gyros on the rotisserie. To me the Greek Gyros is similar to the Turkish Doner and the Arabic Sharwarma — same thing but just different name.

This place is like a fast food of sorts — just a little more disorderly.

I had “the works” because I wanted to have a bit of everything. This costs 6.50 Euros. Frankly, this does not taste great but does look very good no doubt. There was not much of meat in there.

The pita is very disappointing … it was hard, dry and tastes like a piece of cardboard.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by an Indian restaurant to get myself a piece of chicken. I bought this tandoori chicken for just 3 euros. I missed having big chunky meat the past few days. It was pretty good.

The man at the counter asked me where I was from. When I told him that I was from Canada, I could detect a disappointment in his face … well, I don’t blame him … my Asian face does not look anything like a typical Canadian. He said he likes Canada and tried to speak to me in French … well, although French is a national language in Canada, people in the western part of the country do not use it. Anyway, he gave me a piece of … something … he said a gift from France to Canada. I took it … it was good. What is it anyway?

This is my last post on Paris. From tomorrow I’ll start my way to Brussels — there will be lots of food blog in Brussels.