Chow Times » Italian

Il Nido on Thurlow and Robson, Vancouver

Ben — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:00:54 +0000

Weekend is getting more precious to me these days. Work had been building up with just a few months away from delivery. Lots of loose end to tie up and the team is beginning to feel the pressure. So work had been rather intense and I really look towards the weekends more than ever.

To unwind, Suanne and I decided to go downtown for dinner on Friday. I enjoy those time outs with Suanne — just she and I — and put work behind in the right way. We decided to check out Il Nido because we just got an email saying that they had just launched a new spring menu.

Il Nido is an Italian restaurant located in a quiet corner of Robson and Thurlow. The location is just perfect for Suanne and I as we wanted to have a quiet dinner away from the bustle of Robson and yet after dinner, we could go walk along Robson to soak in the excitement the street has to offer.

It seems like Il Nido is one of the oldest restaurants on Robson having been around for more than 20 years. It has the charm to this place compared to the many newer establishments around the Robson area.

Not knowing how busy Il Nido is, we had reservations made. When we arrived, they did not seem to have our reservation but I guess it was really not required at all. We were the only people there when they opened for dinner at 5:30PM.

Il Nido has a cozy atmosphere with simple decors. I do noticed that on every table is a bottle of wine. How does that work … does anyone know? Suanne and I had not had an entire bottle of wine for dinner before. Does a table of two normally finish off an entire bottle? What happens if it is half-finished?

We ordered Bellini for drinks instead since Bellini is a very Italian cocktail. Most of their cocktails is about $6 but the Bellini is $12. When I ordered this, they told me they serve the “real” Bellini, not like those popular frozen Bellinis you normally get at places like Cactus Club (I always had Bellinis at Cactus Club!). We were quite surprised that it came in just half a glass. It was crisp and comparatively light in alcohol which is just how we like our drinks.

What we like a lot about western dining is the bread. Suanne and I always look forward to the bread they serve and uses that as a yardstick of sorts of the restaurant. We appreciate it a lot if they make the bread themselves.

Il Nido’s serves homemade Italian bread and told us that they made them fresh. It is dense and on the dry’ish side. Like the ones we had at the Brix, they also serve this with multiple dips — olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt.

We asked a dumb question to the waitress … how does one normally take the dip? Dip one at a time, a sequence (olive first then balsamic vinegar) or what? Dumb question begats dumb answers … she told us she does it all three at a time.

We like it a lot and asked for more bread. Suanne ALWAYS dunk a lot of these sort of things and soaks everything up — and she wants ME to ask for more.

Il Nido’s menu is simple and limited to a couple of pages. We thought it might be a good idea to opt for the “Let the chef make your 3 course meal tonight”. We asked if the meal will just be an item on the menu or if they will make sometime outside of the menu. The waiter told us it will be something outside of the menu.

So we settled for an order of the $45 “Let the chef make your 3 course meal tonight” and a separate order of mains … to share.

Expecting to be surprised, I was not very impressed with “secondi” salmon to tell the truth. I mean, how Italian is salmon anyway? It is more west coast fare than Italian. LOL!
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Il Nido on Thurlow and Robson, Vancouver (302 words)

Olive Garden in Bellingham, WA

Ben — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:00:44 +0000

Off late, I had been suffering from what I call the “fat wallet syndrome”.

You see, in the span of a week I found out that I have this wear in three of my pants at the same time. I have no idea how long I had been walking around like this. I soon found out that it’s because I carry my fat wallet in my back pocket. I stick all kinds of plastic cards in my wallet that it just got fatter and fatter over time that I did not really notice how fat it was.

I have a habit about my clothing. I had been buying them from the Washington State for the past few years. I just find that it is easier to find one that fit and looks good from the US than those in Vancouver. So Suanne and I took the opportunity over the weekend to drive down to Bellingham to buy new clothings while the boys were engaged in their activities.

After a round of shopping, we decided to stop by the Olive Garden for lunch. We had always seen their commercials on US TV channels and thought we should check it out. We went to the one on Meridian St.

Olive Garden is an American chain restaurant specializing in Italian food, particularly styled after the region of Tuscany.

Olive Garden does quite a good job styling their restaurant like old rustic Italian setting. Behind it all it’s really another American chain restaurant. Even the dining rooms were arranged in such a way that it’s separate dining rooms with different themes in each room.

I really like their chairs … with rollers. That to me is good old American efficiency at its best. It’s actually a great idea because I find it very easy to reposition my chair when I want to.

Service was great and prompt. With the menu being new to us, they were very helpful in getting our drink orders. We ended with a Strawberry Bellini and Frozen Tiramisu. Both drinks were about $6+ each. Suanne liked the Frozen Tiramisu especially which was really rich and creamy.

The breadstick were quite good. It was served warm, is soft and lightly salted. What I like best is that they were very quick to ask if we wanted more the moment the last piece was taken from the basket. The service is top notch — it was awesome.

We noticed that one common item on every table is the large bowl of fresh salad. They do make good salad with really fresh vegetables and a “say when” amount of grated cheese. He he he … when the wait staff came by and asked Suanne “say when”, Suanne did not quite hear what he said and replied “yes” … and he went on and on grating cheese into the salad until I realized there was a breakdown of communication and quickly said “stop!”.
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Olive Garden in Bellingham, WA (413 words)

Washington DC: Sbarro Lunch in Union Station

Ben — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:00:29 +0000

By the time we got to the hotel, checked in and dropped off our bags it was already past 2PM. We were not too hungry but decided that we should just get something to eat since we only had cereals for breakfast. I guess it must have been the excitement that we’re not feeling that hungry. We asked the hotel’s front desk where we could find food and they pointed us to the Union Station.

The Union Station is an old station built at the turn of the 20th century. At that time, train travel is the main form of long distance travel. The city designed and built this station as a ceremonial station and as a grand entrance to the city of Washington DC. Today it is the main train hub in Washington DC. We started our day from this station everyday.

Considering this a building of over a hundred years old, it is amazing that it looked so new. I felt that this station is brighter and better maintained than the more famous Grand Central Terminal in New York City. Like many other buildings in Washington DC, the ceiling is designed with sunken panels.

Washington DC was unbelievably hot and humid in summer. We were more thirsty than anything. We walked around the level where there were a few places to eat and decided to stop by Sbarro. I saw a lot of Sbarro when I was in New York City and decided to try it. Sbarro is a fast food joint that serves Italian food.

It was not cheap, I recall. We just had this slice of pizza and …

… and a side pasta. This came to almost $10. We had a quick bite and then headed out to the US Capitol.

Cascade Pizza in Bellingham, WA

Ben — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:00:00 +0000

Ever since we had started blogging two years ago, we had never met up with any fellow bloggers. That is not until around the (US) Thanksgiving last year. We had been in contact with Jennifer from Pie Is The New Toast for some time and had agreed to meet up if we are in the Bellingham area. Actually, Jennifer had already blogged on our meet-up here.

Suanne and I went spent a day in the US during Black Friday for shopping. We had been there shopping almost every Black Friday but do find it is somewhat subdued this year. After 10 hours of walking around malls, our feet were killing us.

The Cascade Pizza is an Italian restaurant located on Meridian Street. If you know where Bellis Fair Mall is, you’ll easily find this place. Bellis Fair is on the intersection of I-5 and Meridian. So, you just drive south bound along Meridian for 1.5 miles after the I-5 intersection.

The Cascade Pizza is one of Jennifer’s favourite restaurant. What we like about this place is that the quality of the food is good and the price really reasonable. It was a great choice of restaurant, Jennifer.

The Garlic Bread looked absolutely delicious. We like it with lots of garlic spread and we can see how much the spread had soaked into the bread. And most important of all, it is toasted to a crunch.

The Lasagna and Ribs were some of the richest, creamiest lasagna we had tried. It was just excellent and the portions were generous. What I enjoyed most about this is the ribs … they were simply beyond great. For $8.95 and the portion we had, I really find this value for money.

One thing that Suanne and I find about the ribs in the US … they are much bigger than what we normally find in Canada. Every since, MammaViv raved about how she will make trips to the US to buy ribs, we had been comparing the ribs we find in Vancouver’s Safeway, Safe-On-Foods, Costco, Superstore, etc against what we find in the US. The ones we buy from the US is like twice the size of the puny ribs we have here. So, nowadays, we almost end up buying ribs back from our shopping trips to the US.

The Garlic Chicken Pizza with white sauce was great stuff. We ordered that pizza because it had uncommon ingredients for a pizza. The small pizza costs $10.95 and still it was way too much for us.

It was great being able to meet up with fellow bloggers and to be able to put a face to a name. Jennifer, it was a great choice of restaurant. Suanne and I really enjoyed this place — we would not have found this on our own. So, where will you show us the next time meet up again?

New York: Lombardi’s Pizzeria Nepoletana

Ben — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:00:00 +0000

New York is considered the birth place of the American Pizza. It is so much so that many of existing Neapolitan pizzas are also known as New York-style pizza. I made it one of my quest to seek out the grand daddy of pizzeria when I was in New York … and that is the Lombardi’s Pizzeria Nepoletana.

There had always been a dispute whether if Lombardi’s is really the first pizzeria in America but at least they have the proof that no one ever had. Lombardi was licensed by the City of New York in 1905 and no one else had ever had proof that they are opened earlier.

I am not sure what Zagat Survey is but I guess it must have been a big deal to be voted as “Best on the Planet” for pizzas. They claimed to have started the pizza culture in the US and is still at the top even after 100 years.

I guess they know that I am a tourist. It’s because they brought me on a little tour through their kitchen. I can see that their coal fired oven is emblazoned with the words “1906 Lombardi’s”. It looked really old … I do wonder if this is the same oven that they had used for the past 102 years.

I was shown a quiet corner of the restaurant. As a matter of fact, I was the only one there.

I ordered their house made Sangria, which is a Spanish wine punch of sorts. It was sweet and fruity.

I tried to be a bit adventurous and ordered from their specialty pizza section of the menu. I ordered the Clam Pie. I reckon that for $26 for a 6-slice, 14″ pizza, it had to be somewhat special. It is described as follows … “more than 2 dozen hand shicked clams, oregano, garlic infused oil, Pecorino Romano cheese, virgin olive oil and black pepper, topped with fresh parsley, served with fresh lemon on the side … and does NOT come with tomato sauce”.

On hindsight, I should have just stayed with their “Gennaros original Margarita Pizza”. This one, well, is too dry for my liking. It is not bad and I like the thin crusted bread but I guess I had already tuned myself for a New York-style pizza … and this is not NY-style pizza. Shoot! I came all the way here and wanted to try NY-style Pizza and I ended up with a specialty pizza.

The 6 slices were too much for me. They don’t have anything smaller. I had only three slices and then asked them to pack the remaining to go.

The entire bill came up to $41 including tips and taxes. Kind of expensive for pizzas, huh? Well, the Sangria is $7 and the Clam Pie is $26. One thing … they only accept CASH. For an establishment like this, I find it strange that they only accept cash.

Sigh … I guess I cannot scratch off “New York-Style Pizza” from my list of “Food to Eat Before I Die”. Note to self: Stick to the basics … don’t try to be fancy.

Atlanta Trip: Locanda D’Amico at Minneapolis Airport

Ben — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:00:00 +0000

I flew for the first time on Northwest Airlines. Since NWA is headquartered out of Minneapolis, I had a stopover at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. You know what’s the greatest attraction at this airport? For American, they’ll know that it’s the washrooms!!

For those who do not know, Senator Larry Craig was arrested at this airport for “disorderly conduct”. Apparently what he did was he tapped his feet in the washroom. This is so new to me … tapping of the feet is a signal for people who wants to engage in well, “disorderly conduct”.

Well, I made very sure I did NOT tap my feet when I used the washroom. I have half a mind of taking pictures but there are so many people going in and out that I am sure I would get arrested for taking pictures in the washroom. :-) … Enough of that.

Anyway, we had lunch at a casual-Italian restaurant called the Locanda D’Amico.

They served sliced bread … nothing to shout about.

I had the Chicken Scallopini with Prosciutto, served with Linguine with Fontina Sauce. The scallopini was exceptionally good with the cheese sauce.

Brussels Series: Lunch Snack at the Atomium and Brupark

Ben — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 09:00:00 +0000

The highlight of the day is to visit the Atomium. This monument is a national icon of Belgium and is as iconic as the Eiffel to Paris. I have seen pictures of the Atomium but had no idea what is was like up close. More about the Atomium later …

I went to Brussel Centraal railway station to catch a train to Heysel Park.

I was still hungry after that little breakfast of Waffle. I stopped at a food stall at the train station called Maciotto. I had seen Maciotto in several stations before and thought I should check this out. They sell traditional Italian snacks. Since I thought that there would be nothing much for lunch at the Atomium, I got myself a snack as brunch.

I got something called the Diavoletto Pollo (I think the word diavoletto means devil in Italian). This 3 Euros snack contains tomato, chicken and olives. Anyone can tell me more about Diavoletto? I had never come across this before.

For travelling, I used a 1-day Transit Pass which costs 4 Euros. Can’t complain about the price — London and Paris is much more expensive.

Next to the Atomium is the Mini-Europe. Mini-Europe is a park which contains replicas of famous buildings in the Europea Union. Shoot … I missed the opening by a mere two days! It was still closed for “winter”.

Before I walked over to the Atomium, I stopped by the picnic benches to eat the diavoletto. It was good with lots of meat balls in it. For just 3 Euros, this is one of the better value for money snacks I had. Simply delicious and it was still warm too.

The Atomium was built in the year 1958 as a show case monument for the Brussels World Fair. This structure was supposed to last only six months — it’s still standing today. The structure consists of nine spheres, each connect with escalators in tubes. The shape is based on a unit cell of an iron crystal.

The Atomium had just been renovated and is now sporting a new shiny reflective skin. In each sphere there are exhibits, and viewing platform which provides a panaromic view of Brussels.

The entrance fee was 9.00 Euros. I was surprised that there were not many people around. I find that the most interesting exhibit is the video about the construction of this monument. Other than that, there was nothing much to see. Many of the exhibits are catered for children mostly.

The Sphere are joined by escalators. This is one of the longest in Europe.

One gets to the top via a lift. This is where the observation deck is.

Brussels is kind of flat and you can’t see much in term of interesting landmarks. Below is the view of the Mini-Europe from the top of Atomium. The park consists of about 100 buildings of cultural importance from all over Europe. That would have been a great place to take pictures.

Well, in Brussels you got to at least go see the Atomium but really, you can cover this whole place in 30 minutes.

Anton’s Pasta

Ben — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:00:00 +0000

There’s a good reason why Anton’s Pasta had been one of the most popular restaurants in Burnaby. I believe that reason is because they serve the biggest serving of food anywhere in Vancouver. Anton’s had been a fixture in this part of the city for over 20 years. Their vision is to offer good food at affordable price … and lots of it too.

Driving past Anton’s along the 4200 block of East Hastings in Burnaby, I often see people actually waiting outside the restaurant for a table. At lunchtime, the wait could be very very long but definitely worth the wait.

They serve bread for free. What do you call these kind of bread? I am sure there’s a name for this. It’s crusty, hard and dry — a tad too dry for my personal liking.

Since we’re in an Italian restaurant, we ordered something Italian for drinks. The Sanpellegrino Limonata is an imported lemon soda from Italy. Pretty expensive … a can costs $3.25. Well, at least they gave us a glass with a wedge of lemon.

The servings at Anton’s is a legend by itself. In the few times I was there I had never seen anyone finishing a plate of pasta on their own. Everyone had to take home what is left — that includes many big sized guys (6 footers and above).

The plate below is the Fusili Tsocana served in creamy white sauce. The dinner plate below costs $14.

We also ordered something red. The Linguini Siciliana, in red sauce. This is also $14 for dinner plate. Lunch plate is $9.95.

This is a common sight in Anton’s — they offer to pack it for home without even you asking.

Total bill is $40 inclusive of tips and tax. That is for the four of us … times two meals. You simply must try Anton’s at least once. Go stuff yourself silly …

Dine Out Vancouver 2007 – CinCin Ristorante

Ben — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 17:00:00 +0000

I am glad to learn that at least one reader missed our regular daily blog. It was a hell of a week for me at work. I could barely do anything else after work, let alone blog. Suanne had some blog entries left but we decided to not release those just yet so that we can keep this series of Dine Out Vancouver intact … it is my job to blog on this series. Am now back in action …

Lets see … we started off with a west coast style restaurant, and then we went to a grill, then a seafood restaurant followed by a french restaurant. This next one is perhaps the best Italian restaurant in Vancouver. It is located in the upscale Robson Street. Robson St is famous for the fashion shops and dining. It’s our version of Rodeo Drive and Fifth Avenue.

CinCin (pronounced as chin-chin) had won many awards especially in 2005 and 2006 in the Italian and wine categories. Some of the award mentioned were:

Best Italian – Where Most Memorable Meal Award, 06
Best Ambiance – Where Most Memorable Meal Award, 06
Best Restaurant in Vancouver – Les Clefs D’Or Silver Service Award, 06
Best Italian Readers Choice – Vancouver Magazine – Gold 06
Best Italian Critics Choice – Vancouver Magazine – Silver 06
Best Wine List in BC – Vancouver International Wine Festival – Gold 06
Best of Award of Excellence – Wine Spectator – 06

It is located on the second floor just above the fcuk Connection.

A stone stair case winds up from the hustle and bustle from the street level to the first floor dining room and bar. The restaurant is decorated throughout in earth tone. Lighting was dim.

I got to learn to order another type of cocktail. I have always had the same thing — Bloody Caesar. What is your favourite pre-meal drink? Give me some suggestion?

Anyway, the Caesar as always is spicy but this one is so much more heavier with vodka. Six bucks, small glass but perfecto!

Starters were the normal bread but with some thingy that is made of Olives, Roasted Garlic, Herbs. We think this is called Tapenade. How is this pronounced? I said that it’s ta-pa-nah-dey but Suanne insists that it’s ta-pa-ned. Anyway, this tapanade thingy is, well, sourish and salty at the same time. It doesn’t taste bad but it’s not good to me. I preferred good old butter and so I asked for some.

For appetizers, I ordered what is called the Pork Terrine Country Style with Citrus Mostarda and Sherry with toast points. It tastes like spam to me.

This is how I ate this. I staked the pork terrine with some mostarda on the toast points. I like the crunchy toast. Is this how Italians eat this?

Suanne had what is called the “Red and Gold Beet Salad – Aged Ricotta, Arugula and Balsamic Dressing”. She is not particularly a fan of balsamic dressings but this one tastes pretty good. The beet was slightly sweet but the Arugula is bitter though.

For my entree, I had the “Rotisserie Fired Pork Loin – Potato Pave, Spiced Cabbage, Clove and Nutmeg Jus”. I was quite disappointed … there is only two sliced of pork on top of a huge slab of potato pave. The spiced cabbage was sourish … I left most of that untouched.

Suanne’s entree looked prettier. She had the “Braised Portabella Mushroom – Creamy Polenta, Root Vegetables, Almond Gremoulata”. Two big pieces of mushrooms with a beefy taste. Suanne being the gourmand between the two of us told me that portabella mushrooms are used by vegeterians as a beef substitiute. I learn something new again. I had a few bites too … I like it better than my pork loin.

Dessert for me was the “Chocolate and Meringue Cake – Banana Sorbet, Lemon Sauce”. This one is super, the dark chocolate is so rich. The Banana sorbet had a very intense banana taste — taste more like bananas that had been left under the sun for 10 days! Suanne thinks that they used banana extracts which caused it to taste so unnatural.

Suanne’s dessert was the “Carmelized Pear Tart – Pistachio ice cream, Caramel Sauce”. There are sliced of pear neatly arranged on top of some of the best pastry we had.

You know what I think? I always had this perception that Italian food are generally sourish. This meal sort of confirms this perception. Being grown up with Asian food, I sort of prefer a lot more spices and dishes that are saltier. Would we try Italian again? Yeah, of course, but we’ll stick to pastas and pizzas.

Total bill including tips and taxes comes up to $93. You know what impresses us a lot? Their washrooms must have been one of the best around. They supply real hand towels neatly rolled on a tray — not paper towels!

Atlanta Trip Report: Maggiano’s Little Italy

Ben — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 09:00:00 +0000

One last dinner before I get to go home. It has been a long week and personally, I am all tired and weary. This time, Mark and Mark joined us at the newly opened Maggiano’s Little Italy in the Cumberland Mall.

Maggiano’s Little Italy is a casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian food. This restaurant chain is operated by the same company which operates the Chilli’s, On the Border and Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

It was a busy night at Maggiano’s that day. Rob volunteered to go early and make reservation while I pop over to the nearby Circuit City to grab NHL07 game for Arkensen (it’s cheaper by $10 here in the US). Despite making a reservation early, we still had to wait for quite a bit.

These American chain restaurants are really something. We don’t have many close to these types of restaurants in Canada. The decor, the experience, the menu, the staff … they were so well designed to entice people to these places.

Once seated, the bread came quite fast. So tell me, do you prefer your bread with butter or olive oil? I have not really gotten used to having bread with olive oil (and balsamic vinegar, is that what the black blob is?). Not that I don’t touch it or that it tastes awful but I’ll take butter anytime over this.

No appetizers this time — just the main course. Frankly, I have been over eating in this trip. I find that when I travel, I always had the tendency to eat more than I normally would. He he … I do feel guilty about all these eating sometimes.

Let’s see … I had steak, salmon, redfish and seafood already the past few days. That leaves chicken. There are not much choices for chicken I see on their menu. I am not sure why I chose this but I ordered the Stuffed Chicken Fontina.

This dish consists of two chicken breasts stuffed with mushrooms and Fontina Cheese. Fontina is an Italian hard cheese with a mild flavour. It was alright — I would not say that it was great, just alright.

Rob had Ravioli, not sure which one he got. It was quite a big plate too and so he gave me one to try — it was great. I should have ordered pasta instead. The plates in Maggiano’s are huge.

Mark G were held up by at the office and joined us when we were about finished. So, we decided to stay on a bit more. We ordered some dessert although I was so full.

For dessert, I had the Maggiano’s Signature Spumoni ($3.95). This ice-cream is a blend of pistachio, chocolate and cherry.

One more meeting tomorrow morning and I get to go home. I have been away from home 3 weeks out of the past four weeks already. Although the hotel suite was super comfortable (I even had TWO 42″ LCD flat panels in the suite!), I really miss my own bed, my own pillow and home cooked food. I remember saying to myself … 24 more hours …