All Entries Tagged With: "Western"

Chowtimes Readers Dinner at 12B Underground Kitchen

This is just a quickie post since I had already done an in-depth review of Chef Todd’s 12B Underground Kitchen in this post here.

My first visit to 12B was when I joined a group of Vancouver Chowhounds. That was back in December last year. That sitting was full and I was only able to make it after someone pulled out to make room for me. It was just me who went … and poor Suanne had to stay at home.

So, I offered to organize another one for Chowtimes readers so that Suanne could also have the chance to experience dinner at 12B. The response from chowtimes readers was overwhelming … a total of 36 people responded!

I truly had a problem on my hands!

You see, 12B had always limited the number of people on each night to twelve guests only. I had several discussions with Chef Todd over the large number of diner. At one stage we were seriously exploring the possibility to do an unprecedented mega-sized group of 18!

But one thing led to another, the group eventually whittled down to a nice size of 12. Two main factors were in play.

The available dates were limited. Chef Todd is fully booked for Friday/Saturday sittings right up till early June already. Although weekdays are available, it is very limited, So we were left with the less popular days of week. Not wanting to wait for a few months, we had to settle for a Sunday night — which proved to be unsuitable for some.

The other factor was the price … the price increase. Back in December, the “minimum donation” for 12B was $50. Mid-way through the planning, Chef Todd informed me that the “minimum donation” is not longer $50, but $65. Understandably, that did not sit down well with some people. Frankly, I was really embarrassed about it having to go back to the group about this hefty 30% increase. Needless to say I was quite unhappy to be forced to deal with this.

So, long story short … twelve of us finally ended up attending the dinner.

12B dinners are BYOB event. I am not an expert in wine and so I asked Glen at work for recommendations. I wanted something that is red and something light too since I flush up red very easily.

Glen recommended the Pinot Noir from Nk’Mip. So I went to the BC Liquor store on Cambie. Oh gosh, I had never been in that place before and was so surprised how big and fancy it is. They carry almost every kind of wine and beer you can imagine. Suanne and I felt kind of lost in there.

LOL! Suanne and I was complaining the lack of vowels in First Nations names. Nk’Mip … how do you pronounce it?

It turned out that the bottle was not opened at all. Not only because everyone brought liquor but Keev even brought four bottles.

Chef Todd told me that he checked chowtimes’ earlier review the day before and made sure that he does not serve the same thing that I had in my last visit. That was considerate of him. I did not even expect him to do that at all but he did.

Chef Todd told our group the same thing he told us in my first visit — that he tries to make different menu every night. I still find it hard to believe that anyone who have such a repertoire of dishes … but that is what he said.

Cream of asparagus soup with white wine and truffles “four ways” (truffle salt, oil, and, uh, a couple of other preparations)

Suanne and I had a great time chatting about food. The group are made up of pure foodies — he he he … not bloggers who sometimes go to restaurants just for the purpose of writing reviews on the blog. These guys and gals are all there for one thing and one thing only … the food.

Among the group was Michelle and her university professor husband. They had traveled widely around the world in search of food. Since they sat directly across from me, I spent the most time chatting with them. It is so amazing being able to talk about the well-known restaurants we had been to, particularly in Spain which was still very fresh in my memory.

halibut seared in brown butter, served on a jardinière brunoise and quinoa, with a fennel, orange and poppyseed salad on the side

There was also Joe and Anya. Joe is not just a foodie but his name is one that some of you will hear of more and more over time. He is beginning to start blogging together with Matt on vancouverslop.com!

So, I am going to take the short cut in this post and refer you to HIS post on this meal at 12B. His post is located on this link. Go check it out! He is going to be helping me on the next project which is the … More on following page. Click here to continue reading

X-Site Grill and Bistro on Hastings Near Intersection with Willingdon, Burnaby

It took us over a year to finally check out X-Site. We first came to be aware of X-Site when we posted our visit to the LA Grill in Richmond. Back then our readers were pointing out to us that LA Grill has the same concept with X-Site. So X-Site had been on our to-try list for a long time already but it has been so long that it dropped way down to the bottom of the priorities.

We had pretty much forgotten about X-Site until Novi left a note for us and reminded us of this place which serves $4.95 Lunch Specials.

Like Richmond’s LA Grill, X-Site is a gem of a place which everyone should take note of.

X-Site is located on Hastings in Burnaby. That is the thing — it is so far away from home otherwise we would have visited this place earlier.

Suanne and I went to X-Site for our Friday dinner date. You know, I really enjoy dinners like this to cap off the week … slow, unrushed and put work behind for the week.

Look at the interior above. You would not have guessed that they serve $5.95 Dinner Specials here. Where else could you get a $5.95 with choices like Top Sirloin Steak, Gourmet Burger, Chicken Souvlaki or Grilled Salmon? It is amazing to think how they can even make money at all.

But they had been doing this for many years already and that is why this place is so close to the hearts of many people.

The dining area is large and spacious. We expected X-Site to be very much like LA Grill but this is definitely much better and conducive for a nice dinner. The place is dim with the section at the back so dark I wonder how people are going to eat in that kind of condition.

We observed that the kitchen, bar and till was manned by Asians but all the servers are young pretty Caucasians. That stood out because it was exactly the same thing that was glaring when we were at LA Grill. No, no … it’s not a problem. It was just an observation which makes me think that beside the facade one could be very surprised who the people are behind the restaurant. Does any of our readers know if LA Grill and X-Site are run by Asians? Who are they?

Service was excellent. There is no difference from any other more expensive restaurants.

We meant to take our time for the dinner. You know, we wanted to order drinks and appy first before we decide what we want for mains and such. For a place that serves $5.95 dinners, I would somewhat understand if they want to turn the table as quickly as they can but we did not have such pressure at all.

Our waitress was perfectly fine and even asked if we wanted to just start with the drinks and appy first and decide on the rest of the meal later. We were impressed.

I ordered a 2 oz Martini called X-Site Perfect. Between Finlandia (vodkha) and Tangueray (gin), I asked for the gin. This is $5.50.

It was very strong. It was like drinking jet fuel. No, I did not like it at all.

For appetizers, we shared a plate of Garlic Prawns which is $6.95.

We were kind of dismayed with the size of the prawns but otherwise, this is great. The garlic bread is fragrant that you could smell the moment they brought it to the table. It was excellent and particularly good when we wipe that bread on the garlic butter and white wine sauce from the plate of the prawns.

Like I said, the size of the prawns was a disappointment but this was a very nice appetizer for us. Enjoyed this.

We did not get the $5.95 Dinner Specials because they are only available for Monday through Thursdays.

We decided to get a steak which costs $9.95. There were two choices: the NY Peppercorn Steak or the NY Teriyaki Steak. We thought that we try the Teriyaki Steak because Peppercorn sounded so common.

The New York Teriyaki Steak sauce is made with a blend of Japanese soya sauce, … More on following page. Click here to continue reading

Refuel on West 4th Ave, Vancouver

I had always wanted to go to Fuel and it was just for one thing. People had been raving about their fried chicken which they served only on Fridays. It is not that I like fried chicken a lot. I just want to find out what the big deal is and how Fuel could charge $21 for just three pieces of chicken.

Back then, the name of this West 4th Ave was Fuel. It had recently been renamed to Refuel. They closed for a few days for some renovation and reopened again as a lower priced establishment. And guess what. Fuel/Refuel retained their star fried chicken dish and serves this everyday now … and at a lower price too.

That’s a good thing. No matter how good the fried chicken are, I don’t think one can sustain justifying it at $21. Some things are not meant to cost that much no matter how good it is.  Just like Taiwanese Beef Noodles are not meant to cost $11 no matter how good it is, if you know what I mean.

Talking about TBNs … Gosh, I don’t know what it is with Chef Hung. Until today we are getting tons of traffic and is the #1 restaurant review of all time on chowtimes. The long lines are still there even today after all the bad reviews they had been getting. They must be doing something right somewhere.

Sorry, I digressed. Back to Refuel.

The loud music, warmth and aroma from the cooking hit us the moment we walked in. It was not ear drum splitting loud but was very noticeable having walked in from the quiet of the street outside. It’s kind of like walking in from another world.

They have an open kitchen which you could see the action if you are seated by the bar. It was only later after we had very much settled down that it occurred to us that it might be better to have a seat by the bar. We did not bother to switch since we were all setup already.

Refuel tagged themselves as the neighborhood restaurant and bar. Never been here and with thoughts of $21 fried chickens, I thought it would be like a place you hang out with friends … you know, kids unfriendly kind of place.

We were surprised to see there were families with kids and babies at two other tables.

Service was good as I well expected. Our server was cheerful and came by really quickly. It is our usual Friday date night and we took our sweet time to settle down. I decided to order the Vancouver Island Brewery. It is a dark beer, well balanced and smooth. Suanne just had water.

Their menu is small. It is just a 1-pager. There are only seven items on the Mains section with the rest of the menu dominated by snacks and starters. Go ahead and click on the menu above to show it in extra large size.

Our server explained that they have specials which are not on the menu. There were two specials that night which are sharing plates. The first is a Whole Confit Duck meant for 2-3 people and the other is an 18oz Steak for Two. We were so tempted to get the Whole Confit Duck but decided otherwise because it would mean us not ordering the fried chicken.

We stayed the course. The Confit Duck will have to be for another visit.

Refuel also had something called Whipped Lard in the snacks section of the menu. We did not order that but I thought it sounded kind of interesting.

Instead we had Piggy Puffs. That is $5 and is deep fried pork skin. It was interestingly served in a brown paper bag. We looked around for the tell tale oil stain on the paper bag. There wasn’t any. I only assumed that for $5, this is made fresh.

The Piggy Puffs were very crispy and crunchy but some part is very hard and impossible to chew through. For the most part it was good — just that it was not perfect all round.

The white Vinegar with Thai chili above is for drizzling onto the piggy puffs. It added a different flavour dimension to the snack which I thought was very nice.

Talking about Piggy Puffs. We have a pack of this at home too. This one is $1.50 and this actually tastes better. LOL!

So this is it … the famed Buttermilk Fried Polderside Chicken. It came with Jalapeno Biscuits, AJ’s Gravy and Coleslaw.

It is no longer $21. It is cheaper. It is now … More on following page. Click here to continue reading

White Spot on No 3 Road, Richmond

Disclosure
This post is written using a $10 gift card given by White Spot.

Suanne has a big collection of coupons like you never believe. She clips coupons from the papers diligently and stashes it in her small drawer. So we get a lot of them. Some of them are sent directly from businesses to us with the hope that we will write about it.

Over the Christmas holidays, Suanne took out all her coupons and checked the expiry dates. She knows that a lot of them expires at year end.

She found two from White Spot. There is a coupon for a free Legendary Burger Platter which is worth about $9 which Nanzaro got for doing some community work. We also had another gift card (with $10 value) which White Spot gave chowtimes.com four months ago when they were promoting the Pirate Pack.

So we decided to go and use them before they expire.

It had been very long while since we had been to White Spot. It must have been at least 5 years already. Which is kind of strange I guess for a Vancouver food blogger not to have written about a very successful Vancouver based chain.

White Spot started in 1928 and that make it over 80 years old. Given that long history, White Spot claim themselves to be the “oldest successful chain in North America”.

We went to the White Spot in No 3 Road and Ackroyd. There is another White Spot in the Richmond Center but we decided to go to this one which is bigger. Our boys did not want to go out because they were “too busy” … with their new PS3 games and notebook they got over Christmas. Nanzaro had always wanted to use the coupon for himself but this time he just said “It’s OK, mum. You just go ahead with dad.” — without taking his eyes from the video game.

We were rather surprised how busy White Spot is. There is a wait for tables despite that this restaurant is quite big. We are thinking that it could have been the holidays where people tends to eat out than cooking at home.

White Spot has a weekly Bar Specials. We ordered one of their frozen cocktails called the Mango Madness which costs $4. It is a frosty blend of mango and rum.

It was good. It was more mango than it was rum actually. I can tell because my face did not turn red.

I got a question. How do you get to the sugar at the rim of the glass? I mean, they provided a drinking draw. If they did not have the straw, then drinking straight from the glass makes sense. Do you drink from the straw and then lick the rim? Is that how you do that?

Suanne was hysterical when I did that and the people at the neighboring table laughed too. *shrug*

We got their biggest burger platter. It is called the … More on following page. Click here to continue reading

Teahouse in Stanley Park

Disclosure:
Suanne and I were invited by the Teahouse Restaurant to a personal tasting prepared by François Gagnon, the new executive chief. This meal is complimentary from the Teahouse Restaurant. However, it is written based on 100% of our own opinion and experience. Teahouse was ready for any questions we had but at no time provided us any additional info for the purposes of this review.

I think the disclosure above means a lot to our readers. Going forward Suanne and I will make sure we provide clear indication in case we have any freebies provided. We might not be able to go back to all our previous 1,500 posts to put in the disclosure statement but we will do so for every such post forward. With that out of the way …

When we were invited to Teahouse Restaurant, the first thing that came to my mind is to go take a picture of the Olympics ring from Brockton Point. It was totally dark and yet when we got there, we found that there were a few other photographers taking pictures from the same spot. The picture above is my HDR shot. It was hard to get this image made because of the long exposure time needed and that the barge where the Olympic rings are were not totally stationary.

Vancouver is simply stunning don’t you think?

We had been to the Teahouse before. We even blogged about it when it was then known as the Sequoia Grill at The Teahouse. They had dropped the Sequoia Grill name and reverted back to the name it was first opened over 30 years ago.

The Teahouse is located at the western end of the Stanley Park where it has a great view of the Burrard Inlet and West Vancouver. It is a perfect setting for spending a romantic time. Particularly during summer months, it is great to have a walk along the beach and see the sun set. It was too cold that night we were there three weeks ago.

The Teahouse used to be a military garrison during the World War II — believe it or not.

This picture of the Conservatory was taken from our old post

The Teahouse is divided into three sections known as the Tea Room, the Drawing Room and the Conservatory. The most spectacular room has to be all glass the Conservatory. On brighter days, it is quite awe-inspiring being surrounded by majestic trees on one side and the ocean on the other.

We were greeted at the door and they offered to take our coats. Not many places does this and it just gives us that feeling of impeccable service and exclusivity. What Suanne and I appreciated a lot during this meal is that they gave us the space to enjoy ourselves (he he he, without coming by every minute to make a pitch to us!). This restaurant has class and let the experience speak for itself.

We were very pleased with the table given to us. Scoping around the filled up dining room, it seems like this is the perfect table. It’s close to the fireplace and we had the best view of the ocean. On a better time, I am sure it would have been spectacular watching the sun set from this table.

We did not get wine although it would have been wonderful. Truth be told, we were unsure and so we stayed with just sparkling water, S. Pellegrino.

We were served baguette with butter. It was served warm but it was just a few slices — we like bread and so we asked for more bread throughout the meal. While the bread was crusty and unexpectedly light, it does not really shout out as great. It was just … well … good.

This we did not order. Our waiter, John who had been phenomenal that night, brought this amuse-bouche. He said that it is to get our taste bud going. We don;t know what this is called but as far as we can see, this is some spiced squid on sour creamy sauce and some grainy side.

For appetizers, I asked for the small portion ($9) Salt Spring Islang Mussels but John insisted that they are so good, I must have the full portion ($16).

This was every bit I expect it to be. The mussels were big. I just like them big and succulent.

The sauce was a tad bit too salty but tasty. It is made with white wine, basil and olive oil. Not wanting to waste perfectly great sauce, we asked for … More on following page. Click here to continue reading

12B Underground Kitchen

I was pretty stoked when I learned that the Vancouver Chowdown’ers were planning to visit 12B for the monthly chowdowns. The moment that the date was announced, I immediately responded and requested for two seats. Well, it was so popular that all the places were snapped up already. We were put on a waiting list in case someone pulls out at the last minute.

Just a week before the night of the supper at 12B, fmed (who organized this chowdown) informed me that there is one, and only one, seat that had just became available. Fmed asked if I am still interested. So instead of passing it up this chance, I went alone. Suanne was game enough to let me go alone (thanks honey!).

12B is an Underground Kitchen and is run by Chef Todd. A couple of days before the dinner, I called Chef Todd asking for permission to write about 12B. He was agreeable but did lay down some ground rules. I could write about anything but I must help protect his anonymity.

So I can’t tell you where 12B is. If I tell you, I have to kill you. Let’s just say that it is located somewhere in Vancouver. I was only given the address of 12B days before the dinner. And that too, I was only informed via individual email of the location. Such secrecy!

Chef Todd hosts 6 to 12 people each night. Twelve is about the maximum number of people he could fit in comfortably. There is only one sitting for everyday he works the kitchen.

At a glance I was wondering how Chef Todd could fit twelve people in the two long tables but we could actually fit all twelve guests quite snuggly.

I think if Chef Todd wants to, he could fit in more in the adjacent lounge. But I think twelve is all he could manage. After all he is a one man show who does everything …

… and it is not just cooking. I did not realize how much work it is for just one person to run the whole operation. I am just amaze thinking about it. Oh … that is Chef Todd at the end of the corridor playing the role of the reception welcoming his guests.

I can imagine his job description reads as follows:

• cooks
• takes reservation
• entertains
• wash dirty dishes
• mops the floor
• reception
• interior designer
• menu planner
• shopping
• serves

When I called him at 10AM in the morning, he was already working preparing for the dinner that night. He said that he works pretty much a 16 hour day.

12B is tastefully decorated with some nice art pieces. The event starts at 8PM. Being one who normally have dinner at 5-6PM, this is considered a really late dinner to me.

The only person I know personally at this dinner is fmed. Some of the rest I know of their names from hanging out at the Vancouver Chowdown forum. So it was kind of awkward in the beginning especially in the presence of such accomplished foodies. These chowdown foodies sure knows the restaurant and food industry like the back of their hand. They would talk about who owns what restaurant, who fought with who and went their separate ways, the secret techniques used by certain chef and all that kind of stuff.

You know, I think these guys should start a food blog on their own given all their knowledge.

When everyone is assembled. Chef Todd burst into the room and declared that “smoking is mandatory”. It is his way of saying that “make yourself at home”.

It is a BYOB event too. Almost every one brought a bottle. So there were a lot of wine to go around the whole night. I thought it was a nice touch to sip wine from mason jars. Small touches like this sets the casual tone for the night.

Chef Todd’s kitchen is just next to the dining area. It is roomy for one chef and he keeps it very well organized.

The guests keeps popping into the kitchen to chat with him. He was very accommodating even though he was working non stop all the time. There are not many chances where one gets to observe the chef preparing the meal.

I guess you will also notice the same thing I did when I saw his stove. It does look unremarkable isn’t it? Why … even one of the knobs were broken. He keeps a plier handy in case he needs the knob. Go on … click on the pictures above in case you are curious as to the kind of sauces and herbs that Chef Todd uses.

One thing that surprises me was that Chef Todd varies his menu everyday. I thought it would be easy for him to just repeat his menu for at least a period of time. Given that weekend reservations are booked solid right through February next year and the limited number of guests he can host every night, the chances of returning guests are very slim.

Dinner was served at 9PM. I was way past hungry at that time. I did not realize it would start that late. For some reason, no one asked about what is being served for the night. It is like Omakase — we trusted Chef Todd to surprise us.

Here comes the food … More on following page. Click here to continue reading

The Cannery Seafood House on Commissioner Street, Vancouver

It’s such a shame.

It’s such a shame that such a fine restaurant like The Cannery are forced to close through no fault of theirs.

Last week, I had a week long strategy planning session with our core project members who came from several countries. The meetings were grueling to say the least. On the last day of the meeting, it rested upon me to organize a team dinner. I love planning dinners like these and chose one of the best place one could go to for such team dinners — The Cannery.

If you have never heard of The Cannery, you will never accidentally bump into this place. It is because it is located out of way. As a matter of fact, it is located right in the middle of the Vancouver Port.

To get to The Cannery you need to clear the port security although it is generally no fuss. They will ask where you are going and they will let you through if you just say you are going to The Cannery.

It will feel kind of weird because located in the middle of warehouses, silos and train tracks is a restaurant very unlike what you will find elsewhere in Vancouver.

The moment we walked, my guests were already remarking how this place exudes the old-fashioned attractiveness and charm. When I told them this place will close in just a few months, they said the same thing … “what a shame”. That is said even before we had started eating.

Gail was saying that they can never replace a place like this. They can’t just close this and hope to reopen it in another place with the same experience. Sha said that it will never be the same again. I agree.

You really got to see this place for yourself. I felt it is just the perfect restaurant for just about any occasion. There are nice little corner with the view of the Burrard Inlet for a nice cozy romantic dinner. At another corner is a casual setting at the fire place.

We got ourselves a very nice corner for our group of 13 people. I could not be happier myself. :-)

Our waitress was a cheerful person and knows the food and drinks they serve very well. Too well, because she rattled off such a long description of the martini that most of us just did not understand what we got. Most of us had that martini “with a dash of raspberry” you see on the right.

We had a few bottles of wines to accompany the food. One of them was Syrah which they all raved about. I had the strong red wine but really, I can’t tell the difference between this vs other red wine. Our waitress offered someone in our party to taste it before they are poured for the rest of us.

Looking at the number of bottles we ordered throughout the night, I can imagine how much this is all gonna cost. Good thing I am not the one who had to expense it!

It was very dim in the restaurant. I had to push the ISO setting to “enhanced” in order take these pictures. Even that, it came out with motion blur for some picture. But really, am glad it turn out mostly OK even with these difficult lightings.

The bread was nothing to shout about and does not wow us at all. I had tasted better … but …

… the lobster oil with the balsamic vinegar pretty much made up for the ho-hum bread. This is produced and bottled in Vancouver and is the invention of their Executive Chef. You can actually buy them at $25 a bottle (see here).

I had a lot of the bread with this dip.

Their menu is laid out as “first course” and “second course” instead of the normal Appetizer and Main.

My first course is the Roasted Mussels ($16). The mussels was kind of OK — no big deal. It was served on a sizzling cast iron pan resting on an iron stand. The better part was not the mussels but the gravy and the really crispy bread.

Here are some of the other first courses that the others in our party ordered. The Cannery’s first courses are … More on following page. Click here to continue reading