By shokutsu on December 23, 2008 - 5:47pm
Go to where you know. In this case, it could apply to one’s stable consideration set of restaurants when heading out to have a meal. It may be formed by factors such as proximity convenience, local knowledge of the geographic area, familiarity with the chef/cook/menu, or just simply knowing that you or your dining companions have had satisfying eating experiences there in the past. With this latter point, just how far back should one go back in time? One month? A year? Perhaps more?
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/sun-sui-wah-seafood-restauran...
By shokutsu on December 22, 2008 - 12:46am
Song Huong is one of the rare Vietnamese restaurants in Vancouver that offers Bo 7 Mon….actually, it could be the only one. The other two that I know about are now long gone. The last time I had this dish in Vancouver was at a restaurant which has now been annexed to become a part of Les Faux Bourgousie , the new, hip, and oddly located French restaurant on Kingsway.
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/song-huong/
By shokutsu on December 13, 2008 - 12:24am
Wang Ga Ma Restaurant is located in a U-shaped strip mall complex that houses the popular Han Ah Reum (or H-Mart) Korean supermarket chain, just off North Road as you enter the city of Coquitlam. At the H-Mart, its easy to satisfy one’s hunger through the ready-to-eat food items in this market - from the take away kimbap rolls, sets of nigiri sushi, and other Korean fast foods available from the in-store kitchen located along the east wall of the building. I’ve previously dined in some of the restaurants in this same strip mall (Blue Sea Seafood) and general area (Insadong, House of Tofu Soup). But there are still others that I have yet to step inside of, and on this occasion, I was able to strike another one off the hit list.
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/wang-ga-ma-restaurant-coquitl...
By shokutsu on December 8, 2008 - 12:17am
I love Italian cuisine, but I am often torn when it comes to dining out. Mainly because it usually involves the see saw battle between a) unpretentious, affordable, in a casual environment but poor to average tasting; and b) fantastic recipes, skilled preparation and beautiful presentation though more expensive and in much more formal settings. So I was cautiously optimistic when I received a friend’s suggestion one night when I was looking for a delicious but reasonably priced pasta/pizza dine-in option in Kitsilano, after spending the previous ten days in Hong Kong and wanting to avoid anything Cantonese.
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/presto-cucina-vancouver-bc/
By shokutsu on December 5, 2008 - 12:48pm
In stark contrast to the monolith that is the Starbucks empire of coffee shops, the Salt Spring Coffee Co. boasts a mere four outlets in its entirety, all of which are based in the province of British Columbia. And this is for a company that was first started in 1996. Priding themselves on being mindful of fair trade and organics when it comes to the whole coffee bean-to-cup continuum, and the values of sustainability while still creating a good cup of coffee, it’s clear they are operating at an entirely different level from the Seattle-based mega brand. Their outlet on the beautiful University of British Columbia campus on the western edge of Vancouver would seem to be representative of their vision. Wedged within a new residential area, nestled next to a community centre and a spacious playground, with its wooden chalet-like design and relaxed atmosphere, and customers inside usually a mix of energetic students, teaching faculty taking a break, and of course nearby residents and their children - the building is very welcoming to one and all, and does not feel at all like a commercial enterprise.
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/salt-spring-coffee-co-vancouv...
By shokutsu on November 30, 2008 - 11:13am
As everyone knows, the food service industry is a tough business. Restaurants pop up suddenly, have their time in the sun, and many burn out before being able to establish a strong customer base. Fickle trends, demanding diners, general economics and others, all factor into the success or failure of any food establishment. Much like the productive lifetime of a professional athlete, restaurants are lucky to get a few good years before having to re-invent themselves, increase their appeal, and stay on the rails towards positive business growth. By marking their twentieth year of operations since creating their first desserts-only-desserts-restaurant in downtown Vancouver, True Confections continues to build their following and has clearly ridden out the tough early years, and has been one of the lucky, long lasting food enterprises in the city. It is all the more amazing, considering their concept, of limiting their offerings to the dessert menu.
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/11/30/true-confections-vancouver-bc...
By shokutsu on November 9, 2008 - 1:42am
On my recent visit to the neighboring city of Coquitlam when I dined at the satisfying Blue Sea, I spotted Insadong at the intersection of North Road and Lougheed Highway, as I was making the return drive home. If you’ve ever been to Coquitlam, perhaps you’ll feel as I did and think that a large part of this reported Korean population in the Vancouver CMA is all based here, given the prevalence of so many Korean businesses and signs in Hangul. Frankly, it could easily rival the likes of the Wilshire/Hancock Park neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and the Shin-Okubo area in Tokyo, for having a densely concentrated Korean community that manages to exist in its own little bubble all within another country’s society. A bit surprising, considering the small percentage of the population that are Korean.
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/insadong-coquitlam-bc/
By shokutsu on November 5, 2008 - 12:33am
Sunshine Restaurant was my opponent on this evening, innocently lulling me in with an Ali-like rope-a-dope as I drove by and spotted the brightly lit open sign still on. With easy parking access right in front, like a moth to a flame, I calmly walked in and easily got a free table. A few members of the staff were sitting at one as well, which probably should have been my cue to do a quick 180 - as you know things can be well when the workers are lounging about where customers normally should be. Seeing a large menu board that was filled with drink items such as fruit smoothies, other hot and cold beverages, and bubble tea plastered above the main counter, I wondered what limitations there would be with the food.
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/sunshine-restaurant/
By shokutsu on November 3, 2008 - 1:22am
After initially having some difficulty finding Athene’s courtesy of my lackadaisical reliance on Google Maps, we found our way to the front entrance on a late weekday evening. Right away, the dimly lit interior and relaxed atmosphere made me feel as if we were being welcomed into the living room of a beloved heritage home. Inside, the place was already abuzz with a few full tables of diners as we were led to an empty table by the front window. Perhaps it was the absence of strong interior lighting and the fact that it was past 8pm already, but I did not get a sense of that tacky, white-everywhere-on-the-walls style of decor that seems to be the aesthetic of choice in too many North American Greek restaurants.
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/athenes-vancouver-bc/
By shokutsu on November 1, 2008 - 12:06am
The House of Dosas is located in an easily recognizable space, in a one-story building on the corner of Kingsway and Knight Street. With large inviting windows with minimal coverings, you can’t help but notice it when driving by, especially when stopped at the lights of that intersection. A friend of mine had mentioned that she had seen it and said we must make a visit one day, and as luck would have it, a group of us were up for an impromptu weekday dinner gathering. I was just hoping the dosas would be as great as the ones I had for my daily breakfast this past spring in Trivandrum, located on the southern tip of India.
Continued w/pics...
http://foodosophy.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/house-of-dosas-vancouver-bc/
