Gyoza King

Most people’s idea of Japanese food is sushi, and certainly Vancouver is a great place to find fresh high quality sushi. But there is much more to Japanese food, as we have discovered at places the likes of Gyoza King, an izakaya at 1508 Robson street.

Izakayas are bars with food, usually small plates made for sharing. (Think tapas, Japanese style.) The first time we went we were lucky enough to go with some friends, one of whom had lived in Japan. It’s an extensive menu, and most of the items are unfamiliar. We let him pick the food that evening, a wise choice. He introduced us to things we likely would not have tried otherwise, but which we fell in love with and now order on our own. Our favorite is oden, a wonderfully light flavorful broth with a variety of things, such as boiled eggs, daikon, and surimi cakes, in it. It is a must-try item. You can order individual items in broth, or a five- or seven-item bowl, where the choices are fixed. The first time we had it we tried the seven-item bowl, but on this visit we had the five, and as it turns out, we prefer the five. (If I could tell you what the things are in the broth I would, but I can’t. Just take the plunge, you’ll be glad you did.)

Among the unfamiliar items are a variety of things cooked in foil packets, such as mushrooms and scallops. I am always reluctant to order these, as they don’t sound particularly appetizing, but am always happy afterwards. On this visit we had the mushrooms, and as usual, I couldn’t stop eating them. We also ordered their house pickles, which are quick pickles that change regularly. This visit it was mostly pickled napa cabbage, spicy and nicely crunchy.

They also have many of the more familiar Japanese dishes: sashimi (but no sushi), yakitori, karage, and, as one might imagine, gyoza (there are six different kinds), to name a few. Their gyoza are indeed tasty. We had two orders on this visit, prawn and vegetable. FYI: they do not bring gyoza sauce with your order, it’s already on the table. Another one of our favorites, and a must have is the agedashi tofu. I love agedashi tofu. Chris occasionally likes it. He always likes it here. Translation – you need not be a tofu person to appreciate this dish. The bonito ribbons on top are like nothing I’ve ever experienced. They almost dance on your tongue, literally, not just figuratively. (Note, the pieces of tofu are covered in a batter that is slightly heavier than is typical for agedashi, but despite that, it is still a very light dish.)

We have been to other izakayas in town, but Gyoza King is our favorite. It is not flashy or trendy, just good, authentic (according to our various friends who have lived in Japan), reasonably priced food. Be sure to check out the specials when you’re there too. There’s always something there that tempts us.

They have a decent selection of sakes and beers, as well as cocktails.

4 thumbs!



Want great gyoza without crossing a bridge? Check out Jun Sushi at 3309 W. Broadway. They only have two kinds (pork and veggie) but it's really great gyoza, made fresh on the premises (sometimes just for you!).

Vera's Burger Shack (Kitsilano)

It was one of those fabulous Vancouver summer days in mid-September, sunny and warm, the beaches full despite it being a week day, and I had a burger craving. Usually we would just fire up the grill – Chris does a mean burger – but that day we decided we should take advantage of the weather and head out on the town on our bikes.

Vera’s Burger Shack (www.verasburgershack.com/home.html) on Cornwall was the evening’s chosen destination. Neither of us had eaten at a Vera’s before, but burger reviews have been popping up all over the place recently, with Vera’s getting good reviews in most. So it seemed like a perfect opportunity.

There was a line when we arrived, a good sign, but it moved quickly, another good sign. We each ordered the Vera burger, I with ‘the usual suspects’ toppings plus pickles, and Chris with the usual suspects plus pickles, bacon, and grated cheddar cheese. I comboed mine with a drink and fries (intended for sharing), along with a side of gravy, and Chris had a beer. The prices are very reasonable: we got all of that for around $25.00. So already we were happy.

When we ordered there were two clerks, as soon as we paid one left, and our clerk moved over to the other till. This shouldn’t be anything of note, except that he did so without giving me my soft drink cup or Chris his beer. We had to stand there for several minutes before we could get his attention and sort this out. Seating turned out to be a little precarious. There were more than enough open seats for all the patrons, but almost half of the table/counter spots were piled high with dirty baskets, etc. (They seemed to be a little understaffed for the weather.) We joined previous patrons in pushing aside the remains of someone else’s meal, and got ourselves two seats by the window, enjoying our drinks in the sun.

The food was ready quite quickly, and I instantly understood the great reviews Vera’s consistently gets. The patties were well seasoned and perfectly cooked, the vegetables fresh, and the sauces not too heavy. There’s not much more to say than that. A good burger is a good burger, and harder to find than one might think. The portion of thin crispy fries was generous, more than enough for sharing. (We didn’t manage to finish a single order between the two of us.) The gravy was that perfect-on-fries fake beef gravy with an almost iridescent sheen to it, a perfect dipping sauce for the fries. (Don’t get me wrong, I love high end dining – the best meal I’ve had in Vancouver yet was last December at West – but I think that if you really appreciate food, you recognize perfection at all ends of the food spectrum, from hole-in-the-wall diners to Michelin star holders. Despite what folks here think after eating high-end poutine at places like Feenie’s, real poutine, the kind you get at chip trucks in Ottawa and Montreal, always has that kind of gravy, and just doesn’t taste right if it doesn’t.)

In sum, great burgers. We definitely left happy customers (and well fortified for our hill-climb homeward). If the place had been cleaner, they’d get 4 thumbs, because the food deserves them, but in the end, I have to judge a restaurant by the whole experience (and piles of garbage on tables are a definite negative).

3 thumbs.

Dim Sum at Sun Sui Wah on Main

We love dim sum. It is our preferred ‘Sunday brunch’, and we’ve eaten dim sum in more cities than I can remember. It’s always interesting to see the differences in what is served and how. Is there a congee cart? Are there vegetable dumplings, gai lan, noodle dishes? Do you get smooth chili sauce or oily? What about hot mustard? Does the table setting include bowls? Is there soya sauce on the table? All of these things vary by city, likely due to differences in immigration patterns.

When I last lived here the place to go for dim sum was the Pink Pearl on E. Hastings, but times have changed and the last time we went there we were very disappointed. But this did not discourage us; we were fairly confident that there was still good dim sum to be had in the city, we just had to find it. The trouble is, the usual cues are not as valid in Vancouver – in this very multi-cultural city other white faces are not necessarily a sign to stay away.

I am happy to report that we have found a new favorite spot – Sun Sui Wah on Main (http://www.sunsuiwah.com/e-about-1.html). They have the usual sui mai, ha gow, sticky rice, and steamed pork buns. Making us very happy, they also had our favorite which can be hard to come by in some places – steamed bean curd skin rolls. As always, we tried a few new things, and especially liked the scallop dumpling soup. (I think a better translation might have been scallop soup with dumplings, since the scallop was in the broth and the single large dumpling was not filled with scallop. But it was tasty.) They also have one of the largest selections of desert items I’ve ever seen at dim sum. I am not a big desert eater, and generally am even less enthusiastic about Chinese deserts. But in the spirit of trying new things at new places, we tried the mango pancakes one on the advice of one of the hosts. They’re little pillows consisting of a thick crepe/thin spongy pancake-like thing filled with fresh mango slices and whipped cream. The mango was so flavorful it reminded me of eating them fresh in the tropics. I think if we weren’t already so full, we would have ordered another plate of them! We highly recommend these.

The variety of items was not as wide as our favorite place (http://restaurantpeony.com/) in our ‘other’ city (particularly in terms of items with vegetables), but the food was tasty, and the service very friendly.

4 thumbs.

Bayswater Tea Co.

It is suddenly clear that my favorite time of year, fall, is quickly approaching if not fully upon us already. The change brings with it thoughts of all things warm and comforting, braises, long simmered stews and soups, and warm comforting drinks such as hot apple cider, hot chocolate, and tea.

Long before we knew much of anything about wine, we drank tea, a habit we maintain. Luckily, good lose tea is not as hard to come by here as in other places we’ve lived. (We used to have to order our tea from the Upton Tea Company in New England, www.uptontea.com/shopcart/home.asp, which has a great tea selection and good customer service. It’s just hard to smell the tea through the mail.) There are a few stores here in Vancouver where we purchase tea, but the one we buy from most often is the Bayswater Tea Co. (www.bayswatertea.com) on West Broadway.

A few weeks ago I sat down for a chat (over some tea of course) with the owner, Sabrina Fass, to find out more about her, tea, and the store. I was very interested in what would motivate such a young person to spend all her time around tea, something many of us associate with visits to Grannie or the stuffiness of high tea at places like the Empress Hotel in Victoria.

She first discovered her passion for tea in Germany. She was there for a year studying joinery. Like any student, caffeine was a necessity, but she didn’t want to buy an expensive coffee pot that she wouldn’t be able to bring back home, so she bought a stove-top kettle for tea instead. She quickly discovered that there’s more to tea than the boxes on supermarket shelves that we are most familiar with here. (Although that has changed. The next time you’re in a grocery store, check out the tea selection! It’s a far cry from the lonely three or four brands of orange pekoe available when I was a child.) She explored the wide variety of high quality teas available at the local tea stores there and fell in love. And so what started as an economic decision became a passion for her.

When she came back from Germany she found it more difficult to enter carpentry than she expected, as her training there didn’t count towards her papers here. She briefly thought about starting her own company, but research proved that to be prohibitively expensive. One day she and a friend who was an amateur herbalist were chatting, and the idea to open a store specializing in teas and herbs came to her. Her challenge to her friend “we’re 23 years old, what do we have t lose but money.” That conversation was the beginning of a store called Herbal Bliss, located at 10^th and Alma. According to Fass, starting that store was a trial by fire. It was difficult in the beginning, but they eventually got the hang of running their own business, and by the time the end of their 5 year lease was approaching, she was ready for more.

As it turned out, her friend wanted to go in a different direction with her life, and about that time there were changes in the regulations governing sales of herbs in the province, leaving just Sabrina and the tea side of the operation. So she set out to do more research, investigating the demographics of various neighborhoods, trying to find one that would suit the kind of store she wanted to run, and the Bayswater Tea Co. on W. Broadway was born.

It’s been just over three years since the store opened and she still loves it. She not only loves tea, she also truly enjoys helping customers discover tea. Like any good tea store, customers are encouraged to smell teas before buying them. No prepackaged cartons here. And with over 250 teas in the store, there really is something for everyone, from black teas to rooibos (which incidentally, is one of her favorites) and everything in between. The staff do tastings so they know the products they are selling. And all of them care as much as she does about matching teas with individual palates.

For personal consumption Fass tends to rotate teas, drinking black in the morning and rooibos in the afternoon/evening. As she put it “each tea brings something different to your body so it’s good to cycle. It’s like saying broccoli is good for you, but are you going to only eat broccoli?”

I was struck by what she said about why tea is so relaxing. It’s about the time commitment: you have to take some time out of your day to make tea. You have to take the time to boil the water, pour it in the pot, and wait as it steeps. You can’t just push a button on a machine and out comes tea. (Maybe that’s why I find French press coffee more relaxing and decadent, it too requires monitoring and attention. Cappuccino, by contrast, which also takes time and effort, involves turbulence and violent action which may reinforce the energetic and vigorous effect of coffee.) Speaking of which, I think hear the kettle boiling…