Dinner at Rangoli

Last Saturday evening our out-of-town guests wanted Indian cuisine, and we wanted to show them something uniquely Vancouver, with the constraint that the destination had to be baby-friendly. Rangoli was the obvious choice (http://www.vijsrangoli.ca/index.html). It was a beautiful evening, but unfortunately, we had to sit inside as the patio was already full by just after 5 when we arrived. However, this was our only disappointment that evening.

We started with four shared appetizers: the savory chaat, the lamb, beef, and lentil kebabs, the sautéed tomatoes and purple onions, and the cauliflower, spinach, onion and potato pakoras. All four were very tasty (not a scrap was left on any of the plates), but my personal favorite was the sautéed tomatoes, purple onions, and paneer. It had buttery undertones that give it a lovely richness. And it went marvelously with the Joie Riesling I was drinking.

For mains I chose the tamarind and yogurt marinated grilled chicken, and Chris had the spiced and marinated tilapia. Our guests had the beef and broccoli in spicy onion-tomato masala and the grilled eggplant with chick peas. The chicken was very flavorful with only a light bit of spice. The sprout salad it was served with crunchy and fresh, the legumes only slightly sprouted. Chris’s tilapia was a perfect example of what Vij does best, take Indian techniques and spices and marry them with unusual ingredients. It was creamy and flavorful, yet with a lightness befitting tilapia. Our guests’ dishes were also well received, although one wished that the beef and broccoli (a combination that I assume was inspired by/in homage to the large east asian population here in Vancouver) had been served with rice.

We ended our meal with chai and dessert, all of us opting for the same coconut pudding. It was a fairly thin pudding with great fresh coconut flavor, which, for those unfamiliar with fresh coconut, is quite different from what many in North America think of as coconut; it is much less sweet, intense, and overpowering than dried coconut, even when unsweetened. It was a nice summery dessert, although I think that in winter I might like something a bit more substantial.

Rangoli also sells packaged meals, and I purchased several on our way out the door. They are now sitting in our freezer for days when we don’t have time to cook. I will report on these as we eat them.

My one real complaint about the place is the lack of any place to change diapers. There are no changing tables in the washrooms, and the countertops are too narrow to use. It is a very family-friendly restaurant, and so I find this quite disappointing. Vancouver is a town full of young families, many of whom (at least among our friends and acquaintances) are eager to expose their children to a variety of food experiences (and do not want to stay home all the time simply because they have children). For this reason only I'm giving Rangoli 3 thumbs, (2 from Chris, 1 from me).

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.

Two Chefs and a Table

Two Chefs and A Table (www.twochefsandatable.com), one of Vancouver’s newest restaurants, is very aptly named: the room is dominated by a large communal table in the middle, and on a recent visit, for most of the evening we saw only two people in the open kitchen. Here, the focus is squarely on the food, a welcome change from many restaurants in town seemingly more concerned with the latest trends in interior design and food techniques than in flavor.

It is located in an up-and-coming (i.e., questionable) neighborhood, and doesn’t stand out much from the outside. But inside is another story. It is a simple but inviting space with beautiful dark wood floors, wooden walls painted white, and simple chandeliers. We entered and were immediately greeted by a very friendly host, who as it turned out, was also the lone server. She gave us our choice of tables, and we selected the one in the corner at the window. We were warned about the possible ‘entertainment’ outside, but it turned out to be a quiet evening. Menus and waters arrived very quickly.

The menu is built around local seasonal ingredients, with the chefs concentrating on only a few dishes each day. The result of this is a rather minimal menu. There are only a few starters and mains to chose from, but everything is very reasonably priced, with the starters around $10 and the mains under $20. There is also a five-course chef’s table, which on the evening we were there was priced at $44. The wine list is similarly brief, as well as reasonably priced. They do have a few extra off-list wines available, including champagne, but that evening we ordered off the regular list.

Thinking about our early courses, we each started with a glass of white wine. I had a Pinot Gris from Lang and Chris ordered a Gewürztraminer from See Ya Later (both BC). The Gewurtz was redolent of tropical fruit, and lovely to drink, while the Pinto Gris was much cleaner, acidic and with a slight minerality. An amuse arrived shortly after the wine: gnocchi topped with their crème fraiche and house cured salmon. The gnocchi was a little large and not dense enough (I never thought I’d say that about gnocchi), to the point where they barely hung together. But the crème fraiche was refreshing, and the salmon was fabulous, with very intense salmon flavor.

The first course was a fresh salad of shaved asparagus and fresh goat cheese. Overall, it was a very successful dish, although Chris found the asparagus to be a little bitter, and I agree that it might have benefited from a quick blanching. The Pinot Gris was a great match for the salad, nicely cutting through the fat in the cheese and standing up to the asparagus, but as you might anticipate, the Gewurtz was less complementary. (Asparagus is notoriously tricky to pair.)

The next course was a vegetable risotto. The rice was cooked to a perfect toothsome texture. It was not Arborio rice. It might have been carnaroli (based on the look and the texture). It was a little drier and not as creamy as the risottos I am used to, but it had a nice overall flavor.

The third course was duck rillettes served with rounds of dry French bread (hard to describe, purposely dry, but not toasted), carmelized onions, and a tart berry compote. We both love rillettes (how can you not?), and thoroughly enjoyed these.

The red wine we were by now drinking, the Sand Hill Merlot, went well with the rillettes, although we selected it mostly for our mains. Chris ordered the duck breast and I had a tenderloin. My steak was cooked exactly as I ordered it. The vegetables on the side were crisp and the sauces served with both meats were excellent, aromatic and highly flavorful. Unfortunately, the duck was a little overcooked, not completely well done and dry, but overcooked nonetheless. It was also served in a beautiful but impractical dish that made it impossible to cut anything without the dish tipping. But we had no complaints about its flavor. (I must admit that I am guilty of culinary heresy. I like my duck cooked more than is the standard, but in most places am reluctant to ask for it cooked as I like it. If I had known the duck would be cooked as much as it was, I would have ordered that instead.)

Desert consisted of little French toasts made with French bread with lightly caramelized peach slices, jasmine plum ice cream and a little bit of the same berry compote served with the rillettes. I am not usually a French toast fan as I find it too eggy, but I liked theirs. I loved the ice cream; the flavors were so subtle and delicate. In fact, I liked every component of the dish, and that was the problem. It was a plate full of components served on top of each other. The flavors didn’t clash or conflict, but neither did they necessarily compliment. It was good but not great.

Overall the meal was a success. It’s clear that the dishes are not things that the chefs have been putting out day after day after day, and so have perfected. Instead, they are the inspired creations of the day. What they lack in polish however, they make up for in spirit. And the prices here are unbeatable, at least for now. We made reservations but didn’t need them. But I expect that may change soon. In the main, service was great, it was friendly and prompt, our water glasses were filled continuously, and we felt very welcomed. It was a little less efficient when a large table arrived near the end of our meal occupying the server (no check on the main course), but given the size and newness of the place, it made sense to only have a single server overseeing the room. My main complaint was actually a large bouquet of flowers in the windowsill near our table. It offered a nice touch of color to the place, but the perfume was overpowering to those sitting close to it, not a good thing when eating good food and drinking good wine.

There were a lots of hits and a few misses. In the end, we are very enthusiastic about Two Chefs and a Table. We will definitely go back. Note: they didn't have any vegetarian main options on the menu, but I suspect that the chefs would be more than happy to put something together just for you if that's what you wanted.

3 very happy thumbs!

The Galley Patio & Grill

After a bit of a travel ‘adventure’ I finally arrived back in Vancouver yesterday afternoon. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say I was very happy to land, and even happier when my suitcase arrived. (It had been directed to Goose Bay by accident – YVR, YYR, whatever…) It was nearing 4 o’clock, and neither of us had eaten lunch, so Chris proposed that we go and grab something to eat. The suggested destination was the restaurant at Jericho beach. A fantastic idea on a beautiful Vancouver day.

The Galley (www.thegalley.ca) is the restaurant at the Jericho Sailing Centre (www.jsca.bc.ca). It is an order-at-the-counter self-serve place with plastic baskets instead of plates. The menu is pretty basic: burgers, sandwiches, salads, fries, things of that sort. They do have vegetarian options. Essentially, it’s a basic pub-style menu appropriate to the venue. It is licensed, and they have a small but decent selection of local beers and wines. [They even have the La Frenz viognier, something the winery itself if out of (www.lafrenzwinery.com)- see my earlier posts on our visit to the Naramata Bench.] But the real reason for going there is the patio. It has one of the best views out there. Not a people-watching view, a spectacular, remind-you-how-lucky-you-are-to-be-in-Vancouver sort of view. And no fancy furniture. Just plain old plastic patio chairs and tables, which, be warned, are often a little unstable. (So hold on to your beers!) It was just what I needed after my travel travails.

Although I said you don’t go there for the food, don’t take from my statement that the food isn’t worth eating. Most of it is quite good. Nothing spectacular, but better than many places with much less in the way of views. I ordered the basic Angus burger with cheese, and Chris had the Jamaican jerk chicken burger. Both come with fries and are around $10 each. We also each ordered a beer. They have 12 and a 16 oz sized beers, which I like, because 16 is too big for me. (Yesterday I forgot about the smaller size until after we already had our beers.) The angus burger was perfectly fine. Not the best burger I’ve ever had, but certainly something I’d order again. The fries were well cooked, possibly overcooked for some, but perfect for my tastes. Chris’s jerk chicken burger was disappointing. All heat and no flavor. The heat was not an issue, as he loves hot, but the lack of flavor was. There was a lot of mayo on the burgers, but I’m sure that you could order them without. (Something Chris often does but forgot about yesterday.) We usually have the buffalo burgers, which have always been good, so maybe the jerk was a little out of their wheelhouse. We’ve also had the nachos on a previous visit, which were OK. The onion rings at the next table looked amazing, and I plan to try them on our next visit.

In sum, it’s pretty much as advertised. A basic venue with a great view and more than decent food and drink. And you can feel good about supporting a great community resource (the Sailing Centre). Dress casual; it's on the beach.

3 thumbs up.