Rangoli

Today was a very typical late November day in Vancouver, grey and wet. As usual, the skies couldn’t decide between rain and misty drizzle. Ignoring the weather as Vancouverites do, we headed out to do some shopping. An hour or two later we found ourselves tired and hungry. And too close to Rangoli not to try it for lunch (www.vijsrangoli.ca/).

It’s a perfectly pleasant space, not as rich and opulent as the restaurant next door, but just fine for a quick, casual lunch. Although the covered outdoor space was open, we opted for inside. (I really dislike outdoor spaces that are heated, especially in such a self-professed green-conscious city.) The menu is compact, but with enough variety for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. We opted to share an order of the Cauliflower, Spinach, Onion and Potato Pakoras with daal to start. The pakoras were tasty, just enough chick-pea flour batter to hold the vegetables together, perfectly crispy and not at all greasy. I don’t know if it was me or the weather or just how hungry we were, but the mint chuntey served alongside was the best I’ve ever had, perfectly fresh mint with slight sweetness and just the right touch of spiciness. The daal (chana, I believe) was topped with fresh spinach which added an unexpected dimension of taste and texture.

For our mains, we both decided on the Tilapia on vegetable rice pilaf. The menu says that it is ‘in a creamy tomato, onion, ginger, and cilantro broth’. I would argue with the use of the word broth to describe the liquid. It was not thin, nor did it (as I imagined) surround the rice in a bowl. Terminology aside, it was delicious. Incredibly rich and creamy. Chris quickly finished his, and I ate until beyond full it was so good. It was a perfect example of the genius of Vij’s cooking. Familiar Indian ingredients and techniques combined in novel ways, often with local products, to produce wonderful dishes beyond anything usually found in South Asian restaurants.

We also thought that the service was quite good. Waters arrived quickly, as did our food, although not so quickly as to make us feel rushed. The only thing time I felt like we were waiting was when we were ready to pay – it took a very long time for anyone to come by and pick up our card. Besides being generally efficient, the staff was friendly and personable. One server spent a great deal of time with the table next to us answering questions about Vij’s operations. It also seems to be a pretty family friendly place. We were seated near a large table with numerous small children. It was the only table available when we were seated, and they did offer us a table around the corner when one became available, but we opted to stay put. Their concern was not only for those seated near the children, however, they also seemed quite attuned to the needs of the diners with children. The children were, well, they were young children, and waiting patiently for long periods of time is generally not a quality they posses. Possibly sensing the potential for impending chaos, a server brought a dish of yucca fries to occupy the children while they were waiting on their food.

In sum: wonderful food, good service, reasonable prices, and a family friendly environment.

4 thumbs!

Joie PTG 2006

I recently received information about the release of three Joie limited release wines. Being the Joie fans we are, we rushed to out to the Broadway International Wine Shop (http://www.broadwaywineshop.ca/) and bought three bottles, two of the 2007 Dedication Pinot Blanc and one of the 2006 PTG (Passetoutgrain), a red. Although we had not planned on opening either right away, our resolve did not last; neither did the PTG.

A combination of Pinot Noir and Gamay, the PTG has the light colour of many pinots. But don’t let the visuals fool you, this wine has more body than you would think. (I was actually surprised to see that it’s 40% Gamay; to my mind it drinks like a Santa Cruz Mountains pinot, although with a bit more levity.) Like most of Joie’s offerings, this wine is very old world in style. It has balance. The berry and cherry are very present, but the fruit does not dominate to the exclusion of all else. Likewise the alcohol content; it is listed at 13%, substantially lower than many pinots from Oregon or California. And there is enough acid to enable food pairing, while not so much that it is not also a very pleasant drinking wine.

Notably, this is the first BC Pinot (or mostly pinot as the case may be) that we have thought was worth the money. Given where I actually live most of the year, we have had access to many incredible (and not so incredible) pinots from all over California and Oregon, and as far as new world pinots go, we’ve never been that impressed by those from BC. Several we have tried have been perfectly drinkable, but highly overpriced relative to comparable wines from down south. Less so the PTG.

They suggest this wine will continue to improve for 3-5 years, but I don’t get that same sense. There aren’t components that need mellowing. The various aspects and flavors are already well integrated. And it didn’t change much over the several hours we had it open and exposed to air. Chris in fact suggested that by 2-3 years this wine will begin to decline, and I would have to agree. (Usually we have very different assessments on a wine’s aging potential.) But then, I’m not a winemaker, I’m a wine drinker, and they know their wine better than I do. From my perspective, however, what this really means is that we plan to buy more soon, and enjoy it.

2006 Coyote Bowl Merlot from Church and State Wines

I needed a red wine to use in a pan sauce for this evening’s dinner, and Chris chose a bottle of 2006 Coyote Bowl Merlot from Church and State (https://www.churchandstatewines.com/wines/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=30). The dinner was a rouladen-inspired meatloaf (ground beef, pork, and pork sausage meat stuffed with dill spears, onion, and mustard, topped with mustard and bacon), served with steamed brussels sprouts with butter and lemon, oven roasted whole carrots, and warm sour cream and mustard potato salad. (The pan sauce was just beef stock and red wine flavored with pickling spice and bay leaf, reduced and strained.)

I found the nose very intriguing – at first pretty much all I could sense was acid (which is something I usually don’t smell), although with time there were hints of fruit as well. The alcohol content is high, but despite that, it was not strong on the nose. In terms of flavor, it was very tight when we first opened it, but it did open up with some air. And it was definitely better with food than without. We could definitely taste what was described on the label, particularly the tobacco, and later the cherry. It is more old world than new in style. However, overall it seemed rather unbalanced, especially in the lack of any real tannins. Chris recently tried the Nk’mip 2006 merlot and really enjoyed it (http://www.nkmipcellars.com/). He found it to be nicely balanced and more complex in flavor, although very identifiably new world and so quite a different style of wine. Despite our lack of enthusiasm for this wine (the Church and State), according to the website, it has won several awards, so we decided to gas it and try it again tomorrow. Although rare, sometimes wines are actually better the next day. We’ll let you know. Otherwise, I sense a rich stew or braise in our near future.

La Quercia – Second Visit

Last weekend I happened to be up in Vancouver for a quick visit and had a yen for some Italian food. So we instantly though of La Quercia (www.laquercia.ca/index.html), but when we called (at about 8 pm on Saturday), they were all booked up for the evening. Undaunted, we decided to try again the next day, and managed to get a table for 8:30.

Our table was ready and waiting for us when we arrived. (We were actually given a choice of tables. Hint: Sunday evenings look like a good time to go to La Quercia.) Water and bread arrived very quickly, which was good, because it gave us something to eat while facing the difficult task of deciding what to eat. Although the menu is diminutive, there are often numerous specials, and everything sounds delicious, making deciding more difficult than one might imagine given so few choices.

In the end, Chris went with one of the specials as a starter and, remembering our first visit (http://bcfoodandwineadventures.blogspot.com/2008/08/la-quercia-restaurant.html), a small dish of one of the pasta specials as his main. I ordered a very rich special as my main, and hence wanted something light and fresh to start. There wasn’t anything fitting that description on the menu, so I asked our server if it would be possible to get a simple salad as a starter. He was happy to accommodate my request, and quickly said yes. He returned a short time later to say that, unfortunately, they could not do a green salad, but would be happy to make some sort of seasonal vegetable salad instead, which was perfectly fine with me. Along with this news, he brought a wine for Chris to sample. I wasn’t drinking, so Chris was having wine by the glass. The server suggested a red wine to go with his meal, but had something else not usually available by the glass that he thought might work well, and so offered Chris a taste. It was indeed a good wine for the food, and if I could remember what it was we might have it again. But unfortunately, I wasn’t paying much attention. I do remember that it was northern Italian.

Our starters arrived shortly thereafter. Mine was a mélange of cut green beans, asparagus, small radishes, and shaved fennel with a light vinaigrette. It was perfect. The vegetables were crisp and the vinaigrette was light. Chris had a special that was highly recommended by the server – very thin slices of veal tongue with a red wine reduction served alongside shaved white onions. Neither of us had ever eaten tongue before, but we like to try new things and so we took our server’s recommendation. (Speaking of which, I loved my recent first taste of sweetbreads at Restaurant Tallent in Bloomington, IN, www.restauranttallent.com/index.html. I highly recommend them, and the restaurant.) We were very glad we did. It was incredibly flavorful. The onion was the perfect (and necessary) foil for the richness of the meat and sauce. The texture was remarkable, tender, yet toothsome. (It was so good I am inspired to try cooking tongue at home, an experiment Chris is heartily behind.)

Mains: Chris’s Tagliatelle Bolognese was as wonderful as we remembered. The fresh pasta was perfectly cooked, kissed with just the right amount of their fabulously rich Bolognese sauce. The portion looked small (it was the appetizer size after all), but it was more than enough. It’s a filling dish. Moreover, I had anticipated that I would need some help finishing mine, and was not wrong about this. I had ordered the veal involtini special - veal scaloppine stuffed with taleggio and proscuitto. It was served with a reduction including a little marsala, some crispy roasted potatoes, chard stem bits, and some thinly sliced quickly sautéed zucchini. All in all it was pretty tasty. I found the potatoes a little too salty, and the meat a little undercooked. (The innermost veal in the roll was barely warm. But the outside was perfectly cooked, meaning that a longer cooking time to accommodate the internal meat would have produced a leathery outer layer of veal, which would have been worse. So I just dealt with it.) On the plus side, the flavors of everything on the plate were great. I have to come clean, I don’t like zucchini. I usually find it bitter. (Strange, given how much I love bitter greens.) But this was not at all bitter, and I enjoyed the few bites of zucchini I had. (Chris pretty much takes it for granted that he gets my zucchini.) I had expected that I would taste the components of the involtini, but this was not the case. The veal, cheese, and ham flavors all melded beautifully. I would definitely order this dish again.

By this point in time, Chris had moved on to another wine. I believe it was the Tenuta del Portal 2005 Aglianico. Much fruitier than the first wine. His assessment was that the second wine was better for drinking, the first was a better accompaniment to the food.

We finished off with a lambrusco-poached pear, stuffed with lemon mascarpone. I believe they used a sweeter lambrusco for poaching, but added little sugar to the poaching liquid, so it was not cloyingly sweet. (For those whose lambrusco experience begins and ends with Ruinite, lambruscos can be incredibly crisp and dry.) And given the lower alcohol content of lambruscos (compared to regular red wine) there was little leftover alcohol flavor. Just the fruitiness of the wine and subtle flavors of warm spices and lemon.

Once again, we left happy, and will return. Next time, however, we might try the tasting menu. I can’t find any mention of it anywhere. But the table next to us was having it, and it looked spectacular. So I’d suggest asking about it when you phone and make reservations. We will.

4 thumbs.

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.