Real deal at Red Ginger

I love it when I stumble upon a good restaurant completely by chance! After an appointment took a lot less time than expected, I was scouting for a quick lunch spot since I had more than an hour still paid into my parking space.

I walked into one restaurant, which I quickly discovered was completely vegetarian, so just as quickly found the door. Then I moved on and found Red Ginger Asian Cuisine in the 900 block of West Broadway.

I admit I am watching my bucks these days so the lunch special sign was the first attraction. Upon entering I was quickly seated and was being smiled at by a cute little boy enjoying his lunch at a table nearby.

The lunch special menu had a lot of variety and pretty much everything for under $8! I ordered the chicken in black bean sauce. With these specials you get soup, salad, the main course, and rice.

Talagang mmmmura. (To recall what this rating means hop over to my “About” tab on my blog.)

Service was quick, efficient, and friendly. The soup was egg and corn, not a huge serving but enough. Actually I didn’t even finish it anyway as I was eager to eat my lunch dish which arrived soon after. The salad, chicken with black bean and rice all came on one dish, but I was pretty pleased with the portions. The salad was already dressed, which sometimes I don’t enjoy, but I liked their dressing even if I couldn’t pin point exactly what kind of dressing it was. I ate all of my salad and rice and was not really seeking more. The main had plenty of fresh vegetables made up of zucchini, red and green pepper, and quartered onion, which were all excellently cooked as they still had a bit of crunch. There was enough black bean sauce to entirely coat the dish without making each mouthful super salty. For the price it also had quite a bit of chicken, which I, being the protein-packer that I am, really appreciated!

All this ended with a real deal of $8.35. Even with leaving a 20% tip, I still could pay with a ten dollar bill and feel completely satisfied.

Happy with happy hour at Thoa’s

In March, D and I went to Seattle for a “couples” weekend, probably the last one we’ll have with just the two of us for a while.

It was perfect! The weather, visiting the Aquarium, the Public Market, just soaking in time with one another. Somewhere in between all of that we did have to eat.

Strangely, walking up and down the streets nearest to the Market did not result in a ton of choices for restaurants. I admit, we weren’t walking too far, but we did put in some effort.

Around a corner before we were going to give up and eat near our hotel, we discovered Thoa’s Contemporary Vietnamese Cuisine. Happily, it was also happy hour which seems to be a big thing in the States. So the small-plates-lover in me got to order a bunch of items. While all were appetizer size, because of the price and the quantity that we were able to order, we filled up pretty quick.

D had really fresh shrimp rolls which were deceptively filling, given its size. I had chicken lettuce wraps. While the lettuce wrap could have used more hoisin sauce I did enjoy the marinade on the chicken. We quickly ate up their fried gyoza. With six in a serving, we could’ve easily order a few dishes and lapped it up. I need to ensure the next time I arrive it is happy hour once again!

Need to build on the basics at Browns Socialhouse

I’ve been to Browns in Brentwood a couple of times now and have tried a few things on their menu. Before I can make up my mind on whether or not I really like them, they are going to have to build on some restaurant basics. Their set-up seems to be currying to sports fans, with the amount of big screen TVs around. It’s a noisy venue, but has nice small touches like hooks underneath the tables to conveniently hang your purse instead of having it hang from your chair or sitting on your chair with you which takes up your seating space.

My first visit was a casual dinner between D and I. We began with their warm taco chips and artichoke dip. As a “feature” on their menu, it was a bit underwhelming. I think they need to add heat to the dip or something to make it more unique or memorable. Milestones’ offering it still high on my list in comparison.

For our mains, D ordered the full rack of ribs, which she described “tasted like Swiss Chalet” – which in D’s world is not a bad thing. I tried one, but found the layer of fat on it unpleasant and I didn’t reach for another. I had the crispy halibut fish tacos, which were just average. They add a lot of shredded cabbage to bulk the taco up. It has some fresh tomatoes in the taco but once you add the accompanying salsa, it seemed like  just tomato on top of tomato – which made it drippy. There isn’t much flavour, I had to ask for a slice of lime too add some zing. To ‘upsize’ the dish they actively offer a side of guacamole for a price – which if instead it was included with the dish,  it would probably help elevate it. While their pop prices are a bit higher than average, it is refillable, but you feel like drinking three to make up for the money.

Our friend Mildred, D and I had been planning a dinner out. M. hadn’t gone to a Browns before so that was the impetus for our second visit. We had arrived an hour after their wings special, so I couldn’t try their wings as they had sold out for the night. I was having a tough time choosing something as my appetite has been a bit off of late. M went with a flat bread pizza. D was initially going to order their pad thai, but because it was the only other thing I wanted to eat off the menu that night, she let me have that dish and she ordered the potato-crusted halibut instead.

I was pretty satisfied with the pad thai. It was your average pad thai and could’ve benefitted from a bit more chicken (or larger cuts of chicken). But D really lucked out – she gave me a bite of her potato-crusted halibut, which was laid on top of a bed of tartar sauce, and it was delicious! I could’ve eaten the whole thing easily!

On this second trip service was poor. More than once we had to stop someone other than our server to get things that should have been automatically checked on – water and pop refills, getting to order, checking on our dishes, asking if we want dessert.

As we were celebrating that evening we did have dessert. M and I ordered a key lime pie, but it was more like a key lime cheesecake. It was not what I was expecting, but it was okay. I found the serving small, especially when I didn’t have whipped cream on top like M did (which made hers look bigger). The crust was also quite thick.

So that’s why I can’t make up my mind. There are some highs, but a number of lows – I guess time will tell.

Filipino flavours

Dinah recently returned from a trip to the Philippines and our friends Benel and Maria had us over for a welcome back lunch right before D. starts her busy school schedule. The theme was Filipino foods to help reduce any homesickness D. might be feeling for the motherland.

As a joint effort, M. and B. cooked up a storm. We began with a huge slab of winter barbequed lechon kawali. Also hitting the winter barbeque were several marinated bangus (milkfish). Those dishes were eaten all up – and fast!

The star of the party was the kare-kare. Kare-kare is a Philippine stew made with peanut sauce and a variety of vegetables and often oxtail, beef and sometimes goat. This version had eggplant, green beans, oxtail and beef short ribs. The meat was so well stewed and tender it fell off the bone. We normally add a bit of fermented bagoong (shrimp paste) to help intensify the flavours. B.’s bagoong was spicy, which elevated the dish even more! Let’s just say that everyone around the table had more than one helping.

The finale was freshly baked cassava cake. It was warm, soft but not overly chewy, melted in your mouth, great chunks of cassava. In all a perfect dessert for such a brisk winter day. Thanks B. and M. for such a great welcome back! (And I didn’t even go anywhere!)

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,200 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 10 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Quite the portions at Q4 Al Centro

I was looking for a good restaurant that was walking distance to the Centre for Performing Arts to listen to Maya Angelou last month and upon Ning’s recommended made reservations at Q4 al Centro for our group. Don’t let the fact that I waited a month to blog about this place take away from what I’m about to tell you about it – read on, it’s worth it.

First off, the restaurant was smaller than expected but no less busy in the early evening. We were a party of five eating before six p.m. so we wouldn’t miss a minute with Ms. Angelou.

I shared the Q4 Meatballs appetizer three ways, another great recommendation by N! It provided three generous meatballs with wonderful Fontina grated to melt on top surrounded by a very delectable pomodoro sauce. Many of us sopped up the remaining sauce with bread so not a drop would go to waste.

While I can guess that this restaurant changes their menu often (as what I had is no longer on their current menu), I still want to tell you about my veal chop. It should have been described as a double-cut veal chop – it was so large.

 

The portions weren’t generous just for the food I ate. I know that others had pasta, salad, and seafood as their entrees and all were quite filling.

Not one to resist a carnivorous challenge, I was up to the task. I enjoyed the tender asparagus spears (hidden behind the chop in this shot) and the lightly dressed salad, but all of these vegetables were mere bits of distraction compared to the tasty veal chop. I don’t think there was any doubt from the broad grin on my face that I finished that chop with immense satisfaction!

pikanik is primo!

This is the first time I’ll actually be able to say the owner is a good friend of mine, which is why D & I decided to make the trek out to South Surrey from Vancouver and try Joanna’s newly opened pikanik Lunch Counter and Bakery where everything is gluten and nut free. However, having said that, folks who know me will also know that my review will still be objective.

Upon entering we were immediately greeted by their friendly server at the counter. The greeting rang out in the shop, and given how many times we heard it while we were enjoying our lunch, there was a steady stream of customers coming by. (I admit that sometimes I wasn’t looking up as I was concentrating on my food).

I like the shop’s set-up, a cute toy kitchen and seating area for kids, regular seating for those eating in, and an open view of their prep kitchen, which encompasses the “front” of the shop. This explains why their entrance is off of the parking lot, but I could see possibilities in the future. Perhaps unfrosting the glass in the front so that passersby can see the chef and baker preparing? Most of the baked goods are also in a glass display lowered down to be at eye level for kids, which makes watching them pick what they want so fun.

But let’s talk about the food. While we tried several things, what made the top of my list was the potato and leek soup. It was piping hot and yet the leeks were still crunchy and fresh. The portion was great for two and at under $5 D & I were pleased to be sharing. We got a few of the pumpkin-shaped vegan “cheesy” crackers with the soup. While I’m more of a fan of pikanik’s regular crackers with aged cheddar, I actually didn’t taste much of a difference and liked the crispiness in relation to the soup and leeks.

We also enjoyed the pesto ratatouille flatbread. The vegetables were a balanced mix of zucchini, what we think were cherry tomatoes, yellow pepper, mushroom, red onion, on a bed of pesto which cheese sprinkled on top. D likened it to a vegetarian pizza, and again portions were great for sharing. For only $6.50, the grapes on the side seemed like a bonus. This shot is minus one portion as D had eaten it before I could take a picture.

We also got a variety of baked goods to go as I was visiting my young brother and his family who live in Surrey. I ate both of the pumpkin snickerdoodles that I had gotten (with no remorse) and the kids really enjoyed the spooky ghost sugar cookies. One nephew ate the chocolate chip “eyes” off, then a niece would eat the ghost’s body. I had also ordered cranberry muffins and pumpkin-spice muffins that my older nephew, brother and sister-in-law ate up. Our bakery box was quickly empty which is a sure sign of satisfaction!

I just wish pikanik was closer. With a fresh menu everyday, I’m sure the team will come up with tasty and original offerings. I will have to try to stop by anytime I’m spending the day in Surrey!