I Take It Back

A while ago, I gushed about Slickety Jim's Chat 'n Chew. And I swear I had a great experience that day. But I don't want to lead Nancylanders astray. I went back this week, and had an awful time. I was disappointed in both the food and the service, and left feeling awful about having recommended the place. The thing about having a food diary online, is that it can look an awful lot like a food critic column, and while I love eating and writing about it afterwards, unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of an expense account, and can't usually visit restaurants repeatedly like I would like to before publishing a post. This means that occassionally I'll get lucky, and hit a restaurant's really good day, and write glowingly about an inconsistant restaurant, and alternately, sometimes I'll hit a restaurant's really bad day, and wind up dismissing that restaurant. However, this happens to all of us who dine out (food blog or not), and there are just too many restaurants in Vancouver to try to waste time giving everybody second and third chances with our hard-earned money. The truly successful restaurants will be those that impress customers over and over again consistantly, even on their rough days. On top of that, restaurants can change. They can slip, and they can improve over time. Anyhow, I went to Slickety Jim's on a Friday morning, the place wasn't very busy, and my "eggs revolution" was almost unpleasant to eat. It's a dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and asiago cheese, served over black forest ham and cornbread, and also served with their potatoes and a bit of salad on the side. The eggs were underseasoned, rubbery and overcooked (and needed more cheese), the ham overcooked and dried out, the cornbread was greasy and tough and not tasty, the salad was a small pile of limp mesclun, with a hidden dab of uninteresting dressing underneath, and the potatoes were just there. Our server might have been the owner (my clue being the severe-looking, oil paint portrait of her, as a dictator in her younger years hanging on the wall), and she was fairly condescending and surly, served me coffee in a dirty mug, refilled my dining partner's water without refilling mine, and as we were paying, said something about being very tired, and we'll all just try to get through this morning together. She didn't stop to consider that maybe we were having a great morning (eating breakfast out, on a day off for me), up until encountering her cheery self. The thing is, I spent my other post going on and on about how friendly and wonderful the waitress was. Oh where oh where was she that morning? The menu's still amusing, and the room is still kitcshy, but it just wasn't worth it. Cheese Boy's eggs benny was fine. But we both noticed the service issues. I can't believe it's the same place where last time the waitress asked me whether I wanted the poached eggs in my benny to be soft or medium. This time, it was almost like she was holding a grudge against me for eating in her establishment. Not quite as bad as the waitress at Aphrodite's Cafe who literally scowled at us upon seeing us walk through the door (during their regular operating hours, when there were still some other customers in the restaurant). Maybe a little meat would cheer her up. I'd rather have slow, yet friendly service from someone in the weeds, than the grumpy, attitude-laden service we received in that half empty room. A great example of friendly service is Salt Tasting Room, another place we went to this week. It's a great place, packed on my second visit, and maybe running a bit slow that evening. It was only their second week of operation. But the staff and owners are so hospitable, it didn't matter at all. The small delays had no negative impact on our experience whatsoever. Cheeseboy and I both left very happy. Anyhow, just a couple of notes. Don't order the "eggs revolution" at Slickety's, that is, if you go at all. And secondly, always look at the date of a food review. I always say that they have a shelf-life of three months or less, as restaurants can fluctuate in quality wildly from time to time.

It's So Hot Out...

...I had to go get me some barbecue. Having lived in Georgia for a while, I've got this association between sweltering heat and eating pulled pork. Satisfied it with the Memphis Feast ($32.95) from the Memphis Blues on Commercial Drive, which includes a generous helping of every meat (not the catfish) and side dish they offer. Usually the pulled pork is hands-down my favourite, but this time, I have to say I really enjoyed their sliced brisket. Some other hot night, I'd like to try making some chilled soups as that is an area I definitely haven't explored much in my own kitchen. So what do you like to eat when it's hot?

Name That Vancouver Restaurant No. 5

A quick round of everyone's favourite Nancyland game, Name That Vancouver Restaurant:

This place opened this Wednesday, and involves two of Vancouver's hottest "mixologists" retiring their cocktail shakers.

How long will it take for someone to guess this very cool spot that's been getting great buzz? The clock starts NOW!

Coolest Small Appliance Ever!

Pedal-Powered Blender

I went to a party where the hostess rented a pedal-powered blender to make yummy smoothies with. Is that cool or what?

Gotta Love the West End!

West End Farmer's Market, Comox St. at Thurlow

Of course the West End farmer's market would have a Shiatsu booth! I happened upon the market, on my way to Granville Island (by way of the little ferries that leave from the Aquatic Centre) on a bright, beautiful Canada Day.


Toast Booth (The Cake Studio)

The booth that most tempted me as I perused the offerings that day was Toast, with their incredibly pretty pastries. I was even willing to forego my usual Granville Island treat, an almond croissant from La Baguette et l'Echalote, to try one of these beauties. By the way, this also sounds like a nice place to pick up a loaf of bread. It was a busy day and by mid-afternoon when I was there, they had already run out, so I'm suspecting that they make some nice bread. Susie Lee, the Cake Artist and Pastry Chef, has a specialty cake business called The Cake Studio.


Lemon Raspberry Cake from Toast

I took with me one of their little lemon raspberry cakes, and it was so moist and lemony and wonderful. Delicioius, right down to the tiny blob of sweet pastry cream that anchors the candy lemon slice garnish. A bundle of pleasure for only $1.50.

I sampled a bit of cheese jerky at one of the cheese booths too. It was actually pretty good!

Farmer's Market season is a great part of summer that I really haven't taken advantage of fully in the past. Check out the West End version at Nelson Park, Comox Street between Bute and Thurlow. 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Saturdays from June 17 to October 7, 2006.

When Is Multi-grain Bread Really Multi-grain?

T&T Supermarket Utane Bread - Multi, Toasted

I have to admit that while a beautifully crisp-crusted French baguette or a wonderfully chewy ciabatta will please me to no end, I really do like soft squishy breads. Especially given the choice between an overly hard crusty bread that'll scrape against the roof of my mouth, and a nice soft one that won't hurt at all when I eat it. I suspect this might in part be a Chinese thing, as I heard once that our palates tend to be softer on average than Caucasian palates. I don't know the causal relationship, or if this is even true. If it is, perhaps our palates are softer because we don't have crusty breads in the cuisine, and everyone else has spent their lives toughening theirs up, and then in turn there is no desire to make crustier breads. Or perhaps it's simply a physiological thing, like the 50% or more of us Asians that lack the alcohol dehygrogenase in our bellies to help metabolize great quantities of alcohol quickly. Anyway, sometimes I go to a T & T Supermarket and buy their very boxy squishy half loaves or full loves of bread. The very regular shape pleases me, and I see no reason for sliced bread to always have that billowy top to it. It's just a matter of baking it in a deeper vessel. Reminds me of Potato Salad Boy, who was particularly taken with the neat and tidy shape of the "cube fries" at the PNE, where they cooked their curly fries so that it wound up looking like a Borg cube. Don't look too hard for these this year, by the way. They mysteriously disappeared a few years ago. Perhaps not everyone is as anal as my friend and I.

Well getting back to the bread, this last trip to T&T, I discovered their "multi-grain." I just enjoyed some of it toasted. The grains they're talking about though, are black sesame seeds throughout and possibly a few sunflower seeds, and the light whole wheat content of the bread itself probably. Doesn't have that annoying "healthy taste" at all! I don't know about you, but to me, when I'm choosing bread at the store, "multi-grain" often reads as "cardboard" and any disappointment that I feel with it is generally balanced out by the thought that "at least it's better for me than the white bread." Not always of course. And I sometimes do enjoy the hearty flavours of those grains. And now a company has even started packaging roasted flax seeds in little packets so that you can add it to your food anytime. I tried one of my free samples from the Eat! Vancouver goody bag, and it's surprisingly tasty as well as convenient as a topping for yoghurt in a packed lunch, for example. I'm not really convinced that this T&T "multi-grain" is better for me than the white bread, but maybe it's better for me than the buttery coconut swirl bread I usually get there, hee hee. But I don't usually eat that with strawberry jam and butter. I don't want to get into a debate about what technically is considered a grain and how much you need to make something certifiably multi-grain. I'll leave that to the real bakers, like Bac'n Girl and her cohorts, to quibble about. I'm happy with my occassional fakey bread from T&T (check out this link for web coupons).

For Crying Out Loud, Not ANOTHER Summer Patio Article!

What could be more overdone in the microcosm of Vancouver food writing than a write-up of patio restaurants at the beginning of summer? Well, I've resisted so far (aren't you proud of me, I didn't succumb even once last summer), but I couldn't hold back any longer. It's now mid-summer, and a restaurant with a patio is exactly what I've been feeling like these days. Don't resist it, soak up the view and be grateful for it. Enjoy the crisp air, comfortable temperature, blue-blue view, cool breeze, and the beautiful light of a summer evening in Vancouver. This post is just one example of a nice summer patio experience. Here's a view of Horseshoe Bay, with a little packet of cloud tucked into the crevices of a mountain.


The View

The restaurant was The Boathouse at Horseshoe Bay (6695 Nelson Ave at Bay St., on the water, 604-921-8188), less than 45 minutes away from downtown Vancouver. I've been there twice, with neither time being my idea to go, but both times coming away very pleased, and feeling quite pampered indeed. While it's not a long drive, it still has the feeling of being whisked away to a special spot. Maybe that's why this location feels somewhat better than the English Bay Boathouse. Then again, it might also be the food and the service.

We shared a portobello mushroom appetizer ($9.49), a single smallish cap topped with dungeness crab and shrimp in a cream sauce which sounds from the menu description alone like it would be good, but it actually exceeded my expectations. It was delicious, and the only improvement I can think of would be to perhaps double the portion, because I could have eaten a plateful of those things. I was so excited by it, that I forgot to take a photo before devouring my half.

For the main dish, my dining companion had the salmon (about $23.99). The prawns that came with this were yummy. Everything was cooked perfectly. The service was friendly and efficient, and the restaurant has a nice, casual feel on the patio.


The Salmon

I had the "house smoked wild Alaskan sablefish ($24.99) in a roasted shallot citrus cream sauce." The sauce was very rich and delicious, and of course the sablefish was wonderful (as sablefish has a tendency to be). Yah, any restaurant that uses yummy grilled fresh prawns as a GARNISH is okay by me. No flaccid parsley afterthought here!


The Sablefish

For dessert, a very competent tiramisu and coffee to cap it all off.


The Tiramisu

I had a wonderful dinner, but I can't tease out whether the restaurant is really that good, or if my experience was distorted by my delight in the beautiful weather, my general good mood and well-being, and the very good company...but then again, who cares? I'll continue to associate this restaurant with good things, (unless they do something to screw it up later), and that's just fine by me. I wonder what it's like to go there in the winter...