Hapa Izakaya

Hapa Izakaya
1479 Robson St, Vancouver

New izakaya places are springing up all over this city and most are just a dime a dozen. But when you mention Hapa Izakaya, there is a certain air of reverence that comes along. This is probably one of the best reviewed izakaya places out there and their popularity has led to an new room opening in Kitsilano. Well with such a great reputation, you know that i'd be hitting this place up sooner or later and so with a fellow foodie, we went to check this place out!

There is a back story to my actually going here tho. I had arranged to go with my friend Alan on a Friday night but given that there seems to always be a line up, we decided to go earlier and make a reservation at 6pm (apparently, you can't make resos anytime after that). Well that night, I was running a bit late and I had called Alan to tell him so. He says okay and hangs up but 2 minutes later, he calls back and says that he's actually still at home and fell asleep! He informs me that he had already called the restaurant and made an excuse to say why he was going to be late...HE HHAD GOTTEN INTO A CAR CRASH! Well i guess you either go big or go home! Well it worked cuz when i got to the restaurant, the host said that Alan is the most considerate person ever, calling a restaurant about a reservation after a car accident. I could only smile and nod. Well I was sitting there on my own for a bit and I ended up ordering some food while waiting....

So the food. Well the menu looked typical of a izakaya restaurant. They had the ebi mayo, beef tataki...etc. Maybe it's my dislike for jap food in general but to me, it's all pretty much the same. I mean the food here was decent but I wasn't blown away by it. The one thing that I thought was good was their korean rice dish. Now I don't usually eat rice but this was pretty interesting. It's presented in a stone bowl and they have to mix it before you can eat it. The mixing definatly adds a dimension of interaction to the meal and it was quite tasty. Alan ordered this seafood salad thing at the end and I have to admit it did not agree with me. I'm sure the problem was that I didn't know what was in it and when I took a bit, I must have gotten a piece of raw fish or something cuz I felt like puking rite then and there. I tried to be discreet about it but I had to find some rice and tea stat! That was not a good feeling....

I think the main appeal of Hapa is the room and their servers. The space is very minimlaist with a black on grey palate. They cooks don't really scream random jap words out and even if they did, it wouldn't have the same effect since the room is quite big. Apparently they have an upstairs too where I guess you can have a private party or a more intimate setting. The servers are all girls with long hair and nice bodies. Not your typical Japanese girls but hey wut do I know?

In all, I would say Hapa was good but again, not outstanding. I would come back again but I don't know if it's a "Barbara Recommended" place....i'll get back to you all after round 2.

Nu

Nu

1661 Granville Street

Vancouver, BC

Brunch is probably my favourite meal of the day. Well I guess it's not technically a meal but a blend of the best from both breakfast and lunch. Take the menu of breakfast, add some sassiness to it and serve it until the afternoon...good food without having to wake up super early! How great is that?

I love breakfast food...omlettes, sausages, GRANOLA!!! And there are plenty of places in Vancouver that serves up a pretty wicked brunch. But if you want a fantastic brunch, in a funky room with a SPECTACULAR VIEW to boot, you can't beat Nu Restaurant. Situated on False Creek right across from Granville Island, this place is a sensory overload for ALL your senses!

I went this past Sunday for brunch (I don't usually get to eat brunch on Sundays cuz i'm usually playing badminton) with Richard. I've been here before and was blown away by the food and the view so since it was such a beautiful day (hurray for sun in February!), we wanted to take full advantage of it.

You'd think that a place like this would charge a ridiculous amount for their food but surprisingly, Nu is a pretty good value. This place has won tons of awards, ranging from Best New Restaurant, Best Lounge..among others, so it can charge high. But they have great price points (their dine out menu was only $25!) but don't skimp on quality.

Lets start off with the room. This place is designed to feel like an alcove right on False Creek. With the floor to ceiling windows all around, you get an amazing view from the Burrard Street Bridge to Granville Island and Science World. It has such an amazing vibe to it and if you go on a beautiful day, you get the sunlight shining in while you enjoy your food! How fantastic is that? To make it even better, they feature a jazz singer for Sunday brunch. Jazz and brunch...such a wonderful combination! It really adds to the ambience of the whole experience. The decor of the room is definalty leaning towards the funky/art deco vibe and it works! They have these really cool swingy/bucket chairs with brass plated custom made tables makes you feel like you're in 70's room minus the tackiness. Everything about the decor has been well thought out and it really shows. Their use of the colour aqua also really gives the restaurant a laid back and relaxed vibe.

One of the things I love about Nu for brunch is that they give you an amuse bushe before you start your meal. Free food...gotta love it! They start you off with a tiny glass of "sipping chocolate" and a mini croissant that is as buttery as can be! It's sooooo decadent but it's so good! It really gets you in the "brunch" mood. For our brunch, Richard ordered the eggs benedict (his favourite) and I had the spinich and mushroom omlette (one of my favourites!). I think Richard really enjoyed his eggs benny and my omlette was cooked to perfection! No browning on the surface of the egg. Now that takes skill (and a really good frying pan). We had also ordered a side of pomme frittes but apparently, our meals were served with friens anyways so our waiter gave us an extra side of fries for free! Their fries were home cut but were of the skinny variety and it was YUMM-O! I had to push my plate away to stop eating them!

The service that day was a bit slow and it wasn't even like they were really busy. They had a large party there for brunch but the tables were not all full. I didn't remember the service being that slow last time but if you're not starving and you want to find a place to just sit and relax this is the place to go. Now that I've been here for brunch twice, I think it's about time I came back for dinner....anyone want to join me?

Eggs Benedict at Nu

Spinach and Mushroom Omlette

Enjoying the glorious sunshine!

Where I want to fill my tummy

Well I always carry this list with me just in case someone decides to surprise me and take me out to dinner *hint hint nudge nudge* but below are the restaurants that I've been wanting to try out (or in some cases) go to again. It's not all fancy schmancy food so if anyone is interesting in trying some places out, let me know!

East is East
Vij's
Rangoli
Cobre
Trafalgers
Carmichael's (at the airport Hilton)
Cru
The William Tell
Tapastree
Bacchus
Habit
Hapa Izakaya
Henry's Kitchen
Connor Butler
Figmint
Le Crocodile
Nu
Stonegrille
Le Marrakech
La Buca
Bishop's
Pied-a-Terre
C Restaurant
Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
Globe at YVR

Gastropod - DOV

Gastropod – DOV
1938 W. 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Well if you’ve been keeping up, you know that I did not have a great experience at Gastropod the last time I went. Yes I know this place won tons of awards; yes I know Angus Ang is like the second coming of Rob Feenie; and yes I know Chef Ang and the entire team at Gastropod has been invited to cook at the James Beard House in Manhattan (http://urbandiner.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/from-the-dept-of-press-releases-4/#more-2067), but I just did not like my food last time!

So this time around, I was determined to make the right choices and see if all the talk is just fluff or if something is seriously wrong with my pallet! I went with Richard and another couple on the last night of dine out and was hoping for some great things. As usual, I was pouring over the menu to see what I was going to order. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see that on top of the menu online, they had some additions available (for some extra $$ of course). I stuck to what I had chosen and went with the Gastropod grilled salad, the sous vide/braised pork, and the ice milks. Richard chose to have one of the additions as a starter, scallops with pancetta, the pork and the chocolate sabayon.

Well the food came and this time, I was defiantly eating with a critical eye, no mouth. And I was pleasantly surprised. The salad was just delicious. I love eggplant and they had grilled eggplant with the salad which just made the dish for me. The dressing was very flavorful but not too heavy and oily. So a good start!

The main course was a pork done sous vide style. Well online it said it was a 36 hour pork shoulder sous vide but on the actual menu, it was just a piece of braised pork. Regardless, it’s almost the same cooking method. The dish looked great and I was excited about this but when I cut into the pork, I knew right away that this was not braised or sous vide. They defiantly pan fried or roasted the meat before platting. Braising is suppose to make the meat very tender but this meat was not. It was still good but it was a bit dry and a bit tough. Richard couldn’t even finish his piece but I finished mine alright. The thing is, if it’s not going to be braised, then don’t advertise it as such. Okay maybe they did braise it first and then roasted it but say so! Plus why would you do that anyways? It just completely takes away from the braising process. Regardless, I though the pork was pretty good. The flavours were all there and I could tell it was a good piece of meat. Maybe someone just forgot it in the oven and left it there for too long…

For dessert, I had the ice milks and it was very refreshing. I would normally order something heavier but after eating out 4 nights in the past week, I thought I should be good. The ice milks came in a trio, with pineapple, grape and banana flavour. My favourite was defiantly the banana but they were all good. Basically it was just sorbet but maybe they did add a touch of milk to it. The chocolate sabayon was pretty good too as was the cheesecake (as I was told). But the portions were pretty small :P

In all, it was a pretty good meal. We had a bottle of Joie reisling and that went with the meal perfectly! Was it the best dine out menu? No…that distinction defiantly goes to Lumiere but it wasn’t the worse (that goes to Aurora). It still wasn’t at the level I expected Gastropod to be but I guess at least it’s getting better. I’ll come back again and hopefully by then I will get blown away. You know…maybe it’s all a build up to the ultimate experience. Well I can’t wait until I get to that!

Aurora Bistro - DOV

Aurora Bistro – DOV
2420 Main Street
Vancouver, BC V5T 3E2

The Main has certainly seen a lot of life pump back into it the past few years. With trendy boutiques and cafes popping up from Broadway all the way up to King Edward, people are realizing that this is the place to be. There are a lot of restaurants too and you can defiantly find some great gems hidden beside some dilapidated looking buildings.

Aurora Bistro has been a Main Street mainstay for a few years now and it’s been getting a lot of notice. Named “Best Regional Restaurant” by Vancouver Magazine last year, Aurora prides itself on using local sources for their foods and being as organic as possible. Owner/Chef Jeff Van Geest has also gotten his fair share of accolades and having gone to VCC and working in the kitchen of Bishop’s, this guy is a Vancouverite through and through.

I’ve been to Aurora a few years ago, probably when it first opened, after a foodie friend of mine made the suggestion. I remembered the small but funky room and the great food I had there. So when I headed there this time around, I was expecting nothing less. Well the room is still small and funky but the food was DEFINATLY not there.

Again, I went for dine out and had been studying the menu posted online religiously. I had already known what I was going to order before I even got there! But when I was presented with the menu, I was surprised to see that a few items had changed. “Well things happened” I thought to myself. So I decided to have the butternut squash soup with pumpkin seeds, the cod with puy lentils and the panna cotta. I heard squash soup has been overdone this dine out season but this was my first time having it and it was defiantly not the type of butternut squash soup I was use to. It lacked flavour and I DID NOT like the pumpkin seeds in the soup. . I kept chewing of them, now knowing if I should spit them out or swallow them whole! The presentation was also very lacking with only the pumpkin seeds strewn on top as garnish. It was very disappointing because butternut squash soup is one of my favourite soups ever.

The second course of the cod with lentils did fair much better. While it wasn’t horrible to say the least, again the flavour was just lacking. It tasted like it could use a dash more salt and herbs on it. The lentils were okay but a bit boring when paired with the cod. I liked how the texture of the cod worked with the texture of the lentils but it was just a bit boring because there was no flavour to either of them.

Finally, it was the panna cotta. I just had panna cotta the night before at Parkside and this panna cotta defiantly did not match up to it. While it was good, the texture was much heavier and you can feel the oil from the dairy in your mouth afterwards.

You can tell it has not been an impressive meal when your dinner companion or you choose NOT to talk about the food at all throughout the entire dinner. Yes, this dinner was suppose to be an opportunity to catch up on each other’s lives outside of the restaurant but the food is suppose to add to the already existing conversation, not make it so that you feel like you should talk about everything else except for the food! I was truly disappointed with this dining experience. Maybe it was because it was a dine out menu. But that doesn’t give the chefs a “get out free card” to cook shitty. Regardless of the occasion or price of food, the product the chefs put out should always be made to the highest quality. It will probably be another few years before I return to Aurora.

The Irish Heather

The Irish Heather
217 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 2J2

We went here a few weeks ago and I can't believe that I forgot to write about this place! The Heather (as it's affectionately know) has been awhile for quite some time now. The sister restaurant to Salt and The Shebeen, the heather is known for their tradiational irish fair. The Heather is more known as a gastropub and just a pub since they do pride itself on their good grub. The menu offers traditional items such as Beef stew (made with Guinness no less!), bangers and mash, and fish and chips. All the food is actually really really good and I can at least vouch for a few items here. Everytime I come here, the food doesn't disappoint. I've had the fish and chips and the batter on that thing is just great! But the best stuff is obviously the more artery clogging choices-meat loaf and beef stew! I mean you just can't go wrong with either of them. Both are hearty meals that will really satisfy!

But the coolest thing about The Heather is the room itself. It's located on Carrall Stree in Gastown and it looks like a dumpy place in need of furnishing. And indeed it will be getting a facelift with March. With the current building in line for seismic upgrades, Sean Heather (the proprietor) has arranged to moved just a few buildings over and will be completely redoing the room to bring it into the 21st century. The best part is that I don't think The Heather will actually be closed during the move. They are working on the new place now so one day the old Heather will be closed and right away, the next day the new one will open! Talk about efficiency! But it's a shame really cuz the old room has alot of character. Yes the walls are drabby and the wood is scratched but that's wut makes it so unique. There are pictures of famous Irish men lining the wall (no Colin Farrell does not count) and other irish memoribilia on display. The best part of the Heather is the solarium out back. While the seats are super uncomfortable, you are sitting in a glass house enjoying your food and drink. Now how nice is that. Definatly do try to get out to this place before they move. But regardless of it being the new room or the old room, the Heather is definatly the place to go to if you want a hearty meal! Sloncia!!! (that's gaelic for cheers! see? i do have some irish in me!)

hm....meatloaf.....

can't wait to dig into the beef stew!

we left happy! :D

Parkside Restaurant - DOV

Parkside
1906 Haro StreetVancouver, BC

Parkside is apparently one of those restaurant that you just have to try in Vancouver. It’s not as flashy and well known as the Lumiere’s or the Le Crocodile’s but everyone just raves about it. It’s always ranked as one of the top restaurants in Vancouver and given Andrey Durbach’s reputation and track record (he also opened Pied-a- Terre and La Buca), I just had to try this place out.

Parkside is tucked away beneath the Buchan Hotel on Haro Street, just off Denman and, trust me, if you weren’t looking for it, you’d miss it. It’s a tiny little restaurant with a very intimate feel and cozy setting. But while the room is small, the food packs a big punch! I decided to go there for my birthday on Tuesday with Richard…but it was not without some thought. I had originally wanted to go here but then was teetering between Parkside and Trafalgars. I read the menu to Richard and he thought the menu at Trafalgars sounded more interesting. So we changed the reservation and was on our way. But as the day drew near, I began hearing how fantastic Parkside and now I was in full regret mode. But since I gave up the reso, I couldn’t get back in! AHHHHH!!!! Well luckily, on the actually day of my birthday, I finally found an opening at Parkside and I immediately jumped on it! (I guess that miserable snow day was good for something!) Thank goodness cuz going to Parkside was defiantly the right way to go!

While the menu doesn’t sound like much on paper, when you get your first taste of the food, you immediately understand why people rave about this restaurant. The flavours of all the dishes were wonderful! Richard started with the zuppa di pesce, which is basically a bouillabaisse while I had the Onion and cheddar pie with apple purée, York ham and watercress salad. OMG…both were so tasty and perfect! The soup had so much seafood and the chef was really able to pull out all the flavors from the seafood into the broth. The onion and cheddar pie was the best dish of the night! It was full of onions and the pie crust was baked to perfection! For our mains, I went with the filet of cod and Richard and the Duck pot-au-feu. The portions were very ample and my cod was so tasty! The duck was really good too and it was cool how they prepared the duck in several ways, allowing you to get different sensations from the same protein. For dessert, we had the blood orange panna cotta and the chocolate trio. The panna cotta was such a great pallet cleanser and was so smooth in texture. Is it just me or is blood orange becoming a really popular fruit to work with? The chocolate trio was basically a trio of white, milk and dark chocolate ice cream served with a shortbread sandwich with a hazelnut centre! So rich and delicious!

We topped off our dinner with a cocktail and it was just a perfect dinner. And trust me…I needed a good dinner to make up for the shitty, snowing birthday that I had (car stuck on the side of the road…but I digress…)

So glad I was able to end up at this place and I really hope to come back again, and to try Chef Durbach’s other restaurants! Isn’t this what dine out is all about? Find new gems in the cut throat Vancouver restaurant scene? Hm…..good times!

Edit: Here are some pics!