Queen’s Café
6091 No. 3 Road, Richmond
Richmond is a mecca for Asian food. Is it really a wonder though? With the huge Asian immigrants, the market (as well as the appetite) is defiantly there. But what is one to do when they are stuck out in the ‘burbs and feeling for some nice downtown style dining?
Queen’s Café is the answer. A contemporary westcoast style restaurant located right in the heart of Richmond, Queen’s is a nice change from all the rice and noodles you get in the area! Suffering from a bad location (right on No. 3 Road beside the Moores clothing store) and a non-descript awning in the front, Queen’s is one of those places you can be easily missed. But defiantly keep your eye open for this place and check it out because it’s well worth it. The space is quite lovely and calm, with clean linens, warm colours and soft music (my mother thought the lights could be dimmer to create an ambience) and the service was attentive. They really made us feel welcome. Yes it could be because of the fact that it was a quite night (we were the only customers until the end of the night when another table came in) but nonetheless, our waiter was great and very pleasant.
The food is solid, thanks to executive chef Brian Leung and the prices are jaw-dropping to say the least. I went there with my mom last week and we both ordered the 4 course meal for $29.99! That’s like the price of an appie at most fine dining places downtown! I started with the lobster bisque and crab cakes while mom has the corn chowder and the shrimp. The soup was a bit on the salty side but still delicious and both the crab cakes and shrimp was heaven! We both ordered the rack of lamb which was done to perfection! She ordered medium well while I got it done medium rare and it was great when we actually got it cooked the way we ordered it! You know how sometimes you say rare and someone else says well and they look just about the same? Yeah…not cool. And the plating and presentation was done with such attention to detail that it almost seemed like a shame to eat the food on the plate. We both ordered the crème brulee for dessert and that again was just fantastic.
In all, Queen’s is defiantly one worth checking out! And go support the non-Asian restaurants in Richmond! They are a dying breed in the area and we want to promote diversity right????
On a side note, if you don’t think you can handle a 4 course meal, well then you are just weak! But you can also chose from a 3 course menu that is only $19.99. Trust me, the 4 course meal fills you up so bring an appetite!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Shiru Bay Update!!
Went there again last nite with Viv and Eddy! Yumm-O! Check out the post about Shiru Bay from last week for the update!
Coast Restaurant
Coast Restaurant
1257 Hamilton StreetVancouver, BC V6B5P9
So I’ve been going on and on about the Taste of Yaletown but have I actually been??? Well now the answer is yes! For my first foray in to the Taste of Yaletown menus, I went to Coast and in all, it was a pretty good experience.
To be honest, I was going to go to Goldfish with 5 of my friends for dinner. The plan was for us to go the Yaletown, looking all pretty and stuff, and dine out at a nice restaurant. However, after looking at the set menus offered, the menu at Goldfish just wasn’t up to snuff. So in a mad rush to find a place that can accommodate 6 of us at the last minute, Coast was chosen. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not like this was a “oh-shit-i-can’t-find-anything-better” type of deal. The menu offered for the taste of yaletown was sounded pretty good so we decided to give this place a go!
I did my reso online on OpenTable.com (you all should know how much of a fan I am of this site!) and the day before the reso, the restaurant called to confirm the booking. They told me that I need to be on time since the only hold tables for 15 minutes. It’s always a nice touch for a restaurant to call you to remind you of your booking and I thought the 15 minutes thing was fair. However, on the day of the booking, I was running super late and I was just scrambling to get another one of my friends there on time. Luckily, my non-tardy friends made it but when I got there, they informed me that the server told them that the table was booked for a party after us and that we were on a time limit. Now, Coast is a popular restaurnt but when I got there, it wasn’t like the place was packed! Fine, whatever! We knew what we wanted or order anyways and we got right to it. All of us got the set menu and the funny thing was while we all go the crab and halibut cake for an appie (you don’t make friends with salad!) the boys went with the surf and turf while the girls went with the baja scallops. The boys definatly got the better deal on that one. The surf and turf was quite delicious, with a 5-6 ounce piece of bacon wrapped beef tenderloin and 3 pieces of shrimp. The scallops was kinda disappointing, given that we basically got 5 small pieces of scallops on a bed of risotto. I wouldn’t even call that a scallop dish! It was more a risotto dish with scallops…but I’m not the chef there so whatever! The risotto was also a bit overdone but that’s understandable since they would probably make it in huge batches for the tasting menu. As for desert, instead of giving us 3 choices, the server told us that we’d actually be getting both the chocolate fondue and the german chocolate cake but in smaller sizes! Yay! Less decisions and more food. I quite enjoyed the desert but I did hear some people say that the cake was too sweet. I’m also pretty sure the fondue was made with milk chocolate so that added to the sweet factor.
All in all, Coast is a nice place and we had a good experience. Was it sensational? Not really. And to top it all off, remember how they said we were on a time limit? Well at the end of the meal, they didn’t even ask us to leave, which makes me wonder if they did have a second booking or if they were just trying to clear us out of there quick. Hm…….
1257 Hamilton StreetVancouver, BC V6B5P9
So I’ve been going on and on about the Taste of Yaletown but have I actually been??? Well now the answer is yes! For my first foray in to the Taste of Yaletown menus, I went to Coast and in all, it was a pretty good experience.
To be honest, I was going to go to Goldfish with 5 of my friends for dinner. The plan was for us to go the Yaletown, looking all pretty and stuff, and dine out at a nice restaurant. However, after looking at the set menus offered, the menu at Goldfish just wasn’t up to snuff. So in a mad rush to find a place that can accommodate 6 of us at the last minute, Coast was chosen. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not like this was a “oh-shit-i-can’t-find-anything-better” type of deal. The menu offered for the taste of yaletown was sounded pretty good so we decided to give this place a go!
I did my reso online on OpenTable.com (you all should know how much of a fan I am of this site!) and the day before the reso, the restaurant called to confirm the booking. They told me that I need to be on time since the only hold tables for 15 minutes. It’s always a nice touch for a restaurant to call you to remind you of your booking and I thought the 15 minutes thing was fair. However, on the day of the booking, I was running super late and I was just scrambling to get another one of my friends there on time. Luckily, my non-tardy friends made it but when I got there, they informed me that the server told them that the table was booked for a party after us and that we were on a time limit. Now, Coast is a popular restaurnt but when I got there, it wasn’t like the place was packed! Fine, whatever! We knew what we wanted or order anyways and we got right to it. All of us got the set menu and the funny thing was while we all go the crab and halibut cake for an appie (you don’t make friends with salad!) the boys went with the surf and turf while the girls went with the baja scallops. The boys definatly got the better deal on that one. The surf and turf was quite delicious, with a 5-6 ounce piece of bacon wrapped beef tenderloin and 3 pieces of shrimp. The scallops was kinda disappointing, given that we basically got 5 small pieces of scallops on a bed of risotto. I wouldn’t even call that a scallop dish! It was more a risotto dish with scallops…but I’m not the chef there so whatever! The risotto was also a bit overdone but that’s understandable since they would probably make it in huge batches for the tasting menu. As for desert, instead of giving us 3 choices, the server told us that we’d actually be getting both the chocolate fondue and the german chocolate cake but in smaller sizes! Yay! Less decisions and more food. I quite enjoyed the desert but I did hear some people say that the cake was too sweet. I’m also pretty sure the fondue was made with milk chocolate so that added to the sweet factor.
All in all, Coast is a nice place and we had a good experience. Was it sensational? Not really. And to top it all off, remember how they said we were on a time limit? Well at the end of the meal, they didn’t even ask us to leave, which makes me wonder if they did have a second booking or if they were just trying to clear us out of there quick. Hm…….
Friday, October 12, 2007
Shiru-Bay Chopstick Cafe
When most Vancouverites think of Yaletown, it’s usually one of 2 reactions: “Oh Gawd! Love Yaletown! It’s like so chic and it’s where all the hot and beautiful people hang out now, like, you know!” or “You can cut the pretentiousness with a knife…excuse me Mr. Ferrari, are you trying to advertise you’re going through a mid-life crisis???” But whatever the reaction, you can’t deny that Yaletown boasts some good eating! But the choice of restaurants down there also seems to cater to either crowd 1 or crowd 2. Well fear not! Finally there is a restaurant in Yaletown that will make you feel special without all the Paris Hilton wannabes hanging around.
With the recent growth spurt of izakaya places all over Vancouver, one might overlook this joint. But with an awesome reputation (they have won Best Casual Japanese Dining Silver for the past 2 years in Vancouver Magazine) and amazing food, Shiru-Bay Chopstick Cafe is defiantly a “must eat!” Shiru-Bay is actually part of a chain of restaurants owned by the Uno family back in Japan. This Yaletown location is the first Shiru-Bay outside of Japan and is run by Kodai Uno, the youngest chef in the family. Now I’m sure you all know wut izakaya is about and have been to a few izakaya restaurants. They all have their own take on how izakaya should be done since there really isn’t any formula to it-it’s basically what the chef creates. The really great thing about Shiru-Bay is that while it’s still traditional izakaya, there are defiantly some western influences on the food. Aside from the regular smoked fish and sashimi, there are also crab croquettes and ceviche on the menu. I heard some great things about this place from my friend Peter so I just had to give it a try.
I went there last Thursdaywith Martine and was ready for a great izakaya experience. The restaurant itself looks like any other Japanese restaurant, with wooden furniture and beams, a sashimi bar and dark lighting. We were seating by our super friendly server, who was actually the only non-Japanese person working there. She was east Indian but I’m sure she speaks fluent Japanese and/or studies Japanese history or something! She did sorta stand out but her great attitude more than made up for it. Martine and I didn’t really know what to order or how to even start and our server was really helpful in pointing out our options. They had two set menu available but in the end, we decided to do a la carte.
We ordered about 4 dishes between the 2 of us and we were just stuffed! We had the smoked halibut, which was juicy and delicious and we tried their “famous ebi-chilli mayo” which was a cool take on the traditional tempura. We also had the crab croquette and salmon sashimi. Everything was just delicious...except for the sashimi. Now you all know I don’t eat raw fish but the server insisted that I should try it here because they only use the best. Well I decided to try it and now I can confirm that I don’t like raw fish AT ALL! This is nothing against Shiru-Bay’s sashimi!!! Martine liked it and said it was good but I felt like puking after eating it! *sigh….well I gave it a shot!
Anyways, we were so stuffed after our meal that we actually had to cancel one of our orders! But that didn’t stop us from ordering desert! The deserts here are actually very very good…and when I say very very good, I mean orgasmic! We each ordered 1 desert (screw sharing!) and I ordered the Match cheesecake while Martine got the banana macchiato. They were both sublime! MmmMmmm! But while we were eating our desert, we noticed 2 ladies at the bar eating some sort of gooey grey concoction. There server was literally standing there for 5 minutes mixing the thing. We asked our server what it was they were eating and apparently, it was natto ice-cream. For those of you who don’t know, natto is the Japanese fermented beans. Sounds gross eh? But apparently, it’s mixed with vanilla ice cream and syrup and it’s quite yummy! Very interesting and defiantly worth trying out next time!
So if you’re in the neighborhood and don’t want to spend an arm and a leg in Yaletown for dinner, this is defiantly the place to go! I’m defiantly going back soon so if anyone wants to join me, let me know! But you better be ready for some natto ice-cream! ;)
UPDATE!!!
Well I just went again tonite and tried the natto ice-cream. It was soooo good!!!!!!!!! Don't let the whole "fermented beans" thing scare you off! I'm definately a fan and it's worth a try! The icecream just gets gooey-er and yummier!!! Try it!!! Thanks to Viv and Eddy for coming with me!
As for the food...again top notch! Had the ebi prawns and the smoked cod again but this time, we also go the beef tongue and the shabu shabu. hmmmMMMmmMMMMmm....very good! But the service this time was kinda weird. The servers kept trying to collect our plates even when there was food on the plates! Hello!!! We paid for the food and we want to eat it! but aside from that, it's was just perfection!!!!!! This might be one of my fav restaurants in Vancouver!! But stay tuned! I'm gonna keep my taste buds guessing and asking for more! so who wants to take me out to dinner???? :D
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Metro Dining
Metro Restaurant
2A-200 Burrard StreetVancouver, BC, Canada
You know when we go out to eat, we always want to try everything. And if you’re Chinese, you have absolutely no shame in reaching over and just picking something off your dinner companion’s plate! Hey…sharing is caring right? But at Metro, they make it easy for you. You get to chose how much of each portion you want of each dish and therefore, you can order as many different dishes as your hearts desire!
Metro is brought to you by Brian Fowke and Tim Keller, the same guys who brought Rare onto the scene. The whole concept of Metro is decidedly more Westcoast-from the minimalist and clean décor to the type of food they serve. On their website, they talk about how Metro is all about sustainability and ecology and what steps the restaurant is taking to be environmentally friendly. But these aren’t a bunch of tree huggers..nonono…Metro is also all about being upscale, sophisticated and classy. I guess if you think about it, Metro does embody what Vancouver stands for: classy, sophisticated, a bit snooty, granola munchers! :D And that’s not a bad thing people!
So I went to Metro with my new-to-Vancouver friend, Mike and his sister. Both of them just very recently moved to Vancouver to study (him at VFS and her at Blanche Macdonald). Well I figured that since they are from out east (Ottawa to be exact), I should take them to a place where they can really experience west coast cuisine.
I really liked the décor at Metro. Like I said, it’s minimalist and clean but not too bare. You can tell it’s a new restaurant since the kitchen is still pretty spotless. They have a huge bar and lounge on one end with wood paneling and a big screen TV and the other side is the restaurants. They have these really cool leather bucket chairs which at first glance will make you think that maybe you should have brought your own seating but once you settle in, they’re actually really comfortable. Penny really did like the chairs! While you probably won’t be getting a nice view from the restaurant for the next six months (hell you won’t get a nice view from anywhere in this city for the next 6 months!), you’re actually rite by Canada Place so there is the POTENTIAL for a nice view! :D
There has been a lot of new “west coast cuisine” style restaurants opening up in Vancouver but what makes Metro different is the way that you can order their food! Like I said, they price their items buy the ounce. It’s a really really great concept and it really allows you to get a taste of everything! For example, if you can’t decide between the striploin, tenderloin or the duck breast, you can have all 3! Basically, what you would do is order a small cut of each (say 2-3 ounces of each type of meat) and then you’ll be presented with something like a tasting menu! And the best part is that each of the meat comes with their own garnish so it’s not like you’re just getting the meat-you’re getting the accompaniments too! Think tapas but your own way! Mind you, if you know what you want, you can order that on its’ own too. Just order a larger cut, say 5-6 ounces and you’ll have a full sized main course ready to go.
The three of us started off sharing the smoked duck sausage served on a brioche hoagie round with slow cooked onion corn chutney. It’s kinda like a duck sausage hotdog! The sausage was really good but when meat is in a sausage form, you can really taste the difference I guess. But it was quite yummy and a great way to start the meal. For our main, I chose to go with a full-sized order of the sablefish with oyster mushroom risotto while Penny got bison and the pork tenderloin and his sister go the Dungeness crab and the blade steak. My sablefish was excellent (as sablefish usually is!) but I did get a bit of the fish taste with it. However, the risotto was delicious! It was cooked perfectly and even though I don’t usually eat carbs or rice, this was some good stuff. From what I heard about the other twos main courses, they seemed really happy with it. The pork was a bit dry and giant cous couse that came with the crab was a bit wet but in all, I think the meal was quite a success!
I’m defiantly going back there and trying all the other types of food. And I guess I won’t have to bring an army of people to try everything there!
2A-200 Burrard StreetVancouver, BC, Canada
You know when we go out to eat, we always want to try everything. And if you’re Chinese, you have absolutely no shame in reaching over and just picking something off your dinner companion’s plate! Hey…sharing is caring right? But at Metro, they make it easy for you. You get to chose how much of each portion you want of each dish and therefore, you can order as many different dishes as your hearts desire!
Metro is brought to you by Brian Fowke and Tim Keller, the same guys who brought Rare onto the scene. The whole concept of Metro is decidedly more Westcoast-from the minimalist and clean décor to the type of food they serve. On their website, they talk about how Metro is all about sustainability and ecology and what steps the restaurant is taking to be environmentally friendly. But these aren’t a bunch of tree huggers..nonono…Metro is also all about being upscale, sophisticated and classy. I guess if you think about it, Metro does embody what Vancouver stands for: classy, sophisticated, a bit snooty, granola munchers! :D And that’s not a bad thing people!
So I went to Metro with my new-to-Vancouver friend, Mike and his sister. Both of them just very recently moved to Vancouver to study (him at VFS and her at Blanche Macdonald). Well I figured that since they are from out east (Ottawa to be exact), I should take them to a place where they can really experience west coast cuisine.
I really liked the décor at Metro. Like I said, it’s minimalist and clean but not too bare. You can tell it’s a new restaurant since the kitchen is still pretty spotless. They have a huge bar and lounge on one end with wood paneling and a big screen TV and the other side is the restaurants. They have these really cool leather bucket chairs which at first glance will make you think that maybe you should have brought your own seating but once you settle in, they’re actually really comfortable. Penny really did like the chairs! While you probably won’t be getting a nice view from the restaurant for the next six months (hell you won’t get a nice view from anywhere in this city for the next 6 months!), you’re actually rite by Canada Place so there is the POTENTIAL for a nice view! :D
There has been a lot of new “west coast cuisine” style restaurants opening up in Vancouver but what makes Metro different is the way that you can order their food! Like I said, they price their items buy the ounce. It’s a really really great concept and it really allows you to get a taste of everything! For example, if you can’t decide between the striploin, tenderloin or the duck breast, you can have all 3! Basically, what you would do is order a small cut of each (say 2-3 ounces of each type of meat) and then you’ll be presented with something like a tasting menu! And the best part is that each of the meat comes with their own garnish so it’s not like you’re just getting the meat-you’re getting the accompaniments too! Think tapas but your own way! Mind you, if you know what you want, you can order that on its’ own too. Just order a larger cut, say 5-6 ounces and you’ll have a full sized main course ready to go.
The three of us started off sharing the smoked duck sausage served on a brioche hoagie round with slow cooked onion corn chutney. It’s kinda like a duck sausage hotdog! The sausage was really good but when meat is in a sausage form, you can really taste the difference I guess. But it was quite yummy and a great way to start the meal. For our main, I chose to go with a full-sized order of the sablefish with oyster mushroom risotto while Penny got bison and the pork tenderloin and his sister go the Dungeness crab and the blade steak. My sablefish was excellent (as sablefish usually is!) but I did get a bit of the fish taste with it. However, the risotto was delicious! It was cooked perfectly and even though I don’t usually eat carbs or rice, this was some good stuff. From what I heard about the other twos main courses, they seemed really happy with it. The pork was a bit dry and giant cous couse that came with the crab was a bit wet but in all, I think the meal was quite a success!
I’m defiantly going back there and trying all the other types of food. And I guess I won’t have to bring an army of people to try everything there!
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