Review: Marinaside Grill (North Vancouver, BC)

Ms brother J had his birthday this past weekend. We celebrated as a family by going down the Marinaside Grill, located in the industrial area just west of the Second Narrows bridge.

We'd been here before with Ms parents, and the parents also had their large birthday celebration at the MarinaSide Grill earlier this year, so we *kind of* knew what to expect and to order.

Last year, we dropped by MarinaSide Grill hoping for a patio seat to enjoy the sun and some cold beers and appys - there was no chance, as the restaurant doesn't offer reservations for the patio, and there was already an hour long wait.

This time, we arrived super early to snag a couple tables and to chillax on the patio.



We arrived nearly an hour earlier than everyone in our party. After waiting a short while at the hostess stand, we were ushered to our tables - the girls had pushed three tables together for our party of twelve. I thought this was really nice of them since they knew that 1) we were the only ones of our party that were there, 2) they had small lineups at the stand while we waited, and 3) really...we had superb seats. Nice job ladies! And I have to mention - the sandwich board at the front door was just common sense - it tells you to see the hostess for seating arrangements. Easy to do right? When we were in White Rock a couple weekends ago, there were hostesses on every floor. How hard is it to traffic people to the right person? Anyways!

Since we got there so early, M and I started ordering drinks and also shared a fish and chips because we hadn't had lunch.



The dish arrived quickly. It was piping hot and M rated it better than the fish and chips at Charlie Don't Surf. The fish at MarinaSide was fresher, ie. it hadn't been sitting in the freezer as long. The fish was tender and moist, while the batter was light and crispy. The fries were a nice accompaniment, while the tartar provided the right zing and richness as a condiment.

We tried to eat as slowly as we could, since we had an hour to burn, but Ms family arrived soon enough.



It was nice that everyone ordered different items, except for about three people who ordered prime rib. We've had their prime rib before, and although it is good value, we found it a little tough and unaged. Still, for $19-$22 a shot, it beats a lot of places around town!

Since me and M had already finished a fish and chips, I ordered mussels. It was good that day that it was a smaller portion since I was a little full, but on a regular day, there was no way I could treat the mussels as an entree. I'd still be hungry afterwards! On a good note though, the creamy broth was extremely flavourful. I almost wanted to take it home to use as a base for chowder!

Ms dad ordered a Marina bake. We had some and noticed the large scallops and prawns in it - the sauce was a little light, and based on the richness of the dish, the portion was just about right.

One of Ms nephews ordered the Sailor Stuffed Chicken. He had it previously and couldn't stop going on about it. *I have to learn to listen to people.* :p



Look at those big beef ribs!!! Ms brother in law had ordered these - they were extremely generous with the portions and the ribs looked delectable. Again, BIL had had it before, and knew what to order.



Ms other nephew had ordered the St. Louis ribs. These were no baby ribs! These were meaty, yet tender, and I felt a tinge of jealousy when the BIL & nephews food came. Next time we are ordering those two dishes!

Ms brother also had ribs - the Maui rib dinner, while M himself had allowed me to order for him (so he says!) and had Mediterranean Penne.

I have to say, although the seafood dishes were tasty, comparing the value you got with the meat dishes, there was no comparison. We have pledged not to order seafood at the Marina Side Grill unless we are feeling full. :)

Service was prompt and efficient; when the parents had their 60-person party at MarinaSide Grill, the restaurant handled the affair with professionalism and accuracy. They even made up for one (of our) vital mistakes! I'm sure we'll visit MarinaSide Grill again to admire the sunset or to down a cold cocktail or five.

MarinaSide Grill

1653 Columbia Street [map]

North Vancouver BC

Phone: (604) 988-0038

Review: Tropika - Cambie (Vancouver, BC, Canada); Mom is Always Right.

I have to admit, Tropika does not have it good in my books. They were one of the premier "Malaysian" group of restaurants that opened in the Vancouver area and Calgary in the nineties. Unfortunately, I believe that my tastes, as well as many Vancouverites tastes, have evolved and become more knowledged, and Tropika just doesn't cut it for me anymore. Their dishes taste more Chinese than Malaysian or Thai as they bill themselves to be, and do not taste authentic.

However, it is also one of the "different" restaurants that my mother and grandfather really likes.

With my father out of town and my mother wanting to go out for dinner, she chose Tropika, and I obligingly agreed - they do somethings right, if not all. And secondly, as I'm sure many others will agree, mom is always right.

I would like to note that it was just my mother and myself dining that night, although she ordered enough food for another two people! Meh, who am I to argue though, mom is always right.



First up, we have roti canai. One order includes one roti, and will set you back about $3. My mother ordered three. Yes, three. And we finished it all!!! (it was the one thing we finished.) Tropika *does* still do this right after all these years. Time after time, the rotis are fluffy, slightly buttery, and light, served with an appetizing sauce for dipping and dunking. I could probably eat an entire meals worth of roti canai, but you know...it'd be a little unhealthy. :) I have to say, for Vancouver, Tropika makes the best roti, hands down. The side of sauce makes it a great appetizer, although you could also use the roti for dunking into curry or whatever else you order.



The next dish the waiter brought was half a dozen of beef satays, and half a dozen of lamb satays. Sadly, neither were very good. The lamb was slightly gamey and the beef was not tender at all! I snickered softly as I tried to chew through a satay. My mother asked me (demanded to know) what I was laughing at.

I laughed and mentioned that good thing my grandpa "wasn't eating this, otherwise he'd be here all night!" She laughed and we ate some more.

It was right before they brought our next dish that my mother noticed that although we had ordered half a dozen of each satay, there were only eleven sticks on the table. booo!!! What was worse was that the waiter hesitated and questioned us on this when we brought it up. Geez Tropika, don't you know that mom is always right?!

Shame on them.

I had seconded my mothers decision of ordering a Pineapple Fried Rice - Tropika always had served them in pineapple halves, with chunks of pineapple. I did notice that the size of the dish had gotten larger (I spied it at another table first!). Even while we were eating, a neighbouring table remarked, "that pineapple fried rice is quite large." I liked the size, and the fact that the rice had large chunks of pineapple and smaller pieces of meat in it. However, mom thought it was average. She wasn't impressed by the size, and didn't think that there was much to it. Who am I to argue?

...mom is always right





Next up was the rest of the satays - that's right. Two people, two dozen satays. My mother doesn't do anything half way! We had the chicken and pork satays, which were much better than the first dish of satays. The chicken satay at Tropika is very tender and flavourful. You get a good taste of the grill, along with slight lemongrass and curry flavours. Yum! After having the pork satay that day, I'd order it again too. All satays were served with a meager helping of peanut satay sauce.

By the time the beef curry came along, we were so full we could only manage a couple bites. It was average for the price. But the pieces of meat were plentiful and braised until very tender.

Afterwards, I stopped by Cheesecakes Etc to pick up a cake and some strawberry sauce. It was so good! Although I didn't like what I saw in the restaurant. One of the employees was packaging the strawberries for take out, and a couple of lids fell onto the floor. At first, she just attempted to kick it under the shelf. When that didn't work, another employee picked the lids up off the ground and put it back on the lower shelf. Now, interpret that as you will - I didn't see them put the lids onto any containers for usage, but I didn't see them clean or throw them out, either!

It was good to see my mother and the company was definately better than the food, even though we packed about 75% of it to go. :)

Tropika (Cambie)

2975 Cambie Street [map]

Vancouver BC

Phone: 604-879-6002

Recipe: (Almost) Banana Baumkuchen!

While we were antiquing on Main street a couple weeks ago, I pulled M into a small Filipino grocery store to explore and pick up some goodies. We wound up pestering the store lady (who was really nice and informative!) and chose a couple items to purchase and savour later. One of the bottles that I picked was none other than a tiny $2.39 / 25ml bottle of banana flavouring.



When I was a little girl, and throughout my teenage years, I had an aunt who would travel to Singapore every couple of years or so. Being Chinese, she wound up packing edible goodies for her family at home in Canada. One of those, I remember, was a fragrant banana-flavoured cake with layers and layers of millimeter-thin sheets. She'd tell us stories of how she had to stand for hours in line *just* to get a couple cakes for us, but it was worth it.

Years later, I thought I would try to replicate the cake. I wanted specific tools, like a retangular crepe pan. A foodie friend from BCIT would end up gifting me one - but, it didn't work. I tried making a "stacked crepe cake", but it was nothing like what I had tasted years before.

Finally, I came across a recipe for baumkuchen. What is baumkuchen, you ask? Baumkuchen is a German layered cake. Traditionally, it is made on a metal spit. The metal spit is heated up and a thin batter would be brushed on. The spit would be rotated to coat, and due to the heat of the spit, it would cook quickly. Another layer of batter would be deposited on the cooked batter and thus the thin layers were prepared.



My method created a rectangular cake with a sort of "souffled pancake batter". Although the batter did, in fact, souffle at times, the end result was something that I was visually happy with. The flavour, however, leaves something to be desired, but I'll experiment with it and come up with a suitable substitution. Recipe can be found below.

Ingredients
8-10 egg yolks (eight if you're using large eggs, 10 if you're using medium eggs)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 banana flavouring (need to add more!)
1/2 vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt

8-10 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

Method
Grease a 5" by 9" loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-coloured. Set aside.

In mixer bowl, beat together softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in banana flavour and vanilla extract. Incorporate egg yolks until well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix until just combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 1/4 cup sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form.

Fold egg whites into butter mixture until incorporated.

Heat broiler up to high, or 400ºF. Adjust oven racks so that loaf pan will be approximately 8-10 inches away from top heating element.

Pour / scrape about 1/3 cup of batter into pan. Gently spread with a spatula so that a thin layer of batter coats the bottom of the pan. Broil for 1-3 minutes until the batter is an even golden brown. Remove from oven and spoon 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter onto cooked layer. Broil again for 1-3 minutes until the batter is an even golden brown. Repeat process until all batter is used up.

Cool in pan ~10-15 minutes. Loosen from pan using a sharp knife; invert onto cooling rack. Trim the crisp edges from the cake; wrap and chill.

It is a somewhat arduous process, but the visual effects (and nostalgia for me!) are very beautiful.



I presented my aunt with a batch of baumkuchen yesterday. Even though the flavour wasn't exactly spot on, I hope she'd appreciate the effort!

Saturday Night at Ms Moms house

M has four siblings. One of his brothers has a daughter and a son; M's sister has one daughter and two sons. Ms mom also has a homestay, and his sister has two homestays. To say the least, when their family gets together, she creates a mountain of food! Behold, a mountain of pasta!



My camera died before I could take other photos, but there was also soy, ginger, and garlic-marinated chicken thighs, garlic toast, and sticky ribs (mmmmm!).

I think I want spaghetti again for dinner tonight. It was so good!

Loooooog Weekend!

I took today off because there were people coming over to the apartment ot fix something.

So what did I do? I cooked. A LOT.

-short crust pastry (I was telling TM how this was a stresful thing - I nearly gave up twice...it was one of those things in culinary school that always puzzled me. Today, it worked out. But it was really thick too.Ah well. Have to start somewhere.)
-Bacon & leek quiche, with said short crust pastry. It was soooo good. Crisp bacon, sauteed leek, zucchini, smoked gouda, jarlsberg, salt and pepper. Mmmm-mmm good.
-monkfish baked in cream, grainy mustard, sauteed leeks (whites only), salt & peppercorns, served atop brown rice
-tomato tart, with deliciously ripe Okanagan tomatoes, onion confit on a cornmeal & parmesan crust

Ok. So it wasn't that many things. But it was full on multi-prep food.

I also went for dim sum with my parents and sister. It was good to see them, and I can tell the feeling was mutual.

Anyways. to my Canadians, have a great long weekend! It's rainy in Vancouver, but it's supposed to warm up.

If you Change your Mind...

So I have a standing date with my mom to watch "Mamma Mia" when it comes out in theatres.

I had dinner with my family yesterday as I had to renew my passport in Richmond. It was a low-key dinner at Hoi Tong on Westminster Highway. Here's a great mom & pop restaurant, with Mrs. Leung on quality control and Mr. Leung overseeing the line. We missed them when they "semi retired" from their No3 road location and moved to Hong Kong for a couple years. But now they're back, in a smallish restaurant space, open only from 5pm - 10 pm.

We had a refreshing house soup (pork & coconut), braised squab, blanched geoduck atop sweet chinese greens, deep fried shrimp balls, braised fish with mushrooms and tofu (soooo good), sauteed fish fillets with straw mushrooms and choy sum, and deliciously moist roast chicken.

As I was telling TM afterwards, it was serious comfort food. TM likes a lot of meat and gravy and sauces with his food. Eating with my parents at places like Hoi Tong is just so satisfying. It can even be deep fried, but it just feels good.

And, of cours,e it had a lot to do with having dinner with my parents, siblings, and grandparents.

Growing up, it was almost taboo (still is) to miss dinner with the family. Suppertime conversation was usually sparse and brief, but as we grow older, the conversation and catching up over dinner and just enjoying each others company is fuel for the soul.

I slept well last night.

My life in photos.

Originally, I was going to have a separate post for the past couple days. There were posts with recipes, photos with days and strolls in Stanley park, downtown, and days of food and beverage, car selling, and a haunting walk through TMs old building.

Life has been...interesting. There have been ups: we take possession this weekend, TMs apartment was, for the most part, spared. Jerry Graduated! I am so proud of my friends and family for all they are doing and achieving. But there are the bads too: Ewas mother passed away on Monday, finally succumbing to breast cancer complications. G, one of the most vibrant and brilliant people ever, didn't get into med school. I haven't seen some of my friends in the longest time, due to time and money constraints.

It's been a little overwhelming. The posts will come later, I swear.

For now, here's the past couple of days:

We went back to the apartment on Monday. The damage to the upper levels was pretty scary and horrific. The fixtures were melted, the carpets had been removed in the entire building, there was a lot of smoke, fire, and water damage.

The makings of Banh Mi - that delectable, addictive Vietnamese sandwich. Mmmm.

Strawberry Kuchen - my first try at a strawberry tart. Originally, I had visions of incorporating mango into this, but ran out of time...and mangoes. ;)

Finally, after all that cooking, I enjoyed it at the beach! We relaly needed that day of relaxing and just forgeting about everything house & apartment related.