Pisces Fish & Chips (Ambleside, West Vancouver, BC)

Another weekend, another sunny lunch. We stopped by Pisces Fish & Chips after garage saleing. M remembered the Polish / Russian lady who (used to) own Pisces Fish & Chips and wanted to revisit the crispy fish & chips, as well as the schnitzel she used to make.



Alas, the restaurant had changed ownership and thus there was no schnitzel. We opted for their combo A, which included two pieces of fish, two prawns, and chips. We also ordered an extra piece of fish (more about this ambiguity later), four oysters, and a lychee slush with pearl drink, as well as a strawberry drink with pearls.



Pisces Fish & Chips is kind of hidden away in a strip of businesses along Marine Drive in West Vancouver. In fact, there is only pedestrian access to their storefront. You may park either in the parking lot of the complex, or your choice of Marine Drive or Clyde Avenue. Since there is this limited access, there is a cozy outdoor seating area in the courtyard in front of Pisces.

Pisces advertises that their fish and seafood is fried in a light batter. This is a welcome change as the traditional beer-battered seafood is greasier and is more filling. They also offer a number of Taiwanese dishes, so it might be worthwhile checking them out a second time.



The seafood was prepared nicely with a light, crisp coating and the oysters were the hands down favourite. They were fresh, a smaller size, as well as juicy and sweet! The tartar sauce at Pisces is nothing special, and the tapioca bubbles in the drinks were overcooked (ie mushy). The lychee slush was refreshing though! I'd order one of these any hot summer day!

Here's my beef...in my opinion, the fish that was sold to us was not cod, as advertised. It was probably Alaskan pollock. When we inquired about this, the cashier said it was cod. Whether the fish was sold to him as cod (and thus the restaurant is probably getting hosed), or the restaurant themselves were pawning off one fish as another it felt wrong. We paid about $35 for the entire meal and so I was a little miffed that we didn't get what we ordered. That said though, it did taste good and offered something different in Ambleside.

Random Yum-O-Rama Fact: Both M and I are Pisces, as well as both his parents! Pisces eating pisces at pisces...interesting...

Pisces Fish & Chips (Ambleside)

1425 Marine Drive [map]

West Vancouver BC

Phone: 604-926-8664

Review: Charlie Don't Surf (White Rock, BC)

The sun has been glorious as of late.

We've been having cocktails on the patio, the plants have been happy, and last weekend, we did some driving and relaxed out in White Rock.

It was a good outing - we did some antiquing along the way, found some bargain bin deals (printer cable for under $2!) and strolled along the pier and boardwalk.

The first stop we wanted to make was The Boathouse, but since they were pretty lukewarm about wanting our money, we took off down the street to Charlie Don't Surf for some grub.

We were promptly seated on the patio after the hostess served another patron (she greeted us and asked us kindly to wait 30 seconds on the red couch / kings throne while she did so).

We started with a pair of cocktails - M ordered his standard caesar (it came with two pickled green beans), while I ordered the Charlie Martini. The caesar was tasty, but small. The Charlie Martini was nothing too special, but it was a nice clean drink to go with the deep-fried seafood that we were about to order!



A sidenote - my martini was served unstrained. I'm no martini expert, but something tells me that the strainer on the martini shaker is supposed to remove thise ice. I didn't mind it as it was a full-strengthed Grey Goose concoction...but I'm just saying...

We ordered calamari to share. Initially, we were thinking of *only* ordering fish and chips, but added on the calamari as we were sitting near a sign that boasted calamari as a "must order" dish at Charlie Don't Surf.



As we later noted, the calamari was at the bottom of the list - it was crispy and not too greasy, and there was a good tzatziki with it, but there was simply too much batter. The batter fell off every time you tried to spear a piece of calamari, and also fell off inside the small container of tzatziki provided. I wouldn't say it was disappointing as it was a good size, but I'd change up the batter a bit so that it didn't crumble everywhere.

Finally, our fish and chips came - the kitchen had the foresight to separate them onto two different plates since we were sharing, which was nice. M whispered that because they separated them, we had twice the tartar sauce! lol - he makes me laugh.



The chips were nothing too special. The fish was nicely done though - flakey, tender, crisp and not greasey. Service was great as well - our server was available when we needed her, and came by to check on us a couple times.

I was telling M how "Charlie" reminds me of: a) my brother, or b) Charlie Sheen, in his current role as "Uncle Charlie" on the sitcom "Two and a Half Men". With that in mind, this was nice patio / pub grub with an emphasis on alcohol and sun!

I'd come back to Charlie Don't Surf for more of their food, especially with good company and to enjoy some sun.

Note: the brother is *not* an alcoholic womanizing bachelor like Uncle Charlie, but he *does* appreciate a good fish & chips!

Charlie Don't Surf

15782 Marine Drive [map]

White Rock BC

Phone: (604) 538-1988

Review: Gingeri Chinese Cuisine (Richmond BC)

Gong Hei Faat Choy! Sum Seung See Sing!
Happy Chinese New Year Everyone! May your dreams materialize!

I had a fantastic weekend, lots of eating, lots of laughing, lots of full bellies. Does my family ever *not* do something in excess??

The "year end dinner", or tuen leen fan in Cantonese was held at Gingeri Chinese Cuisine in Richmond this year. We've been going to Gingeri for a number of years now, and the staff know us by face. I wrote a dim sum review for them here.

We had the whole Chinese New Year shebang this weekend. No, I did not take photos of every single platter that came out. For one, if you know my family, food does not go untouched for long. Two, everyone was extra hungry (me and TM hadn't eaten since breakfast at 11am! Plus, everyone had been kind of bracing for an early dinner, so had suitably earlier lunches), and that just adds to the carnivoric beasts within. Three, it is HARD to take photos of food that is literally flying by on the lazy susan as my family pigs out. If you're not careful, you might get a chopstick in the eye or a fork in the hand.

You know that saying, "nothing should come between family except for a plate and a dining table"? Well, we take it kind of literally!



I did manage to take a photo of the above and below. Above we have the crispy-sour-sweet fried prawns. They were SO GOOD and SO SUCCULENT. With the slightly tangy and sweet sauce gently caressing each battered and fried prawn, it was delicious. The prawns are eaten at New Years because its character in Chinese, "ha" sounds like laughter. Thus, you eat it for happiness. ....and, perhaps, you might share the last one, or give the last one to your brother after he wins it over in a "best of three" challenge of rock paper scissors...

Below, we have the platter of general "lucky stuff". (Sorry for the horrible translations here...I am doing the best I can. wink wink.) Chinese generally eat the following because it brings prosperity ("faat choy"), which is the black thread-like fungus below. The dish also has dried oysters, ho see, which sounds like "good times". There was also lettuce, choy which relates back to prosperity, and roasted stewed garlic cloves, which translates to fertility. So, if you have everything on the plate, you'll have prosperity, fertility, good times, and general longevity.





Lastly, we have the orange roughy fillets above. Unfortunately, that was the best three photos of food that I could manage to take. If you look at the last photo, you can see that probably half the dish was missing before I could even snap a shot! Well, there are some people born in the year of the pig in my family...

Time after time, Gingeri delivers great food and good service. Perhaps it is because we patronize the establishment so well, that they treat us better, but there is no disputing good food, brunch, lunch or dinner.

Edit: Upon further review, now I notice that ALL of the photos are of partially empty plates! This is NOT the way it was brought to us, it's just that 1) my family likes to eat fast, and 2) I am a slow photographer.

Gingeri Chinese Cuisine

#323 5300 No. 3 Road [map]

Richmond BC

Phone: 604-278-6006