Boathouse (Port Moody, BC)

Can I get a little sentimental in this post? We went to Boathouse as part of a surprise birthday dinner for Izzos' boyfriend. I love him! And Izzo loves me! And the boyfriend loves everyone! haha!

I'm a little sentimental as I have grown up with Iz (she's my cousin, in case you hadn't figured that out :) and I know R (the bf) is very important to her. When I see him and the big fat Portuguese family rounded up, I think how lucky we both are to have such large, supportive, loving families. Yes - every family has its minor tiffs and the oddball or two (or crazy aunts or wierd cousins), but in the end everyone gets along, and whats more, is everyone gets along beautifully.

So, I'm sentimental for the fact that I know Iz is a lucky girl (and R is lucky too!) and that the R family is a wonderful fit. I'm happy for the both of them!

Ahem...on to Boathouse!

The last Boathouse experience I had was in the summer at their White Rock location. There are three levels to the restaurant, with a lower patio area, as well as the rooftop patio on the third floor. We were seated and waited at the rooftop patio for about fifteen minutes with no service, so we went down to the sidewalk patio and waited some more. After about half an hour had expired on our metered parking, we decided to dine elsewhere. The service was a complete fail!

Prior to that, was at the New West location for another birthday. The food was *just* okay. I ordered a sampler of three fish - arctic char, black cod, and tuna, I believe. The black cod was great, the tuna was mediocre, and the char was not great.



So when I heard that R's birthday dinner was going to be at the Boathouse, my expectations were pretty low. Fortunately, however, service was fantastic from the get go; the hostesses promptly seated everyone as they came in. The waitress was friendly and informative.

And the food? We enjoyed it! M and I started with a chilled seafood platter that came with mussels, four oysters, plump cocktail prawns, and my favourite - smoked albacore tuna. It was the yumz. The waitress advised us that this was a smaller sampler than the chilled seafood tower - but it was plenty for us for an appetizer! We'd order this again.

As an aside, the Boathouse also has "Appy hour" seven days a week, from 3-6pm in their bar and heated patio area; oysters are a buck a shuck, and there are also drink and appetizer specials. They also televise all the pay-per-view hockey games. I made a mental note for M to drop by for oysters. :p

For dinner, we had the prime rib. Yes, I know - we had prime rib at the Boathouse. But you know what? We enjoyed it! The prime rib we had at the Boathouse was better than the prime rib we've endured at The Keg. So get that - go to Boathouse for their prime rib instead of The Keg!

We also enjoyed a flight of Tyee white and World Red. The Boathouse offers a trio of wines when you cannot decide what to drink. While I thought the whites were all too "safe" and sweet, they all went beautifully with the chilled seafood and with the complimentary bread. The reds (the shiraz in particular!) went great with the prime rib.

I didn't take too many photos, as it was dark in the restaurant and again, spent more time talking and eating. I did, however, snap a photo of a certain piggy who had too much prime rib...






This would definitely be a Boathouse that I'd visit again - it is scenic and there is little to no outdoor polution when you're on the patio outside. The parking lot CAN be a little tricky to find in the dark, however - you have to go on an overpass to get to it.

Happy Birthday Mr RR! It was a pleasure meeting more of your family.




Boathouse (Port Moody)

2770 Esplanade Ave
Port Moody BC
P: 604-931-5300

Bamboo Grove (Richmond, BC)

What's in a name? Well, the name of the restaurant featured in this restaurant is Bamboo Grove, but my family knows it more as "the lamb chop place". In fact, I only learnt of its' English name because M was commenting (harping? haha!) that we should only call a restaurant by its' name, instead of "that crab place" or "that pork chop rice place" or "the place beside the big vase" place.

...Yes, we actually make up pet names for the restaurants we visit frequently. :)


View Larger Map

As for the Chinese name of the restaurant? Still don't know it.

Bamboo Grove is situated near Richmond Center Mall. There is street parking, as well as parking in the back. When the restaurant parking lot is full, we usually park in adjacent parking lots.

On the occasion that these photos were taken, we had just had a filling dim sum at Kirin (post to come soon!). Just *looking* at the food at Bamboo Grove that night was making us full!



One of the first appetizers was live garlic steamed scallops. The chefs had shucked the live scallops, seasoned with wine, garlic, and green onions, and topped the scallops with rice vermicelli. They were served on the half shell and the scallops were HUGE! I took a picture with a teacup for comparison. It was like eating a scallop steak! The rice vermicelli was a nice touch, as it soaked up all the scallop juices and kept the otherwise exposed scallop surface moist.



The next dish is a family favourite - we order it nearly every time visit Bamboo Grove and we have yet to tire of it. Huge tiger shrimp and Japanese eggplant are sauteed in a mixture of spicy pork. It is really just so good. Even the dedicated carnivores in the family will scoop up some eggplant, on account of it tasting so meaty. The shrimp are a perfect size for this dish, as it takes on meaty characteristics as well.



Also ordered was a crab and lobster in cream sauce atop noodles, and sugar peas sauteed with cod. Everyone always fights for their noodles...and yes, we notice if people around the table have taken an extra large portion (ahem, remember that time J took two wings?? Remember??).

One item we didn't order (but we usually order!) this visit was the lamb chop. It is marinated, seasoned, and roasted just *so* to provide a non-gamey, succulent, tender morsel of meat on the end of a frenched and foil-wrapped bone. One of my relatives can *not* eat lamb for its gamey flavours, but will make a willing exception at Bamboo Grove.



As usual, my father got his vote with a braised fish hot pot. He likes the flavours in this dish, and goes through all the trouble of removing every shred of fish meat from the bones. As for me, I am too lazy and just love the mushrooms - they have all the flavour of the dish without all the work.

The vegetable was a romaine. Simplistic, but really just a nice reprieve from all the rich dishes before.



For dessert? Individual coconut jellies with a touch of evaporated milk on top. Afterall, I'm sure there are coconut trees that grow near the Bamboo Grove, right?

If you plan on dining at Bamboo Grove, it's a good idea to make reservations. And make the reservations early! "Second round" diners typically have to wait a while before they're seated.

Bamboo Grove Restaurant
6920 No. 3 Road
Richmond BC
P: 604-278-9585

Cook-Along: Paul Prudhomme's Eggplant Bayou Teche

I've been swamped at work (new clients!) and been sweltering at home. At times last week, we joked that we'd brought back the desert climate with us; although this week has been *really* nice - warm, but with a slight breeze!

When it started cooling down earlier this week, I brought home some crab meat from work to make some southern food - weather inspired, of course!

During the pride parade last weekend, I was talking about southern food / New Orleans with I & G. The weather reminded me of Louisiana and I just wanted some gumbo / seafood etoufee / po-boys to go along with it!

I'd purchased Paul Prudhomme's "Louisiana Kitchen" cookbook (used!) probably within the first month I got back from a business trip to NOLA in...July 2005. Hurricane Katrina hit merely a month afterwards, and truth be told, it broke my heart to see that such a lively-spirited city had been seemingly broken.

I don't think it's been rebuilt to what it once was, but I do hope to return to New Orleans in the future. (And to drunkingly scream on the phone about the gigantuan cockroaches! lol!)



For now, a Louisiana dish from Paul Prudhomme, who was at the IFT conference I was at in July 2005.

The recipe I used may be found here. The dish entails making a medium-brown roux, which is a mixture of equal parts of oil and flour. While the recipe itself calls for oil, the French-schooled part of me begged to substitute some butter for flavour. I also used a dry sake in place of the pernod, and made substitutions to utilize only two eggplants. I *love* fried eggplant, but there was no way we could have finished three teches each!

The roux was cooked at a medium-low heat until the colour was similar to that of a weak caramel sauce:



Another difference in Southern cooking vs traditional French cuisine is in the mirepoix - while French chefs utilize onion, carrot and celery as a base for their dishes, Southern cooks use onion, celery and bell pepper. Makes it more interesting, and addes to the layers of flavour. :)



We had this for dinner one night, lunch the next day, and split the remaining eggplant half for dinner again. The butter sauce that is made with the shrimp is delectable. Make sure you use a nice seafood / shrimp stock and don't skimp on the butter - it adds to the yum factor!

Victoria Restaurant (Downtown, Vancouver, BC)

Victoria Restaurant is another restaurant our family has been going to for a long period of time. It is in a good location, has free parking (for a certain amount of time) and is wheelchair accessible.

Sherman has already done quite a comprehensive post on Victoria Chinese Restaurant, and I have to agree with a lot of his commentary.



While service is above average and the dining area is large and spacious, Victoria Chinese Restaurant is typically uber-busy for dim sum, but quiet and even more spacious for dinner.

They do a lot of classic Chinese dishes, like a Dong Gua (Winter Melon) soup which is is cooked in the melon itself - steamed! There is also the Peking Duck with your choice of two or three eats - you can choose between soup, crepe wraps, or lettuce wraps.



My familys' trend at Victoria is to order way too much food. On the night that the photos for this post were taken, we actually had to take home the aforementioned winter melon soup amongst other dishes as for some reason, the orders for some dishes were doubled - our fault, not the waiters'. Sheesh. There have also been times where we've had to pack entire dishes home because someone will admittedly *forget* what we've ordered and add on two or three dishes halfway through the meal.

So personally, the thought of Victoria Chinese Restaurant brings up feelings of bloated food-coma and round bellies! :)



Victoria Chinese Restaurant

1088 Melville St [map]

Vancouver BC

Phone: 604-669-8383

Sandbar (Granville Island, Vancouver, BC)

The Sandbar is known to locals and tourists to Vancouver alike as a lively lounge and seafood restaurant. But what about brunch?

We took in the upstairs patio and enjoyed some (light) open air dining before meeting with some family afterwards.



Brunch is never complete without a mimosa - orange juice with champagne!

I also ordered a pair each of Royal Miyagi and Malpeque oysters on the half shell. Briney, sweet, and fresh. They were served with fresh grated horseradish, wedges of lemon, and a housemade cocktail sauce. Paired with the mimosa, it was a nice appy.



To finish off, we also ordered the West Coast crab cakes, served with a smoked red pepper coulis and a lemon aioli. The (I suspect pasteurized) crab meat was mixed with shallots and small dice of bell peppers, and dredged in panko. The crab cakes were fried a little too long, but surprisingly still retained moisture and the sauces complimented the cakes and brought them to life! They were perfectly hot even after a short photo session (hardy-har!) and were crisp and decadent at the same time.



Service was very attentive and friendly - even though I got there only a couple minutes after Sandbar opened, most of the window seats were already taken. Within twenty minutes, the place was packed and all the waitstaff were in fine form. I'd love to return to Sandbar to try their oyster po boy sandwich, or their panfried oysters!

The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant

1535 Johnson Street [map]

Vancouver BC

Phone: (604) 669-9030

Review: The Cannery (Port of Vancouver, BC)

It's been sunny all weekend. For me, sun is not conducive to food blogging. Eating - yes...blogging about it, not so much.

Yesterday, we visited The Cannery at the Port of Vancouver for brunch. We had tried visiting a couple weeks prior, but they were closed for one reason or another. The manager was nice enough to give us a small token of appreciation for making it all the way out to visit them - yesterday we finally had the chance!



The weather was fantastic and so was the view, so we were surprised that we were seated promptly without any waiting after we arrived without reservations.

M couldn't make up his mind about what to order as we'd had a filling meal the night before with his family. The waiter recommended the lobster eggs benedict, the steak sandwich, and granola and yogurt parfait.

Finally, M chose the steak sandwich, while I decided on the lobster bisque and salmon & crab cakes. I had seen two patrons at a nearby table order the same thing, and wanted to try it as well!



Can you believe I've never been to The Cannery? I've lived in Vancouver / the Lower Mainland my entire life and even when I was working at their sister restaurant, The Fish House at Stanley Park, I never made it out to The Cannery try their menu.

There's a first time for everything!

I was quite pleased with the service and food quality yesterday. The waiter was amicable and present when we needed anything, and allowed us plenty of time to admire the view and enjoy our meal. The hostess seated us away from the louder, busier part of the main dining room so that we wouldn't be bothered by some of the larger parties that were dining.



The waiter came by with some flakey croissants, butter and jam, and the lobster bisque followed shortly thereafter. One thing both M and I were impressed with was the temperature of the food. It was nicely hot! The bisque was steaming and rich in flavour and texture; it went nicely with my last bite of buttery croissant.

Ms steak sandwich came on a lightly toasted ciabatta. The chunks of steak were juicy and succulent, and he said it was on his list of favourites for steak sandwiches in the Lower Mainland. The sandwich was accompanied by a well-dressed Caesar salad with large slices of good grade parmesan on top. Yum!

My salmon and crab cakes were *hot* as well. They were served with a beautiful mound of harissa mayonnaise, crostinis, and a potato-tomato salad. The salad, although slightly bland, was a nice and light side to the tender salmon and crab cakes. You could taste the salmon, as well as a light helping of crab and cilantro throughout the cakes. It made for a healthy Pacific Northwest meal!

Getting to The Cannery is a little tricky. I was only reminded of the location as I was in the Port of Vancouver doing some work - to my knowledge, the Victoria Drive access is now blockaded; you can only get to the Cannery and the Port of Vancouver via the entrance near Brighton Park (behind the PNE fairgrounds).

As The Cannery is relocating after the Olympics in 2010 for port security reasons and lease issues, make sure you take advantage of their scenery and current brunch / Tuesday night chowder bar specials before then! See their website for more details.



The Cannery

2205 Commissioner St [map]

Vancouver BC

Phone: (604) 254-9606

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

Recipe: Thai Shrimp Fritters

I *love* seafood. I also *love* Thai flavours. When I came by a recipe in one of my cookbooks for a "Lemongrass & Shrimp Pop", I decided to try it.

I had some leftover lemongrass, and also some nice firm shrimp in the freezer, and so I adapted the recipe and tried it out.



Ingredients
300g shrimp (I used about 16 shrimp, in the 21-25 size range), coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp coriander seed
2-3 green onions, chopped coarsely
1" of ginger, peeled & sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 t Sambal Oolek
1 t fish sauce
Cornstarch
2-3 stalks of lemongrass, cut into 4" sections
Canola oil for frying



Method
In a blender or food processor, grind coriander seed. Add onions, ginger, and garlic, and pulse until finely chopped. Add shrimp, sambal oolek, and fish sauce, and process until a paste forms. You will need to scrape down the processor / blender walls several times.

With wet hands, form the shrimp paste onto the lemongrass stalks, or, if unavailable, thin patties. Dredge in cornstarch and set aside.

When all the mixture has been formed, heat a pot of canola oil over medium heat (ensure that your pot or wok is deep enough - the pot should only be at 1/3 full to prevent a fire hazard!) to 375ºF or until a small bread cube dropped in the oil sizzles and turn golden.

Fry the patties or shrimp pops until nicely golden on the outside, about 4-5 minutes.

Drain on paper towels and serve with a sweet chili sauce!

Review: South Ocean Seafood Restaurant (Garden City Road, Richmond, BC)

I visited South Ocean Seafood Restaurant the first week of March, but didn't feel like blogging about it until I pulled their business card out of my coat pocket for the millionth time. We went for one of my cousins birthdays, since they were having a special on their King Crab (mid to late winter is when King Crab is in season, and thus, "on special" at many places).

Being the devouring mob that we were, we arrived at South Ocean (at Garden City & Alderbridge way in Richmond) promptly and waited for our feast. And wait we did... I believe our meal took more than three hours!



We ordered an assortment of food aside from the Alaskan King Crab. There were hot pots of chicken and mushroom, and fish and tofu. There was the Peking Duck done two ways - lettuce wrap and crepes. There was sauteed vegetable. We also ordered sweet and sour pork.



It was all very...bland. The crab itself, we thought, was overcooked and seemed to be lacking salt, as you could *see* the amount of minced garlic garnishing all the crab legs, but you couldn't taste it! The crab rice, although impressive in size and dramatic in presentation, was average at best. My sister lamented that she had been getting her wisedom teeth done when our family had gone to Excelsior and she wasn't able to join us. (She is in love with Excelsiors' crab rice).

The Peking Duck crepes were tasty enough, but when its counterpart, the lettuce wrap, we sized it up, looked around the two tables of eight, and said, "who shrunk the lettuce wrap?!" It was literally only enough for two to three people.

Nothing was really notable about South Ocean except that they seem to have cheap (toonie) dim sum on certain days of the week before noon.

Blah. South Ocean Seafood Restaurant did not live up to our expectations.

South Ocean Seafood Restaurant

#140 - 4751 Garden City Road (@ Alderbridge Way) [map]

Richmond, BC

Phone: 604-278-1233