Glance: Hats Off Day 2009 (The Heights, Burnaby, BC)

I've been hibernating! Actually, I've been out a lot and not getting enough sleep. Excuse me if I fall asleep through this entry.

The weather held out this Saturday and an estimated 40000 people took in Hats Off Day along the Heights business area for some food, bands, kids activities, and much more. Historically, Hats Off Day was a way for the merchants of The Heights community along Hastings (Burnaby)to celebrate their independance from the rest of the lower mainland and also to give patronage to their customers. For more information about the Heights, visit the Burnaby Heights page.



I attended Hats Off Day last year, but this year was a far better event, with higher turnout, warmer weather, and more eateries!

It's always interesting to see what happens in a year - last years' Mexican restaurant is this years Thai / Chinese restaurant. Last years' clothing store is this years Indian take out. Since The Heights neighbourhood is not too far from our own, M and I were glad to find some new places to dine.



Sfinaki Greek Taverna had the whole grill going as usual, with the owner (and his makeshift loudspeaker) telling you how delicious his chicken souvlaki was!

We (i.e. M!) were also pleased to discover Heavenly Bites, a small Indian restaurant which is family owned and operated, with delicious beef samosas (M had three to himself!) and rotis. We also tried the vegetable pakoras, but since they weren't as big sellers as the beef samosas, they were room temperature. :( I do think we'll be getting take out sometime soon - they offer a large selection of "Tiffin Box" combos, which seem to include an entree, rice, and a side dish, all for $9.95!



As usual, Tom Yum Thai did not disappoint - they were our favourite eatery last year and for something so simple (pad thai and spring rolls) they were well anticipated. Their storefront had a constant lineup and they had a bit of a time keeping up to demand.



We enjoyed so much food gluttony in the first twenty minutes of our experience at Hats Off Day that we did not have room for the following:



Grilled sardines ("freshly imported from Portugal!" one of the men tending the grill told me.) ...I guess I'll have to order some grilled sardines on the Drive this weekend, on Car Free Day (Sunday, June 14th).



...as well as grilled juicy chicken from the Legion... :( My only comfort is telling myself that since there were such large batches of chicken, maybe, just maybe the chicken wasn't marinated long enough or it was overcooked. But the smells and the huge lineups said otherwise.



We also missed out on trying satays from a new (?) Thai restaurant near / at where there used to be a Mexican / Latin American restaurant. Damn. Damn you, eyes-bigger-than-stomache-syndrome, why do you plague me so?!

Aside from the food, Hats Off Day offered more, like the Elvises of past, present, and future (there was even an Asian Elvis, however he was performing at the time of this photo so he's not in this shot)....





...hot wet firemen (a la dunk tank style!)...



and murals throughout the area. This one graces the wall of Red Apple Farm Market.

What I like about outdoor events + Vancouver? People *love* their dogs. And dogs are all the more than welcome by me...you know, with the exception (as with children) that their parents are aware of their surroundings and others' personal space!



We saw a *huge* gentle and friendly Italian mastiff (love the grey coat!), a dog that looked like Sandy from Annie the musical (after a bath. :), and a cute German Shepard pup who is just growing used to his bigger body. Love love love those dogs...they have such character!

And of course, we saw a little bit of the "like owner, like dog" syndrome. heehee! I'll bet that the couple on the left are both extremely graceful runners, while the owner and pooch on the right would probably enjoy a good meal and music (saw them near the musical Italian duo who appear at EVERY Italian wedding and event. :)



It was a great Hats Off Day...where as last years event almost made me want to give up on The Heights, this years event made me want to return!

For more photos, please visit my Flickr photoset.

Glance: Richmond Summer Night Market Hawkers (Cathay Imports Parking Lot, Vancouver, BC)

We spent all Sunday walking - we took a stroll after Cannery looking at vintage finds and antiques on Commercial Drive, went to Portobello West Market off of Terminal Avenue, and also did some shopping on Main. But that wasn't enough. On the way home, M decided that he wanted to go to night market!



So off we went. Unfortunately, we got there about half an hour early - the market starts at anywhere from 6:30 to 7pm, unless the vendors set up before then. No sneaking in early! :)

We gave the food vendors a couple minutes once the gates opened before we drooled all over their food. We walked down a couple rows of stalls first - it was surprising how seemingly sparse the stalls looked this year. There were several empty stalls. But who cares...we came for the food!



We seemed to gravitate towards Pang's stall the most times. The first time, we picked up a skewer of siu mai (for M) and beef tripe (for me). Yes - I eat tripe. Unfortunately, M does not - usually. On this occasion, M thought that there was brisket in the "beef odds and sods" bowl and dug in.



He was pretty pleased that he had four large siu mai on his stick instead of the usual three that you got at other stalls. That's right, perhaps it's akin to a carnie trick or what not - but we sometimes get sucked into the deals that hawkers throw at you. Decidedly though, we enjoyed the food at Pang's. The tripe bowl had lots of flavour and was well cooked - not overdone, but not rubbery. The siu mai were meaty and large (and there were four! lol). We even bought two trays of deep fried wonton - one in the beginning, and one on our second round to the stalls.



I believe one of the deciding factors in getting us (M & I) to buy hawker food is to have a mom / dad figure sell it to us. I mean seriously - what do youngins' know about preparing old-world favourites?! This was the case with Pang's, as well as B&W Dim Sum House, whose proprietor - a mom and her three boys, have been at Richmond Night Market for as long as I can remember. Regularly, I have seen the mom and boys operate at the Crystal Mall Food Court. They offer a lot of tasty combos at good prices!

I had a craving for Japchae, but the Korean *halmonie* (is that how you spell it? Whatever - Korean grandmother!) and her daughter didn't have a stall on Sunday. Are there still there this year? I'll have to find out. I circled a couple times looking for them, then settled on the Japchae at B&W Dim Sum House. No, they're not Korean. And the noodles had a noticeable absence of beef, green onion, and carrot. But it was acceptable. Not something I would order again as I've made better Japchae myself, but it was good street food.

What else makes food street food? Food on sticks! We tried to sample every skewered meat in the market, but failed. You see, my eyes are definitely bigger than what my stomache can hold. I got to taste the meaty pork skewers at the "Satay Place" below.



The guys that ran the stall were a little less prepared than the other food stalls, and although some may see that as a bad thing, I did not - they were tending to the charcoal in their stoves, and as the motto goes, good food takes time - M had his eyes on the skewers from this stall from the start. As he put it, they was so much meat on them! He was right - the tender chunks of pork were larger than anywhere else, and before serving, the guy behind the stove brushed on some satay sauce.

I have to add though, while there was a lot of flavour from the charcoal, and the meat was tender and well cooked, it was not as flavourful as I would have hoped. It needed some marinade or rub or something! BUT. It proved to be the best value in terms of amount of food that you got.

Next up was Chubbz - they did a Japadog-style hot dog as well as "Greek souvlaki".



I guess they were trying to appeal to the masses! We didn't try the Japanese hot dog but we gave the chicken and pork skewers a try. The difference from Chubbz to the "Satay Sauce" stand was that Chubbz had a little less meat on their skewers, and that they were a little heavy handed on the white pepper. Chubbz also had a deal: $5 for three skewers. So...it all worked out in the end.

There were at least two or three more "skewered meat" stalls to try, but I was pretty stuffed. Wouldn't you be?

I was so stuffed that I didn't even have a chance to have any "waffle egg balls" or "chicken egg balls" from the Malaysian (?) vendor that is there every year. You know, the guy who speaks / hawks in Cantonese and is a one man show? This year he took up two stalls and at the time I took this photo, he had a lineup snakeing around in the "U" shape around the two stalls, plus he paused to get his Canadian top hat out for the photo op. What a ham! :)



You gotta say though, the guy is good at marketing himself. He had photos of himself with various celebrities posted on the gazebo walls so that you had something to look at while you waited.



I didn't have room for dessert, but I'll probably go back one time this year to sample some goodies from IC Desserts.

I didn't even have room for the fish-shaped biscuits on the other side of the main drag - pity!

I *did*, however, pick up some Dragon Beard Candy to go. It's a must-buy, every year. Even if I don't buy anything else, I'll pick up some Dragon Beard Candy for my family or myself to enjoy at home. This stall is also known to have long lineups, because the product is only good when it is fresh! So...you have to wait a while.



I bought two containers of original, and one container of mixed "strawberry" and original. The strawberry was only slightly strawberry - the Dragon Beard Candy is similiar to cotton candy, but more distinct when you put it in your mouth. The sugar / glucose strands are wrapped gently around a mixture of roasted, sweetened, peanuts.

Well, I guess that's all for this post. I'm planning on going back to the night market this weekend (it was pre-planned with a friend), so I'll try to find some new eats. Stay tuned!

Richmond Summer Night Market

12361 Vulcan Way [map]

Richmond BC