Review: Banana Leaf (Kitsilano) - Reliably Delicious!

We were piglets this weekend - feeling lazy yet hungry equals going out to eat, even when we know we're going to eat lots all weekend.

I haven't been to the Banana Leaf in Kitsilano in a while, but we were shopping out that way this weekend and decided it would hit the spot. It did!

The brightly decorated restaurant is about three years old. We were told that it used to be a "gentlemans" club complete with cigar room and such. Now, it is brightly and neatly furnished with traditional screens, kites, and masks.

We were warmly greeted at the door by a host and seated promptly, and upon inquiry, found that we had about half an hour to order off the lunch menu. We were extremely pleased to discover this, and ordered a beef rendeng and char kuey teow. Although the dishes were extremely hot, they arrived quickly, which made me think that it was premade. The food was however, extremely delicious and we finished it all up.



We enjoyed it so much so, that we immediately ordered a mee goreng, and finished that too.



All three waiters that helped us were polite and helpful. We enjoyed our meal a lot; our only regret was that we did not notice or order the 7 course tasting menu which was great value at $25 per person!

Banana Leaf has always been a favourite restaurant of mine over other chain Malaysian / Singaporean restaurants in the Vancouver area. I hope to visit soon for another reliably great meal!

Banana Leaf (Kitsilano)
3005 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC
Tel: (604) 734-3005


Mirror of my dinehere review.
More photos at flickr.

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

Recipe: New Year Cruellers

Gong Hei Faat Choi!

It's Chinese New Year, and we're getting ready for a weekend of feasting. Plus, next week is my grandfathers birthday, so you can bet that we'll be eating on through the week!!!

I picked up a cookbook at my mothers house, after remembering making some New Years Cruellers one day as a child when my mother was out of the house. Iz, remember this one?

Yes, I was a bad little kid when I was younger and when my mother would leave the house to run errands and buy groceries, I would sneak into the kitchen and cook and bake and what not.

Thinking back, taking on the New Year Crueller as a nine year old was pretty damned gutsy. What if I'd burnt the house down? Dirty dishes would be the least of my worries at that point...

The cookbook I picked up was none other than "Chopstick Recipes #2" by Cecelia Au-Yeung. I have NEVER found another substitute for her cookbooks. Written in English and Chinese, the cook book features traditional dish recipes and colour photos.

While a bit archiac, the book is just *really good*! There are recipes for dim sum favourites like sausage buns, sticky rice buns, shiu mai, malai cake, and many others!

Although the recipe was written in ounces, with the help of the internet, I translated it into metric terms:

Ingredients
2 and 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 c + 3 T sugar
6T lard
2 eggs
1-3 T of cold water

Method
In a medium sized bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Cut in the lard until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center. Beat together the eggs and pour into the well. Gradually incorporate the dry flour at the edges until the mixture is uniform and holds together.



On a floured surface, roll out into a thin rectangle. I rolled mine out to approximately half a centimeter thick. Use a sharp knife or rotary cutter to cut into small rectangles, approximately 1" by 2". (The book says 1/2" by 1 1/2", but I couldn't! They were so tiny!)



To form the crueller shape, use a small, sharp knife to cut a slit in the middle of each small rectangle of dough. Gently pull the bottom of the rectangle through the slit so that the dough plaits on itself. You may need to gently stretch the dough a little.



All my little cruellers, ready for the fryer...



In a medium sized pot, heat about 2 inches of oil on medium heat. I used canola oil. Make sure that the pot is more than twice the depth of your oil! You don't want to start a fire (something I'm sure I remembered at 9 years old...thus no burnt kitchens when my mother came home!). Drop in a couple cruellers at a time, stirring so that they do not stick to each other or the pot.



Finished cruellers:



Package the cruellers into airtight containers, and give to older relatives and wish them to Faat Choy!!! And exchange the goodies for some li see! :)

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Eat lots and enjoy the full bellies. I know what I'm doing the next couple of days!

There are a few more photos at my flickr photoset, "Chinese New Year Cruellers".

Review: Le Crocodile (Vancouver BC)

Le Crocodile is one of Vancouvers most fantastic institutions for exquisite French food. I had the chance to sit in on a holiday set menu with some new and old friends, and the experience was met with mixed reviews.

The place was packed when we arrived. We were seated promptly and served a beautiful amuse bouche of a sauteed prawn set atop a cool refreshing portion of beet carpaccio. To prevent transfer of heat and colour, the cooks had separated the former and latter with a small round of potato crisp. This was arguably one of the best courses in the meal.



We were then served a quail stuffed with foie gras that was roasted and served with a veal demi glace. Unfortunately, this dish was not great. The quail was slightly dry, and the whole thing did not taste seasoned. We also had a hard time detecting any foie gras.

Next, we had a light tasting salmon and shrimp seafood terrine. It was served with an emulsified sauce, which, while being light on the palette, had slightly split on the plate. Some enjoyed the terrine, but some compared it to the gummy texture of "hot pot fish balls". I think if the fish was omitted from the dish, it would have revealed more of the salmon and shrimp texture.





For the main entree, we had a choice of veal tenderloin or tilapia and lobster pasta. I opted for the former, and really enjoyed it. The vegetables were perfect, the veal was tender and flavourful, and the morels and wild mushrooms were delectable.



Dessert was a trio of pastries: a cocoa-chantilly filled choux pastry, a sour cherry panna cotta, and a berry tart. Everyone loved the panna cotta, minus the sour cherry. It was one of those "surprise!" moments when someone bit into the center to discover it was sour.



Service was fantastic. There were ample waitstaff, the sommelier was friendly and not snooty, the hostess / coatcheck girl was friendly and helpful. Based on the great service, and given that this was an exceptionally busy night for the restaurant, I'd return. I know the flaws in the food were anomalies.

Le Crocodile

909 Burrard Street

Vancouver BC

Phone: 604-669-4298




More photos available at my flickr photoset, "08DE31 NYE".

Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival!

Prepare for delicous food and spectacular wines! The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is coming to Vancouver on March 23rd to 29th!



I found a surprise in my mailbox last evening. The Playhouse Internation Wine Festival program!

I went to Salud Chile, an event held at O'douls downtown with M last year and had a great time. I think it made me really appreciate Chilean wines, and I found a couple favourites that I would have never tried! Plus there were a lot of great foods - raw oysters, deliciously fresh and piquant ceviche, an assortment of cheeses, fruits, and crackers, dungeness crab ravioli, seared beef and chicken skewers, and lots of hors d'oevres were being passed.

We're debating whether we should go back to the same event (we are foodies and not winos at heart!), or to a different venue. We're definately not going to the formal wine tastings, I think the food events are just more fun and social.

Are you going to any events this year?