Food Bloggers Dinner: Deutsche House / Vancouver Alpen Club

The Food Blogger dinners have been happening more frequently - its nice to see some familiar faces, but even better to meet the fresh faces behind some of the new (to me!) blogs. On this occasion, the location was Deustche Haus / Vancouver Alpen Club on Victoria Drive at 33rd Avenue.

The venue was huge - a regular dining area with an L-shaped bar, a back room where a communal gathering of older folk were dining and playing cards, and an upstairs area where dancing was going on. Question - is the upstairs area their "catering" area? Is it licensed for food? (Just curious.)

We showed up a little early and spied  Jenny and Ricky still in their van, then Joyce and Bing enjoying some sun across the parking lot. As it was getting close to the meeting time, we trickled into the dining hall and spotted Kim at the other end of the room.  Soon thereafter, Sherman, Yen, Victoria, Ethan, Jonathan, Ann and Dee, Karl, and Anita joined us.

As Kim had been organizing the meal a couple weeks prior, he'd mentioned that he had wanted to order the festplate; for a mere $80, four (or more, in my opinion!) people could feast on a platter of various meats and sides. Alternately, when we were seated, the waitress suggested the special on the Wednesday we were there: we could pick from their schnitzels, pair it with a beer, for the low price of $15.

I had "reserved" one of us for the festplate, and although the special was tempting, M also went for the festplate.

After a long wait, we were slowly given some beverages. (Insert wait.) Then we given some bread and butter. Actually, we were given an obscene amount of butter to begin with and for a while, we joked around that we were having whipped butter hors d'oervres... When the bread finally came we quieted down a notch and temporarily satiated our appetites (and mouths :) with the soft, supple bread. It was bread straight out of the bag - no toasting or warming up here.


As the festplate diners had been warned (on the menu) that the platters would be 30 minutes, we idled away our time with conversation. Once the food began to arrive, however, it became a circus. Food papparazzi anyone?

The above were a variety of schnitzels that was ordered by bloggers who did not opt for the festplate; I did not have a chance to sample any of these but they looked good, and I liked that there were beets and broccolini as a side. The schnitzels were only $15, and included a beer! I also liked seeing the spaetzle (middle), a German dumpling that is generally made from a batter of herbs, egg, flour and water, a may be served by poaching in stock or water, then served as is, or further cooked by a quick saute. I haven't had or made these in almost ten years - I think I'll try my hand at them again soon! Poaching yields a more moist dumpling; sauteeing can sometimes cause the spaetzle to puff up slightly (due to the egg in the batter) and / or crisp up on the outside for a different texture.

Finally, the moment came when the platters of meat came out:

On the platter was the 1 eisbein, 2 kassler, 2 bratwurst, 2 leberkäse, 1 schweineschnitzel and sauerkraut. The side dishes came separately and consisted of mashed potatoes, dumplings, red cabbage and an ample supply of mustard.


The mashed potatoes were mildly fluffy but nothing special. They tasted a little better with a sprinkle of salt and some mustard. The dumplings would be the fail out of the sides. At first we didn't know what we were eating - then some referenced the menu and identified the gummy mass we had been chewing were the dumplings. I suppose some overworking of the dumpling dough had occurred, or that the starch in the dumpling had begun to gelatinize. Everything tasted better with a slathering of the mustard!

A closer look at the meats on the platter, clockwise from top left corner: eisbein (essentially a ham hock, the first one is with the fat cap; second photo is with the fat cap removed), leberkäse (German bologna), bratwurst (sausage), Schweineschnitzel (pork cutlet, pounded thin, breaded and fried) and kassler (salted pork chop).


Our favourite was the bratwurst. It was easy to eat and went well with the sauerkraut and mustard. Overall, the ham hock comments varied from a favourite, to "slightly bland". It is important to note that German food is of this style - minimal seasoning, cooked through, served with kraut and mustard. With that in mind, and comparing the food to Balkan House (another European restaurant in New Westminster) as well as a friend who we've had the pleasure of cooking for us, the ham hock is Ms favourite. For me, it was a little salty, it would be nice with some of that bread from earlier in the evening. The same could be said of the salted pork chop, although thethe pork chop was the driest of the meats. However, this could very well be due to the meat having to endure a thorough picture taking by our group.

The surprise? The German bologna reminded Karl of his German roots; for me, it reminded me of nights at grandmoms house! My grandmom used to fry or steam up slices of spam because it was one of the things I would eat at her house when I was a wee one (she cooked her steamed eggs different than my mother; although it was my favourite dish, I just couldn't eat grandmoms! The spam, however...:) So I liked it. Now, I won't degrade it to say it was spam. The texture differed a little bit, but bologna - yes it was.

We also liked the pork schnitzel. It was a lot of meat though - the platter could definitely serve five, maybe even six people, although the people gathered around Ms' platter (we weren't platter partners!) managed to meagerly finish theirs. In my "platter party" was Sherman, Kim, and Yen. Although Sherman and Kim are big eaters, me (with my on again, off again meat ban!) and Yen were no match.

Even so, some bloggers had room / made room for dessert. On the left, a traditional apfelstrudel / apple strudle, on the right, an order of crepes with vanilla ice cream.


While the food was acceptable, the service was a little lacking. It took us a while for our single waitress to take orders and expedite food. There was also a huge wait in handling / settling the bill. Although many of us were paying by cash, and had only ordered the festplate, it took about half an hour in a lineup for everyone to pay.

FYI, there was also an unverified account of rodent(s) observed at the time of dining. However, if you look up the online reports at Vancouver Coastal Health, no records in the last couple years report any pests (the last inspection was November of last year, the one prior, in July of 2008). That's quite remarkable for a building and neighbourhood of this age. ;)

Vancouver Alpen Club / Deustche Haus
4875 Victoria Drive
Vancouver BC
P: 604-874-3811

Sensory Overload: Vaisakhi Celebration on Fraser

We made it out to the annual Vaisakhi Festival on Fraser yesterday - Vaisakhi, according to Wikipedia "is an ancient harvest festival in the Punjab region, which also marks beginning of a new solar year, and new harvest season. Baisakhi is a Sikh religious festival.It falls on the first day of the Baisakh month in the solar Nanakshahi calendar, which corresponds to April 14 in the Gregorian calendar."`

However, we didn`t know Vaisakhi as a harvest celebration, but more as "that springtime festival in Punjabi town where the community provides free food". Yes, gluttons we are - there was one occasion where we were heading to Richmond for dinner when we came upon hoards of people were blocking the roadways and random people tapped on our car windows and offered us plates of food.

I also have a friend who is getting married next month at a Sikh temple. To get a better feel for the traditions and culture she organized an outing for her friends last month to the temple; to take it a step further, I thought we`d walk the Vaisakhi festival yesterday. Here are some photos of what we saw and ate.
 
Preliminary, I was just taken by all the colours and embroidery on the veils, traditional sari, chuni, and salvwar kameez. Most of the girls attending the wedding next month have had the traditional outfits made. I just wished I had attended the Vaisakhi celebration before we'd had it made, just so I would have had a better idea of what to expect.

I was also trying to keep an eye out for jewelry and makeup, so the first batch of photos is just on that - clothing, jewelry, makeup.

Of course, aside from the sights and sounds (various broadcasting and traditional music throughout the Fraser area), we had to have a taste of the culture - first up was this marinated fruit medley. It is an acquired taste; I've had something similar before in a dried form - it is a salty-sweet combination that incorporates chili powder, cumin and other spices. M wanted us both to have one; I knew better and told him he'd better just get one. He disagreed and got the "vendor" (it was free afterall!) to give him a little more. It was what I'd remembered, and I only had one piece of each fruit; apple, banana, and grape.

Next up was another dessert that I`d had before. A deep fried, then candied batter that released syrup when you bit into it. We shared a small portion as it was quite rich. There were also a number of businesses distributing channa dhal, a chickpea curry or mataar paneer, a cheese curd curry, on steamed rice, or rice pilau which we accepted gratefully, but the winner of the day would have had to be the channa dhal and fry bread that a private residence was distributing on one of the side streets.


What boggles our mind is how the community provided so much free food and drink to the masses. Below is a gazebo of women and children serving tea, pop, chickpea curry, and fry bread. When we visited the Sikh temple last month, we were told that after addressing the Holy Book, we would be given a small scoop of pudding made of cream and sugar - it was to symbolize the teaching that no one should ever go hungry.

As we had our fill of curry, rice, sweets and tea, we made our way back up Fraser Street and came upon the closing ceremony parade. First, there was the Sikh motorcycle club:




There were several floats pulled by huge bright trucks, with children from the Khalsa school or other religious entities.




One thing we noticed was an absence of cameras, an absence of outsiders (other outdoor events in the lower mainland generally attract a more broad cultural make up - this one was predominantly, and understandly, Indian / Punjabi), but also an absence of people with mans' best friend - one (of three!) of the only canine and owner combos we saw was this like dog / like owner duo strutting in their black and white hoodies.


At this point we were feeling pretty worn out from walking, the heat of the sun and the cool breeze (we did not necessarily dress accordingly at all). I was saying to M in the car, that it was a total sensory overload - smells, sights, tastes, touch (M claims he was felt up. *shrug*), and definitely sound.

We were comparing our "sensory overload" to being in a club or bar in our younger years - once you left the club, you generally felt a little deaf. Likewise in our case, we were really worn out from everything!

It was a nice outing and a beautiful day for the event. Glad we took a chance and made it out!

For additional photos on my flickr set.

Burgoo (Lonsdale, North Vancouver, BC)

I've had this post on the back burner for the longest time. So long, in fact, that the restaurant has changed its seasonal menu (we went in the earlier part of this year).

We were on the North Shore running some errands - I believe we were picking up Ms car, as he does not drive if he's been drinking. And if he's been watching the hockey game at a friends house or pub/bar, he's been drinking. Drink responsibly, people! However, there have been times (once, maybe twice!) that we've enjoyed visiting with Ms family so much, or that we've enjoyed the afternoon / day so much that we've been on the Highway 1 off ramp heading for home when we collectively scream, "D'oh! We forgot [Ms] car!" Yes kids, perhaps the Yum-O-Rama team is getting a little forgetful in our old age... :p

Burgoo is at the foot of Lonsdale, within walking distance from the Lonsdale Quay, and also has three other locations in Vancouver: one in Kitsilano, and one on Main. To see my friend HK / HHs post on Burgoo on Main, please click here. It was only that I read her post that I remembered that I had to blog about my experience at Burgoo!

It was one of those weeks after the Olympics where it started to get gradually colder and cloudier. We just wanted something warm and to relax a bit! The mead was on special that night - a warmed sweet red wine. We ordered one of each while we looked through the menu; one was a sweeter version with apple notes, and the other was a spicier (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice) version that went well with our appetizer - the Fonduemental.


I've written before about how M created a monster when he introduced me to cheese. In fact, I've wanted to visit Burgoo for a long time just because they have fondue.  The Fondumental is a cheese fondue created with gruyere and emmenthal cheeses. It was served with chunks of red apple (gala I believe?), red grapes, grape tomatoes, and crusty bread. Since the bread was neutral and the fruits were sweet, I was really missing something salty to dip in the fondue. Some gherkin pickles or briny olives would have been really nice. Even if I had to pay a couple bucks to add those on, it would have been perfect. That being said, $13 for a shared appetizer, we felt, was moderate value.

This next dish is no longer on their menu. The Goulash was part of the winter menu and is a stew consisting of beef, onions, carrots, celery and tomato served over gnocchi. It really hit the spot. It was warming and comforting. We were glad that we saved some crusty bread from the fondue as the several pieces of gnocchi were far and few between (there were about 8 knobs of potato dumpling in the entire dish, which was sad, as they were really good!). The portion, aside from the limited number of gnocchi was perfect. We shared everything that night (as we usually do) but I could definitely picture myself finishing this up and not being overly full, nor still peckish after the meal.

I also had my eye on the Beef Bourguignon - yes I know, a fondue and two stews does not exactly make for exciting photos but it was comforting to the heart and tummy! The beef bourguignon was accompanied by mashed potatoes. I found the stew to be hearty yet not too rich. Chunks of beef, button mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes and red wine made up the stew. We finished every morsel of our dinner that night, and returned home with contented bellies.

We even remembered to pick up Ms car!

Dinner came to $65 with tax and tip and we'd return again for a meal again.

Burgoo (Lonsdale)
3 Lonsdale Avenue
North Vancouver BC
P: 604-904-0933