I had been a while since I last met up with Miguel so we organized a dinner one evening and joining us were Cedric, Louis, and Dustin. It was more convenient for the majority of us if we met downtown and since I was tired of being the designated restaurant chooser, I left the decision up to the others. We ended up meeting at Cafe Luxy, which is on Davie Street close to the Shopper’s Drug Mart. For some reason, I had never noticed it so I was looking forward to checking it out.

Cedric had described Cafe Luxy as a downtown version of Anton’s so with my expectations adjusted accordingly, I checked out the menu. We all ordered pastas, which also came with garlic bread. It was pretty standard tasting but there was a nice amount of butter although a little more garlic may have been good. I had wanted to eat a part of my garlic bread with my pasta but it took forever for our pastas to come out so I gave up.

The pastas also came with a Caesar salad but I wanted to be a little healthier that day and asked if they had a regular green salad instead. My green salad came with some balsamic dressing and as you can see below, it was fairly lacklustre. The carrots seemed to be shaved with a vegetable peeler and the tomato was a little sad looking. The balsamic dressing was also a little acidic for my taste but I like for my balsamic dressing to have a little more oil to balance the flavours out.

As I mentioned earlier, it took a really long time for our food to come out and I’m not sure if they were understaffed that evening or if it was typical. Cedric noted that the kitchen staff seemed to be different from the regular crew that he normally encountered so I’m not sure if that was why the food took so long to come out. Cafe Luxy has an extensive pasta-centric menu and after some deliberation, I decided to have the linguine con chorizo, which came with bell peppers, baby corn, and chorizo in a spicy tomato cream sauce. The flavours turned out to be a little odd and I didn’t feel that the baby corn went very well with the chorizo and there were a little too much bell peppers. The tomato cream sauce wasn’t bad but it wasn’t spicy at all and I felt that the pasta was a little overcooked.

If you are just looking for a large quantity of pasta at fairly reasonable prices, I would say that Cafe Luxy is a good option for you. It’s definitely not the place to have authentic or dare I say even well-made pasta. The pasta isn’t bad but just not the type of pasta that I normally like to eat and I think it’s intended to appeal to a certain part of the population. From a value perspective, it isn’t bad though as the portion sizes are definitely generous and I had enough pasta for lunch the next day as well. If you are an Anton’s fan and are looking for a similar option in downtown, check out Cafe Luxy.

Details:
1235 Davie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-669-5899

Summary:
Food: 2 out of 5 stars
Service: 2 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

Jenkins and I met up with Jenkins’ mom for dim sum one sunny weekend afternoon. Jenkins’ dad was supposed to come as well but there was a slight mix-up in coordinating the date and our original lunch for four ended up being just for three. I had previously reviewed Top Shanghai Cuisine a few years ago but it had been quite a while since my last visit and I had never actually been for dim sum before.

Jenkins’ mom was pretty flexible and decided to let me and Jenkins do the majority of the ordering. We thought we weren’t very hungry that day but we ended up ordering a good mix of dishes anyway. We started with the spicy wontons. I kind of expected them to be similar to the Cantonese version but the Shanghainese version was completely different. The small pork wontons came dressed in a sweet and spicy peanut and chilli sauce that was delicious. The peanut flavour was further heightened by the crushed peanuts on top. I would say this was a fairly spicy dish but it didn’t bother me at all. This dish was quite a hit at our table and we ended up saving the sauce as a condiment for some of our later dishes.

One of Top Shanghai Cuisine’s specialties is obviously the xiao long bao so we definitely needed to order some. I thought that the skin was slightly thicker than my previous visit but still gave way easily to the juicy pork filling inside. I think this place still ranks among the better xiao long bao eateries in the city.

One of Jenkins’ favourite dim sum items is the pan-fried pork buns. Nothing out of the ordinary with the offering here but it was well made nonetheless. The bottom was quite crispy and the filling seemed to be the same as the pork filling used in the xiao long baos. Even though the pan fried buns were not as juicy as the XLBs, they were definitely juicier than the version at many other restaurants, which I liked.

In hindsight, we probably shouldn’t have ordered the pan-fried dumplings because they tasted like a cross between the pan-fried pork buns and the xiao long baos so we really didn’t get a lot of variety. The only comment I can make here is that they were fried nicely, with the bottom being nice and crispy. Similarly, the filling seemed to be very similar (if not the same as) the filling for the XLBs and pan-fried pork buns.

We also wanted to order a filler item so we perused the noodle section of the menu for some options. I really like the sticky rice cakes so I wanted something that had that and Jenkins settled on the Shanghai rice cakes with vegetables and pork. I thought the sauce was a little on the salty side but the rice cakes are generally pretty bland so it soaked up a lot of the flavour so the saltiness wasn’t overwhelming. I enjoyed the chewy consistency of the rice cakes and the veggies provided a nice crunchy contrast.

Overall, we had a pleasant lunch at Top Shanghai Cuisine. As I probably noted in my previous review and as many other people have noted, service really isn’t the best here so you have to go in with fairly low (if any) expectations. That being said, the service at lunch seemed to be slightly better than what we’re used to during the dinner service. The food here is quite good though and their dim sum menu is a nice change from the usual Cantonese dim sum fare that I’m used to.

Details:
5880 No. 3 Road, Richmond
Tel: 604-278-8790

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 2 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

One of the highlights from Jenkins and my previous trip to Montreal was our visit to Schwartz’s. I have to admit that as the years passed, I kind of forgot how great Schwartz’s was. I remembered it being great and being the best smoked meat I had had but how good can it be anyway? I knew I would really regret it if I didn’t stop by before we left Montreal though so Jenkins and wandered over there a couple of days before it was time for us to leave the city.

There was quite a line-up on the restaurant side of Schwartz’s so Jenkins and I decided to do takeout instead. We lined up for about 15 minutes and since there turned out to be some bar seats at the back of the takeout restaurant, we were even able to sit down.

I ordered my smoked meat sandwich medium fat, which was just right for me. One bite into my sandwich and I was instantly reminded of how enamoured I was the first time I ate a smoked meat sandwich from Schwartz’s. The meat was fatty but not overly so, super moist, and heavily seasoned without being too salty. There was just the right amount of hot mustard to give the sandwich an extra kick. I could have easily eaten another sandwich if Jenkins didn’t stop me.

To accompany my sandwich, I also picked up a couple of pickles. I’m usually not a huge pickle fan but I really liked the super crunchy pickles at Schwartz’s. It was salty and pickly and cut through the richness of the sandwich nicely.

I had a great time at Schwartz’s and wish I was in Montreal for a longer period of time so I could make a repeat visit back to Schwartz’s. Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to, I consoled myself by picking up some of the Montreal steak spice that was sold there.

Details:
3895 Boulevard St-Laurent, Montreal
Tel: 514-842-4813

Summary:
Food: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

Having grown up in and around the Oakridge area, I’d often noticed Tony’s Beef Noodle right across the street from Oakridge Mall but for some reason, I never ventured inside. Maybe it was because it always seemed empty in the evenings or maybe because I always had other plans in mind for lunch. In any case, Jenkins and I happened to be in the area one weekend afternoon and decided to finally check it out for lunch.

I debated a bit about what to order but in the end, I decided to order the small beef noodle in soup. As you can see in the photo below, the broth was not too greasy and it also had a ton of great beefy flavour. Instead of thinly sliced beef shank in many other beef noodle places, the beef here was actually thick chunks of beef, which were cooked quite tender. The noodles were a tad overcooked for my liking but overall, the beef noodles exceeded my expectations. I should also note that the small order of the beef noodle was more than enough for me that day.

Jenkins decided to order the crispy salty peppery chicken with rice. This was pretty substantial and also came with half a marinated egg, some cabbage, and tomato with egg. The chicken was indeed quite crispy with a pretty thick batter. I would have liked for there to be slightly more chicken so that the pieces were juicier but this is my personal preference when it comes to this dish. It went quite well with the rice though and the tomato with egg added some moisture to the dish. Even though the tomato and egg was just a side dish, it was actually one of my favourite components of this dish.

Overall, Jenkins and I enjoyed our lunch at Tony’s Beef Noodle. For days when we’re at Oakridge and don’t feel like eating at the food court, it’s nice to know that this place is conveniently located just across the street.

Details:
5754 Cambie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-327-5061

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $

Our next stop after Montreal on our Eastern Canada tour was Toronto. Even though I’ve flown through Toronto a few times, I had never actually stopped to check out the city before this trip. Our time in Toronto was fairly limited but luckily, Jenkins and I were able to meet up with our friend Karen, who had recently moved to the city. I asked if we could meet at Pizzeria Libretto, as I had heard it was the only pizzeria in Canada certified by the Vera Pizza Napoletana Association as making authentic Neapolitan pizza. Since I knew that Nicli Antica was hoping to get the same certification, I wanted to do a comparison of the two places to see how they stacked up.

The space at Pizzeria Libretto is pretty small and despite it being a weekday evening, it was quite bustling so we waited about 15 minutes or so before we could be seated. While we were getting settled, we were presented with some focaccia and regular bread along with some olive and chilli oil with balsamic vinegar. I liked the focaccia bread quite a bit but overall, it was fairly standard fare.

We decided to share a couple of appies and started with the bruschetta of the day, which happened to be creamy goat cheese with poached pear and microgreens. The flavours were very familiar but the sharp creaminess of the goat cheese went really well with the sweet pear. The toppings provided a nice texture contrast to the crispy pieces of toast.

We also decided to try another one of the daily special appies with the risotta balls, which came on a bed of a slightly tangy tomato sauce.

This was pretty different from the regular risotto balls that I had tried before and came stuffed with a lot of vegetables as well, including olives and tomatoes. The creamy richness of the filling was cut by the tangy tomato sauce and although this dish was pretty decadent, it did a great job of whetting my appetite for the upcoming pizzas.

I decided to go with a classic and chose the margherita pizza. The crust was thin and crispy and the light smattering of toppings really served to highlight the crust. I would have liked if there was slightly less cheese and slightly more basil but I really enjoyed the tomato sauce itself. The sauce was tangy yet slightly sweet and actually quite similar in flavour to the tomato sauce used for the risotto balls. I thought it went really well with the crust.

Jenkins ordered the Ontario prosciutto, which was basically the same as my pizza but had some fresh prosciutto on top as well. Jenkins always likes to have a little bit of meat on his pizza and he really enjoyed this pizza. He liked how the prosciutto was cut quite thin so it added just a hint of saltiness, which balanced nicely with the tomato sauce. As I mentioned before, Jenkins is fairly picky about his pizza and he thought the version here was pretty close to the pizza we tried during our Italian travels.

Karen decided to also have the margherita pizza but substituted the regular mozzarella with some Ontario mozarella di bufala. Interestingly, it came in a big scoop right in the middle of the pizza so she had to spread it around the pizza herself. It did make for an interesting presentation though. I tried a little bit of this and the fact that the cheese was not cooked gave the pizza a sharper flavour than the melted mozarella in my version. The only criticism about this pizza was because the cheese came scooped right in the middle, the crust directly underneath got soggy rather quickly.

Overall, we had a great time at Pizzeria Libretto. If I had to choose, I would say that I still prefer the pizza at Nicli Antica more…but only slightly more. I found that the pizza at Nicli tended more towards the traditional fare while Pizzeria Libretto seemed slightly more adventurous in trying new combinations in addition to some of the tried and true. The crust was top notch though and in general, Pizerria Libretto is a great option for Napolitano pizza in Toronto.

Details:
221 Ossington, Toronto
Tel: 416-532-8000

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

Jenkins and I have been long-time fans of Ebi Ten so when we learned that there was going to be an addition to the Ebi Ten family in the form of Ramen Jinya, we were eager to check it out. I’m not sure if all of the Ramen Jinyas worldwide are owned by Ebi Ten but the Los Angeles location of Ramen Jinya was voted as one of the 10 best dishes of 2010. With such promising accolades, Jenkins and I had high hopes.

We went to Ramen Jinya for dinner one evening and although it was fairly busy, we only had to wait a few minutes before snagging a table. I decided to choose the shio tonkotsu ramen, which was advertised as the pork premium rich broth and limited to only 20 servings a day. The noodles used at Ramen Jinya are the straight egg noodles rather than the curly noodles and I find that this generally means the noodles have  a firmer texture. The pork was nice and fatty, as was the broth itself but I felt that the broth exhibited a lot of fattiness without the richness in flavour. Although certainly not the worst ramen I’ve had, I felt that there was a bit of a greasy aftertaste to this dish that I didn’t really like.

Jenkins went the slightly less glamorous route and decided instead on the shoyu tonkotsu ramen, which was the original pork broth. Interestingly enough, the original pork broth seemed darker in colour but I found the flavour of the broth to be pretty much the same as my supposedly richer pork broth. I tried this dish again on a subsequent visit and found that both times, the broths suffered from the same greasiness but lacked a richness which is usually present in such ramen broths.

Jenkins and I felt that Ramen Jinya put up an attempt to bring tasty ramen to the other end of Robson Street but if you are really looking for a good bowl of ramen, I’d recommend that you stick to the Denman side of Robson. If you’re in a pinch and desperate for ramen, Ramen Jinya may be the place for you.

Details:
270 Robson Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-568-9711

Summary:
Food: 3 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $

A few years back, Jenkins and I went to Sushi Maro for dinner one day. I think it may have even been before this blog was created so it was quite a while ago. In any case, the food was terrible and service was a little suspect so we never ventured back. Recently though, a co-worker mentioned to me that he often gets takeout from Sushi Maro for his family and Jenkins heard a lot of good things as well so we decided to give it another shot. One thing we did notice upon entering was that the decor had changed so it’s possible that there was some type of ownership or kitchen change as well.

We weren’t overly hungry that day so we decided to share only a couple of items. We started with the sushi pizza, which is also one of our favourites from Sushiyama so we thought it would be fun to do a little comparison. It took a while to come out but I think it was worth the wait. The deep fried sushi rice on the bottom maintained a nice crispy exterior and a chewy interior. I thought it was a little difficult to eat since the pieces of tuna and salmon were cut into chunks, which fell off as I bit into each “slice”. That being said, I thought the sushi pizza was quite good, with the creamy avocado and sashimi slices being quite fresh and contrasting nicely with the crispy pizza base.

The Maro combo also sounded interesting so we decided to give that a try. It consisted of a dynamite roll, spider roll, California roll, and a salmon roll.

Nothing too spectacular about the Dynamite roll but I thought it was pretty tasty. The rice was nicely seasoned and the prawn tempura was not over-battered. There was also a good rice to filling ratio. The spider roll was also pretty tasty and pretty solid. Similar to the prawn tempura in the dynamite roll, the soft-shell crab was not over-battered and there was also a good amount of crab in there. My only (minor) complaint was that the crab was probably put into the roll immediately after coming out of the fryer so the entire roll was a little too warm for my liking.

The California rolls were pretty standard but the sesame seeds were nicely toasted, which gave the rolls a hint of a nutty flavour. Sushi Maro uses only wild salmon so the salmon rolls here had a great flavour that is lacking in the salmon rolls made at other places using farmed salmon.

Jenkins and I thought our meal at Sushi Maro was pretty solid. The sushi pizza was tasty and their rolls were well-executed and made with fresh ingredients. Since our original visit, Jenkins and I have gone back quite a few more times for lunch and dinner so we’ve definitely become converts. For a reasonably priced sushi dinner in downtown, Sushi Maro is a pretty good option. I think I still like Yamoto Sushi more as a downtown option, but Sushi Maro is slightly closer for me so I go there when I don’t feel like walking too far.

Details:
220 Davie Street, Vancouver
Tel: 778-371-8332

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

The last time we were in Montreal, we didn’t get an opportunity to check out two of the city’s most famous bagel institutions. They were a little out of the way from where we were staying and the weather wasn’t very cooperative so we just never made the trip. I would have to say that it was one of my biggest regrets from that trip so this time around, I knew I’d have to pay a special visit to at least Fairmount or St Viateur to check out their bagels.

We decided to check out St Viateur first.

We arrived just as they were pulling fresh bagels out of the oven and the delicious smell filled up the entire shop. Jenkins and I picked up a bag of sesame bagels and were directed by the lady at the counter to eat our bagels at a coffee shop down the block.

The coffee shop was filled with like-minded people like us and many were enjoying bagels that they must have picked up at either St Viateur or Fairmount (which was just a couple of blocks away as well). I ordered a couple of lattes for Jenkins and I and we opened our bag of bagels.

I had noticed that St Viateur had some Liberté cream cheese in their fridge so we bought a tub to go with our fresh bagels.

It’s hard to beat a freshly made bagel and the sesame bagels at St Viateur were generously coated with toasted sesame seeds on both sides. The outside was lightly crispy and the inside yielded a slightly chewy and warm centre. It may sound a little crazy but Jenkins and I ate two bagels each for breakfast with a generous dollop of cream cheese and scarfed down another bagel en route to our next stop. That’s how good they were!

The next day, Jenkins and I made the trip out to the same neighbourhood again, this time to Faimount Bagel.

We ordered another bag of sesame bagels so we could do a proper comparison with the St Viateur bagels from the day before. To keep things consistent, we also went to the same coffee shop and ordered a couple of lattes to go with our bagels and cream cheese.

I’ve spoken to many Montreal friends who ardently support either Fairmount or St Viateur bagels but in my layperson’s opinion, I thought both bagels tasted quite similar. I thought the St Viateur bagels were a tad chewier, which I liked so if I really had to pick, I would prefer the St Viateur bagels more due to their texture but taste-wise, they were basically the same to me. In any case, I would have nothing to complain about if I had access to freshly made Fairmount or St Viateur bagels in Vancouver, which I think are the best bagels I’ve ever had.

One interesting thing to note is that when I went to Toronto a few days later, we picked up a bag of St Viateur bagels from a local grocery store. Although still tasty, they were not as good as the fresh ones in Montreal so I have a feeling that even if I order some from Montreal to ship to Vancouver (which they actually do), something will be lost during transport. It also didn’t occur to me until I left Montreal, but I think these bagels and cream cheese would have tasted fantastic with some smoked salmon so I will need to remember that the next time I’m in Montreal!

Details:
St. Viateur Bagel:
263 Rue Saint Viateur Ouest, Montreal
Tel: 514-276-8044

Fairmount Bagel:
74 Ave Fairmount Ouest, Montreal
Tel: 514-272-0667

Summary:
Both places were so similar to me that I rated them pretty much equally.
Food: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

Before our trip to Montreal, I canvassed a few friends who grew up there to ask them about some of their favourite places to eat. The first time Jenkins and I went to Montreal, we tried poutine at several places, including La Banquise, which was rated quite highly in many of the reviews that I had read. I mentioned this to Carl and he said that La Banquise was definitely a good poutine place but his favourite was Fameux, which was actually across the street from where he used to live.

Jenkins, Grick, Snoopy, and I ended up at Fameux for a late lunch one afternoon. I actually remembered this place from my last visit when we were in the Rue St-Denis area and I had no idea that it housed a poutine institution. We perused the menu and decided to share a poutine and a pizza.

Carl told me that poutine is best enjoyed out of a takeout tin but we decided to eat in the restaurant that day. We ordered his favourite, which was the bacon poutine. This was definitely the best poutine that I had tried in recent memory, if not one of the best. The fries were perfectly cooked, being crispy on the outside but still soaking up the flavourful gravy, which was not too salty. The cheese curds weren’t too melted by the gravy and still had a bit of a squeak, which contrasted with the salty and crispy bacon. We gobbled this up in record time and would have ordered a second plate if we weren’t totally stuffed already.

We probably should just just ordered two orders of the bacon poutine but we decided to opt for variety instead, and ordered a mushroom pizza for our second dish. The pizza turned out to be surprisingly good although the poutine was definitely the better dish. The dough was a little thick but it was still crispy on the bottom and not too greasy. There was also an abundance of mushroom and mozzarella cheese, that worked pretty well with a pizza made in this style.

Grick still talks about the poutine we had here even though it’s been quite a few months since our trip. During our meal here, Snoopy said she had an epiphany as she didn’t see what the fuss was about when it came to poutine until she tried it at Fameux. As you can see, we really enjoyed the poutine at Fameux. Too bad we weren’t in Montreal long enough for a repeat visit.

Details:
4500 Rue St-Denis, Montreal
Tel: 514-845-8732

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

In Save-On-Meats’ original incarnation, I had always wanted to go and check out their burgers and steaks but for some reason, their hours never jived with my schedule. Every time I wandered over there, they happened to be closed for one reason or another so when they announced that they were closing, I was a little disappointed that I would never get my chance to check it out. When I heard that the owners of Boneta were going to re-open Save-On-Meats, I was pretty excited that I would get my chance to check it out again…even though it may not be exactly the same as the original restaurant.

One sunny afternoon, Jenkins and I walked over to Save-On-Meats and saw that many people had the same idea to check it out for lunch that day. It was pretty busy but we were able to snag a seat after a 10 minute wait.

We decided to order a coffee triple thick shake to share. Flavourwise, the coffee flavour was really evident but I would have liked the shake to be a little thicker. I also thought this shake was on the small side as there was hardly anything left in the metal cup. As far as shakes go, I would say that I prefer the ones at White Spot or Moderne Burger more.

I had checked out the menu beforehand so I knew what I wanted to order but was briefly swayed by their daily special of a BLT with egg sandwich. In the end, I went back to the Save-On-Meats Burger, which came with bacon and cheese. I also decided to order a side of coleslaw rather than fries in an attempt to be healthy. I found the burger patty to be on the dry side although the cheese helped to hide the dryness a little. The burger was also a tad small and at $6, I think you pretty much get what you paid for. The purple cabbage slaw was quite tasty and full of crunch and not too much vinaigrette dressing. In a way, I actually preferred the coleslaw to the burger.

Jenkins decided to have the clubhouse, which came with roasted chicken, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes. The clubhouse turned out to be much smaller than we expected, with only two slices of bread rather than the usual three slices. He said the roast chicken was a little dry and lacked flavour so it was helpful that there was bacon in this sandwich. Jenkins ordered mashed potatoes with his side and similar to my coleslaw, he preferred the potatoes more than the actual sandwich. He said these weren’t healthy mashed potatoes at all and he could really taste the creamy buttery goodness mixed in with the potatoes.

Save-On-Meats is a neat little diner with a throwback menu. Although they obviously tried to keep the prices low, the trade-off came in the form of portion sizes and in some cases, the quality of the food wasn’t exactly what we expected. Since I’ve never been to the original Save-On-Meats, it’s hard for me to make a comparison but I heard from other people that they enjoyed the food at the original more. It was really busy on the day that we went so service was also pretty slow. As long as you’re not in a rush and not too hungry, the wait is bearable.

Details:
43 East Hastings Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-569-3568

Summary:
Food: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Service: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Price: $