You’ll get the best crab deal in town, smaller-portion $5 dishes and a free bowl of plain congee for orders of $15 and up

Stephanie Yuen
Sun

Like many unsung Asian chefs in the Lower Mainland, Michael Chow has years of experience cooking in a traditional Chinese kitchen.

Formerly with Pink Pearl and Harbour Place (its first fine-dining Chinese seafood restaurant opened in Metrotown back in the ’80s), Chow has witnessed the ups and downs of the always competitive Chinese restaurant business.

“Changes, there have been plenty. For example, less big restaurants but more neighbourhood-style eateries are now in operation,” Chow said.

“The traditional red and gold with dragon and phoenix decor seldom exists these days and the old-style, book-like menu is gone. Chinese chefs use as much local produce as other chefs. Dim sums and other authentic Chinese dishes are becoming more popular among non-Chinese; some even come in to enjoy our late-night specialties regularly.”

Chong Lum Hin, the Burnaby-based seafood restaurant he has owned and operated since 1996, is a good example of some of the changes.

Two of us went there last week at about 9 p.m., simply because Chong Lum Hin is well-known for its meal that starts at 9 nightly. On top of the regular menu items, the late-night menu also offers dishes at around $5 each.

Though these come in smaller portions, at $5, you can order more varieties. In addition, a free bowl of plain congee (popular with late-night snacks) will be provided for any food order of $15 or more.

Seafood items are written on the blackboard above the seafood tank in both Chinese and English.

The best crab deal in town, a 21/2- pound live crab, cooked any way you desire, costs $12.80 per order. We had it cooked “harbour style” (seasoned and deep-fried with diced garlic, chili, dried shrimp and dried black bean); and we both agreed it’s the best crab we have had so far this summer.

This exotic-flavoured B.C. Dungeness crab went down perfectly with an ice-cold beer.

For an appetizer, we shared an order of eggplant, also cooked harbour style, just to see the effect on different ingredients. Those who do not care for eggplant will likely change their minds once they try this.

Chow’s creative mind was well-demonstrated by some of the dishes we had that evening. A crispy pan-fried shrimp cooked with Iron Buddha tea leaves can only be found here at Chong Lum Hin. The edible tea leaves were flaky and crunchy, their subtle but yet refreshing flavour brought this shrimp dish to a new level.

For $5, the pan-fried whole pomfret seasoned with magi sauce was a great bargain.

The sweetened sauce and meaty fish went well with the plain congee.

Spareribs with special mayo sauce was another delightful surprise. The smart use of mayonnaise brings a new twist to the common spareribs.

The use of Western ingredients and sauces may not be as common as should be, but mayo, butter, cream and red wine can easily be found in Chow’s kitchen.

A nice order of stir-fried bok choy, also at $5, completed this sumptuous late dinner.

Seasonal greens — be it gai lan, choy som or bok choy — when cooked to perfection, are usually the most wanted items at the table.

When it comes to vegetable servings, Chong Lum Hin does offer generous portions and many choices.

The steamed egg custard, the very traditional and healthy dessert, caught my attention.

It was silky smooth with a vanilla-like flavour — definitely a great comfort food to have before heading to bed.

– – – AT A GLANCE

Chong Lum Hin Seafood

7604 — Sixth St., Burnaby

604-521-6881

Open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends. Open for dinner from Monday to Saturday, 4:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. and Sunday from 4:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.

$ ($50 or less)

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

The newest Gastown restaurant has a short and sweet menu that changes weekly according to the market

Mia Stainsby
Sun

Boneta values sentimentality over shock. It’s named after the mom of one of the owners and on the back wall, there’s a mom-like quote.

“There are two types of people in this world, Mark — those who wait to talk and those who listen,” it says, referring to Mark Brand, a co-owner. Much nicer than a quote from the Ramones, say.

Boneta is a diamond in the rough but the quality of the stone is good. Just a little more polish should catch the sparkle.

It is yet another restaurant to open in Gastown’s second coming and is owned by a pedigreed trio. Neil Ingram is an ex-Lumiere sommelier, Brand was Vancouver Magazine’s 2006 bartender of the year when he was at Chambar, and Andre McGillivray has been in management at Le Crocodile, Lumiere and Chambar.

In the kitchen, a young chef is on a mad march to distinguishing himself. Twenty-five-year-old Jeremie Bastien’s father is a celebrated chef in Montreal, and cooking comes naturally to him. Already, he’s worked at Boulevard, one of San Francisco’s best restaurants, and as a sous chef at Lumiere, a Vancouver jewel.

His kitchen staff have been poached from Blue Water Cafe and CinCin and the pastry chef has worked at Lumiere and Fuel — an impressive team, all in all.

You’ll note the menu is short and sweet — five cold dishes, five hot and four desserts — but it will change weekly, guided by the local market. My first meal was fantastic and I saw glimmers of Lumiere brilliance. On a second visit, that quality and assurance was gone. Perhaps, it’s part of the elephantine struggle of a new restaurant getting to its feet.

The restaurant is in the solid stone building where The Meatmarket (restaurant) operated for 25 years, until 1988. The 1899 building was once the hub of Vancouver as a bank and hotel. The stone, I’m told, was quarried at Queen Elizabeth Park. “She’s a gorgeous old broad,” Ingram says.

The room, a kind of split-level, has been restored into a blend of funky and modern. The female servers, in never-say-die black, are down-to-earth and the one who served us on both occasions is knowledgeable and interested in food.

In Gastown, businesses share turf with the junkies and the jobless. One of them planted his nose in our window to get a good look at how the other half eat. There’s free valet parking but after a recent car break-in while covering another restaurant, I’ve been parking downtown and walking into Gastown.

My first meal started with a scallop tempura with soba, shiitake and lobster broth. “A good sign of things to come,” I scribbled surreptitiously. The scallop was lovely and the broth, a wonderful complement. Confit of tuna salad with quail eggs and Nicoise olive vinaigrette was an elegant take on the traditional Nicoise salad; lamb loin with English peas, potato gnocchi and arugula featured a lamb that was perfectly cooked, between rare and medium rare.

Seared Arctic char with sauce vierge (uncooked, or ‘virginal’) was lovely. The yogurt panna cotta with orange, passion fruit and grapefruit, so simple and uncomplicated, yet elegant and delicious. That dessert, Bastien says, is his father’s recipe and his grandmother’s favourite dessert.

The second visit didn’t yield home runs. A duck confit with smoked fingerlings and sunchoke froth was tasty but not moist; halibut with lobster gnocchi and rosemary sauce featured overcooked halibut and a jus so watery, it didn’t stand up to the fish.

Grilled tuna with green grape and caper sauce, mushrooms and peas was a tasty dish and I really enjoyed the green asparagus with comte cheese, paper-thin pear slices and vin cotto (flavoured, cooked wine).

Chocolate brownie with apricot compote came with apricot-pit milkshake. After the feat of removing the bitterness from apricot pit, the “milkshake” it yielded was something like almond milk and the apricot was too sharply intense, even against the might of high-quality Valrhona chocolate in the brownie.

The wine list is compact but that’s because Ingram keeps changing it to complement the menu. It’s not a list of the usual suspects. In fact, I didn’t recognize many at all because they’re almost all organic wines and some are made with biodynamic grapes. The cocktails have insider names — like The Scheurmans, named after Chambar owner Nico Shuermans and The Stearns, named after Chris Stearn, former Lumiere bar manager. His Negroni-style, orange-infused gin is wonderful.

The restaurant is part of the Green Table and Ocean Wise programs and buys locally as much as possible.

BONETA

1 West Cordova. 604-721-1564. Open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30. Lunches on Fridays only, noon to 3. Free valet parking.

Overall: 3 1/2

Food: 3 1/2

Ambience: 3 1/2

Service: 3 1/2

Price: $$

Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

Going from the schnitzel to Transylvanian doughnuts

Mark Laba
Province

Where: 2120 West Broadway, Vancouver.

Payment/reservations: Major credit cards, 604-730-0880

Drinks: Fully licensed.

Hours: Tues.-Fri., 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 1 p.m.-11 p.m.’ closed Mon.

– – –

If ever there were a place that could convert a bloodsucker into a meat-eater, this is the joint. And even if it didn’t work, a hefty schnitzel wrapped around the neck would make a perfect padding to render a vampire’s bite harmless. Thick enough that no fang could penetrate. I’m wearing one now as I write this in the wee hours of the night.

I first wrote about this restaurant when it was a tiny sandwich shop in Gastown, but since then, it has branched out and expanded its space in this new location and is serving up a new menu covering everything from soup to nuts and even includes Transylvanian doughnuts.

Hit the new digs with Ricky Roulette who was sporting a new hair-replacement job that resembled a vampire’s pin cushion.

“Whaddya think of the new look?” he asked.

“Bela Lugosi is dead and, frankly, so is your head.”

“Hey, at least my scalp doesn’t melt in the sunlight.”

Putting aside our passive-aggressive bantering, we admired the surroundings. Red-painted patterned ceiling, black furnishings, yellow-gold walls and some heavy wooden showcase cabinets that bespeak Old World permanence and elegance. A few atmospheric images of ancient Transylvanian architecture ante up the eastern European motif of brooding mystery.

No mystery here, though, when it comes to the food. Robust Transylvanian and eastern European dishes that would warm the heart of any evil bloodsucker. We began with two appetizers-the homemade Perogy Pillows ($10), filled with yam, toasted caraway and friulano cheese with a nutty flavour and the mititei sausages ($11), a Transylvanian skinless beef-and-pork specialty served with mustard and delectable fried-potato wafers. The perogies were drizzled with a wonderful roasted red-pepper sauce and, along with the sour cream and the bacon, I could feel one artery straining.

For mains, Ricky Roulette continued his quest for a myocardial infarction with the hefty pork schnitzel ($18) that appeared to be roughly the same size and shape as Argentina. A beautiful breading with visible herb speckling, and the mashed ‘taters and glazed beets were deemed delicious.

I sank my snout into chicken paprikash ($18), with excellent homemade dumplings that are bigger and fatter than the usual spätzle varieties. Savoury smoked paprika-spiked broth coddled my tastebuds and my only complaint was that maybe a bit more poultry would’ve been great.

For dessert we tried the papanash, or Transylvanian doughnuts ($7), two dense deep-fried critters more savoury than sweet that you sweeten with sour cream and raspberry sauce.

It’s the homemade factor that’s the winner here, from cabbage rolls to the feta cheese-and-polenta mamaliga — the Cruciat family’s mega- meatball recipe — to the rakott krumpli, a casserole with scalloped potato, sausage, egg and sour cream.

For drinks you can’t beat the Krusovice Lager from the Czech Republic that really cuts to the chase when dealing with heavy meats and sauces. And if you’re still worried about vampires, there’s enough garlic here to keep them at bay for at least a month.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Driving a stake through the heart of hearty home cooking.

RATINGS: Food: B+; Service: A; Atmosphere: B

© The Vancouver Province 2007

Mark Laba
Province

BLUE STONE GRILL

Where: #220-4501 North Rd., Burnaby

Payment/reservations: Major credit cards, 604-415-3443

Drinks: Fully licensed

Hours: Open from 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. every day except Wednesday

– – –

I think it’s safe to say you’d be hard-pressed to find a vegetarian in Korea. Because this is a cuisine that seems to centre around meat, meat and more meat. As exemplified by this place, where beautifully backlit photographs of raw meat are hung on the walls for ambience. As if to say, forget landscapes or paintings or any of that other artsy crap — the meat of the matter is meat itself. Nothing could be more beautiful than that. If the Mona Lisa had been rendered in pork belly and sirloin, then perhaps that would be a work of art worthy of hanging on the walls of this restaurant.

Took a trip out with Ricky Roulette and Snobby Bobby, a man who makes it his business to know everyone else’s. Here’s a guy who, no matter the ethnic restaurant, somehow ends up lecturing the owner on the country’s history and culture. Hell, this time he even threw in a few Korean phrases.

Private dining rooms similar to Japanese tatami rooms line one side of the restaurant and the rest of the place is made up of booth seating, all featuring the one essential element to this cuisine — a stone grill in the centre of each table. Here is where the miracles of meat are performed.

We started the festivities with a round of Hite beer, a Korean lager that’s almost tasteless except for a slight metallic ring to its finish. Stick to the soju instead, a rice and barley drink with a whopping alcohol content and which all the Korean diners around us were throwing back with reckless abandon.

“Y’know, when they have to deliver the food on big trolley carts piled with plastic tubs, y’know this is serious eating,” said Ricky Roulette. And so it was. Korean dining is a lengthy and social event.

Essentially, you pick your cut of meat, it’s trundled out to your table and the grilling begins. First, a series of small bowls of dipping sauces and salads and such arrive. These include two simple yet spectacular dips of yellow bean paste and a salt-and-pepper-with-sesame-oil schlimazel that will awaken any cooked beast. There’s also a shredded daikon salad with rice vinegar and a touch of chili, pungent pickled kimchi, bean sprouts with chili sauce, raw jalapeno and garlic slivers and an oddly out-of-place pasta salad.

“Ah, a medley of typical Korean pickled wonders augmented by fusili,” said Snobby Bobby.

“Just shut up and turn the meat,” Ricky Roulette replied.

And what a carnivore’s cavalcade this turned out to be. We tried the prime beef rib-eye roll ($19.95), the spicy pork ($9.95), the marinated thin-sliced rib-eye roll with mushrooms ($14.95) and the pork single-rib belly ($14.95) that resembled fat slabs of bacon. This is truly esoteric meat eating at its best, and you’d best bone up on one of those butcher’s cut-of-meat diagrams before hitting this joint. A pair of scissors is supplied along with tongs, so you can snip your meat into bite sizes. There are also all-you-can-eat affairs for $18.95 per person with two meat selections and all the accompanying condiments.

Needless to say, being a lover of edible critters, I found this feast an eye-opener as well as a tastebud shaker — and I haven’t even delved into the hot-pot offerings such as beef and small octopus yet.

“Now for dessert,” said Ricky Roulette. “What say we try that lemon meringue meat pie?”

THE BOTTOM LINE: Where meat meets its maker.

RATINGS:
Food: B+;
Service: B+
Atmosphere: B

© The Vancouver Province 2007

 

A new favourite eatery for the finest in pasta comes complete with its own oceanfront view

Michelle Hopkins
Sun

Locals in White Rock have been raving about one of the latest additions to the waterfront.

Italian Touch, established less than a year ago by owners Nicu and Silvia Dumitrescu, has filled a gap by giving the area a much-needed, quality Italian restaurant.

Not only does the European couple have one of the best oceanfront views on the strip, but their pasta scores high points with diners.

My White Rock friends have been raving about this decidedly upscale Italian restaurant for months, having made this their new favourite eatery. The walls are painted in warm, neutral hues and adorned with scenes and paintings depicting southern Italy. The lights were low and the tables lit with candles, which gave the room a cosy glow to go along with the spectacular ocean vista.

My dining partner, Dennis, and I requested the intimate little table by the fireplace. Our lovely young waitress, Jennifer, dazzled us with a smile and promptly offered us water and menus. The rich aroma of sauteed garlic and olive oil wafted past us as a patron tucked into some garlic bread.

A glance at the carte du jour revealed the standard Italian fare one expects but with a few little twists. A patron nearby ordered the Gamberetti — jumbo shrimp sauteed with garlic, finished with Sambuca and parsley. I politely asked if they were good and he smiled and replied, “Absolutely delicious.”

I started my meal with the Insalata di Caprese, a medley of sliced bocconcini cheese and tomatoes drizzled with reduction balsamic vinegar and fresh basil. Dennis went for the Calamari Fritti: lightly dusted squid, deepfried and served with tzaziki sauce.

My main course consisted of the Pasta Special — artichokes, sundried tomatoes and chicken in a spicy tomato sauce that was mouthwatering. Dennis was salivating because he went for the Prime Rib, and although it was good, mine was better.

Next time, I’ll have to try the Penne Quattro Formaggio, which comes highly recommended from one of my friends who eats here often.

Other signature dishes include the Veal Lemone and the Spaghetti Marco Polo, explains Silvia, who worked as an executive chef in Europe until emigrating from Romania nearly a decade ago.

“I started training when I was 17 in Romania and before we opened the Italian Touch I was sous chef at La Rustica,” she says.

Nicu, who greets everyone with a warm welcome as they enter the doors, says: “We want people to feel welcomed, to enjoy a good meal and feel like they are amongst friends here.”

– – – ITALIAN TOUCH

15077 Marine Drive, White Rock

Reservations recommended, 604-531-4044

www.italiantouch.ca

$$

Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

The Soupmeister likes to ‘play and have fun,’ drawing on 30 years of exec chef experience

Mia Stainsby
Sun

I found out about The Soupmeister from a colleague who raves about the soup whenever she picks some up for lunch. Naturally, I needed to get to the bottom of it.

So the next time I was near Lonsdale Quay, I swung in to see what was exciting her. At Soupmeister, you can hop on the counter stool and eat right there or buy some from the cooler and heat at home.

Owner Ralf Dauns has been making these soups since 1995, summoning 30 years of cooking as exec chef at several international hotels. He was chef at Teahouse in Stanley Park (now Sequoia) from 1993 to 1994. (The Soupmeister was originally called The Stock Pot and later renamed.) He grew up on a winery/guesthouse in Germany.

Dauns has some 100 different soups and his offerings are always changing.

“I worked in the industry for 30 years. You pick up a few things here and there,” he muses. “Sometimes I play and have fun.”

The Westcoast seafood chowder with salmon, snapper, clams, shrimp, clam nectar and veggies is a good test of quality in every which way. The chunks of seafood were fresh, plentiful, and surprisingly not overcooked; flavours were quite interesting. The soup base contains lobster paste as well and chicken and tomato stock. The carrot ginger soup is creamy and rich, thanks to the cream.

His roster of soups include Irish stew, French onion, beef stew, many, many chicken soup varietals, chowders, corn and crab, Thai shrimp curry and lobster bisque, green pea with ham, German lentil with homemade spaeztle, pumpkin bisque, Hungarian cabbage, Mexican bean with chorizo, garlic mushroom.

Takeout soups come in 16- and 32-ounce sizes. The small costs $3.25 to $3.80, and the large, $6.30 to $7.20. If you eat there, a 12-ounce bowl of soup with focaccia costs $4.50 (tax included) and a 16-ounce portion is $5.25.

Yes, it’s summer and it’s hot, but if you’re at work, chances are, you’re kept nicely chilled in air-conditioned offices. And you, too, can get excited about lunch.

– – – THE SOUPMEISTER

Lonsdale Quay Market, 123 Carrie Cates Court, North Vancouver,

www.soupmeister.ca

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

A recent burst of new restaurant openings shows Vancouverites aren’t losing their appetite for dining out

Mia Stainsby
Sun

The diners who plop tony derrieres onto the Philippe Starck chairs and couches at Goldfish are not the type to ask, “Philippe who?”

This poshly casual spot is owned by restaurant veteran Bud Kanke, who has opened, sold and closed some 11 restaurants in 36 years and is a kind of dining godfather in Vancouver.

Many staff under his watch go off and open their own places but Kanke, meanwhile, had downsized to the solitary Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House for some years.

With Goldfish, he says, “It’s their turn.” The restaurant is a patriarch’s project for longtime staff eager to spread their wings in running the restaurant; some of them are investors as well. (Kanke has been rated one of the top 25 employers by BC Business magazine for the past two years.) At Goldfish, the target market is a decade or two younger than the Joe Fortes demographics.

No surprise, but there’s a huge hospitality component here with a phalanx of servers and runners and a handsome maitre d’ (Albert Chee) overseeing their moves and adding positive energy.

The room is swishily modern (a place to see and be seen), unrolling to a sexy patio with an alfresco lounge area done up in white plastic Philippe Starck couches, adjacent to a dining area. Goldfish is another in the burst of serious restaurants to open recently, along with Shore Club, Metro and Boneto after a previous push of Gastropod, Fuel, Bistrot Bistro, Jules and So:cial. It shows the dining public isn’t suffering spending fatigue.

At Goldfish, the chef responsible for assembling a make-or-break menu is Will Tse. Although he’s not highly pedigreed (he was last the executive sous chef at Joe Fortes), I found his food inviting, delicious and worth revisiting. For such an elegant room and great service, the price point is kept in check. Small plates range from $6 to $19 (the latter for oysters on the half shell) whereas large plates are $15 to $26.

What I especially like about Tse’s food were the bright Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese flourishes punctuating the otherwise North American dishes. Fresh herbs and sauces and mini-salad extras provide flavour bursts as counterpoints to the oils and savouries.

The pan-seared Arctic char was a lovely piece of fish contrast with a snow pear salad and kaffir lime coconut sauce. A crunchy snowpea salad brightened the maple soy chicken; shrimp “cupcakes” (shrimp in a coconut and rice flour crust) came with a contrasting garlic and scallion dip.

One dish went way overboard with this contrast bit, knocking out my tastebuds — the crispy squid with fresh scallions (so far so good) came sprinkled with Thai bird chilis, little heat missiles obliterating my taste sensations for some time afterward (goodbye wine.) Sugar cane skewered prawns had me sucking the delectable sweetness out of the sugar cane. Wild B.C. salmon with hoisin glaze was lovely, although a little more glaze wouldn’t have hurt.

A duck spring roll with nuoc cham and fresh mint didn’t have enough of the brightness; had lots of duck but I would preferred it lightened with more vegetable matter.

The pice de resistance was the toasted coconut tart for dessert. I can’t believe I went ga-ga over what Tse later explained was plain yogurt with vanilla. It was nestled in a toasty tart shell of flaked coconut and topped with star anise poached pineapple and I would like a lifetime supply of this, please. How could I have forgotten to ask what brand of yogurt he used?

While I appreciate he’s putting more thought into creating desserts than most places, I wasn’t sold on the chocolate sushi with coconut rice, strawberry, kiwi and mango rolled inside a chocolate crust and cut like maki sushi — which fell apart.

The wine list pays to B.C. with backups from the Pacific Coast, Australia, New Zealand and some Old World.

– – –

GOLDFISH

Overall: 4

Food: 4

Ambience: 4

Service: 4

Price: $$

1118 Mainland St., 604-689-8318

Open for dinner, 7 days a week

www.goldfish.com

Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

Owner Roberto Molina leaves the cooking to Aunt Dona, who ran an eatery in L.A. for seven years

Alfie Lau
Sun

If there’s any country that knows how to deal with sweltering hot summer days, it’s the Mexicans.

Roberto and Dona Molina opened up Mi Mexico Restaurant in the Burnaby Heights area earlier this year and the solid mix of refreshing drinks and authentic food has made it one of the coolest eateries in the area.

“This is how they do it in Mexico,” said Roberto. “You have a nice margarita or a smoothie, you have some nice, cool dishes with salsa and you take it easy.”

On a beautiful summer weekday, I took my sister, brother-in-law and nephew out for a break from the heat.

We started off with smoothies — mango, strawberry-banana and pineapple-coconut — and were pleasantly surprised at their large size.

As we munched on chips dipped in homemade salsa –more watery than store-bought salsa because of the intended mix of lemon and lime juice — we were amazed to find our appetizer, the cocktails de camarones (prawns), served in the same glass as our smoothies.

The spicy prawn cocktail is meant to be scooped onto a cracker or a tortilla chip and it was a delightful way to start our dinner. The prawns were plump and juicy on top of a sensational bed of cucumbers, onions, fresh tomatoes, sliced avocado, cilantro and lemon.

For our mains, we had originally asked for the tilapia fish, a smooth whitefish fried up whole; the carne asada, grilled steak, done rare; and the chicken quesadilla, served with rice and beans. But a mixup in the kitchen led us only to receive the chicken quesadilla and our apologetic waitress, Tara, begging for forgiveness.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, “but my suggestion is you try the camarones al mojo de ajo.” How could we turn down more prawns, this time cooked in garlic oil?

The quesadilla was so large that my sister and nephew could barely finish it. Our prawns were nice, even bigger than the prawns in our appetizer, and were nicely seasoned without being too oily.

We had enough room to share mango ice cream and flan — the Mexican custard dish that is a dessert favourite — between the four of us.

Business has been going well for Mi Mexico so far, Roberto explained a day later over the telephone.

“When we took over this property, it was a tanning salon,” he explained. “We had to add the kitchen and make sure the bathrooms were wheelchair-accessible. It was a lot of work but I’m pretty proud of what we have here.

“We’re pretty happy, especially on the weekends because we’re pretty full.

“We have a lot of [Mexican] jockeys from Hastings Park who come here because the food is a lot like what they get at home.” Roberto leaves much of the cooking and new recipes to aunt Dona, who ran a Mexican restaurant in the Los Angeles area for seven years.

New to the menu is the alambre, Spanish for wire, which is a tortilla dish served with sausage, beef, green and red peppers and Mexican cheese.

– – –

AT A GLANCE

Mi Mexico Restaurant

3853 Hastings St. (on the second floor)

604-677-1602

Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday (10 p.m. closing time on Friday and Saturday, closed Monday)

$$ ($50-$100)

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

So.cial Butcher Shop and Deli reminiscent a of those found in French or Italian villages

Mia Stainsby
Sun

At three in the afternoon, there are 15 people in the little shop. The tail end of the lunch rush is still wagging and will keep wagging until closing time at 7 p.m.

The reason behind the popularity of So.cial Butcher Shop and Deli at Le Magazin can be neatly summed up. It’s Sean Cousins.

First of all, he’s running a butcher shop of the sort you might find in a little village in France or Italy. Purchases are cut to your specifications and wrapped up in butcher paper and tied neatly with twine and keeping the customer happy seems as important as the quality of meat he buys and ages himself.

Secondly, the sandwiches celebrate his charcuterie, which changes regularly. Everything, except maybe the cheese, butter and mustard, are from scratch.

The sandwiches, made with yummy focaccia, are $4.50, $6.50 and $9 for small, medium and large. The latter could weigh as much as two pounds, so unless you have triplets growing inside you, you should share.

Recent offerings included lamb galantine, salt beef, turkey, capicolla but the meats change, depending on what Cousins has made. The sandwiches come with house-made potato chips.

There are other choices. The pulled pork chili, he says, is 99-per-cent meat with maybe a few scatterings of beans. That costs $4.

As well, there’s a changing menu of pats, soups and salads, which are often studded with fresh fruit.

Cousins is multi-tasking, to say the least. He’s the chef at the So.cial dining room across the hall from the butcher shop and deli as well as exec chef of Ocean 6 Seventeen.

He was also trying to get a farmers’ market up and running in the alley behind Le Magazin warren of shops but it’ll have to wait until next year, he says.

The So.cial restaurant, butcher and deli has revived the charming and vintage Le Magazin cluster of shops.

– – –

SO.CIAL BUTCHER SHOP AND DELI

332 Water St., 604-669-4488

www.socialatlemagasin.com

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Taiwanese restaurant is pleasing to both the eye and the palate

Stephanie Yuen
Sun

DING HAO NOODLE HOUSE

#4 — 2773 Barnet Highway, Coquitlam, 604-552-5777

Cash Only

Open Sunday to Thursday: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday to Saturday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

– – –

In Taiwan, a typical beef noodle soup made with premium beef stock and handmade noodles is as popular as won ton noodle soup in Hong Kong or Pho‘ in Vietnam.

With the increase of Taiwanese visiting or residing here, I am surprised there are only a handful of Taiwanese restaurants in the Lower Mainland.

Needless to say, when Ding Hao Noodle House opened in the Tri-Cities three months ago, it was great news to local noodle lovers.

Neighbourhood Asian restaurants are not usually known for their sleek design and groomed servers. However, Ding Hao has a contemporary decor with a zen-style panel painting of lotus flowers along with tentative and pleasant floor service.

Owner/chef Alan Chen had a desire to open a high-quality restaurant with a professionally designed dining room, comfy and stylish tables and chairs, clean washrooms, organized stations and well-trained staff. Most of all, the menu contains authentic and appealing Taiwanese cuisine.

Cindy Wang, the restaurant manager, stated: “Ding Hao means awesome! Here we serve supreme Taiwanese food using natural ingredients and we do not use any MSG.”

We started with a cold dish of marinated beef shank and bone-side tendon ($3.95), two hot dishes including a very tasty Taiwanese crispy chicken nugget ($4.95) and deep fried tofu.

The shank and tendon were a bit on the dry side. The nuggets, seasoned with pepper, garlic and five spices, lightly breaded and fried, were sublime. The crispy outside, soft inside tofu cubes came with two sauces for dipping.

Ding Hao offers noodles in soup and also dry noodles with choices of toppings. The popular half & half (beef and tendon) hot noodle soup we shared was, indeed, authentic ($7.50/$8.50).

The soup stock, being the essence of taste in any Taiwanese beef noodle house, must be done right in order to bring out the flavours of all the other noodles. This soup broth was delicious — a sign it was made with lots of beef bones, meat, herbs and then braised for 48 hours.

From the dry noodle category, we chose the noodle topped with sesame sauce ($5.95/$6.95).

This is a must-have for Tan Tan noodle fans. Enjoy it while it’s hot or the sauce will thicken up, and add in garlic chili sauce for that extra kick.

Rice topped with signature meat sauce ($3.95) is now my favourite Taiwanese rice plate. Ground pork marinated in Taiwanese sauce of wine, soybean, sugar, ginger, garlic, salt and spices is pan-fried and poured on top of a mount of steamed rice. Other Taiwanese restaurant serve this in bowls, but Ding Hao offers a westernized version by garnishing it with chopped pickled mustard green and serving it on a plate, thus turning this signature rice dish into a temptation.

Handmade beef or pork dumplings are one of the main attractions here. At $4.95 for 10 pieces and $6.95 for 15 pieces, these poached dumplings are non-greasy, delicious and great for sharing.

Like many Taiwanese restaurants, Ding Hao has an extensive beverage menu. Besides flavoured green and black tea ($3.50), there are fruit teas, slush and milk teas.

For 50 cents, they will add pearls, coconut jelly or pudding into the drink. I quite enjoyed my refreshing and aromatic Japanese green tea & red bean slush in a tall cocktail glass.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007