If you’re a fan of the Vancouver Folk Festival, you’ve probably tasted the Bali House’s dishes

Mia Stainsby
Sun

These days, you’ll find Anak Agung at Bali House in North Vancouver cooking in the kitchen, occasionally popping into the dining room to greet customers with warm smiles and big welcomes.

“I haven’t seen you for a while! I was worried about you!” she cries out when she sees a regular who’s come in with his nephew for dinner.

If you’re a longtime Vancouver International Folk Festival fan, you’ll have seen her at the Bali House food concession for the past 24 years. She has, until recently, been feeding the hungry at the Vancouver Jazz Festival, Mission Folk Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Comox Music Festival and Salmon Arm Blues Festival.

Her food isn’t 100 per cent Indonesian — you’ll find pad Thai as well as the traditional lumpia and satays. It’s food she learned to cook on her own the way she liked it since she came to Canada in 1972 under brutal circumstances. She was part of the royal family, she says, and had never cooked. The “mud and fire” of that period is still too upsetting to talk about.

“I’m okay now. When you are really desperate, you learn really fast. I’m glad I’m here. I’ve learned lots of things.”

She’s certainly making customers happy. A colleague hounded me into trying the place, afraid it wasn’t busy enough because it sits in a traffic Gulag near the Second Narrows Bridge. It’s easy to drive by it but hard to get to. You can only access the lane parking lot from Mountain Highway.

What I liked about Agung’s food is the fresh feel. Whether it’s the vegetables in the gado gado or the cooked veggies in the nasi goreng ayam (chicken fried rice), it has a brightness in flavour and colour. Her house special rice is her own creation, a mix of red, brown and black rices. Sweet and sour prawns feature 11 large prawns, again, nice and fresh.

She uses olive oil and doesn’t use MSG. Other dishes include laksa, rendang sapi (beef simmered in coconut milk with Indonesian spices and garlic) and she’s always got a special or two. Main dishes cost $8 to $10. (She says she’ll still do the Vancouver International Folk Festival. “Every year is my last!” she laughs.)

– – –

BALI HOUSE

1560 Main St. (at Mountain Highway), North Vancouver, 604-988-1300, www.balihouse.ca

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

And you won’t be able to stop eating the Pink Godzilla roll

Mark Laba
Province

Sushi Aoki

Where: 1888 West Broadway., Vancouver

Payment/reservations: Major credit cards, 604-731-5577

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Mon.-Fri., lunch, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner, 5-9 p.m., Sat, 5 p.m.-9 p.m., closed Sun.

– – –

When I was nine years old, my world was shaken one Saturday afternoon as I watched Mothra battle Godzilla, only to be zapped by Godzilla’s atomic ray. A Mothra egg survived, hatching two larvae that shot out a cocoon with the efficiency of spray-on cheese, wrapping Godzilla and sending him to the bottom of the sea. My impressionable mind was dealt a lethal blow. The good citizens of Tokyo, nevertheless, were relieved. I wished for a world where peace might reign and misunderstood monsters might live with humans in harmony.

Well, that world may never be but Godzilla can still find understanding, albeit on a plate. It was the Pink Godzilla Roll that attracted me, along with my old pal Norbert Noodnick, an out-of-work ventriloquist who used to work the circuit with Shmendrick the Magnificent, to this restaurant. His dummy, Mr. Smots, apparently fondled a cruise-ship passenger’s bottom and Norbert was escorted off at the next port. Oddly, Mr. Smots was allowed to finish the trip.

“Leave the dummy at home,” I told him.

“But then who’s going to foot the bill?”

“I will.”

“Oh, you meant the other dummy. OK.”

The restaurant was as pink as the promised Pink Godzilla with perfunctory wooden seating and an automatic electronic door-greeter that welcomes you in Japanese with the soft lilt of a female robot.

We started right in, laying molar to the monster, and what a mutant sushi roll the Pink Godzilla ($7.25) was to behold! It required a toothpick to hold it together. Perched atop a disc of spicy tuna and chicken teriyaki, wrapped by light tempura-crusted seaweed, sat a slice of kiwi capped by a strawberry. The whole shlimazel was finished with doodles of mayo and pools of spicy sauce. The experience was like having your tastebuds bounced around in a pachinko machine. Sweet, spicy, fruity and meaty all at once, the behemoth contained atomic rays of flavour, deadly in the sense that you can’t stop eating this creation.

Next up, because the days have been gray and I needed to put a little spry in my step even if I do have fallen arches, was the Sunshine Roll ($4.50). A smoked-salmon circle corrals scallop, egg, cucumber, seaweed and fish roe for a slightly restrained flavour with just the right smoked-fish kick.

“Wanna see me make the sushi talk?” Norbert offered.

“I think it speaks for itself.”

That was certainly the case with the next offering. The Mediterranean Roll ($5.50) is truly an odd duck with sun-dried tomato, avocado, pine nuts and, strangest of all, sauerkraut. Words escape me describing this one. Just think confused German and Italian tourists lost in Tokyo. Somehow, though, the concoction worked.

We also sampled the spicy scallop gunkan ($2.50 each), which is an elongated nori-wrapped sushi that was excellent. The menu here is huge with every type of sushi and sashimi to donburi bowls to savoury appetizers like grilled mackerel or oyster shooters for the brave of belly. Bento boxes with teriyaki or chicken karaage with sushi and sashimi options are a great deal.

On the way out I spotted Japanese hay-fever masks for sale for a buck. Bought one and slapped it over Norbert’s mouth. When you can’t see if the lips are moving or not is really the only way to silence a ventriloquist.

© The Vancouver Province 2007

 

Mark Laba
Province

1. Steveston Seafood House: Almost as old as the old salts that once walked the Steveston streets, and this hefty jambalaya, chock-full of prawns, chicken, chorizo and scallops, would please their ghosts.

3951 Moncton St., Richmond, 604-271-5252

2. Ouisi Bistro:The flavours of the Big Easy in a bowl at this great New Orleans-style bistro with smoked ham, chorizo, andouille sausage and Gulf of Mexico prawns.

3014 Granville St., Vancouver, 604-732-7550

3. Cactus Club: It’s a chain known for its eye candy and sleek design along with consistent food and, though this jambalaya is a bit of a remix on the traditional version, it’s pretty tasty.

Locations throughout the Lower Mainland. Check local listings.

4. Heritage Grill: Cool place with live jazz in the evenings and a great homemade jambalaya to ease your blues away.

447 Columbia St., New Westminster, 604-759-0819

5. Iguana’s Beach Grill: Another decent jambalaya jamboree with chicken, prawns and chorizo at this scenic seaside eatery.

19485 Marine Dr., White Rock, 604-538-2891

© The Vancouver Province 2007

 

Fresh plump mussels, a smoked duck tart, fisherman’s stew and beef bourguignon all went down well

Mia Stainsby
Sun

Suddenly, Fourth Avenue’s got culinary cred. A triad has moved into its 1900-block. First Gastropod. Then Fuel opened right next door. Now, across the street, triangulating the force field of hot new restaurants, is Bistrot Bistro.

Further upstreet, Bishop’s and Bistro Pastis add even more allure to this restaurant package.

Bistrot Bistro follows Gastropod and Fuel’s clean, modern lines but it’s obvious its budget was tighter. Given the hearty, country-style French food served here, I wondered if it was the right look.

On the lime green wall, four clocks are set to different time zones tracing owners Laurent and Valerie Devin’s trajectory from France to London, Windsor and Vancouver. The walls also hold narrow shelves holding marching armies of votive candles.

It is a relaxed and classic French bistro, the second to open in recent weeks, but Bistrot Bistro doesn’t quite hit a bull’s-eye like Jules, in Gastown. I confess I pounced early — they were in their first week of operation but I hit several rough spots as well as a few delights.

The food follows the style of La Regalade in West Vancouver, serving heapings of food. It arrives in buckets and in Le Creuset style pans and bowls for sharing. Everything’s big, except the table. You don’t get a basket of bread — you must buy an entire baguette. It’s nice and crusty, but takes up precious table real estate. If you want side dishes, like a starch or veggies, you order them separately and they crowd the table as well. When all the food arrived, my dinner plate was cantilevered over the edge. I was wishing for a big, sturdy, communal table.

But I have to say, servers are attentive, confident and welcoming. Laurent heads the kitchen and Valerie is very hands-on in the front of the house. Instead of offering specials, Laurent will be changing the menu regularly, adding and subtracting dishes.

All their wines are available by the glass, half litre, or bottle. They’re able to do that with a very sensitive recorking device called Le Verre de Vin. It recorks the wine at exactly the same pressure as in a full bottle and there’s just enough air so as not to kill the wine, says Laurent. “When they sold the first one in Whistler, they had problems. It was because of the barometric pressure difference from Vancouver.”

Bistrot Bistro’s menu also suggests wine matches (mostly French and B.C.) with the dishes, a nice touch.

As for the dishes I tried, I loved the fresh, plump mussels in a tarragon cream broth; a smoked duck tart with caramelized onion and black olives harmonized in flavour and textures. A fisherman’s stew pot came with a yummy broth and nice fresh fish and the beef bourguignon was better than the one I had at Jules (although the best are at La Regalade and Bacchus Bistro in Langley).

The brussels sprouts have apparently won over some fans — its cabbagey flavour has been masked with wine vinegar, shallots and a lardon.

But a rather limp pomme sarladaise (thinly sliced potatoes sauteed in goose or duck fat) glistened with fat. I preferred the pomme frites they offered one evening. And hanger steak was bathed in too much shallot cognac sauce, spoiling it for me.

Chicken in blue cheese cream sauce looked overwhelmingly beige but the meat was moist and flavourful. A charcuterie plate, featuring a chicken liver terrine, duck and pistachio pate, pork rilette and prosciutto did not sing. I would have been happy with just the duck pate.

For dessert, the apple tart came highly recommended by staff. Why, I don’t know. I preferred the somewhat oversweet but velvety chocolate mousse (which, by the way, is bottomless as long as you finish each portion). The chou pastry for the profiteroles was dry, a real detraction.

Bistrot Bistro, I think, is the straggler of the threesome on the 1900 block but there’s potential for damn good rustic French food with some hard tweaking.

– – –

BISTROT BISTRO

Overall: Rating 3 1/2

Food: Rating 3 1/2

Ambience: Rating 3 1/2

Service: Rating 3 1/2

Price $$

1961 West Fourth Ave., 604-732-0004. (www.bistrot.bistro.com) Open Tuesday to Sunday, 5 p.m. to midnight. Will soon be opening for weekend brunch.

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

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Try the German draft beer, the schnitzel and spaetzle, and don’t count calories

A.R. Wodell
Sun

Despite its location on one of the less fashionable blocks of New Westminster’s Sixth Street, The Old Bavaria Haus is quite obviously a neighbourhood favourite. It’s located in a converted heritage house with a tiny vestibule, two divided dining rooms downstairs and a smaller one upstairs, plus a Biergarten outside for better times of the year.

The folksy decor is just what you’d expect: the chandeliers seem to be recycled wine casks, the walls bear faux carved plaques, and the washrooms through the swinging wooden doors are labelled in Gothic script.

On our recent Saturday visit the place was crammed, with everyone from teens to great grandmothers enjoying a noisy good time. The restaurant’s website promises “first class European cuisine nestled in a century-old home.”

We’d argue that what’s really on tap, besides two good German draft beers, is the relaxed offering of unconditional culinary nostalgia: no high concept, nothing trendy, just solid, homey food, with no one even thinking about calories.

Menu selections include steak, lamb, or chicken, but the focus is on schnitzels. We tend to be rather old school here, preferring just a squirt of lemon juice and perhaps a sage leaf as garnish, but more adventurous appetites can select from at least 13 varieties: toppings ranging from scallops and shrimp to baked Camembert or oysters Rockefeller.

The Old Bavaria offers a few vegetarian options but the menu’s core is traditional favourites. A first course of lentil soup was just what the term “hearty” was coined to describe. The house combination dinner offered three classics: a well-prepared schnitzel, bratwurst, and rouladen (beef rolls stuffed with almost melting onions, a hint of smoky bacon and dill pickle).

A generous plateful was garnished with veggies, a nice dollop of red cabbage, and spaetzle, that characteristic side dish striking a happy medium between noodles and dumplings.

The special, a pork loin cordon bleu, had dried out very slightly but was still delicious (though we’d quibble about a cloying bit of pineapple nestled inside the ham and cheese filling). The accompanying broccoli and cauliflower were crisp and flavourful, nicely complemented by sinfully good pan-fried potatoes and more red cabbage.

There’s a decent wine list, understandably heavy on German whites, but somehow beer seemed the better option — perhaps due to a subliminal message from a coaster bearing the cheery motto “Life is too short to drink cheap beer.”

Enticing plates of Black Forest cake whizzed past us on their way to other tables, but we passed on dessert on this occasion. It was time to let one of a number of patiently waiting parties have our table.

Current owner Sunny Manihani, who worked for several years in Hamburg, took the restaurant over from the now-deceased Helmut Wadler six years ago, and is looking to open another location in Vancouver. The secret of his success?

“You can’t get a proper schnitzel anywhere else around here,” he offers modestly. The restaurant’s take on “basically Bavarian” cuisine has developed slowly over its 33 years in business according to popular demand; Manihani notes that he sticks to the original recipes and, unlike many restaurants with inflated ambitions, “We sell absolutely every item on the menu all the time.”

The Old Bavarian Haus provides exactly what it promises, and does it well. You could call it determinedly old-fashioned, or you could see it as a model of niche marketing.

– – –

THE OLD BAVARIA HAUS

233 Sixth St., New Westminster.

604-524-5824, www.oldbavariahaus.com

Dinner from 4:30 p.m.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

The non-profit enterprise in the Downtown Eastside serves great ‘stick-to-your-ribs type food’

Mia Stainsby
Sun

Oh boy, if friends saw me now! Standing with a group of people scoring drugs on a street corner in the Downtown Eastside doesn’t offer my best side. But really, I was just standing there, waiting for the light to turn green.

I had intended to go to the Potluck Cafe on Hastings, an oasis of cheer in a jagged environment. It was on a Saturday, and I discovered it was closed, so I went with a colleague during the week.

“I don’t think I’ll come back here for lunch,” she remarked, walking down the gritty street. But after a few bites into her quesadilla and twinkly-fresh salad, she changed her tune. “Hmm, I think I will come back! This is good!” (And it was. I took a bite of both.)

My omelette was so large, it was Dali-esque, drooping over the side of my plate. Its yum factor kept me eating well past my full point. It came with thick slices of multi-grain bread and roasted potatoes. If I’d ordered coffee, it would have been fair trade Saltspring Island brand.

It’s hard to believe Potluck Cafe is a non-profit enterprise, staffed by hard-to-employ citizens of the Downtown Eastside.

It offers catering services, breakfast and lunch as well as 36,000 to 48,000 free meals every year to the needy. As well, it offers job training, and more often than not, jobs. It’s a clean, cheerful spot with sunny yellow walls (sporting Joe Average art and black and white photographs of the neighbourhood).

Customers are a mixed group of suits, local office workers and residents. The chef, Johnny Perry, previously worked at Capers as well as Delta Hotel Whistler. At Potluck, he’s catered functions with up to a thousand guests.

“I actually feel very fortunate to work here,” says Perry. “I make a small

difference. Everybody has a right to eat. That’s what it all boils down to.”

The breakfast menu offers a full slate, including the Big Trucker with the works for $6. Lunch is more about panini, soups, wraps, burgers and an entree special for $6 to $6.50 with dishes like butter chicken, a Reuben sandwich or chicken souvlaki.

“It’s stick-to-your-ribs type food,” says Scott Fitzsimmons, a director of the non-profit organization.

On March 30, Vancouver firefighters take over the cafe. They’re cooking at this year’s annual fundraiser and dishes will be from Pot on The Stove, a cookbook they published to raise funds for B.C. Childrens’ Hospital. The $125-dinner features wines from Wild Horse Canyon and a copy of the cookbook.

POTLUCK CAFE

30 West Hastings St., 604-609-7368, www.potluckcatering.com

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

Mike Nakano, who ran the 29-seat Bistro Sakana in Yaletown, now has enough elbow room at Sai Z for 134 patrons

Mia Stainsby
Sun

This location on West Broadway has seen plenty of action over the years, especially during the hedonistic days as Orestes restaurant back in the ’70s and ’80s. Tenants have come and gone since then. The latest is Sai Z, one of a blizzard of Japanese restaurants opening fast and furiously in Vancouver.

This one’s worth noting. The owner/chef Mike Nakano previously ran Bistro Sakana in Yaletown, one of the better spots for sushi and nouveau Japanese food.

The move to the west side was for the much-needed space. His Yaletown location sat 39 diners with elbows tucked in. The Kits location seats 134 with room enough to tango should the mood strike. The bones of the old Orestes haven’t changed: There are two levels, a central area and a collection of meandering private areas. Kitchens face off from opposite sides of the room — a sushi bar on one side and an open kitchen for cooked dishes on the other.

Cooks and servers are dressed in black from top to bottom and Nakano hasn’t scrimped on staff — I counted nine cooks and chefs one weekday evening. The mainly female servers are sweet and attentive, although not fluent in English. On both visits, one of them saw us to the door as we left with many a thank you-thank you.

The Sai Z menu is similar to the menu at Bistro Sakano; if anything, it’s been trimmed. Customers took too long pondering their choices, apparently. He now offers variety and surprise by changing the menu every three months and offering daily specials.

Should you find yourself pondering, I would vigorously steer you toward the Japanese pizza if it’s on the menu. It isn’t okonomoyaki, the big pancake of vegetables and protein in an eggy batter. This is better. The “crust” is a piece of flat, grilled sushi (rice) and the topping is a loose layer of smoked salmon, shrimp and julienned vegetables. I loved it.

I’ve only eaten raw uni as sashimi and here there were two such dishes — uni (sea urchin) cooked in phyllo and in chawan mushi. I tried the one in phyllo and liked the transformed oyster-y taste of it. It was surrounded with the shredded phyllo (katafi), mimicking the spiny uni shell. I didn’t, however, taste the shaved truffles tucked inside. I’d have reserved truffles for a starring role in some other dish.

Locally caught, raw uni was on as a special one evening and it was sweet and so fresh. And freshness seems to be Nakano’s mantra. An appetizer-size sashimi plate with four types of seafood featured sparklingly clean tastes and buttery texture.

Many of the maki rolls feature tropical fruits matched with fish. He doesn’t go nutty with roll sushi like a lot of places seem to be doing now with rolls groaning with a mish-mash of fillings, barely holding together, and bestowed with a cute name.

Kobe beef tataki featured a lot of beautifully marbled meat served with ponzu sauce but I think it needed a refreshing contrast, like a bed of greens. Bechamel spring roll worried me, considering it contained bechamel sauce, mozzarella cheese and tiger prawns but it wasn’t flooded with sauce or dripping with cheese; it was saved by restraint. Seafood chawan mushi with prawns, scallops, yuzu slices, mushrooms and fishcake was as delicate as it should be.

He has a small offering of dependable wines (Mission Hill, Ravenswood, Fetzer, Lindeman, and a few others) as well as some premium sake, an unremarkable selection of beers and, should you feel celebratory, Veuve Clicquot.

SAI Z

Overall: 4

Food: 4

Ambience: 3 1/2

Service: 3 1/2

Price: $$

3116 West Broadway, 604-732-7249, www.saiz.ca. Open for lunch daily, noon to 2:30 p.m., but lunches may soon be discontinued. Open for dinner 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, and to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

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

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Michelle Hopkins
Sun

From the outside, the low-key, understated awning belies what is awaiting within. Tapenade Mediterranean Bistro offers many dishes on par with the haute cuisine of any high-end Vancouver restaurants — but at neighbourhood prices.

Walk through the doors of this Steveston establishment and most likely owner Vincent Morlet will greet you.

Not only is the service welcoming, but the room has a soothing ambience with European-style decor. Sporting an appealing redesigned interior, the chic bar has been painted a wonderfully warm raspberry wine colour and the walls are adorned with photography of everyday life by local artist David Crocker.

Executive chef Alex Tung blends together French techniques with typically West Coast, fresh, seasonal ingredients, and the results are far more stunning than is normally mustered by your average neighbourhood bistro.

The winter menu consists of hot and cold small plates with some new, innovative entrees. If tapas is all you desire, you can choose from five mouth-watering dishes such as the salmon and halibut rillette, in a medley of sweet lemon coulis, olive oil and sea salt crostini or the baby artichoke hearts in saffron and grainy mustard vinaigrette.

My partner, Dennis, and I went for the full meal. I started off with a strip loin salad, carpaccio style. It was an organic green salad with artichokes and gorgeous, silky beef marinated in a Burgandy vinegar caramel sauce. Dennis went for the mouthwatering Alaskan sea scallops swimming in a Chablis and tomato broth.

While sharing a fabulous bottle of B.C. VQA Kettle Valley 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, I savoured every morsel of my escalope of pork tenderloin sauteed in chevre cheese and lemon pan sauce that sat on a bed of mashed potatoes.

Dennis chose one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, the braised beef short ribs with a celeriac and apple puree, Bordeaux and juniper berry jus. A stand out, the meat simply fell off the bone — a wonderful exercise in flavour and texture.

The portions are small, but so intensely flavourful that a larger serving might have been overkill.

Tung, who whipped together ideas for a winter-inspired menu, has received only accolades for his creations.

“The feedback has been great; it’s comfort food,” Morlet says. “We are doing it in an upscale way but it evokes the thoughts of the season.”

Think of the classic French elements like the Coq Au Vine — a real palate pleaser — but the chef adds his own creative twist to it.

“Alex still approaches it using Burgundy wine and spices from the region, but what he does is debone the leg and wrap it with pancetta,” says Morley.

Tung’s philosophy towards food involves preparing simple, elegant food cooked with honed technique and passion.

For you wine aficionados, delight in the well-thought-out wine list featuring a 100-plus selection with a strong focus on California, B.C. and France. Morlet and his head server Sarah Hansby, who is well versed in fine wine, put it together.

The cozy, warm elegant restaurant seats 72 inside and during the summer visit the heated patio, which seats 70. Reservations are recommended.

– – –

TAPENADE MEDITERRANEAN BISTRO

3711 Bayview St., Steveston

604-275-5188, www.tapenade.ca

Winter hours: Tuesday-Friday lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner from 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday lunch/brunch from 11 a.m., dinner from 5 p.m.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

Emelle’s serves daily lunch specials featuring sandwiches, burgers and homemade soups

Mia Stainsby
Sun

Now I know what Mick Jagger ate just before I saw him at B.C. Place in 1998: Sole, plain with a little lemon.

How do I know that? I asked Mary Lee Newnham. She was the caterer who cooked Jagger’s requested meal, as well as Keith Richard’s shepherd’s pie.

Newnham is now proprietor of Emelle’s, a catering company and lunch spot in a light industry neighbourhood sorely in need of a pleasant little food oasis. I discovered the place when I was returning from a venetian blind repair place. Coincidentally, my husband had an Emelle’s-catered lunch at a work meeting that same week and kindly brought home a paper napkin for me. He liked the fresh food and thought I might want to check it out.

For the walk-in customer, there are daily selections of soups, salads, sandwiches, a menu of burgers (chicken cordon bleu burger, sockeye salmon burger, danish blue cheeseburger and more). I tried the salmon burger which featured a lovely piece of salmon but wasn’t crazy about the bun which flattened too quickly.

Sandwich prices limbo well under $10 ($5 for grilled ham and cheese, Tuscan chicken, roast beef, turkey, tuna and shredded carrot and others); burgers are $6.99 to $10.99. The Blue Plate Special, a daily hot entree, is $6.99.

Every Friday, they have a barbecued chicken special and other days, you might run across puttanesca red snapper with eight-grain pilaf; beef ragout on poppyseed egg noodles and one of her own favourites, the Kansas City pulled pork with tobacco onions. (The onions are cut and cooked in barbecue sauce until they look like tobacco.)

Emelle’s is open early and does the full breakfast — pancakes, french toast, eggs, hash, oatmeal. Two eggs, hashbrowns, toast with bacon, sausage, turkey sausage or ham costs $5.99.

“You must mention our soup,” Newnham says. “We have two different ones every day which are totally amazing.”

The day I called, she had roasted tomato bisque with fresh basil and rosemary chicken with white beans, both $3.99.

And bonus! They’re licenced and sell wine and microbrews.

– – –

EMELLE’S CATERING

177 West Seventh Ave., 604-875-6551, www.emelles.com. Open 7 a.m.-4 p.m.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Pots of tofu and noodles in steaming broth are signature dishes at this busy Richmond restaurant

Stephanie Yuen
Sun

The discovery of Han Ju Tofu Hot Pot at New City Square in Richmond on a cold, wet day was an unexpected delight. The small restaurant was packed out and I noticed many guests had the same item in front of them — an individual size hot pot.

Han Ju Tofu Hot Pot is a traditional Taiwanese hot pot and tofu house. Pots of tofu and noodles in steaming broth are signature dishes, but rice plates and bubble teas are also up for ordering.

One of the major differences between Taiwanese restaurants and Cantonese ones is the menu. Taiwanese restaurants tend to be much more focused on the themes and styles of the cuisine, so they offer smaller menus; Cantonese restaurants, on the other hand, try to list everything the kitchen possibly has on the menu and often end up with a book-like menu. Here at Han Ju, the one-page, two-sided menu with photos of the signature items served the purpose well.

There are a total of 14 entrees ($3.50 to $6.95), eight appetizers ($1.50 to $2) and two desserts ($1.50 to $2). A meal for four can be as economical as $20; even if you go way out, $10 per person will give you a lot for sharing. Most entrees come with a bowl of plain rice. For those who need a second bowl, the cost is only 50 cents each.

The signature dishes include four tofu hot pots ($5.95) and one Korean style BBQ pork with rice ($6.95). We ordered the Seafood & Tofu Pot, the Korean BBQ pork with rice, side orders of marinated cucumber ($1.50) and marinated seaweed string ($1.50). The fresh and crispy cucumber was a good palate pleaser. Dark green kelp shredded thinly was the seaweed string, infused with the aroma of sesame oil. I didn’t mind the seaweed but some people may find it a bit fishy.

Marinated morsels such as beef tendon, beef shank, pork ear, seaweed and tofu are common appetizers found in a Taiwanese restaurant. All are pre-made and served cold: Meats and tofu are usually flavoured with five spices and soy, while seaweed and vegetables are often seasoned with sesame oil and rice vinegar.

The portions of these appetizers are usually small, but they do require different prep work and each has its own unique textures. At $1.50 each, they are true bargains at Han Ju.

The sizzling hot pot and the bowl of rice arrived on a tray placed right in front of me. Serving food on trays is another efficient Taiwanese restaurant practice to ensure the guests receive all items at the same time. This works exceptionally well for set menus.

The seafood & tofu pot was loaded with shrimp, mussels, squid, tofu, sliced pork, an egg and green bean noodles in a clear broth. The portions seemed small but they piled up generously inside the pot. Nothing really stood out in terms of taste but the flavoured stock harmonized everything and turned it into a warming pot of comfort food, no wonder it was such a winter hit at Han Ju.

Korean style BBQ pork with rice was another hit. Besides the tender, juicy slices of pork, there were two kinds of vegetables: siu-choy and bean sprouts, plus spicy tofu and an over-easy egg. All the major food groups were present, they tasted wonderful, and at $6.95, the portion was big enough to feed a hungry man.

The menu tells me that Han Ju has also opened up at Crystal Mall in Burnaby. Owner Peggy goes back and forth between the two locations. My attempt to interview her over the phone was turned down; her excuse was, ‘I am too busy.’ My guess is either my Mandarin really sucks or Peggy is just too shy.

No matter what it is, she is doing a fine job with Han Ju.

Stephanie Yuen is a freelance writer.

– – –

AT A GLANCE

Han Ju Tofu Hot Pot

1138 – 8328 Capstan Way, Richmond. 604-247-1079

1218 – 4500 Kingsway, Burnaby. 604-434-8098

Cash only

© The Vancouver Sun 2007