Lately I’ve found myself lamenting the state of the Vancouver food scene.  I don’t know if it’s just that I’m particularly unhappy at my current job, sleep deprived because of it and just generally cranky, or if something is really actually wrong at the heart of food in Vancouver.  I’ve been trying to put my finger on it and I think I’ve narrowed it down to six main sub-problems which all lead to this mediocre, over-priced, un-influential mess of food culture here.

The Pay VS cost of living

Now I will be the first to admit that some of the items on my hate list cannot be changed by me nor anyone else and this one defiantly falls into that category.  The simple fact is that the cost of living in Vancouver is outrageous.  According to the first hit on Google for a comparison to Toronto, Vancouver is about 8-10% more expensive than Canada’s largest city. Renting a restaurant space in the city is astronomical and leaves very little room for smaller places offering cheaper food or more niche items to survive.  This in turn means there is less money to go around after paying rent on a restaurant for things like, oh, say staff costs.

That meal you and 150 other people just each paid $200 for … the 8 people that cooked it got paid an average of $9 an hour to make it.  Even at hotel restaurants where pay per hour is better, the average line cook still works 4 hours a day for free.  Your chefs will say that it’s your fault you have to come in 3 hours early to get your prep done because you are too slow, but that’s crap and they know it.  They also know that there’s not a lot of choice for a line cook, because that working for free nonsense is the same everywhere.

 Asian influence

Why does everything need an “Asian influence”?  I was browsing Sherman’s Food Adventures and came across a post about the newly opened Hawksworth restaurant.  For those who don’t know too much about David Hawksworth, he was the chef at West restaurant for a number of years, is in the BC restaurant hall of fame (yes, there is such a thing) and was known for seasonally driven local food.  So the restaurant bearing his name would typify the very thing he has preached all those years while spending other people’s money you say?  But, no.  As Sherman correctly points out (he loves it though), there is enormous “Asian influence” across the board on the Hawksworth menu from the XO sauce on the scallop appetizer, to the five spice broth and enoki mushrooms on the duck main.  I’m not saying these aren’t nice dishes, I haven’t eaten there, I don’t know, my point is just that what happened to local food?

Living in a very “ethnic” (as it is often referred to) part of town I understand that there is a large and influential Asian community in Vancouver and that as I will get to later, a lot of food writers and bloggers are Asian, but why does every restaurant need to have Asian influence? Can a restaurant be good and popular and successful without it? Even West which used to be quintessentially Canadian, on the first menu I found on their site has “Yuzu marinated Octopus Tentacles”.  Being on the inside of the food scene a little, I know that this doesn’t happen to be on their menu because they found a supplier who is growing great little fresh yuzu fruit on their farm in Abbotsford.  The juice comes in little bottles shipped all the way from Japan and is about as close to fresh juice as Real Lemon is to a lemon.  You wouldn’t serve Real Lemon in your fine dining restaurant why are you serving Real Yuzu?

Food Bloggers

I admit, I am sort of a food blogger.  I try to blog more about cooking, than about eating, but still there are a couple of posts up there, I know.  I’m calling out Sherman, and Chow Times, and Ho Yummy and whoever else is out there pretending to know about food.  You work in a bank!  Because you’ve eaten everywhere, doesn’t mean you understand anything, and it doesn’t mean you know about food, it just means you’re probably not hungry anymore.  If someone has the time and wherewithal and most importantly money to eat at a different restaurant every day, you can be damn sure they aren’t working in one.  These blogs are not commissioned and put up content that ego-driven chefs (read: Chefs) will read, and think that these people know what they are talking about and make changes accordingly.  But they are not the voice of the people.  Or maybe they are and the people just suck.  Letting your cultural biases dictate what you order is fine, if every other blog isn’t doing the exact same thing.

I feel somewhat bad for calling out I’m Only Here For the Food.  But the guy eats places, not once, but twice , and can’t even be bothered to order the namesake dish of the restaurant.  Why visit places that cared about falafel so much they named their restaurant after it and not order the falafel!

Lately even Kim-Kiu Ho, the writer of I’m Only Here for the Food has become so despondent with the state of the Vancouver Food Blog community that he has taken himself out of it (hence me feeling bad for calling in out, but I read that ages ago and it’s bugged me ever since).

House-made!

According to the message boards at Something Awful, this is the case everywhere, but I’m including it on the list for 2 reasons – eating out in Vancouver (at a nice, sit-down, tablecloth kind of place) is absurdly expensive, and because it dilutes the effect of all the work that the hundreds of cooks do every day to house-make something.

House made should mean that it is made, from scratch in house.  House baked is an entirely other thing, meaning that it comes in unbaked but still purchased and is baked “fresh” on premises.  Everywhere I’ve worked and everywhere everyone I’ve talked to has worked lies on their menu.  Mostly about “House-made”, but sometimes about “real brandy” or other times about “Wild Mushrooms”.  I love mushrooms, and I know that real wild mushrooms are expensive and time consuming to deal with once they are bought.  Most importantly however, they are tasty. So when I see them on a menu, I give the benefit of the doubt and trust that they are wild mushrooms.  When they are not (as is sadly often the case), I get very angry.  I feel betrayed and ripped off.  I will not eat at your restaurant again.  You think I’m dumb and don’t know what a wild mushroom looks like.  I don’t need that thank you.  Other things are harder to tell though, like “House made preserves”.  I want to believe in and reward anyone who is passionate about preserves enough to make them in house for a busy restaurant, so I will order then.  When they end up being substandard bought in slop then again the whole thing of the betrayal and the sadness comes again.  Stop lying.  Make it and be proud of how much better it is than crap that comes in a bucket, or don’t and put the price down.  It has bothered me when I have had to serve things that were being called “house made” that I didn’t make so much that I would tell the servers to tell the guests that they were not “house made” and that I didn’t want to be associated with such garbage.

Liquor Tax

Liquor is very expensive.  Coming from a place where for better or worse liquor is cheap (and goes on sale and becomes even cheaper), and is available from the supermarket to BC was a shock and every time I have to go to the government run liquor store (but not on a Sunday, they don’t open on a Sunday) I feel like a criminal or a heroin addict going to get their methadone.  I don’t like it.  I’m a responsible drinker and treating people like children makes them act like children.  The high price of liquor makes it hard for restaurants to make it here as most other places a large percentage of gross revenue comes from liquor sales, but here, who has the money?  I would love to order a $100 bottle of wine, if I knew that it didn’t cost $10 for the government to buy to resell at the liquor store to be bought by the restaurant to be re-sold to me.  And then pay tax on it.  If booze was cheaper, food would be better.

Vij’s/Tojos

Vij’s and Tojos!  Why?!  They are such icons in the Vancouver food scene!  And often quoted in proper books (The Flavor Bible comes to mind). What have they done!? -I hear you all scream.

As much as they are a part of the Vancouver food scene, they are also not a part of the Vancouver food scene.  Have you ever run into a cook that used to work at either place that wasn’t Indian or Japanese respectively?  Me neither.  Vij make a point of only hiring Punjabi women to work in his kitchen.  He is proud of this and is quoted in a number of places stating this.  What’s wrong with that?  Vij’s is an island, totally cut off from the rest of the world.  You can’t go stage there, you can’t work there.  It’s not how it’s done.  It’s the same for Tojos.  I want to see more Indian influence on menus, but I can’t learn about Indian food from the so-called best Indian restaurant in Vancouver, because I’m not Indian!  How crazy and isolationist is that?

So what does this all mean?  I don’t know.  Right now I’m in the anger stage of the five Kibler-Ross model stages.  Next comes Bargaining.  I’ll have to post again when that comes.

As always, the holiday season is madness for kitchen workers.  Victoria and I did manage to run away to Las Vegas for a week, so here’s a quick roundup of what we experienced in what is possibly the strangest place on Earth.

Munchbar at Ceasar’s Palace

Munchbar (Caesars Palace) on Urbanspoon

Chili Cheese and Vegetable Burgers at Munchbar

Chili Cheese and Vegetable Burgers at Munchbar

Victoria had a Vegetable burger, I got the Chili Cheese.  Thank God it came with a fork, as it was ridiculously messy [but good].  Fries were plentiful, and in every way identical to McDonalds.  Didn’t love that, however.  It’s been a while, so I’ve forgotten the pricing, but this meal wasn’t expensive.  Crap service though, as the server spent more time attending to the 3 guys at the other table.  Shame, since we would have stayed for a couple more beer if it wasn’t so poor.

Victoria Says: A standard double patty veggie burger with cheese!?  That’s my kind of place.  There were waaaay too many fries to eat, but unlike Chris I didn’t mind them.  The service was pretty bad though.

 

Hash House A Go Go

Hash House A Go Go on Urbanspoon

Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles

Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles

Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles again

Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles again

Grilled portobello mushroom sandwich

Grilled portobello mushroom sandwich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh Hash House, I’m sorry.  It’s not you, it’s me.  I just can’t love novelty food anymore.  Yes, your portions are comically huge, but sometimes I need more … more flavour, more seasoning…  and less starch.   I ordered the sage fried chicken, bacon waffles, crispy leeks and maple caramel reduction.  Bacon waffles were rubbery, chicken was nicely cooked and flavorful.  Crispy leeks were an inedible mess, as they were the fibrous green part and not at all crispy.  Just burnt in places, and raw in others.  Maple caramel reduction tasted no different than maple syrup.

Victoria had the portobello sandwich, and loved it.  The mac and cheese side was excellent as well.  Why was there dry pasta as a garnish and crap all over the plate?  Who knows?

Victoria says: For all their gimickly oversized food, my sandwich was very regular sized.  The “side” of mac and cheese ($2) was as big as my entree, which as Chris mentioned came garnished with raw spaghetti.  I saw people at other tables eating, or at least attempting to eat theirs.  Not so good.  Coffee was decent and if you like a mountain of food that you shouldn’t finish, I would recommend it.

Jean Philippe Patisserie at the Aria

Jean Philippe Patisserie (Aria) on Urbanspoon

Victoria says: Expensive but darn good.  I ordered a “Triple Chocolate Cheesecake” which was definatly triple chocoalte, but not so cheesecake.  Cheese mousse more like.  Still very good.  Presentation was excellent also.  Their disposable cutlery (which I just had to photograph) was so classy and French that it was metal coloured.

 

 

The Wynn Buffet
Buffet (Wynn) on Urbanspoon

Cold cuts and breads at the Wynn

Cold cuts and breads at the Wynn

Desserts at the Wynn: Round 1

Desserts at the Wynn: Round 1

Desserts at the Wynn: Round 2

Desserts at the Wynn: Round 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The buffet at the Wynn was easily one of the best places in Vegas we ate.  It really was a fine dining buffet, with a nice variety of cuisines, and a good selection available at each station.

Of course, we stuffed our faces, and then went to lay waste to the dessert station.  The dessert section at the Wynn buffet is so large it could be its own patisserie.

I’m sure quite a few of these items were banqueting leftovers, as the quality of some of the items was miles above others.  A lot of very intense, overly sweet and artificially colored things to please the kids, but also a good amount for the grownups who like real desserts.

Victoria says: Do you hear the sound of angels?  I do.  Every time I think about the Wynn Buffet.

The Buffet at the Golden Nugget

The Buffet (Golden Nugget) on Urbanspoon

The buffet at the Golden Nugget wasn’t what I wanted, but it was what I needed – food.  A strange mixture of all you can eat excess, from pizza and fried chicken to Mexican and Chinese.  We had lunch there, but coffee and orange juice were coming around whenever we liked, which was nice.  The pastries and desserts were not good, however.  Dried out from sitting uncovered too long, and many were clearly bought in.

Worth going to if you’re starving, and are too scared to try the $3.99 prime rib dinners advertised all over Fremont Street.

Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill
Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill on Urbanspoon

As much as I dislike Bobby Flay’s TV personality, I can’t dislike this restaurant.  The servers were knowledgeable, the kitchen silent, and the food good.  We were in for brunch, and I got the ‘New Mexican Spiced Pork Tenderloin Sandwich’.  Delicious spiced fries and aioli.  It did desperately need a squeeze of a lemon or lime to cut the grease in the fries though.  Good [cold] sandwich though.  I like that the server made it a point to say that it is a cold, not hot, sandwich, so nobody gets confused.

Carnival World Buffet at the Rio

Carnival World Buffet (Rio) on Urbanspoon

This is supposed to be the #1 buffet in Vegas, but for my dollar it has nothing on the Wynn.  Sure, the variety is huge, but from what I saw with that came a decline in quality.  The salad bar [yes, I wanted a salad] was lacking in toppings, dressings, and even serving utensils.  Had some watery chili, a piece of pizza, some wings, and a fairly random sampling of other things.  Mall food court quality or less.   Gelato was alright, but nothing special.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (MGM Grand) on Urbanspoon

Writing about L’Atelier will just cheapen the experience.  Go here.  It is excellent.

A brief review of last night’s dinner – Yew at the Four Seasons in Vancouver.  Since I’m trying to embrace local food as much as possible, and love venison, I chose the three course, $35 Sidney Island Venison and Apple prix fixe.

As a starter: Venison Tartare, Elderflower poached apples, Black truffle, Apple Mint

Oh wow, this was done well.  The tartare was cut beautifully, and the truffle wasn’t over powering either [I'm not usually a truffle lover].  The apples were a treat, as they had an almost pickled taste to them, really cutting the richness of the meat.

Additional starter: House-Made Duck pate, Dried Fruit Toast, Heirloom Beet Marmalade

After eating the too good for words duck pate at Fraiche, I had to try Yew’s.  Bad flashbacks of tinned chicken meat-loaf-product from my childhood came flooding back.  I found it under flavoured and under seasoned.  It was set VERY firmly, not spreadable at all, making it difficult to eat with the lovely, thin, crispy fruit bread slices and delicious beet mamalade.

For the main: Roasted Venison, Fondant Butterball potatoes, Winter Greens, Double smoked bacon, Wild Blueberry jus

Perfectly cooked medium/rare venison.  Nit picking: fondant potatoes? Didn’t look like it.  Looked like some nicely cooked roast potatoes.  Didn’t have any noticable flavour of a braised then roasted potato.  The kale and bacon was nice, but nobody can screw up kale and bacon.  The jus was  mildly fruity, a little tart, and went perfectly.

Dessert: Warm Okanagan Apple Cobbler, Salted Caramel Ice Cream and Apple Chips

Disclaimer: I’m spoiled, because Victoria has made me some INCREDIBLE plated desserts.  In the words of Gail Simmons, I’m sorry, Yew, your dessert just didn’t measure up.

Victoria’s cobblers are awesome, and the biscuit on top is a biscuit.  The top of this one was a squishy cakey thing, not even a crumble, and quite sweet.  No contrast to the soft apples below.  The ice cream was ice cream, nothing remarkable.  Apple chips? Plural?  I’d have loved that.  The apple CHIP was the nicest I’ve ever seen.  So thin it was translucent, crispy, apple-y and sweet.  The composition was pretty lame – a ramekin on a plate, with ice cream beside it.  Not what I would have expected from a place like this.

Visually the restaurant is impressive, but very loud.  I imagine it is something like an arms race in noise.  The kitchen is semi-open, behind a glass wall, so to cover the kitchen noise the raise the music volume.  To be able to talk over the music, diners have to shout.

Also, thank you over attentive busser.  You weren’t the least bit annoying filling my water glass not only right after it was first filled by the server, even before I had a sip, but also right after that sip.  And the next.  And the next.

MoMo Sushi on Urbanspoon

Momo Sushi - Salmon sashimi, dynamite rolls

Momo Sushi - Salmon sashimi, dynamite rolls

Posted July 21, 2009

I noticed that Momo Sushi, a new Westend Sushi joint got a pretty poor review over at I’m Only Here For The Food, a Vancouver foodie blog.  The author felt that while the rolls looked nice, they didn’t deliver on flavour, and that they were of dubious freshness.

Well, my experiences with Momo Sushi have been good if not excellent so far.  The rolls themself remind me of Samurai Sushi, where you’re served completely unmanageable fist-sized multi-bite rolls.  Like Samurai, the they’re fresh and flavourful, and priced reasonably.  The tempura in Momo’s rolls seems to be made to order, because it is often hot when you get your order.  The salmon seems fresh as well, because it still has bite to it rather than being spongey and soft like previously frozen salmon is.

The staff at Momo Sushi could not be more friendly, and they genuinely seem to appreciates the business.  If you’re down in the West End, low on cash, and have a craving for fresh and flavorful sushi, give Momo a try.  You won’t even have to tip, as they have a large sign on their front counter saying “We Don’t Accept Any Tip”.

Update:

Feb 21, 2010

Went back again last week – similar experience.  Nice rolls, good flavour.  Took some photos before stuffing my face.

Momo Sushi - Dynamite Roll, Beef Teriyaki Roll (That I covered in soy sauce before taking a photo of ... oops)

Momo Sushi - Dynamite Roll, Beef Teriyaki Roll (That I covered in soy sauce before taking a photo of ... oops)

2001 Flavors Pizza on Urbanspoon

I’m sure they’ve never had 2001 flavours of pizza, but the 6 or so that they generally have in the window are consistently delicious. This isn’t your typical next-to-Skytrain dollar pizza joint. Around lunch, this place will be packed, especially in the Summer. That’s generally the sign of a great local eatery.

For vegetarians, artichoke, garlic, mushroom slices can generally be found in the window, alongside the usual meat lovers, pepperoni, and ham and pineapple. The crust is crisp, and relatively thin. The sauce is basic but tasty and there are always a good amount of toppings and cheese.

Really, what more could you ask for?

Slices range from $1.50 to $2.25 I believe, and whole pies bring the price per slice down even more.

If you don’t think the stuff in the window looks good enough, or they’re missing whatever you’re looking for, the pizza chef [the owner, I believe], is always willing to bake off a new one. Try it, eat it, love it.

KimHo over at I’m Only Here for the Food has his own review from last year, complete with photos.

Azia on Urbanspoon

I tried Azia restaurant with my mother a few weeks ago, and what a mixed bag it was.   First the setting.  The restaurant itself is new and stylish; the wine cabinet looks nice, all the items inside fit with the theme (pan asian), but right above the bar, I guess for the bar crowd, are 3 giant plasma TVs.  I was sitting facing them at the opposite side of the resaturant and let me just say that they were very distracting.  I couldn’t care less about college football, but when it’s flashing at you right above your fellow diner’s face, it’s distracting.  I think most other seats in the house would be fine, but the television didn’t enhance my dining experience.

Onto the food.   We got a “large Sopporo beer” to split, and it was decently priced at $8 on special.  We both got the set menu, hidden somewhere on their website, of 3 courses for $25.  Both our meals were very good value, if you value quantity over quality.  Plus, the set menu is the best ‘deal’, considering the regular meal prices.  At many places (such as All India on Davie) a prawn appetizer will have 3 prawns.  Not here.  My Ebi Mayo appy was about 5 or 6 large prawns perfectly fried in a light batter.

My appy, as with all my other courses, arrived a good 10 minutes before my Mom’s.  That’s not cool. She was okay with it, but it’s still bad form.   The restaurant had one other table when we got there, and they were getting the bill.  There are no excuses for delays to happen for every course.  Yes we went at an odd time, 4.30 on a Monday, but if you’re open, you should be able to serve food properly.

My Mom got the spring roll app, which was okay.  The garlic shrimp roll was very heavy on the garlic, and the peking duck roll was really greasy, but they were all okay.  I’m pretty sure the dipping sauces, black bean and plum, were from a jar.  For a $25 set menu, what do you expect?

On to the entrees.

I got the Kung Pow Prawns.  Again, lots of prawns.  Also lots of chunks of lemongrass and whole serano peppers.  I thought they were there for presentation, but they were also mixed in with the veggies.   I managed to avoid the peppers, but the lemongrass was unavoidable.  The prawns were slightly undercooked.  Just slightly.  Maybe 30 seconds to a minute, but it was still noticable.

My Mom’s “Sambal Green Seafood Curry Hot Pot” was again heavy on the seafood, with lots of fish, prawns and scallops, but light on the sambal and the curry.  Her prawns were better cooked than mine, as they should have been, having arrived 10 minutes after mine.

Both desserts were incredibly dissapointing.  I know you don’t go to Asain food places for the desserts, but still.

I got banana tempura, which came with freezer burnt bought in vanilla ice cream – it tasted like it probably wasn’t that good before the freezer got to it, and canned whippy, which I hate at the best of times.  It also came drizzed in chocolate sauce which was as bad as it ever is.  The banana tempura itself was pretty bland and soft.  I think it had been sitting at the pass for a while as the ice cream was pretty melty too.

My mom’s wasn’t much different or better, same ice cream, whippy and sauce only over a coconut crepe which was not a lot better than my tempura.

All in all a completely arbitrary score of  4/10

Mondo Gelato (Robson) on Urbanspoon

Just a quick blurb about Mondo Gelato on Robson St.  Victoria and I went out to grab some gelato last night, and it was as tasty as always.  Mondo offers gelato in cones, cups, scoops in affogato, and cakes for special occasions.  Victoria got a delicious affogato with dark chocolate and marzipan gelato.  I tried their soy chocolate and soy coffee (damned lactose intolerance!).  The soy flavours were lacking in richness, and quite sweet, but nevertheless still tasty.  Next time I’ll give their frozen yogurt flavours a go, as they may come closer to the richness of regular gelato.

Affogato with two scoops and a two scoop cup, about $9.  Not bad.

Lots of seats, on Robson st, and over 100 flavours with new ones coming fairly regularly.  If you like gelato, give this place a shot.

Whineo's on Urbanspoon

Whineo’s on Granville bills itself as a “Wine bar”, which should have been my tipoff that the food comes secondary to the drinks.

In the midst of a recession, and Granville street torn up due to Canada Line construction, Victoria and I thought we would check out one of Vancouver’s many patio-less restaurants on a sunny Monday evening – when independent places desperately need business.

To give Whinoes a try, we decided to sample a selection of their appetizers, mains, and desserts.

Appetizers

Wild mushroom risotto cakes

These arrived tepid, and were quite bland.  It was probably my fault that I didn’t enjoy these, as I was expecting the battered and fried variety full of rich and creamy risotto.  These were just sticky, bland risotto stuck into ring molds.

Maccaroni and Cheese

Once again, arrived cold.  Was slightly underseasoned, but was a decent homestyle mac n’ cheese.

Entrees
NY Strip (If I recall…)

Steak ordered medium rare arrived half blue, half well done.  The flavour was great, and it had a nice crust.  Ordered with a ‘lobster tail’, which was fairly overcooked for what was basically a 2-4 count prawn.  It just needed to kiss the grill to be done, but this one arrived charred, curled, and dry.

East Coast Lobster Dinner

It was billed as an ‘East Coast Lobster Dinner’ but it felt….lacking.  A side salad, 3 somewhat split mini lobster tails (just as rubbery as Chris’) and a dinner roll.  The menu didn’t lie at all though it does mention ‘paprika mayo’, which was as I recall minimal and what little was there sat under the shell of the lobster tails meaning if I had wanted to eat it, I would have needed to suck the shells….hmmm…pass.

The spinach salad was fine, nothing to write home about, but a decent salad, and the roll was, a room temp bought in white roll.

The thing that annoyed me most other than the fact that the lobster was overcooked, was that it was near impossible to eat.  The shells weren’t split all the way and the knife I was given was quite dull, I can’t help think that if I had been able to pry the meat from the shell sufficiently, I wouldn’t have been so hungry at the end of the meal.

Desserts

Chocolate apple tart

Not even remotely worth the cheap price of $6.50.  Bottled chocolate sauce on some phyllo pastry with a quarter of a diced apple and a scoop of ice cream.  Seriously, they couldn’t even put more than a quarter of an apple on it? An apple costs 30 cents.  This was a disappointment.

Deconstructed cheesecake

Acceptable, but flawed.  Served with some small pieces of biscotti to dunk, you get a boat of cheesecake-like filling and berry compote.  Too rich, not enough compote, and the few biscotti weren’t enough, or thin enough to be pleasant.

Would I go there again?  Probably.  It seems like their kitchen is very small, and its always possible that the cook was having an off day.  It was a slow night for them, so there were no servers; only the bartender doing double duty, so I can forgive the cold food.  If I do go back, I’ll be skipping dessert.

Victoria’s Update: Overall, I was pretty dissapointed too, but the 3.50 raspberry mojito drink special somewhat made up for it.  The service could be forgiven for being somewhat slack as the only guy was busy, but there weren’t that many people eating, so there was no excuse for the food being so bad.

© 2012 Culinary Tips Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha