Mild Chicken Curry – adapted from Vij’s family recipe January 11, 2010

If you like Indian food and you are not actually from India it is most likely that you rarely cook it at home but would rather go out or have it delivered to you and I am the same way; I love Vij’s in Vancouver, BC (for example) because it is slightly more sophisticated and is always consistent and delicious. But occasionally I do cook Indian food at home because I love the smell of spices and the vivid colors. This recipe is a classic, simple chicken curry appropriate for a mid-week dinner as well as for your guests. If you want to customize and add other vegetables please feel free, my only advice is to stick to 2-3 types so each one is distinct and present.

What you need:

1 onion – finely chopped

1 cinnamon stick

3 Tbsp chopped garlic

2 Tbsp  chopped ginger

2-3 (depending on size) tomatoes – chopped [I used 3 small Roma tomatoes]

2 chicken breasts – cubed into bite size pieces

10-15 crimini mushrooms (button mushrooms are ok, 3-4 portobello mushrooms would be awesome) – quartered

1 red bell pepper – sliced into ribbons or rounds

Spices: 1 Tbsp each salt, cumin, coriander powder, garam masala; 1 tsp turmeric; 1/2 tsp each black pepper & cayenne pepper.

1/2 cup thick (greek) yogurt

1/2 cup (light) sour cream

2 cups water

1/2 cup cilantro with the stems – chopped fine

To make:

Heat a few tablespoons of oil over medium heat, add onion and cinnamon – let cook for about 5 minutes, the onion should be golden; add garlic and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Add ginger, tomatoes and spices cook for 5 minutes longer or until you see that the oil separates from the solids. Add chicken and cook for a few minutes until its cooked from the outside (not the inside); add peppers and mushrooms and cook for a couple more minutes. Add sour cream, yogurt and water – stir well, increase heat and bring to a boil; reduce heat back to medium, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in cilantro and serve with rice (garnish with more cilantro).

I like to add cumin seeds to my rice a few minutes before its done.

The beauty of this dish is that it is a soup and a main course all at once which makes it a very good choices for those rainy (or snowy), cold, winter evenings. Stay warm!

Thomas Haas, Vancouver March 11, 2009

It was a very pleasant discovery – a proper bakery in North Vancouver, making European pastries on a professional level, the only unpleasant part was that I discovered it only recently and now I moved back to WA so the next visit will not be any time soon.

Thomas Haas is famous for his chocolates and you can purchase them in high-end grocery stores like Whole Foods, Meinhardt’s and Capers…to be honest I have tasted the chocolates but wasn’t impressed, neither was my husband but the pastries do compensate for it big time! The space is tiny with two counters inside and a couple of outside tables. We have visited a couple of times and it was packed! The sandwiches are delicious and grilled if you want them to be, coffee is good and the pastries and delicious – both the cakes of sorts as well as the croissants and tarts – worth a detour even if you do not live in the neighborhood :)

WWW: http://www.thomashaas.com

Address:  998 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver   Tel: 604-924-1847 

Lumiere in Vancouver – review February 2, 2009

Lumiere had an introductory $58, 3 course prix fixe (instead of the usual $98) during the 2 weeks of DineOut Vancouver 2009 – I do not know if it had anything to do with that but frankly my darling(s), I don’t give a damn!

The restaurant was almost full Sunday night @ 8:30pm, except for maybe 3 tables; the decor is great, the music is a nice background, service is professional and attentive, wine picks were perfect and the food was definitely interesting and rightfully praised by the various critics.

The amuse bouche was a selection of 3 miniature treats – a crab salad wrapped in lettuce with some squash strings at its basis; a squash soup with brown butter and sage foam; a squash quiche with yogurt topping which was tangy and was a nice offset for the sweet squash. For the appetizer we both chose the Lobster Bisque with lobster meat medallions (which I assume were made from lobster meat processed into a smooth cream and combined with some gelatin creating cute lobster coins of sort) which was delicious and appropriate for the weather the only thing I did not care for were the chipollini onions and carrots which were few but not required in my opinion. Seconds…I had the squash ravioli with pork belly and black trumpet mushrooms, those were delicious and very pretty; my husband has the veal trio (tongue grebiche ,tender loin with chanterelles and sweetbreads with ziti) which he enjoyed as well. A cheese selection followed (not included in the 3 course prix fixe) and it was a well selected one :) Desserts – if a meal was good but desserts were not, for me its a deal breaker and I was really glad this wasn’t the case here! My husband, the conservative, had a warm chocolate cake with Sicilian pistachio gelato and I had the caramelized pineapple with coconut rice pudding and pina-colada ice cream which was both refreshing and interesting – exactly what I wanted it to be! With the bill we got another treat, warm-out-of-the-oven mini citrus madeleines – nothing tastes or smells better than a baked anything right out of the oven :)

Bottom line, go and enjoy :)

WWW: http://www.lumiere.ca/

Address: 2551 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC   Tel: 604-739 8185

Kintaro Ramen on Denman (corner of Robson) February 2, 2009

It was very good, the noodles are delicious and are cooked to order. There are a few selections when it comes to the soup itself-  fat or lean, light/medium/rich same goes for the various toppings. I found the portions to be very large like in Benke Ramen only with larger amounts of pork. I ordered the medium and fat version and found it to be too fat so next time I will opt for the lean one. Overall a yummi experience!

Beard Papa’s Cream puffs in Vancouver December 1, 2008

Choux pastry shells filled on the spot with Vanilla custard (real one, I saw the seeds) – yum!  

Cash only =)

Address: 1184 Denman Street

WWW: www.beardpapa.com

Benkei Ramen on Robson November 14, 2008

This place is always full, so are the few other Ramen places in the vicinity; I always wanted to visit and finally the weather is really suitable for hot soup and we went to check this place out last weekend and I glad we did because it is my new “crave” item :) The menu options are very limited and I liked it – one small restaurant, one specialty! There are three types of broth – Pork, Pork & Chicken with soy and Pork and Chiken with Miso (they also had a spicy miso off the menu, but I do not know if they always do); by definition it comes with noodles and some veggies but there are about 8 (or so) additional topping you can get or choose the option of “all toppings” which is what we did. The portion is very big so be ware, the “all toppings” option includes pork, nori, corn, sprouts, green onions, butter, spinach, boiled egg and kimchi (I do recommend ordering extra pork) and it is delicious!!! They also serve a few small side dishes like Gyozas which were so tender and delicious.

Go, enjoy and then crave to go back :)

Address: 1741 Robson Street   Tel: (604) 688-6790

Salsa and Agave Mexican Grill Review October 30, 2008

I have been looking for two things for quite a while -  a good takeout place near my house and a good, no frills, Mexican restaurant with authentic food. I tried Lolita’s on Davie and it was good but it is an “upscale” Mexican food; I tried El Taco on Davie as well and it the food wasn’t so good, it was overpriced and the service was slow slow slow. Salsa and Agave does answer all my prayers though – its not a place to go for dinner as it is rather casual but for a lunch or some takeout in the evening its perfect! It is a family run place, the food is very good, the service is quick and prices are very reasonable. Happy Happy Happy!

Address: 1223 Pacific Blvd the corner of Davie  Tel: 604-408 4228

Trattoria Italian Kitchen Vancouver October 15, 2008

A simpler version of the Italian Kitchen downtown; a nice place for lunch especially if you live close by. The place is new and modern with a nice selection of appetizers, pasta, a few pizzas and some other main courses.

It was good taste-wise but the food was mainly precooked…I understand the fact that meatballs are precooked but what made me raise my eye-brows was that the pasta was already boiled and reheated in boiling water -the restaurant has an open concept kitchen- honestly it doesn’t take long to make spaghetti to order the way it should be done in a self respecting establishment! They pride themselves with fresh pizza dough made on premises so why can’t they trouble themselves with some fresh pasta and not precooked spaghetti from a box?

WWW: http://www.trattoriakitchen.ca/

Address: 1850 West 4th ave.  Tel: 604-732 1441

BlueWater Cafe in Vancouver September 18, 2008

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and we opted to revisit the Bluewater Cafe which has a very nice atmosphere, is close to where I live and our previous visit during Vancouver’s Dine Out last winter was good.

It seemed to me that there was much more thought put into the first courses, whether those were from the raw small plates menu or the regular first plates menu, than there was into the second courses.

There was a selection of sushi and sashimi, wonderful fresh oysters with a few kinds to choose from (we had some Kusshi and Royal Miyagi) and various chilled seafood platters; interesting combinations of squid with crab and couscous which was delicious and refreshing as well as quail wrapped in pancetta, stuffed with fresh figs - it was tender and juicy and if hadn’t ordered my second course already I would have probably chosen it instead.

The seconds were much less imaginative and made selection difficult; quite a few fish dishes like Salmon and Halibut which I find boring in restaurants, especially higher end restaurants that pride themselves with being original and imaginative, same goes for the meat dishes. I opted for the fillet mignon with Chanterelle mushrooms, which were just coming into season, and a gratin of macaroni and green chard – the fillet was overcooked but was replaced by a perfect one minutes later; the sauce was too acidic in my opinion and the macaroni gratin had mainly green chard in it. 

Wines and desserts were good, mine had a candle on top :)

Overall a good experience though service was a bit slow; would go again and stick to the appetizers some of which are big enough to substitute for a main course.

Address: 1095 Hamilton street @ Helmken  Tel: 604-688 8078

WWW: http://www.bluewatercafe.net/

Hapa Izakaya in Vancouver August 21, 2008

Delish Delish Delish!

Great atmosphere, low lights and no idea of the time of day or the weather – due to the black paint covered windows. You are completely relaxed and focused on the food you eat and the people you are with.

The menu has two fixed pages and two pages of specials, including both Japanese, Chinese & Korean dishes. You will find hot and cold small plates of meat, fish, shellfish or vegetables served in any order you desire and in quite a few different types of preparations.

Out of the cold list we had some Ceviche style fish and scallops, some delicious and absolutely gorgeous color Tuna in Yuzu (a type of citrus) marinade; out of the hot list we tried an interpretation of Gyozas which were made with minced pork wedged between two slices of Lotus root and friend in tempura batter as well as a Korean dish (I can not remember the name unfortunately) of rice and minced pork in a piping hot stone (clay…?) bowl with some fresh vegetables and a raw egg which was mixed into it by the server when it was already on our table.

Address: 1479 Robson St, Vancouver   Tel: 604-689-4272

WWW: http://www.hapaizakaya.com  (coming soon)