gourmet wife's Profile
Bonsoiree-BYOB
Hello,
I have reservations for Bonsoiree in a couple of weeks. Can someone explain to me about how the BYOB works with the restaurant? Their email says to contact 3 liquor stores for pairing. Does that mean the restaurant doesn't serve up any beverages?
Thanks
Best high tea experience for Mother/Daughter in Vancouver
I went to the Fish House a few years ago. It was better than Hotel Vancouver and less expensive. Btw, you can use the entertainment coupon for high tea at the Fish House, call to confirm as it's been awhile since I've gone.
Looking for Scotch
We checked this store out last week and it's got a good selection (compared to Vancouver BC). Will definitely stop by again when we visit.
Lecosho
Came here last week during our visit to Seattle. The restaurant is so LOUD. Food was underwhelming. Octopus was good but the portion they give you is quite small. Porchetta wasn't as good as I had hoped for. Duck confit was tasty, loved how they crisped up the skin. Service is fast, a bit too fast, we received our bill once dessert was presented.
Cross-border shopping: the food/drinks you always bring home to Vancouver
Nutter Butter Wafers. Not the sandwich cookies but the light wafer ones. Yes it is processed sugar and all but I just love it !
Which Costco carries Scotch/Whiskey
I've been told that Costco carries Scotch/Whiskey at some of their locations. Just wondering if fellow CH know which location in the Seattle area.
Thanks!
Dinner and scotch
Well, Charlie Palmer was a hit! Loved the dinner and hubs even found a new favorite scotch, well bourbon actually. We had a drink at the bar before dinner and a nice gentlemen informed us that Acadiana offers scotch tastings every now and then. Too bad it was our last night in DC but I thought I'd share the information for those interested.
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Acadiana
901 New York Ave NW Ste 200A, Washington, DC 20001
Cheap places near National Harbor
We were at Gaylord National Harbour about 3 weeks ago. There isn't a lot of options there as the "town" is about 5 blocks radius. Most of our meals were provided by the convention so it's mostly lunches I went to. We went to the new pizza place that just opened up near the Peeps store. It's very good, light and thin however a bit pricey. We went to Ketchup, what a disaster but they do offer half price burgers on Monday. Potbelly Sandwiches was okay, kinda like Quizno but their shakes were fantastic. Surprisingly, the National Pasttime at Gaylord is quite good and not as expensive as I had thought it would be. Most entrees were under $20. The appies are pretty huge here.
If you want to save, there is a grocery market near the mini donut stand. A lot of organic food and pastries, not the best selection but at least you can grab items for breakfast instead of eating out every day.
Dinner and scotch
Thanks all for the replies. Sorry I didn't reply back sooner. I think I've narrowed it down to Charlie Palmer and if we have time, Art & Soul just because I've never really had good southern style food.
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Art & Soul
415 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001
Dinner and scotch
I'll be in Washington DC in June and will be celebrating hub's birthday while we're there. I think I've narrowed it down to two places but am still open to suggestions. My two choices are Bourbon Steak or Charlie Palmer. On their websites, Bourbon Steak seems to fit our bill as they offer whiskey/scotch tastings. Just wondering if there's any other options that provides something similar. Not sure if Charlie Palmer has the whiskey/scotch tastings, they only have wine on their website.
Thanks CHs!
Clay Pots Asian Cooking
When I bought my claypot. The owner of the shop told me to soak it in water for 24 hours, let it dry a day and before using it for the first time, soak it for a few more hours and it should help with the cracking. So far my pot hasn't cracked so maybe there's some truth to it.
Favorite places to eat
My recent favorites are Lupo in Yaletown and Luda on Hastings by Slocan. I've been to Lupo a few times now and the food and service is always wonderful. Luda is a wonton/hk/cantonese style restaurant. Their take on a modern version of wonton noodles is very tasty. They also offer house made beef balls and squid balls. Very bouncy and the broth that it comes with is nicely done.
Dorset Cereal in greater Van/Surrey
Superstore now carries Dorset in their organic section.
Maui Beef
This was very hard to find. We finally found some at Longs but they were so minuscule hubs decided to pass. He wanted a huge ribeye to sink his teeth in. On the last day, we had a bit of time before checking in at the airport, we went to Whole Foods to kill some time and that's when we found some local maui beef steak. Unfortunately with only 30 minutes before check in, we couldn't try it. Oh well, I guess there's always next time.
Maui report May 2010
Hi all,
Just came back from Maui and decided to write up a amateur reivew of the places I went. My original plan was to try more places but we had a gorgeous condo with incredible views in Kapalua. We couldn't really tear ourselves away from view so we ended up having a more relaxing trip and enjoying our breakfasts and couple of dinner on the patio.
Honolua Store-Kapalua
This is a market/cafe/deli/gift store. Groceries and deli here are quite reasonable. The deli serves up delicious hot meals for breakfast and lunch. We came here a couple mornings.
Aloha Mixed Plate-Lahaina
This place is located on behind the Cannery Mall on Front St. It’s a very casual place like what you would get at the beach/park concession stand except they have servers that bring your drinks and meals to your table. It’s right on the beach so you do have a great view of the water. We happened to be there during sunset and the view was absolutely amazing. Very busy and limited parking.
Now onto the food, the food was good. I had the mahi mahi fish sandwich and I can say it’s the best I’ve had. The fish was nice and crunchy. Hubs had the kalua pork sandwich that was quite tender and tasty. I found it a bit salty but that’s me. Best part of the meal was their garlic fries. Overall the experience here was nice for our first dinner in Maui. Nothing fancy but a good relaxing atmosphere. Budget friendly.
Da Kitchen-Lahaina
We really wanted to try their deep fried spam musubi and it was worth the visit. It was the best musubi we had in Maui. The rice was seasoned well and two weeks later, hubs is still talking about it. We tried their hawaiian mixed plate and it was really delicious, about 5-6 items on the plate and it was huge. Very good home style cooking. Budget friendly.
Cane and Taro-Kaanapali
We had heard good things about this place and wanted to give it a try. The dishes here expensive but to be fair, they’re quite large and perfect to sharing. The highlight was their ahi tuna sashimi, however, they butchered the slices so some were thick and others were paper thin. Why was it the highlight? Well, basically because we were surprised at the freshness of the fish. Also order their dynamite shrimp, crab roll, fringos, fried calamari. They were okay, nothing to rave about.
We didn’t go during their special discount hour but they have weekday specials with savings of 25-50% off if you arrive and order before 6pm but there’s a mandatory 18% grats calculated before the discount price which I find misleading.
Kai Sushi-Wailea
I’m not sure if this location is related to the one at the Ritz in Kapalua. We went here for lunch. Very limited selection as they don’t have a sushi chef during the day due to cutbacks??? Had the poke, spicy tuna roll and teriyaki chicken. The fish were both tasty and fresh. Teriyaki, poorly executed and not normally what we’d order but as I mentioned, lunch menu was very limited. Price wise, expensive for lunch.
Mama’s Fish House-Paia
Our first visit was lunch and it was so good we had to come back again on our last day for dinner. The view is amazing here and the food is definitely good.
Highlights were the mac crusted crab cake and the manchong stuffed with crab, shrimp and lobster. Both these orders were so delicious, I still dream about it. Both days we had the ahi tuna seared. Lunch was with a soy ginger glaze and kalua pork rice and the dinner was served with a rich mushroom sauce with sweet potato mash. At first I thought it was a strange combo with the mushroom sauce and mash but it did pair very nicely. Also tried the yellow tail ceviche, very tasty and the lobster guacamole. The only thing I probably wouldn’t order again is the lobster guacamole, tasty but not blown away like the other dishes. For desert, the infamous black pearl. This is for chocolate lovers, so rich and creamy. We also had the tahitian vanilla gelato. It was nice but I’ve had better.
Ululani Shaved Ice-Lahaina
The shaved ice here was so good. Very snowy and fluffy like. The flavours were tasty too. Had the root beer float flavour one day and the second visit was mango, passion fruit with li hing fruit. I wanted to try it with the mochi balls but unfortunately it was unavailable to us. If you like shave ice, this is the place.
Ono Gelato-Lahaina
Had the Mac Crunch Coffee Toffee, so good !! Hubs had the mocha, it was shadowed by the Mac Crunch.
Ali'i Lavendar Farm
Came here for the lavendar tour. They have a patio which you can enjoy their lavender inspired treats. Had their infamous scones. The scones itself was okay but pair them with their preserves and honey, now we're talking. The ice lavendar tea was so so, the lemonade on the other hand was great. Wanted to try their hot lavender tea but it was too warm out. We also tried the lavendar shortbread and that too was very tasty.
Maui Fish Market-Kaanapali/Napili
You can eat in but it's more of a take out and that's what we did. We tried their crab cakes and poke. Both were incredibly fresh and very reasonable. They had some local grown mangoes there as well, $0.50 each and they were uber sweet. The best we had on the island.
I was surprised how hard it was to find good fruit in Maui. Yes there are markets that sell them but they were pretty disappointing. In the end we did find some local stands in more isolated areas and yes they were good.
blood oranges - where to find
Not sure if Kins Market has them in but when they do it's pretty reasonable. Another option is Chinatown. Often the stores will carry specialty items (not all the time) and when they do, it's very inexpensive.
Razor clams @T&T and Yaohan
Oh I love razor clam espeically with black bean sauce. The ones in HK are the best I've had.
Maui Beef
Thanks! I do have a kitchen at the condo we're staying. We're in the Kappalua area so a butcher or market in that area will suit us best.
Maui Beef
Heading to Maui in a couple of weeks and would love to try the Maui beef down there. Any good suggestions for restaurants or butcher? I would love to try it with minimal added flavourings so nothing drenched in marinade.
Thanks!
Quick Answer Needed-Gluten Free Waffles
Thanks all. I found some at Gourmet Warehouse (mix) and Price Smart (frozen from Nature's Path).
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Gourmet Warehouse
1340 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V5L, CA
Quick Answer Needed-Gluten Free Waffles
Does anyone know where to get them in Vancouver? Need to purchase after work.
Thanks!!
Feta
Thanks everyone. I'll definitely give Dodonis a try. Does anyone know if you can purchase it closer to the east side?
The City Temple of Shanghai Restaurant (Main @ 22nd, Vancouver)
I've been coming here for quite some time. The food is quite good, very homestyle but tasty. It's a good option if you can't make it to Richmond.
Feta
I have some really good feta the other day. It was creamy and smooth. I've never been a fan as I find I don't like the crumbly texture but this one was different. Does anyone have a good recommendation where I can get some?
Thanks!
Bittman's No-Knead Bread...Wow!
yes it was but I didn't mind as there was more crunch surface ;-)
Making Chinese Black Bean Sauce
Mom taught me to make our own black bean sauce at a very young age so it's something I do regularly. Once you've had the home stuff, it's hard to do the jar version. Believe it or now, some people still know how to ferment their own black beans. During my mom's last HK visit, one of her friends gave us some homemade fermented black bean and boy it's good. Very old school flavouring which you can't get anymore with commercial brands.
Bittman's No-Knead Bread...Wow!
I didn't read the entire discussion so apologies if it's been mentioned. I actually used a pizza stone instead of my Le Crueset and the bread came out very nice. It was actually better a week later when I baked the unused dough, much lighter and airy.
