Sanbo Chinese Restaurant, Vancouver (Canada) by Bureaucrat

Richmond is a inner-city suburb of Vancouver.  In the last few hours of our time in Canada, we rambled across Richmond looking for last minute souvenirs and a very late lunch/early dinner.  Loyal readers would know that I get a hankering for Chinese food, in particular, for rice, when I'm on holiday.  Sanbo Chinese Restaurant is located in Richmond which is a predominantly Asian suburb - kinda like a mash-up of Doncaster and Box Hill in Melbourne.  

Despite the odd time (sometime between 3-5pm), there was a reasonable number of people dining in. We opted to go for the lunchtime deals (CAD$9.75 for a main and a drink).  I went for the fish w sweetcorn gravy on rice - comfort food at its best.  A big serve of fluffy rice, topped with lots of fish fillets and soupy sweetcorn sauce.  This was a healthier version as the fish hadn't been deep fried in batter.

The Lawyer went for the stir fry beef rice noodle.  A big dish as well with lots of beef.  While this was nice the fish dish was much better.

Both dishes came with your choice of drink - we both went for the Hong Kong style tea, which is made with powdered tea and lots of condensed milk.  A rather sloppy presentation with the very tea-stained mugs. You also get complementary Chinese tea...

...as well as complementary soup as a starter.

Inside, the place looks like a typical suburban restaurant, with booths lining the perimeter and tables in the middle.

Verdict: we liked it a lot.

Overall
A really great cheap feed for less than CAD$10 per person you get a big, well cooked meal with a drink and complementary Chinese tea and soup.  The place seems to be a favourite with the locals.

Malaysian Kitchen, Doncaster East by Obelix

I was introduced to Malaysian Kitchen by a friend who recommended it on the basis it cooked up consistent Hawker stall food at very reasonable prices.  On this occasion, I tried their special lunch menu which had several of their popular noodle and rice dishes to select from in addition to free drink for $12.50.

I was very happy with my choice of Chef Pan Mee.  I have never had this noodle dish before and was surprised by the thick cut noodles that came with it.  They were a slippery but nice texture and the broth was flavoursome without being too salty.  It had little bits of fried anchovies and pork throughout.

My dad ordered the Nasi Lemak with Beef.  It was good value considering you get a free drink with the meal and other places charge similarly if not more for a Nasi Lemak sans drink.

My mum selected the Combination Ipoh Hor Fun which had plenty of 'wok hai'.

And we chose tea and coffee for our drinks.

Verdict:  We loved it.

Overall
Malaysian Kitchen is great value, particularly with their lunch special.  Service was prompt and the food was decent.

Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato, Melbourne CBD (by invitation) by Big Fil

Well, I guess it’s pretty obvious from the name, but Dex2rose (a play on Dextrose?) Nitrogen Gelato is the latest addition to the Melbourne food scene that uses liquid nitrogen as an integral part of the food preparation process.

Rockkaido

When used in preparing ice-creams and gelatos liquid nitrogen results in a significantly smoother product, complements of the much smaller ice crystals that result from the fast freezing of the mixture.  Add to this the entertainment value of the cold ‘smoke’ of the evaporating nitrogen and you have one of my favourite ‘foodie’ experiences. The question arises though, why should I go to Dex2rose rather than one of the other places around town?

It's a MATCH AH!

For me there were two things which stood out about my visit here.  The first of these is the less sweet and more ambitious arrangements offered.  For example, my favourite the After Ate is a chocolate gelato with peppermint oil and brownie chunks, served with fresh vanilla cream.  The flavours are more mature, the gelato, brownies and fresh cream provide interesting textural contrasts.

After Ate

Similarly the  Lazy Dinner with its burnt butter and caramel flavours offers a less sweet and more complex flavour than your typical salted caramel offerings, the Honey Stash an interesting textural contrast from the honeyed nuts, creamy gelato and lighter raspberry cream topping.

Honey Stash 

If gelati isn’t your thing there are a few sorbets also on offer, including the Pink Flamingo, an delicate peach and rose flavoured sorbet whose non-creamy texture offered a lighter finish after trying several of the gelatos.

Here are some photos of the incredible nitrogen kitchen/lab:

Verdict: we loved it.

Overall
The other thing which stood out was the way the store has been set up. It’s much more a Melbourne diner experience down to the wooden tables and bare lighting compared to your typical gelato dispensary, somewhere to sit and order rather than order and find somewhere to stand while eating.  It adds to the more adult/civilised feeling of the experience, somewhere more to cap off an evening or catch up with friends as indulge an ice-cream craving (not that there is anything wrong with an ice-cream craving!).

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Salon by Louis Roederer, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

There's nothing quite like a champagne lunch - or in this case, a sparkling wine lunch.  A ladies' lunch was in order to celebrate the big news from Ms G... rock on girl!

In the manner of all the fancy department stores overseas, it seems Australia is following suit by having champagne bars inside department stores.  I guess the point is while you're doing a bit of discretionary shopping you can sure as hell afford to do some discretionary boozing while you're at it.

Ms G and I both went for the sparkling wine per glass option.  I forget what it was exactly but it was chilled, bubbly and tingly - just what we needed to clink and drink. 

There's a range of simple cafe type fare on offer.  Think gourmet sandwiches and sort of hors d'oeuvre sort of stuff.  Ms B and I both went for the croque monsieur.  A lovely grilled sanger with reasonable amounts of ham, cheese and bechamel sauce.  Definitely not a healthy option but yummy.

Ms G went for these smoked salmon fritter-y things.  We were all a bit shocked at how small these were considering the price (it was around the $18-$19 range).  So tiny, these were gone in an instant.  Luckily I was feeling full and bloated from my rich croque so I was able to share some of my sanger with her.

Verdict: we liked it.

Overall

The Salon isn't big - a long table to sit at, some stools along a bench and only a few coveted cushioned chairs dotted around the place.  And yes, you are sitting in the middle of a department store with shoppers walking by and getting off/on the escalators.  It's hardly scenic but it's nice enough given that it's inside Myers.

It's a good option if you're out shopping and need a pick-me-up.  The sandwiches are the most reasonably priced and better value than the other items on the menu.  

Burma Lane, Melbourne CBD by Obelix

In my imagination, my alter ego lives in a cool converted loft with matte charcoal walls, smokey mirrors with splashes of original artwork decorating the walls.  In my imagination, I lounge around in my candlelit living area with uplights and downlights strategically situated to cask a soft glow onto the delicious food originating from my kitchen.  In my imagination, I live at Burma Lane.

Burma Lane was a wonderful introduction to Burmese food.  It was Daddy-O's birthday and we wanted to take him somewhere decent for dinner.

For the seven of us, we ordered a selection of entrees to share.  With a couple of chilli-wimps and Kiddo with us, we were steered towards the less spicy-hot type dishes.  Having said that, the less spicy dishes did not mean any less aromatic.

This was the Potato and Shredded Lamb Cakes ($16).  The lamb was tenderly cooked and served as a base for a pie of potato on top.  It was smothered in minty yoghurt.  This was very moreish.

Being a tofu fanatic, I could not resist ordering the Shan Tofu with smashed tomatoes with herbs and peanuts ($14).  This was perhaps the blander of the entrees but the tofu was fried spot on.

The last of the selection of entrees included the Pork Skewers with chilli and lemongrass ($13).  There's three to a plate (someone snaffled one of them before I could take the photo). These were so unexpectedly tender for a skewer.  Whilst it did have chilli, it was not overpowering, even Kiddo managed a skewer.

The star of the show in my mind was the Roasted Pork Belly with spiced caramel sauce and herbal salad ($29).  OMG, is all I can say.  It had the crispy skin of a great piece of roast pork with the tender slow cooked meat underneath.  The herby salad cut through the richness and there was a sweet caramelness which really added depth.  It was to die for.

This was the Whitebait Fritters with chrysanthemum leaf, tomato relish and mint ($18).  This was so crunchy and light for who doesn't love a crispy something-something?  The chrysanthemum leaves was new to me, it tasted pleasantly herby and fresh.

Our waitress recommended the Tea Leaf Salad ($17) and it did not disappoint.  There were tea leaves and cabbage and various fresh South East Asian herbs.  The overall effect was refreshing and not at all bitter as I was somewhat expecting with tea leaves.

This was the Tumeric Cauliflower ($25).  It came with an eggplant salad, tomato pickle and crunchy bits of sweet potato and watercress.  It was a great vegetarian dish.  I didn't even miss the meat.

This was the Lamb slow cooked with green pea and tomato biryani.  Very aromatic.

Here we have the Crispy Duck Leg with masala potatoes, herb salad and shallot relish ($29).  It was divine.  I loved it almost as much as the roast pork belly.  The duck was fall off the bone tender.

Like most Asian cuisines, it was all dishes at the centre of the table and everyone shares.  We accompanied our meal with aromatic rice flavoured with cardamon and cloves, etc ($3 pp but with unlimited refills).

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my alter ego's abode...

Verdict:  We loved it.

Overall
Burma Lane has great ambience and very well executed food.  The staff were very helpful in introducing Burmese food.  Burmese cuisine itself was very accessible and pleasing for young and old.

Cafe Guido, Port Hardy (Canada) by Bureaucrat

Cafe Guido is a nice community cafe in the middle of Port Hardy.  We liked it because it was, more or less, the only cafe in this little town that felt that a contemporary cafe.  It served cafe fare that was more than just dodgy looking sandwiches, it has a nice warm ambiance inside, plus it has a bookshop, gift shop and community art centre to boot.

The first thing we had there was a slice of vanilla cheesecake.  I'm not a fan of the baked cheesecake - - I much prefer the refrigerator/mousse style cheesecake as they're less claggy in texture.  This was smooth and silky with a nice thin crumbly base.

I also had a fruit smoothie that unfortunately was a bit more icy than I would have liked.

While the Lawyer opted for a big cup of coffee.

At our next visit, we tried out their soups.  It was one reasonable and one so-so. The reasonable one was the potato soup - thick and creamy and nicely seasoned.

The so-so was the red Thai curry soup.  We only picked this just so we had a different flavour to try.  It was chunky and tasted like curry but wasn't crazy spicy.  But I just can't get my head around a curry being made into soup. 

The community art/gallery/craft/gift shop, which is well worth a visit.  It has a wide range of things on offer - art, jewelry, clothing, knick knacks - all of which are of very nice quality.

The cafe is popular with tourists and locals alike.

Verdict: we liked it.

Overall
A nice cafe.  It's a great relaxing place to kick back.  Service is friendly and you can just while the time away here - the staff don't mind and seem to encourage it.  Plus, there's plenty of things to look at while you're there.

Walrus Seafood Restaurant, Springvale by Obelix

I have been to the Walrus Seafood Restaurant a couple of times.  It is the sort of place you associate with reasonably executed Chinese food at reasonable prices and with decent serving sizes.  So I was a bit disappointed this time around after a year long hiatus, that the serving sizes had diminished markedly.  The food was not as tasty as I remembered.


We started with the freebie Chinese soup.  That was ok.

We then ordered a succession of dishes.  To their credit, they arrived in a timely manner.  They just didn't taste all that good.


They had forgotten to season the Salt and Pepper Soft Shell crabs so they were actually salt and pepper-less.  So what should have been the star attraction of the meal was a bit meh.


The abalone mushrooms in the hot pot were bitter.  We had to order more dishes as we were still hungry.  Their serving sizes had shrunk to miniscule proportions.

Pippis served with Chinese donuts.

Fried rice for Kiddo and friends.

Seafood birdnest.  The birdnest was a bit of a cop out.  It was just fried wanton sheets.  It should have been a fried potato rosti type affair in basket shape. 

Salt and pepper pork chops.  Tasty.  Pity it was so mingy in size.

Stir fried beef and cashews.  

Seafood hot pot with Japanese tofu.  This one was nice.  But there wasn't enough to go around.  Maybe because I ate most of it...

Complementary red bean soup for dessert.

Verdict:  We wouldn't return

Overall 

It's casual family dining. The food was so-so and the serving sizes small.  Great if you want a quick meal but not suitable if you are after an elegant meal.