Banana Leaf – Not quite so Green..

September 23, 2011 Leave a Comment

This Malaysian spot we stopped at after yet another fun filled. Everyone (essentially the brother and the husband) seemed highly enthusiastic about the prospect. By this time, the kids were right with the program and wanted a different cuisine at every mealtime, so who was I to stand in the way of diversity. Actually, if I had realized that I would end up doing Thai so frequently, this past month en return to New York, I might have re-considered the diversity argument.

Well, this was another stop on Davis, which really looks like it was our memory of what we shall call restaurant row in Vancouver. Banana Leaf, beckoned with its seemingly understated yet characteristically well planned somewhat authentic looking décor. There were these wall hangings, wooden art, attractive cutlery and in general an overall pleasing set up.

Before I move on, let me tell you      never underestimate the power of the inane or simple silly twists when you are dining with little ones. The kids spent quite a bit of time trying to unravel these straws, playing with them and in short just being quite pleased with them.

Now that I look at them I cannot help thinking that maybe they are a fun thing to do for a party, maybe a twist your own straw kind of theme.

The menu seemed fun, as usual we got rather excited about the appetizers. This is generally a theme and trend with us. We tend to get quite carried away about appetizers. So, we dived right in with calamari, roti canai and an interesting seafood soup.

The roti canai was predictably rich and generally good the soup had a good balance of flavors, the calamari was where things starting getting rather disappointing. The menu seemed fun, as usual we got rather excited about the appetizers. This is generally a theme and trend with us. We tend to get quite carried away about appetizers. So, we dived right in with calamari, roti canai and an interesting seafood soup.

The roti canai was predictably rich and generally good the soup had a good balance of flavors, the calamari was where things starting getting rather disappointing.

By now, they has brought in the wine and we had started sipping on some great ice wine which did pair well with the food and generally the cool sweet taste with the conversation helped. The main courses were a little disappointing I found our dish a little too heavy on the turmeric. The portions were definitely very generous and served family style. All in all, the experience was not the high note of our dining experiences in the city that clearly had touched us with some good food notes. We wrapped up our meal with a fried banana and ice-cream, which you cannot go very wrong with. As I always that is what desserts are about.

Banana Leaf on Davie

Robson Street/West End

1043 West End

Vancouver, BC

http://www.bananaleaf-vancouver.com
Banana Leaf on Davie on Urbanspoon

Filed Under Restaurant Reviews, Travels Tagged With Malaysian Food, Travels, Vancouver, Where to eat in Vancouver

TeaHouse at Stanley Park (6 of 9)

September 14, 2011 1 Comment

 We spent an entire day at Stanley Park actually visiting the park twice, by sheer chance taking the kids over in the morning and re-capping with dad in the evening. Actually what was a lot of fun for the kids was pretending to show Dad around later in the afternoon, this does not happen often for them. They also relayed some of their foibbles when they were scolded by me.

We made a stop at a view point, where we stopped by to listen to the roadside musician and then pause to pick up what was described as the world’s most famous ice cream. On a whimsy we took an afteroon break at, “The teahouse”, which for a tea lover like me started out as a small disappointment since I somehow was expecting a tea centric restaurant with a tea service.

However the stunning and serene view of the restaurants gradually calmed me down and we all relaxed to enjoy the excellent food. They did have tea, just not any more that your next good restaurant but what we enjoyed was their small bites section.

Our stop ended up being longer and as I enjoyed a lovely glass of rose, we realized that this was just perfect for that rare afternoon cocktail that can only be enjoyed when you are on vacation, or celebrating on an off day. We enjoyed some really good smoked salmon bites and a salt and pepper calamari that was just amazing. All through the trip people had compared Stanley Park to Central Park, in the city although I have to confess that the vibe is very different. The lighthouses and the water fringe add a very different character to the Park but on the other hand since it is located in a quieter city the park does seem to be less filled with action.

The snack was just as well, since our Malaysian restaurant for dinner that I shall tell you about later was not as exciting as one might hope.

The Teahouse

Robson Street/West End

Ferguson Point

Vancouver, BC V6G3E2



The Teahouse on Urbanspoon

Filed Under Travels, Uncategorized Tagged With British Columbia, Stanley Park, Teahouse at Stanley Park, Vancouver

Nuba – Fresh Tasting Lebanese (4 of 9)

August 20, 2011 Leave a Comment

 The pressure high after an afternoon outdoors, a tired family resturned. The brother had been working through the day, talk of the wonders of technology.

The mood was for simple and light so we decided to try out a simple light gastown stop – Nuba. All in all this was pretty much what seemed to fit the mood of this cool summer evening. The kids generally like hummous so I figured at a very basic that was covered as far as this restaurant was concerned.

The stop had a pretty decent and prolific take out business, people stopping by enroute from work gathering some portable sustinence to tide them through the evening after the exertions of

an active summer day. Given that the menu definitely had some hummus I knew my bases were covered with the kids. The hummus here did not disappoint, it was clean tasting and lemonny with just a hint of garlic.

We joustled over to the simple cheery joint, that held the promise of food freshly made. As we sat  first down my observation were that this was one popular stop with the after work crowd stopping for a quick pick me up before heading home. The second observation was that the waitress was the epitome of grace under fire.

An interesting starting note was a lentil soup for the kids and some beet ginger juice. The kids were taken by the color of the juice and then decided against it. I personally felt that the juice was good but not anything to rave

about. Interesting highlight were the side of a red pickle made of cabbage that was sweet and tangy.

The kebabs were moist and flavorful and well seasoned as lamb goes. The other interesting dish we tried was a crispy cauliflower which was essential cauliflower fried till it was golden and soft with a side of a cilantro and yogurt dipping sauce. We tried the falafels and the kibbeh which we enjoyed.

In general the green were fresh and fulfilled the promise of crispness and fresh produce. The food to me was good and affordable but only some rather than all the dishes were outstanding.

If you are in that neck of the woods and have a fresh craving, try checking out Nuba and decide for your self what you think.

Nuba

207 W Hastings Streets

Vancouver, BC

604 688 1655
Nuba (Hastings) on Urbanspoon

Filed Under Restaurant Reviews, Uncategorized Tagged With Lebanese Food, Nuba, Restaurant Reviews, Travels, Vancouver

Vancouver Travels -Granville Island (3 of 9)

August 15, 2011 2 Comments

The Granville Island morning was the kind of stuff that make you really disappointed once you are back from vacation. It was a picture postcard day in terms of weather in what is clearly a very photogenic city. I also sometimes wonder if we tend to observe more to photograph in a city that is not where you live or work. Well, there is certainly the practicality where I tend to notice so much but only have my tiny point and shoot. I have drawn the line on the phone camera, it does not quite cut it for me but then there are moments when that has come to my rescue.

 

I have always said, the rule of thumb when dealing with children is the ensure they are adequately pleased with life before the rest of the adventure. To this end, our first stop was the Kids market. This is a contained mall of just kids stores and rides and entertainment. Something like this stops short of being too glitzy and jarring in this place because all of the Island is comprised of independent stores rather than commercial chains this is always something that makes me wistful, there is a huge joy to the lack of standardization that these display. All the stores are colorful adding to an amazing cornucopia and what can only be described as a sheer riot of colors. After about an hour here (I also peeked in to the Brewery while Dad was with the kids, tied something fruity and headed back. If beer is your thing this is quite the place to go.

So onto to sustenance, I wanted to look around and see what caught my eye. I was drawn into this store and café that was lined with planters of herbs, lettuce and chard. What can be a greater advertisement for a farm to table kind of concept. The emphasis on green and eating local is very deeply entrenched into the food culture in the city, making me realize that we still can do more in NYC in this area.

 The menu was just the right size and packed with an assortment of amazing things. Their kids menu had more that chicken nuggets and French fries, what a surprise. The kids settled for a fancy looking grilled cheese with a bowl of chicken noodle soup, the soup was a clear broth with rice noodles and an adequate assortment of vegetables. Onto the real stuff, they had things such as potatoes roasted in duck fat which was tempting but I stayed away from. We had an interesting fish soup or chowder a very flavorful assortment simmered in coconut milk. The fried oyster sandwiches that we had hit the spot, they oysters were nice and moist. The house salad that I had also was just amazing, in fact the vinaigrette was sheer magic. All of this was complemented by a beautiful sunny day and musicians in the plaza contributing to the atmosphere.

 We ended the adventure by walking into the public market  – fresh food and local market with an amazing selection of things and walking back down the boardwalk to the car.

If I could keep one piece of this perfect day with me for the rest of the year, I would place it in a keepsake pendant and put in on a silver chain and carry it with me. As I write this, I realize that the year has its challenges as does life, so one should catch every rainbow when they border on life’s edges.

Edible Canada at the Market on Urbanspoon

Filed Under Restaurant Reviews, Travels, Uncategorized Tagged With British Columbia, Edible Canada on the Market, Restaurant Reviews, Seafood, Travels, Vancouver

Vancouver Travels – Tapas and Sunset Walks (2 of 9)

July 28, 2011 Leave a Comment

 

After a nice long nap (that’s what a good workout does for you!) we were ready to tackle dinner. My foodie instincts kicked in quickly, I realized that Davie Street offered a Mecca of amazing International delights. I do have to confess, part of the New York snobbery often prevails and I never expect all that much from my food experiences outside the NY area, the upside of this is that more often than not I am pleasantly surprised. Scoring up and down the street, I realized that we wanted to try several of the amazing places but this evening we settled for Tapas, I was not very sure how the kids would fare but never know if you do not try.

So we settled on, MIS TRUCOS, a Tapas bar that seemed very inviting especially since it had parking adjacent to the restaurant, like most restaurant streets in larger cities was a very premium commodity. They also had some very inviting signs about their patio, which unfortunately thanks to the rainy and rather cool summer that the city had been experiencing. Well, predictably they were complaining about this just as we in New York city are complaining about the heat factor.

Their food was worth the first stopped, the great thing about TAPAS, much like Dim Sum is that we get to try a lot of the menu, a working understanding of the chef’s preferences and cooking style. We started with something that was called 6 little bites, delectable samplers ranging from an olive tapenade to rainbow trout tartare they were light, lively and delectable. Other highlights of the meal that we tried was a cheese and grilled onion platter paired with fig chutney and quince. A nice egg and Serrano ham combination made the kids very happy. We tried the grilled trout that was really nicely paired with roasted potatoes and a very interesting cornucopia of side sauces to boot. It was actually fun to see swimming trout the following day. Surprisingly the husband ordered the fois gras, something I tend to have reservations about eating. All of this was washed down with a rather interesting Sangria, fruity and not too strong. In fact, after the sangria we were even happy to take pictures of this rather occult looking lamshade.

The kids in bed, I went down with the brother for a walk, it was actually wonderful to walk down the roads of this fairly pleasant and interesting city. I love walking, truly, truly love walking. It is one of the reasons I enjoy NYC so much. We walked into the alleyways of Gastown and made it down to the harbor. We both had our cameras, we meandered, talked and tried to capture points and moments of the amazing sunset that was gradually enveloping the waterfront. The highlight of this city clearly is the presence of both the water and the mountains at the sametime. A building that did catch my attention was this flatiron shaped building.

I thought the resemblance was a co-incidence but not so, in fact, the replica is also named – yes, you guessed it – Flatiron Building.

The 411 on this lovely restaurant,

Mis Trucos

1141 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 1N2, Canada
(604) 566-3960
Mis Trucos on Urbanspoon

Filed Under Restaurant Reviews, Travels, Uncategorized Tagged With British Columbia, Canada, Restaurant Reviews, Sunset, Tapas, Vancouver

Vancouver Travels – Lynn Canyon Park and Chinatown (1 of 9)

July 24, 2011 Leave a Comment

 We love to travel, just do it a lot less after the kids. The past couple of years, with snap trips to India and other changes I have also not had all that much time to go elsewhere, and I always do mean to keep track of the interesting experiences especially the food related ones but then once I am back to the grind I forget, or it gets stored as drafts. In fact, most of the drafts that I still have pending in this blog are the travel food posts. I actually do plant to complete them in series of about 14 posts between Seattle and Vancouver. In somewhat of a backwards order but hey, thats why I love my blog, I get to decide when and what order to post.

Vancouver and BC where we were last week was a much needed break in terms of weather, sights and sounds and luckily they timing of things worked out perfectly. It was probably the one week I could squeeze in at work and it worked for the kids. I shall tell you all about the nourishment for the soul but I have to confess I was totally blown away by my food experiences in the city.

This time round for the most part, I was left to do most of the planning once I got to the city, while the husband and brother took care of the core logistics which actually was a perfect matching of interests and skills. I loved the compactness of the city and the amazing harmonious diversity. At first blush the city reminded me of Hong Kong, but much calmer and greener. The city has the amazing natural advantage of being silouted by mountains and bordered by the sea making the landscape very pretty. Our first morning was a trek to Lynn Canyon Park. My daughter has been reading about the rainforests in school and had been hankering to check out the real thing. This hankering had intensified ever since she

realized that her dad and I had visited the Amazon rainforest without. After all, how dare we parents have a life before and without them. Anyhow, these rainforests despite being the temperate variety worked for now.

The first stop was, you guessed it – a rainforest. We visited the Lynn Canyon Park  – a lovely shaded cool forested area with a fairly adventurous trail to the suspension bridges that leads you to an amazingly beautiful pair of twin waterfalls. We did the first trail trail that caught our eye, the Baden Powel trail. I was absolutely facinated by this mother who was doing the trekking with tree children in tow, one of whom was on her back through quite a fair amount of the journey. In general, while she was rather engaged she seemed rather unfazed by the entire co-ordination process. I always do say good parenting is sometimes about staying calm and rolling with the punches. What was wonderful was that they were both enjoying the healthy outdoors without any tension and strife.

One of the joys of travelling to the West Coast is that my brother tends to join us, which is a treat for both me and the kids. As the kids and dad moved a little ahead soaking in and trying to experience facts in action, my brother and I took a slower pace meandering gently taking pictures as we went. The amazing green gigantic trees and the grounds carpetted with ferns gradually eased the buzz and vestiges of daily grind leaving me immesesed in the magical beauty of nature – calm and awe inspiring.

We trekked in a relaxed pace for about three hours and the highlight being the amazingly beautiful twin falls over the suspension bridge. 

The torrents of gushing pure water made me realize why someone would brave nature and take the trouble to build the bridges and I was thankful that they did.

Once done, we were all hungry. This part of the agenda as always falls on me. My husband has actually started enjoying giving up control on this realm of traveling – A big one for a control freak like him. I pronounced Chinatown. My brother was rather skeptical but I was convinced that a city where almost all the signs were transcribed in Chinese along with the English had to be the real thing. It was a lovely colorful and almost serene Chinatown. One of the largest in North America.

The neighborhood was as much about shopping as it was about food, after some perusing I settled for Hon’s. Later, with some discussion I found out that the place was quite an establishment. This left me feeling quite smug about my foodie instincts.

The place had monogrammed T-shirts and actually also made their own noodles. They had an assortment of dishes that were interesting. I seem to have photographed the most boring of the lot. But we did try an interesting broad noodle dish with a plain egg sauce for the kids, they were quite flavorful. Dumplings were good, they had a TM adjacent to the potsticker, I did not quite get that, since I am sure they did not invent potstickers or maybe they did. Both their chinese brocolli and bok choi were good and all the usuals like the spring rolls, shrimp dumplings and the siu mai were fresh and flavorful.  The sauces with most of these were varied and worth a mention. They had a nice rendition of a fried smelt dish that we loved. So, first food experience rocked and I was happy!

 

The lowdown and 411 on Hons

108-268 Keefer Street

Vancouver, BC

(604) 688-0871

Hon's Wun Tun House 漢記 (Chinatown) on Urbanspoon

Filed Under Restaurant Reviews, Travels Tagged With British Canada, Chinatown, Chinese, Chinese Food, Hons, Lynn Canyon, Vancouver

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