Lunch @ the Cannery Seafood House

The Cannery Seafood House is really one of my favorite restaurants in the city. As you know, they made headlines a little while back because they will be moving from their current (hard to access) site at the Port of Vancouver in 2010. I really hope they will stay in town and end up somewhere … deserving. 

I’ve been backlogged for posts in May (busy busy times), but I really need to make this one before May is over. I took my Mom here for a belated Mother’s Day lunch 2 weeks ago, since she ended up sick on the actual day when I booked for the Cannery’s annual Mom’s Day brunch. It was the perfect day: blue skies, warm, just beautiful. Even sexy Dodge convertibles came out:

I don’t know where the Cannery Queen can bask outside like this elsewhere in the city after they move:

And little things like their own herb garden at the back- I just hope they find a nice, new, happy home after 2010:

And the view of the North Shore from inside…:

 

Mom wondered whether they could move the entire lodge when they relocate. Would be a shame to have to tear down this cozy little house:

Enough about views, because it’s making me sad that they will have to move. Let’s get to the food! Oooh, the famous lobster oil (and bread that just SOAKS it up like heaven!). This is truly great oil – so fragrant, with this sweet sea aroma…. I have never really had other oil quite like it:

 

Hmmm, bread … thick slices of bread…. thick slices of BREAD AND LOBSTER OIL!

Menu of the day:

Mom ordered the seafood salad, which has A LOT of seafood. More seafood than salad, speaks for itself:

I had the snapper, simply poached. It was really fresh, and sweet:

 

Of course, we didn’t leave empty handed. 20 bucks goes to a bottle of lobster oil (maybe I should have ordered a box?):

 

The Cannery Seafood House

2205 Commissioner Street
Vancouver, BC 

Tel : (604) 254-9606 

Usher in the grilling season! Grilled scallops and prawns

The weather is co-operating, finally. Went down to the Steveston Farmer’s Market this weekend and bought some Mizuno greens, butter lettuce and grape tomatos. Local veggies are so fresh and good! Got some fresh sea scallops and prawns and grilled them outside. (Yes, OUTSIDE! Wow, Vancouver!) I love grilled scallops and prawns – it’s so simple, you just chuck them on the grill, don’t even have to season them with anything – just a sprinkle of ground pepper afterwards, it’s the best way to enjoy them. So sweet. And eating a nice, refreshing meal out under a gazebo? Added bonus!

Grilled scallops and prawn on a bed of Mizuno greens and butter lettuce

 

Grilling season is exciting! And we have a woodpecker in the neighbourhood. I’ve never seen him though, but I can hear him often. 

Tropika @ Aberdeen – Been there, done that? Maybe not!

I’ve eaten at Tropika many many times. I went there often when they were next to the Bread Garden mall on Lansdowne Rd, years ago. After they moved into Aberdeen I haven’t eaten there much, nor was I a big fan. It’s not that it’s bad – certainly for the bigger, “chain” Thai/Malay places it is one of the better ones in the city, but I always like smaller hole-in-the-wall Thai/Malay places better. (Plus I always find myself comparing it to Wong Jun Jun in Hong Kong and that makes me slightly depressed that I’m not there XD )

 

It’s definitely not an uncomfortable restaurant to sit in. High ceilings, leafy, spacious… (and never too busy). Frankly I prefer the old Richmond Tropika more. It was always super dark in there but it felt cozy and like a classy Thai place… Aberdeen is very well lit and there are pretty much windows all around.

 

Recently we went for lunch and it was the same old same old – we always kind of order more or less the same stuff when we dine here, such as roti canai:

 

A gado gado (bean sprouts salad with fried tofu and cucumbers and peanut sauce) for me:

Some chicken and pork satays: which are always nicely grilled and pretty delicious – I like their dipping sauces in general.

 

Some boring fried rice that the rice-lovers must always get *yawn*:

 

Except this time I discovered something I really liked on the menu – their Char Bee Hoon 星洲炒米粉 (not the HK style one which is called Singapore Noodle). Maybe I have tried this a long time ago, I don’t remember. Just not in recent memory. This is basically just fried vermicelli with some mixed seafood (squid, shrimp) and julienned cucumber. It’s only very slightly spicy but all the flavours were really well balanced- delicious!

 

And I also tried their meat and vegetable soup, and there was tons of stuff in it – fish, pork, baby corn, peppers, cabbage, bokchoi, shrimp, broccoli, straw mushrooms… The soup itself was pretty good too. 

 

 

Most of the time I go to Tropika and I leave satisfied (especially when I have some of their tasty drinks) but I wouldn’t say super impressed. This time, however, I left pretty happy and thinking I would go back again soon, and definitely not order the same old stuff. 

 

Tropika at Aberdeen

Unit 1830, Aberdeen Centre
4151 Hazelbridge Way

Giant Halibut!

@ the Lonsdale Quay: You know it is halibut season when you pass by a fish market and see something like this: 

Like you can try and hide…!

About 30 minutes later, went back and they had already cut up HALF of this baby. Hmmmmm!

 

 

Lonsdale Quay

123 Carrie Cates Court
North Vancouver

 

新東記火鍋 Sun Tung Kee Hot Pot

Like soo many Chinese restaurants in Vancouver,  the name 新東記 (Sun Tung Kee) was transplanted from a hot pot restaurant of the same name in 尖沙咀 (Tsim Sha Tsui), Hong Kong. For most of these “transplanted” restaurants, the same name is supposed to evoke some sense of home and supposed-authenticity; there is of course rarely ever any relationship between the two restaurants.

My family has been coming to Sun Tung Kee for years – it’s somehow the go-to hotpot place of family gatherings. (It doesn’t change. It’s one of those loyalty things with family dining, and being the youngest I don’t get any say.)

Anyhoo. I don’t mind this place. Note this is not the other place down the street people call Sabo. The service here is quite attentive, the restaurant is spacious, and the portions aren’t bad. 

 

Hmmmm dipping condiments. 

The fish fillet slices… I think it’s cod. I can’t be sure. It was pretty good though.

 

 

Hot pot is not complete with fatty beef, right? They always order the fatty beef. Those dumplings have fish in them, I think.

 

Killing some shrimp in the fruit and veggie soup, and there’s some cod head on the bottom right there.

 

As a default we also order that mushroom chicken rice that comes in the stone pot. It’s pretty good. I forgot to take a picture of it. Oh well. There’s always complimentary plum juice and tong shui dessert (this time it was red bean soup) afterwards.

 

Sun Tung Kee Hot Pot

1060-8580 Alexandra Road, Richmond (It’s at the eastern end of Alexandra, closer to Garden City)

How to make carrot juice “caviar” – Wired News 5.5.08

This is kind of cool, making “caviar” from carrot juice and sodium alginate – totally geeky and foodie at the same time.

I wonder what it tastes like. Maybe the mouth-feel is there, but the flavor? I mean, I guess caviar doesn’t taste like much, but it sure doesn’t taste like carrot juice!

More 金磨坊 (La Patisserie) goodness.

Very light, heavenly cream puffs from La Patisserie. They’re tinier, but much better than Beard Papa’s. (I’m not an expert, but this is according to a certain cream puff afficionado). 

Fluffy, fluffy swiss roll. Hmm hmm. They used to sell green-tea flavored ones, years ago. They don’t make them anymore (it was so long ago even one lady working there claimed they never make them, until she was corrected by the owner that it was before she started working there!)

Their pineapple bun? Not so great. The topping/crust was moist and bleh. Even though La Patisserie is my favorite bakery, I must be objective here. (GO TO HAPPY DATE!)

Related post: La Patisserie

Asparagus dressed with Sole

Pretty, pretty. I love asparagus. I love Spring.

This is pretty simple. Bought some fresh sole fillets, wrap asparagus along with some sliced white mushrooms inside. S and P. Bake. Yummy.

Green Tea Halibut with Edamame and Okra

The inspiration for this dish came actually from a batch of beautiful fresh okra, and a curiosity about cooking with tea.

I’ve always wanted to try the various ways you can use tea to cook fish (poaching, crusting, smoking). So my first attempt was to marinate halibut with green tea. The marinade also had a bit of miso, wine, and fresh ginger. The fish was then baked, along with edamame beans and whole okra pods. I liked it (and I didn’t expect you can just bake edamame straight and have it kinda crunchy like that and still edible without pre-cooking it first). The tea wasn’t as strong as I thought it would be, there is only a slight hint of it, so next time I will try some stronger stuff- maybe that expensive container of Dragon Well black tea.

 

Recipe follows…