Pages

Sunday 28 August 2011

Go Fish... Goldfish, That Is

The open section of Kingyo's kitchen.
Specials menu at Kingyo.
Thanks to being Canada's Pacific Gateway, Vancouver has strong Asian communities and a dining scene that matches.  Japanese cuisine is no exception, and unlike in Toronto, izakayas have been established in Vancouver for a longer period of time.  I definitely enjoyed my first izakaya experience, and I was hoping my experience in Vancouver would be just as well.  I knew from my parents' and sister's prior experience last year that the place we wanted to go was more subtle, but it was in the end for my parents' benefit as it was less raucous than most izakayas would typically be.  Kingyo, Japanese for "goldfish", is located in one of several dining hubs, Denman Street in Vancouver's West Side, and there are actually several izakayas on Denman.  Unlike Guu in Toronto, reservations are allowed at Kingyo and highly recommended; I fortunately did manage to reserve the last available table of the evening.

Thursday 25 August 2011

Lunch in the Park - Part 1

A meal with relatives was in order again, this time for brunch in Stanley Park.  Stanley Park actually has four restaurants within its expansive grounds, and my grandparents originally wanted to go to The Teahouse in Stanley Park, one of four restaurants of the notable Sequoia Company of Restaurants.  However, the same-day call to make a reservation and the popularity of the The Teahouse meant that we could only have a late brunch there.  We therefore opted to go for another notable restaurant in Stanley Park, The Fish House in Stanley Park.

Saturday 20 August 2011

Red Star Dining

Vancouver is arguably one of a handful of Canadian foodie meccas thanks to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the wealth of agricultural resources in the region known as the Lower Mainland and being a cultural nexus in Canada for the Asia-Pacific nations.  Though I intended to try a wider variety of cuisines during my Vancouver trip, I couldn't deny myself the opportunity to try some Chinese cuisine here.  (It was also at times unavoidable as I was mainly visiting my grandparents.)  So, for my first dinner in Vancouver in years, we went to Red Star Seafood Restaurant on Granville St.
Soy Sauce Chicken

Sunday 14 August 2011

Dining Out in the House

Earlier this year I'd heard from a friend or two that Brandon had a decently authentic Chinese restaurant.  Curious, late in the winter I tried a couple of noodle dishes for take-out and found them acceptable.  I kept this place at the back of my hand, and it came handy when my parents arrived in town.  Unable to make them dinner after work, I suggested that we go to Wei Na's House for dinner.  Located in the downtown area, it was previously known as Wei Na Restaurant before it became under new ownership.
Eggplant in Yuxiang Sauce