photo du jour: macaron gift box@ soirette macarons & tea, vancouver

viva la vancouver eats: zefferelli’s spaghetti joint

To conclude our epic Vancouver Eatfest (I know, it’s about darn time I got all these food posts up, nearly 2 months after the actual trip!), we were craving something non-Asian for our palates.  Mark thought pizza would be a swell idea, however it appears that the Vancouver food scene has a weakness… PIZZA!  I googled, read reviews, and googled some more, and there didn’t seem to be a particularly good pizza place in Vancouver for us to try (except for Pizzeria Barbarella, but they were closed over Easter long weekend).

The next best thing was to find an Italian joint and Zefferelli’s fit the bill – it had good reviews and it was within a decent walking distance on Robson Street, so we set out on a beautiful Monday evening for a quick jaunt.

Zefferelli’s is located right beside one of many Cactus Club Cafes, just up a set of stairs.  It doesn’t look like much at all from the outside, but as soon as you get up the stairs, you’re greeted by a beautiful aroma of Italian food and a warm, inviting interior of dark woods and a wall of fine wines.  It was fairly quiet when we got there, so we snagged one of the prime window seats overlooking Robson Street.

Our friendly server came by with a basket of fresh bread and homemade tomato sauce for dipping.  Whoever advises against eating the complimentary bread at restaurants clearly does not appreciate the deliciousness of free carbs.

Mark had clearly planted the pizza seed in my brain.  I decided to go with the Pizza Margherita (mozzarella, basil, tomato sauce).  Mark went with a recommendation from our server – Tortellini Gorgonzola (bacon & creamy blue cheese sauce).  We settled into the free carbs and mused that it was pretty quiet for being nearly 7pm (only 3-4 other tables were occupied).

It wasn’t long before our meals were delivered.  The pizza was just right.  Perfectly thin, crispy crust with really fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella.  Yum!  Can’t beat simplicity.

As much as Mark enjoyed the tortellini, I think it became too rich for him due to the bacon and cream sauce.  He made a pretty good dent on it, even though he had a slice of my pizza.

And we couldn’t resist getting a dessert, so we settled on the affogato (homemade gelato with a shot of espresso, topped with shaved white chocolate).

By the time we finished, the restaurant was abuzz with a lot more tables.  I guess 7pm is early for dinner on a Monday night?

We really enjoyed our meal at Zefferelli’s.  It was a nice way to end our Eatfest and we’ll certainly go back for more the next time we have a craving for comforting Italian food.

Zefferelli’s Spaghetti Joint
1136 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 1B2
Phone: (604) 687-0655
http://zefferellis.com

photo du jour: mini chocolate tarts@ chocolaterie de la nouvelle france, vancouver

viva la vancouver eats: ramen santouka

So how does one end up having a third ramen experience on a 4-day trip to Vancouver?  Well, let me tell you how it all started…

One of Mark’s high school friends, Thomas (the one we met up with to check out Soirette) asked us if we were interested in meeting up with him for lunch downtown at one of the many food trucks.  Apparently this one serves awesome tacos, but he couldn’t recall the name.  All he said was to meet him at a specific intersection at 11:45 a.m. near his workplace and the food truck would be just around the corner.  I had a sneaking suspicion that we might be out of luck, since it was Easter Monday (even though it appeared that tons of people went back to work as per usual).  Nevertheless, we set out to the agreed-upon meeting place and waited for Thomas.

Well, it just so happened that the food truck was nowhere to be seen.  Now what?

We decided to set off towards Robson Street to see if anything would inspire us.  Thomas wasn’t too much help since he lives in Burnaby and only goes out in that area, and by that time, I was fresh out of ideas as well.  The suggestion of Japa Dog came up a couple of times, but Mark was weary of trying it that time around.  What about sushi?  Burgers?  With all the choices around us, why couldn’t we make a decision?

It wasn’t until we were close to our hotel that Thomas suggested a ramen place, which was at the other end of Robson Street.  The food truck idea turned into walking for nearly 40 minutes until we finally made it to Ramen Santouka, where there was already a line-up out the door.  We were informed that it would be at least a 30-minute wait.  Having come all this way, it seemed like a waste to turn around and try to find another place, so we stuck around watching people eat delicious looking ramen while the line-up continued to become longer.

The place was bustling and felt hot and humid, just how I would imagine a ramen shop to be.  There’s a large communal table in the front of the restaurant, with bar seating and individual tables in the back.  I watched as bowls of ramen were prepared in the kitchen; there’s actually a glass wall that separates the kitchen from the bar area, to prevent people from getting splashed with ramen broth, I imagine.

Three seats finally opened up at the communal table and we sat amongst a group of middle-aged Japanese men and some younger couples.  The service was fast and friendly and it took no time at all to get a glass of water and our orders taken.

I’d read about their Toroniku ramen, which comes with a plate full of simmered toroniku (pork jowl), the tender cheek meat.  Apparently it melts in the mouth and they only have a limited quantity per day (the menu said something along the lines of “first come, first serve”).  All three of us were lucky enough to get the toroniku.  I opted to get the shio broth (salt broth); the other two choices are miso broth or shoyu broth (which has soy sauce added).

I loved how we got the bowl of soup and noodles with the plate of toppings on the side.  The creamy broth was nicely seasoned, with the noodles perfectly chewy.  And the verdict on the toroniku?  WOW!  It truly was melt-in-the-mouth pork goodness.  It even fell apart being picked up by chopsticks – it was that tender.  I’ve never had pork like this before and now I can see why it’s so special.  It was wonderfully salty and rich.

The communal dining experience was quite interesting.  As much as we were sitting with a bunch of strangers, it was like we were all connected by a singular mission – to have a delicious, satisfying bowl of ramen on a Monday afternoon.

We were acutely aware of the ginormous line-up, so we left as soon as we were done.  I suppose it’s an unspoken courtesy – enjoy your soup, but please be on your way so that others can have their turn.

I would rate the ramen at Santouka as #1 out of the ramens I tried on the trip.  It’s perfectly portioned and the toroniku is an absolute delicacy.  Perhaps I have that food truck to thank for not showing up…

Ramen Santouka
1690 Robson St
Vancouver, BC V6G 1C7
Phone: (604) 681-8121
http://www.santouka.co.jp

viva la vancouver eats: sura korean cuisine

Falling victim to the restaurant closures of Easter long weekend, we were left to figure out another new place to find to eat at – for dinner this time around.  I was really in the mood for tacos, but La Taqueria was closed (sad face).  So, what were we to do?  I left it up to Mark to decide what type of cuisine to try and he decided he wanted to find a Korean joint.

Not knowing which Korean joint to go to, we headed up Robson Street, where we would surely run into at least a few Korean restaurants.  In the distance, I spotted a sign that said SURA.  Well, this looks promising, I thought to myself.  Calgary has a similarly named Korean restaurant which I absolutely love, so if the name is any indication, it should be excellent, right?  This was my logic.

Before we made our official decision, we checked out the menu board.  It looked pretty good with a lot of different dishes, so we headed inside.

Korean restaurants are usually not known for their decor – they usually look more “homey” and sometimes dodgy – but this one was very different.  It was obviously meant to be a modern Korean restaurant with a clean, contemporary style and none of the homeyness of the usual Korean joints.

We weren’t terribly hungry, so we ordered the dukbokki with beef to share and Mark got the bulgogi dolsot bibimbap (I guess this is special since it comes with bulgogi?).

So… this is where it kinda starts going downhill.

First, I ordered a water that never came.

Second, Mark’s dolsot bibimbap came with only 4 ingredients: bulgogi, sprouts, mushrooms, and some herb on top which was more like a garnish.

It looks nice, but where is the fried egg?  How can a bibimbap not come with a fried egg on top?  That’s the best part!  And honestly, only sprouts and mushrooms?  Bibimbap usually comes with a plethora of different veggies.  Mark, who was clearly miffed and pretty annoyed by the lack of egg and veggies, tried to track down a server (on a side note, this was another issue – when we needed a server, there was none to be found in the vicinity).  Once he finally got hold of one, he asked politely, if it was supposed to come with an egg.  The server said that no, the bulgogi version doesn’t come with an egg – only the regular “vegetarian” version comes with it.  I could clearly tell that Mark was not pleased with this answer, so he went ahead and asked if he could please get an egg.  Server obliged and off she went.

When the egg did come, it was burnt around the edges.  Oh well, at least Mark got a fried egg.

The dukbokki wasn’t too bad, but the beef was way too chewy.  Not sure what cut of beef they used, but it was clearly meant for slow cooking.

We also got their seasonal banchan, which was only 3 side dishes.  I guess we’re used to be spoiled with at least 6 side dishes so this was another disappointment.

And still, even well into the meal, NO WATER came.

There was nothing inherently bad about the food, but it was just the overall experience that was really disappointing.  The icing on the cake was when we got the bill.  We were charged $1.50 for the fried egg.  A DOLLAR FRICKIN’ FIFTY FOR A BURNT FRIED EGG?!  Seriously, that really set Mark off and by that point he was pretty pissed.  He is a gentleman though and kept his cool when one of the servers came by to clear our table.  The server asked, “how was everything?” and Mark just managed a smile and nodded.  I knew inside he was itching to say that the whole experience sucked.

At that point, the server came back to the table with the portable debit machine and asked again how everything was (why, I don’t know, since he’d already asked us only minutes ago).  This time Mark shrugged and said, “eh”.  He’s really not the type to make a big deal, plus it’s not like we would ever go back to this place again, so it wasn’t even worth the effort of saying anything.

For me personally, I’m not into the idea of “glamourising” Korean food to make it hip and contemporary.  There’s a reason why most Korean restaurants look so homey – that’s how the food is supposed to be.  It’s supposed to look home-cooked and rustic, just how mom would make it, and it’s supposed to stay true to its roots.  I don’t know, am I behind on the food trends?  I guess I just like my Korean food to be old school and stay old school.  There’s no need to embellish it.  Like the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

I’m sure there are plenty of people who enjoy Sura.  But for us, it was a total miss.

To sum up this whole experience, I can’t think of a better clip:

Apparently my logic sucks and we should’ve made the trip to Burnaby for good Korean food.

Sura Korean Cuisine
1518 Robson St.
Vancouver, BC V6G 1C2
Phone: (604) 687-7872