Vancouver Eating Part 2

The flavour of Joe Fortes in a bowl, a seafood bowl to be exact

My eating odyssey in Vancouver continued with a visit to Joe Fortes for lunch. I don't think I have ever eaten in this well known establishment and glad I finally made it.

It looks like a power lunch place with its downtown location and everyone seemed to be having meetings while they ate -- except us.

Clams with chorizo sausages in tomato broth were a hit

According to the menu, there really was a Joe Fortes -- Seraphin "Joe" Fortes, who was a sailor from Barbados who went to Liverpool then Vancouver. He came to the Canadian city in 1885 where he was a bartender at a hotel and then was a fixture at English Bay where he was the unofficial security guard and taught many children how to swim.

The city appointed him the first official lifeguard in the early 1900s. When Fortes died in 1922, the city held the longest-ever funeral procession, which was unusual for a black person.

Joe Fortes the restaurant was opened in 1985, exactly a century after he arrived in Vancouver.

Perhaps as a link to his being at English Bay, the Joe Fortes menu is best known for its seafood, freshly-shucked oysters and blue plate specials at CAD$12.95 that are a real deal -- if you can snag one.

A lot to munch on in the lobster and shrimp roll

On the day we went it was panko-crusted haddock, but by the time we ordered -- around 1pm -- they were already sold out. That was disappointing to say the least for my friend, who was very keen to try it.

Nonetheless we were very happy with the seafood bowl (CAD$25.95), a kind of bouillabaisse with salmon, mussels, clams, tomato broth, rice and garlic bread. Everything was cooked perfectly, the clams didn't have any sand in them and the mussels plump.

The roasted mushroom soup (CAD$9.95) is cooked with sherry, cream and sage, the steamed clams (CAD$25.95) were seasoned with chorizo sausage, tomato-wine broth and had garlic focaccia.

Starter of hamachi, coconut, fennel and mandarin

My other friend had the lobster and shrimp roll (CAD$25.95) and it was a mouthful! I had a small bite of the filling and it tasted very fresh, topped with a dill pickle and a generous salad on the side.

We were too full for dessert after.

Later that evening we paid a visit to Hawksworth for dinner. I haven't been there for a few years so I was keen to see how the restaurant has developed. In short the food was fantastic -- every dish was plated nicely, featuring choice ingredients.

Absolutely divine roast duck with lentils, squash and figs

To start I had the hamachi with coconut, fennel and mandarin wedges (CAD$25). It's more of a summer dish, but we liked it anyway, very delicate flavours on the plate with a hint of coconut sauce at the bottom.

My main was a delight -- Yarrow Meadows duck breast with squash, red cabbage, lentil and fig (CAD$43). The duck is very lean --- there isn't the fattiness you get from most other ducks, or perhaps it was slow roasted to remove the fat, but also retain the juiciness of the meat.

It was accompanied with very earthy flavours: squash puree, lentils, red cabbage, and sweet figs that all went well together, and keeping the duck as the star of the dish.

The ling cod with black rice and curried root vegetables

Another standout was the salmon with cucumber, potato, mussel and dill (CAD$42), as well as the ling cod (CAD$48) with black rice, curried root vegetable, and orange lassi. A decadent meal for two is the lamb shoulder (CAD$130 for two), that could even be for three, as the feast includes polenta, root vegetables, and a generous portion of lamb that falls off the bone.

Dark chocolate was the theme of the evening, as one of our party suggested eating it would stave off dementia. As a result a few of us ordered the dark chocolate chantilly, a decadent-looking treat complemented with raspberry sauce and almonds (CAD$14).

I had the Meyer lemon for dessert. It was a lemon custard topped with a mixture of mandarin oranges and shaved lemon on top and jasmine-flavoured meringue cubes. Again more a summer dish than winter, but we like tart finish.

Meyer lemon dessert with mandarin and jasmine meringue

The deconstructed apple tart (CAD$14) was delicious too, with milk chocolate, pecans and caramel.

While we enjoyed the food immensely, service was lacking in attentiveness that marred the overall experience. At first I thought it was because we had ordered several "Chinese martinis" -- hot water with lemon, but I later found out from a few friends that they had also been disappointed by the service when they went.

And as a friend pointed out, even if you drink tap water the whole evening, the service should still be good, and I agree.

A decadent dark chocolate chantilly dessert

Joe Fortes
777 Thurlow Street
Vancouver, BC
(604) 669 1940

Hawksworth
in the Rosewood Hotel
801 Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC
(6040 673 7000

Vancouver Eating Part 1

Fantastic prime rib dinner with Yorkshire pudding at Seasons in the Park

Many friends in Hong Kong asked me what I ate in Vancouver and some of it was Chinese cuisine, Japanese and Western.

Apart from having dim sum, we tried a northern Chinese restaurant that serves all kinds of lamb dishes. Called Hao's Lamb Restaurant in Richmond, it's relatively new and my relatives took us here for lunch.

Thinly sliced lamb in between a sesame seed bun

The owners are mainland Chinese and very friendly. The menu is quite extensive with such dishes as mutton tendon with cumin, mutton hotpot, and roasted lamb leg, there are some eyebrow-raising ones like "ovine [sheep] testicles with cumin", and "nourishing ovine testicles stew with ovine genital".

Hmmmm worth a try?

We had thinly sliced lamb that we put in a sesame seed bun with cucumbers that was delicious, boiled lamb dumplings, and a lamb-flavoured broth with hand-pulled noodles in it. We also had a napa cabbage that was chopped into four wedges and covered with tons of finely minced garlic and vermicelli and steamed.

So if you like lamb, this place is a must.

A favourite place we visit is Seasons in the Park that is at Queen Elizabeth Park and overlooks downtown Vancouver. We were lucky to get a window seat and marveled at all the twinkling lights.

Sunburnt Lemon tart at Seasons in the Park

On Sunday evenings the restaurant offers a three-course set roast beef dinner for CAD$42.50. Choose between a salad or a soup, the roast beef and then two desserts to decide from.

The slow roasted prime rib is excellent -- very tender and juicy medium rare, though the best bits are along the edge, along with Yorkshire pudding and vegetables. I barely finished mine, but somehow made room for the restaurant's signature sunburnt lemon pie.

I also tried a place I'd never heard of before, Chewie's Biscuit Co on 4th Avenue and McDonald. It's a small shop that, as its name suggests, makes biscuit sandwiches with interesting combinations. The friendly waitress takes your order and money, and then you sit down and wait for your food to arrive.

She gave a few suggestions as a first timer to the eatery and so I decided try "Stoner", which features fried chicken breast, stone ground mustard, honey and bread and butter pickles.

"Stoner" biscuit sandwich

It's a vertically tall sandwich so I took the top off to eat it with a knife and fork. The fried chicken is good, smothered in sauce and I'm thankful the pickles are there to cut some of the grease. The sandwich looks deceivingly small but it isn't, though maybe my stomach is full from eating a few onion rings.

After finishing the sandwich I try the half biscuit on its own and it's fantastic -- light, fluffy, with a buttermilk taste. It's so good that my dining companion orders take out -- including an unadulterated biscuit.

Hao's Lamb Restaurant
8788 McKim Way
Richmond, BC
(604) 270 6632

Seasons in the Park
Queen Elizabeth Park at West 33rd Avenue
Vancouver, BC
(604) 874 8008

Chewie's Biscuit Co
2282 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
(604) 336 9996

Portuguese Cuisine in Taipa Village

One side of the wall of O Santos has a naval theme; the other is football!

For lunch yesterday in Macau, we wandered along Food Street in Taipa Village and saw a mob of people wandering around eating snack foods like egg tarts and pork chop buns.

To avoid the crowds, we soon found a Portuguese restaurant called O Santos Comida Portuguesa and walked in.

There were tables of Macanese tucking into their favourite dishes with red wine, some Portuguese tourists, and a few locals.

Delicious bacalhau that were a bit small, but very good

On one wall were decorations that had a naval theme, while the other was all football -- red towels with players' numbers and names, and giant red banners with "Portugal" on it. There was even a small picture of the owner, chef Santos with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.

The menu is full of pictures to point to and we soon made our decision -- a garden salad, bacalhau or deep-fried codfish balls, and a curious dish -- clams in a lamb stew.

As we waited for the food to arrive, we munched on a small plate of olives, and then the salad arrived -- a basic one of chopped cabbage, slices of tomato and onion that we dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

Next came a small plate -- the same size as the one holding the olives, but this one had the three pieces of bacalhau. I didn't remember them being this small...

Our intriguing clam and lamb stew was the highlight

Nevertheless, they were delicious, hardly oily with a crunchy crust while inside the filling had a ratio of more codfish than potato. We could have each eaten at least two, but we weren't ravenously hungry.

Finally our intriguing dish of clams in a lamb stew arrived. There were chunks of braised lamb that had its pungent natural flavour, and the meat was very tender, falling off the bone. The clams, garnished with coriander and some minced garlic were fantastic, with hardly any sand in them.

We were soon using our bread to soak up the sauce inside the small ceramic pot. Oh and we also ordered a plate of fries too that were also good dipped in the sauce.

Including soft drinks and a coffee the bill came to under HK$400. Delish.

O Santos Comida Portuguesa
Rua do Cunhu, no. 20
Taipa, Macau

Taste of Xinjiang in Western

Skip the diluted ketchup -- just eat this roasted lamb leg straight! So good!

Earlier this week I took three colleagues to have dinner at Ba Yi, the well-known Xinjiang restaurant in Western.

For one of my co-workers, the restaurant is around the corner from where he lives so it was quite surprising he hadn't eaten there yet.

Shredded potato with dried chillis and peppers

I duly made a reservation a few days before and pre-ordered a roasted lamb leg. Previous times when I came here, it was packed with diners -- the Tuesday evening we went it was a relatively slow evening.

In any event I ordered a few dishes to go with our lamb leg and waited with anticipation.

First to arrive at the table was the Xinjiang salad, and we had two portions split among four of us. Perhaps there were too many onions and not enough tomatoes, but it was refreshing with the cucumber, and a few peppers to make it interesting, marinated in vinegar.

Next came the main event -- lamb! A server showed us the whole lamb leg and then took it back to the kitchen to have it sliced up. It was in a word delicious. There was plenty of cumin to marinate the meat, that was extremely tender and juicy even though it was cooked through. Needless to say we polished the lamb off quickly. It was a winner.

Chicken stewed in a spicy sauce with noodles underneath

I also ordered some lamb skewers, but these were a complete disappointment -- how could they have been so different from the roast lamb leg? They didn't have much taste and not much meat on the metal skewers either. A mental note to never order them again!

Luckily I was redeemed by the shredded potato that's blanched, then stir-fried with dried chillis and thinly sliced peppers and seasoned with vinegar. It had a slow burn that everyone around the table approved of.

Finally another big dish arrived -- da pan ji or literally big chicken dish. I remember having it in Urumqi -- it was a massive platter and very spicy. This one was too, and towards the end the four of us struggled to finish it -- OK three. In the spicy scale it was past my threshold, and I ended up nibbling bits of it, including the chicken feet.

The dish featured a whole chicken, chopped and simmering in a flavourful spicy sauce with potatoes and chillis. It was served with thick noodles underneath, soaking up the sauce. In the end only the "bits" were left, or the non-meaty parts that no one had the patience to eat.

The restaurant cat hanging out at the reception desk

Thank goodness I had a big glass of lassi to cool me down, while two of my male colleagues downed four Tsing Tao each!

Meanwhile the restaurant's cat -- that had a big tummy -- had his dinner too. He must have a fantastic time picking up leftovers in Ba Yi.

When the bill arrived we were shocked -- just under HK$1,200?! How could that be! The guys paid up more because of their beer consumption and so us ladies had a cheap meal.

It was suggested we come back again when the weather gets colder, but we might come back earlier because of that amazing lamb leg..

Ba Yi

G/F, 43 Water Street

Sai Ying Pun

2484 9981

A Taste of Xinjiang in Tin Hau

Skewers with lamb chops marinated in lots of cumin

A few months ago I read about a Xinjiang restaurant in Tin Hau and finally got a chance to try it out tonight with two other friends.

It's called Tin Saan, as in "sky mountain" and it's closer to Fortress Hill than Tin Hau MTR station.

Braised lamb chops with vegetables and bread

Inside it's bright and cheery, but a bit odd there is no Uyghur music playing in the background, but muzak. Nevertheless the food makes up for the sterile atmosphere.

We perused the menu, and the owner was helpful in giving us some guidance. The lamb pockets -- minced lamb mixed with leek into a patty and encased in a pastry that was deep-fried was fantastic.

Traditional skewers of grilled lamb marinated in chilli and ground cumin were also delicious. We liked the long metal (and reusable) skewers. They came in orders of four and we had eight in total.

Braised lamb also looked interesting. Chunks of lamb ribs were presented in a large bowl with a soupy sauce mixed with tomato, carrots, peppers. Around the edge were deep-fried round breads that were sliced in half, soaking up the delicious sauce.

Thin potato strips stir-fried with chillis

For some relief from the lamb we had cucumber marinated in vinegar and chilli with lots of garlic, and thin strips of potato blanched and then stir-fried with fresh chillis. The potato strips weren't thin enough, nor were they marinated in a wet sauce.Nevertheless they still were delicious, and it was all washed down with three large bottles of Tsing Tao.

In the end the bill came to HK$777 for three.

Tin Saan

G/F, Hoi Sun Building

12 Mercury Street

Tin Hau
2805 6130

Silk Road: Keeping Tabs on Hospital Costs

A Uyghur sleeping on a cot in the stairwell in the hospital

From a patient's point of view, Xinjiang Kashgar First People's Hospital is very basic. You have to buy everything -- soap, paper towels, toilet paper, water, even soft pillows, tissues, anything you might need.

At first I was relieved that our shared toilet at least had soap -- but then a few days later our neighbour left and took their soap along with them! That's how we found out the hospital didn't even provide soap so that people would have clean hands to handle the patients...

A quaint-looking restaurant, but food wasn't agreeable...

My aunt told us that even when preparing for surgery, a barber came by and shaved my dad's head -- for 20 yuan (US$3). She saw the tour guide pay him, so she quickly gave money back to the tour guide.

We were also told to have someone look after my dad 24 hours a day in the hospital  -- which explained why people slept in cots like the one we were given our room, or people slept on layers of blankets on the floor anywhere. In the evenings the hospital looked like a refugee camp.

Our tour guide suggested hiring a young man to help look after my dad and it turned out he was very young -- a 17-year-old Uyghur, just graduated from high school. He was the younger brother of another tour guide and was keen to get into this line of work too.

Another relative sleeping by the elevators

In a way this was a good training ground for him, to be able to deal with a variety of situations, translating from Uyghur to English, and also knowing where to go in the hospital to get things, particularly CT scans and such.

This saved my mom and I the headache of having to run around the hospital trying to figure out where everything was, and focus on looking after my dad when we visited him.

There was also no hospital food available, nor a cafeteria. That meant having to buy food everyday. We tried a Chinese restaurant at the back of our hotel and it wasn't that hygienic.

The same could be said for the string of Uyghur restaurants in front of the hospital. My mom and I went to one of them for lunch and ordered a bowl of hand-pulled noodles with ratatouille and bits of lamb.

What arrived on our table were two bowls of lukewarm noodles. I started tucking in but then heard the sound of chopping behind me. It turns out there was a man using an axe to chop the raw meat of a carcass. My mom watched him and immediately lost her appetite and her stomach didn't feel well either.

She made the executive decision that we would only eat food from the hotel. That meant having to wait until noon for the Chinese restaurant to open for lunch to buy take out for my dad, and then going back again around 6pm for his dinner.

We saw meat chopped like this in a restaurant by the hospital

Most of the time we wouldn't eat dinner until 8pm or even 9pm. The Chinese restaurant barely had any business, or if it did, the function that evening was already over so we practically had the restaurant to ourselves.

While the tables looked nicely set from a distance, the tablecloths were never changed, and the same oil stains were there...

The menu was quite limited in terms of what we could easily transport to my dad, and not spicy either, which left the only choice of dumplings, which were made to order -- we could even see the thumb prints on them. But after a while you get tired of eating dumplings with chives and egg, or egg and cucumber.

My mom and I liked a tureen of thick sheets of noodles, practically like squares, with tomatoes and vegetables in a slightly sour broth. Another delicious dish was wai san or a white mountain root stir-fried with black-eared fungus, though a bit on the oily side.

Comforting tart noodle soup dish with tomato and vegetables

While food and transportation were cheap, we worried about the mounting hospital bills. Every day a strip of white recycled paper was our bill for the previous day and it listed various items and deducted from the original 10,000 yuan payment.

Some of the items listed were ridiculous, including Chinese medicine and that they moved my dad's body from side to side so that his back wouldn't get tired. We saw no evidence of that. So that was how the hospital would overcharge patients...

A few days into our extended stay in Kashgar we started worrying about having enough cash and I would periodically count the red 100 yuan bills to make sure we were covered. Being away from home and no friends or family to rely on, we had to estimate how much more money we needed. We had American cash, but the bills were considered too old to exchange. Even in Kashgar the banks are picky.

Silk Road: Hand Shredded Lamb

Roasted whole lamb presented to our table with a red bow

You can't go to Xinjiang without eating lamb. Lamb kebabs, lamb dumplings, lamb with noodles and whole roasted lamb.

We had a chance to have the whole roasted lamb in a dish called shou zhua gua yang or literally "hand shredded lamb" at a restaurant in Dunhuang before we watched the show about the Mogao Grottoes.

Lamb roasting in one of many charcoal ovens

Like every other restaurant we ate at during our tour, they were catered to tour groups and this one was not exception. At the entrance to the restaurant were brick ovens powered with white hot charcoal where they had really young lambs that were spread as flat as possible onto racks and then roasted.

They were slow roasted for about two hours so that in the end the skin was very crispy, most of the fat had melted and the meat very tender.

When the lamb was ready, it was strangely presented on a stainless steel platter with leaves in its mouth. It's almost as bad as the glowing red eyes that some whole roasted pork have...

Apparently there is a ritual around cutting the lamb -- where the eldest at the table is given the knife to make the first cut. My uncle was given the knife and he stabbed the lamb... as if it needed to be killed -- again.

Afterwards the lamb is shredded for consumption. Dig in!

The lamb was then taken back to the kitchen and soon afterwards it reappeared on our table completely ripped up into chunks and bits.

Each of us were given a thin plastic disposable glove to grab the meat and dip it into a choice of a few sauces, but really it was fine on its own. The meat was very tender, particularly those near the bone. Some of us licked the bones clean too.

This lamb dish was accompanied by mostly vegetable dishes, like pickled radishes, mung bean jelly, cucumbers with garlic and fried vegetables.