Penang Delight Cafe at Rupert St

Happy New Year! I wonder if there are any remaining readers here.. I apologize that this space has gotten a little dusty, but that was because I was tied up with my course exams! Now that is finally done with, I am determined to get this back up and running!

To kick off 2012, J.S. and I were invited to have dinner at Penang Delight Cafe, a little restaurant in East Vancouver that serves Malaysian cuisine. Being from Southeast Asia ourselves (him from Malaysia, and me from Singapore), we looked forward to trying Malaysian food in Vancouver. We have tried Banana Leaf, but that's another story...

We went a little earlier than his large group of friends so we would not have to wait too long for the food. We arrived a little after 7 p.m. and we got ushered to a small table close to the back. The restaurant is not very big, but there were a fair number of tables.



We sat in this little "corridor" at first. Our waitress served us tea, and we requested for water. She cheerily replied in a Malaysian accent, "I change for you?" She also asked if we want hot water or warm water, very considerate of her. After we had placed our orders, J.S.'s friends arrived and we asked if there was room to sit with them. It was a little chaotic at first but we made do, and ended up sitting beside the counter of the restaurant.



There were many decorations and photos on the wall, and the place got more bustling as the night went on. I felt relieved that our food arrived in about 20 minutes, since our friend who had been there had to wait for an hour for his food last time!



I ordered the Kari Ayam with rice which, simply put, translates into curry chicken with rice. Sorry, a little out of focus here, but there were three large pieces of chicken with a few cubes of potato, all served on a piece of lettuce, and a serving of rice.

You may think, it is just a curry dish, how special can it get? I must admit, I was not sure what I was in for. Will it be too spicy? Will it taste like Indian curry? Does it taste as good as it looks? All these questions were running through my head. I took a small taste, and boy, I was surprised!



The curry tasted exactly like what I've had in Singapore, and it was the kind that was not too spicy, nor did it taste like any other kinds of curry. It was flavourful, savoury with just enough spicy to define curry. When I tasted it, I thought, "This is the correct taste!" -- a feeling of home came back to me.

Sounds like I'm exaggerating, but it was genuinely tasty! The rice was perfectly cooked and  went hand in hand with the curry sauce that I am so used to having on my rice. One downside to this dish -- J.S. and I both agreed they should have served more sauce, since we Singaporeans/Malaysians LOOOOVE to drench our rice with sauce (or maybe it's just us...). Nevertheless, it was good curry, perhaps even better than the ones I've had in Singapore! I would say it was regularly priced at $7.95 for a not-so-big serving of rice.



This was the dish J.S. picked -- Cantonese Chow Fun (Cantonese fried noodles). When I saw that on the menu, I thought, "Why would anyone order Cantonese food in a Malaysian restaurant?" But we did not regret trying this dish at all.

It had two different kind of rice noodles in it -- crispy, thin white vermicelli and brown, soft  'hor fun' (flat noodles). The crispy vermicelli was soaked in the glossy sauce, which made it soft and chewy, giving it a nice texture on the teeth. The brown hor fun was smooth and fun to slurp up. Having two noodles in one dish was a very exciting adventure for my tastebuds!

The sauce tasted also just like the kind we have at home; it was thick with some egg swirls in it. There was a generous assortment of toppings on the noodles -- thin slices of pork, thin slices of fishcake, large pieces of squid which were tough to chew (just like the ones in Malaysia, according to J.S.), fat juicy fresh shelled prawns, Chinese cabbage (choy sum) and I can't remember if there were black mushrooms... Everything went very well together and the portion size was definitely worth the price of $8.95 for this noodle dish!



For dessert, we had Kuih Dadar -- crepes rolled up in the shape of a spring roll with shredded coconut and 'gula melaka' (brown palm sugar syrup) inside. I had never tried this before. We initially decided to try other desserts but this was the only one they had that day. It took 20 minutes to come and we were almost about to cancel it, but they served it after we reminded them about our order.

I thought the presentation was good, since it was drizzled with the brown sugar syrup and shredded coconut, reflecting what was in the roll. However, J.S. was disappointed and thinks they could have done better displaying the dessert like the picture on the wall.



I wished I had taken a better shot of the inside, but this is all I have. The coconut was chewy and very sweet with the syrup, and the crepe was spongy and tender, which soaked up the syrup nicely. We both enjoyed this dish, but decided the price was too exorbitant since it was $4.95 for only two pieces.

Over all, it was nice to have food from our home countries and it left me with a good impression of the place. Our waitress was extremely helpful, courteous and went all out to cater to our table, especially when we were waiting for our dessert, she offered to bring us fresh napkins. The boss also walked around chatting with customers and frequently asked if we needed anything.

On the other hand, this place did get pretty busy past 8 p.m. and service levels dropped after that. No surprises, but if you want your food quick and your service good, go there before 7 p.m., when it is not too crowded!

I might or might not visit this place again, since it is quite far away from my neighbourhood of comfort. At least, the place is easily assessible by bus but the journey is still long. If I ever visit this place again, I'll look forward to trying other dishes on the menu!

Penang Delight is located at 3885 Rupert St., Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki

Q4 Ristorante on West 4th Ave

A couple of months ago at the beginning of June (how time flies!), a Groupon for Q4 Ristorante caught our eyes. It was a $30 Groupon for a $60 value three-course Italian dinner. J.S. suggested we get that and so we did, and finally we found the occasion to visit this fancy place -- our one and a half years together.

We decided to go on Saturday since it would be more relaxing without work the next day. We made reservations for 6 p.m. and dressed up nicely, in anticipation for a more elegant atmosphere. When we got there, a simple patio with three banners greeted us.

 

We went in and was very pleasantly greeted by a waiter who asked if we had reservations. We got shown to a table right in the middle of the dining area, overlooking the entire restaurant with the other side of the dining area in full view, with a lovely centrepiece vase of flowers at the entrance.



Our waiter came very quickly to ask if we would like regular water or sparkling water. We also received our menus. Not long after that, someone brought us a basket of sliced baguettes and a dish of olive oil with balsamic vinegar.



The bread was not piping hot from the oven, but it was soft and easy to tear apart for dipping. The olive oil was fresh and light, perfectly accentuating the tangy balsamic vinegar. The balsamic vinegar was not too overpowering and I really enjoyed it, for a non-vinegar fan like me.



Our waiter took our orders and asked if we would like any wine. J.S. asked for a glass of red wine that was light. The wine came and J.S. liked it. I asked the waiter what was the name, and he told us it was Valle Reale, even offering to bring the bottle over to show us. He did that and explained a little about it, but I did not remember much, it might have been Vigne Nuove. But we really appreciated him bringing over the bottle.



While we munched on the bread on small plates, a waiter brought us each a larger plate for the appetizer later. We dropped bread crumbs on the larger plate without realizing it, and 10 minutes later, the same waiter came by and took away those (clean) plates and replaced them with even cleaner plates. We felt utterly embarrassed with ourselves, at the same time very amazed with their immaculate service.

The waiting time was a little longer than expected; it took about 15 minutes before the appetizer came. We decided to try the seared albacore tuna appetizer. It was plated really nicely with four pieces of tuna, seared on the outside and raw on the inside, served on top of sliced avocado, topped with diced mango and served with a small salad on the side.

[caption id="attachment_306" align="alignnone" width="512" caption="Pink peppercorn and rock salt crusted albacore tuna, finished with a mango salsa, fresh avocado and lime"][/caption]

I had seen chefs on TV sear tuna on the outside and keeping it pink on the inside, but this was my first time tasting it. It was very unique, a salty crust on the outside and a cool, smooth finish on the inside. The peppercorn was extremely fresh, and the buttery avocado really complemented the velvety feel of the tuna nicely. Over all, it was a dish well done.

They took away our plates and cutlery, replacing with more clean ones. It was about another 10-minute wait before the main course came. Besides the Groupon entree of pasta, we also ordered a separate pizza. They were served at the same time, on gigantic platters.

[caption id="attachment_307" align="alignnone" width="512" caption="Fettuccine with wild mushrooms in a porcini cream, finished with shaved parmigiano reggiano and truffle essence"][/caption]

This was the entree we chose with the Groupon menu, fettucine tartufate. Large, juicy chunks of wild mushrooms in fresh fettucine pasta, topped with shaved parmigiano reggiano. Our waiter also offered us more cheese right after he served us, and we gladly accepted. He sprinkled more grated parmesan cheese elegantly around the entire dish.

My favourite part of this dish was the mushrooms. There was a nice bite to them, very meaty and almost makes up for the lack of meat. The sauce was incredibly creamy and if I may say so, a little too greasy. I felt like it was excellent buttery cream sauce ruined by a gigantic splash of olive oil. The pasta was freshly made but it was not cooked very well. It was a little too al dente, too undercooked. I found myself chewing it for a long time before I could swallow it. The parmigiano reggiano was lovely, complementing the creaminess of the entire dish. It was pretty heavy and filling, and the portion size was fairly decent.

[caption id="attachment_308" align="alignnone" width="512" caption="Italiano thin crust pizza -- Parma prosciutto, local arugula and shaved parmigiano reggiano"][/caption]

We also picked a pizza to go with our meal so that we were not entirely sharing the entire Groupon meal. This seemed like the best choice out of the four available varieties they had. The tomato sauce was not too sour, went nicely with the salty proscuitto. The parmigiano reggiano was generously shaved over and melted beautifully. The baby arugula provided a nice sharp kick with the hint of bitterness, rounding out all the flavours of the pizza. The crust was perfectly cooked, crispy yet not too tough. It was a nice combination of ingredients very well thought out.

Our waiter did not come by with more clean plates after the appetizer because he didn't assume we were sharing the entrees. For five minutes, we were eating from our tiny bread plates until he finally noticed we were sharing and he offered us bigger plates, and also tongs to serve the pasta. The pasta was really big and by the time we finished it, we could not finish the pizza if we wanted to save room for dessert. So we got the pizza to go and the waiter was trying to inject some humour while asking if we wanted to take the pizza away. Then he returned with a really big paper bag, enclosing a really big tin foil box for just three tiny slices of pizza. I felt slightly wasteful for that.

And finally, it's time for dessert! The waiter brought us two spoons this time, even trying to joke if I needed it because I said I was so full from the pasta!

[caption id="attachment_309" align="alignnone" width="512" caption="Semi-frozen chocolate and strawberry mousse"][/caption]

Chocolate and strawberry semifreddo! The sauce at the bottom was vanilla custard and strawberry sauce, with a lovely dome of semi-frozen mousse, topped with an orange cherry sort of thing. That orange cherry tasted really odd, a little too strong for me. I still have no idea what it is called.

We dug into the strawberry mousse and it tasted like really good sorbetto (ice cream). Really fresh strawberry taste and the semi-frozen state was a very interesting texture! The bottom chocolate layer was ABSOLUTELY heavenly! Just the perfect level of dark chocolate that I love. If I didn't know better, I would think it was just really really good gelato (ice cream)!

Every part of the meal was perfect, especially the exceptional level of customer service that I wish more places had. The food was up to standard, truly Italian feel. The restaurant had a warm ambience to it, playing Josh Groban and bossa nova, very casual and easygoing for a date (albeit too loud at times). The waiters fill your water glass every time they notice, and they answered our questions with their best efforts.

I was asking what percentage of dark chocolate did they use for the mousse, and the waiter did not know but he said he would find out for me. He did and said the chef uses pure dark chocolate but added some milk, sugar and eggs to it. That was a really good mousse, I'll say.

Next time, we are trying their $10 pasta nights on Monday/Tuesday!

One of the best restaurants I've been to in Vancouver, wouldn't mind going again just for the great service! We left them a generous tip, leaving happy and full. Q4 is a nice place for a casual or formal date, give it a try!

Q4 Ristorante is located at 2611 West 4th Ave, Vancouver, B.C. (also Q4 al Centro in downtown Vancouver).

♥ Nikki

Ji Sushi on West Broadway & Cambie St

I just realized I am about two months behind in my posts... I have two months of yummy food to share with everyone but no, it's not happening yet because it has been so busy! I was studying hard for my exam which was in June, and then proceeded to plan for our two-week vacation in Singapore and Malaysia. In July, I took two weeks off work for the actual vacation part and it's been pretty chaotic since I got back.. So much to do, and still got to keep on top of my books!

*Posts are slowly being updated and backdated to appropriate dates.*

I'll try to do as best as I can, but I can't say for sure when I can clear my backlog.. Here's a quick post for you guys...

Last week, before J.S. got his wisdom teeth out, we decided to have a celebratory meal before his gums take a week to recover. We opted for Ji Sushi, a newly opened sushi restaurant on Cambie and Broadway.

We had seen it with a special banner for its opening, advertising $10.95 all-you-can-eat sushi. By the time we went there last week, the banner was gone and all-you-can-eat sushi is now $13.95. We went in anyway and had to wait as a manager-looking man took his time to show us to our table.

It was a fairly small restaurant, and we got a booth seat toward the inside of the restaurant. We told the waiter we wanted all-you-can-eat and he gave us two menus. A quick look at the menu told us something was not right -- the price said $18.95. We quickly flagged him down and verified with him.

It turned out that there were two variations of all-you-can-eat. The more expensive option was with sashimi and the other one was just the rest of the regular menu items. We opted for the non-sashimi one since we are not that big of sashimi fans.



We were given a slip of paper with the menu items on it, but no actual menu to look at what the items look like. Never mind that; we are pretty familiar with most of the things on these AYCE menus.



We got some appetizers and sushi to start, and had to wave for five minutes before our order slip was whisked away by an unfriendly waiter. Meanwhile, we heard other waiters explain at the other tables about the two AYCE menus available, much to my disappointment that we did not get any of that.

Our food took almost 20 minutes to come as we see the waitress haphazardly placing dishes on the other tables. We concluded that they filled each order slip as they come in, and not having a certain person prepare a certain group of dishes etc. (ie. specialization).

Don't you think that's an inefficient way to fill orders? I mean, how much work and effort does it take to serve a bowl of miso soup? We ordered one but it never came. And even dishing out a portion of salad would take mere seconds, but it all came at the same time as the other dishes that took some time to make or cook. But yet the orders were not perfect, as we handed in two more order slips and they missed a dish here and there every now and then.



The food was alright for such a low-cost all-you-can eat. The sushi was good if you are looking for quantity and not quality. I was surprised by their generosity with the salmon in the first hand cone we ordered, but got disappointed when I ordered a second one. Inconsistency indeed.



We also ordered some grilled items like pork and saba fish. I was in utter disbelief that the grilled fish was not deboned! I had a lot of trouble eating it and J.S. ate most of it...

Over all, it was a surprising experience. The food was decent, but the service could be better. It is a convenient location and the price is reasonable. Lack of pictures because we ordered too many different small dishes and it was difficult to snap every single dish AND remember what it was :P

*As of January, 2012, we have been there about two more times and we learned our lesson and dared not order anymore fish lest there were bones in them. We found the sushi to be worth it if we ate a lot.*

Ji Sushi is located at 457 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki

Special Feature (I) Food in Hong Kong

This is the first part of a three-part special series from our two-week vacation in Southeast Asia. We went to Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia and had LOTS of food! Enjoy!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Riding the Star Ferry in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong"][/caption]

In this part, I will be showing you pictures of the food we had in Hong Kong. We spent only about one and a half days in Hong Kong. All the food here are by no means representative of Hong Kong, but just to give you a glimpse of what kinds of food are available.

Here we go!

Breakfast at the airport: Maxim Food breakfast set.

[caption id="attachment_445" align="alignnone" width="367" caption="Hong Kong-style Milk Tea"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_446" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Char Siew Bao (barbecued pork buns)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_444" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Porridge with Peanuts and Dried Scallops"][/caption]

Late night supper at an unknown noodle store.

[caption id="attachment_443" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Satay Beef Noodles"][/caption]

Lunch with the folks: Dim Sum at Red Door Chinese Restaurant!

[caption id="attachment_451" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Chinese Tea"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_450" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Polo Char Siew Buns (sweet buns with barbecued pork)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_452" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Char Siew (barbecued pork)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_453" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Siu Yuk (crispy roasted pork belly)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_454" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Chicken Feet (White)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_455" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Deep-fried Squid"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_456" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Ma Lai Go (steamed Malay cake)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_457" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Har Gao (prawn dumplings)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_458" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Cheong Fun (rice noodle roll with pork)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_459" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Claypot fried rice"][/caption]

Breakfast at Australia Dairy Company (Crazy hectic place! The moment you sit down, they won't even give you time to look at the menu. Everyone who goes there either already knows what they want or take mere seconds to decide. We decided on the most common set breakfast, which is a gigantic portion if you ask me.)

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="367" caption="Iced Milk Tea (my all-time favourite!)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_447" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Macaroni and Ham in Soup"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_448" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Toast and Scrambled Eggs (you can choose what style of eggs you want)"][/caption]

That's all! Hong Kong is full of yummy food, especially street food! But we didn't try any of them because of the lack of time. Some day, we will!

I hope you enjoyed the first part of this special series! Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3!

♥ Nikki

Qoola Frozen Yogurt at Denman St

We got a Groupon for Qoola and finally decided to pay a visit to see what the big fuss was all about! There's a branch in Metrotown but we forgot our Groupon when we went shopping, so we decided to go to the one on Denman Street, the one close to where we had the Mediterranean Grill. Ironically, we had dessert before dinner!



A tiny little shop with about five tables, most of the shop space is taken up by the counter. The frozen yogurt machines are at the back and the colourful variety of toppings are displayed beneath a glass panel.



There was only one girl serving all the customers and there was quite a lineup. There was one other guy behind the counter but somehow he was not helping her and she had to make pancakes and serve the frozen yogurt all by herself.



There are lots of toppings to add some zest to your frozen yogurt -- crunchy, chewy, fruity, chocolaty, they have it all! There were Cap'n Crunch cereal, colourful Rice Krispies, Graham Bear crackers, white chocolate yogurt chips, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, mochi bits (chewy little rice balls), rainbow and chocolate sprinkles, as well as orange, strawberry, kiwi, pineapple!!! (Phew, that was a long list!)



The prices were ranged from $1.99 to $4.99 (I could be wrong, I don't really remember the prices) for different sizes of frozen yogurt. There were four flavours of frozen yogurt -- peach/mango, acai berry, regular and green tea.



We chose the peach/mango one and added toppings for $1.49. We picked coconut flakes, white chocolate yogurt chips, regular chocolate flakes and rainbow sprinkles.



The frozen yogurt was nothing impressive. It tasted nothing like mango nor peach; it was just a sour citrus taste. The toppings made the texture differ slightly but it was not that exciting either.



We also picked a Q-Pocket, a tiny pancake with our toppings of choice -- mandarin orange and rainbow mochi bits with an extra side of acai berry frozen yogurt.

By then, another young man had joined the lady at the counter and he was making the pancake. We were disappointed by the unprofessional way he made the pancake; it was barely cooked and not golden brown all over. And why do you even call it a "pocket" if it doesn't close! I was not impressed with the pancake at all..

The acai berry frozen yogurt was berry-like, almost to the extent of tasting like cough syrup. I did not particular love it either.

So now that we've tried what the big fuss Qoola was about, I can safely say it's just another frozen yogurt joint with unhealthily sweet toppings. The whole mix-your-own-combo is catching on a little too much, with many of such dessert places. I would be kicking up a fuss for my money back if I had spent that much without a Groupon.

Qoola is located at 1116 Denman Street, Vancouver, B.C. (as well as some other locations in the Lower Mainland).

♥ Nikki

Mediterranean Grill at Denman St

On April 30, it was a Vancouver Canucks game day and we were walking around downtown and decided to eat dinner early. We decided to have Mediterranean Grill! We tried that last summer and it wasn't too bad!



It is just a tiny little cafe with a counter and the ready-made food on display, kind of like those stalls in a food court. The menu items are on the signboards, along with pictures.



This is about all there is to the food area, and there are a handful of tables and that's about it. Just a friendly little cafe and not a classy high-end restaurant.



Looks like a popular place for take-out too.



The food is premade and sitting in warmers like a cafeteria line. I was a little concerned by the number of microwave ovens they have there. While we were waiting for our food, I watched intently and all they did was pile the food on a plate and stick them in the microwave for several minutes. Not the best place to go for fresh food, even though there was someone grilling the meat on a flame grill.



Let's move on to the food!



JS ordered the BBQ kabob plate, where the kabobs are long pieces of little nubs of beef with a hollow centre. I cannot imagine how they skewered them in the first place, grilled them and successfully remove the skewers without tearing apart the meat!

The meat was a little bland but tasted good with the tzatiki sauce that came with it. There was a generous portion of long grain rice which had a little saffron in it which made it yellow. There was also a Greek salad of tomatoes, red onions, olives and cucumbers, as well as a piece of pita bread.



I ordered the chicken shawarma wrap. It may look small but it was enough to fill me up! Shawarma is just a wrap filled with small slices of meat shaved from a bigger chunk of grilled meat. It was quite a lot of chicken and Greek salad, all rolled up neatly in a big pita.



It looks flavourful but it was not as tangy as I expected. The meat was again a little bland but tasted great when I added some hot sauce onto it. Over all, I enjoyed it very much.

The BBQ kabob plate was $9.50 and the chicken shawarma wrap was $6, so we paid less than $18 including taxes. The cafe also had a station for ice water and cutlery.



This is a nice place to go if you want something inexpensive and quick to go. I have a new-found liking for Mediterranean food in the past year, even though the names sound so intimidating at first! This is one of the most reasonably priced places I have seen in Vancouver.

Mediterranean Grill is located at 1152 Denman Street in Vancouver, B.C.