Articles of Section 'Food of the Week'.

Food of the Week
Thailand’s grain-based desserts
By Craig Takeuchi
Fans of rice pudding and mochi (Japanese glutinous rice cakes) will want to check out Thailand’s grain-based desserts. Thai Away Home (3315 Cambie Street; 1206 Davie Street) serves two sweet takes on Thai sticky rice. The coconut white sticky rice is drizzled with warm coconut cream, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and served alongside Thai mango slices. There’s also warm black sticky rice with coconut cream. They’re a yummy $3.95 each.
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Food of the Week
Ramadan
By Carolyn Ali
For many, Labour Day means a barbecue to end the season with a bang before back-to-school Tuesday. This year, however, the transition has special significance for Muslims. Depending on when the moon is sighted, the Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins on Monday or Tuesday (September 1 or 2). During this period, many Muslims will eat and drink nothing from dawn until after sunset. According to Imam Mohamad Rachid of Richmond Jami’a Mosque, fasting is meant to foster self-discipline and piety.
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Food of the Week
Salty snacks
By Carolyn Ali
If this was Family Feud —100 people surveyed, top-five answers on the board—this would be the question: what snack goes well with beer? Think salty, crunchy, fatty. Peanuts. Potato chips. Or, for something off the board, chips made from cassava, a starchy tropical root. Exotic brand cassava chips are hard-bite crunchy; a 150-gram bag goes for $2.99 at Polo Market (6475 Fraser Street). Also for the adventurous, super-crisp, palm-sized sheets of Haioreum Korean seaweed are utterly addictive.
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Food of the Week
Those Little Donuts
By Carolyn Ali
What is so mesmerizing about that miniature-doughnut machine? We’re not sure, but we’ll be watching Those Little Donuts float happily down to cinnamon sugar heaven at the PNE’s opening on Saturday (August 16). From her home in Okotoks, Alberta, owner Annette Johnson tells the Straight that the family business has visited the PNE since 1976. Two bags of 13 sweets go for $5 and, new this year, you can buy five bags for $10. Not to worry: the cooking oil is free of trans fats.
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Food of the Week
Goldilocks serves up massive miki bihon
By Craig Takeuchi
Mini plates have been an enduring trend, but perhaps it’s time for maxi plates? Goldilocks (1606 West Broadway) serves up a massive platter of noodles called miki bihon (also available at the 2833 Main Street location if you preorder). It’s a Filipino dish of sautéed thick Shanghai egg noodles and fine rice noodles with prawns, vegetables, and shredded pork.
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Food of the Week
Takoyaki
By Carolyn Ali
Little balls of takoyaki are on a roll. Everywhere you turn, people are lining up for this Japanese snack. The bite-sized fritters—each studded with a chunk of cooked octopus—are fried in round, cast-iron moulds. They’re then laced with Japanese mayo, a dark sweet sauce, and katsuobushi fish flakes, which dance on the piping-hot dumplings. Takoyaki is always a hit at the Powell Street Festival, which takes place this Saturday and Sunday (August 2 and 3) at Oppenheimer Park.
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Food of the Week
Janchee
By Carolyn Ali
With just a handful of tables, teeny tiny Korean restaurant Janchee (775 Denman Street) feels like a home kitchen. The welcoming couple behind the counter is too young to make the place a mom-and-pop, yet they do it all, from cooking to serving. The menu is as compact as the space, featuring simple, not-too-spicy sets ($10 with tax) based around soybean or seafood stews served in a small hotpot.
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Food of the Week
Organic Food Shopper’s Guide
By Carolyn Ali
Is organic food worth the premium price? Jeff Cox, author of The Organic Food Shopper’s Guide (Wiley, $15.95), thinks so. Cox’s compact book spells out the advantages alphabetically by product, from artichokes to winter squash, looking at how each fruit or vegetable is grown. He also makes arguments for buying organic meat, dairy, and kitchen staples such as rice. Pro: practical tips, like buy organic if you’re going to zest a lemon to avoid pesticides in the peel. Con: the focus is on U.S.
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Food of the Week
Abba Swedish herring
By Carolyn Ali
Scandinavians have easy summer meals down pat. Lay out some cold cuts, a mound of cooked shrimp, some pickled herring, and condiments like lemon slices and fresh dill. Arrange ingredients open-faced on buttered bread or flatbread. But where to get pickled herring? Years ago, I stocked up in Sweden before flying home to Vancouver. Then I found myself at the Richmond location of IKEA (3200 Sweden Way), and discovered that it sold the exact same brands—and they were cheaper than in Stockholm.
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Food of the Week
Epicurean Caffé Bistro
By Carolyn Ali
Skip the brunch lines elsewhere in Kits and grab a chair at the Epicurean Caffé Bistro (1898 West 1st Avenue). This Italian deli charms with marble tables inside and a wraparound patio with climbing ivy outside. The menu offers one sophisticated choice after another. Try Uova alla Fiorentina, a scrumptious concoction of eggs in béchamel sauce that’s baked with bocconcini in a cast-iron pan ($10).
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Food of the Week
Celebrate City of Quebec's 400th anniversary with a serving of poutine
By Carolyn Ali
As Canada celebrates July 1, patriotism dictates that everyone from coast to coast stand up and eat a hot dog. But given that this week also marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, why not indulge in a messy mass of poutine? Dig into a $5 medium-sized serving at Fritz European Fry House (718 Davie Street). Or, for nontraditionalists, Belgian Fries (1885 Commercial Drive) offers over a dozen varieties—with toppings like Tunisian spicy lamb—for $6.98 to $7.50.
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Food of the Week
Chef Chopra’s heat-and-eat curries
By Carolyn Ali
For those who can’t get it together to pack a nutritious homemade lunch in the morning (damn you who can!), here’s an alternative to expensive takeout. An Indian mom might sniff at Chef Chopra’s heat-and-eat curries (280 grams each), but the vacuum-packed vegetarian meals are surprisingly flavourful. Options include mutter paneer (a rich peas-and-cheese curry), baingan bharta (roasted eggplant and tomato), and Bombay pulav (rice with spicy lentils).
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Food of the Week
The Bean Factory
By Carolyn Ali
Ever tried soy-fortified spaghetti? The Bean Factory, located in Aberdeen Centre’s food court (4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond), offers a choice of the soy-protein pasta or rice as part of its meal combos, with toppings like braised tofu or egg tofu with eggplant ($5.42). The outlet specializes in a variety of soy-based snacks, from smoothies to sliced spicy dried tofu.
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Food of the Week
Big Al’s soul food
By Carolyn Ali
If you missed him selling samples at the Eat! Vancouver festival, or just want more of that rib-sticking gumbo, here’s where to find Big Al’s soul food. As well as catering, Al Robinson runs the kitchen at the Ringside Bar & Lounge (lower plaza, 4 Bentall Centre, 1055 Dunsmuir Street). There, the Louisiana native cooks up southern favourites like jambalaya, red beans on rice, and fried chicken.
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Food of the Week
South China Seas Trading Co.
By Angela Murrills
If you live in East Van, take a look-see at the new South China Seas Trading Co. (1904 Grant Street). You’ll find condiments and cookbooks from all over the world, as at the Granville Island location. Currently in the cooler at both stores are fresh morels and fiddleheads, and you can special order truffles and fresh masa (dig out that tortilla press). An on-site kitchen at the East Side location means cooking classes and food to-go sometime this summer.
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Food of the Week
Mistral French Bistro
By Angela Murrills
The colour of new leaves, the organic green-pea soup with fresh mint foam ($7.50) that Jean-Yves Benoît makes at his Mistral French Bistro (2585 West Broadway) is like mouthfuls of spring. You can get it at lunch and dinner, served Tuesday through Saturday. Try for a seat on the south-facing patio.
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Food of the Week
Chris Knight’s Road Grill
By Angela Murrills
The weather man willing, Lower Mainland barbies get their first airing this long weekend. But plain old burgers and steaks are so last summer. Before you fire up the burners, invest in Matt Dunigan (the former quarterback) and Chris Knight’s Road Grill (McArthur and Company, $29.95). Recipes for lamb sliders, citrus-tea-rubbed halibut with orzo-fennel-orange salad, planked apricot Dijon pork, plus sides and marinades galore prove these guys aren’t just blowing smoke.
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Food of the Week
Provence Mediterranean Grill
By Angela Murrills
We’ve recently hung out a lot with friends at Provence Mediterranean Grill (4473 West 10th Avenue). Each time, we’ve all gone for the trio of antipasti ($13). The pissaladière, salty with anchovies and sweet with long-cooked onion; pesto-y Mediterranean vegetables; farro salad with apple and fennel—it’s all good. Forced to pick only three, I’d say roasted free-range chicken, grilled chili squid, and maybe those haricots verts with the little black niçoise olives.
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Food of the Week
Artisan SakeMaker
By Angela Murrills
A new ingredient to keep in your fridge, sake kasu is a fermented rice mash that’s loaded with essential amino acids and is high in glutamines (hello? the umami factor). It’s what’s left after Masa Shiroki has hand-made his sakes at Artisan SakeMaker (1339 Railspur Alley, Granville Island). At C Restaurant, chef de cuisine Quang Dang uses the creamy white paste ($3.50 for 450 grams) in what he calls “Japanese Mayo, Part 2”, blending it with honey and rice-wine vinegar to serve with salmon cakes.
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Food of the Week
Mandala Iki Asian Bistro
By Angela Murrills
Groans were heard when the Kitsilano Café (2394 West 4th Avenue) shut recently and showed signs of gentrification. Sure enough, the huge inflatable beer bottle that hung from the ceiling is no more. The new twig-brown décor is sleek and modern, the menu has everything from izakaya fare and brown-rice sushi to congee and “Chinoise” dishes. The place is under new management as Mandala Iki Asian Bistro, with some of the original staff.
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Food of the Week
Bike the Blossoms
By Angela Murrills
This Saturday (April 19) marks the first annual Bike the Blossoms, a partnership between the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival and Slow Food Vancouver. This gentle meander through the city’s leafiest streets starts at the VanDusen Botanical Garden (5251 Oak Street) at 9 a.m. or whenever. It’s not a race, and you’re meant to explore food stops en route, like Coco et Olive (3476 West Broadway) and Soma (151 East 8th Avenue).
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Food of the Week
Avalon Dairy
By Angela Murrills
It warms my heart to know I can still buy milk in glass bottles from a 100-year-old farm within the city limits. Way to go, Avalon Dairy. If you’ve never been, head there sometime and pick up your dairy supplies from their small store (5805 Wales Street), open weekdays 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m, and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Newest addition to the range (which includes organic milk) is Vitala, which comes from Abbotsford cows fed on wild-tuna meal.
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Food of the Week
Gastropod
By Angela Murrills
Am I alone in thinking most early-bird deals are too early? Gastropod (1938 West 4th Avenue) heads in the right direction with a civilized 7 p.m. cutoff time. Samples from its new early three-course prix fixe: Quadra Island mussels escabeche, organic pork shoulder with polenta and wild mushrooms, sweet carrot risotto. This early menu is available Sunday through Thursday for $35 (plus $25 for wine).
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Food of the Week
Ocean Wise Restaurant Directory
By Angela Murrills
An absolutely colossal lightning bolt will shoot down from the sky and fry you if you eat fish that aren’t sustainably harvested. Not really, but it’s not a good thing to do and ignorance is no excuse. What you need is the little Ocean Wise Restaurant Directory published by the Vancouver Aquarium, which lists all the places that have got with the program so far. Download or order your copy at www.vanaqua.org/oceanwise/order-directory.html.
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Food of the Week
Sha Lin Noodle House
By Angela Murrills
Pigging out on starters recently at Sha Lin Noodle House (548 West Broadway) meant I got to doggy-bag enough for lunch the next day. What took the edge off my appetite in the best way—as we pondered the merits of pulling, pushing, and dragging noodles—were skewers of grilled lamb, speckled thickly with cumin and spicy with chili. At $1.50 a stick, I had pictured something on a toothpick, but these were much, much bigger. The onion pancakes didn’t help much, either…
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All Issues Containing 'Food of the Week'

Articles of Section 'Food of the Week'.

Best of Vancouver 2007