Cafe Crepe, 1032 Robson Street, Vancouver

I’m out in Vancouver this week at the DevTeach conference and we’re getting out to eat at a lot of restaurants.  This morning Justice, Shane, Kyle CodeBetter-Kyle (url to be determined) and I went out for breakfast before coming to the Steven Rockarts road show.  Kyle had it in his head that he wanted to go out for crepes so off we went to a place he’d seen on Robson Street.  We’d made a failed attempt at breakfast yesterday at this place only to find that it didn’t open until 8am and we were foiled by our ability to rise early while attending a conference.

So we wandered down to Cafe Crepe and grabbed a table pretty much right at opening time.  Within seconds of getting the table we had our waitress greet us and menus in hand.  Kyle (also known as the freezing ex-Canadian) and I got our hot-chocky pretty promptly and the waitress took our order.  Shane, Kyle and Justice each had a crepe and I ordered both a crepe and an omelette based on the waitress’ suggestion that a crepe might not be filling enough.

Once our order had been placed we waited no less than 40 minutes for our food to arrive.  Not once in that time did the waitress come by the table to see if there was anything she could get for us.  No water, no refill on the hot-chocky, and certainly no update on the progress in the kitchen. 

Let it be known that the kitchen was not in the weeds at this point in time.  There were only about 8 other people in the restaurant and a very slow amount of traffic at the street side take-away window.  Most of the tables arrived after us and I think that every one of them had their meals before us.

After our forty minutes of conversation our meals finally showed up and any hope of saving the day disappeared.  First thing that I noticed was that the plates were placed on the table and no mention of drink refills was made.  The next thing was that I had specified no toast with my omelette, but whole grain toast came.  After the wait we had endured, I was very eager to eat (I suspect that all of us were) so I dove into the omelette straight away.  About half way through it I noticed that there was an unbearable and overpowering taste of salt.  If I had been in the kitchen I’m sure I would have seen the cook (I will *not* call him a chef) knock a container of salt into the eggs.  The taste was so strong that I could not eat any more of it, which made me quite thankful that I had ordered the crepe.

Slightly concerned about the food quality, I still soldiered on and started on the strawberry crepe.  The crepe itself was nothing special.  It has what appeared to be fresh strawberries and nice colouring on the outside.  I worked my way through most of the crepe before trying any of the whipped cream.  I probably should have stayed with the crepe as the whipped cream was very close to being runny. 

After eating it only took about ten minutes for me to start feeling like something wasn’t going to stay settled in my stomach.  I’m not sure what caused it, but Justice suggested that he had the same feeling and the only thing was similar between our dishes was the whipped cream.

It’s been an hour since we left Cafe Crepe and I’m still feeling the effects of an unsettled stomach.

In my mind there are three crucial components to creating a good restaurant experience; Food, Service and Ambiance.  Our experience shows that Cafe Crepe doesn’t have either the food or the service to qualify as a good restaurant.  Because so much of ambiance relies on the mood that the staff sets, service is unquestionably linked to ambiance.

If I use those criteria to critique Cafe Crepe I would say that they are a 0.5 out of 5.  I give them half a point simply because they were able to open on time.

Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q

I was just down in Austin, TX for a pretty geeky event.  As with any of my journies I make it a point to find the place that the locals go to.  I have a small set of criteria:

1. It must be recommended by a local (hotel workers are excluded from this) 
2. It shouldn’t be a chain
3. It should feature local or regional food

While I was in Austin, Dave and I had an evening to kill and we had heard about a number of different options.  On previous days we’d done Mexican, Thai and chain food so we were looking for something a little bit more local.  Someone at the conference that we were attending had mentioned Rudy’s to Dave and I’d heard about it from the folks sitting next to me on my flight from Phoenix to Austin.  Unfortunately both of us had forgotten the name.  Dave swore it was Rubies and I had lost that brain cell in a bottle of mediocre tequila the night before.  We took the leap and asked the guy who was running the desk at our hotel to recommend a good BBQ joint.  He rattled a few off and ended with

“…but my favourite is Rudy’s and it’s just down the street.  It’s where I take my family sir.”

When we asked for directions he stated that you’d look at it and see a gas station and probably think that the place was sketchy, but not to worry.  Well, when the cab dropped us off we saw the gas station and I started to second guess the hotel guy.  In we went and I looked up at the menu board above the cashiers to find that there were only about 12 different things on it.  The next thing that I noticed was that while we were hearded through the queue towards the cashiers there was a huge stainless steel trough full of all types of bottled beverages.  Beer, pop, soda, and lord knows what else.

After a very short wait in line we hit the cashier and were greeted with “Welcome to Rudy’s.  Have you been here before?”  Until then I thought that we were the consumate obvious tourists.  The guy behind the counter graciously explained the ordering process to us, made recommendations and executed the process flawlessly.  Heck, all the counter staff were like that, and they obviously were having fun both with the patrons and each other, but not to the detriment of the service.

Ordering is a matter of saying what you want and how much of it.  For example you would order a 1/2 pound of Brisket Moist or full Baby Back Ribs.  The counter guy translates that into some kind of lingo for the guys running the knives.  You see the food is still in it’s full form while you’re ordering.  So the brisket is a full slab.  When you order 1/2 a pound they thin slice it right there for that order.  So counter dude yells out “1/2 Pound MOIST!” and “1 BAYBEEE” for our first order.  Within 2 minutes he has the food at the counter and he’s putting it into this big plastic tray (think food court tray, but with 4 inch high sides).  He also adds some wax paper and explains that those are our plates.  Off we head with our food and pick up some utensils and some sause.  Yes, that’s how they spell it.

Being that it’s night and cooling off from 90+ degrees, we decide to eat outside.  The wax paper plates worked fine.  The brisket was unbelievable.  The Baby Back Ribs were good, but the dry rub was just too salty for my liking.  The Bar-B-Q Sause was great, but after a bunch I was starting to find it a little too salty too.  The brisket was so good though.  After my first half pound, I went back for another full pound and still could have eaten more.  It was so tender and Moist was exactly the description I would have given it.

Also note that we had IBC Root Beer and that stuff is great too.

Overall I’d give Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q a 4.75 out of 5.  It’s almost worth being the sole reason for going to Austin.

Ilios, Nanaimo

With the recent ending of my contract I decided to take a trip out to Nanaimo and visit a friend for a few days of winding down.  I was out on the island for a number of days which were spent loading, discharging and breaking a manure spreader, cooking, drinking and dining out.  My friend Sees and her roomie Laura love to eat (you’d never know it looking at them) and be out on the town.

The first night I was in town, Laura cooked up a great chicken dish that she learned about while down in Australia.  All I can remember about it was that it contained peanut butter.  I made some enchiladas and some vindaloo on other nights as well.  Overall, in 5 days I ate like a king.

On the last night Laura chose Ilios for a dinner out.  When we got to the restaurant, I was surprised how busy it was for a Thursday night.  The patrons were a little closer to retirement than the three of us, but that didn’t stop them from having a raucous time.  We were seated in a nice 1/2 banquet and greeted by our waiter.  I have to cut the guy some slack as it was very obvious that he was very new to the job.  That said, he was the least polished part of the evening.  At one point, when we ordered our drinks at the start, he tried to take the menu away from one of us before we had the chance to decide on the meals.

In the spirit of relaxation and the good life, we started with some martinis.  I had a Dirty Sanchez (tequila, lime juice and something else that I can’t remember) which was unbelievably good.  Actually I have 5 of them.  I’m on holidays so I indulged….  The martinis that the ladies had were fantastic I was told.  One was with raspberry and the other was called a Black Widow (I think).

We started the meal with a plate of Saganaki which was fabulous.  I’d suggest to the waiter that he hold the plate a little farther from the table when he lights it up.  I think Laura and I are missing some of our eyebrows after that performance. 

All three of us ordered pasta.  Laura had what looked like a wonderful ravioli dish.  Sees ordered a truely mediterranean pasta complete with olives, basil, tomatos and feta.  I didn’t get to try it, but looked quite nice.  I had the New Orleans pasta which amounted to jambalaya with fettuccini.  It wasn’t overly spicey, but it was very nicely flavoured.  My only complaint would be that the pieces of chicken that it had were a little bit too big at times.

Because the meal was well sized and it came with two massive cuts of bread, I was in no shape to eat dessert.  The ladies, however, had room for something chocolate.  I believe it was a chocolate mousse cake, but I might be wrong as I was having another martini for desert.

Over all, I’d give Ilios a 4.75 out of 5.  Good atmosphere and vibe combined with great food and marvelous martinis.

 Fixed the typo…it should have been 4.75 out of 5 not 4.75 out of 10.

Parkallen Restaurant

A few nights ago I joined a friend at the Parkallen Restaurant on 109th Street at 70th Avenue.  As I arrived, it looked like the average out of the way establishment that offered the average patio (not an option due to a deluge of rain), average decor and an average menu.  Once I walked inside, I knew that I was wrong.  The decor was unique, but not eclectic.  There was a warmth to the interior that I couldn’t put my fingers on, but after an afternoon and evening of rain it was most welcome.

While waiting for my company to arrive I perused the menu and wine list.  It had been suggested to me that this was an ethnic restaurant, but nobody could remember the region.  When I was arriving and looking at the building I would have sworn it wasn’t ethnic at all.  Reading the menu certainly proved that it was.  The starters and entrees are a rich selection of traditional Lebanese food.  The wine list, which spanned all the major wine producing countries in the world, also included two bottles of Lebanese wine.

As it was the 25th anniversary of the restaurant, the special was a Lebanese feast.  After reading the menu numerous times and not being able to settle on only one dish, we decided that the feast was in order. 

Our waitress, a wonderful young lady with tinges of accent in her voice, arrived with the starters.  Five dishes to be shared between the two of us.  They ranged from a light and refreshing Fatouch (Lebanese Salad) to the rich flavours of Falafel.  All were wonderful, but with five dishes of appetizers it left me wondering if I should have skipped breakfast and lunch in order to consume the volume of food we were seeing.

Our main course arrived on one large plate.  It included a base of fragrant rice pilaf that was covered with five or six differently prepared meats.  I can’t remember all of them, but not one wasn’t worth asking for more of.  Again, the dish was much more than the two of us were capable of finishing, but it was so good that we couldn’t resist having just one more bite.

Desert was a tough call.  I had already eaten to the point of gastronomical discomfort, but that last menu can be quite tempting.  Once I saw that there was homemade ice cream available, I knew I was going to be waddling out at the end of the evening.  The size of the ice cream portion was amazing.  After all the food they put in front of us, they expected me to have room for 4 or 5 scoops of ice cream?  Well, like any homemade ice cream, once I had started, there was no stopping me.

With a dining room that exudes comfort, wait staff that were knowledgeable, friendly and attentive (but not to much so), and food to die for, I’m going to have to give Parkallen Restaurant a 4.75 out of 5.

Java Express on Jasper Ave. Reopens

I noticed today that Java Express on Jasper Avenue has reopened.  Hopefully it will be as well run and have as great of sandwiches as it did before.

Sankyu 2 Go, Edmonton

I tried Sankyu 2 Go sushi the other day for lunch.  Located on Jasper Ave between 103rd and 104th Streets it’s located perfectly for me to run to for a quick lunch to go.  And that is just what I did…thankfully.

The decor is sparse with a rather large dash of lime green.  The setup for ordering take away is not well thought out and requires you to enter and walk around an island cash station to order from the back side of it.  Trust me that this point will not be missed when you walk in and are faced with paper signs directing you to the correct spot to order.  The eating area holds a nice, large white Frigidaire decorated with a sign stating “Employees Only”.  Shouldn’t that be hidden away somewhere accessible only to employees?  Call me crazy.

Anyways….after placing your order you are directed to walk down this hallway to the back of the restaurant to pickup your takeaway from the kitchen window.  Yeah.  Directly from the kitchen.  Did I mention that down that hall resides an 8ft Frigidaire deep freeze?  I didn’t see an “Employees Only” sign only because most patrons don’t go taking things from a freezer if they’re not at Dairy Queen.

So the food.  Well, I tried a beef bento box with California and cucumber rolls.  The beef was okay, but not spectacular.  The sushi rolls were average and the salad was uninspired and coated with some manufactured Italian dressing.  All of that said, the biggest disappointment were the spring rolls.  They were obviously straight out of a freezer pack and, on top of that travesty, they were about 1.5 inches long and less than 0.5 inches in diameter.  I got three of them, but I probably could have gotten more from eating the complementary chop sticks.

Overall, a 1.5 out of 5.  If you’re in a rush and you know that you’re getting average or lower, go in and experience take away because you’re not going to want to sit around.

Tzin Wine and Tapas Bar, Edmonton

Last night I went out with fellow Edmontonian food lovers Mrs. Loquacious and Justice.  We stopped in on Tzin Wine and Tapas Bar to start off the evening.  First impressions on the place happened a couple days earlier when I was walking by on the street.  Instead of looking in the window (the window) from the street and seeing the establishment, you see the kitchen area and nothing of the contents is revealed.

Last night when I walked into the restaurant (or is it a bar?) my first thought was “Wow, this is tiny”.  Immediately inside the door is an open kitchen housing the chef and her assistant in about 100-150 square feet.  The rest of the floor consists of enough seating for about 25 people, but you become quite friendly with the other 24 who are there with you.  Mrs. L suggested that we go a little earlier in the evening to beat the rush, but when I arrived at 5:30 there were only 4 bar stools vacant at the back of the room and facing away from the action.

After being wary about sitting at the bar shoulder to shoulder to shoulder and not having a seating arrangement conducive to conversation, my weakness for wine took over as I was in the perfect vantage point to see the different wines on offer.  I also think that the tall chairs at the bar were the most comfortable in the place.  On the way out I noticed that everyone sitting in pairs at the room length banquet had to make a comfort choice….banquet or small backless ottoman.  The ottoman didn’t look like the more comfortable choice.

After cosying up to the bar and turning my back on the world I started to peruse the wine selection.  The list is quite large and by the bottle costs range from $30-225 with most in the $30-60 zone.  If the list is too much for you to choose from, some of the wines are available in sampler sizes or you can try the “Flights”.  The flights are a selection of 3 or 4 wines served in sampler sizes, on flight is to heaven (white wine) and the other is to hell (red wine).  In the end we shared a bottle or Pinot Bianco that was very nice.

The food section of the menu covers a lot of different areas, but all of it is tapas in portion size.  I ordered Gilligan’s Scampi which, when it arrived was delightful.  The thing that is quite apparent when you get the food is that it’s not going to be traditional Spanish style tapas.  Compared to other tapas I’ve had, this is over presented.  There’s too much grandeur for my liking, but that said it is very impressive.

While we were there the room was constantly buzzing and the service was as attentive as needed.  The decor is very modern chic, but warm and inviting at the same time.  Between the music (very nice by the way) and the conversations around us, it was fairly difficult to talk amongst ourselves at times.  Because seating is so limited, there were people queued up for seating when we left, and there isn’t much room to queue up.  When we were leaving it was a difficult squeeze to get between all of the seats and people to find our way to the door.

Overall, I’d rate the place a 4.5 out of 5.  It’s not a place for supper nor is it a place for a quiet conversation.  Those two things don’t take away from the fact it is a very good establishment.  No reservations are taken on Friday or Saturday nights so you’re taking your chances when you get there.  The chance is worth taking though.

The Tapas Bar — Victoria, BC

I’m in Victoria this weekend to present at the Victoria Code Camp and, as always, I have to go out and try some fantastic restaurants and pubs.  The first night in town my friend Sparky and I went out to The Tapas Bar.  After a quick walk from the hotel and through the wonderful downtown that defines so much of what Victoria is, we found our way to Trounce Alley which is the home to a small selection of shops and eateries.  When I opened the door to the restaurant I was surprised at how busy it was for a Thursday night.  Thankfully we had reservations. 

The seating arrangements are tight as the proprietors have tried to maximize the number of patrons that they can accommodate in the little space that they have.  As I mentioned the place isn’t all that big so it can get quite noisy.  Not so bad that you can’t talk with the person across the table from you, but it’s not conducive to a traditional romantic dinner.  As there were only two of us we were seated at a small table which is not ideal if you’re ordering a number of different tapas.

When we first arrived there was no line up at the door, but we did have to wait for approximately five minutes before we were attended to.  Once seated the service was quite friendly and provided by a mix of servers.  They didn’t linger and talk often, but they provided a good bit of information when needed (the recommendation of approximately four tapas to satisfy two people was pretty much bang on). 

It’s disappointing that I can’t point you to a restaurant website that will allow you to peruse the menu.  With that said, I’m running from memory and a receipt to describe the dishes.  We first ordered a great pitcher of Red Sangria and some Chorizo Fondue.  The sangria was quite nice and very refreshing after a day spent traveling.  The Chorizo Fondue was described in menu as cheese, wine, garlic and chorizo.  I’m not sure what cheese was used, but it was fantastic!  I could have done with one more slice of chorizo so that each of us could have had one piece instead of a half.

Our next round of ordering included Grilled Portobello Mushrooms, Pacific Halibut Ceviche and Calamari Fritos.  As always the Calamari was served with a creamy sauce, but this time it was also served with a salsa verde which was fantastic.  Unfortunately the salsa verde was so good that it didn’t last for more than half of the dish.  This was my first time trying ceviche and what a great experience!  The fish was extremely fresh (as one would expect in Victoria) and the lime juice and cilantro made the overall dish light and refreshing.  The Portobello Mushrooms were served with a tossed salad and italian dressing.  At first I thought that it came across as a bit tacky to serve such a fantastic mushroom with such a plain accompaniment.  I was very wrong about this.  The mushrooms had their usually meaty, steak-like demeanor and the addition of the salad and dressing made me think that I was having a barbequed meal on the back porch.

Our last dish of the night was Gambas Con Coco.  We hesitated at ordering another dish as we were getting quite full, but we gave it a go anyways.  This was probably the best dish of the evening.  The sauce was fantastic.  Oh my was the sauce fantastic.

Overall I’d give The Tapa Bar a 4.5 out of 5.  A little improvement on the service is needed and there’s some small improvements that could be made on the sangria.  I would recommend that you make a reservation for the next time you visit.

Java Express closes

Since just before Christmas I had noticed that the Java Express at Jasper Ave. and 104th Street (reviewed here) was closed.  For the first little while there was a sign on the door that said Closed Until Friday for Floor Refinishing.  Today when I walked by I noticed two pieces of paper taped to the front door.  One was a notice of Seizure of Property and the other was a Warrant.  I didn’t stop to read them, but it’s safe to say that there will be no more great sandwiches from there for me.

Ric’s Grill Downtown Edmonton

I was out last night at Ric’s Grill in downtown Edmonton having a Christmas dinner with a friend.  I’ve been to this establishment before and was looking forward to visiting again.

When I initially arrived I had a longer than expected wait.  I’m not sure where the wait staff was, but a well meaning (and obviously covering) bartender had to rescue me from that awkward silent moment I was having at the entryway.  I was seated in an understated booth against the back wall.  One of the things that I really like about Ric’s is the architecture of the building.  I love the 24″ x 24″ original wood beams and pillars that can be seen throughout.  I love the thick steel brackets that join the posts and beams with the massive bolts.

Anyways….you came here to read about food, not bolts.  As with my other trips to Ric’s, I was happy to see the wine list.  It covers all the bases.  Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, the US, and South America were all covered.  The list was a little to heavy on the “by the bottle” section for my liking, but the “by the glass” selection was quite nice.  After my company ordered a glass of Oyster Bay Chardonnay I settled on a Key Lime martini and we settled in.

The menu is quite nice, but no justice is done to it by the one they advertise online.  We decided to pace ourselves and ordered only a couple of appetizers to help us get comfortable.  The escargot were divine.  Unlike the preparations of this dish that I’ve had before, there was a some cheese on top of it.  Because the cheese was melted and had started to harden a little bit, it was difficult to take the escargot and the mushroom cap in combination with the cheese.  Once you messed about with the fork and a knife a little bit the combination of the ingredients was delightful.  We also ordered the Mediterranean Dip.  For an appetizer the portion that arrived look massive. The portion was not nearly to large once we tasted the dip.  It was so full of flavours and worked so perfectly with the crisped pitas.

Selection of our entrees was an arduous task.  There were just too many good items to be making a choice.  Finally we decided on an 8 oz Top Sirloin and a Pistachio Crusted Halibut.  According to my dinner partner the steak was delicious, the prawns were a wonderful and addictive first encounter, and the red wine reduction was a great accompaniment.  My halibut was so nice and moist.  Although it came with a lemon for juicing, I rather enjoyed the lemon zest that topped it.  The fish also came with a small dollop of an orange cream sauce that just was too good to leave alone.

The chef’s potatoes were a creamy mash that had roasted red and green peppers in it.  If you’ve read here before you would know that I’m a sucker for a good mash.  These were unbelievable.  The smokiness of the peppers was throughout.  The potatoes were creamy, perhaps too creamy for my liking.

Overall I’d give Ric’s Grill Downtown a 4.5 out of 5 with a strong favour for the price of the meal.