Taiwanese Cuisine aka "Chopsticks"

Marinated Beef wrapped in Pancake

Restaurant: Taiwanese Cuisine (In Chinese it's called "Chopsticks")
Cuisine: Taiwanese/Shanghainese/Chinese/Asian

Last visited: October 15, 09
Area: Richmond, BC
#1118-3779 Sexsmith Rd
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3.5

Overall: 2.5

Additional comments:

• Taiwanese/Shanghainese/Chinese dishes
• Stick to ordering Taiwanese dishes
• Comfortable, clean setting
• Taiwanese owned/operated
• Some really cheap items
• Extensive menu
  
• Clay pot specialties
• Good for large groups
• Some handmade noodles
• Some dim sum items
• Some lunch/dinner specials
• Some bubble tea flavoured drinks, but no pearls
  

** Recommendation: Fried rice cake, clay pots ( I didn't order any, but if I were to go back I would, everyone had them on the table)

The food is alright, but it's nothing to rave about or really to complain about. Given that this was a Taiwanese restaurant they had a large selection of Shanghainese items so I thought it could have been an unexpected specialty of theirs. They even had a handful of Cantonese items so it's more Asian than Taiwanese specific. We were craving Shanghainese food so we ended up ordering Shanghai dishes. Next time I would stick to ordering Taiwanese dishes, it's definitely not the place for authentic Shanghainese cuisine.

Depending on what you order, your meal can be really really cheap. The first time I went we ended up spending $12+ taxes and tip between 6 people and we ordered liberally. Two years later I am here again and this time we ordered about 4 dishes between 3 people and the bill was $22! You really can't beat that and we had a couple leftovers.

On the table:

• Steamed Pork Dumplings or "Xiao Long Bao" 2/6
• A thin dumpling stuffed with juicy pork and soup 8pcs for $5.95

• This is an authentic Shanghainese dish and it was definitely better at a Shanghai restaurant. The dough for the dumpling was made in house but it wasn't as thin as the authentic ones. This takes an experienced master - to be able to keep the wrapping thin yet strong enough to hold the hot soup from the steamed pork filling inside.

• There was hardly any soup in these and they were a bit smaller than usual. The flavour was ok but they should have held much more soup.
• It's served with vinegar for dipping, but there was no ginger in the vinegar and there should have been.

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• Marinated Beef wrapped in pancake 1/6
• Slices of beef wrapped in a scallion pancake with raw green onion and cucumber $4.95

• This is a Shanghainese/Taiwanese dim sum item or appetizer, but again it wasn't done well here. It was bland, the beef was too fatty and too much tendon giving it a weird crunchy elastic texture. The scallion pancake also wasn't flaky enough. I think it was the frozen kind that you fry up and serve.
  
  

  



• The beef they used wasn't well marinated, it was dry. This type of beef is quite popular in Cantonese dishes, but I don't like it to begin with so it was hard for me to appreciate this. Regardless, it was still too dry. I prefer when they use a shredded type of braised beef and a saucier marinade. It tastes so much better than the way they make it here.
• The one at Chen's Shanghai Kitchen is better
• Fried Chive Pancake 3/6
• 2 fried chive pancakes or "Asian style pita pockets" stuffed with sauteed chives, black wood ear mushrooms, glass vermicelli noodles, and a little scrambled egg. It was only $3.95 for 2

• I actually thought this was going to be the scallion pancake that was wrapped around the beef roll, but it wasn't. The English translation didn't do it justice so I was lucky enough to have someone that could read Chinese do the ordering with me.


• The pancake was like a pita pocket except much more dough-like than bread like. It's handmade and it has a crispy exterior and very soft interior. It could have been a bit thinner though, it was a bit too thick and made this dish extra filling.


• The filling wasn't crunchy, but nicely sauteed. It was a bit bland though and they could have used some more soy sauce or salt to give it flavour. They were stuffed decently and were very fresh and hot. Everything is really minced up so you can't really tell what you're eating, the chive flavour stands out the most for sure.
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• Fried Rice Cake 3/6
• It's pan fried rice cakes with pork, bamboo shoots, Taiwanese cabbage, Shiitake mushrooms and preserved pickled vegetable (which is the stems of a Chinese mustard green). It was only $6.95 for a huge portion!

• This is typically a Shanghainese dish, except they made it very Taiwanese/Cantonese here. It wasn't authentic Shanghainese, but it was still good. This means it's a lot less oily and saucy than the traditional Shanghainese version. They also use more veggies and different kinds.
  
  

  



• I love theses rice cakes. They're really chewy and kind of sticky. It goes great with the crunchy veggies and juicy plump mushrooms. The flavour is good, and it's wasn't that salty. It has a little pickle-ish/tangy flavour from the preserved mustard stems. I just wish that the pork wasn't so fatty. That's really typical of this dish though, the pork they use is always so fatty no matter where you go.
  

Chambar - 5th Year Appreciation BBQ

Hummus
Tabouleh salad
Spit roasted pork
Making pitas stuffed with pork and tabouleh
The appreciation "meal"...after waiting 2 hours

Restaurant: Chambar

Cuisine: Belgian

Last visited: September 12, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC

Unit 562 Beatty Street Crosstown

Price Range: $30-50

So this blog entry focuses specifically on Chambar's 5th year appreciation bbq that took place last Saturday afternoon. It was a free event that was advertised through word of mouth and loyal clientele. This is one of my favourite restaurants in Vancouver. I love it. Everything is done and presented really well - although it is on the pricier end, I think the quality is worth it. It's orgasmic food - the flavours merry really well, and the food is done with care and creativity.

To see my review for Chambar Restaurant - dinner.

To see my review for Chambar Restaurant - dessert.

That's the good...unfortunately the bbq was not so good. For the sake of Follow Me Foodie I'm going to try and stay focused on the food and not the organization of the event or service - not good. Actually, it's hard for me to keep it in...I have to say something...

The Experience

Ok well they blocked off the whole street for a big bbq event/production. There was a stage set up for music and a tent set up where kids could get balloon animals from creepy clowns and their faces painted. All sounds pretty good right? Not really. I think it's fair to say that when you go to a restaurant appreciation party you expect food. Well let's just say they cheaped out at the bbq in terms of food (sure it was a gourmet spit roast bbq pork, but that's all it was). Everyone pretty much got to try a sample...it's like they were afraid to run out, and they wouldn't have at all.

I just don't think they should call it an appreciation party, starting at 12pm lunch time, and just serve a sample - doesn't show customer appreciation. They also started at 2pm instead of the advertised 12pm, so people waited and were hungry. They gave juice and waffles to only children for a while - waffles were given to adults later. Juice was never served to adults and even parents thought this was odd. Organization wasn't great. Free loaders AND LOYAL customers were not impressed. It's a restaurant and people expect food, if your going to hold back on food then just charge people $5-10, but if you do this than don't call it an "appreciation bbq". *sigh*

Now that that's out - on to the food!

The Food

YES - looking at the photos it WAS a gourmet style bbq. They had 3 pigs being spit roasted outside. It was pretty amazing. They spent about 6 hours roasting these pig and started at 8am that morning - knowing that it would take 6 hours AND knowing that the bbq would start at 12pm - they should have really started earlier or advertised the event to start later. People were drooling over the pork, however they didn't serve it until 2pm! And you only got to try a piece - the size of a sushi. Pretty cheap.

They took those mini pita pockets, stuffed it with a LITTLE tabouleh salad (from sister restaurant Cafe Medina next door to Chambar), squeezed a bit of dressing and added a sushi sized piece of meat to it. Really weak. And everyone just got one and you had to move on.

Then they had a bowl of hummus - to eat with nothing! No pita, nothing. Just one mini pork pita per person and hummus - just hummus. I asked for another pita for the hummus, but they said no. They prepared 15 servings of fries with garlic aioli mayo....15 servings!!!! There were about 150 people in line! I'm not sure if they brought more out later, but bottom line is some people got them and some people didn't. Then they had some shrimp - one per person which is reasonable. These were really good, but I bet you they ran out of these. They wouldn't have ran out of pork though - they should have given at least 2 mini pitas per person, or at least stuffed it with more pork. Looked really bad, and people thought it was really pathetic. Everyone anticipated this gourmet bbq and showed up expecting to be fed well (because it IS Chambar afterall), but unfortunately it was rather disappointing.

Pork - really tender and juicy. Yes - it was good. I liked it in the pita with the tabouleh.

Hummus - thicker kind, good quality and fresh. Nice texture, simple flavours.

Shrimp - was wicked. The best part. I'd order this.

Zankou Chicken

Restaurant: Zankou Chicken
Cuisine: Mediterranean/American
Last visited: August 9, 09

Area: Multiple, California
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 6
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Only available in California
• Fresh, natural, healthy, super casual fast food chain
• No cans, freezers, microwaves, or preservatives
• Freshly baked daily pita
• Really juicy and flavourful chicken
  
• Famous for chicken with their homemade garlic spread - must try!!
  
• Homemade hummus and falafels
• Garlic flavour in everything, simple recipes
  
• Voted "Best Fast Food" "Best Cheap Eats" etc.
• Since 1962

**Recommendation: Any chicken plate WITH garlic spread, Chicken Tarna wrap

Ok so healthy fast food is hard to find - but this place is great and yes it's pretty healthy. I mean there's still oil, but its not super greasy or anything. Really good, fresh and natural ingredients. Hole in the wall feel, but it's a chain and it's always busy. Famous for their secret family recipe garlic spread and chicken, don't miss out on this fast food eatery!

On the table:

• **1/2 White Chicken Plate - 6.99USD 6/6
  
• 1/2 rotisserie chicken, served with hummus, diced tomatoes, garlic spread, pickles & pita bread
• The chicken is juicy, tender, flavorful, and moist with a crispy golden brown skin - cooked to perfection
• Chicken is all natural and delivered daily
• **Garlic Spread 6/6
  
• This gets its own review because its so delicious!
  
• Secret family recipe it comes in a simple little white sealed plastic container
• It looks, bland and boring, but its AMAZING!
• It looks like finely minced garlic, almost looks clear - it's not really a butter even though there's butter in it, but more of a spread...SOOO good! It doesn't have that spiciness fresh garlic has though, it is fresh garlic, but it's not so fresh that it still carries that spicy flavour. Use it on your pita, chicken - on everything!
  
• **Hummus & Pita 4/6
• The hummus is made of all natural ingredients: garbonzo beans, fresh garlic, sesame seeds and olive oil
• It's good! I could eat it on its own. It's so fresh and smooth in texture. Simple recipe, and simple tastes good!
• Pita - served warm. Baked fresh daily.
• Impressive for a fast food chain to actually take the time to bake and make these things that they could easily buy and serve.
• Tri-Tip Shawerma wrap - 4.99USD 2/6
• Marinated and flame broiled USDA choice tri-tip, diced tomatoes, and tahini wrapped in pita bread
• Good, but the other stuff was better - I found it a bit dry actually...which is surprising because usually it's easier to dry out a chicken when you cook it - but the chicken was so moist it made this one taste dry
• **Chicken Tarna Wrap - 4.99USD 6/6
  
• THIS was my favourite!! Marinated and flame broiled chicken, diced tomatoes, and garlic spread wrapped in pita bread.
• For me, it was better than chicken + garlic spread. Each bite was so full of flavour so it doesn't need anymore filler in the wrap, I really enjoyed this! The chicken is all shredded and the taste was a bit tangy. You couldn't pick out the exact flavours, but it had this tangy bite you'll crave for even after you leave.
• Falafel Plate 8.29USD 4/6
  
• 5 falafels served with hummus, tahini, diced tomatoes & shredded lettuce. Pickles and pita bread included.
• Yes it sounds a bit more expensive for a fast food chain, but these are homemade.
• Not a must try for me, because I've had better - Mona's Mezza Bistro in Vancouver. The BEST homemade falafels I've ever had. Zankou falafels are simple - made of natural garbonzo beans grounded up and then fried. I'm sure they use a very simple recipe and it comes with this tahini dip which is nice. You need it or the falafels may get boring after 3.