Tag Archives: pork

Polenta and pork cheeks

Posted on December 23, 2008 | 2 Comments

It was really freaking cold on Friday night – so cold that my base instincts kicked in and all I wanted was stew.

Well, I didn’t get stew, but I did get some stick-to-your-ribs food from The Cascade Room. It was reliably busy – and possibly busier than usual due to the fire at Habit – but not so busy that you couldn’t get a table without a reservation.

I think The Cascade makes the best negroni I’ve ever had. Their bartender, Nick Devine, is known for his mixological prowess – and I fully concur. The negroni came in a short glass with lots of ice, with a rosette of orange peel resting on top of the ice. The overall effect is that you taste the drink while getting the full, undiluted aroma of the orange peel. Genius.

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My favourite restaurant in Vancouver

Posted on November 6, 2008 | 3 Comments

I hope you realize the gravity of the situation here, in that I’m about to tell you about my favourite restaurant in all of Vancouver. As in, if I were on death row somewhere, I would want my last meal to be from this place. As in, if I could only eat at one restaurant for the rest of my life, this would be it. As in, I just had lunch there today but after writing this post I think I might go back for a little snack.

And it’s not some fancy-schmancy restaurant where they serve multi-course chef’s tasting meals, featuring deconstructed lasagnas or avocado foams. It’s not a place where you’ll have to eat dust and water for the next month because the meal was so expensive.

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Review: Fortune Restaurant

Posted on October 16, 2008 | 2 Comments

I just got back from a belated birthday dinner with the folks, and we inhaled an eight-course meal. To be honest, it’s a little uncomfortable sitting in front of the computer right now, but I’ll soldier through it for you.

Our meal consisted of:
1. shark’s fin soup
2. crab with ginger and green onion
3. pork with vegetables
4. fish belly and dried scallop with baby bok choy
5. crispy skin chicken
6. salted chicken fried rice
7. lemon soupy dessert thing
8. laughing cookies and almond cookies

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Pickles and pigs! (Piggles?)

Posted on October 9, 2008 | Leave a comment

I’m a big fan of The Greedy Pig for its thoughtful, well-executed food. The menu’s simple (mostly sandwiches and salads, lovely mains, and an excellent charcuterie selection) but everything is really tasty and well-executed.

Yesterday’s special was the pulled pork sandwich with side salad. The sandwich was…fine. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was good. The pork was beautifully tender, but the pulled pork sauce was a little too sour for my liking:  very spicy and flavourful (hints of bourbon, maybe?), but too sour and too tomato-y.  The rest of the sandwich was nice: the squishy bun soaked up flavour from the pork and the creamy-but-not-sickly coleslaw added a great crunch. If the coleslaw had been cut a little bit finer, I would have been happier.

But my god, the pickle. The sandwich is served with a half-pickle: sliced diagonally, speared with a toothpick, and quite honestly the best pickle I’ve ever had. It embodied pickleness in its full glory: it was crisp, crunchy, refreshing, salty, sour and tasty. They’re made in-house, and I want to go back and buy jars of the stuff.

Go for the sandwich, stay for the pickle.

The Greedy Pig
307 W. Cordova Street, Vancouver
(604) 669-4991

http://www.thegreedypig.ca

Greedy Pig on Urbanspoon

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New York goodies, day one

Posted on September 24, 2006 | Leave a comment

I was in New York for five days. This is what I ate on day one.

-Soupy pork dumplings from Shanghai Cafe in chinatown, just as good as you get in vancouver, and handmade to order.
-A calla lily cupcake from Cupcake Cafe, which I completely stumbled upon while wandering around, slightly lost. Rich, most chocolatey cake (slightly denser than I like, but that’s how the New York cupcake is) with a tasty vanilla buttercream. The calla lily on top was just gorgeous.
-A New York City street hot dog. Just to say that I did, but I was glad to get it out of the way.
-Hot roasted almonds from a street cart, as per Miguelito’s suggestion. They cooled down a little too quickly, resulting in a caramelized nutty mess, but were delicious while warm. Three cheers for hot nuts!

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