Pho Ever
1669 Pear St tel: 250-388-0028 Mon-Sun 1130-9pm closed Wednesday
You
can't beat the name. The first time I went by, the Pho Ever sign had a
"Cheap Alcohol" banner appended to it. Sounds great to me.
While easily the source of dumb jokes, the name Pho Ever is hard to extract from your brain. I will spare the jokes.
A combination of Vietnamese and Korean dishes, including a selection
of pho (soups), the menu is well constructed with a little something
for everyone and prices are very reasonable.
The space is clean and organised with a new renovation and some very
nice quality tables and chairs. There is similarly some very swanky
looking booths in the back that for lack of a better word, look very VIP. It's not an aesthetic
masterpiece by any means (the artwork and colour scheme are not to my
taste), but it's comfortable and feels like someone knew what they were
doing.
The alcohol selection is limited, but is indeed reasonably priced
with domestic and import beers, house wine and soju (Strong Korean
wine). Patty had a Korean beer ($5) and I had a domestic beer ($4). 
We started with the dumplings ($3.95 - 6pcs). They were tasty - so
tasty they may have been made in-house. I could taste distinct
seasoning and they weren't especially salty. The were fried, but not
greasy and the fryer oil was fresh. The dipping sauce was a
conventional ponzu type, but tasted correct with the dumplings.
I had the Bun Thit Nuong, Cha Gla ($8.95), a Vietnamese style
vermicelli noodle bowl with pork and spring roll. Fresh, with delicate
flavours and crispy julienne cucumber and carrots. The pork was more heavily
seasoned and grilled - super yummy. The spring roll, like the dumplings
were crispy and flavourful.
Patty had the Jjam Bbong ($9.95) a Korean style spicy seafood soup
with noodles. A hefty serving, Patty didn't make it all they way through
before the heat got to him. I liked the level of heat, but his head
turned a light shade of crimson by the end. Similarly, he was having
comical coordination problems, that were causing him to repeatedly splatter
soup in his eye. Note the crazy looking expression in the photo - I think
that was the soup. Despite his largely self inflicted discomfort he
noted a nice seafood soup base, as well as both small blue mussels and
a couple of larger green mussels, squid, prawn and shrimp. I like this
style of soup especially for brunch, after a festive evening. The hot
spicy soup is great for a headache.
The menu also has a fairly thorough selection of Korean fare, Bip
bim bop, Galbi, Bulgogi, Pajun, Dongace, among others at reasonable
prices (the menu tops out at $14.95). I'm looking forward to a dinner
visit to try some of these dishes.
One final note - they have lots of table condiments. I love that.
Oct 09
New Wine Picks
Foo - Asian Street Food
Next to the Dalton Hotel at Yates St and Blanshard St
Only two weeks old, Foo is not at this point, subject to criticism. That said, we were very happy with our experience. With some prodding from a Little Piggy reader, we headed for dinner. With some guidance from co-owner Sterling Grice, we made our selection: pakoras, beef short rib and broccoli, carmalised chicken and pad thai.
The pakoras were among the best I've had - anywhere. They were unusually tender and I could taste crushed coriander seeds - not the flavourless ground variety. The Vietnamese style carmalised chicken (served as an appetizer, but large enough to serve as a small meal) was crispy and flavourful. A nice take on a favourite dish. Patty enjoyed his beef and broccoli. It was far superior to the ordinarily lifeless dish common to conventional Chinese menus. The short rib was tender and maintained it's structural integrity. Bea's pad thai, was as you might expect, but with brighter flavours and somewhat more complex seasoning.
All the flavours were strong and could have used a beer to wash them back with (liquor license is forthcoming), but lends itself to a mix and match approach with friends. Chef Patrick Lynch, formerly of Sanuk and Monsoon (Vancouver), clearly knows this cuisine and has a nicely designed menu for accommodating a variety of tastes.
Watch out Noodle Box and co., at this point in the game, Foo offers a more interesting variety of dishes, prepared with greater competency.
Sept 09
Posh
1063 Fort St tel: 250 382 POSH (7674)
Taking
over the defunct Med Grill space, it seemed oddly coincidental that a
hot pot restaurant would return to this space, having originally been
built to house a different hot pot restaurant, quite a number of years
ago. Maybe they were ahead of their time?
Posh is a Vancouver chain of restaurants, all with very similar
menus. My pastry chef Vicki and Vancouver native, described it as
pricey and popular. I've heard worst things about an impending
restaurant visit.
We arrived with our staff go-to-girl Bea, in tow. The staff were
friendly and responsive, with a whole script of helpful information.
The spiel wasn't overbearing and explained the one item menu (there are
a couple of small noodle dishes on the menu, but the sukiyaki was the
only item of note). It was also explained that two orders would be
enough for the three of us. I don't know why they portion it this way,
but it made the whole endeavor quite inexpensive ($15.98 per portion).
Unfortunately, the liquor license was not in place yet, so virgin
cocktails were offered; with the first round on the house. It certainly
was a good way to get me to try expensive blended juice drinks ($4-5).
I had the lychee green tea that included nice chunks of lychee in the
bottom. Patty had a strawberry and crushed ice drink, that was pink and
fruit - his favourite. Bea was less a fan of her lychee and berry
concoction, that was very purple and very sweet.
The sukiyaki arrived with detailed cooking instruction, including
the encouragement to dip the cooked meat (pork and beef) in a raw egg
before eating. Hey, why not?! It was indeed, much tastier with the egg.
Other garnish included, an assortment of tofu - fried, fresh, frozen
and curd; mushrooms - shitake, button and cloud's ear; cabbages - napa,
sui choy and green; vegetables - winter melon, yam, pumpkin, zucchini.
The broth was tasty and all the condiments fresh. We most liked the
mushrooms, the cabbages and the pumpkin.
At the end of the meal we were offered rice to eat with the extra
sauce. If we weren't full all ready, this would ensure we wouldn't
leave hungry. In the absence of booze and with the promo drinks, it was
really cheap. I could definitely see myself racking up a bigger bill
with alcohol, since the broth is by definition a bit salty.
A little bit unusual, without being complicated, the food was comfortable and the service friendly.
Prime Steakhouse
623 Courtney St tel 250-386-2010
Hugo's Grill was a kinda steak house, then it became Sanuk - Asian fusion; now, it's Prime Steakhouse - will it work? Maybe.
The clientele was overwhelmingly American and the server was
surprised we weren't. Normally, it's a recipe for mediocrity - tonight,
not so much.
The menu does not cater to Victoria's locovore infatuation,
but at the same time has some style. If you're into steaks, Prime will
be a fairly interesting destination. The signature dish is a dry aged
New York - bone in. What's that? I could imagine, but that's not a
restaurant steak. A steak with big shrinkage and you need a bandsaw to
cut it. That's cool...
The server was shockingly good. He knew the menu and the wine list
and wasn't even slightly off put by a battery of questions. He was
remarkably smooth, in the face of a transient clientele. As I gazed
into the wine list, the server offered assistance. I explained what I
was looking at, but suggested if he had any bright ideas I was all
ears. He asked a question or two and offered his recommendation. A
mid-priced California Zinfandel, it was better than what I would have
picked without direction.
We started with the half dozen oysters (Kushi) and the beef
carpaccio. The oysters were clean with shaved horseradish and
mignonette. My carpaccio was classically presented with arugula, aioli
and crostini. Tasty, but with a distinguishing cap of fat - not
characteristic of a tenderloin, the cut used in carpaccio. We asked the
server about it. He was very concerned about our satisfaction with the
dish. I explained that it was very tasty, but I was curious, because
it's unusual to find a layer of fat ringing the tenderloin. He politely
went to the kitchen to inquire. He returned with a candid explanation
of - yes, the chef noticed that too and thought it was unusual, but he
didn't want to mess with the meat. Fair enough, I'm not one to complain
about extra fat.
For our main courses Patty had the signature dry aged, bone in New
York. Weighing in at 16 oz, this was a large, albeit not ludicrously
so, portion. It was weird to have the bone in, but I like it - it's kinda
steakhouse classy. It's nice to go to a steakhouse and be offered an
interesting steak. The steak was served with an array of a la carte
accompaniments; Patty went for the risotto and Bearnaise sauce. The
risotto was cooked to Patty's very personal standard, the Bearnaise was
executed competently and the veggies were properly cooked. A mountain
of calories, but the leftovers make a great doggie bag and late night
snack.
I had the lambchops and frites. Two chops, I, at first was off put
by the lack of sauce on the plate. I swear by a shot of demi glace as a
fundamental component of most meat dishes. I grumbled, ate a few bites
and suddenly it reminded me of something - kissing a drunk man! The
lamb, a gamey meat, had a powerful hit of red wine. Oh, the memories of
my more single years -- smoochies after copious amount of steak and red
wine. I'm not sure if I want to eat that all the time, but it was fun
thinking about it and I decided it didn't really need sauce. I wouldn't have poopoo'ed the demi, but I value a dish that makes me feel something.
My frites however, did desperately need a condiment.
No room for dessert, we finished our wine and took a doggie bag for
a midnight picnic. I may not have the constitution for regular steak
house visits, but this time, I was pleasantly surprised.
**Picnic update - we ate our leftovers at about 1am with some fresh tomatoes for the garden. It was a glorious late night picnic.
August 2009
The Rathskellar ... my illicit love 1205 Quadra Street, 386 - 9348
Since being scorned by the
Rathskellar in 2005, my love has become an illicit one. Not welcome in
the restaurant, I have had to find other ways to obtain my favourite
German dishes - ordering takeaway from Dine In
and hiding in my house, eating my dinner and feeling naughty. There is
something a little titillating about being being berated, then sneaking
back to indulge in the objects of your desire. I just can't get the
image of riding crops out of my head.
It's getting harder all the time to accept my punishment. With
dishes like pork knuckle, sauerbraten, wurst and their array of
dumplings and delicious pickled red cabbage teasing me from afar. Oh,
it's pretty good when it's delivered, but it's not the same. The
Styrofoam packaging just isn't very sexy and I can't replicate the
accordion player at all.
Tonight we dine on rouladen and cabbage rolls behind closed doors, maybe I'll put on some tall leather boots.
See 2005 review here
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 400F
Add the tomatoes and peppers and saute until the tomatoes are soft.
