Vancouver Trip Report August 2024

[Mr_Happy]

I visited Vancouver this week for a few days. It was my first time in Vancouver and also in BC. I got into town from SFO on an early morning flight on Tuesday. It was quite easy to get to downtown Vancouver from YVR via the SkyTrain. I stayed downtown at the Hyatt.

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Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

My first lunch in Vancouver was dim sum at Dynasty Seafood Restaurant in the Fairview Slopes neighborhood in Vancouver proper. It was around 2pm on a Tuesday so I didn’t have to wait too long for a table, though the restaurant was still pretty full.

The dining room has a nice view of the skyline and the mountains beyond. I should have taken a picture looking out the windows.

Dynasty has a lot of classic dim sum dishes but sadly no cheung fun / rice noodle rolls save for a single stir fried version with beef which I didn’t realize until sitting down looking through the menu. Too bad, cheung fun is my favorite dim sum! You order off a menu here, there are no carts.

I had an Abalone Pie, which I think is kind of unique. This had a buttery slightly sweet pastry shell on the bottom, a saucy base of minced meat (I think pork), some greens that may have been garlic chives, and then a single glazed abalone on top. This was quite tasty. The abalone had a nice texture. It was a bit difficult to eat after the first bite though as it kind of fell apart!

And also har gau / shrimp dumplings which you kind of have to try when having dim sum. These were quite good.

And the gau choy gao / pan fried chive and shrimp dumplings which were also quite good.

I also had a bowl of pork and preserved egg congee, along with a side of yau ja gwai / Chinese donut to dip in on my waiter’s suggestion. I got the small size which was already quite large and enough for two or more. The large one must be gigantic. It came with some chives, peanuts, and pickles as optional toppings. This was a good bowl of congee. The congee itself had a nice texture - not too watery nor too thick, and there was a good amount of century egg and shredded pork. The yau ja gwai was nicely fried and not too oily.

It’s usually best to go to dim sum in a group in order to be able to sample as many items as possible and I sort of exacerbated this solo dining disadvantage by ordering some very filling congee. So, my fault for ordering a bit wrong. I probably should have just stuck with dim sum. Still, I enjoyed the dim sum here and the congee. I felt like taking a nap afterwards though!

[Mr_Happy]

The Keefer Bar

I walked around Vancouver’s Chinatown a bit and had a couple of drinks at The Keefer Bar, which has an Asian twist on some of their cocktails. It’s on Keefer Street (natch). Both of my cocktails were very good and the service was very friendly.

Kanju ($23)
Nikka gin, shiso yellow chartreuse, blanc vermouth blend
This was really nice. It was bright and a little herbal from the Chartreuse. It came with a matcha truffle coated with white chocolate to nosh on.

Rewind ($20)
Tangerine falernum Lot 40 rye, Worthy Park 109 rum, lemon, orgeat, honey, blackberry
This was also good, complex and a bit tiki-like.

[Mr_Happy]

Vij’s

For dinner I went to Vij’s, the eponymous restaurant from chef Vikram Vij.

A bit after I sat down some free snacks arrived - rice puffs with a sour cream chutney. These were addictive - light and crispy. I polished them all off.

Vij’s has quite a few mocktails available. I started with one, a
Beta-Bucha ($14)
Fresh Cold Pressed Orange & Carrot, Turmeric & Black Pepper, Blood Orange & Ginger Kombucha
I’m a fan of kombucha. This was refreshing and tasted healthy with the fresh juices and turmeric.

Ghee Sautéed Prawns ($20)
Prawns cooked in coconut & gunpowder masala curry
For a starter I had the prawns, which were delicious! This had a creamy tomato onion sauce and some perfectly cooked prawns. I looked up gunpowder masala afterwards and that its another name for idli podi. It was a very flavorful sauce. The dish was topped with some crispy curry leaves. I had some naan with this which was also great - nice and fluffy.

Lamb Popsicles ($33)
Wine marinated lamb with spinach potatoes and
fenugreek cream curry
This is one of Vij’s signature dishes, and it was also delicious. There were two grilled lamb cutlets on top of a creamy yellow curry sauce and a mix of spinach and potatoes. The lamb was cooked to a tender medium and had a flavorful marinade and a little bit of smokiness from the grill. The creamy yellow curry sauce underneath was very nice. I spooned it over a side of basmati rice, which was scented with cumin seeds.

I didn’t have dessert but I did have a cup of chai, which was nice.

[kaleokahu (Kaleo)]

Keep 'em coming!

[Mr_Happy]

Chef’s Choice Chinese Cuisine

For lunch on Wednesday I had dim sum again, why not. This time I had it at Chef’s Choice Chinese Cuisine which is, like Dynasty, in Fairview Slopes on West Broadway in Vancouver proper. Also like Dynasty there is no cheung fun on the menu

The tea ($1.98 pp - I got Shoumei this time) was served along with another nifty pot with a filter so you don’t get leaves in your cup, and also a tea cozy to keep it warm. There was also a pot of plain hot water.

Chicken wrap w/fish maw, taro, and mushroom ($10.68)
This had a thumbs up next to it on the ordering sheet (no carts here either) so I tried it. Must be good if it has a thumbs up next to it. It had a piece of fish maw with a big slice of ham and chicken in a crinkly wrapper that I think was yuba / tofu skin. It’s a unique dim sum dish, I don’t think I’ve had it before. The ham was quite thick, smoky, and a bit chewy. The maw had a tripe-like honeycomb structure with a spongy tripe-like texture. Along with the chicken, it was a nice mix of textures but I’m not in a rush to order it again.

Chef’s Choice signature shrimp dumplings ($10.68)
The har gow were very good.

Steamed Abalone & seafood soup dumpling ($12.98)
This also had a thumbs up next to it. It’s a big soup dumpling, filled with a gelatinous broth with abalone, scallop, and other seafood. I think it was fried to add structural integrity. I forgot to take a pic before it was moved into a bowl for easier eating. This was pretty good. There was a small dish of red vinegar provided to add some acidity.

Pan-fried sticky rice cake ($11.68)
A pan fried lo mai gai - sticky rice with sausage and chicken. This was very good. instead of steamed in a lotus leaf it is pan fried, and the top and bottom were crispy like the bottom of a claypot rice. Another innovative dish with a thumbs up.

Radish cake w/ dried scallops ($11.68)
I ordered this for vegetables. This was a steamed daikon radish cake that had a nice mix of radish puree and radish slices. There was also dried scallop and bits of lap cheong sausage to add some more flavor. It did need some of the supplied soy sauce to add salt. I could only manage eating half of it - it was pretty big - and once again my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

[Mr_Happy]

Granville Island Public Market

To walk off some of the calories from the dim sum feast at Chef’s Choice, I took a stroll over to Granville Island, which was about 20 or so minutes away by foot. I went to the Granville Island Public Market there, which is quite impressive. The sprawling market was bustling on a Wednesday afternoon. I had some room for some Canadian pastries and had a butter tart and a Nanaimo bar from Laurelle’s Fine Foods in the market, which were both good. Butter tarts have a filling that are a bit like that of a pecan pie but thinner, with small currants. Nanaimo bars are named after the city of Nanaimo in BC, and have a coconut layer, an icing layer, and a chocolate layer.

Non-food pics - Granville Island and the Public Market are well worth visiting. I took the Aquabus across the water to get back downtown.

Another non-food pic - I spent some time at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park afterwards. There’s a free shuttle bus to there from Canada Place and its only about a 15-20 minute bus ride from downtown. It’s a nice place among the trees but TBH I didn’t really enjoy walking across the bridge!

[Phoenikia]

@Mr_Happy

Butter tarts have a filling that are a bit like that of a pecan pie but thinner, with small currants

The filling can be runny (I prefer runny, or it can be as thick as pecan pie filling, that part is highly variable. Butter Tarts are available plain, or with currants, or with raisins, or with pecans. Many Canadians who like butter tarts prefer plain butter tarts to the type with raisins or currants!

Plain vs with currants/ raisins is often polarizing!

Should you put raisins in a butter tart? | CBC Life

[Mr_Happy]

I see, thanks for that. I did notice that they had a pecan option as well.

[PedroPero (PETER)]

@Phoenikia

Many Canadians who like butter tarts prefer plain butter tarts to the type with raisins or currants!

Not this Canadian!! When was this scientific study done?

[Phoenikia]

I said many, not most. So, no science needed to back up that statement.

Much safer to bring plain butter tarts or butter tart squares to a gathering. No surprise nuts, raisins or currants for people who hate them, and usually people who like the currant or raisin butter tarts can tolerate plain butter tarts!

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskACanadian/comments/17hom07/for_or_against_raisins_in_butter_tarts/

[PedroPero (PETER)]

They gonna eat what I bring or the eat nothing at all! Fk em

[Phoenikia]

Hahaha
You’re not the kind of guy who gets upset when your Nanaimo bars or butter tarts get ignored at a potluck, are you !?

I’m still annoyed that people chose 2 bite brownies from a bag and Costco cake over the apple tart I made that morning from the first apples of the season for a friend’s bday party in Sept 2015

[PedroPero (PETER)]

I hate Nanaimo bars and would never bring them

[Phoenikia]

I love a good Nanaimo bar. I crave them more than butter tarts.

I’m sort of over 99 percent of butter tarts.

[BarneyGrubble (Beethoven and Latina singer fan in Ottawa)]

I’ve been wanting to make Chocolate Sparkle Cookies (invented in Vancouver) a long time.

Chocolate Sparkle Cookies: Non-traditional or New Tradition?

[Mr_Happy]

There seem to be some strong opinions on butter tarts and Nanaimo bars

[Mr_Happy]

St. Lawrence

After spending some time among the trees at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, I had dinner at St. Lawrence in the Downtown Eastside neighborhood. St. Lawrence is a French Canadian restaurant from chef J-C Poirier who hails from Quebec. There is only a four course prix fixe menu / table d’hôte available for $125, with a few optional add-ons. One has a choice of options within each course. I also had the optional beverage pairing ($88).

I sat at the chef’s counter, which has a great view of the kitchen.

This was the night’s menu with all of the options and optional add-ons.

I had the cocktail special of the day, a Pagnol ($19). I neglected to write down all of the components, but it had Calvados (apple brandy) and I think some apricot. It was refreshing and summery.

To start, an amuse bouche - a small canelé filled with cheese.

And then another amuse to eat with one’s hands. I think this was a thinly sliced radish roll. There was a creamy savory anchovy sauce underneath.

For the first course I had the beet tart.
Tartelette de betteraves, fromage Miranda, cerises, & sorbet au raifort
Beetroot tart, Oka cheese, local cherries, & horseradish sorbet
This was a delicious tart with a crispy shell and several types of beets and a beet sorbet. There was shaved horseradish on top. The base had Oka cheese which I looked up later - it is a washed rind cheese made by Trappist monks in Quebec.

I also had an add-on which came around the same time the first course.
Pâté en Croûte du jour +$24
Terrine of the day in pastry
This was half of a thick slice of the pâté en croûte of the day, which had a duck, bacon, and pistachio filling encased in pastry, along with some radishes with whole grain mustard.

The second course was a shrimp dish.
Crevettes & crêpe avec bette à carde & chou, bisque
BC Side Stripe shrimp with swiss chard & cabbage, crêpe, shrimp bisque
This was also delicious. It was a buckwheat crepe that was filled with plump local Side Stripe shrimp and vegetables. On the bottom was a shrimp bisque which had a very pronounced shrimpy almost lobster-y flavor. The pairing that came with this, a glass of ‘La Raspa’ Moscatel y Doradilla from Spain, was great with the shrimp.

For the third course, which was the main course, I picked the veal.
Assiette de veau, soubsie au babeurre, oignon farcie à l’oignon, jus
Trio of veal, buttermilk soubise, onion stuffed onion, french onion jus
This was veal three ways - a perfectly medium rare sliced veal loin, fried veal sweetbreads, and cubes of veal tongue. Delicious! There also was an onion that was filled with caramelized onion, and a rich jus. Some very good potato bread and butter was served alongside.

Finally for dessert,
Clafoutis de baies Salal, crème glacée aux pistaches pralinées
Classic Salal berry clafoutis & pistachio praline ice cream
Like the rest of the meal, dessert was delicious. A clafoutis is kind of like a crustless tart, and this one had some salal berries which are native to the Pacific Northwest. It was topped with pistachio ice cream. The beverage that came with dessert was also a great pairing - a mix of two wines - a Macvin du Jura from Domaine des Marnes Blanches which is a sweet fortified wine, and a sparkling Blanquette de Limoux from Maison Antech.

Mignardises to finish - a piece of salted fudge and a pâté de fruit.

Great dinner!

[linguafood (Natascha)]

10 years later, even!

[PedroPero (PETER)]

It’s a Canuck thing, y’all wouldn’t understand.

[Mr_Happy]

Empire Seafood Restaurant

How much dim sum can one guy eat for lunch solo over three days? I ventured south to Richmond on Thursday to try to answer this question.

After about a 25 minute SkyTrain ride from downtown Vancouver, I had dim sum lunch #3 at Empire Seafood Restaurant, which is a short walk from the Richmond-Brighouse station. Empire is a dim sum and seafood restaurant that opened back in 2004.

#2 Har Gow ($9.75)
It may be due to recency bias, but I think that these were the best har gao I had on this trip. They had thin skins that still had integrity, and a large amount of shrimp filling.

#20 Deep Fried BBQ Duck and Mashed Taro Pastries ($9.95)
Wu kok - deep fried taro puffs filled with minced duck (I believe this typically has minced pork rather than duck) and other flavorings. These were quite good, nicely fried and crispy. The taro layer was a bit on the thick side but it wasn’t too heavy.

Finally, a place with cheung fun!

#28 Steamed Minced Beef Rice Rolls w/Coriander ($9.95)
This was cheung fun filled with a smooth minced beef filling with cilantro and spinach. This was very good. The rice crepe was nicely textured and springy, and like the har gow was neither too thick nor too thin. The sweet soy sauce was quite flavorful and was served on the side to prevent sogginess.

#26 Steamed Rice Rolls With Crispy Spring Roll ($9.95)
This was a new dim sum to me. It had a wrapper that was thicker than the one in the regular cheung fun, encasing a deep fried shrimp spring roll. This was delicious. The rice crepe though thicker was still springy, and within was a crispy crunchy spring roll wrapper layer with shrimp inside. It had a nice mix of textures. This was served with the street food style cheung fun accompaniments - hoisin sauce and sesame sauce.

Since I’ve had dim sum a whopping three times in the Vancouver area, now it’s time to make some unfounded and overly generalized statements on its level compared to the SFBA where I live. IMHO from this limited sampling the dim sum in Vancouver/Richmond is at the least on the level of some of the best places we have in the Bay Area, which to me would be Koi Palace in Daly City and some of its affiliates (Dragon Beaux, Palette Tea House in SF), and Harborview in SF. More research and further comparison is required on my part