Oru - Fairmont Hotel Pacific Rim

(Picture taken from the VancouverSun.com)

My parents and I went to Oru Restaurant a couple of days ago, wanting to check out the new Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel. The design of the hotel and the restaurant was simplistic/minimalistic, but still quite comfortable. To the people who doesn't like the more modern designs, like my mom, the restaurant looks cold, and in her words, "a well designed canteen." I don't know if I agree entirely, but the place is definitely nothing romantic or formal by any standards. So don't try to bring your girlfriend there on a romantic date or anything, but it's a nice environment for a buddies/girls' night out.

Unfortunately, I'll have to report that the food was disappointingly average. The restaurant serves Pan Asian cuisine using local ingredients. Not a very interesting concept if you ask me. Although not with local ingredients, there are too many good Asian restaurants in town to compare to. Although, David Wong, the executive chef of the hotel and restaurant have won many awards in the past, the menu was disappointingly boring. Nothing really stood out screaming, "Order Me!!!"

My mom ordered Lettuce and Pineapple Salad with apple-miso vinaigrette, which was ok, to start and a Lobster Tom Kha Talay with coconut broth. Nothing special about the broth except it's like a mild version of the Tom Kha Gai with a lobster tail dumped in it. My dad had Palm and Grapefruit Salad with coconut vinaigrette, which tasted a little weird, and Nasi Goreng, Indonesian Fried Rice, with Shrimps, that tasted an average-I-can-get-better-elsewhere. I had a little better luck with the Pork Belly Gyoza and Roasted Duck Breast. Both were a little above average, but nothing special to talk about.

I haven't studied their wine list, but it looks decent from the quick glance, and many tables ordered wine, so I'm guessing if you're a drinker, Oru might be a nice place to go to. But then right down the grand staircase, which is going to be oh-so-perfect for weddings, is a very comfy looking lobby lounge. So if drinks is what I'm going for, I'd rather go there than the restaurant.

So all-in-all, I don't recommend going to the Oru Restaurant in the Fairmont Pacific Rim, but would definitely try out the lobby lounge. And if anyone is getting married and wants a grand staircase, this new Fairmont is where to go, because the Four Seasons got rid of theirs after the renovation a couple years ago. Shame on them... But I think the Yew Restaurant in the Four Seasons is much better though. The lobby lounge is also very comfy...

Speaking of the lobby lounge... no wonder I thought the one in the new Fairmont looks familiar. It has that fireplace closely resembling the one in the Four Seasons!!! Sneaky sneaky~~

Oru Restaurant Fairmont Pacific Rim 1038 Canada Place Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.695.5500

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Winter Olympics 2010 - Market by Jean Georges

Wow, it's been months since I've posted anything here. Not that I haven't been eating out, but I've just been so busy to write reviews. I just came across an interesting article about the restaurant Market by Jean Georges in the Shangri-La Hotel in Downtown Vancouver.

Apparently, from Feb. 15 - 17th, celebrity chef Jean George will be in town, joining his team at his restaurant. Hours of operations will be from 11:30 am - 1:00 am with a heated, tented patio.

Read more about the article at Scout Magazine here.

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Chen's Shanghai Kitchen (Bai Yu Lan)

Out of all the different regional Chinese cuisine, my favorite had to be the Shanghai cuisine. They're super fattening and unhealthy, due to all the oil that was used, but super delicious at the same time. To me, they're absolutely irresistible. It's not difficult to find a restaurant serving Shanghai cuisine in Vancouver, but it's a different story when trying to find a good one. Luckily, there's the Chen's Shanghai Kitchen, a.k.a. Bai Yu Lan, in Richmond.

The variety of Shanghai style Dim Sum is better during lunch hours, but most of them can also be ordered during dinner time, which is wonderful, as most restaurant won't do any Dim Sum items outside of lunch time. The problem is though, if you don't read Chinese, ordering can be a bit challenging. During lunch time, they give you a Dim Sum checklist that doesn't have English on it. Now I'm sure that they have something in English, but it's usually shorter than the Chinese list. So finding a Chinese-literate to go with you for the first couple of times just to get familiar with the menu is recommended.

Some of their best Dim Sum dishes include the Xiao Long Bao, Shengjian Bao (Pan Fried Buns), Pot Stickers, and Meat and Vegetable Wonton. And in my opinion, they also have the best Green Onion Pancake in town. Those who are familiar with the dish will know that it is usually very oily, and some quite soggy, but Chen's Shanghai Kitchen's version of it is not oily at all, and much tastier than those in other restaurants. Unless you dislike green onions,this is something you must try at this restaurant. Unfortunately, their Xiao Long Bao is not the best in town, but they are a close second (the best Xiao Long Bao is actually in the food court of Aberdeen Centre). The pricing for Dim Sum items are also very reasonable, averaging to about $5 or so per dish.

Dinner-wise, I suggest having Dim Sum and a couple of noodle items like Dan Dan Noodles, Shanghai Chow Mien, or Shanghai Nian Gao (Rice Cake). Unfortunately, the other dishes aren't very impressive, so you're better off ordering the same thing anytime you go. Do keep in mind though, that although the food is excellent in this restaurant, the service and cleanliness is not the best. So now that I've got you mentally prepared, please don't come back to complain about these 2 things. You're going for the food and only the food. Nothing else here.

A word of warning, don't order too much. Remember that most of the good items are either buns or made with a lot of flour, so it's all very filling. Ordering too much will either have you extremely stuffed, having to waste food, or having to bring a lot of left overs home. Oh, and remember when you're eating the Xiao Long Bao and Sheng Jian Bao to remember not to take a big first bites. They are very hot, and super juicy that you might have juice squirting all over resulting in a stain on your shirt, and very bad table manners.

Chen's Shanghai Kitchen 8095 Park Rd. Richmond, B.C. Tel: 604.304.8288

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Cafe D'Lite

As much as I do not appreciate the hot hot heat in Malaysia and Singapore when I travel there, I've always appreciated their food. Unfortunately, imo, there's no "one-stop-restaurant" in Vancouver where you can get all the best Malaysian and Singaporean food in one restaurant. Fortunately though, there are different restaurants that does a wonderful job in different dishes. And Cafe D'Lite happens to make some very delicious Hainanese Chicken Rice and Singaporean Laksa.

Their Hainanese Chicken Rice is not only the best in the city, but also the best even when compared to many other cities around the world (yes, even in some Asian towns/cities). All their Hainanese Chicken are de-boned, which is very smart, because it make much less mess at a service point of view. If you order the Hainanese Chicken Rice dish, about $9, it comes also with the rice, which is yellowish in color and super flavorful. If you'd like more food, you also have the choice of ordering half a chicken or a full chicken, and however many bowls of rice you'd like.

Their Singaporean Laksa is also excellent. Made with a curry-based soup, it is full of fish balls, fish sticks, tofu puffs, shrimps and, of course, vermicelli. For some reason though, the Laksa almost always taste better when eating in the restaurant than when bought as a takeout item. So I would suggest that if you're going to order Laksa, eat it there. There is no difference for the Hainanese Chicken Rice, however.

My only problem with Cafe D'Lite is their opening hours. It is opened Monday to Thursday at 11AM to 8PM and on Friday to Saturday from 11AM to 9PM. So if you'd like to have dinner there on the weekdays, you'd have to go early. There has been quite a couple of times when we were turned away because we got their after there last order time, which is about 15 to 30 minutes prior to closing. Other than that, it is definitely a great restaurant to go to.

Cafe D'Lite 3144 W. Broadway Vancouver,B.C. Tel: 604.733.8882

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db Bistro Moderne

When I found out that Feenie's and Lumiere closed down a more than a year ago, I was very upset. They were my favorite restaurants in Vancouver! So when I heard that db Bistro Moderne opened and reopened Lumiere, I was very eager to try it out. Rumor has it, the Chef is supposed to be better than Rob Feenie. Well, he's NOT. Not only he's not better, he's no where near Rob Feenie.

I was disappointed from pretty much the begining with db Bistro Moderne. I didn't like the design of the restaurant to begin with. I don't know how to describe it really. The whole atmosphere just didn't impress at all. It seems like they're trying to be classy, casual, modern and classic all at the same time. It's not a big secret that if you're trying to be many things all at once, you're probably going to be quite unsuccessful at achieving any of it. That's the feeling I had for this restaurant. The only part of the restaurant that I liked, was it's private dinning room. It's separated from the rest of the restaurant by tinted glass panels, and can seat up to about 20 people. It's nice that you feel that you're still in a part of the restaurant while having the privacy of not having everyone overhearing your conversations.

After I got seated and had the chance to look at the menu, I was, once again disappointed. Usually, when I go to a nice restaurant, if I haven't had a particular dish in mind, I'll be very indecisive. There will, usually, be at least 2-3 items on the menu that I couldn't decide on which one to get. Unfortunately, when it came to db Bistro, I couldn't decide on what to get at all, because nothing was appealing enough. Well, at least for the main course that is.

Appetizer was easy enough for me, as nothing other than the Country Duck Terrine appealed to me. Out of all the appetizers (ranging from $9-$23), almost half of them were salads, and then many where similar things with a different name or ingredient. Not much of a choice there, really. I'm sorry to say, but there really isn't a diverse selection there. Thankfully, the terrine didn't disappoint, but that was pretty much the only thing that I'd go back to db Bistro for.

Main course was difficult. I don't think I've ever taken so long to decide on a main course, even when I get indecisive. There was really nothing on the menu that was appealing. I end up ordering the Original db Burger for 2 reasons. One, I didn't know what else to order, and two, I wanted to compare it to Feenie's Burger. Well, there was nothing to compare, because the db Burger was simply not comparable to the Feenie's Burger. Not only is it not comparable to Feenie's Burger, it's not comparable to Moderne Burger's burger just a block down the road, and it's not comparable to the burger at Market by Jean-George at the Shangri-La either. And guess what? The Original db Burger is $28, whereas if you go to Market for lunch, you can get a 3 course meal for the same price. Go figure why on Earth db Bistro have the nerve to charge $28 for a burger like theirs.

My mother ordered the Seafood Bouillabasse for $28, which was larger than the one over in the Blue Water Cafe, but of significantly lower quality in taste. And my father ordered a special that day, consisting of various pork products from 8 different parts of the pork. Forgive me for forgetting the name of the dish, but it was mainly because it wasn't memorable. Now it is a German-like dish, so that maybe part of the contributing factors to why we were not impressed at all by it. At the same time, let me say that I've definitely had better German food.

We didn't order dessert, as I pretty much stuffed myself with fries and everyone in my family is a small eater, so I can't really say if they have a good pastry chef or not. But I'm really not about to going back to try that either. The restaurant was just disappointing for me on average, and I certainly wish that they don't claim that they're better than Rob Feenie. I'm actually very hesitant to go to the new Lumiere right now, as I believe I'll be spending a lot of money for nothing... You know what, I think I'll go to the Cactus Club Cafe, maybe they'll have better food there, with Rob Feenie as the Food Concept Architect.

DB Bistro Moderne 2551 W. Broadway Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.739.7115

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