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

Read more...

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.

Read more...

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

Read more...

Miku Restaurant

With Japanese food being my absolute favorite cuisine, it's only natural for me to go try pretty much everything new out there. I had the opportunity to dine at the Miku Restaurant a little while ago, and it was definitely one of the best sushi restaurants in the Downtown area.

Unlike the more traditional Japanese restaurants, Miku features the aburi sushi, which is nigiri sushi dipped in various sauces, then slightly seared. To be honest, as a Japanese food lover, I'm a little ashamed to say that I've never heard of this type of sushi prior to going to Miku. But nonetheless, the experience was more than a positive one.

So since it was the first time for us to try this type of sushi, we decided to order the Premium Aburi Sushi for $18, which has small a selection of different aburi sushi, to see what it's like. In addition, we also ordered a couple of the aburi rolls, which averages to be about $12 each. I must say though, although the food was all delicious, many of the rolls were similar to the ones present in the Premium Aburi Sushi dish. So, we did felt a redundancy. But then, it's our fault for ordering unwisely.

What I love the most about the aburi sushi in Miku is their sauces. It's not difficult to make sushi and then sear it, but it's difficult to make a different sauce to match each different fish and each different roll. And Miku does an excellent job at it. One thing though, just be be picky, it would be even better if the servers could warn the guest when they are ordering things of too similar taste. That would definitely avoid their guest getting "bored" if they weren't the best at picking out what to order.

Now talking about service, the people there were excellent people. Very nice, helpful and friendly. Unfortunately, the time when I went, they were understaffed, so there was a delay in service. But then I believe that they've hired more people, as I haven't been hearing anything bad about the restaurant from the other people who went there.

Other than food and service I heard that they serve a very nice mojito too, but I haven't had the chance to try. But I definitely love their patio. On a nice day, they actually do get some sun, as opposed to some other restaurants in the Downtown area that has a patio but no sun shining on it. However, their ambiance was only ok though, chic, but nothing unforgettable.

I would definitely recommend anyone who likes sushi to give this excellent restaurant a try. After all, it did snatch the Best Formal Japanese Restaurant Bronze Prize after only a few months of their opening. If you don't mind a later dinner, I'd say go after 8PM. It's because the meter parkings are EXPENSIVE just outside of the building, but after 8PM, it's free!

Miku Restaurant #2 – 1055 West Hastings St (at the Guinness Tower) Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.568.3900

Read more...

Shi-Art Chinese Cuisine

Being in Vancouver, we are very lucky, as there are so many choices when it comes to authentic Chinese restaurants. There are tiny ones where the maximum seating is 20 or so, and there are huge ones where you can hold a banquet for several hundred. But whatever the size, there's always quite a couple with quality food. One of the ones that I go to the most is Shi-Art Chinese Cuisine in Richmond Centre. Both their dim sum and dinner are quite good, and the best thing is, they are the only place where you can get dim sum at four in the afternoon.

One of the best thing about Shi-Art Chinese Cuisine is that you can't really go wrong no matter what you ordered. Of the many times I've been to this restaurant, there hasn't been a time when I had thought a dish was terrible. True there were times when I didn't think it was fantastic or anything, but nothing stood out as absolutely horrible.

There price could be a little higher than others in Richmond when it comes to seafood, but at least they are honest when telling you how many pounds that lobster is, as opposed to some other restaurants that will tell you it weighs more. The best thing is just to pick whatever that's on special. If you're an early riser, go to have dim sum there and finish before 11AM to get a discount. The food and quality is all the same, it's just that if not for the discount, not many will go for lunch that early.

Shi-Art Chinese Cuisine is not necessarily the best authentic Chinese restaurant in town, but it's definitely decent. Although the service can be sloppy if you don't know the managers, with the consideration of their food quality and pricing, it's really not bad of a choice when you're craving for Chinese food.

Shi-Art Chinese Cuisine 1302-6551 No. 3 Rd Richmond, B.C. Tel: 604.279.8998

Read more...

Toratatsu Japanese Tapas Bistro

Walking down Denman Street one evening during the summer, I noticed a, relatively new, restaurant close to the intersection of Denman and Alberni. The restaurant was small with contemporary design and a lively atmosphere. I've always love Izakaya-type restaurants, and when I looked at their menu, I immediately knew I had to come try the place. Toratatsu Japanese Tapas Bistro is the relocation of Shiru-Bay Chopstick Cafe that was used to be in the Yaletown area. I've always loved Shiru-Bay's tapas, and have missed it much. I finally had the chance to go on Friday, and was overjoyed that they still serve my favorite dishes at the same high quality that I loved so much.

One of the good things about ordering at Toratatsu is that you don't necessarily have to be good at ordering to make sure you get the best dishes. They have a list of their most popular items, and all of them are great. My favorite had to be the Negitoro with Garlic Toast. I love Negitoro to begin with, but I've never imagined it with Garlic Toast until I had it in Shiru-Bay. It was great being able to have this dish again, and Toratatsu does even a better job at it than before.

Many of the tapas are quite innovative, and tasty at the same time. Their Cheese Tofu is definitely a dish I would call "weird but delicious." The dish is of cream mascarpone, mixed with a touch of honey, and served with baguette. It sure does look like tofu, but without the texture that a lot of Western people are not used to. The only thing about this dish is that, at Toratatsu, it's served with some strawberries on top, which overpowers the cheese tofu a little too much. If you eat it without the strawberries, it's much better tasting.

The other dishes that we've ordered that are excellent were Yakiniku Lettuce Wrap, which is like Korean barbecue pork served with a little bit of rice, kimchi, lettuce and korean hot sauce, and Sashimi Salad with a wasabi soy vinaigrette. The Foie Gras terrine with yuzu miso was ok, and the Musashi Roll was average. Of what we remember from Shiru-Bay, their sushi items are only average, so we probably won't be ordering them again next time we go. But otherwise, everything else is great.

Now one thing, which is not their fault, and I blame stupid Safeway for it, is that it's super difficult to find a parking spot in that area. I drove around and around for at least 15 minutes, and was only able to get a spot because we have a Handicapped sign for my father. I really hated Safeway for taking out that parking lot on Robson and Denman when they build the new Public Market thingy a couple years back. But again, that's really not the restaurant, or any restaurant in the area's fault.

Toratatsu Japanese Tapas Bistro 735 Denman St. Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.685.9399

Read more...

Azia

Somehow my dad heard about the Azia Restaurant in Downtown, and he's been wanting to go ever since. I never expected it to be very good, and it wasn't. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't worth going back to. I mean, what can you ask for when a restaurant serves Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian and Thai cuisine all at once? If a business is just everywhere trying to do everything at the same time, it's just impossible to be good at it.

We ordered a variety of items including sushi, Peking Duck Spring Rolls, Satay, Ebi Mayo, Velvet Cream of Corn Soup, and Hokkien Mee (stir fried noodles). The only dish that was relatively good was the Ebi Mayo, but still, it was nothing compared to the ones you can get in Japanese izakaya restaurants. The spring rolls were super oily, evident of the oil not being hot enough, and they didn't try to get rid of the oil after cooking it. The soup was ok, but it's easy to get the same result with instant soup. The Hokkien Mee was nothing like it's supposed to be, and tasted simply like stir fried noodles with soya sauce, plus some seafood.

Portions are small considering the quality and the pricing. Appetizers are anywhere from $3.95 - $9.95, curry dishes averages at about $13, rice and noodle dishes at about $12, and seafood dishes are even higher.

I won't recommend this restaurant unless your party can't decide on what to eat and would like to have a variety of different things on the menu. As much as the ambiance was good, and the service was average, the food and price really didn't make up for it. I know I certainly won't be going back.

Azia Restaurant 990 Smithe St. Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.682.8622

Read more...

Au Petit Chavignol

Having lived in Switzerland for 3 years, I've developed a love for cheese. Although I wouldn't say that I learnt to appreciate all kinds of cheese, but I definitely crave for good cheese all the time. So when I learnt about Au Petit Chavignol, I went there with my family right away.

Au Petit Chavignol is a small restaurant, opened by the owner of Les Amis du Formage, one of the best cheese shops in Vancouver with a wide variety of stock, and a few others. Seating is at a first come first serve basis, so I usually either go very early on weekends or I choose to go on weeknights instead to avoid long waiting time.

When going to this restaurant, I recommend cutting straight to the point and ordering nice cheese dishes. It does not make sense to me to go to a wine and cheese shop and order French Fries, say. Same thing with beverages, order wine. If non-alcoholic beverage is preferred, they also have some sparkling juices that are very nice. My family's favorite is the sparkling pear juice.

If you're a first-timer to Au Petit Chavignol, I suggest ordering a Grand Tasting Plater. There will be a selection of cheeses, charcuterie and accompaniments. I usually ask them to include their terrine of the day in there too, since it's usually excellent. I like it that they ask for your preferences for cheeses, so you can tell them what you like or dislike. I always ask them to exclude blue cheeses and hard cheeses, because we didn't like them. The servers there are very nice, and the selections the chefs make are usually excellent. A small plater is about $30 and a large plater is $45.

My favorite thing on the menu is the Cheese Fondue. They have the Savoyard Blend of three different Swiss cheese, which I forgot the names of all of them. And I must say, I've been searching for good fondue out of Switzerland and this is it!!! It's just as good as the best cheese fondues I've had in Switzerland, where the dish (if you can call it dish) is invented. I've been recommending this restaurant to everyone I know that loves cheese mainly because of how good their fondue is. I mean, the other stuff are great too, but the fondue!! You're missing out if you don't come here if you like Cheese Fondue.

They also have the Raclette available. I would recommend it if you're either craving for it or would like to try it out just for the experience. Unfortunately, because they do not have the actual device to heat up the whole half round of raclette cheese, they use a small raclette grill that you use yourself, and that just didn't quite compare with the real thing. I've yet to find a place outside of Switzerland that serves Raclette the way it's supposed to be served. But nonetheless, Au Petit Chavignol's Raclette is not bad when compared to other restaurants, even in Switzerland, using the same type of small raclette grill.

Since the restaurant features wine and cheese, they, obviously, have an extensive wine list. But again, I wasn't able to comment much on the wine other than their open white wine, which I randomly picked out of the list was of very good quality.

The only thing that I really complain about Au Petit Chavignol is their location. Since they are on East Hastings St., I don't feel particularly safe going there at night for dinner. But they usually have lost of parking space on the streets just outside of the restaurant, so I try to park as close as possible. But other than that, Au Petit Chavignol is a restaurant not to be missed by cheese lovers. Especially those who appreciates cheese fondue.

Au Petit Chavignol 843 East Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.255.4218

Read more...

Market by Jean Georges Restaurant

I've been to the Market by Jean Georges for lunch twice now, and have yet to try dinner there. The restaurant is fine dining, but does have a casual cafe atmosphere to it with a terrace opened throughout the day for drinks and meals. Unfortunately, though, both of my lunch experiences with them were only above average, and sadly, it was only because the service wasn't up to par.

One of the best thing about lunch at Market by Jean Georges is the price. You can get a 3 course menu at only $28, without beverages, and there is a very good selection of dishes you can choose from. All their ingredients are seasonal and regional, so you can be sure that everything is fresh. And being a restaurant of a celebrity chef, the quality of the dishes are, as expected, high.

We've had quite a few dishes there, including salads, scallops, raw oysters, pizza, fishes, steaks and hamburgers, and my favorite had to be their Black Truffle Pizza. Its crust is thin and crispy, and the pizza is very delicious. A little too big for an appetizer, but nonetheless, very delicious. Their raw oysters are decent. There are about 4 different oysters, a red wine vinegar sauce and a cocktail sauce to choose from. Unfortunately, neither the quality of the oysters nor the sauces are as good as the Blue Water Cafe, but for a 3 course lunch menu appetizer, it is worth a try. Their main courses are all quite good, although none stood out as the best in town.

Dessert-wise, I must say that they have quite good of a pastry chef. All of the desserts that I've tried there were excellent, although my favorite had to be the Chocolate Mousse... but then my favorites almost always have chocolate in it.

Now the thing that I didn't really like about Market by Jean Georges is the service. In generally, I am disappointed by the service by the Shangri-La Hotel in Vancouver. The first time I went for lunch, it was very busy, and the service speed was much too slow. Although the second time I was there, the speed of service has improved, the servers are still not as attentive as they should be in a luxury hotel restaurant. For example, I would finish my glass of water during main course, and never had it refilled throughout the rest of my meal, although the server came by several times to clear the table and serve us coffee and dessert. Now I didn't ask him to refill my water, but at a restaurant like that, I shouldn't have to ask.

Other than the service not being up to par for a luxury hotel restaurant, I think Market by Jean Georges is a pretty good choice for quality lunch in Downtown Vancouver. For $28, the portions are decent and filling, and the quality of the ingredients and the dishes are excellent.

Market by Jean Georges 1115 Alberni St. (3rd Floor in Shangri-La Hotel) Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.695.1115

Read more...

Fleuri Restaurant at Sutton Place Hotel for High Tea

My family, especially my mom, has always adored afternoon tea. And there is nothing, we find, better than a good cup of tea with some nice scones, finger sandwiches and small pastries. It's not difficult to find tea services, or high-teas, in Vancouver, but it's difficult to find good ones. Often, places that makes good scones didn't do very well with the sandwiches, and the places that did well with the sandwiches didn't do well with the pastries. Luckily, the Fleuri Restaurant at Sutton Place Hotel serves a excellent tea service that does well on all aspects.

The tea services at the Sutton Place is $24 per person and can certainly be shared, although everything is so good that one can easily finish a whole order by themselves. One of the things I really like about having high tea in the Sutton Place is the atmosphere and the service. Unlike the lobby lounge in Hotel Vancouver, the Fleuri Restaurant is a little tucked away from the main lobby area, providing a tranquil environment, and all my experiences with the services there have been excellent.

The tea service begins with the server bring over a box of teas for our selection. The box is a little too heavy to be passed around, but the loose teas are all in different glass jars for you to smell, so they can certainly be passed around the table. All of the teas, and there are about 12 kinds, there smell excellent, but my favorites are the Cassis and Vanilla Rooibos (I believe).

After you have chosen your tea, and it's served, the server will bring the 3 tiered High Tea. Each order will include 4 different sandwiches, 5 different sweet pastry items, a scone, and, of course, Devonshire Cream. All the items tastes great, but what I like most is that different breads are used for all the 4 sandwiches, so there's nothing repetitive about the set. Their sweets on the second tier are also excellent, although a little too sweet, but that is the way of desserts in North America. Their scone on the third tier is the highlight of the set, I believe they sometimes make it with white raisin and others with red, and their Devonshire Cream is definitely not to be missed when having the scone.

I'm quite surprised at the lack of people having tea at the Sutton Place Hotel when the quality is so high. Not that I'm complaining, because the less people go there, the less busy and quieter it is, the better atmosphere it is for me. But if you ask me where is the best High Tea in town, I'd have to say it's the Sutton Place. Although I understand that many like to go to the Shangri-La, but other than the nice teapots, cups and saucers, their quality of food and atmosphere is no match to the Sutton Place Hotel. Plus, the High Tea in Shangri-La is more expensive too.

Fleuri Restaurant at Sutton Place Hotel 845 Burrard St. Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.682.5511

Read more...

Cupcakes

More than once in a while, I get a sweet tooth (hence my flabby belly, hehe), and one of the things that I crave for is cupcakes. And since I live in Vancouver, getting cupcakes is not a difficult thing. Especially when we have the Cupcakes store that specializes in them.

They a great variety of colorful cupcakes with a good selection of flavors. Their stores are usually small, but staffed with friendly people. I like the fact that they have signs on every cupcake that you don't need to ask the cashier about every single cupcake flavor, and it greatly reduces the time at the line up too. The only problem is that they have too many flavors to choose from it gets a little difficult to decide.

My favorite one is the Mint Condition, chocolate cake with mint butter cream and mini chocolate chips on top. My mom really like the Koo Koo, coconut cake with cream cheese frosting and shredded coconut. They're a little on the expensive side though, $2.95 for a cupcake. It gets close to $30 for a dozen. So only buy for your friends if you're feeling super generous.

If you're watching for calories though, there are Minis available for $1.25 each. A good treat for those who needs portion control or those who couldn't finish a regular sized cupcake. Or, if you're the opposite, and want more, they also have the Big Ones for $7.50 each. But just be aware, the icing on the cupcakes are really sweet, so unless you have a super sweet tooth, it's difficult to finish a Big One.

The store has multiple locations, but I've only been to the ones in English Bay and the one near Robson Street. They're both great, and I really don't think it makes a difference of which one you go to. I'm only listing the address for English Bay here, but do checkout their website for all their store locations.

Cupcakes 1168 Denman St. Vancouver, B.C. Tel: 604.974.1300

Read more...