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I missed Pho

On my second morning in Canada, I was amazed at how much greenery I saw and the beautiful little violet flowers (probably some kind of weed) growing in the lawns of some the homes I passed by. What also impressed me was how satisfying a bowl of pho noodles and a tall cold glass of Vietnamese coffee can bring. This was comfort food at it's best. The breakfast of champions.

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Pho noodles, full of brisket, flank steak, tripe, and bean sprouts

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Vietnamese coffee, really strong stuff
# by ekwok | 2007-07-02 23:26 | Travel Abroad

Guess who!  誰だ!

I saw these two Japanese comedians waiting for the same flight back to Japan at Vancouver airport. They're famous but I can't remember their names.

この漫才師 のふたりを見ちゃいました。私達は一緒にバンクーバーの空港に飛行機を待ちました。湯名人だなのに名前は全然覚えません。

I asked if it was okay to take their picture...in English.

「写真撮ってもよろしいですか」と聞きましたけど、英語でやちゃった。

Guess who!  誰だ!_f0101571_1392029.jpg

# by ekwok | 2007-06-29 01:59 | Travel Abroad

Le Petit Bedon

Nami and I went to Le Petit Bedon for lunch before I went to Vancouver. This restaurant is where you can get "casual" French fare. (Bistro Pachon is for bistro food and Restaurant Pachon is for high class dining.)

This was what I ate.

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This is a terrine made from pig ears and set in herby aspic. It was crunchy, refreshing, and good. Now, maybe you're thinking, "pig ears?! gross!" but it was good. Actually, Sursur Lee makes a terrine from pig ears that looks like a wonderful French chocolate cake. (I'm a big Sursur Lee fan now. Bought his book.) The sauce was a red wine reduction vinegrette.

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This was good! Quail stuffed with foie gras with a champagne grape sauce. Delectable! Wonderful! The square thing was potato galette. I tried to make this with chicken for my parents and brother when I was in Vancouver except I didn't have foie gras so it didn't taste the same at all.

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We got to choose three desserts from the dessert cart. So I picked a triple chocolate mousse cake, creme caramel cake, and Calvados sorbet. I love Calvados. I take a bottle as a Christmas present. Bistro Pachon uses Calvados in the their apple jus for the the roast pork that they serve. So if you try that then you know what a different it makes. (I would also like a bottle of Kirsch, please.)

I'll talk about Nami's choice another time.
# by ekwok | 2007-06-29 01:38 | Restaurants

Vancouver-The Sky is Big

Ahhh...the wonderful palette of Vancouver's sky. I missed this.

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# by ekwok | 2007-06-29 01:24 | Travel Abroad

Maison Cote Vancouver

On this trip to Vancouver, I went to Granville Island. It is heaven for any chef, the place where you can get anything fresh produceand fruit, meat, spices, herbs, and other interesting things.

This was one of the things that I found by a company called Maison Cote.

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I taste a black cherry balsamic vinegar and raspberry balsamic vinegar. They were both so good but I thought I should control myself and just bought the raspberry balsamic. I also bought a bottle of white truffle oil. It tasted so much better than the stuff from Takashimaya and cheaper too!

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The store person told me that the producers make all their balsamic vinegars the traditional way. The only difference is the type of starting material. Except for something like the white truffle balsalmic vinegar, I think it's a blend of white truffles and grapes. Actually, the acidity of the balsamic base overpowered the flavor of the white truffle. But you could detect it in the finish, it was this pungent fill-your-mouth kinda thing.
# by ekwok | 2007-06-29 01:22 | Travel Abroad