Ayoub's Dried Fruit and Mixed Nuts

love the chandelier in Ayoub's

If you love nuts and dried fruit, you'll have to check this place out.  Ayoub's first of all is beautiful. It's like walking into another world.  The white shelves, silver urns filled with fragrant spiced nuts and the huge candelier hanging in the centre of the room make for an impressive first impression.

Looping Video Food Porn Reviews: The Vine App

Ooh la la! Les macarons! vine.co/v/bpZQ6BziXnv
— Linda S. Kwan (@Cakebrain) March 17, 2013

This is my first time using The Vine App: 6 second looping videos.   I'm still not sure whether I like this over still shots. It gets me all dizzy watching the looping videos. Perhaps I need to work on my perspective and filming techniques. You can create stop-motion or short video clips. I think this could be a good thing if I can improve my filming techniques.

La Petite France Revisited

Picasso


Relatives from out of town are in Vancouver and I thought before they leave they should try some French sweets. I headed to my favourite patisserie at Arbutus and 10th: La Petite France. When I walk in and look at the showcase of baked goods I am reminded of my stay in France with my dear friends V & P.

Though my trip to England and France was a few years ago, the imagery is still vivid in my mind. We travelled across regions of France by car that summer and I got a taste of what life was really like in France. The countryside was amazing with its fields of sunflowers with their heads bowed towards the summer sun. "La plage" was not the kind of beach I was used to in Vancouver, but it was pretty nonetheless. We have sandy beaches lapped by the cold Pacific Ocean; whereas a few of the beaches we visited were grassy man-made affairs ringed with concrete or pebbles around a pool of water. Perhaps this was because we were not hanging out along the coast I reckon.

Mangue Framboise

Staying with V & P was so much better than doing the touristy hotel thing. Each region we visited was so unique that it was like being in a different country. With its diverse topography, France seems to have it all. The regional specialties were the highlights of my trip. I recall the little works of edible art in the patisseries, all lined up like glistening soldiers. Meringues were as huge as your face. Croissants were flaky, buttery, golden brown and ethereal. Hot chocolate never tasted so good in the morning, drunk from a bowl. I dipped my brioche in the hot chocolate and little crumbs of the butter-rich bread floated in the chocolatey-brown froth.

Mousse au 3 chocolat (white, milk & dark chocolate)

V & P shared with me an incomparable lifestyle so much different than the Canadian one I led back home. Life slowed down. I learned to eat more slowly. I realized the open market, with fresh local produce, was the ideal way to purchase and enjoy food. Fruits and vegetables were at their peak and regional cuisine was not a trendy way of eating but a way of life. Red wine became an everyday beverage and I realized that bottled water could be salty too. I realized I loved cheese of all sorts and saucissons sec and rillettes were revelations.

I don't think I ate a thing that was processed in the way we North Americans process our fast foods and junk foods. The French way of life made a lifelong impression upon me and I wistfully remember when I came home I thought our ways "cold". I missed the air kisses on the cheek. I missed the wine, the cheese, the pace of life and of course I missed my friends V & P. I embarked on a mission to try to relive those memories. I tried to locate authentic French cheeses and wines and all sorts of foods. I purchased a cast iron fondue pot and made authentic cheese fondue. I bought an expensive crepe pan to replicate the fantastic crepes I ate (with my favourite filling, Nutella!)

Mangue,coco et annas

You know what? though I found some really good renditions of all those foods, it just wasn't the same. I soon fell off the French wagon. It was too difficult and expensive to keep up the ruse. I think it best to live and eat like the locals.

Interestingly enough, I didn't gain any weight during my stay in France. In fact, I think I lost a few pounds. I don't recall snacking at all during my stay there. People just didn't seem to snack like we do in North America. We also walked quite a bit. And we didn't sit around watching television all day.

Walking into the little west side patisserie, La Petite France, is like walking into France. The little shop has a display case with authentic French pastries. You can find madeleines, an opera cake, handmade chocolates, baguettes and croissants. It even has a mini deli if you're hankering for something savoury. When you sit down with your eclair and a little white cup of illy coffee, you're transported back to France for the moment.

NEW TOWN BAKERY & RESTAURANT, CHINATOWN

sticky rice dumplings with green mung beans and salted pork
steamed pork and veggie bun

Who's got the best big buns?

No, not JLo.

In Vancouver's Chinatown, New Town Bakery & Restaurant is an old-fashioned diner with orange naugahyde booths and linoleum floors. Chinese-Canadians in the know realize that this institution is home to Canada's best steamed "big buns". These are not the fluffy white concoctions you find in most Dim Sum Houses. These buns are tender, slightly chewy and full of savoury or sweet fillings. One bun can make a light meal or a big snack. You can freeze them and heat in the microwave, they're portable and kids love them too.

all the buns have red markings stamped on top of the buns indicating the fillings. this one indicates pork and veggie

Some of the Big Bun fillings include: Bbq Pork, Pork and Vegetable, Beef, Red Bean Paste, Veggie and their Special (which includes pretty much everything including a salted duck egg). There are more flavours but these are what I primarily order.

The New Town Bakery stocks Malaysian, Filipino and Chinese bakery items. My favourites are the deep-fried apple tarts (a recipe not as good as the closed-down Hong Kong Cafe--but it'll do!), the Steamed White Rice Pudding (Baak Tong Goh), the Big Buns, and the Sticky Rice in Banana Leaves.

sticky rice dumplings wrapped in banana leaves (dzung)

We like to buy a dozen buns (usually pork and veggie, bbq pork and the special) and freeze them for use throughout the week. We also pick up a few sticky rice dumplings. These can be frozen too and boiled for 30 minutes to heat.

I've eaten in the restaurant a few times. It's cheap eats and many of the Chinese old-timers eat here. Generally however, I like to just grab my hot buns and run.

New Town Bakery & Restaurant

158 Pender Street East

Vancouver, BC V6A 1T3
(604) 689-7835
(604) 682-3398

T ROOM BAKERY & KITCHENWARE

t-room: bakery & kitchenware store

Ahh. Fall in Vancouver is my favourite time of the year...

Today is Gymboree music class for Bib. She's in Music I and is lovin' it (sorta). Well, she only cries when another baby starts crying. I think it's sympathetic crying on her part. Stomach and Bib stayed for the class and Bebe and I went for a stroll along 10th Avenue since it was a great sunny day. On the way back I noticed a bakery that I had read about in the Georgia Straight. It's T Room: Bakery & Kitchenware, located in Point Grey Village.

the kitchenware side of t room

The word "kitchenware" on the sign beckoned me because I'm a sucker for kitchen gadgets.

I spotted a funky blue and brown apron (which I purchased) and salivated over all the goodies. Bebe wanted the Princess Cake (of course) and I wanted the Chocolate Mousse, although the Sacher looked enticing as did the Meringue Sandwiches.

are those matcha cookies i see in that cookie jar?

chocolate mousse

princess cake

yeah, i know it's green, but bebe wanted it!

The friendly staff gave me a tour of the store and allowed me to take some pictures. They do not yet have a website set up and just recently opened this past July.

t room's sweet offerings

T Room's great because it's got it all. They have one side of the store dedicated to really cool kitchenware. The other side is the "tea/dining" area and further to the back of the store you have a private room you can book for special functions. This room overlooks the backyard garden and you can overlook the kitchen area where all the delicious sweets are made.

a private room in the back of the store for special functions

The highlight of T Room on a beautiful sunny Vancouver day is the backyard garden. It is absolutely gorgeous. I was told that you could have little parties back here and they recently hosted a preschooler's birthday party. They also offer a selection of great teas and I was told they do High Tea as well.

garden courtyard at the back of t room

I had to leave but I'll have to visit again and try their teas.

It looks like the perfect place for me to hang out with a cup of tea, a dainty sweet and a huge stack of essays to mark!

T Room Bakery &Kitchenware

4445 10th Ave. W

Vancouver, B.C. V6R 2H8

Canada

(604) 677-BKRY (2579)

TRoomBakery@yahoo.com

google map

THE MACARON BATTLE BEGINS!

assorted macarons from ganache patisserie, yaletown

So the Battle of the Macaron begins...

Believing that education is the road to enlightenment, I decided to do some background research on what a real French Macaron should taste and look like.

this is what a real macaron should look like

I also decided to purchase some Macarons from Ganache Patisserie in Yaletown just to make sure I am not baking in the dark.

When I arrived in the late afternoon, on a Saturday before Thanksgiving, there was already a lineup of 5 men in front of me. Odd I thought. 2 ladies were having beverages and sweets at a little table near the window and a lovely glass vase on a display table in the window was mounded full of pink macarons. Eureka!

The object of my desire rested in the glass showcase of desserts. Being a thorough investigator, I had to purchase a few of the other cakes on display just to make sure Pastry Chef/Owner Peter Fong was as good as I heard he was.

And what do you know! He was manning the till. What's with that? Apparently he told another customer (a regular I think) that he had given the girls a lunch break and he was stuck alone with a big lineup of people!

The first man requested a huge slab cake and Chef Fong said he needs at least a day's notice (no doubt!) The man needed to feed 8 people and thought the cakes there were too small. Chef Fong said that they would indeed feed 8. However, the man, being used to Superstore Slabs and the Safeway Special probably didn't believe him and left the store empty-handed. Tsk tsk.

The 3 French guys in front of me each ordered and paid separately and were wishy-washy about what to get. Geesh! And the guy in front of me took forever ordering the Chocolat Veloute.

Finally when it was my turn, I ordered a small box (of 9) assorted macarons. They looked a lot tinier than I thought they would be. There was chocolate, lemon, strawberry and vanilla. The box was $5.95

Then, I ordered the Rose et Pamplemousse mousse cake for Stomach and a Chocolat-Canneberge mousse cake for Bebe and Matcha Exotique for me. Check out the menu here for the cake components and other offerings. Most cakes about $5.95 each

the matcha-exotique (green tea mousse, mango-passionfruit gelée, lychees, black sesame biscuit joconde)

I was a bit miffed because Stomach had tilted my box of pastries while loading up Costco stuff in the trunk. I found my Chocolat-Canneberge cake smushed up against the Matcha Exotique. I was fuming at him and he was wondering what the fuss was all about.

chocolat-canneberge: white chocolate cranberry parfait, milk chocolate mousse, praline crunch

At home, I opened the macaron box first. The lemon macaron exterior was smooth and crispy-delicate like a thin eggshell and inside it was a burst of lemon flavour. The interior was tender and light and dissolved quickly not unlike confectioner's sugar. It was like eating air. You wanted to eat more just to make sure it was as good as it was. Only the taste sensation is so fleeting. There was no chewiness to speak of in these macarons.

Aha.

rose et pamplemousse: vanilla-grapefruit parfait, apricot financier, rose crème brûlée, strawberry-rhubarb gelée

Ganache Patisserie was worth the trip. It definitely wasn't all traditional. For traditional, I'd go back to La Petite France. Peter Fong's patisserie takes a cool modern Asian twist to many of his cakes and that's refreshing too.

I'm going to have to do further research on this but this was an excellent scouting adventure to be sure.

L'A PATISSERIE: A EURO-ASIAN BAKERY

Bebe's request: Black forest cake. Those are chunks of dark cherry jello!

I was walking by this Euro-Asian bakery on Granville Street and couldn't resist trying something.

Lychee mousse cake: the best out of the bunch, I think. Chocolate and vanilla sponge layers are nice too.

Green tea mousse cake. Green tea and chocolate cake. The chocolate sponge was not as tender and moist. I didn't like this one. But it didn't stop me from eating it all.

Coconut mousse cake with (sweet) black rice and mango mousse chunks. Looks like the pastry chef decided to throw all the leftovers into this one! Bebe didn't like it, but Stomach did. He thought the cake was on the dry side though.


Lots of fusion stuff here. They've got real boules, baguettes and european-inspired breads along with traditional chinese pastries.
L'A PATISSERIE
8278 Granville street Vancouver BC V6P 4Z4 TEL: 604-269-0002

OOF! ...ATE...TOO...MUCH!

vietnamese roll-dip with shredded pork on vermicelli noodles

I'm so sick of eating Chinese food! I want some other flavours. This weekend we had takeout because Bib is starting to crawl and we need to stay home for her sake (and ultimately ours!) We had cheapie Vietnamese food for dinner Friday, Chinese Dim Sum on Saturday, and Shanghai food and Indian food for dinner.

lemongrass chicken on rice

For Friday's dinner, the hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant that Stomach picked up food from was actually good. Sorry, I don't know the name--will get back to you with that, but here's the pictures! Each dish was only $6.00. They were decent portions for the money and we were full. My mother wasn't so crazy about her Lemongrass Chicken on Rice (however it was a huge portion) but Bebe loved her Meatballs in soup with Vermicelli, and I like my dish on the whole, although my Shredded pork was--"eh...okay" with mini springrolls on Vermicelli. In fact Stomach forgot to order my usual favourite which had grilled pork or chicken instead of the shredded pork.
beef balls with rice noodles in soup

By Saturday I was still craving something different. We had dimsum at Red Star Chinese Restaurant for lunch and I wasn't as impressed with it as Stomach and his mother was. I didn't like the overabundance of cheapie celery and carrots in their Hand-Shredded Chicken salad with jellyfish...and I hate jellyfish and couldn't find the chicken in the dish. Perhaps I was getting miffed because I didn't really want to eat dimsum again! By this time too I was so wanting something else other than Chinese food. I mean, yeah...Vietnamese is different, but I want really different. I wanted Indian food. Nobody else in my household likes Indian food. So fortunately, by doing takeout I still get what I want. Stomach ordered Shanghai takeout from Golden Great Wall on Broadway for himself and Bebe, and I had my Indian food from "Raga" on Broadway.

For $19.95 (a combo special for one person), you get 7 (500ml) styrofoam containers, a huge foot-long foil pack with naan bread, and another smaller foil packet with 2 pieces of tandoori chicken. The styro containers had butter chicken, lamb curry, daal, raita, chana pindi (chickpeas), pulao rice and a container full of dessert (kheer--a basmati rice pudding cooked with milk, piastachios and almonds, served cold). Though I was looking forward to the "gulab jamun (Indian doughnut)dessert" as advertised in the takeout menu for the combo, Bebe seemed to really like the substitution kheer and gobbled it all up.
indian food: a little bit of everything!

I scooped out a couple of tablespoons of each item on my dinner plate, leaving the rest in their styro containers. I ripped off a quarter of the bread and took out one piece of the tandoori chicken. It looked to me a bit much for one sitting so I was cautious. I played it safe...or so I thought I did. With Bebe helping me with the dessert and a bit of the naan--which really put me over the top because it was huge--I was still so stuffed that after dinner I couldn't move. You know that feeling you get after Thanksgiving turkey? I put away the rest of the food in the fridge for the next day. My craving satiated, I now crave a rest from food. We're taking a break tomorrow and not eating out for lunch!

KOON BO SEAFOOD RESTAURANT (TAKEOUT!)

lobster with ginger and green onions on a bed of yee mein

Mmm. Nothing more decadent than lobster takeout. Yup you heard it. Bib's more at ease at home in her exersaucer while I'm chowing down on lobster. This way I have all the time in the world to lick/suck the lobster shells all I want.

oyster hot pot

We ordered Lobster in Ginger and Green Onion sauce with Yee Mein underneath to collect all the delectable juices. As well, we had Oyster Hot pot and Beef and Gai Laan. The total bill was $97. The lobster was $20/lb for a total of $63 and the extra yee mein was $7 on top of that. My favourite dish was actually the Oyster Hot Pot. It was delicious! This is not lobster season, I suspect. Not only was it expensive but it was also not so meaty. However, the yee mein had soaked up whatever lobster flavours there were and it was yummy. The Beef and Gai Laan was very good too.

beef and gai laan

FOOD REVIEW

RESTAURANT: KOON BO SEAFOOD RESTAURANT (TAKEOUT)

ADDRESS: 5682 Fraser Street (at 41st ave), Vancouver

PHONE: (604) 323-1218

PARKING: (not enough) in the parking lot out front

COUPONS: no

FOOD: 10/12

AMBIENCE: 4/6

SERVICE: 4/6

TOTAL POINTS: 18/24

PRICE: $$$-$$$$

GINGERI: IS IT WHAT IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE?

sticky rice in fresh banana leaves


deep fried silver rolls...note the neat layers inside!

I've been to Gingeri on more than one occasion for dim sum. It's located in Lansdowne Mall and usually has hordes of Chinese families waiting out in the mall, in line to get in. I learned from Stomach that the waiter informed him of a smokin' deal if you eat and pay before 11:45a.m. You get 20% off your bill. Fortunately, we were here at 10:30 a.m. with a reservation!

Now, that explains the hordes of Chinese people out there. The food too has to be good. It was voted by Vancouver Magazine a "Silver" for best dim sum. Today I came to see if it's all that it's cracked up to be.
deep fried wonton with sweet and sour sauce

One thing that's outstanding is the unique dimsum available. We ended up ordering 9 dishes because I accidentally left a stray pencil mark on the computerized "scantron" bubble sheets. Oh well. The stray mark landed on deep fried wonton. It could have been worse. At least it's deep fried and Bebe and I always like that.

People fed up with the same old stuff on the dim sum menus can find some really unique dishes here. We had a seafood salad, decorated with a wisp of real gold leaf, in a deep-fried mini taro cup that was very good. Stomach didn't think their Har Gow ($4.20) was anything to brag about. He's had better and said this one was standard. The steamed spareribs were good as was the steamed beef balls with bean curd sheets ($3.75). I didn't like the strong orange peel flavour in the beef, but Stomach thought it was assertive but good. Of course, the deep fried wonton was excellent: crispy with a deliciously succulent shrimp paste filling and a well-balanced sweet and sour dip.

The unique deep fried silver rolls ($3.00) served with a condensed milk dip was yummy but I find restaurants never give you enough dip! We also ordered a particularly fine sticky rice wrap which was elevated to another level with its use of fresh banana leaves, which impart a much more fragrant aroma to the steamed sticky rice. To conclude, we ordered the coconut pudding ($3.30) which was light, coconuty (what else?) and refreshing.

You know what? Now that I've tabulated all our dishes, I noticed we didn't receive our lo bak goh (panfried turnip cake), which I know I ordered for Bebe--her favourite. I had also checked our list of dishes and counted nine; they're all written in Chinese so I wouldn't know how to read them anyway. I think we paid for 9 dishes (total bill was $32) and left without getting the last dish. Oh, man! Well, there goes the 20% smokin' deal down the tubes.

Stomach thought the food was pretty good and I agree. But next time I'm going to make sure we get all our dishes before we leave.

FOOD REVIEW

RESTAURANT: GINGERI, Chinese Cuisine

ADDRESS: Unit 323 Lansdowne Centre

PHONE: (604) 278-6006

PARKING: in the mall's parking lot

COUPONS: 20% off dimsum before 11:45a.m.; 20% off takeout menu; set banquet menus for large parties ($428, $528,$628,or $888/10 persons)

FOOD: 10/12

AMBIENCE: 5/6

SERVICE: 5/6

TOTAL POINTS: 20/24

PRICE: $$-$$$