Yes! We're Eating Vegan Again!

Chau Veggie Express - Veganuary

I have wondered why several of the best plant-based menus in Metro Vancouver (now the 7th most popular city in the world for vegans according to 'Chef's Pencil') were Vietnamese or Vietnamese leaning. Take Do Chay, Chi Vegan and Chau Veggie Express, for example. All are vegan restaurants. It's not like the French influence in Vietnamese cuisine has led to this. Maybe the opposite would be true as while French cooking treats vegetables with respect, it is still quite meat and dairy-centric. What I have learned is that the influence of Vietnamese Buddhism seems to have led to the availability of eating 'chay' (Sorry. I'm probably using that word in the wrong way) or plant-based food. So while Chau Veggie Express sounds a little like a salad bar, it actually has a fairly sophisticated but reasonably priced vegan menu.

Located on Victoria Drive near 33rd, this place gets quite busy around noon (at least on Saturday). Order at the counter, find a seat and you will be brought your food as it is prepared.

We started with Bai Sao Beach Chips (hand-cut taro chips) with a paprika garlic tofu dip. These were very good. It is the first sign that CVE has a deep fryer which is an absolute must for a plant-based restaurant. The dip was also very good and very close in texture to a mayo-based dip. Crispy but not greasy, make sure you try these.

Refusing to give up despite my previous meh experiences with tempeh, we tried the Fresh Tempeh Roll. Given the green pea tempeh option, we went with that and we were not sorry. Classic Vietnamese in nature, these were refreshing and tasty with a nice crunch. The tempeh contributed to the veggie and noodle roll as did the orange coconut sauce.

The menu features a variety of bowls and soups which were perfect for a rainy day including the pho like Red Sand Dunes Soup. The peanut sate broth provided a rich base for noodles, tofu (including tofu skins), and veggies. With basil and sprouts on the side, we loved this.

We also chose a Tropical Rainstorm Bowl. Vermicelli noodles were served with a toasted coconut sauce, veggies, peanuts, coconut flakes and a vegan fish sauce. Another winner in our books. We felt very good about all of this meal including the leftovers which served for lunch the next day!

There is seating for maybe 16 inside and a few tables outside (weather permitting). With social distancing protocols in effect, friendly service and a nice vibe, we felt pretty comfortable and enjoyed our visit. You won't miss your steak!

Food 4 out of 5

Comfort 4 out of 5

Service 4 out of 5

Value 4 1/2 out of 5

Planetary Burger - Veganuary

To me, the burger is not a huge challenge in the vegan world. I don't feel 'meaty' is the critical flavour but if you do, then there is Beyond Meat or something similar. I think that it is as much about the bun and condiments and the whole package and at Planetary Burger, the whole package is pretty decent.

Located on Main Street near 15th, PB is next to another vegan place you might know, Kindness Cafe. We arrived early and ordered for take-out.

At PB, they offer 4 different burgers (plus all the possible variations) each of which has appeal. Starting with the 'meaty' Faux Real made from pea protein to the Shroom dip served with gravy, we found them all to be pretty creative and tasty.

They have started with a really good bun. It is buttery and soft but doesn't fall to pieces on you. They give it a quick toast on the grill. Pictured above are the Cauli and Shroom Dip.

They continue with mayo (garlic or chipotle depending on which burger) onion, tomato, lettuce and relish and we ordered ours with Cheese for 1$ (coconut-based but as close to processed cheese as I have encountered). You can order them with guac or gravy as well. They are all hearty and a nice burger leaving you with a clean conscience!

We decided to try their Sweet Potato Fries. Realizing that they wouldn't survive the trip home without getting soggy, we ate them on the road. They were nicely crispy and sweet and were served with chipotle mayo.

We also consumed a Blueberry Milkshake on the drive home. The milkshakes are coconut-based and that is the dominant flavour so that even this blueberry tasted like a coconut milkshake. We enjoyed it but if you are not a fan of coconut, be aware of what you're getting. The texture was surprisingly ice cream like though and did not lack for not having dairy products.

They have some upstairs seating and a couple of outside tables as well. They are following the appropriate protocols from what we could see. We are fans of the concept and the results and recommend PLanetary Burger if you feel that craving but prefer to keep your footprint under control!

Food 3 1/2 out of 5

Comfort 3 out of 5

Service 3 1/2 out of 5

Value 3 out of 5

Bandidas Taqueria - Veganuary 2021

I am happy to be entering the new year with Veganuary. After the foodological excesses of the "season", I feel like this is a way to get tuned up for what I assume will be a much better year than the last. However, after "World Vegan Month" in November of 2020, I worried that there could not be enough new places to try and review for another month. At this point though, it seems like there will be an abundance of planet-friendly, plant-based meals to indulge in and enjoy this month. I would like to see the people behind Veganuary and the people behind World Vegan Month come together and set an example for the people and governments of the world by compromising and spacing out their vegan months a little bit!

Bandidas is at the corner of Commercial and 12th and has a Mexican menu which is all vegetarian or all vegan if you prefer. They have some outside seating for the non-faint of heart who are able to eat bundled up against the weather and socially distant indoor seating. We arrived on Sunday in the a.m. before the lunch rush and the good news is that everything on the menu was available and not just the brunch items.

Whenever there is a menu item that is only served in limited quantities or on certain days I feel obliged to order it (assuming it is available). It often means that a more than average amount of effort is involved to provide the item. I'm not sure why the cornbread at Bandidas is only available at certain times but it was spectacular! The muffin itself had some texture from a coarse type of cornmeal and the outside leaned towards the slightly crispy! Excellent!

Mhaie orderd the Black Bean Enchiladas which were drowned in tasty sauce and cheese and baked (not vegan but available as such as are all menu items). This was very good! She asked for the side salad which was pretty spectacular in itself. With avocado and pumpkin seeds and topped with what seemed to be either feta or cojita.

I ordered 5 tacos. I didn't obsess too much over which of the 7 that are available to order. I just pointed at numbers 3 to 7 and left it to fate (not a real thing). Even in this photo, I am not entirely sure which is which. I ordered them vegan which was an extra dollar (for the whole plate, I think). They were all variations on vegetables and sauces and some spicy tofu etc. They were all nice combinations and something provided some heat! Very good!

It's comfortable inside except for the occasional blast of cool air. I expect we are being careful about recirculating the air regularly which explains the chill that we seem to feel at a lot of places these days. These folks are very nice and careful with their social distancing rules! Feel confident giving them a try during Veganuary or any other time!

Food 4 out of 5

Comfort 3 1/2 out of 5

Service 4 out of 5

Value 4 out of 5

Ebisu

I have to admit that I have always kind of passed Ebisu by. Their web site has always made me think that the restaurant is sort of the Asian food equivalent of a Cactus Club or Earls or other chain. There is nothing wrong with those places other than that they seem to keep pretty much to the road most travelled and don't really specialize. Not to sound like a food snob (well maybe just a little) but that's just my thought process. We were intending to eat at a place along Broadway for dinner on Boxing Day but it turned out to be closed (they had posted the closing on Instagram so I can't be too grouchy about it). As we walked it seemed that every other place was closed also but then there was Ebisu. So getting hungry and being grateful to find someplace open, we decided to give them a try.

We were seated right away at a nice big booth by a window (always happy to have space for taking pictures) and spent some time perusing the extensive menu.

It did not take me long to overcome my reticence about Ebisu as I decided to order freshly shucked oysters to start. I had not realized that they were on the Happy Hour menu at $6.50 for 5 so that made me happy! These little Royal Maiyagi oysters were delightfully cold and fresh and just nicely briny and served with a slightly spicy sauce! As Mharie is not a fan, I had them all to myself! Score!

We ordered Ika Karaage also off the HH menu and they arrived hot and crispy and served with spicy mayo. Nice!

Mharie chose the Bento Box with Sukiyaki and Karaage. Both were tasty enough but the chcken had a couple of inedible gristle pieces. The assorted tempura was OK as were the Dynamite and California rolls. It came with miso soup (you've seen that before) and a nice refreshing dish of ice cream to finish.

I had the Curry Katsu Rice. This was also tasty enough if not mind-blowing. I enjoyed it including the side salad.

Ebisu is a comfortable place with very friendly and efficient service. They will have something for just about everyone so it might be a good place for the picky or the unadventurous. I feel like it was just about what I expected it to be but maybe a little better. And loved the oysters!

Food 3 out of 5

Comfort 4 out of 5

Service 4 out of 5

Value 3 1/2 out of 5

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Like many of the ramen places in Vancouver, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka got its start in Japan (in Hokkaido not surprisingly) decades ago when we were still eating nothing but chicken noodle soup here. If I have counted correctly, there seem to be 56 outlets of HRS now including 2 in Vancouver. In this space, I have mused that fried chicken may be the ultimate pandemic food but I would say that ramen gives it a run for its money (OK so macaroni and cheese, laksa, congee, kare-kare and a lot of other things qualify also). We found ourselves at their restaurant on Broadway near Cambie one rainy Saturday morning.

We were seated right away and placed our order, going off the beaten shoyu/shia path for a change. But speaking of fried chicken...

Zangi is the version of Japanese fried chicken that actually originates in Hokkaido. The only difference between it and Karaage is that Zangi is marinated before frying. It was crisp and tasty but without a side by side taste test, I couldn't really attest to a difference. It was served with a garlicky mayo which provided an excellent contrast.

We have never actually had Ginger Ramen before but it sounded good and also, I have noticed that if the menu tells me that an item is limited (20 bowls a day served) then I can't help myself. There was a nice selection of vegetables in this bowl and the ginger was tasty and provided a nice warming spiciness that is perfect for a cold day (and a restaurant that keeps its front door open and is on the chilly side). Hidden from view in this photo are some lovely noodles with nice chew and small pieces of pork.

We also enjoyed the Tsuke-Men (cold ramen noodles with dipping soup). These noodles also had a very nice texture. It also had the small pork pieces which we generally found to be a little on the chewy side but tasty enough. I can see us swerving back to our old standbys, shoyu, shia and chashu in the future.

Lastly came the rice bowl with grilled salmon and Ikaru (salmon roe). The Ikaru was very much my favourite single item of our lunch this day. The pop is not quite as sharp with these larger fish eggs (compared to massago for example) but its flavour was mild and I was convinced that it was smokey. Very nice.

HRS is mostly following the pandemic protocols with separated tables and well-followed mask rules but I did notice that the servers were refilling our water glasses which called for leaning in while we weren't wearing our masks (to eat obviously). While we would usually applaud attentive service, most places leave water and glasses and allow you to fend for yourselves which is a safer procedure. HRS may want to reconsider this one detail. Otherwise, we very much enjoyed our lunch here and recommend that ramen fans give them a try!

Food 3 1/2 out of 5

Comfort 2 1/2 our of 5 (quite chilly)

Service 3 out of 5 (very nice service but the water thing)

Value 3 1/2 out of 5

Belgian Chocolate Cafe

Belgian Chocolate Cafe is one of those places that I was excited to visit when it first opened but we just never got there (except one time when we went not realizing that it closed at 6 pm). We saw on Instagram that people were posting the melting dome under the stream of rich warm chocolate and wanted badly to try it! Finally, here we are!

Located right across from the Parq on Smithe, BCC is closed by 6 or 6:30 every day which we find odd but we made room for it. The specialty here is rich Belgian Chocolate in both liquid and solid forms.

They do some specialty coffees and hot chocolate. Curiously, no drip coffee so I tried a Cappuccino which was very nice. Mharie had her decaf Americano which was also well done.

In addition to a lot of cakes and sweets, BCC does a few breakfast and lunch items including some very nice waffles. These came with ice cream and a pot de chocolat which made it a wonderful treat! Very rich warm chocolate!

Finally, what we really came for was the Chocolate Dome! We took a video of the process of pouring the rich warm chocolate over the dome and seeing it fold in on itself, revealing a rich cheesecake centre. However, the video is not impressive so I will post a few pictures instead to give you the gist.

As you may be able to tell, pouring chocolate and taking pictures with my phone at the same time is not my strong point, but you get

the idea.

Also, I feel like Blogger could be a little more cooperative and intuitive as to placing and moving photos but oh well, it's free and I am no techno-wizard. All in all, it looks OK, doesn't it?

This is very close to chocolate overload if there is really such a thing! There was so much richness between the dome, the cheesecake and the liquid that one might be advised to check one's blood sugar after and also, make time for a nice nap! This was a wonderful treat that we highly recommend!

BCC is not a huge cafe but there are a few tables and the folks here are observing the social distancing rules. There was also a table outside but it was a little chilly when we were there. Come here for a hot chocolate or a nice treat or one of their breakfast or lunch items and a very good coffee.

Food 4 1/2 out of 5

Service 4 out of 5

Comfort 4 out of 5

Value 3 1/2 out of 5

Fritou Chicken Restaurant - Abbotsford

It seems like we eat more fried chicken than usual these days (unless it's a vegan month), with new fried chicken joints opening up on every corner and I'm wondering if it is not pandemic related. Could fried chicken be the perfect comfort food? If so, keep eating it for a few more months and do not let your guard down just yet because of the seeming nearness of the vaccinations.

Fritou is a Quebec chain that has been around since 1993. CFR in Abbotsford (on George Ferguson near Gladwin) is not the first place in BC to serve Fritou chicken (there is 777 Pizza in Surrey and Duffins in Vancouver serves it as well...or at least used to....I can neither confirm nor deny at the moment) but I am pretty sure that it is the first location dedicated to the brand.

I noticed Fritou on a drive-by (on my way to get my haircut) and stalked them until they opened. It was a little confusing at first. Their website was useless (it is much better now) and apparently they had supplier problems but now they seem to be rolling. On my first visit, they had a six wing and fries special for $12.95. These were not wing pieces but whole wings and they were fantastic. This is definitely some of the best fried chicken that I have ever had. It is 24 hour brined and pressure deep-fried. It is always freshly made (be prepared to wait a bit), hot (my God, don't burn yourself), moist and flavourful! The fries were ok being the type with a coating that makes them very crispy.

I got an order of General Tao Chicken (comes with rice) to bring home for Mharie (and saved a couple of wings too). It was alright being a bit sweet and could have been spicier. Made with fried chicken also, I feel like it would have been better hot in the restaurant.

We decided to check out Fritou again to confirm that the fried chicken was indeed spectacular and it was. This time we ordered a 3 piece combo (2 pieces spicy and 1 piece original). Again the chicken was piping hot from the fryer, crispy but juicy inside. Amazing!

We opted for onion rings instead of fries and they were also very good. They could have been hotter and I think that's just a timing thing that will be learned with experience (the o rings had to wait for the chicken). They are just newly opened after all. They were still very ungreasy and tasty.

I am not a big fan of poutine. I especially dislike it when people refer to poutine as Canada's national dish (really?... fries, gravy and cheese?...that's the best we can do?) but I thought that since this was a Quebec-based chain that they might have the inside track. Well, we were wrong about that. The fries were OK but on the soggy side because that what happens when you cover them in gravy. The gravy was meh as it is chicken gravy and that's the way they make it in Quebec. The cheese was not of the squeaky variety as it should be. The bottom line is, eat the chicken but don't bother with the poutine.

This is a mostly take-out place but there are 4 socially distanced tables available at the moment. The owners are a lovely friendly couple and they are clearly interested in their customer's experience. And they make wonderful fried chicken!

Food 4 out of 5

Comfort 4 out of 5

Service 4 out of 5

Value 4 out of 5