Alebi African Cuisine - Whalley

I listen quite often to a BBC podcast called "The Food Program". Sometimes I learn some interesting things about  food trends in the UK and around the world and sometimes not. I recently listened to an episode about an iconic west African dish called Jollof Rice. Like many dishes that your mother made, there are as many versions of Jollof Rice as there are mothers and yours made the best one. Clearly there is some passion about this staple dish (even among west Africans living in the UK and doubtless here also) such that we felt the need to sample for ourselves! And so to Alebi African Cuisine in Whalley, for some authentic Nigerian tastes.

Not located in the best part of Surrey, if you venture there, know that you enter into the strip mall off King George south bound and not from 135a which is where Google will take you. Inside the restaurant we were greeted by a lovely friendly woman who seated us and listened patiently and happily to my Jollof Rice story (see above).

The dining room is fairly large and comfortable enough. Very nice African art on the walls which we enjoyed but we were somewhat unthrilled by the plastic table covers ( Practical, I realize. Just try washing table clothes after every meal). The main event was, of course, Jollof Rice with Fried Chicken.

The generous helping of rice was, as I expected, comforting and tasty. Cooked in a tomato based sauce with peppers and spices, I would gladly have grown up eating this (not complaining, Mom). Accompanied by 2 chicken legs, pan fried and with a rich tomato sauce, fried plantains and a green salad, this is a nice main dish and reasonable at $13. 

We also tried an appetizer called Moi Moi. Not the most beautiful dish but so interesting and tasty! This is a steamed cake, of  black eye peas, ground while raw to a paste and combined with some spicy peppers, boiled egg and what I suspect is smoked sardine. This is a must try, especially if you think you have tried everything!  The slow, low key burn that I enjoyed in my mouth throughout the meal began here.

One dish that both my partner and I took exception to, was the Suya. This was referred to on the menu as small skewers (try the large instead) grilled with spices and peanut powder. This dish has huge potential but was very tough. Admittedly, it was so tasty that I chewed until my jaw gave out but in uncharacteristic fashion, we left half of the dish behind. Unfortunately, I tend to be non confrontational and chose the passive aggressive path by complaining in a review. The thing is that I'm sure our hostess would have righted the situation. I pledge to be more outspoken in the future. Still, we love trying something new. Nigerian cuisine is not something as common here as say Ethiopian or Moroccan but it definitely deserves further exploration! Start here !

Barbeque at Bert's

Before you start searching frantically through Yelp and Zomato looking for Bert's, this is not a restaurant review but Friday afternoon at Bert's Electric, where we come for the electrical business but stay for the food!

Pitmaster (and Bert's 's project manager ) Tony arrived, applied his top secret dry rub (I asked but didn't want him to be obliged to kill me), trussed and had pork shoulder roasts in the smoker at 5:30 am. They would get 9 hours of low and slow with the smoke being provided by hickory wood pellets.

By early afternoon, there was no one at the shop unaware that someone was smoking something.

Tony would have liked a few hours more but what are you gonna do? A couple of hours wrapped in tin foil was just the trick to get the meat finished by the time the hoards of hungry electricians began to arrive. Perhaps the most difficult step in the process was warding off would be samplers such as myself (chief estimator and food blogger) while the meat rested after being removed from the smoker! The result was tender pork with a distinctive smoke ring and an outer bark that made me weak in the knees!

I am assured that no food code violations were committed despite the fact that the back storage room that served as a prep area is not exactly a surgical theatre. As you can see, I suck at staging photos but you get the idea.

Soon they began to arrive and had their choice of Tony's home made tomato based or Carolina (mustard based) barbeque sauces. 

Puled pork on a bun with sauce, slaw and jalepon chips! Not a bad way to start the weekend! Thanks Tony and Bert's from all of us!

Laksa King - East Vancouver

My boss and I had a meeting downtown at 10 and it went a painful 2 hours (actually, it was a pretty good meeting...especially if anyone from the meeting reads this blog). Still towards the end of the proceedings, my stomach began to rumble. "Do you know any place that we can grab something to eat?", he asks. Do I know a place? It's what I do!...My boss had never eaten Laksa. Wha...? I consider it my sworn duty to introduce people to wonderful food that they have never eaten before, so off we went to Laksa King, conveniently on the road (Hastings obviously) back to the freeway! I have not been to Laksa King since it occupied a back counter in a grocery store at Joyce Street Station. A little research revealed that Laksa King changed hands about 5 years ago. I knew the Joyce Street location as Bo's Laksa King and they did move to the Hastings location. Meanwhile, Daisy arrived from Burma in 2002 and eventually acquired Laksa King about 5 years ago and has run it as a successful family business since then.  They now occupy a kind of cool space that looks a little like a 50s diner complete with slightly worn red booths, diner wall art and neon lighting.

So Laksa was ordered and it arrived and we were not disappointed. I have had some good versions in different places and this is one of the best. Just a fairly mild burn and rich with coconut! Very nice noodles with a bit of chew and crunchy sprouts. But just imagine; there are people out there who have never had this wonderful soup!

Helping people to expand their culinary horizons, is the responsibility of us all and it is a noble calling! We also ordered the Fish Cake Curry. This was another tasty dish. It came with rice  which was essential for

soaking up as much of the excellent sauce as possible. This curry was more of a tomato / tamarind based sauce, not spicy at all,  and I highly recommend it also. Service is friendly and there are many interesting dishes on the menu including familiar Malaysian favorites. Try this place!

Vanfoodster's Taco Challange 2018 - Part One

On May 5, 1862, a poorly equipped Mexican army, some of the 4000 soldiers being armed with farm implements, defeated a well equipped 8,000 soldier French army at the battle of Puebla. It is this battle that is commemorated by the celebration of Cinco de Mayo (not Mexican independence as some have the impression). The lesser known part of the story is that the French returned, not long after, 30,000 soldiers strong and reversed the defeat. Still, everyone loves an underdog victory story. That is why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated throughout North America, and Mexican food is the centre of it for most of us. And it is no coincidence that Vanfoodster's Taco Challenge runs from May 3 to 27 to coincide with the celebration. So off we went to sample tacos!

Our first stop was at Hopcott Meats in Pitt Meadows This is a very nice, newish store that boasts an in store butcher shop and excellent meats and sausages. They also have fresh veges, baked items and other goodies including a bistro.

Their offering for the challenge is the Yeehaw Taco. It consists of ancho chile marinated shredded chicken, black bean and corn salsa, cilantro crema and pickled onions on whole wheat tortilla.

And we found it to be quite tasty! The chicken was well infused with the ancho flavour and the crema was well concocted. It was nicely messy to eat! I was prepared to object to the wheat tortillas (I would always choose corn) but they were slightly seared or toasted which worked well. It came with a lovely butter lettuce side salad with dried cranberries. Very nice!

From there we headed for Maizal on Main Street, carefully avoiding downtown and the marathon congestion. We loved this place and Rodrigo and Nana, the husband and wife team that opened Maizal just over a year ago.

He is originally from Mexico City and she is Japanese. What a perfect opportunity for fusion cuisine! So their offering is Ebi Chamoi.

Two large tempura prawns, mango salsa, Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums) glaze on a hibiscus infused tortilla. It was beautiful (I almost couldn't bring myself to mess it up by eating it) and delicious. We have sweet, spicy and crispy all in one ! We also tried a couple of other offerings starting with Plantain and Potato Flautas.

This was another carefully crafted dish. Two flautas served over black beans and two salsas, and garnished with crema and cilantro. Wonderful! We also had a taco with the protein of the day which was lengua (beef tongue...do not be afraid!). This was another tasty offering but I committed the ultimate food blogger sin and tucked in before taking a picture! How amateur!

Each of the tables has a nice little selection of hot sauces and there were fresh house made salsas on a side board. And before I forget, can you say house made tortillas ?  It was nice to talk to Rodrigo about his food and plans. This couple has some enthusiasm for their place and we wish them continued success! 

I notice that I have used a lot of exclamation points in this post! That must mean something.

Stay tuned for part two of our taco challenge adventure.

Freebird Chicken - New West

Now that we have set our sites on visiting all of Chef Angus An's eateries, we feel that life has meaning again (Oh, that is just a little joke. Life has always had meaning.). Call it a quest! Located in River Market in New Westminster, Freebird is a counter service, food court outlet that serves chicken either poached, rotisseried, fried or grilled. They serve chicken with Asian flavours in soups, in sandwiches, in salads....seriously, these people are all about chicken. We started by trying the Hot and Sour Fried Chicken Skin because honestly, it may be the most unhealthy thing I have ever seen on a menu (well it is organic skin).

Of course, it was amazing! Fortunately, I have my cardiologist on speed dial. I will admit that I did not get a lot of hot and sour. Maybe there should have been a dipping sauce? Still crispy and fatty with a bit of the same sweetness that marks the wings. Speaking of which...

At Freebird, they serve Longtail (Chef An's place just at the other end of the food court) Chicken Wings. I felt like I was cheating ordering the wings but know this: These are the greatest chicken wings that I have ever had! In my review of Longtail, I recount how I was nearly brought to tears by this amazing treat. Crispy as all get out yet so moist. Topped with sugar, garlic and basil and served with a tamarind dipping sauce! Amazing! I rarely use superlatives but this is one time when it is merited! Finally my partner and I tried the Turmeric Fried Chicken. 

In retrospect, I could have ordered something not fried just for variety but the turmeric part made it so unique that I could not help myself. And really, it did come with roti and curry sauce as well as some pickled and fresh vegetables. Three  big pieces of chicken on this plate for $15  strikes me as a decent price considering that like the other fried items, the chicken was insanely crispy and so moist inside. The turmeric flavour is very subtle here and just add maybe a bit of smokiness but not heat. As usual, there were lefovers to enjoy for lunch the next day!

 Well done Chef Angus An and Freebird staff!

Cupbap Burger - West End

I have always wondered why the Robson Public Market has not been more of a thriving concern. It always seems nearly empty and barely occupied and yet it is in such a densely populated area. That doesn't mean that there hasn't been some good eats available there from time to time. Cupbap Burger is an example of that. It is accessible from Robson Street as well as from inside the market.

I was intrigued by the whole Korean Burger concept and so decided to to check it out.

So the bun is rice pressed into a mold. It looks like you should be able to pick it up and eat it like a burger. This was not my experience. It might have worked that way if I had kept the wrapper around part of it but I didn't and it fell apart. This is the bulgogi burger and frankly, it was delicious, but I ate it like bulgogi and rice. 

I also ordered Japchae which came with more bulgogi and rice. The noodles were excellent! Altogether, I paid about $15 dollars and took at least half of the food home for dinner. A smoking bargain and delicious! Its a pretty tiny place but you can sit along one wall (facing yourself in the mirror if that is not a problem). Or you can sit outside. I think most of their business might be take out.

The owner / chef works in full view and was by himself when I was there.We had a good laugh about my ordering too much as it was my first visit and didn't expect such generous servings. Definitely a hidden gem!

Boss Bakery and Restaurant - Chinatown

My Chinatown explorations were not limited to one rainy Saturday. If I had not transited from out the valley one sunny afternoon, I might have gone home with huge bags of amazing vegetables, barbecued meats, fresh seafood and dried mushrooms because that part of Chinatown continues to thrive. It is very hard to walk past all that amazing food without wanting to take it home. I will return with my car and an empty trunk! In the meantime, many of the old guard restaurants are still around and Boss Bakery and Restaurant is one of them. I was seated immediately by the very friendly manager who brought me tea and took an interest in my day to that point!

This is a good sized room with nice booths many of which were occupied with folks enjoying their morning repast.

I had Chinese Ham Congee which is such an amazing way to start the day! Salty bits of ham and just a trace of sesame oil and why don't I eat this at home more often (I have made it with brown rice with decent results)? The kitchen had carefully garnished the bowl with ginger, green onion and a drizzle of oil. You have to love attention to detail!

I was tempted by Pan Fried Flying Fish, one of the specials listed under the acrylic table cloth (in fact, the whole menu is there at the table...not a bad idea when you think about it). And these were some tasty salty little guys. A little extra protein to go with my congee. Although more than contented, I was not able to pass by the bakery without buying a snack for later.

Perhaps the best Pineapple Bun I have had. I keep trying these things because everyone else seems to like them so much! A very good Portuguese Egg Tart and a Century Egg Puff  ( I keep getting these because I am proud of myself for having discovered the allure). I have always wanted to try the Boss at Metrotown but there is always a line up. Why not try the original in Chinatown? A very good idea!