Pisco decided to take a run to the border last weekend with three friends. We all like to eat, so we planned the trip around food. I put together a small itinerary with five stops for delicacies along the way.
First stop was dim sum in Richmond, BC, at a beautiful Shanghai restaurant on a recommendation to a friend. It was explained to me that this was Shanghia-style dim sum, a bit different than the normal Cantonese-style, but we were all happy to be starting our eating adventure in a place that looked and felt wonderful. It was spotless inside, with white tablecloths and an open kitchen behind plate glass. A fleet of young waitresses ran around the room, practically in a blur. There were probably 80 people there, and we were the only ones with non-Asians at our table. Luckily, we had one Chinese woman, so we gave the menus to her and said, “Go nuts!”
Here’s what came out:
- A pastry/sandwich with tender sliced beef that almost tasted like pork. Phenomenal.
- Chopped, steamed vegetable wrapped in a tofu ribbon. Cold, tasty, and delicious. The best vegetable dish I have ever eaten in a Chinese restaurant. Unhelpfully listed on the menu as “Green vegetable in wrap” or somesuch.
- Potstickers. Solid but unexceptional.
- Steamed dumpling. Solid and yummy.
- Steamed dumpling w/crab. Insanely good, the crab bursting with flavor.
- Small, tart-like pastries filled with an eggy custard and various animal parts. Except the custard wasn’t eggy. My friend said there were chicken feet in the pastry and I was never sure if she was kidding or not. Delicious.
- Deep-fried pastries that were somewhat of a cross between a beignet and a light Krispy Kreme doughnut, except there was red bean paste inside. It was light. fluffy, warm, slightly sweet from the bean paste, and had a sprinkle of pink sugar on top. The best dessert I’ve had all year.
So our journey was off to a good start. After a couple hours of shopping in Yaletown, we stopped for coffee at a small cafe. Continuing our path of excess, two of our party ordered lattes with Baileys… it was five o’clock somewhere…
Another quick round of shopping and then it was time to start the dinner courses. I had planned to start at Salt Tasting Room in Gastown, but they were busy with a private party. The place looked fantastic so we decided to go have a drink and then come back at 7.30p when they would be open. A jaunt around the neighborhood brought us to Chill Winston, a dark, candlelit bar filled with overstuffed furniture and slim, friendly staff. Lovely drinks were soon on the table – mine had ginger beer and vodka with a slice of cucumber… somewhat reminicent of the Pimm’s I used to quaff with abandon in the summer. We ordered lightly as this was stop 1 of 3 planned for the night – a plate of sliced beets and scallop ceviche was fresh and light, exactly what we wanted. A fine soundtrack of cool electronica provided a nice backdrop as the evening picked up more patrons and energy.
We returned to Salt and let the smart English proprietor pick out a plate of cheese and snacks for us. Frankly, there’s nothing I like better than to find someone who will listen to you for a minute and return with exactly what you need, even if you didn’t know it yourself. A cold glass of amontillado sherry was the perfect accompaniment to a snack of two cheeses and a small pile of sliced, cured sausage. I repeated warned everyone not to eat too much since we would be heading out to dinner proper in just a few minutes.
And just a short while later, we found ourselves seated upstairs at Hapa Izakaya on Robson Street, next to a another table well on their way to having a good time. I don’t remember everything that we ordered, but here is a partial list: sake (warm), edamame, negitoro (superb as always), and short ribs (rich). By this time we were pretty overloaded, but the night wasn’t over, so I brought everyone to Mondo Gelato for a sweet finish. Interestingly, almost no establishments had any kind of coffee, as the water had been shut off by the province due to excessive rains – everyone had to drink bottled water. But as much as I don’t care for Starbucks, they had coffee when nobody else did – and the espresso did hit the spot before the drive back to Seattle.
It took a full two days before I felt hungry again, and I’m planning the next trip up as soon as possible.
