Sha-Lin Noodle House (Our Last Meal in Vancouver)

We had our last meal in Vancouver at Sha-Lin Noodle House for some handmade noodle.
We just made it to the restaurant (closing for lunch at 3PM) and it was a good/last meal in Vancouver.





Sha-Lin Noodle House
548 Broadway West
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1E9, Canada
(604) 873-1816

Momo Sushi

Family from San Francisco and Korea left yesterday and now there are only 4 of us.
After day of just hanging out and shopping, we ended up at Momo Sushi (recommended by Darren's local friend).

We had never seen nigiri / rolls that big. We were just speechless when we got our combos.
It took us three bites to eat nigiri...

Momo Sushi
6-375 Water Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 5C6, Canada
(604) 683-7632

Medina

Another place we found accidentally...
We went in for waffles, but it also serves regular lunch menu.

Medina
556 Beatty Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2L3
(604) 879-3114

http://www.medinacafe.com/

Dae Bak Bon Ga Korean Restaurant (대박본가)

We originally went to Dae Bak Bon Ga for 'all you can eat Korean BBQ' but we decided not to as it was complicated and was not a good deal.

We just ordered regular BBQ meat and other dishes.
We were pleasantly surprised. Service was great as well.

Canadians are super friendly, we knew that already. But Koreans are not known for friendly personality; however, even Koreans in Canada are nice. I think there is something in the air...

Galbi - no explanation needed

Hae Mul Pa Jun (seafood pancake) - pizza pan... who knew???

Dae Bak Bon Ga
201 - 1323 Robson Street (2nd floor)
Vancouver, BC V6E 2B1
(604) 683-9298


Since I don't have any picture from another Korean find, I will just add here.
Kimbob & Ramen had kimbob, ramen, and other Korean snacks. Kimbob was made to order and was very very good. If you are visiting Lookout Tower, it's right next to it.

Kimbob & Ramen (김밥이라면)
423 Seymour Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 3H5
(604) 685-2877

Coffee Break

Coffee time!!!

Boys were off to Whistler and the rest of us were hanging out in the city.
We happened to walk by Caffe Artigiano. I remembered the name from my guide book, so we had to go in.

Caffe Artigiano
740 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 1A3
phone: 604-915-7200

There are other locations as well.

West

For my sister's birthday (4/12), I was looking for a special restaurant. When I read about West, I knew that was it. Not because it won a few awards, but because it's about "True to our region, true to the seasons," I chose West to bring all my family to celebrate a special occasion.

Because my family lives all over the place, it's rare to celebrate someone's birthday together face to face... so this was a very special moment for us.

Enough about touching stories, here are some pictures of food...

even bread was good...

Roasted breast of maple hill chicken

Beef Wellington - this was daily special

Rib eye of Canada prime organic beef - this was almost everyone's choice after a night of seafood fest

Baked pave of queen charlotte halibut

special birthday dessert!

I love it when restaurants serve good dessert...

West
2881 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6H 3J4, Canada
(604) 738-8938

http://www.westrestaurant.com/

Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House

Vancouver is known for its fresh seafood. I guess it's not surprising considering it's surrounded by water. Our original plan was to buy fresh seafood and cook at home, but we chose a lazy option - going out.

I turned to my guide book again (Frommer's Vancouver & Victoria 2009) and Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House was highly recommended.

It looked like an old steak house, but they weren't playing around with seafood.

Joe's Seafood Tower Three Tier - This is tier #1

Tier #2

Tier #3

Someone had to order steak...

Joe Fortes was everyone's favorite.
Then some of us were off to Vancouver Aquarium the next day.


Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House
777 Thurlow Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 3V5, Canada
http://www.joefortes.ca/

Cupcakes

We found this place by accident. Robson Street in Vancouver is a shopping area. While we were shopping, we ran into Cupcakes with a long line, so we had to check it out.

There are a few cupcake shops in New York and I tried that famous one (don't even remember the name, just because I am not a big cupcake fan) and wasn't that impressed.

But this shop, Cupcakes, was good. They also have mini cupcakes, which was everyone's favorite.



Cupcakes by Heather & Lori
797 Thurlow Street at Robson

It has 4 other locations in BC area

http://www.cupcakesonline.com/

Kingyo - How Izakaya Should Be

When I was doing my restaurant research on Vancouver, Chris got his recommendation from his local friend about Kingyo, Izakaya.

Izakaya is a type of Japanese restaurant that serves alcohol with food. I have been to some low budget Izakayas in Tokyo, San Francisco, and New York, but Kingyo was different. I realized that Kingyo takes their food seriously.

Kingyo has to be my favorite spot in Vancouver.
Every dish we ordered was incredible. This has to be my first restaurant experience where every dish was amazing!!!

Kingyo means in Japanese goldfish

grilled pork cheek - melts in your mouth...

negitori sushi - tuna & green onion

grilled black cod

tokyo sukiyaki

sizzling kinoko tofu (we had to order 2nd one)

frozen grape - who knew!!!

Kingyo
871 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 2L9, Canada
(604) 608-1677
http://www.kingyo-izakaya.com/

NU - Vancouver

When we were planning a family reunion, Vancouver got the most votes. So my family from Korea, Singapore, and San Francisco and we (from NY) all ended up in Vancouver in April.

We had our first brunch together at NU.
We originally went there for lunch, but due to Easter weekend, we were served brunch, which was fine by us.

scone with hot coco

ceaser salad

Vancouver is known for its fresh seafood, so we had to order some oysters

flat iron steak and eggs

dungeness crab benedict

NU
1661 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1N3, Canada
(604) 646-4668

http://www.whatisnu.com/

Poutine, deconstructed

This is more traditional

Even McDonald's has it!

This is a smoked meat version

Poutine was originated in Quebec. We have a few different versions here, but it consists of french fries, cheese curds, and gravy.

Poutine

Pintxo

Mushroom with escargot

Clams with artichoke - my personal favorite

Beef cheeks with risotto

Pintxo (pronounced "Peent-choo") is the Basque word for tapas.
The Mexican chef was in Pais Vasco, Spain for 5 years and was happy when Christoff yelled "Gracias, rasa"

256 rue Roy Est
Montreal
514 844 0222

St-Viateur Bagel & Cafe

I know, I know, New Yorkers are pretty proud of their bagels, but I have to say, bagel in Montreal was really good.

Bagel in Montreal was less doughy...

Mine was with lox and cream cheese / soup - egg & spinach soup, which was surprisingly good

Bagel with egg & ham / came with Greek salad

St-Viateur Bagel & Cafe
1127 Mont-Royal est (at av. Christophe-Colomb)
Montreal
514-528-6361

Check out the location under our link: The Frazier's Fav Foods

L'Express - The Best Meal in Montreal

Every table came with Gherkin

Bone Marrow
It was much better with toasted sliced of baguette

Duck confit

Lamb with lentils

Even cappuccino was good...

L'Express made me feel like I was in Paris, but we were happy to have staff that spoke English.
But watch out, the menu is in French and hand-written, so you need to know what you want before walking into the restaurant.

Baguette was so good. It's hard to find good baguette in NY, so I was extremely happy!

Chez Schwartz Charcuterie Hebraique de Montreal - or simplay SCHWARTZ'S

Long line is a good thing...
Order a large plate, medium fat with fries (that's what we have here)

3895 St-Laurent at Roy
Montreal
514 842 4813
http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/

First Day in Montreal

Guess what I found in Montreal!! - Pho Bang!!!

We had a few days off from school, and we just wanted to get away from work, school, politics, election... ok, ok, we wanted to leave the country for a while.

We played around the idea of going to Guatemala, where we still want to go, but we decided to go somewhere close - driving distance.

We finally decided on Montreal. I thought, it would be like going to Europe without actually going to Europe. Montreal reminded us of Paris + San Francisco. The language & culture reminded us of Paris, but the people and their attitude reminded us of San Francisco - PERFECT PLACE FOR US!!!

On our first day, after seeing Basilique Notre-Dame, we were off to Montreal's Chinatown.
It was small but the cleanest Chinatown I have ever been to!!!