Okay, someone please tell me in the comments section what their favorite Pho spot is. I have been to lots of Pho restaurants in the lower mainland and each is never much better than the other one. Sure some are cleaner, some tables don't smell like stinky towels and some accept debit but the flavour all seems to be about the same. Please tell me where your favorite is.

I decided to stop by Bao Chau on the weekend for a quick lunch. Bao Chau used to be a frequent stop for me, mostly because of the great value for their spring rolls. The place is somewhat clean in comparison to other Pho restaurants and the meal is solid. The pho is cheap, generally being $6.00 for a small and $6.50 for a large and comes with a good portion of meat. However, in my opinion the best part of the restaurant are the spring rolls, they are cheap ($1.75), you can order any number and they are of decent size.

Rating - Solid and clean enough. They do not serve dog at Bow Chau, I asked to satisfy my curiousity.

Bao Chau

2715 Hastings St

Vancouver

I also find that servers in Pho restaurants speak better engrish than ones in Chinese restaurants.

If you want to see another point of view on this meal check out my buddys blog ilovefoodblog.blogspot.com

Here is a copy of their last health report from Vancouver Coastal Health

In Compliance - Food	1	0
Refrigeration temperatures are satisfactory (<>
Mechanical dishwashing procedure is satisfactory (final rinse water temperature is > 71 degrees C / 160 degrees F for 10 seconds, measured at the dish; or >82 degrees C/179 degrees F, measured at the manifold).
Handwashing facilities are satisfactory.
Pest control program in place.
No pests observed at time of inspection.
Inadequate Insect/Rodent Control	2	1
Seal hole in the corner (steel wool). Place spring traps and/or sticky boards in this area; consult with your pest control technician.
Area behind chest freezers cleaned of mouse droppings and sanitized using bleach & water.

Back to Tenhachi again. This place is so dope, I came back here because I wanted to show more people how good it is. I ordered the miso saba ($13.00) and it was fantastic, my friend order the amberjack neck ($17.00).

All the Japanese food is great here. My miso saba tasted so good, it just melted in my mouth, such an incredible flavour. The miso soup is the best I have ever had, containing a variety of ingredients (this time it even had broccoli bits in it).

Judging by the crowd, Tenhachi is still a hidden gem but there does seem to be more and more people here each time. This time we had some strange dude that thought I was committing espionage by taking pictures of the food. I wonder if he is some conspiracy theory guy. Big brother is watching you eat your fish and chips.

The atmosphere as I have mentioned before is a little un ordinary Tenhachi is located in the bottom of a bed and breakfast / hotel. Here is a picture to better describe what I am talking about. Note the bags of chips at the counter. There are lots of other weird things in the restaurant as well, like a mannequin of a sailor that greats you at the door.


Bottom line - the food here is great, not your typical Japanese food but really flavourful. I haven't ordered the rolls here because they are very pricey but I will have to try them.
If you really want to show your foodie friends an undiscovered place to eat, take them here.

Tenhachi
1125 W.12th Ave. Shaughnessy Village Hotel
Vancouver B.C. Canada
http://www.tamaorganic.com/tenhachi/menu.html

Patio season is ending but we managed to catch some nice weather and we had a seat on the patio at Subeez. Technically, it is not really a patio but more of a sidewalk. The problem is Subeez is located on a hill and we were at the last table and sat on a serious downward slope. If you spilt a drink, your friend on the end of the table would get soaked.

I ordered the brie and chicken burger for 13 dollars and ordered half fries and half salad (love it when you can do that). We also split a pitcher of sangria for 18 dollars.

The sandwich tasted good, the cheese added a nice accent to the chicken. I wouldn't rate this place as amazing but it was an ok meal. Inside Subeez was like a rave, with a live DJ playing hard techno or house or something. I am so glad I was sitting outside cause that much electronica music would have made me crazy. Is electronica music still relevant? I see less and less people with those really wide straight legs and old stores like Pharcyde and Futuristic Flavour are long gone. I do know there are still raves on the island but those are just mainly drug parties aren't they.

Subeez Cafe
891 Homer Street, Vancouver
Tel: (604) 687-6107

I would not consider this a great place for food but it ok to share a drink and some nachos or something.

I went to Hi Genki with a friend of mine who also runs a local food blog called ilovefoodblog.blogspot.com, you can see his review of our experience on his site. Hi Genki is in the Edmonds area of Burnaby and is located in a Japanese Old Folks home. To some people it is considered a secret gem. Hi Genki is part of the Fujiya family which has been a staple in the Japanese Canadian community for as long as I remember. Growing up my parents would drive to Fujiya just to order sushi platters but now that I have developed a pallet for sushi I would no longer consider Fujiya a good place to buy sushi or sashimi. Its cheap but not that tasty.

If you go on dinehere.ca and look up HiGenki, the reviews are generally exceptional, receiving four or five stars in the areas of food and service. I would best consider the food here as standard. I ordered the katsu curry for nine dollars. The taste was good but for the same price I would easily rather order the katsu curry at Guu or Yoshoko Ya (my favorite katsu curry place). I do want to mention that the value for the other items such as the donburi was great, costing about 6 dollars for the bowl.


The service was decent however my friend's dish came long after mine, one of my pet peeves. My friend also had to pack his own food in a to go container, it appears that the Japanese people at Hi Genki seemed to have learned a lesson from the Swedish from Ikea, (the do it yourself mentality). Japanese people tend to be full of etiquette and manners so I couldn't understand why they made people pack their own food, something that is still only done by a few Chinese restaurants.

I think the reason why this place gets so much hype online is because people think they have found an underground secret and they amaze their friends by taking them to the Japanese Old Folks home. It kinda falls along point #71 from Stuff White People Like - being the only white person around. I can just imagine people saying "James is soo awesome, he took us to eat at a Japanese Old Folks home way out in Burnaby and the food was great. James is so cultured, remember he is the one that introduced me to Mos Def". If you want to show people a secret place with good food, take them to Ten Hachi, thats a real hidden gem.

Hi Genki
6680 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby
Tel: 604.777.0533

I would rate this place as standard, and a good value. I would only repeat if I was in the area and hungry.

Go Fish
I live really close to Granville Island but there is not many places in Granville Island that I like to eat other than that pie place and the burger spot not including Bridges and the other fancy places. But if you walk west for about 5 mins to the Fisherman's Warf, there is this place called Go Fish. I really never thought much for their fish and chips but this time I tried their tuna sandwich.

For 9.50 this is not the best deal in town, but compared to all the expensive things in Granville Island this is one of the better meals. The tuna tastes fresh and has a light wasabi mayo spread on top of it, and some tangy sauce mixed in. The burger comes with a side of coleslaw but I wish I had some fries.

The atmosphere is great on a sunny day, and has a beautiful view of the warf.

Overall, its a good meal for when you are in Granville Island, it s far enough from Emily Carr that there won't be kids wearing big glasses with no lenses in them taking pictures of scenery with analog cameras (Ok I like the Yashica T4i and the Contax but these hipsters have old London Drugs cameras and think its the same thing - good luck blogging when your photos have to be developed at the mall).

Go Fish
1504 West 1st Ave
Vancouver, BC

I wouldn't eat the fish and chips but the other stuff is good.

Ok, so this is not as good as Ippudo in New York but for Vancouver this place isn't bad.

Benkei Noodle Shop has been around for a short while and has been giving competition to the previous Vancouver ramen king Kintaro (located a half block down the street). This is the fourth time I have been to Benkei and the flavor of the broth has improved significantly, way tastier than the last few times. At Benkei, you have a choice between three types of ramen broth, miso, shoyu (soy sauce) and shio. There are some other types that are on available at lunch on Saturday. I ordered a side of gyoza and a bowl of miso ramen and added corn, extra bamboo shoots and a boiled egg.

The soup tasted pretty good, I wasn't blown away but it was a tasty cheap meal. The ramen costs $7.30 and it is 50 cents more for additional corn, or bamboo shoots or for the boiled egg. I love a pop with my ramen and a coke only costs $1.00 here, the finger goes to all those places that charge me $2.50 for a can of pop. I know you got to get yours but come on $2.50 for a non bottomless pop, thats just greedy. Karma, jerks!!!

The atmosphere of the restaurant is great, decorated with exposed wooden beams and Japanese paraphernalia. The restaurant is small in capacity and you can expect a line.

Benkei Noodle Shop
1741 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

They even give you a stamp card, 10 stamps and you get a free bowl. Subway needs to bring their stamp game back.
The real question: Is Benkei better than Kintaro?
This time Benkei was better, last time Kintaro was tastier. Atmosphere is way better at Benkei.

Oh my goodness, this meal was incredible. My buddy Josh was leaving town and I thought I would take him out for a good lunch as our last meal.

Cioppino / Enoteca in Yaletown has always been one of my favorites. If you drink wine then you are in luck because they have a huge wine list, if you are a cheap hipster unfortunately they do not serve Pabst and you might not get seated wearing a deep V neck or those ropes around your head.

My buddy decided to rinse the pennies out of me and decided to order a salad. I guess he is one of those guys that when you say you will buy him lunch he decides to order an appetizer with his meal and an expensive drink although you never seen him eat an appetizer before. The salad was great, not oily, and really fresh tasting. It was a baby lettuce salad mixed with herbs, pear, stilton and honey lemon dressing for ten dollars. A perfect starter. I didn't want the bill to run up so I decided to sit awkwardly while he ate in front of me.

For lunch I ordered the pasta for 30 dollars, it was a garganelli in a red sauce with lobster and crab. This pasta blew my mind, so god!!!!!! There were large pieces of both crab and lobster, and the red sauce was amazing. The sauce was rich but so flavourful.

My buddy ordered the veal, I wasn't loving it but he said he enjoyed it. My pasta kicks his dishes ass, too bad I had to pay for them both.

Bottom line, if you want to spend a bit of money and have a nice meal, this is the place to go. The food is insane. Never had a complaint from all the times I have been here. It has to be one of Vancouver's best.

We shared the food a bit cause we wanted to try each others dishes, I think the waitress got a kick out of it and thought we were gay. We are not batiboys.

Cioppino's Mediterranean Grill
1133 and 1129 Hamilton Street
http://www.cioppinosyaletown.com/

The hostess was hot. Server not so much.
I hate Yaletown but love Cioppino

No hipsters here.

Went to the Sutton place for a late dinner before heading to the Know?show after party. I ordered the special sandwich of the day which was a chicken sandwich, with prosciutto, provolone, black truffle oil, lettuce and tomato served with a side of fries stacked like Jenga pieces. The sandwich was only 14 dollars and the atmosphere was really nice, real man steez.

The sandwich was coated with butter, it was tasty as hell but super rich. I managed to eat it all but my body felt really heavy after the dinner. All I wanted to do was sleep.

Just a note: If you take a girl here and expect to get action don't order the sandwich, the only move you will be making is a walk to the bed for a nap.

Sutton Place Vancouver
845 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC
Menu

The cheeseburger looks incredible. I will try that next time.

Thats enough of the big apple, here are some more food images of stuff I ate in NY.

Burger Joint - hidden burger spot with good burgers.

Supper - Breakfast

Nathans - Famous Hot Dog

McSorley's - Cheese, crackers and onions

Some Korean Spot and BBQ spot.



Back to Vancouver for some real slop, going to the Sutton tonight.

Okay, I am not a ramen head but this was incredible. The broth blew my mind away, my face was so next when I tasted this. It was incredible, I drank every bit of my broth. The ramen is a little expensive for 13 dollars since it is not loaded with meat and eggs etc but the flavor was insane. So tasty. For an extra three dollars you get salad and pork on rice which was hella tasty. I was told you can ask for more noodles if you have broth left over.

Ippudo is a chain from Japan and that recently opened up in New York. If you are in NY you must try this place. Soo tasty. That broth is sooo good, its freakish.

Ippudo NY
65 4th ave
New York, NY
East Village
http://www.ippudo.com/ny

This was some experience, first a ton of side dishes and then a massive boat containing a variety of sashimi (uni, lobster, hokkigai (surf clam and of ton of other stuff). The lobster and the fish was just killed and cut, my freinds called it live fish sashimi. Basically, they took the fish out of the tank, and clubbed it and cut it up just for us, they even brought out the lobster head with the antenna still moving even though half of his body was cut off.

Flavours were great, nothing tasted fishy, every incredible. You can tell the texture and taste difference from the fish because it was cut up right before serving, I guess the fish's muscles were more tense etc.



A great experience for any foodie.

We had some tour guides today, and we ate like kings. This was our lunch and wait til I show you our dinner. We wanted to try some soft shell blue crab and this Chinese spot was the answer. The food was really good here, (I am usually the asshole that says "Vancouver has the best Chinese food, thanks for taking me here but we got better") but this place was really tasty and cheap. Had the Mabo Tofu, Xiaolóngbao (soup dumplings both crab and pork), some bun with the meat you see in lettuce wrap, tong choi and deep fried blue crab.

What a great feeling to have good Chinese food and that crab was an amazing taste to try, eating the shell makes things so much easier.

Like most Chinese restaurants the washroom was a little nasty.

Pittie Soo Chow
607 Gorge Road
New Jersey
Wait until you see my supper.

Above - Lassos Pizza
Above - Artichoke Pizza

So everyone has their favorite pizza spot. Group 1 says Lassos and Group 2 says Artichoke Pizza, Internets says Johns Pizzeria, also worth mentioning is Lombardis but I hear they aren't that hype, just known for being old school and Grimaldis got mentioned a few times.

Lassos was good and during happy hour they have a slice for a dollar, what a deal. Artichoke wins this battle hands down, that pizza was fantastic, flavours incredible. It was very rich, like a can of soup on the pizza but was truly amazing. Love that spot!!!! Recommended by my friend El Gato.

Pizza Spots to hit up in NY.

Artichoke - 328 East 14th Street, New York NY

Johns Pizzeria - 408 E 64th St, Between 1st & York Ave, New York, NY

Lassos - 192 Mott StreetNew York, NY

Lombardis -32 Spring St, between Mulberry & Mott St, New York, NY

Decided to try some pasta out in New York and visited Lupa. Lupa is a restaurant owned by Mario Batali (author of many cookbooks, and named "Man of the Year" in the chef category in GQ). We managed to get a seat at the bar, and the bartender provided exceptional service. Our glass of water was never more than half empty, and he was very knowledgeable about the food.

My friend ordered a flash fried prosciutto ball for an appetizer and it was quite good. For the main course I had a wide noodled pasta with chicken in a ragu sauce, my friend had the gnocchi and my other friend had a cod that was battered with a salt rub and deep fried. The main courses were about 22 dollars each, you can have a look at the menu here.

The meal was quite tasty but not amazing. The food had a clean taste to it but the flavours did not blow me away.

Lupa
170 Thompson Street
New York
http://www.luparestaurant.com/

This is a picture of a grilled beef steak burrito and the famous grilled corn. Lots of good sandwiches here including the catfish sandwich which my friend had but what I want to talk about here is this corn. This corn is absolutely amazing, you get one cob for $1.90. The corn is grilled and then rolled in mayo and then cotija cheese and then finished with cuban spice and paprika. Sooo good, this is one of my favorite things to eat in New York. A must go.

Cafe Habana
17 Prince St., New York, NY 10012
at Elizabeth St

We got it at the take out side but there is a sit down side as well. If you can't make it here try La Esquina

Had to stop by the ever famous Katz Deli ( the set from "When Harry Met Sally") located in the Lower East Side in New York for the pastrami sandwich. We decided to split it since we were not that hungry and I feel that it is an over priced sandwich at 14.95 each. The sandwich was good and the atmosphere better, pictures of famous people from all over on the walls including Wu Tang Clan, Mike Tyson etc.

Overall worth the experience, but not worth the dollar. Go and split one if you are in New York city. Is it better than the famous Schwartz Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich, not sure?

Katz Deli
205 E Houston Street
New York
http://www.katzdeli.com/

My friend in New York showed me this spot, Caracas Arepa Bar in East Village. This is the first time I had Venezuelan food, and it was incredible. The first picture was a tilapia ceviche, the second is a black bean arepa and the third picture is of a dish called sidekicks, it is plantains with mayo and a cheese similiar to cotija cheese. The food here was fantastic, you can see prices on their website located here. I love those fried plantains, going to try and make them.

Caracas Arepa Bar
93 1/2 East 7th Street
New York, NY

My but is so big I can't fly coach. Kidding, I am skinny guy but I just liked that reference to the movie swingers. Off to New York via Cathay Pacific to visit some friends and do a little shopping. My buddy and I got bumped up to business class, and man is it ever a big difference. Immediately, when you walk in champagne is served, then a bottle of water is given to you for the flight, cocktails come by shortly after. You sit in these nice pods that have a massaging chair and you can lie down fully.

For dinner I had a glass of the white, a cup of water, a fruit plate, a smoked salmon dish, prawns wrapped in tofu with rice, a triple chocolate cake, some cheese and crackers and some chocolates that were being handed out.

On the way back we flew coach and this is what I received, still not bad, had some chicken and potatoes dish with a cheesecake.

I am in NY right now and I have been eating amazing meals. Thanks to my friends I have not had one bad meal. I will have many posts for you in three days. Stay tuned.

The Ramen out here is incredible.