I'm a video game developer who develops games between meals. I've been accused of being fanatical and obsessively-compulsive about all things food. I can't say I disagree.
This three-month old stall serves Ipoh Bean Sprout Chicken (Ngah Choi Kai Fan), a relatively unknown dish here, but well known in its homeland of Malaysia. Hailing from the State of Ipoh tucked in just to the south of Thailand, this dish is a very close variant of Hainan Chicken. Poached chicken is laid atop a pile of blanched bean sprouts and served with plain white long grain rice - instead of the broth cooked "oily rice" that accompanies the canonical Hainan Chicken Rice. This stall's rendition may not satisfy a chicken rice aficionado from Malaysia, but if you are a gastronaut like me - you will enjoy this dish. The chicken and it's "pour over" broth are flavourful, the crisp cucumber slices, and the dipping sauces - one chill based and one soy based - make for a great light lunch. http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com
Thùy Dương Cafe near the Nanaimo intersection along Kingsway serves perhaps the best version of this classic Huế dish that I have had in town. In Vietnam, the best renditions use freshwater clams harvested from the river Sông Hương. Here in Vancouver we will have to settle for defrosted frozen clams of unknown provenance. Thùy Dương’s Huế cook provides a bountiful two or three fistfuls of this clam meat to top off the round rice vermicelli (the same kind used in a bún bò Huế ). She also adds a good heap of freshly dark-roasted peanuts that lend both crunch and smokiness. More: http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com/cold-noodles-bun-hen-at-thuy-duong-cafe-on-kingsway/
One of the best dim sum dishes in town. I think it could be my favourite. Char sui filling amped with a bit of lemon rind. Pastry is light and the whole thing is expertly packaged.
"My daughter and I ordered a number of dishes – salty soy milk, tan tan noodles, a radish pastry, and pan fried dumplings, but we were really here for the XLB. We placed an order for two steamers on her insistence. Her verdict? It is as good as she remembers. She did say that the skin could have been thinner, but the broth and meat ball were best in class." http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com/xiao-long-bao-and-dumplings-at-shanghai-morning-in-richmond/
A great naan despite the lack of a proper tandoor. This keema naan is filled with beef and studded with nuts and raisins. Dhaka, run by a Bengali family, serves pan-Indian food adapted for the Bengali palate. All the cooking is homestyle. http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com/dhaka-fish-and-briyani-bengali-indian-on-fraser-street/
Great kebabs. The chicken is especially good. Tender and flavourful. http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com/hakhamanesh-north-vancouver/
Not the greatest hotpot, but a good low commitment food court rendition. http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com/foodcourt-sichuan-dry-hotpot-pwg-chinese-food-at-president-plaza-richmond/
My favourite here. Almost as good as Dawne Gourley's Sugar Bun at Giovane. (She also created this doughnut)
It is King Crab Season, and these monsters are all being blown out. Here at Dynasty, they tend to season with restraint which worked well in the first course (garlic steamed legs) and last course (E-fu Noodles in the crab's juices). The middle course (deep fried garlic crab knuckles) could have used more seasoning. Delicious nonetheless and perhaps best King Crab I have had in recent memory. http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com/
Nice long-braised beef augmented with toasted cracked cumin stuffed into a freshly made Northern-style sesame bun. One of the quintessential street foods of mainland China. http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com/archives/5583
Nice little papaya salad from a papaya salad specialist. They use a pork jerky sourced from the best purveyors in town - Bee Kim Heng. Soy Sauce is used instead of the usual fish sauce making the dressing a bit unusual.
This Char Siu Sausage with delicate hints of aromatics (mainly from five spice) is a personal favourite. Dollar Meats is a world-class Chinese sausage maker who makes what some people say is the best Lop Cheong in the world. Better than the ones you can get in Hong Kong they say. (Scores of people bring them back by the suitcase on their flight back to HK.)
