Watermark at Kits

Went to Watermark for my birthday dinner. Located at the edge of the Kitsilano Beach, this restaurant sure has the best view of the water. Unfortunately my birthday had to be in December so I wasn't able to see much of the view in the dark.

Overall the food was pretty good. I was surprised that their appetizers have some Chinese fusion. Even the plating/presentation has some Chinese elements! Six people shared the three appetizers, along with 2 orders of bread, we were half full by the time entrees were served. My friends said the veal chops (which was the daily special) were good. I had the Bouillabaisse and it was not bad, allowing me to taste all kinds of seafood at once.

Our server seemed to be new to the restaurant as she was reading off her notes when she told us about the daily specials. She also sounded inexperienced when we asked her questions about the food. But we brought our own birthday cake so they were very accommodating in terms of getting that set up for us.

Appy - Chili Tossed Calamari

Appy - Artichoke and Crab Dip

Appy - Island Mussels and Frites (kinda reminds me of Chambar)

Entree - Veal chops (one of the specials)

Entree - Seared B.C. Sablefish

Entree - Seared B.C. Salmon on Lobster Risotto

Entree - Pacific Northwest Bouillabaisse

Watermark at Kits

Food: 8.5
Presentation: 8
Environment: 8
View: 9 (The view would be gorgeous in the summer)
Service: 7.5
Overall: 8.2

Boathouse Restaurant Port Moody

Been wanting to try the Boathouse at English Bay but never wanted to go all the way downtown for that. Fortunately, they just opened another chain in Port Moody in November. For a business dinner, I had the opportunity to try it out.

The evening started with a cocktail drink. I ordered a Mango Tango which had
Finlandia Mango Vodka, Cointreau, white cranberry juice, lime and mango puree. I love mango flavoured drinks (alcohol or non-alcohol) and this one didn't disappoint me. That was followed by some appetizers to share. We ordered calamari, tuna spring rolls and a shrimp dish. Entree I ordered a Westcoast Hot Pot which is one of their Boathouse favourites. I also ordered dessert, Mocha Ice Cream Pie.

There's a hiccup with the services. Another person at the table ordered a Fresh Steamer Pot, which was fairly close to what I ordered. Hence when the food arrived, the servers accidentally switched our two orders. The other person had started eating my Westcoast Hot Pot by the time they found out about the mistake. Then they quickly put in another order to get me a new one and gave her back the Fresh Steamer Pot. So here I was, awkwardly twiddling my fingers for a good 15 minutes before I got to eat my entree. Overall, I think they handled the situation pretty well.

Food was good. Size of dishes was fairly big, too. The Westcoast Hot Pot was nice but the rice noodles were quite filling. The dessert was gigantic but it was so awesome I finished the whole thing!

Boathouse Restaurant Port Moody
Food: 8.5
Presentation: 7.5
Environment: 8
View: 8 (You can actually see the Burrard Inlet)
Service: 8 (The follow-up service made up for the mistakes they made)
Overall: 8

Ganache Pâtisserie

Heard good things about Ganache so went to give it a try. During eat-in, I ordered a piece of Chocolat-Canneberge. The cake was pretty good: white chocolate cranberry parfait and milk chocolate mousse on top of a bed of praline crunch. The presentation is simple, just serving on a white plate, but that makes the cake really stand out. Twenty-two kinds of dessert to choose from and they all look appealing!

Afterwards I bought an assortment of cakes and a box of truffles. The truffles were really good. It's actually crunchy on the outside but the inside is really rich.

I'll definitely go back for some more sweet treats!

The assortment of cakes (clockwise, starting from top left hand corner): Tiramisu-Chocolat, Coco-Mango, Chocolat³, Matcha-Exotique.

Chocolat³ - chocolate cheesecake, chocolate biscotti crust, chocolate cake, dark chocolate caramel mousse: As suggested by the name, it is very chocolaty. It's sweet but it's great for any chocolate craver.

Tiramisu-Chocolat - tiramisu cream, 70% dark chocolate mousse: It is different from regular ones, the texture is a bit firmer and foamier but it tastes pretty good.

Coco-Mango - coconut mango cheesecake, coconut biscotti: I'm not a big fan of coconut but this one is acceptable. I taste more of the mango than coconut. The cheesecake part of it is pretty good.

Matcha-Exotique - green tea mousse, mango-passionfruit gelée, lychees, black sesame biscuit joconde: I actually liked this one a lot. It is very light and the taste of green tea is very subtle. I like the touch of adding some fruit pieces in the cake.

Ganache Pâtisserie
Food: 8.5
Presentation: 9.5
Environment: 8 (Less romantic than I imagined)
View: 7.5
Service: 8
Overall: 8.3

COAST Restaurant

Went to COAST in Yaletown as part of the Taste of Yaletown event. Parking around yaletown is already an issue, with this special event taking place, it's impossible to find a spot 3 blocks around the area. And it's pouring the day I was there. I ended up doing a valet parking which cost me $7 when I could've paid only $2 for one hour of street parking.

The food was not bad. The crab cake was ok, a bit too flaky for me, and it's filling. I ordered the Surf n Turf. At first I wasn't too impressed because they gave me a rare when I ordered a medium rare. But the beef tenderloin turned out to be really good. Perhaps I should consider ordering rare in the future.

Tried a bite of the risotto. I personally don't like too much cheese in my food and the risotto had a bit too much. The cheese made the risotto really rich and filling. The dessert was a bit disappointing. I was hoping the fondue to be a bit more exciting, but the German chocolate cake was good.

Bread under the candle light.

Appetizer: Dungeness Crab & Halibut Cake

Entree Choice #1: Seared Baja Scallops on Johna crab and pea risotto - A bit cheesy and too rich.

Entree Choice #2: Surf n Turf - the beef tenderloin was really good.

Dessert: Dessert duo - Warm milk chocolate fondue & German chocolate cake

COAST Restaurant
Food: 8.5
Presentation: 8.5
Environment: 7.5 (Score would've been higher if the parking wasn't that terrible)
View: 7
Service: 8
Overall: 7.9

Taste of Yaletown

Similar to Dine Out Vancouver, a number of Yaletown restaurants are doing something called "Taste of Yaletown" and it runs from Oct. 12 to Oct. 28.

http://www.yaletowninfo.com/events/toy.aspx

I think it's great to have initiatives like this to raise awareness for restaurants in the communities. But there were just too many of them this year, the novelty effect seems to be wearing off. To name a few, there's Dine Out Vancouver, Dine Italia, Eat BC, and individual restaurants also host their own. Wouldn't it be more effective if all restaurants are grouped together to have one gigantic Dine Out BC event? Just hold it for a longer period of time to allow people to try multiple restaurants...

Dessert 100%

Went to a dessert place called "Dessert 100%". It's right next to Kingspark in Richmond. Here's a funky dessert called "Coral Weed, Tadpoles and Fresh Fruits with Coconut Juice Noodles".



A close-up of the tadpole-shaped stuff



The best part I think was actually the coconut juice noodles underneath. The coral weeds/tadpoles were so-so. They're kinda crunchy, not chewy like bubbles or tapioca.

Kingsway Sushi

Went to try Kingsway Sushi, a relatively new Japanese all you can eat at Kingsway and Boundary. The food was pretty good. On weekdays, dinner all you can eat is at $18.95 per person or you can choose a deluxe menu for $24.95 which gives you more selections. The deluxe menu offers a lot more choices in terms of sushi and sashimi and robata. If you order properly, I think it's worth the money. On weekends, the same menus cost $1 more which are at $19.95 and $25.95.

Surprisingly the service was pretty good too! The waiter patiently answered my dad's questions and was very understanding of our desire to try a bit of everything.

The food quality is generally better when the restaurant is new (especially Chinese-run Jap restaurants). I just hope that their quality of food will stay on par. I do recommend people to give it a try...

Kingsway Sushi
Food: 8
Presentation: 7.5
Environment: 7
View: 6 (well, street view. what do you expect?)
Service: 8
Overall: 7.3

The amateur cook

Lately I have been making sweet treats for myself and others...

Home-made green tea daifukus



Hawaiian Lemon Cakes

Hui Lau Shan

Have to visit Hui Lau Shan whenever I go to HK. I just love the fact that they make desserts with mangoes!

Let's do a match-and-compare. How well do they match the picture on the menu to the actual dessert?

Sago in mango juice and extra mango



Crystal jelly with extra mango



Mini sago in mango juice and mango



Sago with pomelo and mango



The actual desserts were pretty much like the ones in the menu. Recent years Hui Lau Shan have launched additional product lines but the mango line is still the most popular one...

For once I was a highroller

Aftermath of TVB's "Heart of Greed" drama, we visited this prestigious restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui and be a highroller for once:



Menu 1:



Poached whelk



Shark's fin with crab meat. The shark's fin was huge!!



25-head abalone



It's candied on the top. That means top quality abalone.



Braised sea cucumber and goose feet



House special fried rice.



Menu 2:



Shark's fin with crab claws. The shark's fin was not as big as the other one.



30-head abalone on the right. 25-head on the left. Can you see the difference?



Stuffed crab shell



Crispy chicken



Fried rice in lotus leaf.



Dessert 1 - same for both menus - bird's nest in almond juice. Good for your skin.



Dessert 2 - same for both menus - sweet dim sums.



Bonus!! 5-head abalone on display specially for me!



Comparing to my hand - it costs HK$70,000 each. That's CAN$10,000!

I can't resist ice-cream!

Haagen-Dazs in HK: Two scoops of ice-cream, plus fresh fruits + chocolate sauce + topping for HK $49.

Come to think of it, it's actually not that cheap.

Spicy crabs in Causeway Bay

Went for some famous spicy crabs in Causeway Bay. There were a number of restaurants to choose from but we went into the following one.



Clams in black bean and chilli sauce.



"Golden shrimps". Covering the shrimps is deep fried yolks of preserved duck eggs. This is REALLY good.



The famous spicy crabs. I insisted on ordering a mild version so it wasn't spicy enough. v_v



This is how big the claw was.



Baked oysters in Port wine



Fish head stew



This is called "Flying vegetables". Loved its name.



Chicken knees. Not as good as what we have in Vancouver, though.



Stir-fry eels in XO sauce.



The food was quite good. And the service was decent. We walked by some other ones and they seemed to be playing the "fame" card and focusing on the decor of the restaurant. One restaurant actually closed down its old store and escorted customers to the new restaurant. Lost the authenticity and history of the famous spicy crabs...