2011-09-03 Quick Visit @ TaiwanFest 台灣文化節

The last time we visited TaiwanFest was years ago, when it was still at Plaza of Nations.  Since Buddha Boy and I had no plans for the day, we drove Downtown and did a quick visit...and yes, it was a very quick visit.  The festival was quite disappointing...in fact, it was sad, really sad.

Well, I guess I really shouldn't complain much here since these food stalls were located under "International Food Fair".  Stalls that featured Cantonese dim sum, northern Chinese BBQ skewers and Japanese bakudanyaki seemed appropriate...but bubble tea and Taiwanese street snacks?  Shouldn't these be part of the section where it featured Taiwanese food?

Now, there were two sections that proudly featured Taiwanese-style "street banquet 流水席"...one at Granville Street for its Taiwanese street food section (not the "International Food Fair") and the other at the Vancouver Art Gallery for Chef Hung 洪師父牛肉麵 (a side note, apparently, a West Vancouver location is scheduled to open at the end of September).  Honestly, both resembled nothing like 流水席 in Taiwan.  What provided here at the festival was just round tables decorated like a "street banquet" in Taiwan.  The tables were basically used as a food court sitting area where you buy your food, find a seat, eat your food.  What a joke.
 
流水席, or "street banquet" (as what TaiwanFest called it), means a banquet with nonstop feast (where food is continuously served from the beginning to the end)...it's practically an AYCE!!!  Length of banquet varies, sometimes only half a day while others could go up to three days, maybe more.  Instead of calling it "street banquet", maybe "continuous banquet" is more appropriate.  "流水" simply means "flowing water", and it resembles the continuous turn-over of tables as guests/diners come and go.  With no invitations, guests/diners often provide monetary gifts ("red pockets" 紅包) or small "dining fee" to the hosts.  On average, each "turn" has approximately ten to twelve courses, all banquet dishes, not some depressing street food.  流水席 is not limited to outdoors, it can also take place indoors (i.e. hotels, restaurants, etc.).  流水席 should not be confused with 辦桌 as the latter simply means "street catering" and it does not provide continuous feast.

The only display at the festival that somewhat showcased "Taiwan" was provided by the Vancouver Taiwan Hakka Association 溫哥華台灣客家會.  However, it really only showcased the Hakka culture in Taiwan.  Dry delicacies, paper arts, magazines, banners and posters were used to promote their culture.

Tzu Chi Foundation Canada 佛教慈濟基金會加拿大分會, a co-organizer of the event, had a tent that promoted the humanistic of tea and harmony.  Complimentary baked goods were provided.

Tzu Chi Foundation Canada 佛教慈濟基金會加拿大分會 also had a section where they provided free consultation of Chinese herbal medicine.

Buddha Boy and I ate nothing...yes, nothing, at the festival...the food selections were just plain sad and disappointing.  The only place where we spent our money was at a fundraising tent for Tzu Chi Foundation Canada 佛教慈濟基金會加拿大分會.

2011-09-02 West Coast Buffet @ Bistro 101 (Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts)

1505 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC

604-734-0101

Buddha Girl purchased a Dealfind voucher for Bistro 101, we ended up applying this to a meal with Little Lee for their West Coast Buffet (Fridays only).  Bistro 101 is operated by the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, similar to JJ's Restaurant at VCC.

Once seated, we were informed by the student-server that appetizers and desserts were buffet style.  For entree, we each had a choice of pork or beef.

The Appetizer Station had a mixed range of selections: calamari, cold shrimp, hot shrimp, a cheese plate, duck liver pate, seared tuna, tuna sushi, salmon sushi, potato salad, deep fried fish, octopus salad and etc.  I'm not sure how many items I tried, but there were hits and misses.  While most were hits, such as tuna sushi (very professional-looking) and purple potato salad, there were also misses like calamari (overcooked and breaded with breadcrumbs making it horribly hard and crunchy) and deep fried fish (soggy).  Oh, and the hot shrimp didn't taste fresh, it was soft and mushy.  I do give credits to the creativity and the uniqueness of some dishes.

  
For entrees, Little Lee and I had the Beef (left) while Buddha Girl had Pork (right).  We confirmed that medium-rare was okay for us when asked.  We waited approximately twenty-five minutes and we ended up with everything overcooked.  The beef was cooked to the point of being almost dry.  The pork was tough, dry and chewy.  Both the beef and the pork were cut small and thin, and that was probably a good thing since none of us enjoyed it.  Each entree was served with two scallops and we all agreed that the scallops were cold, fishy, and tasted "off".  The scallops were either not fresh or very poor in quality.  The saving grace was the tasty demi-glace that was able to cover up everything, well, almost.  The manager/host asked about the untouched scallops, when we told her about our concerns, she just shrugged and walked away.

 
The dessert table was attacked next and we quite enjoyed it.  Most of the desserts weren't overly sweet.  Buddha Girl's favorites were the Lemon Sandwich Cookies and Bakewell Tarts.  I really enjoyed the Scone with Devonshire Cream...I ended up eating four of them.

While Buddha Girl and Little Lee enjoyed desserts more than anything, I enjoyed their appetizers more.  I understand that this bistro is operated by students and I do give them credits for trying, but unfortunately, the entrees were a huge miss.  I wondered, considering it's a "West Coast Buffet", could they have served salmon or halibut or some other local fish as entrees?  In comparison to our recent experience at VCC, Buddha girl enjoyed Wild Salmon much better.  For me, it's not quite fair to compare, but Bistro 101 was a bit disappointing.

2011-09-01 Dinner @ Malay Curry House 馬拉星

3608 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC

604-438-4288

Buddha Girl spotted a new place in our neck of the woods and suggested it for a dinner.  Buddha Girl loves laksa, so this was a definite must for her.  This restaurant took over where "Bowl of Stars" once resided.

As soon as we're seated, we were each offered a glass of complimentary Peach Tea.  Apparently, the flavour changes daily.  The tea was a bit too sweet for me, but okay for Buddha Girl.

The first dish ordered was the Boneless Hainanese Chicken Rice 秘制無骨海南雞飯.  The order came with a bowl of chicken oil rice, a soup (chicken broth) and two choices of sauces.  The chicken was just simple hormone-injected plump chicken, not those specialty or free range birds.  The chicken was served deboned and the meat was tender and moist.  Both Buddha Girl and I really enjoyed it.

 

The soup was pretty simple, just simple chicken stock with a bit of soy in it for color.  This soup wasn't salty and it wasn't as strong in ginger as many other places.  For our sauces, I opted for the Green Onion Ginger 姜蔥蓉 and the Sesame BBQ 沙嗲汁.  Also included was a side of soy sauce.  The soy sauce was sweet but not overly salty.  All sauces went well with rice and chicken.

The Chicken Oil Rice 香油飯 had a brown tinge in color.  It was also quite fragrant from the fried shallots.  It wasn't very oily and was perfectly cooked where the rice would still separate into individual grains.  We ended up ordering a second bowl.

The Super Spicy Hainanese Chicken 地獄海南雞 was basically hainan chicken smothered in garlic & chili oil sauce, sitting top of a bed of bean sprouts and sprinkled with white sesame.  The sauce was fragrant, mainly from the garlic and the chili, but it was not spicy.  The dish looked oily but it was not.  White sesame didn't really do much.  Both Buddha Girl and I liked this dish.

I ordered a half of dozen skewers.  Since Buddha Girl doesn't eat beef, I asked for three Lamb Skewers 羊肉串燒 and three Chicken Skewers 雞肉串燒.  The chicken was well marinated, tender, with strong taste and aroma of lemongrass 香茅.  The pork was also tender and was lightly dusted with cumin.  The Satay Sauce 沙嗲醬 was good.  This reminided me of those orange jar satay sauces that we used to buy.  The sauce was not creamy like peanut butter, but it was a chunky mix peanuts and spices.

Buddha Girl asked for half yellow noodles 油麵 and half vermicelli 米粉 in her Seafood Laksa Noodle Soup 星加坡叻沙海鮮湯麵, that's the way her Malaysian girlfriend taught her.  The laksa was garnished with fried shallots, shredded coconuts and cilantro.  With ample ingredients of tofu puffs, mussel, shrimp, fish cake, fish ball and fish slices, the soup was creamy, flavorful and had a good depth.  Buddha Girl enjoyed this over Bo Laksa's Bubbles & Bits.

Knowing us, we always have something to pick on, but this meal really surprised us.  We enjoyed everything we ordered.  We honestly don't know much about this cuisine, but we did enjoy the food.