Montaditos

Kaley and I have been wandering around Barcelona for a few days now and I've been intrigued by these little, open-faced sandwich-like things that I've seen in a few spots. On our walk yesterday we were looking for a light snack and came across this restaurant serving these little sandwiches which I would later discover are called "montaditos". The word montadito comes from the Spanish verb "montar" which means "to mount" because of the way the tiny slice of bread is "mounted" with a variety of toppings. I've always disliked sandwiches, nothing against them personally but I find most of them so boring and heavy on the bread. But this was different. Each little sandwich was only a few bites and then you could have another one, or two, or three!! And the bread was really just a canvas for whatever delicious ingredients are placed on top.

There was no menu of course, only your eyes are used to pick your meal so there is a bit of mystery involved. Each piece was 1.65 Euros and we were each given a small plate and free rein to pick whatever we liked. My montaditos (below) included a brie cheese & tomato mini-burger, a mini-croissant with an egg salad-like filling, and a seafood-stuffed red pepper on a small slice of baguette.

At the end of the meal, the waiter comes by and counts up your toothpicks which is done to tabulate the bill. Genius.

DG

Roka

As a treat while my cousin Aaron was in the city, Auntie Mindy took us to Roka, a really nice restaurant in London's media district serving Japanese robatayaki cuisine. Robatayaki translates literally to "fireside cooking" and refers to food that is skewered and grilled over hot charcoal. The "tasting menu" was highly recommended which is where one gets to sample a variety of house specialities and feature dishes. We were hesitant because we had such a full day of eating (see "A Sunday Roast" post below) and weren't sure if we could manage such a feast. Aaron, being the smart young man that he is (he does go to Cambridge after all), made a very valid point:

  "Diana, you can eat a lot...like not in a bad way..."

And so the tasting menu it was.

It started with the beachu kim chi and a grilled seaweed & bamboo shoot salad. Next, we received a selection of sashimi and the yellow fin tuna tartar with seaweed crackers.


Moving into the hot foods we had a soft shell crab maki, assorted tempura, and beef, ginger & sesame gyoza.


We were all still feeling pretty confident at this point. The final round of savoury dishes was the spiced chicken wings with sea salt & lime, fried eggplant, grilled asparagus, and teriyaki salmon filet. The fried eggplant was fantastic (although not very photogenic) - it was served with this sesame miso sauce and katsuobushi (dried, fermented and smoked fish or what I simply call "fish flakes"). By the time the salmon came around I was ready to wave the white flag but somehow we managed to get through it all and even save a little room for what was coming next.


The last and final part of the meal, was the amazing dessert platter! I really should have been taking notes here because there were some really nice and refreshing desserts here: a peanut butter ice cream sundae, some sort of mango filled meringue type thing, a custard-y lychee dessert, an assortment of fruit sorbets and fresh dragon fruit (Aaron's fave). This might have been my favourite part of the entire meal and just look how pretty it is!


Such a lovely day, dinner, and visit with my Australian family. :)

DG

A Sunday Roast

My dear auntie Mindy, armed with her maps, guidebooks, and "London binder", is quite keen on showing me everything London has to offer and also giving me a real taste of Britain. With my cousin Aaron taking a break from his studies at Cambridge to join us in London on Sunday afternoon, my auntie thought it would be a perfect time to have a traditional Sunday roast at a British pub. After a long day of perusing the markets we ended up at the Marksman pub on Hackney Road (close to the flower market). It was packed but we had a reservation (of course) and sat down with a big pitcher of Pimms cocktail - my drink of choice in the UK.

I had the roasted leg of lamb (other options were beef or pork belly) with the traditional assortment of roasted potatoes, steamed kale & red cabbage, boiled carrots, mashed turnip, and of course, Yorkshire pudding. I've always found phrase "Yorkshire pudding" very misleading and wondered where it got off calling itself a pudding until today when I looked it up in the Collins English Dictionary and realized it is a totally legitimate use of the word pudding:

pudding 

n

1. (Cookery) a sweetened usually cooked dessert made in many forms and of various ingredients, such as flour, milk, and eggs, with fruit, etc.

2. (Cookery) a savoury dish, usually soft and consisting partially of pastry or batter steak-and-kidney pudding

3. (Cookery) the dessert course in a meal

4. (Cookery) a sausage-like mass of seasoned minced meat, oatmeal, etc., stuffed into a prepared skin or bag and boiled

Well, looks like I owe Yorkshire pudding an apology.

This is an incredibly hearty meal to be eating at 2pm in the afternoon but it has that homecooked feel that I love. However, having nibbled all day at the market (and knowing that we had another reservation at a very nice place that same evening) I could only manage about half of this plate. Still, I thought it was quite good and that's coming from an Asian girl who loves her noodles!

DG

Swiss Cheese

I just arrived in London yesterday after a few precious days in Geneva with my old friend, Maciek (we met while we were both studying in Singapore on an exchange semester) and my new friend Milena (Maciek's lovely wife). 

Switzerland is famous for many things but most importantly...chocolate and cheese! Why? Because Switzerland produces the highest quality milk in the world. But how? It's simple: Swiss alpine pastures are ideal for grazing and happy cows produce better milk. So you can imagine how much better it used to be back in the day when Swiss farmers were still allowed to feed their cows cannabis. Delivering on their promise to show me the best of Geneva, Maciek and Milena invited me to the restaurant in Hotel Les Armures located in the Old Town and probably one of the more famous restaurants in Switzerland. I mean, Bill and Hillary ate here. They are well known for their cheese fondue which is apparent when you walk in the door and are hit by this overwhelming smell of cheese. We started with a plate of viande séchée (dried meat) served with bread and pickles which was a nice appetizer. 

For the main course, we ordered the fondue (moitié‐moitié) which is a traditional Swiss fondue - a mixture of two cheeses, half gruyère and half vacherin Fribourgeois, melted together in a pot with white wine, garlic, cornstarch (for thickening) and a splash of kirsch (fruit brandy). We had bread for dipping and I was told that losing your piece of bread in the fondue was very bad luck so I was careful not to do this. 

We ate, really, a lot of cheese and it was so delicious but sadly we did not make it to the bottom! Per my friends, this is the best part because the waiter comes by and scrapes off the cheese that has formed a tasty, crispy crust at the bottom of the pot. Sigh. Oh well, something to look forward to next time!

Thank you for a wonderful visit, Maciek and Milena!

DG

When in Scotland

Today, I woke up to my plane landing in Edinburgh and my best friend's face waiting for me at the arrival gate. Today was a good day. Kaley and Dave are the most wonderful hosts and I'm so happy to be here with them. To welcome me to their country, Dave cooked a traditional Scottish meal of haggis, neeps & tatties (neeps = turnips and tatties = potatoes). When Kaley and Dave were in Winnipeg this summer and we were planning this trip we had a long, serious talk about haggis. Whenever I'm in another country I always want to try the local specialities but I had some reservations about haggis. The thing is, haggis is made from sheep organs (heart, liver and lungs) and that's a little too real for me. But after some discussion we decided Dave would make the haggis in a safe place (their home) and if I didn't like it I didn't have to eat it and no one would have to face public humiliation. Deal. 

Dave was at work all day so Kaley and I had to go to the grocery store and pick up the haggis. The haggis from the store is actually mostly pre-prepared with beef fat, oatmeal and seasonings so that all you have to do is heat it up at home. It's wrapped up in a ball shape in a sausage-like casing although traditionally it is stuffed in a sheep's stomach. 

My favourite part was when Dave cut open the casing and released the piping hot haggis!

Honestly, if I didn't know what this was I would really enjoy it. And even though I knew what it was, I still enjoyed it quite a lot! It reminds me of a risotto because of its consistency. My first Scottish experience was a great success and I will be having leftover haggis & eggs tomorrow morning.

DG

Food Art

Food is beautiful. In fact, I would say it's one of those lucky bitches that is just as beautiful when it first wakes up in the morning, no make-up on, completely au naturel. Still, once in a while it's nice to get all dressed up and enjoy food that is almost too pretty too eat. Almost. No food is too pretty to eat that's just silly. 

Here are a few of my favorite pieces of food art: 

Ricotta gnocchi with duck confit, truffle and black garlic from Sydney's at the Forks in Winnipeg. This was my first time at Sydney's and I found out it is a great place to enjoy 5-course meal when you have four hours to burn.

Agedashi tofu from Kyu Bistro in Winnipeg (www.kyubistro.com). From the few times I've been here I get the sense that the chef at Kyu really takes pride in his cooking, it's lovely. 

Pad thai hor kai (pad thai wrapped in an omelette) at the Chiang Mai Women's Correctional Institution in Chiang Mai, Thailand (photo cred: Miss Sonja T.). The ladies here are multi-talented - you can also get a 1-hour full body massage for 180 baht (around $6). 

Raspberry and white chocolate Charlotte with a strawberry puree from the Winnipeg Convention Centre (at my CA convocation dinner). 

The "Shrimple" from KAZOKU restaurant in Winnipeg (30 - 2583 Pembina Hwy). It is a crab meat roll topped with deep fried shrimp, tartar sauce, and black tobiko. This Korean restaurant has a great sushi menu and I can't wait to go back and try more of their masterpieces. 

That's all for now! Big shout out to my loyal readers (you know who you are) who send me hate mail because I don't update my blog enough, love you. 

DG

Deer + Almond

I have mixed emotions about a restaurant with an ever-evolving menu. On one hand, it keep things fresh and exciting with new dishes to try all the time. But on the other hand, I tend to fall in love with certain things so when I come back to visit only to find out they've moved and are now screening my phone calls it's a little upsetting. I've been to Deer + Almond twice now and never ordered the same dish so it's always love at first sight for me. 

Smoked lamb ragout with mint chutney, harissa yogurt, and sheep feta over panelle which is a fried chickpea fritter of Sicilian origin (tasted a little like fried tofu to this Asian girl).

Malfatti with sage, parmesan, tomato sauce and pine nuts. Malfatti are like little spinach and ricotta cheese-filled dumplings with a texture close to gnocchi except I found the outer layer is ultra-thin so you don't get as much doughiness as gnocchi and you really get to savour the tasty filling. 

Falafel served with burnt eggplant, cauliflower and tomato bruschetta. I've never met a falafel ball I didn't like and this was no exception. 

Both the lamb and malfatti were super delicious and I might have to make a trip back before they eventually decide to run away together. 

DG

Sushi: Splurge vs. Steal

If you are a sushi addict like me and are constantly satisfying your cravings than you know that it can be expensive. Being a little Chinese-Jewish girl, I am always looking for a good deal! And I'd like to share some with you. 

One of the appetizers below is the Creamy Spicy Tempura from Kimchi Sushi (14-998 Keewatin St.) and the other is the Spicy Mango Prawns from Wasabi on Broadway. They are essentially the same dish with prawn tempura and mango tossed in a creamy spicy sauce but one of them is $9.95 at Kimchi and the Wasabi version is $14. Can you spot the splurge vs. the steal? 

The top one is from Kimchi. As you can see, the portion sizes are very comparable (the Wasabi dish looks fairly small but I believe it's just the way it has been plated and is in fact a good size) and they are both delicious but the Kimchi version is almost 30% cheaper! Although you don't get the decorative carrots...

I love rolls with either tuna or salmon and avocado. One of the rolls below is the Wasabi House Roll for $12 and the other is from Sushi Delight (1 Keewatin St.) - a great little sushi place in a horrible location (right at the intersection where Notre Dame merges into Keewatin) that we just discovered today on our lunch break. It looks like an abandoned drive-thru ATM but it is a charming garden oasis on the inside. I had the Crazy Love Roll for $6.95. Both rolls have tuna, salmon and avocado plus a variety of other ingredients - but can you tell which is more expensive? 

The bottom roll is the Wasabi House Roll. Look at those big chunks of tuna and salmon! It also has tempura crumbs for a little crunch and nice big pieces of avocado. To be fair, the Wasabi House roll also has crab meat, scallops and salmon skin which is delicious and also adds a little bit of crunch. But in terms of bang for your buck the Crazy Love Roll wins because it is a full $5 cheaper for savings of over 40%! Do you know what you can buy with $5? You can take your co-worker to Tim's in the morning and buy two medium coffees and share a blueberry muffin (thanks, Jon).

I love Wasabi on Broadway even though it is a little pricier the food is always top quality and the service and ambiance are fantastic. But...sometimes I just want good, cheap sushi, you know? 

DG

Kyu Bistro

Kyu Bistro (kyubistro.com), a little ramen noodle house, just opened on Isabel St. last Monday and Aimee invited me to join her and some friends for lunch that Friday. Aimee has like a sixth sense or something for places to eat. She is a foodie like me and she's also Filipino so she always hears about these places from her friends, her cousins, her cousin's friends, her friend's cousin's friend, etc. I feel like ramen noodles don't get the respect they deserve because of their less-attractive younger sibling, instant noodles. Don't get me wrong, you can do great things with instant noodles and it is considered by some as one of the greatest Japanese inventions of the 20th century, but obviously it's not the real thing. Kyu does three different versions of ramen noodle soup: shio (light clear broth), shoyu (soy sauce based broth), and a spicy miso broth. I had the Shio Ramen which has pork shoulder, naruto (a thinly sliced fish cake), soft boiled egg, menma (bamboo shoots), nori and green onions. I really wanted to try the spicy miso broth so I substituted this for the shio broth. 

The spicy miso broth is amazing! It is so flavourful and a little bit thicker which makes it so satisfying and delicious. They also have really good appetizers that are priced between $4 to $6 so there's no reason why you should ever be leaving here hungry. Best agedashi tofu (bottom left corner below).

In case you can't tell...I loved this place. Being an Asian girl who loves a good noodle soup, I will definitely be coming back. 

DG

The Tallest Poppy

To fight off the depression of having to go into the office on a Sunday morning, Jon, Ashley and I decided to start our day off right by going for breakfast at The Tallest Poppy (www.thetallestpoppy.com) located at 631 Main St. Now if you were to meet a friend here for the 1st time you might think that your friend was playing a little trick on you and actually giving you the address to some abandoned building or one of those places where you get clean needles or something. But once you open the front door you will actually discover an adorable little diner with an eclectic assortment of chairs from my Baba's basement. There are no menus, only a list of breakfast items on a sign which your server will happily describe for you. After making the kind man run through the entire menu, all three of us ordered the Cafe Breakfast - item #1.

I had the vegetarian version with eggs, breakfast potatoes, sauteed vegetables (as a substitute for the non-kosher meat) and focaccia toast. Everything was delicious but the best part was the fresh, lightly toasted cheese & herb focaccia bread. Cheese-infused carb? Yes, please. Nice poach on the egg, too. There is a clear sense that someone put love and attention into preparing this breakfast for me which I appreciated.

As a word of caution, they accept CASH ONLY so remember to bring some otherwise you'll have to walk past the actual abandoned buildings to the nearest ATM. 

DG

Caught in the act!

Chef Hung's Champion Noodles

Every Asian girl loves her noodles. That being said the animated noodle statue at the front door of Chef Hung's Taiwanese Beef Noodle really caught my eye. Also, it was Chinese New Year and Mandi and I were trying to escape the throngs of people in the Aberdeen Centre in Richmond. 

Chef Hung was named the champion of the prestigious Taipai International Beef Noodle Festival for three consecutive years and in 2012 it was awarded "Best Noodle House" by the Vancouver Restaurant Awards. Clearly, we had to have it - two Champion Beef Shank with Noodle soups, please. 

This soup was really, really, really good!! The broth was super flavourful and a little bit spicy and the beef was very tender. We liked it so much we've already been back once and this time we had to bring Dan. I also really enjoyed the Shredded Dried Pork & Egg Wrapped in Crispy Pancake that we got as an appetizer last time. 

I've spent two weeks with Mandi now and it brings so much joy to my heart seeing her, little white girl from Oakbank, Manitoba, become so Asian. She gets cravings for this noodle soup, I caught her stocking up on coconut buns at the T&T bakery the other day, and when she found out she was going to be staying over the weekend she asked if we were going for Dim Sum on Saturday. I couldn't be more proud. 

DG

Bibimbap at Yaohan Centre

A few months ago when I found out I'd be spending a few weeks in Vancouver on a business trip the first thing I thought was, naturally, where am I going to eat?? And when I realized we'd be staying in Richmond, I knew the answer to this question was going to be easy: EVERYWHERE. Richmond is not just a glorified Chinatown - it's more like AsiaWORLD! Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Korean...Richmond has it all. The hotel we're staying at is right next to this mall, the Yaohan Centre, and everyone knows the great thing about malls are their food courts. We checked it out for dinner tonight and I ordered the Bibimbap from Seoul Express. Bibimbap is a Korean dish that literally means "mixed rice" with the "mix" being sauteed vegetables, sliced meat (typically beef), chili paste and egg. It's served in a very hot stone bowl so that the egg cooks as you mix all the ingredients together and the rice on the bottom gets a little crispy. 

Korean dishes are usually served with an assortment of small side dishes (banchan). I chose the glazed potatoes (gamja jorim), marinated bean sprouts and a staple of Korean cuisine - kimchi!

If that bowl wasn't still burning hot I probably would have licked it clean. Oh Richmond, you and I are going to be friends. 

DG

Breakfast at Stella's

I've always loved the breakfast at Stella's...and apparently so does everyone else in Winnipeg because it is always packed on the weekends. Although I hate the idea of standing in line for 30 minutes on a Sunday morning I have to admit it's worth the wait. What makes the breakfast at Stella's so good? The key to any good breakfast - eggs! They serve the most delicious free-run eggs and they're consistenly cooked well. I like my eggs poached and it's hard to get that perfect runny yolk so there's this risk of winding up with eggs that are too runny (raw egg whites = gross), watery or straight-up hard-boiled. I'm also a big fan of the Mexican breakfast at Stella's which is sunny side-up eggs (I substitute for poached) over soft corn tortillas with refried beans and topped with cheddar cheese, green onions, tomato, salsa, guacamole, and cilantro sauce served with Stella's breakfast potatoes. 

Oh and they're also really good at re-filling your coffee if you're like me and enjoy drinking coffee until you get the shakes when you go out for breakfast. 

DG

Saigon Jon's Vietnamese Kitchen

If I had to describe Vietnamese cuisine in two words they would be fresh and flavourful. Vietnamese food gets its light, fresh taste from its use of fresh vegetables and herbs and every bite is always packed full of flavour - salty, sweet, sour, spicy...it has it all. I've been wanting to check out Saigon Jon's (www.saigonjons.com) for a while because I love the idea of Vietnamese food for the masses where instead of ordering a number on a menu you get to customize your meal by selecting from a variety of meats (or vegan option) and then choose to have it in a sandwich, salad or noodle bowl. While there are many fantastic Vietnamese restaurants in Winnipeg, Saigon Jon's setup makes ordering fast, simple and unique albeit slightly less authentic. I ordered the Banh Mi (Vietnamese sub sandwich) with lemongrass steak and Thai basil aoili. It was delicious! I loved the lemongrass marinade on the steak and the sandwich had all the right toppings I just wish there was more of 'em, especially the cilantro because I am a cilantro fiend. 

If only it wasn't so far away! I'm going to have to start finding reasons to drive down Pembina Highway more often. 

DG

Leftover Turkey Sandwiches

I have always been a big fan of leftovers and would in fact argue that there are certain foods that actually taste better after an overnight in the fridge like chili and curries. Also, although it is a rare treat for me (Chinese people don't really do turkey), I love leftover turkey with all the fixins'. I was fortunate enough to spend a few days over Christmas in beautiful Sandown, New Hampshire (Population: approx. 6,000) where there isn't a whole lot to do other than going for long nature walks and eating yourself into a food coma. Of the aforementioned activities I mostly engaged in the latter. Like I said before, I hardly ever get to enjoy a big, festive turkey which I really enjoy but what I love even more is the turkey sandwiches my Auntie Donna whips up the next day. They are perfectly constructed with the essential components of the previous day's meal being the turkey, cranberry sauce and the turkey stuffing (which has to be rationed out so that we don't eat it all in the first sitting). 

Who needs a knife and fork when you can have it between two slices of bread! 

DG