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

Brain Fuel

This is the current snack centre in our audit room and it has all the essentials (the 4 C's): chocolate, chips, cookies and candy. Absolutely necessary to keep me functioning during the day!

DG