The Templeton-Quality Food,Snappy Service!

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Sean

One place that packs them in every day is The Templeton Cafe on Granville Street. The Templeton has occupied the space since the mid ’90′s but it’s been a diner since 1939 so the old school fixtures and vibe inside is totally authentic.

The place usually dies down around 1:30-2pm on the weekdays so it was a great time to visit and grab one of my favorite things and snap some pictures.

The shakes here are not to be missed, there made with hand scooped hard ice cream and whole milk, served in the mixing tin but glasses are available if you ask. There thick and rich just like they were made back in the 50′s.

They also make custom made sodas as well, in the summer I’ve had many a cherry limeade made with fresh limes and cherry syrup and soda~crisp and refreshing it’s a diner classic.

This is the 777 Burger Platter, it’s a 100% certified lean organic beef on a sesame kaiser bun, all burgers come with mayo, lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickle and your choice of soup or mixed organic greens or house chipped fries or garlic mashed potatoes, For $10.50 it’s a solid choice if you’re a burger lover.

The burgers here are really juicy and the organic beef is a great choice.

Fries here are classic skin on, thick cut chips, crisp and seasoned with some pepper as well as salt, you get a nice portion of them and they aren’t greasy.

If you find yourself downtown you should definitely check out The Templeton, it’s totally kid friendly and your sure to find something to satisfy your appetite with the varied menu that goes from breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Deacon’s Corner

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Sean

Deacons Corner sits on the border of the Downtown Eastside and Gastown and is serving up classic diner food and all day breakfasts. I can remember eating here years ago when it was a generic white box and the food was pretty so so. Now with the same owner as Gastown’s Cobre being the proprietor of this joint the good food and solid service have arrived at The Deacons Corner.

On my first visit I had the classic clubhouse with fries. For $11.75 you get the usual suspects in a classic clubhouse-freshly roasted chicken, fresh tomatoes and lettuce and perfectly cooked bacon. This was one of the best clubhouses I’ve ever had and it’s simply because of the fresh ingredients. The fries here are hand cut and tossed with salt and pepper and are totally addictive.

On another visit I tried their daily special-a ham steak sandwich with bacon, Swiss cheese and cheddar with a bowl of potato, ham and leek soup for $10.00. This was a bit hit and miss for me, the soup was the off part, I got a few big chunks of bay leaf on my first few spoonfuls and consequently that’s all I tasted in the soup from then on. The sandwich on the other had was good and full of porky goodness with the thick cut fried ham steak and the bacon. It’s a classic diner sandwich at the end of the day.

The burgers here are where it’s really at, the toppings are classic and fresh and again I went with the fries.

Each burger here comes with 2 homemade little patty’s, the meat is cooked on a flat top grill and I chose to add cheese. For $9.75 this is the best and cheapest burger I’ve had in a while, when it’s put all together you get this:

The perfect burger!, they have a couple of specialty burgers on the menu that look really good so if you’re looking to satisfy that craving for a perfect cheese burger check out the Deacon’s Corner and they’ll hook you up right.

Lunch At The Acme Cafe

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Sean

The Acme Cafe is a favorite of mine when I’m looking for a new take on diner classics so on this visit I tried their take on the chicken club sandwich.

I started with one of their solid milkshakes, in this case I chose the espresso milkshake for $5.25 and I must say the make a great one that has a couple fresh shots in every shake.

This is the star of the show, the Acme’s $12 take on the chicken club contains the following ingredients: multi-grain or white bread, chicken, bacon, aged cheddar, tomato, arugula, sun-dried tomato mayo and grainy mustard. The sun-dried tomato mayo and grainy mustard add a totally unique taste and flavor to the sandwich and the fresh roasted chicken is moist and tender. Sandwiches here come with broccoli almond slaw and potato chips-I went with all slaw and I must say they have really good dill pickle spears here.

One thing that’s not to be missed here is the dessert case by the front door. It’s stocked fresh daily with homemade cakes, pies, cookies and other yummy pastry’s by Peggy and the amazing pasty chef they have in-house.

Gyoza King

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Sean

Gyoza King has been open for years now and was one of the 1st Izakaya’s on the Vancouver Scene before the Izakaya craze blew up all around Vancouver and I’m sad to say that I have never been in for a visit before.

From the outside the place looks big but when you get inside half of the room is taken up by a semi private area for group dining~similar to the space at Guu with Garlic and the rest of the rooms is seating for groups of 2 and there is a couple of tables together for groups of 4, needless to say it’s a tight fit.

On this visit I tried a couple of things from their menu including a special import Asahi beer that Diana from Foodology.ca has mentioned a couple of times and I would like to thank her for turning me onto one of the best Japanese beers I have ever had!

Asahi Black $6, normally I don’t go for dark beer like this but after reading about it I was intrigued to try it. It’s a lager so the taste is crisp with a nutty tone and it’s definitely on my list of must drinks when I’m out for Japanese in the future.

Ebi Mayo $6.50. The ebi mayo here was pretty good here but the prawns were smaller than other places I’ve had this dish and the mayo was just on the outside of the prawn unlike at Guu where it seems to also be injected under the breading of the prawn so you get a chili mayo burst in your mouth when you take a bite.

But on the bright side the breading on these ebi mayo was nice and light and the prawns were nice and juicy yet not over cooked so in the end I’d order these again at Gyoza King.

Chicken Box $12, this came with chicken teriyaki

This came with chicken teriyaki, the chicken was nice and juicy and the sauce wasn’t to sweet~a good chicken teriyaki at the end of the day.

Spinach gomae, I’m not big on spinach gomae but I didn’t mind Gyoza King’s, the sauce was nutty and kind of sweet and went with the earthy taste of the spinach really good.

House salad was another item in the box, this salad was OK but I found the dressing to be a bit to light tasting but the veggies were nice and fresh.

There was fish also included in the box but I couldn’t figure out what it was and I have a thing about eating fish with the skin on so I didn’t touch it.

Lastly there was steamed rice with black sesame seeds on top included in the box, the rice was cooked perfectly and the sesame seeds were a great touch.

Pork and Chive Gyoza 6pc $6. These are some of the best gyoza I’ve ever had, the filling was nice and juicy without being tough and the spicing was perfect~just the right amount of meat and chives and the ponzu dipping sauce was nice and not to tart. I’ll be back for more of these bad boys and will report back with my findings!

I really enjoyed my first visit to Gyoza King and will be back with my friends to make a real dent in the menu, if your looking for some damn great Japanese dumplings and Japanese tapas hit up the Gyoza King for some good eats.

Chef Hung’s Taiwanese Beef Noodle

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Sean

Lets just start this post by saying that I have zero experience with Taiwanese cuisine, I’ve had my fair share of Chinese food but this is a new one for me. I was really exited when my fellow foodie George texted me up and suggested that we go and get some beef noodle in Richmond and I was totally in for this meal!. Of late I’ve had my fair share of soups~specifically ramen but I have heard good things about beef noodle from Follow Me Foodie so I had I had an idea of what I was going to be getting into.

The place we went to is located in Aberdeen Center in Richmond and is quite busy and known for line ups from what I have read. We were seated really quickly because there were only 2 of us, the room was nicely decorated and there is a private room for group dining to get your beefy noodle on!. I’m glad George was there because he was familiar with the menu and based on what my likes were he ordered up a few items so let the adventure begin:

Marinated chilled mixed tofu $3.5, I’m not sure what the marinade is for this but it was really good, the tofu used here is really firm so there is some texture to it, its accompanied with chopped Thai bird chillies I think~all I know is that they were small and really hot!.

I’m going to call this steamed greens with sauce (hoisin or oyster I think) with fried shallots or onions $3.5, I really liked these and am a fan of Asian greens with a meal, they were steamed nicely with some bite left in them and the sauce was a nice touch and not too salty.

Pan fried ground pork cake (2 pcs) for $3.5, by far this was my favorite savory item we had and could have had another order easily. The server cut them in half for scissors for us exposing the juicy pork filling, there are also scallions in this adding a nice light onion flavor.

the Championship Beef Noodle Soup with Beef Shank $10.95, with the soups here you get to choose the thickness and type of noodles you want, there also hand-made and pulled in the glass enclosed kitchen at the front of the restaurant, I found them to me too thick and even tho they were cooked properly they were still gummy for my taste. The soup broth had a beefy flavor that kind of reminded me of Campbell’s Beef Vegetable soup, the meat was nice~the fat in the shank was marbled throughout the meat and was tender, the dish also came with 2 hand torched and seared pieces of beef that were melt in your mouth tender. As for vegetables the soup only had some scallions and a piece of bok choy, I will add some more toppings sometime and get a thinner noodle. At the end of the day I’d totally order beef noodle at another place but I don’t think its worth the 11 bucks per bowl. George had the same as me but nuclear hot~it had a BP reminiscent red chile oil sheen all on the top of his soup that unfortunately didn’t get a picture of.

Now it’s time for a couple of deserts that I’ve never heard of before:

This is shaved ice milk from a popular place in the mall downstairs called Frappe Bliss, here it costs $3.50 a bowl plus $1 for each topping, they take a frozen block of ice milk and it shaves it paper-thin, it’s light at a feather and really doesn’t melt for some reason~I think it’s because of the shaving of the ice milk. I had mine with fresh mango and sweetened condensed milk and it was freakin’ awesome!, my buddy had his with red bean and taro jelly with the same milk as mine. I can’t wait to go to the shop down stairs and try the different flavors~I hear mango is great as well as the peanut flavor.

So my first out of the box food adventure was not too bad and I had a great time and can’t wait to try some other new places and share my experiences.

Save On Meats Diner-Pig’s Can Fly!

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Sean

Yes pigs can fly!, the Vancouver icon Save On Meats has been reborn and I must say that it manages to keep the best parts and more have been added~the booths are wired for laptops and there’s WiFi !.

Originally opened in 1957 it went strong for all of my life~things that stand out in my mind from childhood are Woodwards and Save On Meats and the big pig sign, the business finally closed it’s doors in 2009 when Al DesLauriers retired. I know I was now very happy to see it close, it was a go to place for summer BBQ eats and good deals on roasts for family dinners for me and my friends and a kick ass burger for pennies on the dollar, here’s a video I found that documents the last day of the old Save On Meats uploaded by Davely70. The new owner Mark Brand is the owner of the higher end restaurant Boneta in Gastown as well as Sea Monstr Sushi, The Diamond, Sharks + Hammers and the Catalog Gallery, this Vancouverite was eager to see something good happen to the building and not let it become another victim to the wrecking ball. After a year and a half full renovation and more than $1,000,000.00 pumped into the facility it’s a welcome and needed business in the Downtown Eastside.

There is a lot going on in the space now, part of the four-story building is leased to SOLE Food, an urban farm, run by local residents, who use it as a distribution center for produce. Brand is planning a commissary kitchen for neighborhood residents who might wish to start a food business. The complex also includes a bakery for the restaurant and baked goods are also sold next door in the butcher shop. It’s one of the few places where almost everything is made in~house, the bakery grind their own flour for baking, using wheat from various farms on Vancouver Island and this ends up in the homemade killer bread, baked goods and the brioche hamburger buns.

The ice cream for the triple thick shakes and soda fountain ice cream deserts is all made in-house and is DIVINE!. I’ve had the chocolate, banana and the coffee shakes here and have been a happy camper every time.

Having the butcher shop as part of the building helps keep the costs down on the restaurant side so you can have a filling home cooked meal and it won’t break the bank and also lets the neighborhood residents get benefit of being able to get quality affordable meat and baked goods on a limited budget. At the front where the windows used to separate the 2 entrances is now a take out sandwich and quick eats window where you can get an all day breakfast sandwich on homemade biscuit for $1.50

The menu speaks for itself:

they do the big 3 here~breakfast, lunch and dinner here, opening at 7am and closing at 10pm you have ample time to get over and get some good eats, the addition of a $4 kids menu with dishes that all come with your or your little one’s choice of salad, fries, coleslaw or fruit cup and milk or juice. makes it kid friendly and headache free for mom and dad.

Now on to the food I’ve had:

the Save On Meats burger with bacon and cheese with fries on the side $6, yes that price is right~six bucks!, its made from ground chuck and flank steak, it has house made bacon, cheese and all the usually suspects on a brioche bun, any other place this would be $10-$12 easy. I really liked it and it was the first thing I tried on my initial visit, the burger was flavorful and juicy, the bun was buttery and a bit sweet. It’s like the original Save On Meats burger got grown up and refined during the building makeover and still remained dirt cheap~a deal that you can’t miss in my books. One issue that I do have is the fact that the burger patty was a lot smaller than the bun and is something I’ve seen in other bloggers pictures, it’s not a deal breaker in my eyes~just a minor grumble and the pickle on top made up for it!.

the Clubhouse with fries and house made coleslaw $7

the roasted chicken in this bad boy was moist, tender and in my eyes needs to me a meal on its own!, it’s a classic done right in my eyes and is a solid choice of a sandwich. One thing that I didn’t mention above in talking about the burger were the fries~there crisp and tender inside like great fries should be and I’ve found myself craving them at 11pm at night a few times last week. When I order this again I’m going have to insist my sandwich be on more regular bread~I don’t know if I got the 2 ends from a loaf but the outsides were hard and difficult to eat around the edges, also on this visit my sandwich order was taken but got lost in translation in the kitchen and wasn’t made for 30 mins when I finally had enough and asked WTF, even the waitress couldn’t understand what happened back there in the kitchen, at the end of the day I had a free coffee triple thick shake for my trouble (as pictured above).

the open-faced roasted chicken sandwich with house made brown gravy with fries and coleslaw $8, I really liked this sandwich, the bread was super soft in the middle where the chicken was placed and the crust had some slight chew to it-if my clubhouse was on this It would have been a perfect sandwich, the roasted chicken was moist and tender. The house made brown gravy was not overly salty and added the right moisture to this classic knife and fork sandwich. The coleslaw they make here is vinegar biased I think, all I know it’s not the gloopy mayo kind and I really love it!. One thing that I will say is that this menu item needs to have another piece of bread with chicken and gravy on it to be a open-faced chicken sandwich and to fill you up, I was still hungry and could have easily downed a burger or a couple of pieces of pie from Acme Cafe 2 doors down from Save On Meats.

The Damn Fine Ruben $7, this was ordered by a lady sitting next to me, she asked the waitress to surprise her with a sandwich that is killer and this magnificent treat was brought to her, the sandwich lived up to expectations of something great and I think I’ll have to have one of these next time I’m in.

The Meatloaf plate with Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes and fresh peas & carrots $9, classic meatloaf with gravy minus the tomato soup top like mom used to make. This plate comes with your choice of fries or buttermilk mashed potatoes and fresh carrots & peas, the mashed potatoes are killer here and are not to me missed. I really enjoyed most of my meatloaf, it has a nice rich beef flavor and the gravy is great without being salty, the one issue I ran into was 3/4 of the way through someone next to me pointed that some of my meatloaf looked pretty pink and boy was she right!, the waitress took my plate back to the kitchen and returned a few minutes later, I was informed that one of the owners looked at it and wasn’t comfortable serving it, she offered me something else off the menu so I chose a sandwich, when she returned from putting in my new order she told me that they use nitrate in the meatloaf~or as she said “salt peter”, I was relieved that I didn’t eat undercooked meat but then I was kinda pissed at the fact I was fed nitrates when I wasn’t expecting them to be in this dish.

the Corned Beef Sandwich on Caraway Rye $7, after my meatloaf incident this is what I ordered, it solidified the fact I have to try the Damn Fine Ruben because the corned beef here is really good!, the mustard cut the richness of the meat just fine and the bread used is really good, it had caraway seeds and they add a great flavor to this and the ruben.

Sitting near the cakes and pies is a dangerous thing, I watched as this beauty was brought out by the pastry chef

the Save On Meats version of a Black forest Cake $6, I didn’t have any of this but it looked damn good and the chocolate glaze on top added to its decadence. One thing I did have a piece of but didn’t get a photo was one of their chocolate chip, macadamia nut and BACON cookies!, the lady next to me ordered some to go, they weren’t my thing~too crisp and crunchy and I didn’t get any bacon flavor.

I’d say that once all the opening kinks get worked out Save On Meats will enjoy another long life in its original home and will be feeding a whole new generation to come. Mark Brand you have done a great thing for the community and me and a lot of other Vancouverites thank you!.

@saveonmeatsdine

@saveonmeats

www.saveonmeats.ca

The Acme Cafe

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Sean

In the changing downtown east side the Acme Cafe has opened its doors and has become a neighborhood beacon drawing in young and old and also bringing new people to the neighborhood. Since opening the Acme has been review in multiple major publications and also on local TV shows so they have cemented their presence on the downtown east side

Alan and Peggy Hoffman gutted the place and built a beautiful, classic space that is a perfect showcase for the good eat’s coming out of the open kitchen

The menu here is pure comfort food and classic dishes, I’ve tried a couple of specials and some of the staples from the menu and all have been really good and you can taste the love put into the meals they serve.

the open-faced hot roast beef sandwich is killer

the chicken pot pie is just like mom used to make or in some cases couldn’t make!

BLT special with broccoli almond slaw hits the spot and as you can tell by the picture~fresh ingredients are the call of the day

What sets Acme aside from the other places in town is the dessert selection, they have a great daily selection of homemade pies,cakes and cookies and all are AMAZING!, Peggy and the pastry chef goes out of their way to come up with delicious treats to satisfy everyone

the hard part is to decide just what you want!

If your craving some good solid eats make your way to the Acme Cafe~it’s worth the trip~if you want you can order online from their website for take out that’s ready to go when you get there to pick it up, the menu has been changed a bit recently so get in let me know what you think and bring the kids because the place is totally kid friendly as well, thanks Alan and Peggy for opening such a great place and remember to save room for dessert!

@acme_cafe
www.acmecafe.ca

Moderne Burger

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Sean

I was in the mood for a burger and wanted to try someplace different and after hearing what Sherman of Sherman’s Food Adventures thought I made the trip to Kits to Moderne Burger.

Walking in it was like walking into a 50′s diner, big jukebox on one side of the room and light blue vinyl booths line the walls and there is a lunch counter in the middle of the room~real great job on the details in the room, the light covers are right out of a Bogart movie and the art deco corner details are great

Seeing it was my 1st time here I went with a chocolate shake~there shakes here are made with hand pulled hard ice cream and can be ordered triple thick if you want or malted. It was thick and creamy and hit the spot.

Chocolate shake

As for the main reason why I was here~the burger!, I went with the Moderne Steak Burger with the addition of cheddar cheese, you can get a burger platter which comes with fries or you can just get the burger by itself, the platters come with a lot of fries so if your dining with a girlfriend or whatever 2 platters could be a but much so order accordingly.

Moderne Steak Burger platter

The fries were alright and I liked the skin being on but they could have been more crispy and a bit more golden, they were salted right so that wasn’t an issue and they were really generous with the portion as I said above.

My burger was really juicy and I the bun was thick and sturdy so it held together really good, I ended up eating the burger upside down so the juice would go into the of the bun and not all over my plate which was a wise decision!. This was a really great burger I must say and its also available in a double patty for $3.50 more~this is something I surly will try!, it came with lettuce, sliced red onions, mayo, pickles, tomatoes and special sauce~classic burger toppings in a classic place!

Sitting eating lunch with the old music playing in the background it was almost like I could have been back in 1955!, really great atmosphere and great burgers make Moderne Burger a winning joint in my books.

The Red Wagon Cafe

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Sean

Places that really hit home with me are the roadside cafe’s and mom and pop type places that were a fixture for me growing up in East Vancouver. Usually every weekend growing up as far as I could remember heading out with my dad for the day and we’d hit one of the numerous cafe’s on Hastings St or Kingsway and chow down!

With the resurgence of cafe’s and comfort food and dishes that are made from whole ingredients that we all can pronounce the Red Wagon Cafe is a perfect fit in the Hastings Sunrise neighborhood, for years before it was a dodgy cafe serving Chinese and Canadian food then owner Brad Miller got a hold of the place and the Red Wagon was born!. It’s been embraced by the community and the lower mainland I’d say, the reviews have all been positive because the crew at this joint are putting out cafe classics and items with a twist~pulled pork pancakes with Jack Daniels maple syrup is just an example!.

I’ve been in a few times~basically whenever I’m in the area I try to stop there and at the East Village Bakery, the menu has changed a bit from opening but its been all for the better, dessert and dinner are being served now as well as beer and wine. I haven’t been yet but brunch here is really popular and some of the egg dishes are top-notch, the chef makes his own bacon and pastrami so you get quality all the way around.

here are some of the items I’ve sampled from the menu and was able to get pictures of

big chunks of beef short rib with market veggies on top of buttery egg noodles

this rich and delicious carrot soup is sweet and creamy with the cumin to add a savory note that is perfect

delicious slices of ham and swiss cheese toasted on the flattop and smothered in homemade béchamel sauce and broiled till perfection

Bowen Island lager~light and refreshing on a hot day

some of the other items I’ve had but didn’t get pictures of are the pulled pork sandwich with fries,the clubhouse sandwich and the Reuben sandwich that is a house specialty. The test of a good cafe or diner are the fries and lets just say that here they are perfect!, crisp and skin on lightly salted, they have chili cheese fries on the menu that look pretty killer that I still wanna try~that’s the kinda place the Red Wagon is~you have at least 3 or 4 great options to have so choosing can be tough.

With the change happening in the area the Red Wagon is a perfect fit and will be slinging killer eats for a longtime to come, it’s totally kid friendly and the service is great~there ready to pour you a cup of coffee and grab you a paper so come on down and get fed some killer home cooked food.

www.redwagoncafe.com