CJ’s Southwestern Grill

1527 Cariboo Hwy 97 South
Williams Lake, BC  V2G 2W3

250-392-4225

M-Sa: 11a – 10p / Sun: 10a – 9p
Sunday Brunch: 10a – 2p

October 21, 2011

After months of being asked if I had tried “that new restaurant” out yet, Mr O and I finally found ourselves seated at CJ’s Southwestern Grill for dinner one night last week.  Upon entering, we noticed that the interior didn’t seem to have changed much from the Big Mama days; still retaining the same furnishings and hockey memorabilia.  We were seated in the lower level right next to the big screen projector, which actually had Mr O entranced for a moment because he had been without TV for so long, being out in Bella Coola without cable.

Their menu included a selection of items from appetizers, rice dishes, salads, meats and southwestern entrees.  As well, they also have a temporary menu that details their specials for the month.  The first thing I noticed right away from that menu was that they have fresh oysters for two dollars a shell!  I ask you… when do you ever see raw oysters in Williams Lake?  Needless to say, I was extremely excited for all of a second before reality came crashing down when Mr O reminded me that I was not supposed to eat raw food for the next year – a quote right out of my doctor’s mouth.  Sheesh… what a downer.

So instead of luscious oysters, I settled for their Veggie Flatbread appetizer, which was an elongated grilled pita topped with roasted peppers, onions, fresh spinach, basil, a smoky tomato sauce and crumbled goat cheese.  To follow I decided to get the half rack of the baby back ribs dinner and Mr O ordered the Memphis Chicken sandwich.

The toppings on the flatbread were really fresh and you can taste the flavour of each ingredient individually.  When I had ordered it, I had envisioned the goat cheese to be slightly melty, but there were sprinkled on raw and so that particular flavour was too strong for me.  On the other hand, Mr O, who is a goat cheese fanatic, loved it and took the white pickings off my plate with no hesitation whatsoever.

...veggie flatbread...

...lotsa goat cheese!...

You can choose to get your ribs smothered in your choice of Texas, Southern or Guinness barbeque sauce.  I chose to coat mine in the Texas sauce, which is supposed to be on the sweet side, and I decided on the potato croquette as my starch.  With it came a serving of roasted root vegetables like parsnips, carrots and beets.

Although the meat on the ribs were fall-of-the-bone tender, there was, unfortunately, very little flavour to them.  I also found the sauce to be on the bland side as well, and had me wishing for something a little more intense and tangier.  Perhaps next time I will try the stronger Guinness sauce.  The veggies were also tender and the croquette was simply amazing.  It’s nicely seasoned mashed potatoes that is shaped into an oval, stuffed with a bit of cheese and covered in a nice crumb coating before it’s deep-fried into crispy perfection.  Like I said, it was very delicious.

...the meat...

...and the potatoes...

Mr O decided to have his meal come with fries, which was also nice and crispy, but he was definitely giving my croquette the envy eye.  A grilled chicken breast was the main star of his sandwich, alongside with fried maple-pepper bacon, Havarti cheese, guacamole, roasted peppers, lettuce and tomatoes.  It was an overall good sandwich, served on ciabatta bread, but he detected something slightly spicy in his sandwich which nearly overwhelmed the other flavours.  A thicker layer of guacamole probably would’ve evened out that balance, as the avocado did cool his mouth down a bit.

...Memphis Chicken...

As for the ambience, it was a casual and very comfortable place to unwind and relax to a meal.  The service that night was very attentive to our needs; not once did we have to ask for drink refills and our food was quick to appear.  Despite our taste buds’ preferences of differing flavours, we had a really enjoyable time at CJ’s and would to come back to try their Prime Rib buffet dinner, which was also available at that time.  And believe me; as soon as that year is up, I’m coming back for those raw oysters on the half shell.

 

The Graham Inn

6423 Highway 20
Tatla Lake, BC  V0L 1V0

toll free 1-877-408-2220
250-4761112

M-F: 9a – 6:30p / Sat: 11a – 6:30p / Sun: Closed

September 10, 2011

Today’s adventure takes us out of the Cariboo region and into the neighbouring Chilcotin.  Mr O and I traveled westwards to Bella Coola and decided to stop some three hours later in Tatla Lake for food.  To the left of the highway was a cute blue building, topped with a red roof, sitting next to the water.  It was the Graham Inn and it looked as good as any place to try out.  The exterior looks cozy and comforting, and as we walked up onto the porch a great fat cat was there to greet us.  The interior matched the outside with its cornflower blue trim and country cottage motif.  A great fireplace sits in the back of the room and the shelves on either side of it were full of books, magazines, copperware, and various ornaments.  It was like being in someone’s living room, if they happen to have several tables and matching dark chairs just lying about.

They serve breakfast until 11am and a fairly simple menu was offered to us.  Mr O ordered the Belgian waffles with a side order of eggs, and I had the standard two egg breakfast plate, which included a choice of bacon, sausage or ham.  The staff was friendly and mellow, and the service was set at Chilcotin speed.  Definitely a different pace from urban life!  So to kill time while we waited for our food, we decided to snoop around on the other side of the room.  Since we were the only ones in the place we didn’t think twice to leave our personal belongings unattended at the table.

A basket full of baked goodies at the counter, snacks, munchies and cold pop were available for purchase.  In the middle of this was a revolving display which held numerous books for sale, most of which were written about the area we were currently in.  And to our surprise there was a rather impressive selection of wine and beer at the very back of the room that was also for sale.

...yummy waffles...

...more yumminess...

Breakfast arrives just as we were seated again.  Mr O’s waffles were delicious… light and fluffy on the inside and just a bit crispy on the outside.  That was pretty much devoured despite the early breakfast we had three hours ago prior to leaving home.  I ate my own meal in a more polite manner, thank you very much.  Two eggs, done over-medium, two slices of brown toast, home-style potatoes, and three slices of bacon composed my breakfast.  My eggs were really runny and looked an awful lot like Mr O’s eggs which came over-easy, and the toast reminded me of brown Wonder bread, Texas style.  But the bacon was crispy just the way I liked them, and the potatoes were amazing!  They were pan-fried and had a light crunchy coating on them, with just the barest hint of herbs, letting you taste the potato flavour in all its naked glory.  The spuds were tender without falling apart on your fork and absolutely no ketchup was needed!

...eggs anyone?...

...my favourite potatoes...

Overall, we enjoyed our meal and left feeling full and satisfied.  However, I find it hard to judge a restaurant by its breakfast and would really love for the opportunity to come back here one day for lunch or dinner.  But if the waffles and potatoes were anything to go by, then I’m sure I would enjoy their later menus.

...pretty cute...

 

Thanh Vu

1778 Hwy 97 South
Prince George, BC  V2L 5L3

250-564-2255

M-W: 11a – 9p/Th-Sa: 11a – 10p/Su & Holidays: 4p – 9p

September 3, 2011

In the seven years since we’ve moved up here, this past Labour Day was the first long-weekend *ever* that we’re not driving down to the Coast.  Kinda blows the mind how much driving we do!  However, that being said we still needed to go back-to-school clothes shopping for Mr O, so we decided to make a drive up to Prince George and make a daytrip out of it.

Although not as long of a drive as it is driving into Vancouver, it’s still a bit of distance and by the time we were within the city limits of Prince George, I was more than ready for some lunch.  Situated along the highway on the right-hand side as you’re driving into the city, next to the Four Points by Sheraton hotel, is the Thanh Vu Restaurant.  Now that’s not a name you’d see every day in Williams Lake!  It serves Vietnamese cuisine (coincidentally something I’ve been craving for awhile now.)

We get there after the lunch rush but there were still quite a few tables occupied.  We were seated in a booth, which was separated by glass partitions so you can clearly see over your companion’s shoulder who is sitting in the next booth.  A bit awkward but then you learn to keep eye contact with those you’re sitting with.

The menu is a little overwhelming at first because there’s just so much STUFF on it.  Plus you have adjust to reading the English menu after the preceding Vietnamese words.  There are lots of different types of rolls and soups to choose from, and the main dishes are broken down into meat categories, which include: beef, chicken, pork, seafood and tofu.  Because of its geographical proximity, Vietnamese cuisine has a lot of influence from Chinese, Indian, Thai and French cuisines (it being a former French colony and all).  So it’s not surprising to find wonton soups next to the curries next to the baguettes!  Today, Mr O ordered a Vietnamese iced coffee and the Chicken Lemon Grass, and I ordered the Spring Rolls with rice noodles.

...the beginnings of something special...

Soft Vietnamese music floated in the background as we waited for our food, and strings of Vietnamese conversation could be heard from the kitchen staff every time that door was swung open.  On one of these occasions the waitress brought over Mr O’s coffee.  Iced coffee is a highly favoured beverage amongst the Vietnamese.  The espresso-strength coffee grinds are pressed into this metal contraption which sits over a glass and hot water is poured in to start to brewing process.  At the bottom of the glass is a layer of sweetened condensed milk, probably about half an inch thick, and it’s neat to watch the black coffee slowly drip onto the creamy surface.  And I’m not kidding about the slow part… it’s not unheard of for the coffee to be finally finished dripping just as you’re finishing up your meal.

Soon after, our food arrives.  Mr O’s chicken was nothing like the grilled lemon grass version we were accustomed to eating down south.  The version here is more akin to a light curry, infused with coconut milk, lemon grass and chili peppers.  The chicken breast is sliced and there is a generous amount of it in the dish, along with sliced onions and scallions.  The coconut actually went really well with the lemon grass, and the curry and chilli peppers did not overwhelm the dish at all.  It’s accompanied by a large bowl of rice which soaks up the sauce beautifully.

...lemon grass curry...

A Vietnamese spring roll is different from a Chinese one in that there are hardly any vegetables in it.  It’s made up mostly of ground pork, which is normally mixed with cellophane noodles, wood-ear mushrooms, grated carrots, egg and various spices.  And the truly authentic stuff is wrapped with rice paper instead of a wheat-based wrapper.  It’s more of a pain to prepare this way, but by using the rice paper the rice content puffs up nicely in the hot oil when it’s deep-fried which gives it a lighter and crispier exterior.

...springroll heaven...

...pork and nuoc mam together at last...

These spring rolls are one of the best I’ve ever had (not including Momma’s of course!) and I love to drown them in the ‘nuoc mam’, which is a sweet and salty concoction made of water, vinegar, sugar and fish sauce.  Yes, I said it… fish sauce… fermented fish extract.  Scrunching your faces is only gonna hurt my feelings so stop that, and I absolutely urge you to try it if the opportunity ever arises.  I used to drown all my food in that stuff as a kid and I knew I wasn’t the only one doing that growing up!

So as I was saying, the spring rolls is served with a heaping pile of vermicelli rice noodles, which have been sprinkled over with pickled carrots and sliced scallions.  Usually you’d find bean sprouts, slivered cucumber and chopped roasted nuts with the noodles too, but not today in Prince George.  And did I pour some of my nuoc mam over my noodles?  Oh you bet I did… I even had to ask the waitress for an extra bowl of the stuff!

We ate and ate until our bellies were stuffed and we still had leftovers.  So we had our food packed away into a doggie bag and by around this point Mr O’s coffee was finally ready for us.  The neatest part about the drink is when you swirl the condensed milk into the coffee and you watch the liquid go from pure black to a nice chocolaty colour.  As kids my siblings and I used to always fight over who go to stir Poppa’s coffee.  So naturally, Mr O let me do the honours today.

Once everything is mixed up nice, a glass full of ice is brought to you and the whole thing is poured right in.  You’d think the milk and melted ice would mellow out the drink, but it’s still crazy strong and one sip is enough to coat the whole mouth; which is perfect if you happen to be eating something spicy, or just happen to crave caffeine like Mr O does.

...coffee pre-iced...

...iced magic...

We didn’t see any signs of a dessert menu, but that was fine because we were much too full for it anyways.  Now we have a whole afternoon of shopping ahead of us to look forward to, which is always better when it’s done on a full stomach.

 

Trattoria Pasta Shoppe… Redux

23A First Avenue South
Williams Lake, BC  V2G 1M4

250-398-7170

M-Sa: 11a – 8p/ Su: closed

July 26th, 2011

As it turns out, Mr O had never been to Trattoria’s before… and it’s been over a year since I last ate here… so of course you can guess where we had dinner tonight.  It’s a seat-yourself establishment and menus await you at each place setting.  The interior is cozy and rustic with well-worn hardwood floors and framed pictures scenic Italy.  Dominating the space behind the counter was a chalkboard listing the many choices of Italian soda that’s available, and the mismatched chairs lends a hand in creating an inviting homely environment, akin to eating at your auntie’s home.

Pasta is the obvious star of tonight’s menu, but there’s a variety of salads to choose from if you happen to have a lighter appetite.  Mr O was intrigued by today’s special, which was linguini with a spicy Italian sausage, and I ordered the Tortellini Pesto.  For starters we decided to try the bruschetta.

My knowledge of Italian cuisine is admittedly not the greatest because I don’t often find myself eating Italian food.  This was my first time trying bruschetta, which is something I’m only familiar with all thanks to the Food Network.  Conferring with Mr Wiki, bruschetta can be referred to either the bread itself, according to hard core Italians, or the topping, according to our Americanized (er… Canadianized?) culture.  The baguette rounds our appetizer came with were neither toasted, nor rubbed with garlic or any seasonings, so the leading role here is played by the topping… which was amazing.  Imagine fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil all chopped up and macerated together in a magical harmony by good olive oil and fresh parmesan.  It’s refreshing and full of wonderful subtle flavours, which was not at all what I expected since there’s garlic and parm at play here.  Only five baguette rounds came with the starter though, so I graciously gave away the odd one out to Mr O.

...bruschetta for two...

When his dinner-sized meal arrived at the table, I had to halt him for a moment before he was able to dive right into the pasta.  It was full of mushroom, bell peppers, spring onions, and fresh tomatoes, stirred into a pesto cream sauce.  The slices of spicy Italian sausage were well distributed, and the noodles were a perfect al dente texture.  Pesto is absolutely delicious and it coats the noodles beautifully.  It lends a nice basil taste and compliments the kick you get out of the spicy sausage.

...pesto ala linguini...

I decided to get only the lunch-sized version of the Tortellini Pesto tonight because I was adamant that I’d have room left for dessert.  And thank goodness I did because I ended up having to pack some of it away in a to-go box.  Not from lack of trying mind you, as the dish was delicious.  It had the same pesto cream sauce and it coats cheese-filled bite-sized tortellini.  Mushrooms and bits of bacon give it a different taste profile from Mr O’s dinner and whole pine nuts garnished the entire thing.

...pesto ala tortellini...

But like I said, I was insistent that there’d be dessert and I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that the desserts were all homemade.  Up for offer are whipped cheesecake, tiramisu, and afternoon delight, which sounded like a chocolate-y layered dessert.  I’m all about the tiramisu (it’s practically the only thing Italian that I yearn for) and Mr O didn’t even need to think twice about the cheesecake.

And what a cheesecake!  It was ultra-smooth, fluffy, and melt-in-your-mouth good.  You get a choice out of three fruity toppings and ours came with strawberries.  My tiramisu was equally good although the lady fingers had soaked up more of the coffee than I would’ve preferred.  Still, that didn’t stop me from plowing through the velvety layers of mascarpone and moist sponge cake.  However I still managed to maintain the decorum of a proper lady and didn’t try to lick the bits of chocolate off of my plate.  Momma would be so proud.

...cheesy cake...

...tiramisu heaven...

 

Joey’s Grill…Redux

177 Yorston Street
Williams Lake, BC  V2G 1G6

250-398-8727

July 5, 2011

Earlier in the week I had dinner with Mr O and some of his co-workers at Joey’s Grill.  I must admit that it’s been ages since I last ate here so I was looking forward to reacquainting myself with the place.

Despite the out-dated interior, Joey had a very homey comfortable feel to it.  Its menu is pretty extensive and has just about a little bit of everything to suit your tastes.  There is an array of appies, steak, chicken, pasta and various ethnic inspired dishes (some souvlaki to go with your schnitzel perhaps?)

With a menu this varied, it usually takes me awhile to reach a decision.  When I finally did it was to order one of their specials from the insert… the Guinness Barbeque Ribs with a baked potato.  Mr O opted to go with the Seafood Cannelloni.  Both meals came with your choice of soup or salad.  Today’s soup was potato based, and I figured that I didn’t want to overdose on starch so I ordered the garden salad like a good grown-up should, and so did Mr O.

The starter salads came out pretty quickly.  And while the produce was fresh, the salad itself was pretty unremarkable.  It was made up of primarily iceberg lettuce, with a frugal addition of red cabbage, sliced radishes, chopped carrots, celery, three slices of cucumber and a wedge of tomato.  I was pretty proud of myself for eating it though, especially since I knew my meal to follow up with is pretty much a meat-fest, and I’m all about eating a well-balanced meal… no, really!

...salad... meh...

Welcoming the main meal was a bit trickier.  Since there were quite a few people at our party, it was unsurprising that there was some confusion over who ordered what.  After a few moments of musical plates and pass-the-dish I was presented with a large arrangement of ribs.  Oh yeah baby, come to me!  It’s a full rack of meaty baby back ribs smothered in the Guinness barbecue sauce, a large baked potato, a serving of garlic toast and good portion of steamed veggies.  The ribs were fall-of-the-bone tender and had a very generous meat-to-bone ratio (had I mentioned they were meaty?)  The sauce was a vinegar based barbecue that was full of flavour and packed a pretty strong punch near the end.  It was very tangy and zippy and finger lickin’ good.  Yeah, I know there’s a finger bowl for me to use, but what’s a few more extra calories at this point right?

...ribs make me go grrr...

...so juicy... so tender...

The potato comes plain and you get to dress it yourself with butter, sour cream, onions and bacon bits.  It’s so simple but I loved it… never having had a baked potato growing up I think it’s just about the greatest thing ever and, as an adult, order it whenever I get the chance!  So potato and ribs aside, the steamed veggies were just okay and definitely not the highlight of the meal.  Yet again, it was pretty fresh and composed mostly of onions and squash.  But there were also pieces of broccoli, carrots and cauliflower.

...friends for the potato...

Mr O’s cannelloni was pasta filled with a crab and shrimp mixture, spinach and cheeses, then covered with a marinara and parmesan sauce and baked to piping hot perfection.  Amidst all the blowing to cool the cheeses down, the flavours of shrimp and garlic and cheese is a real pleasure for the tastebuds.  It was an incredibly rich dish and ooey-gooey good.  Yes, Mr O would definitely order it again.

...cannelloni fun...

All the meals came in generous portions.  I was only able to finish half a rack of my ribs, and Mr O probably had close to a third of his meal left in his dish.  We didn’t even glance at the dessert menu… what would be the point?  There was no way we could’ve eaten another bite of anything!  But definitely next time you can count us in for something sweet.

 

Raincoast Crisps… Amish Style

Recently I’ve been enamored with Amish Friendship Bread.  Basically, it’s a type of sourdough starter made from flour, milk and sugar.  Initially you chain-letter the starter to your closest friends and family, but it’s not long before you find yourself handing it off to just about anyone you come across.

The basic recipe uses the starter to make a sweet, cinnamon flavoured quickbread.  It’s ultra good but a girl can only eat so much!  Fortunately, it turns out that the starter can be incorporated into all sorts of different recipes thanks to the creative people of the world wide web.  Today I tinkered around with a recipe that I’ve been dying to try out for the longest time, but procrastination has a way of ruling my life.  When I found out that Friendship Bread Kitchen was holding a Ready, Bake, Set recipe contest for the month of July, I knew that it was finally time for me to get off my butt and set to work.

If you’re familiar with Leslie Stowe’s Raincoast Crisps, you’ll know how terribly addictive they are.  Unfortunately, it costs a pretty penny.  But the Gods had graced us with Julie Van Rosendaal, author of the book “Grazing: A healthier approach to snacks and finger foods”, as well as the blog “dinnerwithjulie.com” and she amazingly cracked the recipe code to these tasty crackers.  Now my challenge was to adapt this so that some of the Amish starter can be incorporated.  This is what I came up with:

...raincoast crisps... amish style...

Amish Cranberry & Hazelnut Raincoast Crisps (adapted from this recipe)

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup starter
1½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey
½ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup flax seeds
1 cup dried cranberries
½ cup hazelnuts, chopped

Yields approximately 6 dozen crackers.

• Preheat oven to 350°F.

• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Then stir in the starter, buttermilk and honey.

• Add in the remainder of the ingredients and stir until just blended.  Pour batter into two 8″x4″ loaf pans, greased.  Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden and springy to touch.  Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

• The cooler the bread, the easier to slice really thin (leave it till the next day or pop it into the freezer for partial freeze).  Slice the loaves as thin as you can and place them in a single layer on an ungreased sheet.

• Reduce oven to 300°F.

• Bake slices for about 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake for an addition 10 minutes, until they become crisp and deep golden.

• Let cool slightly and enjoy!

...cranberries & hazelnuts, mmm!...

...milk and crisps anyone?...

The end product definitely looks homemade and not necessarily as neat and pretty as the LS version, but they taste amazingly alike!  And I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make (although the slicing was a bit tricky as I didn’t have a serrated knife).  Serve with a dab of sweet red pepper jelly, or some soft creamy cheese and you have the perfect appetizer!

 

Vidas

4671 Kitwanga Dr
108 Mile House, BC  V0K 2Z0

250-791-6680

July 3rd, 2011

Coming home from the Coast at the end of the Canada long weekend brought us to 108 Mile House just in time for dinner.  Just beyond the Heritage Site as you drive north is a quaint ‘lil log house which is home to Vidas Restaurant.  It seemed like everyone and their Grandmother had been recommending this place to me, so there wasn’t any doubt that I was going to have my dinner here when the opportunity presented itself.

We arrived on the early side and the place didn’t look terribly busy at first glance.  As it turned out, reservations are highly recommended here, but we were lucky enough to snag the second to last un-reserved table.  As we were led to our table we noticed that everyone inside was wearing rather nice clothes, while Mr O and I both had on shorts and flip-flops.  Oops… definitely feeling a bit under-dressed but they were still happy to seat us so we must not have broken any dress codes.

Large scenic windows adorned one side of the building which overlooked 108 Lake and let in a lot of natural light.  The view was spectacular.  I noticed that there were patio seats available outside, but they didn’t seem to be seating anyone there tonight as people were starting to be turned away at the door.  The walls were made of gigantic smooth logs and local artwork, available for purchase, decorated throughout the interior.  The tables were pretty intimate and the overall environment makes Vidas the perfect place for a romantic meal.

The menu is a simple one and offers dishes which included seafood, pasta and steaks.  We decided to try the crab cakes as a starter, and Mr O ordered tonight’s special which happened to be a grilled chicken breast topped with prawns.  My dinner was a half-order of their seafood risotto.

Our crab cakes arrived; two golden brown patties on the plate which was garnished with a bed of baby spinach, julienned carrots, drizzled balsamic reduction and a rosy chipotle aioli.  The cakes had very little, if any, filler in them.  It was mostly made up of nice sized chunks of crab, seasoned with chopped red peppers and green onions.  The sauce packed a punch… a really heaty punch!  And I found this out the hard way, naively spreading chipotle all over my crab cake before trying it out first.  Can we say ‘greenhorn’?  But spiciness aside, I can appreciate the smokiness of the aioli and it complimented the crab cakes very nicely.

...crab cakes...

Mr O’s chicken was moist and the succulent prawns on top were dressed with a creamy herbed sauce.  Roasted new potatoes, carrots, green beans and yellow squash finished off the plate, along with a baked tomato topped with seasoned breadcrumbs.  There was a minor glitch to the meal though… delicious as they were, Mr O had asked for the quinoa to come with his dinner instead of the potatoes.

...chicken and shrimp together at last...

...veggies for company...

My seafood risotto came with a yeasty rosemary bread twist.  There were generous amount of baby scallops in it and the prawns, though few in number, were very large and tender.  The funny thing about risotto is that it’s very humble in nature, but I believe it’s deceptively hard to execute properly.  There’s a fine line, literal minutes in fact, that separates perfect risotto from a plate of mush.  Vidas’ risotto had the perfect al dente texture, rich and creamy but still with a bit of resistance when you bite into it.  It’s so good and I’m always impressed with a restaurant that can serve me perfect risotto.  Overall, it was a tremendous dinner and made up for the slow service we were experiencing.

...creamy risotto, yummy!...

It might’ve been due to the fact that they were serving a full house, but it was tricky trying to flag down the waitresses.  If you do manage to get them to come to your table, they were always very friendly and eager to please, so it was hard to get too upset with them.  But seriously, we must’ve waited about 10 minutes before we were able to get our waitress’ attention because we wanted to know what was available for dessert.  Apologetic, she recited the menu to us and we chose to have the pecan pie and white chocolate tiramisu cheesecake.

...pecan pie madness...

...tirimisu cheesecake...

The pecan pie was moist and rich, with a great combination of nutty pecans and dark chocolate.  The cheesecake was amazing and had a nice and luscious texture.  It was an impressive way to end dinner and, despite the delay in service, Vidas ranked as one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time.

 

Kara Mia’s Donairs

86 Third Ave N
Williams Lake, BC  V2G 2A2

250-398-2006

June 1, 2011

The puck dropped earlier today for game 1 of the final series between the Canucks and the Bruins and I was in a hurry to get home.  Karamia’s Donairs was close enough to where I work so I dropped in there to grab some dinner to go.

Karamia’s had recently relocated to its current location on 3^rd Avenue and is known for its Nova Scotian style donairs.  What’s a Nova Scotian donair you ask?  It’s pretty similar to the Middle Eastern variation, but with a unique sauce that’s made up of evaporated milk, sugar, garlic, and vinegar.  Personally, I find this sauce terribly addictive but be warned: the garlic likes to linger so always make sure there’s gum for afterwards.

The menu lists a pretty good variety of donairs, ranging from the simplistic Plain Jane, which includes your choice of meat (beef, lamb or chicken) and sauce, to the healthy Fully Loaded, which is pretty packed with all sorts of ingredients, and in between there’s about a half dozen other types of donairs to choose from.  But if the wraps aren’t your cup of tea, they also have soups, sandwiches, and pita pizzas to offer.

Tonight I ordered the Maritimer with beef, which comes with onions, tomatoes and the sweet sauce.  I asked to swap the onions for lettuce though because having garlic breath is one thing… but garlic and onion breath co-mingling together might be more than what Mr O is willing to put up with.

...maritimer... please 'cuse the crap-tastic focus...

Mr O had a more elaborate donair to eat.  I ordered the Greek for him, which included beef, onions, olives, cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese, and tzatziki sauce.  And he pretty much devoured it as soon as I had taken a picture of his dinner.  It’s a good thing I was quick with the camera!

...greek wrap... please 'cuse the crap-tastic focus...

Now there’s a trick to eating a donair.  You’ve gotta unwrap the foil as you eat, ripping off only a few inches of foil at a time!  Trust me, everything stays sooo much cleaner this way… you try to eat a donair without its protective wrapper and you’re pretty much asking for food all over the front of your shirt.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It was delicious, like always.  However, tonight we thought that the beef was on the dry side.  This might’ve been due to the fact that it was pretty late in the day when I had picked these up.  Normally when you walk in you’re greeted to the sight of three vertical rotisseries packed with spiced meats, happily grilling away.  During the day the meat is sliced away as it’s needed, and it’s actually pretty cool to watch them rotate as you’re waiting for your food.  But tonight everything had been cleaned up and packed away, and pre-sliced meat was brought out of a container.  Oh well, I never was very good at being the early bird.

At this point, I feel like I have to mention something about the customer service here.  Now, I’ve been a fan of Karamia’s since day one when it was located at its original location on Midnight.  I’ve been there several times and had always enjoyed the food they make.  So it is with this in mind that I have to say that the customer service can be iffy at times.  Depending on who is working behind the counter I’ve had anywhere from really awesome service to some just-okay service.  But it’s a minor thing that I’ve learned to shrug off because the food is really worth it.  And really, food should always be the main attraction of any restaurant.

 

Sir Bob’s Fish & Chips

3015 MacKenzie Ave N
Williams Lake, BC  V2G 1P5

250-398-6633

May 18, 2011

Welcome back to our regularly programmed schedule!  My date tonight is Mr O and tonight he drove me over to the Sir Bob’s Fish and Chips restaurant.  We don’t often visit this part of town, so this was actually my first time eating here.

There was a crowd of regulars already seated when we arrived, and we noticed a pretty steady stream of people coming in for their pick-up orders.  Checking out the menu, there was quite the list of seafood to choose from, in all sorts of various combinations.  Burgers, chicken fingers and salads were also available for those who are more into the turf, rather than the surf.

I went with the shrimp dinner with onion rings, and Mr O ordered the 3 piece battered cod dinner.  We also decided to get the calamari appetizer to start the meal off with.  As we waited for our food, we played with the full size bottles of tartar and cocktail sauce that came to our table and listened to the sounds of the deep fryer going off every so often.  Everything deep-fried tastes good so we were quite excited.

There was some disappointment when our calamari arrived, however.  It was pretty obvious that the squid came out of the frozen section.  There’s not much I can say about it really…  the only thing worth remarking is that it was accompanied by an aioli that was tart with what tasted like pepperoncini that was just fabulous.

...calamari... I think...

Our main entrees arrived shortly after that and we had to wait a bit before digging in because everything was so piping hot, literally straight out of the fryer.  The cod had a really light layer of batter around it, which is how I actually prefer my fried fish, so that it didn’t overwhelm the taste of the fish.  Unfortunately, the fish itself had a watery texture that suggested it also came straight out of a freezer.  But the shrimp was very nice with its breaded coating instead of the batter that I had been expecting.  There appeared to be cornmeal in the breading which gave it a pleasant sweet and nutty crunch, and the shrimp itself was done just right and not overcooked at all.

...battered fish and chips...

...ready for my close-up...

...fried shrimp...

As for the onion rings, they also came out of a bag.  But the fries were home-cut style and I had wished I had ordered those instead as I began to eat them off of Mr O’s plate, to his immense displeasure.  And the coleslaw was fantastic; tangy, fresh and lightly dressed.  In fact, I might just order that as my sole side-dish next time.

As our meal came to an end, we realised too late that we hadn’t left any room for dessert… but there are pies, cakes and ice cream to choose from for those who are better at pacing themselves.  Overall?  You can’t compare this to the fish and chip stands down by the coast… you just can’t; it wouldn’t be fair.  Unfortunately, I found that there was too much reliance on frozen pre-prepped food here.  I understand that there might be a lack of fresh supply of seafood up in the Cariboo, but frozen onion rings?  C’mon.

 

Eating Thru China… pt 3

Billiards boasting of Expo 2010 greeted us as we entered the city limits of Shanghai.  Quickly approaching the population mark of 23 million, it is currently China’s most populous city.  In the last 20 years there has been a period of rapid growth development, pushing Shanghai into the modern world as an influential entity in all things related to finance, commerce and fashion.  However, what I’m really looking forward to in this booming city is over 130 years old… the xiao long bao.  It is a real gastronomical treat and a joy for the insides of your mouth, as far as I’m concerned.

Xiao long bao is a small 18 pleated bun that is filled with a wonderful mixture of meats and aspics, and then steamed to perfection.  It is best eaten hot as the heat melts the aspic into a nice savoury broth.  Ideally, you’d pop the whole bun into your mouth and wait for the burst of flavours as it explodes against your taste buds!  I must’ve had this at least 3 times, and I had planned on many more as they sold them on the street as well.  However, our ever cautious tour guide advised me against eating these as my digestion system might not handle street food very well.  Drats.

...yummy bao...

...street style yummy bao...

Venturing back into the modern aspect of Shanghai life, we visited a Haagen Daz restaurant, which I was surprised to find were quite popular in China.  Yes… a restaurant!  They don’t have these in Canada, or in the US, and it was almost like visiting a Death by Chocolate.  A maitre ‘d greeted us at the front door, in full-on uniform complete with vest and matching beret.  Shortly after we are seated, and given our 10 page photo spread menu to peruse, our waiter visited our table to take our orders.  Thank goodness for the pictures because being able to point at what we wanted made ordering so much easier, not speaking Mandarin perhaps the only way it was possible.  Our silverware was laid out, our water glasses were filled, and we sat back listening to the contemporary pop that was playing over the speakers.  I don’t think I’ve ever been in such a classy joint for ice cream!

...ice cream time...

...ice cream arsenal...

The next morning, I had to say a sad farewell to the xiao long bao as we made our way into Hangzhou.  This is where the famous Longjing (aka Dragon Well) tea is grown and harvested.  In fact, the entire country-side seemed to be covered in tea plants, hills and hills of neat rows of green everywhere you glanced.  And if there’s one thing I’d learned during my time in this country is that Chinese people are serious about their teas.

Our visit to a longjing tea plantation began with a short seminar by a government official dubbed “Dr Tea”.  He had a degree in Tea Sciences (I didn’t even know such a thing existed!) and he worked as a Quality Inspector at the federal level.  Dr Tea began his lecture by explaining the anti-oxidant effects of longjing tea, and preformed a simple, but visually effective, demonstration which involved rice, iodine, water and tea.  It had everyone’s attention; hook, line and sinker.  “I must have this!” my brain told me, and next thing I knew, we were paying $140 for a half kilo of premium grade-A longjing green tea.  Interestingly, the AA stuff is reserved only for the government’s use, while the lower quality of grades B and C are also available for public sale.  Grade D is kept for export… Makes you go hmm doesn’t it?

...toasty tea leaves...

...anyone got hot water??...

...Dr Tea...

Specialty dishes that originated from Hangzhou include the Beggar’s Chicken, and Dongpo Pork… both of which are very tasty.  The chicken is stuffed with a mixture of pork, shrimp, various veggies and seasonings, and then it is wrapped up in layers of lotus leaves, and encased in salted clay.  It is then baked for anywhere from 2-4 hours, and once the clay is cracked, the chicken is falling-off the bone tender and smells wonderful.  It’s not a dish that you can just order off the street; due to the amount of time and labour involved Beggar’s Chicken must be ordered in advance.

...beggar's chicken...

Dongpo Pork is fatty pork belly that is braised in soy sauce and wine until it barely holds up together.  A nice fatty pork is key, the fattier the better in fact!  My parents actually make a version of this at home, but as much as I love Momma’s cooking, I gotta say that the real deal tastes so much better!  Yeah I know what you’re thinking, but it’s worth every fatty, artery-clogging calorie.  And it’ll be alright… I have all that longjing tea to clear everything right up!  But I digress.

The pork is so rich; we’re only each given 3 small inch cubes of meat, served in small individual bowls.  The tender meat is merely a side note and the fatty main star literally just melts away in your mouth.  Mmm… so good… and while it’s very oily, there’s no lingering taste of grease left on your tongue.

We finished off our decadent meals in Hangzhou with fresh raw sugar cane.  The stalks are peeled and cut into manageable sizes, which you then bite off and suck on, draining out all the sweet juice.  Developing the ability to remove the leftover fibres from your mouth discreetly was also quite the experience.

...suck on this...

And that was pretty much how we ended our culinary adventures in China.  It was definitely an eye opener on how different the cuisine was when compared to Chinese food in BC, and even the difference of preparation between each region.  And while I can’t wait to return to China to eat my way through again, I’m actually quite happy to be eating sweet and sour pork again here at home.