Restaurant review: Benkei Ramen

One food trend that I’ve long ignored is the fresh ramen houses. I’ve eaten the packaged instant ramen since I was kid, and still do occasionally. I never quite understood the appeal of a $10 bowl of ramen that (I thought) could be replicated at home for $1. I actually did try a fresh ramen…

Takeout review: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

As the second part of the “Eatin’ in Surrey” sojourn, since trips to Surrey are a rarity for me, I had to make a side trip to the one and only Krispy Kreme Doughnuts location in the greater Vancouver area. There was a time (10 years ago) when we would make day trips to Seattle…

Restaurant review: Pho Tam

I don’t visit Surrey very much. But having heard good things about this one Vietnamese restaurant, I was willing to venture out of my usual boundaries to give it a try. Pho Tam is, by all appearances, a family run hole-in-the-wall type restaurant in the Whalley neighborhood, a stone’s throw from the Whalley Skytrain station….

Restaurant Review: Penang Delight Cafe (in Marpole)

I had heard/read a lot of positive comments about Penang Delight, both the original location on Rupert Street, and the Marpole Location on West 73rd Street.  I decided to check out the location in Marpole for lunch. This location is kinda in-the-middle-of-nowhere.  It’s in a tiny strip mall in the middle of a residential area…

Cooking: home made dumplings/gyoza

It’s been quite a long time since I did a cooking related blog entry, so here goes. I hosted a dinner party that coincided with the last night of the annual Celebration of Lights fireworks.  Since the final fireworks contestant was Team Japan, I decided that the dinner party would be Japanese cuisine. My contribution to…

Restaurant review: Chung’s Fish and Chips

While visiting the Ladner farmers market, we stumbled upon a small fish & chip restaurant and decided to gamble. To be honest, I was skeptical a fish & chip shop run by Chinese. I would similarly feel leary about an Indian restaurant run by Latinos, or a Japanese restaurant run by Greeks. Well, I put…