Shibuyatei, Richmond

Now that I've been back in Vancouver for about a week, it's time to write about something in town. I've wanted to write about this mom and pop Japanese restaurant for a while. Shibuyatei in Richmond on the corner of Sexsmith Road and Bridgeport Road. This little restaurant has been unnoticed to the masses due to its location.

This little restaurant is owned by a Japanese couple and they do all the cooking and serving. Very adorable. They've got the average sushi and things. But things to look out for are their more creative items like the special hotdogs, and traditional items like the pork gyoza and no MSG ramen. We found this place by accident when we were very hungry. Michelle and I were just looking for food and she drove by so we decided to turn back and give it a chance since it said "larmen" on it's sign.

I got a few shots of the place

We've been here about 5-6 times by now. I usually always order the shoyu ramen but today Michelle ordered that instead (usually she orders the miso ramen). We changed things up today.

I don't really care what anyone things, but I think the shoyu base is REALLY DAMN GOOD! It's a really clean soup base. I'm no expert but i think there must be chicken stock in it. No MSG, and perfectly deeply soya sauce-y. Every time we're there I always almost finish all the soup and leave a lot of the rest of the things in the bowl. The noodles aren't anything special since it's store bought. Chasu is excellent! Perfectly tender, and he gives big slices which is a bonus. It's a very traditional bowl, sprouts, bamboo shoot, seaweed, no egg. He keeps it nice and simple.

I changed up my order today and ordered his mild curry beef udon. The curry's very deep. A very strong curry. I don't know if it's homemade or not, but I quite liked it. Michelle and I have tried making this at home but it's never thick enough like his.

We also ordered his pork gyoza's which are piping hot and fresh every time. He adds a little more ginger which gives it a bit of a kick. I think the owner makes them from scratch at home. The ramen is a little pricier, about $10. But no MSG! I love anything that's MSG-less because it always either gives me a nose block, or a headache when there is an overload of it in my food. Our total was about $27. A little price to pay for something we think is worth our money (ramen specifically). I mean the noodles aren't the greatest but do give this man a chance, specially his ramen soup!

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The Principal, Hong Kong

As you can see, I really haven't been blogging much in the half year. I've been doing quite a bit of studio and photography work lately and it's been keeping me way over my head. Therefore the lack of anything in my life as of recently. But I've decided in order to keep my head straight and stop being lazy, I will definitely be blogging more, and will be starting kickboxing lessons to regain A LOT of fitness (as soon as I figure out where that darn place a friend recommended is located). My instagram is full of my eats, so if I'm not blogging I'm definitely tweeting and on my instagram!

I try to return to Hong Kong at least once a year to see my family. Since I started working it's been every Chinese New Year which is great! The family, friends, foods, and crowds are all so enjoyable and indulging it leaves me feeling the best of Hong Kong every time. Every time I come home my dad always attempts to top himself and bring me to at least one outstanding restaurant in the city. This time it was The Principal.

The Principal is rather new in town. Only open 2 months but the promotional hype has already brought in quite a crowd. Luckily my dad and his fellow friend (and photographer!) knew most of the sommeliers/servers who work at the restaurant and managed to book a table the night before my departure. I know this is a lot of typing but its restaurant name has a sentimental history. The previous status of this location was instead a highschool that was torn down, because the owner is a friend of the previous principal of the school it was then named, The Principal, serving Modern European Cuisine. That night we left the menu for the chef to decide. This restaurant hasn't been given its stars yet, but the Micheline star chef Jonay Armas brought out the best of his dishes.

We began the meal with some beautiful selection of breads. I took a whole wheat bun and a brioche topped off with some french pressed olive oil. Fresh, soft, and amazing with such pure olive oil.

This is a first in my life, we had some side snacks of GOLD CRUSTED NUTS??? NEVER EVER HAD THIS BEFORE! Fancyy Smanchhyyyy. They were delish though! Definitely coated with honey.

We had some complimentary Larmandier-Bernier’s NV Extra Brut Rose de Saignee. It's a very aromatic Rose until you drink it and then realise it's very dry in the mouth. Nevertheless tasty start to our meal.

My dad brought in 3 botttles of wine that night and we then continued to open...probably one of the best wines I've ever had in my life. "Y" 2000 Lur-Saluces. It's silky smooth like oil, and the nose smells like a Sauterne but it's not one. There really is no way to describe this beautiful white Bordeaux unless you drink it yourself. Many of these wines I had tonight were such a once in a lifetime experience.

Finally some food! Starting off with some Amuse Bouche. Left to right: Anchovie biscuit with Parmesan, butter puff with cream cheese, and foie gras pate with a hint of banana powder, and balsamic vinegar. The first 2 was good but the foie gras was outstanding. It went down your mouth like air, and if you took a sip of Bordeaux with it, it brought out the richest flavours of the foie gras. My god, First taste of heaven and many more to go.

First dish was a beautiful Crab Salad with pear/ginger chutney garnished with roe, and a crab and jasmine tea. Crab salad was refreshing. As for the tea? It's got strong flavours like a crab bisque but the jasmine really keeps it light and airy in terms of texture. I'll have another 10 orders of the tea please.

Lightly seared scallops with garlic, on top of a roe with butter sauce. Man oh man oh man....such a great pairing. Take a sip of the Bordeaux the whole aroma of the scallop/roe mix just explodes in your mouth.

Foie gras is tasty but I rarely eat it due to it's prices and my ethics to the treatment of ducks...but...THIS...I would not miss in the world. Chef Armas simply calls it Seared Foie Gras, when in reality it's much more complicated. He blanched the foie gras, soaks it in milk to take out the blood, has it smoked, then lightly sears the foie gras. Because of this process it literally melts in your mouth with the perfect amount of smokiness. Topped with a baby leek puree...I swear I'm living in heaven. We had this with a dessert wine Hungarian 1995 Tokaji. Tastes like plum with a good sweetness. The foie gras flavour was just, Christ...One explosion after another.

By now we didn't know how the chef was going to top himself but he still did. Next up was a pork belly with baby lettuce and lemon curd. I would have never thunk that the lemon made such a great combo with the 2. Combined with a 2004 Sylvain Cathiard Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru. Another great pairing. The Burgundy was definitely ready to drink, nose was very pungent and smelled like blue cheese. While the taste of course, beautiful rich burgundy. A little corked but didn't entirely lose all of its taste.

Last but not least, desserts...

Mandarin based assortments of desserts in all different forms, jelly, puffs, sorbet, fruits, and that one piece of almond crusted almond ice cream. DELISH. It's best to drink this with white wine since the dessert wine was too sweet when combined.

Our small break before the next dessert. The arrangement of colours are beautiful. And not to waste those beautiful colours we asked our awesome sommelier/server Jack to get us some cheese to finish it off.

Starting from the 2 knives, 2 mild soft cheese and it meanders to the hard Gouda in the far left. All seems to just vapourize in 30 minutes. This meal....I don't know when I'll ever get to eat something like this again. The end price was a surprise...It surely would have been much more expensive if we didn't know anyone there.

Our final price between 5 of us was 4,300HKD = 537CAD...about 106CAD each. In Hong Kong service charge is included in the bill, but in a restaurant like this you'll get the waiter who served you the best over and secretly slip him about 100HKD. A common custom in a classy restaurant in HK. This is EXTREMELY reasonable for a restaurant like this! I've been to many good restaurants. Being so young I've VERY fortunate to have visited many beautiful restaurants. This was definitely one of the more exceptional restaurants I've visited in my life so far. I'm very content and lots of love to my dad <3.

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you guys had a good time with family, friends, and good food of course! It's been one long year and a hell of a change within my life. I was up at Whistler with the wife and a bunch of friends. What luck to be with great company and be in such a beautiful place to celebrate the end of another year. I do hope to keep up with this blog more often knowing my motivation has been wagering in the past 6 months due to certain career changes and other personal situations in my life. But do know that I am still committed. I realize I really enjoy taking photographs of my food so if I don't ever post here, you'll ALWAYS...and I mean it, ALWAYS find me on Instagram. There will always be food there too and the rest of my life haha.

I do hope all of you had a great 2011 and started 2012 with a big bang. Whatever resolutions you have made for the year I hope you accomplish and keep motivated!

P.S. My lovely wife got me this beautiful Atlas Pasta Machine, the same one I got to use at the Dirty Apron Cooking School what I've always wanted. Isn't she just the best?

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American Thanksgiving

As you see, it's been a while since I've been here so just to update you guys on what has been going on. Life has been a whirlwind of events the past 2 months. I was offered an opportunity suddenly to join my friend at his photography studio. Soo...I quit my job at Artona and now work at the Art Department. Artona was really a great work place, it had prestige, a name, and it was a good experience to my portfolio but life needs to move on and branch out right? You got to take chances when you need to and create your own opportunities. Hopefully you guys will see our teams work in magazines some day =p.

I've also been doing tons of photoshoots for the A.D.F.M store, Vancouver's premiere online boutique store. If you haven't checked it out yet please do here! It's an awesome art and design store which brings in brands from Europe, LA, Asia, and more. Best of all it doesn't charge shipping taxes, and only the regular canadian taxes...AND bonus, if you're within the Vancouver region we deliver locally and within days. Now isn't that awesome? I've also been contributing in their food section so if you're interested do check it out here. If you're looking, don't forget, quality TRUIMPHS quantity. All these clothes are top quality.

And now to begin with, Happy (Americans) Thanksgiving Day! I've only got a few photographs to contribute. Me and Michelle's family are all in Hong Kong, Maggie's originally from Toronto, and Leonie is from Calgary. All in all none of us have family in Vancouver so we created our own little family.

Our beautiful Turkey, courtesy of Michelle's cooking...

Our collective efforts! Maggie with the roasted beets and potatoes, beets salad and caesar salad, garlic mash and french onion soup by me, Leonie brings the wine. Oh, and the dogs are chowing down!

Oh yeaaaaaaaaaa, carving time!

Eating time commences! You guys don't get to see the om nom nom noming time.

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving with your family and friends and enjoying the turkey coma to the fullest!

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Chinese Braised Pork Belly (東坡肉)

I have an addiction to all things that have strong tastes, and on this particular day I was craving something heavy. VERY heavy: Chinese Pork Belly. That fat will clog you right up and a few pieces of it will make you full as ever. I was very nervous making this because I've never ever actually made it on my own. My lunch was the envy of the office that day =D...Just sayin', ya know?

That day I went to Osaka supermarket in Yaohan. I stood between aisles for quite a bit and gave my mother a call while it was 9am her time. She was groggy but was determined to help me, as was I to make this deliciousness. Chinese Pork Belly isn't a hard thing to make, but getting the ratio of 1:3 soya sauce is very important. The choice of pork is also very important. You want to make sure that you buy a 1:1 ratio of meat to fat otherwise you're either just eating plain fat, or rough meat.

This is a serving for 3-4 people, but can be eaten over 2 days if it's just you. It tastes even better when it's soaked for 2 days.

A quarter pound of pork belly -with skin and all
1/3 cup Dark soya sauce - and I mean DARK! Light soya is way different!
2/3-1 cup Water
less than 1/3 cup of Chinese cooking wine
Stalk of green onion - cut into long pieces
3-4 slices of ginger
Rock sugar-a tablespoon...or if you can't measure it, just dump in 2 large lumps
Star Anise - optional

Put in all the ingredients except the pork and let it reach a slight boil, then drop in the pork belly. If your pork is big, just cut it into long pieces that way it doesn't fall apart when you try to pick it up later. I put a little too much cooking wine but it did turn out okay in the end. Let this sit on a slow cooking heat for 2.5 or more hours depending on how soft you like your meat. Periodically check on it and flip it over. I don't know how others do it, but during my process I would dump out the excess oil. I like oil, but damn that's a whole 1-2cm later of it, take out at least 90%. All oil gone would just taste bleh. During the last hour I was making some eggs, I thought I might as well dump those in to make some marinated hard boil eggs. MAN were they good with my lunch! I wasn't eating this until the next day so I had it sit in the pot overnight and cut it up the day after.

It is a MUST EAT WITH RICE kind of food! The sauces are so good you've got to soak it up. Did a simply garlic stir-fried bok choi for some fibre (my secret to tasty veggie is white pepper!), and hello beautiful!

I swear I called my mom 6-7 times in a span of an hour and a half. She was busy lunching with her ladies back home, while I was slaving away at the kitchen making my craving for the day. Definitely doing this again sometime soon. I had it as a leftover the 3rd day...man...I was in pork fat heaven.

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Richmond Good Eats

Right now I can barely concentrate on writing, I'm HIGHLY addicted to Beyonce's "Love On Top". Ah back to the basics, classic lyrics and feel good music.

Anywho...as usual I'm off topic. Last weekend I didn't plan on going out but one call from Michelle, it became a really nice day out. We dropped by Gyo-o in Richmond for lunch. That was actually my only second time in there. I love the deco!

Gyo-o serves fresh sashimi's and sushi don-buri's of the day, mostly raw fish. We're fish people, except for uni. Luckily that's the most expensive thing and we both don't like it. We ordered their Sashimi salad with house dressing, I ordered a Negi-toro don, and she had a special spicy salmon ontama bukkake don.

Gyo-o isn't bad at all, but their flavours are rather different from other Japanese restaurants. It's got a certain flare that you should open your taste bud to. But I stuck with the negi-toro so what can I say, while Michelle just simple said she had a little too much raw fish for lunch. Not a bad lunch at all, in fact quite good, just way too much raw fish for one afternoon. It was a beautiful day out we couldn't bear to stay inside! So we brought the dogs out to do some running, check out our cuties! Domino is now 1 1/2 years old, oh how time flies!

Alphie our old man is 7!

Hunger strikes at around 7pm, and our favourite Hog Shack down by Steveston comes into mind.

Just to showcase their extensive beer board, there's almost more on their menu!

Their homey setting...

And and empty plate from eating a whole pulled pork sandwich and salad. Please go there for their pulled pork, it's amazing layered with their house coleslaw and barbecue sauce.

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Shady Island, Steveston

We were originally going to eat at BaoBei as I was told they had a new menu and was eager to try. Our friends decided they wanted some amazing fish and chips so we ended up at Steveston instead. Which lead us to...

Any restaurant by Steveston is always great to be at. Beautiful view by the dock and fresh seafood all around. People were heading over a little late so I ordered a little drink to freshen up a Friday night after a long day at work.

Originally I was going to order the Granville Island Raspberry Ale, but they were all out since it's a Summer limited edition. It was a bummer, I've been meaning to try it all Summer. So I ordered a Summery beer, Granville Island Brewery Hefeweizen. Beer is always refreshing, but Hefeweizen is even more so in the Summer! Lemon to add? Perfect. I love it so much, I've decided I'm going to buy a case of this so that I can enjoy it at home. (And I'm going to get some of that Raspberry Ale somehow). People finally started arriving, say hi to Michelle and Harm!

Our whole table each ordered 2 piece halibut and chips, while Michelle and I shared ours and also a plate of Mussels.

You really can't go wrong by eating seafood at Steveson. The halibut was tender as it was fresh, with a perfect amount of crispiness to the coated top. We couldn't get enough of their tartar sauce either. Mussels were amazing, simple onions with butter, garlic, and herbs. There was one more spot left to hit. Dessert.

There is no better dessert than Frozen Yogurt, and not just any, Timothy's Frozen Yogurt is known to be the best. Fresh fruit pressed with yogurt on the spot. And the best part? Its WAFFLE CONES. Freshly made when ordered so it's hot and crispy while the yogurt that sits on it is cold and amazing. Strawberry and peach. Yum yum. Everyone else got berries in theirs too. It really is amazing because this cone doesn't get soggy at all. You'd be chowing down to the last scoop and you'd have a nice chomp on the waffle. It really is something to try. What a great way to end dinner!

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