Girl Eats World

My very first meal in Vancouver was at Finch’s Tea and Coffee House. Alan was going to nap a couple of hours so I was left to my own devices. I browsed Yelp and found Finch’s was highly rated and just two blocks away from where we were staying. Upon arriving, my first impression consisted of two words, tiny and adorable.

The line was a few people out the door. I waited maybe about 15 minutes before reaching the sweet girl at the front. I learned inconveniently that they do not accept credit cards, only cash and Canadian debit cards. I left to hunt down an ATM and was back shortly. Ordered the Gypsy Salami for Alan and the Prosciutto sandwich for me.

The sandwiches were delightful. Simple and fresh ingredients. The lettuce had a lovely crunch to it. The bread was not doused with pesto-mayo or oil and vinegar, but just slathered enough to keep the sandwichs from being dry. The cured meats were so good I had to keep myself from picking them out and munching on them on their own. The only complaint I had has more to do with my case of TMJ than the sandwiches, but if you are riddled with a creaky jaw like I am, the bread can be a bit tough. Otherwise, for the normal folks, it’s just right. Alan declared his sandwich the best salami sandwich he’s had.

Gypsy Salami: Salami, pesto-mayo, lettuce, tomato, $7.50 CAD

Prosciutto, edam, letuce, tomato, oil and vinegar, $7.95 CAD

I think I’ll share one more write-up on Vancouver and that will conclude my series. So sad. I have to go back, one day.

A few weeks ago Cindy, Thomas, and I convened for another one of our progressive lunches. You can read about our first of four stops here. Our second stop was Lankford Grocery, known for their burgers.

88 Dennis St
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 522-9555
http://www.lankfordgrocery.com/

We took a quick vote and ordered one Grim Burger. Just like our server at Neilsen’s, our waitress gave us an odd look. One burger for three people? We explained that we were trying to make it to at least one more place and have learned from past painful experiences, that sharing and portion control are key to a successful progressive lunch.

Grim Burger: Mac & cheese, bacon, fried egg & jalapeno, $8.50

It was a delicious and satisfying burger. The meat was juicy and charred just enough. The mac and cheese was creamy and not starchy. Jalapenos gave it a kick. And the bacon? There is a standing invitation for bacon to attend parties in my mouth.

One more thing. I know this is a burger with bacon and mac and cheese in it and that makes it a ridiculous burger. However, this isn’t the most ridiculous burger I’ve had. If you can believe that! Most ridiculous would be the Shipley from Burger Guys (also in Houston and blogged about here). Instead of hamburger buns, the burger was nestled in between doughnuts. And yes, bacon was attending that party as well, alongside it’s old friend, the fried egg.

Stay tuned to see where we go to after Lankford!

* The photos used in this post were all taken by my eating buddy and talented photographer, Thomas Chen.

Julie alerted me 50 minutes before the show airing that I’d be on last night’s Eat St. episode featuring street food, namely Pig Vicious, here in Austin.

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A few weeks ago, my friends Thomas and Cindy (and a few stragglers later at our third and fourth stop), coordinated a progressive lunch in Houston. We went to four eateries in Houston for our lunch. Our first stop was Nielsens Delicatessen, famous for their deviled eggs.

We usually do our meals off peak hours so we don’t feel so guilty taking up space because our orders tend to be much smaller. (You know, so we can make it to the other places. It took us our first progressive meal where we ordered large portions and nearly killed ourselves with food to carefully watch our portions and sharing.) You should have seen the guy behind the counter’s face when the three of us ordered in total, just three deviled eggs.

“You just want deviled eggs?”

We’re almost glad he asked! It gave us an opportunity to explain that we were eating at more than one place for lunch and that his place was our first place.

He still looked at us skeptically.

Word on the street is that this sandwich shop is fantastic for sandwiches but the star of most meals here is usually the deviled eggs. A fluffy cloud of eggy goodness and spices. The olive is a pretty garnish that complements the fluffy goodness. I daresay they’re the best deviled eggs I’ve ever had. A sentence, I never thought I’d utter. Actually, I never thought I’d dedicate an entire post to deviled eggs.

There you have it.

* The photos used in this post were all taken by my eating buddy and talented photographer, Thomas Chen.

11815 620 N
Ste 4
Austin, TX 78750
(512) 382-6248
http://noblepigaustin.com

I haven’t posted any eats from my lovely hometown in a while so why not post about a sandwich shop that I’m also late to discover? I’ve had Noble Pig on my radar for way too long before finally making my way up north to visit. I’m embarrassed to say it wasn’t even my idea! My friend Deesh invited me and treated me to a lovely lunch. I was ecstatic that he mentioned Noble Pig.It’s about time I’ve been introduced!

I inadvertently deleted the photo of the outside from my phone, so my standard formula of posting a picture of the outside signage first is broken. Just picture a modest hole in the wall nestled in an equally modest-sized shopping strip. It’s just two doors down from a gas station.

Okay, moving on to what’s most important. The food. Instantly, I was drawn to the duck sandwich. I haven’t had duck in between bread since the pulled duck sandwich at Houston’s Straits!

Smoked Duck Pastrami with Russian dressing and rye pickles, $8

Flattering side view

I am so proud of my menu choice. The duck was succulent and I made sure to slowly chew each bite. It lasts longer that way! I made Deesh try and was quite pleased with myself when he nodded in approval. That boy had just told me he wasn’t that big of a fan of duck. Winning!

Deesh ordered the catfish sandwich.

Creole catfish with tomato tartar sauce and romaine lettuce, $8

Flattering side view

I love creole seasoning on fish! This was delicious and not overpowered by the tartar sauce.

I recommend both these sandwiches. Bring a friend and do an even split! I can’t wait to go back. It’s 8:00 in the morning now and I have a craving for a the smoked duck pastrami. Sigh.

1145 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 542-5200
http://www.myersandchang.com

So it’s actually been four months since I’ve had this meal in Boston. I eat at a lot of places and due to lack of time or romantic/bad lighting, half of the restaurants I want to blog about never get blogged. Especially if more than a couple of months passes by!

What inspired me to dig in my archives for these photos is two other bloggers recently posting a photo each of their pork belly bao sliders. Julie posted a photo from New York’s Ippudo and Diana posted a photo from Denver’s Japoix.

I just wanted to add to the mix and post one from Boston.

Pork belly buns with brandy hoisen, $9

I really liked this. Pork belly was great and the sauce added a perfect amount of moistness to the sliders.

Pork dumplings, $11

I’m a sucker for pork dumplings. These unfortunately were average. Still fun to snack on but with such a comprehensive menu, I advise you to try something else.

Unanimously, the two stars of the meal were the ginger sesame waffles of the chicken and waffles and the Indonesian fried rice.

Chicken & waffles, $17

Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice): pork, shrimp, pineapple, farm egg, $14

Oh so good! Have fun mixing up the rice and be careful with the sambal sauce!

Next time I’m in Boston to visit the best friend, I can see us stopping by for a quick lunch and just each get a bowl of the rice and ask if they could just give us the waffles and hold the chicken (the chicken was decent, a tad dry). Besides, it’ll give us room for our bowl of rice.

Thanks Shelley for alerting me to Myers + Chang and Flour (their sister restaurant)! They were both wonderful finds during my last visit to Boston.

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1133 Broadway W
Vancouver, BC V6H 1G1
(604) 872-8050
www.tojos.com

I recently teased this photo of Tojo as a Wordless Wednesday post, stating that Tojo gave me the best meal I had in Vancouver. I thought I’d do you right and finally post about this wonderful nine course omakase (“chef’s choice”) meal. I had Tojo’s on my list of places to visit in Vancouver because it was listed as one of about five places from Vancouver in my 1000 Places to See Before You Die book. It was a happy coincidence when I caught Anthony Bourdain’s Vancouver episode and Tojo was featured.

I wouldn’t eat at Tojo’s unless you do the omakase and sit at the bar.

Upon being seated, Tojo introduced himself to us. I asked if it was okay to take photos of him as he worked and he told me, “Take picture, take notes, do whatever.” Awesome.

The following courses are posted in chronological order.

Albacore tuna. clam, salmon, and snapper in Tojo’s special sauce

Zucchini flower tempura stuffed with scallops

Dungeness crab salad with miso dressing, pickled apples, cucumber, and rice noodles

Alaskan black cod, smoked with mangos. See below for opened up packet.

Handroll with clam and cucumber and Tojo’s special sauce

Salmon, scallops, shrimp, and crab rolled in an egg wrap

Toro

Note: The toro in Vancouver is so succulent and divine. We actually ate at an all you can eat sushi place the next day with all you can eat toro and was amazed by Vancouver’s toro. I don’t think I can eat toro in Texas again. Sadness.

Unagi roll wrapped in cucumber

We tapped out at 8 courses and smiled very graciously at Tojo and told him we were too stuffed. He nodded with approval and told us that he’ll make us something small and sweet for us to end on a sweet note.

Green tea crème brûlée

For nine courses, it cost us 150 CAD per person. (It’s priced by what you eat and how many courses you have.) Very much worth the money. Everything was fresh and local. We felt a little guilty for following such a magnificent and zen meal with a UFC fight at a dive bar. C’est la vie. My favorite sushi restaurant and restaurant in Austin, was Uchiko (named the 7th best new restaurant in the US earlier this year by GQ), but I think Tojo has stolen my favorite sushi spot in my heart. It’s honest food. No frills. Just emphasis on what’s local and seasonal. If you’re ever in Vancouver, Tojo’s a must eat.

P.S. Uchiko is still my main squeeze. I live in Austin, after all.

300 Water St
Vancouver, BC V6B 1B6
http://www.waterstreetcafevancouver.ca

Alan and I were walking around Gastown, Vancouver looking to eat at Guu. Guu wasn’t open for lunch so we picked a random restaurant to try out. We chose Water St. Cafe because it was bustling and had sidewalk seating great for people watching. The service that day was a little frazzled but very friendly. The food, though not amazing, was very good.

Oysters sautéed with smoked chipotle peppers, cream, sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan gratinée – $12 CAD

I think I could go with less of a dousing of the sauce but these oysters were very tasty. Alan loved them.

The special: Salmon with Saffron Butter Sauce – $17 CAD

This was my order. I had a hankering for some buttery pasta and this totally satisfied me. The pieces of salmon were moist and tender and the saffron gave the butter sauce a unique spicy and slightly bitter taste. I loved it.

Duck confit with a balsamic and pineapple chutney glaze on garlic mashed potatoes – $22 CAD

I was happy to see Alan order the Duck Confit, one of my favorite dishes. The duck was hearty and fatty and the garlic mashed potatoes were simple and complemented well. Mmm. Now I want some.

It was happenstance that we found ourselves at Water St. Cafe which was located across the street from the famous steam clock. I wouldn’t have even noticed the clock but while we sat there and ate, it was impossible to miss swarms of tourists gathering around it to take photos.

All in all, a delicious lunch!

This man gave me my best meal in Vancouver. Post to come.

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