Eating Vancouver '09: quick bites, pt.1

Here's a few quick hits from our eating safari to Vancouver, BC last weekend. Places we liked, one we thought was totally over-hyped, and leaving out the best Indian and Japanese food I have ever had (more on the glory that is Vij's and Tojo later)...

One of our main goals in Vancouver was to eat as much good Asian food as we could, because really authentic, quality Chinese/Japanese food is sadly lacking in Portland. So after our trip to Salt Tasting Room our next stop was dinner at Hapa Isakaya, which is seemingly on everyone's must stop list for excellent izakaya, the famous Japanese small plates/drinking tradition. But first, since we had to walk right by on our way back to the hotel, our pals N&R had also recommmended drinks at Chambar. Certain people you trust for certain things. If N&R had said they serve killer cocktails on that burning barge out in the bay, I'd put on my asbestos suit and belly up to the bar. Chambar is just south of Gastown, in the one block nice/one block seedy 'Couv downtown. In fact it kind of shocking how many homeless/junkies/hookers are out on the streets in this downtown area. One can only assume that social services are woefully lacking. In any event, I'm here to refresh my palate, not make societal judgements, so it was tha we wandered into Chambar. This is a really cool spot, a casually elegant Belgian styled bar (where a couple of days later had some awesome moules frites). Before we ordered I watched the bartenders making drinks, and they seemed to know their stuff, so it was with growing confidence I asked them to make me something served up with gin. Anything they wanted, I was good with. Our provider said she had the perfdect thing, and she wasn't lying. Appearing before me, in a pretty foamy green martini glass, was this luscious concoction of gin, green chartreuse,rhubarb bitters, lime juice, basil, and egg white....

Deliciousness defined from Chambar

We wandered out of Chambar, back to the St. Regis to change for dinner. One thing we really were impressed by was how walkable the downtown area was. Our hotel was perfectly situated to reach Gastown, Robson Street, Chinatown....a great base. We walked the two blocks to Robson and headed west to get to Hapa Izakaya, which was supposed to be not only very hip and trendy, but also was reputed to serve some of the best Japanese small plates in the city. On our way there we wandered by a place that would soon get my appetite's attention, but first we were on a misiion to get our izakaya on. Walking into the darkly list Hapa, with its pulsing techno music and good looking clientele (which of course we only added to...), we also noticed that for the all female wait staff there seemed to be a certain "cleavage requirement". Now I'm not sure if it has always been like this or if it is a recession driven marketing tool, it's just an observation. We had read there would be a long wait without reservations, but were seated at our table within 10 minutes of arriving, another recession benefit we experienced at numerous places. Did Hapa measure up to the hype. No. Well, let me clarify: No. Plate after plate, while looking good and with fresh quality ingredients, was over-sauced or poorly prepared. The beef carpaccio had perfectly tender thinly sliced meat buried under a too sweet sauce. The fried octopus with curry was tough. The hamachi was drizzled with a sickly sweet and salty soy-based sauce, ruining what was otherwise a fresh, clean piece of fish. The veggie plate defined "meh". The only saving grace was the squid plate, which was tender, slightly charred and smoky, with a aioli dipping sauce. It was the only dish we had where they didn't fuck it up with too much "creativity", letting the food speak for itself. Dejectedly we wandered out onto Robson, hoping this was the exception and not the rule for our trip.

It was on our way back to thehotel that w, and this is she is the perfect girl for me, said "what about the place we walked by earlier that you said you wanted to check out?" What we'd passed by earlier was this....
Babylon Café, a literal hole-in-the-wall shawerma joint, where I noticed on the way to Hapa there was a line out the door waiting to order and people standing outside eating their just purchased wraps. For me not to be satisfied at dinner is a situation that must be remedied immediately, even if I'm not really that hungry. It feels like a betrayal to go to bed without the taste of something good. So I took my place in the line to Babylon, and proceeded to be served the most wondrous pita wrapped sandwich I've ever had. Run by a couple who take the cash and carve the meat off the spits (I opted for the chicken option), and let you decide what you want on it (I opted for the "everything" option....of course). This was drippy, delicious, and unbelievably satisfying. I am absolutely craving one just typing this.....damn! Vancouver's 5-1/2 hours away, I could almost be up and back before anyone knew I was gone...................
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one year ago today @ E.D.T.: happy hour PDX at Serrato!