It’s a dairy and gas run to Bellingham kind of day today.

With the amount of butter I use at home I couldn’t afford to buy it in Canada.

For lunch we are gonna skip Mexican this time. Let’s see what else Bellingham has to offer.

I settled on Keenan’s at the Pier. It’s in Fairhaven, a historic old part of town. Quite lovely if you’ve never been.

This is the view you get from the Pier.

The restaurant itself has some very nice views of the bay as well.

It’s casual but elegant, but not stuffy.

We started with a cocktail, the Bee’s Sneeze.

Gin, fresh lemon juice and ginger basil honey. A nicely balanced cocktail.

Merilynn had a beet salad.

I thought that perhaps there weren’t enough beets, but the overall taste was good. I think I preferred the version I made a couple weeks ago. Link here.

I had the grilled apple lady sandwich with seafood chowder.

The seafood chowder was great. Until I had one of the clams and it had 5 or 6 grains of sand in it. That kind of put an end to my enjoyment of it. I don’t have a lot of experience cooking with clams or mussels. But one thing I do know, serving them without cleaning them properly is a big no-no in the culinary world.

The sandwich had pink lady apple, prosciutto, arugula, fontina cheese and blueberry preserves, on sourdough.

It was very good. I’m not the biggest sandwich fan. I mean it’s just meat on bread. Perhaps I’m too picky about my bread, being a baker and all. So a sandwich has to be elevated for me to enjoy it. And this accomplished that. The blueberry preserves really added a great touch. I’ll try something like this myself.

I did really enjoy Keenan’s, other than the beach in my soup. I think a return visit is warranted

Food 8/10

Ambiance 8/10

A visit in the summer to sit on the deck would be fantastic.

Service 7/10

A bit slow, but not unbearably so.

Overall 7.5/10

If you’re in Bellingham and looking for a nice lunch this would be a good option for you.

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I have been thinking for some time now that Chinese food in Vancouver is a lost cause.

Every Chinese food restaurant I’ve tried over the last number of years has been mediocre at best.

And it’s not a small list.

Han Lin noodle house, Chan’s Garden, ChongQing, Pink Pearl, KW Gardens, Jade Valley, Lee Yuen, Rickshaw, Golden Palace, Lee’s Express, Green Lettuce. Happiness Seafood, Sun Star, New Ruby, Asian Jazz, On On, and a couple that have since gone out of business and were not memorable enough to recall their name.

Ok so it’s not every Chinese restaurant in the GVA, but it’s a good enough representation to form the opinion that the quality of Chinese restaurants has declined in the last few years.

So when my buddy Tom said he wanted to try out Neptune Seafood I was a little hesitant.

Turns out I did not need to be.

Well perhaps a bit. Emanating from the other side of a Convention Centre type of movable wall came the worst Karaoke I’ve ever had the displeasure to hear.

But the food turned out to be excellent!

As did the beer.

First time I’ve had Chinese beer. It was great. The number one selling beer in China. Light bodied with hints of green apple. Very pleasant tasting. Would be easy to drink a lot.

Now after seeing some of the other dishes  that passed us by on their way to other tables I wish we had been a little more adventurous. The suckling pig looked incredible.

As it was though we did pretty well with our selections.

Up first: prawns and scallops with peas.

Both the prawns and scallops were cooked to absolute perfection. I’m not exactly sure what the sauce was. It was mild and flavourful though. I’m sure glad Tom picked this dish.

Let’s kick things up a little with some Kung Pao.

Oodles of peanuts which is awesome. I didn’t taste any Sichuan peppercorns in it, like I do at home. They didn’t chintz out on the peppers though. Get me another beer already would ya?

And lastly, Chicken Chow Mein with crispy noodle and black bean sauce.

I sure do like the crispy noodle version, and the black bean sauce worked perfectly with the abundance of chicken and veggies.

Every dish we had was excellent. Now it is pricey, though what Chinese food isn’t these days? But it’s on the higher end of the price range. Each dish averaged around $28. I’d hate to see the price tag on that suckling pig.

But you know it was worth it. I was very happy with the quality of everything.

We even had a good laugh when they brought us “Whitey’s” forks. (I am quite good with chopsticks)

Now if they can just do away with the Karaoke.

Food 9/10

Value 7/10

Ambiance 8/10 (I won’t count the terrible singing)

I will be going back.

The post Neptune Seafood Restaurant appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

I have been here a lot lately.

Good thing the food is good.

Well and a Heineken here is as good as anywhere else.

Butternut squash with prawns. I love how garlicky it is. Love the pine nuts too. Never disappoints.

Chicken lettuce wraps. Best in the city I think. Consistently good for years.

Eggnog cheesecake.

I love eggnog so had to try it. It was good. A little too sweet though. Nice caramel sauce.

I know a lot of people don’tike chain restaurants. But when the food is this good this consistently you can’t go wrong.

Food 8/10

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Been looking at lots of posts hailing Papa Dave’s pizza. Thought we would try it out.

First though, our condolences to Dave’s family. He served the New West community for 30 years. I’m sure he will be missed.

Now for our late night snack. They have a pretty large selection but we eventually decided on a Hawaiian.

Normally we do like to jazz it up a little with extra ingredients but that option wasn’t available. Well at least on Doordash. Maybe you can if you call?

So a regular Hawaiian it is.

Ham, pineapple and a three cheese blend .

Over all a decent poker night pizza. It’s not going to be anything I order when I crave a really awesome pie. But decent pizza, decent price.

My only complaint is the spice level of the sauce.

I am no stranger to spice. Whether Mexican, Peruvian, Indian , Chinese  or any other “piquanté” cuisine you can think of I’ve either eaten it or very happy to give it a go.

But in a Hawaiian pizza it didn’t quite taste right.

I’m sure it works in some, like their butter chicken pizza. But not the greatest in this one.

There’s no shortage of pizza shops in New West. Some good, some bad. I’ll put Papa Daves in the good category.

One bite review:

Greg 6.2

Merilynn 6.1

The post Papa Dave’s appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

Stopped in to see the boys before Christmas.

Couple beers and dinner.

Spaghetti Portofino.

Sauteed prawns in a lemon lobster butter sauce with corn and fennel chili crumb.

The sauce is really nice. Buttery but not greasy. The fennel crumb adds a nice textural component. The corn adds a hint of sweetness. A nice balance of flavours

I’ve had it a few times now and it’s been a solid dish every time I’ve had it.

A lot of people don’t like Cactus for some reason.

The post Cactus Club appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

Just about every time we make a trip to Costco we also stop for lunch.

Today it ws a stop at Mi Mexico.

If you’re looking for truly authentic Mexican food this isn’t it. Call it Tex-Mex if you will.

I had the Chile Relleno lunch special.

For 12 bucks it’s a pretty good deal.

Hey El Santo take note. This is how you do Chile Relleno and refried beans.

If you don’t know, Chile Relleno is a poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, dipped in egg, fried and then topped with sauce.

Good food! It’s a perfect lunch on a chilly December day.

The restaurant itself is a bit kitchy. It looks like a Mexican decorated the place as how they thought Americans might think a Mexican restaurant should look.

At any rate, the food was solid. As it has been every time I’ve been. (I’d guess 6 or 7 times) Won’t blow you away, won’t disappoint.

If you’re looking for really authentic Mexican food I’d head down the street to La Gloria Market. If you’re really white, this will do.

Food 7/10

The post Mi Mexico appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

We find ourselves at The Thirsty Duck for brunch this morning, hoping to check another of New West’s breakfasts off our list.

Unfortunately, well actually as I look back on it now, fortunately, it wasn’t open yet.

Ok so what’s next. Let’s see what comes up on Google.

Jim’s? I like it but not today.

Angelina’s? Nah.

One way Café? Been there, done that.

We will skip all the chain restaurants….

Hmm, The Hart House popped up.

First thing Merilynn said was “too expensive”

Quick check of their menu and it actually doesn’t look all that bad price wise.

As neither of us have ever been I said let’s go!

A few minutes later we arrived and this is the view that greets you. I don’t know about you but I love history. And compared to other older cities there isn’t tons of history in Vancouver but I’m glad for any chance to experience some of it.

What a beautiful old house.

It’s just as beautiful on the inside too.

I only have the one from the interior. Hopefully it gives you an idea.

We were seated in a beautiful room with a view of Deer Lake. Gorgeous.

Nice glass of very freshly squeezed orange juice.

Okay so upfront I was a little hesitant about getting the Benedict.

It comes with pork loin instead of ham.

My hesitancy was unwarranted.

It was excellent.

And those eggs couldn’t be poached any better. The yolks were perfectly runny, probably the most perfect poach I’ve seen.

The pork loin was tender and had just the right amount of seasoning.

The Hollandaise had just the right amount of tang.

And those potatoes were beautiful. Crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle. Perfect amount of salt.

Merilynn had the Duck Confit flatbread.

Made with an in house tomato sauce, duck, arugula, smoked caciocavallo cheese and drizzled with a balsamic glaze.

Glad we went with this.

There was a really good amount of duck (unlike that terrible pizza at Piva) and the bitterness from the arugula and the sweetness from the balsamic glaze was wonderful. This was my first taste of smoked caciocavello. There was not an overwhelming taste of smoke, which I often find in say a smoked gouda. It was mild yet tasty.

So in essence this really is a Duck Pizza. Take note Piva, this is how it’s done.

So what we have here is a restaurant full of history and character, a kitchen that really knows how to make great food, and a price point that, at least for brunch, wasn’t much more than Angelina’s or Bruncheria.

Given the choice of those three restaurants, Hart House is my pick.

Food 9/10

Ambiance 8/10

Value 8/10

Overall 8/10

The post Hart House appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

I can’t ever remember having had Turkish cuisine before.

Honestly at this point if you ask me to name one Turkish dish I’m not sure that I could.

It’s near work and I’ve been thinking about going for a while to check it out. My daughter met me at the store today so I suggested we try it and she was amenable.

It was a weekday and it was around 4:00 pm, so pretty early, but we were the only ones in the place. And it’s big. At least service should be pretty quick.

Ok so now looking at the menu I do recognize Pida. I’ve seen it on cooking shows before. That’s going to be a must try.

We also thought we’d have the Cigar Borek.

These are made from Yufka dough (phyllo) and have a cheese filling. There is a hint of lemon in there as well. I guess this is the Turkish version of the spring roll. And I prefer this version over the Chinese one. Really really tasty. I could eat just these for dinner.

The Pida we had was just the mozzarella cheese version.

It came piping hot fresh out of the oven. To me it was a bit bland. I would like to try one with feta and beef or lamb mince sometime. It was still really good though.

And of course “When in Turkey” I had to top it off with a great cup of sludge. Otherwise known as Turkish coffee.

Ya that will put some hair on your chest. You need to like strong coffee to enjoy this brew.

So for having come in pretty ignorant of Turkish food I rather did enjoy it.

I will for sure be back.

Food 8/10

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Popped in for dinner with the boys tonight before heading to the bar.

I’ve been here a lot. It’s usually very good.

However the last time I came it wasn’t up to snuff. Looking tonight to see if that was a one off or becoming the norm.

While they don’t make a true Carbonara it is an excellent take on it. Well, has been an excellent take on it.

The last couple times I’ve been to Pasta Polo I have definitely noticed a decrease in quality.

The food just isn’t working for me of late..

And while the young man that was serving us tonight was pleasant enough, overall the service was slow. It took way too long to get our food considering the restaurant was half empty.

My daughter visited the day after I did and she said it was excellent. She tried the carbonara as well.

I’m wondering if it’s just that my tastes have matured past the level that Pasta Polo maintains.

I certainly do know that taste buds do mature as you get older and begin to understand flavour profiles, complimentary flavors and better ingredients.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not calling it bad. Just not as good as it used to be.

I’m sure I’ll be back. This part of Coquitlam is somewhat bereft of restaurants that fall into what I consider worthy of my dollars.

Food 6/10

Service 5/10

Overall 5/10

The post Pasta Polo appeared first on Gregs Food Blog.

Seeing as I’ve recently been to Hell’s Kitchen and Ramsey’s Fish and Chips (Las Vegas) it’s only fitting that I would try his burger joint when it opened here in Coquitlam. If you haven’t heard about it yet it’s at the Great Canadian Casino.

It’s opening day and there was a line up at 11am on Monday morning. Not unexpected. We decided to sit at the bar rather than wait so I don’t actually know what the interior of the restaurant is like.

As it’s opening day we had hoped we might see Gordon, but alas he was not in the house. There was a rumour he might be around at some point today though.

Christine Wilson, who won season 10 of Hell’s Kitchen has been in town doing the training. She is now the Culinary VP of the Gordon Ramsey North America group. So I expect the burger to be good.

I had the Farmhouse burger with truffle fries.

It’s a bacon cheeseburger with a fried egg.

I’m thinking the bun is made in house, it’s very fresh

There was a great sear on the patty itself that gave the meat great flavour. However the burger has no sauce. This made the burger overall quite dry. Next time I’ll get a side of the garlic aioli to put on the burger. I’ll have to get tomato and lettuce added too.

The fries were excellent. Fresh and crispy. The garlic aioli was very good.

I’ll be back in a few days.

Gonna try the Fish sandwich. A friend of mine had it today and it looked excellent.

I should have maybe skipped the burger….

Food 5/10

Value 5/10

If I’m gonna spend that much for a burger again I think I’ll head to Burger Heaven in New West instead. No disrespect Gordon, its just better value.

GR also has a steakhouse opening next year at the Riverrock. I have been to his steakhouse in Vegas. It was excellent. I will also head there when it opens.

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