Vancouver, BC Food

Inside La Casa Gelato.

Vancouver, BC is a great place to eat!  I'll start where everyone should, with dessert. We love La Casa Gelato, which is open late and has 218 flavors of ice cream.  Really!  We went a couple of times and found it crowded.  Each time we'd cringe to see so many people outside, thinking there would be a long line, and then discovered they were all just milling around eating their ice cream.  Then we'd find it packed inside and think we were doomed to a long wait, only to find the wait to buy tokens (for one, two or three scoops) short or nonexistent, and eager scoopers waiting around for someone to hand them a token and name their flavors.  Most of the people inside were just walking around in a daze trying to decide.  Vancouver has large and vibrant Asian communities, and many of the ice cream flavors they offer are traditional Asian flavors.  I was excited to see avocado, a flavor I had tried at Tambayan Filipino restaurant in Portland and really loved.  Their version was amazing, and so was their ice cream made from lychee fruit.   Jasper was more excited about Oreo and birthday cake ice creams.

La Casa Gelato.

We had a really amazing meal at New Novelty Restaurant, which has wonderful North Indian cuisine. They also have a counter with a huge assortment of fresh, high quality mithai (Indian sweets).  Wow!  We got one of almost everything and it was a feast!

Most Americans know that the food we usually think of as Chinese is really a highly Americanized version.  What most of us don't know is that there are versions of Chinese cuisine to be found all over the world.  India has one of the tastiest!  We have eaten at Chinese-Indian restaurants before, but never one with Chinese owners.  Green Lettuce Restaurant was the one we tried, and I was thrilled to see photos of Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai, Shridevi, and Hrithrik Roshan and his father, director Rakesh Roshan on the walls!  Hey, if it's good enough for Hrithik, it's good enough for me! The night we went, the place was packed, and all the patrons were mostly Indian with a few Anglo-Canadians. The food was unique and very yummy. Oddly, there were many beef dishes on the menu.  Maybe for their Muslim patrons? 

I got proof that Canada does not make America take the blame for
"processed cheese food".  Bless them!!!

Portland doesn't have much Eastern European food, which is a shame.  The ingredients are rarely unfamiliar but they are combined in ingenious ways. And once you've tried it, you're hooked. Fierce cravings for the Russian cafes of Brighton Beach, NY and Sunset in San Francisco have lead us to seek it out whenever we can. We had to try Ukrainian Village, and we were not disappointed.  Jasper definitely gives the thumbs up to their pelmeni, tiny dumplings filled with beef, pork and onions, and served with a generous portion of sour cream.

There used to be a tiny hole in the wall in Downtown Crossing, Boston serving delicious Chilean sandwiches which were to die for.  They were made on special big, round rolls which had been "docked".  I've made Napoleon pastry that way, by making puff pastry and then rolling a special spiked roller over the dough so that punctures let the dough puff, but only a bit.  These rolls were similarly punctured so that they rise, but only so much. The texture is light but not too fluffy. The sandwiches had chicken, muenster cheese, tomatoes, hot sauce and green beans on them.  Panaderia Latina Bakery bakes these special rolls, and makes awesome Chilean sandwiches with them as well.  Their sandwiches are made with beef or pork, and have several variations, but green beans are there too.  They also have lots and lots of amazing pastries, many of which include crisp, perfect baked meringue, thick caramel, and crunchy cookies which are also docked, or all three.