restaurant review

BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Laguna Hills
24032 El Toro Rd.,
Laguna Hills, CA
Ph: 749 -

When you are heading out for an early supper with an infant and a pre-schooler, the key feature you look for is not eclectic  contemporary cuisine but a family-friendly  environment and a children's menu.  Fortunately there seems to be no shortage of such style eateries in the several neighbouring communities of Orange County where my family lives.

One such chain is BJ's, that presently has about 95 restaurants scattered throughout the West, South and Mid-Western states. They began with a pizzeria in Santa Ana in 1978, began handcrafting beers in Brea in 1996 and are about to open several new restaurants to add to the present list.

BJ's Restaurant in Laguna Hills has a special importance to us, dating from the birth of number 1 son (number 2 child). As mom and new babe enjoyed quality time, dad, older sister, grand-ma, uncle and aunt all went for supper at the restaurant, which is about a five minute walk from the hospital.  Although this was a year ago, big sister aged all of 5 years, remembers how fun it was having dinner with all of us that evening and was excited to go back.

So this time with mom and infant but no aunt and uncle,we headed out to BJ's for supper. Armed with snack packs of cheerios and bits of cheese to keep grasping baby fingers occupied, we got there early around 5 pm and already there were people waiting for a table. Our wait was short- about 5 minutes and we were seated in a comfortable booth with baby in a high chair.

Shanghai River Restaurant
#110-7831 Westminster Highway,
Richmond, BC
Ph: (604) 233-8885

With its large diverse Chinese community, Vancouver celebrates Chinese New Year in style. This year a group of us, 12 in all, took the Canada Line out to Richmond, for a Chinese New Year banquet at the Shanghai River Restaurant. Arranged by Susan, whose petite frame belies her formidable social organizational skills, the evening promised to be a veritable feast and it was.

As we were led to our table which seated 12 quite comfortably, we passed by the pastry area where the dumplings and noodles are freshly made. We sipped on our hot tea while Susan and Nick decided what needed to be added to the standard  banquet menu for 10 people. The rest of us debated whether to order beer or wine. Five of us settled on a bottle of Mission Hill white wine of unknown varietal. The menu did not specify. We guessed it was a Pinot Blanc or Pinot Gris but we got so involved with the various dishes that we forgot to ask them to bring back the bottle so we could check. The others ordered beers.

We were first served a cold platter with tofu, jellyfish, smoked white fish, chicken and bamboo shoots.

Next came a speciality of the house, dumplings filled with meat and broth, that were quite delicious. I also liked the pan fried tiger prawns but found the assorted seafood dish (scallops, squid and fish) very bland.

Maenam Thai Restaurant
1938 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver.
Ph: (604) 730-5579

The last time I visited this location  at its previous incarnation as Gastropod I enjoyed an excellent meal. Since chef Angus An renamed  it Maenam and changed the focus to Thai specialities  in May last year, I have not had an opportunity to revisit. But heading off to the Jericho Arts Centre to see The Vic, we decided to test our taste buds against some spicy Thai dishes.

We were seated at a nicely private table adjacent to the bar area, and Janice, our efficient server promptly brought water and took our wine order.  I could not resist a glass of Wild Goose Autumn Gold - an exquisite blend of Gewurtztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Blanc that I enjoyed (and brought home several bottles) during my "Taste of the South Okanagan" visit to the Wild Goose Winery in the Fall, 2008.  My companion ordered a Chilean Pinot Noir which seemed to go down equally smoothly.

Chambar Restaurant
562 Beatty Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2L3, Canada
 Ph: 604- 879-7119
 

East Fusion Food
1021 International Village
88 Pender Street, vancouver.
Ph: 604-568-6988

The Boathouse Restaurant
900 Quayside
New Westminster
Ph: (604) 525-3474

On an icy cold day, when the wind whipped against my skin till it burned red as if scalded, a friend and I rode the Skytrain out to New Westminster Quay. We had spent the morning riding the new Canada Line to the Airport and back to the Waterfront Station. Our plan was to enjoy a pleasant lunch and explore the Quay area.

Alas we had not realized that large parts of the Quay were closed for redevelopment and remodeling, and we found to our dismay that most of the restaurants were closed . We inquired, without success, of a couple of passers by who lived in the area whether any restaurants were open.  Finally by trial and error, driven by a desperate need to warm up, we found ourselves at The Boathouse, one of a local chain of restaurants.  And hooray, it was open for lunch.

We were shown to a table by the window, and were soon warmed up by the heat radiating out from the fireplace. I thought "so what if its the middle of the day - I am not at work"  and decided to order a glass of BC Gewurtztraminer. 

Cru Restaurant
1459 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6H 1H6
Ph: 604-677-4111

Prior to heading off to the Stanley Theatre to see Mrs. Dexter & her Daily my theatre buddy and I opted to have dinner at Cru. Surprisingly I have not been there before although it is really convenient for pre-show dining if you are going to the Stanley Theatre. And even though it is a slightly longer walk, it is also quite convenient if you are going to the Pacific Theatre at 12th and Hemlock.

We were seated in a comfortable booth and given the prix fixe menu. At 42 dollars for 3 courses I thought it was a little pricey, until I tasted the food. I started with the Cellar Door Caesar salad which is absolutely the best Caesar salad I have ever had. The dressing covered with a generous amount of asiago cheese is layered over grilled Romaine lettuce and the croutons are soaked in garlic butter. I shudder to think of the calorie count but it was absolutely sinfully delicious.

3030 Ocean Restaurant
Marriott's Harbor beach Resort.
3030 holiday Drive,
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Ph: (954) 765-3030

None of us had been to Fort Lauderdale before and we had one evening open for a nice dinner. Some research using food web sites on our I-Phones  led us to 3030 Restaurant featuring " modern American seafood"  by chef Dean James Max.

We liked the ambience of the room. The table was spacious but small  enough for conversation and the food, as we discovered was indeed excellent.

Two of our party had just arrived in Florida. 6 hours later than scheduled,  after an exhausting day of travel, thanks to the high level of airport security following the abortive terrorist attempt on the flight from Amsterdam. ( See East Caribbean Dance Cruise).  We were famished and really looking forward to a relaxing meal. 

We ordered a bottle of the Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand which is consistently good. The bright citrus flavourwith perfectly balanced sweetness and acidity went down well and had the desired stress reducing effect!  

 Breeze
661 9th Avenue, New York
Ph: 212-262-7777

Of all the restaurants I have eaten at on this trip, this turned out to be the best surprise.

I was meeting a friend for  a light Sunday lunch before going to see a new play, Emily at Theater Row. I left it to him to pick an eatery nearby the theatre and he liked what he read about this Thai-French fusion restaurant. So we agreed to meet there shortly after noon.

Walking down  the west side of 9 th Ave., on my way to met my friend,  I noted a number of  eateries in a row.  It was a warm day and several of the restaurants, including Breeze, were open to the exterior.  From the outside,  Breeze looked to me more like a casual cafe than the type of establishment that would serve "fine" food but appearances are often deceiving, as I found out.

We decided to share two of their appetizer dishes and a large salad. When the first dish arrived I sat up in surprise at the artistry of the presentation. And indeed each succeeding dish was so beautifully presented that I could not resist showing pictures of all of  them.

We started with the creamy wild mushroom and caramelized onion filling served in a crisp dumpling. It had a extra touch of sweetness from the use of sweet soy sauce with a black truffle foam.

Sangria 46
338 West 46th St., between 8 and 9th Ave., New York
Ph: 212-581-8482

For my last Saturday night in New York, we had managed to get  tickets to Burn the Floor, the ballroom and Latin dance spectacular that so blew me away, that I had to see it again.

For dinner we decided to try Sangria 46, a relatively new restaurant serving traditional Spanish cuisine, a few blocks away from the theatre. I got there a few minutes early and sipped from a glass of Castillo Medina Sauvignon Blanc as I waited for MIke to join me. The place, that can seat about 125 people,  filled up amazingly quickly and the numerous waiters attractively dressed in black pants, white shirts with red scarves, were soon kept very busy.

A bread basket with crusty baguette slices was brought to the table and I munched on a couple of slices until Mike arrived.  He ordered sangria to sip while whe studied the menu.

We did not order any of the main courses as I had I noted that the portions brought to adjacent tables, were quite substantial. I preferred to experience smaller tastes of a greater variety of dishes.  So we decided to order from the tapas menu and share.

We chose four  dishes: chorizo, fried baby artichokes, shrimps in garlic sauce  and crab stuffed mushrooms. Three of the dishes were brought to the table on the stand shown in the picture.  All four dishes were tasty, spicy but not overly so.

After enjoying each morsel of the savoury foods we agreed that a light dessert was in order,  and shared vanilla ice-cream with a sweet sherry topping. Yummy.