No Reservations Disappearing Manhattan 2 of 5

Sweets at Work

It's that time of year again, and the sweets are starting to pour in. It happens at every workplace around Christmas time and this year is no exception. One of my co-workers whipped up this batch of goodies and I have to say that I ate a good portion of what was supposed to be shared with the rest of the office.

Hilarious Beef Ads

"Discover the power of protein in the land of lean beef."

" Come back to the place where the currency is sirloin and the local time is always dinner."

Anton's - where they feed you until you die.

nton's - famous for their unusually large portions, and as a result, a proportionately long line up every single night, regardless of weather. I can attest to this because I once waited 2 hours in the snow.

This is an example of a short line up, which only extended as far as the restaraunt windows. Often times it extends right past the next shop. The issue has been addressed with the management, and suggestions have been made to expand the restaraunt, but they seem quite content to keep it the current cozy size. A good time to avoid the line up is right before 6PM, when parking just becomes permitted on Hastings.The complimentary bread, to hold your hunger at bay. It's nothing fancy, it's not freshly baked (in fact, it's a little cold - as if right out of the fridge), but it tastes good and comes with a little packet of whipped butter.This is the Tondi Don Vincenzo - It's stuffed with romano cheese and garlic, served in a rich, creamy, garlic parsley sauce - it's awesome.

This is an example of what normal people can generally consume. I ate about 1/3 of it and I was very uncomfortable.....happy, but uncomfortable. It's not often you see customers walk out of the restaraunt without a container. Another one of my favourites is Fusilli de State - it's an avacado cream sauce with shrimp. I will have to go there soon so I can take some pictures of it....the things I do for this blog.  Anthon's leftovers are generally food for about another two meals and still tastes good.

Some damn fine steak

My buddy Jay is a fantastic chef, and whenever I'm over at his place, there's always something good to eat. Whether it's him cooking something up, or something his parents made, no matter what, I'm always well fed when I go there, even if I'm already full and can't eat anymore. Jay's dad happens to be Alexander Wan, executive chef at a pretty fancy place called Steveston Seafood house:
http://www.stevestonseafoodhouse.com/
This place has won so many awards and is one of the best seafood restaraunts in the lower mainland, if not all of B.C., and they have Jay's pop to thank for it.
Here are a few shots I took with my crappy phone camera....these shots really don't do justice to the meal I had that day. Nevermind all that fancy $hit, no fancy side-veg, no au jus drizzle, no 16 inch dinner plate, just one of the juciest, succulent steaks on earth, served fresh in the kitchen, no frills, just meat and a potato, prepared by one of the finest chefs known to mankind. Thanks uncle!

Kingyo Izakaya

Kingo Izakaya is one of a few izakayas in Vancouver and a fantastic place to get a drink have a few really good snacks.....although it seems that many people go there with the intention of having their entire meal there and hardly drink at all. What's an izakaya? Wiki defines it as a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany drinks. My definition? A place to have a good time and get really railed.

Kingyo has a really rustic Japanese feel to it, and no wonder because it looks like much of the furnishings were discards from an old castle or temple. I'm not sure about the name of the design company, but I do know that they are the same company that brings you http://www.budo-aoi.com/

Some sort of bullying? I've heard of people tossing runners up on power lines, this is the first time I've seen someone's zori hanging like that.
Some would say that Kingyo's designers are almost a little eccentric. Haha, Kingyoman instead of Kikoman.
The pictures today are from Kingyo's new lunch menu and below is an assortment of pickles, which are great on their own, with a bowl of rice and a cup of tea.

However, I cannot survive on pickles alone so I got the tonkatsu set. It comes with refillable rice and cabbage salad.
The tonkatsu, or deep-fried pork cutlet was huge, and you really can't tell by the picture alone. It was soft and moist on the inside, and crispy on the outside.
Japanese mustard, not to be confused with wasabi came with the meal, and blended well with the tonkatsu.

Black sesame and white sesame came with a little grinder, which was then added to the sauce before dipping your tonkatsu in.
They've already got a great dinner menu, and now they're open for lunch. If you find yourself downtown, and have around $12 or so in your pocket, I'd recommend you drop in:

http://www.kingyo-izakaya.com/

Cookalong Live | How To Prepare Steak | Gordon Ramsay on Channel 4

Recipe challenge against Gordon Ramsay's mum

It's not often you see a soft side to Gordon Ramsay, but when it shows, it's worth watching.

Burger King Windows 7 Whopper

Can someone tell me why on God's green earth is this not being sold here in North America? Why, oh why? Burger King and Microsoft execs are seriously messed up to only market this in Japan. Is it because we're too health conscious here in North America? That can't be it. If this burger went for $7.77, I'd defintely try it.....and probably more than once.

McDonald's is already on my $hitlist for bad decisions (regarding their "Orange Drink"), I hope Burger King gets their act together and put out the Whopper 7!

Parksville Seminar May, 2009

Ok, back to steak. Earlier this year, Peter Gunstone sensei from our Canadian Iaido Association hosted the annual national seminar in Parksville, BC. After the seminar, I accompanied my own sensei, Hironori Inoue to Peter Gunstone sensei's home for a general meeting (in effect, I was the sandal bearer/sword bearer/personal assistant). We were treated to some really fine dining and one of the best barbequed steaks I have ever had. Whenever I see a BBQ grill, I always have this urge to do all the cooking, and this time was no exception. While the sensei had their meeting, I entertained myself by making sure I didn't burn their steaks.





I'd love to take all of the credit for cooking some wicked steaks, but in truth, I didn't do very much at all. The steaks were marinated by Peter Gunstone sensei, and I think some of the ingredients were soy sauce, sugar, and some other stuff. The quality of the meat was top notch and all I know is they were purchased from Costco.

Dang Man Coul - order their kalbi

While digging through some old photos, I stumbled upon this little treasure that I had at a restaraunt called Ma Dang Coul located on Denman Street in Vancouver, BC. The dish is called Kalbi and it's basically beef short rib marinated in this magical sauce that tastes like.......happy. This little mom and pop style Korean restaraunt has some of the best kalbi I've ever had.

Of course, you get the usual assortment of side dishes like these sweet potatoes, kimchee, pickled radishes, pickled bean sprouts, seaweed etc.

Although I said September would be steak month, I'll throw in a little pork for variation. This is pork belly and essentially, you take it, throw it on a hot pan like so:

Then you take lettuce, throw in some kind of salty bean past, a clove of garlic (raw) and wrap that sucker up and eat it. It's simple, but tasty.