新年快乐 快乐兔

No Chinese friend (hint hint) invited me for a Chinese New Year dinner celebration, but one dear Chinese friend suggested a bakery to check out in Chinatown. So between New Town Bakery (158 E. Pender St. in Vancouver) and Gain Wah (218 Keefer St. in Vancouver), I managed to put together a semblance of a feast.

A Chinese colleague used to bring those baked snacks to the office every year on this occasion so I could not resist buying some. And those New Town Bakery snacks were the best I have tasted.

However, other items from the bakery - egg rolls, steamed buns - were disappointing (the coconut buns were good though), but sure looked good on the table.

On the other hand, Gain Wah food was excellent as usual (see Gain Wah entry from last December). To celebrate the occasion somerville kitchen served chow mein with beef and black beans sauce, gai lan with chicken over rice and BBQ pork.

Now the most interesting learning about this Chinese New Year is that Year of the Rabbit is Year of the Cat in the Vietnamese culture. A great article on this at Northwest Asian Weekly.

Photo by Vivian Nguyen/NWAW