Tandoori King

A favourite Indian restaurant for both sit down and home delivery - Tandoori King. Two unique items they do exceptionally well are the (a) Onion Bhaji - Indian style onion rings with a special hot sauce dip and (b) Malai Kofta - grated vegetable and cheese balls cooked in a rich creamy cashew nuts sauce. These two are a must on each order. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

Tandoori King

8017 Fraser Street

Vancouver, BC

604-327-3355

www.tandooriking.com

Soup Night

A rainy day where maximum temperature was 12 degrees and no plans to step out of the house made this package of Buckeye Beans & Herbs chicken & thyme soup come in handy.

These are simply boxes of grains (in this case rice, barley, split peas and lentils) and spices that you add water and chicken and cook for an hour. They come in different versions for different types of meats and seafood.

They are all natural with no additives and I have only seen them at The Gourmet Warehouse (1340 East Hastings). 

Tonight's soup was served with home made sour cream bread. 

somerville kitchen One Month Anniversary

Tea infused chocolates courtesy of Shaktea www.shaktea.ca

One month of somerville kitchen and I am enjoying it so much that I am committing to a minimum of another 11 months. So far, somerville kitchen has 31 entries, including 12 recipes and four featured places to eat, four public followers and 542 page views across five countries covering three continents. We have winners of a Shaktea Afternoon Tea and a signed cook book, Chow, by Janice Wong.

And your chances to win are just beginning. For the one month anniversary contest, the first person who writes me (eshmun@shaw.ca) with the correct date of Eid Al-Fitr (End of Ramadan fasting celebration) will be able to join us (along with one guest or their significant other) for a traditional home cooked Eid feast at somerville kitchen on that eve. So fans, click on the email link and win away.

Mehshi Warak

Mehshi Warak is Lebanese for stuffed vine leaves. The Lebanese version is different from the Greek Dolmathes. Lebanese put less stuffing in a leaf, making the rolls smaller and elegant looking. There is no heavy creamy sauce on top - just simply cooked in a lemon, water and salt sauce.

Making this meal was such a treat - I picked up the leaves from the jardin's grape vine. Rolling them was like meditation; the sweet anticipation while they slowly cooked. The leaves were excellent quality - they did not break as they were briefly blanched. This Mehshi was the best I have tasted, other than mom's.

Les Steak Frites a la Maison

I am not trying to compete with Les Faux Bourgeois (see Sept. 1), but this was a meal worthy to be served at a fancy restaurant.

The steaks marinated in the World's Best Steak Sauce for 6 hours, a drizzle of olive oil and on to the hot grill.

The Frites the way my mother makes them, big and crunchy. Served with a lettuce & goat cheese salad and balsamic/oil vinaigrette.


Blog Admin Updates:

• Public followers, you should start receiving automatic daily updates. Please let me know if it is not working.
• Two new labels added: Product Endorsements and Places to Shop at.
• Don't forget the one month anniversary contest coming up soon.

Eating All Day

The eating fest started at 11:30 a.m. with a 3-item Chinese meal from a downtown cafeteria serving Chinese food, lasagna and burgers - I should have known better than to order this.


By 3:45 p.m., the fest continued at a work function with trays and trays of sushi (there were three times more sushi than what you see here). It was good, but those pieces were big and filling.


Then at 7:15 p.m., time to explore Kingsway and a new restaurant. Ken's Chinese Restaurant had excellent service but very bland food. Still, I got myself a big bowl of bland plain congee that I am planning to dress up with soya sauce and ginger tomorrow morning and indulge in a nice congee breakfast. Anyone knows where to get fresh Chinese donuts to go with it?

Is Fraser the New Main?

You would never think that the corner of Fraser and Kingsway houses the finest French restaurant in Vancouver.

Les Faux Bourgeois, going strong for over two years, is chic but not pretentious, great down to earth service, excellent food - all for the best value in town (dinner for two including appetizers was under $70).

Check it out when you are in the neighbourhood - reservations a must.

Les Faux Bourgeois
663 E. 15th 
Vancouver, BC
www.lesfauxbourgeois.com