palki | indian cuisine on commercial drive

last week, the boyfriend & i ate at palki, an indian restaurant on commercial drive. i quite enjoyed this food experience. (which in this case involved me stuffing myself then proceeding to take the leftovers home & stuff myself again. i don't eat leftovers. unless its ethiopian or otherwise amazing)

palki is located where the restaurants rime and lime used to be. it doesn't stand out from the sidewalk, & i know i have walked past it a few times not knowing it was there. but inside, it is spacious, simple, & classy. it isn't overly elegant, but the decor also isn't tacky. the tables are all a dark wood, which i love, and the color scheme is simple with greys, blacks & bits of purple.

we sat at a window table & enjoyed the sun streaming in while we people watched. (people-watching on the drive is always quite fun.)

the boyfriend is great: waiting patiently for me to take photos, before he can eat. he also doubles as a hand model in his spare time.

full liquor bar at the back of the restaurant. water is served in beautiful jars made of panchaloha (mixture of 5 metals that keeps water cooler than room temperature, with no need for ice)

appetizer platter: veggie pakora, chicken pakora, veggie samosas. 3 dips: green chutney, tamarind sauce, & raita (yogurt & herbs). my favorite appetizer combination: veggie pakora dipped in the tamarind & the raita.

channa masala. it was good, but not the best i've ever had. i love that they serve the entrees on dishes with candles underneath to keep them warm. your food will not get too cold here.

butter chicken. so creamy. so tasty.

mixed grill platter from the tandoor oven. lamb shishkabobs, tandoori chicken, chicken tikka (murgmalai tikka), and prawn tikka. marinated in their housemade yogurt raita, the chicken & prawn tikka were tender & delicious. i didn't fancy the lamb shishkabobs much, but the chicken tikka is a definite must order, in my humble opinion.

this is the raita made from their own yogurt. yeah. pretty and delicious.

your indian food experience just isn't the same without naan. we had both the plain naan & the garlic naan. the garlic naan could be inhaled on its own it is so flavorful. but the plain naan is good for dipping in the curries or eating with the meat. or just dipping into the raita. (i really love the raita. can you tell?)

next time you are looking for excellent indian food for an average budget, definitely check out palki. if you are new to indian cuisine, this is a great place to start your journey. you won't look back.

palki restaurant
1130 commercial drive
604.215.1130
lunch buffet m-f 11:30-2:30
s & s lunch 11:30 - 2:30
dinner everyday 2:30 - 10:00

little nest in east van

little nest is a lovely cafe just off commercial drive on charles street. in the lovely east vancouver neighbourhood. its beautiful, full of light from a huge wall of pure window facing north. full of mismatched furniture and an abundance of childrens' toys and highchairs. its very child friendly, which is awesome for moms and dads who want to go out for coffee or brunch with their friends but worry about whether there will be room or entertainment for their little ones. there is at little nest. lots of it. not to mention excellent coffee and delicious meals.

great place to meet friends for brunch. i did just that a couple weekends ago. i wanted to try the egg & soldiers (soft-boiled egg with toasted baguette) but felt a bit more hungry than that.

so i got french toast. it was served with fresh pineapple, whipped lime curd, crushed pistachios, and maple syrup. it was heavenly. it sounded so unusual i had to try it. it felt a little pricey at $12 when i initially ordered it, but it was worth it. oh yes.

my friend had some kind of fritatta and mushroom special. it looked awesome.

rice pudding. i didn't have it, but tried my friend's. tasty.

my one complaint about little nest (from my 2 experiences) was that the sandwich i had was a little bit dry. the beets were tasty, and made for a gorgeous mess on the plate. i took my leftover half home and re-toasted it with some mayo and more cheese and it was a lot better.

they serve ethical bean coffee. i've had the coffee at little nest twice now and i can't complain.

(i love it when coffee is served in a glass glass. for some really bizarre reason it actually makes me really happy. i'm crazy. i know.)

little nest
1716 charles st
9am to 4pm
every day
(kitchen closes at 3pm)
604.251.9994

saigon noodle restaurant - pasadena, ca

i tried pho for the first time in my life this past january, when i was in california. my boyfriend and i were visiting my best friend & her boyfriend for a couple short days. our first evening, we set out to eat korean barbeque in pasadena. when we got there, we discovered it had disappeared. goes to show the internet is not always updated. so we went to saigon noodle restaurant instead.

pasadena has really interesting crosswalks. there's a crosswalk light for people to walk diagonally across the street, instead of crossing one way and then the other. it was bizarre walking in the middle of the intersection. but very cool. great idea for a place that has lots of walking traffic.

but i digress.

one thumbs up for these chopsticks.


what i loved about this place was the abundance of fresh mint. the chicken spring rolls we ordered came stuffed with fresh mint, among other veggies, and a peanut dipping sauce along side. i wasn't crazy about the sauce, but i think i was comparing it to indonesian peanut sauce, which is simply divine when made right.

my friend got the grilled beef salad. it looked tasty, and i know there was mint in it too.

i was a bit afraid to order the rare steak pho, so i ordered the well done flank pho instead. worst decision i ever made. it was mostly fat, and i did my best to avoid eating them. the broth was tasty though, and we got a plate full of extra goodies, to garnish our bowls to our taste-buds. lime, bean sprouts, green onion.... i don't know if i was expected to finish that huge bowl all by myself. maybe it was the flank, or maybe it was the bowl that was twice the size of my head, but i couldn't finish the thing.

everything we got off the menu was about $7 each. that feels very reasonable to me, but i've never had pho before, so i don't know how much it usually goes for. if i lived in the la-area, i'd probably go back. and now i will have to try some pho here in vancouver. anyone know of a good spot?


saigon noodle restaurant
28 n raymond ave
pasadena, ca, 91103
626.796.9378
hours: mon-sun: 11 am - 9 pm

raw canvas

"eat. drink. make art."

that is exactly what raw canvas is.

raw canvas is a tapas lounge, wine bar, and art studio in the beautiful yaletown in vancouver. though i haven't yet enjoyed the tapas or the art studio, i've enjoyed the wine there while watching my friends steel audrey perform. its a cozy venue for a music performance.

raw canvas has a pretty narrow space, but it is beautiful, with gorgeous (probably antique) furniture, patterned wallpaper, wooden tables, and art everywhere. its got a wine bar at the side, a couple long wooden tables, and a few smaller tables in the middle, and a large, open room at the back filled with canvases. if you want to paint while enjoying a glass of wine & making new friends (or coming with old ones), you just buy a canvas, and it comes with the paint, brushes, and smocks you need. you don't even have to clean-up. all their paints are made locally on granville island, where they refill paint with a zero waste system. what a great idea.

you can see more of my raw canvas photos here.
i also took some photos last month for steel audrey's upcoming movember show: vive la moustache! check out the photos we came up with!

details:
raw canvas
1046 hamilton street
604.687.1729
mon-fri: 4pm til late
sat-sun: 1pm til late

a new diner in my hood: the red wagon

there's a new diner in my neighbourhood that my sister & i have wanted to check out ever since we saw it on the corner of hastings and garden a few weeks ago. the red wagon restaurant.

we finally got to try it out last week. being the breakfast-loving person that i am, we decided to check out their breakfast. it was a rainy weekday, and its a new restaurant, so i wasn't surprised that the cafe was pretty quiet when we got in. it's a really great space, with lots of seating, and 2 walls of windows streaming in natural light.

the breakfast menu looked great - i was eyeing the 'trucker's breakfast,' something like 2 eggs, 2 buttermilk pancakes, 2 bacon, toast... but i wasn't sure if i was hungry enough to finish it. i ended up ordering a spinach & mushroom benny, and my sister got the goat cheese & basil frittata. both of our plates came with home-fries (fried potato chunks). the potatoes had really good flavor, but they could have been a little crispier, and there were just so many that i was sick of potatoes after eating. the hollandaise sauce on my eggs benedict was pretty tasty - it was light and not too rich. our server informed me that the chef makes the sauce himself. the poached eggs were a little under-cooked, however. i like my yolks runny, but when the egg white is runny, i get a little grossed out and the runny texture of the egg white distracts from the other flavors on my plate.

after i'd eaten, though i felt full from the potatoes, i felt slightly dissatisfied. maybe my hopes had been set too high in the first place (a new breakfast joint so close to my house!), but i felt like i wasn't getting my money's worth from the meal. the breakfast menu prices are a little higher than typical diner style, the average plate was around $10 before tax. though the prices seemed pretty similar to the prices of another breakfast diner in the neighbourhood that i like, the quality of the food i ate didn't really make up for the price. it was good, but it wasn't great.


however, i'll still give it another shot. the service was great, i really like the idea of this place, and i do want to support local business. i've also only tried one meal, and that's not really enough to warrant a balanced review of the place. other reviews i've read seem to focus on red wagon's lunch menu, so i'll go back for lunch sometime.

but don't just take my word on it. read other reviews, here & here and/or go check it out yourself!