Review: Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen

Large portions are served at Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen

When my friend AY calls and says we should meet up for lunch, it means a culinary adventure for me.

He's a walking guide book to food in Vancouver, but not the Michelin Guide restaurants. AY is a bona fide lover of street eats and will go to great distances to find where good food is and then share his discoveries with other foodies... like myself.

The restaurant is know for its Bun Rieu

Today we met up for lunch at Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen on Victoria Drive near East 33rd Avenue. I managed to find parking on a side street and AY was already in line. The place was absolutely packed for a Sunday.

Diners slowly trickled out and finally we got a table right by the window.

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen used to be located a few blocks further south, but moved here almost four years ago. It is known for its crab vermicelli as well as homemade fish balls, so we ordered both with rice noodles and a dish of salt and pepper chicken wings.

Not long after two giant bowls arrived, along with a plate heaped with raw bean sprouts, lime wedges and fresh basil leaves.

Fish cakes and vermicelli in a clear broth with dill

Bun Rieu ($19.95) is described on the menu as "special crab soup with vermicelli". It has a tinge of red, but it's not spice at all; the colouring is from the crab paste mixed with egg, creating fluffy mounds floating on the surface, and underneath are some shrimp, slices of pork, deep-fried tofu puffs, slices of Vietnamese pork sausage, and tomato wedges along with lots of rice noodles and coriander and spring onions.

Meanwhile Bun Cha Ca Dac Biet ($18.95) is fish cakes with rice noodles in soup, featuring a clear broth, with not only fish balls, but also sliced fish cakes, Chinese celery, tomato wedges, lots of dill, and spring onions. The fish balls are not a round ball per se, but somewhat springy in texture.

This dish is the lighter of the two, but both are substantial in terms of portion.

The chicken wings, or Canh Ga Rang Muoi ($17.95), need to be dipped in the lemony pepper sauce to give them flavour, otherwise on their own they were bland, as the batter didn't have much taste.

Chicken wings dipped in a lemony pepper sauce

Somehow over the course of two hours we managed to finish practically all the food!

Needless to say I soon suffered a food coma after I got home...

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen, 5155 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, BC. Tel: 604 321 2711 

WhyteCliff Park a Gem in Howe Sound

Whytecliff Park is a gem of a place... if you're in West Van

Yesterday after a lunch of Vietnamese food to refuel from climbing up the Grouse Grind, we headed further west to Whytecliff Park, a small inlet in Howe Sound that has a beach (a rocky one, not sandy), where people sunbathe, go into the water and snorkel, or check out some sea lions frolicking in the water.

The park opened in 1909 and is apparently home to more than 200 marine animal species. Whytecliff Park is also one of the first Marine Protected Areas in Canada.

The water is relatively clear with marine life

We wandered along the shoreline, and on the east side it juts out to an island that can be accessed during low tide. We happened to be there during low tide and one of the tide pools had two giant purple starfish! 

Then we clambered onto the island and admired the panoramic views of Howe Sound, and could see Gibsons across the water (a 20-minute ferry ride away) on the Sunshine Coast. We managed to spot a sea lion poking his head above the water, and a heron standing on a rock.

The children we were with hand fun looking for tiny crabs that were hidden under barnacle-covered rocks; the crabs would flee to anywhere moist otherwise they would bake in the sun. One even found a live crab far from the shoreline and carefully brought it to the water in the hopes that it would be OK.

What a lovely place to visit! As my cousin who took us here said, one needs to take advantage of beautiful places like this (aside from paying for parking), as Vancouver is so expensive to live in!

Two purple starfish were spotted in a tide pool

It's also quite far -- about an hour away by car, but definitely a memorable visit on a gorgeous sunny day.

Vietnamese 'Lunch Lady' has Died

Thanh was thankful to Bourdain, her "guardian angel"

This afternoon we heard the tragic news about Nguyen Thi Thanh, the Vietnamese female chef made famous by Anthony Bourdain had died in Toronto. She was 58 years old.

Nicknamed 'Lunch Lady' by Bourdain, Thanh had just landed in Toronto to help with the opening of the Lunch Lady restaurant there when she went into cardiac arrest. Medical personnel tried to revive her, but she passed with loved ones with her, according to an Instagram post from @thelunchlady on Instagram.

The restaurant's dishes featured bold flavours

"We were ready to welcome her. To honour her. To celebrate this moment together. And now, we are mourning an immeasurable loss.

"Cô Thanh wasn't just the heart and soul of The Lunch Lady. She was a mother figure, a mentor, a quiet master of her craft. Her food told stories. Her presence made people feel seen. Her legacy lives in every bowl, every herb, every careful moment in the kitchen," says the social media post. "Cô" means aunt or older female.

The Lunch Lady opened on Commercial Drive in Vancouver in 2020, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Thanh was unable to come until two years later. I had the chance to interview her.

Despite not knowing any English, she was so warm and friendly. With the help of the restaurant manager acting as translator, Thanh was happy to talk about how excited she was to be in Vancouver -- her first overseas trip -- and to see the restaurant. At the time she said the decor made her feel like she was back in Vietnam.

She made her first visit to Vancouver in 2022

Thanh was made famous by celebrity chef Bourdain in 2009 when she and her food were featured in an episode of No Reservations. He met her the year before at her stall in Ho Chi Minh and she said that after the episode aired, people began flocking to her stall and says Bourdain was her "guardian angel."

Since 1995, she was known for making a different broth for every day of the week with noodles and various toppings, like prawns, pork belly, sausage and crab meat. When I asked her what was in the broths, she said they were family recipes that were secret and flashed a smile.

I didn't eat at the restaurant that day I met her as it was closed that day, but subsequently went there for lunch. Similar to her stall there is a different dish special each day, while in general the menu features elevated Vietnamese items, such as wagyu beef in pho, beef carpaccio, duck salad with cabbage and banana blossoms, and desserts like calamansi cheesecake and ube tiramisu.

Lunch Lady executive chef Benedict Lim said at the time it was inspiring having Thanh in the kitchen.

"She has a grandma style of cooking which makes the dishes so much better," he said in 2022. "It's very motivating and there's a good aura when she's around."

Prawn fritters with shredded taro root

News of her death has prompted fans to post pictures they had taken with Thanh, and mourning her passing.

The opening of the Toronto branch of Lunch Lady has been postponed until further notice, while tomorrow the Vancouver location will be closed to give staff time to grieve.

Thanh's passing is a massive loss, but Lunch Lady will be a fitting tribute to her spirit and passion for food.

Review: Mui Ngo Gai Offers Singaporean and Vietnamese Dishes

Interesting decor choice for this Singaporean/Vietnamese place

On Thursday an acquaintance invited me to check out a relatively new restaurant on Kingsway near Victoria Drive called Mui Ngo Gai, which serves Singaporean and Vietnamese dishes. Walking in was a bit jarring because the decor was very western, with a colour palette of burgundy and teal, floral murals on the walls and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. 

A white guy in a tank top came in looking for a cheap bowl of pho and was frustrated he couldn't get one and walked out, while another group of non-Asians also left when they didn't understand the restaurant concept.

Grilled eggplant with tomato and shrimp

It's interesting Mui Ngo Gai offers these two different cuisines pretty much equally and in this western-style interior, where the wait staff wear uniforms that make them look like flight attendants.

Flipping through the menu you are overwhelmed by how many dishes there are; some are carefully explained, while others assume diners know what they are. The menu has lots of pictures which helps see what's in the dishes, but in some ways makes it harder to decide what to eat.

My friend likes to sample food so we were over ambitious when we ordered and probably lucky for us, one that we wanted wasn't available, so we ordered four dishes. Since we requested so much food, the waitress suggested we change tables, and we moved from the back of the restaurant to the front, by the window with banquette seating.

First to arrive was our only Vietnamese dish, grilled eggplant with prawn (C$25) that was presented on a very pretty plate and the eggplant looked like a fish, its flesh (alternating pieces of shrimp and tomato) covered in a tomato sauce. The eggplant was delicious and didn't need the prawns, or tomatoes for that matter. 

A bowl of congee with frog legs and dried chillis

Next came two small claypots, one with "porridge" or congee, the other was a black concoction with frog legs and dried chillis (C$23). We were instructed to put some porridge in our bowls and then add the frog legs and mix together before eating. 

The frog legs were delicious, very tender and had a spicy kick. Because everything was covered in a black sauce (not explained in the menu) that I didn't know I had bitten into a chilli. I had to order another glass of sour sop to douse the metaphorical flames burning in my mouth.

We also had a plate of lady fingers fried with sambal (C$25) that were on the stringy side even though they were sliced lengthwise -- they could have been poached first. 

By this point we were pretty full when a giant pot arrived with our fish head curry (C$68)! It was a big head of a snapper, but it was unrecognisable except for a giant pectoral fin hanging off the bowl. The curry had pieces of more okra and eggplant in there. Again the okra could have been chopped up instead of in whole pieces.

Fish head curry with eggplant and lady fingers

The fish head actually didn't have that much meat and sadly was a bit overcooked. Nevertheless the sauce was pretty appetising; we used roti prata (C$5) to mop up the sauce, but it was a bit too buttery for our taste.

Our waitress explained the restaurant didn't have desserts available yet (even though they were printed on the menu), but we were much too stuffed to try any; she also suggested next time we try the chilli crab, which sounded tempting!

Perhaps Mui Ngo Gai is trying to make Southeast Asian food more upscale with this kind of decor and service. The food almost matches this ambition, though the crockery used is very inconsistent. Nevertheless we hope to be back!

Mui Ngo Gai

2052 Kingsway

Vancouver, BC

(604) 876 8885

Palm Springs: Going Asian at Rooster and the Pig

Really yummy congee to start the meal

Before I left for Palm Springs, another friend recommended Rooster and the Pig, a Vietnamese restaurant. It has a no-reservations policy with doors open at 5pm. We decided to try our luck on Friday around 7pm.

It's located in a mini strip mall with apartments in the back and a parking lot that's not really paved. I rushed to the restaurant and lo and behold there was a table big enough for five of us right by the entrance.

"When is the rest of your party coming?" inquired the waiter.

Pork belly fried rice with Chinese sausage

"They're right over there," I replied, pointing to them approaching the restaurant just steps away.

They added another seat to the table and we sat down in minutes. 

It's a minimalist kind of look in there, with Vietnamese posters, cookbooks on Asian cuisine, a colourful tiffin, and plants on shelves above diners' heads.

The menu is pretty straight forward, with some appetisers to start, some rolls and then mains, all meant to be shared. For the five of us, I chose six dishes and it worked out quite well in the end.

We were even given a small bowl of congee to start and boy was it good! It had been simmering for hours, the rice broken down and thick but not too gloopy either, garnished with deep-fried garlic and scallions. 

Next up were two rice rolls, one with pork and shrimp with mint with a peanut sauce, the other butternut squash with lettuce with fish sauce. They were a prelude to the mains that came quickly.

Crispy turmeric cod with rice noodles

Our vegetable dish was braised daikon with a few stalks of Chinese water spinach or tung choi, seasoned with star anise and cardamom, though these flavours were barely detectable. 

Pork belly fried rice was a favourite -- it included Chinese sausage of lap cheong, pork belly, mushrooms, onions, and shallots. The rice wasn't sticky, but day-old rice and so the dish was not too heavy.

Another star of the evening was the crispy beef with a generous portion of egg noodles. The beef was fried then deep-fried for crispiness, contrasting with the noodles that had a bit of a bite to them. 

The crispy turmeric cod was delicious, lightly fried and perfectly cooked, though they were accompanied with lukewarm rice noodles, which was probably the style, but we would have preferred the noodles hotter. 

The portion was just right for the five of us and we finished everything. When we asked if they had dessert, we were sad to hear they didn't serve any! And we didn't see any Asian staff -- even one of the cooks who took a breather outside was African-American. We were impressed.

Crispy beef egg noodles was hearty

Our meal was so good that we wanted to eat it again the next day, but when we drove by Saturday evening, there were several people standing around outside and the restaurant looked full. We gave up and went back to Manhattan in the Desert for dinner instead.

Rooster and the Pig

356 South Indian Canyon Drive

Palm Springs

760 832 6691

The French Food that Chinese Like to Eat

The mini pho bo with a sous vide egg at Linh Cafe

Linh Cafe is popular -- among mostly the Asian crowd.

The vast majority of the customers are Chinese -- both Mandarin and Cantonese speakers to come eat elevated Vietnamese fare and French bistro dishes like steak tartare, escargots, and mussels.

Three mini spicy baguette sticks

However, practically every table has at least one bowl of pho bo -- Vietnamese beef noodle soup with slices of beef brisket and rice noodles in a flavourful broth.

We later saw a Caucasian couple sit down, order two glasses of red wine and a bowl of pho bo each. How romantic.

Another Instagram dish is the spicy baguette sticks. We saw the table next to us had it so we ordered it too.

It comes with a minimum order of three sticks and they are mini baguettes sliced down the middle and filled with pork liver pate and topped with hot sauce that isn't really that spicy. It looked like a curry wurst, but was actually warm pate with a tinge of spiciness. Not something to order again.

We liked the frogs legs that were marinated in a spicy and garlicky sauce before being deep fried. If you were patient enough to extract the lean meat you were well rewarded with small plump bits that had a lingering spicy finish.

Delicious fried frog legs with a spicy finish

The country terrine is a classic dish, though this one was wrapped in a very fatty bacon. Nevertheless the combination of foie gras, Black Forest ham, and liver did give it a rustic texture that went well with the complimentary bread.

And like everyone else, we also ordered the pho bo, though ours was the mini size with a sous vide egg. We marvelled at the broth that had very deep flavours and yet was light and maybe some MSG in it? The beef brisket is a step up from typical Vietnamese pho places that offer thin slices of raw beef. Good to the last drop.

My friend was curious to try the palmier, but it wasn't exceptionally crispy or delicate; perhaps this pastry wasn't made in house? But a disappointing finish nonetheless...

Linh Cafe

1428 Granville Street

Under the Granville Street Bridge

604 564 9668

VIFF Review: The Pot au Feu

Most of the film is centered in this kitchen

One of the closing films of the Vancouver International Film Festival was The Pot au Feu, also known as The Taste of Things or The Passion of Dodin Bouffant by director Tran Anh-Hung. It's interesting to note that exactly 30 years ago he became an international star with his film The Scent of Green Papaya.

In The Pot au Feu, Tran makes viewers hungry, watching actors Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel cooking numerous dishes using 19th century cooking equipment. One of the earlier scenes in the film is the French version of Eat Drink Man Woman, spending a lot of time watching mostly Binoche's character prepare a roast loin of veal, a whole turbot poached in a milk bath, a vol au vent, which is a puff pastry where the inside is hollowed out and creamy vegetables spooned in, and a Baked Alaska -- yes it existed in the 1830s.

Dodin cooks a romantic meal for Eugenie 

Magimel is Dodin, who seems to be wealthy enough not to "work", and instead has an estate with a large garden to grow vegetables, acquire fine wines and entertain his male friends who are serious gourmets, while Binoche is Eugenie, his loyal cook for over 20 years who intuitively knows exactly what Dodin wants. 

Oh and they are lovers too; he has asked her many times to marry him, and she politely refuses, saying the arrangement they have now is fine.

There isn't much of a plot in The Pot au Feu: an Eurasian prince comes calling and wants to impress Dodin and his friends with a terribly lavish meal that lasts eight hours. The chef is none other than Pierre Gagnaire himself who in one scene reads out the outlandish menu.

Chef Gagnaire plays... a chef in the film

The other storyline is Eugenie who has fainting spells and the doctors don't know what is wrong with her; When she convalesces, Dodin uses the opportunity to finally cook for her and presents a romantic meal for one that includes oysters topped with caviar, a chicken with slices of black truffle stuffed under the skin and the cooked in a broth that is used for consomme, then the meat is the main course. 

Then there is a precocious girl Pauline, who helps out in the kitchen and Eugenie and Dodin immediately see she has the potential to become a great cook.

Director Tran uses a lot of mise en scene, long lingering shots of the food being prepared from scratch, and how they cook things methodically but with a lot of love and care through how they handle the ingredients. He also uses a lot of natural light, while the lighting at night, particularly the dinner for Eugenie is dimly lit.

Tran (left) directing Magimel in the kitchen

The dialogue is relatively sparse, as the food seems to speak for itself, while viewers can sense the sexual tension between Eugenie and Dodin -- Binoche and Magimel were together for five years and have a daughter together, so they are very comfortable with each other on screen.

Sadly there isn't much character development in the film, but the real star of The Pot au Feu is the food. I had been forewarned not to watch the film on an empty stomach and it's true. Clocking in at 134 minutes, it's a long film about cooking and eating food. However, it surely has inspired some audience members to try their hand in the kitchen, and are probably relieved they have modern cooking appliances and not have to tend to a fire to heat the stove...

The Pot au Feu

Directed by Tran Anh-Hung

Stars Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel

134 minutes

Review: Lunch Lady

Lunch Lady is an elevated Vietnamese restaurant in Vancouver

I finally made it to Lunch Lady, a Vietnamese restaurant on Commercial Drive that opened during the Covid-19 pandemic. The inspiration behind the restaurant is Nguyen Thi Thanh, who has a soup noodle stall in Ho Chin Minh City. 

The late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain visited her during an episode of No Reservations and nicknamed her the "lunch lady". Her stall specialises in various soup bases for her rice noodles. 

A few years ago second-generation Vietnamese-Canadian Michael Tran visited Nguyen's stall and tried to persuade her to open a restaurant in Vancouver. She didn't take him seriously, until he got his mother, restaurateur Victoria Tran to speak to Nguyen on the phone and won her over.

Nguyen was named "Lunch Lady" by Bourdain

Nguyen was unable to come for the official opening of Lunch Lady, but finally made it last year -- twice. The second time was when Lunch Lady was awarded the Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide for Vancouver.

My friend and I went for lunch today and first of all parking is difficult to come by in the neighbourhood, but we eventually found a spot by the nearby Grandview Park. Then we were surprised to find there was a waitlist at the restaurant when there was no physical queue. There were also a lot of empty tables which made us wonder what was going on.

The host asked if we minded sitting by the bar and we agreed in order to avoid waiting 20-25 minutes for a table. With two people, sitting at the bar is fine, and the solo diner sitting next to me left soon after.

There's a lunch set for C$30 per person, which includes the crispy prawn fritter, two daily soup specials, and two non-alcoholic drinks which is a decent deal.

How do you eat these prawn fritters elegantly?

We had expected the prawn fritters would be like Thai prawn cakes but we were completely wrong -- they were like giant crackers with two plump prawns on them and deep-fried. We were told to wrap them in lettuce with mint and basil and dip them in fish sauce.

It was quite awkward eating these fritters, as we were given massive, thick lettuce leaves to wrap this rectangular cracker. 

For our soup special for Friday it was bun bo hue, thinly sliced beef, pork hock, Vietnamese ham, blood pudding, and thick vermicelli noodles in a spicy lemongrass pork broth.

It's a sizeable portion and came steaming hot. We were also given lots of condiments -- the usual bean sprouts, generous bunch of sliced jalapenos, two lime wedges, and two small stainless steel cups of chilli sauce and smeared on the edge was fermented shrimp paste.

The noodle bowl's mixed bag of ingredients were good on the whole, the beef was not fatty at all, there was a slice of fish cake and a meat ball. The blood pudding was nice to have, but the texture wasn't smooth like Chinese ones, though the colour was a hue of deep maroon. 

Large bowl of beef, pork and blood pudding

The soup base was already a bit on the spicy side for me, overpowering the lemongrass flavour; I washed down the noodles with a glass of calamansi soda, but I quite enjoyed eating this noodle soup and couldn't stop eating it even though it was a large portion.

We were so full we couldn't even consider dessert after, which is too bad since it's a trek for us to get to the restaurant.

Nevertheless, it really is a good lunch spot... and now I wonder how dinner would be...

As we were leaving just before 3pm the restaurant was still busy, proving that Lunch Lady is no fad.

Lunch Lady

1046 Commercial Drive

Vancouver, BC

604 559 5938

Vancouver Chinatown Festival

Kids learning how to do the dragon dance

Today a friend and I checked out the 21st annual Vancouver Chinatown Festival. I was surprised to find out it had been going on for so long, but by the crowds it looks like it's an annual favourite.

I arrived a bit before 11am and stalls were still being set up and young children getting ready to dance on the main stage which was at Keefer and Columbia streets. There were even kids trying out the mini lions to see how they worked while others hit the drums. 

Bannock or fried dough with jam

When things got rolling a few minutes later, there were lots of things for kids to do, including a petting zoo (all goats), face painting, crafts and giant Connect Four. Speaking of games there was also a giant mahjong set. We watched some people play and it was definitely not a game of speed, as two hands were needed to carry the tile to each player, but it was fun to see.

And what's a festival without food? There were lots of delicious options a block long on Keefer Street, not limited to Chinese food. There were Japanese snacks and buns, nuts and chocolate, creme brulee in pots, sushi tacos -- the nori deep-fried in the shape of a taco shell with various fillings, beaver tails (fried dough with sweet toppings to choose from), ice cream, pizza slices and hot dogs with Asian fillings. 

One stall featured bannock -- an indigenous snack made from fried dough that could be eaten with either butter, jam or peanut butter as the basic one, or more substantial like a sandwich. We tried the former and it was delicious freshly made.

Interestingly we tried some alcohol made from rice! The owner and maker had several products like rice sherry (quite smooth), rice wine like makgeolli, but thinner, and more impressive -- rice whisky! He had a smooth one which was indeed easy to drink, and the classic that had a bit of a burn at the end but not fiery hot. They are made in Delta.

A giant mahjong game in progress

We also saw our friend selling chilli sauce made with duck fat, and seemed to get a lot of interest from people, some of them purchasing jars. They only started two years ago and are slowly building up their brand and scaling up with a central kitchen. They are constantly looking for ways to improve themselves which is a great attitude to have.

Meanwhile on the main stage there was lots of dancing, from traditional Chinese (with really screechy music!), Hawaiian and Kpop style. The performances seemed to look better on the big screen than watching on stage for some reason.

Interestingly there was an electric car we could have a test ride in. It's called Lucid and one passerby wondered if it had a connection with Lucifer(!), but the guy tried to explain that the word "lucid" means "clear", but the passerby kept insisting it had devilish connotations...

Interested in riding an electric car called Lucid?

The look of the car is very sleek and inside it has a lot of screens and even a 360-degree view of the car! It's very smooth and can even self brake! I was shocked to hear the price for the base model which we rode in is C$121,000... 

Afterwards we took a break and had lunch at DD Mau, a Vietnamese restaurant on East Pender. It's long and narrow with a casual vibe and nice, friendly atmosphere. We ordered the tumeric dill fish with vermicelli that came with fermented shrimp paste.

The fish was slightly more salty than I'd like, though when eaten together with the vermicelli it balanced it out. 

We also tried the crab pockets which mixed the crab meat with pork in a deep-fried shell and seasoned with fish sauce. The pockets themselves were too tough and had to be softened with the fish sauce before eating. There was only a hint of crab meat in the filling that included thin strips of wood ear mushrooms and carrots.

Crab pockets with fish sauce at DD Mau

After we emerged from the restaurant over an hour later, we were well rested and cooled down from the heat. I was surprised to spend so much time there, but it was a nice way to connect with the neighbourhood and experience some new things!

Okanagan: Chinese-Canadian Cuisine in Penticton

First time trying ginger beef, a dish not found in Vancouver

This morning we set off from Osoyoos to Kelowna. It's about a two-hour drive, but we broke it up with a stop in Penticton for an early lunch.

After a few days of Western food we went in search for Asian cuisine and on Penticton's Main Street we found Wild Ginger.

It occupies what was probably previously a Western restaurant as it as an open bar near the entrance and contemporary decor that has no hint of Asian-ness.

Cantonese-style chow mein that hit the spot

The restaurant opened at 11.30am and we walked in soon afterwards, and already there were several tables occupied by Caucasians. 

The waitress was very busy running around in a black knit top and skirt with matching runners, giving people water and taking orders, while a young man in a white T-shirt and navy apron served large portions of food to customers and then ran back to the kitchen each time.

Hearing us speak Cantonese, the waitress was thrilled to be able to talk to us in her native tongue. She later explained she came here to learn English and got married. The young man also chatted with us. We were impressed he was born and raised in Penticton and his Cantonese was pretty good. He also spoke the Toi Shan dialect.

The menu is Asian in the sense of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese. There's pho and spring rolls, wonton soup, Thai coconut prawns, chicken potstickers, Thai red curry chicken, kung pao chicken, and pineapple fried rice to name a few.

As soon as I saw ginger beef on the menu I had to try it. It's not something you find in Vancouver -- it's an invention in Alberta, where beef is plentiful. Originally the chef was trying to create a beef snack to go with beer, and thought of something slightly crunchy, savoury and sweet. While it's called ginger beef, it's a misnomer because there is no ginger in it.

Singapore noodles with prawns and char siu

It came in finger-like pieces, deep-fried and then enveloped in a sweet-and-sour sauce with some peppers. The texture is slightly chewy and meaty, and would go best with some white rice. But we had also ordered other carbs -- Cantonese style chow mein, where pan-fried noodles came with pieces of chicken, beef, shrimp, and vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.

We also had Singapore noodles -- a Hong Kong invented dish that had bits of char siu, prawns, peppers and bean sprouts that gave it a nice fresh crunch. Another dish was pineapple sweet and sour pork, the pieces of pork that were on the small side, making it more crunch and less meat.

Nevertheless we enjoyed having our "Asian" fix and the warm hospitality at Wild Ginger. The two hours we were there the restaurant had a steady stream of customers which was impressive, a testament of its culinary appeal to the community. The cheap prices might also have something to do with it too!

Wild Ginger

340 Main Street

Penticton, BC