Monday, Sep 6 - SHA LIN Noodle House Take Out Menu On-Line

For breakfast when camping, we normally stick to instant Oatmeal.  It's light to carry and very nutrious if you don't have the over sugared variety.  We like to call it Gruel.  I love it.  It just feels healthy eating it.  I don't eat it at home, oddly enough.  Last year, we camped once in on Garibaldi and our site was in the middle of a wild Blueberry field.  I was excited and worried at the same time to be sleeping in a field of Bear Candy.  Anyhoo, it was great for the Gruel.  This time however, we did have the Bread and Cheese with brought for lunches and butter leftover, so I suggest we have Grill Cheeses.  MMMMM comfort in your palm.  We could not spread the Butter since it was pretty cool the night before so we just melted it in the pan an fried the Wholewheat bread directly in it with a healthy chunk of Cheddar.  My only regret is that we did not have any Ketchup.

The skies opened up during our drive home.  The rains have returned on queue for the fall on the North West coast.  Until next Summer, the clear skies will be a fleeting 'fairweather' friend.  By the time we were en route home it was in that middling time where it was too late for lunch but too early for supper so we decided to get food in town as takeout.  The easiest for us and fool proof is Sha Lin Noodle.  You have seen me write about them several times and I've eaten there several times you haven't seen.  The thing is, it is easiest, for takeout to order ahead and pick up.  They make the noodles and your dish to order so it saves time!   The infuriating thing is that not alot of the smaller restaurants in Vancouver have websites nor an online menu.   So I had to default to ordering my usual but I was really in the mood for something different.  Oh well.

As I have written before, Sha Lin is not there to provide any ambience but it is always packed often with a line despite the empty Noodle restaurants that flank it.  Actually, I think one has recently shut down and a Japanese tapas restaurant just opened up.  Sha Lin creates your order to order from the dough.  Their noodles come in 4 varieties: Cutting, Dragging, Hela and Pushing.  I describe them at greater length here.  Cutting, my favourite, are shaved with sharp knife from a large block of dough directly into boiling water.

Sha Line Noodle House Cumin Cutting Noodle with Tofu

I had #2 Fried Noodle with Cumin and so did D except he had Pork and I had Tofu.  Call about 15-20 minutes ahead and your dish will be ready......Here is the menue.  Bookmark it!  The only other one I found was a photo of their enormous photo menue poster.  Completely illegible from that photo :^(.  I am posting here for all of you who have found you in this same position and for myself in the future because I am 101% positive it will come to pass again.  I try to leave some menues the car but alas, they do not make it long between D's cleansing of the car of my leavings.  Bookmark it!  I will.

Sha Lin Noode House Menu - click to enlarge

Sha Lin Noode House Menu - click to enlarge

Sha Lin Noode House Menu - click to enlarge

Sha Lin Noode House Menu - click to enlarge

Cost: $-$$
Ambience: Kitchen/Dive
Staff: Efficient and friendly
Location: Cambie/City Hall near Skytrain
Licensed: Yes

Sha Lin Noodle House

548 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1E9
(604) 873-1816

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Sunday, May 17th - Tuna Sandwich and the REEF

Breakfast was banana bread and oatmeal. MMMMMM I really like camping breakfasts because I think deep down I really like oatmeal but for some reason, I don't eat it enough during my normal life. Weird.

Lunch was on the hike from Heck up Bear Mountain. I put some Sirah in my sealable travel mug and had tuna sandwich with the second foil pack of tuna loin we packed. No more blue cheese though. We used aged cheddar. MMMM it was so nice with the sirah and especially from the climb that would never end. You can see the tuna loin we used. It was lovely and we got it on sale at TNT. It's normally quite expensive so we'll keep our eyes peeled. It so much nicer than canned.

Dinner was at one of my favorite restaurants. We really struggled with what to do with the Monday of the long weekend. We were going to stay in Harrison for dinner and then drive back after but I really had a craving for Ackee after seeing someone's twit about their Ackee recipe. I couldn't shake it. I was pretty sure I wanted to be back in town for Monday. It was meant to rain and it did. So it was a matter of pack in the rain first thing or sleep at home. So we took off around 7. Got in town for about nine, missed end of the long weekend traffic and hit the REEF....WOOOO Reef. It happened to be their ten year anniversary so draft beer was on sale and so were their jerk wings. Well, we didn't have their jerk wings but D did have some beer.

We got their ever popular plaintain chip starter. I was facing the kitchen so I saw them keep coming. I forgot to take a photo because service was slow and so I dove in. Of course, (eventually) we had their YUMMERIFFIC, johnny cakes that now come with coconut butter. They serve them instead of bread. They've grown. How often does that happen nowadays.... it is 30 percent biggery AYAYAYYYAYA. They're fried, cornmeal like bread. SOOOOOO good.

I got their famous ackee and saltfish.. Now let me explain where my opinion comes from. I lived in Kingston Jamaica for five months. I ate it in restaurants, had a friend make it, made it myself there. I had a jamaican flatemate in gradschool, S, who made it and swore by his nan's recipe, had other jamaican friends in grad school make it. Bought it in tins to make it myself S's way while living in London. Bought in old skul places in Brixton in London. I know good ackee... except for the small amount of ackee in it. It is the Shizza. They do put a decent amount of ackee. I know this place on Yonge near Wellesley in Toronto. You'd be hard pressed to find any ackee in their ackee and saltfish. Oh and the REEF, puts a lovely amount of saltfish too. YUMMMMMMMM

Oh important food-footnote, I am a suck for heat. I love the hot sauce at the reef. It is old skul scotch bonette pepper. They also have their own sauce which is cool with some pineapple. But the Matouk's is the best. But I've been known to over do it. I'm in a good place now:-D. I temper my temptation:-D

D got goat curry. He thought it had more potatoes than curry but still quite nice. That's why I stick with the signature. I've fallen for their Mahi mahi and their specials in the past but I have learned... ackee, that's the way, ackee. I did not care for their rumpunch and their wine list is horrible.

 

I may winge about the winelist and the slow service but their Plaintain Chips, Johnny Cakes and Ackee keep me coming back every few months.

 

Cost: $-$$

Ambiance: Dark and slightly, collegial

Staff: Friendly but slow

Winelist:  not worth a mention but it is Jamaican-mon

 

the Reef

4172 Main St
Vancouver, BC
604-874-5375
 

Saturday, May 16th - Picnic on the lake and Gnocci in Vegan Bolognese

Breakfast was banana bread D bought a bakesale outside the roundhouse. It was amazing. Moist and banany but not mushy. I also had a flax and multigrain oatmeal. Oatmeal is SOOO perfect for camping. All you need is a lite little envelope of oatmeal, a travel mug, and boiling water. Combine and stir. MMMMM Warm and comforting.

Lunch was foil packed whole tuna loin on a whole grain loaf with organic beefsteak tomato and blue cheese. With it we had an Artazuri Rose 2007 http://bit.ly/artazur

Dinner was Gnocci in Vegan Bolognese

The Vegan Bolognese was home made from a couple of weeks ago. We jarred it and put it the back of the fridge. I normally wouldn't have kept home made sauce in the fridge that long in the fridge without freezing but D is braver and reckoned that all the acid in the tomatoes would keep it okay. It was fine but we made sure it came to a boil on reheat. The sauce was:

1 onion, 1 tin of tomatoes, 4-5 sliced button mushrooms, 1/4 marinated eggplant, 1 package italian soymince, olive oil, salt and pepper. Sautee all the veg and stew. The veg mince should be the last thing that needs to go in because it only needs heating through.

Boil the Gnocci (vacuum packed) about 8 minutes, drain most of the water off. Toss with the sauce. Top with shaved parmesan.

We had an AWESOME rich, intense, PLUSH Domaine de Cristia Cote du Rhone. I would buy a case of this. http://bit.ly/cristia