Las Margaritas Restaurant. It's Hammer time!

I haven't been to Los Margeritas in 20 years. I think there was a tequila margs phase I went through when I was younger sometime in my late 20's long before my frontal lobe fully developed. Yes, visiting Las Margeritas was more about the booze then the food.

Walking in now I can't say much has changed it’s like a time capsule to the 80’s.

A couple of friends invited me to lunch, pull up a chair, relax, it’s Hammer time!

Let's call the food Americanized Mexican.

I'm a fan good Mexican food.

I’m a fan of the drinks at Los Margaritas.

Here are a few pics of our meal; they speak for themselves, what you see is what you kinda get.

Ceviche

White fish marinated in fresh lime juice and mixed with tomatoes, white onions, cilantro, green olives and jalapeño peppers

Crappy crappy picture, sorry, but then not the greatest civiche either. I’m going to guess the it’s been sitting in a tub in the walk in fridge for some time.

Tejas

A Mexican pizza made with an 8-inch crispy flour/corn tortilla layered with refried beans, edam, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, green peppers, olives, tomatoes and sour cream.

Think 5 layer dip sitting on the nachos

Fajita Burrito

A large flour tortilla filled with onions, green and red peppers, lettuce, cheese, salsa, pico de gallo and sour  cream. Served with Mexican rice and house salad.

Grilled Sirloin Steak, Grilled Chicken Breast or Prawns

With fresh guacamole

Taco

One flour or corn tortilla, your choice of soft or hard shell, filled with ground beef, chicken or roasted beef, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and taco sauce. Served with refried beans and Mexican rice.

I’ll be back in another 20 years, just for nostalgias sake.

Meat and Bread - Porchetta - My Crack

There are a few things popping up on the Vancouver food scene that I like, that I like a lot.
Thin crust Neapolitan style pizza:
Nicle

Bibo

Campagnolo

All excellent.
And then there are the Porchetta sandwiches joints.
Pronto

Meat and Bread

I say bring it on. I think there should be a pizza place and a porchetta joint next to every Starbucks in town.
In fact, let's combine the two - porchetta thin crust pizza, OMG.
I'm going to grab takeout Pizza Margereta from Nicli, walk the block and a half to Meat and Bread, grab a pound of porchetta,  find a doorway in Gastown and dig in. I don't care that the guy next to me is smoking crack or that the doorway smells like piss, I'm having my porchetta pizza, this is my crack, leave me the fuck alone.
Six months from now when you find me in a Gastown gutter weighing 300 pounds caked in pork fat and cloths stained with tomato sauce hallucinating about pork skin, still chasing the high of the very first luscious crackling pork skin in my sandwich, please pick me up, slap me senseless, throw me in a shower and drive me to Jenny Craig.

Making the Sandwich

Yes, the Porchetta at Meat and Bread is that good.
There’s a bunch of other stuff on the menu, but if I were to visit 100 times I still wouldn’t care about them. I’m sure it’s all very good though but at the end of the day how can you compete with porchetta. And also, buy a jar of their homemade mustard, there is nothing like it anywhere, trust me.

Bacon maple syrup ice cream sandwich:

Van Mags best things to eat in Vancouver 2011

Very light on the maple, nice Smokey salty goodness when you come across a a chunk of bacon.

Bacon Maple Ice Cream

It seems another trend is to throw bacon into everything. Not a bad idea generally speaking but in the end I’m not sure if I would order it again, Its ok, perhaps I am more of an ice cream traditionalist.

Brave the crowds pray for a seat and do yourself a favour, grab a porchetta sandwich at Meat and Bread.

In case anyone was counting I wrote porchetta 8 times...9 times.

The Red Wagon Cafe. Mmm pulled pork pancakes.

I hear Deb saying, "Wow, you ate that fast"
I look up from what's left of my pancakes, quickly scan everyone else’s plates, yup they look shamefully untouched and yes I have indeed hoovered my meal.
Slight embarrassment ensues but only for a moment. Screw it, I look down and continue the destruction of the pulled pork buttermilk pancakes.

Ya, this totally sucks! I need another stack.

Pride wins over gluttony. Both are deadly, but then perhaps so are these pancakes. Spicy succulent pulled pork nestled between three soft butter pancakes and then doused in totally awesome Jack Daniels maple syrup. Make sure you have all three on your fork at every bit because together this is a symphony. I bumped things up with a poached egg on top. What can I say a bit of gluttony kicked in during ordering, the creamy yoke breaking over the pancakes just adds an extra layer of decadence. I’m not even a pancakes guy. I can’t remember the last time I ordered pancakes, seriously.

The server tells me that this is the number one order for breakfast lunch and dinner service. I can believe it. It’s also what Guy Fieri had when he visited with Triple D. BTW, mark down Dec 19^th on your calendar the Red Wagon airs on the food network. That would be Triple D checking out Triple P at RW ;) Nevermind.

Deb had the burger. It looked great. Better in fact then the one I had a while back. Check out my review back at Handsome Burger.

Dave had the pulled pork. He licked his fingers clean.

Wei had the beef and brie sandwich. I had a slice, it was ok. But then I just had the pancakes and its not a fair transition. The home made chps are addictive.

My only complaint about the Red Wagon is the size, this place is tiny and there was a constant line at the door waiting to be seated. It’s time to hitch another wagon to the red wagon and expand.

Nicli Antica Pizzaria: Prosciutto e Rucola

The dough has a nice thick shell, soft tender toothy interior.

The tomato sauce is soft subtle sweet.

The prosciutto is unfortunately over salty. I can't believe I'm even entertaining the idea but perhaps the pizza would be better off without this prosciutto. I don't have a list per say but prosciutto might just be in my top 10 favourite things of all time. I know, it’s a scary thought but somehow, the saltiness of the prosciutto overpowers the delicacy of the other ingredients.
Maybe it was the brand, I sometimes find the local grocery store prosciutto overly salty. The producer cutting corners during processing, it’s a lot cheaper to pump the hog full of salt instead of letting it hang and properly cure.

None the less there is lots to like about Nicli pizza. It’s fresh its lively its toothy and it is good.

I look forward to going back,  I've already picked my next order. Is that wrong?
Definitely on my favourite Vancouver pizza list.

My apologies on the photos. I didn't have my camera and my Blackberry was not cutting the mustard. Or maybe it was just shooting through it becouse it just wouldn't focus.

Zakos Deli. No way VanMag!

Really?? Van Mags Best Things to Eat and Drink in Vancouver.

No Way! Are the people at Van Mag insane? Read this:
" As close as you can get to experiencing Schwartz's in Montreal without boarding a plane"

I've been to Schwartz's and Zakos's isn’t  even close. BTW, just out of coincidence Follow me Foodie just posted a blog on Schwartz this week. Check out the photos and compare. My god, no comparison.



There is no soul at Zako's. OK, the smoked meat is pretty good, but the Sandwich is sloppy, there's no TLC.
In the end it's just a very average sandwich. The best smoked meat in the lower mainland, which I've had so far (happy to take recommendations because I probably won't be going back to Zako's) is at Estrellas in Langley. They get their meat from Montreal as well but they tend to give a damn. Check both out and you'll feel and taste the difference.
I'm looking forward to one day trying locally produced "Montreal Smoked Meat". I'm surprised no one in Vancouver is doing this. And if you are please let me know.



halloween cookie



La Grotto Del Formaggio

A classic old school Italian deli, sandwiches made to order by the Italian lady (or a reasonable facsimile) behind the counter slicing the prosciutto to order rather then having the meat pre-sliced and waiting. Yes this makes a difference.
Olive oil and balsamic drizzled on the soft loaf, pickled eggplant, olives, provolone.
Doing it right on

Commercial street

, which quite frankly you expect them to do things right.
Adding La Grotto to my favourites for deli's.
BTW, they have a great cheese selection in the deli I totally stocked up and also probably half the cost of what you would pay at Whole Foods.
I like whole foods but I often leave with a bag full of awesome stuff and a small nagging feeling in the back of my mind of being ripped off. And yet I’m always eager to got back. I'm more eager to go back to La Grotto, great sandwiches and deli items and zero feeling of putsiness on the way out.

Cafe Medina

   

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Olive Tapenade



I'm a big fan of Chambar Belgian restaurant. It's been my long standing pre - restaurant. Meaning it’s the go to place pre game, pre theatre, downtown outing. When I crave mussels and fries, Chambar has the best in the city. Cafe Medina is Chambers’ sister restaurant next door. Were Chambar is open for dinner only Cafe Medina is open for breakfast lunch brunch and special events. A nice fit.
You can certainly tell that the same hand is in on the menu chef and owner Nico Schuermans has a certain distinguishable touch. Outside of mussel frites and waffles and beer I am painfully ignorant of Belgian cuisine but here as with Chambar there is a distinctively Moroccan fusion and west coast style.
I had the, Canard confit
Duck confit, sour cherry compote, brie, anjou pears an pecan raison sourdough. Watercress and caramelized pecans.

When I ordered I didn't know that it was a sandwich. But I was pleasantly surprised because I love almost anything between two pieces of bread. The canard sandwich was flavourful, sweat and totally hit the spot and BTW paired beautifully with my apricot beer.
My dining companion (DC) had the Paella.

Duck

Paella
Baked egg, curried orzo, Hungarian chorizo, zucchini, red pepper, roasted corn, grana padano. Watercress, tomatoes, avocado.

Unfortunatly she came away unimpressed, primarily because she didn't read the small print, orzo pealle, not rice, she was looking for rice and the dish never rebounded, she ate half before giving up.

DC Wei looked like she got the prize, the fricassee was phenomenal, and I had some.

2 eggs, braised short ribs, roasted potatoes, caramelized onions, arugula and smoked applewood cheddar. Grilled foccacia.

Fricassee

Fricassee in this case is French for short rib hash and it’s a standout everything comes together. I would wait in line for this one.

Definitely check cafe medina out for brunch lunch or whenever it's open.