Nuba - 3166 West Broadway

My classmate from graduate school treated me for an awesome lunch last week (or was it the week before?). We went to a Lebanese restaurant which was newly opened at West Broadway. I understand that Nuba has a chain of restaurants in the Lower Mainland and the West Broadway outlet is their new addition to their chain. It was my first time eating at Nuba and I must say that I had not had Lebanese food in ages.

I ordered Chicken Tawook which came with salad, hummus, pita and rice. The chicken was well seasoned with paprika and other spices and was very well marinated. I like the fact that there were burnt grilled bits in my chicken - a bit of carbon always add some texture to the food. And the chicken was surprisingly tender.  I recalled the server asking me whether I wanted hot sauce to my chicken and I readily agreed. I find the salad so refreshing and it provided a nice balance to the well-seasoned chicken. My favorite part of the meal was dipping the hummus on the warm pita bread. I totally approve!! We ended our meal with a nice cup of latte. I was totally satisfied with my meal.

The presentation was lovely. I think the cream sauce complimented the spice in the chicken quite well.

As you can tell- I am totally in love with my grilled chicken!

 

 

 

I think the green dip was my hummus. I can't remember now. It was creamy and yet not too rich.

My friend's meal - I know it looks dry but she seemed to totally love it. She made up her mind very quickly that she wanted the cauliflower.

 

Her salad looks so inviting - so moist: it speaks to me. Hahaha!

My friend ordered Najib's Special which was some crispy cauliflower marinated with sea salt and spices. I was so tempted to try but it would be so rude. I am so Asian at times - I love communal eating and trying food from other people's plate. After all, variety is the spice of life and all the more so with food!!

I had an enjoyable conversation with my friend - we talked about research, family, conferences, and even cultural issues. Once again, great food and excellent company. I love Vancouver!


Overall Experience:
Deco: 4/5 - the restaurant had this modern feel to it. I felt quite comfortable. Lighting there was great - not too harsh and it relaxed my frazzled nerves.
Quality of food: 5/5 - I totally approve!! I like the fact that it was not high in sodium. I will come back here for the chicken and the hummus! Would love to try the lamb too!!
Value for $$: $$$/5 - its pretty reasonable. If I ordered the chicken pita, its $9.50 but for an additional $2.50, I had the plate - which is pretty substantial. And it included the hummus!! I think its cheaper to eat here during lunch than dinner. You get a better value for your $$.
Overall Experience: 4/5. Service was impeccable and food came promptly. Worth another visit. 

Szechuan Chongqing Seafood Restaurant, West Broadway

 This is a favorite place with my group of friends because you don't have to wait for a table and the service is pretty good for a Chinese restaurant. The servers are pretty well dressed - they have this white and black suit-like attire - I totally approve. Also the deco is pretty pleasing - its' not the top end of Chinese restaurants but at least you can have a private conversation, without fear of inconveniencing the person at the next table. Or without fear of someone eavesdropping on your private life! This restaurant is pretty spacious - spotted a private room.

Caution - I forgot to bring my camera and so the pixs did not turn out looking the way that I wanted. Camera phones are pretty handy but you can't take a good macro shot as the camera lens is way too small. It doesn't help that my hands are pretty shaky so the pixs turn out blurry. Fortunately, someone was there to lend a hand with the photos and save my dining experience. Another point - we did not order your typical Szechuan fare as some friends do not take spicy food.

The Szechuan Chongqing beef fried with spinach had an interesting twist - the spinach was crispy. I like it. This is the less spicy version but if I had to eat it by myself, I will go for the spicy stuff! The beef was well marinated so I enjoyed this dish.



Its a bit oily but I was enamored with  the crispy spinach.

Next is the General Tao's chicken - a personal favorite of a friend of mine. It has a crispy feel to it. It kinda reminded me of sweet and sour pork, minus the gravy. I do like the texture of this chicken.Yummy!


At first glance, the dish looks pretty ordinary but its so yummy. 

The sweet and sour pork is something  I personally would not have ordered myself. But the whole point of dining out is that it should be communal. Everyone should be given a chance to order a dish that they like and to share. I am a BIG fan of sharing food!! Sadly, the sweet and sour pork was a thumbs-down for me. The flour coating on the chicken was too thick and the meat was a tad too hard - they should have made it something along the lines of General Tao's chicken.



I would rate this sweet and sour pork as below average. Gosh - am I harsh??

Oh, and before I forget, we need our carbs. So besides sharing some steamed rice, we had seafood chow mien with gailan. Silly me - I kept on saying green leafy vegetables to the server. The word gailan failed me. Shame on me! Anyway, I do like the fact that they were pretty generous with the seafood. They should have cut the kailan into smaller pieces though. It was really difficult to chew the long stems. Felt like a rabbit or something.



Swimming with seafood and gailan. 

And finally Chinese cookies - with compliments from the restaurant.  Sesame fried dough balls - unhealthy. A strong cup of tea to neutralize the oil helped - I love the tea here and I like the fact that they do fill it up unlike Lin's.



The finale -By then, I was pretty stuffed. 

Overall Experience:

Deco: 3.5-4/5. Pretty comfortable set up, relatively spacious. I understand that the male washroom has ice in their urinal to help in controlling the smell. So, an extra half point for that. I never heard of it before though :)
Quality of food: 3/5. Its average. I would prefer if the food is a little less oily.
Value for $$: $$/5 - its between CAN$18-CAN$20 per head (inclusive of tip). I don't suggest that you go for the buffet dinner which is about CAN$24 per person (minus tax) unless you really can eat a lot. Their lunch dim sum is a better value for $$.
Overall Experience: 3.5/5 - I rate them slightly higher than Lin's because of the better service and they do give you some Chinese cookies. I do miss this particular server. He practically remembers most of his customers but I don't see him anymore.

Lin Chinese Cusine and Tea House, West Broadway & Granville

The award wining Lin's is one of my favorites places when I need my fix for Chinese food and don't want to travel to Richmond. Their set lunch is a pretty reasonable deal - you get a main course, steamed rice and soup for less than CAN$10 (before tax). They are famous for their dumplings and hand-made noodles. One of the things I enjoy in this restaurant is to see the proprietors and their staff making the dumplings and the noodles by hand.

If I have company, I usually order their kung pao chicken or their beef with green onion (which comes in a hot pot). This time around, its time for a change.

The main course is sauteed soy beans and bean curd sheets. I was disappointed with this dish. For CAN$13, I expected better value for my money. But then again, good quality bean curd is expensive in Vancouver. Its pretty plain though. I must say that it was a surprise change to have endamame with bean curd. In most Chinese cuisine, snow peas rule the day.

I am used to eating bean curd sheets in a desert form. Like this barley and bean curd desert with ginko . So, this is a nice change but still CAN$13- heart attack!! That said, I miss ginko nuts - excellent source of brain food.



This dish is not cheap. Maybe, I am cheap. For CAN$13, I rather order a meat dish.

Strangely, the appetizers came after the main course. The customary xiao long pao or what Lin's also refer to Shanghai juicy dumplings. I like it, especially since I know they hand made the dough of the dumplings. This is good stuff!!



For CAN$5 (before tax), you get 6 pieces of xiao long pao. Which is alright.



I love the burst of juices inside the xiao long pao. Should have taken the picture on my spoon instead of a plate. The remaining juices were wasted :(

Finally, its time for desert - 8 treasures sweet rice. This desert is HUGE and looks so pretty. But in terms of taste, I would say that it is average. I guess I had eaten better stuff. But still, I was taken in by the colors and the I like the red bean that goes with the sweet rice.



The desert looks more colorful when you see it rather than on this picture.



Smashing up the desert to ensure a good mix of the toppings and red bean.

Service at Lin's is what you find in most typical Chinese restaurants in Asia. Its brusque and no pleasantries are exchanged. You have to proactively to ask them for refill of Chinese tea etc.

Their Chinese tea is pretty insipid, despite it being left in the teapot for sometime. I wonder why. The teapot is pretty but the thing which irks me the most was that the sprout of the teapot was broken. A big no-no for me.



I should have taken a pix of the broken tea sprout. But I can't stand things that are ascetically not pleasing.

Overall Experience:
Deco: 2/5. The place is clean but I deducted marks because their tea sprout was broken.
Quality of food: 3/5 - I have eaten better Chinese food and I was kinda disappointed with my main course. But I really like their kung pao chicken and beef with spring onions though. I am such a creature of habit!
Value for $$: $$/5 - Lin's is not cheap for what you are getting. Their lunch special is a much better deal though.
Overall experience: 3/5