Slice of Chicago: The Chicagoan

I’ve never been to Chicago before but I’ve often wanted to try a Chicago-style pizza. Known for their deep crust and ample amount of filling and sauce, it smacks in the face of all of the thin-crust pizzas that are readily available in the Vancouver area. And with Covid still going strong, there’s really no better time to stuff your face with a ton of carbs.

So Hyang Korean Cuisine: Hae Mool Pa Jun

While the Punjabi Market area of Vancouver is primarily focused on Main Street between 49th and 51st, I’ve always considered the neighbouring area along Fraser Street to be an extension of the Punjabi Market. What you notice, however, is that there are a lot of different ethnic cuisines that are represented along Fraser including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean… such as So Hyang Korean Cuisine.

Indochine Kitchen + Bar (Fraser St): Beef Luc Lac

Indochine Kitchen + Bar recently opened up a new location on Fraser St. in South Vancouver. For those of you who haven’t tried their original location on Broadway and Ontario St, Indochine is a modern take on the food that made Phnom Penh famous. Instead of the tired decor and the family atmosphere that you’d see at Phnom Penh, however, Indochine has a sleek and stylized decor that seems to target a younger crowd.

Shoom Chinese Restaurant: Expensive but Tasty

Located just south of 49th Avenue on Vancouver’s Fraser Street is the oddly named Shoom. This place is quite popular and was already starting to fill up by the time we arrived at 5pm (they were completely full by 6pm). The restaurant seems to be geared to large parties because they mostly have large tables set up. We were afraid that they weren’t going to seat us but then they ushered us past the kitchen in the back and into another dining area next door.

Eat Me Thai: Grilled Pork Cheek Salad

Even though “Punjabi Market” is primarily located on Main Street, I’ve often associated the neighbouring area along Fraser St to be part and parcel with it. However, much like how Chinatown is no longer the sole domain of Chinese stores and restaurants, this area of south Fraser St has become more multicultural over time. Eat Me Thai is one such example and is brought to you by the team from Bangkok City Cafe on West 4th.

Baker and Table Cafe: Melonpans!

After our introduction to melonpans during our trip to Japan last year, I’ve been seriously craving these crunchy-topped buns. Recently, I heard that a place on Fraser Street had started selling these in Vancouver and we wound up stopping by after a Lobster Sticky Rice dinner at nearby Ho Yuen Kee.

Ho Yuen Kee: Lobster Sticky Rice

After trying the Lobster Sticky Rice at Flamingo House, we were interested to see how this dish fared at other restaurants. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of the Lobster Sticky Rice at Ho Yuen Kee on Fraser Street on social media so I figured this would be a good place to try out.