Beyond the Rhetoric

The new year always comes with a set of mixed emotions. On the one hand, it means that tax season is upon us. On the other hand, at least around these parts, it means it’s time for Dine Out Vancouver. The annual tradition allows us to enjoy some great restaurants with affordable prix fixe menus.

Glowbal Group owns one of the largest collections of restaurants in Vancouver, including places like Sanafir and Coast Restaurant. The newest addition to the collection is called Black+Blue and it is a steakhouse located on the increasingly trendy Alberni Street. The Dine Out Vancouver menu consists of three courses for $38.

“Bacon ‘n’ Eggs” thick cut double smoked bacon, fried duck egg, spicy maple syrup, wild arugula

This was one of the two appetizer options. The thick cut bacon had a good amount of fat to it and the scrambled duck egg was silky smooth. I’m not as big a fan of the sweet and savory combination created by the maple syrup, but that’s just a personal preference.

Tuna Carpaccio truffle aioli, pickled beets, grated horseradish, micro bulls blood greens

And here is the second appetizer option. The tuna was pounded flat into a very thin layer. This really wasn’t anything all that special and it was easily forgettable as a dish.

Onion Rings

While the wait times at Black+Blue weren’t quite as bad as at Rare or Victory, it did take a lot longer than expected to get anything. After the appetizers arrived, we sat around and twiddled our thumbs for about an hour. Nothing came. Then, we saw the table next to us order some great looking onion rings and we couldn’t resist.

While they don’t have that breadcrumb batter that I prefer, these massive onion rings were crispy and arrived promptly. At $7, they’re not a terribly expensive addition to your dinner either.

Roasted Sablefish roasted squash purée, au poivre sauce, micro salad

Believe it or not, that’s a main dish. One of my dining companions ordered this entree and she was thoroughly disappointed. What little bit of fish that was on the plate was “too fishy” by her description. There was likely more fish in my carpaccio appetizer.

Angus Tenderloin roasted pearl onion, béarnaise sauce, snow crab leg

While I was hoping for more of a “steak” dinner, I understand that the tenderloin comes out in more of a “prime rib” kind of texture and consistency. It was a decent cut, but many of our “medium rare” orders arrived much closer to medium. Since we had waited over an hour and a half for our entrees, we really didn’t want to wait for them to re-fire.

You’ll also notice that the description called for snow crab leg. There were some minuscule amounts of crab mixed into the bernaise sauce, but this was hardly what we expected. Again, this really wasn’t anything special and I could have easily received a much better cut of meat at any number of other steakhouses in Vancouver.

Classic Crème Caramel orange-almond biscotti, orange liqueur

The sole dessert option on the Dine Out menu was this. I would have preferred the torching that would have come with a creme brulee, personally. I also found that the dessert was terribly inconsistent. Some of us at the table had a lot of vanilla bean (the black bits), whereas others had virtually none. Some of us had significantly larger or smaller pieces of biscotti too. Again, this was quite forgettable.

I went in with some high hopes for Black+Blue. Here was a world class steakhouse backed by Glowbal. Walking in, I really enjoyed the ambiance with the wide open center, wraparound “balcony” like seating on the second floor, a prominently displayed meat locker, and music that was playing at only a couple levels below a nightclub. It seemed like a fun, happening spot.

Unfortunately, the food was ultimately disappointing and the wait times were definitely outside the norm. I hope that this was due to be relatively new, coupled with the pressures of Dine Out Vancouver. If Black+Blue can find its stride and improve its quality, it could be a winner. For now, you have many other options for a great meal in Vancouver.

It’s time once again for the weekly speedlink here on Beyond the Rhetoric. If you have a blog post that you’d like to share and would like to see it featured in this space, make sure you follow me on Twitter and send those links on Tuesdays. Let’s see what’s going on with the blogosphere this week.

Over on Ray Ebersole’s blog, he starts a discussion questioning whether we should trust the stars and the media. The Huffington Post and CBS Sports both jumped the gun without any substantial evidence, just to get the scoop. Ray also talks about how Food Network star Paula Deen was hiding her diabetes while still showcasing high sugar, high fat foods on her shows. That’s irresponsible, don’t you think?

Moving on to Jennie Yuen, she highlights a book by Henry Biernacki that eschews the horrors of travel and celebrates its romance. Yes, we can get frustrated with delayed flights and extra baggage charges, but we also have to remember just how beautiful and fulfilling worldly travel can be. The book is called No More Heroes, if you want to check it out. “Who cares about being lost? That is where you find the best experiences.”

I saw the same XKCD webcomic as Thursday Bram, but she has a unique perspective on the issue of sustainability. While all the Earth-friendly concerns are certainly there, she also dives into the sustainability of business. Remember that I also wrote about long-term viability and what you may need to keep in mind if you want your business to still be open and thriving tomorrow and well into the future.

The American government is supposed to be formed of the people and for the people, but no politician is really making an average wage. Flexo from Consumerism Commentary estimates the wealth of all the presidential candidates and, not surprisingly, Mitt Romney tops the list at up to $264 million in personal worth. Ron Paul is quite a bit lower at between $2.4 million and $5.4 million, but now ex-candidate Rick Perry appears to be closest to the bottom at “just” $1 million to $2.5 million.

And finally, Patti Stafford reminds us of the versatility of WordPress and how the content management system can be used for so many things other than blogging. With the right design and plugins, WordPress can power forums, help desks, auction sites, membership sites, FAQ portals, and more. In fact, WordPress is used to power my freelance business site too!

For most intents and purposes, you could say that Vancouver has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to restaurants. As such, we simply cannot and will not tolerate sub-par food, nor will we put up with sub-par service. But that is exactly what I experienced over the weekend at a relatively new Chinese restaurant in the Crystal Mall complex.

I’ve written about terrible customer service in the past, but I also understand that “customer service” usually isn’t the top selling point for most Chinese restaurants in this city. That said, what I had to endure at Victory Seafood Restaurant in Burnaby was simply beyond reproach.

Stepping Up to the Plate

Allow me to establish the situation. My family went out on Sunday evening for Chinese New Year dinner. This is a celebratory time when we can get together with extended family and enjoy a good meal. We had about 15 or 16 people at our table. The standard “set menu” at a seafood restaurant like this is designed for a table of ten.

So, when my aunt made the reservation, she told the manager that she would like to pay 50% more to get 50% larger portions, while maintaining the same set menu. The manager agreed and it seemed like everything was going to be in order. Unfortunately, nearly nothing went according to plan.

Strike #1: The Pop Lie

Since there were several children at our table, my aunt inquired ahead of time about the cost for pitchers of pop. She was told that our table of 15 could have unlimited soda for $15 per flavor. That sounded reasonable, so we order a pitcher each of 7-Up and Coke.

After the two jugs arrived and we divided it amongst us, we were informed that the pop wasn’t unlimited. Instead, it was $15 per jug. That’s entirely different than what we were told and the management refused to honor the previous agreement. Strike one.

Strike #2: The Insufficient Soup

As mentioned above, we had agreed to pay a 50% premium on the set menu price in order to get 50% larger portions for every dish. When the soup arrived, we were barely able to get a dozen half-filled small bowls. Remember that the standard 10-person menu would have called for ten full bowls of soup, usually with a couple of bowls to spare. With a 50% premium, we should have received at least 15 full bowls.

When we asked the server whether he was sure this was the larger portion, he said he would ask the kitchen. Returning, he said that it was indeed the larger portion. We told him that he could quite clearly see that there was not enough soup for 15 patrons and he agreed, only to shrug his shoulders and to say that there is nothing he could do. Strike two.

Strike #3: The Two Hour Wait

The real nail in the coffin had to do with the timing. If you were following along on Twitter and Facebook that night, then you’ll know what happened. A typical ten course Chinese menu usually takes about two hours to complete. We were nowhere near that timetable.

In fact, after sitting at our table for two hours, we had received only three dishes in total, the third of which was completely out of the standard order. Yes, I understand that Chinese New Year’s Eve is a busy time, but the restaurant would have fully known about this in advance. It is up to the management to prepare for it. They didn’t come around to refill our tea. The staff avoided us when we inquired about the timeline.

Our reservation was at 6pm and we were seated at that time. It was now 8pm and we weren’t even one-third of the way through our meal. Worse yet, the table next to us was seat at 6:30pm and they had not received a single dish in those 90 minutes. Nothing. This is positively disgraceful.

You’re Out: The Utter Indifference

After over two hours, we went to the manager and told him about the situation. We also told him that if we did not receive our next dish in the next 10 minutes that we’d be walking. He nodded and “rushed” to the kitchen to check on the situation.

We let those ten minutes pass and no one came to visit our table. We were fed up and we stood by our word, getting up and walking out of the restaurant. We walked right past the two or three employees who were fully aware of our situation. The waitress turned to her manager and told him that we had not paid. The manager’s response? A simple shrug, stepping aside to let us walk out. That utter indifference really demonstrates how the staff treat this business.

I’ve lived in Vancouver all my life and I’ve seen how the Chinese culture has changed during that time. I don’t expect world class service at most of these kinds of restaurants, but this is well beyond what can be tolerated. In a “foodie” city like Vancouver, utterly disgraceful service with a blatant disregard for your customer cannot and should not survive.

And the irony of their name–”Victory” Seafood Restaurant–really is the icing on the cake (that I never received). Do not, under any circumstances, eat at this restaurant. With an experience like this, I will not be giving “Victory” a second chance.

Aside: It’s times like these that I am so happy about the power of the Internet. My Facebook update on the situation received nearly 30 comments in the first 24 hours. Word of mouth is increasingly powerful and I am grateful for it.

Many of us are inclined to call it Chinese New Year, but it’s really more appropriate to call it Lunar New Year. After all, several other cultures aside from Chinese celebrate it. I’ve always grown up romanizing the phrase as Gung Hay Fat Choy, but you might see it elsewhere written as Kung Hei Fat Choy, Gong Hay Fat Choi, or some other variation. It’s the way you wish someone a happy Chinese (Lunar) New Year.

Whatever the case, today marks the beginning of the Year of the Dragon. More specifically, it’s the Year of the Water Dragon. In traditional Chinese philosophy, there are five elements (Wu Xing): wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each of these cycles through the 12 zodiac signs, effectively creating a 60-year cycle. The Dragon is the only animal in the Chinese zodiac that is legendary. It’s supposed to be a good year to get married.

Aside: I was born a water dog. Ironically, this associates me with October (my birth month) and Canada (my country). Water is yin, but Dog is yang, so I guess that makes me balanced. Go figure.

There are going to be some regional differences, since not all Chinese cultures are the same, but here are a few general traditions that I have learned as they apply to this first day of the new calendar year.

1. Avoid lighting fires or using knives as these are bad luck, destroying the luck of the new year.
2. Try not to clean anything in the house, as this can “wipe away” the luck and the fresh start that the new year brings. This also includes not washing your hair.
3. Married members of the family should give lucky red envelopes (with money) to the single, junior members of the family. You generally don’t give red envelopes to family members in the same generational level as you.

I’ve also heard of people avoiding the consumption of meat on New Year’s Day, as this is supposed to ensure longevity. Firecrackers, fireworks, and lion dances are quite common too.

The great thing about living in a city like Vancouver is that we embrace our multiculturalism. I haven’t had the opportunity to attend yet, but I love the concept of cultural mashups like Gung Haggis Fat Choy. That’s awesome.

“Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference. Government cannot create a world without risks, nor would we really wish to live in such a fictional place. Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal, because it would require total state control over its citizens’ lives. Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons.”

For the life of me, I can’t get all that interested in Canadian politics. I probably should, since it has a greater impact on my day-to-day life, but I find myself much more captivated by American politics. Maybe it has to do with the personalities. Or the coverage. Or the spin doctors.

As I’m sure you’re already aware, the race among the Republican Party is well under way with several candidates already dropping out of the picture. The GOP needs a leader and one guy who wants the job is Ron Paul. This certainly isn’t Paul’s first time at the dance, but it looks like his campaign is slowly picking up momentum.

Now, I can’t say for sure whether I agree with all of his political opinions and viewpoints, but we do share a similar perspective on the relationship between security and freedom. In order to achieve greater freedom, you have to risk bad things happening. Security, by its very nature, is restricting. As a libertarian, Ron Paul leans much more toward the side of personal freedoms than he does of a more controlled and secure state. He values liberty and that’s at the forefront of his platform.

If you want to live free, you have to accept the dangers of living free. You could fall down. You could hurt yourself, but you have to recognize that you were given the choice. And that has intrinsic value. That’s why Paul has always pushed for smaller government.

“America was founded by men who understood that the threat of domestic tyranny is as great as any threat from abroad. If we want to be worthy of their legacy, we must resist the rush toward ever-increasing state control of our society. Otherwise, our own government will become a greater threat to our freedoms than any foreign terrorist.”

Whether or not Ron Paul eventually gets the Republican nomination to face off against President Barack Obama in this year’s election, I think it’s great that he’s finally getting some recognition from the mainstream media. He is a serious contender and should be treated as such. His voice needs to be heard. After all, as this YouTube video illustrates, the man is a psychic!

Or, you know, you could raise Cain instead. Either way, remember to exercise your civil liberty–and responsibility–and vote.