Chinatown 2010

For a while poor Chinatown seemed to slump while Vancouverites increasingly turned to Richmond for a taste of Asian culture. But things are happening again in Chinatown. Hip, delicious, delightful things.

The Keefer is an extremely cool bar with a fascinating cocktail menu. Classic cocktails are revisited with exotic and seasonal infusions, and there’s a slew of creative inventions that slide down like a dream. I started with a China Colada, refreshing and not nearly as sweet or as rich as the Pina that inspired it. For an extra dollar you can inject your drink with a prescriptive flower essence; I chose the one for Clarity. (And if there’s a certain irony in adding an essence for Clarity to an alcoholic cocktail intended to muddle the mind, it is a delicious irony, don’t you think?)

There’s no way I could have limited myself to just one of these beverages, so I moved onto what has become my new love, the Dragonfly. It’s ginny and gingery with an elusive floral note. It could have been the dragonfruit, or it could have been the magnolia bark. Having never before tasted magnolia bark, it’s hard to say for sure. I could have easily sucked back another, but it was time for food.

And so we walked a few doors up to Bao Bei. There are 3 things to love about Bao Bei.

1. Charming design. I love restaurants that have a focused look, a well-considered aesthetic that you know didn’t have to cost a lot of money. No chi-chi pretense here, just whimsy, like an old farmhouse style sink, a wall of tarnished silver tea trays, and sweet bathroom accents.

2. Great for two. Traditional Chinese restaurants have huge, intimidating tables intended for large families and groups of 6 to 10. And the menus are planned in such a way that if you’re only 2 people and you want to try a few different things, you’ll end up with enough food to feed a small town. Not so at Bao Bei. Lots of little tables and lots of intriguing little dishes.

3. Greens. Sometimes I order greens just because I think I should. I can feel my mother on one shoulder and a nutritionist on the other, hissing “remember your vegetables” in my ear. However, I rarely expect the greens to be the highlight of the meal. But the stir-fried bok choy here was hauntingly delicious. With the first bite I knew that in a few days I’d be craving more. Slightly salty, with ground pork and black beans, it was beautifully balanced, simple and delicious. The Mantou was another big hit; steamed buns with braised beef and these barely pickled slices of cucumber. So gorgeous we had to order a second round. Deep fried bananas came with coconut in the batter and a wonderfully tart lime sorbet. Heaven.

The only weirdness was the Crispy Fishies. The menu clue is just “roasted peanuts and chilies”. So I imagined crispy battered little pieces of spicy, peanuty fish. But it was actually, literally: crispy little fish. Very salty, very fishy, dried, entire little fishes that are probably an acquired taste. Ate a few, felt proud of myself for doing so, and brought the remainder home to an approving feline.

Debbra Mikaelsen

PS Actually there are 2 more reasons to love Bao Bei.

4. Good list of wines by the glass, and

5. When they bring the bill you get this cool little Learn To Speak Chinese guide, full of useful phrases like “I”m allergic to nuts” and “Do you have a fork?”