Fans of All Things Porcine

[clutterer]

A friend of mine has a simple request for dinner tomorrow night: anything pork. Good, luscious, incredible pork, featured in all its glory.

It's one of those requests that has such endless possibilities that I don't even know where to start. Chinese roast pork, suckling pig; BBQ ribs; pork belly...the only thing that seems like a copout is bacon.

I figure this would be a fun topic to break away from the usual "3 days in town, where to go" discussions, so feel free to opine away.

[yuyu]

i love the pork belly rice dish at pearl castle....super cheap too!

[grayelf]

Albeit based on one sample, prolly need to add the kakuni at Juno from Sloping Hills with 1/2 red wine, 1/2 shoyu marinade.

Also a couple more pix from Hong Kong BBQ Masters when we finally "dined in" there in January. The owner told us next time to get just one order of rice and two types of meat, but we didn't mind having leftovers. We got the cha siu "half/half" which was absolutely delicious. Doesn't it look good?

Only a few tables so you may have to wait a few minutes but then service is uber fast. Perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

[LotusRapper]

After what might be a 2-3 year hiatus, I went back to HK BBQ Masters last week for their roast pork. In the past I usually ordered a 2-item combo (bbq pork, bbq duck, or one of the chickens). But this time I honed in on the roast pork, on rice. Heavenly. The layers of lean(er) meat and fat between the ultra-crispy skin and bottom layer of meat is incredible. One major flaw, that one flower of broccoli on the plate was an unnecessary guilt-inducer ........

Chowtimes did an in-depth of HKBBQM's roast pork:

http://chowtimes.com/2011/02/08/cra-2...

[twinkienic]

What's that first picture? It looks so good!

"half/half" is the only way to do cha siu, I think, else it's too lean and chewy.

[LotusRapper]

I would have said it looks like two brownies (with 2 halves of salted duck eggs), lol

[grayelf]

It's the kakuni from Juno. And it is so good :-).

[fmed]

Another thread reminded me of the fen zheng rou (rice steamed braised pork) at the Xian stall at the Richmond Public Market. Deep, savoury pork braise that is then steamed together with rice...then served with mantou:

[grayelf]

Good call, fmed -- that stuff is addicting. I've also just noted your Danube rec, which I think you may have made before. Schnitzel with spaetzle, two of my fave "s" things, and I like that it's pork...

[fmed]

The pork schnitzel at The Danube on Hastings at Boundary. (My favourite pork schnitzel in the GVA). Served with spaetzle.

[LotusRapper]

And springboarding from Fmed's schnitzel to ........ tonkatsu.

I like the one at The Clubhouse, and I'm a tonkatsu fan, but perhaps not done enough tonkatsu tour of duty in downtown. Any good ones to recommend ?

[fmed]

Yep! The Katsu Curry at Yoshoku-ya and Barefoot Kitchen - both on Denman St.

[LotusRapper]

Thank you Fmed-san. I need to go to Denman for some katsu retsu .....

[LotusRapper]

Any recent experience or opins of the schnitzels at the Alpen House (Victoria Dr) and at The Old Bavaria Haus (New Westminster) ? I haven't been to Old Bavaria since they were on Robson way back when !

-----
Old Bavaria Haus Restaurant
233 Sixth St, New Westminster, BC V3L3A5, CA

[LotusRapper]

Also the Portuguese does a lot of pork, esp. the national dish Pork & Clams, which can be found at Senhor Rooster on Renfrew St.

The Filipinos does Pork Adobo. But I've not really kept up with the Filipino restaurant scene in Vancouver, maybe Fmed can fill in here .............

[fmed]

Adobo is indeed the Filipino "national dish". I wouldn't get it in a restaurant though - it is more of a homestyle weekday dish. You would not often see it in potlucks or feasts, either.

[LotusRapper]

Java Jazz Cafe in New Westminster (6 St) serves adobo, well at least when I was last there several years ago. Family operation, provides lively jazz music every evening (family members take turns serving food AND playing music). Fun place to be. But not a foodie destination.

http://dinehere.ca/new-westminster/ja...

[fmed]

Red Braised ("Mao's") Pork at Alvin Garden...pure unctuous goodness of pork belly:

[fmed]

Pork cheeks and tonkotsu-shio ramen at Ramen Santouka:

[fmed]

Another one: The Kakuni at Guu on Thurlow (with a nice addition of egg). The sauce is addicting:

[clutterer]

Hey thanks everyone. A couple of questions:
(1) Has anyone done the pig roast at Chambar? I noticed they have one on Wednesday. Can non-pork fans order regular items off the menu, or is it purely pig roast, all or nothing?

(2) Anyone have the porchetta at Napoli Restaurant?

[LotusRapper]

There's always the Elvis, or Priscilla, platters at Memphis Blues.

[farman]

I was going to suggest Memphis too.

But I'll suggest Bee Kim Heng for pork jerky. It's not what I'd call a dinner, but I know at least two people who have made it into a meal. Regardless, worthwhile as an after dinner snack. :)

[fmed]

(2) I have...about 3 years ago was the last time I went. It is quite a show. Call them ahead to find out when the next one is happening.

[clutterer]

For (1) the Chambar pig roast - which is today - it seems that the regular menu is unavailable, though they have an entire feast planned that includes non-pork items. When I called yesterday they had about 30 spots left open. I think the price is $60 or so (could be wrong), which prices me out, but those interested should apply.

BTW, there is a piece on DIY pig roasts in the NY Times running.

[fmed]

Here's a link to the NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/din...

[LotusRapper]

Red Star Restaurant in Marpole serves a whole suckling pig for $280. Or as a smaller combo platters for $30, $43 or $74.

[ck1234]

HK BBQ Master for the crispy roast pork. (See grayelf's great pictures) http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7152...

[grayelf]

We had a delicious pork belly at Sea Harbour, in soy sauce, but I think it changes seasonally. I don't know anywhere in town that has really outstanding ribs, though I'd love to...

Best pork belly ever was at Fuel, sadly.

[grayelf]

Was reminded tonight that there is an all-you-can-eat pork belly Korean BBQ place on Robson. Chowtimes posted on it. I'll see if I can dig it up.... ah, here we go: http://chowtimes.com/2010/04/20/pork-...

Doesn't get much porkier than that!

[vandan]

unfortunately its been closed for awhile now

[grayelf]

Oh, Ben's review was posted in April so I didn't think to check. I know he likes to add if a place is closed so I'll drop him a line... thanks for the update.

[vandan]

disregard my post, case of mistaken identity

[grayelf]

Pork belly in soy sauce at Sea Harbour update: we had it again last Friday and it was not nearly as good as the first time. Now I don't know which was the off night :-(.

[_js_]

Was this the chowdown at Sea Harbour? http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6533...

Or a different visit?

[grayelf]

Different visit. The pork belly we had at the Chowdown was a different prep with green beans and IIRC it was more "bacony" than the soy sauce one.

[fmed]

I can think of a few places:

Pin Pin for Crispy Pata
Hakkasan for the Braised Pork Shank
La Brasserie for their Roast Pork
Kirin for the suckling pig (no pics, unfortunately)