S is for Serbian

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Balkan House, a Serbian restaurant

Date: December 2019

Address:  7530 Edmonds Street, Burnaby

Website: http://balkanhouse.info/

Dinner:
Sausages (Ćevapčići) and Shish Kebab (Ražnići) with Greek salad, mash potato and rice

Drink:
House wine

Dessert:
Krempita

Simply Satisfying

Sitting side by side with other spectators,
slowly studying the suggestions
of Serbian specialties,
I sink into soul-searching.

Sacrifices, self-sufficiency, solitude,
all in the sounds of straightforward,
seen and unseen syllables,
swiftly switching to seminal suppositions and speculations,
saying, not saying, spying
on self-assurance, self-confidence, self-consciousness.

Straying or staying solid on self-determination?
Sizable sigh.

Sufficient supply of sustenance,
secure smooth sociable sailing
through space and seconds
in such a specific situation.

Snow smiling on the surface
while setting off.

So long!

R is for Russian

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Ukrainian Village – as close to Russian as possible

Date: November 2019

Address:  815 Denman Street, Vancouver

Website: https://ukrainianvillage.wixsite.com/canada

Soup:
Vegetarian Borsch – Beet soup served with sour cream

Dinner:
Ukrainian Dinner – Two cabbage rolls, six perogies, Ukrainian sausage served with vegetables and sour cream

Drink:
Stolichnaya vodka

Dessert:
Napoleon (Russian Cake)

Really!

Replacing Russian with Ukrainian,
relatively reasonable.

Rhythm of rain and rain
– the restaurant rendering restful refuge.

Rising above trivial refreshments,
running down the red lane,
rightly relishing repast.

Ruminating on roaming remote rural ranges,
rapidly remembering relaxing road rides.

Readjusting to reality,
recharged and re-energized,
running through the rain repeatedly.

Q is for Québécois

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Frenchies: Authentically from Quebec

Date: October 2019

Address:  2470 Main Street, Vancouver

Website: http://frenchies-diner.com/

Dinner:
Smoked Meat Poutine – Hand cut fries with Montreal smoked meat, cheese curd & gravy
Quarter Chicken Dinner – Dark meat, St. Hubert sauce, bun, coleslaw and fries

Drink:
Massacre – Tequila, Campari, Ginger Ale
St. Ambroise beer

Dessert:
Sugar Pie

Quitting Q? (no Qatar)

Close but not quite

Questioning Quebec with a
quick quest
quintessential Québécois quality
quasi-queen of Canada: poutine!

P is for Peruvian

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Silvestre Deli & Bistro: Peruvian restaurant

Date: October 2019

Address:  317 Water St, Vancouver

Website: http://silvestregustolatino.com/

Appetizer:
Ceviche de Pescado – Raw fish marinated in lime juice and seasoned with Peruvian peppers and red onion, served with boiled sweet potatoes, Peruvian corn (choclo) and toasted corn (cancha).

Dinner:
Chicaron de Pescado – Calamari with marinated onions and lime juice with fried yuca.

Drink:
Chicha Morada – Purple corn, fruit and spices
Inka Cola

Dessert:
Picarones

Palette package

Please provide parameters
of this Peruvian place?

Paprika in plenitude of plates,
pastoral paintings and panels of patterns,
peasants in precarious postures,
pictures of play and poise.

Parade of portions
with poetic personal proposals
of pieces from the pantry.

Pondering pros and cons,
presuming paradoxical pathways.

Purpose of our picks is plainly
plurality of practical palatal preferences.

Pay and pencil as positive past.
Perfect.

O is for omission

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Oopsy-daisy

“O” was only for Oman, but obviously omitted,
orbiting obscure objects
with octopus, oysters, oranges, olives…
observing and ogling our obsessions
with only one option.

Openly and officially oppressed,
we opted out for organizing
other original and outstanding,
less ominous or odd
operations and opportunities,
with less obstacles, less opposing, less optimal,
but more ordinary or more original
occurrence – onward with obligatory P.
OK!

N is for Nigerian

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Arike – Nigerian restaurant and cocktail bar

Date: August 2019

Address: 1725 Davie St, Vancouver

Website: https://arikerestaurant.ca/

Appetizer:
Fried Habanero Corn Fritters – corn, habanero, confit garlic & salted tomato
Braised Goat Spoon – ata din din pepper sauce, sprinkled with peanut crumb & topped with a pickled onion

Main:
Pulled Oxtail & Cured Pork Belly – caramelized onion base, soft house cheese, pickled habanero, cured tomato
Spiced Goat Dumplings – sweet chili oil, aerated herb yogurt, fried onion

Dessert:
Pof Pofs – ginger honey, cinnamon sugar, mint

Drink:
Moscow Mule – Stolichnaya vodka, lime, ginger
Rose Cabernet Franc-Merlot

No nonsense

New nourishment neighbourhood
never nibbled on Nigerian.

Mr. No Name, not nearly native,
nerdy but noble,
notified about navigating the novelties.
No unnecessary, no nebulous networking
Narratives not negotiated,
only numbers.
Not negative, no nudging, no nagging,
nice, neat and nippy.
No-brainer. Nailed it!

Night-night!

M is for Moroccan

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Moltaqa – authentically Moroccan

Date: August 2019

Address:  51 West Hastings Street, Vancouver,

Website: https://www.instagram.com/moltaqa.vancouver/?hl=en

Dinner
Appetizer: Stuffed aubergine and beans

Main: Lamb Tagine

Dessert: Date tart

Drink: Moroccan mint tea

Mystery

Mmm, Moroccan!

We made a move to our mark.
A mid-twenties mortal,
a mankind-minding mademoiselle,
marketed her merchandise.
Maybe menu?
She mistakenly made a mess,
but we didn’t make a mountain out of a molehill.
Well-mannered, she mentioned a few munches
to mull over.
What did she mean?
Motivated, we made up our minds,
but miscalculated, too much of moreish meals.

Mental musing,
moments of memories,
Middle Eastern, Mediterranean mapping
of motherland,
then modified, manipulated by military masterminds.
Migration, movements – misplaced.

Mindfulness manifested
meditation,
mellow munching with muffled music,
melting away.

L is for Lebanese

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Lebanese at Manoush’eh

Date: August 2019

Address:  620 Davie Street, Vancouver,

Website: manoushehbc.ca

Lunch: Lentil soup

Zaatar with Jebneh & Kafta

Drink: Lebanese Coffee

Labour of Love

Looking for letter “L”
little lower, down the lane,
lucky location
with lots on the list.

Legitimately Lebanese –
a lady and lads lashing
in lavish language,
letting us linger over lentils and lingo
liberal layers of liveliness.

Little by little, less is left,
leisurely, almost lazy
licking our lips
less lonely and lost.

Laughter like lava,
levitating with love.
Leaving last.

K is for Korean

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Sura Korean Cuisine

Date: August 2019

Address:  Robson St, Vancouver,

Website: http://www.surakoreancuisine.com/#robson

Dinner:
Spicy Sliced Pork – Grilled tiny sliced tender pork marinated in chilli pepper sauce.

Japchae – Stir fried savoury potato noodles in sweet sesame with beef and mixed vegetables

Drink:
Bok-bunja Ju – Korean fruit wine made from wild Korean raspberries called Bok-Bunja and medicinal herbs.

Ka-boom

Among kaleidoscopic k(c)ushions
in k(c)harismatic k(c)olours,
knowing nothing about Korean k(c)uisine,
we made a kamikaze run on kimchi
and the whole kit and kaboodle from the kithchen.

Keen to kick at the k(c)an,
the Korean key kind kens
kept our “king-of-the-kings” karma.

Kudos and kisses!

Thank you, letter “c,” for your assistance with this Kafkaesque knot.