Exotic Cuisine?
 

I've been wanting to try something ... um .. different other than Chinese, Japanese, Western/Italian or even Greek, etc ...

Things like ... Filipino .. or .. hm . Russian ... Jewish ... African .. like whatever! Anything! Just not your average Steak & Pasta, fried rice or sushi rolls ...

Anyone been to any special places serving some crazy different dishes that taste awesome?

Ethiopian cuisine..

There's one on Commercial and..2nd~ i think. Just seen it in passing.
Also another one at Hastings and Clark, which I plan to try soon.

Filipino cuisine...there's one on Fraser around 47/48th~
and also another one at Main and King Ed..

Jamaican....but I have yet to find a genuine Jamacian place in the lower mainland thats comparable to the real deal

^ carribean festival is comming up. go there. awesome food

Filipino - Rekados. Main and King Ed

Russian - Rasputin. Broadway and Cambie

Jewish - well, mostly delis and bakeries. PHAT in Yaletown is pretty good.

African - Simba's. Denman and Robson

flip.. rekados.. i've always wanted to try it out !!

Russian Food.. Rasputin i heard is not too authentic.. (so i've been told.. i've never tried it)... there is also this place on the bottom or robson and denman... might be ukrainian.. not too sure..

Jewish food.. there is always caplans by my house Deon... its right by chevron gas station..

u can always search dinehere.ca by ethnic foods.. and can try a new restaurant !

afgan norseman
carribean breeze at white rock
ethopian food ( i think) at commercial street (u eat on a huge platter with tons of people and u just use ur hands)
samba (brazillian?) thrlow and robson

Indian too mainstream?

Are there any places here in Vancouver that serve really exotic foods like scorpions, octopi, lamas, snakes, etc? Maybe insects 'n such?? Something that is not on ordinary menus in restaurants??

For Filipino food, The best I've been was Pin-pin on Fraser and 46th. Also heard good things about Little Ongpin on Cambie and No.5 in Richmond. I heard Rekados is closing down due to lack of business.

Never been to Rasputins but heard their borscht is pretty good.

There is a little African store/restaurant/cafe along King George and 105A in Surrey. I keep passing by it and it kind of intrigues me...

Samba was awesome. $25 for dinner but all the meat you can eat!! That's where I have first tasted Bison, Ostrich, and Elk. and yes Girls dancing in some shiny costume.

oh and yes, I think Indian is too mainstream now. It's pretty much like Chinese and Sushi restaurants. There is one on ever corner especially in Surrey and North Delta.

I remember reading an article about Vij's looking into serving insects. Here's the article:

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/st...a-38cde3f51baf

I've never eaten there myself, you might need to contact them as i didn't see in on their menu.
http://www.vijs.ca/

Octopi - any decent sushi place
Snakes - a few traditional Chinese restaurants around Chinese New Years time
Haven't seen insects in Van yet.

^ Like someone mentioned above. Theres a small little Ukrainian restaurant on Robson/Denman, and also Simba (Afrircan) few stores down Denman too.

I'll looking forward to trying these places when I'm back in town.

Malaysian Food - Banana Leaf on East Broadway

so delicious...

Cool! I'll try those places!

Have u tried Seri Malaysia @ hasting & nanaimo? I think that's a more authentic malaysian hole in the wall kind of thing.

kaplan's for jewish food, one of the better delis out there

Is that the place with the yellow canopy out front? If it is, that place is more authentic then Banana Leaf. Jonker Street on Pacific has good malay food to.

^ Yes that's the place. Loved their salted fish fried rice.. spicy & not oily like the Chinese version.

There's The Reef Caribbean Restaurant which now has two locations, one on Main St near Queen Elizabeth Park, the other up on Commercial Drive. The Reef's menu features food inspired by all the islands in the Caribbean, with a few from Jamaica like jerk chicken and ackee and saltfish (Jamaica's national dish). They also have one of the most extensive rum lists in Vancouver with many excellent sipping choices like Pyrat XO, Mount Gay Extra Old, Gosling's Reserve, and Santa Teresa 1796.

Ackee and Saltfish
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...eesaltfish.jpg

Fried Banana with Ice Cream
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...riedbanana.jpg

^ I looove The Reef, prices are decent, it's got a good ambience. Actually Main Street has some good, cheap eats and people are less pretentious.

Their Johnny Cakes are sooo good.

They have kosher sandwiches at Omnitsky Kosher on Cambie & 41st (south of 41st on the east side). Not the best Jewish food in the world, but you could try something different (perhaps a chopped liver or herring sandwich?)

Not in Vancouver but in NYC, different league from what we see here:

http://imperialhotelmanagementcolleg...rers-club.html

For a second their, I thought these were bull penises :haha:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icHMAwhkURs

"Hissing Cockroach - 3x the protein of Chicken ounce for ounce and taste like shrimp"
Sound awesome! Haha

On tonight's menu:
• North American Beaver, marinated and oven-roasted
• Roasted Honey-Glazed Tarantula
• Cajun-Spiced Tempura Tarantula
• North American Crickets, perched atop a celery stick filled with pepper jelly cream cheese
• Spiced Goat Cheese Scorpion Endive Float
• Roasted Cricket—herbed cream cheese toastettes
• Sushi—seaweed and sticky rice with pickled carrots, radishes and cucumbers, bursting with mealworms
• Musca Domestica sweet maize
• Musca Domestica Larvae mushroom caps
• Musca Domestica Carnivale—Filo pastry filled with muscoid larvae topped with honey and muscoid pupae
• Pickled Duck Dongue with goat cheese on raisin bread toast
• Skewered Scorpion Crudités
• Mealworms rising from escargot butter in a delicious puff pastry
• Brandy-Spiced Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
• Roasted South American Ants with a dollop of seasoned crème fraiche on a cucumber boat
• Sautéed Earthworms
• Elk Bourguignon
• Oven Roasted Curried Spanish Goat Roasted Feral Hog—delicately rubbed with garlic, lemon, paprika and chili pepper
• Vertebrate Optic Globular Capsules—marinated in fine spirits and stuffed with olives and onions for our Exotic Explorer’s Martini
• Globular Optic Fritters, with a delicate gribliche sauce
• Asian Glazed Raccoon
• Alligator—delicately marinated, lightly glazed, barbecued, spiced and smiling
• Blankette of Alligator
• Succulent Rattlesnake—roasted and stewed with chipolte peppers
• Rosemary Herbed Rattlesnake Cakes with sour cream
• Rocky Mountain Oysters—prepared in a beer batter and served with chipolte aioli
• Rose Buds in champagne batter and orange, honey sauce
• Roasted Baby Zucchini with crispy flowers and fritters
• Edible Orchids—lightly glazed to hold in their delicate beauty
• Axis Deer Stew
• Braised Leg of Kangaroo

I would probably try 90% of those things, some I've already had!
The Duck Tongue I've had ate many times! Elk, check. Kangaroo, check.
Yum yum!

Too bad we won't ever get anything like that in Vancouver, damn boring city! :p