Food Court

[herbie]

Here as it's part of Culture, let's talk about food and it's part in that.
As a Canuck, I do not exist solely on poutine and stuff smothered in maple syrup, but they do make for a good treat.
Growing up Vancouver I was exposed to all sorts of ethnic food as well as the usual "Western" fare.
As I wait for my anchovy laden pizza to cook here's some thoughts:

Teenburgers A&Ws were within a block of every High School, long before McDonalds. Remains the GoTo burger for me. They are all over Canada and I understand a completely different compant than A&W in the USA, other than the root beer.
If I'm travelling, as a WestCoaster the White Spot (and Triple0) the only burger better than a Teenburger was their DoubleDouble.
Timmies - terrible coffee and soggy reheated donuts. Don't judge Canada by it.

Worst thing about moving up country? "Chinese and Western" food places serving the crappiest excuse you've ever seen. "Fast food" places so incompetent and inconsistent you're lucky to be served within 20 minutes

Edited February 2, 2025 by herbie

[August1991]

On 2/1/2025 at 9:47 PM, herbie said:

...

Worst thing about moving up country? "Chinese and Western" food places serving the crappiest excuse you've ever seen. "Fast food" places so incompetent and inconsistent you're lucky to be served within 20 minutes

Breakfast. The most traditional meal of the day.

We can all eat/try weird stuff later but morning is different. Our true vegan self is revealed.

[herbie]

More like our true lazy self when you pour that cereal box.

[August1991]

On 2/5/2025 at 3:35 PM, herbie said:

More like our true lazy self when you pour that cereal box.

Cereal box? Typical American.

The true test of globalism is what people have for the first meal of the day.

 

[herbie]

Many of us don't even eat breakfast.
When I was working I'd maybe make toast a couple times a week. An egg mcmuffin if I was on the road.... COFFEE is what matters!
now I have to eat to take the pills, or get the shits. So it's toast, cereal, or frozen strudel and eggs on the weekend.

The in laws did the full English thing for Sunday breakfast - complete with beans and  (yuk) blood sausage. Wake us all up and make us all brekkie on their way back from golfing at some ungodly early hour.

Edited February 10, 2025 by herbie

[August1991]

6 hours ago, herbie said:

Many of us don't even eat breakfast.
When I was working I'd maybe make toast a couple times a week. An egg mcmuffin if I was on the road.... COFFEE is what matters!
now I have to eat to take the pills, or get the shits. So it's toast, cereal, or frozen strudel and eggs on the weekend.

The in laws did the full English thing for Sunday breakfast - complete with beans and  (yuk) blood sausage. Wake us all up and make us all brekkie on their way back from golfing at some ungodly early hour.

Coffee?  Beans? Nothing?

In the morning, each person eats according to habit

Later, we try different foods.

 

[herbie]

Different?
I miss those odd times in Vancouver when we'd wake up and go for Dim Sum brunch with friends.
And the little place on 6th in New West for potstickers and small spicy hot dishes.

How about them Sunday breakfasts when you were 19-25 of leftover warm beer and cold pizza? Watching TV documentaries while somebody on the couch still hadn't come to, pretending the wildlife was more interesting than Cheryl Teigs legs....

[August1991]

On 2/10/2025 at 3:19 PM, herbie said:

Different?

I miss those odd times in Vancouver when we'd wake up and go for Dim Sum brunch with friends...

...

Brunch? There's your tell.

The true tell of a person is how they eat breakfast.

[herbie]

Well the tell for being a conformist is waking up early and going for dim sum for one or two items instead of being hungry enough to try something off every cart.
Bet you'd pass on the squid, squab, and steamed chicken feet too.

[Barquentine]

Worked for a year in Montreal in the 90's. We worked 12 hr days Mon-Sat. You could get breakfast -3 eggs, bacon, toast and coffee for $1.99, then a  great lunch at a Greek restaurant for about $5, then for supper and Sunday meals the world was your oyster.  An incredible variety from around the world, all very affordable. And of course Schwartz's smoked meat! great food memories.

Now I try to recreate some of those myself, with mixed results.

[August1991]

On 2/27/2025 at 7:16 PM, Barquentine said:

Worked for a year in Montreal in the 90's. We worked 12 hr days Mon-Sat. You could get breakfast -3 eggs, bacon, toast and coffee for $1.99....

 

You must be American or Prussian - certainly Protestant. No pancake/waffle?

=====

Elsewhere in the world, people have a different first meal of the day. And as I say, the first meal is a tell of our cultural heritage.

Some of us try different foods later in the day; few after waking. 

[herbie]

My sister just visited and took me out for Indian dinner.
Next morning I found my BIL eating leftover Tikka Masal, Vindaloo and Garlic naan for breakfast.
And he's Polish!

And my wife thought I was weird for mashing up boiled eggs onto toast and jam.

 

[August1991]

On 8/5/2025 at 3:34 PM, herbie said:

My sister just visited and took me out for Indian dinner.
Next morning I found my BIL eating leftover Tikka Masal, Vindaloo and Garlic naan for breakfast.
And he's Polish!

And my wife thought I was weird for mashing up boiled eggs onto toast and jam.

 

Whatever.

IME, the morning meal is the culture tell of a person.

Later in the day, we try different food.

[herbie]

Nick named the BIL "Mikey" when they were still dating in the 1980s. He pulls leftovers from the fridge and starts munching and then asks my sister I this stuff still good?

[Michael Hardner]

3 minutes ago, herbie said:

Nick named the BIL "Mikey" when they were still dating in the 1980s. He pulls leftovers from the fridge and starts munching and then asks my sister I this stuff still good?

My in-laws have a fridge that is truly unholy.  Jam-packed with half full jars...sauces, pickles, who knows.  The primary most visible layer is all expired stuff... And if you lean over and look back, there's lots more rows of things 😕

[herbie]

Like mine. Entire door and 1 shelf full of every Asian condiment you can imagine. But rotated regularly.

I don't DO leftovers. Wife told everyone lasagna was about the only leftover I'd eat. Not true! Cold pizza and pakoras are frequent snacks,

[August1991]

On 8/11/2025 at 10:38 PM, herbie said:

Like mine. Entire door and 1 shelf full of every Asian condiment you can imagine. But rotated regularly.

I don't DO leftovers. Wife told everyone lasagna was about the only leftover I'd eat. Not true! Cold pizza and pakoras are frequent snacks,

Cold pizza in a box? Breakfast? You are young American.

=======

Fridge counters full? Stuffed? Cupboards with weird bottles?

a) Asian/Russian lived through the war

b) Hoarder

[herbie]

20-25 Sunday breakfast was leftover pizza and beer left out of fridge the night before.
Where I live Chinese food is slop. S&S pork, chow mien & chicken wings. Cowboys & Indians don't know anything else, so we had to learn Asian cooking ourselves. I mean if you grew up in Vancouver, Chinese food is another thing Beyond Hope if you get the pun)

[August1991]

On 9/8/2025 at 1:37 PM, herbie said:

20-25 Sunday breakfast was leftover pizza and beer left out of fridge the night before.
Where I live Chinese food is slop. S&S pork, chow mien & chicken wings. Cowboys & Indians don't know anything else, so we had to learn Asian cooking ourselves. I mean if you grew up in Vancouver, Chinese food is another thing Beyond Hope if you get the pun)

So, Herbie, you were born around 1995. You're now in your mid-twenties. Vancouver.

=====

Have you ever faced the choice of a high-end Asian hotel with Business floors? Have you ever flown business class with an early flight?

Late in the day, it's different.

  

[herbie]

The cold pizza and warm beer came in stubbies back then.

[herbie]

Just came back from dinner at a Tasty Tandoori place, Clientele was 30% native Indians tonight. The rest local "cowboys" as the server calls them. They're coming back again and again, she said, and now a few are up to Level Two hot. Never thought I'd see that when I first moved up here.
When I went to one of the first Indian places in Prince George in '88 I told the waitress (white girl) I wasn't all that famiiiar with Indian cuisine so tell the cook I have a $20 expense account, make me up a sampler. When she brought the first dishes, she whispered to me - and I quote - you're not really going to eat this shit, are you?
The cook later came out, asked how it was and chatted for a good half hour. Then he refused to charge me and I insisted he take the $20 as a tip.

Now there's like 6 or 8 Indian restaurants in PG, many others came and went over the years and samosas and pakoras are at every other gas station.

Edited September 19, 2025 by herbie