August 11, 2012: Bao Bei! Days of Stargate Atlantis Past! The Return I!

The other day, our friend and fellow foodie (oh, and culinary apprentice) Simon invited Akemi and I out for dinner.  We ended up meeting him (and his friend Sean) at Bao Bei in Chinatown for inspired modern Chinese cuisine.

Simon psyches himself up for the big feast.

Sean does his best Louis Ferreira imitation.

Akemi prepares to exercise her shoveling hand.

It’s a tapas-style menu offering a plates of varying sizes, from the tiny couple-of-bites appetizers to the bigger entries – perfect for sharing. Some of the highlights included -

Bean curd skin with king oyster mushrooms and truffle vinaigrette.  Love the texture of bean curd skin.

Steamed truffled pork dumplings.  The truffle was subtle, the dumpling delicious.

Kick Ass House Fried Rice.  Yep, that’s what it says on the menu.  And it was.

Chinese Donut (Youtiao) with condensed milk caramel, ginger, and palm sugar soy milk.  Probably the most popular dish of the night.  Surprised?

We ended up doing double desserts on the night (actually, triple dessert because we also ordered some ice cream).  Simon works at Cin Cin, one of Vancouver’s premiere Italian restaurants, and the kitchen there has been producing some phenomenal  macarons and chocolates – both of which we were fortunate enough to sample.

Cin Cin chocolates.  Despite the fact that they were fruit-based, I thought they were excellent.  Akemi, a chocolate expert in her own right, agreed.

Cin Cin macarons.  A terrific assortment.  It’s too bad they don’t have a shop.

Continuing our reminiscences of Stargate: Atlantis’s third season…

THE RETURN (310)

The Ancients are back!  Hurray!  And they’re taking back Atlantis! Uh…okay.  And kicking us back to Earth!  Boo!  It’s no secret.  I’ve never been a fan of the Ancient storylines, mainly because I find them a tad esoteric.  But here we have a bunch of real, live, grounded, unascended Ancients – and they’re still not very likable.  In fact, they’re utter douchebags, thanking us for taking care of the place before patting us on the head and sending us on our way.  ”Off you go.  Don’t let the puddle demolecularize your ass on the way out.”  It’s not wonder they got their asses kicked by the wraith.

This is the first episode we really see the gate bridge in action.  It seemed like such an obvious idea, I was surprised no one had thought of it before.  Of course, coming up with the idea is one thing, finding all those stargates and putting them in position is another thing entirely. Still, the convenience of speedy intergalactic travel between Atlantis and Earth is certainly worth the effort.  For about a year until the midway station gets blown up, after which it’s really not that worthwhile in retrospect.

Ah, once again we are treated to the comedy stylings of Anderson and Picardo.  It’s real treat to watch these two veteran thespians play off each other.  They’re two naturally funny guys so it’s not at all surprising that their scenes worked so well – or that they had a blast shooting them.

So, honestly, what are your thoughts on the Ancients?  Impressive intergalactic elder statesmen?  Or entitled jerks?

A reminder that our Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes on Monday.  Cookie Monster will be dropping by to offer his review of Spiderman (2002).

Today’s entry is dedicated to blog regular mysticode!

Tagged: Atlantis, Bao Bei, science fiction, scifi television, SF television, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis, The Return I, Vancouver Restaurants