October 4, 2014: The Farewell Feasts Begin! The Union! Crackle Creme!

October 3, 2014: Best and Worst Book ... October 5, 2014: A Toronto Cameo! Sat...

October 4, 2014: The Farewell Feasts Begin! The Union! Crackle Creme!

I’m off to Toronto tomorrow, returning Friday. That gives me eight dinners, roughly fifteen meals (minus the turducken/piecaken extravaganza I have planned for Canadian Thanksgiving next Sunday) to enjoy in Vancouver before I leave it – for seven months!

Last night, Akemi and I got together with our foodie friends, Nicole and Lan, for the first of our many farewell feasts. Rather than visit an old favorite, however, I decided to try somewhere new – The Union in the city’s Strathcona district – partly because the menu intrigued, and partly because it’s located steps from Crackle Creme and their varied creme brûlées.

The Union is very casual. Menu items range from spicy wings to Singapore Laksa. Perfect for sharing. We ended up ordering – well, a lot. Some of the highlights…

The Cha Ca Hanoi: fresh snapper, market greens, turmeric chill coconut milk, dill, rice vermicelli, nuoc cham, fresh herbs and scallions. So good I had to resist the temptation to drink the sauce.

Sweet & Sour Pork Crepes with marinated pulled pork and spicy pineapple slaw. Akemi loved these so much she couldn’t stop talking about them.

Sweet & Sour Fried Fish Banh Mi with spicy sriracha aioli, jalapeños, daikon and carrot pickles, cucumber, and cilantro. This was the first time I’ve tried a fried fish version of the Vietnamese-style sandwich – and I was completely won over.

In truth, pretty much everything we ate was terrific (crispy pork belly banh mi, Hawk thai chicken wings with sweet and spicy nahm jim glaze, fried pork dumplings with scallion soy dipping sauce) with the exception of the bland Nasi Goreng.

Rather than sample dessert (which I’m sure is excellent), we walked over to Crackle Creme for an assortment of creme brûlées…

Owner Daniel Wong fires ‘em up!

Flavors – clockwise from left to right: Madagascar vanilla bean, lemon basil, ferrero richer, black sesame-matcha cheesecake with mango sauce, Guinness-espresso topped with roasted marshmallows.