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The Golden Sea Restaurant,
140 Lonsdale Ave., North Van-
- couver, 980-5778. Visa and |
MasterCard accepted. Open

every day for dinner. Open
-Monday to Friday for lunch.
Cail a babysitter or take the
kids? Take the kids.

Menu for tonight:
 & Hot and Sour Soup ($4.25, °
medium)
> B® Brochette Special ($11.95)
> Chicken Curry ($6.50)

HITHER LONS-
DALE Avenue?
-: W some good North
; Vancouver City folk have
been asking of late.

Already withered, others might

rightly respond.

‘And that is a source of continu-
ing frustration for proud

 Northenders, because le Grand

~ Rue du North Shore has much

potential, but continues to be a
major social underachiever.

:<: Pockets of promise, such as jack

 Lonsdale’s pub, 1433 Lonsdale,

“assorted espresso bars such as

Caffe San’ Reno, 1544 Lonsdale, «
and Bean There, 1336 Lonsdale,’
and Pierre's restaurant, 1209
Lonsdale, have managed to
establish themselves i in the street's
mid-zone.

And Lonsdale’s lower end con-

-tinues to show more signs of life,
but elsewhere little progress has
been made. ;
“Table Hopping staff made their
way to North Vancouver City and
ts main artery on’ a recent Satur:

BOURGOGNE ALIGOTE 1991

- Jaffelin. $14.85 (France) ...

Usually overshadowed by its
“noble” neighbor, chardonnay, .
the'aligote is the secondary white .
wine grape of Burgundy, used.to
make vin ordinaire for local .con-
sumption that is sometimes spiked -
with’a shot of cassis to make an
aperitif called kirin these parts but
known to Burgundians by an®

itel translated as.

‘pig rinse : :

Try ordering that in a wendy ‘

years to ennoble.this:country
in.with some: ‘SUCCESS, obvious

‘The grape's acid
"produce, wines sharper than the -
“tongue of an‘ex-lover, has been .
a flinty au terity with

‘tendenc to us

Golden

’ Timothy Renshaw
TABLE HOPPING

day night with hopes high that
spontaneous fun and adventure
awaited. :

Those hopes were, alas, soon
dashed.

For Lonsdale Avenue ona
Saturday night is a socially barren
and shabby affair.

Though there are a few good re-
staurants in the area, wandering its
mid-zone in search of interesting
gastronomic diversion is a largely
fruitless endeavor.

‘A phone call to our initial desti-
nation, Kebabsara, 1533 Lonsdale,
for a menu summary was an-
swered with a terse: “Ground
. beef’ — a response that failed to,
inspire our collective tastebuds.

‘We therefore headed south
towards the lower reaches of

, Lonsdale, where, over the past .
decade, sparks of street-level
social life have been generated by

i, Some canny and imaginative
restaurateurs and assorted bohe-

~ mian types.

The Golden Sea, however, i isa
product of neither. It is, instead,
representative of the general
malaise that afflicts Lonsdale.

"just enough, truit to stop you suck"

ing in your cheeks. -,.

The slight:“edge”. in this wine.
actually makes it a better compa-'
nion for tichly sauced seafood or a

* mixed picnic meal than a pricier
chardonnay. : ;

i CASTILLO DE ALMANSA -
RESERVA 1983 ‘$16 approx.

Sea

it used to be the Saigon, and for
all practical purposes the Golden |
Sea still is.

The new management uses the
Saigon’s old menus, and the res-
taurant’s kitchen still produces its
predecessor's wide variety of
Vietnamese cuisine.

But much is amiss on this Gold-
en Sea.

For one thing — if our Saturday
night experience is anything to go
by — it appears to have retained
little of the Saigon’s clientele and
has attracted even less of its own.

For another, the new manage-
ment — whether out of reverence
for its predecessor or mere reluc- |
tance to change — has done little -
to inspire patronage, be it old or
new. ; :

The Golden Sea represents the
weary tawdriness of much of
Lonsdale Avenue itself.

Its interior decor is worn and
uninviting; its windows smudged
and dirty. .

The two waiters on duty, wear-
ing jeans and T-shirts, were polite
and pleasant, but they knew
precious little about serving food
or drink.

However, the food prepared at
the Golden Sea is not bad.

it features that engaging and oc-
casionally fiery marriage of French
and oriental cuisines that can
make for great gastronomic com-
pany.

Our Hot and Sour soup, for ex-"
ample, was mined with a liberal

. dose of red chili peppers offset

with h pineapple chunks and

See West page 35.

‘dar under$10 bargain pops up in |
~ the specialty bins from time to

time and is always wortha go.
It's marketed at 10 years old,
which seems to be the prime of
Tempraniilo-based wines. (After
that, they hold their perfume, but

~ tose their “legs,” becoming a bit :..-
' pale and wan.) 2. = "

Most wine writers regard the
DOs of Central Spain with the
same contempt they used to have
for Minervois, Cahors and the
other minor Rhone-Mediterranean
appelations whose praises they
now sing, in choir.

Serves ‘em right to suffer.

Concentrated wild berry flavors;
subtle tannins, silky wine as allur-
ing as a pair of dark eyes flashing
from behind a black lace shawl .:
but | digress. :

coe *, — By John Moore

NEWS Photo Mike Wakefield

_ BROCHETTE BONANZA... Shrimp on ‘suger cane, calamari and ;
‘assorted brochettes decorate a tabie at. the Golden Sea restau- .
rant in Lower Lonsdale. 2

ve. Flavour of |
India —

‘ Authentic. Gourmet
Cuisine.

PATIO OPEN
JUNE 7
|, “LUNCH:
for $5.95

or less

(with this

MON., TUES., WED. THUR.
1 FREE DINNER
| purchase one dinner entree and receive a
| second entree of equal or lesser value Free,”

© Sunday 8uffet »--tunch: 12:00-2:309m Mon.-Fri,
$11.95 pp. * ©” Tandoori Entrees:
5:00-9:00pm excluded from 2 for 4 offer

© Dinner _® Exdudes beverages

-- §-40pm, Mon.-Sat.- - e Expires June 24/93 °

Name . Ph. no:

085 = BAT? ample parking west side of buns
1175 E. 3rd st, N.Vaii. Fully licensed _

YOuR migupoueioon
> FARILY RESTAURANT