{"id":14316,"date":"2018-05-09T14:41:38","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T21:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/?p=14316"},"modified":"2018-07-19T14:43:11","modified_gmt":"2018-07-19T21:43:11","slug":"sai-woos-unique-cocktail-program-chinatown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/sai-woos-unique-cocktail-program-chinatown\/","title":{"rendered":"Sai Woo’s unique cocktail program in Chinatown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of the best cocktail bars in\u00a0Vancouver can be found in Chinatown.\u00a0 We were going to put Sai Woo<\/a> on our\u00a0Chinatown Cocktail Crawl<\/a> map a year ago but unfortunately, it was not open that day.\u00a0 Actually, it is not open on Sundays and Mondays.<\/p>\n

I was invited by Sai Woo’s mixologist, Mark, to sample the cocktail creations here, on and off their menu. I was also greeted by Tracy, another star here behind that impressive bar, which is the very first thing everyone notices walking through the front door. We had some great chats while she was working the magic into the cocktails\u00a0that I\u00a0was tasting.<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0 she brought out a small squeeze bottle, filled with the result of Mark’s latest experiment, a rhubarb shiraz reduction, and whip up a special drink also using vodka, Aperol,\u00a0Meyer lemon, and a touch of\u00a0rosemary, garnished by a thin dried apple chip and a cute tiny wood clip. The name is just as whimsical: “Barb’s other sister Rosemary”.\u00a0 \u00a0I don’t usually order vodka cocktails, as I might have lost interest in vodka long time ago when I had way too many Cosmopolitans. But with a fun drink like this,\u00a0 so full of flavours and so full of life, I totally could start drinking vodka again.<\/p>\n

\"Barb's<\/a>
Barb’s other sister Rosemary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sai Woo is known for serving casual Asian fusion food prepared in their \u201cEast-meets-West\u201d kitchen using the fresh locally sourced ingredients. I was presented the Prawn Gyoza<\/strong>, the deep-fried Japanese\u00a0style dumplings filled with marinated prawns, scallions and bamboo shoots. The dumplings were delicious, highlighting the sweetness of juicy prawns, also enhanced by the touch of spicy aioli, sesame seeds, pea shoots, and the house-made pickles on the side.<\/p>\n

\"Prawn<\/a>
Prawn Gyoza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next, I requested to try something on their regular cocktail menu. And Tracey put on a show for me as she started making the Smoking Gun<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Featuring\u00a0El Dorado 12 Years Old Rum (which was replaced with\u00a0Flor de Ca\u00f1a for the evening due to the outage of El Dorado), bitters, brown sugar, oak, and smoke from\u00a0Lapsang Souchong tea.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tea\u00a0smoke from the smoker was caught and held in a skull-shaped glass bottle, and the mix was poured into the\u00a0bottle as the smoke was infused into the beautiful amber liquid.\u00a0 I have fortunately captured the entire process on video.<\/p>\n