Restaurant: Sushi Garden
Cuisine: Japanese/Sushi
Last visited: December 16, 2011
Location: Burnaby, BC (Burnaby South)
Address: 4635 Kingsway
Train: Metrotown Skytrain
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Korean owned/operated
• Bang for your buck sushi
• Extensive menu
• Popular for sushi
• Hot items available
• Local favourite
• Very popular/busy
• Line-ups/wait list at 6pm
• Budget friendly/Cheap eats
• Family friendly
• Serves alcohol
• Same owners as California Sushi in Coquitlam
• Free parking at rear
• Dine in/Take out
• Mon-Sat 11am-10pm
• Sunday 11:30-9:30pm

**Recommendations: Alaska Roll, Tuna Gomae

Sushi Garden in Burnaby, BC is probably one of the busiest sushi restaurants in Metro Vancouver. It’s a large restaurant, but it fills up quickly and there’s a guaranteed line up that usually starts at 6pm. I’ve come here on numerous occasions, and it’s not my favourite sushi restaurant, but it’s bang for your buck sushi and it does the job if you’re in the area… especially after a hard day’s worth of shopping at Metrotown mall across the street.

I wouldn’t say Sushi Garden is high quality, but the food is actually decent especially for the price. I really don’t expect too much and if I take it for what it is, it’s good. Cheap sushi in Metro Vancouver isn’t really hard to find, and I wouldn’t make an effort to come here, but it’s an easy go to place if you’re in the neighbourhood. It’s actually Korean owned an operated and we can forget about “authenticity” because when you’re paying $3-4 for a roll, it doesn’t really matter.

The restaurant is for those who have graduated from All You Can Eat sushi and Samurai Sushi, and I would choose this before I would the other two. Sure AYCE sushi can vary depending on the restaurant, but generally, I’m not crazy about it.

If you can’t get a seat here, which is common, then I would also suggest trying Asakusa Sushi just a block away. It’s pretty much the same deal and that one is Vietnamese owned and operated. I like the menu selection better at Sushi Garden, but Asakusa Sushi offers really cheap bento boxes and nicer presentation. Their stuff has a little bit more care since they’re not as busy as Sushi Garden, but their both good options for cheap sushi in the area that actually tastes decent.

On the table:

**Tuna Gomae – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• $4.95
• The gomae sauce is a bit on the thin side and I prefer mine a bit thicker, but this was still good.
• It was half spinach gomae and half tuna gomae, but the portion was still big and worth the price even if it wasn’t all tuna.
• The sauce was thin in texture, but not in flavour and it was a bit sweet and I prefer mine nuttier with a gritty texture of freshly ground toasted sesame seeds.
• There was some pureed sesame seeds, but not a whole lot.
• The tuna isn’t the highest in quality, but again I don’t expect it for the price. When it’s covered in sauce it doesn’t really matter anyways.
• The best tuna gomae I’ve had so far is at Tokachi Japanese Restaurant.

Tako Yaki – 2.5/6 (Okay-Good)

• Octopus ball, 6 pcs $3.95
• If you’ve never tried tako yaki than these are good, but otherwise they’re pretty standard for tako yaki.
• It’s a popular street food usually made of batter, diced octopus, pickled ginger, green onions and topped with fish/squid shavings, Japanese mayo and okonomiyaki sauce (thicker sweeter Teriyaki like sauce).
• It was creamy, gummy and almost like a glutinous dumpling. It’s like eating a very soft mochi.
• It was a bit mushier than usual with a very tiny piece of octopus and it was a bit tough from being overcooked.
• I wanted more filling, because they were a bit too airy even though they are supposed to be somewhat airy and light.
• I could taste the pickled ginger and onion although it was very little. I appreciated it being in there though when lots of places just ignore it.
• They weren’t amazing here, but they’re not bad either and I wouldn’t mind ordering them again.

Seafood Salad – 3/6 (Good)

• Prawn, smoked salmon, tobiko $5.95
• This was a huge salad and well worth the price.
• It’s definitely not your Hapa Izakaya Sashimi Salad, Guu Sashimi Salad or Nan Chuu Sashimi Salad, but it was also half the price of all of them.
• It was a fresh salad with lots of ingredients and I liked it!
• It was crunchy with lots of fresh cabbage, carrots, cucumbers and lettuce and the chilled and firm Japanese vermicelli noodles (used in sunomono) were unexpected, but appreciated and original.
• The seafood wasn’t all sashimi, but I didn’t expect it for the price.
• There was only one piece of tuna sashimi and then lots of artificial crab meat, some tiny thin slices of salty smoked salmon, a piece of cooked shrimp, a piece of cooked octopus, and a generous amount of tobiko which I loved.
• There was a drizzle of wasabi mayo on top, which I could have used more of, but the best part was the dressing that came with it!

This dressing is their secret house made dressing and it makes everything taste delicious. It’s a vinaigrette and the same one they put on their famous Alaska rolls. It’s a very sharp and tangy Miso like Ponzu-Soy sauce. It’s an orangey-citrus vinaigrette that’s almost like an Asian inspired Italian dressing and it’s a bit savoury and sweet too. It had a grainy texture and you could tell it was made with a fresh puree of onions and apples.

**Alaska Roll – 5.5/6 (Excellent!)

• Avocado, tobiko, salmon $3.95
• This is what they’re famous for and it’s their most popular roll. I order it every time I come.
• I would possibly make the effort to come here just for this roll. It’s one of my favourite sushi rolls in the city.
• It was a perfect one-bite piece of melt in your mouth sushi. You have to love avocado to like this.
• They don’t use the rice to make it look big, but the rice was slightly bland and the seaweed a bit chewy.
• It was super rich and creamy and stuffed with buttery, over ripe, semi mashed avocado that comes across as guacamole.
• There was more avocado than salmon, but I don’t even care because it was good enough to overlook.
• What makes this roll different from all other Alaska Rolls is that they pour a special sauce onto it.
• The special sauce is actually the same home made vinaigrette they served with the seafood salad. I love that dressing!
• The acidity of the sauce really cuts through the richness of the creamy avocado and makes the whole thing pop.
• I wouldn’t mind some crunch of cucumber to break things up, but it’s still excellent!
• The salmon wasn’t great quality, but again, you stop caring because it delivers beyond a $3.95 roll and any other ordinary Alaska roll.
• This roll doesn’t require any soy sauce or wasabi.

Spicy Tuna Roll – 3/6

• $2.95
• Unlike most spicy tuna rolls, where you would just get spicy tuna, this one also had cucumbers, green onion and tobiko. For $2.95 I can accept not having as much tuna.
• The spicy sauce tasted like a Korean chili soybean paste and it could have been Gochujung sauce which I love.
• They don’t use the rice to make it look big, but the rice was slightly bland and the seaweed a bit chewy.
• It was a bit sweet and slightly spicy and I could have used more spicy tuna sauce.
• The best spicy tuna roll from a cheap eats sushi place I’ve had so far is still from Tokyo Joe’s Sushi Factory.

Toro Sashimi (Tuna Belly) – 2/6 (Okay)

• $9.95
• So this is the section I prefer to skip – the sashimi. It’s quantity over quality.
• Toro is one of my favourite sashimi so I just wanted to give it a try here.
• Most cheap sushi places don’t specialize in sashimi since it’s expensive, so it’s really not the place to indulge in sashimi although it’s still very popular with their customers.
• The cut was quite random and it seemed previously frozen and thawed because it was colder than being simply chilled.
• It wasn’t as oily and a bit firm rather than buttery, and it wasn’t toro I wanted to finish.
• The flavour just reminded me of very mediocre tuna sashimi which I’m not keen on.
• I could appreciate this toro sashimi much more if it were in a roll context (eg: Negitoro – tuna belly roll) because then the quality doesn’t become as important and the flavour would be more forgivable and somewhat masked.

Island Roll – 2/6 (Okay)

• Cooked tuna, fish flake with fresh kiwi sauce $4.95
• This was from a previous visit. It sounded the most original and interesting, but I wouldn’t order it again.
• It was basically something you might attempt at home, but I appreciate the creativity.
• It was a bit dry because the tuna was jut a canned tuna and I think it needed to be marinated more. They just marinated it in mayo and not enough of it either.
• The kiwi sauce was mashed kiwi with perhaps some lemon juice for tang.
• The roll was salty and sweet, but more on the sweet side, and the kiwi was a bit overpowering and the roll could have been saltier.
• There was also tamago in it, but it got lost in the mixture and kiwi and tuna was basically all I could taste.
• This roll is actually better if you dip it in soy sauce and wasabi… yes even with the kiwi sauce. It works!

Haru Maki – 3/6 (Good)

• Vegetable, Tobiko, crab meat $4.50
• This is from a previous visit. From the description I would never think to order it, but I’m glad I did because it was unexpected and good.
• It was almost like a Vietnamese salad roll, but instead of vermicelli it was all artificial crab meat. There was a lot of it!
• It was creamy from the avocado and crunchy from the fresh vegetables which included a red pepper, one asparagus, a little lettuce, lots of cucumber and a little bit of tobiko.
• They served it with a Teriyaki Hoisin like sauce which was great.
• There was another Japanese salad dressing that tasted like Thousand Island dressing and I wasn’t keen on that.
• The two sauces didn’t really complement and I liked it better with the Teriyaki Hoisin sauce, which I ended up asking for more of (no charge).

Prawn & Sweet Potato Tempura – n/a

• $7.50
• This wasn’t my order, but I had to snap a photo just in case you’re interested to see what it looks like.

Restaurant: Sweet Revenge Patisserie
Cuisine: Desserts
Last visited: December 28, 2011
Location: Vancouver, BC (Riley Park/Little Mountain)
Address: 4160 Main Street
Bus: NB Main St FS E 26 Av
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 2.5 (based on what I tried)
Service: 1.5
Ambiance: 3.5
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Desserts only
• All natural ingredients
• No preservatives
• Cute/quaint atmosphere
• Intimate/cozy room
• Neighbourhood favourite
• Long waits/line-ups
• Organic coffee/teas
• Wine/Beer
• Limited seating
• Reservations recommended
• No reservations Fri-Sat
• Sunday – Thursday: 7pm-12am
• Friday – Saturday: 7pm-1am

**Recommendations: n/a

Sweet Revenge Patisserie is one of Vancouver’s few dessert only restaurants. I haven’t been here in over 10 years, but it’s been around for ages and it’s part of the Main Street classics. Given that I have a major sweet tooth and obsession with desserts “Sweet Revenge” and “dessert only” should be music to my ears. However I can also get quite particular with them and specific with what I look for.

If you’re more than 2-3 people, it’s really difficult to get seated here. There is almost always a line up and the place seats maybe 25-30 people, but it feels like it’s made for 10. It’s a very intimate atmosphere and it gets really warm, so make sure you like who you eat with.

The restaurant feels like eating in grandma’s living room and apparently some of the chef’s recipes are from Grandma as well. With the vintage furnace, floral upholstery and old fashioned trinkets, it was almost like playing house, or admiring a Main Street garage sale.

Unfortunately my experience fell short of my infatuation. The service wasn’t great, a bit passive and quite inexperienced, and I already expected very casual service to start. However, even overlooking the service the desserts I tried were quite average, although I appreciated the use of all natural ingredients. It just wasn’t very inspiring for a place that’s supposed to be dedicated and passionate about desserts.

It’s a traditional menu, but what I had didn’t make me want to explore much further, and for the size of the restaurant it’s attempting a lot. Therefore it’s assumed that their desserts will be quite basic and somewhat premade as much as it attempts to avoid being in that “mass-produced” category. The desserts just seemed a bit dated and routine rather than progressive and improved. I was charmed by the quaintness of the room, but the home made aspect of the desserts didn’t translate nearly as much as the ambiance suggested.

On the table:

Sweet Revenge - 2/6 (Okay)

• A torte-like cake, rich and dense, coated with dark chocolate ganache $6
• This is supposed to be the signature dessert.
• For being called the “Sweet Revenge” it wasn’t that sweet at all except for the chocolate coating.
• It wasn’t rich in the initial bites, but it’s a heavy cake so the richness catches up.
• It was a cold and dense cake coated with a hard, sugary and sweet chocolate ganache icing.
• I prefer a stronger chocolate than sugar aspect to chocolate ganache, so this was one I kind of scrapped off. At the same time it was the only other component to the cake so it almost needed it.
• The strawberry garnish kind of bothered me since it’s out of season, but the restaurant doesn’t emphasize local ingredients, so I can overlook it.

• The torte-like cake had maybe one thin layer of chocolate or buttercream in between, but it was barely noticeable.
• It was very simple and I wanted many more layers. Usually a torte will have many more distinct layers.
• The cake was quite dry, crumbly and nutty and made with ground almonds.
• Naturally a torte will be on the drier side, but this one was drier than normal.
• This just lacked some love and detail and there was nothing very memorable about it.
• As a signature dessert I just expected more “wow” factor.

Apple Pie - 2/6 (Okay)

• Served warm or cold, with real whipped cream $7 (a la mode + $1.50)
• This reminded me of the Baked Apple Dumpling from The Oakwood Canadian Bistro, but this came first.
• This had a very premade aspect to it. I kind of expect that from most pies, but I hoped it wouldn’t come across so easily in the taste.
• It almost seemed warmed up in the microwave rather than baked in the oven and the shell wasn’t crispy, but almost soft and very chewy.

• The pastry shell or crust is a very important part to a great apple pie for me and this one wasn’t flaky or that buttery.
• The filling was quite stiff rather than creamy and most of the caramel sauce inside had somewhat absorbed.
• The apples were more crunchy than tender and more tart than sweet and spiced with cinnamon.
• It was on the gummy side so there was probably a bit much cornstarch in the mixture.
• For a mom and pop shop I understand it would be difficult to make ice cream, so the store bought didn’t bother me.
• I’m really not keen on Breyers ice cream though, but if I had to choose one of their products it would be the All Natural Vanilla ice cream which this was.
• I’m still not crazy about it and I find most Breyers ice creams too creamy, and for store bought I generally prefer Häagen-Dazs.
• I think it would be great if they served the Mountain Dairy Ice Cream in Abbotsford or The Udder Guy’s Ice Cream Company especially since they’re local too.
• Personally I prefer the Apple Pie from Savary Island Pie Company.

“Smooth Operator” – 3/6 (Good)

• Fresh raspberries and mascarpone cheese with whipped cream, layered over raspberry liqueur-soaked chocolate sponge cake, sprinkled with white chocolate shavings and drizzled with raspberry coulis Single: $10.00 Double: $19
• This is supposed to be one of their favourites.
• It was smooth, moist, somewhat light, but still creamy and the better one of the three desserts.
• It tasted like a Raspberry Black Forest Cake, so it still wasn’t that special and possibly something you’ve tried before.
• If you cringe when you hear “Black Forest Cake” because you think of those gross artificial cherries, this wasn’t like that. This was better, but still not particularly better than a fresh Black Forest Cake.
• The chocolate sponge cake was quite standard and it wasn’t dry or even wet from being soaked. It wasn’t as moist as Betty Crocker’s “Super Moist” either.
• I couldn’t taste any of the raspberry liqueur soaked into the cake and it actually didn’t seem like it was soaked in anything.
• The chocolate flavour in the cake was very subtle and it tasted quite plain.
• I tasted more white chocolate and whipped cream and hardly any mascarpone cheese.
• The mascarpone cheese was really the selling ingredient for me that was supposed to make it different too.
• There were some actual fresh raspberries folded in the whipped cream and they were quite tart being out of season.
• There was kind of a sweet and tart balance, but it tasted much more simple than the description.

Strawberry Beer

• Framboise, Mort Subite, Belgium $6
• This is my kind of beer.
• I’ve had it in The Netherlands before and found it again at Gudrun Tasting Room in Richmond, BC. That was Früli strawberry beer though.
• It was nice to know I can get it here too now and it’s more affordable.

Hot Water

• $1.50
• I would have appreciated a mention that I would be charged for hot water before the bill arrived.

Restaurant: Pho Boi, A Taste of Vietnamese
Cuisine: Vietnamese/Noodle Shop
Last visited: December 11, 2011
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond)
Address: 4131 No. 5 Road
Bus: EB Cambie Rd FS No. 5 Rd
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3.5
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Clean/spacious
• Limited menu
• Casual/quick
• Family friendly
• Budget friendly/Cheap eats
• English menus
• Some bubble tea
• Free parking
• Accepts credit card
• Mon-Sun 12pm-11pm
• Closed Wednesdays

**Recommendations: Grilled Pork & Fried Rolls

10 Things to Look for When Dining Vietnamese!

What to look for, what to avoid, and general scouting tips for an “authentic” Vietnamese restaurant.

This may sound like a “discriminating” post, and I know I’m stereotyping… but it’s for fun and there’s a degree of truth to it, so take it light heartedly. It’s not everything I look for, and it doesn’t apply for every Vietnamese restaurant, and there are exceptions and I know that. I apologize ahead of time if I offend some people, but I’ve probably already done so with several posts in the past… so what’s another one? Just kidding… sort of… anyways here goes!

1. The name sounds gangster or gangsta, there’s no English in the title and at a quick glace it looks like French on crack.

Pho Boi… yeah that sounds gangsta enough. Okay, I’ll never say that again. But “A Taste of Vietnamese”? Hmm, I’m not feeling the English. And yes! There’s a “China hat” on the “o”! Pho Boi is the new player in the Vietnamese pho scene in Richmond, BC.

2. It looks like a dive and the sign is missing, messy, crappy looking or tacky.

I drove by Pho Boi randomly and the fancy signage and large space made it impossible to miss. Yes, this is definitely fancy signage especially for a Vietnamese restaurant.
And what is that? A logo? Baller! And is that patio seating?! Dang!

3. The less non-Vietnamese people inside the better.

Yikes, that came out so wrong. Let me explain though. When I go to an ethnic restaurant I just like to see the majority of the diners being the same ethnicity as the cuisine. Since Vancouver is a multicultural society and Richmond is mainly Chinese I expect to see various clientele, but I just feel more confident in the authenticity of an ethnic restaurant when people of that culture are dining there too. I’m sure I’m not the only one on this one.

4. It’s Christmas time all year.

Usually when I go for pho I want the place to look like a hole in the wall shady dive with a random string of Christmas lights by the window or cashier. Those are generally the best places for pho. So far, I saw none of these characteristics, but the upscale neon lights made me hopeful.

5. It’s CASH ONLY.

Oh god… and this! What is this?! You accept Mastercard and Visa?! Well that almost translates to “non-legit”. A Vietnamese restaurant that accepts credit card is a rare find! But, I put my stereotypes aside, went in and opened a menu…

To find this! What is that?!?! A description for pho in pretty understandable English?

6. There’s no English, little English, poorly translated English or spelling mistakes all over the menu.

A description for pho? And is that pho organized by categories for “beginners”, “regulars” and “adventures”? The menu looked like it was for Westerners. At least the Vietnamese names of the items were on it and it wasn’t called “beef noodle soup”, but it was looking a little White Spot… or mall food court.

7. The #1 or #2 is the “house special” and usually the best pho on the 100+ item menu.

The #1 and #2 is usually the “house special” and “must try” pho on the menu. It’s usually the benchmark pho and shows what the restaurant can do if they nail the broth. There’s also about 50+ menu items that are “mix and match” of the same thing. At Pho Boi the menu was small and limited for a Vietnamese restaurant and what would normally be considered the “house special” at a Vietnamese restaurant was #14-16. It’s basically the options under “The Adventures Choice” with all the “scary” exotic meats like “crunchy”.

Photo of Cambie Vietnamese Restaurant not Pho Boi.

8. There’s a waving cat.

It also goes by the name of “Fortune Cat”, “Lucky Cat”, “Welcoming Cat” or “Money Cat” etc. I didn’t notice one at Pho Boi, and it’s a superstitious thing. Lots of Asian restaurants have them and it’s supposed to bring luck to the owner.

9. The food is cheaper than McDonald’s.

Your bowl of pho should be the same or even cheaper than a meal at McDonald’s. A large bowl of pho should not cost more than $8… and I’m being generous.

10. All the staff are Vietnamese and speaking in a language that sounds like choppy out of tune singing.

If you want authentic Vietnamese food you want the staff, or at least the chefs, to be Vietnamese. Sure there is the exception of Vietnamese-Chinese, and Vietnamese-Cambodian food where the chefs might not be Vietnamese, but generally speaking it’s a great sign to have the people who know the food making it. Mind you, my mother can make good pasta, but she’s not Italian. Is it authentic? Of course not, but it’s still good.

In the end if I can find 3/10 of these characteristics from my list at a Vietnamese restaurant, I’ll give it a try. It depends on which 3 too!

So far at Pho Boi I witnessed a gangster sounding name, nice signage, a large group of Westerners at the front window, wannabe Christmas lights, an acceptance of credit cards, an English description of pho, the #1 and #2 not being the “House Special”, no waving cat, a cheap menu, and half the staff speaking Vietnamese. So what is that? 3? 3.5/10? Ahhh, it’s a gamble I’m willing to take!

At first glace Pho Boi looked like it was pho sure for Westerners. It was a wide open space that was quite nice and more comfortable than most shady looking Vietnamese restaurants. The food was clean with nice presentation and I would say it was visually catered to a Western clientele, but the food wasn’t bad! It was pretty legit, but not the best Vietnamese in Richmond. It was more authentic than I assumed so I’m glad I didn’t completely judge a book by its cover or I might not have gone in!

On the table:

Complimentary Bean Sprouts

• If I take photos of complimentary bread, why not bean sprouts?
• They’re offered cooked or raw.
• Everything was clean and it had all the fixings.

#14 Ph Tai Nam Gau Gan Sach – 3/6

• Steak, Flank, Tendon, Fatty Brisket, Tripe Regular $6.45 Large $7.45
• This is equivalent to the house special and it’s an “Adventure’s Choice” on the menu.
• It was good, and it had way more noodles than most places, but there wasn’t enough beef flavour in the soup.
• It had a beefy oiliness to it, which it should, and then a white pepper flavour too.
• I couldn’t really taste the star anise or any other flavours, but it was decent and not too salty. I actually wasn’t dying for water after, but it doesn’t mean it’s free of MSG.
• It was a bit dark in colour and I prefer mine a bit clearer and still nothing beats the best pho I’ve had which is at Pho Tam.

• The noodles were clumpy, but chewy and not overcooked and the broth was served hot.
• It was a decent amount of beef and everything was presented well in nice pieces and slices for what it was.
• The meats were somewhat tender, the flank and steak a bit chewy, and the fatty brisket was pretty much falling apart, but a bit dry.
• I wished it came with some beef balls, which usually comes in a house special.

S2 – Pho Do Bien Chui Cay – 2/6

• Hot & Sour Seafood Noodle Soup $7.45
• There were a couple slices of tomatoes, 3 shrimps which were likely frozen, but they were crunchy and not overcooked, and then a few of those artificial crab sticks.
• The squid was crunchy and overcooked and there was also a deep fried fish ball, but on the whole I wasn’t feeling any of the seafood.

• There was an immediate flavour of intense lemongrass and lime in the broth and it was mildly spicy with chili oil.
• The broth had no seafood flavour and I think it was just the chicken based soup with added lemongrass and chili etc.
• There was a slight tomato base and it was quite acidic with added lime juice and there was flavour, but it wasn’t a seafood broth.
• Again it came with way more noodles than most places would usually give you. They were nice and chewy, but clumpy again.

**B3 – Bun Thit Nuong Cha Cio – 4/6

• Grilled Pork & Fried Rolls $7.95
• This was my favourite. Generally I do like this item, but the grilled pork was done well here and the presentation was nice.
• It is a dry noodle dish served room temperature with hot meat so it’s almost like a warm salad.
• It comes with a side of orange nuom choc fish sauce which I love and that’s what you dress this dish with. It’s like a sweet, salty and tangy vinaigrette.
• It comes with bean sprouts, julienne cucumbers, julienne carrots, shredded lettuce, raw onions, peanuts, garlic chips, and cilantro so it’s very aromatic and flavourful with great texture.
• The pork was a decent amount and the quality of meat was better than most Vietnamese places.
• It was boneless pork that wasn’t too fatty and it was very tender and well marinated with some lemongrass and a sweet and savoury soy based Hoisin like glaze.
• The pork wasn’t dry at all which can usually happen with this dish, but it didn’t have that charcoal grilled exterior I like.
• Overall I enjoyed it and it was better with a squeeze of lime and added basil leaves.

• Chia Gio (Crispy Fried Rolls) - 2.5/6
• Crispy fried roll with ground pork, glass noodles and veggies served with fish sauce
• The roll was a bit premade and over fried, but the filling was very moist, juicy and flavourful. I liked the filling.
• It was very crunchy and crispy with very flaky spring roll wrapping rather than the rice roll wrapping.
• It was oily as expected, and the ratio of wrapper to stuffing was decent.

Summer Roll – 1.5/6

• Rice paper roll with shrimp, pork, vermicelli noodles, and salad served with peanut sauce $2.76
• I know it’s very simple, but I really like these in general. This was not a great one.
• It was mostly noodles and there should be some basil leaves in the stuffing.
• The pork was Vietnamese ham so that was a no no since the menu said pork.
• The peanut sauce also tasted funky and it lacked Hoisin sauce. It was gritty, very sweet like honey and a bit fishy and not just from fish sauce.

Restaurant: Laurie Raphaël
Cuisine: French/Eclectic/Fine Dining
Last visited: November 8, 2011
Location: Quebec City, QC (Quebec City)
Address: 117 rue Dalhousie
Train: Québec
Price Range: $50+ ($40-50 mains)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3 (based on what I tried)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4.5
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Fine dining
• Multiple Award winning
• Chef/Owner Daniel Vézina
• Location in Montreal
• Restaurant/Workshop/Boutique
• French/Eclectic menu
• Quebecois cuisine
• Local ingredients
• Seasonal menus
• Wine/cocktail list
• Daily specials
• $60 3 course price fixe
• Lunch: Tuesday – Friday, 11:30 am – 2:00 pm
• Dinner:  Tuesday – Saturday, 5:30 pm – 10:00 pm

**Recommendations: Meyer Lemon, Apple Crumble

I don’t even know where to begin with Laurie Raphaël. It’s won numerous awards and the name needs no introduction in Quebec City, although outside of Quebec, it’s perhaps not as well recognized. It has a location in Montreal and Quebec City, and both have been named Restaurant of the Year with 5 star and 4 Diamond ratings. The chef and owner is local celebrity chef Daniel Vézina who has been named Chef of the Year on a few occasions. The cuisine is Quebecois inspired French, but it’s also very modern, inventive, and eclectic with some occasional play of molecular gastronomy.

I was invited on a culinary tour of Quebec City and dinner was arranged at Laurie Raphaël. The outside was as pretentious as the inside, but it was no doubt a nice looking restaurant. It was sophisticated, classy and spacious, but something about it felt contrived. It didn’t feel as warm as it had intended to be, and it was perhaps due to the black lights which hinted almost a club atmosphere.

Needless to say I had high expectations for Laurie Raphaël and the ambiance just heightened my hopes for it. I think that’s pretty normal when it comes to fine dining though, and quite often it’s an experience you want to remember with food and service you can’t stop gushing about. In Quebec City and in general this would be considered a place for special occasions. It’s understood that it will be pricey, so as a local or tourist you almost want a guaranteed fine dining experience.

I don’t know what happened on this occasion, and I give it the benefit of the doubt because locals seem to love it and it has the awards to prove, but the menu I had was a bit disappointing. We were given the “Chef Chef” Menu ($60) which was described as being “for the daredevils who have to be surprised with new taste sensations…” It is a 3 course menu that is put together last minute and although the theory sounded really exciting to me, the outcome just fell short.

I know. I’m really sad about it too. I wouldn’t say the food was bad, but it just didn’t meet the expectations I had set for it. Perhaps it would have been better if I ordered from the regular menu, but I’m not sure. Everything on the menu suited my flavour profile and it sounded amazing and incredibly creative, but it just didn’t translate in the things I tried that evening. To be honest, the best things I had were the desserts, which were artistic and memorable. It’s not only because I have a sweet tooth too, but they were genuinely the most impressive and original presentations I’ve had on a global scale of fine dining.

I should also mention that Chef Daniel offers cooking classes and a boutique gift shop in the restaurant as well. I’d still be curious to check the cooking classes out because it looked really intimate and it would be such an experience. As for the restaurant, at this caliber I’m not looking for an “okay” to good experience, and that’s kind of what I was left with. It’s not the style that didn’t suit my tastes either, so maybe it was just the menu that night I wasn’t feeling.

On the table:

Complimentary Bread & Butter

• Plain, Olive Oil & Sundried Tomato, and Parmesan Cheese & Rosemary
• I had the Olive Oil & Sundried Tomato and the Parmesan Cheese & Rosemary bread.
• I appreciated the variety and they tasted like what they were supposed to be, but they were a bit chewy and tough too.

The butter was a very white in colour which usually means it’s a corn fed cow rather than grass. It was creamy, salty and nicely whipped.

2009 Pascal et Nicolas Reverdy Sancerre Terre de Maimbray, Loire, France – We started with a Sauvignon Blanc which was acidic, fresh and crisp. It wasn’t that sweet and easy on the palate.

Amuse Bouche

• Duck rillette with olive oil powder and truffle oil
• Already signs of molecular gastronomy! It’s not the theme of the menu, but there are hints of it here and there.
• I love duck rillette and I liked the taste of this one, but I couldn’t taste the olive oil in the powder and the truffle oil was quite faint.
• The duck was chilled, confit, shredded and moist and very tightly compacted.
• There were some nice sweet and tart cranberries for contrast and texture.
• I could taste a little bit of onion and it wasn’t too salty, but I wanted the olive oil powder to do something besides look pretty and interesting.

Spanish Mackerel Escovitch – 3/6

• With honey mushrooms, celery leaves, and yellow potato chips
• It was a modern take on an escovitch, which is usually marinated in citrus or vinegar and then poached or fried and served chilled. I had lots of it in Jamaica too – see here.
• This one seemed ceviche or sashimi like.
• When I hear escovitch I expect a really tangy and pickled fish, but this one wasn’t and I found it a bit bland.
• It wasn’t really tangy, or sweet and it wasn’t even that fishy for a mackerel. It was slightly fishy, but not pronounced like mackerel can be.
• It was creamy, oily and buttery with a slight iron aftertaste, which was unusual.
• It was topped with minced cucumber, celery, carrots and onions which were marinated and pickled and that’s typically how escovitch would be served, but it just didn’t translate as well.
• There was only one lonely honey mushroom which is almost like a Beech mushroom.
• The Honey mushroom tends to be a bit slimy after they’re cooked so I wasn’t really keen on it with the sashimi like texture of the fish.
• The crisp potato chips made for good contrast, but the main ingredient wasn’t really working.

Yves Cuilleron Syrah 2009, France – It was a jump from the Sauvignon Blanc and it had a medium finish with a bit of a spiciness from black pepper and a hint of leather. I was expecting a game meat to be paired with this and it was good, but not really for my flavour profile.

Guineafowl Stuffed with Mushrooms – 2/6

• Wrapped with cabbage leaves, red wine jus, oolong tea, salsify root & parmesan puree, parsnip chips
• It sounded delicious to me, but texturally I wasn’t feeling it.
• Guineafowl tastes like a combination of chicken and pheasant if you’ve never had it.
• The guineafowl was sous vide and very tender to the point of almost being like tofu.
• The stuffing seemed like a mixture of guineafowl dark meat and Honey mushrooms.
• The Honey mushrooms came across as tendons or fat and I couldn’t distinguish what was a mushroom and what was strips of guineafowl skin.
• There was actually a significant amount of guineafowl skin in the stuffing, but together with the slippery mushrooms it was just all a bit gelatinous and chewy.
• The thin cabbage leaf kept it together and worked visually, but it didn’t help with the slimy factor.
• On the other hand, the salsify root and parmesan puree was fantastic and I could have had a bowl of that.
• It was rich, creamy, smooth and velvety like a pommes puree. It had the nuttiness and saltiness of parmesan followed by a hint of truffle oil too. Loved that!
• I couldn’t taste the oolong tea and the red wine jus was syrupy with perhaps a hint of soy sauce (?).
• The portion wasn’t huge as expected, but the value of ingredients were a bit short and so was the end result. I’m hoping it was just this entree…

**Pre-Dessert – Myer Lemon - 6/6

• Cake and cream of lemon, dehydrated meringue and confit lemon, marmalade and ice cream of olive oil
  
• Yes, I have a sweet tooth, but it’s not the reason why I thought this was 6/6. It’s actually because it was très excellent!
• This was so light and refreshing and bright and I loved it! I’ve never had anything like it! Great as a dessert or palate cleanser.
• There were several forms, components and textures of lemon that my palate was being taken on a lemon tree tour!
• It was a bit like a lemon pudding and the cake part seemed like dehydrated lemon pound cake crackers. It made for excellent texture!
• There was a creamy lemon curd and then a whipped cream scented with lemon and then a bright punch of lemon marmalade which was almost like a jelly, but more fluid.
• It was cold, creamy, crunchy, crispy and almost like a lemon cake, mousse, sorbet, ice cream, pudding, custard, curd, and tart all in one!
• It wasn’t too sweet or sour, but it was tart and it didn’t make your lips purse of your jaw hurt.
• This was only the pre-dessert and now I couldn’t wait for the real dessert!

The grand finale was the Apple Crumble! It was a show stopper and it came on a platter for four! It’s definitely the biggest apple crumble I’ve ever had and the most impressive presentations I’ve seen for one. It came smoking with a white chocolate “iceberg” made with liquid nitrogen.

The server broke the iceberg at the table upon serving.

He then drizzled it with fresh house made caramel!

**Apple Crumble – 6/6

• Cinnamon and nutmeg crumble, white chocolate espuma and apple gel, caramel and vanilla ice cream $14
• This was the end result!
• The liquid nitrogen aspect totally reminded me of Faloodeh Persian dessert I once had at The Apron. It was the whole molecular gastronomy thing which I’m infatuated with. I can see when people think it gets carried away, but I appreciate it for what it is.
• This was a very deconstructed apple crumble!
• It’s definitely not your traditional apple crumble, but it had all the aspects of an apple crumble.
• The “iceberg” was actually white chocolate espuma (foam), but made with liquid nitrogen so it becomes a frozen foam. I’ve had it before in another flavour and I like it.
• It’s almost like creamy ice that’s very airy and light, and it’s not crunchy like ice, but it is hard. It actually tasted like white chocolate mousse too.

• The apples were compressed with citrus and also caramelized so they were tender, naturally sweet and a bit tangy to balance.
• There were some apple gels mixed with the actual apples, and they made for another texture, but I’m not sure if they played an impact besides being unique.
• The ice cream was creamy, but could have used more vanilla bean seeds for that fragrant vanilla accent.
• The crumble tasted like a cookie crumb mixture of graham crackers, almonds and ginger snaps and it was sweet, crunchy, nutty and very fine like powder.
• The caramel sauce actually tasted like salted butterscotch, and it was great, but a bit burnt as well. I’m not sure if that was intentional though because it could have been a burnt salted caramel.
• It’s definitely not what you think of when you think “apple crumble” and I give it an A+ for creativity and presentation!

End of “Chef Chef” Menu.

Dinner was supposed to end at the Apple Crumble, but I couldn’t resist ordering “THE Carrot”. I saw another table order it and I was too intrigued to not order it! I had to! And so far the desserts were on a roll! So what’s another one?

THE Carrot - 4/6

• Carrot cake, cinnamon pudding, raw carrots, cocoa crumble, vanilla and cheese cream, raisin sauce and carrot sorbet $14
• This is definitely the best presentation I’ve seen for a carrot cake!
• I was immediately brought back to the Lindt Single Farm - Chocolate and soil dessert I’ve had at The Apron.
• Again, this is not your traditional Carrot Cake and I appreciated it for what it was, but it didn’t translate as well as the Apple Crumble.
• It was very deconstructed like the Apple Crumble, but it worked better with the crumble.
• It was good, but it did sound better on the menu and it didn’t come together as well.
• The carrot sorbet was served on the side and it tasted exactly like a frozen smooth carrot puree. It was very natural with the sweetness of baby carrots and a bit of citrus. I liked it for what it was!

• The cake part was inside the pot under the “dirt”.
• The “dirt” was a dark chocolate sable cookie and cocoa crumble and it worked with the carrot cake and added a bittersweet earthiness to it.
• The carrot cake was all crumbled, but I wanted more of it.
• There were clumps of cake, cream cheese frosting, cinnamon pudding, raisin puree and bits of raw baby carrots and I wish it had come together better.
• It was just a bit random getting chunks of plain frosting or pudding and I wanted to eat everything together.
• I ended up losing some of the flavours and I could have used something crispy or crunchy like walnuts.
• I was kind of digging around randomly for each component and I wish it was executed in layers and a bit more like a cake rather than parts of a cake.
• It was no doubt interesting and the presentation was brilliant, but I just got a bit lost in the execution.
• This just didn’t really feel like a “real dessert”, which can happen when desserts get so creative, but the Apple Crumble was creative and that really tasted like a dessert too!

Restaurant: Kalok Seafood Restaurant 加樂海鮮酒家
Cuisine: Chinese/Dim Sum/Seafood
Last visited: November 27, 2011
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond Central)
Address: 1008 – 8300 Capstan Way
Subway stop: Aberdeen Station Northbound
Price Range: $10-20 (dim sum) $20-30+ (dinner)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5-3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Chinese owned/operated
• Authentic Cantonese cuisine
• Busy at peak hours
• Spacious
• Affordable dim sum
• 25% off before 11am
• 20% before 11:30am
• Complimentary tea
• English/Chinese menus
• Family friendly
• Free parking
• Mon-Sun Dim Sum/Lunch 9am-3pm
• Mon-Sun Dinner 5pm-10pm

**Recommendations: BBQ Pork Pastry, Fish w/Ginger & Onion, Black Bean Beef Fried Flat Rice Noodle, Young Chow Fried Rice, Steamed Sponge Cake

After Follow Me Foodie to New York, Follow Me to Jamaica and Follow Me Foodie to Montreal & Quebec City, I’d say it’s definitely time for some Follow Me Foodie to dim sum! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. I must say I’ve been avoiding it on all my foodie trips just because I’m confident none of those cities will compare to the quality of dim sum we can get in Vancouver. We pride ourselves on our Asian cuisine and we’re spoiled by endless options for it, especially in the category of Chinese food and dim sum.

Kalok Seafood Restaurant is one of the newest additions to hit the Richmond, BC dim sum scene. It’s located in Union Square Shopping Centre and although it’s quite hidden, it’s known to Richmond’s Chinese locals. The space has changed hands and names a few times in the last few years, but it’s always remained a Chinese restaurant.

I’ve actually come here on three occasions now to check out the menu. It’s not because my first visit was so impressive, but it’s more because it’s still a new place that people are curious about. It’s a very spacious restaurant and it’s quite busy, but the turnover is fast so the wait is never long.

One of the biggest draws is really because it offers 25% off before 11am and 20% off before 11:30am and free tea at both seatings. People love deals and discounts… especially Asian people… I can say that right?! Anyways Kalok Seafood is great value if you’re in early. You snooze you lose! It’s not the cheapest and not the best dim sum for sure, but it’s decent.

It has an extensive menu, free parking, spacious seating, nice atmosphere, and it appears clean, so what more can you really ask for? Yes, I already mentioned you get free tea. Go ahead with the 10% tip if you wish (j/k!).

I find dim sum always relatively “cheap” anyways, so I have my spots that I prefer and I don’t mind paying a bit more for it. On a global scale, it’s probably great, but Richmond has a lot of competition for dim sum. For me, Kalok isn’t my first, second, or third choice, but I wouldn’t complain about coming. It satisfies the craving and it’s good for group dining, so if you’re not picky about your dim sum, then sure, why not?

On the table:

Fresh Shrimp Dumpling - 3/6

• $4.95
• It’s the test. I used to have 2 orders of this for myself as a kid, and now I’m almost tired of them, but it’s somewhat of a “must”.
• I like them, but they’re not great here. They’re good.
• I was more impressed with the stuffing than the skins.
• The skins are relatively thin, but they’re not as chewy as excellent ones.
• The prawns were decently seasoned, crunchy, juicy and still in somewhat whole pieces and not mashed which is always a good thing.

5 Spice Swatow Style Dumpling - 3.5/6

• $4.25
• I find these more exciting than the prawn dumplings, but they’re entirely different.
• They’re perhaps a bit more “adventurous”.
• They’re made in house and the skins are very thin and chewy which is good, but also breaking which isn’t good.

• They were steaming hot and stuffed with a mixture of dried shrimps, ground pork, Chinese celery, cilantro, chives, water chestnuts and peanuts.
• I usually love anything with nuts, but for some reason I’m never crazy about Chinese peanuts and using them in these, although it’s the style of the dumpling to have them.
• These ones had more peanuts than normal too, unless it was just the one I ate.
• The mixture was flavourful, aromatic, creamy and somewhat slimy (Asian sauces tend to be), but it has good textural contrast with so many ingredients.
• I wasn’t keen on the 5 spice seasoning, but it’s in the name so I can’t complain. It was subtle and it wasn’t bad, but I just prefer the standard soy sauce gravy they usually make it with.

Cantonese Dumpling – 3/6

• $4.95
• It’s called “Cantoness Dumpling” on the menu.
• This had less textural contrast and ingredients in the filling than the 5 Spice Swatow Style Dumplings, but they’re not bad.
• This is the Cantonese style which is much more simple than the Swatow style of the dumpling.
• The skins weren’t as thin or chewy, but they’re still made in house.

• It was stuffed with saucy ground pork that was a bit gummy from the corn starch, but that’s quite common of Cantonese food again.
• The pork wasn’t that fatty which is good and it wasn’t dry either.
• There were also minced carrots and chestnuts in the mix for crunch and flavour.
• It was a typical soy sauce gravy, but I wouldn’t mind a bit more salt.
• The flavours were much more basic than the 5 Spice Swatow Style Dumplings so it’s good “beginners” dim sum.

Steamed Shiu Mai Dumpling - 3/6

• $5.25
• These were massive shiu mai! They were the size of two normal ones.
• They’re definitely made in house and I wish the tobiko display was nicer, but I’ll let that go.
• They were probably 50% pork and 50% shrimp which is fair since most places will give more pork than shrimp.
• They were plump, juicy, moist, and the stuffing was somewhat loosely packed together.
• They’re really soft and tender and quite good, but not my favourite.
• I wouldn’t mind a couple more shiitake mushrooms since not every dumpling had one.
• Personally I prefer Red Star Seafood’s shiu mai – see here.

Steamed Fish Ball with Watercress – 1.5/6

• $4.25
• I’m not a fan of these in general so I’m biased.
• I still tried one and they’re made in house, but I still don’t really like them. People that like these thought they were pretty good.
• They’re really soft and tender fish balls made with pureed fish, cilantro, Chinese celery, and perhaps some orange peel I could mildly taste.
• They’re quite fishy tasting and they’re not flaky, but almost spongy.
• The fish bones are also pureed into this, and I could still tell and I really don’t like that, although this characteristic is usually a sign of “freshness”.
• I’m not a fan of the orange peel in there, but traditionally that’s how it’s made and how people would prefer them.
• It’s apples and oranges, but I prefer the curry fishballs over this. These are gourmet fishballs and they are healthy for you too.

Taro Cake with Shrimp Paste – 2/6

• $4.95
• I usually love these (4.5/6), but they’re not great here. They’re okay.
• I suggest trying them at Grand Dynasty in Burnaby or Empire Seafood in Richmond, who also does a good job with them – see here.

• I prefer the inside to be stuffed with minced pork curry or seafood curry and this just tasted like pureed onion curry sauce. I couldn’t really tell if it was onion or what though.
• The curry sauce isn’t spicy, and it never is, but it was more mild than normal.
• The shrimp was slightly overcooked and I’ve never really seen it made this way.
• There was a decent amount of mashed creamy taro (similar to mashed potato), but I prefer more.
• The outside was crispy and fried well and I liked the textural contrast as always.
• They weren’t too greasy, but the quality of the filling wasn’t great and they were slightly bland I wouldn’t mind more salt and curry flavour.
• Personally, I prefer the traditional soy-based minced pork mixture over the curry, but each restaurant and chef has their own style.

Eggplant with Shrimp Paste – 2.5/6

• $4.95
• I love this dish and it was okay here again. I like it better at Red Star Seafood – see Pan-fried Eggplant stuffed with Fish Cake
• It’s more expensive to make them with shrimp though, so it is “better” when they offer it.
• It was good, but I just wanted more flavour to them.
• I wanted either more garlic or some black bean sauce and I couldn’t tell what sauce it was supposed to be.
• I think it was just a standard soy based sauce, but it was a bit gummy and heavy on the cornstarch. Again, it tends to be, but it’s perhaps a bit more noticeable here.
• The eggplant was big, plump and tender and there was a decent amount of pureed shrimp paste on top.
• They’re deep fried so the shrimp is somewhat crispy, or at least you can tell it’s been deep fried, but it’s not greasy either.

BBQ Pork Pastry – 4/6

• $4.25
• I wasn’t going to order these, but they were walking around with them fresh from the oven and they just looked so darn cute! And good!
• 100% of the time I’ll go for the Baked BBQ Pork Buns over these, but they sold out, so this was my rebound.
• It wasn’t a bad rebound! They’re fresh, hot and made in house.

• I was more impressed with the pastry than the stuffing.
• The pastry was soft, tender, flaky, buttery, moist, and nutty from the sesame seeds.
• They were decently filled and all the way to the corners, but the filling wasn’t as good as normal.
• The BBQ pork wasn’t dry, but it wasn’t as saucy and the colour was a bit bright from the dye. It was “okay” BBQ pork.
• The meat wasn’t all fat which I like, but it just wasn’t as well marinated and savoury and sweet as I prefer.

Baked BBQ Pork Buns – 3/6

• $4.25
• I had to come back on another occasion to order these since they were sold out on my first visit.
• I always cross my fingers it’s going to be the Mexican bun topping and not the pineapple bun topping. This was the pineapple bun topping. See the Mexican bun topping on the Baked BBQ Pork Bun here.
• The topping is my favourite part. It’s crispy and sweet, but this one had a slight egg yolk like flavour. I didn’t mind it, but I could tell.

• The buns were nice and soft and a sweeter type of bread, but I did want more BBQ pork stuffing.
• The meat wasn’t all fat which is good, but also not as saucy, marinated and flavourful as I prefer.
• I always choose the baked BBQ pork buns to the pastry kind, but here I prefer their BBQ Pork pastries to these.

Steamed Rice with Minced Pork & Chinese Pickles - 2.5/6

• $4.95
• It’s a typical home cooked Cantonese dish that’s “always best when mom makes it”. It’s one of those dishes.
• This one was okay. It’s good if it’s your first time trying it, but if you’ve had it before, it’s likely you’ve had better.
• The meat was very tender, but it almost seemed too pureed and like meatloaf. It kind of is a Chinese style “meatloaf” or meat patty though.
• It was topped with crunchy preserved Chinese radish and some minced Shiitake mushrooms.
• The meat is marinated in soy sauce and other Asian seasonings and it’s not difficult to warm up to.
• The rice was fine and the portion is good for the price, although it’s not a whole lot of meat.
• It also comes with a side of sweetened soy sauce for you to pour over top, so you’re not just eating plain rice too.

Rice Roll with 3 Kinds of Fresh Mushrooms – 2.5/6

• $4.95
• I generally love these things (5/6) and I really like the mushroom kind, but this one was okay.
• I found the texture a bit too soft and slimy and I wanted more crunch from the mushrooms and found them almost over steamed.
• It was stuffed with Enoki mushrooms, Shiitake mushrooms and I think Oyster mushrooms, but I could barely taste the oyster mushrooms.
• You pour a sweetened soy sauce on top of these before eating them.

Rice Roll with Chinese Donuts & Green Onion – 3/6

• $4.95
• They were going for the Kirin presentation, but I prefer Kirin’s Rice Roll with Chinese Donut more.
• It’s basically a rather neutral tasting deep fried dough wrapped with a rice roll served with soy sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame sauce.
• Generally, everyone loves these, unless you’re a “I don’t eat deep fried foods” person.

• The roll was nice and bite sized which I like, and I prefer the donut thinner like this rather than super thick.
• The donut wasn’t that crispy though, but the middle was soft. I usually like it crispy with a soft and fluffy centre.
• I also prefer dried pork fluff/floss in between the donut and rice roll wrapping, but this one didn’t have that.
• The rice noodle was good, but it didn’t have the dried shrimp which is rare to get and more expensive. Some people don’t like it though, which is fine, but I like it.
• It was a good ratio of wrapper to donut and this was decent for what it was.

Rice Roll with Soy Sauce – 3.5/6

• $6.99
• This is one of my favourite things (6/6) and it brings back childhood memories, and they’re pretty good here.
• They’re a bit oily and not as tender and delicate as some, but I’m quite sure they’re made in house.
• It’s simply rice noodles rolled up, but to get them nice and thin with a chewiness is the trick. These are “rustic” in execution and slightly denser than I prefer.
• Sometimes they have dried shrimps and chives in the rice roll, but these just had the onions sprinkled on top.
• They’re pan fried and rather neutral in flavourful with a bit of soy sauce for savouriness.
• There is hoisin sauce and sesame sauce served on the side that you eat it with.
• I like when they sprinkle these with sesame seeds too.

Gai Lan – 4/6

• $6.99
• It’s not difficult to make and I find steamed vegetables always so overpriced at dim sum, but we still ordered it.
• Not every place will have a good vegetable stock though, and this one was great!
• The gai lan (Chinese broccoli) was nice and young and not tiresome to chew and it was cooked very well.
• It’s perhaps a tad oily, but it’s no more than what’s expected.

**Black Bean Beef Fried Flat Rice Noodle – 4.5/6

• $6.99
• This was another favourite and it was really well done.
• It came with a good amount of beef that was very well marinated and cooked. That was the highlight.
• The beef was really tender and the sauce was flavourful with black beans, ginger, onions and a few red peppers.
• The noodles were also good and separate and overall it was a solid fried noodle dish with a good amount of sauce.

Fried Sticky Rice - 3/6

• $6.99
• I didn’t get to try this, but there wasn’t much left and I heard no complaints or raves about it.

**Young Chow Fried Rice – 4/6

• $6.99
• For what it was, they do a good job with it here.
• It’s just fried rice with shrimps, BBQ pork, crunchy gai lan (Chinese broccoli), and scrambled eggs.
• Sometimes there are carrots, which is a bit Western, but this one didn’t have any. I wouldn’t have minded some peas, but it was a fair amount of other ingredients.
• The shrimps were nice and crunchy and the BBQ pork was slightly sweet and the rice was well seasoned and fried with separate grains and not greasy.
• I couldn’t really get that aromatic “wok” aroma, but it was still good.

Jacket Fish in Soy Sauce – 3/6

• $6.99
• It’s called “Jecket Fish in Soy Sauce” on the menu.
• I prefer this dish at Rainflower in Richmond or Kirin.
• The sauce is delicious and it’s a sweetened soy sauce with garlic, ginger and chives fried into it.
• It’s deep fried, but it’s not battered or very greasy and it still tastes healthy.
• The fish itself has a lot of tiny bones and they’re not really crispy enough to eat through so you have to be careful when you hit the fins and tail.
• It’s a good dish and the fish is a firm white meat with a mild fish flavour, but I prefer the dish below, Fish with Ginger & Onion.

**Fish with Ginger & Onion – 5/6

• $6.99
• This is probably my favourite dish here and I’ve ordered it on two out of three occasions.
• It’s a generous amount of lightly battered and deep fried halibut with a good amount of sauteed green onions, garlic, ginger, onions, and Chinese celery.
• It’s a very aromatic dish and it’s sauteed in sweetened soy sauce before it’s served so each piece is well flavoured, sweet and savoury and not soggy either.
• The pieces are served the Asian way with bones and fish skin, so be prepared. It’s halibut though so the bones are easy to get rid of.
• There’s a good amount of whole meat pieces and and they’re not overcooked.
• The ginger is fried into the oil and it’s not obvious in flavour unless you bite into a slice. It’s used for aromatics along with everything else, but I could taste more celery and soy than everything else.
• The fish tails are extra crispy and you can chew right through all the bones. Those are my favourite! Lots of calcium and it’s almost like shrimp chips… but with fish… and they’re saucy! (I’m trying to encourage you to try them if you haven’t)
• The tender and crunchy sweet onions, green onions and Chinese celery are delicious and I could just eat bowls of that alone.

Portuguese Style Egg Tarts - 3/6

• $3.95
• These were under the “fried & baked” cateogry and they should be under the “dessert” category.
• I love Portuguese Egg Tarts, but I’m not keen on Chinese Egg Tarts. Does that make me racist… ?
• These tasted a bit more like Chinese egg tarts than Portuguese egg tarts to me.
• They weren’t as sweet (like most Chinese desserts) and they were a bit eggy than custardy, but the pastry shell was great and it was nice and flaky and tender.
• They don’t offer regular egg tarts, but this would settle that craving.

**Steamed Sponge Cake – 4.5/6

• $3.80
• For what it is, it’s done really well here and it is a house favourite.
• It’s made fresh in house, served warm, and I could smell the almond scent as soon as it hit the table, but I couldn’t taste almonds. It does have almond extract though.
• It’s a very light, fluffy, soft and airy sponge cake that’s very lightly sweetened.
• It was very tender and moist and I could almost peel the layers of cake. When the cake is loose like this, it’s good.
• It’s made with eggs so it has an eggy flavour too, but it’s not like brioche. It’s way less rich than brioche because there’s no butter.
• I don’t like many versions of these, but I really liked this one because of the aroma, flavour and texture.
• I really like the ones from Empire – see their Steamed Sponge Cake and Top Gun J & C too – see their Steamed Sponge Cake.

Restaurant: Doña Cata Mexican Food
Cuisine: Mexican/Tacos
Last visited: October 11, 2011
Location: Vancouver, BC (Kensington)
Address: 5076 Victoria Drive
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3 (3.5 if you use the salsas and based on tacos only)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Since 2011
• Mexican family owned/operated
• Specializes in authentic Mexican food
• Popular for tacos
• Homemade/Homestyle
• Home made salsas
• No seafood options
• Very casual/quick
• Budget friendly/cheap eats
• Vegetarian/Vegan friendly
• Cheap drinks/sangria
• Good for watching soccer game
• Dine in/Take-out
• Mon-Sat 11am-7pm (Sometimes until 10pm, but depends)

**Recommendations: Must use their salsas with tacos. Longaniza (cured sausage) tacos, Carne Enchilada tacos, and the horchata and mole sauce is good.

Gaahhhh!! I have such a love hate relationship with our Mexican restaurants in Vancouver, BC. Actually it’s not even a love/hate, it’s just a frustration because of the lack of selection for it, and I just know it gets better. I guess we win in other areas like Asian and Japanese cuisine though. Anyways this week I’ve been posting about tacos, and this is another popular choice for authentic Mexican tacos in Vancouver.

It’s another hole in the wall eatery, right by the other hole in the wall Mexican eatery El Caracol Mexican Cafe. The area is known for dive-ish looking restaurants and it’s full of hidden gems. Both of these places are supposed to fall into that category and are popular with neighbourhood locals and the small Mexican population that exists in Vancouver. I’ve been meaning to try Doña Cata Mexican for ages now since the only time I’ve tried them are at catered events. Well I stopped waiting!

Doña Cata Mexican Restaurant & Taqueria rivals the other popular and well known taco joint La Taqueria. I hate saying this, but I find both are good in the context of Vancouver, but outside of Vancouver, it just falls short. Due to the lack of selection for this type of cuisine, they both become the “best tacos in Vancouver”, and I can’t say I feel too good about that theory either. It’s like if Hon’s was the only Chinese restaurant in Vancouver, then of course it could be “the best”… but if you put it relative to everything else, it can get so much better.

I actually found this part the most charming! The pull down projection screen that plays the soccer (or as they call football) games. The place has cheap drinks and it attracts a young local Mexican crowd on game nights. It just made the place feel so legit.

This was the other highlight for me. The large variety of home made salsas which I really appreciated. It was something to show off and I loved that it was self serve and complimentary. Just like La Taqueria, the tacos are reliant on the salsas to give it flavour, which actually kind of bothers me. I do want the meats to be able to carry their own flavour too. Regardless, it’s a bang for your buck kind of place, but if you’re going to go into detail, then they might not rise to your expectations for authentic Mexican tacos.

It’s definitely not as Americanized, but in the cateogry of “authentic Mexican tacos” it can taste better. In Vancouver it’s considered excellent, but on the grand scheme of things (even just comparing to places as close as Seattle, not even Mexico) it’s considered mediocre. In short, Doña Cata Mexican Restaurant & Taqueria is a Mexican owned and operated eatery, but it just looked and felt more authentic than it actually tasted, at least for the tacos. I was rooting for it and actually really wanted to love it too.
Just for quick and easy reference, here’s a Taco chart.

Comparing Mexican Tacos in Vancouver

Doña Cata, La Taqueria & Don Guacamole’s

Note: There are certainly more taco options than this in Metro Vancouver, I just took the three most popular restaurants for authentic Mexican tacos. These places aren’t necessarily the best, but it gives an idea, and my taco hunt is not finished.

On the table:

**Horchata – 4/6

• A refreshing homemade rice and cinnamon based drink lightly sweetened with sugar $2.50
• I love this drink, and it was pretty good here, but it was a bit sweeter than I like.
• It’s sweeter, slightly thicker and richer than the horchata at La Taqueria. It’s also a bit stronger in cinnamon flavour, but it’s not spicy or anything.
• It was almost custard like compared to others, and it’s sweet and refreshing drink that works well with all the spices from the salsas.

Complimentary Chips

• It’s free and appreciated so no complaints really, but if you want fresh corn tortilla chip nachos, I would also recommend the nachos from El Caracol Mexican Cafe (see here) just a block away.

Homemade Salsas (Left to right)

• I loved the variety of self serve complimentary home made salsas.
• I just wish the tacos weren’t so reliant on the salsas to give them flavour.
• Green Tomato: It was actually quite sour, but not necessarily sour with lime juice. It had an aftertaste I wasn’t keen on.
• Regular Tomato: This was just a simple puree of stewed tomatoes. It could have even been a base to marinade meat.
• Chile: This one was my least favourite and I found it spicy, very bitter and very smoky, but the flavour wasn’t pleasant.
• Peanut: I loved this because it was different! It was made with lots of ground peanuts and it seemed more Thai than it did Mexican to me. It was a citrusy peanut sauce with a bit of heat. I liked it with the nachos, more so than with the tacos though. It works well with the chicken.
• Chipotle: I knew this would be my favourite, and it was. It’s sweet, tangy and spicy and it just had the most well rounded flavours to me. I felt the same way about the chipotle salsa at La Taqueria.
• Mexicano: This was a classic fresh tomato, onion and cilantro salsa. It was refreshing and not spicy.
• Avocado: It was really thin and not a guacamole, but an avocado sauce. It was quite refreshing with lots of lime juice and I used it a lot for the tacos.
• Jalapenos and Onions: They were what they were.
• Very Hot Salsa: It was quite hot, and the spice gradually builds and lingers. It was thick and pasty, a bit mustard like and quite bitter. It’s not particularly my favorite hot salsa.

Original Tacos

• $2.00 each, with cheese $2.50
• Since I was on a taco mission, I only tried their tacos. I give it the benefit of the doubt that the rest of the menu could be better.
• I didn’t not like the tacos, but I was expecting more from them. I found them very okay to good.
• I found the meats generally a bit dry and under marinated and under seasoned. I couldn’t taste the flavours from the cooking techniques either like roasting or braising.
• I understand that the salsas are meant to give it flavour, but it was very reliant on the salsa and alone the meats were almost bland.
• The tacos were very greasy, but not as flavourful with meat juices, it was more so just oil.
• They’re double corn tortilla shells, as they should be, and I liked how filled each taco was, but the meats just seemed quite ordinary.
• These are authentic Mexican in style, but in terms of flavour they were lacking. They just tasted the way they looked…
• In the end for $2/taco it’s a bang for your buck.

Barbacoa de Borrego (Lamb) – 3/6

• Slow-braised lamb loin in a secret house blend of chiles and spices $2.00 each, with cheese $2.50
• The lamb was bland and I couldn’t see or taste any chiles or spices, but it was tender and well shredded, but not juicy or very moist.
• It had a slight gamey aftertaste, but it wasn’t overpowering. If you’re extremely sensitive to game, you’ll probably still taste it in this.

Carnitas – 3/6

• Succulent pieces of slow roasted pulled pork and herbs $2.00 each, with cheese $2.50
• This is my favourite kind of taco, so I have higher expectations for it.
• It usually is oily because it’s roasted pulled pork fried in fat, but this one was oily without the flavour.
• It was dripping with oil, but it wasn’t flavourful pork juices, it just tasted like shredded pork in oil.
• The meat was slightly dry and brittle too, and if anything this one should be the least dry.
• I like carnitas with pickled onions on top so I prefer the one at La Taqueria – see here, and although different, I strongly recommend trying the Tostada Carnitas from El Barrio – see here.
• Just for reference, the most authentic carnitas taco I’ve had is from Riviera Maya Mexican Cuisine.

Al Pastor - 2.5/6

• Marinated pork loin, slow-roasted with spices, chiles and pineapple $2.00 each, with cheese $2.50
• The pork loin was marinated in a tomato base with a mild heat and this one actually had some flavour without requiring salsa.
• It was braised with the pineapple and I actually like it when they also top it of with fresh pineapple like they do at La Taqueria, however that method isn’t really authentic. I just like that extra pop of flavour when it’s fresh.
• I liked that it was pieces of pork rather than the crumbled pork they have at La Taqueria though.
• I couldn’t taste any pineapple in this one and the pineapple flavour had disappeared from even the pineapple pieces.
• The pork was lean, so it was naturally drier, but it was quite dry regardless if it wasn’t for the marinade.

**Carne Enchilada - 3.5/6

• Shredded pork loin bathed in a chile sauce $2.00 each, with cheese $2.50
• This one had more flavour than the Al Pastor and it had a meatier bite.
• The meat was quite lean, so naturally a bit drier, but it was also just a bit dry too.
• It was marinated in a slightly spicier chile sauce so this one had flavour without the salsa as well.
• I wanted some more seasoning and spices and I just missed juiciness. It was already the second most flavourful though.

**Longanitza (Cured pork sausage) – 5/6

• Cured pork ground sausage with chili and spices $2.00 each, with cheese $2.50
• This was easily my favourite taco of the night!
• It had the most flavour and it was so obvious compared to everything else.
• It was like bland, bland, bland, FLAVOUR! I could have eaten this meat by itself.
• The meat had a good amount of fat (being cured pork sausage) and it was moist, and juicy and well seasoned.
• I don’t know if everything else just seemed ‘meh’ that I was so impressed by this, but I would order this again.
• The meat was already salty being cured, and it was also well marinated with spicy chilies and spices throughout.
• I would have rather had 6 of these than one of everything.

Pollo (with Mole sauce) – 1.5/6 for the chicken, 4.5/6 for the sauce

• Chicken poached with Mexican herbs & shredded $2.00 each, with cheese $2.50
• Doña Cata’s family recipe for mole rojo boast over 25 ingredients including Mexican chocolate & five different dry chiles.
• This was a special request because it’s not offered as a taco, but I wanted to try the mole sauce. They had no problems with the request.
• This chicken was all white meat and it was the driest of them all. It wasn’t only because it’s white meat chicken, but it was just overcooked and hard to chew and swallow.
• The chicken was very bland as you can see too.
• The mole sauce on the other hand was fantastic! It had so much flavour and it required no salsas.
• The sauce wasn’t as sweet and chocolatey as the mole sauce at La Taqueria. This one was more sophisticated, dark and smoky rather than sweet.
• The mole was very thick and creamy and very well textured with ground nuts (?) and seeds used to make it.
• It wasn’t really spicy, but bold and robust with flavour and I loved the grainy paste like texture it had which made that fresh home made quality really stand out.
• From what I’ve tried, it was the second best mole I’ve tried next to the Pollo En Mole from El Barrio.
• One thing is that I do wish the chicken was cooked into the mole sauce before serving and not just poured on top like it was.

Beans – 2.5/6

• $2.00 each, with cheese $2.50
• Originally I had asked for the Bistek (chopped steak) taco and they ran out of it and gave me this without telling me. I don’t mind, but a heads up would be nice.
• The beans were creamy and savoury, but it wasn’t anything different than what you’ve likely had before. It was refried beans.
• I ended up eating it with a side order of cactus.

Nopales (Cactus) – 2.5/6

• Tender cactus paddles $4
• This was a side order. I’ve had it once before, but it is texturally somewhat acquired. For what it is, it could be excellent here, but for me personally, it’s not something I’d order again.
• It’s a bit slimy, slightly crunchy, but tender and it’s a cross between a pickled poblano pepper and stewed okra. I like both, but this one was a bit sour for me.
• It’s quite sour rather than sweet and smoky, but it didn’t really do anything for me.
• It’s great for vegetarians and vegans.

Restaurant: Il Laboratorio Del Gelato
Cuisine: Gelato/Desserts/Ice Cream
Last visited: September 3, 2011
Location: Manhattan, NY (Lower East Side)
Address: 95 Orchard St
Nearby subway stop: Delancy Street
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5-3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2.5
Overall: 2.5
Additional comments:

• Independently owned
• Specializes in gelato
• Italian ice cream/sorbets
• Hand made in small batches
• 200 rotating flavours
• Traditional flavours
• Sophisticated/unusual flavours
• Fresh fruit sorbets
• Free wholesale delivery
• Coffee/tea available
• Eat in/Take out
• Limited seating
• Daily 10am–6pm

**Recommendations: n/a, I guess it’s good for non-traditional flavours, but the texture wasn’t of authentic Italian gelato.

So while I probably should have been doing this…

… and a little bit of this… (yes, this is a photo I took of guys working out in the middle of Times Square)

I decided to do this!

I had just finished my dinner at Katz’s Deli and I was determined to head back to Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream. It was an ice cream truck I had walked by on my way to Katz’s and I was looking forward to having it after dinner. However as I walked out of Katz’s I noticed this! Il Laboratorio del Gelato. It was smack in front of my face, neighbours with Katz’s, and I recalled coming across it while doing dessert research in New York. The only thing coming in between me and it was one tiny street. I couldn’t pretend I didn’t see it, especially with its bright white lights glaring at me. So I crossed the street.

It was another laboratory, but this time it was for gelato! Hence the name Il Laboratorio Del Gelato. The Laboratory of Gelato or The Gelato Laboratory. The staff uniform was white lab coats and the whole thing looked like a surgery room, pharmaceutical or chemistry lab for gelato. This actually wasn’t the first culinary laboratory I came across. The last New York laboratory I blogged about was for cocktails – see my post for Apothéke. Both labs are dangerous, but in very different ways.

The Il Laboratorio Del Gelato website keeps referring to their products as artisan ice cream or Italian ice cream. To me ice cream, Italian ice cream and gelato are significantly different. Gelato is made with milk and incorporates less air than ice cream. Ice cream is made with cream and has more air and also higher fat content. Anyways I’m guessing they are referring to gelato when they call it ice cream.

The gelatos and sorbets are hand made in small batches daily and the flavours get very creative. However the texture was not of authentic high quality Italian gelato, although the ingredients may have been. They still have the standard and traditional flavours too, but I was more intrigued by their non-traditional gourmet ones.

People seem to love this place, which is fine, but there is better and I discovered it later on in my trip in New York. Being from Vancouver, BC, we actually have world class authentic Italian gelato (see my post for Bella Gelateria, or even Dolce Gelato) and after being very familiar with it, it’s hard to go back to anything else.

Of course even “bad” gelato is never really bad because it’s still a creamy cold dessert in the end, but nonetheless this left me wanting to find better. What I liked about Il Laboratorio Del Gelato were the unique flavours and fresh ingredients used, but what I didn’t like was the texture. The texture was hard and it should be creamy. It should never be a scoop, and this definitely was, and if not a scoop, it was breaking into chunks as a result of being too icy. I guess this may do the trick if you’re in the area, but otherwise I would recommend L’Arte Del Gelato if you’re on a mission to find good authentic Italian gelato in New York.

On the table:

Olive Oil Gelato – 3/6

• Small $4.25 Medium $5.50 Large $6.75 20 oz take out box $10.50
• It wasn’t as creamy as authentic Italian gelato should be.
• It was almost more like ice cream especially since it came out as a scoop. Gelato should never be a scoop.
• It had a richness and fruitiness of quality olive oil which made it already more creamy than some of their other flavours.
• The olive oil flavour is not salty, nor does it have a greasy feel, but it is perhaps a bit acquired.
• It’s not my first time having this and I actually loved the flavour, but the texture wasn’t quite right.
• The best olive oil themed dessert I’ve had was at Cioppino’s in Vancouver, BC – see Olive Oil (featuring warm tender cake with dried fruit, white chocolate-olive oil custard, and Laudemio ice-cream.)

Red Beet Gelato – 2.5/6

• Small $4.25 Medium $5.50 Large $6.75 20 oz take out box $10.50
• Yes, I tend to go for interesting flavours because it’s less likely to come across them.
• The red beet gelato was definitely too hard and icy for being authentic Italian gelato.
• The olive oil gelato had a better texture for sure, and even that one wasn’t creamy enough.
• The red beet was more like ice cream meets a sorbet, but I could see and taste real red beets pureed into it.
• There were no chunks of beets and it was smooth, but I could still get the thickness of the added puree.
• Beets are naturally sweet, so this was naturally sweet as well with less added sugar and of course milk.
• There was an obvious red beet flavour and I could taste the little bits of pureed beets in it.
• This is the first time I’ve had red beet gelato, but not red beet sorbet – see red beet sorbet here.

Pink Peppercorn Gelato – I didn’t get to try this, but this is the sort of interesting flavours they offer. They still offer the traditional flavours too though.

Terragon Pink Peppercorn Gelato – 3/6

• Another creative flavour that I could appreciate, but I didn’t want an entire scoop of it.
• It wasn’t savoury, but it’s considered a savoury flavour. There’s still sugar in it, so it is sweet.
• It had an herby and mildly licorice flavour and the pink peppercorn gave it a bit of heat, but it wasn’t spicy.
• The ingredients were used subtly although they did come across in the gelato.

Green Apple Sorbet - 2.5/6

• It was obviously made with fresh apples and it even included the apple skin.
• It pretty much tasted like frozen icy pureed apple puree and I wouldn’t really call it sorbet.
• I appreciate the fresh and real ingredients, but it’s just not sorbet and it was scooping out in chunks.

Restaurant: The Fat Radish
Cuisine: Eclectic/Pacific Northwest/Gastropub/Local
Last visited: September 10, 2011
Location: Manhattan, NY (Lower East Side)
Address: 17 Orchard Street
Nearby subway stops: East Broadway
Price Range: $10-20 for brunch, $20-30+ dinner

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3 (based on brunch items I had)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Opened end of 2010
• English inspired gastropub
• Sophisticated farm to table
• Local/Seasonal menu
• Eclectic menu
• Some home baked goods
• Casual, but classy
• Vegetarian friendly
• Wine bar
• Cash only
• Brunch/Lunch/Dinner
• Weekend brunch: Sat-Sun 11am-4pm
• Dinner: Mon-Sun 5:30pm-midnight

**Recommendations: n/a

And another one. I’m referring to the discrete signage again. They love doing this in New York and it’s common of many up and coming restaurants as well as tried, tested and true local favourites. The Fat Radish is one of the newest restaurants to hit the dining scene and it seems to be well received by locals.

The restaurant is interesting, exciting and unexpected for the area so it added to the overall charm of it. There’s nothing around here so it comes up randomly and the menu is gourmet and speaks higher than its location.

The front of the restaurant is a cafe serving coffees, teas and home baked goods.

The Fat Radish is an English inspired gastropub and this seems to be one of the trends in New York right now, or even the last little while. The idea of a gastropub. It’s all over the UK, and basically it’s a bar meets a restaurant with gourmet food, wine and beer. It’s a fancy bar.

This gastropub took on a farm to table theme which was obvious from the moment I walked in. It kind of had that Austin, Texas or Portland feel. I loved the casual, contemporary, and country atmosphere, but the wooden chairs didn’t make it too comfortable to stay long.

The menu is local and seasonal, like most new restaurants of this caliber are these days. I came here for brunch, so I can’t speak for the dinner menu, but I wasn’t that inspired to come back for brunch. I am a bit curious to see their dinner menu because it sounds interesting and creative, but if the brunch was an indication of dinner, then I wouldn’t be in a rush to check it out.

Although different in style because different in chefs, I would rather go to The Spotted Pig or Prune for a gastropub experience or at least brunch. Those are a bit “yesterday’s news”, but I found the food to be better which is most important to me. The food was just very simple here, which is their philosophy, but it was almost to the point of something I could make at home so I didn’t see the value. It was good and there was effort to be finer than a diner, but I had higher expectations for it. I found it more unique to the area than it was for my tastes.

On the table:

Beet Root & Pear Juice – 4/6

• $6
• This was a bit sweet for me, but it was very natural. It was heavier with beet flavour than pear so probably it’s why it was sweeter too.
• It was pure juice with no pulp of course, but I wanted more pear and I could almost taste the background of celery, but the flavour isn’t watery.
• It was fresh, but quite pricey and it wasn’t something you couldn’t make at home with a juicer.

Avocado & 7 Grain Toast with Spicy Eggs – 3/6

• $12
• This was the most recommended, so I went for it, and unfortunately it was one of those things you feel like you could make better at home.
• The presentation was as appetizing as the dish. I found it a very literal translation of ingredients and was hoping for more creativity and effort.
• I think the 7 grain bread could have been home made, but it wasn’t particularly amazing and it just tasted like other good quality ones.
• The avocado was executed as a guacamole spread and I was hoping for some fresh heirloom tomatoes, chopped cilantro, onions and lime juice in it.
• It didn’t even have to be Mexican, but some sweet corn or local vegetables would be nice since that is what the restaurant supports anyways.
• It tasted like plain creamy ripe pureed avocado with maybe a bit of mayo and some lime juice.

• The egg on the other hand was fantastic and it saved the dish a bit.
• It was a six minute boiled egg and the yolk was creamy and semi-runny and beautiful. I wouldn’t mind it even softer, but it was fine.
• Yes, it was good with the avocado toast, but again, this is something you could make at home.
• The spicy sauce was just Sriracha sauce drizzled on top, so really you could make this at home. The drizzle was a bit weak too and I was hoping for a home made spicy sauce.
• It was the same idea as avocado, eggs, toast and Tabasco sauce, a common brunch in Southern parts of the States or even California.

Full English Breakfast – 3/6

• Myers of Keswick sausages, eggs, bacon, beans, roasted tomato $15
• This was a very English breakfast. I personally love beans, so I did like this, but the beans were very plain and I expected them to be dressed up and more gourmet.
• Even if they were cooked in bacon or had a touch of maple or something, but they were just plain beans in a tomato sauce and they were a bit soft and overcooked.
• The bacon was crispy and salty and that was good. It was better than your typical diner bacon and quite thick sliced.
• The Myers of Keswick sausages are a famous brand of English sausages, but I wasn’t too keen on them.
• The sausages didn’t really seem like sausages as odd as that sounds. They were creamy and almost mashed and I was hoping for a meatier texture and stronger pork flavour. They were very soft like mashed potatoes.
• The egg was requested over easy and they actually just fried an egg and flipped the egg white over top of the yolk. It was still good, but not my idea of over easy.
• Overall I found it pricey for what it was, without the gourmet aspect.

Duck Egg Soft Scramble – 3.5/6

• Dorset cheese, summer squash, maitake mushrooms $13
• This was the only item that would be trickier to make at home if anything, and not even, but I did enjoy it the most.
• It was just scrambled eggs, cheese, squash and mushrooms scrambled together over arugula.
• It was almost like a salad.
• The scrambled eggs were well made though and the flavour was there. Parts of the egg were dry, but most of it was silky although I never oppose to eggs that are a bit less cooked and runny.
• There was some creamy salty cheese and chives and this would be impressive for a diner, but for a gourmet brunch, it was mediocre.
• I could have used some cherry tomatoes to give it colour and acidify, but it was what it was.

Duck Fat Chips – 3/6

• $8
• Duck fat chips are always good, and these were good, but they certainly get better.
• These were thick cut and I found them quite starchy and dry although well seasoned. I couldn’t taste the duck fat in this, which is quite common.
• They were just regular skin on Idaho Russet potatoes, which I don’t know if I’d consider that local…
• They were a bit crispy, but crispy is not the first texture to come to mind as much as starchy was.
• I prefer Kennebec potatoes, Red Potatoes, or even Yukon Golds, and perhaps double frying them wouldn’t hurt.
• It was served with a house made ketchup with horseradish in it so it reminded me of cocktail sauce, but it wasn’t very spicy and much more ketchup based.

Warm Banana Bread & Butter – 3/6

• $8
• The banana bread was home made, but nothing particularly special or memorable.
• It was warm, moist and sweet with little chunks of banana throughout.
• The crust was soft and it wasn’t too sweet or dessert like.
• It wasn’t very oily either, and it didn’t have many other warm spices going on and it was quite basic.
• I liked that they served it with a tangy and sweet fresh apple butter puree spread and that impressed me more than the actual banana bread.

Restaurant: The Flying Pig
Cuisine: Pacific Northwest/West Coast/American/Local
Last visited: September 22, 2011
Location: Vancouver, BC (Yaletown)
Address: 1168 Hamilton Street
Price Range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3-3.5 (based on few items I tried)
Service: 2
Ambiance: 3 (lively, but loud)
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Pacific Northwest bistro
• Focus on local
• Seasonal menus
• Fair portions
• Moderately priced
• Line ups for dinner
• Cocktail/wine bar
• Neighbourhood favourite
• Brunch/Lunch/Dinner
• Weekend brunch
• Mon-Fri : 11:30 am to Midnight (lunch and dinner)
• Sat-Sun: 10:30 am to Midnight

**Recommendations: Red Wine Braised Beef Short Rib

So what is up with all the pigs?! Another pig post? I am a fan of the oinker, and it just so happens that I recently posted on The Spotted Pig and Traif in New York. These restaurants love the pig as much as I do, on the other hand “The Flying Pig” isn’t about celebrating the pig at all. It’s just the name. What the restaurant is said to celebrate is fresh, local ingredients and that very popular farm to table concept.

The Flying Pig is the newest and hottest restaurant to hit Yaletown and finally it’s not another chain restaurant. However the two owners have played roles as chefs at Glowbal Grill (Glowbal Group restaurant), which some consider chain-like. Anyways chains have their place, but it’s time to return to what Yaletown once was.

Although it is a new independent restaurant, the concept and style is familiar. It’s a casual neighbourhood bistro with West Coast inspired European dishes at somewhat affordable prices. It’s not actually affordable, but given the area, it’s on the affordable side.

I came on a weeknight at about 10pm and there was still a 15-20 minute wait for a table, so it’s obviously well liked by neighbourhood locals. There was a rowdy table and the service was on and off and I can’t say I had a very pleasant experience. Ambiance aside, the food was okay for what the restaurant is and it’s not a place I would save for special occasions.

The farm to table theme came across in the decor, and local ingredients were in mind, however it wasn’t a focus. I only tried a few things, but apparently they were the best things on the menu, or at least the best sellers. The food was actually quite basic and they weren’t really unique recipes or anything new, and I just wanted a bit more originality. I can appreciate it for what it was, but even so, some things could be better executed. It reminded me of Local 360, an excellent restaurant in Seattle, but it doesn’t come up to par, although it wasn’t bad.

I wouldn’t object to coming again and trying more dishes, but I’m also not in a rush too. I would do it more because I’ve heard so many good things about this place, but not necessarily because the food I had this night made me that excited to come back.

On the table:

**Red Wine Braised Beef Short Rib - 5/6

• Bone marrow mashed potatoes $19
• After having Pink Ribbon Tea at Fairmont Vancouver and indulging in Thierry Patisserie desserts (see here) almost all day, I opted for something light. That, and it was already 10:15pm. Yes, I’m pretty bad, but I ate this with no regrets!
• This is the house favourite and I can see why. This was hearty gourmet comfort food.
• It popped out to me most on the menu, as “braised beef short rib” usually does, but the added “bone marrow” was the highlight.
• The beef was served off the bone and it must have been marinating for ages because it was incredibly tenderized and required no knife.
• It was very soft and falling apart, but it wasn’t even that fatty, or at least the fat was well marbleized.
• It was as tender as pulled pork and it shredded beautifully with my fork (I could have even used a spoon), and although it was moist and not dry, it wasn’t juicy either.
• It was smothered with a simple red wine reduction and it wasn’t as dynamic in flavour as fine dining reductions, which is fine because it’s not that kind of restaurant.
• The sauce was thick and syrupy, but it wasn’t really sweet or tangy or layered with additional seasonings and flavours. It was well made sauce, but standard in flavour .
• The generous bed of mashed potatoes was almost like a pommes puree and it just absorbed all the red wine sauce so nicely.
• The potatoes were silky and velvety with a creamy melt in your mouth texture and it was fluid, but not runny.
• There were little tiny bits of potatoes throughout so that it wasn’t completely smooth and I just loved them.
• I actually would have preferred the bone marrow served in the bone, because I couldn’t taste it hidden in the potatoes.
• The potatoes didn’t taste meaty or buttery, and they could have been more garlicky, but they weren’t bland either.
• The rich sauce helped dress them up and made for ideal “mashed potatoes and gravy”, but it was a lot of two things and some added pearl onions would be nice.
• Some fresh vegetables to emphasize that local theme would be appreciated too.

Pan Seared Queen Charlotte Halibut – 3/6 (2 for the fish, 4.5 for the gnocchi)

• Crispy gnocchi, chilliwack corn nage $22
• They offer the same thing for lunch for $16 and the portion doesn’t look much smaller judging by photos.
• The halibut was a fair size, well seasoned and seared nice and crispy in butter.
• The initial chew was moist, but after a couple more, it was significantly dry.
• Halibut tends to have a firmer, meatier chicken like texture, but this one could have actually passed off as chicken and I missed the flakiness of halibut.
• I always prefer fish with the skin, but this probably isn’t suitable for the masses. Too bad, it’s where all the flavour is.
• The gnocchi was delicious! I loved it.
• The pillowy light, tender, soft and creamy gnocchi melted in your mouth and the actual gnocchi was seasoned throughout. It had an herb like scent, but it wasn’t strong and it even tasted a bit cheesy.
• The gnocchi was pan seared, but not quite crispy and was well dressed with nage sauce made of white white and butter. It tastes like a beurre blanc sauce but emulsified  butter is added at the end which gives it richness.
• There was also a hint of chili pepper in the sauce and a lemony tang in the butter to keep it balanced.
• The side carried a bit of spice, but it wasn’t spicy and it gave the sweet corn a nice kick. It would have been great if the corn was roasted as well.
• There were also some green peas, caramelized shallots, and broken cherry tomatoes that gave the dish some acidity.
• I loved the side, but the fish was disappointing and it would have been great if it was poached in the nage sauce and then seared upon serving, which I don’t think it was.

Lobster and Prawn Risotto - 2/6

• Thyme and mascarpone $9
• This was quite bland and ordinary. The local aspect and thyme and mascarpone components didn’t come through either.
• It came with a decent amount of lobster and crab, but it was either frozen and/or cooked separately and then tossed together at the end.
• I actually don’t mind frozen seafood, but it needs seasoning and I wanted the flavour of seafood in the risotto.
• The prawns were cooked fine, but unseasoned so they actually tasted quite frozen, and then the lobster was also bland, but at least not chewy.
• The risotto just tasted buttery and mascarpone alone doesn’t have much flavour so it needed some added Parmesan cheese, or even just salt.
• The texture was creamy and the risotto was al dente, but it was a bit on the gluey side. Maybe they cooked it half way and then finished it off upon serving, which is common in a restaurant context, but overall this wasn’t well executed.

Desserts – I almost only had desserts the entire day, and I still had some Thierry Patisserie desserts to get through. However I still should have ordered dessert here since the chef is known to make them well. I’ll be back to try these!

Restaurant: Lombardi’s Pizza
Cuisine: Pizza/Italian
Last visited: September 3, 2011
Location: Manhattan, NY (Nolita)
Address: 32 Spring Street 
Nearby Subway stop: Spring Street (the number 6 subway line is a block away)
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Since 1897
• New York’s most famous pizza
• Multiple award winning
• “Best Pizza in the City”
• Local & tourist favourite
• Long lines at peak hours
• Home made meatballs
• Home made cheese
• Coal oven pizza
• Limited beer & wine
• Good for groups/families
• Cash only
• Dine in/Take Out/Delivery
• No reservations Fri-Sun
• Sun-Thu 11:30am-11pm
• Fri-Sat 11:30am-12 Midnight

**Recommendations: Meatballs are good. Go for the experience more than the pizza. Try Grimaldi’s Pizzeria f you’re in it for the food.

I’m not sure if you’ve caught on yet, but I had to get the “New York food institutions” out of the way. Along with Katz’s Deli and Shake Shack I had to add Lombardi’s Pizza to the list. Pastrami sandwiches, burgers and New York style pizza, those are only a few of the “must try” staples if you’re going to play foodie in New York.

So what is New York style pizza, or pie, anyways? It’s similar to Napoletana style pizza (pizza originating from Naples, Italy) where the dough is hand tossed and thin. However the New York version is much larger in size and it’s often folded when eaten. Both are much lighter in sauce and toppings compared to American style pizzas, and I found Lombardi’s to be an Americanized version of Napoletana pizza. I guess that’s kind of what New York style pizza is to some degree though.

Lombardi’s is another guaranteed line-up of locals and tourists, but I’d say mainly tourists. I confess, after my experience I kept referring to it as a “tourist trap”, but I think that’s a bit harsh. The pizza wasn’t bad, and it’s not like it’s overpriced, but there is better for the same price and I had it later on in my trip. It was at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria which I’ll post about soon. So hold tight!

Really? The “Best on the Planet?” The planet is a very big place. But if Zagat Survey says it’s “Best on the Planet” then it must be right? Welcome to New York! Almost every single restaurant is Zagat Rated so it loses its affect quickly. It’s not like I flock to “Zagat Rated” places, but when a restaurant has won so many awards, and is consistently on every top 10 pizza list, and is named “best on the planet”, it does spark my curiosity.

If you’re going for the experience, then yes you should try it, since it was licensed by the City of New York as “America’s First Pizzeria” in 1905. It has history. On the other hand, if you’re going purely for the food and the pizza, then I wouldn’t call it a “must try”, although it gives you a nice standard to compare all the other credible New York pizzerias to. For me it was slightly underwhelming because I’ve had better, but it was decent and most ingredients are home made, which I appreciate.

I did experience better pizza than Lombardi’s Pizza in New York, but also in Vancouver, BC too. Perhaps incomparable since I’m referring to authentic Napoletana pizzas instead of “New York pizza”, but I did prefer Nicli Antica Pizzeria and Verace Pizzeria Napoletana and Enoteca. So if you’ve tried these, then consider yourself lucky to be in Vancouver, if not Italy. But again, in the context of New York style pizza, I’ll still recommend Grimaldi’s, although I heard Florio’s in Little Italy is good too. Anyways I have satisfaction in knowing that I’ve gone to the legendary Lombardi’s Pizza, but it’s not somewhere I’d have to revisit.

On the table:

**Original Margherita Pizza – 3/6

• Our original Margherita pizza is made with fresh mozzarella, san marzano tomato sauce and topped with Pecorino Romano and fresh basil. Small (6 slices) $16.50 Large (8 slices) $20.50
• Toppings $3. Toppings on half of pizza $2 each.
• This was a large and I ordered half Margherita and half with home made meatballs.
• I’m a bit of a purist, but a classic Margherita is how to “judge”" any Italian style pizzeria.
• Just by the presentation I was already a bit underwhelmed by this “Zagat Rated Best on the Planet” pizza.
• I wanted to see some charred blackened spots on the crust, which is a traditional characteristic of both New York and Neapolitan style pizzas. It enhances the flavour.
• I also prefer whole leaf basil instead of shreds, so the basil flavour was lacking. Authentic Napoletana pizza does only have a few leaves, but regardless, whole basil leaves are the way to go.
• There was lots of ooeey gooey melted stringy mozzarella cheese which is apparently made in house daily.
• I prefer Fior di Latte or Buffalo Mozzarella, but making mozzarella in house is hard work and commendable.
• The cheese was stretchy and chewy and it had a very mild cow’s milk flavour and somewhat rubbery texture rather than a creamy melt in your mouth one.
• It wasn’t too salty and the tomato sauce was a bit sour with some oregano, and I could taste lots of mozzarella, but not the salty Pecorino Romano cheese.
• The ingredients were pretty fresh, but the san marzano tomato sauce seemed cut with tomato paste or other tomatoes.
• The crust was thin and the edges were crispy and chewy, but on the dry side and not very flavourful.
• The centre of the pizza was soft and tender, as it should be, and it was foldable, but the edge of the crust wasn’t very enjoyable.

• The underside of the pizza crust should have some leoparding or blackened charred spots from the coal oven baking, but it didn’t.
• There should be a slight bitterness and charred flavour to the pizza, so I did miss that.
• The pizza would be considered excellent compared to the standard New York $1 a slice pizzerias, but in the context of “the best NY pizza” (which is the cateogry it runs in), it can be beat.

Original Margherita Pizza with Home Made Meatballs (1/2 beef, 1/2 pork) – 4/6

• Our original Margherita pizza is made with fresh san marzano tomato sauce and topped with pecorino romano and fresh basil. 14” Small (6 slices) $16.50 18” Large (8 slices) $20.50
• Toppings $3. Toppings on half of pizza $2 each.
• I went for the meatballs simply because they were home made.
• The meatballs were made with half pork and half beef which gave them incredible texture and flavour.
• The meatballs were savoury, with no strong seasonings, and so tender and soft that they almost melted in your mouth.
• There may have been some bread crumbs in it, or maybe even milk to get it that consistency, but it still had meaty flavour and texture.
• They were lightly browned and the ground meat had a good amount of fat, so they were nice and juicy not only moist.
• I could have had a side of these alone.

White Pizza (No Sauce) – 3.5/6

• Mozzarella, Ricotta, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, garlic infused oil, oregano, black pepper & basil. 14” Small (6 slices) $18.50 18” Large (8 slices) $22.50
• I wanted the Clam Pie, but they ran out of clams so I just ordered the White Pizza.
• Usually when I see piped ricotta cheese I immediately think “added fillers”, so I was hoping they didn’t sacrifice quality.
• The little mounds of piped ricotta tasted like fluffy baked creamy mashed potatoes with ricotta cheese whipped into it. It was very good, but it just wasn’t the real deal.
• I can’t confirm if it was mashed potatoes, but it really tasted like mashed potatoes with a bit of ricotta.

• Again there was lots of stretchy stringy home made fresh Mozzarella cheese, which was the main cheese I could taste.
• The pizza was drizzled with some garlic infused oil, but I was hoping for whole roasted garlic cloves on top too.
• It had savoury flavour, but besides the mild mozzarella and fluffy ricotta mounds, there were’t many other flavours.
• Just like the Margherita pizza the crust was foldable, thin and chewy with a soft centre, which is great. However the edges of the crust were chewy and on the dry side and lacked the blacked spots that give it a nice charred flavour.

The leoparding wasn’t happening on the white pizza either and I missed the charred blacked spots on the underside of the crust.