Pizza Maru

Maybe it is a bit ironic that I featured Roseto Bistro in my last post where they offer a small selection of K-Pizzas.  This is because this post is about Pizza Maru that is a new spot on North Road (Burnaby side) almost exclusively specializing in K-Pizzas.  So what is a K-Pizza?  Well, it is Korean-style pizza that features a wide range of Korean toppings.  Also, if you know Korean cuisine, they love their cheese and on K-Pizzas, they aren't shy about piling it on.

So let me feature their most striking option on the menu is the Maru 5 that consists of, as you might've guessed, 5 different themed toppings on a large pizza.  Looking at the picture, you can see that there is Bulgogi, Corn Cheese, Pepperoni, Potato Chunk and Chicken.  Naturally, there is a whack-load of cheese too.  They cut this pizza lengthwise and it is great for people who want it all in one pizza.  I particularly enjoyed the corn cheese as it was so cheesy with sweet pops of corn.  The chicken was great too with some tangy sauce on top.

Of course we tried other pizzas too including the Bulgogi and Hawaiian Shrimp.  I felt that having the whole Bulgogi pizza made a difference compared to the slices in the Maru 5.  I was able to get a whole slice with more beef.  It was hearty with tender meat that was sweet and savoury.  As for the Hawaiian shrimp, this was more about the peppers and onions than the shrimp.  They were merely there for some coldwater crunch. A bit of sweetness from the pineapple and saltiness from the olives completed the flavour profile.  As for the crust, all them so far were uniformly crunchy with a soft chewiness inside.

To get something a bit different than all of the available K-Pizzas, we tried their Real Chicago Pizza.  Now I've had some Chicago deep dish before and this was their interpretation.  I enjoyed their version as the thick crust was completely stuffed with stringy cheese.  In the middle it was a lake of cheese with tomato sauce and pepperoni.  If you like cheese, this would be the pizza for you.  The addition of powdered sugar was a small detail, but it helped balance all of the cheesiness.

In addition to pizza, they also have a selection of pastas.  We chose the Baked Meat Cheese Spaghetti loaded with onions, peppers, mushrooms and ground beef.  Now this was not any ordinary pizza joint spaghetti as the tomato sauce had white wine and stock.  Hence there were more layers of flavour than just plain tomato.  We also tried their Korean BBQ Wings and they were fantastic.  The sweet and sticky glaze was nicely caramelized while the chicken itself was moist and tender.

Lastly, we tried the Red Carbonara Topokki. This was great though as it combined Korean rice cakes with a spicy and creamy carbonara sauce with shrimp, bacon, onion, sliced mushrooms and cabbage.  Definitely a meal in itself and being so rich, best to be shared.  Overall, the stuff at Pizza Maru is pretty solid and unique enough.  The pizzas are loaded with cheese and the crust is good with a uniform crunchy texture.  The rest of the items on the menu are pretty solid as well.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Pizza has a uniformly crunchy crust

- Not shy with the toppings

- Sides are good too

The Bad:

- Pizzas are on the sweeter side

Roseto Bistro

Now here is an interesting blog post.  It is about Roseto Bistro located in PoCo.  Now that doesn't make it particularly strange or unusual.  However, if you tried to search it on Google, it wasn't showing up for the longest time.  In fact, you'd find Hearthstone Pizza as a result.  You see, the reason for this is that Roseto Bistro replaces Hearthstone Pizza, but still has some of the K-pizza options leftover from the 2nd iteration of Hearthstone Pizza.  Okay, if you are confused, I don't blame you.  Currently, Roseto Bistro offers up legit Italian eats prepared by a chef who has worked for years in Italy, but also has some Korean influences in the pizza and the pastas.  In fact, RoSeTo represents Rome, Seoul and Tokyo.  The fusion between all 3 cuisines are evident in the menu.

I think they should add Athens as well since we started with the Calamari Fritti.  Sure, this dish can be every bit Italian as it is Greek.  However, let's just say there are influences.  We found this dish to be prepared quite well with tender pieces of squid that also retained a pleasant chewiness.  The light and crispy batter was properly seasoned where the tzatziki on the side wasn't completely necessary.  However, for me, I always like to dip my calamari into it.  This was a good start to our meal.

Next, we moved onto some pizzas, 2 of which were very similar.  What you see in the picture is the Capricciosa.  We also had the Proscuitto e Funghi which looked exactly like the Capricciosa except without the salsiccia, bacon and artichoke.  Both featured a uniformly crispy crust that was nicely browned, but could've been a bit more charred.  The crust was properly seasoned while the tomato sauce was balanced.  Good amount of toppings and the proscuitto added salty meatiness.  Both featured arugula on top.

Onto the pastas, the fusion aspect of the menu really showed.  This was particularly true with the Kimchi Fettuccine with bacon and mushroom.  I quite enjoyed the layers of flavours in this dish where the kimchi offered up mild spiciness along with tanginess and sweetness.  The addition of cream toned down the spiciness but also made the pasta a bit heavy.  The fettuccine itself was house-made and cooked until al dente.  The addition of bacon added salty meatiness and the mushrooms added some pops of moisture and woodsiness.

On the topic of mushrooms, we had a new menu item in the Mushroom Pasta.  It consisted of firmly al dente spaghetti with a good amount of mushrooms.  This had a certain Japanese flair to it with the addition of butter and soy.  This was full of umamainess as well as the classic Asian flavour to the pasta.  This also sported a good amount of olives and capers which totally amped the overall flavour profile.  There was more saltiness (in a good way) and tanginess to provide impact. 

For our non-pasta dish, we had the Cotoletta di Maiale.  This featured a pork cutlet breaded and fried until super crispy.  The meat itself was tender and moist.  However, the best part of this dish was the Japanese demi sauce.  It was super savoury with sweetness and a touch of tanginess.  It was super addictive and honestly, I could put that on anything and it would taste good.  This came with some perfectly cooked veggies and nicely seared gnocchi.  They were firm, but soft enough to be appealing.

For dessert, we had the Frittelle tossed in sugar.  These little donuts were very soft and fluffy while the outside was crispy.  They were a touch greasy though.  I enjoyed the mild flavours and the slight crunch from the granulated sugar.  Overall, the food at Roseto is quite good.  The pasta is freshly made and totally legit.  The incorporation of Asian influences is seamless and reasonably-priced.  Totally loved the pork cutlet where it is a crazy good value at $22.00.  If you are needing to eat out as a family in the area and were going to spend chain restaurant money anyways, go check out Roseto Bistro.   You will be surprised.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Well-prepared eats
- Totally reasonable pricing
- Quality is there with house-made pasta

The Bad:
- Wished the pizza was more charred

Poke Club

Remember that Poke craze from 10 years ago?  It seemed like a new poke spot was opening up every week!  If you've ever been to Hawaii far before that, you'd know that the poke we have here is an interpretation of the original dish.  Save for a few places that serve up authentic poke, most places here make it accessible and as familiar as they can for the local population.  Hey, I don't blame them as restaurants are there to profit and they will serve whatever the masses are willing to pay for.  They are not there to satisfy the 10% who want it a certain way (those who are always complaining something isn't authentic).  This brings me to Poke Club in PoCo.  Sure, they have poke, but they also have some hot classic Hawaiian and Korean dishes.  Yah, that isn't poke, but really great for these never-ending cold and rainy days.

So we didn't have any cold poke bowls but did have something that was in-between in the Aburi Poke Bowl.  This was a pretty good value at $19.45 with 3 scoops of protein.  In this case we found tuna, salmon and bay scallops that were beautifully torched.  Hence there was some textural contrast as well as smokiness.  With the other components such as imitation crab, corn, cucumber, green onion and fried onions, there was plenty of toppings for the amount of chewy sushi rice.

Sticking with the Hawaiian theme (it is a poke joint after all!), we tried the Garlic Butter Shrimp for a reasonable price of $17.95.  These large shrimp (an oxymoron?) were meaty with a sweet snap texture.  They were garlicky and buttery, but I thought they were much more savoury with an intense sweetness from the caramelization.  The rice underneath soaked up all the juices and was delicious as well.   Some pineapple and imitation crab were added to the bowl too.

Now we can't have garlic butter shrimp and not have a Loco Moco on deck right?  Yet another classic Hawaiian dish, we found a house-made beef patty that was fairly lean.  Hence, it wasn't exactly juicy, but we really appreciated the natural beef texture and flavour.  Of course, this was served with a sunny side egg and gravy to go with the rice.  This was hearty and definitely great for the rainy weather we have right now.

So the Seoul Ra-Myun was definitely not Hawaiian but hey, with the large Asian population in Hawaii, I'm sure you'd find this dish somewhere.  This was so comforting and delicious with Nongshim noodles and beautifully seared thinly sliced beef.  This also came with a bowl of rice and kimchi.  Sure, nothing complex about this dish but for $12.99, it isn't any more expensive than typical fast food these days.

Lastly, we tried their Shrimp Burger that could be had in a spicy version as well.  I thought this was on point with a crispy patty that had soft fluffy shrimp paste in the middle.  It was not dense and went well with the soft toasted bun.  Overall, the warm and hot dishes we had at Poke Club were well-portioned, delicious and reasonably-priced.  Something a bit different for these cold and rainy days.  So you can have something other than poke bowls at Poke Club.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Tasty

- Good portions

- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:

- Loved the lean burger patty, but maybe too lean? 

Osaka Kitchen

There was a time when travelling into Surrey for sushi would be contentious at best.  Times have changed where not only can we find good Japanese food, we can find all kinds of delicious eats.  You already know my love for Mauna Sushi and their high-quality aburi sushi located near Guildford Town Centre, where I regularly visit.  However, there is another spot also nearby in Osaka Kitchen.  This fairly spacious restaurant sports appealing decor combined with really large portions.

But what about the food quality?  We started off strong with the Hokkaido Hotate and Ebi Ceviches.  Buttery and sweet, the Hokkaido scallops were delicate and fresh.  It was served with a modest amount of yuzu citrus which added some acidity.  As for the ebi, it was not dressed very aggressively having just enough acidity for effect.  The ebi was meaty with a slight rebound texture.  The avocado and tomatoes were fresh.  This came with tapioca chips.  We wished they were just a bit larger in size and firmer in texture.

After the ceviches, we started with some specialty rolls including the David Shot Roll with spicy tuna and avocado in the middle topped with torched chopped scallop, jalapeno, spicy mayo and eel sauce.  Yes, this was a saucy roll, but it didn't eat heavy as it appeared.  The rice was nicely textured being chewy while not dry.  There was only a modest amount of it while the bulk of the roll was dedicated to soft spicy tuna and buttery scallops.

The plate of Assorted Tempura was absolutely gigantic consisting of 5 large ebi and an array of veggies.  We found the tempura batter just a touch thick, but it was still crispy outside.  Things were cooked just right.  Something very familiar to me was the Menbosha.  It is a Korean-Chinese dish which is like the Chinese shrimp toast.  This version was a lot less greasy than the Chinese Dim Sum dish.  It appears that they used brioche here and the bread didn't soak up as much oil.  Inside, the shrimp paste was firm, yet still naturally sweet and had a meaty rebound texture.

To get a sense of all the available options, we decided to try some aburi sushi.  Rather than the standard salmon version, we chose their recommended Ebi Oshi with a creamy and tangy sauce on top.  It was evenly seared with some smokiness and a pleasing appearance.  I liked how the sauce was not greasy despite being mayo-based.  The ebi underneath had a nice sweet snap texture.  Rice was good too being soft enough to hold its shape while still being chewy.

Not sure if the next 2 pictures do the following dishes any justice, but the plates were more like platters that were like 14" in diameter!  The first was the Godzilla Bites.  Sure, the amount of greens gave the illusion there was more food on the plate, but in reality, it was still quite a bit of components.  The Godzilla Bites consisted of a deep fried rice base topped with torched tuna, salmon, chopped scallop, alfalfa sprouts, tobiko, spicy mayo and eel sauce.  I found the rice to be quite firm.  I wished it was just a bit lighter and less dense.  Beyond that the generous amount of fish and scallop were sweet with a background smokiness.  Combined with sweet and tangy salad dressing, the salad was actually addictively delicious.

As for the Osaka Castle, it was more of a fancy seafood salad with a bevy of fresh greens as well as a tower of tuna, salmon imitation crab, hokkigai tobiko and chopped scallops.  When mixed together, along with the salad dressing, this was something I couldn't stop eating.  Normally, at other Japanese restaurants that offer a seafood salad, there is much more greens than seafood.  Not this one here.  There was enough for every bite to contain a cube of fish.

For those who want a one-stop shop for a meal, they can opt for the Osaka Course (for 2 people).  This included Mixed Tempura, Salad, Miso Soup, Mixed Sashimi, Osaka Roll and 2 Ice Cream (Black Sesame and Matcha).  This was only $68.00 and given the quality and quantity, it is a good deal.  The sashimi had a nice sheen and fresh smell.  Texturally it was on point too.  The roll stayed together and wasn't wound too tight.  Loved the mochi added to the ice cream as it gave the dessert texture.

Moving onto the rice part of the menu, we tried the Chicken Katsu Curry as well as the Unagi Don.  Being mild, but not overly sweet, the curry had a nice viscosity and we could taste the spices.  The rice was chewy and dry enough to accept the sauce and maintain an appealing texture.  As for the chicken cutlet, it was barely cooked, which meant it was juicy and moist.  The breading on the outside was crispy and not overly thick.

As much as an Unagi Don can be rather defaultish, not all are made equal.  As for this one, it was decent.  The rice was, by no surprise, exactly the same as the chicken katsu curry.  Being chewy, yet still soft, it went well with the proportionate amount of buttery soft unagi.  It was charred slightly, so it was smoky and full of caramelization.  There was enough eel sauce to help flavour both the eel and rice.

Not being specific enough, we accidentally ordered the Seafood Udon instead of the Seafood Yaki Udon.  Well, we ended up getting both and you know what?  We preferred the soup version more!  It sat in a flavourful dashi that took on the brininess of the mussels, hokkigai, squid and prawns.  Furthermore, the noodles were perfectly al dente.  As for the yaki udon, it had the same seafood and came sizzling on a cast iron hot plate.  We wished the plate was even hotter, as it didn't really caramelize the noodles.  It was still tasty though and at least, nothing was dry nor burnt.

Lastly, we had Tonkotsu Ramen with a side of gyoza (which is included in the combo).  We found the broth to be rather light, yet still was decent for a non-ramen spot.  The noodles were really good though being chewy.  The chashu was more meaty than fatty, yet it was still tender.  Gyoza were good with a thin wrapper and completely seared bottom.  Overall, we found the food at Osaka Kitchen to be rather tasty and generous in portion size.  There are a few items that could use improvement though, namely the tempura and the ramen.  Other than that, I found it good an am planning to bring my family back for a revisit.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Generally well-prepared eats

- Generous portions

- Nice dining space

The Bad:

- Some further refinement needed with the tempura batter and the ramen broth

Match Eatery & Public House Delta (Game Day Wings)

You've probably heard me yammering on about how good the wings are at Match Eatery all the time.  Sure, you might chalk that up to me being invited to eat there every now and then.  Well, for those who read this blog often, they will know that I put my money where my mouth is!  I've dined just as many times at Match on my own coin because I genuinely like the place!  So when they invited me out to try their Game Day Wings menu, they didn't have to ask twice!!!

So you can get this menu on "NFL game days" as the name suggests.  We were here for a Sunday morning to catch the football action and to enjoy the wings!   The first one I'll discuss is a favourite of mine in the Nashville Hot Spiced.  Now, this time around, they toned down the spice with less dry rub.  For me, I would ask for more of it, but I get that they have to appeal to a wider audience.  So, if you eat it like I do, you will get some sweet heat to go with the pickles.  If you can take spice, highly recommend you ask for more rub!

One of their new flavours is the Buffalo Blues featuring a hot sauce laced with real blue cheese.  Normally, the dip on the side is the blue cheese, but in this case, it was garlic ranch dip.  Hence, the blue cheese pungency was all in the real chunks of cheese.  The hot sauce itself was mild with some tanginess.  The wings themselves were not dry and the skin was completely rendered and crispy.  Instead of carrot and celery sticks, we found matchstick versions.

One of my favourites of this tasting was the What's the Dill Yo?  This featured crispy wings tossed in dill pickle seasoning.  Hence, the wings were tangy and mildly salty.  There was also some sweetness.  To drive the point home in terms of impact, we found sour dill pickles and dill pickle chips.  If that wasn't enough flavour bomb for us, we also dipped everything into the spicy dill dip.  This was like a chunky tartar sauce that had a kick.  Would love this on my fish sandwich!

The absolutely most tasty dish was the Rising Sun Togarashi with a soy drizzle that was both sweet, salty and tangy while accented by the aromatic sesame seeds.  This was perfectly complimented by the creamy and sweet nori-kewpie mayo.  This had some vibes related to a blast from the past in the Thai wings from Milestone's in their heyday.  Definitely a must order and it really does the Asian fusion justice in its flavour profile and execution. 

Last wing creation was the Stadium Nacho with wings tossed in taco seasoning and served with a nacho cheese sauce topped with salsa.  We also found some tortilla chips and pickled jalapenos.  So this was essentially nachos with some chicken.  However, this worked as a the flavour profile was cohesive.  I enjoyed dipping both the wings and chips into the nacho cheese.  The taco seasoning was definitely there but not enough to make things salty.

So if you see in the background, we also had a the Game Day Beer in the Gridiron 24oz Budweiser for a great price of $10.50!  You can have this as a Bud Light for the same price.  It was served ice cold and naturally went well with the wings.  I think it particularly paired best with the hot wings and taco wings.  For those who can't finish so much beer, there is an $8.00 option for a 16oz.  But honestly, go for the 24oz, it is a better deal!

We ended up ordering a few more items including the Blackened Chicken Sandwich with Jack cheese, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion and house mayo.  This was fantastic as the chicken was truly blackened giving off nutty smokiness.  At the same time, the meat was still moist and tender.  Crispy bacon and melted cheese added texture and more flavour.  It was served on a perfectly toasted potato roll.  

We also had our usual in the Game, Set, Match... Burger with all the same fixin's as well as pickles on toasted brioche.  As per usual, the smashed beef patty was nicely seared while still moist and tender.  The bacon was crispy, so each bite wasn't a struggle (with flabby bacon).  Also, the texture was appealing.  The brioche bun was soft, but toasted enough to hold everything together.  We got the side of breaded onion rings and they were great!  

Since we were there during brunch, our dessert was the Sweet French Toast Bites.  We've had this dish before, but this time around, it was perfect!  The cubes of brioche were crispy on the outside (while not being greasy) and the inside was still soft and fluffy.  They tasted great on their own with aroma, but the side of Kentucky Bourbon Caramel Dip was money.  So rich and sweet.  Another tasty visit to Match and we overloaded on the wings.  Not a bad thing to happen to us!  Come for the games on the big screens and order the wings as well as some inexpensive beer!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- New wing flavours are great, especially the Rising Sun and What's the Dill Yo?

- Great beer special for the 24oz

- The rest of the food is great too, especially the burgers

The Bad:

- Not really a bad, but you'll have to ask for more rub on the Nashville wings because the new version doesn't have enough

Between 2 Buns

Here I am again at Between 2 Buns.  I think this is like my 6th time here.  Sure, I haven't blogged about every visit and really, it would be boring.  However, I haven't been back for 2 years, so it was about time I provided an update.  Besides, it was so sad that Sirius Smash Burgers at Coho Eatery has shut down.  It only leaves a few other places for these types of burgers.  Not to spoil the entire blog post, but B2B makes the best smash burgers in town in my opinion.

Unlike the last time, we didn't bother with a Single Cheeser because there is just not enough meat to satisfy.  Yes, I know that many people don't have the appetite to finish anything more than this, but believe me, it isn't the best the version.  That is why you must order the Double Cheeser with 2 crispy smashed patties, cheese, pickles, shedduce and B2B sauce.  I find elements of In-N-Out with this burger but the patties are far more seared and crisped up.  The sauce and cheese does give it those In-N-Out vibes.

We also got the Jalapeno Bacon Cheeser with only one patty.  Wait, didn't you say one isn't enough?  Well, when you pile on bacon, cheese, shredduce, pickled jalapenos, fried jalapenos and sauce, it becomes much more of a meal.  Sure, I would still add another patty to this because go big or go home,  However, it is still plenty hearty.  Lots of tangy spice from the jalapenos.  The soft toasted bun holds everything together.

For those who don't like beef or can't eat beef, they were offering an Ebi Burger with shredduce and spicy mayo.  This thing was super filling due to the huge shrimp mousse patty (which was coated with panko and fried).  I found it to be a bit too dense, but ultimately, it was still pretty good with a firm bounce texture and natural shrimp flavour.  Good spice from the mayo as it was also a bit tangy.  It helped provide some moisture to an otherwise dense patty.

Of course we got some Fries to share as well.  I consider these similar to Costco fries and it isn't an insult.  These are starch coated and fried until crispy.  The inside remains tender and soft while the outside is uniformly crispy.  As you can see, the menu at B2B isn't extensive as they want to do one thing and do it right.  That they do and you can't go wrong with their burgers.  I also like that they are licensed with a few beers on tap.  That went real well with the food.

The Good:

- Best smash burgers in town IMO

- Do one thing and do it well

- They are licensed!

The Bad:

- Ventilation isn't the best, you will smell like a smash burger when you leave (may be good too?)

- Limited seats