B House

I've seen B House featured on a few IG reels and stories in the past, which definitely intrigued me.  The eclectic menu isn't easily categorized as it jumps from one Asian cuisine to another with fusion elements.  Normally, that would be cause for concern but if you think about it, most restaurants have some form of fusion going on.  Hey, the best food on Earth are results of fusing 2 cuisines (e.g. Vietnamese & French).  Jackie and I dropped by to check them out on a Sunny Sunday.

To illustrate the fusion focus of the menu, the Tuna Sushi Bombs were a bit Japanese, a bit Korean and a touch Westcoast.  It featured a crispy rice base topped with soy-marinated ahi tuna, sesame seeds, green onion, Korean sauce, jalapenos, cucumbers, watermelon radish, truffle aioli, miso glaze and tobiko.  So as you can see, there was a lot going on with each bite.  Was it a bit muddled?  I would say yes, but it was still pretty tasty.  Surprisingly, I still noticed the buttery tuna despite everything on top of it.  The good thing was that no one component dominated the other.  I got the spice from the Korean sauce, the creamy truffle from the aioli and the saltiness of the soy.  The crispy rice was definitely living up to its namesake while not being too firm.

On the same theme, we had the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare next.  It was beautifully plated (fine-dining worthy) with a smear of miso glaze topped with an edamame salad with tomatoes, green onions and herbs.  As for the tartare itself, we found cubed citrus soy yellowfin tuna, avocado, tobiko, sesame seeds and green onion.  This had a lot less going on so that the tuna was more at the forefront.  Similar to the sushi bombs, the tuna was not aggressively marinated, so it was still the star of the plate.  Combined with the creamy avocado and the miso glaze, we had a balanced bite atop a crispy taro chip.

Something that was not quite fusion, we had the Simple Wings.  These were essentially Vietnamese-inspired with salt, pepper, garlic, jalapeno and chili flakes.  I thought these wings were decent with a crispy rice flour coating.  The skin was somewhat rendered and the meat was indeed juicy.  What I would've liked to see some sort of brine as the wings were not flavourful on their own.  Even with the ample amount of aromatic garlic and jalapenos, it didn't do enough to make an impact.

Our last small plate was the Char Siu Bao which, unlike the Chinese version, was Japanese-style char siu nestled within a Chinese mantou-type bao.  These were pretty decent with thick slices of fatty char siu that had a salty sweet glaze on them.  In addition, we found lettuce, aioli, jalapenos, pickled shallots and sesame seeds.  This helped brighten up the whole thing with tanginess, heat and nuttiness.

My favourite dish of the meal was the Dragon Noodle Bowl with stir-fried egg noodles, blackened boneless lemongrass chicken leg, greens, crispy garlic and herbs topped with bang bang shrimp.  These chewy noodles were so flavourful, it was addictive eating them.  Lots of sweetness and savoury elements as well as the crunch from the veggies.  That chicken was superb being juicy and moist while caramelized and charred.  On top of that, literally and figuratively, the bang bang shrimp were slightly crispy and with spice and sweetness.

I had mixed feelings about the Miso Wild Sockeye Salmon.  On one hand, the salmon was overcooked but then the rest of the dish was really good.   The salmon was naturally sweet and was complimented by the rich flavour of the miso.  Some nuttiness was provided by the sesame seeds.  Rice was nicely done being chewy while the veggies were vibrant.  Avocado salsa was creamy and went well with the salmon.  A bit of truffle aioli afforded some creamy woodsiness.

Another favourite of mine was the Korean Chicken Burger.  I'll talk about the other components a bit later, but I would like to focus on the croissant bun.  What a fantastic choice!  It was crispy, yet flaky and buttery.  Even better than brioche!  Now about that chicken, it as juicy and fried beautifully.  I found it sauced just enough to give it some sweet heat.  Lots of crunchy coleslaw to balance out the burger. Those fries were pretty good too, super crispy!

We had another bowl in the Pork Belly that consisted of rice, daikon slaw, cucumber, tomato, pineapple, green onion, soy marinated egg, house aioli, sesame seeds and crispy garlic.  Once again, there was quite a bit going on here, but the pork belly was definitely the most noticeable ingredient.  It was beer braised being tender with just the right amount of fat.  All of the other ingredients did help lighten the bowl with some sweetness and crunch.

We had one more dish in the Thai Red Curry with Chicken Leg.  This was a creamy and generally mild curry that had some hints of spice.  It was plenty aromatic with the coconut cream coming through in texture and in taste.  The fresh herbs and cherry tomatoes provided some brightness.  The whole chicken leg was the star of the plate as it was juicy and tender while sporting crispy and rendered skin.  The side of rice was quite good being fluffy while not too wet.

We also had a couple of cocktails to go with our meal in the Lychee Raspberry Cosmo and the Mango Crema Cosmo.  As you can see, both were fruity in appearance and in fact, were refreshing and sweet.  Definitely great for those who don't want something strong.  As for dessert, we had the Chocolate Molten Brownie.  This was pretty good with a slightly crisp exterior then giving way to an ooey gooey centre.  It was purposefully sweet and plenty chocolatey.  Overall, the meal at B House was definitely interesting with some real strong dishes.  Possibly there maybe a few too many components, but for some odd reason, it seems to work.  There is also a nice patio outside for sunny days.

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

The Good:
- Some strong flavours
- Most proteins were quite good
- Nice vibe (a la The Drive)

The Bad:
- Salmon was quite overdone