Luxe Chinese Seafood Restaurant

It's been like more than 11 years ago since I last had Dim Sum at Luxe Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Langley.   Well, the picture of the front is from 2015 since I forgot to take an updated one...  Anyways, the reason we came back here is that Guy Smiley lives nearby and this was the closest Dim Sum spot.  From what I remember, the Dim Sum is decent, especially for Willowbrook.

So they did away with the push carts and now we have to order with the server.   The first dish to hit the table was the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings.  This was a good version where the exterior was crispy and only moderately greasy.  Beyond that, the mashed taro was silky and well-seasoned.  Nice use of lard (yes, they use lard) mixed into it.  The ground pork filling was tender and mildly saucy.

One of our favourite Dim Sum dishes is the Baked BBQ Pork Pastries.  Sure, there is some good ol' lard in there, but that is what makes it good!  This one was indeed that with flaky & buttery layers.  It had a nice colour from the egg wash on the top.  Beyond the aromatic and nutty pastry, the BBQ pork filling was delicious.  It was sweet & savoury with chunks of lean BBQ pork.

After the pastries, there was a flurry of steamer baskets arriving including the Ha Gau (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings).  These were large and plump but the dumpling skin was a bit chewy.  I guess that was a whole lot better than being wet and mushy though.  Inside, the shrimp filling was decent with a meaty bounce texture.  It was well-seasoned with a good balance of flavours including the aromatic sesame oil.

Of course one cannot have the Ha Gau without the Siu Mai (Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumplings).  These were also rather large and stuffed full of bouncy sweet shrimp.  There was a good amount of it to compliment the chunks of pork.  I would've liked to see a bit more rebound with the pork as it was more on the meatier and dense side.  I liked how the tobiko on top was added after steaming and there was also some mushroom to provide earthy notes.

For those who don't know, I absolutely love offal and I was delighted we got both the Bible Tripe and Honeycomb Tripe.  Portion size on both were average compared to some others I've had lately.  Execution was pretty good as the bible tripe was soft with a tender chew.  Nice green onion and ginger notes.  The honeycomb tripe was pretty soft and didn't require much chewing.  Nice garlicky sweetness with a touch of spice.

One dish that could've been a bit better was the Steamed Chicken Feet.  The method here is to deep fry them first, then braise and finally steam.  I think theses were cooked a bit too long and hence, the skin was falling off in places.  However, being too soft is way better than being chewy.  The tendons and cartilage underneath were soft as well.  Flavour was good with garlic and spice.

I think the picture of the Beef Meatballs clearly shows how soft they were.  These were very fluffy and airy from the being in the mixer.  Naturally, the natural meat texture was non-existent, but that is the point of the dish though.  The combination of baking soda, starch and mixing create the fluffy meatballs.  These had a limited amount of greens, so it wasn't overwhelming.  If you like them airy, these would be your fancy.

One of the best dishes we had was the Steamed Pork Spareribs.  If you examine the picture above, you will notice most pieces were rib portions and short on the fatty ones.  The meat was marinated enough so that they were tenderized, yet still had a chew.  Nice rebound texture and the seasoning was on point with saltiness, garlickiness and spice.

For the kids, we got the Sticky Rice wrapped in lotus leaves. These were large and stuffed full of soft sticky rice.  Maybe there was a bit too much moisture as it was a tad mushy.  It didn't make or break the dish though as it was still tasty.  There was a plethora of ground pork that was sitting in a starch-thickened sauce.  That was enough to provide seasoning and meat into every bite.

Another favourite of mine is the Bean Curd Skin Rolls.  Happy to report the ones here were good.  The fried bean curd skin had a slightly chewy texture, yet was also tender.  Inside, the pork filling had a decent rebound, but was more meaty in texture.  Nice crunch from the veggies.  There was a bit of starch-thickened sauce, but not too much.  Maybe more oil than sauce (didn't mind that though).

For our choice of rice noodle roll, we went for the Beef Rice Noodle Roll.  As you can see in the picture above, they stuffed them full of whipped beef.  Texturally, the beef was light and airy like the beef meatballs.  As for the rice noodle itself, I would say it was quite thin yet a little on the firmer side.  There was still an appealing elasticity where the noodle didn't break on contact.

Surprisingly, my niece wanted the Deep Fried Squid Tentacles.  I guess it should've been obvious since she was getting in touch with her Taiwanese roots.  This dish was both good and bad.  The squid itself had an appealing chew and rebound.  However, the coating was a bit soggy in spots and was also rather uneven.  It did taste good though with a salty and garlicky spice.

We went for one of our go-to dishes in the XO Daikon Radish Cake.  However, I wasn't a huge fan of this.  For some reason, they wok-tossed the deep-fried cubes in a wet sauce (possibly soy sauce) and hence, the crispiness went away.  In fact, the texture was slimy and gummy, which was rather off-putting.  Normally, a wok-toss with just XO-sauce would've sufficed and since it is an oil-based sauce, it wouldn't have made the dish wet.

At the end, we got an order of the BBQ Pork Buns as well as the Egg Tarts.  Fluffy and light, the buns were texturally on point.  They were filled with the same lean BBQ pork found in the pastries.  As for the egg tarts, they were good.  The buttery and flaky puff pastry was fully-cooked through while the egg custard was silky and only semi-sweet.  Overall, the Dim Sum at Luxe is decent.  Sure, Richmond Dim Sum is better, but for Langley, Luxe continues to offer the best in the neighbourhood.

The Good:

- Solid Dim Sum for Langley

- Decent selection

- Fairly friendly service

The Bad:

- Not as good as ones found in Richmond, but great for Langley

Salt & Steak

When Salt & Steak opened a year ago, I was a bit sad that Fresh Cravings had closed.  Hey, it wasn't the best place to get brunch, but it was affordable and completely serviceable.  Well, when one door closes, another opens right?  With The Keg a bit up the road, there is competition nearby.  That also includes Cactus Club across the street from the Keg on Scott Road.  One thing that Salt & Steak has over everyone else in the neighbourhood is that their steaks are Halal.  I dropped by one night for dinner to see if their 4.6 on Google was reflective of their food.

We started with the Warm Three Cheese Spinach Dip.  This was definitely cheesy as advertised and the spinach portion of the dip was creamy and well-seasoned.   They didn't skimp on the portion size and was more than enough for us as an appie.  However, we felt that garlic toast was not the best accompaniment though.  Even though it was good, there was too much bread.  Something like tortilla chips or fried pita chips would've been more appropriate.  

We had their monthly special in the Beef Lasagna and despite it being serviceable, I thought it was not very refined.  I appreciated the plethora of melted mozzarella, but that was far too much it and I would've liked to see a bit of a cheese crust going on.  Inside, it was okay with tender ground beef, bechamel and even more cheese.  I wanted to like this, but it wasn't my preference.

Before I get to the steak, I'll discuss the Salt & Steak Signature Beef Burger.  Despite not looking like it, the burger was actually decent.  The house-made patty was almost a bit airy and extremely tender.  For some people, it might be a bit too soft of a patty, but I didn't mind it.  The brioche bun was light and barely held together.  The side of fresh-cut fries were somewhat crispy.

Okay, for our steak, we had the T-Bone that was around 18 to 20oz.  We asked for it to be prepared medium-rare and it was as such (on both the striploin and the tenderloin).  Nice char on both sides and the seasoning was sufficient.  Since this should be their bread and butter, I'm glad to say this was done right.  Meat was tender and definitely smoky from the grilling.  The side of veggies were also grilled and not overdone.  In the end, we liked the burger and the spinach dip, but the lasagne, not so much.  However, the steak was our favourite dish of the meal.  Good thing too as the place is a steakhouse.  

The Good:
- Steak was cooked perfectly
- Friendly service
- Certified Halal

The Bad:
- I may need to try more dishes, but other than the steak and burger, some refinement maybe needed

Haliná Modern Filipino Kitchen + Bar

Remember when they said Filipino cuisine would be the next big thing?  That was back in 2012 and then re-stated again in 2017.  I don't know about you, but it didn't catch on as much as it should have.  I mean, there are more Filipino restaurants now and many of them are quite good, yet it is almost a surprise when we see a new one.  Halina Modern Filipino Kitchen & Bar has been around for about one year and as the name suggests, they dish up Filipino food.  Eileen, Jackie and I decided to check it out.

Normally, we don't do that many drinks at brunch, but when Eileen wants drinks, she goes for it!  We tried the Araw Araw, Pandan Fizz, El Nido and Tita 'Be-By.  These were right up my alley since all were fruity and refreshing.  Sweetness was definitely there, but not so much I couldn't drink them.  I particularly enjoyed the pineapple juice in the El Nido as it was tangy from the calamansi and lemon juice.

One of my favourite Filipino dishes is Sizzling Sisig.  It can be made with pig's face meat or pork belly.  In this case, it was pork belly.  I personally like the pig's face more as the meat is gelatinous and fatty.  But no matter, they did a good job here with crispy crackling and buttery tender meat.  Definitely rich especially with the chicken liver sauce and the silky egg.  There was a touch of spice from the serrano peppers and a quick squeeze of the calamansi added tangy sweetness.

Continuing with pork belly, we had the Inihaw na Liempo served with garlic rice and salad.  There was a good amount of grilled pork belly that was meaty with some fat.  Nice tang from the calamansi and caramelized sweetness from the cane sugar.  We found some atchara (pickled green papaya) and toyomansi (soy & calamansi dip) on the side.

Since we were here for brunch, we had a classic Filipino item in the Tapsilog.  This consisted cured beef, garlic rice, salad and 2 sunny side eggs.  I thought this was solid where the beef was tender while not dry (despite being cured).  I thought the flavours were balanced and not overly salty nor sweet.  Of course, the toyomansi helped provide that extra kick.  Combining the garlic rice, tapa and egg yolk, it was a delicious bite.

Also on the table was the Grilled Chicken Inasal featuring charred lemongrass chicken leg.  This was smoky, sweet and aromatic.   Charring was substantial and it really added depth-of-flavour as well as fully rendering the skin.  Underneath, the meat was succulent and juicy.   Really went well with the garlic rice, especially when combined with the toyomansi.

Onto dessert, we shared a few orders of the Ube Cassava Cake.  These were topped with ice cream, caramel and cheddar toasted coconut.  Moist and slightly dense, the cake was sweet, but not overly so.  The ice cream and caramel did the heavy lifting for the sweetness.  Overall, we enjoyed the food at Haliná and the people there are super nice.  Would definitely come back!

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Nice people

- Cool space

The Bad:

- Food comes out a bit slow

Loula's

Just like most cuisines outside of North America, Greek food is served family-style.  Up until recently, it was pretty much accepted that someone would order a honking huge dish of roast lamb with rice, potatoes, veggies, tzatziki and pita.  Well, thankfully, we are seeing a trend towards sharing plates.  Actually, this has been happening for quite some time, but it seems to be popular across the board.  That brings us to Loula's on Commercial Drive.  They belong to the same group as Nammos and Selene Aegean, where yes, they do promote sharing plates.

We began the sharing with the Mediterranean Dips featuring hummus, tarama, smoked eggplant spicy feta and tzatziki.  Beyond these dips, the star of the show was the pita.  They were well-charred with a slightly crispy exterior and a fluffy chewy centre.  Dips were great too with a well-seasoned hummus that had some texture to go with the blended smoothness.  As expected, the tarama was a bit briny and tangy.  Loved the eggplant dip as it was indeed smoky with some spice.

Another delicious mezze was the Spanakopita.  Loved the colour on the phyllo pastry.  It wasn't only aesthetically-pleasing, as it was crispy and plenty aromatic and nutty.  Inside, the spinach and feta filling was delicate but not mushy.  Loved the added sweetness of honey as it balanced everything out.  Extra feta on the side allowed things to be creamier.

We got more of that awesome grilled pita with our order of Saganaki.  As much as the pita was great with the fried sheep's cheese, I thought this dish could've been better.  It was not as as golden brown uniformly as I would've liked.  Even the bottom was somewhat pale.  Despite this, the cheese itself was still crispy on the outside and a bit nutty.  

Next up was a great portion of Calamari.  This featured a good mix of tubes and tentacles.  They were lightly dusted and ended up to be golden and crispy.  Seasoning was a bit aggressive and the texture of the squid was tender with a nice chewiness.  I particularly enjoyed the tentacles as they have more bite.  The tzatziki underneath was creamy and bright.

We ended up with both the Chicken Souvlaki and the Tiger Prawn Souvlaki.  They were properly grilled where the charring was evident in both appearance and taste.  As for the chicken, it remained tender and juicy.  The prawns were aromatic and had a meaty snap texture.  Both were well-seasoned with the pepperiness of oregano.  Once again, the tangy tzatziki was a nice compliment.

Normally, Jackie and Eileen don't eat lamb, but since they know I love lamb, they ordered the Roast Lamb Shoulder (Arni Psito).  Turns out they ended up trying some as it was really good!  The generous portion was super tender and gelatinous while benefitting from the smokiness of the char.  The Lamb Jus that came with it was full of depth, but a bit salty.  It sat on a bed of smooth mashed potatoes and grilled broccolini and zucchini.

To compliment the lamb, we had the Patates which were robust and slightly charred in spots.  I enjoyed these as they were soft and creamy with the essence of rosemary.  Furthermore, the seasoning on them was impactful without being salty (could've used a bit more lemon).  Possibly, the sear/char on them could've been more even as well.

I was happy that they had Ekmek on the menu as it is one of my favourite Greek desserts.  This one was excellent as it was served really cold, hence it had some semi-freddo vibes to it.  It was creamy and sweet, but not too sweet.   Beyond the almost frozen whipped cream, the custard was firm too but still had a velvety texture.  The phyllo at the bottom added some light crispiness.  Overall, our meal at Loula's was quite good.  Their Mezze are on point and their souvlaki are cooked beautifully.  A good option for Greek on The Drive.

The Good:

- Food as a whole is solid

- Charring on the pita and souvlaki are excellent

- Excellent service

The Bad:

- Some dishes were a bit salty

Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle

I'm sure many of you have heard about the recent closure of Chef Hung's Richmond location after 17 years in business at Aberdeen Centre.  That means there are only two locations left at SFU and UBC.  If you've ever read any reviews about the UBC store, there are some real concerns about serious mismanagement.  I haven't been to this location for quite some time, so it was a bit surprising to see the place go downhill since my last visit.  Mercifully, they are now under new management that is committed to sharpening up their operations.  Jackie and dropped by to see for ourselves.

On the surface, things were operating as usual and there was a decent amount of business considering we were there at 3:00pm on a weekend.  Before we got to the noodles, we had some smaller items in the Braised Pork Hock, Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets and Marinated Egg.  Served in large pieces, the pork hock was the ideal texture.  The gelatinized skin as tender and underneath, the fat and tendon were buttery and soft.  Seasoning was mild, yet effective where the pork flavour wasn't too strong.  Rather, we had a good balance of salty and sweet.  Chicken Nuggets were also large while lightly coated.  They were crispy and well-seasoned with the classic salty-peppery vibes (and a touch of five-spice).  Inside, the dark meat was juicy.  As for the eggs, they were flavourful, but since they were fully done (typical for this type of egg), it was rubbery and had that grey ring.  Still good though!

Another trio of side dishes consisted of Boiled Broccoli, Cold Mixed Baby Cucumbers and Marinated Pig's Ear.  Even though we had broccoli in some of the dishes already, we felt more veggies wouldn't hurt.  They were cooked just right being still a bit crunchy.  Also crunchy, the cucumbers were refreshing and nicely marinated.  Really enjoyed the stacked, then sliced pig's ear as they were gelantious and had a light crunch from the cartilage.  Once again, the braising liquid added umaminess to the pig's ear and of course some sweetened soy vibes.

As you can see in the picture above, the Marinated Beef Roll was fairly large and completely stuffed.  The pancake itself was slightly crispy on its surfaces while the pastry had a bite.  It could've been a bit more flaky though. Inside, the ample sliced beef shank was a bit thick, yet still plenty tender.   I wished there was more hoisin though (but you can ask for more).  The matchstick cucumbers were fresh and added a bright crunch.

We got 2 of their Deep Fried Ginger Chicken Wings and they were the whole wing including the dummette and tip.  They were uniformly golden brown which also meant the skin was fairly crispy.  It was also rendered well, so there wasn't any flabby parts.  Loved the marinated meat as it was juicy, tender and slightly gelatinous.  As promised, there was a nice gingery hit as well.

Onto the dishes we were really here for - The Taiwanese Beef Noodles!  We had one each of the Award-Winning Beef Shank, Tendon & Tripe with Noodle in Soup and Champion Beef Shank with Noodle in Soup and .  These 2 bowls were very similar except for the former having thick noodles and the latter having thin noodles.  Naturally, the former had 2 extra items.  The soup itself was quite good with a solid beef presence.  It had depth-of-flavour and sweetness with just a subtle hint of spice.  Noodles were al dente with the thick noodles being extra chewy (in a good way).  I think the thin noodles picked up more of the soup flavour though.  Meats were tender with the tendon being soft and gelatinous.  Tripe was soft while retaining a mild chewiness.   I thought the beef shank was more tender than the brisket, but that was because of the braised connective tendons.

Moving onto 2 different types of beef noodle, we had the Champion Beef Brisket with Noodle in Clear Soup as well as the Champion Braised Beef with Noodle in Tomato Soup.  With the clear soup, it was certainly clean-tasting and naturally mild with some sweetness.  The brisket was a bit drier here, yet not too chewy.  We also found a few slices of tender beef that were quite delicious.  I have to say that the tomato soup was not as strong as I would've liked.  It definitely had the essence of tomato and we also found some fresh grape tomatoes too, but I wanted more tang.  The braised beef was fall-apart tender and had a rich braised flavour.

We had one more noodle that was similar to the first 2 but also somewhat different as well.  This was the Braised Beef Tendon & Shank with Noodle in Green Pepper Soup.  Despite not appearing to be any different, the soup was distinct.  There was definitely more spiciness (but not too strong) as well as a background numbing.  It was slightly tangy and a bit green tasting (despite the soup looking brown)

In addition to their large selection of beef noodles, they have rice bowls as well.  We ended up trying the Taiwanese-Style Deep Fried Chicken Cutlet and also the Deep Fried Pork Chop.  As you can see, both were similar except that the pork chop had some braised pork underneath.  This meant the rice was saucier and more robust from the rich meat flavours.  Both had a crispy coating and the typical Taiwanese seasoning of salt, white pepper and five spice.  Meats were juicy and tender, especially the thick dark meat chicken.  Overall, the food at Chef Hung was what I expected.  It was solid and considering the cost of food these days, reasonably-priced.  I like that they are trying to improve the service and overall experience because that was an issue with this location.

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

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Reasonable pricing

- Portions were fair too

The Bad:

- Decor is a bit worn

- Smaller location with limited seating