B House (Lunch Specials)

The last time I visited B House, it was for dinner and we had some pretty delicious dishes.  They are an Asian fusion restaurant that successfully blends different cuisines together.  As you might imagine, fusion doesn't always work, but when it does, it is addictive.  This should be no surprise though as head chef, Hung Nguyen, has ample experience in the culinary field as he is a graduate of the International Culinary School at the Arts Institute of Vancouver.  Also, he has worked extensively within the industry including being head chef at Rogue Kitchen & Bar.  To makes things even more enticing, B House is offering a $15.00 quick pick lunch menu from Monday to Thursdays until 3:00pm.  You know how expensive eating out (and even just buying groceries) is these days, so whenever there is a deal, it is a great thing (especially when it tastes good too!).

Jackie and I were invited to try some of the items out on said menu starting with the Yellowfin Poke Bowl.  Although I would've preferred sushi rice, this was still fulfilling.  I understand why they didn't as there is no other dishes that require sushi rice on the menu.  On top, we found spicy tuna sashimi, pickled ginger, seaweed salad, nori strips, tobiko, pineapple, cucumber-tomato-kale salad, sesame seed, crispy garlic and truffle aioli.  With all of these components, we had a bit of everything including buttery fish, crunchy bits, brightness, aromatics and sweet tanginess.

One of my favourite dishes was the Papaya Salad with Lemongrass Chicken.  So this was essentially their version of a green papaya salad with kale, carrot, candied almonds, basil-cilantro-mint mix and pickled ginger vinaigrette.  Suffice to say, there was plenty of crunch from the green papaya and carrots as well as the sweet hard crunch from the almonds.  Add in the tangy bite from the vinaigrette and the bright herbaceous hit from the herbs, we had lots going.  To literally top it off, we had a well-charred brined chicken thigh that was succulent and full-flavoured.

Almost a hybrid of the first 2 dishes, the Pork Belly Bowl consisted of a jasmine rice base with beer-braised pork belly, daikon slaw, cucumber, tomato, pineapple, green onion, soy marinated egg, sesame seeds, crispy garlic and house aioli.  The best part of the dish was the buttery soft pork belly that wasn't too fatty.  It was flavourful with enough saltiness to carry the dish.  The other ingredients helped balance everything out with freshness, sweetness and tanginess.  Didn't hurt to have a custardy egg on top too.

Moving on to something brothy, we had the Lemongrass Chicken Noodle Soup.  So this was a version of Pho Ga, but with the same juicy and flavourful lemongrass chicken as the salad.  This in itself made this bowl already.  However, the broth could stand on its own too with savouriness, sweetness and umami.  With the usual addition of onion, cilantro and bean sprouts, we had the usual Pho accompaniment flavours.  There was also some chili flakes to add a bit of extra bite.

So with the reuse of the lemongrass chicken and pork belly in the Banh Mi and the Little Saigon Club, we knew there was the potential of tastiness.  Both were sandwiched within a crunchy baguette with chicken pate, lettuce and cucumber (tomato, daikon slaw & chili lime aioli for the chicken).  Since the proteins were tender and flavourful, the sandwiches were good right away.  Add in the pate, and we had some umaminess and creaminess.  The side of fries were fantastic, being hot and crunchy with soft potato texture inside.

We ordered some drinks to go with our meal including the Lychee Mojito, Just Like Shirley Tempo, Organic Vietnamese Iced Coffee and the Sweet & Spicy Pineapple.  These were all refreshing and since they were mocktails (can be had as real cocktails too), they were lightly sweet.  We couldn't help but order a dessert from the regular menu in the French Toast.  This was a great way to finish our meal.  Each slice of toast was soaked with enough egg and milk to create a custardy bread pudding texture.  They generously spread berry compote in between while providing a hazelnut chocolate sauce for us to pour over the whole thing.  Literally couldn't stop eating this.  In fact, all of the dishes were appealing and totally worth it for $15.00.  B House is such a little gem that is a great alternative to the Chain restaurants.

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

The Good:
- Great value at $15.00
- Big enough portion size too
- Delicious

The Bad:
- Wished they had sushi rice for the yellowfin tuna, but understand that they would have no use of sushi rice in any other dish

Gyubee

Two Summers ago, we were back East visiting Quebec City and Montreal.  We've been there before and it is always a pleasure to revisit the sights and sounds.  Naturally, we also had some excellent eats, particularly in Montreal.  Changing it up a bit, we made our way to Ottawa as well.  Strangely, this was our first time in our Nation's capital and well, it was fine.  TBH, Quebec City and Montreal are much more interesting.  Sorry Ottawa.  However, we did try Gyubee for the first time in Byward Market.  We came away mighty impressed with AYCE hybrid Japanese grill.  I say hybrid because they feature quite a few Korean items as well.  Finally, we get a location in Richmond and of course, we made our way out to try it!

So they do have an online wait list, but all of your party has to be present to be seated.  You have a 2-hour limit and they enforce this diligently.  If you are arriving at peak times, be prepared to wait for an hour plus.  So we got right down to eating and ordered everything we could.   Yes, Gyubee is a Japanese Grill, but in reality, it is Korean-style.  Hey, nothing wrong with that as we had some Banchan (Kimchi, Tofu, Spinach & Sprouts) and Takoyaki.  I wasn't a huge fan of the kimchi as it was more sour than spicy.  Furthermore, this was not the version with shrimp paste, so there was no complexity to the flavours.  Otherwise, the rest were pretty typical.  Takoyaki was decent being soft and fluffy.

I'll get right to some of the cooked dishes before I talk about the meats.  These included Bibimbap, Steak Cutlet, Nagoya-Style Chicken Wings and Tantan Noodles.  No joke, the Bibimbap was really good.  From the chewy rice to the delicious veggies, the bowl just worked.  We had enough gochujang for sweet spice and also a runny egg yolk for silkiness.  Steak Cutlet was okay being a touch chewy.  Wings were great, they were crispy with lots of flavour and juicy meat inside.  Tantan Noodles were forgettable as there was an absence of spice and nuttiness.

As for the meats, I'm not going to cover all of them because it got chaotic at the table with everything hitting the table at once.  I'll talk about my favourite cuts including the Prime Kalbi.  These fatty slices of short rib grilled up well and were buttery soft.   The same could be said about the Black Pepper Kalbi as it shared mostly the same properties except with a more robust bite.  I also enjoyed the Pork Belly as it was a good mix of fat and meat.  It cooked up buttery and had great flavour.

There were some items served in tin foil containers that cooked on the grill for designated minutes.  These included the Sake Clams, Butter Corn, Salmon and Enoki Mushrooms.  Really enjoyed these as the time suggested on the tin foil lids were exact (as long as they weren't pushed off to the side of the grill).  Clams came out buttery and sweet while the corn was also sweet and even more buttery.  The salmon was cooked just enough and was flaky.

Unlike the location in Ottawa, the one here in Richmond does not serve Melona for dessert.  Rather, they have Chapman's Sundaes in addition to their fantastic Crème Brûlée.   For this one we had the crème brûlée was not torched enough, but still featured a crunchy sugar topping.  The custard was rich and creamy while purposefully sweet.  Overall, our meal was decent, but somehow, I enjoyed the one in Ottawa more.  Maybe with some time, they will get up to speed and I won't be thinking that.  I do wonder if the higher prices here (generally $10.00 more than Ottawa) would make this not "worth it".  It is $50.99 on weekdays and $53.99 on weekends for adults.  This is quite similar pricing to AYCE hot pot at Chocho, so it isn't outrageous.  I guess it depends if you want the variety and actually can eat your money's worth.

The Good:
- Pretty good meats
- Service was pretty efficient
- Their Crème Brûlée is pretty good with all things considered

The Bad:
- Crazy busy with a long wait time
- Is it worth it? Depends on what you are looking for

Secret Congee

All types of cuisines have their comfort foods.  For many Asian cultures, congee is the ultimate in comforting eats that is often served when someone is not feeling well or want to detox from fatty or fried foods.  It is a humble dish where it is essentially rice cooked down until it becomes a porridge.  Sometimes, in more expensive restaurants, it is elevated beyond the basic nature of its base ingredient.   Now Secret Congee in Seattle is not an expensive restaurant, however, it does reinterprets congee in an accessible manner.

We tried a good part of their menu including their baseline bowl (in my opinion) in the Chicken Congee.  So all of their congee have the same base (made with chicken bone broth) with only the toppings being different.  I have to say the congee was pretty good with a thick viscosity but not that it couldn't be eaten easily.  The seasoning was pretty mild with sweetness and a certain nutty aroma from the rice.  Add in the white pepper and a touch of soy, it was lightly flavorful.  It didn't get watery even until the last drop.  I understand that chicken breast is generally more popular than dark meat, however, I personally would've liked dark meat since it would've been more tender and less dry.

We move onto two seafood congees with the Wild Blue Crab and Wild Halibut.  These were predictably more subtle-tasting with the crab being the more flavorful of the two.  It had a sweet brininess as well as a fluffy texture.  I really liked the crab congee as it also incorporated fried garlic, white pepper and a touch of soy.  This provided just enough seasoning to compliment the ample amount of crab.  For the Halibut, it was maybe needing some more salt as the fish was very mild-tasting.  On that note, I could definitely taste the fish, which was probably what they were getting at.  The addition of fried garlic, wolfberries and the other toppings such as cilantro, ginger and scallions, did make up for the lack of seasoning on the fish.  I think a bit of chili oil would liven this bowl plenty (if you like spice that is).

Staying with the seafood theme, another favorite of mine was the Hokkaido Scallop Congee.  Look at all those large scallops complete with the mantle!  This was full of texture as a result with the buttery sweet scallops offering up some textural contrast with the chewy (in a good way) mantle.  This ensured there was a bite of scallop in each spoonful of congee. For this one, we found fried shallots to go with the ginger, green onion, white pepper and soy sauce.  It was a little more aromatic and sweet.

Hands down, my absolute favorite and probably will order again when I'm visiting Seattle, is the Thai Meatballs Congee.  So far, the chicken and seafood congee were good, but for something with more body and robust flavors, the meatballs did exactly that.  They were juicy and tender with a wealth of natural sweetness and meatiness.  They were also well-seasoned giving off aromatics, saltiness and some pepperiness.  This really kicked the congee up a notch.

But the most flavorful of all was the Spicy Tom Yum Shrimp Congee.  Yah, it still had the same base, but you would never have known it due to the addition of Tom Yum influence with spice, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal.  Add in the shrimp paste and we had some umami brininess.  The shrimp had a meaty snap texture and were naturally sweet and aromatic.  The cilantro blended in with the flavors really well and this one had both fried garlic and shallots.

To add a bit more oomph in some of the more mild congee offerings, you can get a side of Chopped Century Egg.  That made a big difference in the chicken congee with pungency as well as a rich savoriness.  Naturally, you can't have congee without Youtiao (Fried Salty Donut).  This was really good being crispy on the outside while fluffy and chewy with elasticity inside.  Great for dipping into the congee!  To add texture, we also had the Crispy Fried Vermicelli Noodles.  Lastly, we had the Soft-Boiled Egg which was more like an Onsen Egg which provided creamy custardy textures for the congee.  Overall, the congee here at Secret Congee is good and they appeal to a wide audience.  Ingredients are high-quality and they aren't skimpy with the portion-size.  This may not be your traditional congee, but that is not the point here.  I can see why they have a lineup at most times.  I would gladly be part of that lineup.

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

The Good:
- Not skimpy with the high-quality ingredients
- Congee base has a nice viscosity and flavor
- Accessible for all (no scary ingredients except for the additional preserved egg)

The Bad:
- Small location and it gets busy! Might need to wait for a seat and it will be cramped

Ju Contemporary Cuisine (Tasting Menu)

I've already done a post about Ju when they first opened up shop.  They featured an ambitious menu that focused mainly on elevated Korean Westcoast fusion.  I really enjoyed the dishes, especially some of the outside-the-box offerings such as the Vegan Bibimbap.  Well, they have streamlined the menu and are now offering a Chef's Tasting Menu for only $88.00!  Considering its downtown location, quality of food and nice dining room, that is a steal.  We dropped by to try that tasting menu as well as some of their new dishes.

Let's get right to the tasting menu first starting with the Jook.  Yes, as the name implies, this was a rice porridge with earthy espuma and mushroom.  If you can imagine, this wasn't exactly the rice porridge we would find at home (otherwise, why would you be eating here?).  It was much thicker and creamier with the nutty essence of the rice as well as the umaminess of the espuma.  The slices of mushroom on top gave off a natural woodsiness due to the rawness of the preparation.

So the next course was something called Tofu Mochi.  However, it really wasn't mochi due to the absence of glutinous rice.  Rather, this was made with arrowroot and hence, the texture was a bit gummy and sticky.  Personally, I loved it as the mouth feel was something I am familiar with.  However, for some, it might seem too viscous.  In terms of flavour, it was sitting in a dashi broth that was clean, a bit briny and sweet.  Very subtle, but again, I enjoyed it.

Somewhat on the same textural path, we had the Botan Ebi Chawanmushi.  This was super silky and had the subtle sweetness of the dashi broth.  No excess moisture was to be found which meant it was just pure soft custardy egg.  A little herb oil added some brightness as well as a beautiful colour contrast.  On top, we found the buttery sweet ebi that had an ever-so-light crunch.  It was a naturally sweet compliment to the egg.  Also, some togarashi crunch provided the needed texture to the dish.

Moving along, we had the Cured Salmon with a green mandarin sauce served table side.  This was a fairly straightforward dish with the salmon being buttery soft with just a touch of chew.  It was lightly cured, so the sweetness of the salmon still stood out.  The green mandarin sauce had a good viscosity and was a bit sweet and tangy with some background herbal notes.  It was a nice compliment to the salmon.  There was some pickled veggies and soy gel on the side to add even more acidity, some crunch and some saltiness.

If the next dish looks eerily similar to Cantonese shrimp toast, you are not far off.  The one you see here is the Bulgogi Menbow-Yuk which is the Korean version, but with CAB beef instead.  This was quite good with a crunchy seedy bread that had lots of body and nuttiness.  Inside, the bits of Wagyu were buttery and fatty.  Like most versions of this dish, the bread soaked up some oil.  In this case, it wasn't super soaked though.  Some mustard oroshi helped cut some of that greasiness though.

Sure, the next dish looked rather pale, but ultimately, it was super delicious.  The delicately steamed Black Cod was draped with a miso cream and topped with Northern Divine sturgeon caviar.  Now, you might think steamed fish wouldn't be that interesting right?  Well you would be wrong as this was one of my favourite courses.  The fish was buttery and flaky while seasoned enough that the natural sweetness of the fish still stood out.  That miso cream had all of the good fermented things about miso and provided a rich, yet subtle umaminess.  Of course the caviar didn't hurt with briny pops of saltiness.

Our last savoury course was something that I absolutely loved.  It was their signature Galbi with perilla chimichurri, braised daikon and Ju jus.  The slice of Certified Angus Beef short rib melted in my mouth with the fatty richness that was also gelatinous.  It had such rich beefiness that nothing else was really needed.  Well, it didn't hurt that we found some jus and a bright chimichurri to compliment.  On the side, the daikon was tender and was penetrated by the braising juices.

The dessert that we were served was the Chocolate that featured a Belgian milk chocolate half-sphere with black sesame cake, vanilla coffee espuma and dalgona crumb.  I've had this before and it was just as good as I had remembered.  This ate very light where the chocolate mousse was creamy and just sweet enough.  The cake was nutty and aromatic while the crumb was crunchy and sweet.  Getting everything into one bite was the key to eating this.  We also had some other of their a la carte dishes and I will feature them in another post (along with the cocktails).  For now, I will say that this tasting menu is an absolute steal for $88.00.  Food is great and there are enough courses.  I recommend that you go give it a try!

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

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Well-prepared eats
- Enough courses

The Bad:
- The tofu mochi may not be everyone's cup of tea

 

Don at Kitsilano

At first glance, Don at Kitsilano looks like a fancy spot with equally fancy food.  Well, that is partially correct.  The decor is IG-worthy and those tables, with the resin in the middle are absolutely stunning.  However, as the name suggests, this place dishes up rice bowls (and also noodle bowls).  Now unlike many places that specialize in this type of cuisine, Don at Kits is considerably less basic and in fact, rather elevated.  This is due to Chef Victor who has worked under Alvin Leung at a Michelin Star restaurant.

So it wasn't surprising to see a Cured Salmon Tartare on the menu featuring prawn dusted rice crisps.  This was quite good with buttery pieces of salmon that had some subtle seasoning from the pickled radish, fried shallots and sesame seeds.  Some might think that this would be too mild, but it allowed the salmon to exude its sweetness and taste of the sea.  The addition of a free-range egg yolk added creaminess and silkiness.  Loved the light crisps as it didn't take away from the natural texture of the salmon.

Even the humble dumpling gets reworked here with the Lobster Gyoza.  Featuring a stunningly tomato red skirt (or tuile), the dumplings were the beneficiary of a hard sear on the bottom.  Hence, dumplings were crispy on one side and sported a relatively thin dumpling skin on the other.  I found the filling to be a little on the dry side with lean pork.  The bits of lobster were great though being its bouncy best and exhibiting classic lobster essence.   This came with an appetizing vinegar sake dipping sauce.

So onto the "Don" part of the meal, we had the 24-hour slow cooked Pork Jowl.  This featured a buttery soft, melt-in-my-mouth pork jowl where the fat and meat melded together into one texture.  It was delicious by its lonesome with umaminess and just the right amount of seasoning.  However, that shiitake rice underneath was so appealingly chewy and earthy, it complimented the meat beautifully.  Add in the silkiness of the onsen egg and we had some real nice textures.  This was finished tableside with a tomato broth which was elegant, aromatic and subtle.

Another mouth-watering dish was the Braised Beef Cheek with nian gao (rice cakes).  Once again, they did a superb job with the protein where it was cooked for 30 hours.  The meat was gelatinous, fall apart tender and full-of-depth. This seemed to be somewhat of a take on TBN (Taiwanese Beef Noodle) except with beef cheek rather than beef shank and rice cake instead of noodles.  I found the broth to be meaty with plenty of body.  The rice cakes were tender but retained a nice chewiness.

If you looked at the next dish, it wouldn't be a bad guess to think "chicken pot pie".  But in reality, it was a Seafood Congee Pot Pie with puff pastry on top.  The pastry acted like the yau tiao (Chinese savoury donut).  This was a really thick congee that had plenty of well-cooked seafood.  It was sweet and full or aroma.  The DIY sides of sweet & salty peanuts, fried shallot and chili crunch oil allowed me to customize the flavour profile.  I went for spicy and the crunch from the peanuts and shallots added the necessary texture.

The most striking item was the Creamy Lobster Bisque Udon.  It featured a large whole lobster tail baked with salted egg yolk.  This was nutty, aromatic and bordering on salty without going over.  The lobster itself was perfectly-cooked being sweet and bouncy.  The udon was excellent and the lobster bisque was full-flavoured with umami.  The addition of roe helped add pops of brininess.  This was super delicious and one of our favourites of the meal.

We ended our meal with a pair of desserts including the Rabbit in the Garden and the White Rabbit Crème Brûlée.  The slightly firm pannacotta-style rabbit was semi-sweet and creamy.  It sat atop sesame crunch and chocolate shavings.  It had good textural contrast and wasn't very sweet.  As for the crème brûlée, it had a textbook torched sugar topping.  It was crunchy and caramelized.  I found the white rabbit custard to be not very sweet, which was great since the sugar took care of that.  It was light and creamy.  Loved the addition of the salted peanuts.

For drinks, we had the Spicy Peach Margarita, Fairy Wing. Hojicha & Yuzu Iced Tea and Spark of Charm.  These were all non-alcoholic but tasty nonetheless.  There was a fruity theme going on where my favourite was the fairy wing.  It had zero-proof gin mixed with citrus, butterfly pea tea, yuzu and orange bitters.  Very refreshing and light.  The spicy margarita was exactly that and good for those who want impact.  Loved the ice tea as it was fruity and slightly tangy.  I found the spark of charm pretty light with zero-proof rum, ginger beer, lime juice and orange bitters.  Overall, the food at Don at Kitsilano is delicious while being elevated.  There is care and pride put into the food and it shows in presentation and taste.  Decor is also quite inviting.  Worth checking out.

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

The Good:
- Nice dining space, definitely IGable!
- Pretty food
- It is also delicious

The Bad:
- Pricing is on the higher side, but the quality of the food is also high
- Lobster dumplings could be juicier  

Good Thief

I'm sure you are familiar with the story of Anh & Chi located on Main near 18th.  You know, where Pho Hoang used to be located, but the kids took over and modernized the whole outfit.  They have become hugely successful and was even awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation in 2022.  Now they are launching Good Thief right next door that focuses on cocktails with a menu that is modern and of course Vietnamese-inspired.  I recently visited the place with Roanna.

We began with the Crudo featuring BC side stripe prawns, clarified tamarind, pomelo, mango, almonds and ngò ôm.  This was neatly plated with a good amount of buttery soft prawns.  We felt the temperature could've been just a tad colder, but in the end, the dish was still delicious.  Beyond the natural sweetness of the prawns, the combination of Asian ingredients offered up plenty of brightness and tanginess.  Almonds added the necessary texture to the otherwise soft dish.

For our next dish, we went for one of the features - the Oxtail & Chanterelle Dumplings served with Thai dip.  These little precious pockets featured a dumpling skin which was thin and crispy.  It was cooked all-the-way-through without losing its elasticity.  Inside, the filling was a bit lacking in texture as it was soft and runny.  It was meaty-tasting with the unmistakable mushroom taste of the chanterelles.  As for the dip, it had a noticeable kick with sweetness.

We had 2 more small dishes in the Beets and the Pomme Frites.  As for the beets, they were dressed with blood orange, rice patty herb and chili salt.  We thought this dish was quite good where the beets were tender with a sweet earthiness.  There was a good combination of sweetness, tanginess and only the slightest amount of spice.  The big and thick fries had a considerable firm potato texture with a slightly crispy exterior.  Considering they fried them multiple times, they weren't as crispy as they appeared.  However, I still enjoyed eating them since I love natural potato texture.  The side of Thai green chili aioli was creamy and aromatic with only a mild spiciness.

Onto the mains, we had the the Oxtail which featured meat removed off the bone, encased in caul fat and then braised.  The result was a kind of pulled oxtail that was tender, yet didn't give up its classic meatiness.  With the rendered fat from the oxtail, there was a natural umaminess to the dish, but the pho demi glace really brought the dish together.  So much depth, so silky and and classic warm flavours from the spices.  This came with a confit daikon which was firm but tender, yet also added to the pho demi glace experience with its sweetness.  Also on the plate was soft carrots with a sweet carrot puree.

Moving away from the richness of the oxtail, we had the Halibut hidden underneath hakurei turnip and shaved fennel.  The whole dish was finished tableside with a dill and turmeric soubise.  I found the halibut itself fresh and cooked beautifully.  It was classic halibut firm, but was still delicate in its own way and flaky.  The soubise was vibrant, earthy and herbaceous.  Loved the crunch from the turnip and fennel as well as the addition of fresh dill to further amp the flavours.

It was decided that we would order the Ribeye with charred broccolini despite the fact we had already piled on the proteins.  In actuality, we were deciding between that and pork chop feature (which we ended up getting anyways).  Sliced into 3 large pieces, the ribeye was generally medium-rare.  I thought it was pretty tender and had great natural flavour.  The jus underneath was subtle with depth-of-flavour which was meaty and complimentary.

Now for the Snake Rivers Pork Chop, it was beautifully prepared being fully cooked but still having noticeable juiciness.  Hence, the meat was tender and not dry at all, the pork hock demi glace was silky and gelatinous.  It adhered to each piece of pork lovingly and was savoury and full of umaminess.  Underneath, we found a mix of fresh corn, chanterelles and Swiss chard.  We thought this was the better than the ribeye, yet it wasn't as if the ribeye wasn't good though.

For dessert, we tried both options including the White Negroni consisting of calamansi sorbet atop spruce granita and fermented plum while finished off with green tea cherry soda.  As expected, the calamansi offered up a burst of sourness ending off with bitterness.  However, this was balanced off with  the sweetness of the soda and the granita.  Very refreshing and acted like a palate cleanser.  You could eat this between the small bites and the big bites!

Lastly, we had the Mung Bean atop almondine cake.  It was topped with condensed milk ice cream and mung bean crema.  Yes, this dessert was unmistakable mung bean with the density of the mashed beans being present.  It was lightly sweet and the soaked almondine cake underneath had a similar texture to the mung bean.  This was a rather sweet dessert due to the addition of the condensed milk ice cream.  I think you might want to have both desserts if you want some balance (or just choose the White Negroni).

Onto the cocktails, we had the Lặp đi Lặp Lại and Pom Pom Punch for our first round of drinks.  I found the Lặp đi Lặp Lại to be rather refreshing with its mix of fino sherry, Italian dry vermouth, Good Thief shiso mountain honey liqueur, mango cordial, Wasted Citrus Shrub and sparkling sake.  Definitely a dangerous drink but easy going down.  The Pom Pom Punch also had some refreshing vibes but a nice twist at the end with a definite rice finish.  It consisted of pandan & vanilla Don Julio reposado, Parnubes Oaxacan rum, spiced pomelo, fresh lime, salted roselle and rice milk.

Our second round found us going for the Good Leaf with mint-washed Bacardi Superior, lime leaf Mulita Pisco Distillate, passionfruit cordial, lime juice and Champagne.  I definitely got the fruitiness to begin and then the champagne, but as it was starting to get floral, it took a left turn when I was expecting a right turn.  It went strong herbaceous and it was probably due to the lime leaf distillate and/or the mint-washed rum.  In a beautiful hue of purple, the Han Noi Nights featured lemongrass Aviation Gin, cacao butter bitter bianco, rectified mangosteen, lychee jasmine, maldon salt, chilli and ube foam.  This was definitely tart and floral as it was described on the menu, but we really wanted to see a strong ube flavour.  Overall, our experience at Good Thief was good.  The cocktails were interesting and tasty while the food had some real highlights. 

The Good:
- Tasty cocktails
- Well-prepared proteins
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- A bit pricey
- Some further refinements with a few items