Lucia on Main

Awhile back, I was getting my hair cut at my hairdresser when I looked across the street to see that Smitty's had closed.  A few more visits to my hairdresser and I noticed that it was being replaced by an Italian restaurant called Lucia.  Taking a closer look at what it is all about, the place seeks to be unpretentious and welcoming while Chef Zach Steele combines traditional Italian with Westcoast influences.  This sounded like the place to go when the hockey crew wanted to meet up for a Monday dinner.

For a Monday, the place was hopping and was definitely inviting and we never felt pressured to rush through our dinner.  We decided to do our meal "alla famiglia" with a selection of dishes including the Sourdough Focaccia with a delicious butter.  Honestly, we weren't paying attention to what the creamy butter was, but it was fantastic on the appealingly chewy bread with a beautiful crust.

We really enjoyed the Polenta Fritters as they were a whole lot lighter than most other versions I've had.  Encased in seasoned bread crumbs, the polenta was creamy and well-seasoned without being dense.  They were crunchy on the outside and topped with grana padano.  Underneath, we found a tasty pesto aioli that was creamy and well-blended.  Hence, we got nuttiness as well as herbaceousness.

Probably the most popular appie we had was the Calabrian Cheese Dip served with house-made flat bread.  Honestly, we could've put this dip on shoe leather and it would've tasted good.  It was creamy, appealingly salty and cheesy.  However, it was not merely one note as we could pick out the tangy nuttiness of the manchego.  The fluffy bread was the perfect match for this dip.  But again, we put that on other things at the table too!

We decided to order a couple of pizzas including the Capicola and the Wild Mushrooms.  As you can see, the pizzas weren't exactly traditional Neapolitan, but it worked for us just fine.  It was thin, uniformly crispy and had a shattering crunchiness.  I enjoyed the properly salted dough as well as the chewiness of the crust.  With a combination of spicy capicola, roasted peppers and confit garlic, there was not absence of impact.  As for the mushrooms, it was more subtle but still there was plenty of woodsiness and earthy truffle.  I enjoyed the simplicity of this pizza more.

Moving onto the pastas, we tried all of them starting with the Fregola Sarda.  The sweet pops from the charred corn was a nice counterbalance to the salty pancetta. There was rich cheesiness provided by the ricotta salata as well as from the cheese on top.  The little fregola pasta was delicate but still had texture.  Not to be forgotten, the charred zucchini was tender but not mushy.  It had some natural sweetness with a bit of bitterness from the skin.

The best pasta according to everyone hands down was the Spinach & Mascarpone Tortelli.  These precious little pockets contained a considerable amount of filling which was creamy but not runny.  The pasta itself was thin and still fairly al dente (especially for a fresh pasta).  This was all tossed in brown butter, which was nutty and seasoned just enough.  Adding some cheesy saltiness, we had some grana padano on top.

We had some differing opinions about the Lumache with Italian sausage in a vodka sauce.  Some thought it was salty while others thought it was fine.  For me, there were pockets of saltiness, especially from the sausage, but not enough to be "too salty".  The pasta itself was tender and just a bit past al dente.  I loved the vodka sauce as it was creamy with a mild tanginess.

Other than the tortelli, the Bucatini Bolognese was also really good.  Featuring fresh bucatini, there was a more gentle texture than the dry version.  It was tossed in a hearty bolognese that was rich and meaty with a background creaminess.  It was plenty savoury with a balancing sweetness as well.  The generous amount of grana padano provided plenty of nuttiness.  I would come back for this dish alone.

We only ordered one meat dish in the Squid that was grilled and served with salmoriglio.  The exterior of the squid was quite nice being nicely charred and appealingly chewy.  However, the inside was rather soft and mushy.  It would've been better that they butterflied the squid and grilled it for a more uniformed preparation.  As for the salmoriglio, it was a nice compliment to the squid being tangy and bright.

For good measure, we added some sides including the Broccolini and the Potatoes.  We really enjoyed the perfectly prepared broccolini as it was crunchy but cooked all the way through.  Nice char that offered smokiness and caramelization.  We didn't enjoy the potatoes that much as they were not crispy and quite dry.  As much as there was plenty of cheese and herbs on top, it didn't season the potaotoes effectively.  Overall, our meal at Lucia was good and we thought the pricing was completely reasonable.  Service was great and we never felt rushed.  Would come back.

The Good:

- Generally tasty food

- Reasonable prices

- Nice vibe

The Bad:

- Those potatoes were not very good

- I didn't think so, but many at the table thought some things were salty 

JJang Korean BBQ and Social House (AYCE Menu)

As mentioned in my previous posts and by many news outlets, AYCE (all-you-can-eat) has made a stunning comeback in the past 2-3 years.  It is mostly driven by the unpredictable economy where we see rising food prices.  With discretionary spending going down when it comes to dining out, customers are choosing more wisely.  So many restaurants, such as hot pot and DIY grill, are moving towards the AYCE model to give more value for every dollar spent.  One place that has just adopted this strategy is JJang Korean BBQ out near the Olympic Oval in Richmond.  I've been here before and quite enjoyed their set meals.  This time around, we were going to see if their AYCE is worth it or not.

There is one inclusive price where adults pay $48.99 (Mon-Thurs) and $53.99 (Fri-Sun & Public Holidays).  This seems quite reasonable given that their items are exactly what they served on their a la carte menu (except for the short ribs).  Much like any Korean BBQ meal, we were served some Banchan including stewed potatoes, sprouts and kimchi.  We also had the requisite romaine lettuce (to wrap our meats and rice), along with sliced garlic & jalapenos as well as bean paste, salt and dipping sauce.  I thought the Banchan were solid and we could get as many refills as we wanted within the 2 hour limit.

Onto some of the cooked items first, we were impressed that they resembled the a la carte version and ate very much like it.  The Spicy Soft Tofu Soup was bubbling hot and featured silky tofu in a spicy and flavourful broth.  Equally good, the Gamjatang featured large and meaty bones topped with perilla seeds.  The the broth was meaty and full-of-depth.  We also got the Bibimbap and it was also a full order with all the toppings in including beef, fried egg and gochujang.  It was pretty good!  The only smaller items was the Cold Noodles and Kimchi Fried Rice, which were served in a regular bowl.  It was okay too with ice to keep it cold while the noodles were al dente.  The fried rice was chewy with just enough kimchi for flavour.

There was a wide selection of meats and I got nearly all of them including Marninated Galbi, Lamb and Chuck Flat (Black Pepper, Onion Sauce and Original).  These were sliced thin and cooked up quickly on the hot grill.  As a result, these were tender and crisped up easily.  I thought the most impactful flavour was the onion sauce as it caramelized on the grill.  The other 2 weren't that noticeably different.

Next we had all of the Beef Tongue (Black Pepper, Garlic & House Special), Ribeye and Premium Short Ribs.  Normally, beef tongue can be quite tough, unless you have braise it first.  Well, the ones we had here were raw and sliced thin.  Surprisingly, they were buttery tender.  The garlic sauce had the most flavour here.  Our one small piece of ribeye steak (you can order more than this, but we didn't want to over order) was tender, but a bit hard to keep medium since it was such a small piece.  As for the boneless shortribs, they were buttery, beefy and tender.

Continuing on with the beef theme, we had all the of the available AAA Sliced Beef options (Original, Black Pepper, Garlic & House Special).  These were beautifully marbled and sliced thin.  Due to the fat content, these crisped up even better than the chuck flat.  Also, it ate very soft due to the fat and of course, it also tasted more beefy.  My favourite of the bunch was the garlic sauce once again. 

Surprisingly, we found smoked Duck slices and they were fantastic.  Soft and full of smoky duck flavour, these were worth ordering again.  The big pieces of Chicken chicken thigh were good, but really needed the dipping sauce and/or bean paste.  The small slices of Pork Belly were meaty with just the right amount of fat.  Would've been better as a bigger slice, but with AYCE, it was understandable.  We also really enjoyed the Unagi as they seared up well on the grill with caramelization.  Nice buttery texture on them.

Continuing on with the menu options, we also had the Beef Finger Meat and Black Pepper Beef Cubes.  Being the meat in between the beef rib bones, the finger meat was fatty and had that tender chewiness.  Really thought the beef cubes were excellent being soft and full-flavoured.  The Mackerel was good but hard to cook perfectly without making it dry.  Being reformed Scallops (from smaller scallops) didn't hurt our eating enjoyment.  They were bouncy and sweet.  The cut-up pieces of Abalone were good, but once again, would've been nice to have a whole piece.  Head-on White Shrimp were pretty typical, they had a nice snap and were sweet. 

Onto some veggies (and one fruit) for the AYCE, we had the Zucchini, Oyster Mushroom, Enoki and Pineapple.   Nothing amiss with these as they were fresh and the doneness was up to us.  We wanted some char, so we cooked them longer.  As for the pineapple, yes, they were canned, but hey, they caramelized well on the grill and were sweet.  Overall, the AYCE at JJang was good quality.  In fact, the cooked items were indistinguishable from the a la carte versions.  Would come back.

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

The Good:

- Wide selection of meats

- Good quality

- Cooked items were like a la carte versions

The Bad:

- Wished some items weren't cut up into such small pieces (maybe could ask?)

- Free parking downstairs is only for 90 minutes

Bar Corso

A year ago, I had a fantastic meal at Bar Corso that featured small share plates that were well-prepared and relatively reasonably-priced.  We had sat outside on the streetside patio enjoying the nice weather, while people-watching and having good conversations.  I had planned to come back but things were rather busy in the past year for me, so it got lost in the shuffle.  Ironically, Jackie and I were invited to try their Tasting Menu where I was able to return and do something different.  

For $65.00, we were served 5 courses starting with some antipasti in form of Sottacetti featuring various pickles.  These were crunchy and tangy with the celery being our favourite.  The beets were good too.  The side of Focaccia Bread was a bit too dense for our liking though.  In the past, I've only had Bagna Cauda as a dip with crudités, but this version, the radishes were already tossed in the anchovy, garlic and olive oil dip.  It was tasty with a briny creaminess that complimented the fresh and crunchy radishes.  Crunchy garlic chips on top added extra aroma.

The anitpasti didn't stop there as we had 2 more items including the Albacore Tuna Crudo and the Marinated Zucchini.  We found the crudo to be fresh and bright.  I personally would've loved more acidity, but it was sufficient in this case.  The spiced tomato gel added a muted kick that was needed.  Crunch from the puffed risotto was the textural contrast that was the cherry on top.  As for the zucchini, the tender ribbons were fresh. The aromatics of the saffron dressing was in the background while the stringiness of the stracciatella added creaminess.  Some light crunch was provided by the fried zucchini blossoms on top.

Onto the Primo course, we were served the Escarole.  This consisted of sautéed Bitter Farm greens that was nicely tempered by a roasted peach and burrata sauce.  The sweetness of the peach (elevated by being roasted) and the creaminess of the cheese was the prominent flavour profile of the dish.  There was some crunch from the escarole while the pine nuts provided a different crunch to the dish.  Lastly, some black olive added some briny saltiness.

 

Our favourite course happened to be the Agnolotti filled with taleggio.  I found the pasta to be just the right thickness where it held everything together but was still delicate with an al dente chew.  What really made this dish was the toasted kelp and marsala buerre blanc.  With just a hint of sweetness to go with the nutty and umaminess of the kelp, the sauce was rather addictive.  It wasn't too heavy despite the butter, so we could eat lots of this.  Too bad it wasn't a big portion.

 

After a considerable wait (but was forgivable since it was a Friday night), we were served the Galantina.  This consisted of a roasted guinea fowl ballotine topped with turnip greens, shaved black truffle.  It sat atop caramelized turnip puree with preserved lemon and pistachio.  The ballotine itself was a touch dense, but the meat was still juicy.  Loved the combination of flavours as we had earthy, salty, nutty and bitterness.  This helped add some literal meat to a mostly vegetable-forward menu.

 

At the end, we were served the Semifreddo asll'Olio d'Oliva.  Really enjoyed this as the semifreddo was exactly that, semi-frozen.  Hence it had a soft texture, but not melted.  A bit creamy and just sweet enough.  The sea buckthorne glaze was tangy and provided a contrast to the sweetness.  Overall, we thought the food at Bar Corso was thoughtful and carefully-prepared.  It was as good as I had remembered and the pricing for the tasting menu is reasonable.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Classy food

- Well-prepared

- Tasting menu is well-priced

The Bad:

- Being a veggie-forward menu, it may not be that filling for bigger appetites

Bahubali Biryani House Downtown

Awhile back, I had the chance to try out Bahubali Biryani House in North Delta with a few other people.  It turned out to be a tasty experience with the biryani being really good (yes, it is in the name of the restaurant right?).  There was a low-key dish that I am still remembering quite fondly.  That was the Crispy Corn which was "wow", super addictive and would go really well with a tall cool one.  Now, they have a Downtown location that serves some of the same delicious items, but also features a lunch buffet for only $19.95.  For those who want to take away, they offer "all-you-can-take" for the same price.  In this economy, that is a really great deal and super flexible as you can take it to go as well.

So we came here to try that exact Buffet and also sample some of their a la carte specialties.  As you can see, there was a good selection of items available as hot food in the buffet.  We found Butter Chicken, Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Curry, Saag Paneer, Chana Masala, Aloo Matar and Onion Pakora.  We also found both Basmati and Dum Rice on the side to compliment the curries.  I thought everything looked vibrant and fresh, which cannot be said about all Indian buffets.

The curries tasted as good as they looked and surprisingly with a good amount of spice.  The Butter Chicken was creamy with a mild tanginess and earthiness.  Chicken was in good sized chunks and tender.  Loved the Saag Paneer as the cubes of cheese were soft and squishy.  The cooked down spinach sat in a semi-creamy curry that was earthy and slightly gingery.  Chicken Curry was solid with fall-apart pieces of meat while being bathed in a spicy and sweet curry that had the taste of fall flavours.  Slightly gingery, a bit sweet and of course earthy, the Chana Masala was definitely flavourful.  Same could be said about the Aloo Matar with its tomato-based curry that was, once again, earthy and slightly spicy with the sweetness of the peas.

The last 2 items that I had to try from the hot items was the Onion Pakora and Tandoori Chicken.  The pakora was crispy and fairly light with completely cooked through onion.  Maybe needing just a bit more char, the Tandoori Chicken was juicy and tender while having some spice and tang.  The rest of the buffet featured some veggies, fruit, chutneys, raita, gulab jamun and kheer.  Those chutneys were a great condiment to the spicy curries, especially the sweet and sticky Mango Chutney and tangy Tamarind Chutney.

Since Naan should be eaten fresh out of the tandoor, they make it to order for the buffet.  You have a choice between Butter Naan and Garlic Butter Naan.  We had both and they were fantastic.  Look at that char and external crispiness!  That crunch gave way to a chewier, yet soft, interior.  So much nuttiness and aroma from these two fresh breads.  They weren't shy about the ghee either as they were glistening.  Naturally, the garlic naan had some more flavour.

Moving away from the buffet, we ordered a few dishes off the regular menu.  Of course we couldn't do without the Crispy Corn.  Marinated, battered and then deep fried, the corn was super crispy and super sweet.  Being tossed with fried curry leaves, we got some real earthy aromas.  Once again, I feel that this dish is perfect with a cold beer.  The wedge of lemon was there to cut through some of the deep-fried heaviness, but honestly, I didn't use it since the aroma would've been less apparent.

To my horror, Jackie decided to order the Cilantro Chicken.  Okay, I'm not the biggest fan of cilantro, but this looked to be quite the challenge for me to eat.  But something surprising happened...  I enjoyed this dish!  The tender nuggets of chicken were bathed in plenty of greeness but it wasn't overpowering with the cilantro.  Rather, it combined well with the rest of the ingredients to create a cohesive flavour that was partially earthy, a bit spicy, somewhat tangy and of course cilantro-tasting.

We ended up with 2 sizzling Tandoori platters including the Mixed Tandoori Platter and Tandoori Prawns.  Both did indeed come out sizzling (as some places do not) and the aroma was intoxicating.  Unlike the tandoori chicken in the buffet, these tandoori items were nicely charred and smoky.  I particularly liked the fish as it was flaky and full-flavoured.  The prawns were excellent too having an intense brininess and sweetness.  Good texture on them too.

For myself, I needed to have the Goat Curry.  I just love the texture of goat and yah, I don't mind the gaminess either.   Actually, I didn't notice too much in the way of gaminess, but then again, I'm used to it, so it could be subjective.  Each piece of goat was tender with its usual gelatinous texture.  The curry was really flavourful bordering on salty but not being salty.  The spice level was great for me as it had a real bite.  Of course the usual earthiness and fall flavours came through.

We couldn't get out of here without having at least one biryani right?  So we opted for the Vijayawada Fry Piece Chicken Biryani.  As you can see, this was overflowing with basmati rice that was nutty and chewy.  Hidden underneath, there was a considerable amount of tender pieces of chicken that were the beneficiary of being fried.  Hence, they retained their juiciness and intensified their flavour.  This was pretty spicy but completely up my alley.  I could see it being a problem for some people, but I loved it.  The side of raita helped cool things down and the salan provide even more spice and nuttiness.

We also got an order each of the regular Paratha and the Spinach Paratha (only the spinach pictured) and these were good.  They were lightly browned on the outside with some leoparding while maintaining a soft fluffiness.  It had more body due to the whole wheat flour.  Nice aroma on them and with the spinach paratha being a bit more loose due to the moisture.  Overall, the food at Bahubali Downtown is fantastic with a high default spice level.  Portions are generous and the prices are affordable, especially for its location.  Would totally recommend.

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

The Good:
- Flavourful food with a high default spice level
- Affordable, especially the buffet
- Generous portion sizes

The Bad:
- A bit hidden and parking isn't the best, but most people would be in the area anyways
- Seating is a bit limited, was really busy when we were there

Gamamaru Shokudo

Normally, late night spots dishing up eats that go well with beers and the sort are reserved for Downtown Vancouver or small enclaves of restaurants on Main and Fraser Streets as well as Central Richmond.  So when we found out that Gamamaru Shokudo is doing that very exact thing, but in Fleetwood, it piqued our interest.   In addition to soju and beers, they have a menu that is a mix of Japanese and Korean late night favourites.  We ended up trying a bunch of dishes to go with our soju.

On the topic of Soju, we had a bit of a sampler consisting of peach, grape and mango.  Really dangerous as these went down easy.  I liked the mango the most as it was lightly sweet and tropical.  This went well with the Kushikatsu including baby crab, cuttlefish nugget, snow crab, pork belly, garlic beef, scallop, cheese menchi and teriyaki menchi.  These were really good with the 2 menchi skewers being the most flavourful.  The meat was tender and hey that slice of processed cheese!  Made it taste like a cheeseburger.  Crabs were crispy and briny while the snow crab was delicate.  Scallops were buttery soft despite being fried.

We had 3 different Oshizushi including Saba, Salmon and Unagi.  The one thing that they all had in common was the generous amount of the main component.  They were sliced a bit thicker than usual which resulted in more impact and texture.  The rice itself was a little on the denser side, but it wasn't a deal-breaker.  Nice torching on the top and for me, the salmon was my favourite with smokiness and sweetness.

On the menu, they have a section of share plates that included the LA Galbi.  This was a decent portion of meaty shortribs.  I really liked how they had marinated these so they were tender but still retained a considerable amount of chewiness (in a good way).  Too often, these are over-tenderized and hence, are too soft.  In terms of seasoning, they were a good combination of savoury and sweet with good caramelization from the grilling.

One of my favourite items was the the Clam Nabe.  The broth was so clean and pure tasting with the natural sweetness and brininess of clams.  The clams themselves were plump and buttery.  They were just barely cooked through.  All of them were open and the broth was not sandy.  We also had the Tako Bomb which was colourful with its combination of green onions, octopus, salmon, garlic chips, diced tsukemono and quail's egg yolk.  As expected, there was varied texture and flavours when mixed together.  We ate this with strips of nori.

We got a bunch of carbs to round out the meal including the Mentaiko Yaki Udon.  This was a good version due to the perfect texture of the noodles.  They were prepared properly where each strand was chewy with a nice rebound.  Beyond the great mouth-feel of the noodles, the creaminess of the dish was also on point.  It was creamy without being too heavy.  Of course the cod roe was at its fishy briny best completely flavouring the dish.

So I'm sure you've heard of Omurice before, but how about Omusoba?  Same concept but with noodles instead of rice!  The yakisoba was covered with a soft omelette while aggressively drizzled with yakisoba sauce and kewpie mayo.  As much as it looked like to much sauce, it was actually not that noticeable after mixing everything together.  The soba, much like the udon, was perfectly cooked with a springy chewiness.

We got the Sukiyaki Nabe for good measure and being a nabe, it was not as salty and sweet as the regular version.  Hence, the soup was drinkable and lightly flavoured.  The beef was marbled and hence was tender while the veggies added some relief from the heaviness of the other items.  Last dish was an Unagi Don and yah, they loaded up with so much buttery unagi, that we couldn't see the appealingly chewy rice underneath.  The unagi was evenly seared and drizzled with just enough sauce.  Simple, but well-executed.  As you can see, the food is pretty solid here at Gamamaru.  The prices are also quite reasonable, so you can order lots to share without breaking the bank.  Nice addition to the Fleetwood neighbourhood of Surrey.

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

The Good:

- Well-prepared eats

- Reasonable-pricing

- Open late and lots of parking

The Bad:

- Sushi rice could've been less compacted in the pressed sushi