Stackhouse Steak Sandwich (Gastown)

As you know from my previous post about Stackhouse Steak Sandwich, I really enjoyed them and appreciate how reasonably-priced they are.  I'm not the only one having that sentiment because now they have opened a second location in Gastown.  Setting up shop in the former Brathaus, the space offers a few counter seats and one table.  Their menu is pretty much the same as the original location but with the addition of breakfast sandwiches.  We came to try those as well as some classics.

So let's get right to those aforementioned breaky sammies right?  They have 4 to choose from including the ones pictured above - Steak & Egg and Steak, Bacon & Egg.  Okay, I first have to say that they made a good choice in bun.  They are using the Gold Bun by Dempsters.  Featuring soft brioche that won't disintegrate either, I found it the perfect vessel for the fillings.  With fluffy egg, tender steak, processed cheese and mayo, the sandwich wasn't complicated, but ate well.  The addition of bacon with steak made it a pretty filling sammie.

The other 2 available options for breakfast sandwiches include the Pulled Pork & Egg and the Bacon & Egg.  I found the pulled pork to be the most flavourful due to the sweet and slightly tangy BBQ sauce.  The pork itself was tender and moist without being overly saucy.  As for the bacon & egg, I actually preferred it over the one with steak.  Without the steak, it allowed the bacon to be the star and it was so meaty and lean already.  The sandwich didn't need more meat.

Okay, let's get back to the regular programming and focus on what has made them successful - the Stackhouse Steak Sandwich.  With beef prices these days, it is amazing they can keep this sandwich at $15.00.  They didn't skimp with the flat-iron steak here it was also cooked to around medium-rare, keeping it juicy and tender.  With some fried onions for texture and aroma as well as a generous helping of chimichurri, we had some real brightness as well.  

For those who want a softer bread experience, they could opt for the Beef Dip Sandwich.  This particular sammie consisted of tender and juicy beef brisket with, melted cheese, horseradish and fried onions.  That in itself could be a tasty concoction already, but with a side of beef jus, it allowed for the bread to soften up and absorb more meatiness.  Loved the crispy onions and wished there were even more as it provided texture to the softness after the sandwich was dipped.

The most unique item on their menu has to be the Steak Tartare Open Sandwich. Yes, this would probably best eaten in-store or as quickly as possible since it is raw.  I gotta say this has to be better than some restaurants, let alone a sandwich shop.  Diced into manageable pieces, the beef was tender and buttery.  It was made with classic accompaniments such as dijon, crushed capers, red onion and parsley.  It also featured a jammy sous-vide egg yolk.  Delicious on the bread, but even better on the ripple chips.

Of course they also have options for non-beef eaters with the Chicken Dip Sandwich.  As you can clearly see, they didn't cheap out on the nicely seasoned and sliced chicken breast.  There was enough for every fulfilling bite.  It was tender and moist while topped with melted cheese, horseradish and chicken skin crackling (some parsley too).  Just like the beef dip, this made for a great sandwich without the chicken jus, but for those who wanted something softer and saucier, the mild jus did just that.

If one didn't want beef nor chicken, there is also a BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich available.  Rest assured, behind all that fresh and crunchy cabbage, there was a good amount of tender and fully-sauced pulled pork.  Just like in the breaky sandwich, the BBQ sauce was sweet and slightly tangy.  The pulled pork and cabbage provided the necessary moisture to soften the bread.  Onion chips provided the crunch beyond the crust of the bread too.

We had a few of their sides as well just like the other location, they are full-service restaurant quality.  Check out the Caesar Salad and the 2 anchovies on top.  I can tell you that not many quick-service restaurants offer such a quality salad like this.  On the same theme, the French Onion Soup was also legit with charred melted cheese on top with a piece of baguette underneath and a rich onion broth.  Unlike many other versions, it was not salty, just natural sweetness of the onions.

One last item on the menu is the Chips & Dip.  We didn't order that since we had chips with all of our sammies already.  But we really wanted the Truffle Aioli, so we got that separately.  Make sure you get a side of that as it is so creamy with just enough truffle.  The chips are naked without it.  Overall, I enjoyed the food at Stackhouse as they put effort into the product and it shows.  Things taste good and the textures are on point.  Prices are reasonable too.  Now they have breakfast sandwiches too!

The Good:

- Inexpensive

- Beef is tender and cooked properly

- Legit sides

The Bad:

- It is probably a limitation of the kitchen, so the egg is microwaved.  It still eats well, but the shape is a bit odd.

Ess-a-Bagel

From one bagel shop to another, we made our way to the ever-popular Ess-a-Bagel.  Due to its proximity from Utopia Bagels, we ended up at the West 32nd Street location.  Compared to Utopia, Ess-a-Bagel is more known for their giant bagel sandwiches and therefore, we snagged one of the precious seats and ordered a few them.  Oh, we also got some to go too!

Well, there was only one choice for Viv and it was the Signature Favorite on a Poppy Seed Bagel.  This was fully-loaded with sliced Nova (Lox), scallion cream cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion and capers.  We got the butteriness and saltiness of the lox combined with its classic running mate - scallion cream cheese.  But with lettuce and tomatoes, we go much more moisture and it actually helped dilute the saltiness of the lox and heaviness of the cream cheese.  Of course, the sharpness and crunch of the onions and tanginess of the capers were also a classic compliment.  The bagel itself was pretty firm and chewy, so all of these ingredients helped offset that.

For myself, I went for the Eggstacy with ham, sausage and cheddar all on a Pumpernickel Bagel.  They really didn't skimp on the cheese and it was ooey gooey wonderfulness.  The egg was a bit overdone, but the sausage and ham provided some needed moisture.  I found the pumpernickel bagel to be even firmer and denser than the poppy seed bagel.  Loved the rich earthy sweetness of the bagel.

Of course I had to compare their Sesame Bagel with the one at Utopia.  First off, it was slightly bigger and had the same amount of sesame seeds.  Hence, there was the aroma and nuttiness of sesame seeds in taste and smell.  Texturally, I thought these were denser and heavier than the ones at Utopia.  After toasting, the outside was crunchy while the inside got a bit softer with an appealing chew.

Yep, got the Everything Bagel as well, but in both classic and whole wheat.  There was an obvious textural difference between the two.  Predictably, the whole wheat was a bit more robust and nutty.  With a mix of the usual sesame seeds (black & white), poppy seeds, onion and garlic, we had the usual aromatics of an everything bagel.  Once again, we made sure we didn't burn any of these.

So for our sweet bagel, we had the Cinnamon Raisin.  Beyond the size difference and denser bagel, this one here was not that dissimilar than the one at Utopia.  Yet, it was a little more dense and chewy as mentioned before.  Overall, we thought the bagels at Ess-a-Bagel to be good and pretty large in size.  They went well with the components of our sandwiches.  But if I really had to compare, the classic bagels from Utopia had a texture that was more to our liking.

The Good:

- Large bagels

- Those sandwiches are fully-loaded and tasty

- Thick crispy exterior

The Bad:

- More dense than others I've had, but okay for those who like it

- Long lineups

Utopia Bagels

On our last day in NYC before an evening flight, we made the trek out into midtown searching for some bagels.  The first stop was at Utopia Bagels out on East 34th Street.  Founded in 1980 at its original Queens location, Utopia is known for its hand-made bagels.  We made it rather early on a Sunday, so the place was only a bit busy.  We ended up grabbing a selection of bagels to bring home.

The most basic one in our bag of bagels was the Sesame.  After being toasted, the bagel exhibited classic NYC-style texture and density.  The exterior was crunchy, yet wasn't hard nor dense.  Inside, we found the desired chew, but it was still soft at the same time.  In terms of taste, the bagel was savory and not sweet (like the ones we had in Montreal at Fairmount).  The nuttiness of the sesame was very apparent.

Of course we went for the Everything Bagel as well (it is our favorite!).  Naturally, with sesame seeds, there was similar elements to the previous bagel, but adding poppy seeds (not very many), onion and garlic meant we had more complexity.  Be careful toasting this one up though since you do not want to burn the garlic.

Something a bit different was the Jalapeno Cheddar.  As you can see, this was almost completely covered with cheese.  As a result, the salty and nutty cheesiness was at the forefront.  Furthermore, this made the bagel a bit more moist and less crunchy on the outside (in particular, the side with the cheese.  Some tangy spice was provided by the jalapenos.

Moving over to the sweeter bagels, we tried the Cinnamon Raisin.  This was definitely sweeter and especially with pops of flavor from the raisins, it was great with some basic cream cheese or even good quality butter.  This could all be said about the Blueberry Bagel as well, except with a more muted sweetness.  A little bit more moisture from the blueberries though.  After toasting, both had the same crunchy exterior like the other bagels while being chewy, yet soft inside.  

Our last bagel in our order was the French Toast Bagel.  Yes, this was mapley-sweet with hits of cinnamon and a bit more sweetness from the powdered sugar.  Texturally, it was still classic bagel with a soft chewiness.  Really enjoyed this one, but I highly recommend that you get this in a separate bag because it took on all the essence of the everything bagel.

Overall, the bagels at Utopia were exactly what we prefer - soft but chewy with a nice crunchy exterior after being toasted.  They also have a wide selection of flavors too.

The Good:

- Classic bagel texture

- Lots of options

- Manageable size

The Bad:

- Lines can be a little long

Father's Day Brunch @ Coast Langley City Hotel & Convention Centre

After going to The Victor in the The Parq hotel for Mother's Day, we decided to go for something out of Downtown Vancouver for Father's Day.  We went back to the well and headed out into Langley to The Coast Hotel for their bunch buffet.  I've been here a few times before and for special occasions, the cost is a bit higher, but the selection increases as well.  Normally, the brunch goes for $44.95 for adults, but for Father's Day, it was $68.00.

They hold the brunch in their ballroom and in the centre we found a Charcuterie Board, Salads and Seafood (Clams, Mussels & Cocktail Shrimp).  The meat and cheese board was pretty fruitful while the grilled veggies was one of my favourites.  As for the seafood, the clams were buttery while the mussels were plump.  The cocktail shrimp were quite large (yes, an oxymoron) and cold-water crunchy.

Some of the food stations spilled outside of the ballroom including Dim Sum and Sushi.  We found cute bunny Custard Buns, Shrimp Dumplings and Sticky Rice (wrapped in lotus leaves) in steamers.  These were actually quite decent.  The selection of sushi was sufficient and it was more or less acceptable given this was a buffet.  Of course it would never be confused with sushi found at a good Japanese restaurant.  There was also 2 Soups available: Seafood Chowder & Beef Chili.  Both were good with the chowder being creamy and loaded with seafood.

Naturally, there was also a Breakfast Station with all the usual items including Hashbrowns, Scrambled Eggs, Sausages (Pork & also Turkey), Bacon, Corned Beef Hash and Black Bean & Corn Hash.  Nothing out of the ordinary here with things being solid.  Eggs were still fluffy and not overdone.  Bacon was meaty and crispy.  Loved the soft poached eggs atop the corned beef hash.

They have a made-to-order Eggs Benedict Station that features 4 versions.  These included Mushroom, Cajun Shrimp, Smoked Salmon and Honey Ham.  For a buffet, these turned out to be more-than-acceptable.  The English muffin was lightly-toasted, so it was still a bit soft.  Eggs were poached to our liking and we chose runny.  On top, the Hollandaise was decent being silky and buttery.  On the opposite side of this station was made-to-order omelettes, but we didn't get any of them. 

Adjacent to the eggs benny was the Carvery.  It consisted of sausages, ribs, Ham, Smoked Brisket, Prime Rib and Angus Beef.  Ribs were actually quite good being tender and meaty.  Brisket didn't look very promising at first, but it was quite moist, even for the flat.  It was decently flavourful with some smokiness.  As for the prime rib, it was tender and medium-rare.

The last section consisted of random dishes that included Spring Rolls, Fried Shrimp, Burnt Ends and Crispy Pork Belly.  Moving on from that, we found Grilled Lamb T-Bone and Lobster Mac n' Cheese as well as Basil Fried Rice, Roast Potatoes and Whipped Potato Gratin.  I didn't actually get to eat everything here, but ironically, the one thing that I really enjoyed, the Sablefish & Salmon, I didn't get a picture of it.  The fish was not overcooked being buttery and soft. 

Also spilling outside of the ballroom, we found a decent Dessert spread.  We found a variety of small bites, cakes, chocolate fountain and mini-desserts.  My favourite was the Calamnsi Tart as it was bright and featured a firm buttery crust.  Loved the Mango Sago Pannacotta.  Tasted like the actual thing but being a bit custardy.  Right behind the dessert station, we found 3 juices including Cranberry, Orange and Apple.  Even further back, there was a small station for kids that included chicken nuggets.  Yes, this brunch buffet was not without choice and for the money, totally worth it.  If you are in the area or want to go for a Sunday drive, you will be pleasantly-surprised.

The Good:
- Lots of variety
- Generally well-prepared eats
- Well-priced

The Bad:
- Not the fanciest setting, but it doesn't matter to me

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

Banette

Korean brunch spots are pretty much mainstream now as you can find them almost anywhere.  Many might assume that a place like La Forêt might've started it all in the GVRD, but for me at least, it was an unassuming spot on Fraser Hwy in Surrey called Prairie Cafe.  They dished up regular breaky items but also things like Bulgogi and Spicy Pork with rice.  Yes, there was also some Chinese items mixed in as well.  Sadly, they closed a couple of years ago after 74 years in business.  Now we have dedicated Korean-owned and run brunch restaurants all over the place including On & Off Kitchen, OTreat, Toast to Coast, The Breakfast Table, The Burnt Orange, The Green Brunch & Well-Being, Little Beetle and so on...   Now we can add another to the list in Banette in New Westminster.  Checked this place out on a rainy day in Vancouver (like that is unusual...).

One thing you'll notice right away is the plating.  We ordered the Golden Roost Benedict and it came out looking like the rainbow.  Love the effort and all the fresh fruit on the plate.  However, the lifeless chicken was not really all that appealing.  Although "healthier", the chicken lacked any flavour nor real texture (was a bit mushy).  This would've benefited from a fried piece of chicken.  On the other hand, the rest of the plate was good.  Poached eggs were runny and the Hollandaise was not too heavy.

The next dish was pretty solid in the Avocado French Toast Brunch.  Featuring crispy brioche with a soft centre, this was uniquely topped with ice cream.  We actually enjoyed that much more than whipped cream as it had more impact and sweetness.  The roasted pear added another level of mild sweetness and the fresh fruit was welcomed.

The showstopper was the Supreme Stack featuring a pulled pork sandwich atop a beef burger all on brioche.  This was definitely a fork & knifer as we couldn't even pick this up without it falling apart.  I thought the beef patty was fairly moist with a decent sear on the outside.  However, the pulled pork was the best part being juicy and tender.  Sure, the fries on the side were Cavendish, but they were fried properly!  Overall, the food at Banette is tasty and well-portioned.  Definitely a good option in New West for brunch.

The Good:

- They put effort into their food and plating

- Large portions

- Nice people

The Bad:

- Not a fan of the chicken, a bit lifeless