Plaza Premium Lounge (US Departures)

So back in December, we made the trek out to the Bay Area to visit relatives.  We ended up visiting the Plaza Premium Lounge in the US Departures terminal at YVR.  Being the holiday season, I could understand the increase in passengers at the airport and thus, more people visiting the lounge.  That was the case for us as we struggled to find seats in the relatively tightly-packed room.  We did end up getting a table near the end though, but even with that, there was not a lot of space for our carry-on luggage.

There was a selection of included alcoholic beverages but if you wanted something fancier, it was as surcharge.  Near the bar, we found some breads during breakfast and it changed to soups when it was lunch service.  They were not able to keep them filled though as one of them remained empty until we had left.  There was a hot and cold drinks station near the washrooms and they struggled to keep cups stocked for the soft-drinks.  I was not able to get a proper cup for soft drinks during the entire time there.  I had to resort to using coffee cups instead.

Next to the drinks, we found a refrigerated section that had some juices, iced tea, cold water and an array of salads, yogurt and mini-cakes. On top, there was an assortment of bundt cakes as well.  This section was fairly well-stocked and the salads were not bad.  I thought the quinoa was the best of the bunch.  The best way to describe the cakes was that they were serviceable.  Once again, we had no cups for the duration of our stay for the juices and water.

When we arrived, it was still breakfast service with a modest selection of items including French Toast, Pork Sausages, Vegetable Fitatta and Hashbrowns.  They were trying to refill the food as fast as they could but there were times when some chaffing trays were empty.  Nothing particularly good or bad about the food other than resembling a complimentary breakfast at a Marriott Residence Inn.

While we were eating, they did a changeover to lunch where the selection included Turkey, Veggies, Stuffing, Rainbow Tortellini and Yams.  This was a bit better than breakfast where the turkey was moist and yams were pretty tasty.  Veggies were predictably overdone and soggy while the stuffing was a bit on the denser side.  Tortellini was surprisingly not overdone, but a little lacking in flavour.

So after posting all the food, I'm going to post a picture of the washroom.  pretty basic, but mostly clean, except for the toilet itself.  It needed to be cleaned but really, there was not enough staff to handle that let alone provide some cups for the soft drinks and juices.  Overall, the Plaza Premium Lounge was anything but premium.  Rather, it was no better than a complimentary setup at a lower-branded Marriott.  That in itself is not worth the $55.80.  I had free passes from my credit card and even with that, I don't think it is worth wasting a pass on.

The Good:

- It is in a convenient location right after customs pre-clearance

The Bad:

- Food is meh

- Staff were trying their best, but things weren't being refilled fast enough

- No cups to be found for soft drinks or juice

- It is far too small for the amount of people using it

El Comal Downtown

The El Comal that I'm familiar with is the lunch spot tucked way in an industrial park along Winston Street in Burnaby.  I've been there before quite a long time ago.  Now we find their brand-spanking new location in Downtown on Hornby Street.  It has taken over the space Toloache used to occupy.  Fortunately, they are continuing the Sunday Mexican brunch with some of the same dishes we've seen before plus a few new ones.

Their brunch buffet starts around 10:30am on Sundays, but the restaurant opens at 10:00am.  The setup includes many different items including a drink station that features Hibiscus, Lemonade and Horchata.   My favourite of the bunch was the Hibiscus as it was not too sweet and had a mild tanginess.  It was went well with the food as it acted like a palate cleanser.  Same could be said about the Lemonade as it was light on the sugar and was refreshing.  I found the Horchata to be on the sweeter side with the usual aromatics.

Onto the food, there was the usual Rice and Refried Beans.  Nothing unusual here but the rice had a pleasing texture where it was fluffy but still had a bite.  It was nicely seasoned too.  As for the beans, they were pretty smooth and almost creamy.  The viscosity was perfect, where it spread on the plate, but was not watery.   Next chaffing tray over, we found the Rajas and Mexican-style Wild Mushrooms.  The Rajas consisted of poblano peppers and corn in a creamy sauce.  I actually enjoyed this with the rice.  The mushrooms were also good with its usual woodsiness. 

Right next to it, we found the Chilaquiles in both Rojo and Verdes.  Personally, I'm a bit indifferent with Chilaquiles as I prefer my tortilla chips super crispy and dipped into queso with chorizo.  But even with that bias, these were decent with some crunch left with the chips on top and at the sides.  I thought both sauces were good with the red having more depth and a touch of spice.  The green was much brighter and milder tasting.   We found some Mexican Eggs and Tamales next to this and both were good.  The eggs were cooked with some tomatoes and onions while remaining fairly fluffy.  This was actually the last dish to be placed in the chaffing tray (which helped it from being totally overdone).  As for the tamale, it was decently moist while filled with chicken.

One of the better chaffing trays was the one that held the Chicken Enmolades and Ribs.   These enchiladas were filled with tender chicken and topped with a sweet mole that had elements of bitterness, fall spices and nuttiness.  As for the ribs, they were tender but still retained a meaty firmness.  Hence the meat didn't fall-off-the-bone, yet was not stuck to the bone either.  There was a savouriness to them while the seasoning was sufficient with earthy notes.

The last set of chaffing trays contained all the meats including Pork Chicharron in Red Sauce, Beef Birria, Cochinita and Chorizo.  I've complained in the past about dry meats when it comes to Mexican food, but these were moist and well-seasoned.  Perfect for complimenting all the previous items or using them with the supplied tostadas and/or warm tortillas.  I thought the Beef Birria was super tender while mildly spiced.  Wished there was some birria broth for us to dip the tacos into though.  The chorizo was the moist flavourful with spice and meatiness.  Went well on the tostada with some queso.

Right next to the meats, we found all of the Condiments including salsa, limes, sliced radish, greens, queso fresco, sour cream, queso, tomatillo, macha, cream, onions and cilantro.  We also had some fresh tortilla chips and tostadas.  Right in the middle, there was a delicious Shrimp Ceviche as well.  Soft tortillas could be found on the opposite side in a warming cabinet.  There was a Chicken Sopa right next to it as well.

Onto desserts, there was a selection of fresh fruit, Dulce de Leche Cake, Flan, Concha, Rice Pudding, Granola and Yogurt.  This was a modest, yet varied amount of items that ranged from fruit, to mildly sweet to quite sweet.  So therefore, it suited all tastes and besides, a coffee went well with the sweets.  Overall, the Sunday Brunch at El Comal in Downtown has a good variety of food that fits many different tastes and dietary preferences.  For $34.99 per person, it isn't expensive yet neither it is cheap either.  I would say it is exactly the right price considering its Downtown location and selection of dishes.

 

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

 

The Good:

- Enough variety for most people

- Meats were tender, moist and flavourful

- Things were fresh

 

The Bad:

- A little cramped on the buffet line, but it moves

- Parking is very expensive in the neighbourhood (Pro Tip: Use the parkade in Cathedral Square)

Kurrywala Indian Restaurant

Sometimes, I cut through New West on my way home and go up 6th and onto Edmonds.  Therefore, I must have drive past Kurrywala many times over without ever thinking of stopping to eat there.  All I know is that it used to be Big 6 diner and I enjoyed their burgers.  Well, we finally made it out there since they wanted us to check out their buffet as well as some a la carte items.  More on the buffet later, but I'll start with the regular menu first!

Arriving on an extremely hot sizzling cast iron plate, the Tandoori Prawns were excellent being charred, but not burnt.  The smokiness really came through while the marinate ensured that each prawn was spiced and had some heat.  They were cooked perfectly where the meat was still juicy.  Even though the plate was super hot, the prawns were perfectly placed atop onions to ensure they didn't overcook.

Nicely plated on a long plate, the Fish Pakora came in huge pieces.  The fish they used was basa and personally, I didn't mind it.  Naturally, most people would prefer a cod of some kind, but that would make the dish ultra-expensive.  Back to the fish, the pieces were lightly coated and fried until crispy.  The fish was buttery soft and  there was a nice earthiness to the batter.  Served on the side, we found tartar sauce, which went well with the pakora.  Some people would prefer a chutney and I'm sure you could substitute. 

We tried the Vegetarian Momos, partly due to the fact they were out of the meat ones.  No matter as the dumpling skin was really good.  Being house-made and never frozen, it meant the skin was moist and not dry.  It had a nice chew to it, but ultimately was tender.  Inside, the fresh veggies offered up natural sweetness and that fresh crunch which would never be found in a frozen dumpling.  Really solid and I didn't miss the meat at all here.

We tried an array of curries including the Smoked Butter Chicken was creamy and mildly tangy with noticeable depth.  It wasn't just that it was smoky, but the richness of the flavour created a lingering effect.  The chicken was tender and moist where it had taken on the impact of the sauce. The Palak Paneer was noticeably darker in colour and as a result was also quite a bit more layered.  Rather than being one-note with just onion and ginger, this had a stronger earthiness and background sweetness. The Coconut Chicken was creamy, yet not heavy.  It was definitely aromatic and purposefully sweet. Surprisingly, I really liked the Mushroom Curry.  The problem with mushrooms is that they make most things soggy due to their moisture content.  It wasn't like this here where the flavours were still full of depth and spice.

For our carbs, we had the Garlic Naan first and it was a pretty fluffy version of the flatbread.  Most of it was pillowy soft while other parts had a nice elasticity.  On the bottom, it was slightly crispy.  There was enough ghee and garlic for impact.  We also had the Keema Kulcha featuring soft and fluffy bread while paired with a chicken curry and of course, butter.  I joyfully applied the butter generously on the bread while dipping it into the rich gravy.

Sure, usually we would get some basmati rice to pair with all of our curries and naan, but to make it more interesting, we selected the Chicken Biryani instead.  This featured some perfectly-prepared rice which was chewy, nutty and dry enough that it wasn't clumpy.  It had taken on all of the wonderful sweetness of the chicken as well as the spices.  This gave it a bit of heat as well as some earthy notes.

We also tried their buffet and we loaded up our dish with rice and a selection of curries including Goat Curry, Chicken Curry, Yellow Dal Tadka, Rajma and Makhni Paneer.  On the next plate, we had Samosas, Pasta Salad, Green Salad and Raita.  They also had Gulab Jamun, but didn't get any.  Obviously, the a-la-carte dishes we had were superior to the buffet, but the curries were still good and if you are hungry, it is a good value.  I enjoyed the goat curry and paneer the most.  Overall, the food at Kurrywala is delicious with good portions and fair pricing.  I prefer ordering off the regular menu than the buffet though.

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

The Good:

- Large portions

- Generally on point execution

- Well-priced buffet

The Bad:

- Buffet could use a few more appies

Secret Garden

I've seen many buffets within Greater Vancouver and also along my travels.  But I haven't seen many Korean buffets.  Now let me clarify, there are many AYCE Korean BBQs that I've encountered and one of them used to be in Surrey.  They even had self-service BBQ meats as well as banchan and other Korean dishes.  However, I do believe that the newly-opened Secret Garden (in the former Red Robin) at Lougheed is a rarity.  It is a classic station-style self-service buffet that offers up various Korean dishes (without at-your-table BBQ).  We recently checked out the place for a weekend dinner.

The renovations at the place has made everything brighter, but some remnants of the old Red Robin still exist.  The buffet stations have a wide range of dishes.  I loaded up a plate of smaller items to begin with like the Kimbap, California Roll, Tuna Mayo Inari, Soft Tofu and Banchan (jellyfish salad, eggplant, kimchi & squid).  Being a smaller kimbap without the tuna, it ate more like a mini-futomaki.  However, combined with the tuna mayo inari, it kinda had the same effect.  I enjoyed the jellyfish salad as it had a nice crunch and was well-seasoned.

Off to another section of the buffet where we found things like Japchae, Bossam, Fried Basa, Kimchi Pancake and Seafood Pancake.  Japchae was not bad as it was not clumpy and not overly greasy.  It wasn't too sweet either.  The bossam was tender and fatty.  I put a good amount of soybean paste on it.  Soft and fluffy as usual, the basa featured a crispy batter and was served with a sweet mayo.  I wasn't too fond of the pancakes as they were really flat and didn't have much in the way of ingredients.

What is a Korean buffet without Korean BBQ?  Well, they have that covered too with a selection of meats including Beef, Chicken, Pork and Salmon.  There was also spicy pork, but that was on another dish.  About the rest of the meats, they were all decent.  The chicken was nicely charred and tender while the pork was also charred but just a bit chewier.  Beef bulgogi was nicely marinated and sliced thin, hence being tender.  Surprisingly, the salmon wasn't that overdone.

In the middle section of the buffet, we found 2 large sections where one of them had some seafood.  We found Sweet Soy Potatoes, Beef Bulgogi Quesadilla, Steamed Prawns, BBQ Mussels, Tteokbokki, Vegetable Fritters and Fried Meat Dumplings.  I enjoyed the potatoes as they were tender with a slightly firm fried exterior.  Would've eaten more if they weren't "fillers".  There were 2 types of tteokbokki and I preferred the rose version.  Mild flavour with chewy, but soft rice cakes.  Shrimp were good, but I didn't want to spend so much time peeling them.

Right next to the previous station was a bunch of random things highlighted by the Korean Fried Chicken in regular and sweet & spicy.  These were decent but not as juicy as freshly fried KFC.  But ultimately, they were crispy and were seasoned.  The sweet & spicy was naturally more flavourful.  Would've liked to see soy garlic (which is my fav), but the 2 flavours did fine.

Also in that section, we found Vegetable Fried Rice, Kimchi Fried Rice, Green Bean Stir Fry, Braised Tofu and Korean Donkkaseu.  Didn't like the vegetable rice as it was bland and lacked caramelization.  Kimchi fried rice was better due to the spice.  Beans were crunchy while the tofu was texturally-appealing and flavourful.  Pork cutlet was a touch dry, but crispy.  There was sauce available on the side.

So this dish was a bit of everything from everywhere.  Here is the missing Spicy Pork BBQ with 2 more items from the same section as the KFC - Sweet & Sour Pork and Stir Fried Shanghainese Bak Choy.  Saucy, but tender and spicy, the pork was screaming for rice.  Maybe the vegetable fried rice would've worked here.  The sweet & sour pork was decent as the sauce was tangy.  Since it was already sauced, the pork was no longer crispy.  Bak choy was quite good, vibrant and still crunchy.

There was also a selection of soups and also a DIY Jajangmyeon.  Of the soups, the Pork Bone Soup was my favourite as it was slightly spice and plenty meaty.  The Beef Bone Soup was clean and pure with just the flavour of meatiness.  Soft Tofu Soup was a touch spicy, but lacking depth.  Squash Porridge resembled baby food.  Wasn't my thing.  The Jajangmyeon was decent with chewy noodles and a sweet and savoury black bean sauce with plenty of onions.

The selection of Desserts was a bit weak, but I give them kudos for hard ice cream and the really good chocolate chip and double chocolate cookies.  They were thick and crispy with lots of chocolate.  Also has the pain au chocolate and they seemed to be the Costco? variety.  No matter, I like those anyways.  Overall, the buffet was quite good with a wide selection of dishes.  Pricing is reasonable at $35.99 Adult Weekday Dinner and $39.99 Adult Weekend Dinner.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Wide selection of Korean cuisine favourites

- Overall decent food

- Reasonable pricing

The Bad:

- As with any serve yourself buffets, some items are better than others

Liuyishou Richmond (AYCE Menu)

My love for Liuyishou hot pot has been pretty obvious from all of my previous blog posts.  For those who feel it is because of the sponsored posts, please remember, I've held this opinion even before those media invites.  Yes, I've paid to go there and I feel it is a good value compared to some of the more expensive spots in town.  Furthermore, I do not believe that the quality nor selection suffers because of that.  Lastly, their sauce bar is just as extensive as Haidilao and Dolar Shop.  This time around, Jackie and I were invited to try their Premium AYCE at their Richmond location.  

The first thing that needs to be talked about is their Sauce Bar.  It is pretty comprehensive with everything you need to make a custom dipping sauce.  In addition to all of the condiments, there also small dishes in the form of bean curd skin, bean sprouts & vermicelli, pig's ear, spicy shrimp & mussels, mouth-watering chicken, grapes, oranges, cherry tomatoes, chicken giblets, honeydew and spicy peanuts.  Adjacent to the sauce bar, we found some more dishes in the tomato egg, fried rice, spring rolls, fries, fried mantou, spicy green beans and spicy tofu.  I found the cold dishes at the sauce bar to be quite good, but the food in the chaffing trays were so-so.  Better save your appetite for the AYCE hot pot stuff instead!

About that hot pot stuff, if you have 4 or more people participating in the Premium AYCE, you get a live Dungeness Crab.  That is already in addition to all of the seafood options that also include Snow Crab Legs, Oysters, Clams, Mussels, Scallops and Snakefish.  We cooked up the crab and it was truly fresh with bouncy and sweet meat.  The snow crab legs were previously frozen of course, but they still turned out well.  The rest of the seafood was on point being the right texture (assuming one cooks it properly) where the scallops were buttery, fish was flaky and the oysters were buttery.

The meat choices were plentiful and included Aged Beef, Beef Tongue, Brisket Deckle, Sliced Marble Beef and Wagyu Beef.  Not to mention, we had the classic Liu's Beef & Lamb Platter as a wood ring round the hot pot.  As expected, the meat quality was good where the colour and appearance was appealing.  My favourite of the bunch was of course the Wagyu beef as it was fatty and when cooked, was buttery and melted-in-my-mouth.  I love lamb, so the sliced fatty lamb was also great with the usual lamb gaminess.  If you have seen it, they slice the meat to order here, so it is always a bit frozen and perfect for dunking into the hot broth without sticking together as a clump.

So there are some a la carte menu items that you can add to your AYCE meal.  We chose the Braised Meat Platter with quail's egg, chicken feet, intestines, wings and pressed tofu.  This was an homage to Chiu Chow cuisine and it was pretty solid with rich old soy flavours.  As part of the AYCE, you can also order Sashimi in the form of salmon, tun and hokkigai.  This was serviceable and complimented the hot pot with something much lighter and not needing to be cooked.  Overall, the premium AYCE for $55.95 features enough options to justify the price.  If you want to be less spendy, you can do the regular AYCE for $39.95.

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

The Good:

- High-quality options including Dungeness Crab

- Extensive sauce bar

- Love their fatty spicy broth

The Bad:

- This is common for all AYCE spots, but 1.5 hour time limit means you have to be efficient with your ordering and eating

- This particular location features limited parking spots during busy times