Sol Lee's

Some might suggest that the best Korean food outside of Korea can be found in K-Town in Downtown LA or even in NYC.  Having visited both in the past, I can attest that the Korean eats are indeed excellent at both locations.  However, I personally think that the Korean food in the GVRD is pretty good too.  Sure, I might have a bias here, but I truly believe in that sentiment.  Look no further than our very own K-Town along North Road straddling the border of Burnaby and Coquitlam for authentic Korean eats.  There are many to choose from and now, we have another in Sol Lee's within the H-Mart shopping complex.

If you have been here, you will know parking is quite the challenge, yet I assure you it is worth it for all of the available restaurants.  I will of course concentrate on Sol Lee's with their well-priced menu.  The one dish that I would absolutely recommend that you order is the Deep Fried Rex Sole.  For $18.95, you get not one, but 2 huge perfectly crispy whole sole.  Beyond the light batter, the fish itself is flaky and super moist.  With a bit of spicy sauce on the side, this is hugely addictive.  Despite being 2 whole fish, you could eat all of this since it was not heavy.

Going with one of the classics, the Pork Back Bone Soup (Gamjatang) is solid as well.  This is pretty textbook with a hearty broth bubbling within a hot stone bowl.  It is full of depth and has meatiness, tang and plenty of savouriness.  A background spiciness exists too.  There is no shortage of meaty pork bones sitting within the hot broth.  The bones feature super tender meat that takes on all of the flavours of the broth.

When in a Korean restaurant, we can never pass up the opportunity to order some Grilled Beef Ribs (Kalbi) and this one doesn't disappoint.  It arrives on a sizzling cast iron plate and each piece has plenty of beef where the fat is minimal.  They are evenly grilled on each side displaying appealing sear marks that are smoky with sweet caramelization.  The marinade ensures that each piece is a good balance of sweet and savoury.  Being tender, the meat still exhibits some chewiness for a great texture.

Sticking with the greatest hits, the Seafood Pancake (Haemul Pajeon) is another textbook item.  This is a fairly thin version, which is actually a good thing.  I find the overly thick ones end up to be much too dense and doughy.  Hence, this one has a uniformly crunchy exterior that is nutty and not too greasy.  The inside is delicate and moist with only a modest amount of green onion.  Some versions have far too much green onion and it overwhelms the dish.  There is a modest amount of seafood bits strewn throughout that gives the pancake some texture.

Onto some noodle and rice dishes, another staple is the Hot Stone Bowl Rice (Dolset Bibimbap).  This arrives sizzling hot and stays as such even after some picture-taking.  As such, I can mix the components with gochujang and I am able to get a socarrat by pushing the rice onto the sides and bottom of the hot bowl.  It also helps that the rice is not too soft, which means it can crisp up properly.  There is a good amount of toppings which in turn gives each scoop of rice some substance.

Lastly, the Cold Noodles with Raw Skate Fish is an under-the-radar dish.  This is something I don't remember having before.  Well, I've had the cold noodles, but not the raw skate fish.  It will not be the last time either as the fish has a wonderful chewy texture that exhibits a pleasing rebound.  The soft cartilage is easily chewable and the sweet and slightly spicy sauce goes well with the skate.  Noodles are pleasingly chewy too.  Overall, the food at Sol Lee's is solid and pleasing to eat.  Prices are reasonable and portion sizes are generours.  Great addition to the strip mall full of many other restaurants.

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

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Large portions

- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:

- Parking lot is a disaster

Zhengxin Chicken Steak

I don't think there is a more universally loved dish as fried chicken.  Almost every culture has their own version and for all that I've tried, they have all been awesome.  So we are all familiar with Southern Fried Chicken and more recently, the ever popular KFC (Korean Fried Chicken).  However, one type of fried chicken that is gaining traction, especially locally, is Chinese-style fried chicken.  Now, I'm not talking about the Cantonese-style crispy chicken.  Rather, it is the Northern Chinese one that incorporates a savoury seasoning that usually includes Szechuan peppercorns.  The first location of Zhengzin Chicken Steak (out of China) has set up shop in Burnaby on Kingsway near Metrotown.

To get a full rundown of the menu, we ended up with both of their Combos for Two including the Double Package A consisting of a Spicy Chicken Steak, Spicy Chicken Leg Burger, 6 Hot Wings, Fries and 2 drinks.  This was a fantastic value at only $36.95.  The wings were crispy while sporting juicy meat inside.  It was mildly spiced while seasoned completely.  Chicken steak was cut up for us and it was fairly tender with also a slight spiciness.  As for the burger, the deboned chicken leg was succulent and juicy.  It was also mildly spicy with some tingle on our tastebuds.  The bun was really thin and almost not there.  It was like a jiang beng but fluffier.

The Double Package B featured even more food with the Hawaiian Grilled Burger, Spicy Chicken Burger, Boneless Chicken Strips, 6 Orleans Wings, Fries and 2 drinks.  I thought the thin bun did not stand up to the wet ingredients of the Hawaiian burger very well.  However, the chicken was fantastic though being super juicy.  The addition of pineapple did give it plenty of sweetness and tang.  The chicken strips were very crunchy and a touch dry.  However, they were well-seasoned with the usual spices such as 5-spice, cumin and Szechuan peppercorns.  The Orleans wings were quite different as they were grilled.  Hence, they were a little less juicy, but still plenty tender.  Skin was fairly well-rendered and slightly sweet.  Fries were great being hot, crispy and plenty potatoey inside.

Last item was the Deep Fried Chicken Legs.  These were split down the middle and fried aggressively.  Hence, the outside was super crispy and the meat was on the drier side.  However, that worked as the texture was remarkably different than the juicy wings and leg in the burgers.  It helped concentrate the spices more so with its fall flavours having an earthy, licorice and spicy notes.  Overall, the fried chicken at Zhengxin was great with many different options that were unique in their own way.  Naturally, the seasoning is typical of Chinese fried chicken with its earthy, sweet and fall flavours.  Pricing is reasonable where the combos being a steal in my opinion.  Great for both take out and dine-in.

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

The Good:
- Solid fried chicken that is a different than the local version
- Large portions
- Combos are a great deal

The Bad:
- Some items are not exactly juicy, but they work in their own way
- The thin bun doesn't stand up to wet ingredients  

CHOCHO Hot Pot

I am really late to the party when it comes to blogging about Chocho Hot Pot.  However, better late than never right?  One of the reasons it has taken me so long is the difficulty getting a reservation.  I finally remembered the day I needed to book in advance to get the date and time I wanted.  So you know, there is 2 hour free parking at the back as long as you register your car.  Situated in the old Earl's, there isn't very much space for the serve-yourself portion of the AYCE hot pot.  We got a front row seat as we were sitting adjacent to it.

Most of the items are at the self-serve bar, but you must order the Soup Base and Meats from the supplied tablet.  We ended up having a variety of broths including my half-Tomato and half-Tom Yum.  I thought the tomato was decent with enough impact I could taste the tanginess.  However, it could've been even more powerful in my opinion.  Reduce it a bit more perhaps?  The same could be said about the Tom Yum.  It was fragrant but I was missing the bold flavours such as lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime.  It was quite muted.  However, the Pork Broth was quite good with meatiness and natural sweetness.  We also had the Sukiyaki, which was balanced in terms of saltiness and sweetness.

Onto the meats, we ordered all them including the Rib-Eye, Fatty Beef Slices, Flat Iron Beef, AAA Chuck Slices, Pork Belly, New Zealand Lamb and Chicken Thigh.  Other than the Flat Iron, the rest of the meats were disappointedly chewy.  No matter how we cooked it (just barely cooked or cooked for a long time), the beef just wasn't tender.  On the other hand, the pork belly was quite nice being meaty with just enough fat.  It did come out tender and buttery.  Lamb was also good with just the right amount of marbling.  Chicken was great too, being tenderized and cooked up nicely, no matter how long you left it in the pot.

Onto the self-serve Sauce Bar, we found a modest array of options that do the job for most people.  For some odd reason, our server provided us with the house blend sauce that wasn't everyone's preference.  We ended up going to get a second custom sauce for ourselves.  There were the usual things like soy, sriracha, vinegar, oyster sauce, garlic, cilantro, green onion, chilis, seafood sauce, satay sauce, sesame sauce, sesame oil, chive sauce and chili oil.  On the side, we found some kimchi, edamame and fruit.

Over at the buffet bar, we had 2 sections dedicated to Vegetables, Soy Products and Noodles.  These were well-stocked and kept orderly by the staff.  These included Cabbage, Tong Ho, Spinach, Napa Cabbage, Fried Bean Curd Roll, Rice Noodles, Quail's Egg, Woodear, Seaweed Knots, Raw Egg, Bamboo Shoots, Yam Noodles and Tomatoes.  Across from these options, we found Corn, Pumpkin, Shiitake, Broccoli, Enoki, Taro, Lotus Root, Bean Curd Skin, Wintermelon, Tofu, Frozen Tofu, Yam and Carrot.

Other than the Meats we ordered from our tablet, there was a selection available in the self-serve section.  These included Mussels, Black Beef Tripe, Beef Tripe, Fish Ball with Roe, Crab Stick, Spam, Pork Blood, Fish, Head-on Shrimp, White Shrimp, Fish Tofu, Cuttlefish Balls, Pork Balls and Beef Balls.  Most of the items were pretty typical with the fish being tenderized.  The tripe was pretty chewy and needed to be cooked for a long time to soften.

Adjacent to the raw stuff, there was a selection of Dim Sum including BBQ Pork Buns, Salted Egg Yolk Buns, Ha Gau and Siu Mai (they were steaming the Siu Mai, hence none in the picture).  I thought these were all pretty decent with the salted egg yolk buns being on point with a runny aromatic centre.  Next to it, we found Portuguese Tarts, Beef Tarts, Fried Shrimp & Pork Wontons, Fried Cheese Wontons, Fried Sesame Balls, Brown Sugar Rice Cake and Yogurt Twist.  Really enjoyed the egg tarts where the shell was buttery and flaky.

Right next to these fried items, we found a section mainly dedicated to Noodles.  They had an array of fresh multi-colured noodles, dried noodles, udon and steamed rice.  I particularly enjoyed the fresh noodles as they had a chewy texture (as long as you don't overcook them). Moving onto the desserts, we had a Candy Station with various gummies including Fuzzy Peach, Coke Bottles and Worms.  These were still soft and a nice bite after a filling meal.

Right across from the gummies, we found the builid-your-own Tasty Iced Jelly dessert station.  It had all of the beans, jelly and syrup to make a custom dessert.  Due to all of the syrups around, the floor was rather sticky in this area.  That was fine and dandy but the Soft-Serve Ice Cream Cone is what we were waiting for at the end of our meal.  It was great, soft and silky with a real sweet milky taste.  Great finish to a surprisingly average meal considering all of the great reviews.  I do think it is still a good value considering that it is related to Dolar Shop, but compared to another AYCE such as Liuyishou, I think it is unnecessary to spend the extra money.  The meats at Liuyishou are more tender in general and you get most of the same items for about $20.00 less per person.

The Good:

- Personal hot pots are great IMO

- Lots of choice

- Service was great

The Bad:

- Meats were generally not tender

- Self-serve stations are cramped (too bad given the existing layout from the previous restaurant)

Bow & Stern (The Amazing Brentwood)

A few Summers ago, we had visited the Abbotsford location of Bow & Stern and came away quite pleased with our meal.  Sure, it wasn't perfect, but for the price, we felt it was decent value.  Fast forward to the present and now they have opened up a brand spanking new location at The Amazing Brentwood.  Situated above Ramen Jinya, this Bow & Stern is rather fancy compared to the one in Abbotsford.  We decided to check it out one Friday night.

We didn't go for any of the appies, instead we had the Hot Seafood Platter.  This consisted of arctic char, lobster tails, tiger prawns, mussels & clams, rice and broccolini.  This was generally quite solid where the prawns were buttery with a sweet snap.  The lobster tails were cooked just right retaining moisture and having that rebound texture.  Clams and mussels were good where the white wine cream broth was served on the side.  It was great to drizzle over the fluffy rice.  Unfortunately, the arctic char was a bit overdone and bland.  Broccolini was excellent being crunchy and vibrant.

For myself, I went for the 2-Piece Cod & Chowder in lieu of the chips.  Being a gluten-free batter, it was somewhat crispy on the outside and plenty gummy on the inside.  It wasn't my favourite.  As for the cod, it was cooked beautifully being moist and flaky.  Loved the tartar as well since it wasn't too thick nor chunky.  As for the Boston Clam Chowder, I quite enjoyed it.  The broth was briny and well-seasoned while the amount of ingredients was sufficient.  It wasn't too rich, which made it easier to finish.

Viv had something a bit lighter in the Salade Niçoise sporting the usual components including seared ahi tuna which was perfectly rare.  It was also bright in flavour and soft in texture.  Nicely salted too.  As for the greens, they were aggressively dressed in a tangy white balsamic dressing which was fine by us.  The usual green beans, olives, potatoes, soft boiled egg and tomatoes were all present.  Loved that he egg wasn't overdone while the potatoes were of the crispy variety.

My daughter opted for her usual in the pan-seared Wild Salmon with dijon horseradish aioli atop rice and broccolini.  The salmon didn't look very moist but in fact it wasn't overdone nor dry (despite the albumin on the side).  It was flaky and mildly seasoned.  The sauce was creamy and not too heavy on the horseradish.  Just like the rice that came with the hot seafood platter, it was fluffy but not too wet.  Also, the broccolini was cooked just enough.

My son decided on an ol' favourite with a twist in the Lobster Grilled Cheese.  This, of course, included Atlantic Lobster, white cheddar, mozzarella and Old Bay cream cheese on grilled sourdough.  It was generally quite good except it was a little lacking on the lobster.  The pieces he did find were great though.  There was plenty of cheese though so it was a solid grilled cheese, especially with the crispy bread.  He went for the yam fries on the side which were crispy.

For my mom, she had the 8oz Top Sirloin with a side of wild mushroom demi-glace (an extra $3).  She asked for it to be prepared rare and it was exactly that.  The char on the outside was crispy and smoky with proper seasoning.  However, the steak wasn't super tender, but understandable considering the cut.  Also, not really sure why she ordered it given it is a seafood restaurant.  We found the mashed potatoes a bit dense, yet still decent.  Broccolini was excellent as with the other dishes.  We found the demi-glace to be too thick though.

Onto dessert, we ordered both the Warm Chocolate Lava Cake as well as the Vanilla Crème Brûlée.  We felt the lava cake was textbook and it offered up moist chocolatey cake with melty chocolate ganache in the middle.  We weren't so fond of the crème brûlée though as it was too thin and also too sweet.  It did have a properly torched sugar topping though.  Overall, we were satisfied by our meal at Bow & Stern but not enough to plan a return visit.  I think there is potential here given the location and seafood-themed menu.  I hope there are some further refinements as time goes by.

The Good:
- Nice dining space
- Most of the seafood was cooked properly
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- Batter for the fish was not very good
- Crème Brûlée was below average

Pizza Maru

Maybe it is a bit ironic that I featured Roseto Bistro in my last post where they offer a small selection of K-Pizzas.  This is because this post is about Pizza Maru that is a new spot on North Road (Burnaby side) almost exclusively specializing in K-Pizzas.  So what is a K-Pizza?  Well, it is Korean-style pizza that features a wide range of Korean toppings.  Also, if you know Korean cuisine, they love their cheese and on K-Pizzas, they aren't shy about piling it on.

So let me feature their most striking option on the menu is the Maru 5 that consists of, as you might've guessed, 5 different themed toppings on a large pizza.  Looking at the picture, you can see that there is Bulgogi, Corn Cheese, Pepperoni, Potato Chunk and Chicken.  Naturally, there is a whack-load of cheese too.  They cut this pizza lengthwise and it is great for people who want it all in one pizza.  I particularly enjoyed the corn cheese as it was so cheesy with sweet pops of corn.  The chicken was great too with some tangy sauce on top.

Of course we tried other pizzas too including the Bulgogi and Hawaiian Shrimp.  I felt that having the whole Bulgogi pizza made a difference compared to the slices in the Maru 5.  I was able to get a whole slice with more beef.  It was hearty with tender meat that was sweet and savoury.  As for the Hawaiian shrimp, this was more about the peppers and onions than the shrimp.  They were merely there for some coldwater crunch. A bit of sweetness from the pineapple and saltiness from the olives completed the flavour profile.  As for the crust, all them so far were uniformly crunchy with a soft chewiness inside.

To get something a bit different than all of the available K-Pizzas, we tried their Real Chicago Pizza.  Now I've had some Chicago deep dish before and this was their interpretation.  I enjoyed their version as the thick crust was completely stuffed with stringy cheese.  In the middle it was a lake of cheese with tomato sauce and pepperoni.  If you like cheese, this would be the pizza for you.  The addition of powdered sugar was a small detail, but it helped balance all of the cheesiness.

In addition to pizza, they also have a selection of pastas.  We chose the Baked Meat Cheese Spaghetti loaded with onions, peppers, mushrooms and ground beef.  Now this was not any ordinary pizza joint spaghetti as the tomato sauce had white wine and stock.  Hence there were more layers of flavour than just plain tomato.  We also tried their Korean BBQ Wings and they were fantastic.  The sweet and sticky glaze was nicely caramelized while the chicken itself was moist and tender.

Lastly, we tried the Red Carbonara Topokki. This was great though as it combined Korean rice cakes with a spicy and creamy carbonara sauce with shrimp, bacon, onion, sliced mushrooms and cabbage.  Definitely a meal in itself and being so rich, best to be shared.  Overall, the stuff at Pizza Maru is pretty solid and unique enough.  The pizzas are loaded with cheese and the crust is good with a uniform crunchy texture.  The rest of the items on the menu are pretty solid as well.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Pizza has a uniformly crunchy crust

- Not shy with the toppings

- Sides are good too

The Bad:

- Pizzas are on the sweeter side

Tap & Barrel (The Amazing Brentwood)

For all the chain restaurants we have in town, one of my favourites is Tap & Barrel.  I find that their food is pretty good and the pricing is reasonable.  Sure, it isn't as fancy as Cactus Club nor Earl's, but it isn't trying to be either.  With that being said, I find that I enjoy their Shipyards and Bridges locations the best.  Now there is one a lot closer to me at The Amazing Brentwood.  So will this be my new favourite location?  Well, we made 2 visits to see if that would be the case.

For our first visit, we actually came for brunch and hence, it was only logical that we had the Double Bacon Benny with crispy potatoes.  Although the English muffin was a bit too toasted, it was somewhat softened by the adequate amount of creamy Hollandaise.  The addition of Cajun spice helped break-up the butteriness.  The poached eggs were nicely runny and the bacon was meaty and not overly crispy.  However, the potatoes were crispy and soft inside.

We also had the Croque Madame with toasted brioche, white cheddar, prosciutto, sunny side egg, truffle bechamel and parsley.  Since they used brioche, this ate much more lightly than regular bread.  It was lightly toasted, so it was still somewhat fluffy inside.  The truffle bechamel was creamy and nicely earthy.  On top, the sunny side egg was runny and it provided even more moisture to the bread.

For myself, I had to get my favourite item here - the PB&J Burger!  I've had my fair share of burgers with peanut butter, but this one is the best I've had.  The savoury and creamy nuttiness was perfectly balanced by the salty and sweet bacon jam.  So much flavour packed into this and the addition of chipotle in the peanut butter only added another layer of flavour.  Also, the beef patty was crispy on the outside and moist in the middle.  This all sat within a soft toasted brioche.

We ordered some appies for the table including Chicken Strips and Waffle Fries as well as Salt & Pepper Wings.  Coated in a crispy breading, the chicken tenders were moist inside.  We opted for the waffle fries and they were crispy.  As for the wings, they were fried enough that the skin was rendered.  The meat was not exactly juicy, but it wasn't overly dry either.  There was enough salt to flavour the wings.

For both visits, we had the Steak Frites.  However, the first version was with a 7oz Sirloin ($34.50) while the second was with the 10oz Prime Rib Medallion ($42.95).  Both came with a peppercorn sauce, arugula salad and of course fries.  The peppercorn sauce was really good being creamy (even creamier the second time) and flavourful.  If I had to compare the steaks, it was predictable that the ribeye was more flavourful and a bit more tender.  With that being said, the sirloin was also tender, but just not as much as the ribeye.  Both were cooked to medium-rare as requested.

Since they have a whole section dedicated to their pizzas, we had to get one in the form of the Hawaiian Heat.  As the name suggests, this was a combination of roasted pineapple, bacon, smoked mozzarella, jalapeño mayo, lime and pomodoro sauce.  It had all of the qualities of a Hawaiian pizza with its sweet and saltiness as well as smokiness, tanginess and of course spice.  The crust itself was decent with a crispy bottom and edges.

One of the more under-the-radar appies was the Crispy Humboldt Squid.  it didn't look like much, but the pieces of squid were tender while the outside was lightly battered and crispy.  It was well-seasoned where the jalapeno mayo added some tangy spice.  We ordered the Seafood Chowder primarily for my daughter.  She thought it was decent, but a bit thin and lacking in ingredients.  For the items that were in the soup, the clams, cod, potatoes and corn were good though.  The addition of Old Bay seasoning gave it some some salty spiciness.

She continued the theme of seafood with the Caper Dill Salmon with featuring oven-roasted steelhead, caper dill aioli, crispy potatoes, asparagus, dill and parsley.  The salmon looked great from the outside, but ultimately, it was overdone.  It wasn't to the point of being dry, but it was no longer moist.  It was properly seasoned though while the sauce was creamy and full of dill.  Crispy potatoes were like the ones from brunch.

My son went for the Porcini-Crusted Beef Dip featuring Certified Angus beef, truffle jack cheese, tiger horseradish sauce,

caramelized onions, French onion jus and crispy onions.  This was quite good with a toasted baguette that kept everything intact while absorbing the jus to its fullest.  Hence, there was plenty of sweetness and rich savouriness to go with the tender beef.  Due to the addition of truffle cheese and porcini, there was plenty of earthiness as well.  Side of tater tots were super crispy.

For myself, I had the West Coast Clubhouse with a side of the same seafood chowder.  This very large sandwich had plenty of tomatoes and arugula as you can see in the picture.  there was also tender grilled chicken breast, crispy bacon, aged white cheddar, smashed avocado and charred fresno aioli.  All of this made for a hearty sandwich that hit all of the flavour notes.  This could've almost been called a melt because the brioche was buttered and grilled on the flattop.  Although rather messy to eat due to the greasiness, the sandwich was excellent and I would order it again.  Overall, the food at Tap & Barrel Brentwood was pretty good. Definitely more of a casual vibe and also a bit less expensive than Earl's.  Earl's is more elevated, but then you are paying for it too.

The Good:

- Decent eats

- Expansive dining space on the 2nd floor

- Reasonable pricing

The Bad:

- Food lags behind Earl's and Cactus Club (but costs a little less)