Hakkasan Bistro

*Restaurant is closed*

There are certain restaurants that I get wind of due to social media and/or blog posts.  But I tend to set them aside in my mind for another day (because I don't want to overload my brain, it will crash due to lack of RAM).  So when we were scheduled to visit Hakkasan Bistro for a ChineseBites dinner, I wasn't really aware where it was located.  I have always assumed it was situated in restaurant central aka #3 Road (or accidene central to some).  Little did I know that it would be smack dab in the middle of a predominantly industrial area on #5 Road near the International Night Market.

Let's just say one wouldn't expect such a nice little place would exist amongst auto modification shops (actually, I almost missed the restaurant because I was admiring all the nice tricked-out cars...).  So onto the food, we were presented with the Honey Roasted Pork Cheeks which did its best impersonation of BBQ pork.  Now unlike BBQ Pork, the meat was much more uniform in texture with the classic rebound and buttery chewiness.  Sweet with definite caramelization, the cheeks featured an appealing bark on the outside. With what I can only describe as one of the best dishes I've had in a long time, we were served one Whole Coconut Pork & Snow Fungus Soup each.  Normally, most serving vessels are meant for visuals and wow factor.  Not in this case as the sweet flavourful chicken broth took on the aromatics of coconut.  Each nugget of pork was succulent while the crunch of the snow fungus added texture.  The best part was when we scraped off the tender coconut meat on the inside, pure enjoyment right there.

Majestically-plated, the Steamed Odorless Garlic Lobster atop Jasmine rice was served next.  As much as there was a significant amount of minced garlic enveloping the pieces of lobster, the taste was subtle and yes "odorless".  I was a bit torn with this as I appreciated the fact Viv would still kiss me when I got home, but at the same time, the dish was missing pungency.  Despite this, the lobster itself was cooked beautifully being tender with the classic rebound texture.  As for the rice, I felt there was too much of it where there wasn't enough lobster juices to go around.  Furthermore, it was mushy due to the moisture involved.  Possibly a fried rice base would've been better.  On the other hand, the rice was necessary for the subsequent dishes such as the Ancient Style Salt Baked Chicken.  Wrapped in parchment, buried with salt and baked in a clay pot, the result was a intensely-flavoured chicken which exhibited a concentrated natural sweetness accented by the saltiness.  The meat was also moist as the chicken cooked in its own juices.

The wow factor continued with the really large Braised Pork Hock served with mini-mantou.  I took the reigns in divvying it up and for the most part, it cut like butter.  Naturally, there were some drier parts due to the lack of fat or collagen.  Yet, the majority of the meat was gelatinous and fork tender.  It was also well-seasoned with the silky sauce (thanks not only to starch, but the gelatin from the pork hock) having a sweeter flavour.  With all this meat, it was only a matter of time we moved onto a veggie dish (well, if we wanted a more balanced meal that is...).  It happened to be the Stir-Fried Yau Choy dressed with a mui choy "sauce".  I put sauce in quotations because it was more like a glaze with bits of salty pickled mui choy.  The yau choy was cooked up properly (albeit a touch greasy) where it retained a vibrant crunch as well as retaining a rich green colour.

Next, we were presented with the Hakka Homestyle Steamed Egg with ground pork and salted duck egg yolk.  I make this dish at home often, but this one was much more refined with silky egg that did not exhibit any air bubbles nor excess water.  Hidden inside was well-spread out and moist ground pork while the whole thing was topped with stir-fried salted duck yolk.  Our last savouy item was the Stir-fried Fish with Pickled Cabbage.  I felt this was the weakest dish of the meal as there was far too much grease.  The entire dish felt heavy and was not pleasing to the palate.  As much as the fish was flaky and moist, the exterior was completely oil-logged.  Furthermore, the dish was over-seasoned being quite salty.

We ended off things with a light dessert being the Steamed Milk Egg White Custard.  It was extremely delicate and beyond silky.  What I mean is that the custard almost had no texture at all, hence it ate very easy.  In terms of taste, there was very little sugar which meat I could actually taste the egg whites.  This was probably the best way to finish off what was heavy meal. Overall, I was quite impressed with several of the dishes including the pork cheek, coconut soup and steamed egg.  It definitely piques my interest where I would probably be back to investigate the menu further.

*All food, beverages and gratuities were complimentary*

The Good:
- Some good flavours at work
- Nice little dining space

The Bad:
- A little out of the way
- Stir-fried items heavy on the grease

Chili House

There is no doubt that we have a wealth of Asian cuisine in the GVRD.  However, there are some that are poorly represented.  One of which is Indian Chinese food.  This cuisine originated out of Kolkata, India as there was a significant Hakka population prior to the second Sino-Indian War.  Many left and immigrated to places such as Australia, the US and Canada.  Therefore, we are lucky for the exposure to this cuisine from restaurants that include the Green Lettuce, Chili Pepper House, Asian Spice, Indian Wok and Hakka Masti.  Now we can add another, Chili House, which is located near the border between Surrey and Langley.

I was invited by the owner to try the place out and since this type of food is best shared, I brought some eating assistants in Furniture Guy and Furniture Girl.  We started with the Spicy Green Beans which were the beneficiary of good wok heat and just enough oil-blanching.  Hence, they were vibrant and still crunchy despite being cooked all the way through.  With a generous amount of garlic and chilis, there was noticeable spice and aromatics.  Onto our next dish, we had the Spicy Ginger & Garlic Beef.  There was not much filler to this dish as it consisted mainly of fried beef.  By virtue of the double-cooking process, the beef was more firm than moist (which is typical of this type of dish anyways).  Again, with a good wok toss of onion, ginger, garlic, chilis and vinegar, the flavours were purposeful and apparent.

Moving on, we tried the Haaji Prawns which were fried in a light batter and wok tossed with chili flakes, garlic and green onion.  Naturally, this meant bold flavours which went really well together.  Again, there was a definite spice to the dish, yet not overpowering.  The prawns themselves were meaty with a slight snap.  A familiar dish arrived next being the Singapore Fried Noodles.  This was again, the beneficiary of intense wok heat as the flavours were caramelized.  The peppers and onions were still crunchy while the shrimp had a cold-water snap. On the other hand, I found the noodles slightly too dry (even though it is supposed to be, just drier than usual).  There was just enough curry and spice without causing a firestorm in my mouth.  

Continuing on with the feast, we were served a non-spicy dish (for the kiddies) being the Mix Fried Rice consisting of shrimp, chicken, peas, carrots, onion and egg.  Consistent with the other dishes, the ample wok heat ensured dry, chewy rice with caramelized flavours.  This was a good side to all the other spicy dishes, especially the Garlic Fish.  Okay, by looking at the picture, one would assume it was sweet n' sour fish, but the flavours were much more than that.  It was a combination of a mild sweet n' sour with garlic and a good dose of heat.  As for the fish itself, it was moist with a slightly gummy batter due to the ample amount of moisture on the plate.

We actually got 2 versions of the Hakka Chow Mein with one being spicy and the other without (once again for the kiddies).  With elements similar to Shanghainese fried noodles, this dish consisted of chewy wok fried noodles with rich dark soy and a balanced amount of spiciness.  There was also a noticeable smokiness as it was evidently touched by a flaming hot wok.  Onto a familiar sounding dish, we had the Kung Pao Chicken (but the Indian Chinese version of course).  Now, unlike the North Americanized version, this was not subjected to a sweet goopy sauce.  Rather, it was a drier and spicier.  Now, in terms of spicier, I also mean more spices as well.  Hence, the flavours were more intense and caramelized.

Onto a second chicken dish, we had the House Special Chicken which was included a host of veggies.  As such, the flavours were similar, yet different than the previous dish.  Despite the veggies, there was no residual moisture at the bottom of the plate.  Once again, there was a noted spiciness to the dish.  We finished off the meal with Fried Banana with ice cream.  Unlike Szechuan cuisine, where the heat level can be tongue-numbing (thanks to the peppercorns and depending on how hot you like it), Indian-Chinese food exhibits purposeful heat.  Hence, we could still taste the other spices, in particularly cumin.  At Chili House, the food was good and benefited from high wok heat.  It now joins the ranks of Green Lettuce and Chili Pepper House as great places to get Indian Chinese food.

*Note - this was an invited dinner where all food was comped except for gratuities

The Good:
- Good wok heat
- Purposeful spice

The Bad:
- Meats were a bit drier than I'm used to

Chili Pepper House (Surrey)

*Restaurant is now closed*

When you think of Chinese food in North America, I'm sure the first things that come to mind are Sweet & Sour Pork, Broccoli & Beef, Chicken Chow Mein and BBQ Pork Fried Rice. Hey, there is nothing wrong with that since I eat that occasionally as well. However, these types of dishes originated in the Canton region of China and that is only a small representation of Chinese cuisine. Add the fact that these dishes have become a bit watered down for North American tastes and you got something quite boring and bland. I personally like spicy food. Thus, I have a certain affection towards Indian-Style Chinese cuisine.

There aren't many of these types of restaurants in the GVRD; however, most of them are pretty good. Today, I finally made it out to the Surrey location of Chili Pepper House. There is a location in Vancouver as well on the corner of Rupert and Kingsway. With some may options, it was difficult to choose, especially since I was all by myself. Ultimately, I picked a dish which is one of my favs - Chili Beef. This time I got the "wet" version rather than the dry one at Green Lettuce. The tender slices of beef were coated with a deep coloured sauce which was a bit sweet, salty and slightly spicy. Personally, I can take more heat and I should've asked for it. In addition, I tried one of their lunch specials ($5.99), the Curry Fish which came with a bowl of rice. The fish was perfectly crispy and sat in a yellow-type curry sauce which was a bit sweet, garlicky and only slightly spicy. This sauce went really well with the rice. On a separate visit, I decided to double-up on their fantastically priced lunch specials starting with the Curry Shrimp. the shrimp had a cold-water snap and were coated with a very crispy tempura-like batter. With a yellow curry-type sauce very similar to the curry fish, this would've gone well with a bowl of plain rice. I didn't get a bowl of rice because for my second dish, I had the Masala Chicken & Shrimp Fried Rice. Oh I really loved this rice. It was the perfect texture being chewy with a nice bite. There was plenty of wok heat so that the flavours were able to mingle and caramelize. Strewn throughout the rice was tender pieces of chicken and cold-water shrimp. The curry seasoning gave the rice a very nice punch which made me want to eat more and more of it. I dusted it off very quickly. After both visits, it is clear that the food is well-balanced since it wasn't overly spicy to the point where I couldn't taste any of the other flavours. Personally, I could do with even more spice; but that can be arranged. The decor is nothing to look at and if you don't care, it shouldn't matter. Service was extremely friendly and the food came out really fast. Great value at $5.99 for their lunch specials.

The Good:
- Spicy, yet not to the point of insane
- Good lunch specials
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- Not much in the way of ambiance
- Not really a bad, but if you were looking for tame Chinese food, you won't find it here

Green Lettuce (Surrey)

I'm a big fan of Indian Chinese food; however, there are not many places that serve it within the GVRD. I've been to Hakka Masti and Asian Spice out in Surrey/North Delta and they were pretty good. However, I haven't been necessarily ultra impressed so far. In fact, I felt that the 2 aforementioned places over-seasoned their food to the point that it was overpowering. I'll use Italian food as an analogy. If a chef dumps a whole pile of Parmesan on a dish, does that make it right? No, just because certain spices and ingredients are used predominantly in a particular cuisine, it doesn't mean you can use copious amounts of it. At Hakka Masti and Asian Spice, I found that they may have been a bit heavy handed with some of their spices, despite the fact I enjoyed my meals there.

Today, I visited one of the most well known Indo-Chinese restaurants in the GVRD - Green Lettuce. Although I pass by the Vancouver location quite often, I found myself at the Surrey location today. For lunch, they have a few specials which include rice and tea for $8.99. The Szechuan Chicken caught my fancy; but I was a bit hungry and decided to get the Dry Chili Beef for good measure. I was quite impressed with the service and how fast I got my food. Arriving first, the tender slices of perfectly cooked chicken were bathed in a moderately spicy sauce. I could see the chili peppers, green and white onions; but the flavours worked together. This is the balance I was talking about. The special came with a bucket of rice which was more than enough for me.

The Dry Chili Beef was actually a good amount of food since there were no fillers other than the 3 shrimp chips. The tender pieces of beef were only lightly deep-fried and then wok-fried in a spicy chili sauce. Again, I could definitely see the chili and seeds; yet I could still detect sweetness, garlic and a vinegary tartness. Achieving balance in a spicy dish is not a given; but they did here. I really enjoyed my meal here at the Green Lettuce. I most certainly will be returning. And guess what? I have returned, albeit more than a year later. This time around I also had 2 dishes starting with the Peppering Fish. Although this was a lunch special, they did not skimp on the portion size. The plate was overflowing with fish and sauce with very little filler. From what I could gather, it was Basa. It was fried up perfectly being moist and still a bit crisp outside. The sauce was very tasty with a nice combination of chili flakes, garlic and saltiness. Once again, balanced spiciness.

My second dish was the Manchurian Chicken. Again, it was a good amount of food with very little in the way of anything other than meat. However, I found the meat to be stiff and overcooked. The sauce was pretty good with a combination of sweet, tart and spicy. For me, the texture of the chicken didn't do it for me, so this would be the only one of the 4 I've had that was so-so. However, 3 out of 4 is pretty good in my books, especially considering the portion size for the price. Let's see when is the next time I'll return, another year maybe?

The Good:
- Friendly and efficient service
- Spicy food; but not overspiced
- Reasonable prices

The Bad:
- Well, if you don't like spicy food, it ain't for you