Insadong

It has been some time since we have last visited Insadong.  In fact, when we showed up for our reservation, it became evident that they had made some renovations.  The place looks much more modern and cleaner than it had been before.  This was one of my criticisms the last time I ate there.  Sure, the renos looked to be done in the past few years, so there was some wear and tear.  But so much more inviting than before.  I've always loved the food here, hence, it was a welcomed sight. 

We were here for the BBQ, so we got the Family of 4 Combo C meal that also included the usual Banchan.  We didn't get much variety (even though the menu states 10+ varieties).  As you can see, we only had bean sprouts, kimchi, spicy cucumbers and stewed potatoes (2 orders of each).  Also had a green salad as well as the usual romaine for wrapping the meats and rice, bean paste, peppers and garlic.  Banchan was good though where the potatoes were soft but still had a bite.  Kimchi was tangy with spice, would've liked some shrimpiness to it.

The fairly large plate of Japchae was not included in the combo, but we got it to supplement the meats.  This had quite a bit of components in addition to the chewy sweet potato starch noodles.  It was sweet as usual, but fairly balanced otherwise.  Overall, it was pretty decent.  For our choice of soup included in the combo, we went for the Soft Tofu (the non-spicy version).  It came out bubbling hot and the tofu was silky and smooth.  Broth was lightly sweet.  It was a little lacking in depth, but again, decent otherwise.

Onto the Meats, we had a selection that included Pork Steak, Pork Belly, Marinated Beef, Marinated Chicken and 2 types of Beef Short Ribs.  I thought that this was just the right amount of beef for 4 people, yet not enough if you had bigger appetites.  Meat quality was good where the pork was tender with just enough marbling while the thinly sliced beef was sweet and charred up nicely.  Beef ribs were fatty and had that classic short rib chew.

Seeing how we have bigger appetites, we did go for another 2 orders of meat including Pork Jowl and an extra order of Chicken.  We like the bouncy fattiness of the pork jowl and although chicken isn't what people really order at Korean BBQ (it is all about the beef!), the kids love the chicken, so we got more of it.  The grill itself needed to be turned up a bit to get a nice sear, otherwise, the meats merely boiled themselves.  Overall, Insadong provided the expected Korean BBQ experience.  Not the best in town, but definitely reliable and acceptable.  Service has improved greatly and the new decor (well, new to me) was welcomed.

The Good:
- Reliable eats
- Efficient service
- Decent

The Bad:
- Parking lot is terrible (not enough spaces for the amount of businesses
- Banchan selection is lacking

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

Deer Garden

When my parents used to live in Coquitlam, I remember frequenting Deer Garden for dinner.  That stopped as soon as my parents moved into Burnaby.  Mind you, I could've easily just ate at Deer Garden without them, but it was out-of-sight, out-of-mind.  Such a shame really as their food was generally solid and well-portioned.  Recently, along with other foodies, I was invited to try out a variety of dishes at their new location.  That's right, they are no longer on Westwood Street.  Rather, they've moved into Henderson Centre right across from the New Pacific Market.  

We started off the meal with an Appetizer Platter consisting of Salty Peppery Pork Chops, Fried Wontons, Honey Shrimp and Fried Eggplant.  Loved the crispy and light batter on the pork chops.  Inside, the meat was tender and not dry.  There was enough seasoning to flavour the pork chops.  The shrimp were also good with a starch coating.  Since it was tossed in sweet mayo, the exterior was just somewhat crispy.  The shrimp itself was meaty and buttery.  I found the fried eggplant to be cooked-through without being mushy.

Next dish was the Whole Lobster steamed with garlic.  Nothing complex with this dish and really, the most important thing is that they served a live lobster.  That was confirmed with the delicate bouncy texture of the lobster meat.  It was sweet and fresh-tasting.  The ample garlic on top did not overwhelm the lobster.  It only accentuated the already-present lobster aroma.  Absolutely loved that they put the lobster butter on the side so we could easily eat it.  So much umaminess!

Moving onto a classic dish, we had the Hainanese Chicken with chicken oil rice.  The free-range chicken was beautifully prepared with tender and moist pieces of both white and dark meat.  I found that the skin was perfectly gelatinzed while a bit of gelatin lurked underneath.  The pieces of chicken were delicious on their own but the accompanying condiments helped in that respect.  As for the chicken oil rice, it as nutty, a bit fatty and full of umaminess.  The rice itself was chewy and nutty.

Like many restaurants of this style (think Miu Garden) we also had the Coconut Curry Bef Brisket to go along with the chicken dish.  This was every bit as good as Miu Garden with big chunks of beef that were super tender and surprisingly not that fatty.  The coconut curry was rich and creamy with so plenty of aromatics and proper seasoning.  Really needed white rice for this and with the sauce, maybe a few bowls of rice just for myself!

Going in a totally different direction, we had the Seafood Congee with a side of salty donut.  The congee base was a bit more homestyle than other Chinese restaurants.  The colour was bright white and the seasoning was mild.  It was still thick though and the amount of seafood was generous.  I found the slices of fish to be tender and flaky while the prawns had a perfectly-cooked meaty snap.  There was also delicate slices of scallop.

We moved onto a pair of soup noodles after this including Beef Tendon & Tripe Noodles as well as Home-Made 4 Kinds of Meatballs Noodles.  Both featured chewy wonton noodles that had an appealing resistance to them.  The tendon and tripe were tender, but not to the point there was no texture left.  I found the soup base to be quite good.  As much as it isn't as good at a dedicated wonton noodle house, it was still flavourful with a sweet meatiness.  Not much to say about the meatballs other than there were a good amount of them.

We always go for the default with the Sweet & Sour Pork mostly because we enjoy the dish.  However, it is so beloved by everyone, I tend to judge most places with this dish in mind!  Well the version here was actually quite good.  It featured medium-sized nuggets of pork that were juicy and tender.  This was definitely fried-to-order, which meant the exterior batter wasn't hard nor was the meat overdone.  Sometimes restaurants par-fry the pork to make preparation faster.  They didn't here.  The sauce was on the sweeter side and could've used a touch more tang.

We moved onto the a pair of hot pot dishes in the Singing Pork Sparerib Hot Pot and the Satay Sliced Beef Vermicelli Hot Pot.  Both came out sizzling with still vibrant veggies.  I found the ample amount of spareribs to be meaty, yet tender without much in the way of fat of cartilage.  It was seasoned properly with a starch-thickened sauce.  As for the sliced beef, it appeared that the cuts were more with the grain than against the grain, so the meat wasn't as tender as it appeared to be.  It possibly could've benefited from more tenderization through a longer marinade.  It did taste good though with well-seasoned vermicelli.  Love the chewy texture that was not hard nor was it too saucy.

We had a HK-style dish next with the Baked Pork Chop Spaghetti.  Yes, normally, this would be a baked rice, but honestly, I like spaghetti more anyways.  This was a large portion that would be best for sharing.  The spaghetti itself wasn't exactly al dente, but it wasn't soft either, so that was a good thing.  I found the sauce having the right viscosity and having a pleasant taste including just the slightest of tomato tang with balancing sweetness.  There was so garlic notes too.  Served in cut up strips, the fried pork chop was tender and not dry.

The same sliced beef from the hot pot showed up in the Beef with Egg Sauce on Rice.  Hence, it looked great on the place being cooked perfectly.  However, it as still chewy due to the combination of cutting with the grain and not being marinated long enough.  Despite this, the dish was still tasty and went will with rice.  The eggs were silky and the starch-thickened sauce was flavourful and the right viscosity.

We ended off the savoury part of the meal with the Fried Rice with shrimp paste, shrimp and chicken & the Supreme Fried Kuiteow.  The noodles were pretty good despite missing the usual flavour profile of a true chow kuiteow.  It had good wok hei which meant it was a a a bit smoky without any residual moisture.  I would've liked to see some brininess but it still tasted fine.  I found the rice to be quite good with plenty of ingredients.  It had enough of a hot wok fry that it had some caramelization and colour.  The ample amount of shrimp were cold-water crunchy.  I would've liked maybe more aggressive seasoning with this though. 

For dessert, we had the HK-Style French Toast with butter and syrup.  Classic Hong Kong Cafe-style, these French toast bites were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  There was a layer of sweetness already between the white bread, but the addition of syrup made this a satisfying dessert. In the end, we were quite satisfied with the combination of classic Chinese dishes and HK-Style cafe favourites.  Things were generally well-prepared except for the beef.

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

The Good:
- Well-prepared dishes
- Good portions
- Fairly large menu

The Bad:
- Unfortunately, the beef was not tender
- Kuiteow didn't taste like one, but really, it was still delicious

 

Toe Dam Korean Fusion BBQ

When it was time to celebrate my son's birthday, his choice of cuisine was something very familiar - Korean BBQ.  Hey that is a great choice, but it can be a pretty expensive proposition these days.  But anything for him right?  So we decided to hit up an ol' favourite in Toe Dam Korean Fusion BBQ located in the H-Mart strip mall along North Road.  We haven't been back in awhile and this was a great opportunity to do so.  We made a reso (very much a good idea) for opening and that was a good move as the place was packed shortly after.

As usual, we started with a selection of Banchan that included potato salad, kimchi, pickled daikon and salad.  There was also the usual garlic and jalapeno for wrapping the meats in romaine.  We were also served a trio of sauces including sweet soy, sesame oil salt and spicy.  Kimchi was pretty good with spiciness.  The mashed potato salad was not as heavy as it looked.  We got a refill of that.

We went for the Monday Night Special for $100.00.  It included beef rib finger, chuck flap tail, prime boneless short rib and marinated pork collar.  That was a pretty good deal as the amount of meat would be good enough for 4 people.  The quality of the meat was quite good with the rib finger having enough fat for both flavour and butteriness while having a chewy tenderness (if that makes sense).  The chuck flap tail was a bit more meaty in texture, but it was very beefy.  Of course the short rib was the star of the show with its buttery texture with a meaty bite.  It was so flavourful due to the fat.  Pork collar was tender with its classic rebound texture.

Of course this wasn't enough food for 6 of us, so we went ahead and also got the Duck Set that consisted of roasted duck, striploin, garlic beef, rib finger, steamed egg with cheese and bean paste soup.  As much the duck is one of their signature items, I'm not convinced that I actually like it.  When placed on the BBQ, they inevitably overcook and the skin doesn't render enough without burning the whole thing.  Hence, you are left with a dry and chewy piece of duck.  However, the striploin was good though.  It was sufficiently tender and meaty.  

We added a side of Soy Sauce Marinated Blue Crab just because nothing we ordered included it.  Oh and also, I wanted to try their version of the dish.  I ended up selecting the one that had roe.  This was pretty good with well-marinated crabs, that were also of a good size.  The sweet roe and crab butter was very appealing with a sweet brininess.  The body meat was soft and sweet with enough soy marinade to balance.

Included in the duck set was a Tofu Soup and Steamed Cheese Egg.  The soup was bubbling hot and quite tasty.  There was no shortage of spice either.  Tender cubes of tofu and veggies loaded up this soup.  As for the egg, it was plenty cheesy with melted cheese on top.  However, the egg itself was a bit stiff and not as fluffy as we would've liked.  Also, there was quite a bit of residual water.

Also included was an order of Japchae that was for all intents and purposes, a good version.  It was not clumpy yet not greasy while the veggies were still vibrant despite being cooked through.  It wasn't overly sweet like some versions we've had, but it was also a touch lacking in seasoning.  Overall, the meal at Toedam was solid despite being a bit pricey.  Mind you, all Korean BBQs are not cheap due to the cost of the meat.  It really helped to have that Monday night special.  Service was friendly, if not hurried.  Not a place to linger.

The Good:

- Good meat quality

- Solid eats

- Efficient service, if not hurried

The Bad:

- With any Korean BBQ, it will cost you

- Duck isn't as good as I thought it would be

Hearthstone Pizza

Almost 10 years ago, I had visited Hearthstone Pizza out in PoCo (more like Coquitlam, but technically PoCo).  Fast-forward to the present, Jacky and I were invited to check it out.  Despite still being a pizza place, it is now run by a wonderful Korean couple where they have put their own touches on the menu.  Sure, there is still classic stone oven thin crust pizza, but they also have Korean-inspired pizza featuring a thicker crust that is actually not heavy.  Of course, they've added Korean snacks and dishes for their dinner menu as well as a pop-up of cream buns.  They are also licensed.

We ended up trying out most of their menu starting with the classic pizza.  These featured a thin crust and barely-there edge.  We started with the baseline in the Margherita.  This consisted of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and fresh basil.  There was a good amount of everything on top, but despite that, the crust remained fairly crispy.  I found the tomato sauce to be mildly tangy with a balancing sweetness.  The decent amount of cheese made each slice rather hearty.  Despite the big slices of tomato, it didn't make the pizza too wet.

To get an idea of the other offerings, we did half-and-half of the Meat Lovers and BBQ Chicken as well as the Mediterranean and Hawaiian.  As with the margherita, the crust was relatively thin and was uniformly firm from edge to centre.  I liked how the toppings and cheese made it almost to the very edge of the pizza.  My favourite of the bunch was the meatlovers with the ample amount of meat.  The Hawaiian was also solid with plenty of ham and pineapple.  They weren't shy with the cheese either.

For the Premium K-Pizza featuring a thicker dough, we had the large No. 1 Signature that had a bit of everything atop its square pieces.  Each piece represented the different pizzas available on the menu.  The amount of mozzarella cheese on this pizza was ridiculous but welcomed.  Very cheesy and filling.  As for the crust, it was still thin on the bottom while thicker on the outer edge.  However, it was airy and light while filled with more cheese!  I feel that a large K-Pizza would easily feed 4 people (as long as they are not football linebackers).

Even though we had all of the pizzas represented already in the Signature, we ended up with 2 medium pizzas so we could try them in a bigger slice.  We got the No. 4 Gold Rich and the No. 7 Garlic Shrimp.  As much as there was just as much cheese and toppings on the gold rich as the signature, I wasn't a huge fan of it as it ate very heavy.  The sweet potato puree sure tasted great, but carbs on carbs make for a heavy slice.  However, the garlic shrimp was primo as the generous amount of melted mozzarella melded well with the buttery and well-seasoned shrimp.  Each slice was so delicious and aromatic, I wanted to eat more of it.  Alas, I was getting quite full at this point!

In addition to pizza, they also feature a few flavours of baked Chicken Wings.  We ended up with the Honey Garlic.  To ensure we were able to try the other flavours, we had side sauces of the BBQ and Spicy too.  Since these were baked, there was no batter on the outside, which made the skin more rendered.  As for the meat, it was fairly moist given that the wings were baked enough for the skin to be rendered.  The honey garlic was mild and only lightly sweet.  I loved the BBQ sauce, it was plenty tangy and sweet.  The spicy did have a nice kick to it.

Onto the Korean eats, we had some snacks including the K-Corn Dogs and So-Ddeok So-Ddeok.  I really enjoyed the So-Ddeok So-Ddeok as the rice cakes were crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.  Such appealing texture.  Also, there was just enough sweet and spicy sauce drizzled on them.  The sausage was meaty and nicely grilled.  Lastly, the corn dogs were coated aggressively, but the batter was not as heavy as it appeared.  Nice crispiness on the outside and plenty cheesy on the inside.

At night, they serve certain Korean dishes including the Gamjatang and Korean-Style Sausage Stew.  I really enjoyed the pork bone soup as it was served bubbling hot and was flavourful.  There was a nice meatiness to it while exhibiting a noticeable spice.  The pork bones were fall-off-the-bone tender.  The sausage stew was a smaller version of the dish and sported noodles in a spicy broth.  There was a good amount of sausage and tofu as well.

One more snack was the Corn Cheese that was served on a long and deep plate, the corn cheese had plenty of cheesiness while the corn niblets were nicely textured and sweet.  Our last Korean dish was the Steamed Egg and if you look at the picture, it was plenty fluffy and light.  There was a good amount of green onion on top which partially dominated the flavour profile (dependent on where you scooped).  Otherwise, it was sweet and mildly flavoured.

Also located within Hearthstone Pizza is Golden Brown where they have a selection of savoury baked buns as well as their sweet cream buns.  We tried all 3 of their savoury options including the Corn Cheese, Basil Pesto & Chicken and Ham & Cheese.  All 3 featured a firmer exterior that was slightly crispy while inside was soft and nearly pillowy soft.  There was no absence of ingredients and seasoning to make these tasty.  I very much enjoyed the basil pesto as it was herbaceous and the corn cheese was sweet from the niblets.  Ham & cheese was pretty basic, but had a good mix of cheesiness and saltiness.

Now those were really good, but I found their Cream Buns to be even better.  The bun themselves were pillowy soft and had a slightest of chew that gave it a great mouth feel.  Inside, there was so much filling that you can't help but get it all over your face.  My favourite of the bunch was the basic milk cream as it was like eating an eclair but in a soft bun.  The Oreo cream was good too, but sweeter.  Chocolate was similar to the milk cream except tasting like milky chocolate.  If red bean is your thing, the matcha & red bean had plenty of impact from the slight bitterness, but balanced off by the sweet red bean.  So as you can see, there is a lot to eat here at Hearthstone.  A bit misleading from the name, but rest assured, the Korean food is legit and the buns are heavenly.  I guess you might have to make multiple visits to try everything!

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

The Good:

- That K-pizza has so much cheese and toppings (even in the crust!)

- Solid Korean dishes

- They even have Golden Brown cream buns

The Bad:

- They do a good job in pulling it off, but maybe a bit too many items on the menu?