24 Suns

Hoping to try something a bit more elevated while we were in Oceanside, we found out about 24 Suns.  This place is Michelin-recommended and features a mainly Chinese menu with some French influences.  There is also a tasting menu available that shows off the Chefs Nic Webber and Jacob Jordan's fine-dining training and time at Michelin 3-Star Addison in San Diego.

Our Asian gastronomical journey started with a small bite in the form of Shrimp Toast.  This was quite good where the shrimp mousse was light and airy with an appealing rebound texture.  Nice balance between sweet and salty while still having a natural shrimp brininess.  Unlike many versions of shrimp toast, this was not greasy, yet still was uniformly crispy on the bottom.  Nice start to the meal.

From the small bite, we moved onto a collection of snacks that included Hibiscus Jellyfish.  It was light and buttery with a bit of crunch.  Flavors were bright and lightly-seasoned.  Below and to the left, we found Chilled White Fungus with young bamboo.  This was a subtle dish that focused on textures.  The white fungus had a light crunch while the young bamboo mirrored that.  The brightness of the celery juice paired well.  Finally, the Oyster Yuba Salad featured the delicately chewy texture of tofu skin.  There was brininess, sweetness and a touch of spice from the Fresnos.

With an array of lively colors, the Yi Sangh or Prosperity Salad (also known as Lo Hei) featured trout belly and kanpachi alongside fruits and veggies.  There was some ikura, chia seeds and 3-year umeboshi.  When combined altogether, we had a wide range of flavors and textures.  Things were bright, sweet and a bit tangy as well as brininess with a bit of spicy bitterness too. 

Sitting in a fermented habanada butter sauce, we found two scallop and pork Siu Mai.  Since they used scallop rather than shrimp, the bounce texture was more subtle and softer.  I thought the dumpling was rather airy rather than dense, which made it extremely easy to eat.  With a dab of finger lime on top, it added the necessary tartness and citrus to the dish.  The star of the show was the sauce as it was sweet and aromatic without being too spicy.

Hitting all of the Chinese classics, we were served a version of the classic Turnip Cake.  This was a fairly large piece that was not a one-biter.  There was some shrimp in there to give it some body and meaty snap.  The texture of the turnip cake itself was somewhat soft with just a small bite.  This was battered and deep fried, which added a textural contrast.  On top, we found some briny XO sauce as well as some green garlic, celery tops, parsley and dill.  With all things combined, we got herbaceousness, bitterness, spice and brightness.  This went a long way in lightening things up from the deep fried turnip cake.

One dish we had that wasn't exactly Asian (but still had some influences) was the Lotus-wrapped Trout.  This was sous-vide where its appearance looked raw, but it was cooked.  Hence, the texture was super buttery and tender. It sat in a coconut fennel fumet which was full of natural fish sweetness and aromatics from the coconut.  Some Sichuan chili added just a slight kick at the end.

One of the most interesting dishes was the Claypot Chili Eggplant.  You can't see it in the picture, but believe me, the claypot was smoking hot.  Hence, the smokiness was definitely there.  Those eggplant-stuffed squash blossoms were full of spicy, saltiness, umaminess and tang.  On the side, we found Youtiao which were crunchy and topped with tuna sugar.  We didn't think it needed the sugar for this application though.

We were each served a mini-sized Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup.  This was pretty good with chewy noodles sitting in a flavorful broth that had umami and aromatics.  It wasn't salty which was good.  The best part of the dish was the large piece of super tender smoked short rib topped with chiu chow sauce.  Hence, we got a combination of smokiness, spice and garlickiness.

The most interestingly-plated dish was the Cigarette & Coffee.  Cleverly constructed, the "cigarette" was actually stuffed with coffee-braised duck.  These were crunchy whereas the duck was tender with smokiness and depth.  On the side, we found a duck jus latte that was intensely rich, tangy, sweet and spicy. There was some viscosity to go with the silkiness.  Loved the creativity with this one.

Our palate cleanser or pre-dessert was the the Mandarin Ice served in their cute little half rinds.  Totally refreshing and only lightly-sweet, the flavor was unmistakable Mandarin orange.  Really helped levelled things off from the full-flavoured and mostly spicy items we had so far.  Oh and these were sitting literally on ice that was set on the plate.

Our last item was the Budino featuring butterscotch pudding with chocolate ganache and cream.  Really enjoyed the silky and thick ganache which paired well with the sweet and buttery pudding.  The addition of black sesame really changed things up with nuttiness.  Loved that this was not very sweet, which was the nod to Asian desserts.  Overall, we thought 24 Suns was a fun and interesting meal.  Sure, you need to be good with the creative license they have over specific Chinese dishes in order to enjoy your meal.  I went in with an open mind and thought this was pretty solid.

The Good:

- A nice cache of courses

- Solid execution

- Excellent service

The Bad:

- If you are a stickler for what a dish should be, then you might not be the target audience

Elem

Saying that restaurants are facing an uphill battle these days is a huge understatement.  With the state of the economy and rampant inflation, it is tough go for most businesses.  So when I heard that there was a break-in at Elem, I just had to go back and support them.  I went twice within a month and this particular post is a combination of both dinners.  On a happier note, Elem has recently won Vanmag's "Best New Restaurant".  Truly deserving and congrats to Chef Vish and the Elem team!

For the longest time, the featured bread on the menu was the rye parker rolls.  Well, they now have Milk Brioche Buns now and for this dinner, it was served with whipped butter topped by serrano & lime butter and lime salt.  Loved the fluffiness and butteriness of the buns.  The butter was super light and airy while having a brightness from the serrano.  It really wasn't spicy either.

If you don't already know, Elem is also known for their cocktail program and we went for the Anar and Mango Rasmalai.  For the anar, it was a light mix of gin, pomegranate and cardamomo.  Definitely floral and mildly sweet.  Along the same lines, the mango rasmalai was also comprised of gin mixed with mango and cardamomo.  With the addition of clarified saffron milk and saffron white chocolate paint, we had even more floral notes.

Believe it or not, this is only the 2nd time I've had the Yellowfin Tuna Bhel!  It wasn't because I didn't like it, but rather, no one I ate with ever wanted to order it.  Well, this time I did and yep, I know now what I was missing.  Beyond the buttery pieces of tuna, we found the classic flavours of a Bhel being herbaceous, tangy and bright.  Love the added crunch as it needed it.

One of their newer dishes was the Elk Tartare.  Not gamy (to me at least), the lean elk was surprisingly buttery and tender.  It was well-seasoned and beautifully topped with edible flowers.  What put this dish over the top was it rested on bone marrow.  The generous amount of buttery and sinful bone marrow only added to the luxuriousness of the dish.  Completing things was the crunchy housemade chips.

Normally, I'm not one to order a salad for any meal, but since I've had the Glorious Organics Salad before, we got it.  Despite its basic plating, you wouldn't have guessed that it consisted of a bevy of greens, 

elderflower-tahini dressing, walnuts and ricotta salata.  Just something refreshing and light as an interlude between heavier dishes.  The mix of greens afforded bitterness, pepperiness and sweetness to go with the floral and nutty dressing.

Hitting some featured cocktails, we had the Milo/Corn and the Elderflower Highball.  With a small piece of fresh corn on the cob, there was no mistaking what the milo/corn was about.  This was a combination of cognac, Nestle Milo and milk-washed corn.  Slightly strong due to the cognac, but also malty due to the milo and sweet from the corn.  I though this was a creative drink for sure.  As for the elderflower, it was floral as expected, but also not weak due to the fermented rice vodka.  With some peppercorn, there was a slight bite at the end.

For my past 2 visits, I was able to enjoy one of their classic dishes in the Dungeness Crab Toast.  Loved that they brought this back on to the menu with a slight twist.  For the aerated sauce underneath, it was Tom Yum and that added classic lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf aromatics to already briny and "crabby" flavours.  The generous amount of fluffy crab sat atop a soft slice of milk bread.  Best to order more of the brioche to soak up all that delicious sauce!

Another dish I do not get to order often at Elem is the Grilled Lamb Skewers.  Yes, once again, nobody that eats with me loves lamb.  Well, I decided to order it anyways and eat them by myself!  These pieces of lamb were super fatty, which in turn, made the meat buttery and soft.  However, due to the charring, there were some crispy and smoky bits on the outside.  Due to the fat, there was no mistaking it was lamb as it was gamy (which I love).  Providing a carmelized sweetness, the medjool date glaze was also syrupy and thick.  This all sat on ginger labneh which was creamy, tangy and bright.

Of course a salad wasn't enough in terms of veggies, so we had the Purple Broccolini.  The next time we were here (just 2 weeks later), they had replaced the broccolini with the New Potatoes.  Although simple in its preparation, the broccolini had a punch of brininess from the bagna cauda and white anchovy.  Some pecorino provided more saltiness and nuttiness.  As for the potatoes, they were still a bit firm yet still tender.  At the centre, there was a toma cheese fonduta that was creamy with just a bit of tang.

With a cute crab cracker on top, the Mezcal Sour was the best cocktail of the bunch.  It was smoky from the crab shell mezcal and also slightly tangy from the strawberry vinegar.  Add in the chili oil and there was a kick.  Definitely riding the line between savoury and sweet.  Topped with a spoon of sweet and nutty taro sorbet, the aptly named Taro also consisted of rum and coconut.  By itself, the cocktail was a bit aromatic with definite hits of rum.  I decided to mix the taro sorbet in and that balanced things off with some sweetness and the aforementioned taro notes.

 

Another variation of an OG dish we had was the Duck Fried Rice.  Featuring tender and flavourful pieces of confit duck, the rice ate quite meaty and rich.  Each grain of rice was discernible and nutty.  Adding in the side of chili crunch was imperative to add texture, aromatics and even more nuttiness.  It wasn't spicy per se, but added a background smokiness instead.  Herbs on top were more than garnish as it provided brightness and relief from the heaviness.

 

Gloriously green, the Spring Risotto was beautifully executed.  Spreading nicely on the plate while being creamy and rich, the rice was still chewy with a bite.  Yes, the whole thing did taste green with the brightness and sweetness of the peas as well as the earthiness of the nettles.  A soft poached egg on top added some silkiness from the yolk.

 

For both meals, I ended up ordering the BC Halibut.  Good call as each time, it was prepared well.  The fish featured a crispy hard sear which was seasoned properly.  The fish itself was flaky and moist.  It sat on top of a coconut curry that was creamy, earthy and of course aromatic.  There was also some crunchy bak choy and soft chunks of potato.

 

Prepared medium-rare, we had a beautiful Wagyu Bavette steak.  This was rather meaty, yet still wasn't difficult to chew.  The fat content ensured that the meat was flavourful on its own.  However, the smokiness from the salsa borracha was definitely evident and helped add depth-of-flavour and umami.  Some crunchy and vibrant gai lan was served on the side.

The last 2 cocktails I'll talk about are the Mai Tai and the Lemongrass Gimlet.  Topped with a spoon of passionfruit ice, the mai tai consisted of 3 types of rum and pistachio orgeat.  Hence, we had some floral sweetness as well as hits of rum.  The passionfuit helped make this fruity and light.  That lemongrass gimlet was so refreshing and dangerous.  The combination of Lebanese gin, pandan and yuzu was pretty sweet and fruity.  I could easily down 10 of these, no joke!  But then I would be out like a light too...

 

The first of these two recent visits, we had the Chocolate Tart to end our meal.  This was a substantial slice of rich chocolate cremeux that was only semi-sweet with an appealing bitter finish.  Texturally, this was smooth and silky where it melted on contact when put into our mouths.  Nice contrasting texture from the butter hazelnut crunch on the top.  we found a scoop of salted milk ice cream on the side.

One of their newest desserts is the PB & J with a disk of evaporated and condensed milk atop banana coffee.  We found crunchy peanuts and mixed berry jelly on the side.  This tasted like we thought it would and that in itself was a success.  That disk was so creamy and despite having condensed milk, it was purposefully sweet.  Definitely lots of peanut aroma and texture while the jelly was sweet with a slight tang.

 

Beautifully plated, the Lemon and Rhubarb consisted of house-made lemon ice cream with elderflower, poached rhubarb, bee pollen, butterscotch, hazelnut crumble and a ginger almond disk with shiso glaze.   I would say this would be one of the best composed desserts I've had at Elem.  A good combination of floral, tangy, sweetness and slight herbaceousness to go with the contrast in textures.  So there you have it, 2 of my recent visits to Elem.  I think by revisiting some of their greatest hits, with a twist, is a good move for the menu.  Also, they seemed to have leveled up with their desserts.  They are more composed and dare I say, more "normal".  I'm happy for them winning best new restaurant by Vancouver Magazine.  I'm looking forward to what is coming next!

The Good:

- They brought back some classics (but with a twist)

- More composed desserts

- Excellent service

The Bad:

- Maybe due to the limitations from the break-in, they didn't have any daily features

Food by Fanta

If you've ever been to Baan Lao out in Steveston, you will know that they take Thai cuisine to a whole new level while still honoring the traditional techniques and ingredients.  I've been a few times and it has been fantastic, if not a major indulgence (it's expensive).  However, what if I told you that Food by Fanta out in Langley has similar elements while being significantly more affordable.  Jackie and I went out for a tasting and came away rather impressed.

This isn't my first time visiting Food by Fanta, but as you will soon see, I got to experience some carefully curated smaller bites.  This included the Miang Kham which literally translates to "one bite wrap".  This it was with pomelo, dried shrimp, ginger, pineapple, lime, peanuts and herbs in a betel leaf.  Combined with the sweet and savoury miang sauce, this had all the flavours such as brininess, sweetness, tang, nuttiness and herbaceousness.

Next little bite was the Kratong Tuna Tartare sitting in delicate pastry cups.  Delicate was the operative word here as the tuna was buttery and lightly sweet.  The other bite was the Yum Som with a mix of pomelo, herbs, toasted coconut, crispy shallots and garlic with Nam Prik Pao dressing and crispy prawn sprinkles.  This was aromatic and toasty with tangy sweetness.

Served on a handheld metal spoon/serving vessel, the Tom Kah Scallop Bites were one of my favourite dishes.  It featured a fairly large scallop that was beautifully seared.  It was slightly rare in the middle being buttery and soft.  Plenty of natural scallop sweetness that was concentrated due to the caramelization from the sear.  In addition to being properly seasoned, the scallop all benefitted from the creamy and aromatic tom kha which had balancing tanginess.

Another little bite that was neatly presented was the Shrimp Toast.  I was amazed that the toast was not greasy at all despite its thickness.  Depending on your preference, this could've been too dry also.  Personally, I would've liked to see the toast be less thick and surprisingly, a bit oiler.  However, it was still good since the shrimp mixture was bouncy and sweet while the layer of herbs provided plenty of flavour.

In addition to the shrimp toast, we had another trio of items from their high tea service including the Khanom Krok.  This crispy crepe was nutty and had a great hit of creamy coconut with the smoothness of blended rice.  I absolutely loved the Khao Kriap Pak Mor which was steamed rice-flour dumpling that had a beautiful soft texture with appealing elasticity.  It was filled with a tender savoury minced chicken mixture.  At the top, we found the Khanom Buang which was a crispy pancake filled with grated coconut, diced shrimp and lime leaves on top of lemon meringue.  This pancake had a light crunch coupled with the sweet and briny filling.  Lots of aromatics going on here.

One of their most beautiful dishes happens to be the Chor Muang Flower Dumplings.  These glutinous rice flour dumplings were texturally on point with a delicate chewiness with elasticity.  Inside, we found 3 fillings including chicken, pork and veggie.  Believe it or not, my favourite was the veggies with its combination peanuts, sweet radish, onion and cilantro.  It was not hurting for texture or flavour.  Loved the sweet tanginess with aromatics.

Colourful and presented as individual components (prior to mixing), the Khao Yum Salad consisted of 22 fresh-cut ingredients.  I'm not going to list them all here but the crispy rice made this dish.  Not only did it add texture, but the aromatics and nuttiness blended well with the crunchy vegetables, sweet fruit and herbaceous components.  This was dressed with tangy tamarind and that brought out even more sweetness and tang.

One dish I've had before was the Bechamel Taro Nachos.  Featuring thin waffle-cut taro chips, these were topped with tamarind prawns, melted Swiss and mozzarella and of course, an avocado bechamel.  Beyond the crispiness of the thin taro chips, the best part of this dish was the little bits of prawns.  Due to the cook on them, they were rather meaty and held up to the rest of the components.  They were sweet with a slight tang while the cheese held everything together.

Another nicely-plated dish was the Miso-Orange Roasted Carrots.  This consisted of a variety of carrots that had been butter-poached.  As such, they were super tender to the point they were almost breaking apart, but stayed intact.  The natural sweetness was definitely there with background earthiness.  Complimenting the nutty peanut sauce, we found a bright and tangy beet vinaigrette.

One of the more interesting dishes was the Seared Eggplant with Green Curry.  This acted almost like a vegetarian pate with a silky baked eggplant topped by poached carrots.  This was spread onto toasted and buttered ciabatta served on the side.  Texturally, this only worked because the toasted bread was the contrast.  Eggplant and carrots by themselves were very soft and hence spreadable.

Something a bit more usual was the Confit Chicken Leg Khao Soi.  The combination of delicate egg noodles and crispy noodles helped soak up the rich and coconut curry soup.  It was aromatic, slightly sweet, a bit earthy and plenty creamy.  The large chicken leg was definitely meaty and tender, but at the same time, it was maybe too tender?  I loved the crispy skin though.

One of the most impactful dishes we had was the Khao Khluk Kapi Bowl Thai Fried Rice.  This was not only due to the fact it was the beneficiary of smoky wok hei (high BTUs), but the fermented shrimp paste afforded plenty of umaminess.  With that being said, it wasn't so pungent that it was overwhelming.  Just enough of it.  As evidenced in the picture, the plate was also loaded with crunchy veggies as well as crispy shallots and fried garlic.  Lots of textures and further aromatics.

Encased with an egg lattice, the Pad Thai featured 2 large prawns on top.  They were meaty with a bounce texture.  Inside the lattice, the chewy rice noodles were coated with just enough homemade tamarind sauce.  It was quite balanced as the noodles weren't too tangy nor too sweet.  It had plenty of savouriness with smokiness from the wok hei.

I was happy that we got to try the Coconut Crème Brûlée since I enjoyed it very much the last time I was here.  Presented beautifully in a half-coconut, the dessert benefitted from the fresh coconut meat on the sides.  Beyond that, the custard was creamy and had a light thickness.  Sweetness was balanced and the brûlée was crunchy and caramelized.

Seemingly super simple, the Som Choon consisted of lychee, pineapple, strawberry, jackfruit, and orange in jasmine-scented syrup,

with orange zest, ginger and crisp shallots. The trick with this was to drizzle the syrup to your fancy and then serve it with ice. The result was something that was fruity, refreshing and pretty cold.  I loved it!

Colourful with a variety of ingredients, the Pandan Chocolate & Strawberry Khunafeh was full of different textures.  The crunch from the khunafeh was reminiscent of that in a Dubai Chocolate.  Heck, the chocolate drizzle helped it even more so.  The house-made pandan custard even looked like pistachio, but instead, it gave off a different form of nuttiness.  It was like a Jedi mind trick as it looked like Dubai Chocolate, but it had a twist of slightly different flavours.

A stealthily delicious dessert was the Gluay Buad Chee.  It featured a coconut cream mousse that was silky and rich.  It had plenty of aromatics and sweetness.  That in itself was quite satisfying already but we found a brûléed slice of banana on top.  The contrasting textures between the soft banana and the smoky crunchiness of the torched sugar was appealing and gave the dessert some body.

Of course we ordered some bevvies to go with our meal too. We thought the Watermelon Mule was the most refreshing with fresh-squeezed fruit.  Loved the natural flavours and the texture of the drink.  Mango Supreme was floral and also fruity.  The Mojito was refreshing from the passionfruit and also the mint.  Being savoury, the Tom Yamgrita was a bit spicy with the usual fragrances of lemongrass and galangal.  Overall, the meal was impressive as it featured traditional Thai flavours with some twists and a dose of modern presentation.  Definitely something to consider as the prices are quite reasonable given the quality of the food.

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

The Good:

- Traditional Thai flavours but with a certain refinement

- Reasonable pricing

- Unique dining space

The Bad:

- Confit chicken was far too soft