Roseto Bistro

*Restaurant is permanently closed*

Now here is an interesting blog post.  It is about Roseto Bistro located in PoCo.  Now that doesn't make it particularly strange or unusual.  However, if you tried to search it on Google, it wasn't showing up for the longest time.  In fact, you'd find Hearthstone Pizza as a result.  You see, the reason for this is that Roseto Bistro replaces Hearthstone Pizza, but still has some of the K-pizza options leftover from the 2nd iteration of Hearthstone Pizza.  Okay, if you are confused, I don't blame you.  Currently, Roseto Bistro offers up legit Italian eats prepared by a chef who has worked for years in Italy, but also has some Korean influences in the pizza and the pastas.  In fact, RoSeTo represents Rome, Seoul and Tokyo.  The fusion between all 3 cuisines are evident in the menu.

I think they should add Athens as well since we started with the Calamari Fritti.  Sure, this dish can be every bit Italian as it is Greek.  However, let's just say there are influences.  We found this dish to be prepared quite well with tender pieces of squid that also retained a pleasant chewiness.  The light and crispy batter was properly seasoned where the tzatziki on the side wasn't completely necessary.  However, for me, I always like to dip my calamari into it.  This was a good start to our meal.

Next, we moved onto some pizzas, 2 of which were very similar.  What you see in the picture is the Capricciosa.  We also had the Proscuitto e Funghi which looked exactly like the Capricciosa except without the salsiccia, bacon and artichoke.  Both featured a uniformly crispy crust that was nicely browned, but could've been a bit more charred.  The crust was properly seasoned while the tomato sauce was balanced.  Good amount of toppings and the proscuitto added salty meatiness.  Both featured arugula on top.

Onto the pastas, the fusion aspect of the menu really showed.  This was particularly true with the Kimchi Fettuccine with bacon and mushroom.  I quite enjoyed the layers of flavours in this dish where the kimchi offered up mild spiciness along with tanginess and sweetness.  The addition of cream toned down the spiciness but also made the pasta a bit heavy.  The fettuccine itself was house-made and cooked until al dente.  The addition of bacon added salty meatiness and the mushrooms added some pops of moisture and woodsiness.

On the topic of mushrooms, we had a new menu item in the Mushroom Pasta.  It consisted of firmly al dente spaghetti with a good amount of mushrooms.  This had a certain Japanese flair to it with the addition of butter and soy.  This was full of umamainess as well as the classic Asian flavour to the pasta.  This also sported a good amount of olives and capers which totally amped the overall flavour profile.  There was more saltiness (in a good way) and tanginess to provide impact. 

For our non-pasta dish, we had the Cotoletta di Maiale.  This featured a pork cutlet breaded and fried until super crispy.  The meat itself was tender and moist.  However, the best part of this dish was the Japanese demi sauce.  It was super savoury with sweetness and a touch of tanginess.  It was super addictive and honestly, I could put that on anything and it would taste good.  This came with some perfectly cooked veggies and nicely seared gnocchi.  They were firm, but soft enough to be appealing.

For dessert, we had the Frittelle tossed in sugar.  These little donuts were very soft and fluffy while the outside was crispy.  They were a touch greasy though.  I enjoyed the mild flavours and the slight crunch from the granulated sugar.  Overall, the food at Roseto is quite good.  The pasta is freshly made and totally legit.  The incorporation of Asian influences is seamless and reasonably-priced.  Totally loved the pork cutlet where it is a crazy good value at $22.00.  If you are needing to eat out as a family in the area and were going to spend chain restaurant money anyways, go check out Roseto Bistro.   You will be surprised.

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

The Good:
- Well-prepared eats
- Totally reasonable pricing
- Quality is there with house-made pasta

The Bad:
- Wished the pizza was more charred

Poke Club

Remember that Poke craze from 10 years ago?  It seemed like a new poke spot was opening up every week!  If you've ever been to Hawaii far before that, you'd know that the poke we have here is an interpretation of the original dish.  Save for a few places that serve up authentic poke, most places here make it accessible and as familiar as they can for the local population.  Hey, I don't blame them as restaurants are there to profit and they will serve whatever the masses are willing to pay for.  They are not there to satisfy the 10% who want it a certain way (those who are always complaining something isn't authentic).  This brings me to Poke Club in PoCo.  Sure, they have poke, but they also have some hot classic Hawaiian and Korean dishes.  Yah, that isn't poke, but really great for these never-ending cold and rainy days.

So we didn't have any cold poke bowls but did have something that was in-between in the Aburi Poke Bowl.  This was a pretty good value at $19.45 with 3 scoops of protein.  In this case we found tuna, salmon and bay scallops that were beautifully torched.  Hence there was some textural contrast as well as smokiness.  With the other components such as imitation crab, corn, cucumber, green onion and fried onions, there was plenty of toppings for the amount of chewy sushi rice.

Sticking with the Hawaiian theme (it is a poke joint after all!), we tried the Garlic Butter Shrimp for a reasonable price of $17.95.  These large shrimp (an oxymoron?) were meaty with a sweet snap texture.  They were garlicky and buttery, but I thought they were much more savoury with an intense sweetness from the caramelization.  The rice underneath soaked up all the juices and was delicious as well.   Some pineapple and imitation crab were added to the bowl too.

Now we can't have garlic butter shrimp and not have a Loco Moco on deck right?  Yet another classic Hawaiian dish, we found a house-made beef patty that was fairly lean.  Hence, it wasn't exactly juicy, but we really appreciated the natural beef texture and flavour.  Of course, this was served with a sunny side egg and gravy to go with the rice.  This was hearty and definitely great for the rainy weather we have right now.

So the Seoul Ra-Myun was definitely not Hawaiian but hey, with the large Asian population in Hawaii, I'm sure you'd find this dish somewhere.  This was so comforting and delicious with Nongshim noodles and beautifully seared thinly sliced beef.  This also came with a bowl of rice and kimchi.  Sure, nothing complex about this dish but for $12.99, it isn't any more expensive than typical fast food these days.

Lastly, we tried their Shrimp Burger that could be had in a spicy version as well.  I thought this was on point with a crispy patty that had soft fluffy shrimp paste in the middle.  It was not dense and went well with the soft toasted bun.  Overall, the warm and hot dishes we had at Poke Club were well-portioned, delicious and reasonably-priced.  Something a bit different for these cold and rainy days.  So you can have something other than poke bowls at Poke Club.

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

The Good:

- Tasty

- Good portions

- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:

- Loved the lean burger patty, but maybe too lean? 

Hearthstone Pizza

*Restaurant is closed*

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?

Ramen Bella

Sigh, another year, another birthday...  I am indeed getting old...  Well, the positive part of it is all of the birthday dinners!  One of them is with Jacqueline, because her birthday is literally 2 days after mine.  We originally, planned to hit up Matsuzushi for their good value Omakase, but I had no luck calling to make a reservation as they do not answer their phone nor clear their mailbox.  I gave up after 5 days and resorted to heading there when they opened to see if I could score a table.  Well nope and really, they had no really good excuses for the frustrating way to make a reservation there.  So we decided to drive a bit further and just do something simple in Ramen Bella in Poco.

Gosh, the place is so hidden in a corner next to Michael's, we initially thought we were in the wrong parking lot.  We eventually found it and sat down in one of their 5 available tables.  We started with the Chicken Karaage and it was quite good.  We found 5 large pieces of fried chicken thigh that were juicy and tender.  There was enough seasoning with the chicken and the batter than we really did not need to dip it into the sauce.

Jacqueline went for the Double Pork Ramen with spicy miso chicken broth, pork chashu, ground pork, green onion, garlic flakes, nori flakes and half ajitama egg.  We found the broth quite creamy, but not overly thick.  There was the definite fermented flavour of miso and a decent amount of spice.  This was satisfying due to the amount of pork involved.  Although the egg was perfectly custardy in the middle, it was not marinated enough and had no flavour.

For myself, I had the Shoyu Black Ramen with firm noodle, soy sauce based chicken broth, chopped pork, 3 slices of pork chashu, black garlic oil, mushroom, green onions, garlic flakes, sushi nori, spinach, ajitama egg and corn.  Again, the broth was creamy and full of depth.  I liked how it wasn't too salty.  The chashu was fatty and melted in my mouth.  Loved the amount of black garlic oil as some places don't give you enough.  I found the noodles not as firm as I would've personally liked, but they weren't soft either.  Again, the egg was a disappointment as it has no flavour whatsoever.  

For good measure, I added the Tonkatsu Set that included rice, miso soup, sesame dressing, cabbage salad and tonkatsu sauce.  This was a pretty good value at $17.50 as it included 2 pretty decently-sized pork cutlets.  I found the panko coating to be crispy without being greasy.  The pork was a bit over-marinated as it lost some of the natural pork texture.  With that being said, it was still good.  Overall, we thought the food at Ramen Bella to be good especially since the Tri-Cities isn't known for great ramen spots.

The Good:
- Chicken broth is silky and full of umami
- Fair portions
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Ajitama egg prepared well, but not marinated enough

Popeye's Lousiana Kitchen (Port Coquitlam)

Lost within all the hype of Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen opening up in PoCo is that this is not its first foray into the Lower Mainland.  There once was a location in Coquitlam's Pinetree Village which closed in 2006.  There may have been many reasons why the place didn't survive, but I remember it being one of my favourites (as I lived nearby).  Sadly, I didn't get another taste of Popeye's until 2013 when I was down in Orlando.  Well, as mentioned, I don't have to wait until another visit to the States as Popeye's has opened up shop in PoCo's Fremont Village.  We headed out there for a taste during the holidays and let's just say everyone else had the same idea.

We decided to share the 8-Piece Bonafide Meal consisting of chicken, 4 biscuits and one large side.  I went for half mild and half spicy.  Basically, this was a whole chicken with 2 wings, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs and 2 breasts.  For me I enjoyed the spicy more due to the layers of heat and spices combined with the crunchy rendered skin.  Naturally, the dark meat was juicy, but the white meat was equally moist and tender.  I actually preferred that more, especially dunked into the hot sauce.  We got the Cajun Fries as our large side and they were very crunchy and slightly spicy (probably too crunchy though).  I added a small Mac n' Cheese and it was very buttery with overly soft pasta.  As part of my daughter's meal (yes, she had her own), she had the small Mashed Potatoes with Cajun gravy.  I would say the gravy was more spiced than spicy.  Good though.

So my daughter was too good for our fried chicken and had the mild Chicken Tenders Platter with Onion Rings and the aforementioned mashed potatoes.  Honestly, I thought the tenders were only okay because they weren't as juicy as the fried chicken.  However, the batter was crunchy and they weren't greasy.  They were very tasty when dunked into the amped blackened ranch dressing.  We weren't impressed with the onion rings as they were soggy and not crunchy.  Despite this, the fried chicken is as good as I remembered and can be a legit contender in the Lower Mainland.  Think of it as a cross between LA Chicken and Church's, but I would still give them the edge over Popeye's at the moment.

The Good:
- Juicy, tasty and crunchy fried chicken
- Nice spice
- Those dipping sauces are good

The Bad:
- Tenders are "okay"
- Sides need work and the onion rings were terrible

The Big Flat Pancake Co.

Sometimes it is easy to lampoon the lack of good eats in the 'burbs.  After all, many chain restaurants set up shop in the boonies in hopes of targeting a specific audience and/or for market research.  I'm pretty well-versed in suburban dining as I lived out in the Tri-Cities area for nearly 7 years.  However, as mentioned in my post on Oz Korean Cuisine, the restaurant scene has really improved in the past 10 years.  One of the newer spots to set up shop is The Big Flat Pancake in the old Wilbur & Sebastian's location.   As much as there have been more choice out in the Tri-Cities area, the breakfast scene has been rather lacking except for the aforementioned chain restaurants.  We headed out there to check it out.

We ended up sharing 4 dishes amongst us including the 3 Cheese Omelet with multigrain toast, fresh fruit and house fire-roasted salsa.  This was a modest-sized omelet that was neatly folded and filled with just enough melted gouda, cheddar and jack cheeses.  I thought the egg was still fluffy and not overdone.  It was really thin, which made it rather light to eat.  The fire-roasted salsa was bright with only the slightest amount of spice to go with the tang.  We also decided on the Farmhouse Waffle topped with thick-cut country ham and 2 sunny-side eggs.  Frankly, there wasn't anything special about the waffle, but it was still good.  I found it a touch dense while not crispy enough on the outside.  We asked for sunny-side eggs and they were perfectly prepared with cooked-through whites while retaining a completely runny yolk.  On the side, the side of tatar tots were on point being extra crispy.  It came with a side of pesto that tasted eerily like the one found at Costco.

Onto their signature items, we had the Hipster Hash Pancake featuring a thin-Pannekoek like crepe pancake topped with a dish of hash.  It consisted of hashbrowns, country ham, back bacon, turkey bacon, peppers, onions, corn and tomato topped with a sunny-side egg (extra +$1.50) Hollandaise and avocado.  For a hash, it lacked carmelization and searing.  Therefore, the flavours were not developed and visually, it looked more like it was tossed together.  Once again, the egg was perfect while the Hollandaise was creamy and well-balanced.   As for the pancake, it was similar to de Dutch but a touch thicker and spongier.  We ended things off with the Four Berry Cheesecake Pancake with cream cheese whip, graham crumble and a compote of blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries.  This was my favourite as the flavour was exactly as described.  Overall, I felt that the BFPC has loads of potential, especially for its location.  Prices are fair when compared to de Dutch and ingredients were fresh.  Just a bit more consistency would put it over the top.

The Good:
- Something interesting for breaky in the Tri-Cities area
- Nice people
- Things were fresh

The Bad:
- Execution could've been more consistent

Eastern Pearl Chinese

When I first spotted posts on Eastern Pearl, I actually thought it was referring to the restaurant located in Redmond, WA.  At that time, I had just visited the place after our flight back from San Diego during Christmas time.  Alas, the Eastern Pearl that was on IG referred to the newly opened spot in PoCo on the corner of Lougheed and Shaughnessy.  More than half-a-year later, we finally had a chance to make it for their Dim Sum service.  We wanted to make a reservation since we heard how busy they can be, but to no avail.  Either they had their phone off the hook or something was amiss as we couldn't get through the day before or the day of.  No matter, we went later and snagged a seat within 10 minutes.

Once seated, we noticed that the renovations had removed the booth seating in favour of a open dining space (good for banquets I suppose).  We got down to ordering and were served the BBQ Pork Pastry first.  From the outside, it looked like any other version with a flaky and super buttery (or lardy) pastry.  Inside, we were surprised to find a considerable amount of Japanese pickled ginger mixed in with the lean BBQ pork.  As a result, the flavour profile was completely that of the ginger being sweet with a sharp tanginess.  Next, the Beef Meatballs looked a bit too pale for our liking.  The reason for this was the considerable amount of baking soda which made the texture too light and fluffy.  There was no meat texture left.  It wasn't mushy though, which saved the dish from being a bust.  In terms of taste, the ample dried tangerine peel and seasoning kept the baking soda flavour from being at the forefront.

By appearances alone, the Siu Mai (Shrimp and Pork Dumplings) seemed to be on point.  In fact, it was really good featuring a buttery and bouncy texture where the meat was light and loose.  The flavours were sweet and briny with the full woodsiness of the shiitake mushrooms.  There was enough moisture where the dumpling had a nice mouth feel.  I also enjoyed that the intermittent bits of chewy, natural textured bits of pork mixed with the binding mousse.  As for the Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings), they were not as successful.  The thick and dense dumpling skin ensured that it was a fail even before we got to the filling.  It's not as if the filling was anything to write home about either.  I found it dense and lacking in moisture.  Despite the presence of a light snap texture, it was completely overshadowed by the lack of airiness.

On the same note, the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll was too thick as well.  Strangely, the thick rice noodle roll was not doughy.  Rather it had a good amount of elasticity and the texture wasn't all that bad.  The problem was that it was double the thickness of most other rice noodle rolls.  Therefore, the noodle was fine, but the execution (when they were applying the noodle batter to the tray) was sloppy.  Inside, the shrimp filling was on point though with a flavourful snap and being well-seasoned.  That was evident in the Shrimp Spring Roll as well where the filling was moist with a buttery snap.  It was also the beneficiary of a boatload of garlic that tasted great.  These were served hot with a light and crunchy exterior that was easy on the grease.

Off to some offal, we ordered the Steamed Tripe and Tendon.  This was far too saucy where the flavours came on strong.  There was an overload of sweet and saltiness that surprisingly didn't hide the gaminess of the tripe very much.  There was some appealing spiciness though.  In terms of texture, the tripe was a bit too soft and only had a light chew.  The tendon was pretty soft, but still maintained its shape.  One of the larger dishes was the Steamed Spareribs atop crystal noodles.  We enjoyed the chewiness of mung bean noodles where they soaked up the tasty black bean and rib juices.  Although lacking bounciness, the pork ribs were tender with a meatier texture.

Once again, we got the Xiao Long Bao despite our recognition they were not going to be very good.  That they weren't where the dumpling skin was thick and doughy.  Furthermore, there was no soup to be found.  Inside, the pork filling was good though being moist, meaty and tender.  To be fair, there should be no expectation that XLBs would be good at a Cantonese restaurant.  On the other hand, the Eggplant stuffed with Shrimp Mousse was pretty much on point.  The mousse was airy and bouncy with enough seasoning to hold its own.  I found the eggplant to be soft but not completely melted.  Lastly, the black bean sauce was on the milder side, but there was enough inherent flavour.

We also got the Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet) as per usual. For me at least, I find them just as important as the ha gau.  These ones passed the test being fairly plump with tender, yet not mushy skin.  Underneath, the cartilage and fat were soft without melting away.  Flavourwise, it was well-seasoned with garlic and black bean as well as a bit of spice.  If you look at the picture of the Custard Bun, it is a closeup and not particularly well-styled.  The reason for that was once I split the bun open, the custard ran out like water.  It was far too thin and we lost most of it right away.  It was sweet and aromatic though while the bun itself was soft and airy.

Lastly, we had the Baked Egg Tarts which ate better than they appeared.  The buttery and flaky shell was cooked just right while the silky egg filling was just sweet enough.  This ended a relatively uneven meal where some dishes were really good while some where pretty average-to-below-average.  However, considering that the Dim Sum game out in the Tri-Cities area is pretty weak, Eastern Pearl does a decent job in a nicely renovated space.  However, service can be rather poor depending on which server you get.  Furthermore, I'm not sure why they refuse to answer the phone to take reservations.

The Good:
- Is competitive in the Tri-Cities area where the Dim Sum game is weak
- Pricing is okay for the portion size

The Bad:
- Service can be poor depending on who you get
- Food is hit and miss