Ginger & Scallion

You might be wondering why a restaurant that specializes in Khao Soi goes by the name "Ginger & Scallion".  Well, it is run by the same people when it was Ginger & Scallion but they decided to pivot from doing Chicken Rice (hence the ginger and scallion name, which is a condiment associated with the dish) to Khao Soi.  They just wanted to do something different even though their Chicken Rice was wildly popular and the place was packed.  Jackie and I have tried their Chicken Rice before and although we are sad to see it go, we were super excited to try their Khao Soi.

Before we got to that, we tried their house made Thai Sausage.  This was really good as the texture was so natural and meaty.  As much as it was moist and juicy, it was not overly fatty.  Hence, the chew was consistent in terms of being tender with some firmness.  Flavor was good with hits of tanginess and rich fermented notes.   This was served with the typical raw cabbage, ginger, cilantro and chilis.

Onto the Khao Soi, we went for a few beef offerings including the Beef Tenderloin.  As you can see, the beef was prepared to a perfect rare.  I thought it was tender enough, but in comparison to the other 2 beef options we ordered, it wasn't fatty.  In addition to the rich and flavorful broth, we found green onions, cilantro, red onion, crispy shallots, pickled vegetables and crispy noodles (also chewy wide egg noodles hidden within).

On that note, the other beef options we had were the Miyazaki A5 Picanha and American Wagyu.  Although I found the Picanha to be the most buttery, it could've used just a touch more cooking so that the fats would be activated.  With more rendering, it would've been even more tender.  It was still delicious though with rich meatiness to go with the rich broth that was thick and aromatic.  Even though Khao Soi isn't supposed to be spicy, I would've liked just a touch more heat.  Mind you, there was some chili crunch on the side, so we could customize our broth anyways!

My favorite beef for the Khoi Soi was the American Wagyu Steak as it was less fatty than the Miyazaki A5.  Since it was medium-rare to rare, less fat meant that it didn't need to render as much.  Hence, it was super soft and succulent.  Nice meatiness from the fat and it was less heavy.  Since the broth was already so rich, the meat went better than the A5.

Our last 2 bowls consisted of Seared Duck and Oxtail.  Personally, I would've liked to see more rendered skin for the duck (or a breed that has less fat).  However, the duck was still beautifully cooked and tender.  As for the oxtail, we had 2 large pieces that had fall-off-the-bone meat that was gelatinous and buttery soft.  Once again, there was wealth of natural beef flavour.

To go with our Khao Soi, we had a Thai Iced Tea which was creamy and aromatic while being just sweet enough.  For dessert, we sampled a Passionfruit Pie from San Bartolo Bake Shop.  Tangy, sweet and refreshing, this helped level off all the yummy richness.  Overall, a solid experience and definitely filling despite not looking like a huge portion.  Plenty of meat and al dente noodles within that flavorful and aromatic broth.

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

The Good:

- Rich aromatic broth

- Excellent meat choices

- Filling, despite not looking like it

The Bad:

- Duck fat could've been rendered a bit more

Fat Mao Noodles

With the gradual gentrification of Chinatown, we've seen many non-Asian businesses set up shop where vendors once used to hawk Chinese medicine and fresh veggies.  However, we've also seen modern Asian eateries pop up as well including the likes of Bao Bei and Sai Woo.  The latest to join the fray is Fat Mao Noodles - the brainchild of Angus An of Maenam fame.  Located right next to the Ramen Butcher, Fat Mao offers up various noodles except for ramen (a good decision given its neighbour).

We stopped by for a quick dinner before the Whitecaps match at BC Place with the kiddies.  On that note, I encourage anyone who hasn't watched a football match (soccer that is), to give it a chance.  Pretty good stuff.  So back to the food, we started things off with the House-Made Pickles which included garlic stems, cucumber, onion and green mango.  These were good with an appealing crunch that gave way to balanced flavours that weren't too salty nor sweet.  Next up, the Tripe Salad was disturbingly small for the price ($8.00). The fact that we had to hunt for the slices of tripe didn't help matters either.  Whatever it lacked in portion size, it made it up in execution.  Dressed in a salty and sweet glaze with crushed peanuts, cilantro, fried shallots and onion, the sliced tripe was appealingly gelatinous.

For our first main, we had the Dan Dan Noodles dressed in a spicy peanut broth with ground pork and peanuts.  The first thing that struck me was the misuse of egg noodles in this dish.  Texturally, it was too chewy and flat while not being able to take on any of the broth (everything just slid off).  The broth itself was decently impactful with a balanced spice where the aroma of the peanuts were able to come through.  However, the Koh Soi, Changmai Curry Noodles with a whole chicken leg was not impactful at all.  We could definitely get the aromatics of the coconut milk and the sharpness of the mustard greens, but other than that, the flavours fell flat.  Even the tender chicken meat was completely flavourless. 

Lastly, we had the Braised Duck Noodles which featured a whole duck leg, flat mung bean noodles, sprouts and cilantro.  This was by far the "best" noodle of the bunch (although that is not saying a lot).  Aromatic with a silky duck essence, the broth was flavourful in a non-salty manner.  Falling off the bone, the duck meat was tender and mildly seasoned with five spice.  The flat noodles were a good match for the broth as it took on all the properties.  We added a Soft Boiled Soy Egg for good measure and it was good.  The creamy yolk was appealing while the egg white was completely flavoured by soy without being overwhelming.  So as you can clearly see, the 2 best items were the aforementioned items.  Otherwise, the overall experience at Fat Mao was incredibly underwhelming.  It has potential, hopefully they can refine their product in the near future.

The Good:
- Aromatics are there (but not sure about the impact)
- Interesting noodles on paper
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- Generally lack of impact in terms of flavour
- Trending towards the pricier side for what you get