Churn Cafe

On our last day in Portland, we headed up to the Boise neighborhood in the Northern portion of the city.  Along N Mississippi Ave, we visited 2 places starting with the Asian-infused brunch and beverages.  The place is rather cute and has lots of character.  We did our ordering on the big screens in the front and all the food arrived promptly at our table afterwards.  The places was bustlin', especially for a weekday.  After we dug into our food and drinks, it was quite apparent why.

If there was any confusion about the fusion, it was easily understood with the Coffee Flight featuring a bit of influence from many different Asian cultures.  The Vietnamese Coffee was not as strong as other versions I've had, yet, that was a good thing as it was went down smooth with balanced sweetness.  As for the Ube Latte, it was sweet and aromatic.  While the Pandan Latte was nutty and aromatic, it could've been stronger.  Also sweet, but with bitter notes, the Strawberry Matcha Latte had some milky fruity vibes.

Probably my favorite dish of our meal was incidentally the first one to hit the table.  It was the Okonomiyaki Crepe.  This fully-loaded creation had bacon, sautéed cabbage, eggs and Swiss cheese topped with okonomi sauce, kewpie mayo, bonito flakes and nori.  We added smoked salmon for good measure.  This definitely captured the essence of an Okonomiyaki with all of the components.  There was a smoky element to it from the bacon and salmon.  Loved the texture of the crepe as it was light and slightly eggy but had some chew to it as well.

Moving on, we had something quite Southern with Chinese twist.  We found 2 pieces of Fried Chicken with a house-made biscuit and Chinese sausage gravy.  The chicken itself was pretty textbook with a crunchy batter and rendered skin.  Inside, the meat was super juicy and tender.  The chicken itself as well as the batter was properly-seasoned.  As for the biscuit, it was buttery and featured a soft interior.  The gravy itself was classic white sauce, but with the sausage, it had a cured saltiness.

We also tried a pasta dish in the Yuzu Cream Pasta with shrimp, masago and mushrooms.  This would look completely at home in a Japanese pasta joint, so kudos to them for its on point preparation.  Featuring al dente spaghetti, the dish started off on the right foot.  It was enveloped by just enough yuzu cream sauce, which was bright and well-seasoned.  The plethora of masago provided pops of the sea in every bite.  On top, the shrimp were buttery with a sweet snap.

Back to the fried chicken, we had the Fried Chicken and Pandan Waffle.  This was another take on the classic dish with the addition of pandan to the waffle.  Although you can't really tell from the outside of the crispy waffle, the inside was beautifully green.  It was lightly sweet with aromatics and a bit of nuttiness.  I liked eating it plain, but there was syrup on the side.  As for the fried chicken, it was the same as the previous dish being juicy on the inside while crunch on the outside.

That previous dish was heading somewhere towards sweet, so it was nice transition to the stunning Ube French Toast.  Exhibiting its beautiful shade of purple, the ube came through mildly with sweetness and aroma.  The toast was well-soaked being a bit custardy with a lightly crisp exterior.  Since it was rather light-tasting, the addition of custard cream and ube condensed milk provided all of the necessary sweetness.  Furthermore, it gave the dish some creaminess.  

Ending off things on a lighter note, we had the Very Berry Crepe.  The crepe was somehow a bit more moist than the one in the okonomiyaki for some reason.  That was a good thing though as it had a nice tender chew to it with elasticity.  It was topped with fresh whipped cream and sliced strawberries.  The plate was finished off with a mixed berry compote.  Overall, the brunch at Churn Cafe was impressive with its diverse options where many had an Asian twist.  Portions were generous and the people are nice.

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

The Good:
- On point Asian twist on brunch
- Large portions
- Cute spot

The Bad:
- Parking in the area can be tough to find
- On the pricier side

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

Ju Contempory Cuisine (New Menu)

The original menu at Ju when it first opened was quite ambitious due to the many options of canapes, appetizers, entrees and desserts.  Although most of the dishes were delicious, there was a lack of focus.  Now hitting its stride, they have streamlined the menu so that it prominently features a tasting menu for $88.00 (which is a steal).  To compliment this, there are a select few a la carte dishes available.  This post will feature the other dishes we had in addition to the tasting menu (featured in the previous blog post).

One of the most interesting items was the Teriyaki Chicken.  Yes really.  It was an oven-roasted chicken leg that was super tender and juicy.  The teriyaki was quite balanced with sweet, savoury and tanginess.  To compliment this, there was a mildly spice serrano aioli.  To provide a bit more acidity and bite, we had some pickled ginger.  Lastly, some katsuobushi (or bonito flakes) provided the usual combination of salty umaminess.

Something a bit more conventional but with a twist, we had the Gochujang Yook Hwei.  This was essentially a beef tartare but with the quintessential Korean condiment in the sweet & spicy gochujang.  The CAB was soft and tender while the use of gochujang showed restraint.  That ensured that the meat flavours were still present and the subtle sweetness of the Asian pear was noticeable.  The seaweed on the side served as a vessel for the beef.  However, I would've personally liked some tapioca chips for more crunch.

Looking like merely a slaw of some sort, the Creamy Green was actually quite good.  Sure, it wasn't anything complex or super amazing, but at the same time, very welcomed.  Something so fresh, crunchy and light acted like a palate cleanser and also made us feel just a bit healthier.  It was comprised of shredded cabbage and field greens dressed in a creamy coconut dressing.  Naturally, it was aromatic and sweet, but there was a balancing tanginess as well. 

Trying to stay with the Korean influence on the menu, the Miso Jjajang-Myun was their take on the classic dish.  Rather than a black bean sauce, we found a fermented soybean, which gave similar salty richness, but in a more subtle manner.  Naturally, this dish would be incomplete without the onion and they were sweet and well, oniony.  There was also tender zucchini, cabbage and mushrooms which added both texture and a bit of extra earthy sweetness.  Noodles were perfectly al dente.

Off to another noodle, the Vongole Kal-Guksu was another interpretation of the Korean dish.  I very much enjoyed this as the knife cut noodles had so much bite and rebound.  Very nice mouth feel and chew.  The ample clams afforded sweetness and a bit of brininess.  The addition of garlic and shallots upped the aromatics and overall flavour profile.  Some zucchini provided soft textures and just a tiniest bit of bitterness.  So unassuming, but delicious.

For reference only, I will refer to a previous time I visited Ju and talk about another item that is still currently on the menu.  It is the Poached Oyster with roasted garlic mushroom espuma, rosemary oil and togarashi crunch.  This is particularly great for people who don't eat raw oysters.  However, it was poached just enough, so that all of the butteriness and brininess was still present.  It was not obscured since the espuma was subtle.  Loved the crunch on top.

They also have an array of unique cocktails including the Rose-Merry, Maple Cinnamon, Snowy Battle Field and Rice Punch.  Despite my love for fruity drinks, my favourite of the bunch was the Maple Cinnamon with its milky "eggnog" like vibes.  Just sweet enough and Fall-tasting.  With the rosemary being torched, there was some definite woodsy aroma going around.  But then, the actual cocktail was fruity with pomegranate and vodka.  The Rice Punch had some vodka and sik-hye (which is a sweet rice drink), hence this was lightly sweet and plenty nutty from the rice.  Lastly, the Snowy Battle Field consisted of Calpico, gin, vodka and red wine.  This looked quite Halloween-like, but was went down easy due to the addition of sweet and tangy Calpico.  There is one more item on the menu that I didn't feature, which is the Galbi.  However, it is in the tasting menu, so you can refer to it in the previous post.  I would say that these items were good, but the tasting menu is still the best bet.  You get all of the highlights and it is only $88.00.

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

The Good:

- Overall tasty

- Reasonably-priced

- Unique cocktails

The Bad:

- Theses dishes can supplement your meal, but the highlight is the tasting menu

- Noodles may need more colour

Ju Contemporary Cuisine (Tasting Menu)

I've already done a post about Ju when they first opened up shop.  They featured an ambitious menu that focused mainly on elevated Korean Westcoast fusion.  I really enjoyed the dishes, especially some of the outside-the-box offerings such as the Vegan Bibimbap.  Well, they have streamlined the menu and are now offering a Chef's Tasting Menu for only $88.00!  Considering its downtown location, quality of food and nice dining room, that is a steal.  We dropped by to try that tasting menu as well as some of their new dishes.

Let's get right to the tasting menu first starting with the Jook.  Yes, as the name implies, this was a rice porridge with earthy espuma and mushroom.  If you can imagine, this wasn't exactly the rice porridge we would find at home (otherwise, why would you be eating here?).  It was much thicker and creamier with the nutty essence of the rice as well as the umaminess of the espuma.  The slices of mushroom on top gave off a natural woodsiness due to the rawness of the preparation.

So the next course was something called Tofu Mochi.  However, it really wasn't mochi due to the absence of glutinous rice.  Rather, this was made with arrowroot and hence, the texture was a bit gummy and sticky.  Personally, I loved it as the mouth feel was something I am familiar with.  However, for some, it might seem too viscous.  In terms of flavour, it was sitting in a dashi broth that was clean, a bit briny and sweet.  Very subtle, but again, I enjoyed it.

Somewhat on the same textural path, we had the Botan Ebi Chawanmushi.  This was super silky and had the subtle sweetness of the dashi broth.  No excess moisture was to be found which meant it was just pure soft custardy egg.  A little herb oil added some brightness as well as a beautiful colour contrast.  On top, we found the buttery sweet ebi that had an ever-so-light crunch.  It was a naturally sweet compliment to the egg.  Also, some togarashi crunch provided the needed texture to the dish.

Moving along, we had the Cured Salmon with a green mandarin sauce served table side.  This was a fairly straightforward dish with the salmon being buttery soft with just a touch of chew.  It was lightly cured, so the sweetness of the salmon still stood out.  The green mandarin sauce had a good viscosity and was a bit sweet and tangy with some background herbal notes.  It was a nice compliment to the salmon.  There was some pickled veggies and soy gel on the side to add even more acidity, some crunch and some saltiness.

If the next dish looks eerily similar to Cantonese shrimp toast, you are not far off.  The one you see here is the Bulgogi Menbow-Yuk which is the Korean version, but with CAB beef instead.  This was quite good with a crunchy seedy bread that had lots of body and nuttiness.  Inside, the bits of Wagyu were buttery and fatty.  Like most versions of this dish, the bread soaked up some oil.  In this case, it wasn't super soaked though.  Some mustard oroshi helped cut some of that greasiness though.

Sure, the next dish looked rather pale, but ultimately, it was super delicious.  The delicately steamed Black Cod was draped with a miso cream and topped with Northern Divine sturgeon caviar.  Now, you might think steamed fish wouldn't be that interesting right?  Well you would be wrong as this was one of my favourite courses.  The fish was buttery and flaky while seasoned enough that the natural sweetness of the fish still stood out.  That miso cream had all of the good fermented things about miso and provided a rich, yet subtle umaminess.  Of course the caviar didn't hurt with briny pops of saltiness.

Our last savoury course was something that I absolutely loved.  It was their signature Galbi with perilla chimichurri, braised daikon and Ju jus.  The slice of Certified Angus Beef short rib melted in my mouth with the fatty richness that was also gelatinous.  It had such rich beefiness that nothing else was really needed.  Well, it didn't hurt that we found some jus and a bright chimichurri to compliment.  On the side, the daikon was tender and was penetrated by the braising juices.

The dessert that we were served was the Chocolate that featured a Belgian milk chocolate half-sphere with black sesame cake, vanilla coffee espuma and dalgona crumb.  I've had this before and it was just as good as I had remembered.  This ate very light where the chocolate mousse was creamy and just sweet enough.  The cake was nutty and aromatic while the crumb was crunchy and sweet.  Getting everything into one bite was the key to eating this.  We also had some other of their a la carte dishes and I will feature them in another post (along with the cocktails).  For now, I will say that this tasting menu is an absolute steal for $88.00.  Food is great and there are enough courses.  I recommend that you go give it a try!

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

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Well-prepared eats
- Enough courses

The Bad:
- The tofu mochi may not be everyone's cup of tea

 

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

Roseto Bistro

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?