Sol Lee's

Some might suggest that the best Korean food outside of Korea can be found in K-Town in Downtown LA or even in NYC.  Having visited both in the past, I can attest that the Korean eats are indeed excellent at both locations.  However, I personally think that the Korean food in the GVRD is pretty good too.  Sure, I might have a bias here, but I truly believe in that sentiment.  Look no further than our very own K-Town along North Road straddling the border of Burnaby and Coquitlam for authentic Korean eats.  There are many to choose from and now, we have another in Sol Lee's within the H-Mart shopping complex.

If you have been here, you will know parking is quite the challenge, yet I assure you it is worth it for all of the available restaurants.  I will of course concentrate on Sol Lee's with their well-priced menu.  The one dish that I would absolutely recommend that you order is the Deep Fried Rex Sole.  For $18.95, you get not one, but 2 huge perfectly crispy whole sole.  Beyond the light batter, the fish itself is flaky and super moist.  With a bit of spicy sauce on the side, this is hugely addictive.  Despite being 2 whole fish, you could eat all of this since it was not heavy.

Going with one of the classics, the Pork Back Bone Soup (Gamjatang) is solid as well.  This is pretty textbook with a hearty broth bubbling within a hot stone bowl.  It is full of depth and has meatiness, tang and plenty of savouriness.  A background spiciness exists too.  There is no shortage of meaty pork bones sitting within the hot broth.  The bones feature super tender meat that takes on all of the flavours of the broth.

When in a Korean restaurant, we can never pass up the opportunity to order some Grilled Beef Ribs (Kalbi) and this one doesn't disappoint.  It arrives on a sizzling cast iron plate and each piece has plenty of beef where the fat is minimal.  They are evenly grilled on each side displaying appealing sear marks that are smoky with sweet caramelization.  The marinade ensures that each piece is a good balance of sweet and savoury.  Being tender, the meat still exhibits some chewiness for a great texture.

Sticking with the greatest hits, the Seafood Pancake (Haemul Pajeon) is another textbook item.  This is a fairly thin version, which is actually a good thing.  I find the overly thick ones end up to be much too dense and doughy.  Hence, this one has a uniformly crunchy exterior that is nutty and not too greasy.  The inside is delicate and moist with only a modest amount of green onion.  Some versions have far too much green onion and it overwhelms the dish.  There is a modest amount of seafood bits strewn throughout that gives the pancake some texture.

Onto some noodle and rice dishes, another staple is the Hot Stone Bowl Rice (Dolset Bibimbap).  This arrives sizzling hot and stays as such even after some picture-taking.  As such, I can mix the components with gochujang and I am able to get a socarrat by pushing the rice onto the sides and bottom of the hot bowl.  It also helps that the rice is not too soft, which means it can crisp up properly.  There is a good amount of toppings which in turn gives each scoop of rice some substance.

Lastly, the Cold Noodles with Raw Skate Fish is an under-the-radar dish.  This is something I don't remember having before.  Well, I've had the cold noodles, but not the raw skate fish.  It will not be the last time either as the fish has a wonderful chewy texture that exhibits a pleasing rebound.  The soft cartilage is easily chewable and the sweet and slightly spicy sauce goes well with the skate.  Noodles are pleasingly chewy too.  Overall, the food at Sol Lee's is solid and pleasing to eat.  Prices are reasonable and portion sizes are generours.  Great addition to the strip mall full of many other restaurants.

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

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Large portions

- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:

- Parking lot is a disaster

Otreat Brunch + Bistro

Brunch is a thing in the GVRD.  I'm sure I haven't said anything new with that statement since you can find brunch literally everywhere.  From high-end hotel restaurants to the neighbourhood cafe, we can get some pretty good brunch at different price points.  Now, have you noticed that there has been growth in the Korean-inspired brunch spots?  Think of it, we have Jess, Toast to Coast, Off and On etc...  Trying to get to all of them, I finally made it out to OTreat Brunch & Bistro in Walnut Grove in Langley.  OTreat is actually the combination of "offer" and "treat".  I guess we were ready for a treat!

That we were when we decided to go with Bulgogi Eggs Benny served on thick-cut toast.  Yes, this was as big as it appeared with a plethora of tender beef bulgogi.  The meat was moist and full-flavoured with a balance between sweet and savoury.  This was also set atop a hash with smashed potatoes, tomato confit and carrot rappe.  Two perfectly poached eggs with runny yolks were covered with velvety Hollandaise.  I thought it was creamy and buttery with enough seasoning.

We were recommended the Egg in Hash with gravy and honestly, I wasn't a huge fan of it.  For me, the whole point of a hash is that it is caramelized with peppers and onions, possibly has crispy potatoes and also crisped up sausage.  This had all of that but then was doused in gravy.  Now the gravy was actually great clinging onto everything with a silky texture.  It was salty enough to provided the necessary seasoning as well.  I just didn't like that the hash was wet.

For our choice in the pasta section of the menu, we decided on the Pesto Prawn Pasta.  We thought this was a solid dish where the linguine was al dente and thoroughly coated in a cheesy, nutty and herbaceous pesto (without being drenched).  This didn't eat too greasy and the extra parm and fresh basil provided more pesto vibes.  The prawns were beautifully prepared having a meaty snap that was sweet with natural prawn essence.

My favourite item of the meal had to be the Pork Banh Mi served in a soft baguette.  Now soft meant the inside as the outside was still crispy.  Stuffed full of juicy pieces of grilled pork, this was very filling.  In addition to the caramelized and smoky flavours of the pork, we found cilantro, carrot rappe, pickled radish, cucumber, tomato and jalapeno.  I could've done without the tomato as it made things rather wet.  However, the red pepper dressing was money as it provided slight spice and sweetness.  The side of starch-coated fries were fried perfectly crispy. 

In addition to brunch items, there is a display of bakery items too at the front.  We ended up getting the Ragu Croissant as well as the Earl Grey Cream Croissant.   Really enjoyed the savoury meat ragu and melted cheese on the crispy and flaky croissant.  As for the dessert croissant, it was filled with earl grey cream that was light and only sweet enough.  The pastry itself was a bit stiff though.  Still enjoyed it.  Overall, the food at OTreat is pretty solid and well-portioned.  The space is cute and the service is attentive.  Good brunch option out in Langley.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Well-portioned
- Cute place

The Bad:
- Enjoyed the cream in the cream croissant but the pastry was a bit stiff

Gyubee

Two Summers ago, we were back East visiting Quebec City and Montreal.  We've been there before and it is always a pleasure to revisit the sights and sounds.  Naturally, we also had some excellent eats, particularly in Montreal.  Changing it up a bit, we made our way to Ottawa as well.  Strangely, this was our first time in our Nation's capital and well, it was fine.  TBH, Quebec City and Montreal are much more interesting.  Sorry Ottawa.  However, we did try Gyubee for the first time in Byward Market.  We came away mighty impressed with AYCE hybrid Japanese grill.  I say hybrid because they feature quite a few Korean items as well.  Finally, we get a location in Richmond and of course, we made our way out to try it!

So they do have an online wait list, but all of your party has to be present to be seated.  You have a 2-hour limit and they enforce this diligently.  If you are arriving at peak times, be prepared to wait for an hour plus.  So we got right down to eating and ordered everything we could.   Yes, Gyubee is a Japanese Grill, but in reality, it is Korean-style.  Hey, nothing wrong with that as we had some Banchan (Kimchi, Tofu, Spinach & Sprouts) and Takoyaki.  I wasn't a huge fan of the kimchi as it was more sour than spicy.  Furthermore, this was not the version with shrimp paste, so there was no complexity to the flavours.  Otherwise, the rest were pretty typical.  Takoyaki was decent being soft and fluffy.

I'll get right to some of the cooked dishes before I talk about the meats.  These included Bibimbap, Steak Cutlet, Nagoya-Style Chicken Wings and Tantan Noodles.  No joke, the Bibimbap was really good.  From the chewy rice to the delicious veggies, the bowl just worked.  We had enough gochujang for sweet spice and also a runny egg yolk for silkiness.  Steak Cutlet was okay being a touch chewy.  Wings were great, they were crispy with lots of flavour and juicy meat inside.  Tantan Noodles were forgettable as there was an absence of spice and nuttiness.

As for the meats, I'm not going to cover all of them because it got chaotic at the table with everything hitting the table at once.  I'll talk about my favourite cuts including the Prime Kalbi.  These fatty slices of short rib grilled up well and were buttery soft.   The same could be said about the Black Pepper Kalbi as it shared mostly the same properties except with a more robust bite.  I also enjoyed the Pork Belly as it was a good mix of fat and meat.  It cooked up buttery and had great flavour.

There were some items served in tin foil containers that cooked on the grill for designated minutes.  These included the Sake Clams, Butter Corn, Salmon and Enoki Mushrooms.  Really enjoyed these as the time suggested on the tin foil lids were exact (as long as they weren't pushed off to the side of the grill).  Clams came out buttery and sweet while the corn was also sweet and even more buttery.  The salmon was cooked just enough and was flaky.

Unlike the location in Ottawa, the one here in Richmond does not serve Melona for dessert.  Rather, they have Chapman's Sundaes in addition to their fantastic Crème Brûlée.   For this one we had the crème brûlée was not torched enough, but still featured a crunchy sugar topping.  The custard was rich and creamy while purposefully sweet.  Overall, our meal was decent, but somehow, I enjoyed the one in Ottawa more.  Maybe with some time, they will get up to speed and I won't be thinking that.  I do wonder if the higher prices here (generally $10.00 more than Ottawa) would make this not "worth it".  It is $50.99 on weekdays and $53.99 on weekends for adults.  This is quite similar pricing to AYCE hot pot at Chocho, so it isn't outrageous.  I guess it depends if you want the variety and actually can eat your money's worth.

The Good:
- Pretty good meats
- Service was pretty efficient
- Their Crème Brûlée is pretty good with all things considered

The Bad:
- Crazy busy with a long wait time
- Is it worth it? Depends on what you are looking for

Overflo Dessert Cafe

With me needing to head down to 24/7 Parcel in Blaine, it was convenient for us to drop by Overflo Dessert Cafe in White Rock afterwards.  Located right on the Marine Drive strip, it was a great place to hang out on a beautiful sunny day.  Upon walking into the place, we were greeted by small trinkets with plenty of Sanrio characters.  There was also a photo booth with all the accessories to capture moments with your friends.  But we went straight for the menu and tried a selection of their wares.

We began with their Fresh Ade with the Lemonade, Blue Lemonade and Passion Fruitade.  These were pretty to look at and would be great for a hot Summer day.  Well, it was Winter, so we had to pretend it was hot.  At least the day we were there looked like Summer.  These were sparkling and were super refreshing and lightly sweet.  My favourite was the passion fruit as it had the classic tropical taste.  Both the lemonade and blue lemonade were quite similar with a light sweetness and light tanginess.  I found the blue one to be more floral for some reason.

From light, we moved onto something with more body in the Special Jolly-Pong Shakes.  We opted to try the Original and the Cookies & Cream.  Piled high with Jolly Pong cereal, it needed the domed lid to keep everything from spilling out.  The sweet nuttiness of the Jolly Pong was enjoyable enough by itself, but there was a shake underneath.  I found the texture of the shake to be more like a Starbucks Frap with a milky iciness.  Now it was pleasant though as it was blended quite well.  Hence it was somewhere in between a Frosty and shaved ice.  Both drinks were lightly sweet with the cookies & cream being sweeter.

Trying something from their coffee menu, we had 2 iced coffees with the Dalgona Latte as well as the Oat Lavender Latte.  So far, I'm sure that you have noticed that their drinks are visually-appealing.  Well, it wasn't any different with the iced coffees.  For the Dalgona, it was topped with a considerable amount of Korean crunchy toffee candy.  Thankfully, we didn't have to lick it like in Squid Game!  Anyways, the coffee itself was aromatic and strong enough to stand up to the sweetness of the dalgona.   As for the Oat Lavender, it had a cute little ice bear on top.  It had a background floralness of the lavender.

We had their Soft Serve Ice Cream as well, still thinking it was Summer.  There were several flavours available including plain, but we went for the more interesting ones in the Earl Gray and the Thai Tea.  I found that base vanilla soft serve to be somewhere between creamy and icy.  So once again, it was more like a Frosty in texture but thicker.  It was lightly sweet with a definite milkiness.  For me, the Thai Tea was my favourite of the two with a strong tea flavour combined with the usual intense sweetness of condensed milk.  As for the Earl Grey, it was mild-tasting with its usual floral notes.

In their display case, there is a selection of cakes and macarons.  We went for the Basque Cheesecake and it was great.  To get things out of the way first, the actual cheesecake was more like a NY-style, which is not exactly typical, but I felt it was exactly what I wanted.  This had the usual burnt and sunken appearance on the outside while having the rich cream cheese texture of the classic NY version.  It was purposefully sweet and was super creamy and firm.  As for the Macarons, they were not bad with a crispy shell and chewy interior.

We moved onto their small selection of savoury items with the Rose Noodle Tteokbokki consisting of udon, fish cake ribbons and rice cakes.  I thought this was quite good with a thick rose sauce that was creamy with only a touch of spice.  The udon was still al dente while the fish cake ribbons had a nice bounce to them.  Rice cakes were chewy but not tough.  The other available noodle was the Instant Nong Shin selection right next to the cool noodle soup heating station.  For some reason or another, eating instant noodles in an establishment is so much more satisfying than in your own home (for much more money).  Go figure.  In general, Overflo is a great place to grab a beverage on a nice day along the Drive in White Rock.  There are some trinkets for sale and a photo booth for those "friends" moments.  However, as much as I loved the Nong Shin ramen, not sure if I'd pay for it beyond my own home.  I'd stick with the Tteokbokki instead.  But if you want a drink, check Overflo out if you are in the area.

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

The Good:
- Large selection of various drinks
- Cool spot to hang out with friends
- Photo booth for those who want to capture the moment

The Bad:
- Loved the instant ramen and the cooking machine, but it is expensive

Marifresh

Oh the humble Kimbap, a Korean sushi roll with various things in it that somewhat resemble a bibimbap.  I really love it when they cram copious amounts of tuna into the roll.  There are several places that specialize in Kimbap with one of the best now sadly closed due to a fire in the retail complex.  So where do I get my fix?  I mean I've tried the Costco one as well as Trader Joe's but how about something fresh and you can pickup easily after ordering online?  Well that would be Marifresh in the Coho Commissary on East Georgia.  I did just that and tried a bunch of their wares.

Before I got to the various versions of Kimbap, I dug into their Korean Fried Chicken first.  You can get a variety of sauces to go with the chicken such as Yangnyeom (as shown in the picture).  I found the chicken to have a light and crunchy batter than was seasoned.  The chicken itself was juicy and tender.  I liked how this was not greasy and even the parchment was not oily as a result.  Dipping the chicken into the sauce, it was balanced being sweet and spicy.

 

They also have a self-proclaimed World's Best Kimchi Fried Rice.  I have to say it as pretty darn good!  Chewy and discernible, each grain of rice was sweet and spicy with natural aroma.  This was fried with pork belly and spam so that there was plenty of body and umaminess.  The kimchi itself provided some crunch and tang while there was only a mild spice to it.  A runny sunny side egg help add some yolky goodness.  Oh and that coleslaw on the side was fresh, crunchy and tangy.

Currently, they have the Squid Game Combo consisting of Squid Ink Mari, Korean Fried Chicken, Dalgona Cookie and choice of beverage.  If you tag and post on IG, you will also get a Marifresh tote bag.  I won't get into the KFC as I have talked about that already but the Squid Ink Mari was a rather tasty and filling creation.  Keeping with the theme of the combo, the squid ink rice encased fried squid, jalapeno and chili pickle.  Naturally, with these components, we had some spice, tanginess and crunch to go with the tender squid.

Onto the selection of mari including the Spam Cheese Egg Mari and Tuna Mari.  First and foremost, I appreciated the care they put into constructing the kimbap.  Things were rolled tight so nothing fell apart while it wasn't too tight either.  That meant the texture wasn't too dense.  I like the rice where it was chewy and nicely aromatic.  For the Spam Mari, there was the usual buttery saltiness, but the egg really added fluffiness and brought the saltiness down.  As for the tuna, it was dressed in enough mayo so that it was not stiff nor dry.  Loved the crunch from the veggies.

The last 2 items was the Keto Bulgogi Mari and Spicy Pork Mari.  I found the bulgogi mari to be filling and without the rice, ate very well.  The sweet and tender meat combined with the crunchy daikon made for some great mouth feel.  As for the Spicy Pork, it was sweet with some kick.  As with all of the mari, the amount of rice was perfect.  Just enough that it let the components take the lead.  Overall, the options at Marifresh were carefully constructed and ultimately delicious.  Really have a craving for it as I write this blog post.  Would order again for sure!

*Some items were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Carefully constructed mari that is not overloaded with rice

- KFC is great!

- Reasonable pricing

The Bad:

- Purely takeout, so plan accordingly to enjoy the food at its best state

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