Bahubali Biryani House

For the longest time, there was this Fijian restaurant sitting in this strip mall on the Southwest corner of Scott Road and Nordel.  I always wanted to try it, but it never seemed to be open and neither was there much information about it.  Well, no matter now as it has been replaced by a brand-new spanking Indian restaurant called Bahubali Biryani House.  Loved they have a green theme to the exterior, as it blends it completely with Dollarama next door!

Getting right to the food, we started off with something so addictive and delicious, I wanted to have the dish to myself.  Alas, I had to share the Crispy Corn with the rest of the crew.  These little plump and sweet niblets were lightly coated so that they were crispy without being heavy nor greasy.  They were nicely spiced with a bit of earthiness that paired well with the sweetness of the corn.  The acidity from the wedge of lime made this a bit tropical in flavour.

It always seems like we ordered Fish Pakora whenever we get the chance.  I guess it the contrast between the crispy spiced batter with the flaky and moist fish.  Well, the version here definitely fulfilled that criteria even though the fish came is thin strips.  Due to this, we felt it ate crispier but at the same time, the fish wasn't dry.  To bring down the spice of the dish (even though it wasn't spicy), the mint chutney on the side did just that.

Arriving on a sizzling hot cast iron plate, the Tandoori Prawns were definitely the beneficiary of some charring and caramelization.  Hence, there was some appealing smokiness and intense flavours.  To go with the nuttiness from the char, we also found that the spices were quite apparent with some earthy fall-flavours.  Furthermore, the prawns themselves were cooked just right with a buttery meatiness that was not overdone. 

Now a dish we usually do not order is the Murgh Malai Tikka.  I guess that is my own personal bias as I find it rather heavy.  Well, this version was a bit different than the ones I've had before.  Normally, the chicken is tenderized by the yogurt lemon juice marinade, but I think in this instance, it was marinaded quite aggressively.  Hence, the chicken became super tender and almost became pulled chicken in the end.  Maybe a bit to soft, but still okay.  Flavours were quite nice with a spiced creaminess.

We continued on with another chicken appetizer in the Chicken Majestic.  This is a Southern Indian dish that is marinated until tender and deep fried.  It is coated in a spiced yogurt mixed with curry leaves.   Well, they nailed it with their version with big pieces of tender chicken that had a slightly crispy exterior.  The creaminess of the sauce was appealing with a bit of heat and spice as well as some earthiness.

Onto the mains, we got a few including the Butter Chicken, Guthi Vankay Curry, Goat Curry and Mutton Maratha.  The fan favourite of the bunch had to be the eggplant curry with tender and delicate baby eggplant.  The curry was nutty and tangy.  The butter chicken was more on the creamier side with only a slight tanginess with tender nuggets of chicken.  The other 2 curries featured goat and both were tender with the unmistakable gelatinous quality to the meat.  I preferred the goat curry more due to its robust flavour and fall-like depth.  On the side, we had Garlic Naan, Spinach Paratha and Rumali Roti.  Naan was blistered and crispy in parts on the outside while chewy and soft on the inside.  Paratha was soft and warm with a slight chew while also blistered.  As for the roti, if you ever have seen it made, it is cooked on a half-dome element and comes out as a huge round piece.  This was soft and a bit chewy with lots of elasticity.

Of course we couldn't finish the meal with a biryani right?  So we got the Hyderabad Mutton Biryani.  Bearing the city's namesake, Hyderabad, the biryani is cooked slowly while being spiced with saffron.  This particular version was really good with chewy and fragrant rice.  Didn't get a whole lot of saffron but definitely lots of meat flavour and depth.  There was a good spice to it too.  In general, the food at Buhubali Biryani was pretty solid and well-portioned.  Love the renovated dining space and also the ample parking available.  A great addition to Scott Road.

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

The Good:
- Developed flavours
- Nice dining space
- Ample parking

The Bad:
- Was the Murgh Malai Tikka overmarinated?

 

Paratha 2 Pasta

With a name like Paratha 2 Pasta, you'd expect there to be noodles right?  Maybe Indian-style perhaps?  Well I've heard from friends that they do indeed have pasta and it was pretty good.  I checked the online Doordash menu and yes it is there order.  However, Jacqueline and I didn't have any pasta.  Rather we went straight into the Indian dishes and didn't look back.  Loved the cute robots delivering our food.  Such a gimmick, but hey, we don't mind it!

Before we got to the food, we had a variety of drinks including the Punjab Da Famous Mango Shake, Strawberry Daiquiri, Mojito and Candylicious.  Really enjoyed the mango shake as it was thick, but drinkable.  Lots of flavour and the added fruit was oddly appealing with texture.  The daiquiri was a bit icy, but tasted good and not too boozy.  Mojito was also tasty and refreshing.  Finally, the Candylicious came with a bubble on top and was a nice novelty.

Onto the eats, we tried both the Noodle Burger and the Spicy Chicken Burger.  Both came with starch-covered fries.  I found them to be quite good with the carb-on-carb noodle burger surprisingly tasty.  The al dente noodles were nicely seasoned and came with a potato patty, onion, tomato and spiced mayo.  I found the chicken burger to be rather spicy and impactful.  The chicken itself was tender and juicy.  Loved the combination of tangy and heat.

Arriving on a sizzling cast iron plate, we had the Tandoori Chicken consisting of 3 drumsticks and 3 thighs.  This was probably one of the juiciest versions of this dish I've ever had.  Even though the chicken was charred on the outside, the meat on was super tender and moist.  Moreover, the yogurt marinade penetrated the meat and it was nicely spiced.  Really enjoyed the mayo dip that came with the dish.

I've had Indian-style nachos at other places along Scott Road, but the Butter Chicken Nachos here was possibly one of the best versions.  Loaded with melted cheese, each chip was totally covered. Hence, there was no shortage of textures and flavours.  That included the creamy butter chicken sauce that had good spice and tang.  The big chunks of chicken breast were still moist and tender.

Continuing with the appies, we had the Chicken Deep Fried Momos. Firmly crunchy on the outside, the filling of the momo was tender.  There was a good amount of chicken and veggies inside that were moist and juicy.  There was enough seasoning that the filling had a good balance of sweet and savoury.  I particularly enjoyed that the dumplings were not greasy despite being deep fried.  The chili sauce on the side added the necessary spice.

Another fantastic deep-fried dish was the Kurkure Chicken Roll.  This looked heavy at first, but ultimately the fried roll was actually rather light.  The crispy exterior was thin and easily eated while the rest of the layers were soft and fluffy.  Inside, the chicken was tender and completely coated in melted cheese and peppers.  So messy, crunchy and tasty.  This roll was one of my favourite items for the meal.

Looking like a pizza pocket or an Italian Trapizzino, the Szechuan Chicken Pocket Kulcha featured a good amount of tangy, sweet and spicy sauce.  Hidden within, there was tender pieces of chicken much like the chicken roll.  Those bread pockets were super soft and light.  Biting into them, it was almost as if there was nothing there.  That made the pockets much lighter than they appeared.

Of course we couldn't dine at Paratha 2 Pasta without actually ordering some praratha right?  So we got the Chicken Curry that came with 2 Plain Paratha.  This looked rather unassuming, but I assure you, it was plenty delicious.  The chicken curry was rich and fatty (in a good way) with noted spice and plenty of spices.  The chicken had been cooked down enough that it soaked up all the flavours as well as being fork tender.  The paratha was chewy, yet not overly heavy especially for an unleavened bread.

We didn't stop there as we also got the Paneer Paratha stuffed with cheese and spices.  This ate very differently than the plain version.  It was much more robust in texture.  It was also fluffier inside beyond the firm exterior.  On that inside, the cheese and spices added considerable body and impact.  There was definitely a cheesiness accented by the spices.  Loved dipping it into the yogurt on the side, but the butter was also great.

Lastly, we had the Chole Halwa Puri Plate featuring deep fried wheat bread accompanied by chickpea curry.  This fry bread was crispy while fluffy in the middle.  Being fry bread, it was on the greasier side though.  The chickpea curry was flavourful and sweet from the onions while earthy from the spices.  Overall, we were rather impressed with the food from P2P.  Portions were large and prices were reasonable.  Didn't get to try the pasta or some of their other curries.  Would come back to have them next time!

*This post featured complimentary food and beverages

The Good:

- Delicious eats

- Large portions

- Cute robot servers

The Bad:

- Menu is probably a bit too large, totally missed the pasta while scrolling through it!

House of Chicken

So here we go back-to-back-to-back with fried chicken blog posts.  This is, in fact, the chronological order of when these visits happened.  Therefore, this wasn't the best week for my health, but it was quite the joy to devour though!  The trifecta of fried chicken ended up at House of Chicken along Scott Road in North Delta.  I've been here before and not only is the food delicious, it is affordable.   This would not be a small detail these days with severely high food prices.  We came back to try some more new items as well as getting a sneak peak of their $13.99 AYCE brunch (yes, really!).

One of the new items is their Fish & Chips that featured an enormous piece of fish that was literally the entire filet.  Essentially, it was half of a medium-sized fish!  This was coated in their crunchy, yet not heavy batter.  Inside of that, the fish was juicy and super flaky.  Would've enjoyed some basic tartar with it though, instead we got some type of tangy mayo.  The side of fries were the starch-covered variety and fried until super crispy, but not overly greasy.

Of course we couldn't ignore their awesome chicken sammies including the Nashville Hot Chicken and the Mega Crunch.  Served on a brioche bun, the Nashville featured a good-sized chicken breast that was moist while sporting their crunchy batter.  There was some mild spiciness from the mayo while tangy crunch from the pickles and coleslaw.  Featuring 2 large fried chicken thighs, the Mega Crunch could feed 2 people with smaller appetites.  Also juicy with more chicken flavour (due to the dark meat), the sandwich ate with plenty of texture.  We also tried the Karachi Bun Kebab with a ground beef mashed lentil patty, egg, onion and mint sauce.  To me, this ate like a breakfast sammie.  The patty had the unmistakable soft texture of cooked lentils.  The egg was fluffy and light. 

If the sammies were a big part of the menu, the Crispy Fried Chicken was mandatory.  We also had the Tandoori Chicken to compare.  We got both in regular and spicy (pictures here are of the spicy fried chicken and regular tandoori chicken).  As expected, the dark meat fried chicken was juicy while the batter was crunchy with rendered skin.  I found the spicy to be only mildly so in both the fried and tandoori chicken.  As for the tandoori, it was not as juicy as the fried chicken, but it did have fully rendered skin.

Being Indian-run, the restaurant also features a selection of Indian eats.  We ended up ordering the Fish Pakora featuring large nuggets of fish that were only lightly coated with batter.  Hence the texture of the flaky fish was more prominent.  With intermittent batter on the outside, there was a nice contrast of crispiness and soft fish.  It was nicely spice where we got the usual pakora flavours without it being too overwhelming.

Possibly our favourite dish of the meal had nothing to do with fried chicken.  It was actually the Goat Karahi.  This was a fairly large portion that was served with a side of Naan.  The pieces of goat were soft and tender with its unmistakable gelatinous quality.  The flavours were rich and full-of-depth from the garam masala that gave this comforting Fall-flavours.  The ginger also was quite apparent in this dish.

Our last Indian dish was the massive portion of Chicken Biryani.  This was also good with large chunks of chicken hidden within.  They were tender with a noted level of spice.  The basmati rice was nutty and chewy while still cooked through.  For $16.99, this was a considerable portion and combined with some curry and fried chicken, this could easily feed a family of 4 for under $50.00.

They also brought out selection of items for us to sample that are part of the Buffet Brunch for $13.99.  No that is not a typo...  All the Fried Chicken, Fries, Naan, Basmati Rice, Murgh Chanay, Beef Nihari, Chai and Gajar Halwa that you can eat for $13.99 on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00am to 3:00pm.  You already know that the chicken is good, but the curries are on point too.  I'm not surprised they are offering such an inexpensive brunch because their whole menu is a good value.  There is actually somewhere you can go dine-out and not break the bank.  Oh, and it helps the food is delicious and well-portioned too.

*This meal was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Inexpensive

- Large portions

- Delicious

The Bad:

- Tandoori chicken could be juicier

Thai By Thai (Scott Road)

Okay, I must profess that I was too lazy to take an updated photo of Thai By Thai and am using my old one from 2014.  Now nothing on the outside has actually changed other than grand opening banner.  You may notice the banner advertising $7.50 lunch specials.  New flash, they are now like $15.00 and hey I don't blame the restaurant.  Things have gone up a lot due to inflation.  So essentially it has doubled in less than 10 years.  However, our paycheques have not followed suit!  Anyways, we returned to see if the food was still as good as we remembered.

Starting off the meal, we had the Thai Spring Rolls as well as the Vegetable Thai Salad Roll.  Nothing out of the ordinary here with crispy spring rolls with vibrant and crunchy veggies inside.  In terms of aesthetics, the rolls could've been fried more aggressively so it would be darker.  However, it didn't affect the texture or taste.  The salad roll was pretty basic and filled with rice noodles and veggies. The rice paper was soaked properly having an appealingly chewy, yet moist texture.

Another appie we had was the Thai Chicken Wings served with a spiced fish sauce.  These giant mid-wings (or flats) were super juicy and well-brined.  They were starch-coated and fried until they had a good colour and were lightly crunchy.  Due to the brine, the wings had good inherent flavour already, but it was even better after the soaking it with the spicy and garlicky fish sauce.

Of course we had to be defaultish and get the Pad Thai.  Well it was a huge portion that is a half size bigger than most other places.  Although this had plenty of tanginess from tamarind, I found it to be on the sweeter side.  Noodles were chewy, but a bit clumpy.  We asked for our dishes to be medium and this was more or less that.  Overall, this was a respectable Pad Thai and worth ordering.

Next we went with 2 curries including the Chicken Green Curry.  Again, this was a huge portion consisting of the usual ingredients including peppers and eggplant.  We found the green curry to be flavourful but would've enjoyed a bit more brininess.  It was aromatic and lightly creamy from the coconut milk. The best part was the chicken, it was shockingly tender and juicy (possibly from being tenderized).  Sure, it isn't traditionally tenderized, but hey, we liked it more than dry white meat.

We also went for the Beef Red Curry with peppers and bamboo shoots.  Again, this was creamy and fairly flavourful with some spiciness.  This one seemed to be richer than the green curry.  As you can see, this was the same portion size as the green curry, so you must order enough rice to compliment.  Similar to the chicken, the beef had been tenderized and it was tender and moist.  I didn't mind it as it still retained a meaty texture.  Some might argue against it, but I say get over it, it still ate really well.

Lastly, we got the Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables.  Typically, this dish employs a mushroom "oyster" sauce, but there did not appear to be any in this one.  Despite that, the veggies were vibrant and crunchy while being completely seasoned.  There was a quite a bit of moisture at the bottom of the plate though.  Overall, the food at Thai By Thai was decent and well-portioned.  I've always thought it was one of the better Thai options along the Scott Road corridor (not that there is that much competition).  This most recent visit affirms this.  

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Good portions
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Love that there is a parking lot, but it is a bit tight to maneuver when full
- Some creative license over the food to make it more palatable to the area

Chongqing (Surrey)

Since Chongqing on Scott Road is near my work, I've been there many many times since it opened almost a decade ago.  However, I haven't blogged about it since 2016 and hey, it is always good to get an update.  I'm sure things have changed since then!  Sorry, I used an old pic of the front because I was too lazy to cross the street...  Anyways, nothing outwardly has changed but they do have rice noodle rolls on the menu now (they didn't before).

On the note about the Rice Noodle Roll, we did order the shrimp version and it came out fully-stuffed.  Usually, there are empty pockets of just rice noodle, but this one has shrimp in almost every bite.  Hence, it ate very hearty and was quite the good value.  Texturally, the shrimp had a good meaty snap and was well-seasoned.  As for the rice noodle, it was on the medium-thick side but was not dense and still had some elasticity.

Sticking with shrimp, we had the usual Ha Gau (Steamed Shrimp Dumpling) which featured a fairly thin dumpling skin.  It was rather wet, so it was a touch soft.  However, there was still elasticity and some chew to them.  Inside, the shrimp filling was quite good.  It was very moist (hence the wet dumpling) and had a nice sweetness.  In terms of texture, the shrimp had a buttery snap and was rather light.

So of course we had to get the ying with the yang in the Siu Mai (Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumpling) as well.  These were also solid with a moist buttery texture.  The pork was classic bouncy with equally rebound textured shrimp.  Dumplings were also well-seasoned so it didn't taste "porky".  On top, there was a dollop of raw tobiko which made it more appealing.

If we didn't get enough shrimp already, we also had the Shrimp Spring Rolls.  As you can see, they added a layer of nori in between the shrimp and the wheat wrapper.  This enabled the wrapper to be extra crispy because the nori sealed the moisture in.  Also, the slight seaweed flavour added extra umami.  As for the shrimp filling, there was lots of it and the sweet buttery snap was definitely there.

Normally, the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings look like footballs, but some places add a swan's head to create a "bird".  Well, they are cute and sure why not have something more aesthetically-pleasing right?  However, those head/neck things were not tasty.  On the other hand, the dumplings themselves were good with soft creamy mashed taro (love that lard!) with a tender and properly seasoned pork filling.

One of my favourite dishes is the Bean Curd Skin Rolls.  They consist of a fried bean curd sheet outer wrap with a ground pork filling.  I found the one here to be good with a chewy bean curd skin while the filling featured pork that had a good rebound.  It was mixed with some veggies and the filling was not too heavy.  The starch-thickened and watered-down oyster sauce provided enough flavour, but the peppers on top added a weird aftertaste.

So we got the usual BBQ Pork Buns just because it is something we always order?   I got lazy and didn't open one up for the picture, but you can see the filling peaking through.  It was good with lean BBQ pork that was not too saucy.  However, there was still the usual sweet elements with a bit of savouriness.  The bun itself was soft and fluffy and stayed as such even after sitting around.

One of the best dishes of the meal was the Steamed Pork Spareribs.  As you can see, there was a bevy of meaty rib pieces (with minimal fat) that were overflowing out of the sauce plate.  The rib pieces were tender with a rebound chew.  Seasoning was on point with enough salty garlickiness without going overboard.  There was pumpkin underneath to soak up all the flavours.

Yep, another favourite of ours is the XO Daikon Radish Cake and this was done right.  Each cube was fried enough to be crispy on the outside while the inside was soft without falling apart.  Beyond the inherent seasoning in the radish cake, the amount of XO in the wok-fry was sufficient to add both spice and brininess.  They did this without making the dish greasy, even though the pieces were deep fried. 

We got the Singapore Fried Noodles as a larger dish and indeed it was overflowing on the plate.  There was a sufficient amount of ingredients to be found including peppers, onions, BBQ pork and shrimp.  This was wok-fried properly as the noodles were chewy and not clumped together.  There was caramelization of flavours and the curry provided some spice.  Veggies were still vibrant and crisp.

Inexplicably, the Steamed Beef Meatballs came last.  They were fairly large and sat in broth.  They were a bit firmer than what I personally would've liked, but that didn't make or break the dish.  The whipped meat was still tender and of course was bouncy.  They kept the greens to a minimum so it didn't overwhelm the flavour profile.  So as you can tell, the Dim Sum service was solid.  Yes, Chongqing is mainly a Szechuan spot, but they manage to do proper Cantonese Dim Sum. Pretty good given its location and good all around for GVRD.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Reasonable-pricing
- Spacious dining room

The Bad:
- Parking lot is a bonus, but the spaces are super narrow