Rise Woodfire San Mateo

After a delicious meal at Elia the night before, I wanted to treat Cable Car Guy and fam to lunch.  You see, trying to fight for the bill with him can be futile since he uses every trick in the book.  I've been desperate enough to give my credit card to the server before we order so I can have the pleasure of paying!!!   Anyways, upon his suggestion, we traveled across the Bay over to Rise Woodfire in San Mateo.  This location is in addition to the Santa Clara store, both are locally owned.  Entering the place, we were greeted to high ceilings and a spacious dining room.  The menu focuses on wood fire pizza and rotisserie.

As such, we started with the Woodfired Chicken Wings in Chipotle BBQ and Buffalo.  Since these were not fried, the skin was not as rendered.  However, that also meant the wings were not dry nor too crunchy.  With that being said, the skin wasn't flabby either.  A bit vinegary with mild heat, the buffalo wings were best dunked into the side of peppercorn ranch.  As for the chipotle BBQ, they were a bit more saucy being sweet and tangy with a decent amount of spice.  The chicken meat itself was tender and almost juicy.

Continuing on with poultry, we tried their whole Pitman Family Farms Local Chicken.  This slow-roasted rotisserie chicken had a beautifully roasted exterior with rendered and flavorful skin.  The meat itself was on the drier side while lacking seasoning.  As you can see, the chicken was large and wasn't lacking in meat.  In addition to the charred half lemon, we had a choice of sauce where we went for the slightly spicy chipotle BBQ.  It had a nice tangy sweetness.

Included with the whole bird, we had a choice of two sides.  It was without a doubt we'd go for the Mac & Cheese with applewood smoked bacon (+$3.00) and the Parmesan Truffle Fries.  Both were good where the mac & cheese was super saucy and cheesy.  It wasn't really all that salty though but the addition of crispy (and not overly fatty) bacon took care of business.  Noodles were not too soft either.  As for the fries, they were crispy with plenty of creamy potatoness left.  I think there needed to be more parm though, but the truffle was evident.

Of course we would have some pizzas too right?  Instead of getting the usual baseline pie in the Margherita, we opted for the Burrata.  This was pretty much like a Margherita with crushed tomato sauce, sea salt, parmesan, torn basil, EVOO and of course di Stefano burrata.  Although the crust didn't look like it had much charring, it still ate very well.  There was some smoky leoparding on the bottom and the dough was properly salted.  There was a nice chew to it while the exterior was crispy.  Although you might think that there was far too much sauce on top, it worked well due to the robust nature of the crust as well as the limited amount of toppings.  It was a nice contrast to the creamy burrata.

As good as the burrata pizza was, the table favorite happened to be The Brunch pizza.  It was liberally topped with mozzarella, applewood smoked bacon, Yukon potato, organic egg, red onion, thyme, sea salt and parmesan on white panna sauce.  This was a hearty concoction where the breakfast nature of the components really came through.  The salty smokiness of the bacon obviously went well with the tender sliced potatoes as well as the egg.  There was a good amount of mozzarella that was stringy where it melded with the creamy sauce underneath.

Personally, the pizza that was the most impactful was the Calabrese + Honey with crushed tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy salami, fire-roasted jalapeño, parmesan, torn basil and drizzled with Calabrian chili infused honey.  Beyond the crispy chewy crust, the combination of sweet, salty and heat worked our taste buds.  Furthermore, the amount of toppings and sauce made this pizza not-so-dry, which was great in my opinion.  

We also ordered a couple of gluten-free crust pizzas including the Pesto Lemon Shrimp with basil pesto sauce, mozzarella, seasoned shrimp, roasted garlic, housemade dried lemon, red chili flakes, chives and parmesan.  Despite all of the components, the flavors were harmonious and focused.  We had an herbaceous cheesiness going on with some acidity and spice.  The briny sweetness of the juicy prawns still stood out.  As for the gluten-free crust, it was thin and almost cracker-like.  Not bad.

The other gluten-free crust pizza was the Prosciutto di Parma + Arugula with crushed tomato sauce, mozzarella, sea salt, parmesan, torn basil, EVOO, topped with freshly sliced prosciutto + fresh organic baby arugula.  Sitting on the same crunchy and well-charred gluten-free crust, the plethora of tangy tomato sauce helped provide moisture.  The saltiness of the prosciutto was tempered by the peppery and bright arugula.  There was a proper amount of cheese to compliment without making the pizza heavy.

Onto dessert, we had the Basque Cheesecake with cherry sauce as well as the Flourless Chocolate Cake.  On appearance alone, the cheesecake looked dense.  In reality, it was actually decently airy and light (typical of this type of cheesecake).  It had a caramel-taste to it due to the aggressively browned top.  As for the chocolate cake, it was like a rich ganache where the sweetness was muted, giving way to an appealing bitter finish.  Overall, the food at Rise Woodfire is quite good and served in large portions.  Great for a group of friends and family alike.

The Good:

- Solid pizzas

- Rotisserie items are great too

- Large portions

The Bad:

- Chicken could be more moist

Gupshup Social Lounge

For all of the Indian restaurants I've tried recently (and there have been many), they have been pretty good, if not a bit repetitive.  Not that I'm complaining because it is really #firstworldproblems that we get to eat delicious food!  However, there was some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel as Jackie and I headed out to Gupshup Social Lounge in Surrey.  Upon entering the place, we knew we weren't in Kansas anymore.  The place was swanky, but not in a high-end way.  Rather, it was modern, hip and definitely appealing for both the younger crowd and families.

Looking over the menu, it was clear that they are trying to be accessible to all with only 2 items over $20.00.  Also, there are plenty of creative dishes that I've never seen anywhere else before.  That was exemplified by the first item we had in the Doritos Bag.  Yes, this was nacho cheese Doritos served in its own bag with melted cheese sauce, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and onions.  Something so simple, yet utterly delicious.  It was like having something like a Frito Pie but more like the a better version of nachos you get at BC Place.  They said this is popular with the kids, but I think it would go well with a beer or cocktail.

To illustrate their attempts at keeping up with the times, the Fiery Cheese Pulls were exactly what Gen Z wants in their IG reel.  Take something as simple as fried cheese, but make it a bigger and coat it with Nashville hot sauce.  Yep, these were IG-worthy with a cheese pull that would make the next table look over.  Coated with a crunchy breading, the mozzarella was ooey gooey delicious.  Add in the spice from the sauce and it was tasty in addition to the obvious viral-nature of the dish.

Something that seemed like an obvious fusion crossover dish was the Butter Chicken Mac & Cheese.  I honestly think you can put butter chicken on anything and it will taste better.  I wonder when they will have butter chicken gelato?  Just a thought...  Anyways, this was as good as expected with a cheesy base mac & cheese.  I thought the noodles were nicely al dente despite all the sauce.  About that sauce, the butter chicken was fantastic.  It had a good balance of tangy and creamy (or should I say buttery) to go with the cheese.  Sure, this was heavy, yet nicely spiced.  Best to share this!

Absolutely huge, the Kurkure Sliders featured 2 mini burgers with a choice of aloo tikki or paneer.  We went for the paneer for this one.  As if sliders aren't already quite filling, they deep fried the buns in a crispy breading first.  Hence, this was one crunchy slider where the bun was still soft inside.  It wasn't as greasy as it appeared, but make no mistake, it ate quite rich and heavy.  I personally would order something else from the large menu that was lighter.

Another heavy dish, we had the Baked Veggie Momos topped with cheese and tandoori sauce.  These fried momos were crispy with a veggie filling that was still vibrant having a crunch.  By themselves, the momos were good and could've been simply served with a tamarind and/or mint chutney.  But at Gupshup, they like to take it further so they baked them with a wealth of cheese.  Again, this became a pretty heavy dish.  I would've like to see just the momos, but I get they are trying to be different and more progressive.

Moving onto somthing that was more typical was Cockney Singh's Fish and Chips.  I absolutely love the play on words here because it is a nod to "Cockney Kings".  Well, I am happy to report that Cockney Singh's version was straight up on point.  The breaded basa was really good.  Normally, I'm not a fan of fish & chips made with basa, but the fish was so moist and flaky without the usual over-soft texture.  Breading was crunchy and stayed as such throughout.  Even the fries were good being crispy with a touch of potatoness left.

From the tandoor, we selected the Lamb Chops.  This was plated a bit haphazardly, but hey, it didn't really matter as Gupshup isn't about being high-end.  It fit completely with their laid-back casual atmosphere.   Besides, these lamb chops were excellent!  Evenly charred, there was smokiness and a certain intensity to the spices.  Lots of earthiness and muted heat to go with the natural lamb flavour.  Texturally, the lamb was tender and meaty.

So we went for something more traditional in the Gupshup Chicken Biryani.  This was fairly typical with big pieces of bone-in tandoori chicken leg hidden within the basmati rice.  I found the rice a little on the dry side, but I much prefer that over something wet or too saucy.  Flavours were a bit muted and could've been more spiced or spicy, but all-in-all, it was a serviceable biryani.  The best part was the chicken though as it was flavourful and tender.

From here, we continued with the usual and the aforementioned delicious Butter Chicken.  I have to say it was pretty darn good with a good amount of tomato tanginess balanced off by enough creamy butteriness.  The spices in the butter chicken did come through after the initial tang with earthiness and spice.  With the chicken itself, the medium-sized cubes were tender and not dry at all despite being breast meat.

To get some veggies (in spirit) into our diet, we also had the Palak Paneer.  This was pretty creamy with the spinach being cooked down well.  Definitely got the earthiness of the spices as well as the ginger.  This was fairly bright and not heavy.  As you can clearly see, there was a plethora of paneer that was squishy (in a good way) and soft.

Of course we had some Garlic Naan too as well as some drinks.  The naan was pretty good with a crispy charred bottom and the rest was fluffy with elasticity.  Would've liked to see more garlic though.  As for the drinks, we had the Mango Lassi, Parrots Paradise and Tiramisu Shake.  As you can see, they really try to be modern and fun with their drinks.  That is really the point of Gupshup as they are truly catering to the young and young-at-heart.  Food may not be as refined, but they aren't trying to be.  Prices are very reasonable and definitely a place where you can hang out with friends and family.  More fun times ahead because they have pizza coming soon too!

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

The Good:
- Modern and trendy
- Reasonable-pricing
- Fun dishes and drinks

The Bad:
- Maybe lacking in refinement but they aren't trying to be
- Some dishes can be quite heavy

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

Broli Kitchen

At first glance, Broli Kitchen appears to be another restaurant in a strip mall in Richmond.  However, there is more than meets the eye here (and I'm not talking about Transformers either...).  The cuisine is a mix of traditional French, Italian and West Coast fused with Asian influences.  Now before you begin to prejudge this place, consider the head chef is a Red Seal certified.  Chef Zhuang Li has been the sous-chef at the Downtown Sheraton Wall Centre for 10 years and another 5 years of experience in French cuisine.  Pretty unexpected at a little non-decript bistro.  Jackie, Jacqueline, Andrew and myself were invited to try out some of their newest and most popular items from their menu.

We began with a pair of soups in the Lobster Bisque and the Wild Mushroom Soup.  These looked legit and were exactly what we expected.  The bisque was creamy and rich with a balanced amount of lobster aroma.  It was lightly sweet and properly seasoned.  Some herb oil on the top finished off the soup.  As for the wild mushroom, it was also creamy and full-flavoured with the woodsiness of the mushrooms.  With some truffle oil added to the mix, it was aromatic and even more earthy.

Next, we had the Pan-Seared Scallops with pea puree and crispy prosciutto.  This was a well-prepared dish where the scallops were beautifully seared while the middle was slightly rare.  Hence, the texture was on point being buttery soft.  The scallop itself was properly seasoned while exhibiting a natural sweetness.  On top, the crispy prosciutto added crunch and saltiness.  Silky smooth and sweet, the pea puree helped bring the saltiness down a notch.

Our last appie was the Truffle Mushroom Risotto Ball (aka Arancini) with a onion tomato sauce. This was a huge portion of 6 large risotto balls that were somewhat crispy.  This is because the onion tomato sauce was drizzled atop all of the risotto balls, resulting in them become soft and a bit crumbly.  The aborio rice seemed to be fairly al dente, but with all the sauce, it was hard to tell.  Loved the sauce as it was sweet and tangy.  Maybe they should either put it on the side or plate the balls atop the sauce on the plate.

Maybe the most interesting and delicious thing we had was the Durian Pizza.  Yah, this could be pretty polarizing due to the main ingredient.  Durian is extremely pungent and isn't for everyone.  However, in my opinion, they did a good job with incorporating it onto a pizza.  They used a cream cheese base and combined with the sweet durian and mozzarella, this became reminiscent of a Chinese custard bun, except on a pizza.  So this almost ate like a dessert and that was a good thing as the durian was definitely there, but not in a way that was overwhelming.  All of the components sat atop a pizza crust that was somewhat similar to Domino's (which is a good thing as well).

Onto the bigger dishes, we had the Confit Duck Leg with rice, veggies and duck sauce.  The duck leg meat fell apart easily and was rather tender.  It was on the saltier side, but did go well with the rice.  With the addition of some Asian spices, the duck had a different flavour than a regular duck confit.  Nice twist on this dish to make it unique.  There was a bevy of perfectly-cooked asparagus, broccolini, carrots and zucchini.  They were vibrant and still had texture.

Classic in its preparation, the Roasted Rack of Lamb was perfectly medium-rare.  It was crusted with dijon herb bread crumbs and served with Lyonnaise potatoes, veggies and lamb jus.  I was pretty impressed with the lamb as it was slow-roasted which resulted in succulent meat.  It was well-seasoned and the jus was meaty enough without being salty.  Veggies were great like the previous dish while the potatoes were tender with buttery onions.  I would've liked it to be a bit more buttery though.

One of the most surprising dishes was the Bolognese Strozzapreti.  It was super legit and could be served at an Italian restaurant.  The rich bolognese featured a mix of veal, beef and pork that was super tender.  There was a nice balance of tomato and creaminess that made this lightly sweet, aromatic and full of umaminess.   The choice of pasta was also key to making this a good dish as it captured bits of meat and sauce.  It was also al dente, yet not in an overly firm manner.

We had two of their fish dishes staring with the Ginger Miso Glazed Salmon.  Presented as a fairly large piece of salmon, this was a good portion of food.  Although the salmon was a bit over, it was still moist and not dry at all.  I found the salmon to be mildly-seasoned with some ginger flavour and miso saltiness.  Underneath, the miso cream sauce was really good with depth and a balanced flavour.  It was a nice compliment to the fish and also added extra moisture.

The other fish dish was the Pan-Seared Ling Cod with potato, seasonal veg and tomato pepper sauce.  This was another large portion that was also prepared properly.  The fish had a slightly crispy sear while the meat was flaky and moist.  Being ling cod, it had a slightly firmer texture but it was still tender.  I found it be well-seasoned and really didn't need the sauce.  Although the tomato pepper sauce was pleasant enough, a lobster bisque sauce or dashi would've been a better match for the whitefish. 

Onto dessert, we had the Lava Cake with vanilla ice cream.  We really appreciated that they prepared this from scratch and baked-to-order.  Many other places unfortunately use a microwave!  This was more like a chocolate souffle than a basic lava cake.  It was light and fluffy with a crispy exterior.  Inside, the molten centre was silky and purposefully sweet.  It was gave even more souffle vibes as it had the sauce built into it (rather than poured into it).

Lastly, we had the Caramel Macchiato Pot de Crème with pecan graham crumble and fresh whipped cream.  It was rich and creamy with smoky caramel notes intermittently interrupted by coffee.  The crumble on top added a nice crunch.  I quite enjoyed this dessert.  In fact, I enjoyed the meal as a whole.  Lots of highlights including the lamb, scallop, durian pizza and pasta.  Portions were large and proteins were mostly on point.  Flavours were textbook and although the prices are necessarily cheap, the value is there due to the generous size of the proteins and the general execution.

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

The Good:
- Textbook execution
- Generous portions
- Durian pizza!

The Bad:
- Definitely has hotel food vibes, but it was prepared well