Pokerrito (Morgan Crossing)

Back in 2012, when the Poké craze initially began to take shape in North America, I was trying to keep up with all the new spots opening all over the place.  Seeing how it was growing exponentially, I decided to give up as I couldn't maintain the pace.  Predictably, many have come and many have gone as the market did get saturated.  However, quite a few have survived and are still doing well.  One particular chain is Pokerrito, which surprisingly I've never had a chance to do a visit.  With a menu tasting in hand, I finally got my chance at the Morgan Crossing location.

For those who aren't familiar, Pokerrito offers up classic poké bowls as well as some fusion bowls.  But as the name implies, they are known for their Poké + Burritos = Pokerrito.  Think of it as a really large sushi roll with all the goodness of poké inside.  In the picture above, you will find the Diamond Head   It was particularly impactful with the combination of spicy tuna, spicy seaweed salad, crab meat, ginger, masago, jalapeno, furikake, crispy onion and sweet chili.  Lots of spice with sweetness and tang.  This was the most flavourful of the ones we tried.

As for the Hawaiian Classic, it was much more subtle with marinated tuna, seaweed salad, sesame, radish, pineapple, sweet corn, pea shoots, tempura bits and shoyu.  As you can imagine, this was mostly sweet with some saltiness from the shoyu.and Hawaiian Classic Pokerritos.  In this picture, you will notice the nori casing and a thin layer of sushi rice. That meant we could totally taste the ingredients even more so than the bowl version.  Also, the textures were more apparent.

Now we had two different Pokerritos that resided at each end of the spectrum.  With the the Hanauma, we found something that fell somewhere in the middle.  We had it in both pokerrito and bowl form and they ate very differently.  The bowl version had much more rice, which in turn made each individual ingredient less apparent than the pokerrito.  Now it wasn't as if there was no impact.  In fact, it still tasted great with the buttery salmon, sweet imitation crab salad, ginger and wakame salad. I personally ate less of the ginger as it was sharp with a spicy and tangy bite.  In the pokerrito form, it was harder to pick out and that overshadowed the fish somewhat.  But then again, it was further enhanced by the lack of rice.

The North Shore Bowl had some elements from the Hanauma Bowl as well as the Hawaiian Classic.  Instead of salmon, we found fresh tuna with wakame salad, radish, edamame, pineapple and masago.  This was fresh-tasting with subtle flavours.  The addition of pineapple added sweet brightness and the imitation crab salad provided creaminess.  I think this would be good in pokerrito form since there would be less rice.  The tuna and pineapple would stand out even more.  Also no ginger would allow the other components to shine more so.

Onto something that was a bit different than the previous bowls, we had the Torched Ahi Tuna Bowl with soba.  Naturally, this added smokiness and varied texture within the tuna itself.  We had some slightly cooked bits while most of it was still raw and buttery.  By virtue of employing soba and seared tuna, this ate much more like a composed restaurant dish rather than quick service.  Really enjoyed the chewiness of the noodles combined with the crispy tempura bits.

If raw fish isn't your game, they also have some cooked bowls too including the Torched Miso Glazed Salmon Bowl.  If you are wondering, yes, this piece of salmon was fully cooked.  Despite that, it wasn't dry though, so it was flaky and moist with a sweet and salty sauce on top.  Nice smokiness due to the torching and lots of bite from the ginger on the side.  That was the only competing flavour in the bowl since everything else was mild.  Personally, I would've liked a more rare piece of seared salmon for this bowl, but not sure if that could be done?

Here is where we start to see some Korean fusion with the bowls.  First, we had the Torched Bulgogi Bowl.  This was aggressively sauced and then torched, which further intensified the sweetness.  We really had to mix this into the rice as it packed quite the flavour punch.  The ample beef was sliced thin and tender.  Some kimchi on the side provided some tang and mild spice.  Another variation was the Beef Bul-Dog.  So essentially bulgogi in a hot dog bun with some greens and crispy tempura bits on top.

Our last bowl was the Torched Spicy Pork Bowl.  This was just as saucy as the bulgogi bowl while adding the element of spiciness.  Once again, we had to mix this quite well to distribute the sweet and spicy sauce.  There was ample amount of pork that was tender and moist.  To compliment, we found some edamame, cubed tamago and kimchi as well as spring mix.  Great alternative for people who don't eat raw fish.

We had one more thing at the end and it was their Matcha Tiramisu.  Sure, it was a prepackaged item, but it turned out to be quite good.  The masacarpone was creamy and light while purposefully sweet.  With just a slight amount of bitterness, the matcha flavour was present but not overpowering.  Overall, the stuff at Pokerrito is solid and there was so many options available.  I love how you can have your poké as a large roll too since it not only allows for a different flavour and texture experience, you can actually have your poké and eat it too while on the go.

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

The Good:
- You can have your poké as a handheld
- You can also have it classic style too
- Cooked items available

The Bad:
- The sauces for the bulgogi and spicy pork were rather aggressive, best to ask for it on the side 

Captain's Oven Pizza

I'm sure you've noticed that where there is a Skytrain station, there will be development.  It makes sense though because building condos and the sort is a good way to increase density near transportation hubs.  Ultimately, services will inevitably be part of the deal as all these residents need things like grocery stores, medical offices, pet stores, insurance agencies, hair salons and restaurants.

The last one is of particular interest to me since many of these are tucked away within the residential complexes and mainly serve the local residents.  However, many of these places don't solely exist because they have a captive audience.  Rather, they are worth visiting, even if you do not live nearby.  Captain's Oven Pizza would be an example of this as I was rather impressed with their wares.  We started things off with a Caprese Salad which was good.  The tomatoes were pretty ripe (which you can clearly see in the picture) where the texture was possibly a bit soft, but I enjoyed the natural tomato sweetness.  Large slices of fresh mozzarella completed things.

Onto the pizzas, we went ahead and did half and half versions so we could try more flavours.  For the first, we had the Superb Soppresata and Pesto Chicken.  Nice leoparding on the crust which meant we had crispiness and smokiness.  Nice nutty flavour as well to go with the properly-seasoned dough.  I liked the spicy zestiness of the soppresata while the chicken pesto was bright with lots of tender chicken.  It was good to see the chicken being moist despite being double-cooked.

So you would think that the Meat Lover's pizza would've been my favourite, but in reality, it wasn't.  Nothing particularly wrong with it since it had a good mixture of meats, yet I felt the other flavours were more interesting.  This was true with the Oceanside as it combined prawns and bay scallops with capers, red onion, grape tomatoes and arugula.  So we got the sweet brininess that was complimented by the tangy sweetness of the capers and freshness of the tomatoes.  Nothing overwhelmed the seafood and let it stand on its own.

Although the half and half veggie pizza was nothing much to look at, I assure you that they tasted great.  For one half, we had the Chef's Special and the other was the Truffle Mushroom.  In reality, these were rather similar having an Alfredo base and mushrooms, truffle oil and arugula.  However, the Chef's Special added pesto, pine nuts and sundried tomatoes.  That afforded some herbaceous notes and nuttiness with the tang of the tomatoes.  

One pizza caught out eye on the menu and we decided to get the whole thing rather than doing half and half.  Consisting of jumbo prawns, crab, bay scallops and smoked salmon, the Fisherman's Catch was super seafoody and briny.  The natural sweetness really came out and was tempered by the salty smokiness of the salmon.  We had aromatics provided by the garlic oil.  One byproduct of having so many things on top, the crust became softer.  But that didn't bother me since the flavours were appealing.

One look at the Chocolate Pizza and you might conclude that it was a default dessert due to the use of the same pizza crust.  However, it turned out be much better than expected.  The crust was crispy as per usual, but the chocolate sauce they used was delicious and not crazy sweet.  The fresh ripe strawberries slices provided that fresh fruitiness.  As for their Tiramisu, it was unique as the mascarpone cream was super light and airy.  It was also purposefully sweet.  It was a bit light on the coffee flavour though.  Overall, the pizzas at Captain's Oven are delicious and feature well-charred pizza dough.  I wouldn't mind getting some takeout from this location from time-to-time.

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

The Good:

- Fresh well-seasoned pizza dough

- Brick oven cooks things fast with nutty charring

- Lots of choice for the pizza toppings

The Bad:

- Free parking is limited, otherwise you need to pay park

Rocky Mountain Flatbread (Get Crafty Thursdays)

Boy I haven't been back to Rocky Mountain Flatbread since they had a location in Kits.  Yes, it really has been that long!  Hey, there is nothing wrong with RMF, but as I've said over and over again, with so many options in town (and out-of-town), I can only re-visit so many places!  I won't lie, it makes it easier for me to do so when they ask me to return, which is true in this case.  Along with Eileen, Roanna and Jackie, we were there for "Get Crafty Thursdays" where we could make our own pizza creations.  This included a choice of starter as well for $29.50 per person.

About those starters, there are 2 choices each of salads and soups.  We decided to try them all so we could report on them for you!  The 2 salads included Fresh Herb Salad and a Fig & Goat Cheese Salad.  I personally preferred the fig & goat cheese salad as it had more impact in terms of taste and texture.  The natural sweetness of the figs went well with the creamy gaminess of the goat cheese.  The herb salad was much more typical with some citrus to brighten things up.

For the soups, there was a choice between Tomato Basil and Potato Corn Chowder.  I really enjoyed the natural flavours of the tomato soup as it felt like I was eating a fresh ripe tomato except with it being more concentrated with a bright tanginess.  The basil really did come through and it was a nice compliment.  As for the chowder, it was not too thick, which made it easier to eat.  It was still rich and full of tender potatoes and the sweetness of the corn niblets.  I appreciated that this was not over-seasoned, so that the natural taste came through.

Onto the pizzas, we walked over to a table that already had our pizza dough ready for kneading and rolling.  That we did.  The dough was easy to work with and we had tips throughout the process.  We had the option of tomato sauce or pesto, but since we wanted it all, we chose half and half.  Onto the Toppings, we had many options including schinken speck, calabrese salami, pepperoni, salami, pesto chicken, fresh mozzarella, kale, peppers, mushrooms, sundried tomato, jalapeno, olives, artichoke and caramelized onions.  I loaded up my pizza with pesto chicken, artichoke, mushrooms and caramelized onion on the pesto side and sundried tomato, salsami, calabrese, olives and fresh mozzarella on the tomato side.

After we finished constructing our Pizzas, we handed it off to the kitchen where they placed them in a wood fire oven.  Not long after, our pizzas were done and served hot to our table.  The thin crust was uniformly crispy from edge to the middle.  However, there was still some chewy doughiness left so that it wasn't a cracker texture.  This was the case even with all of the toppings.  However, Jackie's pizza was much softer with a non-crispy centre due to the massive amount of toppings on her pizza.

In addition to the set meal, we ordered some more items to try so we could get a sense of the menu.  This included the Roasted Cauliflower Bites and the Garlic Prawns.  I enjoyed the firm texture of the fully-cooked through cauliflower florets.  When dipped into the side of vegan ranch, there was some creaminess to go with the seasoned cauliflower.  I personally would've liked to see more char, but that didn't make-or-break the dish.  At first, I was skeptical of the garlic prawns as they sat atop a slice of cucumber, but they turned out to be really good!  They were cooked beautifully retaining a meaty snap while aggressively seasoned.  That worked out well with the unseasoned cucumber.  The lemon dill sauce was tangy and herbaceous.

We tried 2 pastas as well in the Penne Bolognese and the Maple Bacon Penne.  Both featured al dente pasta and some garlic pizza bread.  I enjoyed the bacon penne the most as it was creamy, sweet and full of bacon goodness.  It reminded me of a carbonara but just sweeter.  As for the bolognese, it was plenty meaty and cheesy.  I wouldn't say it tasted like a classic bolognese though.  I thought it was more of a rich meat sauce that was good in its own way.  There was depth and the tomato-based sauce wasn't too acidic.

To make sure we got it all, we tried their classic Artisan Flatbread with fig, brie and prosciutto.  I felt this pizza had a better crust than the ones we had made.  This was probably due to the fact they know the exact quantity of ingredients to put on top of the pizza.  Furthermore, without an actual sauce, the crust was not subjected to excess moisture.  Hence, the crust was uniformly crispy with only the slightest chewiness.  The combination of flavours was familiar in the sweet fig jam, creamy brie and salty prosciutto.

For dessert. we shared the Double Chocolate Brownie and Apple Crumble.  The brownie was pretty solid with a rich, almost fudge-like consistency.  It wasn't overly sweet though and the chocolate really came through.  As for the crumble, it was full of tender apples that were tangy and sweet.  The crisp on top had good texture.  At the end of the meal, we liked the fact that we participated in making our pizzas.  Of course we didn't "make" the dough, but the construction and choice of toppings was a fun way to personalize our meal.   Price was reasonable with all things considered.

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

The Good:

- A fun activity that isn't expensive

- Good pizza dough that is also prepared well in their oven

- Generally solid food all-around

The Bad:

- For this location, parking in the area is a bit challenging

Lil' Jon Restaurant & Lounge

Gosh, we haven't met up with Lola and Scout since pre-Covid times.  You see, they live in Seattle and well, during the border shutdown, it was a bit difficult to head down South.  Yes, I have been across the border a few times since it opened up, but just didn't get a chance to meet for eats (hey that rhymes...).  Finally, we made plans to do so and they suggested a classic diner in Lil' Jon out near Factoria.  With vinyl booths and counter seating, I would say that this place has diner written all over it.

I was pleasantly surprised at the reasonable pricing given that food costs are out-of-control these days.  Taking advantage of that, I went for T-bone steak, that came with a choice of soup or salad to start.  I went for the Cream of Potato Soup and it was a hearty with lots of tender potato cubes.  I found it having the right viscosity being thick, but not so much that I couldn't drink it.  Flavor was mild, but was well-seasoned.

Behold, my 16oz Choice T-Bone Steak.  I asked for it to be prepared medium-rare and it came exactly like that.  Of course the tenderloin portion of the steak was a touch more rare, but that was expected and frankly, welcomed.  I found the seasoning to be spot on as it was flavorful on its own.  I found the meat to be quite tender.  The side of mashed potatoes were smooth and velvety while the brown gravy wasn't too salty.

As for Viv, she went for the Bacon Cheeseburger with 1/3 lbs patty, shredded lettuce, tomato, pickle, American cheese and bacon.  This looked impressive, but ultimately was quite average.  Despite sporting a large meaty patty, it was dry and somewhat chewy.  However, the bacon was crispy and the produce was fresh.  On the side, the fries were not bad being crispy with plenty of potato texture inside.

My son decided on his favorite with the French Dip featuring thinly-sliced roast beef on a French roll with au jus on the side.  The best thing to describe the roast beef is that it resembled Arby's.  So if you are familiar, the roast beef at Arby's is marinated to the point where it is very tender and almost ham-like.  Now I'm not saying this was necessarily a bad thing here if you enjoy that texture.  Just be aware it wasn't very meaty.

My daughter had the Turkey Melt with roast turkey breast, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo on grilled sourdough.  I thought this was fairly standard and definitely serviceable.  I liked how they didn't slather the bread with a stick of butter.  Hence it wasn't overly greasy and oil-soaked.  It was still crunchy though.  Nice balance of ingredients and it ate rather moist inside.

Scout went for one of the classics here in the Chicken Fried Steak featuring breaded cube steak topped with country gravy.  He has had this before and enjoys it partially due to the gravy.  It has a nice consistency where it is creamy while not being too greasy nor floury.  As for the steak itself, the coating is crispy while the meat is moist and tender.  This was also served with a side of mixed veggies.

We ended things off with a few orders of their pie.  Although they are frozen pies, we found them to be more than acceptable.  Of the ones we ordered, I enjoyed the Cherry Pie (pictured above) the most as it had a nice tangy sweetness.  The crust was not exactly flaky, but it had a nice firmness to it.  We also had the peach, which was just sweet enough, however, the chocolate cream pie was too sweet for me.  Overall, Lil' Jon is a no fuss, ol' school diner that serves up predictable eats.  There are a few gems such as the T-Bone Steak and Chicken Fried Steak, but the other items were pretty average.  Yet, for the reasonable prices they charge, I think you will be satisfied (especially if you pick the right items).

The Good:
- Well-priced
- Surprising food if you pick the right dishes
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- Pick the wrong dishes, and they are pretty average

The Watering Hole (San Diego Safari Zoo)

So you might be wondering why I'm writing about a restaurant located in the San Diego Safari Park...  Well, after much research before we went, apparently The Watering Hole was a recommended spot for lunch.  This outdoor cafe is so popular, I had to make Opentable reservations one month prior.  The real draw is the unobstructed view of their Savannah habitat with all of the animals roaming free.  But what about the food?  Well I'm going to get to that right now.

Luckily we did make a rez because there was quite the lineup.  However, that didn't mean much since we waited over 20 minutes just to be acknowledged after we sat down.  I know there are staff shortages, but our server seemed more interested in chatting with her colleagues rather than bringing us water and taking our order.  Completely unacceptable.  Once we did get our order in, it took another 30 minutes to get our food.  Yes, we did get a good view of the park, but it gets tiring when people are hangry.  I guess the wait was not worth it as our Nacho Queso Dip with chicken was laughable.  Sporting stone-cold tortilla chips, this was topped with luke-warm soyrizo queso, corn, avocado, pico de gallo, jalapenos, cilantro, green onion, cotija and chicken.  Now the actual ingredients were fine, but the fact everything was cold, made this very hard to eat. 

Viv stuck with something simple in the Watering Hole Caesar with Chicken.  In addition to the usual romaine hearts, garlic croutons and parm, this featured capers and grated egg.  Now you might've noticed I didn't mention the dressing.  Well, if you take a closer look, there wasn't much dressing to begin with.  Hence, it was bland while the chicken was cold and rubbery.  You might be wondering why we just didn't get more dressing.  Remember the lack of service?  We couldn't even flag down our server to get water (and at the start, cutlery), let alone more dressing...

My son went for the Pulled Pork Sandwich with BBQ sauce, slaw (he asked for it on the side) and beer mustard with pickles and house-fried chips.  He found this sandwich acceptable with plenty of pork that was somewhere in between dry and moist.  BBQ sauce was mild and there wasn't enough of it.  Bun was soft and held things together.  The side of chips were actually quite good being crunchy and nicely salted.

My daughter had the Open Faced Tuna Sandwich with bacon, sliced tomato and arugula on levain sourdough.  A good amount of melted jack cheese was on top.  This was also okay with a decent amount of tuna salad with red onion.  It could've used more salt though.  Sourdough was a little bit too chewy and cold, hence it was difficult to eat.  The red onion was sharp, so it dominated the flavor profile of the sandwich.

Now for myself, I had to wait and wait.  Oh and wait some more!  They forgot about my order.  Like who is running this place?  Fortunately, this was the best item we had in the Beef & Cheddar Sandwich featuring thinly sliced roast beef, horseradish sauce, beer cheese and hot sauce.  With plenty of beef, it was tender and moist.  Loved the ample amount of cheese sauce as it was salty enough with a bite from the beer.  Messy, but I enjoyed it.  However, this is the only thing that went right for this meal.  Service was non-existent (took another 15 minutes to get our bill and pay) and they even forgot my sandwich.  Food was mostly forgettable and almost laughable given the price.  Yes, the view is awesome, but not for 2 hours because that cut into our time at the park.  I would recommend you skip this and save your money for a wildlife safari to get up close to the animals.  We did and that was awesome.  This meal wasn't.

The Good:
- Outstanding view

The Bad:
- Crappy service
- Slow, slow, slow
- Food is mostly terrible and cold

Modern Pantry (West Vancouver)

As much as I travel for food (as far as Chilliwack), it isn't often I venture into West Vancouver.  I think the last time I was here, it was at Terroir Kitchen with Mijune.  So it was a bit ironic that the first place I hit up in West Van since then was at the Modern Pantry.  Fate would have it, this was the former location of Terroir Kitchen (La Regalade before that) and guess who was with me?  This is actually the 2nd location of the Modern Pantry as their original location is in North Vancouver.

We started off with the Grain Bowl which was both vegan and gluten free.  it consisted of marinated chickpeas with turmeric and cumin, rosemary pickled onions, roasted yams, kale and maple tahini dressing.   That was good, but the Hearty Salad won me over, with feta marinated in honey, oregano, fennel and chili flakes, kale, roasted yams, pumpkin seeds, cabbage and mushrooms.  There was a bevy of textures and flavours (including tang, spice, salt and sweetness) that kept me wanting to eat more.

Grand in size, the Quiche featured sweet potato and feta on whole wheat laminated pastry.  This was very light, eggy and airy.  For some, I could see that it wouldn't be firm enough, but for me, it was good.  It was easy to eat and the texture was consistent throughout.  Naturally, it was sweet due to the ingredients with a touch of cheesiness.  Loved the pastry as it was flaky and crispy, even on the bottom.

Hands down, the best savoury item was the Grilled Cheese.  Now it wasn't prepared in the classic manner where the bread was slathered in butter and cooked in a pan or flattop.  Rather, it was toasted house made sourdough sandwiching  aged white cheddar and spicy tomato jam.  This meant the bread was soft, warm and slightly chewy.  Inside, the cheese was sharp and that tomato jam had a kick as well as sweet tang.  Delicious!

A surprising item was the Veggie Sandwich featuring sourdough focaccia, roasted sweet potatoes and red peppers, caramelized onion feta spread and fresh dill.  If you know me, I love my meat, but hey, this sammie was packed full of flavour and texture.  There was considerable sweetness to the sandwich accented by the cheese and dill.  Loved the focaccia as it was crispy in parts, soft and slightly chewy in others.

One of the most visually-appealing items in the display case was the Breakfast Sandwich consisting of bread made with brioche dough with spinach, cheddar and onion.  Inside, there was sambal mayo, soft-boiled egg and cheddar.  Loved the egg, it looked inviting and it ate with a custardy centre.  Bread was tasty with plenty of inherent flavour but was a bit firm.  Mayo and cheese complimented the egg well and it was a nice little bite.

Off to the Sweets portion of the tasting, we had a bevy of delicious items including the Northshore Cookie with coffee, pretzels, chocolate, coconut, granola and sea salt.  This was pretty crunch, especially the edges.  Lots of flavours and with the addition of salt, it further heightened everything else.  Apparently, the Brownie has been 10-years in the making since Kendall (the owner operator) has been perfecting it for that long.  Well, it was chocolatey, chewy and consistent in texture throughout.  Good brownie!  We were truly impressed with the Gluten-Free Burnt Lemon Cake as it was blessed with lemon and cardamom drizzled with white chocolate orange syrup.  This was essentially a financier with hits of tang and sweetness.  On the same plate, there was a Apple Oat Coffee Cake with fresh and dried apples within an almond streusel.  The cake itself was fluffy and just sweet enough.  On top, the crunch and sweetness from the almond streusel was a delicious textural contrast.  Also fluffy, the Vegan Coconut Loaf was not all dense (especially being vegan).  It was aromatic and again, purposefully sweet.  Although the Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie would be an appropriate name, they are actually nicknamed "Kendall Cookies" because the kids of returning customers would ask for them by that name.  I understand why because they were a bit crispy on the edges but soft and chewy in the middle.  There was a nuttiness from the butter and of course sweetness from the chocolate chunks.  Now the best of these was the Pear Danish with lemon cream cheese.  The laminated pastry couldn't have been any more on point.  So crispy and light with defined layers.  It was of course buttery and the lemon cream cheese was tang and smooth.  Tender pears on top were the proverbial icing on the cake.  I highly recommend this item.  Well, I would actually recommend almost everything because it is obvious that Kendall puts her heart into the food and overall feel of the place.  If you happen to be on the North Shore, I suggest you check it out.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Carefully crafted food
- Owner that is passionate and cares
- Welcoming space

The Bad:
- It is a small space though