The Screen Door

It has been a long time since I've been back to The Screen Door.  In fact, count it 10 years ago that I dine on their Southern cuisine at their Burnside location.  It isn't as if I didn't want to go back, but since I'm only in Portland infrequently, there are just too many great places to dine at while I'm there.  Well, here I am back at the Burnside location to sample their wares once again.  Unlike last time, I wasn't sitting outside (which was nice btw) since it was rather cold (in Winter).

We started with a classic in the Crispy Fried Oysters dredged in cornmeal and served with housemade tartar sauce.  These were excellent with a uniformly crunchy exterior that was not heavy nor greasy.  It was properly seasoned as is, but the light tartar helped add creaminess, tanginess and brightness from the dill.  As for the oysters themselves, they were buttery and briny while just barely cooked through.  The juiciness was a nice contrast from the little nuggets of crunch from the cornmeal.

Of course we couldn't forget about their Chicken & Waffles right?  We opted for the 2 piece (breasts) that sat atop a sweet potato waffle.  Sporting little crunchy bits strewn throughout the exterior of the tender and juicy chicken breasts, the fried chicken was delicious.  It was texturally on point inside and out while properly seasoned as well.  As for the waffle, it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  It was naturally sweet and also aromatic.

Another Screen Door classic is their Lowcountry Shrimp & Grits.  This featured plump and buttery shrimp that were completely seasoned by the rich meaty garlicky tomato sauce. The smokiness and richness oft he bacon really came through. This sat atop creamy cheddar grits that were smooth and the proper consistency (not too runny or thick).  To make it extra silky, we had 2 over-medium eggs as well.  On the side, we found a large buttermilk biscuit served with some jam.  This was buttery and crispy on the outside with a fluffy and slightly salty inside.

One of the more surprising items we had was the Fried Catfish Sandwich.  Thinking that we would be treated to some muddy flavors, we were delighted with the flaky sweetness of the moist catfish.  It was coated in cornmeal, which was crispy and not heavy.  It was served on a griddled bun that was crispy and held up to the wet ingredients well.  The sandwich was finished with a crunchy and bright lemon slaw, dill pickles and house hot sauce mayo.  Good combination of spice, tang, sweetness and saltiness.  Fries on the side were solid too being crispy with soft potato goodness inside.

One of the more basic (if you can actually call this basic) compared to the rest of the dishes was the Cajun Scramble.  This was a combination of andouille sausage, Cajun spices, onion & bell peppers and pepper jack cheese.  Yep, there was some heat from the spices and the sausage while the sweetness from the veggies provided some balance.  I would've liked the eggs to be a bit more fluffy though.  This also came with cheddar grits and a buttermilk biscuit.

The last dish I dug into was our de facto dessert in the Bananas Foster French Toast.  The griddled brioche was soaked in vanilla custard and hence, it was soft like bread pudding.  Nice caramelization on the outside, but further enhanced by the rum-flamed caramelized bananas as it added another layer of sweetness and aromatics.  The dish was finished off with cinnamon & whipped cream.

We also had a couple of cocktails in the Kentucky Bird and the Morning Mule.  Both were refreshing and a good relief from the heaviness of the food.  I thought the Kentucky bird had some great tang and sweetness.  We were also provided with a selection of sauces including the Tartar, Creole Honey Mustard, Parmesan Aioli and Buttermilk Herb Dressing.  I thought the aioli went well with the fries while I strangely liked dipping the fried chicken into the herb dressing.  Honey mustard was also great with the chicken.  Overall, the food at the Screen Door was great as usual.  If you are looking for some Southern eats served in big portions, this is the place to find it.  Maybe next time it won't take me that long to do a repeat visit!

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

The Good:
- Well-prepared Southern eats
- Large portions
- Lively atmosphere

The Bad:
- Well, of course this type of food is heavy, order a cocktail or beverage to wash it down

Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen

We do far too much Asian food while travelling and at home.  I guess there is something comforting about it.  Well, there is a different type of comfort food that we don't normally have the opportunity to access when we are at home in Vancouver.  Despite the diversity, there is very little-to-no soul food around.  But while in LA, we decided to hit up Dulan's out in Inglewood.  They are well-known for their large portions with all the classics as well as all the sides too!

There was no doubt we would be ordering the Fried Chicken.  This recipe has been passed down generations and it was definitely solid in my books.  The chicken was fairly tender and had a crunchy exterior with rendered skin.  I wouldn't say it was super-flavorful, but it wasn't bland either.  For the sides, we had the Mac & Cheese and Collard Greens.  Soft & cheesy with a seared crust, the mac & cheese was pretty heavy.  This was certainly a comfort version of the dish.  I really liked the collard greens as it did have a beautiful smoked turkey essence.  It was mildly-seasoned and was great with the fried chicken.

Weighing a tonne, the Short Ribs were definitely fork-tender as advertised.  However, due to being rather lean, the meat was on the drier side.  It did have a natural meatiness to them and the stewing juices were sweet from the onions and full-of-depth from the meat.  For the sides, we had the Candied Yams and the String Beans with Carrots.  Soft and incredibly sweet, the yams were texturally-appealing and buttery.  A bit too sweet for me, but I'm sure others enjoy them immensely.  The beans and carrots were pretty typical being soft and naturally-flavoured.

Really enjoyed the Oxtail as they were tender and fell-off-the-bone.  Lots of gelatinous parts and there was plenty of umami meatiness.  Some fall flavors with the seasoning gave it lots of body.  We got the Mashed Potatoes and Corn Bread Dressing as the sides.  Loved the mash as it still had plenty of potato texture left.  The gravy was smooth and not too salty.  As for the bread dressing, it was soft and fluffy while being sweet and aromatic.

So our meals also included Corn Bread.  Really liked eating these as they were moist and fluffy while still having the typical cornbread robust texture.  It had a balanced corn sweetness.  Overall, the food at Dulan's was definitely comforting and you certainly won't go hungry.  Each meal could easily feed 2 less hungry people.  I particularly enjoyed the oxtail and fried chicken.  Most of the sides were good and the corn bread was solid.  So if you are hungry for comfort eats, Dulan's got you covered.

The Good:
- Solid comfort food
- Large portions
- Lots of tasty sides

The Bad:
- Shortrib was a bit dry

Le Rendez Vous de Mougins

Initially, we were planning to do some more AYCE sushi at L'Asia in Mougins (don't judge me!), which is North of Cannes and somewhat close to where we were staying in Sophia Antipolis.  However, they must have the most dysfunctional parking lot I've ever seen.  I barely got out of there without damaging my rental car!  Hence, we were hungry and needed to find another spot to get some eats.  We set our sights on nearby Mougins village (which was super quaint), but never ended up at the restaurant we had our sights on.  We couldn't find it for the life of us within the maze of streets.  Hungry and tired, we settled for Le Rendez Vous de Mougins as it had availability.

We didn't get any appies this time and went straight for the mains where I inexplicably ordered the Salade Niçoise.  I guess I was partly wanting something lighter and also when in the vicinity of Nice...  When it arrived, it didn't look like anything familiar as it was missing potatoes and had an inordinate amount of greens.  Their interpretation consisted of 2 types of tuna with crumbled and marinated tuna throughout while a small filet of tuna was served on the side.  Hence, this salad did not have any absence of meatiness.   The dressing was bright and acidic while the greens made me feel healthy.  Sure, this was missing a few components of a traditional Salade Niçoise, but it was good in its own way.

My son didn't deviate from his usual ordering habits and went for the Grilled Beef with frites and salad.  This was well-prepared with a beautiful sear on the outside that was smoky and well-seasoned.  The steak itself was medium-rare as requested and the result was a fairly tender texture.  The compound butter on top added luxuriousness as well as lots of aromatic nuttiness.  Frites were crunchy and nicely salted.

My daughter had the Tuna and Avocado Tartare with a Japanese wasabi sauce.  In reality, this tasted very much like it was marinated in orange juice (lots of it too).  Hence, it was watery mess.  However, it did taste and eat a lot better than it looked.  The small nuggets of tuna were buttery and soft with the complimentary sweetness from the juice doing its thing.  We would've liked to see a bit more acidity though.  Frites on the side were crunchy like the other dish.

Viv ended up with a Braised Beef Pasta which was the best dish of the bunch.  It featured buttery soft noodles topped with delicious stewed meat that was super tender and gelatinous.  There was considerably depth and body that flavoured the entire dish.  Overall, the food at Le Rendez Vous de Mougins was serviceable.  Really, that is the best description as we were a bit desperate for food and time was running out.  So in that respect, we were satisfied.  Thought the service was pretty good too.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Friendly service
- Cute spot

The Bad:
- There are better choices

Yardbird Table & Bar

Despite the departure of Roanna and Eileen the night before, Jackie and I still had one more food adventure left on the schedule before our flight.  It happened to be Yardbird Table & Bar located in the Venetian.  I've been to their original Miami spot before and it was fantastic!  Loved their take on Southern comfort food!  However, given the inside location of this Yardbird, it had a much more elevated vibe due to the darker dining room and less bright sunny farm-themed decor.

To start, we had the Devilled Eggs with dill, chives and smoked trout roe.  These featured half eggs filled high with creamy and rich egg yolks.  There was definitely enough seasoning with the hint of mustard.  Loved the little pops of smoky brininess from the roe.  I also liked how the egg whites were delicate and not rubbery.  However, the thing that put the whole thing over-the-top was the drizzle of honey hot sauce.  That brought out sweet and spicy notes to go with the already delicious egg.

Yah, we couldn't do some Southern eats without doing the Skillet Cornbread with sharp cheddar, bacon, jalapeño and honey butter.  So from the description alone, this was obviously not your typical cornbread.  Well, the cornbread itself was excellent being fluffy and buttery with a crisp top.  With the added ingredients, we found a real savoury element with a salty cheesiness as well as spicy tang from the peppers.  Add in the honey butter, we had a good mix of flavors.

Going for all the greatest hits, we also had the Fried Green Tomato BLT with  house-smoked pork belly, pimento cheese, frisée, smoky tomato jam and lemon vinaigrette.  Yah, these were addictively good with a firm green tomato slice coated in a crunchy breading.  It didn't eat heavy though.  On top, the dollop of cheese did its salty cheesy thing while the slice of pork belly was soft and smoky.  Add in the freshness of the frisée with the tangy vinaigrette and we had a balanced 2-biter.

Their signature dish, Chicken & Waffles, is a must order for anyone dining at Yardbird.  So yah, we got that too.  This featured chilled spiced watermelon, Vermont sharp cheddar waffle, 1/2 fried chicken, honey hot sauce and bourbon maple syrup.  This did not disappoint where the waffle was super savoury and crispy.  Oh man, the fried chicken was off-the-hook.  All the meat (including the breast) was juicy while nicely brined.  The outside was uniformly crunchy and well-seasoned.  It was even better with some honey hot sauce.  To bring it all back down, the refreshing watermelon did just that.

Staying with fried chicken to a degree, we had their Nashville Hot Yardbird Sandwich.  This featured a big Carolina reaper-rubbed chicken thigh that was fried up perfectly.  The crunch gave way to a juicy thigh that had some real spice to it.  Although the slaw was there to cool things down a touch, it was also spicy, so it just kept the theme going.  Nice crunch on it though.  Loved the toasted brioche bun as it was crispy on the inside and nicely charred.

Our last dish was also a classic in the Shrimp & Grits with seared shrimp, roasted tomato, Virginia ham,red onion, Nora Mill grits and PBR jus.  Another winner here with creamy, yet robust grits soaked in a rich sauce that had some remnants of the beer while sporting the unmistakable flavor of Virginia ham.  The shrimp were perfectly cooked with a caramelizing sear and having enough seasoning.  Well, if you have been paying attention, this meal was fantastic and brought back great memories of the first time I dined at their Miami location.  Food is prepared properly and the flavors are just dynamite.  You also won't leave hungry either.

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

The Good:

- On point eats

- That fried chicken!

- Large portions

The Bad:

- For this location at least, it is a bit dark

H2 Kitchen + Bar

I have fond memories of the Westin Bayshore as it was "the" hotel back in the 70's.  It was originally The Bayshore Inn before Westin bought it in 1981.  Everyone knew about Trader Vic's, the Polynesian-themed restaurant located within.  Fast forward to the recent past and the present, Westin is now owned by Marriott and their current flagship restaurant, H2 Kitchen & Bar has gone through a few iterations.  They have been featuring a Southern-style menu for quite some time and also a Sunday Supper Series, which features a 3-course meal for $40.00.  I've been here on many occasions including their wonderful Mother's Day brunch.  But this time, I came back with the fam to try out their current Sunday Supper feature in addition to their Smokehouse favourites.

Before we got to the mains, we decided to start off with a few appies including the Baked Spinach Dip featuring a 4-cheese blend, pimento, pico de gallo and caramelized onion with corn tortillas.  This was pretty typical with a creamy mix of cheese and spinach with tomatoes and onion.  I felt that they was pretty flavourful and full of textures.  Although they were pretty generous with the melted cheese on the top, it was probably a bit too much as it made the dip heavier.  However, what do I know?  A lot of melted cheese and chips?  I'm sure many people would love that!

One of the best items we had was the Bison Tartare served atop smoked bone marrow topped with pickled mustard seed and aioli.  This was accompanied by house made waffle chips.   As for the tartare itself, it was buttery soft (despite being lean) and well-dressed.  The whole mix of ingredients was creamy and slightly tangy.  Combined with the fatty bone marrow, the little bite atop each chip was sinfully delicious and silky.  Loved the crispy chips as they were the perfect textural contrast for the tartare.  I only wished that the chips were slightly larger in size as I wanted more of the tartare on top of each piece!  Lastly, the whole thing was brought to the table underneath a glass cloche with an intoxicating amount of smoke.  Nice presentation and added even more smokiness to the tartare.

Our last starter was the Chicken & Corn Chowder, that was included in the Sunday Supper Series 3-course meal.  This was an enormous portion that ate much more like a chicken pot pie than a chowder, especially with the piece of puff pastry on top.  The viscosity was of the chowder was on point as it coated the spoon without being clumpy.  There was an abundance of natural chicken flavour in the thickened broth as well as being properly seasoned.  There was no absence of tender chicken and soft potatoes (that were still in one piece).

Onto the mains, the featured dish for the Sunday Supper Series was the Smoked Picanha with roasted carrots and broccolini, red skin mashed potatoes, burnt onion jus and chimichurri.  This was one big plate of food where the picanha was medium-rare and sliced thin.  As such, the meat ate fairly tender despite having an inherent chew.  Thick and silky, the onion jus was full of depth and intense smoky sweetness with a bite.  Those roasted veggies were perfect where they retained a fresh crunchiness.  The chimichurri was bright and garlicky, which lightened up the richness of the dish.

Just because he loves burgers, my son ordered the Whiskey BBQ Beef Burger with cheddar, bacon and all the produce on brioche.  This was a well-constructed burger where the Prairie Ranchers beef patty was thick and fairly moist while sporting a nice char outside.  The bacon was supremely crispy and the thick slice of melted cheddar coated the whole patty.  Naturally, the whiskey BBQ sauce took centre stage offering up a smoky sweet tang with the unmistakable bite of whiskey.  Good balance on that.   He subbed the waffle fries with yam fries, which were uniformly crispy served with a spicy chipotle mayo.

For Viv and I, we had to try their Date Night Meat Sweats that included 1/2 lb of CAB Smoked Brisket, 1/2 lb of Smoked Pulled Pork, half a rack of St. Louis Ribs, Cornbread, House Pickles, 2 Sides (Mac & Cheese, Ancho Creamed Corn) and choice of Sauce (OG H2 BBQ Sauce) for $68.00.  Considering the amount of food, we felt this was a very well-priced platter.  Moreover, the components were good too.  The brisket was fatty and buttery soft while the pulled pork was tender.  There was a balanced smokiness to the meats as well.  As for the ribs, they were large and meaty while tender enough.  I liked how the meat still had a chew and wasn't completely melting.  Yes, these were legit smoked ribs (not par-cooked and then BBQ'd).  Loved the BBQ sauce as it was tangy, smoky and sweet.  Oh that cornbread was fantastic as it was moist with a firm texture.  The spiced butter only helped elevate it.  For our sides, we chose the Mac & Cheese and it was excellent being cheesy and creamy with al dente noodles.  The Ancho Creamed Corn was also creamy with a bite.

The Sunday Supper Series also included Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert.  We enjoyed this as the cake itself was soft, fluffy and smoky.  It wasn't overly sweet, but the actual caramel sauce underneath was plenty sweet.  However, we liked how we could regulate how sweet we wanted it by either soaking it in the sauce or not.  It was topped with creamy vanilla ice cream and a crunchy brandy snap.  We also added another dessert in the Apple & Caramel Cheesecake.  This ate more like a crumble with a cheesecake crust.  In that respect, I really enjoyed it as the apples were sweet and tart while the cheesecake was classic New York-style being firm and rich.  Overall, the food was just as good as the previous visits we've had at H2.  The best part is their reasonable pricing given that they are a Downtown hotel restaurant.  You can really eat here and not break the bank.  Something that cannot be said about eating out these days.

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

The Good:
- Generally well-prepared eats
- Menu is focused
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- Maybe less choice for the people who don't like BBQ

Pier 88 Boiling Seafood & Bar

On our way back up to Vancouver, after some pretty epic eats in Portland, we stopped in Lynnwood to end this foodie road trip with a bang.  The place?  Pier 88 Boiling Seafood where the name says it all, featuring an array of seafood dishes as well as the main event, the seafood boil.  Now seafood boils are no longer a novelty because there are quite a few of them to choose from.  However, the key difference between them are the actual physical restaurant as well as different sauces and of course pricing.

As for Pier 88, the purpose-built dining room is spacious with a clear nautical theme.  Lots of room on the table to make a mess with your crab legs.  On the topic of crab, we had the Deep Fried Soft-Shell Crab with parprika aioli.  These little guys were not so little.  They were lightly breaded and fried just enough so they were crispy while still tender and custardy.  Of course there was the natural brininess that made this taste really good.

We then had another pair of fried appies in the Calmari and Popcorn Shrimp.  They have mad deep fryer skills as both were perfectly prepared.  The tender calamari rings were coated in a light and crispy batter while the same was true for the shrimp.  As for the shrimp, they were of a decent size with a buttery, yet not overly soft texture.  I particularly liked the tartar sauce that came with the shrimp.  It was creamy with nice bite from the bits of onion and pickles.

Going from deep-fried to a couple of cold appies, we had the Lobster Salad and a dozen of the Shinsei Oysters.  As you can see, the salad had a good amount of lobster claw meat atop greens, tomatoes, croutons and egg.  This came with a 1000-Islands-type dressing.  The oysters were similar to kushis and were shucked properly.  These petite oysters were briny and sweet with plenty of liquor.

So all of the appies were fantastic, but really, we were here for the seafood boil!  On this platter, we had Snow Crab Legs, Whole Live Dungeness Crab and King Crab Legs in 88 Special Sauce (Medium Spice Level).  Both the snow crab and king crab legs were cooked just right being fluffy with that classic crab rebound texture.  The live dungeness crab was also done right.  We got this in the 88 Special Sauce which was buttery and garlicky with a background kick.

On our next platter, we had a Whole Live Lobster, Head-On Shrimp, Mussels and Crawfish in Garlic Butter (Mild Spice Level).  As with the crab, the lobster was prepared properly with sweet bouncy meat.  The mild garlic butter complimented without being overpowering.  Mussels were plump and briny while the crawfish were earthy tasting as expected.  Shrimp had a nice rebound and were sweet.

For dessert, we tried both the Chocolate Molten Cake as well as the Butter Toffee Cake.  Of the 2, I preferred the latter as it was soft and moist with a rich sweetness that wasn't overpowering.  Naturally, it was buttery and no, it probably wasn't good for my figure...  However, one thing is for sure - the seafood was fresh (even the frozen ones) and prepared properly.  On top of that the sauces were delicious and the prices were fair.  Would do this again.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post*

The Good:
- Fresh seafood (even the frozen ones)
- Prepared right
- Fair pricing

The Bad:
- Even though I feel the pricing is fair, naturally seafood is expensive, so you will need to be prepared to spend some money 

Texas Smoke BBQ

My first experience with Texas Smoke BBQ was back in September 2021.  I had decided to drive deep into Langley after work one day to check the place out.  I ended up ordering everything they had and truly enjoyed the food.  One caveat though, I had to trek all the way back home before digging into the smoked goodies.  Thankfully, I was invited to a tasting several months later with a group of other foodies.  We were able to have the food slightly warmer (although it was winter).  Since then, I've returned on my own half a dozen of times and let me tell you, the brisket is amazing right after it has been sliced.   Fast forward to the present and they have opened up a second location in the parking lot of Milner Feed & Pet Supply.  Jacqueline and I were invited to check the place out and we gladly made the drive out across the Port Mann.

Let's cut the suspense and get right to the meats.  We were served a platter with Pulled Pork, Tex Mex (Barbacoa), Beef "Dyno" Rib (Short Rib), Pork Sausages and Beef Brisket.  As you can clearly see, there is quite the bark on the brisket and short rib.  Impactfully smoky without going overboard, the bark is also flavourful from the rub.  Tender and moist, the brisket is the meat to have here, but the short rib is a close second where it is fatty and fall-apart succulent.  Shredded and sauced, both the pulled pork and barbacoa are meaty while tender.  Lastly, the sausages have a wonderful snap from the casing giving way to a juicy and meaty filling.

So doing a deeper dive into that short rib, I can say it is subjective that the brisket is better.  In some sense, the short rib is the choice of meat here.  Jacqueline seemed to think so.  As you can see in the closeup, the meat is fatty, gelatinous and moist.  Combine it with a flavourful bark and this might be the first meat to go if you are sharing.  At $31.99 each, this is a lot of meat for the price.

Of course we cannot forget about the Burnt Ends that also included some twice-smoked sausages as well.   The burnt ends here are a bit different than some other versions I've had (here and in Texas).  These ones are much more meatier and tender as opposed to the fattier and harder ones.  Furthermore, the sauce is a lot lighter and not as thick.  You can definitely eat more of these as a result.

Off to the sides, we have Smoked Baked Beans, Mac & Cheese, Corn Bread and also a Brioche Bun (that is used for their sandwiches).  I love how they char the mac & cheese to give it a smoky flavour as well as adding crunch (the extra panko helps too).  Baked beans are sweet and smoky while the cornbread is buttery and moist.  It can be had in jalapeno form too.

The last available side is the Southern Slaw where I noticed that it is different (in a good way).  Unlike in the past, there is much more dressing and the tanginess really comes through.  Fresh cabbage also ensures that the bright crunch is there too.  As you can tell, I love Texas Smoke.  I wouldn't spend so much money on the place if I didn't.  Also I wouldn't drive out there if it wasn't worth it.  I think that you should do the same.

*All food was complimentary*

The Good:

- Properly smoked meats

- Reasonable pricing

- Nice people

The Bad:

- Well, both locations are in Langley.  Worth the trek in my opinion.

- Maybe a thicker sauce for the burnt ends?