Filipino Noodle Joint

For those who have visited Filipino Noodle Joint in Chinatown, you may or may not already know that they have moved locations.  In fact, they have moved to another city into Surrey.  Hey business is tough these days and also factor in operating costs and rent, yah, I'd get out of Vancity as well!  Now they have a proper full-service restaurant complete with a bar (liquor license pending), karoake and dedicated takeout counter.  They also have all the favourites and more...

We are going to focus on their daily specials (at 15% off) including the Sisig on Mondays.  As you can see, they serve the full version with tender crispy nuggets of pig head (yes, you read that right).  There is a good tang to it which helps cut down the heaviness.  I find that the spice level is noticeable.  That is great for me as I like a kick that goes with the rest of the complimentary flavours.  To add even more acidity, the lemon wedge is there for you to squeeze.

So on Tuesdays, you can get the Lomi with a rich and thickened chicken broth, egg noodles and bagnet on top.  Yes, this is also quite the filling bowl where the starch-thickened soup is silky and somewhat sweet with equal parts savoury.  The egg noodles are plentiful and nicely al dente.  Of course the best part is the bagnet on top (pork belly) with its crunchy crackling as well as its fatty (not too fatty) and tender meat.  It is aromatic and natural tasting.

Moving onto Wednesdays, we find the Loaded Beef Pares which is a beef brisket stew topped with bagnet and fried chicken skin.  This comes with a choice of egg noodles or rice.  The rich beef broth gravy pairs well with both the noodles and rice.  The rice would be my choice of starch as it really soaks up all of the beefy goodness of the gravy.  Now the gravy isn't overly sweet nor salty.  Rather, it has the natural beef flavours really coming through.  The chunks of brisket are fall-apart tender.

Okay, bagnet resides in 2 of the dishes already, so why not have the Ilocos Bagnet on top of a rice bowl?  Well, this Thursday special is made for those people who love pork belly with crunchy cracklings.  Lots of texture in this and the accompanying fried pork fat aromatics.  To lighten the load, there is a side of vinegary dip.  To top it off literally and figuratively, we have a fried egg.  The rice is perfect being fluffy and not wet.  This also comes with a side of soup too.

So Fridays are reserved for the grandest of offerings in the Skewer Tray with 2 each of the pork, chicken and fish balls with one Filipino wiener.  This will go really well with a beer (when they get their license).  This is all meat, so I don't recommend that you finish this by yourself (unless you are a football player).  Love the char on the chicken and pork.  Nice smokiness and further enhancement by the sweet sauce.  Meat is juicy.  Fish balls are bouncy and airy.

On Saturdays, they are featuring Karaoke and bottomless Sago At Gulaman.  This brown sugar drink is sweet (but not too sweet).  There is a wealth of sago pearls and different jellies that make this a refreshing and texturally interesting beverage.  On Sundays, we find Fried Chicken Skin with some slaw, lemon wedge and tangy sweet dip.  Also great with beer, the crispy skin is rendered and has a light crunch.  As you can see, the specials are the full-versions and at that, they are huge.  Good value here and also good food.  Just waiting to get their liquor license!

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

The Good:
- Large portions
- Hearty food
- They have a full dining room now

The Bad:
- Yes, area is still in transition but don't worry about that, people will leave you alone

Chopsticks on Pho

Oh wow, it has been a long 12 years since I last set foot into Chopsticks on Pho out in Surrey.  Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the food there and at the time, they were doing something that wasn't quite trending yet.  You see, they were one of the few Vietnamese restaurants operating in a modern dining space as well as doing fusion cuisine.  I had my doubts about it since it really wasn't a thing yet.  They are still around today, so they must've been doing something right!  Well, the owners remembered me and decided to invite me back.

In addition to the food from the kitchen, they now produce their own artisan sauces that are all hand-made and jarred.  Some of these were used in the Tasting Platter consisting of one skewer each BBQ Nem Pork and the Satay Chicken, Grilled Garlic Prawns, Salad Roll and Crispy Pork Spring Roll.  Now if you look at the picture, you'll notice that the spring roll is missing.  Not sure what happened there, but it will make an appearance later on in another dish.  I really enjoyed the skewers as the meat was tender and full-flavoured due to the marinade and sauce.  The pork was tender with a nice rebound while exhibiting its usual smoky and sweet notes as well as some fish sauce.  The satay sauce for the chicken was sweet and nicely spiced.

Here is one dish where the spring roll makes an appearance...  in the Chef's Special Rolls.  As you can clearly see, the spring roll was encased within a salad roll.  Now the picture doesn't do this roll justice in representing its size.  I ate half of one and that was a lot.  First things first, the spring roll itself was large and stuffed with moist and seasoned pork filling with veggies and noodles.  The roll remained crispy despite being surrounded by a salad roll.  What really elevated these rolls was the dips on the side.  In particular, the satay sauce was out-of-this-world.

After this, we moved onto the BBQ Pork Banh Mi with all pickled veggies, jalapeno, cilantro and house aioli on a French baguette.  This featured an airy and light baguette that still had some bread texture left.  The outside was a bit crusty but didn't shatter completely upon the first bite.  Inside, the pork was moist and tender while having a pleasant natural flavour.  Good crunch from the ample pickled daikon and carrots as well as some acidity.  Peppers provided heat while the cilantro did its usual herbaceous thing.  This came with a bowl of broth that could be eaten as soup or used as a dip for the sandwich.  I personally wouldn't dip it because I love the crunch of the bread, but hey, you do you!

If you have followed me for awhile, you will know that if something is going to be vegetarian, it'd better be delicious for me to like it.  Well, their Pho Xao Tofu or veggie Pad Thai was something that I really enjoyed.  The ample amount of noodles were chewy with lots of elasticity.  They were bathed in a sweet and tangy sauce that was also briny and a touch spicy.  The addition of pickled veggies and the sprouts added crunch while the peanuts provided the aromatics.

A similar-looking dish was the Curry Basil Fried Rice with chicken.  Being a fried rice, this ate remarkably different though.  The chewy rice was fairly sauced, hence it was a touch moist instead of being dry.  The initial spoonful was definitely sweet and full of caramelized flavours.  The basil did come through while the curry was more in the background with an earthy spice.  I felt that with the squeeze of the lime wedges it really helped balance out the sweetness with acidity.

Moving back to the vegetarian side of the ledger, we had the Buddha Bowl which was presented much more like a platter.  It consisted of rice noodles topped with pressed tofu in a satay curry peanut sauce.  This was like liquid crack as it had elements of sweetness, spice, pepperiness and nuttiness.  The texture of the pressed tofu added body to the dish and I kept eating it.  We also found some crispy veggie spring rolls and a wealth of veggies with a vegan vinaigrette dressing.

So here we have the Crispy Pork Spring Roll make another appearance.  Since it was cut diagonally lengthwise, you can see how there was so much filling.   This came with the Chicken Satay (which was also in the Tasting Platter).  Really love that satay sauce with the coconut rice as the aromatics were off the hook.  Normally, this comes with vermicelli noodles, but since we've had that in other dishes, the rice was definitely a great canvas for the impactful sauce.

In addition to the Curry Basil Fried Rice, the other new dish on the menu is the Curry Beef Pho (this can be had with other proteins as well).  Piled up high, the rare beef was sliced thin and as it cooked in the hot broth, it turned out to be buttery tender.  About that broth, it started off sweet and clean but had a considerable kick at the end.  There was nuttiness and briny spice from the red curry.  Really delicious and a good alternative to the regular Pho.

But we couldn't pay them a visit and not have a bowl of "The Works" Pho right???  With the same rare beef majestically on top of the other meats (brisket and beef meatballs), this was a hearty bowl of soup noodles.  The broth was very clean and did not have any muddled flavours.  In fact, it was sweet and meaty despite not looking as such.  There was some background daikon and star anise vibes.  Hidden underneath, there was a considerable amount of al dente rice noodles.

To compliment our savoury and spicy food, we got a couple of smoothies including the Aloe Avocado and Mango Tango.  Both were creamy and smooth while not too thick, so they were very drinkable.  Since I love mango, that was my favourite of the two.  They were on the sweeter side, but paired well with our food as it was almost like a palate-cleanser.  Onto dessert, we were served some Vietnamese Coffees that were so rich and flavourful.  The condensed milk really balanced it off with creamy sweetness.  The dessert was Deep Fried Dough Sticks with a sweet peanut dip.  These "yau tiao" were super light and airy with a crispy crunch.  Loved the dip as it was purposefully sweet with lots of peanut flavour.  In the end, it was so nice to be back at Chopsticks on Pho.  Glad to see that the owners are still doing well while continuing to innovate with their artisan sauces.  Sure, prices are a touch higher than most, but you are also getting both quality and quantity as well as a nice dining space.  I really should bring the fam out, even though it is a bit of a drive for me!

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

The Good:
- Great-tasting food
- Well-portioned
- Super nice people (I can say that because my first visit was on my own coin!)

The Bad:
- It does cost a bit more than most

Mauna Sushi

Okay, so this is like my 16th visit to Mauna Sushi?  I've been here so much that we have lost count.  It is not secret that I absolutely love this place where the food is delicious and prices are fair.  They offer up a variety of dishes including their signature aburi oshi, that is Downtown quality.  For those who don't know, they were closed for renovations for quite some time, but they have reopened with a refreshed interior and a revamped kitchen.  Hence, they can offer up a wider variety of cooked dishes as well as pumping out more sushi with quicker turnaround.  Jackie and I went recently to check them out.

We started off with a few things that weren't available on the previous menu (at least not officially) in the Hamachi Sashimi and Uni Nigiri.  As you can tell in the picture, the hamachi had a nice sheen and fresh appearance.  It was buttery with the taste of the sea.  As for the uni, it was creamy and sweet sitting atop chewy seasoned sushi rice.  Nice to see these options available now as the old selection of sashimi and nigiri were quite basic.

Now they also offer a few more small plates including the Ebi Fritter and the Ika Karaage.  Super light and crispy, the ebi fritters had an exterior texture similar to the deep fried taro dumplings you'd find at Cantonese Dim Sum.  The ebi itself was meaty with a snap while the combination of chili mayo and unagi sauce added just the right amount of flavour.  As for the fried squid, it was coated with just enough batter for some crunch.  Otherwise, the squid itself was the star with a tender bite while being well-seasoned.  It came with a side of kewpie mayo.

So we can't forget about the classics right?  Therefore we had the Aburi Ebi Oshi, Aburi Salmon Oshi, Aburi Saba Oshi and the Aburi Hotate Oshi.  Yep, these are just as good, if not better than the ones you find at Miku and Minami.  Due to its location and lack of high-end amenities, the prices for these at Mauna are also more affordable.  I really like how the components are well-portioned and fresh.  Also, the sauces are on point with proper torching.  Can't go wrong with these.

We tried a couple of new noodle dishes starting with the Kaisen Soba.  Okay, we manipulated the noodles so you could see the ample seafood.  Usually, it is hidden underneath.  Anyways, the noodles were al dente and bathed in just enough moisture to keep them from being clumpy.  There was a rich soy/dashi flavour to it that was savoury and full of umami.  The seafood was cooked perfectly with buttery prawns, soft scallops and tender squid.  Loved the shiitake mushrooms too as they also added body and more umami.

As for the second noodle dish, the Seafood Yaki Udon also had a bevy of the same seafood except we didn't touch it and left it how it arrived (LOL).  Once again, the seafood was perfect with the same textures as the soba.  In this one, there was plenty of mentaiko mixed in with the stir-fry adding a lovely brininess.  There was lots of sweetness provided by the seared onions and the overall seasoning of the dish was just right.

In addition to their popular Explosion Roll, they have now created a King Explosion Roll that has limited availability.  The original one consisted of imitation crab, spicy tuna and cucumber with torched oshi sauce, tobiko and black pepper on top.  The new one replaces the imitation crab with real crab, subs sockeye salmon for the tuna and adds uni.  For me personally, I still would go for the original explosion roll, the flavours work more in harmony.  The marinated spicy tuna with sesame oil notes along with the fairly neutral-tasting imitation crab with the bright crunch from the cukes are complimented well by the pops of brininess of the tobiko and creamy smokiness of the aburi sauce.  The new one has some of those elements but the uni does dominate the flavour profile and hence breaks the harmony.

So we can't pay a visit to Mauna without having one of their awesome Sushi Tarts.  They take everything tasty that they have in their arsenal and employ it into one item.  That is the tart with its sushi rice base, a layer of ripe and fresh avocado, they some spicy tuna, more sushi rice, a layer of sockeye salmon, aburi sauce, chopped scallop and ebi.  Put that all together and we have some elements of the explosion roll but with more distinct layers of impact.  So delicious.

Two more new specialty rolls on the menu are the Galaxy Roll and the "Bird's Nest" Roll.  The galaxy roll had very little rice compared to the considerable amount of hamachi, hotate and spicy prawn with large slices of tuna tataki on the outside.  This was pretty subtle-tasting with only unagi sauce doing the heavy lifting.  As for the bird's nest, it contained real crab, hotate and asparagus on the inside with red tuna on the outside.  The impact came from the fried leeks with ponzu on top.  They were pretty sweet and added crunch as well.

When we were served the Tonkotsu Black Ramen, I was initially quite skeptical.  Normally, non-ramen spots do not make good versions of the dish.  However, this one here was more than acceptable with flavourful broth with umaminess.  The black garlic really came through with its fermented essence.  The chashu was buttery soft while the noodles were chewy.  Even the egg was soft and custardy.

Onto a pair of rice bowls, we had the Chicken Katsu Don and the classic Unagi Don.  The piece of chicken featured a crunchy batter while being tender inside.  There was some egg and seared onions added to the mix.  Underneath, we found chewy rice with enough sauce for effect.  Sure, an unagi don can be pretty typical, but this one featured small slices that were individually seared so it was caramelized and smoky.  Of course there was the sweet unagi sauce on top with the same chewy rice underneath.  Pretty tasty.

Okay, you might be wondering why there is a picture of a California Roll and a Dynamite Roll ending this blog post.  Sure, these are not necessarily the rolls I would personally order here, but they have a lunch special that features a small roll of each and miso soup for only $9.99.  Good deal for those looking at a quick meal or take out.  But for me, it is all about the aburi oshi and specialty rolls.  Glad to see they added some other delicious cooked items to round out the menu.  I guess it means I'll be here even more!

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

The Good:

- The aburi sushi here

- Cooked food is solid too

- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:

- Loved how they addressed the limited menu issue and also added another sushi chef to speed up the orders, but due to the physical limitations of the place, seating is still limited  

Osaka Kitchen

There was a time when travelling into Surrey for sushi would be contentious at best.  Times have changed where not only can we find good Japanese food, we can find all kinds of delicious eats.  You already know my love for Mauna Sushi and their high-quality aburi sushi located near Guildford Town Centre, where I regularly visit.  However, there is another spot also nearby in Osaka Kitchen.  This fairly spacious restaurant sports appealing decor combined with really large portions.

But what about the food quality?  We started off strong with the Hokkaido Hotate and Ebi Ceviches.  Buttery and sweet, the Hokkaido scallops were delicate and fresh.  It was served with a modest amount of yuzu citrus which added some acidity.  As for the ebi, it was not dressed very aggressively having just enough acidity for effect.  The ebi was meaty with a slight rebound texture.  The avocado and tomatoes were fresh.  This came with tapioca chips.  We wished they were just a bit larger in size and firmer in texture.

After the ceviches, we started with some specialty rolls including the David Shot Roll with spicy tuna and avocado in the middle topped with torched chopped scallop, jalapeno, spicy mayo and eel sauce.  Yes, this was a saucy roll, but it didn't eat heavy as it appeared.  The rice was nicely textured being chewy while not dry.  There was only a modest amount of it while the bulk of the roll was dedicated to soft spicy tuna and buttery scallops.

The plate of Assorted Tempura was absolutely gigantic consisting of 5 large ebi and an array of veggies.  We found the tempura batter just a touch thick, but it was still crispy outside.  Things were cooked just right.  Something very familiar to me was the Menbosha.  It is a Korean-Chinese dish which is like the Chinese shrimp toast.  This version was a lot less greasy than the Chinese Dim Sum dish.  It appears that they used brioche here and the bread didn't soak up as much oil.  Inside, the shrimp paste was firm, yet still naturally sweet and had a meaty rebound texture.

To get a sense of all the available options, we decided to try some aburi sushi.  Rather than the standard salmon version, we chose their recommended Ebi Oshi with a creamy and tangy sauce on top.  It was evenly seared with some smokiness and a pleasing appearance.  I liked how the sauce was not greasy despite being mayo-based.  The ebi underneath had a nice sweet snap texture.  Rice was good too being soft enough to hold its shape while still being chewy.

Not sure if the next 2 pictures do the following dishes any justice, but the plates were more like platters that were like 14" in diameter!  The first was the Godzilla Bites.  Sure, the amount of greens gave the illusion there was more food on the plate, but in reality, it was still quite a bit of components.  The Godzilla Bites consisted of a deep fried rice base topped with torched tuna, salmon, chopped scallop, alfalfa sprouts, tobiko, spicy mayo and eel sauce.  I found the rice to be quite firm.  I wished it was just a bit lighter and less dense.  Beyond that the generous amount of fish and scallop were sweet with a background smokiness.  Combined with sweet and tangy salad dressing, the salad was actually addictively delicious.

As for the Osaka Castle, it was more of a fancy seafood salad with a bevy of fresh greens as well as a tower of tuna, salmon imitation crab, hokkigai tobiko and chopped scallops.  When mixed together, along with the salad dressing, this was something I couldn't stop eating.  Normally, at other Japanese restaurants that offer a seafood salad, there is much more greens than seafood.  Not this one here.  There was enough for every bite to contain a cube of fish.

For those who want a one-stop shop for a meal, they can opt for the Osaka Course (for 2 people).  This included Mixed Tempura, Salad, Miso Soup, Mixed Sashimi, Osaka Roll and 2 Ice Cream (Black Sesame and Matcha).  This was only $68.00 and given the quality and quantity, it is a good deal.  The sashimi had a nice sheen and fresh smell.  Texturally it was on point too.  The roll stayed together and wasn't wound too tight.  Loved the mochi added to the ice cream as it gave the dessert texture.

Moving onto the rice part of the menu, we tried the Chicken Katsu Curry as well as the Unagi Don.  Being mild, but not overly sweet, the curry had a nice viscosity and we could taste the spices.  The rice was chewy and dry enough to accept the sauce and maintain an appealing texture.  As for the chicken cutlet, it was barely cooked, which meant it was juicy and moist.  The breading on the outside was crispy and not overly thick.

As much as an Unagi Don can be rather defaultish, not all are made equal.  As for this one, it was decent.  The rice was, by no surprise, exactly the same as the chicken katsu curry.  Being chewy, yet still soft, it went well with the proportionate amount of buttery soft unagi.  It was charred slightly, so it was smoky and full of caramelization.  There was enough eel sauce to help flavour both the eel and rice.

Not being specific enough, we accidentally ordered the Seafood Udon instead of the Seafood Yaki Udon.  Well, we ended up getting both and you know what?  We preferred the soup version more!  It sat in a flavourful dashi that took on the brininess of the mussels, hokkigai, squid and prawns.  Furthermore, the noodles were perfectly al dente.  As for the yaki udon, it had the same seafood and came sizzling on a cast iron hot plate.  We wished the plate was even hotter, as it didn't really caramelize the noodles.  It was still tasty though and at least, nothing was dry nor burnt.

Lastly, we had Tonkotsu Ramen with a side of gyoza (which is included in the combo).  We found the broth to be rather light, yet still was decent for a non-ramen spot.  The noodles were really good though being chewy.  The chashu was more meaty than fatty, yet it was still tender.  Gyoza were good with a thin wrapper and completely seared bottom.  Overall, we found the food at Osaka Kitchen to be rather tasty and generous in portion size.  There are a few items that could use improvement though, namely the tempura and the ramen.  Other than that, I found it good an am planning to bring my family back for a revisit.

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

The Good:

- Generally well-prepared eats

- Generous portions

- Nice dining space

The Bad:

- Some further refinement needed with the tempura batter and the ramen broth