Luxe Chinese Seafood Restaurant

It's been like more than 11 years ago since I last had Dim Sum at Luxe Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Langley.   Well, the picture of the front is from 2015 since I forgot to take an updated one...  Anyways, the reason we came back here is that Guy Smiley lives nearby and this was the closest Dim Sum spot.  From what I remember, the Dim Sum is decent, especially for Willowbrook.

So they did away with the push carts and now we have to order with the server.   The first dish to hit the table was the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings.  This was a good version where the exterior was crispy and only moderately greasy.  Beyond that, the mashed taro was silky and well-seasoned.  Nice use of lard (yes, they use lard) mixed into it.  The ground pork filling was tender and mildly saucy.

One of our favourite Dim Sum dishes is the Baked BBQ Pork Pastries.  Sure, there is some good ol' lard in there, but that is what makes it good!  This one was indeed that with flaky & buttery layers.  It had a nice colour from the egg wash on the top.  Beyond the aromatic and nutty pastry, the BBQ pork filling was delicious.  It was sweet & savoury with chunks of lean BBQ pork.

After the pastries, there was a flurry of steamer baskets arriving including the Ha Gau (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings).  These were large and plump but the dumpling skin was a bit chewy.  I guess that was a whole lot better than being wet and mushy though.  Inside, the shrimp filling was decent with a meaty bounce texture.  It was well-seasoned with a good balance of flavours including the aromatic sesame oil.

Of course one cannot have the Ha Gau without the Siu Mai (Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumplings).  These were also rather large and stuffed full of bouncy sweet shrimp.  There was a good amount of it to compliment the chunks of pork.  I would've liked to see a bit more rebound with the pork as it was more on the meatier and dense side.  I liked how the tobiko on top was added after steaming and there was also some mushroom to provide earthy notes.

For those who don't know, I absolutely love offal and I was delighted we got both the Bible Tripe and Honeycomb Tripe.  Portion size on both were average compared to some others I've had lately.  Execution was pretty good as the bible tripe was soft with a tender chew.  Nice green onion and ginger notes.  The honeycomb tripe was pretty soft and didn't require much chewing.  Nice garlicky sweetness with a touch of spice.

One dish that could've been a bit better was the Steamed Chicken Feet.  The method here is to deep fry them first, then braise and finally steam.  I think theses were cooked a bit too long and hence, the skin was falling off in places.  However, being too soft is way better than being chewy.  The tendons and cartilage underneath were soft as well.  Flavour was good with garlic and spice.

I think the picture of the Beef Meatballs clearly shows how soft they were.  These were very fluffy and airy from the being in the mixer.  Naturally, the natural meat texture was non-existent, but that is the point of the dish though.  The combination of baking soda, starch and mixing create the fluffy meatballs.  These had a limited amount of greens, so it wasn't overwhelming.  If you like them airy, these would be your fancy.

One of the best dishes we had was the Steamed Pork Spareribs.  If you examine the picture above, you will notice most pieces were rib portions and short on the fatty ones.  The meat was marinated enough so that they were tenderized, yet still had a chew.  Nice rebound texture and the seasoning was on point with saltiness, garlickiness and spice.

For the kids, we got the Sticky Rice wrapped in lotus leaves. These were large and stuffed full of soft sticky rice.  Maybe there was a bit too much moisture as it was a tad mushy.  It didn't make or break the dish though as it was still tasty.  There was a plethora of ground pork that was sitting in a starch-thickened sauce.  That was enough to provide seasoning and meat into every bite.

Another favourite of mine is the Bean Curd Skin Rolls.  Happy to report the ones here were good.  The fried bean curd skin had a slightly chewy texture, yet was also tender.  Inside, the pork filling had a decent rebound, but was more meaty in texture.  Nice crunch from the veggies.  There was a bit of starch-thickened sauce, but not too much.  Maybe more oil than sauce (didn't mind that though).

For our choice of rice noodle roll, we went for the Beef Rice Noodle Roll.  As you can see in the picture above, they stuffed them full of whipped beef.  Texturally, the beef was light and airy like the beef meatballs.  As for the rice noodle itself, I would say it was quite thin yet a little on the firmer side.  There was still an appealing elasticity where the noodle didn't break on contact.

Surprisingly, my niece wanted the Deep Fried Squid Tentacles.  I guess it should've been obvious since she was getting in touch with her Taiwanese roots.  This dish was both good and bad.  The squid itself had an appealing chew and rebound.  However, the coating was a bit soggy in spots and was also rather uneven.  It did taste good though with a salty and garlicky spice.

We went for one of our go-to dishes in the XO Daikon Radish Cake.  However, I wasn't a huge fan of this.  For some reason, they wok-tossed the deep-fried cubes in a wet sauce (possibly soy sauce) and hence, the crispiness went away.  In fact, the texture was slimy and gummy, which was rather off-putting.  Normally, a wok-toss with just XO-sauce would've sufficed and since it is an oil-based sauce, it wouldn't have made the dish wet.

At the end, we got an order of the BBQ Pork Buns as well as the Egg Tarts.  Fluffy and light, the buns were texturally on point.  They were filled with the same lean BBQ pork found in the pastries.  As for the egg tarts, they were good.  The buttery and flaky puff pastry was fully-cooked through while the egg custard was silky and only semi-sweet.  Overall, the Dim Sum at Luxe is decent.  Sure, Richmond Dim Sum is better, but for Langley, Luxe continues to offer the best in the neighbourhood.

The Good:

- Solid Dim Sum for Langley

- Decent selection

- Fairly friendly service

The Bad:

- Not as good as ones found in Richmond, but great for Langley

Salt & Steak

When Salt & Steak opened a year ago, I was a bit sad that Fresh Cravings had closed.  Hey, it wasn't the best place to get brunch, but it was affordable and completely serviceable.  Well, when one door closes, another opens right?  With The Keg a bit up the road, there is competition nearby.  That also includes Cactus Club across the street from the Keg on Scott Road.  One thing that Salt & Steak has over everyone else in the neighbourhood is that their steaks are Halal.  I dropped by one night for dinner to see if their 4.6 on Google was reflective of their food.

We started with the Warm Three Cheese Spinach Dip.  This was definitely cheesy as advertised and the spinach portion of the dip was creamy and well-seasoned.   They didn't skimp on the portion size and was more than enough for us as an appie.  However, we felt that garlic toast was not the best accompaniment though.  Even though it was good, there was too much bread.  Something like tortilla chips or fried pita chips would've been more appropriate.  

We had their monthly special in the Beef Lasagna and despite it being serviceable, I thought it was not very refined.  I appreciated the plethora of melted mozzarella, but that was far too much it and I would've liked to see a bit of a cheese crust going on.  Inside, it was okay with tender ground beef, bechamel and even more cheese.  I wanted to like this, but it wasn't my preference.

Before I get to the steak, I'll discuss the Salt & Steak Signature Beef Burger.  Despite not looking like it, the burger was actually decent.  The house-made patty was almost a bit airy and extremely tender.  For some people, it might be a bit too soft of a patty, but I didn't mind it.  The brioche bun was light and barely held together.  The side of fresh-cut fries were somewhat crispy.

Okay, for our steak, we had the T-Bone that was around 18 to 20oz.  We asked for it to be prepared medium-rare and it was as such (on both the striploin and the tenderloin).  Nice char on both sides and the seasoning was sufficient.  Since this should be their bread and butter, I'm glad to say this was done right.  Meat was tender and definitely smoky from the grilling.  The side of veggies were also grilled and not overdone.  In the end, we liked the burger and the spinach dip, but the lasagne, not so much.  However, the steak was our favourite dish of the meal.  Good thing too as the place is a steakhouse.  

The Good:
- Steak was cooked perfectly
- Friendly service
- Certified Halal

The Bad:
- I may need to try more dishes, but other than the steak and burger, some refinement maybe needed

Mauna

As often as I visit Mauna out in Surrey, I don't think I've posted about them in quite some time.  Ironically, prior to this visit, I had eaten then 5 times in the last few months!  Anyways, this post will mostly focus on their new meal sets as well as some new maki sushi rolls.  Of course, I had to get some of the classics as well!  For those who not familiar with Mauna, the chef used to work at Minami and his menu features quality renditions of Aburi Oshi and many other delicious dishes at prices that are truly affordable.

In this economy, it is not easy to find food that features quality ingredients for reasonable prices.  However, their Set Menus for $28.95 include a bounty of dishes that reflect many of the best items on the regular menu.  With a bounty of dishes, the Botan Set includes 6 pcs Sashimi, Chicken Karaage, Miso Tofu Salad, Fried Brussels Sprouts, 3 pcs Aburi Nigiri, 2 pcs Oshi Bites, Mini Poke and Miso Soup.  Yes, the amount of food shown in the picture is an accurate representation.  This is more than enough for one person and worth every penny of the $28.95.  All of their set menus include the same sides, but only rotate 2 of the mains.  In this one, the Chicken Karaage and 6 pcs of Sashimi are the unique dishes.  I've always love the karaage here as it has a flavourful marinade with a nice hit of ginger.  Chicken is tender and juicy too.  Sashimi is fresh and presented in generously-sized slices.

For the Momiji Set, everything is the same except we find a Mini-Chirashi Don and Ika Maruyaki replacing the aforementioned karaage and sashimi.  If you were feeling a little bit more hungry and also wanted more rice, this is the set for you as the chirashi don is essentially the sashimi, but with rice added.  As for the squid, it is grilled beautifully and is completely tender with a nice rebound texture.  

The Sakura Set features Kaisen Soba and 3 pieces of Ebi Fritter in place of the other main items.  As much as I enjoy the seafood with the chewy soba noodles and the crispiness of the ebi fritters, I feel this is the least amount of food in comparison to the 3 set menus.  But I understand the combination as it features much less raw items than the other sets.  Good for those who want cooked food in their combos.

Before I get to the classics, I will discuss the "newer" specialty rolls including the Medford Roll.  It doesn't have anything to do with the town in Oregon, so no reference to the mountains even though there is a mountain of deep fried baby scallops on top of a what is essentially an oversized dynamite roll.  Yes, you will normally find this type of roll at a Korean-run Japanese restaurant.  For the record, I don't mind these types of rolls, it just depends on my mood.

Another large specialty roll is the Hinderer Roll consisting of a deep fried "dynamite-like" roll with a mound of spicy sashimi in the middle.  Since the roll is fried, the centre is slightly warm and has a softer texture.  Outside, the tempura batter is crispy and not greasy.  As for the spicy tuna sashimi, it is slightly sweet with a bite.  Crunchy cucumbers add some texture to this.  For $19.95, this is a considerable amount of food.

So this is the "New" Galaxy Roll and I guess the new part is the crumbled wasabi peas on top.  It adds a crunch that has a mild bite to go with the spicy prawn, hotate and red tuna in the middle while hamachi wrapped around the top.  The roll is almost juicy and eats a bit wet, but the peas do add a textural contrast.  To top it off, we there is some spicy powder for more heat.

Striking in its appearance from the fried lotus root chip on top, the Wataru Roll features real crab, hotate and asparagus in the centre with tuna tartare, slightly seared red tuna and nikiri on the top.  The fluffiness and moisture of the real crab meat is unmistakable while the tuna does the heavy lifting with texture and the spice from the tartare.  It is a bit awkward to get the full lotus root chip in every bite, but when you do, it is crispy and airy.

Onto some classics, we cannot forget about the big daddy of the bunch in the Explosion Roll.  With a good amount of imitation crab, spicy tuna and cucumber, the whole thing is wrapped with tobiko and topped with torched aburi sauce.  Fantastic pops from the tobiko and smoky sweetness from the aburi sauce.  Secondary layers of buttery soft and spicy tuna give this roll extra impact.

We cannot forget about their other "must order" item in the Mauna's Aburi Tart.  Sporting with sushi rice, ripe avocado, spicy tuna, sockeye salmon and seared aburi sauce, this has all of the best things in one package.  Buttery and flavourful with hits of spice and sesame oil, the spicy tuna anchors the dish but gives way to the creamy smokiness of the aburi sauce.  It has a little bit of tang that helps keeps things from being heavy.  Love this dish.

A visit to Mauna isn't complete without ordering their Aburi Oshi.  Two of my favourites are the Wild Salmon Oshi and the Ebi Oshi.  Comparing it to the pioneer of these dishes (Miku/Minami), these ones here at Mauna have more content (as in fish and components) to go with the sushi rice.  Aburi sauce is creamy and tangy without being greasy.  The lime zest on the ebi oshi really adds brightness.

We also go for the Saba Oshi and Hotate Oshi.  If you are a fan of the briny fishiness of mackerel, then the Saba Oshi is for you.  It has just a touch of miso aburi sauce on it.  On the other hand, the scallop oshi has quite a bit of sauce that is slightly spicy.  Since scallop is buttery and sweet yet subtle, the sauce adds some impact.  However, it doesn't overwhelm the delicate scallop though.  The texture of the sushi rice is more on the moist side with an appealing chewiness.  In the end, a visit to Mauna is always a treat since the food is great and affordable.  Definitely a surprise given its location.  Now with the meal sets, there is a wider selection of dishes to share if you have a smaller party.

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

The Good:

- New meal sets offer a great variety of their best items

- Large portions at a reasonable price

- The classic aburi oshi is excellent and much less expensive than other places

The Bad:

- Being a small neighbourhood restaurant, the place gets slammed at times, so you'll have to be patient

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 

Gamamaru Shokudo

Normally, late night spots dishing up eats that go well with beers and the sort are reserved for Downtown Vancouver or small enclaves of restaurants on Main and Fraser Streets as well as Central Richmond.  So when we found out that Gamamaru Shokudo is doing that very exact thing, but in Fleetwood, it piqued our interest.   In addition to soju and beers, they have a menu that is a mix of Japanese and Korean late night favourites.  We ended up trying a bunch of dishes to go with our soju.

On the topic of Soju, we had a bit of a sampler consisting of peach, grape and mango.  Really dangerous as these went down easy.  I liked the mango the most as it was lightly sweet and tropical.  This went well with the Kushikatsu including baby crab, cuttlefish nugget, snow crab, pork belly, garlic beef, scallop, cheese menchi and teriyaki menchi.  These were really good with the 2 menchi skewers being the most flavourful.  The meat was tender and hey that slice of processed cheese!  Made it taste like a cheeseburger.  Crabs were crispy and briny while the snow crab was delicate.  Scallops were buttery soft despite being fried.

We had 3 different Oshizushi including Saba, Salmon and Unagi.  The one thing that they all had in common was the generous amount of the main component.  They were sliced a bit thicker than usual which resulted in more impact and texture.  The rice itself was a little on the denser side, but it wasn't a deal-breaker.  Nice torching on the top and for me, the salmon was my favourite with smokiness and sweetness.

On the menu, they have a section of share plates that included the LA Galbi.  This was a decent portion of meaty shortribs.  I really liked how they had marinated these so they were tender but still retained a considerable amount of chewiness (in a good way).  Too often, these are over-tenderized and hence, are too soft.  In terms of seasoning, they were a good combination of savoury and sweet with good caramelization from the grilling.

One of my favourite items was the the Clam Nabe.  The broth was so clean and pure tasting with the natural sweetness and brininess of clams.  The clams themselves were plump and buttery.  They were just barely cooked through.  All of them were open and the broth was not sandy.  We also had the Tako Bomb which was colourful with its combination of green onions, octopus, salmon, garlic chips, diced tsukemono and quail's egg yolk.  As expected, there was varied texture and flavours when mixed together.  We ate this with strips of nori.

We got a bunch of carbs to round out the meal including the Mentaiko Yaki Udon.  This was a good version due to the perfect texture of the noodles.  They were prepared properly where each strand was chewy with a nice rebound.  Beyond the great mouth-feel of the noodles, the creaminess of the dish was also on point.  It was creamy without being too heavy.  Of course the cod roe was at its fishy briny best completely flavouring the dish.

So I'm sure you've heard of Omurice before, but how about Omusoba?  Same concept but with noodles instead of rice!  The yakisoba was covered with a soft omelette while aggressively drizzled with yakisoba sauce and kewpie mayo.  As much as it looked like to much sauce, it was actually not that noticeable after mixing everything together.  The soba, much like the udon, was perfectly cooked with a springy chewiness.

We got the Sukiyaki Nabe for good measure and being a nabe, it was not as salty and sweet as the regular version.  Hence, the soup was drinkable and lightly flavoured.  The beef was marbled and hence was tender while the veggies added some relief from the heaviness of the other items.  Last dish was an Unagi Don and yah, they loaded up with so much buttery unagi, that we couldn't see the appealingly chewy rice underneath.  The unagi was evenly seared and drizzled with just enough sauce.  Simple, but well-executed.  As you can see, the food is pretty solid here at Gamamaru.  The prices are also quite reasonable, so you can order lots to share without breaking the bank.  Nice addition to the Fleetwood neighbourhood of Surrey.

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

The Good:

- Well-prepared eats

- Reasonable-pricing

- Open late and lots of parking

The Bad:

- Sushi rice could've been less compacted in the pressed sushi