Fabo's Tacos

It is easy to forget that there is authentic Mexican eats around despite the prevalence of Americanized fast food joints and also Tex-Mex (although I do like Tex-Mex).  That is especially true with options in the States (I'm from Vancouver, B.C.).  However, I don't remember having anything particularly outstanding in PDX, where I've had my fair share of great Thai food.  This was going to change as we were visiting Fabo's Tacos out near Chinatown.  They started selling out on a street corner and gradually made their way to an actual B&M location.

We arrived during a weekday lunch rush and the place was happenin'.  Despite this, they were still able to pump our order starting with the Sopes.  These crispy masa discs were aromatic and nutty.  Beyond the refried beans on the base, we selected pollo and chorizo as the meat option.  Unlike many other Mexican spots, the meat was tender and fairly moist.  Loved the spice from the chorizo as it added depth.  To cool things down, we found shredded lettuce, crema and fresh cotija on top.

From the Sopes, we moved onto the Tacos with a variety of meats.  We had them plated 2 ways and for me, I liked the 2nd one more for aesthetics.  We had almost all the choices including Asada, Al Pastor, Pollo, Chorizo and Suadero.  Once again, the biggest takeaway from these was the uniformly moist meat.  By no means did they suffer from a lack of caramelization.  They were aromatic and full of umaminess.  Meat was not dry, yet not wet either.  Made for some delicious tacos.

Of course we couldn't get out of there without having an order of the Birria Tacos.  Yes, these have become such a thing in the last 5 years or so, but it isn't because of baseless hype.  These things are so delicious with their fat soaked shells (then seared) served with a side of braising broth.  The ones here were really good with tender shredded beef and an aromatic nutty shell that was slightly crispy.  The broth had depth and was full of umami.

We all know about the popularity of Birria Tacos, but another associated viral dish is the Birria Ramen.  You might've seen this many times before, but this was the best version I've had.  Most places overcook the instant ramen, but the one here was al dente.  Even sitting in the flavorful broth while we took our photos, it didn't get soft.  Hence, they undercooked it for the purposes of sitting in hot broth (it allowed for soaking it up too).  Small detail, but made all the difference.

We also got a pair of dishes including the Enchiladas and the Taquitos, both complete with rice and beans.  For the enchiladas, we chose al pastor which was nicely charred and of course, not dry.  As for the taquitos, they were crispy on the outside and filled with pollo in this case.  Since the chicken was lean, it didn't have too much residual moisture which meant the taquitos stayed crunchy throughout.

The last dish we tried was something that I was not really looking forward to - Nachos.  Many spots, even authentic ones, do not make a great version of this dish.  Unbeknownst to many, Nachos is a real Mexican dish.  However, the one we are familiar with is the Tex-Mex concoction.  This one here was actually very good and I couldn't stop eating them.  The freshly fried tortilla chips were topped with smoky carne asada, beans, crema, cojita and legit guacamole.  With components like these, this was delicious, well-balanced and not some cheesed-out monstrosity.   Overall, the food at Fabo's is well-prepared where the dishes exhibited soul.  Things are fresh and flavorful.  Normally, I'm not craving Mexcian cuisine, but with this, I can't wait to eat it again.

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

The Good:
- Well-prepared and flavorful meats
- Had a home-cooked feel to it
- Mom is back there cooking, only good things happen because of that

The Bad:
- It gets busy at lunch, so be prepared to wait
- Area is a bit sketch, but you know the food is good then!

Nong's Khao Man Gai

Wait, didn't I just post about Nong's Khao Man Gai earlier this year?  Yep, that is true, we paid Portland a visit in March and made our way to the SE Ankeny location.  Food was great, served in large portions and was reasonably-priced.  A good recipe for success and in fact, they have been very successful with their food truck in the past.  I've enjoyed their chicken rice with "crack" sauce since this blog began.  So I was not about to pass up another opportunity to dine there again.

Although I will talk about some other dishes in this post, I can't help but start with their namesake in the Khao Man Gai Piset.  This was the larger version of their signature dish with more chicken, rice and sauce.  Although the chicken itself is tender and moist, the ginger garlic sauce is what makes this dish.  So addictive, the combination of sweetness, tanginess and aromatics could make shoe leather taste good.  The chicken rice was nutty and al dente which was perfect for the chicken and sauce.  Loved they included the chicken livers too.

Sure, the chicken rice here at Nong's is really good with all of the components being on point.  However, I'm going to say something controversial - the Super Soup is my favorite thing here.  It is essentially the chicken soup that comes with the chicken rice, but served in a large bowl with the chicken and rice in it.  It becomes a super hearty and comforting dish with sweet soup, tender melon, chewy rice and tender chicken.  I could eat multiple bowls of this!

If you aren't into the chicken, they do have an alternative in the Khao Kha Muu or Thai Pork with rice, pickled mustard greens, gai lan and boiled egg.  Really enjoyed this dish as the fatty pork did not require much in the way of chewing.  Even the fat was easy going down.  It benefitted from the sweet and savory soy braise as well as the tanginess of the mustard greens.  Combined with some spicy sauce, this was delicious.

One item that is not on the regular menu is the Noodle Bitter Melon with chicken wings, bitter melon, shredded chicken breast, gai lan, bean sprout, shiitake mushroom, daikon radish, rice noodles and goji berries.  To me, this had some duck soup vibes even though there was not duck to be found.  It had depth, sweetness and just a tinge of bitterness from the melon.  Noodles were thin and soaked up all of the delicious broth.  There was no shortage of meat with tender wings and shredded chicken.  A comforting bowl of noodles for a cold day.

For those who want something different than the classic chicken rice, there is also the Chicken, Rice & Peanut Sauce with a side of boiled broccoli.  This came with plain white rice rather than the chicken rice.  Good thing because the peanut sauce was pretty dominant with its nutty sweetness.  There was some salt to balance and further enhance the peanut flavor.  Reminds me of the Chinese hand-shredded chicken with peanut sauce but with much more sauce!  Every time I have this dish at Nong's I find it heavy and hence, I can eat only half of it.

To go with our food, we also ordered 2 drinks in the Ginger Lemonade and Thai Tea Float.  Refreshing, tangy and plenty gingery, the ginger lemonade really helped keep our appetites going despite being full.  As for the float, it was addictively sweet and creamy.  Great option for those who like Thai iced tea but want some creamy soft-serve with it.  Overall, this was another great visit to Nong's.  The food isn't complex here but it doesn't have to be.  It is comforting, served in large portions and affordable.  Perfect trifecta!

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

The Good:

- Inexpensive

- Homey and delicious food

- Large portions

The Bad:

- Seating is tight here and limited (although there is overflow next door)

- Simple menu, but you know what you're here for...

Silom Thai Cuisine

As much as it isn't hard to find a Thai restaurant in the Lower Mainland, it is truly difficult to find a good one.  I've had better luck doing so in Portland, Oregon than here.  So it really did pique my interest when a small Thai spot opened up on Knight near Kingsway.  Silom Thai only sports 6 or 7 tables, but it features a menu that features a surprisingly diverse array of dishes.  Some of which I've never seen on any other menu locally.  Of course I made resos to try the place out ASAP.  Thank goodness that I did because they were fully-booked, on a weekday!

We were only able to snag a small table for 2, but that didn't stop us from going ham on the menu.  We started with the Yum Pork Roll with salted egg.  This was literally cha lua sliced into quarters and tossed in a fermented fish sauce, spicy & sour sauce, shallots, green onion, cilantro, chili flakes and salted duck egg yolks.  This was indeed yummy since the seasoning was all the good things about SE Asia.  We had a combination of tanginess, spiciness, sweetness, herbaceousness and also saltiness.  The pork roll was merely a textural component of the dish.

At first, when I spotted the Crispy Enoki Mushrooms on the menu, it made me nervous.  I thought back to the version I had at Miso Taco and remembered how greasy they were.  Well, turns out that at Silom Thai, they know how to deep fry them perfectly.  Still delicate and retaining their unmistakable chewy texture, the enoki were coated with a crispy and non-greasy batter.  So delightful to eat them with the sweet chili sauce.

To get a taste of more items, we also ordered the Silom Platter with Green Papaya Salad, Grilled Chicken Wings, Grilled Pork Jowl and Deep Fried Pork Balls.  The best thing on the plate was the pork jowl since it was doing its bouncy textural thing while being nicely charred.  The wings were good too being juicy and well-spiced  I was on the fence with the pork balls.  They were nicely textured with a bounce and being crispy outside, but it wasn't as interesting.  The papaya salad was crunchy, bright and tangy.

I always compare Pad Si Ew to my favourite in town being Sen Pad Thai.  This one here at Silom was pretty close.  I think the wok hei (or wok's breath) was sufficient enough to caramelize the flavours and add a sear to the mung bean noodles.  They were chewy and had a nice elasticity.  The dish was fairly well-seasoned but could've used just a bit more saltiness.  We decided on chicken as the protein and it was a bit dry.  Gai lan was vibrant and crunchy.

Naturally, we also had to try the Pad Thai and this version was made with glass noodles (more mung bean).  We opted to make this vegetarian with tofu.  I'm not sure if having such big slices of fried tofu was the best choice here.  I would've liked smaller pieces instead.  As for the noodle, it had great mouth-feel with a bouncy chewiness.  Seasoning was a bit sweet, yet there was enough tanginess from the tamarind to balance.  There was the slightest of spice too.

Now if this Green Curry Crispy Chicken looks good in the picture, imagine eating it.  This was absolutely fantastic with a crunchy piece of fried chicken.  The meat was moist and when dunked into the curry, there was a flavour explosion.  It was lightly creamy while definitely spicy.  However, we could still pick out the aromatics of the coconut milk and the slight brininess of the green curry.

Last dish was the Tom Yum Dry Noodle with ground pork, deep fried wontons, green onion, cilantro and beansprouts.  Of all the dishes, I felt this was least successful.  I do think that the individual components were good including the chewy noodles and the tangy tom yum sauce.  I think there needed to be more sauce since the pork and beansprouts watered down the flavours.  Those wontons were excellent with a crispy dumpling skin and juicy flavourful filling.  Overall, the food at Silom Thai is very good where they put care into preparing the food.  This is a definite return visit for me as I'd like to try some of the other dishes on the menu.

The Good:
- Well-prepared eats
- Impactful flavours
- Inexpensive

The Bad:
- Really small place, not many seats and they are not spacious

Cantonese BBQ

There are some pretty good choices for Chinese BBQ within Greater Vancouver.  Naturally, the first thought that comes to mind is HK BBQ Master or the one across from it at Parker Place.  However, there is a another in Vancouver that could be spoken in the same breath.  It is Cantonese BBQ on Kingsway near Joyce.  I've been here countless times and finally got to eat in (rather than merely taking out, things are fresher when eating in of course).  We ended up with one of their lobster dinners that included some other dishes.

Naturally, we started with some of their famed BBQ including the Roast Pork and BBQ Duck.  As you can see in the picture, both looked pretty legit.  I've had these before but first time dine-in and yes there was a difference.  The duck skin was low in fat (must be the breed of duck) and whatever fat there was, it was rendered.  Hence it was crispy and delicious.  The duck meat was moist and well-brined as well.  As for the roast pork, it featured crispy and light crackling with juicy pork.  Very good.

So they have a couple of Lobster specials and we picked the one that included 2 Lobsters on Sticky Rice.  These were pretty small lobsters, but there was enough meat to go around.  Lobster was cooked right and it was coated in a flavourful starch-thickened sauce.  Might've needed a bit more of it since the sticky rice underneath was a bit bland and dry.  Overall, it was decent, but the one at Ho Yuen Kee is superior.

For our 3 dishes, the best of the bunch was the Peking Pork Chops.  Just on appearance alone, the sauce looked on point, especially with just enough of it to coat each piece.  Despite the sauce, each pork chop still had some crispiness on the outside while the meat itself was juicy and tender with a rebound texture.  As for the sauce, it was nicely balanced with sweetness and tanginess.  I feel this is one of the better versions I've had lately.

Since my son loves beef brisket, we decided to go for the Beef Brisket and Daikon Hot Pot.  This ended up to be pretty brothy, but we didn't mind.  Some places tend to thicken the sauce a bit more.  The pieces of brisket, which was more like beef rib finger meat, was tender and full-flavoured from the stewing.  Since the daikon was cooked separately and then added to the hot pot, it didn't take on as much flavour, but better than being too salty.

Being a bit boring, we got some veggies into our meal with the Yau Choy in consommé. This was merely whole stalks of yau choy cooked in broth with some ginger and fried whole garlic cloves.  As you can imagine, this was quite light in flavour and unless we actually ate one of the garlic cloves, it was almost undetectable.  The point of the dish is to be more "ching" or clean.  The yau choy was cooked properly maintaining a light crunch.  I won't add the pictures of my takeout orders in the past, but I can say that the BBQ Pork is just "okay" here.  The marinade doesn't penetrate the meat enough, hence it relies heavily on the dextrose glaze for impact.  I went for half-fat, half-lean and it was still not completely juicy.  Stick with the BBQ Duck here, it is one of the best in town.  In terms of dining in, the food is above average and of course you get to eat the BBQ at its optimal state.  Be aware that they are very busy and the seating is very tight.  Also, the BBQ Duck usually sells out before dinner time, so either come earlier or reserve one.

The Good:

- Excellent BBQ Duck

- Roast pork is good too

- Other dishes are above average

The Bad:

- Very busy, things sell out and seating is tight

- Horrible parking lot

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