Love for Pho

Sometimes a quick meal doesn't have to involve a drive-thru or a food fair in a mall.  For those who know, grabbing some Pho can be pretty time efficient and easy on the wallet (although the prices are creeping up there).  So with not much time to spare, we were driving up Kingsway in search of Vietnamese.  Well, that is as easy as stumbling on a Trump joke on social media.  However, we were nearing Boundary and the selection gets a bit thin until you reach Metrotown.  But there was a new spot in Love for Pho.

We ended up with our usual Pho Dac Biet and it was full of ingredients including an inordinate amount of tendon (which was soft with still a bite).  The rest of the meats were fairly good where the brisket was fatty and soft.  As for the broth, it was clean with mild flavours including the sweetness of daikon and a faint anise finish.  The noodles were plentiful and still chewy.  My son loves Lemongrass Chicken with rice, so yes that's what he had.  It featured chewy rice with shredded pork and a large piece of deboned leg.  It was succulent and juicy, but lacking in impact.  We thought there a more aggressive marinate was necessary as well as more charring to the fatty skin.

We also got my son's other favourite dish being the Beef Stew with bread.  Hidden underneath the onions were a plethora of super tender melt-in-our-mouths beef shank.  The tendon portion of the meat was partially melted which meant the meat was barely chewy.  In terms of taste, the broth was not overly fatty nor seasoned, but there was a noticeable meatiness combined with 5 spice, anise and the sweetness of carrots.  Sticking with bread, we ordered the Banh Mi Dac Biet, which was quite good.  The crusty bread was not overly dense inside while there was enough ingredients to balance.  Add in the pate and the drops of Maggi and the sandwich was tasty.  Overall, we found the meal good, but the flavours could've been stronger.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Okay portions

The Bad:
- Flavours could be more impactful
- Service is fine, but sparse   

Chi Modern Vietnamese Kitchen

Sometimes, we find certain types of cuisine pigeon-holed as cheap simple food.  Well, that is partially due to the limited representation locally.  One of the most obvious examples is Vietnamese food.  Completely over-represented by Pho and even more specifically South Vietnam, we only get a snapshot of the culture and cuisine.  However, with the trend moving towards clean and specifically-built modern restaurants, we find Vietnamese food being more refined, diverse and of course more expensive than the typical Pho joint.  The newest one to hit the town is Chi Modern Vietnamese Kitchen run by former runner-up of Masterchef Vietnam, Chi Le.

Along with Nora, Sharon and Jacqueline, I was invited for a taste of their most popular items.  We got down to it with some appies including the Bo Tai Chanh (Beef Carpaccio) and Cha Gio Vit (Crispy Fresh Duck  Rolls).  Sliced semi-thin, the tender Snake River Wagyu beef was buttery and soft.  The garnishes of lime, onion, cilantro, roasted peanuts, red Thai chilis and crispy shallots added both aroma and naturally an Asian flavour to the dish. Despite incessant picture-taking, the crunch of the spring rolls didn't dissipate.  I liked how there was an initial and lingering herbaceousness from the first bite. There were plenty of sous-vide duck inside the roll which was fairly tender and appealingly gamy.

Although prepared expertly, the Ca Nuong (Chargrilled Eggplant) was one of the least impactful in terms of flavour.  It may have been possible that this was the intention as eggplant on its own is generally not flavourful.  There was a noticeable smokiness though that was accented by the roasted peanuts and light saltiness of the fish sauce..  The red chilis were not particularly noticeable, unless we intentionally picked one up with the piece of eggplant. Texturally, the eggplant was on point being soft yet not mushy.  At first, the Ga Kho To (Lemongrass Chicken Hot Pot) tasted overly sweet, but that was nicely balanced by the saltiness of the fish sauce and then subsequently by a lingering spice from the chilis.  I loved the use of the chewy and firm red rice as it stood up to the sauce well.

Beautifully seared on the outside, the Bo Luc Lac (Shaken AAA Beef Tenderloin) was tender and nicely caramelized.  The inherent flavours were mild with a bit of sweet saltiness.  However, with the side of salt, pepper and lime, it added the necessary acidity, salt and slight kick that elevated things.  Our consensus favourite dish by a mile was the Com Chien (Chi Fried Rice) with cured sausage, onion, runny egg and garlic-ginger crumble.  If there was perfection in fried rice texture, this would be it.  Each grain was chewy and nutty while caressed by the silky runny yolk.  The wealth of flavours were strong including initial caramelized sweetness and then giving way to the chewy saltiness of the sausage.  I could've eaten this all by myself.

Topped with a plethora of green onion, the Cha Ca La Vong (Black Cod Vermicelli) was a pleasant dish, but had a hard time following up the fabulous rice dish. Underneath the turmeric and galangal-encrusted buttery black cod, the chewy vermicelli was loose and not clumpy.  A dousing of the side fish sauce and there were plenty of salty sweet flavours at play.  Also bursting with impact were the Canh Ga Chien (Chicken Wings).  Dressed in a thick and syrupy sauce, there was an immediate tamarind tartness followed by a rich sweetness.  Mixed in was the usual garlic and ginger.  The only thing I would've liked to see was a crispier and more rendered skin.

As simple as the So Diep Song (Atlantic Sea Scallop) appeared, the flavours were clean and impactful.  The combination of lime, lemon, key lime and kalamansi juices made for a complex citrus hit that worked well with the buttery and sweet scallop.  There was a background heat provided by red Thai chilis infused into the dressing.  For dessert, we were served the Durian Rice Balls sitting in a simple syrup.  I found the glutinous rice shell to be soft and pillowy while the durian filling was pungently sweet, but not overbearing.  This was a fine way to end a meal that featured a wealth of impactful flavour and mostly on point execution.  It's nice to see that Vietnamese cuisine has been elevated and better represented within the GVRD.

*All food and beverages excluding gratuities were complimentary*

The Good:
- Strong and impactful flavours
- On point execution
- Lovely decor

The Bad:
- Sticker shock as prices are not cheap
- Skin on wings could've been more rendered
    

MagiCream

Magi-what?  Yep, that was the confounded response to Areta's invite for a tasting at MagiCream.  Upon further investigation, it turns out that MagiCream is yet another entry into the liquid-nitrogen crafted ice cream in Vancity.  However, unlike Lik and Mister, the prices are lower and the portions are bigger for the money.  Furthermore, parking is ample and their equipment is more heavy-duty and safer as the liquid nitrogen is piped into the mixers directly instead of being poured in.

Since there were 9 of us present, we went for 9 different creations including my personal favourite, Strawberry Ice Cream with cheesecake bites.  Normally, strawberry ice cream can range from bland to overly sweet.  However, this one was full-flavoured and did not exhibit that "candy-like" strawberry taste.  Instead, it tasted like the fruit with a balanced amount of sweetness.  The cheesecake bites were pretty standard, but worked well with the ice cream.  The most visually attractive creation was the Coffee with cookie dough and multi-coloured mochi.  Despite being on top of really cold ice cream, the mochi didn't harden up too much.  Underneath, the coffee flavour was also very impactful while not being bitter nor too strong.  The creaminess of the ice cream resulted in a somewhat HK-Style taste being sweet and thick.  I thought this one could've used a bit less sugar.

The Chocolate Ice Cream with brownie bites and chocolate sauce ate even richer than the others.  Thick and marginally sweet with the bitterness of dark chocolate, this was luxurious and surprisingly on point.  The addition of the brownie bites and sauce did make for some sweeter spoonfuls though. The palate-cleanser of the bunch was the Mango Sorbet with mango and lychee jelly.  At first, the little crumbles of sorbet seemed a bit dry and lifeless.  But one large scoop from the bottom revealed a thick and rich natural-tasting creamy sorbet.  The jelly on top added some more sweetness that probably wasn't necessary, but the textures were nice though. 

Along the same lines as the coffee, the Milk Tea with pearls and mango jelly was pretty flavourful.  I could definitely make out the tea where the finish was slightly aromatic and appealingly bitter.  It really did taste like milk tea with all the fixin's. One of the most impactful flavours was Ovaltine with crushed walnuts.  For me, it was like eating a frozen Ovaltine beverage.  I really liked how the flavours so far tasted exactly what it should be.  The ice cream was hard and creamy where it took awhile to actually start melting.  The richness of the ice cream was evident as it dissolved slowly in my mouth.  For this one, I found it to be quite a bit sweeter, but it worked.

Another winner for me was the Root Beer Ice Cream with gummy bears.  Sure, it wasn't a hit with everyone, but for me it embodied what root beer is about.  There was a light carbonation to go with the classic root beer taste while being mildly sweet.  As expected, the gummy bears became pretty hard due to the cold ice cream. Another pretty creation to look at, but not particularly easy to eat was the Caramel Popcorn.  Underneath the popcorn was a super sweet salted caramel that tasted like it had butterscotch mixed into it.  I liked the texture, much like the others, but it was too sweet for me personally.

Lastly, the most surprising ice cream was the Black Sesame with coconut and Reese's peanut butter cup.  The ice cream itself reminded me of the filling found in the Chinese mochi balls.  It was nutty and sweet while being creamy like the others.  Adding another layer of sweet nuttiness was the peanut butter cup.  Personally, I would've added plain mochi as the only topping to emulate those aforementioned mochi balls. Overall, I truly enjoyed the liquid nitrogen ice cream here.  The price was palatable for me personally and the flavours were impactful.

*All ice cream was complimentary*

The Good:
- Not cheap, but less expensive than the others
- Creamy and rich
- Lots of options for toppings

The Bad:
- As mentioned, it is cheaper, but it isn't an inexpensive treat either
- Keep the toppings to a minimum as some counteract the ice cream      

Tandoori Raj

We were in a dilemma.  Something that had us thinking hard and would determine our fate.  Yes, we were trying to figure out where to eat after softball...  To complicate things, not only did we have Miss Y and her paleo diet, but also another request - something vegetarian.  I was confounded and frustrated since it also had to be within the Sunset area.  Not to worry and never fear because Bear was there!  He piped up and suggest Indian, specifically Tandoori Raj (well not really, he thought it was a different restaurant was located there, but we ate there anyways).

Interestingly, no one ordered any tandoori items despite a prominent section in the menu.  Oh well, whatever, we did get a good selection of dishes including the veritable Butter Chicken.  We asked for all of our dishes to be spicy and this one was no exception.  It had a real initial kick, but was not unbearable.  We could've done with even more spiciness.  With that being said, it allowed the flavours of the butter chicken to come through including a mild tang and muted creaminess (I would've liked it more creamy).  We enjoyed how the chicken was actual tandoor-prepared and it was fairly moist.  Onto the Prawn Masala, we found it to be a bit sweeter due to the onion.  It had the familiar spices including noticeable cardamom.  The smallish prawns were well-prepared though being meaty with a light snap.

We ended up with 2 lamb dishes including the Lamb Vindaloo and Lamb Rogen Josh.  We found the vindaloo a bit more red than we were used to, but that was partly due to the paprika.  Add in vinegar and tamarind, the sauce was trending towards a ketchup-type flavour.  However, this was not to say this tasted like ketchup, it was far from it.  Again, there was a purposeful amount of spiciness that added layers of flavour.  As for the lamb itself, they were in medium-sized chunks that were fairly tender.  Again, the rogen josh was in a noticeable red hue once again from the paprika. I thought this was a touch sweeter due to the onion content and there was a noticeable cardamom finish.  The spiciness didn't hide the rest of the spices which was pretty consistent with all of the dishes.

We also went with a Goat Curry Punjabi Style which was less intense as with the lamb dishes.  The milder flavours could be attributed to the creaminess of the curry.  We thought the goat was appealingly tender with only a muted gaminess.  As mentioned, the spiciness was not as apparent, which suited this dish fine. We moved from meat over to veggie with the Palak Paneer.  We found it to be creamy and nicely spiced.  The heat level was still there, but not as strong as the first 4 dishes.  As for the paneer, it was soft with a rebound texture.  Loved the pop of the sweet peas that were nestled in the curry.

Yes, the dish we were all waiting for...  The Vegetable Curry!  Sorry for being sarcastic, I'm a meatatarian...  It was actually quite good with also a creamy consistency.  This was the only dish that was requested as mildly spicy.  Hence, it was a bit sweet with the spices coming through a bit more.  Naturally, we also got rice and Naan to go with our curries.  As evidenced in the picture, the naan could've used a bit more blistering and charring, but it was okay nonetheless.  It was soft and chewy with a slightly crisp bottom side.  Overall, we enjoyed our meal at Tandoori Raj.  Flavours were impactful and the spice level suited us.  We just wished there was a bit more meat in the curries.

The Good:
- Balanced spiciness
- Flavours were impactful
- Decent service

The Bad:
- Could've used more ingredients
 

Food @ The Fair at PNE 2016

If you haven't noticed, there was no post about PNE eats last year (2015).  Yep, for the first time in many years, I wasn't able to visit The Fair during its annual 15-day run since I was in Hawaii having a good time!  This year, I made it back from my Summer trip to attend the PNE food tour for local media.  We started off strong with the Deep Fried Pickle Corn Dog at Chicky's Chicken.  I liked this concoction as the juicy pickle added an impactful tart and saltiness to what was essentially a corn dog.  Loved the crispy corn meal batter as it was crunchy and appealingly sweet.

Now the food at the PNE is generally on the heavier side and traditionally sinful.  They make no apologies for it and really that is the draw!  That was exemplified by the Mac & Cheese Stuffed Burger at Handmade Burgers. I found the meat to be decently moist while the mac n' cheese maintained its consistency (ie. not dried out and not contaminated by the cooking of the meat).  Hence it was cheesy and creamy.  The brioche bun was nicely toasted and soft.  I did have to use a bit of ketchup to liven up the mild flavours though.

Walking up a few spots up, we visited Reel Mac and Cheese.  I've had their stuff before and I was pretty confident that the Slumdog Millionaire Mac & Cheese would deliver.  The picture was only a sample size, as the regular portion would be even bigger (if that is believable).  I found the noodles to be fairly al dente and dressed in a creamy (with just enough of it) sauce that had a proper amount of curry.  It was aromatic and savoury benefiting from the pop of the sweet peas and the crunch from the fried onions.
 
Moving directly across, we ended up at International Perogy's.  Okay, I know what you are thinking...  Hunky Bill's...  We'll get to that later, but this one here was Chicken Teriyaki Perogies.  Say what?  Yah, this was a fusion of mini-perogies topped with fried chicken strips, sautéed onions, sriracha mayonnaise, sweet ginger teriyaki sauce, green onions and nori.  I thought the mini-perogies were easy to eat featuring a soft and thin skin.  The flavours were definitely Asian with some spicy creaminess as well as the sweet gingery saltiness of the teriyaki sauce.

Okay, it was bound to happen...  The combination of my son's 2 most favourite desserts - Oreo cookies and a churro.  Yes, the Oreo Churro at Steve-O's, complete with its classic creme filling.  I liked this as the churro itself was firmly crunchy (like the cookie) and tasted like an Oreo.  It was amazingly not as sweet as I would've imagined.  They offered up a second item as well with the Deep Fried Tequila.  This was essentially a donut ball of sorts crossed with a fritter.  Hence, it was lightly crispy while giving way to a soft cake interior.  I found it pretty sweet, which was probably done intentionally to balance out the tequila.  Personally, I would've loved to have more tequila and less sugar.

If we were going to do deep-fried tequila donut/fritters, then why not keep on the same theme with Deep Fried Coffee at Ogopogo Concessions?   I got to try the espresso and it was unmistakable in flavour while the texture was akin to a freshly made donut hole that was airy and light.  I found it balanced in flavour so that the sweetness kept the coffee in check.  In addition, there were several options for toppings including mocha chip, salted caramel, espresso flake, French vanilla and cream & sugar.

Right next door at Gourmet Burgers, they have been serving up interesting and unique items for many years.  This year, they decided to go big, literally.  How about a 10lb monstrosity named the Hercules Burger?   This thing must be ordered an hour ahead of time since it takes that long to cook.  Sure, it costs $70.00, but it is enough for 15 people!  I got a small piece to try and I was surprised that the well-seared patty was fairly moist and lean.  This was actually a solid burger, however, the bun could've been toasted though.

Remember when I mentioned Hunky Bill's?  He's been around for 50 years serving up his homemade Ukrainian-style Perogies at the PNE.  Unlike the fusion style ones we had earlier, these were classic being fried with onion and served with sour cream.  Nothing fancy here, but solid crispy perogies sporting a tasty cheese and potato filling. Our food tour ended at the Craft Beer Festival on the West side of the PNE grounds.  We sampled brews from Dead Frog, Parallel 49, Phillips Brewing and Moody Ales.  Loved the little plastic mugs and of course the beer as well.  This was served with a side of Bacon Floss (not pictured), think bacon flavoured cotton candy...  So there you have it, some new and some old favourites at the PNE.  I may be dropping by again next week, so stay tuned for more eats at the fair.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*