Halo Kitchen & Bistro 光輪

Some would argue that going on a cruise is not the best way to see Japan.  Well, I will partially agree with that since going on a cruise is never a great way to experience places since most ports only get a day.  When I say "a day", that would mean something like 8 hours, if you are lucky.  I've been on some cruises where there are overnight stays and that helps a bit, but generally, you would be best served doing a land vacation where you can be at a location for at least 5 days to get the full experience.  However, on the flipside, for smaller towns, a day is more than enough for a visit.  That brings us to Shimizu, our first port on our 12-day Japanese cruise aboard the Celebrity Millennium.  We didn't end up doing very much here since the fish market was closed (on a Wednesday).  We did wander around and the people were very nice.  It was also cloudy and we only got a brief outline of Mt. Fuji.  For lunch, we ended up at "Halo" Kitchen & Bistro for some Yoshoku cuisine (Japanese version of Western dishes).  This place has been around since 1972 and is very reasonably-priced.  After we sat down, the place was packed!

For myself, I had to go for their Halo Lunch that consisted of a pork katsu, spaghetti and fish with a bowl of rice, cream soup, salad and coffee (at the end).  This was only 900 yen (approx. $8.00cad)!   The small cutlet featured an airy and crisy panko coating that was beautifully fried.  The pork itself was nicely marbled and super light.  It was moist and buttery tender.  As for the small piece of fish, it was seared just enough that it was cooked through, but was also flaky and buttery soft.

My son went for the Hamburg Steak which was covered in a delicious and rich gravy.  It was so flavourful and full of umami with just a slight tang at the end.  The hamburger steak itself was plump and evenly seared on the outside.  As for the inside, the meat was fluffy and tender with it taking on the sauce very well.  When eaten with the rice, it was a delicious bite.  The side of cream soup was slightly viscous and had lots of natural milk flavour with some saltiness.

My daughter had another classic Yoshoku dish in the Curry Doria.  Originally conceived in the Hotel New Grand in Yohohama, this featured rice topped with curry and cheeses (usually parmesan and gruyere) with some type of meat.  It was chicken in this case.  We found the version here to be flavourful with a rich curry that had depth from the spices, but it wasn't spicy.  Rather, it had a good balance of sweet and savoury with plenty of cheesiness.

For Viv, she had the Curry Loin Katsu with the sauce served on the side.  This ensured that the katsu remained crispy.  It wasn't greasy and the panko coating was not dense.  Inside, the meat was also airy and light.  It was tender and succulent.  Served on a bed of chewy rice, it accepted the delicious curry sauce well.  At the end, we were served a coffee and the kids were served juice.  I can't say enough how good of a deal this place is.  To top it off, the food is delicious.  Oh and the people are super nice.  A must try when you are in Shimizu!

The Good:
- Cheap!
- Delicious
- Super nice people

The Bad:
- Well, if you arrive late, you won't get a seat

Dosanko

The Yoshoku scene in Vancouver can often be described as limited.  Other than a handful of places, it really isn't a thing here.  However, yoshoku cuisine lovers rejoice as there is a newly opened spot in town called Dosanko.  Husband and wife team of Nathan and Akiyo Lowey (formerly of Capagnolo and Tojo respectively) have taken over the spot that once housed Fat Dragon, where they now serve up Japanese home-style cooking that are interpretations of Western dishes.  Mijune and I decided to hit up the place, but were unaware that they had been only opened for a week (hence the lack of signage).

We started things off with Aki's Salad consisting of greens, sesame, lentils, beans, chickpeas, quinoa, beets and blueberries.  It was lightly dressed with a koji vinaigrette.  Despite the list of ingredients, the salad itself was fairly simple and straightforward.  Things were fresh with varying textures.  This was refreshing, yet I would've liked to see a touch more acidity to wake up the flavours.  Next up was the Kimpira sporting burdock and carrots pickled in a sweet and spicy soy sauce.  The mouth feel of the crunch was appealing while the sauce was well-balanced with a hint of sesame.

If the next item looks like chicken karaage, your eyes don't deceive you.  Stated as Zangi on the menu, it is merely the name of the dish in Hokkaido.  Their version was quite good coated with potato flour, it was lightly crispy (could've been more so) and easy on the grease.  Each piece was juicy and succulent while being well-seasoned with garlic and ginger.  If one needed more punch, it was served with a side of salt.  Consisting of a few different items, the Tempura was coated with a super airy and light batter.  It was a touch oil-logged though.  The veggies included onion, purple carrot, green bean and shiso leaf.  The shiso leaf was actually the greasiest, but I enjoyed it the most due to its flavour and crispiness.

One of our favourite dishes was the Miso Saba.  The mackerel was tender and flaky while maintaining its meatiness.  It was mild-tasting, which was a good thing as the sauce was pretty potent.  At Dosanko, they do not used bottled sauces.  Rather, everything is house-made.  Hence, the sweet miso sauce was intense and concentrated.  It tasted original and not very typical.  The syrupy sweetness was pretty strong, but there was enough saltiness to even it out.  Since it was a pretty warm day, we were happy to see the Hiyashi Chuka (cold ramen) hit the table.  These handmade noodles were very al dente and were flavoured with a tasty sesame soy dressing.  On top, there was tender shredded chicken, cucumbers, carrots and sesame.

Presented in a hot clay pot, the Curry Rice was bubbling hot.  On top of the rice was a generous blend of tender ground pork, cheese and pickles.  The result was a rich concoction that was meaty and stringy from the mozzarella.  The flavours were sweet, but fairly mild.  We found the dish comforting, but would've liked to see a rice crust (despite it not being a prerequisite of this particular dish).  Served with house-made tonkatsu sauce and sesame seeds that we would grind ourselves, the Tonkatsu was lean and meaty.  We would've liked to see it tenderized more, but it wasn't chewy.  On the outside, the panko coating was appealingly crunchy.  We loved the tangy, sweet and slightly peppery tonkatsu sauce as well as the side of koji mayo.

Another classic Yoshoku dish was the Okara Hamburg Steak with Rice.  The patty consisted of minced beef, pork and okara (soy bean crumb).  It resulted in a meaty and lean patty.  It wasn't dry though and it sported a caramelized sear.  The sauce was sweet and tangy with concentrated depth.  As a result, the root veggies were super sweet where they soaked up the sauce.  This went well with the side of white rice.  Moving away from all these larger dishes, we tried the Gomaae featuring string beans marinated in a sesame dressing.  I found the beans to be lightly crunchy.  The dressing was sweet and lightly aromatic. 

Onto dessert, we had the Coffee Jelly Parfait, Cherry Tart and Matcha Mille Crepe.  As much as the food up until this point had been pretty solid, the desserts needed some work.  The coffee jelly was too stiff and too mild-tasting.  We found the mille crepe to be rubbery and dry while the matcha was barely detectable.  The best of the bunch was the cherry tart as it boasted sweet and tangy cherries on top.  The pastry cream wasn't too sweet, but wasn't smooth enough. It was pretty unfortunate that the desserts didn't match the savoury items in terms of execution because it is nice to see another Yoshoku restaurant in town.  But it had been open for only a week, so there is still some time to grow.

The Good:
- All house-made sauces and food
- Nice people
- Good to see another spot serving Yoshoku cuisine

The Bad:
- On the pricier side
- Desserts need some work
- An A/C unit should be their next purchase

Mikan Cafe

*Restaurant is now closed*

For all of the available types of Japanese cuisine in the Lower Mainland, Yoshoku gets no love.  It's all about the sushi and ramen here sprinkled with some Izakaya action.  For those who are unfamiliar with Yoshoku, it refers to Japanese-style Western dishes such as their take on Salisbury steak, spaghetti, curry, pork cutlets, sandwiches, desserts and the sort.  One of the few that exist is Cafe L'Orangerie in Marpole (which was only average in my opinion).  It seems like they have branched out have taken over (or more like merged) with the old Poutinerie Jean Talon out on Broadway at Fraser.

We decided to check it out after on a beautiful Sunday after ice hockey.  To start, we went with the ol' favourite of Jean Talon with the medium-sized Poutine with home style meat sauce and cheese curds.  Exactly how I remembered, the fries were super crispy and light with a starch coating not unlike the one found at Costco.  The meat gravy was flavourful, yet not salty with a background beefiness and sweetness from the veggies.  With a bounce and light squeak, the legit cheese curds were generous.  For myself, I went with 2 dishes starting with the Ebi Sandwich served on ciabatta with shredded cabbage, tonkatsu sauce and sweet mayo.  The crispy breading on the ebi held up to the sauces while the shrimp itself had a sweet snap.  There was an obscene amount of sauce which meant it was tangy and messy to eat.  I would've preferred a softer bun though as everything spilled out with every bite.

For my second item, I went for their daily special being the Baked Japanese Curry Doria consisting of rich and creamy rice, mushrooms, onions, Japanese curry, chicken broth and eggplant topped with mozzarella cheese.   This was a modest portion where the layer of melted cheese was substantial and stringy.  Underneath, the tender eggplant was far from mushy while the rice was on the softer side.  It was decently flavourful in a subtle manner despite the presence of curry.  I would've liked to see a bit more of it as the dish could've used more impact.  Milhouse ended up with an actual curry in the Pork Cutlet Curry with rice.  I've had this before and it was not different featuring sweet and thick curry with lots of tender bits of veggie.  There was more than enough for the rice and lean pork cutlet which was tender despite the lack of fat.

Kaiser Soze went for the Masago Spaghetti with squid and fish roe.  This arrived emanating an seafoody aroma which was quite intoxicating.  One bite and it was pretty evident that the briny seafoodiness of the masago was the dominating flavour.  It was in a good way though with a certain sweetness accented by a light cream sauce.  The spaghetti itself was nicely al dente and properly seasoned.  JuJu decided on the Hayashi Beef Spaghetti with hamburger steak.  Similar to the meat gravy on top of our poutine, this ate hearty with a mild meatiness and slight sweetness.  The steak itself was fairly tender and loose with the sweetness of onions (maybe too many onions). 

For dessert, I ordered a slice of their Blueberry Cheese Tart which was in a beautiful shade of milky purple.  One bite and the essence of cream cheese was very strong (in an almost yogurt-like manner), but the blueberry came through as well.  It was not overly sweet and the texture was in between light and heavy.  This visit to Mikan was a bit strange for me.  They are affiliated with Cafe L'Orangerie and my visit there wasn't exactly that impressive nor memorable.  Now I'm not saying Mikan blew my mind either, but I thought it was better for some odd reason.  But really, considering the lack of Yoshoku cuisine in Vancouver, there is really no competition for Mikan and Cafe L'Orangerie.

The Good:
- Friendly service
- Inexpensive
- Decent

The Bad:
- Food comes out a bit slow
- Pretty small place, not good for big groups
- Limited menu

Aoto-ya Blue Door Japanese

*Restaurant is permanently closed*

Okay, this post is a bit strange.  It has nothing to do with the food, but rather the timing in between visits.  Originally, I had visited Aoto-ya Blue Door Japanese with Whipping Girl last year.  However, we only sampled a few dishes and I have this personal belief that there needs to be a decent representation of a menu in order for a fair assessment.  Hence, I planned to return shortly afterwards.  Well, that didn't happen, until recently.  So keep things fair, we repeated the dishes I am blogging about, yet used 2 of the old pictures (because the new ones didn't come out).

The first item to hit the table was the Sashimi Set with salmon and tuna.  This box also included green salad, chicken karaage, tempura, rice and fruit.  Neatly prepared, the salmon sashimi was better than the tuna.  Nothing particularly wrong with the tuna other than the salmon had more flavour and personally, we like the texture of it more.  The little pieces of chicken karaage were moist and juicy while not being all that crispy on the outside.  With a squeeze of lemon, it further enhanced the well-seasoned meat.  As for the tempura, I was worried at first with the large amount of batter, but in the end, it was crispy and light.  Only offered during the Summer, we had the Cold Ramen.  It was a good call as it was a solid dish.  With a multitude of ingredients including al dente noodles, onion slivers, wakame, carrot, nori, ham, egg, pickled ginger and cucumber.  However, the flavours made the dish as there was a balanced combination of salty, sweet, tart and spicy (thanks to the mustard).

Kaiser Soze wanted to see what he could get for the $6.99 Curry Chicken Udon lunch special.  It turns out that it was a satisfying portion of chewy noodles that were enveloped in a thick curry.  It was only lightly sweet with a touch of spice.  The little nuggets of chicken were sufficiently tender.  Continuing on that theme, I went for the Tonkatsu Curry with rice.  Unlike the udon, we found this curry to be richer and slightly gingery.  Again, it wasn't very sweet, which was good.  As for the pork cutlet, the panko breading was crispy, yet didn't stay adhered to the meat.  Although not exactly juicy, the pork was tender and not overcooked.  The rice was appealingly chewy where it stood up to the curry.

With what was the most surprising dish of the meal, the Fried Zucchini with shiso was freaking fantastic.  The thin layer of panko was expertly fried where it was crunchy while not greasy.  The shiso-wrapped yellow zucchini was texturally on point where it was fully-cooked while not staying firm.  We felt this was a steal for $2.95.  Next time, we'd gladly order 4 of these and call it a meal!  Trying to take advantage of all the available lunch specials, Kaiser Soze added the BC Roll for $2.95.  Although it would never be confused with the best sushi in town (because it isn't their specialty anyways), it was decently constructed with moist salmon attached to crispy skin.  The rice was a little dry, but okay nonetheless.

For dessert, Milhouse and I shared both the Green Tea Pudding and Black Sesame Pudding.  Texturally, both were silky and fairly thick.  There was a balanced sweetness where it provided the necessary flavour without being overbearing.  We agreed that the black sesame was our favourite as it was aromatic and nutty.  The green tea pudding was less impactful as there was only a background bitterness.  Overall, we thought the food at Aoto-ya Blue Door was solid and brought back memories of Tenhachi (same owners).  Prices can be a bit high for some items while the service can get a bit awkward sometimes.

The Good:
- Generally, well-prepared eats
- Some interesting items

The Bad:
- Some items are a bit pricey
- Service is awkward and emotionless

Cafe de L'Orangerie

Ever since Yoshoku-Ya closed up shop only to reappear as 29th Ave Cafe, there weren't a whole lot of options when it came to Japanese-style Western cuisine.  Now that 29th Ave Cafe is also long gone, that really limits our options.  What we are essentially left with is Cafe L'Orangerie out in Marpole.  I've tried visiting their old location on Granville a few years back, but they closed before we could make it after our softball game.  Well, we finally made it before closing at their new location on 73rd and Hudson.

Since we were pretty famished from losing our softball game, we started with some appies including the Poutine Orangerie-Style with homemade beef stew sauce with mozzarella atop Cavendish fries.  Despite relying on Costco fries, they were prepared crispy and held up well to the sauce.  I found the sauce to be rather thick and mild-tasting with bits of ground beef, onion and mushrooms.  There was a good amount of cheese though.  Next up was the Chicken Karaage which consisted of aggressively battered pieces of dark meat.  As such, it was succulent and pretty juicy.  The crunchy batter was properly seasoned where there was enough saltiness without the need for much mayo.

Rather than having one entree each, we decided to share everything as a table.  Arriving first was the Baked Chicken Curry Doria with a cheesy cream sauce on top of rice and baked.  This was extremely cheesy and rich where there wasn't really much sauce.  There was some saltiness from the cheese to flavour the dish while the chicken was a little dry.  The chewy rice underneath was soaked in the limited amount of cream sauce.  I felt we needed to try a Japanese curry so we got the Curry with Pork Cutlet.  The cutlet itself was thick and nicely breaded where it was crunchy while keeping the moisture in (hence, the pork was tender and moist).  I wasn't a huge fan of the curry though as it was more akin to a split pea soup with very little in distinguishing flavours.  I didn't get much curry and in fact, I didn't even get much of that classic sweetness associated with Japanese curries.

Milhouse thought the Hashed Beef Stew de Creamy Spaghetti and Hamburger Steak looked interesting on the menu (especially with the majestic picture).  Well, the spaghetti was pretty good being somewhat toothsome and completely coated with a thick cream sauce.  It wasn't particularly flavourful, but the textures were appealing.  As for the hamburger steak, it was far too loose with too much filler in the form of onions.  I prefer the firmer versions with only a little onion, not the amount in this one.  The beef stew was the same as the poutine and it was lacking in depth.  We also had another serving of the steak in the Hashed Beef Stew Special with 2 fried prawns and rice.  However, the sauce on top was pretty sweet and thick, which made the dish one note in flavour.  This time, the steak was breaded and fried, which added some texture, but ultimately, the meat was still mushy.

Our last savoury dish was the Chicken Nanban.  Although the tempura batter on the outside was crunchy, it slid off each piece of chicken pretty easily.  Despite this, the chicken itself was moist. We found the sauce to be more sweet than sour while the side of tartar was creamy with some tartness from the pickles.  Moving onto dessert, we sampled 3 items on Bear's insistence.  I gave the Strawberry Roll a try first and if I had to compare, this version falls far behind the one from Cake-Ya.  First of all, the sponge cake was wet and soggy while the whipped cream was a bit clumpy.  Second, there was just not enough strawberries.  This could've been partially due to being late in the day.

Exhibiting the effects of being subjected to high heat and rushed in the cooking process, the Homemade Caramel Pudding was far from smooth.  In fact, air bubbles afflicted the custard from top to bottom which made for a rough texture.  It did taste okay though with some rich caramel hits without being too sugary.  Lastly, the Berry Mochi Parfait with macerated strawberries and blackberries with mochi balls, rolled oats and ice cream.  This was a fairly simple dessert where the soft mochi balls stood out.  Otherwise, the berries were fresh and sweet that went well with the ice cream.  Overall, we though the food at Cafe de L'Orangerie was okay, but lacking slightly in all dishes.  By no means did we dislike the food, it's just that everything could've been better in some way.

The Good:
- Decent portions
- Although hurried, staff are friendly
- Something different

The Bad:
- Dishes are okay, but can be better
- Not expensive, but not cheap either

29th Ave Cafe

*Restaurant is now closed*

Generally, Vancouverites have been exposed to many different types of Asian cuisines - some over-represented and some under-represented or even non-existent. By now, the Hong Kong-style cafe is not the mystery it once was. Well, to most people that is. For those who need the info, a Hong Kong-style cafe is a restaurant that serves up a Chinese interpretations of various types of cuisines such as pasta prepared with a ketchup base or a white sauce that usually involves milk and corn starch. How about the traditional 2 egg breakfast served with a side of Spam or hot dog wiener? Alas, we can't forget about the Portuguese chicken or baked fried pork chop rice. Yes, the food sounds weird and the ingredients even weirder; but people love it. Now, there is a Japanese version of sorts to this type of cafe. It also includes their interpretation of Western food with a combination of Japanese comfort foods. There are several places that do serve this type of food, namely Hi-Genki, Vanya, Tenhachi and Kimura. However, there was one place on Denman that served only this type of food. Unfortunately, Yoshoku-Ya closed its doors recently after many years of being at that location. Now, the owners have set up shop at the former location of James Street Cafe on Boundary at 29th Ave. Simply named 29th Ave Cafe, they are serving up the same favourites from before.

After 3 games of softball for our tournament, we were pretty tired and somewhat hungry. Well, most people were hungry; but for me, I had just finished a large corned beef sandwich from Kaplan's not too long ago. Oh, and I had a matzo ball soup too... Well, that didn't prevent us from heading over to the newly opened 29th Ave cafe for some Japanese comfort food. Bear, our resident Japanese food expert, reminded us to save room for purin, in this case the Japanese version of creme caramel. Now, the menu is simple; yet there is a little of everything for everyone. For myself, I had the Chicken Saute with Mushroom Sauce. For the price, it was a fairly good portion with a perfectly cooked chicken breast. And when I say perfectly cooked, I mean juicy, moist and tender. That is easier said than done, especially with such a thick piece of meat. The sauce was silky and flavourful with a hint of wine. I could barely spot the chicken at first because there was so many mushrooms on top. I had to get a side of rice to eat this so I could soak up every little drop of the delicious sauce. Bear asked me if I wanted to share an order of Chicken Cream Korokke and there was no
doubt I would oblige. I'm glad I did since the korokke was very good. Very crisp outside (not oily either) and filled with a pleasantly creamy inside full of chicken and onions. For his main, Bear had the Hamburg Steak or their version of the Salisbury steak with tonkatsu sauce on top. The meat was extremely moist and juicy. This is due to steaming it first before pan-frying. The meat itself had lots of flavour and a touch of onion. However, the tonkatsu sauce was a little weak. Of course the accompanying veggies were coated with an obscene amount of butter (which is a good thing!).

Boss Woman went for the Pork Cutlet Curry Rice, which should have been called: A Lot of Curry with some rice and a pork chop. Anyways, typical of Japanese curry, this one was sweet with only the mildest hint of spice. The pork chop was meaty and fried beautifully. It was moist and tender. Judes went for the Pork Cutlet (Tonkatsu) and much like Boss Woman's pork cutlet, it was thick, juicy and crisp on the outside. With a bottle of Tonkatsu sauce on the table, I merely doused my piece of meat. Finally, Milhouse had the Pork Tenderloin Cutlet, which was similar to Judes' order except it was a different cut of meat. And much of the same, it was equally moist and crispy. At this point, I was not really in the mood for more food since I'd already ate essentially 2 dinners within 3 hours apart of each other. But Bear insisted I try the Custard Pudding (or Purin or Creme Caramel or whatever you want to call it). For $3.00, this was a friggin' steal. Not because it was merely cheap either. This was so good; it could rival or surpass many "fine dining" establishments in terms of execution. No joke! There was no air bubbles within the silky smooth custard. It was only semi-sweet and the best thing of all was the rich, smoky caramel - so tasty. In fact, all of the food was yummy and well-priced. Despite the lack of staff, our glasses were always full of water and we never felt neglected. Sure, the place isn't much to look at; however, if it's Japanese comfort food you're looking for, this is the place to be.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Wonderfully executed dishes
- Super friendly owners

The Bad:
- The place is not much to look at
- If the place gets busy, service might possibly suffer