Ramen Danbo

On what turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far, we decided to go for Ramen.  In fact, we went to the newly opened Ramen Danbo.  Yup, the place was as warm as a toaster oven, but we wanted ramen and stuck with it (despite beads of sweat running down our foreheads).  We were intrigued by their promise of authentic Fukuoda-style tonkotsu ramen where essentially only 3 types of broth were offered (all based on the same tonkotsu base though).

To start things off, we split an order of Gyoza which were crisped up with an appealing colour. I found the dumpling skin to be appealingly thin and chewy.  Inside, the pork, cabbage and scallion filling was moist and not overly dense.  As a baseline, Milhouse went for the Yakibuta Chashu Pork Ramen since it was essentially the classic tonkotsu ramen with extra pieces of chashu.  Made with specially-treated water, the pork broth was silky, slightly spicy and full-bodied in flavour.  Ultimately, the final product was determined by our own personal preferences as we could choose the firmness of the noodles, fattiness of the meat, amount of lard and spice level.

For myself, I had the Negi-goma Tonkotsu Ramen with fresh scallions, toasted sesame seeds and white sesame oil.  Interestingly, I didn't notice any sesame seeds at all, but the aromatic sesame flavour still came through thanks to the oil.  We all agreed that this was more impactful than the classic broth.  I went for the fatty chashu and it was buttery and really did melt-in-my-mouth.  I wasn't so fond of the egg as it was overdone.  As for the noodles, they were thin and chewy similar to Chinese shrimp egg noodles.  Since, the serving was pretty modest, I added a Yakibuta Takana Rice as well.  This was not bad with chewy rice and fatty tender pork.  However, there wasn't enough of it in my opinion since I felt as if I was eating mustard greens rice.

Lastly, Kaiser Soze went for the Blazing Hot Rekka Ramen with Ichimi Togarashi red pepper imported from Japan.  Claiming to be 5 times spicier than the regular ramen, I definitely felt the heat.  It wasn't unbearably spicy though as I could still taste the pork broth.  Since the menu at Ramen Danbo is pretty simple, we almost sampled everything they offered.  From that, we were happy with the broth, but the thin noodles were not our fancy though.

The Good:
- Silky and flavourful broth
- Focused menu
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Modest portions
- Noodles were not our favourite

Pizzeria Ludica & Game Room

Generally, eating out with a bunch of friends can be loads of fun.  Imagine the combination of great food, entertaining company and a lively atmosphere, what can be better?  Well, I guess if we were in Vegas or something it would be atmosphere x 10.  Well, what happens when you've run out of things to talk about when an awkward silence comes over the table?  Make some dirty jokes?  Well, that doesn't really work on Gadget Girl...  But how about some board games and Neapolitan-style pizza?  Yes, that is much more of her fancy.

We ended up going to Pizzeria Ludica and their selection of board games for our team year-ender. During our first attempt at playing a game, we were "hosted" by one of the staff, who gave tips and even got us going.  She came back to check on us every now and then.  We started with some simple items including an order of Olives.  Pretty standard with a mixture of green and black olives that were a nice snack.  We also got the Caprese Salad that was somewhat overdressed and looked murky.  Despite this, it didn't taste overdressed as the balsamic was not overpowering and in fact, a bit sweet.

With the perfect amount of 3, Milhouse, Emilicious and I shared the Meatballs.  These were moist and meaty with very little filler.  They were mildly seasoned, where the tomato sauce did all the heavy lifting.  Tart and acidic, the sauce was spiked with fresh basil.  Although the sauce was not particularly rich, it had enough fresh-tomato flavour to make up for it.  Next, we got the Italian Sausage Linguine.  Not completely evident in the picture, there was a good amount of sliced Italian sausage on the other side of the plate.  Combined with green peas and a zesty tomato sauce, this dish was not longing for impact.  It was a touch salty though.

Of course we couldn't ignore the pizza, so we ordered the basic Margherita.  With a decent amount of leoparding, the pizza crust did exhibited some nuttiness and smokiness.  The crust was pretty crispy throughout and chewy and tender in the middle.  I found the tomato sauce to be somewhat tangy while well-seasoned.  Not a bad effort.  We were able to sample Sweet Tooth's Spinach and Ricotta Pizza because she left without it.  This was not bad with plenty of spinach and creamy ricotta.  With a smattering of artichokes, there was a certain tanginess.  Due to the ingredients, the crust was a bit more wet in the middle.

For dessert, Milhouse and I shared the Tiramisu.  Unfortunately, this was not a very good version of the Italian dessert.  First of all, the ladyfingers were a bit dry and lacking coffee flavour.  Inexplicably, on the bottom, there was a super sweet layer of caramel that totally threw the flavour profile of the dessert off.  The creamy and light marscapone cream was good though. Dessert withstanding, the rest of our eats was serviceable enough, especially while enjoying some cool board games at the same time.

The Good:
- Lotsa fun games to play
- Serviceable food
- Solid service

The Bad:
- Food is serviceable but not remarkable
- Eating and playing games can get messy

Tasting Plates Cambie Village (presented by Vanfoodster)

After a few forays into the burbs, I was invited to participate in another Tasting Plates.  This time around it was in the familiar Cambie Village.  With most restaurants located in a concentrated area, it meant less driving and more time eating!  Seeing how I haven't connected with Sexi Mexi in awhile, she was my plus one for the night.  Good thing too as she added some legitimacy as she spoke flawless Spanish with the owner of Las Tortas.

The tasting plates started right away at the registration point of U & I Thai complete with a show featuring Thai dancers.  We were presented with a plate consisting of a Fish Taco with Thai sauce (whatever that is) and Green Curry with Chicken and rice noodle (but I got tofu for some reason).  With dense and chewy flatbread, the taco was not really that appealing texturally.  In fact, the fish was a bit mushy and devoid of any flakiness.  However, the green curry made up for everything being creamy and spicy.  There was definite flavours including coconut, galangal, shrimp paste and the aforementioned spice.  Strategically, we decided to hop on over to the farthest 2 restaurants to avoid the crowds.  We hit up Solly's Bagelry where they generously presented us with a platter of goodies including Cheese Danish, Apple Honey Rogoleh, Cinnamon Bun, Chocolate Babka, Potato Knish, Feta Cheese Boureka, Lavash, Sesame Bagel and Wild Sockeye Lox Shmear.  My favourite of the bunch was the potato knish as it was soft, warm and comforting.

We then strolled over to the nearby Edge Cafe for a collection of bites starting with the Cherry Tomato Stix with cream cheese.  We then moved onto a trio of items including West Coast Seafood Chowder, Butter Chicken and Pesto Chicken Sandwich. By far our favourite was the chowder as it was creamy without being thickened.  There was a significant amount of wild salmon which added a certain natural sweetness and appealing fishiness.  The butter chicken was a bit too mild for our tastes but the cilantro did add some aromatics.  As we were leaving, they sent us on our way with a White Chocolate Chunk Cookie.  Heading back to the start, we endured a short lineup for Pronto.  We ended up sitting outside to enjoy the trio of Baked Polenta with wild mushroom ragu, Meatball with pomodoro sauce and Crostini with gorgonzola walnut pesto.  Of the 3, I thought the meatball was the best where it was moist while still meaty.  The sauce was nicely tart and acidic that helped add both flavour and brightness.

Moseying down to Las Tortas, we were served a Tamataco consisting of slow roasted pulled pork filled tamal, chipotle salsa and cactus pico salad in a soft corn taco shell.  I enjoyed the tamale as it was moist while sporting a good amount of tender meat.  The combination of toppings added a certain brightness that was a little on the mild side.  Sexy Mexi thought it was okay despite not being served in the proper manner.  After this, we crossed the street and ended with dessert at the new location of Rain or Shine Ice Cream.  We had one each of the Blueberry Balsamic with seasonal berry compote and waffle cone pieces and Coconut Chocolate Chunk with vegan chocolate sauce.  Once again, the blueberry balsamic did its thing being sweet but nicely balanced by the impactful balsamic.  I thought the coconut chunk was good with mild aromatics, but it didn't stand a chance against the blueberry.  This was a nice end to a well-balanced Tasting Plates with enough savoury items to go with the sweet.

Tapenade Bistro

Joyce has been a fellow blogger and friend since we both began blogging around 7 years ago.  I started roughly half-a-year before she did and we attended our first ever restaurant tasting together as well.  Since then, we've been to many of the same events and have recently worked together for the Chinese Restaurant Awards blogger's choice category.  But all this time, we've never actually gone out on a "double-date" where we brought our better halves.  Well, it finally happened...  in Richmond no less, at Tapenade Bistro.

We got things going with 2 appies including the surprisingly good Grilled Vancouver Island Octopus with capicola, fingerling potato salad, carrot & citrus emulsion and pickled mustard seeds.  Tender with an appealing chew, the octopus was lightly seasoned where it could've used a bit more salt.  However, the rest of the ingredients picked up the slack with nice hits of acidity, sweetness and saltiness.  There was a hint of smokiness which we never did figure out from where.  Although not a major issue, the cold capicola slices seemed a bit lifeless (maybe a slight sear?).

Next, we had the appetizer portion of the Salish Sea Mussels in a Moroccan broth consisting of harissa, piperade, preserved lemon and mint.  As much as this was a pleasantly aromatic and somewhat spicy concoction, it could've been even more so.  The flavours were probably more conservative so that it would appeal to a wider audience.  As for the mussels themselves, they were fairly plump and cooked just enough.  We also added a side of hand-cut Kennebec Frites with aioli.  These were hot, crispy and almost fluffy inside.  They were aggressively salted and were fine on their own, even without the aioli.

For my entree, I had the Oven Roasted Halibut Filet with faro risotto, wild mushroom, grilled leek, Swiss chard and rhubarb.  Without exaggeration, this piece of fish was prepared almost flawlessly being flaky and moist with a crispy sear.  In addition to the perfect execution, the fish itself was fresh (which helped the cause as frozen halibut has a habit of drying out) and well-seasoned.  Underneath, the faro was toothsome while the chard was barely kissed by a hot pan.  As for Viv, she chose the Bouillabaisse consisting of Salish sea mussels, fresh fish, saffron & tomato broth and rouille on a crostini.  We found the broth lightly tomatoey while mild all-around including only a background briny essence.  The seafood was mostly on point except for the overcooked salmon.

Mr. (as Joyce likes to call him) had the Seared Albacore Tuna with chickpea panisse, roasted peppers, green olive, crudité vegetables and smoked tuna aioli.   This was a bountiful dish with expertly prepared tuna that was uniformly seared with a buttery soft rare centre.  With a sprinkle of salt, this was simple, yet naturally flavoured.  Interestingly, the chickpea panisse almost had a polenta quality. Joyce ended up with the 8 oz Heritage Angus Flank Steak with gratin potatoes, smoked bone marrow, broccoli, aged cheddar and braised shallot.  Although the steak itself was beautifully medium-rare and sufficiently tender, there was a piece of sinew that made things chewy.  We couldn't detect any smoked bone marrow in any components of the dish (we suspected the demi-glace).  The potato pave was neatly constructed with tender layers, but a bit more cheese and cream would've added a bit more moisture.


For dessert, I had the White Chocolate Panna Cotta with aerated chocolate, honey comb, blackberry and chocolate sable.  Light and creamy while not overly stiff, the panna cotta played second fiddle to the rest of the ingredients.  The firm crunch of the chocolate sable cookies was pleasing while the honeycomb added a crispy sweetness.  Viv decided on the Clafoutis with rhubarb, hazelnut streusel and buttermilk ice cream.  Although appearing quite large, the clafoutis itself was pretty shallow.  Good thing too as it was dense and thick.  It wasn't particularly sweet, but the ice cream and streusel helped in that regard.  This was probably my least favourite of our 4 desserts.

Joyce opted for the Lemon Tart with basil crème fraiche, strawberry curd and brown butter shortbread.  Although the shortbread crust was buttery and slightly nutty, it could've been more firm.  Inside, the lemon curd was appealingly tart while on the denser side of creamy.  The drops of basil crème fraiche were nice while the strawberry curd drops were tasty, but strangely not strawberry tasting.  A minor complaint would be the chewy dehydrated strawberry slices. Mr. went for the Brown Butter Financier with chamomile, honey yogurt, kumquat marmalade and crushed pecan.  The cake itself was on the denser side, yet exhibited a decent moistness with a crispy exterior crust.  It wasn't overly buttery, but there was a certain nuttiness, especially with the pecans.  We loved the marmalade as it was not overly sweet nor tart.  Overall, I was pretty surprised with the food (especially the mains) at Tapenade.  Not sure why it took so long to try it.

The Good:
- Generally on point proteins
- Decently-priced for the portion size
- Fairly good service

The Bad:
- Desserts were okay, but lagged behind the mains
- Service was pretty good, but was a little stretched when there were more customers

Pallet Coffee Roasters

Let's face it, as much as Groupon can be heavily criticized for an array problems, there are certain businesses that benefit. I'm not talking about the ones on their last breath because no amount of promotion can bail out a sinking ship.  If the coupon can bring awareness to a spot that actually serves up something good, then it can be a win-win situation.  This is especially true for places like Pallet Coffee Roasters (from all reports, great at what they do), where their location is somewhat hidden.  Honestly, I would've never visited the place without a Groupon (no, I do not get paid to say this).

We ended up dropping by for lunch since the last time we tried visiting the place, it was after 2:00pm and their sandwiches were unavailable.  To begin, we both had the Cafe Mocha in a medium size.  Obviously, a mocha isn't necessarily the best way to judge coffee, but we were in the mood for it.  With that being said, it was good being only purposefully sweet with a nice hint of chocolate. We still got the espresso hit in the background. As for the sandwiches, we began with the Beef Brisket constructed of bianca pane, remoulade, beef brisket, gruyere, caramelized onions and arugula.  This was surprisingly good with moist and tender beef slathered with enough creamy remoulade to make things a bit messy and adding some zing.  The added sweetness from the onions and nuttiness from the gruyere provided more layers of flavour.  What brought it together was the soft bread with a touch of chewy-crunchiness.

With a milder approach, the London Club featured organic sourdough, mayo, chicken breast, organic egg, ham, tomato, romaine, and mozzarella. Soft and tangy, the sourdough had a firm crust which helped hold the ample amount of well-salted egg salad in place.  Since the ingredients were more complimentary than overbearing, the subtle smokiness of the ham and brightness of the tomato were discernible.  This was a good sandwich, but the brisket was much more impactful.  We ended off with 2 pastries including the Double-Baked Almond Croissant.  This was fairly sweet with generous amount of almond filling.  Crispy with obvious laminated layers, the croissant itself was light and airy despite the double bake and filling.

Our second pastry was almost the same as the first being the Double-Baked Chocolate-Hazelnut Croissant.  This was just as sweet, if not more, than the almond croissant.  There was the unmistakable aroma of butter and hazelnuts to go along with the Chez Christophe chocolate.  In the end, I was pretty happy that I had purchased the Groupon.  Otherwise, we wouldn't have stumbled on this neat little place that serves up good eats to go with their coffee.

The Good:
- Solid all-around
- Low key vibe

The Bad:
- Sandwiches are a bit pricey (but good ingredients)
- Not the most obvious of locations

Pho Hoa (Kingsway)

With all the new Pho joints strewn throughout the GVRD, it is easy to sometimes forget one of the originals.  Yes, I'm talking about Pho Hoa (aka the McD's of Pho).  Recently, Pho Hoa has fallen on hard times where location after location has closed (making way for Pho Boi).  As much as I tend to dismiss Pho Hoa publicly, it does hold a place in my heart.  No, it isn't food, rather, Viv and I would frequent the place when we first started going out.  So I guess we returned mostly for ol' times sake because the place didn't look like it had been updated since.

I got the standard Pho Dac Biet and although I specifically said I wanted cilantro, they omitted everything from the broth.  Actually, for our entire menu, it appeared no one really understood what we wanted (like water and a knife).  Back to the pho, the broth was somewhat clean and pretty mild.  It wasn't bursting out with any discernible flavours.  With that being said, it didn't offend.  Noodles were okay while the meats did the job.  For Viv, she went for the Grilled Pork & Spring Roll on Vermicelli.  Inconsistently charred, the pork was super fatty and not appealing.  It did exhibit a smoky sweet taste where there was sufficient caramelization.  As for the spring roll, it was pretty standard but a tad greasy.

For the kiddies, they shared their favourite being the Lemongrass Chicken with Rice.  We added a fried egg on the side.  This was actually not bad with a well-marinated and juicy piece of deboned chicken leg.  The char was a bit more uniform here where there was smokiness to go with the sweetness.  We also got the Banh Mi Dac Biet for good measure and it was more or less decent with crunchy bread.  There was a enough ingredients including a good splash of fish sauce. Oh well, I guess we knew what to expect from a visit to Pho Hoa...  But at the very least, it was serviceable and for us, a walk down memory lane (although this lane needed some upkeep).

The Good:
- Predictable
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- So so
- Staff were okay, but didn't really understand what we wanted