Twin Bridges

Sometimes there are restaurants that are generally ignored by most people because of their operating hours and/or location.  The good ol' lunch spot in an industrial park lives out its lonely existence only to serve those who work nearby.  However, there are gems to be found that actually serve up more than the simple sandwich or pasta salad.  Case in point, 2 Chefs Richmond offers up a menu that screams out restaurant rather than a default lunch joint.  Also, there is Rod's in Burnaby that tries to offer up something different in gourmet burgers (but ironically, I prefer their sandwiches more).  The most recent lunch spot I hit was Twin Bridges out on Annacis Island.

Hot Mama and Zamboni Guy joined me on this food adventure which featured a "nicer" than most industrial complex restaurant decor.  Inexplicably, Hot Mama did her best Miss Y impersonation and had the Wonton Noodles.  Suffice to say, it sucked.  From the chicken bouillon broth to the undercooked noodles, these wonton noodles would've been best left in its uncooked state. Zamboni Guy went for something safer in the Bacon Cheeseburger.  This was fairly straightforward with a relatively moist patty.  Nothing to write home about, but it did the job without any complaints.  

For myself, I had something a bit different in the Schnitzel Club with a side of fries.  This thing was absolutely massive and barely fit into my mouth (okay, no sick jokes here!). As you can see, the cutlet was decent in size.  It was fried up crispy while still moist in the middle.  Add in crispy bacon, tomato, lettuce, mayo and properly toasted bread, it was a solid sandwich.  Although a bit generic, the fries were crispy with a good amount of potatoey goodness.  With this sandwich alone, I'd consider coming back, just stay away from the wonton noodles...

The Good:
- Nicely renovated interior
- Cheery staff

The Bad:
- Stay with the basics

Pho Extreme Xe Lua

Not long ago, there was a 24-hour Pho joint named Kim Penh Xe Lua on Broadway at Cambie.  I had visited it on several occasions because nothing else was open. For me, I thought the food was acceptable but hardly memorable.  Hey, what can you expect at 2am in the morning???  While on one of our very early morning food adventures after Friday night hockey (should it be called Saturday morning hockey?) at Kim Penh Xe Lua, the owner stated they were moving across the street.  And so they did, into the location formerly occupied by an AYCE Japanese joint.  So on another Saturday morning hockey game (yah, that's what I'll call it from now on), we headed over to their new digs and apparently new name (Pho Extreme Xe Lua).

We started with the Spring Rolls which sported a rice paper wrapper.  The small rolls were dense and only slightly crunchy while exhibiting a mild flavour.  It was pretty average.  For myself, I went for a large Phnom Penh Dry Rice Noodle and it was not really all that large.  The one thing that really annoyed me with this dish was that all of the ingredients were stone cold.  The crab stick and fish balls were seemingly just removed from the refrigerator.  Very unappealing in texture and taste. I hate cold sticks and balls!  Er... The noodles were okay though, being slightly chewy, however, I found the sauce quite salty.  Yes, I see the irony with cold, salty sticks and balls...  In fact, the Pho that Milhouse and Sweet Tooth were munching on was equally salty and very sweet.  I'm thinking too much MSG here.  Despite that, the noodles were good and the meats were sliced thin and tender.  Milhouse went for the extra large size and it didn't seem like much more food than the large.

Lionel Hutz had the Beef Stew and it was yes, salty as well.  He did remark there were other distinguishing flavours including a hint of spice.  The beef shank was really fork tender and moist.  Gordo had the Curry Chicken which was very flavourful as well, yet lacking in curry flavour.  The chicken had been braised to the point it was falling off from the bone.  He really wanted more rice than they had provided though.  Seeing how my noodles were not very substantial, I had the Special Sub as well.  Although dense, the bread was sufficiently crusty.  However, I would've liked to see some butter mayo and pate as the whole thing was rather dry.  There was only a splash of Maggi sauce to go with the sliced ham and pickled daikon and carrot.  This was a pretty average banh mi that was missing critical elements.  As you can clearly see, the food is passable, but not much more than that.  However, as stated, what can one expect from a 24 hour joint.  We were just thankful to eat food that didn't come from Denny's or Knight & Day...

The Good:
- Open 24 hours
- Good selection of eats
- Passable

The Bad:
- Only passable
- Not sure about the large and extra-large, sure didn't seem like it

Kimbab Cheonguk

Continuing our weekly assault on North Road restaurants, specifically hard to pronounce Korean joints, Slick, Big D and I made our way to Kimbab Cheonguk. Tucked in one of the many strip malls, this place is well-known for good value as well as tasty eats. Now, if you are a Korean cuisine novice, this might be a confusing place because the menu does not give any English descriptions of the food.  However, there are plenty of pictures.  So if you are good at picking out ingredients from photographs, than take the plunge!  For us, we are pretty well-versed with Korean fare.  In fact, Big D is married Korean, so he could be considered an honorary Korean! 

Now, the first thing one would notice about the place is the big pot of tea at the table.  Nope.  It ain't tea.  Look at the picture.  Yes, that was Soup pouring out of the spout into the metal cup. And it was hot and tasty too!  Now when I mentioned good value, I wasn't kidding.  Look at the Kim Bop.  That's 2 large rolls for $5.90!  And they were good too with a good balance of ingredients (sorta like the Korean version of a futomaki) and decently textured sushi rice. The Al Bap (Stone Bowl Rice) was fantastic in appearance with the plethora of tobiko on top.  Once mixed, the rice had a little of everything from sweet, salty, tangy and spice (when hot sauce was added).  I particularly like the rice crust as it was crunchy while not hard.  It really want well with the pop of the tobiko as well as the bite from the pickles.  I would gladly order this again.  

We also got an interesting dish I've personally never had before - Jang Teo Kook Bab, which consisted of rice, sprouts, scallions and beef in a savoury broth.  I found it quite flavourful with a meatiness and depth.  The meat was moist and with the addition of rice, it was filling. Lastly, we tried the  Mandoo Gook which was mild and full of big dumplings filled with glass noodles, meat and veggies.  The dumpling skin was soft while still maintaining its shape and integrity. At this point we were pretty stuffed and all for under $30.00 (excluding tip and tax).  Definitely one of the best values in town (if you like Korean food that is).

The Good:
- Cheap
- Good food
- Friendly people

The Bad:
- Limited and not very descriptive menu
- Limited seating

Double Double Chinese Restaurant

Signature dishes - these seem to define many of the restaurants in this town.  Not a bad strategy if you ask me.  Think of it, make something well and people will remember it, even if the rest of the food is forgettable. Or better yet, hype up a signature dish, even if it is pretty "meh".  And not surprisingly, people will still flock to try it because of the endless promotion.  I'm not saying we are all lemmings, but it is pretty obvious customers can identify with a certain product, it is forever memorable or associated with that restaurant.  Case in point, the former location of Double Double out on Kingsway was synonymous with their Yau Ja Gwei (Salty Donut).  Unfortunately, it met an untimely end due to a kitchen fire.  For many years, their outstanding salty donuts were nothing more than a fleeting memory.

Fast forward to the present and they have reopened (about half a year ago) in Richmond offering up the same things (and some others) that made them famous.  Once again, we made the trek out to driving hell for some grub (curse you good grub!).  And without further ado, we started out with their Yau Ja Gwei. What a complete letdown...  First of all, it was not fried to order, so it was stone cold.  Second, it was fried too long, where it became chewy and heavy.  This was not what we were looking for and really, there was no excuse for not making to order.  It's their signature item for heaven's sake!  Suffice to say, their Sweet Donut was not any better as it was even colder and more dense (because it is thicker).  Not impressed at all.  I realize they were packed and very busy, but if these are your signature items, put the effort to make them right.

Thankfully, another one of their more popular items was mostly prepared right, being the XO Fried Daikon Cake.  These were cut into strips, deep fried, then wok-fried with XO sauce and other seasoning.  That other seasoning was MSG as the whole dish was very salty and far too flavourful.  It was really too bad since the daikon cake was soft in texture with lots of daikon.  The exterior was lightly crisp kissed with a nice spice level.  Moving onto the Shrimp Rice Noodle Rolls, we found it a bit unusual for there to be slivers of Mo Gwah (Hairy Cucumber) mixed with the crunchy shrimp.  Whatever the case, they were soft and added so veggies to the dish.  As for the noodle, it was buttery soft with some elasticity.  I found it to be just the right texture.

Now with the 2 orders of donuts, it was only fitting to get a bowl of the Minced Beef Congee.  It arrived steaming hot and really thick, however, it appeared to be due to the addition of starch.  That made the congee a goupy thick rather than a smooth thick.  The plethora of tender beef mixed with fried mung bean thread was good, but we couldn't get over the amount of MSG they used.  Boy was this far too flavourful... And along with the congee, we got another specialty being the Wonton Noodles.  This was good with chewy al dente noodles nestled in a flavourful sweet broth. The wontons featured whole crunchy shrimp which packed a whole lot of natural flavour.  While we were perusing the menu, we noticed that the Sweet & Sour Pork was described as "soooo good!".  Okay, we'll see about that...  Yes, they were pretty good being crispy on the outside while juicy on the inside.  There was probably too much sauce on the plate, but at least it was balanced where the sweet and sour were distinctive.

We added a few things at the end including the Stir-Fried Crystal Noodles with Beef.  It arrived glistening like a teenager's forehead.  And yup, it was super greasy and OMG salty.  Both MSG and soy were used liberally in this dish.  Too bad since it was good otherwise with nicely textured noodles and tender beef. We finished off the meal with something sweet (with no MSG) in the Steamed Sponge Cake.  It was semi-sweet, rich (from the lard I'm sure...) and fluffy.  Thankfully this was a mild finish to an extremely salty meal.  Don't get me wrong here, there were some good eats, but with the salt and MSG content in the food, it eroded our overall experience.  Not to mention, the disappointing donuts.  We had high hopes, but ultimately, they failed to deliver a complete meal.

The Good:
- Despite the MSG/salt content, there is good food here
- Quick expedition of dishes
- Really large menu (if that is what you like)

The Bad:
- Too much MSG and salt
- Not made-to-order donuts
- Servers were friendly, but completely over-extended

Crystal Palace

Once upon a time...  There was this restaurant named Tasty Village.  It was located in a corner mall which also housed #1 Beef Noodle House and a sushi restaurant.  Unfortunately, that location was the kiss of death as there are absolutely no close by parking spots along Willingdon nor Moscrop.  Sure, there was a parking lot, but with only enough spots for a 7-11, many would just drive up the slope to Metrotown for more accessible eats.  Well, as you can guess, Tasty Village bit the dust, much like the sushi restaurant.  Now, the newest restaurant attempting to make it work is Crystal Palace.  And guess what?  We couldn't find parking when we tried to visit the place!  Predictable.  Resorted to parking at the street behind and blindly making our way through the mini-forest to the restaurant.

Being a Shanghainese joint, we ordered accordingly starting with the Braised Pork Shank. Huh? How did this dish come out so quickly??? I was a bit skeptical.  Naturally, this dish was pre-made, but for me, I expected a longer period of time for them to heat it up.  My suspicions were correct as the meat was lukewarm at best.  Hence, the texture wasn't exactly moist, although it was far from being tough.  On the positive side of the ledger, the skin/fat was nicely done with a soft gelatinous texture with a rich colour.  However, the sauce was more salty than anything.  It was too "dark soy" tasting.  Something I didn't expect to be one note was the Hot & Sour Soup.  Despite the dark, rich colour, the soup had no depth.  Instead, there was far too much black vinegar which put the flavours out-of-balance.  It must be noted that we requested it to be less spicy, but even with that taken into account, it was far too sour. Moreover, the seafood was fishy and severely overcooked. Up next was something for the kiddies being the Noodles in Soup with Chicken.  Naturally, this was a really mild dish with a slightly sweet broth.  Viv thought it was rather bland, but that could've been the whole point.  The noodles were nicely chewy though and the dark meat was cooked just right.

Something that was far from being cooked right was the 4 Seasons Green Beans.  Sorry, I can't candy-coat this one - it sucked.  The beans were woefully overcooked (probably oil-blanched and/or wok fried too long).  Therefore, the beans were mushy and not appealing at all.  The flavours were rather muted as well since there was no meat in the dish.  There was no depth, not much spice and completely flat.  Next to hit the lazy Susan was the Beef Pancake Roll.  Despite the appealing pan-fried spotting, the pancake itself was far too thick and dense.  Therefore, it negated whatever crispiness that was achieved by the pan fry.  It was really too bad since the thinly sliced beef shank was moist and tender with just enough hoisin to taste.  Served with steamed buns, the Smoked Tea Duck was both good and bad.  First off, I really liked how there was a noticeable smoky flavour (unlike many other places).  However, the duck was fried too long rendering it into an oily mess with meat that was dry and stringy.  

Lastly, we had the Xiao Long Bao which were disappointing.  The dumpling skin was thick and doughy while there was a general lack of soup (which was sweet without any other distinguishing flavours).  Furthermore, there was a bunch of cabbage mixed in with the meat which not only made for a weird flavour, the texture was not right either.  Well, there is no nice way to say it, so I'll say it.  The food is below average here and considering the parking issues, I fear they have an uphill battle that is much worse than the climb up WIllingdon...

The Good:
- Decent pricing
- Although not very attentive, staff was friendly

The Bad:
- Food is below-average
- Parking sucks 

Winner of Doolin's Draw!

Congratulations to Brian S for winning the $50.00 gift card from Doolin's!  Please email me at admin@
shermansfoodadventures.com and provide me a mailing address.

Tairyou Ichiba

"That restaurant with the big wood door", exclaimed Mr. X as queried where Tairyou Ichiba was located.  Oh yah, the place formerly known as Kura right next to Bubble World on Kingsway.  Heck, I never got to try Kura before it closed...  Oh well, I guess Tairyou Ichiba it is.  I always assumed that the inside would be nicely appointed because the big wood door looked so majestic.  However, when I walked in, the place looked much more sparse than I could ever imagine.  It's like someone with caked-on makeup, waking up the next morning could result in a total surprise!  Anyways, I was here to try the food, so the decor was not really all that important. 

Another thing I realized pretty quickly was the relatively low prices.  This could mean one of 2 things, either this would be a great deal or mediocre food.  I guess we'd need to eat to find out!  We started with the Toro Nigiri, which was okay in terms of the fish - it had a pleasing texture and taste.  But the rice was not my cup of tea.  It was dry and salty.  Yes, salty.  Not something one would associate with good sushi rice.  That was further exacerbated by the overwhelming amount of it in the Aburi Salmon Oshi.  I gotta declare that Miku and Minami have nothing to fear with this version of the dish.  In fact, they might want to encourage people to try it at Tairyou Ichiba so they can see for themselves how good they have it at Miku and Minami.  This one here had enough rice to make 2 portions let alone one.  Yet worst of all, they put slivered raw onions atop the barely seared salmon (only 2 pieces and on one corner).  The sharpness of the onions, as well as the plethora of pickled ginger in the pressed sushi, totally overwhelmed the salmon.  Moreover, there was an absence of moisture which made it hard to eat.  It really need some sauce. This was a complete fail in my books.

Moving on from the terrible roll, the meal was actually half-decent.  The Assorted Sashimi (for a reasonable price of $28.00) was better than we expected.  Nothing on the plate was bad, in fact, some of it was quite good.  I especially liked the Amberjack and Hamachi.  Not really all that enthused about the Tuna as it was not a good mushy. The fried shrimp heads were a treat though. Although the batter for the Ebi Mayo was not crispy enough for our tastes, the dish as a whole was decent.  The shrimp were large, deveined and had a decent snap.  I would've preferred to have more mayo because there was an overall lack of flavour and moisture. Lastly, we had the Grilled Saba and it was done nicely.  It had a nice char while still being moist inside. For the items we tried, most were acceptable except for the sushi as the rice was not very good.  Personally, I believe the one thing that will attract customers are their low prices.

The Good:
- Low prices
- Good portion size
- Decent service

The Bad:
- Sushi rice needs some work
- Aburi Salmon Oshi should be avoided

Pho Tau Bay (Newton)

My first experience with Pho Tau Bay was back at its original location near Guildford.  I can't say that I came away impressed despite the rave reviews by others.  The broth was overly ladened with MSG for my tastes.  Now with a new location in the heart of Newton, it seemed like a good time for me to make a redo of sorts, albeit with much nicer digs.  Yes, the place is new from the ground up, hence, it's clean, modern and inviting.  A total opposite of the other location with bench seating that was shifting as I was eating.  On a side note, the modernness of this location could give Pho on Chopsticks a run for its money, yet at the same time, charging significantly less money at the same time...

Much like last time, I went for 2 dishes, which surprised the friendly server.  He looked at me like I was nuts.  Well, I guess he had good reason since the Pho Dac Biet was a healthy portion.  It had a good amount of noodles and tender slices of meat.  I found the broth to be much lighter on the MSG this time around, yet still exhibiting some meatiness.  Unlike many other lighter versions, I could really taste the star anise and cloves.  An all-around solid bowl of Pho in my books.  I particularly liked the addition of saw leaf herb atop the usual sprouts and basil.  

The Grilled Chicken on Rice was even larger which ultimately led to leftovers.  The three moist pieces of grilled chicken were charred nicely which was both aesthetically-pleasing and tasting.  I really got the smokiness of the char while the chicken was seasoned just enough.  The broken rice was firm while still soft. This was a pleasing end to a meal that was both inexpensive AND served in a clean and modern environment.  Makes me wonder how Pho on Chopsticks can charge almost double for essentially the same thing (with both places being similar and somewhat closeby).

The Good:
- Clean, modern digs
- Very friendly service
- Decent eats

The Bad:
- Not really anything unless you don't like Vietnamese food...