Morton`s Steakhouse

*UPDATE* Morton's of Vancouver is now permanently closed as of October 3rd.

How many times do I need to celebrate my birthday? Well, if it involves eating, I will celebrate it as many times as people want to go out to eat with me! Many of my friends have told me that their experience at Morton's has been good, so I really had an itching to go. It was one of 3 steakhouses in Vancouver that are on my wishlist, which includes Gotham and Hy's as well. I was telling Costanza (who joined me at Morton's) that it would be very cool to drive up to the valet at any one of these restaurants in my black SUV with dubs. Then Costanza bursts my bubble by saying that it would be cool, until everyone saw the 2 child seats in the back. Ouch! Back to reality!!!

Anyways, I must say that first and foremost, the service is outstanding at Morton's. It was friendly, unpretentious and attentive. The dining room was classy in a New York/Chicago style; yet it was understated and inviting. The prices at Morton's are consistent with an upscale steakhouse, with steaks being around $50 and up and sides being extra. Unknown to many, especially my friend Whipping Girl (who recently ate there), there is a Steak and Seafood dinner for 2 that costs $119. It includes a selection of Morton's most popular dishes in a set meal. Each person has a choice of salad, either a Caesar or Morton's Salad; a choice of seafood, either Broiled Sea Scallops, Colossal Shrimp Alexander or Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes; a choice of 1 potato and 1 vegetable to share; a single-cut Filet Mignon; and a choice of dessert, either Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake or Key Lime Pie. Whipping Girl ordered almost the exact same dinner at the a la carte prices in the menu!!! Suffice to say, she was choked; however, she doesn't regret it since the food was good.

Before our meal, we ordered some oysters on the half-shell to start. They were extremely fresh and sweet. They were accompanied by tobasco, seafood sauce, horseradish, lemon and saltine crackers. I start the meal for 2 with the Morton's salad which is a variety of lettuce tossed in blue cheese dressing, topped with chopped egg and anchovies. The lettuce was extremely fresh and crisp; however the salad itself was tossed unevenly. I had some pieces that were slathered in dressing and I just had to leave them on the plate. The others had the Caesar and it was pretty average, with the salad being watery. Then came my Filet Mignon accompanied by the Colossal Shrimp Alexander. My filet was perfectly cooked at medium-rare. The meat was very tender and every bite was buttery smooth. The Colossal Shrimp Alexander consists of 3 butterflied giant shrimp which are breaded and fried, resting on a beurre blanc sauce. The shrimp should really be called prawns since they are really large and meaty. They were cooked nicely, being crispy outside and not overcooked on the inside. However, there was just too much beurre blanc sauce for my liking. Viv had the scallops wrapped in bacon, which came with an apricot chutney. The scallops were sweet, but were a bit overcooked. The bacon on the outside was extremely crunchy and a bit burnt; that detracted from the dish. Viv did not like the apricot chutney since it had hints of horseradish. But I personally like horseradish and thought the chutney was good.

We ended up sharing the 4 side dishes amongst ourselves and they included steamed asparagus, steamed broccoli, french fries and a jumbo baked Idaho potato. The asparagus and broccoli were steamed just enough, so they still maintained a healthy green colour and some firmness. The vegetables were extremely fresh and sweet. They were accompanied by hollandaise sauce which was okay; but it would have been better with some more lemon juice. That would be the same for the Bearnaise sauce that accompanied the Filet Mignon too. The french fries were surprisingly good, being crisp on the outside, but maintaining a good potato taste and consistency on the inside. The baked potato was the biggest one I have ever seen before in my life. It was so fluffy and soft on the inside, it just melted in my mouth. It was the best baked potato I've even had.

For dessert, we all chose the Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake served with Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream. The chocolate cake was moist and very good. On the inside, there was molten chocolate oozing out. I liked the cake, but with every bite, it became a bit too sweet for my liking. Overall, the meal at Morton's was satisfying, especially at the price we paid. There were some issues with some of the dishes; but nothing major. The steaks, which is their specialty were outstanding and so was their service.

The Good:
- Steaks were excellent
- Service was outstanding and unpretentious
- Ambiance was classy and intimate
- Expediting of the food was spot on

The Bad:
- Some of the food, other than the steaks, has it's issues
- Parking is scarce or expensive (although the valet was reasonable at $7)
- Can be pricey if you don't have the dinner for 2 special

Morton's
750 W Cordova St
Vancouver, B.C.
(604) 915-5105
www.mortons.com

Business Hours:
5:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon - Thu & Sun)
5:00pm - 11:00pm (Fri - Sat)

Vivo! Gelato

*This location is now closed*

After a satisfying meal at Hapa Izakaya, I was messaged by Miss Y on my Blackberry. She was with a few of my softball teammates at The Eatery and wanted me to drop by to say hi. Well, having nothing better to do, I went there and said hi. Not sure why I actually drove there to say hi, when I could've called or just texted. Now being well into the west side of Vancouver, we decided to go visit my favourite gelato place, Vivo! Gelato. I personally think Vivo is better than most of the other gelato places in town (La Casa, Bellagio, Amato); however, I do think that Mondo Gelato is good too.

Just like all the other popular gelato places in town, Vivo makes their gelato fresh in small batches with fresh ingredients. Unbeknownst to many people, gelato is made with milk, not cream. Thus, the milk fat is only around 10%. The reason gelato is so creamy is that air is limited it is being churned in the machine, resulting in a more dense, richer product. I've tried most of the flavours at Vivo and I've liked most of them. However, it's all personal preference, I may like some flavours that some other people may not like and vice versa. The flavours I do like are coconut, tiramisu, pistachio, white chocolate raspberry, blueberry cheesecake and green tea. The sorbetto at Vivo is very good too, it's so creamy you'd think it was made with milk ingredients, which it's not. I like the passionfruit, pineapple, green apple, lemon and lychee. However, some flavours are on rotation and you might not see it all the time.

The thing I look for in a gelato or sorbetto is that you can taste the flavour of the main ingredient and it's not too sweet. Vivo achieves this with strong flavours, balanced tartness (in the tart flavours) and just enough sweetness. Another positive of Vivo is that there are ample and comfortable places to sit (similar to a Bread Garden). I can't really stand places like La Casa and Amato where there are limited places to sit. Unlike some people, I am not a big fan of standing/sitting/squating outside and eating my gelato. Although the Oakridge location of Vivo has limited seating as well, it's in a mall, so you have plenty of other options. If you are in the neighbourhood, I wouldn't hesitate to try it out.

The Good:
- Creamy, good tasting gelato and sorbetto
- Comfortable seating (mostly Kerrisdale location)
- Reasonable prices

The Bad:
- Locations not centrally located for the rest of GVRD (need one East Van/Burnaby)
- Some flavours are not available all the time

Vivo! Gelato
5395 West Boulevard
Vancouver, B.C.
604-266-7637
www.vivogelato.com

Business Hours:
11:00am - 9:30pm (Mon - Thu)
11:00am - 10:30pm (Fri - Sat)
1:00pm - 9:00pm (Sun)

Phnom Penh

What a hidden gem (quoting Snake) Phnom Penh happens to be in the darker regions of Vancouver's Chinatown. If you are a foodie in the GVRD, you must know about Phnom Penh. There used to be another location on Broadway near Oak, but it was shut down more than 5 years ago. Now we are left with their one location which is endlessly busy. Phnom Penh seems to fill a niche in the Vancouver restaurant scene. There are plenty of Vietnamese restaurants around, but what sets Phnom Penh apart is that it is also a Cambodian restaurant too. Therefore, the menu is an eclectic mix of foods not usually found anywhere else.

Rich Guy and Vandelay have frequented Phnom Penh a lot over the years, but not recently. So we make the trek into Chinatown for some grub. The restaurant itself is very non-descriptive on the outside, you can easily miss it driving or even walking by. It's not a very big place, and that makes for long waits if you come during dinner time. The one signature dish at Phnom Penh is their fried chicken wings. We order it every time and it was delicious as usual. It's fried perfectly with a crispy coating over the juicy meat inside. The lemon pepper dipping sauce is an excellent accompaniment to the dish. Somehow with the addition of a bit of acidity to the wings, it comes alive. We also ordered the Butter Beef and although it's one of the more popular dishes, it was a definite miss. The beef is essentially raw and is exposed to high heat only slightly before serving. For raw beef to be good, it must be awfully tender and sliced thin. However, the beef was sliced a bit thick and it wasn't too tender. Also, it could be just me, but there is way too much cilantro on the beef, it kills any other flavour that is supposed to be present. It's the same idea as a beef carpaccio, you wouldn't kill the delicate flavours with loads of herbs and sauce. One more appetizer-type dish we ordered was the Banh Cuon or steamed rice noodles filled with ground pork and wood ear mushrooms. It is served with a side of Cha Lua (Vietnamese ham) and Nuoc Cham, which is sweet fish sauce with a touch of lemon/lime or vinegar. The rolls tasted good, but the rice noodles were a bit stiff compared to other Banh Cuon that I've had.

We ordered the Luc Lac Beef with Egg on Rice, which is cooked tender beef on a bed of rice with a fried egg. The dish is a little different than how I remembered it, since the beef seemed to be in smaller slices and it was swimming in sauce. Don't get me wrong, it still tasted good, but just seemed a bit different. We also had the dry egg noodles which are topped with shrimp, minced pork, dry shrimp, sliced pork, sliced liver, cilantro and green onions. It is served with a side of pork bone soup and that in itself is delicious. The noodles are just the right texture, being the right level of chewiness. The ingredients work well together and it's actually one of my favourite dishes at Phnom Penh. Lastly, the Deep Fried Squid is prepared similarly to the chicken wings served with the same sauce. The squid is tender and fried really crispy.

The service at Phnom Penh is efficient; but just like any other Asian restaurant of this class, it's impersonal. One major problem I have with Phnom Penh is that it really needs to be cleaned up. The dining room itself is pleasant enough, but the hallway to the washrooms and the washrooms themselves are unappealing. I realize that it's quite typical of Asian restaurants to have nasty washrooms, but it is an observation I won't ignore. Overall, it was another satisfying visit to Phnom Penh. I think Phnom Penh is a definite "must-visit" if you are in Vancouver.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- More hits than misses in terms of food
- Unique dishes

The Bad:
- Not the most appealing location; sketchy area at night
- Washrooms and hallway are just bad
- Long waits during peak hours

Phnom Penh
244 East Georgia Street
Vancouver, B.C.
(604) 682-5777

Business Hours:
10:00am - 9:00pm (Mon - Thu)
10:00am - 10:00pm (Fri - Sun)

Honolulu Cafe

That's it, 4 losses in a row. This is becoming sad. I guess our once powerhouse of a hockey team has withered away into mediocrity. Time to sign some free agents! Get rid of the goalie... er... Wait, scratch that. Anyways, only 3 of us were wanting to go for eats tonight (or should I say morning). You see, these 10:30pm games are not exactly the ideal situation for eating afterwards. There are still some places we haven't been to that are open; but for some reason or another, we made our way back to Honolulu Cafe. It was either that or Gold Train Express next door. Milhouse shuddered and chimed in his opposition to that idea.

Open until 1:00am on Friday, Honolulu Cafe is a Hong Kong-style cafe, which serves up Chinese food, Hong Kong style-Western food, and other variations of other ethnic foods such as curry. The late night menu is a bit different from the regular menu as it has slightly smaller portions; yet it includes a drink of your choice such as Ovaltine, Horlicks, pop, iced tea etc... There is also a set meal that you can choose either 2 ($11.95) or 3 ($14.95) items which is served sizzling on a hot plate. The meal also includes choice of soup, garlic toast, a side of spaghetti or rice, choice of sauce and a choice of drink. For some reason or another, I love these types of meals. Sure, most of the items only have a passing resemblance to what you would find at a non-Asian restaurant; but I don't mind it (especially if there is beef tongue!) I chose the 2 items meal, settling on the Chicken Steak & 5oz Ribeye Steak. I got my Borscht first and if you ever had this at a HK-style cafe before, you'll know that it is not borscht. Rather, it is tomato soup (no beets) with a bit of tang. This was no different in this case, in fact, it was too tangy. The dish itself included fries and vegetables as well. Usually, when we find "steak" at most Chinese restaurants, it is merely a piece of crappy meat tenderized the heck out of with baking soda. In this case, I was happy that it was not. Rather, the meat had the texture of meat and it was cooked perfectly. The chicken steak (a deboned leg) was tender and juicy. Another shocker came in the form of barely cooked cauliflower and carrots (no mushy veggies!). I asked for black pepper sauce and it wasn't really all that peppery. And considering that I had a side of spaghetti as well, there wasn't enough sauce to go around.

If that wasn't enough, I also had the Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice (this is an acquired taste) . For $6.50, I thought the dish was a good value. There was lots of tender strips of chicken in the rice and I thought it tasted pretty good. Lots of salted fish too. The rice itself had a nice dry and chewy texture. Fried rice should be slightly dry, where you can differentiate each grain of rice while you eat it. This is the result of high wok temperature (wok hay) and the use of day-old rice. But one thing I couldn't let go was the amount of oil used. The rice glistened like the forehead of a pubescent male teenager. Milhouse surprisingly bypassed the salted fish & chicken fried rice (his favourite) and tried out the Malaysian Seafood Fried Rice. I sampled it and there was good flavour, not spicy; but definitely well-seasoned. Lots of shrimp, squid and imitation crab meat nestled within the rice as well. What I said about my fried rice applies to this one too. Good; but too much grease. Apu had the Satay Beef Instant Noodles. Yes, that is not a typo, he really did have instant noodles. Apparently he likes the texture over rice noodles. He liked how flavourful it was (and a bit spicy), as well as the barely cooked noodles.

The food in general at Honolulu, whether it be lunch, dinner or late night, is decent. If you don't expect gourmet food, then you'll be satisfied, especially at the price you pay. Service is efficient and as good as it gets in a restaurant like this. However, I was a bit grossed out by the condition of the restaurant itself. The dining room looks disheveled and the walls really need a cleaning. But other than that, Honolulu Cafe is a decent place to have a quick, inexpensive meal.

The Good:
- Good value
- Food is acceptable for the price
- Efficient, if not sparse service

The Bad:
- Restaurant is in need of cleaning
- Food is greasy
- Parking lot is only good for really narrow cars

Honolulu Cafe
3340 Kingsway
Vancouver, B.C.
(604) 438-8632

Top Gun Sushi

*This restaurant is closed*

Had a little more time for lunch today and reflected on all the food I had eaten in the last couple of weeks. Boy, was I feeling guilty! I really needed something that would be healthier, lighter and would rid me of the guilt. Naturally we decided on all-u-can-eat sushi! The closest one was Top Gun Sushi in New Westminster. I have been to this place many times and it is generally an okay place to have lunch and dinner. I definitely prefer Fish on Rice, despite their poor service.

Top Gun sushi is actually one of 3 Japanese restaurants run by the same company, they include Kingsway Sushi and Richmond Sushi. All of them are not run by true Japanese people, but if you are cognizant of that, you probably would not expect authenticity. I often wonder what the staff would do if someone actually wanted to order in Japanese? It would be like walking into a Chinese restaurant and the staff are Italian. Anyways, as mentioned in my other review of Kingsway Sushi, there are 2 menus for dinner. One is the regular AYCE and there is a deluxe AYCE. Although the deluxe AYCE has substantially more choice, it is not worth it if you do not like raw food. If you mainly like the cooked food with sushi rolls, stick with the regular menu. You will be paying a $6 premium for things you probably won't eat.

The AYCE lunch is a good value at $10.95. I know some people will argue that the Japanese food is generic, not authentic, mass produced, not refined etc... Let me state that $10.95 will get you only a burger and fries at most places (if you are lucky). So my colleague and I ordered quite a few things for lunch (since I want to eat less...). The Salmon Nigiri Sushi was fresh and had a good amount of fat, which I personally like (it tastes better and has a buttery quality). The Beef and Chicken Teriyaki came swimming in sauce and were a bit cold. The Oyster Motoyaki was also luke warm, but at least the oyster was fresh and it tasted alright. The sushi rolls (California Roll, BC Roll and Dynamite Roll) were pretty standard fare, neither very good or offensive. The Shrimp Bombs (which are minced shrimp balls coated with bread crumbs) were alright, the shrimp is barely noticeable since it has lost its texture and flavour from being ground up. They remind me of a Chinese Dim Sum dish called Shrimp Toast. Although the Gyoza was pan fried with a well browned bottom, I never have liked these AYCE Gyozas. They are way too stiff and are bland. The Chicken Karaage was fried nicely with a crispy skin and moist, juicy interior. The Ika or calamari were big rings of squid, but they were a bit chewy and salty. The highlight of lunch was surprising the Black Cod Collars. No, there aren't a bunch of collarless cods swimming around; rather these are the leftover pieces that are not used during dinner service. But unknown to many people, this is probably one of the tastiest parts of any fish (it's soft and a bit chewy at the same time).

The dining room at Top Gun is spacious and has nice views of the Fraser River. The restaurant was not always a Japanese restaurant, previously it was a bar/restaurant. Thus, it's strange to see the remnants of the old bar with the mural of cowboys splashed on the North wall of the restaurant. Essentially you have a Chinese-run Japanese restaurant in a Saloon. In front of the cowboy mural, there is a salad bar where you can serve yourself to Edamame (soy beans), green salad, spicy bean sprouts, cold whole shrimp, Sunomomo salad (vermicelli in a vinegar dressing) and mango pudding. The service is efficient since the staff uses PDAs to take your order, it goes directly to the kitchen. Overall, I would say the food at Top Gun Sushi is average at best. However, it is a real good value, especially if you take into account the environment, cleanliness and decent service.

The Good:
- Good value, especially at lunch
- Efficient service
- Comfortable dining room with a view
- Validated parking

The Bad:
- Food is pretty average
- Some dishes were cold
- For the same price, you get less selection than some other AYCE restaurants

Top Gun Sushi
#230 - 810 Quayside Drive
New Westminster, B.C.
604 523-3474
www.topgungroup.com

Business Hours:
11:30am - 2:30pm, 5:30pm - 10:00pm (Wed - Mon)

Charlie Don't Surf

It's a bright winter day here in the lower mainland with the threat of snow tomorrow. Living all my life here in the GVRD has taught me one thing - if there is sunshine, you'd better take advantage of it. Thought long and hard of where to eat for lunch today and we drew a blank. Looked in the Entertainment book and alas, Charlie Don't Surf! What better place to spend a lunch hour than the sunny surroundings of the strip in White Rock! I hadn't been to Charlie Don't Surf in ages and we made the trek there for lunch. The dining room at Charlie Don't Surf is quite eclectic, with a bit of everything. It almost looks like a garage sale; yet it comes across as inviting. We were lucky to have a seat right by the window to enjoy the spectacular view of the water. On a sunny day, there is nothing better than the view on the main strip in White Rock. We decided on 2 appetizers, Dry Ribs and Calamari. The dry ribs were plentiful and meaty. Unlike most other places, the ribs were actually ribs and were not the cartilage type (which are not as easy to eat and are more fatty). The calamari was a miss, it was plentiful and tasted quite good. But, it was a bit greasy and there was more batter than squid. For our entrees, I had the West Coast Bouillabaisse, which had a generous amount of shrimp, halibut, salmon, prawns, clams and mussels. The extremely fresh seafood was bathed in a saffron spicy tomato pernod broth. The broth was outstanding, it was a complex combination of flavours - fresh tomatoes, basil, licorice (from the pernod), seafood (naturally), and a hint of saffron. No flavour was too strong to overwhelm the dish. Despite the rather messy appearance of the dish, do not let that fool you, it's very tasty! My colleagues had the Halibut and Chips and the Chicken Burger. The halibut had a very light batter which was not oily at all. The fish was again, very fresh. However, the fries were not very good. The chicken burger was a butterflied breast and was cooked perfectly, still maintaining a juicy texture. After our meal, we were completely stuffed, the portions are more than adequate and the prices are reasonable. However, the food definitely is not gourmet. You come here for the view and the late night. The service was friendly and efficient, our drinks were refilled promptly and our food was expedited properly. Charlie Don't Surf is a decent place to eat; but there are better choices on the strip in White Rock.

The Good:
- Good portions for the price
- Great view
- Good service

The Bad:
- Food is hit and miss
- Parking could be an issue
- Dining room is a bit tight
- Charlie don't know food presentation

Charlie Don't Surf
15782 Marine Drive
White Rock, B.C.
(604) 538-1988
www.charliedontsurf.ca

Business Hours:
11:00am - Late (7 days a week)

Lin Chinese Cuisine and Teahouse

We planned to visit my grandmother-in-law at Vancouver General where she's recovering from hip surgery. Funny how she thinks that she didn't have the surgery because her hip hurts. We tried convincing her that it hurts because of the surgery, but she insists it hurts because it wasn't operated on. Go figure. Anyways, she seemed quite docile today, maybe she has accepted that she's actually had the surgery? Of course anytime I have an excuse to go out, eating at a restaurant is in the plans. We took advice from Snake, who recommended Sushi Town to me and went to Lin Chinese Cuisine on Broadway near Granville. He had heard a friend raving about this place and relayed the information to me. Of course I had to try it!

The one thing that defines Lin is their handmade fresh noodles and Xiao Long Bao. We started with with a fairly large bowl of Hot & Sour Soup (a pretty good value at $5.99). On the surface, the soup looked pretty appetizing with a nice rich colour and plenty of ingredients. However, we felt that there was way too much sesame oil and not enough hot & sour. Therefore, the flavours were not remotely balanced. Good soup; but not hot & sour at all. Of course, a visit to Lin cannot go without having their famous Xiao Long Bao. Recently voted the #1 XLB in Vancouver (as of 2010), these teamed Shanghainese soup dumplings are indeed very good. With a super thin dumpling skin and bursting with juice (more like pork gelatin), these were comparable with those from Shanghai River and Shanghai Wonderful. Depending on your personal preference, there can be a debate about which one is the best.

One dish we got that was a little off-topic, since it's not exactly related to the other Shanghainese-style Dim Sum items, was the Honey Prawns. Usually found on appetizer platters in a Chinese wedding meal, these fried prawns are tossed in a mayo-honey sauce. The result is a predominantly sweet product. In this case, the prawns were cooked perfectly crunchy and there was just enough sauce. The Szechuan Beef Noodles arrived in a mildly spicy broth, and had a generous helping of tender beef. The noodles themselves were fresh, being quite soft. A solid bowl of noodles; but it was missing something. Probably a bit more spice would've intensified the broth. We got a bowl of the Chicken Noodles for the kiddies (not something I'd particularly want to order for myself). It arrived in a very flavourful chicken broth. Despite tasting very much like a rich chicken soup, I couldn't get over the fact it maybe the result of MSG. I hope I'm wrong... The noodles were accompanied by strips of chicken and vegetables. The kids like it and in fact, so did the adults, which is rare since we are not that usually that enthused with chicken anything.

Another popular Shanghainese Dim Sum dish has got to be the Potstickers. So, why not, we ordered some of those too. Nicely plated, these arrived golden brown on the bottom - exactly how they should be. The nice crisp bottom is a nice textural contrast with the rest of the soft dumpling. Although these are not known for their juice like the XLB, there was a decent amount of juiciness. Combined with an excellent filling with a good balance of pork and veggies, these were quite good. Last but not least, the carb overload continued with an order of the Shanghainese Stir-Fried Rice Cake. Just like the name implies, the dish consists of sliced rice cake (which is very similar to the Japanese mochi) which is stir-fried in dark soy accompanied by spinach and pork. Exemplified by good "wok hay" (or a really hot wok), there was a nice caramelized flavour while the spinach was still crisp.

Service at Lin is generally quite friendly; albeit the staff are very busy and overworked. For a small restaurant, the 4 staff members should be sufficient, but they always seem a bit hurried. Decor seemed updated, but the orange walls seemed a bit odd to me. Not sure if there was a clearance sale after Halloween on paint. Also, it seemed that the renovations ended at the washrooms. It was like walking from Yaletown into a Vancouver Parks and Recreation public washroom in one trip. Despite being clean, the washrooms are old and in need of updating. Parking could be an issue with Lin because it's in a very busy area of Broadway; so there is limited street parking. The food in general is not bad for Vancouver; but may have a hard time competing with Richmond.

The Good:
- Excellent Xiao Long Bao
- Good prices considering the prime location
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- The staff are hurried and always busy
- Parking is scarce
- Dining room is super cramped

Lin Chinese Cuisine and Teahouse
1537 West Broadway
Vancouver, B.C.
(604) 733-9696