Showdogs

What exactly is a "showdog"? Is it merely a dog that can trot elegantly for all the judges to see? Or is it a dog that can jump through hoops and do tricks on the Leno? How about a dog that "wants to be a dancer", but ends up as a Vegas casualty? Oh wait, that was Showgirls... How about none of the above? This Showdog is neither one that can jump through hoops nor trot majestically. In fact, there is no real refinement in its location on Market at Golden Gate Ave. No, it's not the most attractive of areas; but if you look past that, there is hot dog waiting for you.

Wait, these are not the usual dogs. Unlike Elizabeth Berkeley, these dogs are dressed... to the tilt with not-your-usual toppings. With so many to choose from, I merely asked what is the best one if I had only one to eat? The confident answer was the Smoked Chicken Apple with Apple Chutney and Arugula. Actually, that sounded kind of good since I was planning on having a burger not too long after. I gotta say, it looked impressive when I picked it up from the counter. With a mound of apple chutney and arugula hiding the chicken frank, this is no ordinary dog. One bite into the darn thing and honestly, all I could taste was apple chutney. Boy, was it sweet. I immediately made a face similar to how I reacted while watching Showgirls. However, it wasn't one of disgust necessarily (for the movie yes). Rather, it was just the shock of so much sweet and tartness. Once I got past the initial shock, eating the hot dog was quite pleasant. The sweetness really went well with the juicy chicken dog. I also liked the bun, it was soft and a bit crispy on the outside. All-in-all, I liked the hot dog. I didn't love it; but at least the T & A in Showdogs is much less in-your-face than Showgirls.

The Good:

- Creative toppings

- Freshly made-to-order

- Decently comfortable restaurant

The Bad:

- Not the prettiest of areas

- These dogs are not cheap

Lee's Chicken

On our way to Ah-Beetz, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a Lee's Chicken. Yes, call it a 6th sense, "I can see restaurants!" I put forward the idea to Kim and Anita that we visit this Lee's after we eat pizza. The good thing about being with other foodies is that they are usually up for anything. Never pass up an opportunity to eat! So, despite being completely stuffed, we stopped at Lee's before getting back on the freeway. Initially, the other people waiting for their orders were quite perplexed at my picture-taking. At one point, I just had to tell the guy staring at me that, "I'm not Japanese". I explained what I was doing and everything seemed a bit more normal. It took a little while for our order; but we were not complaining. The reason is what makes Lee's Chicken so good is because they cook it to order, not like that "kept warm" chicken at KFC. This brings up an interesting story... The founder of Lee's Chicken was actually the nephew of Colonel Sanders and had helped run KFC. Another interesting fact is that LA Chicken used to be a Lee's Chicken. That probably explains the similarity between the two (down to the gravy).

I ended up getting half regular and half spicy. Kim and Anita dug into the regular and the skin was crispy and peppery. The tender, juicy meat billowed out steam since it was so freshly fried. This is how good fried chicken is supposed to be. Not like that shriveled up crap you get at KFC and the greasy, one-dimensional flavour you get at Churches (although I don't mind it). I ate a piece of spicy myself and honestly, it's not really all that spicy; but it's got a slight kick to it. Too bad there are no Lee's in Vancouver or Burnaby. The last one that's remotely close is in Port Coquitlam. It's probably for the best anyways, otherwise I'd be eating fried chicken everyday.

The Good:
- It's cooked fresh
- It tastes good with a good mix of spices and lots of pepper
- Ugly gravy, but it tastes good!

The Bad:
- None really near Vancouver
- You generally have to wait for your order, but it's worth it

No.1 Congee Noodle House

*Restaurant is closed*

Despite needing to wake up early Friday morning to catch a flight to San Francisco, I decided it would be wise to play late night hockey and eat out on Wednesday night - Thursday morning. Hey, who needs sleep anyways? Polka King and I were looking for some late night eats that weren't the same places over and over again. We headed over to Broadway looking for the 24 hour Pho restaurant across from Sport Mart. But, we noticed the new restaurant beside it. After a short discussion, we ended up going to No.1 Congee Noodle House. Don't confuse this with Congee Noodle House near Main, this is actually the old Lucky Noodle House.

I naturally decided to try both the congee and noodles here since they make the claim of being No.1. For some reason, I opted for the Teng Jie Jook (Seafood Congee). I never seem to order this very often; but I guess I've had too much preserved duck egg lately. Yes, it's the same one that was in Fear Factor. Being Chinese, there are very few foods that we actually fear! I gotta say, the congee was as thick as wallpaper paste. But that isn't a bad thing, I like my congee that way. Hidden within it was a bounty of large shrimp, scallops, squid, chicken, pork rinds and lettuce. The congee itself wasn't salty and had a great aroma from sesame oil. I also got the Wonton Noodles and honestly, it wasn't anything special. For a restaurant that prides itself on noodles, this was a bit of a disappointment. The noodles weren't overcooked; but lacked chewiness. The soup was a bit on the sweet side and the wontons were quite average. I was expecting all shrimp wontons; however this was not the case. I thought the filling was a bit on the mushy side.

Polka King ordered the Scramble Eggs & Shrimp AGAIN. It's like when we used to go to Boston Pizza (Bleck!) and he would eat the Smokey Mountain Spaghetti & Meatballs every time. Well, he is an accountant... The portion size was quite decent for the price; however, it was seriously overcooked. Normally, the eggs are fluffy and runny. The one here had parts which were complete fried. A no no when it comes to this dish. I found it a bit salty too. Mind you, there was plenty of crunchy shrimp hidden within the egg.

The food in general was a bit disappointing. I mean if you are supposedly known for your congee and noodles, you'd better get both right. Unfortunately, only the congee was good. The prices were pretty reasonable factoring in the grand opening special of 10% off. It appears to be a family-run restaurant and the owners truly appreciated our business. I guess if it were late and we had the munchies, we'd give it a try again. However, the actual Congee Noodle House and Congee Noodle King are far superior.

The Good:
- Congee was thick and full of ingredients
- Prices seem reasonable
- Open late

The Bad:
- Wonton noodles were pretty average
- Cash only

Chili Pepper House (Surrey)

*Restaurant is now closed*

When you think of Chinese food in North America, I'm sure the first things that come to mind are Sweet & Sour Pork, Broccoli & Beef, Chicken Chow Mein and BBQ Pork Fried Rice. Hey, there is nothing wrong with that since I eat that occasionally as well. However, these types of dishes originated in the Canton region of China and that is only a small representation of Chinese cuisine. Add the fact that these dishes have become a bit watered down for North American tastes and you got something quite boring and bland. I personally like spicy food. Thus, I have a certain affection towards Indian-Style Chinese cuisine.

There aren't many of these types of restaurants in the GVRD; however, most of them are pretty good. Today, I finally made it out to the Surrey location of Chili Pepper House. There is a location in Vancouver as well on the corner of Rupert and Kingsway. With some may options, it was difficult to choose, especially since I was all by myself. Ultimately, I picked a dish which is one of my favs - Chili Beef. This time I got the "wet" version rather than the dry one at Green Lettuce. The tender slices of beef were coated with a deep coloured sauce which was a bit sweet, salty and slightly spicy. Personally, I can take more heat and I should've asked for it. In addition, I tried one of their lunch specials ($5.99), the Curry Fish which came with a bowl of rice. The fish was perfectly crispy and sat in a yellow-type curry sauce which was a bit sweet, garlicky and only slightly spicy. This sauce went really well with the rice. On a separate visit, I decided to double-up on their fantastically priced lunch specials starting with the Curry Shrimp. the shrimp had a cold-water snap and were coated with a very crispy tempura-like batter. With a yellow curry-type sauce very similar to the curry fish, this would've gone well with a bowl of plain rice. I didn't get a bowl of rice because for my second dish, I had the Masala Chicken & Shrimp Fried Rice. Oh I really loved this rice. It was the perfect texture being chewy with a nice bite. There was plenty of wok heat so that the flavours were able to mingle and caramelize. Strewn throughout the rice was tender pieces of chicken and cold-water shrimp. The curry seasoning gave the rice a very nice punch which made me want to eat more and more of it. I dusted it off very quickly. After both visits, it is clear that the food is well-balanced since it wasn't overly spicy to the point where I couldn't taste any of the other flavours. Personally, I could do with even more spice; but that can be arranged. The decor is nothing to look at and if you don't care, it shouldn't matter. Service was extremely friendly and the food came out really fast. Great value at $5.99 for their lunch specials.

The Good:
- Spicy, yet not to the point of insane
- Good lunch specials
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- Not much in the way of ambiance
- Not really a bad, but if you were looking for tame Chinese food, you won't find it here

Fortune Court

*Restaurant is now Golden Lake*

Alright, why do the kids have to wake up so freakin' early on a Sunday? In my half daze while lying in bed; I heard the door open and instantly I knew that it was time to get up. Who needs alarm clocks when you got kids? They don't make snooze buttons on kids. Still trying to recover from an early morning as a result of hockey and eating on Saturday, the last thing I wanted to do was give up my warm cozy bed. Since we were up anyways, I figured it would be a good idea to go for Dim Sum. At 9:00am, there are usually plenty of parking spaces and no lineups. I'm not even sure when was the last time I had Dim Sum that early! Not feeling quite that chipper, we decided to go to a nearby place. Sometimes, these small Chinese restaurants serve some pretty solid Dim Sum on the cheap. Of course, one of the main differences between these places and the big guys is decor, service, ingredient quality and care put into the preparation of the food. If you can overlook some of the compromises, Dim Sum can be an inexpensive meal.

We hadn't been to Fortune Court for about 2 years and I suppose it was about time we checked it out again. Since we were there so early, we snagged a parking spot right in front and got a table right away. Apparently, they don't feel the need to have much staff present this early. At one point, there were only 2 servers for the whole restaurant. Don't you love smaller Asian restaurants? As long as there is at least one person, that can be considered "service". You get what you pay for... Believe it or not, Fortune Court still employs the classic Dim Sum push cart. It's both a treat and frustrating at the same time. On one hand, you can take a look at the food before you order it. On the other, it always seems like by the time the cart gets to you, all the Haw Gow are gone! Oh, on that note, look at the picture! The Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) are massive. The dumpling skin was a bit thick and chewy for my liking; however, the delicately seasoned shrimp had good colour and were crunchy. The same could be said about the Scallop and Shrimp Dumpling; but the scallop was a bit on the fishy side. Obviously they were frozen scallops and the fishiness overwhelmed the rest of the dumpling.

We ended up getting both Shrimp and Beef Rice Noodle Rolls. The kiddies love this stuff and predictably, they ate quite a lot of it. The rice noodle itself was a bit on the thick side; but it was not chewy. There was plenty of shrimp and beef in their respective rolls. The Dim Sum cart lady talked us into trying the Fish Sui Mai and it was a mistake. Rather than the usual seasoned pork and shrimp, the Sui Mai was consisted of pureed dace. Texture-wise, it resembled fish mousse and flavour-wise, it was fishy. Not something I would necessarily order again. We got a "safe" dish to counteract it in the form of Black Bean Spareribs. There was a good amount of tender meat on the bones; but it resided on a big pool of oil. Not the most appetizing visual. I can only imagine how much fat the pieces of pumpkin soaked up underneath the spare ribs.

For curiosity sake, I decided to give the Soup Dumpling a go, even though I fully expected it to suck. Why? Well, usually the smaller Chinese restaurants don't put really good ingredients into the dumpling; thus it ends up to be ground pork in chicken broth. However, to my surprise, the dumpling was mostly comprised of shrimp and dried scallops. Moreover, there were 2 large shrimp and 2 scallops hiding in the broth. The broth itself was quite light and not salty at all. I gotta admit it was pretty decent. Only thing that I didn't like was once again the scallops. They were fishy. The final dish of the meal was the Shrimp Spring Rolls. Yes, usually this should be the first dish; but I guess they didn't fry them up until the restaurant got a little busier. These looked and tasted pretty good. They were crispy, not too oily and full of shrimp. Funny thing, my son only eats the crispy roll wrapper and my daughter prefers the shrimp. I guess it all worked out in the end.

For a smaller Chinese restaurant, I must admit the Dim Sum is pretty decent. They did not skimp on the ingredients or the portion sizes. Except for the fish sui mai, most of the dishes were more than acceptable. Of course, good service is not something one would expect at this type of restaurant; but they were doing their best under the circumstances. They weren't rude or anything. Table arrangements are a bit tight, due to the odd shape of the restaurant. But, for the price, compromises must be made.

The Good:
- Dim Sum is decent
- Inexpensive
- Good portions

The Bad:
- Not enough servers
- Tight seating
- Tight parking lot

One year??? Really?

How about that? This blog has lasted one year! What started off as merely facebook updates here and there about my culinary exploits has turned into something much more substantial. Honestly, I never set out to do a blog, let alone one that is so intensive. However, it has become an obsession. I started off taking pictures of my food with a Blackberry Curve and updating on Facebook. Now, I have gone to a DSLR.

During this year, I've tried many new things and have met some really awesome people. Food bloggers are so dedicated! They have helped me in my pursuit of interesting eats. Moreover, I really must acknowledge the many readers of this blog. Thank you for putting up with my rambling about many different topics. Furthermore, thank you for your feedback, it only helps improve what I do. Most of all, thanks to Viv for her patience with my insatiable appetite.

To celebrate this achievement, I am doing a random draw for all those who reply to this thread. There will be 3 prizes. Everyone will be put into the same draw and I will use Random.org to choose the 3 winners at the end of November. The 3 prizes will be $50 restaurant gift certificates. For local winners, it will be a local restaurant (a secret!). For out-of-town winners, I can arrange for a gift certificate that you can use in your city. These prizes are not sponsored in any way, shape or form. This is a thank you gift to those who are loyal readers. I hope to continue doing this in the foreseeable future; but maybe I should eat the occasional salad, it's healthier.

Estrella's

Whenever I get the chance, I try to look for hidden gems in the burbs of Vancouver. After all, the majority of the population live outside of Vancouver itself. Thus, there must be good eats out there. Being quite last minute, we took the kiddies to the Laity Pumpkin Patch out in Maple Ridge on Halloween. After all that rain, the patch resembled a swamp more than anything else. I really don't like mud. When I used to mountain bike, I would hate wiping out. Not because it hurt; rather, I'd get all muddy. Yes, call me a wuss. Since we were out near 200th already, I thought we should take another jaunt over the Golden Ears Bridge into Langley. Why Langley? Well, there is this little place called Estrella's Montreal Deli. Have you ever noticed that there are very few places that you can get real deli sandwiches? You know, the big honking ones you get in NYC or Montreal? And don't even put Kaplan's in that category. Their sandwiches are so small, you'd think they were vegetarian.

Well, if you crave those sandwiches you'd find back east, Estrella's is the place to be. They smoke their own meats and it shows with the final product. There are full slabs of smoked meat in the display case along with other items on the menu including Paninis; but I came here for the smoked meat sandwich. You can choose from several sizes: Petite, Classic, Large (The Montreal) and Extra large (Oh Canada!). I wasn't in the mood for a $17.99 sandwich, so I went with the Montreal for $12.49. For a little variety, I made Viv's into a Reuben adding $2.98 for sauerkraut and cheese, grilled on a press.

If you look at the picture, you can clearly see that they did not skimp on the smoked meat. Furthermore, it was truly melt-in-your mouth
goodness. You can choose how you like your meat: extra lean, lean, or medium We went for medium naturally! The Smoked Meat Sandwich (non-Reuben) was predictably just as good; but rather than crispy grilled bread, it was soft light rye. Eating this sandwich was like eating butter. It was soft, and literally melted in our mouths. This was indeed a pleasant surprise. I've had deli sandwiches in NYC and the ones here at Estrella's are not that far off. I would definitely drive out to Langley for more of these delicious sandwiches and I think you should too. And yup, I drove out again, with closet meat-lover Mijune. Well, I actually sorta kidnapped her and took her out to almost out of Langley to Hilltop Cafe Diner for their Everest Burger. After that, I gave her more meat... uh... at Estrella's. This time, I had no doubts in my mind and suggested we share the Oh Canada! It's a pound of delicious moist and tender Montreal smoked meat. It has just the right amount of seasoning where it doesn't taste salty at all. We went for half medium and half lean. Take it from me, go for the medium, there is no other way to eat it.

For a bonus, we also got an order of their Smoked Meat Chili and it was friggin' fantastic! They used the same spices from the smoked meat (or it was just the spices from the smoked meat) and it gave the chili a unique flavour from the peppercorns, cloves, all-spice and so on. It had an underlying heat and a nice tang/sweetness. Loved the melted cheese too. Sitting beside us were a couple from Montreal and they confirmed this is the place to go in the GVRD for smoked meat. The owner is from New York and went to Montreal to learn how to make it. It shows and I think everyone should make the trek out to give it a try!

The Good:
- They make their own smoked meat, which is melt-in-your mouth goodness
- With the larger sandwiches, they definitely do not skimp on the meat
- Prices are reasonable for the quality and quantity

The Bad:
- It's quite a small place, you might need to get take out
- Food takes a bit of time to prepare (which can be a good sign)
- Too bad for anyone not near Langley