Joe Fortes

I hadn't been to Joe Fortes for quite some time and I had commented on Kim's post that I was in no hurry to return. Yet, it suddenly reappeared on my radar while I was searching for a restaurant in Downtown. I know, there are a lot of choices in Downtown; but the most important criteria is food that my son is willing to eat. No no, we're not going to eat Japanese food again. Besides, we were meeting up with Wolvie and Italian Stallion. You see, Italian Stallion isn't particularly adventurous. Taco Bell is exotic to him! In fact, I'm not even sure he likes anything but his mom's cooking. But really, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just ask Kim! Furthermore, we weren't going to suggest a overly expensive place since they were treating.

Normally, Joe Fortes is quite pricey especially during dinner. However, much like other restaurant these days, Joe Fortes has a prix fixe menu: 3 courses for $16.95 and 2 courses for $13.95 Monday thru Friday. To me at least, it seems like a pretty good deal. When we arrived, we had to wait briefly for our table. The reason? I had requested a window seat for 5 and with the restaurant layout, there is only one of two places where that can happen. Credit to them that they gave me exactly what I requested. Once we were seated, it became quite theatrical. No, the staff did not break into song and dance such as the T-Mobile commercial. However, wouldn't that be awesome? Anyways, what I mean is that the service was so attentive and good, it almost seemed like it was over-the-top. Don't get me wrong, I was thoroughly impressed with the service we got, it just seemed a bit contrived.

I must give them kudos for getting the Mac & Cheese out quickly to keep my son happy. This particular version was big and hearty. It came out piping hot. It was extremely cheesy and smooth. My son kept asking for extra Parmesan and the staff quickly obliged every time. He's such a tough customer! For myself, I went for the Fish 'n Chips. Yes, I know, there are other things I could have possibly ordered here, especially the oysters and steak. However, I've been here before and I just wanted to order something different. It turns out that I made a good choice. The two fresh cod fillets were lightly batter and perfectly cooked. Most of the batter was crisp except when I got closer to the middle of each piece. Probably the moisture from the fish (and it was moist) conspired to soften the crisp coating. The tartar sauce was decent; if not pretty standard. Adding a bit more fresh lemon helped improve the flavour. I really wasn't a big fan of the fries, they were cooked quite "well" and lost a bit of its potato texture.

Viv opted for 2 courses, with the first being a Caesar Salad and the main being the Steelhead Salmon with roast potatoes. Not being Sockeye nor Coho, the Steelhead is not one of my favourites. Essentially a ocean trout, it is milder tasting and has less fat (thus less flavour). Despite the material limitations, it was moist while being cooked all the way through. I personally would've liked it a bit undercooked. Wolvie also had the salmon and she added that the roast potatoes were a bit inconsistent. One was perfect, while the other was a bit hard and undercooked. Italian Stallion went for the 5oz Sirloin with mash potatoes. For a smaller size steak, it actually was a decent size. I gave it a try and it was perfectly medium-rare. The meat was moist, flavourful and easy to eat. Not bad for a lunch special.

For the price, I believe that the lunch specials at Joe Fortes are an excellent value. Sure, it's not going to blow your mind and in fact, there will be a few disappointments. However, their food has never really been in direct competition with the finer establishments in town anyways. They are all about the seafood (particularly oysters) and steaks. There will better other options for dinner (especially at their price points); but I have no problem grabbing a bite here for lunch, especially at these prices.

The Good:
- Really attentive service
- Good value (for lunch)
- Decent portions

The Bad:
- Don't expect ultra-refinement (it's a steakhouse and seafood after all)
- Dinner is considerably more expensive

Tangthai

*Restaurant is now closed*

"Free Food". That usually gets the attention of most people, especially foodies. Of course, not everyone is game for a comped meal. It may lead to biases or a lack of objectivity since we really did not pay for our food. Obviously, that can be true in some cases. Personally, I've been a bit selective when deciding whether to accept an invite or not. It gets me a bit nervous when a marginally-rated restaurant wants me to try their food and then blog about it. Not that it should matter; but we're only human and one would fell a bit uneasy about blasting a place that just paid for your meal. Ben (Chowtimes) was gracious enough to extend an invitation from Tangthai for a tasting. Joining us were Jenny (My Secret Eden), Kevin (604 Foodtography) and Mijune (Follow Me Foodie).

In all honesty, when I spotted the ratings of Tangthai's Broadway location on Urbanspoon, I was not feeling all that confident about the impending meal. Yet, we were assured that there was no obligation to say nice things. With that in mind, I was just about to leave work from North Delta when Toolman emailed me the bad news... The Alex Fraser Bridge was closed due to an accident. Great. I needed to make it to Downtown in 1 hour and my only hope was either the Massey Tunnel or the Patullo. In a split second decision, I opted for the Patullo even though it would mean backtracking quite a distance. Turns out I was very lucky since the tunnel was backed up quite badly. Good for me, bad for Mijune. She was stuck in the lineup entering the tunnel for a good 30 minutes. This ultimately led to Ben being late as well. We were supposed to start at 5:30; but it was more like 6:30 before we started eating.

We began with the Prawn Skirt which is essentially a spring roll with a whole prawn stuffed inside with pork, crab meat and water chestnut. Not sure if the crab was necessary since it was completely lost, especially since the whole thing was quite peppery. Despite the absence of crab flavour, I did like the spring roll since it was very crispy, not oily and flavourful on its own. Up next were Satay Chicken and Beef. The beef was predictably tougher than the chicken. If you look at the picture, there is an obvious tinge of turmeric on the chicken satay. I know it is an integral part of the satay marinade in addition to ginger, garlic, cumin and coriander; but somehow there was too much of a "curry" taste. However, that wasn't the main issue. The peanut dipping sauce was quite strange. Rather than the usual chunky sweet peanut sauce we were used to, it was more like peanut butter.

We were then served Tom Kha Kai which is a spicy chicken coconut soup. It was indeed a bit spicy with a refreshingly light coconut aroma. Taking a few more sips, there was a discernible flavours such as lemongrass, fish sauce and ginger (which turns out to be galangal). I thought the soup had good balance. Presented beautifully with a hand-carved daikon bird, the Pla Rad Prik (fried whole tilapia) looked impressive; yet I thought the fish was overcooked with the meat being completely dry. Now, I realize this is the way it's supposed to be since some of the bony parts were crispy enough to eat. I guess it is something personally I didn't like. However, I didn't mind the sauce, it was sweet, sour, tart and peppery all at the same time. It went well with the rice.

The next dish, Pla Muk Pad Prik, was a quite interesting. It's essentially a green curry with vermicelli and chicken stuffed squid. Complementing the squid were Kadota figs (we originally couldn't figure out what these were), galangal (thought it was ginger at first) and tiny bitter figs which we thought were peas at first. I'm still not sure if those are figs to tell you the truth. Figs aside, the squid was tender and the green curry was quite spicy with fresh Thai basil and kaffir lime leaves. The next dish was described to me as lemongrass beef or Nua Pad Takhai. Honestly, I didn't taste much in the way of lemongrass here since my mouth was too busy with the flavours from the other dishes. The beef was decently tender and the sauce exhibited a spicy, sweet quality. It was pretty good, I probably wouldn't have ordered it myself though.

Next up was a dish that didn't exist on the menu. I guess it's probably a daily featured dish. Consisting of fried Basa on top of a bed of breaded eggplant, it appeared to be topped with a Massaman curry. I thought the eggplant stole the show. It was perfectly fried being wonderfully crispy while maintaining its integrity. The curry was slightly spicy and sweet. If we didn't have enough food already, the Roast Chicken arrived. On its own, the chicken was nothing really much to look at. In fact, I thought it was a quite dry and overcooked. However, the main event for this dish were the 2 sides of dipping sauce. We tasted the sauce over and over again to get a read on it. After much tasting, we figured it consisted mainly of lime juice, cilantro, chilies, fish sauce, and sugar.

Hey, what's Thai food without Pad Thai? Therefore, it was a given that it would show up eventually. Ben remarked that his Thai friend tried it and hated it. Well, I'm not Thai; but I didn't care for it very much either. I personally thought it lacked enough tamarind for that zing we all look for in Pad Thai. Furthermore, I would've also liked more spice. The lime seemed to help a bit; but there was no saving this bland version. On a positive note, I did like the texture of the noodles, they were slightly chewy. The last hot dish of the meal was something I also wouldn't personally order. The Cashew Chicken was mostly sweet with little in the way of spice. There was nothing inherently wrong with this dish. After all, the veggies were still crisp and there was indeed flavour, albeit mild. But for me, it's something you'd find at a food fair, not a dish that stands out.

As for dessert, we got Tea Pudding and Sweet Tapioca Soup. The pudding was not very sweet; rather being quite aromatic. I found that the flavours developed in stages. At first, it was slightly sweet, then as it melted in my mouth, the tea flavour kicked in. I realize that there should be some salt in the tapioca dessert; but for some reason, it was noticeably salty. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be the case. If it is, someone please correct me. Due to the high salt content, it masked the coconut milk and negated the sweetness; rather than heightening it. Honestly, I thought the food at Tangthai was better than I expected it to be. It was indeed authentic; but I found some of the flavours quite mild. I do realize not everything has to be spicy and they are trying to appeal to a wide range of diners. I would say it is authentic and decent enough for you to check it out since it's certainly better than some other "Thai" restaurants out there.

The Good:
- It's authentic (owner and staff are all Thai)
- Reasonable prices for what you get
- It's clean

The Bad:
- Flavours could've been even bolder (I guess you could easily ask for this)
- Desserts are a bit weak

Steveston Pizza

You'd think with all the pizza joints that the GVRD has to offer, it'd be easy to find a great thin crust. Well, Kim, Anita and I had to travel all the way out to Ah Beetz in Abbotsford for some NY-style pizza. Of course that is an extreme case. There is Nat's, Brick Oven and Lombardo's to name a few. But one of the very best lies way out in Steveston. Of course for people who live in Richmond, that isn't really all that far away. But for me, it ain't close. Furthermore, they only open from 4:00pm. I can't stop by on the way home to grab one. Thus, this would be one of the places I'd make an effort to try, much like Ah Beetz. I originally promised Kim that I'd go with him to try it. But, Pomegranate and I just finished up an extremely late lunch at Kisamos which happens to be 2 stores down from Steveston Pizza.

Like I needed any more guilt, Kim coincidentally calls me just as I was going to leave Kisamos. I promised some pizza as a gesture for my greedy-eating. To make things worse, he was bringing back some goodies from his little trip to Seattle. Talk about guilt... I'll need to buy him a whole pizza from Steveston next time to make it up to him! So I basically waddled my way over to Steveston Pizza because I was so full from eating an entire roast lamb dinner. I'm glad my hockey game did not start until 5 hours later! With so many choices, it was quite difficult to choose one pizza. I decided that I needed to try something different from the usual meat pizzas, even though the staff told me it was their biggest seller. Ultimately, I chose the French pizza since it's not something you'd find at most pizza joints.

It consisted of chicken breast, mushroom, white onions, asparagus and single cream brie drizzled with a light pesto. Not wanting to wait until I got home, I immediately opened up the box and took a bite. Steaming hot with a remarkably light crust, the pizza was flavourfully mild (if that can exist). What I meant was that every flavour component did not overwhelm each other. It was creamy, subtle and exhibited various tastes much like French food! Personally, I would've preferred if they had added the basil after baking. Other than that, it was a fantastic pizza which you will never find from a chain pizza operation.

The Good:
- Plenty of interesting pizzas
- Nice thin crust which is still a bit soft, not crunchy
- Fresh ingredients

The Bad:
- Isolated location for most people
- Limited operating hours

Kisamos

Sometimes I really wonder if top 10 lists are of any use. After all, it is only a general statement of what we perceive as good. I've been struggling with trying to put together a top 10 list of my favourite restaurants to no avail. I'm still not sure if I will do one. For now, I am sometimes in utter confusion why some restaurants make it on the top 100 list on Urbanspoon. I'm sure there is a method to the madness and everyone has personal favourites; but I leave scratching my head after visiting some of the restaurants on that list. Today, Pomegranate and I were in Ladner for a meeting. With it's relative close proximity to Steveston, I decided to satisfy a long-standing goal of mine to try Kisamos Greek Taverna. I was curious to see why this small little restaurant could hold down such a good rating.

We made it out to Steveston rather late in the afternoon and I wasn't even sure if it would be considered lunch anymore. I wonder what we would call a late lunch/early dinner? Dunch? Linner? Lupper? Sunch? Dunno... Unlike other reviews I've read, I did not find the service rude or poor. We were greeted warmly by the server and she was quite pleasant throughout our meal. Being that Pomegranate loves Calamari, we got an order to start along with the Humus with pita bread. Arriving as a pretty large portion, the calamari was a bit odd. Some pieces were tender while others were quite chewy. Naturally, the bigger pieces were not as crispy as the smaller ones. This variation within the same dish made it strange to eat. This I realize is a personal preference; but we both agreed that it was a bit too chewy for our liking. We also felt the Tzatziki could've been more aggressively seasoned with more lemon and garlic. The humus was pretty good; however, it had a bit more tahini than we are used to. Thus, it was heavier on the sesame taste. I took the lemon from the calamari and squeezed it into the humus and that made it much better.

Being quite ambitious, I went for my personal favourite - the Roast Lamb. For some reason or another, the large portion of lamb was smothered in a fairly salty and greasy sauce. I don't remember the last time that my roast lamb came swimming in sauce. The lamb itself was fork tender and quite gamy (just how I like it). I suspect the sauce is actually the leftover liquid from the roasting; hence the greasiness and heightened lamb flavour. I really liked the rice as it was firm and modestly seasoned. The lemon potato was only passable. Texturally, it was excellent; but it could've stood for more flavour. Curiously, our very fresh Greek salad was completely flavourless. It also seemed like there was no dressing on it. Pomegranate had the Lamb Souvlaki and I thought it was cooked up nicely. A tad chewy, it was flavourful with strong hits of garlic and lemon. He felt it could've been a bit more tender. Again, this is probably just a matter of personal taste. On that note, we both agreed that the meal was alright; but quite uneven. To me at least, the food seemed more "home-style" with a little less refinement than other Greek restaurants I've been to. That could be the draw for some people since it would be quite authentic. Again, I didn't dislike the meal, I guess it just didn't live up to the hype or expectations due to its lofty ranking.

The Good:
- Good portions
- Quaint location
- Friendly service (my experience at least)

The Bad:
- Food wasn't bad per se; but wasn't great either

Wah Lun

*Restaurant is closed*

Usually, there is not much choice for eats when it comes to Christmas day. There are the occasional fast food joints and possibly a supermarket open. Leave it up to the Chinese restaurants, which are open practically every holiday, to save the day. This morning, the whole family including the folks made it over to the old Harbour Pacific, now remodeled and renamed Wah Lun. It's under new ownership and they did what the previous owners couldn't do - remove all the remnants of the old Dragon Inn. With a fresh new interior, staff, menu and washrooms, I was anxious to see if we finally have a decent Chinese restaurant in the
neighbourhood. Of course the place was the usual "lineup at a Chinese restaurant for Dim Sum". I hate these lineups with a passion. But we had a "reservation" for 11:30am and that only resulted us in waiting for a table when we got there. Reservations at a Chinese restaurant are not really reservations. The table we ended up with was very cramped and against a wall. Oh well, better than no table right?

We got down to ordering on the little checklist and had to hunt someone down to enter it into the computer. We waited... and witnessed everyone around us get their food. Feeling a bit suspicious we hunted down a manager and asked if our order was entered in or not. Guess what? They didn't. It was just sitting there. Lovely. So we waited for 30 minutes for nothing. I know they're busy, but WTH? We did get an apology; but in Chinese restaurant tradition, nothing else. To add insult to injury, they charged the kiddies for tea, even though they don't drink it. At the very least, they took it off the bill when we complained about it. Starving and a bit peeved, we finally got our first dish - Pea Shoots with bean curd stick and ginko nuts. Completely cooked while still being a bit crisp, this dish was a winner. More often than not, this dish is overcooked; but not in this case. The pea shoots still exhibited a nice "bite" while being completely cooked. The dish was very light tasting to the point of bland; yet, no worries here. This is the exact flavour profile we are looking for due to the broth.

Next up were the Beef Meatballs, which were quite large. Okay, let the jokes begin... There was a proper amount of minced water-chestnut and green onion to provide flavour and texture without overwhelming the beef. A little heavy on the baking soda, these meatballs were very soft with little-to-no meat texture left. I guess it's personal taste; but I like them with a little chewiness. On that note, the spareribs in the Sparerib and Chicken Feet Rice were a bit too soft as well, bordering on mushy. Probably suffering from too much baking soda as well. A bit bland, I would've liked a bit more salt and garlic flavour. Otherwise, the rice was pretty good by being firm holding up to the moisture from the ribs and chicken feet. The most important dish when it comes to Dim Sum is the Steamed Shrimp Dumplings. These were stuffed with plenty of cold-water shrimp which were sweet with a slight hint of sesame oil. It's really a pity that the dumpling wrapper was mushy and stuck to the bamboo steamer. These were probably over-steamed, also causing the dumpling skin to expand becoming a bit thick.

The other go-to dish for Dim Sum is the Sui Mai or Pork & Shrimp Dumplings. Consisting of mostly pork, these were not visually appealing. However, they were better than they looked. The pork was slightly chewy (not over-processed) while seasoned moderately being a bit sweet rather than salty. As you can see in the picture, they were quite large too. Predictably, we got one each of the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll and Beef Rice Noodle Roll. Dim Sum doesn't seem like Dim Sum without it. Besides, this is one of the few things that my son will eat. They were soft while not being mushy. However, both noodle rolls could've stood for a tad more filling.

Deviating for the usual, we got the Shredded Chicken and Jellyfish. Despite what looks like a flavourful dish, it was incredibly bland. If it weren't for the pickled greens, there would be
little else than the aroma of sesame oil. This was crying out for salt or soy sauce. Texturally, it was pretty good with crunchy jellyfish, crisp pickled veggies and slightly chewy chicken. For the kiddies, we got the Seafood Congee. Well, at least for my daughter, she eats the seafood. The congee broth itself was a tad thin, you wouldn't confuse it with Congee Noodle King or Congee Noodle House. But it was a decent effort (considering this is not their specialty) and it was not salty while still exhibiting flavour. There was plenty of big pieces of shrimp, scallops and fish hidden in the broth. All were cooked correctly and did not taste fishy.

We ended up with 3 more dishes: Shrimp Spring Rolls, BBQ Pork Bun and Egg Tarts. Packed with plenty of garlicky shrimp, the spring rolls would've been a winner if it wasn't soaked with oil. If you look in the picture, you can see it just below the crispy first layer. The BBQ pork bun was good with a nice fluffy exterior while having a sweet and savory filling that was not too fatty. The egg tarts did not look that good, especially with the really large shell and smallish looking custard centre. I would say they were only passable since the filling was a bit on the stiffer side. It should be soft and melt-in-your-mouth and the thick shell was not appealing either. Overall, we thought the food was decent for the price. We liked the renovations, the place is no longer a dump. However, they really need to work on the service. Hurried, indifferent and lacking any emotion, this is one way to alienate customers fast. An ominous sign was that I recognized one of the former managers at Yan's Garden. I'm not sure if he has changed places of employment or this is run by the same people. Whatever the case, I hope the service doesn't go down the same road.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Food is generally decent
- The place is no longer a dump

The Bad:
- They tried to maximize the small space with tables everywhere
- Service needs a bit of work

Scoop!

Earlier in the day, we were on West 4th heading over to the Candy Aisle after Temaki Sushi. I parked my car across the street and as we were walking over to the crosswalk, I passed by Scoop! frozen yogurt. I suggested to Viv that we really should try it. She was quite adamant that we should not. Guess who won that argument? A bit disappointed, I kept wanting to try it. So fate would have it, we headed to Scoop! after dinner at L'altro Buca. We arrived at a bit earlier than Costanza and Elaine. Rather than waiting for them, I decided to go ahead and order. Yah, some friend I am eh? Hey, it's food we're talking about here! I can't wait! The premise behind Scoop! is that you can choose your own toppings from their "buffet"-style display. Much like U-Grill, they weigh your froyo before and after to determine how much you pay.

For me at least, I think this novel idea works. When food becomes interactive, people tend to like it and ultimately pay for it too. If you look at the picture, you'll noticed that each bowl does not contain a large amount of each topping. I believe that this helps keep the items fresh. Unlike the big vats at Blueberry World that looked disgusting, the fruit here was indeed fresh and colourful. So, Viv and I ended up selecting the Raspberry froyo. There was also plain and green tea available. The toppings of choice were mochi, strawberries, kiwi and coconut jelly. The blended froyo was pretty smooth and not too sweet. As you can tell in the picture, the fruit was vibrant in colour and fresh. Even the mochi was fresh, it was pillowy soft.

While we were waiting for Costanza and Elaine to arrive, we grabbed a Connect 4 from their stack of board games and entertained ourselves. In addition, there is a Foosball table at the back as well. When they finally arrived, we grabbed Scrabble and had an impromptu game. It's amazing how many dirty words you can make in this game! Makes for some humourous fodder though... I guess the only complaint about the froyo would be that it is blended. That means if you chose anything but plain yogurt, it needs to be manually mixed with the flavouring agent. This tends to make the froyo a bit soft and it ultimately melts faster. Other than that, not much to complain about, it was fresh and tasty.

The Good:
- Interactive toppings (you can choose your own)
- Smooth, nicely balanced froyo
- You get to play board games!

The Bad:
- Blended flavours suffer from over-handling leading to a quickly melting froyo

Temaki Sushi

It sure seems like I eat Japanese food almost every week. Well, there are a few reasons for this. First of all, my son hates almost all types of food except for udon and tempura. Scratch that, only the tempura batter. Second, I convinced myself that Japanese food is healthier. I guess Tempura, Agedashi Tofu and the sort do not qualify. Luckily there seems to be a Japanese restaurant on every other block in the GVRD. Despite the fact there are many to choose from in our neighbourhood, we headed all the way to Kits for our eats today. We actually attempted to eat at Temaki Sushi a few weeks ago to no avail since it's closed on Sundays. We were with Guy Smiley and Girl Smiley last time and they joined us again this time to finally try this place out.

We started with the Deluxe Assorted Sashimi. Presented nicely on a long glass plate, everything looked nice and I particularly liked the fried spot prawn heads. I practically ate the whole darn thing except the razor sharp portion, it was hurting my mouth. All the sashimi on the plate, as you can see, was fresh and nothing was mushy. A real nice beginning to the meal. Served piping hot, the Agedashi Tofu was quite crispy on the outside and decently soft on the inside. I would've preferred a silkier texture; but decent nonetheless. Not resembling tempura batter in texture and appearance, the Tempura itself was actually quite crispy and light. However, with the strange looking batter, it a tad too crispy and didn't take the dipping sauce too well. They Beef Yakisoba arrived on a sizzling hot plate. It was on the saltier side; yet was pretty good. The noodles were just the right chewiness and it was a pleasant eat. The Plain Udon (guess who this was for?) was your typical udon in soup. The soup was a bit plain with no real taste of dashi or mushroom. Although, the noodles were the right consistency in between soft and a bit chewy.

We got 2 specialty rolls to try out which were the Dragon Roll and the Chef's Roll. The Dragon Roll consisted of a California Roll with BBQ eel on the outside. The Chef's Roll had mango, tempura bits and cucumber on the inside while tuna and masago resided on the outside. The best way to describe both rolls is that they were not bad. Nothing particularly exciting about them; however, ingredients seemed fresh while the rice had a nice resistance. The last item was the Sushi Combo which consisted of a Dynamite Roll and assorted Nigiri. As you can see in the picture, the rice looks pretty good and each item is prepared carefully. Again, nothing mind-blowing; but solid nonetheless. Essentially, that sums it up pretty much. Decent food at reasonable prices. Staff seemed interested in providing good service and the place is decently clean. Mind you, I wouldn't pass up Ajisai, Shiro, Fuji or Toshi in favour of Temaki; but I wouldn't be opposed to visiting again either.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Not great, but decent food
- Decent service

The Bad:
- Portions could be a bit bigger