Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Alright, the last time I paid $12.00 for a bowl of noodles, I felt a bit ripped off. Yes, if you guessed Chef Hung at Aberdeen Centre, you are correct. At the very least, I didn't have to lineup and honestly, the noodles were not bad. But certainly not worth the money I paid. Of course, when you're paying over $10.00 for a bowl of anything, one would expect quality over quantity. Once again, I was faced with paying $12.00 for a bowl of noodles. Creating much fanfare, the newest entry to the ramen scene in Vancouver is Hakkaido Ramen Santouka. Part of a much bigger chain of restaurants originating from Japan, there is much excitement and anticipation amongst ramen lovers in the GVRD. Located in the triangle of ramen down on Robson near Denman (Benkei, Kintaro and Motomachi Shokudo), it's the ultimate noodle showdown in one place. Santouka had been open for a little while already during their "soft launch". I decided to visit it on the grand opening date of March 5, 2010; but there was a substantial lineup. You see, lineups and I go together like Conan O'Brien and NBC. We ended up going to Guu Garden instead.

Undeterred, when I heard that Kim was going to visit it for a 2nd time on the following Monday, I decided to see if he would like a dining partner. As always, he's game for that and we met up slightly before noon. Lucky for us, not too long after we sat down, a relatively long line began to queue up. Kim encouraged me to get the Toroniku Shio Ramen which includes pork cheek and toppings served separately from the noodles. I added an Ajitama Egg for good measure. Kim went for a set lunch which included choice of ramen broth (in this case Shoyu), fully cooked egg and a Cha Shu Gohan. A short wait and our food arrived on 2 plastic platters. At first glance, there doesn't seem to be a lot of food for $12.00. But it is deceiving. There is a decent amount of noodles hidden in the broth. And about that broth... Immediately, before I even took a spoonful, I could tell it was nice. The cloudy colour, the hint of pork fat and the "thickness" of the broth indicated slow and meticulous cooking with rendered fat and bone marrow. One sip and it was obvious that the shio broth was indeed very rich. More sweet than salty, the broth was silky with rich meat/fat/marrow undertones. This is probably the best shio broth I've had so far in Vancouver. Although, I must reiterate that I still like Kintaro despite this. The reason is that they are not exactly alike and are good in their own way. But I must concede that the food here is much more refined than Kintaro. The noodles were on the softer side of al dente, which was fine by me. But I have to say that the deliciousness didn't end there. The pork cheek was absolutely divine. Being that it was pork cheek, the meat had a slight resistance in a gelatinous way. However, once past that initial chewiness (which is a good thing), it was very tender with a nice rich pork flavour. As for the Ajitama Egg, this is a picture of it on the second visit. Yes, I actually visited the place again the very next day! I wanted Viv to try and we paid $12.00 for a bowl of ramen again! Good thing too, in my haste on my first visit, I took a bite before taking a picture of it. The shame... Anyways, it was perfect. If not for high cholesterol, I'd have a dozen of these.

As for Kim's Shoyu Ramen, the broth was predictably lighter and since it has soy in it, a tad saltier. His Cha Shu Gohan was delicious. The slow-cooked pork had a "roasted" quality to it (even though its not roasted) and literally melted in my mouth. The rice had a nice consistency and the whole thing wasn't overseasoned so that the pork could do its thing. Honestly, this was a very satisfying meal. I knew I liked it since I wanted to have more of it and had thoughts of coming back once finished. And as mentioned, I did in fact return - the very next day! I got Viv to try the Shio Ramen and she thought it was very good. Her thoughts were that the pork cheek was a bit over seasoned, bordering on salty. I could see that; but it didn't bother me as much. I was lucky to try a previously unavailable product, which was the Tsuke Men. It's essentially a pile of cold ramen (apparently double the amount than a soup version) accompanied by a shoyu "dipping" broth with fatty pork and a fully cooked egg. The broth itself was quite fatty and salty; but it worked with the cold al dente noodles. The fatty pork hidden within the broth was delicious. Exhibiting the same "roasted" rich taste as the gohan, I only wished there was more than one piece and a couple of chunks. I originally asked for the spicy version; however, I think they messed up and gave me the regular one instead. Whatever the case, it was good; but nothing really all that special in the grand scheme of things. I'd stick with the Shio Ramen as the go-to meal here. You know what? I wanted to dislike this place because $12.00 is a whole lot of money for a bowl of noodles. However, unlike Chef Hung, these noodles were not just good, they were excellent. I have to admit that it was worth the price and I would gladly pay it again (which I did). Hey, even Kim likes it and since he hates everything, that means a lot.

The Good:
- Refined broth and food items
- Friendly service (at least that's what we got)
- A good variety of menu items

The Bad:
- Bottom line is that it's still expensive
- Much like other ramen shops, it's cramped

Bao Chau

To some people, a spring roll is a spring roll. Merely a fried cylinder of various meats and/or veggies encased within a flour wrapper. However, there are significant differences between a Cantonese and a Vietnamese spring roll. The first and most important difference is the wrapper itself. A Cantonese spring roll uses a wheat-based wrapper while a Vietnamese spring roll employs a rice-based wrapper. Thus, the actual physical appearance of the fried roll is quite different between the two. The Cantonese one is smooth and uniform while the Vietnamese one is blistered and irregular. The filling is quite different as well. The Vietnamese roll consists of cellophane noodles, carrots, ground meat and wood ear mushrooms. Sure, there are other variations; but those are the standard ingredients. Now with that in mind, it's incredible so many Vietnamese restaurants in town serve the Cantonese version. To me, that's akin to going to a Japanese restaurant and being served sweet 'n sour pork.

Thankfully, there are places that serve the authentic Vietnamese spring roll. Bao Chau goes as far as claiming that they are the place for spring rolls. Viv and I have been here before, albeit quite a while ago. We return to try the spring rolls again. As you can see in the picture, the spring rolls are indeed very crispy. Not greasy at all, these rolls had the perfect fried texture. However, I wasn't that impressed with the filling. It tasted fine with a hint of fish sauce; but it was way too mushy and loose. I would've preferred a bit more texture. For my main dish, I went for a Vermicelli Bowl with Grilled Pork, Chicken and Shredded Pork (aka pork rind, yum!). The bowl of food was enjoyable to eat with lots of well seasoned and grilled meat.

Viv had the House Special Pho which includes every meat possible. The noodles were perfectly al dente and the meats were good; but... the soup was disappointing. It was quite sweet and lacked any rich meat flavour. I still think Pho Tam has the most meaty tasting broth so far for me. Despite its faithful following, Bao Chau was only average for us. Maybe our expectations were too high? Don't get me wrong, it was plenty decent, just nothing all that special. At the very least, they do make a proper Vietnamese spring roll.

The Good:
- Authentic Vietnamese spring rolls
- Prices are decent
- Good portions

The Bad:
- Beef soup a bit one-dimensional in flavour

The Pen

*Restaurant is now closed*

Back in my Pho Tan post, I joked about how I was tailed by a police cruiser while I was circling in Whalley. I remarked that if arrested, it would become Sherman's Jailhouse Adventures. While I'm in no rush to be incarcerated, especially given the lack of food choices, Viv and I did come as close as we could to a corrections institution. How about a former penitentiary now housing a restaurant? Yup, the premise behind "The Pen" is it's jailhouse theme. Located in the now defunct BC Penitentiary, the restaurant is complete with barred windows and servers with prisoner numbers on their backs. Yah, there is a certain charm with the place, especially with its quaint location and nice view of the Fraser.

Seeing how we were without food on a Sunday morning, we decided to take the whole family out for breakfast. Well, that's not totally true, we did have eggs, sausage and pancake mix at home; however, that's not very interesting. So off we went to The Pen! Of course, a breakfast is not a breakfast without pancakes. At least that's what my son would like everyone to believe. Thus, we ordered The Works Pancakes for my son and daughter to share. In addition to the 5 fluffy pancakes topped with berry sauce and whipped cream, there were 4 sausages and scrambled eggs. Breakfast is not rocket science; but it was nice to see that the eggs were indeed scrambled and the sausages cooked without being burnt.

Viv went for the Eggs Benny with bacon and tomato. Nothing particularly amazing about this breakfast; but nothing bad either (well, except for the squishy hash browns). English muffin was toasted, tomato fresh, bacon crispy and poached egg runny. Hollandaise sauce was not bad, could've used a bit more lemon. Otherwise a decent eggs benny. For myself, I went for the Cheese and Mushroom Omelet. Served once again with the squishy hash browns, the omelet was a bit small. Furthermore, I found the eggs to be cooked a bit too long. I did like the toast though, it was crunchy and well-buttered.

Overall, I thought the food was alright. Once again, breakfast is not rocket science. I'm not sure if it warranted the price we paid; but the real draw here is the location and the "uniqueness" of the place. Looking out the window, there is a view of the Fraser River and honestly, on a sunny day, it made for a pleasant breakfast.

The Good:
- Quaint location
- Fairly comfortable digs
- Hey, there's a parking lot (good for those who don't want to look for parking)

The Bad:
- A bit pricey for what you get
- Although friendly, the service is quite sparse

Dim Sum @ Lotus

*Restaurant is closed*

Originally, when Lotus opened up in North Delta, it was fairly well-received. And why wouldn't it be? 2 former chefs at Sun Sui Wah helped get this place running. You knew the food would be better than what most other places in the area could offer. However, not too long ago, it changed hands and I wanted to check it out for myself. Driving past the place to and from work, I would take a peek at the $3.00 daily Dim Sum. A novel idea really. Dim Sum in North Delta? Other than Yummy Wonton House, there is no such thing here. Honestly, even if there was, it probably would not be very good. Today, it was the perfect opportunity since Hot Mama could join me for lunch. Normally, it's not the best idea to have Dim Sum alone. Sure, it's possible; but it severely limits the amount of dishes one could order.

Last time I ate with Hot Mama, it was at Azia and she was adamant that we get Sweet & Sour Pork. Admittedly, she is not very adventurous when it comes to food. In fact, she had a hot pepper by mistake at Azia and came away quite traumatized. Seeing she had never tried Dim Sum before, I glowingly spoke of dumplings and spring rolls before I described chicken feet and tripe. Nervously, she still joined me in my food adventure. When we did get down to ordering, I wanted a nice selection and I ended up with 7 dishes. The server suggested we wouldn't finish it. Either she thought we were light eaters or the portions could be large. Well, the dishes turned out to be quite large.

We started with the staple of any Dim Sum lunch - Steamed Shrimp Dumplings. I wasn't expecting too much and these were actually quite good. Despite the outer wrapper being a bit thick and gummy, the shrimp inside were both plentiful and perfectly crunchy. It tasted quite good too with nice shrimp flavour and a hint of sesame oil. When I suggested we order Shrimp Spring Rolls, Hot Mama's face lit up since it was a familiar item. Well, these fried gems were really good. Hot, crunchy and full of shrimp, these delivered. What made me really happy was that they were served with Worcester sauce, not the "sweet 'n sour" we'd normally find out here in North Delta.

We also got the BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Roll. Personally, I love this dish despite the fact my parents instilled into me that BBQ pork is not worth as much as shrimp. The significance? Well, I've been conditioned to order anything shrimp over pork especially if they're the same price due to "worthness". But honestly, I enjoy the BBQ pork version of this dish more since it tastes better. Sure shrimp has more texture; but it's a bit bland to me. This one was also acceptable. A bit stiffer than I would've liked, the noodle roll was packed with BBQ pork.

You knew I had to do it. I had to order the Phoenix Talons AKA Chicken Feet. Despite its interesting appearance, Hot Mama stayed calm and didn't seem fazed. Either she wasn't offended by them or she did a good job acting... Once again, another solid Dim Sum entry here. The chicken feet were in one whole piece and had that gelatinous texture right under the skin. It was steamed perfectly with no skin disintegrating. This is also an indication of freshness since bad prepared chicken feet are also an indication of re-steaming. As always, I got an order of the Steamed Black Bean Spareribs and yes, they were pretty decent as well. Soft, yet a bit chewy, meaty pieces of sparerib were flavoured nicely with black bean and garlic.

The first miss of the meal had to be the Sui Mai (steamed pork dumplings). They were pale looking and did not have a desirable texture. Usually, these are topped with some tobiko or salted duck egg for colour. Also, the meat is supposed to have some chewiness or bite. These one was too soft. The last dish we got was the Sticky Rice wrapped in banana leaves. This was a fine way to end the meal since the rice was perfectly soft while still chewy and sticky. A good amount of ground pork helped provide texture and flavour.

What do you know? Decent Dim Sum in North Delta? I would've never have guessed. And at only $3.00 per dish to boot! That's pretty good value, especially out here. The food was generally decent, well portioned and inexpensive. A good combination. Now, I haven't tried their dinner menu and from some reports, it's not as good. I guess I'll have to try that too...

The Good:
- Very decent Dim Sum for North Delta
- Good portions
- Great value

The Bad:
- Dinner has not gotten rave reviews (I'll need to see this for myself)
- Not enough staff to handle a full house

Toursim BC Media Event: Vancouver Island & the Sunshine Coast

It's always a treat to be invited to media events. After all, you get to mingle, grab some tasty bites and receive some swag at the end. Viv and I were fortunate to attend an event sponsored by Tourism Vancouver Island promoting Vancouver Island & the Sunshine Coast. Kim, Joyce & Frank, Victoria, Darina, Anita, Mijune and Jonathan were also present. Arriving a little bit late, Viv and I were only able to catch the last bit of the First Nations performance. We were quickly ushered into another room where celebrity chef Bob Blumer was hosting sessions with fellow chefs from the Island and the Sunshine Coast.

During the presentation, we were treated to various oysters and seafood from Pacific Kiss. The oysters were shucked right in from our eyes and served on ice. These babies were so fresh and sweet. Just then, Kim comes strolling by with a plate of steamed clams. With clam juice flowing down his arm, being the gracious fellow that he is, he offered me some. I had a few; but not really satisfied, I made my way over to the source and scooped a dish for myself. Now, it wasn't all that easy since the lady in front of me took her sweet time choosing the best ones. Then, she proceeded to eat them standing right in front of the tray being totally oblivious at the lineup behind her. I quickly took a look a the person beside me and we both simultaneously had the "WTH" look on our faces. All we could do was laugh and shake our heads...

However, that was not the last example of cluelessness. While Bob Blumer was hosting the cooking sessions, some dude decided to stand right in front of the display and remain there for the entirety even though no one, including the house cameraman, had no clear view. Even after several people (myself included) asked him to move, he continued to stay there. He even seemed annoyed at the requests to move. Honestly people... a free event doesn't mean you can be rude and obnoxious! Okay, enough of my rant. I'm sure David Pratt would be proud... Anyways, we were treated to oysters with a Hollandaise sauce. They were a bit salty; but they were a treat to eat.

Next up were skewers of Geoduck that were sliced thin and cooked properly. They cannot be fully cooked since they get really rubbery and chewy easily. Moreover, only the "snout" is good to eat in this manner. The innards are typically good for soups and stews only. If you've never tried Geoduck, I strongly suggest you do despite it looking like a really large "appendage". Remember, size doesn't matter! The last item we got to try was scallops on top of sushi rice. Since it wasn't served hot, the texture of the scallops weren't ideal. Whatever the case, we expected that and they were still quite good. And in all honesty, this was a nice treat, courtesy of the Tourism Vancouver Island and the fine people representing Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.

Ba Le Deli & Sandwiches (Surrey)

*Restaurant is closed*

I'm always game for some Banh Mi. For me at least, it's the perfect snack food. Not quite large enough to be a full-sized sub sandwich; yet not too small that there is no substance to it. Yes, I do get it for a meal occasionally. However, I usually get at least 2 to make sure I am full. It's been months since I've had one and when I saw Ben's post on Ba Le on Kingsway, the Banh Mi cravings came to the forefront. You know, the urge to have crumbs scattered all over you from the crusty baguette. The urge to have your tongue burn from the hot peppers. The urge to have pate and Vietnamese meats in one sandwich. Yes, those urges. If you've never had these urges, I "urge" you to try one for yourself.

One problem. Since I work in North Delta, the chances of me finding a Banh Mi are not good. A good samosa yes, Banh Mi no. Wait. There's the Surrey location of Ba Le! But that's all the way in Guildford! Hey, it's only a 15 minute drive to the Guildford T&T (where it is located). Fine, that's it, when I have a craving, I need to satisfy myself or I'll totally space out. Case in point. In both softball and hockey, my teams are constantly frustrated when I start thinking about food prematurely prior to a game ending. When that happens, they know that it's a lost cause. Might as well throw the game, Sherman is useless. So, not trying to be a useless zombie for the rest of the afternoon, I headed over to Guildford on a quest for my Banh Mi.

Well, either there was no traffic or I broke some speed laws because I made it out there in less than 15 minutes. The wait for the subs seemed to take longer. I ended up picking up 4 of them - 1 cold cut, 1 satay beef, 1 meatball and 1 grilled marinated pork. No, not all for me, I got some for Ma as well. Okay, either they didn't use fresh bread or something was amiss. Instead of the usually light, airy, crusty baguettes which Ba Le is known for, these were dense, chewy and hard. I'm hoping that this is a one time thing. It's too bad really since the meats and fillings were plentiful. I particularly liked the meatball sub the most. The cold cut was pretty standard with usual meats, pate, cucumber, pickled daikon and carrots, cilantro, hot peppers and fish sauce. Ma's satay beef was excellent, with plenty of meat, peanuts and the aforementioned fillings except for the pate.

The marinated grilled pork was probably my least favourite. I didn't mind the "jerky" type of texture and flavour of the pork, it was actually good. There just wasn't enough filling to overcook the dense bread. Once again, it's too bad the bread did not work out for me today. I'm sure that this is not the norm since I've rarely had a bad experience at any of the Ba Le locations. I'm just glad there is one in Surrey. Now only if they had one a bit closer, say... in North Delta...

The Good:
- A nice selection of different subs
- Inexpensive
- Decent amount of filling

The Bad:
- Bread was not good this time (chewy and dense)

Ozark's

*Restaurant is permanently closed*

Good ol' Southern BBQ - baby back ribs, brisket, pulled pork with all the fixins'. Well, hold that thought because there ain't much of that in these neck of the woods. Sure, there's Memphis Blues (which is probably the best of the lot), Migz, Dix, Burgers Etc and if you want to stretch the genre, Montana's. No, we're too far North for really good BBQ. But we do rule in the realm of Asian food. How about Korean BBQ, Chinese BBQ meats or even Tandoori? I know, I know, it's not the same thing. Thought I'd try... Well, other than the aforementioned establishments, there are others; but Ozark's has been on my radar for some time. One problem, it's in Langley. Well, it really isn't that big of an issue since I have been out to Abbotsford for pizza.

Nikita and Bluebeard (fine residents of Langley) were up to trying this place out and I had planned to meet up with them. Kim joined us as well since Ozark's was on his "to try" list as well. Driving out to Langley was a breeze, no traffic really. I'd passed by Ozark's quite a few times in the past and for some strange reason, I was doubting my own memory. Thinking I had passed the place, I decided to make a U-turn on Fraser Hwy. Turns out that I made the U-turn right in front of Ozark's! If I had only looked to my right... Finally arriving at the place, I was so excited to see their "all-you-can-eat" ribs sign that I walked right into a planter. How embarrassing, I got charley-horsed by a stationary object. Originally, I was worried that my son would have nothing to eat since it is a BBQ joint. The chances of him eating ribs are as good as me becoming vegetarian. To our surprise, they had a kid's menu that included... grilled cheese... We have been saved! With his choice of food out of the way, Kim and I devised out strategy. Strategy? Yes, we made sure that most of the meats were well represented at the table. Thus, after seeing that Nikta had selected the Side Ribs and Baby Backs for Bluebeard, Kim went for the Brisket Plate while I had the Beef Ribs. To make sure of things, Kim and I split a Pulled Pork Sandwich. Viv had ordered the same thing; but that would've been hard to share with us. Yes, Kim and I are dedicated to our craft.

I actually refrained from the AYCE since I was meeting up with Costanza and Elaine for dinner later in the evening. Well, it turns out that the AYCE special was not necessary since the plate of 6 big beef bones was more than enough, especially for lunch. The consensus was that these ribs were pretty good. These were cooked until most of the fat had been rendered from the meat, resulting in a tender product. Flavour wise, there was only slight hints of sweet and saltiness. But there was no need for extra BBQ sauce. We liked that the meat was not overly charred, so that all of the it was edible. The 3 sides to my dish were all pretty decent as well. The coleslaw was pretty standard, quite similar to the one you'd find at KFC. Not really all that tart, it was crunchy and a bit creamy. The baked beans were soft while still retaining their shape. They were slightly sweet with strong onion flavour. The baked potato was alright, it was still slightly firm.

If that was the best dish of the meal, Nikita's side ribs must've been the worst. Dry, hard and lacking any real taste, these were not good. We realize that authentic Southern BBQ is based on cooking the meats from a raw state at a low heat over a long period of time. Thus, it will never be "juicy" per se. Well, call it personal preference, we weren't all that impressed by them. Fortunately, Bluebeard's baby backs were a bit more tender and moist. It was probably due to the baby backs having more meat and a bit more fat on them. With that being said, there was a lack of flavour and they weren't exactly moist. The pulled pork sandwich was another example of dry meat. It was a bit stringy and needed copious amounts of sauce. To be fair, it was probably their intention not to douse it with too much BBQ sauce since it's a lot easier to adjust it if had very little sauce on it as opposed to arriving drenched. On that note, the BBQ sauce itself was slightly smokey and predominantly sweet. The side of fries, to me at least, were good and bad. On one hand, they were nicely seasoned; yet on the other, they were not crispy at all. At least they were quite potatoey.

Finally, Kim's brisket plate was alright. I liked that the brisket was not overly charred since it only takes away from the edible portions of meat. It was fairly tender and with a nice dousing of BBQ sauce, I didn't mind it. The side of mash potatoes was actually quite good with big hits of garlic. Now feeling quite bloated from all the meat, Kim and I decided to go for the Fried Cheesecake. Yes, we are indeed gluttons for punishment. Similar to the one found at Dulcinea, the cheesecake is wrapped in a tortilla and then deep-fried. French vanilla ice cream is served on the side. Unexpectedly, the dessert worked quite well. The tortilla was crispy without being oily and the ice cream went well with it. We thought possibly there could've been more cream cheese flavour. This was a nice treat to end off the meal. It's too bad that most of the meats were quite dry and lacking in flavour. With that being said, the beef ribs were very good while the brisket and pulled pork were alright. They just needed more sauce. In my mind, Ozark's is passable. Nothing really all that special; although the side ribs were not very good. Probably okay if you live in the area (and if Memphis Blues is closed); but certainly not worth the drive if you're not.

The Good:

- Reasonable prices

- Generally good portions

- Attentive service

The Bad:

- If you don't like dry meat...