Kim Saigon Sandwiches (in Golden Garden)

If you were strolling by on Main Street, it would be very easy to miss Kim Saigon Sandwiches. Hey, that's exactly what has happened to me. I wasn't even aware it existed even though I've probably walked past it a number of times. The reason for this apparent oversight is that Kim Saigon is located within another restaurant, which happens to be Golden Garden Vietnamese. Well, it is all one restaurant per se; but a Banh Mi stand greets you when entering the place. Returning from downtown, I was going to pick up some food for Viv and suggested that I get some Vietnamese subs. Knowing Viv, I had her at banh... Seeing how I've already tried Viet Sub and Ba Le (Chinatown), something different was in order. I quickly punched in "banh mi & Chinatown" into google and there it was - Kim Saigon Sandwiches. However, the address made me think since I didn't remember any banh mi joint at that location.

Pulling into a parking spot in front, I realized that it resided in a former wonton noodle joint. In fact, Golden Garden is fairly new being roughly a year old. So I decided to get one each of the Cold Cut, Chicken and Meatball. Yah, it wasn't all for Viv! While waiting for my order, the sandwich making process was interrupted more than a Windows Vista user doing file management. What should have taken only 3 minutes took longer than 10. I don't blame them because it got really busy in the restaurant. However, not necessarily a good thing if someone was in a rush for take-out.

When I finally got the sandwiches, I opened up the wrapping to let it breathe so that it didn't moisten up too much on the ride home. It turns out that the subs remained crisp and crusty, at least on the outside. If you look at the pictures, the bread itself is a bit dense and is not as airy like the ones at Ba Le (Kingsway location) or Tung Hing. However, that did not mean that the subs were bad. Conversely, I thought they were quite good. I particularly liked the cold cut as it reminded me of Ba Le's version (which I like). There was a good amount of fish sauce added so there was lots of flavour. The meatball and chicken subs were also quite good with a decent amount of meat. Not the best banh mi I've ever had; but pretty solid nonetheless.

The Good:
- Enough filling
- Fresh ingredients
- Crusty, if not a bit dense, bread

The Bad:
- Sandwich maker doubles as hostess and cashier, can be interrupted often
- Crusty, if not a bit dense, bread

Chill Restaurant & Lounge

*This restaurant is now closed*

For quite a while now, I've been eyeing Chill Restaurant & Lounge as a potential late night destination after hockey. However, their kitchen closes at midnight and since our games have been rather late, it's a no-go. Lately, we've run into a string of games that are actually quite early; thus it opens up a whole set of potential dining options. Seeing how Ben and Karl had visited Chill recently, it was on my mind once again. After our game, I suggested it to the team (more like told them) that we go try Chill. They all seemed quite willing, so off we went. Joining me tonight were Polka King, Milhouse, Boss Woman, Emilicious, Mr. Blueberry and Gadget Girl. That was awesome since we could try out so many more dishes! Yah, I don't mind their company either...

For a Friday night, the place was extremely busy and there was definitely a buzz. It could be the fact that most of the clientele were younger and/or the place is licensed (hence, alcoholic bubble tea!). Due to my expeditious driving, Polka King and I arrived earlier than everyone else and were lucky to secure a large table. As everyone began filtering in, we were given takeout menus since all of their other menus were being used. This was the first sign that they were really busy (an omen of things to come). Is it just me, despite the takeout menu being more or less the same as the regular menu, I find it less appealing to look at? Totally psychological I'm sure; but I wasn't even interested in anything until I got to look a the actual menu.

And about that menu... It's a real mix of items. There is a collection of "Asian" tapas mixed in with Taiwanese Beef Noodle and a whole whack of drinks and bubble teas. In some cases, the word tapas is used loosely to describe what is essentially "da lang" or Chinese late night portions of food. Mr. Blueberry and Gadget Girl decided to share a few "tapas" plates including the Beef Roll, Fried Capelin, Chill Tempura and Sweet & Sour Pork. The beef roll arrived nicely plated on a bed of shredded cabbage. Mr. Blueberry liked it and said it was nice texturally and taste wise. However, both the fried capelin and tempura were a bit off. Although the capelin was fried up nice and crispy, there was some odd taste in the oil. That was the same for the tempura. And about that tempura... Uh... Is it just me or does it just like a pile of poorly made fries? Actually, it is fish cake cut into strips and then fried. I can't see what does tempura has to do with this dish. Texturally it was neither crunchy nor tasty. Gadget Girl suggested that there should've been both a spicy dip and garnish on the plate. But the biggest problem was the odd oil flavour again. We can only guess that there was something cooked in the oil beforehand that contaminated the flavour. They disliked it so much, it was sent back. To the restaurants' credit, they took it off the bill. As for the sweet & sour pork, it was quite good. Rather than using fatty pork, we were amazed to find out that they used pork chop to make this dish. The result was a meatier version of this dish. Furthermore, there were nice big chunks of pineapple, peppers and onions within the tangy sauce. This dish was surprisingly a winner considering this would be the last place you'd expect find good sweet & sour pork.

Emilicious went for one of their specialties - Beef Noodle. However, when it arrived, it was a Tomato Beef Noodle. Again, to their credit, they took it away and returned with the correct version. With big ribbons of just past al dente noodles in a somewhat flavourful broth, this was an okay bowl of beef noodles. I found that the beef was actually quite tender, although they were in little pieces. Boss Woman wasn't all that hungry and ordered the Pineapple Shrimp. Presented as a fairly large portion for the price, it was good. She said both the shrimp and flavours worked well together being sweet. Not sure about the "oil" problem that plagued the other 2 fried dishes; but possibly the plethora of sauce hid any odd flavours. Now by this time, no one but Milhouse had received their drinks. We had ordered 4 bubble teas and only got one. He got the Cookies and Cream BBT featuring real Oreos. He thought it was fantastic.

For me, I started with the Mix & Mash. Okay, it's not a drink nor is it a box of Betty Crocker instant mash potatoes. Rather it is a mixture of items such as bean curd, seaweed, beef tripe, beef shank, chicken gizzards and beef tendon. I got to choose 3 for $6.99. I think they were trying to imply "mix & match" or "mishmash". Or maybe they meant to do that and combine the two. Just sounded funny to me... I ended up with tendon, gizzards and tripe. No one seemed too interested in trying it. Their loss! Everything was quite good with everything being tender and well seasoned. Thus, it was a bit of overkill to have so much salty sauce on top. I also liked the side of pickled carrots and daikon, very vinegary. Portion-size, I personally thought there should've been more considering other Taiwanese BBT joints give you a big plate full for the same price. I also added the Nikutofu Noodle as per Emilicious' request. She wanted to see and try it out. Resembling a type of Ja Jeun Mein, there were chewy noodles with a sauce consisting of dried tofu, pickles and meat with Shanghai bak choy and sprouts on the side. Not bad, probably better with thinner noodles; but alright nonetheless. I liked the sauce, it provided a bit of salt and sweetness without overpowering the noodles.

When Polka King got his Satay Lamb with Vegetables, we were confused as to what it was. He didn't even know it was the dish he had ordered. Somehow the description didn't lend itself to the actual product. However, he checked the menu and the picture was indeed a match. It's probably because the meat didn't look or taste like lamb. Good for those who don't like the gaminess since it didn't taste as such. The dish was okay; yet would've been better if there was less liquid. Funny how this dish was actually the first to arrive at our table and his second dish arrived last. Not sure how they expedite their food in the kitchen... So his second dish was the Salmon Rollies. It's basically blanched asparagus wrapped in smoked salmon. Pretty simple and okay except that the outer skin of the asparagus was a bit tough. Milhouse also had an order of the sweet & sour pork and he concurred that it was very good. In addition, he had the Tomato Beef with Rice. If you look at the picture, it sure doesn't look very tomatoey. In fact, it looks much like a brown sauce with bits of meat; however, upon tasting it, it did taste like tomato beef. That is very strange, especially since we didn't see much of any tomato at all. My personal thoughts are that it was passable; yet needs a little work on presentation and more meat.

So believe it or not, almost near the end of our meal, I got my Mango Milk Tea with coconut jelly. A full 20+ minutes after Milhouse got his drink. Once again, the drink was very good. Smooth, and not too sweet with plenty of mango flavour, this was refreshing. At this moment, Polka King set his timer to see how long it would take for his drink to arrive. Yup, another 20+ minutes and his Blueberry Tea showed up. Also very good. Poor Boss Woman, her Pina Colada slush arrived as we were all finished. I must credit the restaurant for offering her a fresh slice of cheesecake as compensation. Despite her long wait, she was in good spirits since her drink was also very pleasing. But still no cheesecake. 10 minutes pass. No cheesecake. Remind server. Another 10 minutes, no cheesecake. What? Are they making the cream cheese or something??? Mercifully, after another 10 minutes, we all gave up and just left.

Alright, to be fair, all the servers were extremely polite and apologetic for the slow food delivery, wrong noodles, odd tempura and even slower drink arrival. We had absolutely no problem with the service (despite the errors). However, it was essentially a comedy of errors and screw-ups. Yes, I realize that it's a Friday night and the place was packed (with one large birthday party as well). However, this is prime time for them and it's their opportunity to shine. Instead, they struggled mightily with every facet of their operation. C'mon, drinks should not come in 20 minute intervals and halfway or at the end of a meal. That's plain inexcusable. No matter how busy you are. Their drink menu is a page full, so if that is one of their specialties, there should be enough resources in place to produce them expeditiously. In terms of their food, it was hit and miss. Some things were good (S&S Pork, Beef Noodles, Pineapple Shrimp, Beef Roll), some were mediocre and some not so good (Tempura, Tomato Beef, Capelin). So there is definitely potential there. I must give kudos to them taking back the tempura and taking it off the bill. Of course a restaurant should do that; but that's not always the case at an Asian establishment. Also props to the complimentary cheesecake offered for the approximately 1 hour wait for the pina colada slush. Too bad it didn't arrive nearly 30 minutes after it was offered. I don't get it. Honestly I don't. I know it's a lounge and we're supposed to hang out and "chill". But it's very difficult to chill when waiting is not only a virtue, it's a necessity for drinks, food and even comps to make up for the wait in the first place.

The Good:
- Really nice decor and vibe
- Excellent drinks
- Pleasant staff

The Bad:
- Waits for food, drinks and even makeup items take excruciatingly long
- Pleasant staff; but slightly disorganized
- Some food items get lost in translation

Bistrot Bistro

*Restaurant now closed*

Alright, I must admit. I can be a little twisted and demented at times. No, no, not serial killer demented, more like twisted humour (well, maybe a serial eater). As such, I felt it would be a great idea to celebrate Easter. You might think that would mean going to church or do an Easter egg hunt with the kiddies. Nope. Didn't do either. Rather, my great idea was to eat the Easter bunny itself... Okay, if I've offended or turned you completely off, you can stop reading now. No, not that person in the bunny suit at the local mall handing out chocolate eggs. Instead, I was thinking along the lines of dining on rabbit at a restaurant. I bounced this idea off Kim and he being equally twisted agreed to join me. Mijune and Darina rounded out our dining party. Now with the main dish settled, we needed to find a place that actually serves rabbit. I really didn't do a lot of searching to tell you the truth. I've always had my eye on Bistrot Bistro and one look at their online menu yielded our desired protein. In fact, Darina really likes Bistrot Bistro and changed her plans to make it for dinner. That in itself is a fine vote of confidence for the place. I ended up arriving a tad early and was able to snag a parking spot right in front of another restaurant that I like - Dae Bak Bon Ga. In fact, there are several really good restaurants nearby on 4th Ave.

Whenever a bunch of like-minded individuals meet, it's always chit chat and we never really get to ordering. It took us awhile since we wanted to make sure there were no duplicate dishes. Hey, we want to try as many different things as possible. This is probably the best way to get a read on a restaurant. We started off sharing the Baguette with Tapenade. Presented on a long wooden board, the crusty baguette was huge. I'm not sure if the portion of tapenade was enough for so much bread. Despite a nice olive flavour, the tapenade would've benefited from more salt. It would've kicked up the flavour quotient a few notches. For myself, I had to try the Warm Caramelized Onion Maplewood Smoked Bacon Gruyere Tart. Hey, its got bacon! However, I didn't get a real sense of bacon in the tart since the sweetness of the onions was the dominant flavour. Don't get me wrong, I liked it. I just wanted more bacon. Darina got the Escargots in Butter Garlic and for $6.00, we felt that there were a good amount of snails. Although we could see the butter and the garlic, the dish wasn't all that flavourful. It was pleasant to eat; yet lack enough impact. It probably also needed a bit of salt.

For my main, I went for the Lamb Shank with Spiced Apricots in Tomato White Wine. For me, I thought the meat was tender and had that slightly gelatinous/fattiness that is associated with braised lamb shank. Everyone else thought that the meat could've been braised a bit longer. In hindsight, I agree; yet the meat was far from being tough. I thought the sauce was "gentle" and was definitely a bystander to the gaminess of the lamb. This was not necessarily a bad thing since I like a strong lamb flavour. The one apricot was integral since it added a necessary sweetness. For my side dish, I added the Bacon Brussels Spouts. Hey, I love bacon! Fortunately, there was more bacon flavour here than the tart. In fact, there were nice gems of fatty bacon hidden between the soft; yet not mushy sprouts. I believe either balsamic or red wine was used in the preparation of this dish.

Mijune went for another dish I was considering - Duck Confit Macaroni & Cheese. To me, that sounded really good. Somehow by the description, we were thinking that the duck would be in the mac 'n cheese, not on top of it. It could be that this was a way to retain the moisture and texture of the duck without drying it out. However, we felt that there needed to be actual duck flavour in the mac 'n cheese itself (maybe even use the duck fat itself in place of butter as suggested by Kim). As for the macaroni itself, it was a little on the softer side (not a big deal in this case). Personally, I liked the flavour of the mac 'n cheese; but Mijune would've liked more cheese itself.

For her side dish, she went for the Braised Squash with Pearl Onions and Raisins. Interesting that she'd order this since the last time I had dinner with Mijune, she was expressing her disgust over the pureed squash at East is East. Well, this version is much better since the squash remained in whole pieces which were braised in a curry sauce. I liked this quite a bit since there was a nice marriage of sweetness from the squash and raisins with the slight spiciness of the curry.

It seems that I order lamb all the time, which is quite predictable. Well, somehow it seemed obvious that Darina would pick the Mussels with White Wine, Shallots and Parsley (she had it the last time we dined at La Brasserie). She added a side of Pomme Frites as well. The mussels were plump and fresh; yet there was a slight bitter aftertaste. Darina suggested that the wine may have not been cooked off enough. Whatever the case, we didn't think it detracted from the taste too much. As for the frites, they were outstanding. Resembling shoestring fries, they were crispy all the way through while maintaining a nice potato-ness. The side of house-made mayo provided a nice smooth addition to the crispy fries.

Now here comes the main event! The Easter bunny! I know, it's sick... Anyways, Kim ordered the Rabbit Cooked in 2 Mustards, White Wine and Cream. By far, we felt that this was the most successful dish. And it's not because we were going for the twisted Easter theme either! First of all, the rabbit (similar to chicken, everything does taste like chicken eh?) was tender and moist. Yet, the star of the show was the sauce. I thought it was delicately well-balanced. It was flavourful, with only hints of wine and mustard (not even sure if I tasted that much of it honestly). It was creamy without being heavy. In fact, we poured it on top of the remaining mac 'n cheese and it was fantastic!

For his side, he went for the ever reliable Ratatouille. Full of the usual ingredients such as zucchini, peppers, eggplant, onions and tomatoes. For me, this was alright. Nothing against it per se, other than everything being quite mushy. I guess it was nothing exciting compared to other dishes. So solid ratatouille; but lost in the mix of everything else. At this point we were decently full from our meal. After all, the portions were quite good for the price. However, we were dining with Mijune, the queen of desserts. In fact, she already had the dessert menu sitting near her throughout the meal. Yah, she knows her priorities! Thus, we carefully planned out what desserts to order so we got to try a good variety. Wait, scratch that. In reality, Mijune just ordered the desserts for us and we took whatever was chosen.

Arriving on a large plate were 2 decently-sized Profiteroles with Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce. The profiteroles themselves were a desirable texture of a slight crustiness on the outside and airy tenderness on the inside. Although the ice cream sandwiched within them was pleasant tasting, it was a tad on the icy side. The chocolate sauce had a nice consistency and was indeed very chocolaty; yet it was a bit too sweet. Despite this, we felt the profiteroles were the hands down favourite of all the desserts we sampled.

Impressively served table side from an extremely large mixing bowl, Kim's Chocolate Mousse ended up to be a very big portion. Look at the picture. That is easily 2-3 times larger than any other portion served at similar restaurants. Quite chocolaty with a slight bitter aftertaste, which is a good thing, the mousse was a tad sweet; yet not overly sweet. Kim tried to finish it all; but alas, it was a bit too much. Maybe Mijune would done better... As for my dessert, Mijune "helped" me order the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee. Its appearance was quite appealing. One tap on the top with my spoon yielded the much desired hard caramelized sugar coating. Breaking into the custard and it was not exactly what I was envisioning. For me, I personally like my creme brulee to be a bit thicker. This was slightly runny. Despite this, we all thought it tasted quite good with a level of creaminess and understated sweetness (although the sugar topping provided plenty of sweetness). Although we could see the vanilla bean on the bottom, it didn't provide the "punch" we were looking for.

Darina ended up with the Lemon Tart which was served with berry compote and whipped cream. I thought that the lemon filling was a nice balance of tart and sweet. There was a good amount of buttery tart shell which was thick; yet easy to eat. It helped temper the tartness of the lemon which helped bring further balance. The desserts were a nice way to end a generally pleasant meal. The service was solid throughout the meal, although it was inevitable that they'd figure out what we were doing. It's hard to keep 2 DSLR's discreet in a small bistro! Also, thanks to the understanding couple beside us who had to put up with our picture taking as well. For the level of pricing combined with the overall food quality, Bistrot Bistro offers incredible value. In general, the food is well-portioned, properly prepared and made with care. Despite not taking advantage of the prix fixe menu (at an incredible $26.00), we still made it out of there with all the food we ate at $42.00 each inclusive. For a restaurant in trendy Kits, with solid service and great food, it's indeed a winner.

The Good:
- Very reasonably-priced
- Generally well-prepared food
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- Being a small bistro, seating is naturally tight
- If you want sides, it's an extra cost

Golden Ocean

Man, this place brings back memories. Prior to its current iteration, Golden Ocean was once Miramar. We knew the owners and were regulars for Dim Sum every weekend. This was when I attended Osler Elementary when we still lived in Oakridge. Yes, it was a very long time ago! Honestly, I don't recall the last time I was here. Today, we met up with Goose and Mother Goose along with my parents for Dim Sum. Knowing how the place gets crazy busy on the weekends, we made a reservation for 11:45am. The significance of the time is that before 11:30am, there is a 20% discount off the total bill. Thus, it's extra crazy busy before that and a reservation is pretty much useless. So at 11:45am, there is a much better chance we'd get our table quickly, which we did.

Part of a dying breed, Golden Ocean stills serves Dim Sum on rolling carts. As much as I still like the novelty of Dim Sum carts, it doesn't seem very practical here since the seating arrangements are tight and the walkways even tighter. It reminds me of rush hour on #3 Road in Richmond! Except in this case, you want lots of cart traffic around you since you get more food! The one problem with carts is we end up ordering too much and the table gets filled to the max. It's an inherent affliction since the Chinese in us takes over. We start to worry that the dishes we want will either be sold out or won't come around again. So let the hording begin! "Back off! Get your own Haw Gow!"

We started with the Shrimp Spring Rolls and it was a no-brainer really. My son loves the "crunchy" and would never let the cart go by without asking for it. Too bad he doesn't eat the filling! Although making a good spring roll isn't exactly rocket science, these were pretty good. Crunchy, full of shrimp and none too salty or oily, they did their job. To somewhat have greens in our diet, we got the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots. This is a tricky dish to prepare since if you overcooked it, the pea shoots become limp like spinach. Under-cooking it and it might be too chewy. This one was nearing the overcooked stage; but barely. So it was acceptable, especially in a Dim Sum environment.

As always, we got the 2 classics - Haw Gow & Sui Mai (aka Shrimp Dumplings and Pork/Shrimp Dumplings). As for the Sui Mai, I thought they were executed quite well. What you look for in a good sui mai is tender; yet slightly chewy pork and cold-water crunchy shrimp. There should be a bit of pork fat and a touch of sweetness-saltiness-sesame oil. For aesthetic reasons, a small dab of tobiko or salted duck egg yolk should top each dumpling. In this case, all of the above applies. For a good Haw Gow, naturally, there should be crunchy cold water shrimp that is just cooked. Mixed in could be a variety of things which include pork fat, water chestnuts, white pepper, sesame oil, sugar and salt. There are some variations which use bamboo shoots in place of water chestnuts. That, in my opinion, is a not as good since bamboo shoots are quite pungent and overwhelm the delicate shrimp. Fortunately, there were not bamboo shoots in these shrimp dumplings, which were quite good. The only thing I'd change is the slightly thick dumpling skin.

Another Dim Sum staple is the Beef Meatballs. Although there are several variations, when it comes down to it, it's a meatball of ground beef. However, the important thing here is to make the ground beef smooth without being mushy. These were good being soft with still a nice "rebound" when bitten into. The good thing about carts is that you can actually see the food, which makes deciding whether to order it or not a bit easier. In the case of the Shrimp Stuffed Eggplant, we ordered it based on the size of the dish. They should've renamed it shrimp with a bit of eggplant. Lots of juicy ground shrimp on top of eggplant made this dish a winner.

The Loh Mei Guy (Sticky Rice wrapped in lotus leaves) is another dish we often order. A "filler" item, it's "cum bao", which is not a disgusting protein bun despite how it sounds. Rather, it means that you can get full on it easily. In this case, the rice was a bit soft due to the copious amount of pork filling. Despite this, the amount of filling helped flavour the rice thoroughly. Now a dish that some people might take a pass at; but you know that I would definitely eat - Steamed Beef Tendon. Honestly, there is not inherent taste to it other than what it is cooked in. So it is a textural issue with most people. When cooked right, it's gelatinous and slightly chewy. Overcooked and it's mush, undercooked, it's unchewable. Once again, they nailed here with soft pieces of tendon that maintained their shape while being garlicky and slightly sweet.

Another dish that people horde over is the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll. Sure, it comes in different forms such as BBQ pork, beef, mushroom, scallop, salty donut, spareribs and plain; but the shrimp version is the most popular. We had to special order this one because it kept selling out before it got to us. Yet again, another great dish. Encased within soft layers of rice noodle were crunchy cold water shrimp. We also got the Beef Rice Noodle Roll as well and it was just as good with the beef being soft and not overwhelmed with cilantro. A dish we got exclusively for the kiddies were the BBQ Pork Mexican Buns. Wait a minute! Mexican bun? WTH is that? Yah, when I first saw one in a Chinese bakery, I was confused. What does Mexico have to do with these pineapple bun cousins? Well, they seem to be a variation of the Mexican Conchas. Filled to the max with sweet BBQ pork in a soft pastry with a crispy sweet topping, these were better than some Chinese bakery versions.

Another dish for the kiddies was the Preserved Duck Egg and Salted Pork Congee. Well, at least for my daughter since the chances of my son eating preserved duck egg would be as good as the contestants on Fear Factor. I wish I was on that episode since I would be popping those eggs like a snack. Alas, with my luck, they'd have roasted cockroaches or something that would make me want to gag. Anyways, the congee was alright for a Dim Sum meal. It was a bit thin; yet it did have lots of ingredients.

For dessert, we ended up getting 3 orders of the Egg Tarts, not because we wanted to necessarily eat so many; but my daughter had a whole plate to herself. I guess they were good? I didn't have one. They did look good though. Ultimately, the meal was quite good. Not one item was sub par. Service, if you can imagine was only acceptable since the place was a madhouse. Despite this, the staff were as friendly as they could be. The only downside is that the pricing (even with the discount) ain't exactly cheap. Blame that on the location. Still, we enjoyed our meal and would gladly return for another.

The Good:
- Carefully prepared food
- Most items were bang on
- Pretty decent selection with carts

The Bad:
- Quite narrow for carts
- A bit pricey