Tsim Chai Noodles

After our Friday night hockey game at North Shore Ice Sports, Boss Woman suggests we go all the way out to Richmond for some eats. Uh... we're um... in North Vancouver! WTH? So let me get this straight. You want me to drive to Richmond from North Vancouver to grab some food? Alright, for someone who complains, whines and bitches about driving in Richmond, I sure go there a lot. Trust me, there are many people who have told me so. I admit it. I do go to Richmond a lot. I brave the traffic, "me first mentality" and parking space bandits for the food. I will do practically anything for good food. I even drive out to Langley and Abbotsford for good grub. Richmond is a hotbed of culinary delights, Chinese food in particular. If I avoided Richmond altogether, it would seriously be a shame. So here we go, once again, to Richmond. Initially, the destination was E-Canteen; but as we were driving down Westminster, I noticed Tsim Chai Noodles. Hey! Gary had pointed out to me that I was missing out on some good wontons from this place. Alright, since I was here anyways, let's do it! Luckily for me, Polka King, Lionel Hutz, Boss Woman and Milhouse were game for the venue change. And it only took us about 25 minutes to get there from North Van. Not bad.

If I hadn't already suspected it, walking into Tsim Chai reminded me of Congee Noodle King. Very similar type of restaurant specializing in wonton noodles, congee and at this time of night, da lang (late night Chinese tapas served with plain congee). So the signature item here of course are the wontons. And before we get into it, we need to understand what makes a good wonton. We also need to understand that there are different types and people have personal preferences. There are pork, pork & shrimp and shrimp wontons. For me at least, I prefer the latter two. Now with that established, a good wonton has 3 important criteria (I know there are more; but for all-intensive purposes, they simplifies it): a) size b) texture c) taste. Naturally, a large wonton, the better the value. However, a place like McNoodle has small wontons; yet the other 2 points make up for the lack of size. In terms of texture, a good wonton should have a resistance or "bite". It should not be mushy. If the shrimp inside is prepared properly (ie. run through cold water long enough -> cold-water shrimp), then there will be that "crunch". Lastly, the wonton should basically let the shrimp be the dominant flavour with a nice accent of sesame oil, white pepper, salt and sugar. Of course, if there is some pork in the wonton (actually all wontons have some sort of pork fat), this changes the flavour somewhat; but if there is just the right amount, it won't overwhelm the shrimp.

Both Polka King and myself had the Wonton Noodles, except I added Sui Gow in mine (they are similar except have a bit more pork with the addition of bamboo shoots and wood ear mushrooms). Right away, I found that the noodles were quite good with a nice chewy texture. The broth itself was a bit light bordering on bland. As for the star of the show, the wontons were very large. They rival the ones from Ho Yuen Kee in size. In terms of the filling, it was a combination of pork, pork fat and shrimp; yet predominantly shrimp (not sure why it says prawns on the menu, they're not very big prawns). I enjoyed the wontons; but to be honest, I much prefer the ones from Ho Yuen Kee and Congee Noodle King. It's quite possible I have a personal preference towards wontons that are almost 100% shrimp. Polka King echoed the same sentiments and proclaimed that Congee Noodle King is better.

Milhouse had the Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee. He was happy with the congee since it was pretty thick and had enough ingredients; yet once again, he stated that Congee Noodle King was better. We also shared a Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice. Alright, the rice was so bland, we had to put soya sauce on it. Honestly, the last time I had to put soya sauce on any Chinese food, I was probably 6 years old. Rice was not good. I also shared a Singapore-Style Fried Vermicelli with Boss Woman. This was pretty good. Not too oily with a definite curry kick, we liked it. She also ordered her favourite - Shrimp & Eggs. The dish itself was executed properly with slightly runny eggs with cold-water shrimp. She just wished the shrimp were bigger. Lionel Hutz went for the Eggplant with Chili & Garlic. This was also quite decent with a nice spicy kick. All-in-all, it was an okay meal. Nothing spectacular and nothing terrible. Decent wonton noodles; but in my mind at least, it doesn't measure up to Ho Yuen Kee, Congee Noodle King or Congee Noodle House.

The Good:
- Large menu
- Decent prices
- Open late

The Bad:
- Service was sparse (not rude though)
- Noodles were good; but not that good

The Tipper

Although breakfast can usually be easily made at home, I often find myself in a restaurant munching on scrambled eggs. It could be that I like to eat out... Duh... Hey, there are a multitude of reasons we go out for breakfast. Places like Bon's off Broadway are just plain cheap while brunching at the Pan Pacific can be seen as extravagant. Price, location and venue - whatever the reason may be, doing breakfast or brunch at a restaurant does have its charm. When my son declared he wanted breakfast for dinner the other night, I had promised to take him out for breakfast in the morning (generally when breakfast is eaten). However, back in my University days, breakfast was whenever we were hungry, especially when you could have it anytime at Denny's.

Seeing how there is a coupon in the Entertainment Book, it seemed like a good idea to give the Tipper a try even though some of their prices seemed a bit high. We decided to get one breakfast each with the kiddies sharing an order. For myself, I went for the Big Breakfast which includes 2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 strips of bacon, 2 slices of toast, hashbrowns and 1 French toast. I though most of the items were prepared decently. The sunny side eggs were as such, the toast was crunchy, sausages not overcooked (despite the split-fry method, which I'm not a big fan of) and bacon crispy. I didn't like the hashbrowns, they were limp, oily and not crispy at all. Same with the French toast, it was sad looking being quite pale and possibly in need of a bit more egg.

Viv went for the most expensive breakfast on the menu which was Buffalo Joe's Special at $13.99. Resembling a scramble or hash, it consisted of a buffalo patty, eggs, peppers and mushrooms topped with chipotle ketchup and feta. Hashbrowns and toast rounded out the dish. The lean meat made for non-oily eats, which was a good thing. The chipotle ketchup gave a slight kick to the scramble; but personally, I would've liked even more heat (Tobasco anyone?). Although it was not bad, the price tag is dangerously close to fine dining breakfast options. The kiddies shared the Nutella French Toast. The concept for this dish was good; yet the execution was a bit lacking. Once again, the French toast was a bit plain. So the toppings should make the dish. However, there was a bit too much Nutella which really overwhelmed the strawberries. To be fair, this was still a decent breakfast; but at $11.89, a little pricey.

Once again, I'm torn. The breakfast as a whole was pleasant despite some issues. Moreover, the service was very friendly and welcoming. But I cannot get over the prices. Sure, we picked the 2 most expensive items on the menu; yet we still felt it didn't warrant the pricing considering the venue and location. I'm curious to see if lunch or dinner works out to be a better value because even with the Entertainment coupon, the bill came out to $33.00 without tip.

The Good:
- Personable service
- Generally carefully prepared food
- It's got an interesting vibe

The Bad:
- Pricey for what you get
- Some food execution issues

The Salmon House on the Hill

Gosh, this place really brings back memories. Since I could remember, we would frequent the Salmon House on the Hill for eats. Yah, imagine me, a little kid munching on goodies enjoying the spectacular views. How lucky was I! I can only imagine this was one of the many influences that has led to my obsession with food. Fast forward many years later and guess where I took Viv on our first date? Yup, you guessed it. With probably one of the nicest views in the GVRD, why not? Sure, the food ain't the main attraction; but the view, it's breath-taking. Of course Fraiche further up the hill boasts a similar view with better food. Today, we decided to kick it ol' skool since my aunt and uncle were in town visiting from Hong Kong. They actually were long-time residents in Vancouver until a few years ago when a job opportunity came knocking. So to relive the past, we decided to take him out to the Salmon House for some brunch (and a bit of reminiscing). Grandpa, Grandma and the kiddies were also dining on my coin. I wonder if this will help spark my son's gastronomical engine? Yah right. He's more interested in my iPhone than Alderwood grilled salmon.

Since it was a fairly large order, the food took a bit of time to arrive. Unfortunately, the server dropped 2 dishes on the floor and one of them happened to be mine. I really felt bad for her, it was freak thing and I don't blame her. But that ultimately meant that I had to wait to eat. No matter, I just took my time taking pictures of others' food. I'm normally the last one to eat anyways since pictures of food are more important! Well... and that people will starting giving me glares when they are anxiously await to eat! So for my mom, she went for the Seafood Crepes. There was plenty of shrimp, scallops and fish; however, my mom thought all the pieces were quite small. She did like the crepe itself, thin and not chewy.

My aunt ordered a the classic Folkstone Eggs Benedict. It's nice to see that all of the normal components were there such as the toasted English muffin, Canadian back bacon and soft poached egg. Too many times, restaurants take the shortcut and we end up with Black Forest ham. The eggs were poached perfectly with fully cooked whites and a runny yolk. She remarked that the Hollandaise was quite good with a nice balance of flavours. However, just like the crepes, the hashbrowns were squishy and soft. My uncle decided on a the simple Traditional Breakfast which included 2 eggs, bacon, Sloping Hills pork sausage, toast and hash browns. I don't know about you, but the over easy egg looks pretty overcooked here. Not sure if that was the intended result; but I don't like my eggs fried like that. My daughter actually had the kid's version of this breakfast and I got to try it all since it was almost as large as the regular version (she can't finish that!). I really enjoyed the meaty and lean pork sausage. It is a nice departure from the greasy links we normally are accustomed with.

Viv decided on one of the items on the featured menu - the Salmon & Dill Omelet. If you look at the omelet, there is no mistaking that there is dill. Consequently, there was no absence of dill flavour. However, as you can see in the picture, the omelet appears to be quite "dry". Although there is a marscapone component to this dish, in reality, there was only a small dollop in the middle. Thus, the rest of the omelet was sorely lacking moisture, especially with the somewhat dry salmon. If the omelet had more "sauce", it would've worked out much better. On a side note, they really like that fruit skewers since all of our dishes had it. Not a complaint because it was quite fresh, just a bit repetitive. After a short wait, our remade dishes arrived. My dad had the Alderwood Grilled Salmon. Beautifully presented atop a potato salad, the salmon was cooked perfectly (we should be expecting that since it's in the restaurant name!).

I wasn't feeling all that creative and went for the Shrimp & Pancetta Sandwich. Well, what can I say, it was a pretty solid sandwich. With a good amount of shrimp, avocado, greens, pancetta and bruschetta "topping". There wasn't anything amazing about this sandwich; but it was good nonetheless. And honestly, this pretty much sums up the experience at the Salmon House. Food won't blow your socks off while it is generally decent. What really sets the place apart is the location and the killer view. Sometimes that is an important criteria when entertaining people from out-of-town or when trying to impress someone. With that being said, Fraiche is nearby and shares an equally nice view.

The Good:
- Million-dollar view (well, more like 2+ mil since that's the housing prices nearby)
- It's got character
- Spacious dining room

The Bad:
- Food (albeit decent) is not the main draw here
- The place could benefit from some renovations

Bo Laksa King's

*Location is now closed*

Yah I know. I'm a little late to the party. So many bloggers have already had a taste of Bo Laksa King's already. I guess a lil' late is better than never. It's not like I don't drive past the place. In fact, I drive by it all the time. However, it's usually on my way to eating at another destination or it's late at night. And don't even think of me stopping while my son is in the car. He won't eat this stuff! Normally, he'd be annoyed at a speck of pepper in his soup. Let alone all the ingredients in a bowl of laksa! Although I was not hungry at all since I only finished up lunch less than 3 hours prior, I stopped in at the Joyce-Way Food Market for some grub. Wait a minute... What the heck? A food market? Yah, if you haven't heard already, Bo Laksa is located in a small grocery store. It is indeed a small operation that really doesn't look too impressive. For some, this may look way too sketchy; but for me and a whole lot of other people, it doesn't matter. Food comes in all forms, from fine-dining to grocery store dining.

Viv hadn't eaten lunch yet, so I promised to pick her up a few items. I went overboard with the "few items". Looking over the menu, I think I almost covered the spread. I got 2 Roti Canai, 1 Laksa, 3 Chicken Satay, a Lahpet Thoke (Fermented Tea Leaf Salad) and Curry Chicken. While I was waiting, I got a complimentary Burmese Tea. So, other than the wraps, I think that's about it with the menu (excluding delivery items). I took a seat at the only 4 seats that are available. Yah, not a good idea to bring a large group in here. You'd probably end up eating in the aisles right next to some canned meat. The steaming hot tea was quite sweet while at the tail end, there is a litte bit of tea flavour (aromatic and a bit herbal). With my order ready, I got into my car and high-tailed it home (trying not to spill anything). I got home pretty quickly and decided to plate everything. Somehow it just doesn't look as nice in the takeout containers.

As for the Chicken Satay, they were not bad considering the cooking method (an electric griddle). There was nice caramelization in terms of appearance and taste. I wasn't a big fan of the peanut sauce, it was too peanut-buttery for me. The Roti Canai was okay, with flaky layers abound. Viv thought they were a bit too chewy and quite oily. She much prefers the one from Banana Leaf. We both didn't like the curry chicken dipping sauce. It was watery and bland. One dish I was curious about is their Fermented Tea Leaf Salad. Apparently, it is so potent (the amount of tea leaves), that you should not eat it all by yourself. And if you did, eat it with plain rice. Otherwise, you'll make Shaggy look calm. A combination of pickled tea leaves, garlic, broad beans, peanuts, sesame seeds, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage and dried shrimp produced a flavour which is quite unique. It's not in your face strong; but you can taste the tea. Depending on what is on your fork, you can get dried shrimp flavour or just merely tea. But the one thing you'll definitely get is a buzz, which Viv found out a bit later. I found this salad interesting; but nothing I'd rush to eat again personally.

Now for the main event, the Laksa! Unlike other places, I could only get vermicelli or yellow noodles, not a mix. No matter, I picked vermicelli. Despite the fact I'm not expert in Laksa, I found this alright; but nothing incredible. By judging the reaction of many other people, it would imply this was the best Laksa ever. However, I think it has something to do with the type of food, venue and different-ness of it all. Don't get me wrong, I thought the Laksa was decent with a good amount of decent ingredients (egg was woefully overcooked though) and a fragrant broth. I would've liked spicier; but again, I'm sure it's to appeal to the masses. Remember that I mentioned that the curry dipping sauce was bland and watery? Imagine a whole order of it... Well, as you can imagine, the Curry Chicken was not good. Sorely lacking flavour and body, this was merely yellow coloured water. Trust me, I really wanted to like Bo Laksa. After all, the dude is a really nice guy and is making an honest living. How can you not want to support that? However, there was nothing that blew me away here. The food was generally okay except for the curry chicken. I guess I was expecting more. For their larger dishes, it is $2.00+ more than Hawker's Delight. Add to the fact that they don't even have proper kitchen equipment and any seating, it can be seen as a bit expensive. Don't flame me here, I didn't dislike the food, I still think people should try it out and see for themselves. Because we all have our personal preferences.

The Good:
- Owner/Operator is a really engaging fellow who cares about his business
- Weird location and interesting food phenomena
- Some unique items

The Bad:
- Too much hype?
- Not as cheap as you might think

Motomachi Shokudo

With so many Japanese ramen shops opening up as of late, it's quite a chore to keep up with them. After all, there are practically none close to where I live; therefore I need to make an effort to try them. Case in point, I had to tag along with Kim when he visited Hokkaido Ramen Santouka a while back. Fortunately, I've already been able to make it out to Kintaro, Benkei, Menya, G-Men, Shoryumen and Kawawa. There are a few more that are on my list and probably the most important is Motomachi Shokudo. Located in the hub of ramen on the lower portion of Robson, Kim highly recommended that I give it a try. Being that I was in West Vancouver already, I made the short jaunt over to Downtown.

Joining me for lunch today was my son. Yah, that's right, just him, the pickiest eater on Earth. Well, at least noodles are one of the food items that he eats. I got the Shio Ramen with extra pork for myself and a Shoyu Ramen for him. As expected, I ended up eating practically both of them. Luckily I was hungry (no breakfast) and the portions were modest. Unlike the Shio Ramen at Santouka, the broth is more standard being a bit clear and a tad salty. I'm still not sure why the one at Santouka is even called Shio since it more resembles a Tonkotsu broth to me. I digress. As mentioned, the Shio broth was light while still being plenty flavourful. It's probably due to the use of chicken rather than pork for its soup base. I liked this way more than G-Men where it was greasy. I really enjoyed the thin al dente noodles, probably one of the best I've had. As for the pork, I got 2 kinds with one being fatty and the other lean. Both were tender and "porky". Of course the fatty one was more delicious!

As expected, the Shoyu Ramen broth had a soy sauce flavour to it; yet it wasn't too salty. It's not really my preferred broth choice, so I'm a bit biased. So it was alright. The thicker noodles were good; but I still prefer the thinner ones in the Shio Ramen. Overall, I really liked the 2 bowls of noodles here (yah, imagine that, 2 bowls...). Guess which drive-thru we visited for grilled cheese afterwards? A decent value considering the quality, quantity and price. I still like the unique Shio broth at Santouka; but Motomachi Shokudo is more than acceptable in my books.

The Good:
- Good tasting broth that is not greasy
- Really good noodles
- Great service

The Bad:
- Broth is a tad light for those who like heavy (go over to Kintaro if you do)

Sushi Line

Once again, I was faced with visiting a restaurant reluctantly. It's not because I had read bad things about it. In fact, I haven't seen much information about it at all. Is it my responsibility to break new ground? I'm not sure. Last time when we ate at Brewster's (which was quite random as well), we considered Sushi Line. Located in the same plaza, it was an option. However, from the outside, it looked like any other generic Sushi joint. In fact, I thought it wasn't really a place I would eat at. Look at it, there are not indications it is even a Japanese restaurant. If "sushi" wasn't in its name, I would swear it looks more like a donair shop.

Nervously walking in, I quickly realize that it is indeed a legit sushi joint. In fact, the older couple running the place looked quite competent. Listening in on their conversations, I'm guessing they are Korean. Once again, it's not important who is making the food, as long as it is good. I was actually quite hungry and ordered 3 items. I started with the Wakame. I absolutely love this stuff, I could probably eat 10 of these easily. This particular one was tossed in toasted sesame and plenty of sesame oil. I personally liked that and of course, the nice "jellyfish"-type crunch. Since I was in the mood for sashimi (and more than 3 pieces), I went for the Assorted Sashimi. Fresh looking and in big slices, I was quite pleased with this offering. The tako was slightly chewy, a nice rebound with the tai with both salmon and tuna exhibiting a meaty texture.

Of course a plate of raw fish ain't enough for me, so I added a Dragon Roll. Unlike some other versions which use a California roll on the inside, this one was more like a dynamite roll with ebi tempura and cucumber. On the outside lay the requisite avocado and unagi topped with tobiko, sweet mayo and unagi sauce. Served slightly warm, I thought the rice was alright. A tad on the mushier side; yet not terribly so. Predictably, the ebi tempura lacked crunch. I could've guessed this since the restaurant is quite small and specializes in takeout; thus the ebi tempura (for rolls at least) was not immediately fried. Despite this, the roll was decent and inexpensive. And really, for a place like this, I didn't expect much. Yet, it ultimately surpassed my expectations and it was a decent experience after all.

The Good:
- Very friendly owners
- Reasonably-priced
- Sashimi is surprisingly good

The Bad:
- It's mostly a takeout operation, don't expect too much eating in
- With only 2 people operating the place, it'll take awhile

St. James's Well

How about that, I ate lunch at Brewster's Pub yesterday and now here I am at another pub today. It seems like I get on these tangents such as ramen 2 days in a row recently at Santouka. Now, unlike yesterday, I was off work and could enjoy a cool one. I had been wanting to visit St. James's Well (what's with the spelling?) for some time now; but something always gets in the way. In fact, we were suppose to go about 3 weeks ago. Strangely enough, I got an email from RBC (yes, he works there and those are his initials...) on that same day suggesting I try the place. Well that was a sign. So Pomegranate and I went straight for the well right after work. Since RBC loves the place, he joined us as well.

Due to a scheduling boo boo, which I am the only one to blame, RBC had rushed over early to meet us, only to find out we were not there. I got tied up at work and didn't leave on time. He had left and finding out that we were still at the pub, he came back. He's a good guy for not getting mad at me. Well, he does read my blog everyday, I guess he just wanted to be mentioned? Anyways, while we were waiting for him to return, Pomegranate and I shared the Stuffed Baby Yorkies. These are essentially Yorkshire pudding stuffed with roast beef and topped off with horseradish cream. This to me is a very unique; yet ultimately logical dish. Think of it, everything you see in a traditional English roast beef dinner in one package. I though these were pretty good, although Pomegranate has had them before when they were hot outta the oven. Thus, he thought these were not as good as the last time. For me at least, I enjoyed the nice bite of Yorkshire pudding with beef and horseradish cream, the perfect combination. Dipped into the au jus made it even tastier.

If that wasn't enough for an appetizer, both of us got a cup of Guinness, Crab, Corn and Cheese Soup. My goodness, this was a very rich and creamy soup. If this is a cup, then I don't want to think how big a bowl is. This was more than enough since it was really so rich. The flavours in this soup was actually quite mild and I really didn't get a sense of the Guinness. Rather, it was mostly sweet due to the corn and crab (which I also didn't see much of). Since we had 2 very filling appetizers (and beers), we weren't really in the mood in eating much more. Thus, we decided to share Sablefish & Chips. We substituted Poutine for the chips. It's not often you find sablefish (aka black cod) as a choice for fish 'n chips. When we got our order, it was quite obvious why halibut is the most popular fish. Being that sablefish is quite fatty, frying it in batter just didn't seem to work. Although the fish itself was cooked perfectly being moist and flaky, the entire thing was very greasy. To me, that didn't work, especially when dipped into more fatty goodness - the tartar sauce. However, the tartar sauce was quite good. It was very flavourful with lots of dill. We also liked the side of mushy peas. It still retained some texture and with the addition of mint, it made for some nice flavour.

I'm not sure why we ordered a dish of French-Canadian origin in an English Pub. Serves us right though because it wasn't so good. The fries were not crisp, in fact, they seemed very generic. Best to use double-fried fries in this particular dish. Despite the generous portion of cheese curds, they were way too small and completely melted into a blob-like mess. I like it melted, but not in this way. However, the gravy was quite nice, having depth without the saltiness. RBC settled on the Steak & Guinness Pie. Visually, it was quite appealing with a crisp, flaky crust and a good amount of meat. He really enjoyed the pie stating that it tasted really good and rich. However, on his last bite, he put something into his mouth that he thought was the last piece of steak. Wrong. It was a blob consisting of undissolved roux. If you can imagine the concentrated flavour in that, He didn't enjoy it and almost horked. Thus, he told our server such. To the restaurant's credit, they offered a replacement (even though it was all finished) or a dessert. Since we were leaving, both were not
options. Consequently, they paid for his beer. It's a small token; but hey, we thought the restaurant handled it with class and appropriateness.

As with any pub, generally, the expectation is that the food will be generic, fried and unimaginative. Yet, the food here at St. James's Well definitely bucks the trend. Sure, there are the pub classics like fish 'n chips, meat pies, burgers and such. However, there are many English favourites such as Bangers and Mash mixed in with some dishes you won't find anywhere else. Although my visit didn't yield any gastronomical revelations, I found the food decent and interesting enough to warrant future visits. The great service we received didn't hurt either.

The Good:
- Some interesting items not found anywhere else
- Pretty decent food for a pub
- Great service

The Bad:
- Possibly some things sounded better than they turned out to be