Pho Tan

Alright, this is a good trend we have here. Shortly after playing my first round of golf this year, Snake and I were able to arrange a second round. Imagine that, 2 rounds in one month. Must be a record of something. It's too bad that this round of golf would be at 1:00pm and right smack dab in our mini-heat wave in August. Of course, no meeting with anyone, regardless of activity is cause for eating. Thus, we met up prior to our round for lunch. At first we were planning on something good for hot weather, such as sushi. But as I was pulling up to Nao Sushi... it's closed on Mondays! Doh, epic fail. And of all things we could choose on a scorching day was Pho. Located on the former Pho Saigon site, Pho Tan was our destination.

Smart thinking Sherlock. Hot soup on a hot day, in a non-A/C room no less. What's with the lack of air-conditioned restaurants? And why do I end up at them on really hot days? Well, at the very least, we had a fan right beside us. Too bad our menus kept flying off the table... And from that menu, we decided to share a Banh Mi. I gotta say, this is one of the most solid Vietnamese subs I've had in a restaurant. Sure, it was no Au Petite Cafe; but it was good. The bun was crunchy while giving way to an airy softness. Lots of flavourful pate and well-pickled veggies. Now for my hot Pho. I got the everything version and there was quite a lot of meat. The rare steak was surprisingly tender (most times it's chewy). I found the soup to be on the lighter side with the usual spices present; yet understated. The noodles were on the softer side; but not too much so. I liked how this was actually a large bowl of food, not only in name only.

Snake, being the smart guy that he is, did not go for Pho. Rather, he asked the server which rice dish would be the best. She suggested the Lemongrass Chicken on Rice. When it arrived, it sure didn't look very big and although the chicken was very tender, it was bland. Not enough lemongrass or fish sauce. Not a good value or good flavour. But based on the excellent Banh Mi and decent Pho, Pho Tan is worth checking out. The restaurant was clean and the service was friendly. Too bad there was not A/C though. But that would be my fault for doing hot soup on a hot day.

The Good:
- Good Banh Mi
- Pho is decent in size
- Clean

The Bad:
- No A/C
- Rice dish we had was a bit small

Empress Bakery

Okay, who in there right mind would organized back-to-back-to-back-to-back softball games with no breaks? That's right, 4 softball games in a row! With no time for lunch! How the heck am I supposed to go blog about a team meal when there is none? Ludicrous! Oh and it gets even better... Try playing 4 games in a row on what has got to be the hottest day of the year so far. Fine, if that is how it's gonna be, so be it. I'm not letting this stop me from blogging about something! So after picking up Boss Woman, I was planning on stopping by Ba Le for some Banh Mi. Yup, it is the breakfast of champions and for today, the lunch of champions as well. But as I was pulling up to a spot right in front of the Lion's Den across the street, I noticed another place where I could get some Banh Mi. A blogging opportunity! They can try to stop me by denying me of a lunch break; however, I will persevere and overcome.

So off I jaywalked across Kingsway to try out Empress Bakery. Just like the time I had to precariously cross Kingsway in order to reach Tung Hing, this was like a game of Frogger (think Seinfeld). The things I do for food. So Empress Bakery, like the name implies is really a bakery and Banh Mi are somewhat of an afterthought. In fact, there is only one type available, being the standard cold cut. Pricewise, it is quite inexpensive at $2.75. If the bread in the picture looks familiar, they used to supply Ba Le (prior to them getting their own oven). Thus, the bread is crunchy outside and airy inside. I liked their Banh Mi, good amount of pate and the pickled daikon/carrots had a lot of zing. Combine that with a good amount of fish sauce and this was quite flavourful. Not bad... Not bad at all.

The Good:
- Cheap
- Airy bread (I personally like that)
- Lots of flavour

The Bad:
- Only one choice of Banh Mi
- Could use a bit more filling

Shabusen (Burrard)

Here I am again at another all-u-can-stuff-your-face-with-mediocre-food joint. Hey, I'm not dissing it. There are times when and AYCE serves a purpose. Of course, the obvious is that you have a group of hungry people (even better if they're teenagers). Better yet, how about a hungry group of people who are not overly concerned with food quality. The reason we made our way to the Downtown location of Shabusen was out of convenience. What? Downtown? Convenient??? Okay, let me explain. Marshmallow made her annual summer pilgrimage back to Vancouver and she was wanting to meet up with a bunch of us for dinner. Since the party size would be at least 10 and it had to be Japanese, that didn't leave a whole lot of options in terms of restaurants. Of course we are using the term Japanese quite loosely here if we are talking about Shabusen. Furthermore, we are even being more lenient when we add in the Korean BBQ aspect. Sure, we could go to a "real" Japanese restaurant. However, most of those are quite small; thus not satisfying our needs. Naturally, AYCE generally doesn't satisfy any type of quality needs either; but we were expecting that.

We've been to the Granville location on several occasions. I find that location to be more spacious and easier to find parking. With that being said, I easily found parking this time. It's probably due to the fact it costs $2.00 for 40 mins! Turns out everyone else took skytrain or walked it. Maybe I should park the SUV next time... So the one thing about AYCE is the variety of food and how fast it comes out. Now imagine me trying to keep up with the photos. Let's just say I didn't eat until halfway through the meal. So we started with the obligatory appies such as Gomae, Sunomono Salad, Green Salad and Agedashi Tofu. Surprisingly, the gomae was decent. Not completely doused with sweet sesame, it was better than most AYCE joints. The salads were alright while the tofu was boring. Not much sauce, very plain, meh. The Kimchi was okay, probably needed to be spicier while the Pickled Daikon was crisp and vinegary. Japchae was served cold, tasted alright and texturally sound, I just prefer it hot. As for the Korean BBQ, it is pretty laughable. In no way does it taste or look like it is supposed to. But then again, in this AYCE setting, I guess we accept it for what it is.

Another surprise was the Sashimi. This time around it was decent, especially the salmon. There have been times where the sashimi has not been good. I guess we were lucky. Although the tuna could've been better. It was bland and essentially mush. As for the standard AYCE items, the Fried Gyozas were not good. Dry and chewy, it was probably fried too long. Furthermore, the dumplings began to split apart and as a result, the filling was oil-logged. Bleck. The pan-fried Gyozas were not very hot and despite the nice colour on the botton, not too crispy either. I didn't like the gummy dumpling wrapper nor the mealy filling either. The Chicken Karaage was not too bad. The meat was moist and seasoned. Exterior was crisp and not too oily. Somewhat of a rarity these days, the Oyster Motoyaki was served in a shell. Nothing out-of-the ordinary with it really. Oyster was alright (not mushy, not fishy) and the sauce was typically mayonnaisey.

Now to try the sushi rice... We got some various Nigiri. And well, not to sound anti-climactic; but the sushi rice was subpar. Dry and slightly hard, it was edging closer to regular rice than sushi rice. Moreover, it was bland and in desperate need of vinegar. At the very least, the unagi, tako, hokkigai and salmon were okay and with lowered expectations, it was edible. Same can be said for the Cones and Sushi Rolls. Keeping in mind the limitations of the rice, one can only expect so much from the sushi. Thus, it was pretty average at best. Due to the high turnover, the ingredients were okay. I know I'm stating the obvious here. AYCE is never the best way to enjoy any type of food really. With that being said, there are good and bad within the genre as well. Shabusen is somewhere in the middle where their one selling point is the combination of "Korean" BBQ and Japanese food.

The Good:
- Variety
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- If you are looking for authenticity...
- Service is so-so

Spring Garden

Let's face it. There are not a lot of options for Dim Sum in New West. I mean, it ain't the hotbed of Chinese food in general. Sure, there is Kirin out at the Starlight Casino; but that is not exactly close to the heart of the Royal City. Dragon Palace is barely acceptable and there is New Lakeview; yet that is technically still Burnaby. And on the topic of Burnaby, there is Po King. But I'd rather not eat at all than to suffer the abuse from the owner-lady there. Alas, there is another place for Dim Sum out on 12th. Karl and Jenny gave it the thumbs up and that meant it was time for a visit.

One really attractive feature of Spring Garden has nothing to do with the food itself. Instead, there is a fairly large parking lot at the back. It saves you time looking for a space and saving some quarters in the process. Walking into the place, we noticed that it was quite small. Definitely a mom & pop operation. When done right, these places have a certain charm to them. It is the type of place where you can expect sincere service and honest food. Of course, that is in theory. So we did get friendly service and they even asked about our kids. You don't get that at a "corporate" type establishment. Since we were here on a weekday morning, the place was really quiet. Kinda nice to have a relaxing Dim Sum for once. Often, it seems like Dim Sum translates into a 1.5 hour fire drill.

As for the Dim Sum, it is your typical checklist order sheet. As usual, we ordered too much. Darn that checklist! Anyways, we started with the Shrimp Dumplings. On the plus side, they were large and filled with lots of whole pieces of shrimp with "snap" (I'm using this description from now on, it makes more sense than "crunchy"). However, the dumpling wrapper was woefully overcooked and too thick. The whole thing either fell apart or stuck to the neighbouring dumpling. Suffering from the exact same problem were the Scallop and Shrimp Dumplings. The dumpling skin was a bit overwhelming and wet. We could not pick one up without epic failing. Despite this, the dumplings were big, the shrimp was good and there were 4 of them! Very unusual to get 4 of these at any place.

The next standard Dim Sum item was the Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling). Looking like there was a sale on tobiko, these dumplings were on the chewier side. Not necessarily a bad thing since it is a whole lot better than mushy. There were too many big chunks of pork fat for my liking and the whole thing didn't have much flavour other than pork. We also got an order of the Marinated Jellyfish. The picture doesn't do it justice because the portion size was huge. This was actually quite good. The jellyfish was correctly prepared (being rinsed thoroughly) where it was "snappy" and devoid of fishy flavour. There was a good amount of sesame oil, chili flakes and only a hint of soy in the marinade.

Something strange happened with the Rice Noodle Rolls (we got both shrimp and beef). When it arrived, we knew just by looking at it that they would be chewy and dense. Indeed the rice noodle was very subpar. Stiff, thick and completely opposite of what makes this dish yummy, we were not enjoying it. At least the shrimp was good and there was plenty of beef. Now, this is where the strange part comes in. We also ordered a plate of Pan-Fried Rice Noodle Rolls. With this version, the rice noodles were fantastic! Even though they came in really large rolled sections, the rice noodle was fluffy and extremely soft. How can the same product be so different? Separate batches? Different cooking method? Fluke? We had no idea. Truthfully, the cooking method shouldn't matter. We asked the server and she said all of the rice noodle rolls are freshly made. We believe her since it would not make much sense for a small operation to make a whole bunch and risk not selling them. But that didn't solve the mystery of the good rice noodle roll and bad rice noodle roll.

For some reason or another, we got an order of the Chicken Feet (or Phoenix Talons). Nothing particularly unusual about that (well, unless you don't eat chicken feet), other than we didn't order it. I just assumed Viv had checked it off on the list. Apparently they messed up and gave us someone elses' chicken feet. It would've served us better if we didn't get it. It didn't seem very fresh and was quite soft. Furthermore, there was this stale-type flavour to it. This same flavour also applied to the Curry Beef Tendons. In fact, we didn't even taste much curry. Once again, it had the same stale-type flavour to it. The tendons were very soft and some were bordering on melting. I'm not going to go as far as saying that these dishes were re-steamed; but they sure seemed like it. I don't blame the restaurant for doing so since it is a small operation; yet the end result was a weak product.

Now for a really good dish, the Green Onion Pancake. Fried until it was extremely crispy, the pancake was crisp on the outside (without being oil-logged). Inside, there was a good amount of green onion within the many soft fluffy layers. I'm not a huge fan of green onion; but I did like it here. And that's saying a lot. Now if you think that I didn't enjoy my meal at here; I don't blame you. After all, most of the dishes were pretty average at best. However, I realize that this is New West and furthermore; the prices are very reasonable. Thus, we have to use a different baseline to compare the food to. With that being said, I had Dim Sum in Langley at Luxe and it was better than this. Take it for what it is and it's okay. Compare it to better and more expensive places, Spring Garden will not be able to measure up.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Friendly and personable service
- Parking at the back

The Bad:
- Food is so-so
- Place is small, I can imagine it being quite cramped on the weekends

Dim Sum Express

"Dim Sum on wheels!" laughed Rich Guy and Toolman, a good 14 years ago when Costanza and I suggested that Dim Sum should be accessible as a lunch time takeout option in Downtown. Yes, they really thought we were nuts. However, we really believed in the idea. After all, if they could make take out sushi work, why not Dim Sum? I guess the logistics of steaming the items and keeping them warm would be a different matter. Now many years later, we finally find the first foray into this idea. As part of the food cart experiment by the City of Vancouver, we find Dim Sum Express parked outside Aqua Riva and adjacent to Canada Place. A very pretty location, albeit not exactly hopping mad with foot traffic.

I arrived as they were just setting up shop for the day. Seeing that 10 paltry minutes cost $1.00 at the meter, I decided to wait in the car until it was time. But I didn't read the meter carefully and ended up putting in more money than the time limit allowed for. Argh... the feeling of wasted money... So very much against my Chineseness... After the sting of losing money, I headed over to the cart and considered my ordering options. Rather than ordering everything a la carte, I went for their Dim Sum Combo for $6.99. With that, you get Haw Gow, Sui Mai, Potstickers, BBQ Pork Bun and Veggies. A decent deal in my books. However, value and taste are mutually exclusive in this case. The Sui Mai were very pasty and didn't have that bounce texture we all look for. The Haw Gow was not that great either. The dumpling skin was overdone and doughy. Inside, there was more of shrimp mousse than actual pieces of shrimp. Actually, the Potstickers weren't bad. I did like the filling, it was savoury and moist. The BBQ Pork Bun was fluffy; but the pork itself was pale and predominantly sweet.

I got an order of Xiao Long Bao for kicks and predictably, they would never challenge the ones you'd find in Richmond. To be fair, they were not bad considering everything. Sure, the dumpling skin was thick; yet the filling was actually decent with some juice. Lastly, I got one order of the Loh Mei Gai or Sticky Rice wrapped in lotus leaves. Sadly, this was oversteamed and wet where the rice was practically disintegrating on contact. There was a lack of meat and flavouring as well. However, it was pretty large and for the price; an okay value.

To be fair, I've grown up experiencing really good Dim Sum. Hence, it is totally unreasonable for me to compare this to an actual restaurant. For those who are not that picky, Dim Sum Express does the job at a reasonable price. Yet, if you are particular about your Dim Sum like me, the offerings here are below average. Honestly, I've had some frozen Dim Sum that has been better. Great concept for the Downtown lunch crowd, just not necessarily a draw for Dim Sum connoisseurs.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Good portions
- Food served hot

The Bad:
- Below average Dim Sum

Taste of Yaletown

I'm sure most people have heard of the Dine-Out Vancouver, where many popular restaurants roll out a 3-course meal at a set price. The intention is attract customers who would normally be apprehensive in shelling out gobs of money on a restaurant they know little about. This way, the cost is fixed and the food serves as an introduction. Honestly, there are some hits and misses to this concept and if you pick the right restaurant (with a good menu), then it may very well turn into a good experience. Chose the wrong one and it may leave a bad taste in your mouth (figuratively and literally). Unlike Dine-Out Vancouver, the Taste of Yaletown is not as big. Consider it a form of Dine-Out on a smaller and more concentrated scale. Specifically Yaletown restaurants, we find the same set meals at a reasonable price. If you were afraid to pay Yaletown prices on food you may or may not like, this is your chance to take some risks.

As part of the media Dine-Out event, I was able to get a preview of 3 restaurants participating this year. We were supposed to meet at the Yaletown Business Improvement Office for the start of the tour. Somehow, a number of us got confused as to where it was located. Turns out it is a fairly non-descript place on Hamilton. There I met with Tara Thind from Omni TV. Also in our group was Carolyn Ali from the Georgia Straight and Sabine who writes Life Sparkles. Honestly, I didn't even pay much attention to the food as the company was interesting. We started at Society and tried the Short Rib Pot Pie (Braised short ribs, seasonal vegetables & natural jus) and the Confit Albacore Tuna (olive oil, crostini, roasted garlic & frisee salad). We also got an interesting Pink Tom Collins topped with a large ball of cotton candy.

Next, we headed over to Hapa Izakaya and sampled only one item which was the Charcoal BBQ Wagyu Beef and Matsutaki Mushroom. Finally, we headed over to a relatively new place called Sweeney's. It used to be Soup Etc!. We sampled 3 dessert here including the Lemon Tart with Raspberry Coulis, Chocolate Mousse with Guinness Foam and a Deux Pêche Mode (Peach Tarte Tatin, served with a Peach Vanilla Ice Cream). A sweet ending to a quick tour. The Taste of Yaletown runs from October 13th - 31st, 2010. It will feature 25 of Yaletown’s restaurants with 3 course menus priced at $25, $35 and $45. Head to their website for more details: yaletowninfo.com.

Lucy's Eastside Diner

Normally, when I go play hockey, there are people who join me for food afterwards. However, that is never the case on Thursdays. You see, this group likes to head home once we're done. I guess it has something to do with it ending at midnight. I suppose it makes sense. After all, it is a weekday night and people do have to work the next day. Hey, that hasn't stopped me... So, when I found out that Rich Guy was back in town, I took a chance and asked him if he wanted to join me for some food after my game was done. Seeing how his internal clock was still on Filipino time, he was wide awake at midnight. So when he said yes, that is when I broke the news as to our destination - Lucy's Eastside Diner. Why the delay on the information? He lives in Coquitlam and Lucy's is on Main Street, near 11th (a couple of stores down from Cafeteria). I convinced him that it would take him less than 1/2 hour to get there at that time of night. I gotta give it to him. He was game and I'm really lucky to know people who will not only let me violate their food with my camera, they make an effort to come out to eat.

I originally found out about Lucy's a couple of days ago while I was driving down Main on my way into Downtown. It caught my eye and I almost stopped to check it out. Alas, I was on my way to other eats already. Besides, I wanted to wait for someone to join me. Tonight, or should I say this morning, we were ambitious and ordered 3 dishes to share. Rich Guy went for the Three Little Pigs, which consists one each of bacon, ham and chirizo Benny. The individual components were prepared nicely such as the perfectly poached eggs and crispy bacon. However, the Hollandaise was far too rich. It had a nice lemon zing and it was smooth; however, it was very hard to eat all of it. Furthermore, the hash browns were both strange looking and gummy. For myself, I had the Burger and Milkshake combo. For $10.00, it seemed like a good value since a milkshake alone costs $6.50. The burger itself was pretty average. The beef patty was a bit dry (yet nicely cooked) and got lost in the dense Kaiser bun. The accompanying fries were sub-par. They were not crispy at all and rather limp. As for the milkshake, we found it to be very good. Not too sweet and with plenty of vanilla flavour.

For our 3rd entree, we got the Fried Chicken with fries, gravy and veggies. When it arrived, we were surprised that it consisted of 2 small pieces of fried breast meat. Although it was crispy, the meat was dry and the flavour was quite muted. No specific flavour stood out other than pepper. It came with the same limp fries; but at least the gravy made them more edible. The veggies were your typical frozen mix type (they were cooked properly though). After all this, I could still eat a little bit more. Actually, I just wanted to try their Mac 'n Cheese... It arrived baked au gratin and bubbling hot. The macaroni was still al dente and the cheese sauce had a nice sharp taste to it. I liked how there was a nice cheese taste without being salty. Overall, the food is hit and miss. It needs some work. Moveover, food presentation has a lot to be desired. There is an obvious attempt in offering something a bit different. Definitely some potential here despite the average food. With all that being said, the prices are very reasonable with most items well under $10.00. Portion size is pretty much reflective of the pricing. Kudos to them for staying open 24 hours a day. It fills the void of establishments that are open all the time.

The Good:
- Well-priced
- Open 24 hours
- Nice retro diner look

The Bad:
- Food is not quite there yet
- Food presentation needs some work
- The place is small, not good for big groups