SD Galleria & Sushi Lounge

It appears that I have finally weaseled my way back into Thursday night hockey as a regular. You see, I abruptly stopped playing with this group after my son was born over 5 years ago. Hey, life was busy and some things had to give. As of last year, I've been playing off and on with this group and since the start of this season, I've been a regular attendee. It's nice to reconnect with people again, even after 5 years later. However, one problem with this group is they don't eat out after hockey. Something about getting home and sleeping... Phffft... Whatever! Tonight, or should I say this morning, I was able to talk Rich Guy into joining me for late night eats once again. This time around, it was going to be late night sushi. No, not the AYCE variety; rather, it would be SD Galleria and Sushi Lounge. Located upstairs on Main Street near 27th, it is one of the few Japanese restaurants that are open past midnight. In addition to Rich Guy, I was able to convince Gordo in joining me as well after the game. You see, I promised to give him a lift to the game. In return, he'd have to join me for food after. I'm sinister, I know...

Now, walking into the place, one would never expect it to be a Japanese restaurant. It's more sports bar than anything else. One look at the menu and we were surprised at the low prices. 2 pieces of Nigiri for $1.75? Maki Sushi starting at $2.00? WTH? This is not a take-out joint nor is it located in a shady area. Alright, price is one thing, how about the actual food itself? Well, let's start with that cheap Nigiri. We got 4 pieces of Chopped Scallop and 2 pieces of the Unagi. Size-wise, they were modest. But given that they only cost less than 88 cents each, we weren't complaining. Okay, the rice was pretty average. The best description for it would be too "ricey". What I mean about that is it resembled rice too much rather than the slightly chewy sushi rice variant. With that being said, it wasn't terrible. As for scallops, they were fine, sweet and not mushy. The unagi was also pretty good. I liked that it wasn't oversauced.

Seeing how the salads were only $2.00 each including the Wakame salad, we all ordered a different one. Luck would have it that they ran out of Wakame... So I went for the Gomae instead. The spinach was cooked pretty well with a nice nice crunch and a bit of chew. The sesame dressing was on the sweeter side of things (and not really the type of Gomae that I personally prefer). The sweetness was tempered by a proper dressing to spinach ratio. Gordo's Ebi Sunomono was pretty decent, especially with a full sized ebi on top. Rich Guy's Green Salad was crisp while laced with the typical sweet gingery soy dressing.

We weren't expecting much out of the Assorted Sashimi and in fact, Rich Guy was quite nervous. He's not used to paying so little for food... Well, to our surprise, not only did the sashimi look fresh, it was quite good as well. The textures were all good including the tuna. Nothing mushy or too chewy at all (including the tako). We decided to try 2 of their deluxe rolls starting with Rainbow Roll. Essentially a California roll with alternating slices of various fish on top, this was pretty good for $6.50. Sure, it wasn't an artistic masterpiece nor was it outstanding. Yet, it was more than acceptable for the price. The same could be said about the Dragon Roll. Usually falling somewhere in the $10.00+ range, this was only $6.00 here. Sure, it is not as extravagant or large as some other places; but it was also good with ripe avocado, crunchy cucumber, unagi and tobiko. Once again, only thing that could've been better would be the rice. If you look at the picture closely, you can see it sliding towards the mushy side of the rice continuum.

Finally, we ended off with an order each of the Assorted Tempura and Prawn Tempura. When it arrived, we were slightly concerned at the ample amount of batter; yet it didn't really have an adverse effect since every piece remained crispy. I'm not sure how it would do if it cooled down a bit. The prawn had a nice crunchy texture and was quite sweet. As for the veggies, they were good as well. Nothing soggy nor overcooked. Well, well, well... We didn't expect decent eats at this place, for this price and at 12:30am in the morning on a Thursday. Of course it's all relative. There are better Japanese restaurants naturally. However, the food quality for the prices they charge makes it worth a look. Considering the fact that there are barely any other Japanese restaurants open this late on a weekday makes it even better.

The Good:
- Cheap
- Decent eats
- Open late

The Bad:
- Of course there is better Japanese food elsewhere; but not at this price and this late
- Service is friendly but extremely sparse

Poke'm

*This is no longer operating, Bun Me Baguette took over the location*

It's interesting that the City of Vancouver randomly selected vendors for their little street food experiment. I'm not sure why they didn't go into more detail as to the type of food, quality and staying power of each business. Case in point, I didn't even get a chance to try Chinese Skewer King, it didn't last very long. And some carts didn't even get up and running before the prime summer months. I digress. Now when it comes to classic Asian street food, there is nothing more common than the meatball (particularly curry fish balls). So, I was pleased to find out that there is indeed a cart that serves balls and lots of them! With sauce no less! Ahem...

Residing at the prime corner of Robson and Hornby is Poke'm. The premise here is to pick your balls and sauce. Nothing like a choice of balls and sauce! One order of 4 costs $3.75 and the combo of 2 choices goes for $7.00. A little pricey for meatballs; but it is consistent with most of the other food carts in Downtown. Not knowing what to order, I asked for the 2 most popular balls. The first one was the Cuttlefish Balls with Japanese sauce. By looking at the picture, something is quite obvious. If you said that it looks like balls with Terimayo (a la Japadog), you are correct. A combination of teriyaki, mayo, sweet wasabi, nori and sesame seeds, this tasted very similar to the Terimayo. In terms of the cuttlefish balls, they were quite soft with only a slightest of chew. I personally like mine a bit chewier; yet they were still quite good.

I wasn't as enthused about the Chicken Balls with Vietnamese sauce (sweet peanut, cashews, fried onions and green onions). Nothing wrong with the sauce itself, it was not bad with a definite nuttiness. However, the chicken balls were too big. I don't like big balls. Uh... Anyways, the sauce to ball ratio (man, this whole post sounds sketchy...) was not good. Furthermore, there was this strange aftertaste from the chicken ball that was not pleasing. Imagine the aftertaste from a Vietnamese beef ball in the form of a chicken ball. However, this could just be a personal preference. Actually, I enjoyed the snack here at Poke'm. Not bad, especially with all the possible combinations. But... once again it comes down to the pricing. Normally, curry fish balls are one of the cheapest items. I realize that there are operating costs involved and this is not exactly curry fish balls. I'm just wondering if people can look past that psychological barrier due to the image of meatballs and how much they should cost.

The Good:
- Easy-to-share snack-type food
- Interesting combinations
- It's actually not bad

The Bad:
- Despite all the positives, do people want to shell out almost $1.00 for each ball?

Sherman's Food Adventures 2nd Anniversary

Can you believe it? It's been already 2 years since I started doing this. Well, I'm sure my stomach doesn't want to believe it. But it's true. From that first post in November of 2008, I have both experienced and learned a lot. Hey, I'm still learning lots every day! I need to give thanks to the many readers of this blog who leave insightful and encouraging comments. After all, it was that first comment that prompted me to do more than my "one" post. Yes, that's right, I only started this blog to get a particular someone off my case. She was an annoyance then; yet an inspiration today. Without her encouragement, this would've never existed. I have to reiterate that this blog is a passion of mine that is still a hobby of some sorts. I sincerely hope it is exemplified in my writing and pictures.

To show my appreciation for continued readership, I'm holding another draw for a $50.00 gift card to a restaurant which is convenient for the winner. Yes, it is less than I had for last years draw; but it comes out of my own pocket, so forgive me. Blame the HST or something like that. So, for each person who leaves a comment on this thread, they will be entered into a draw for the GC. Please leave at least a last name initial so I can differentiate between people with the same name. The draw will be held on November 15th via a random draw (using Random.org). Once again, thanks for reading and let's see if I have the appetite for more!

Fresh Local Wild

*Cart now closed*

Okay, I'll be honest. I was in no rush to visit Fresh Local Wild. After reading about it in Kim's post, the prices seemed a bit high for a food cart. After all, when we start paying over $10.00 for this type of food, it'd better be damn good. So, despite the fact I was nearby in Downtown, I passed up the opportunity. However, as I was on my way out of the Downtown core, I noticed a tweet that they had a special. Specifically, "any sandwich + fries + drink for $10.00". Right then and there, I went into Chinese mode and thought that was a deal too good to pass up. I hightailed it back across the Cambie Street bridge and luckily found a parking spot a block away on Robson. With Rich Guy manning the car, I made my way to the food cart. Looking over the menu, there are only a few items available such as a Salmon Burger, Po Boy and Venison Burger. Fries and Poutine round it out. Hey, that is good thing, do one thing and do it well. Prices are indeed on the higher side with it maxing out with the Po Boy at $10.00. However, keep in mind that they are Ocean Wise which means that products are sustainable and responsibly harvested.

So once again, my Chineseness took over and since I had the pick of any sandwich, I selected the most expensive one being the Po Boy. With 3 large oysters, this was a decently filling sandwich. I could definitely taste the oysters since the coleslaw topping was quite mild. It did add a nice crunch though. As for the Fries, they didn't look that promising; but ended up to be quite crispy. Looks like they used something like peanut oil here to achieve both the colour and crunchiness. I decided to try these without the "poutine" option since I was not really that hungry.

Finally, the last part of the combo was the Black Currant Soda. I liked how it was not very sweet and some zing was added in the form of lemon. Honestly, the food ain't bad here. In fact, it's pretty good. As mentioned by many others, the pricing is on the steeper side for street food. Sure, that cost is partially attributed to the raw materials - there is nothing one can do about that. Moreover, it's seafood (which is never cheap). For me, the $10.00 special was worth every penny. It is in-line with other food carts in the area. I'm just not sure if everyone out there will be as keen on the regular price of $14.00. If it were a sit down restaurant, I'm sure no one would complain.

The Good:
- Food is pretty solid
- Operators are really cool people
- Ocean Wise is a plus

The Bad:
- Not that it is incredibly expensive; but it costs more than any of the other food carts around
- On the topic of cost, it hits a threshold that many people might not be comfortable with

Thai Pudpong

It's funny how I don't make it out to West Van as often as I used to. When I was a wee one, our family would make the trek out to Salmon House on the Hill for brunch. Then, back in my University days, I would venture into the British Properties weekly. No, I wasn't up to any illegal activities; rather it was to visit Rich Guy. Now you see where he gets his nickname... More recently, when we used to live in Downtown, it was a mere jaunt over the Lion's Gate. But now, it seems I rarely make it out to the land of Range Rovers and BMW's. Well, today, I had an errand to run in West Van and I was hungry. Guess where this is leading to? Hey, I had to eat! And it was lunchtime! Where?

Walking down Marine Drive, I considered Savary Island Pie Co; but it was crazy busy. I'm not one for lineups. Thus, I kept walking until I arrived at Thai Pudpong. Yes, I know, West Van is not exactly the hotbed of Thai food. In fact, unlike many other types of ethnic cuisines, there is no designated area that boasts great Thai food. So I thought: why not? Once seated, I was handed their lunch specials menu and it had the typical items for $7.95 each including salad. Being the hungry person that I was, I went for 2 dishes starting with the Shrimp Pad Thai. I found the texture of the noodles to be perfectly chewy while being coated with just the right amount of sauce. However, the sauce itself was bland. Most of the tartness came from the lime. Otherwise, it was only slightly sweet. By the way, the shrimp that you see is the shrimp that I got.

It was a good decision to order 2 dishes because they were very modest in size. For my second meal, I chose the Chicken Green Curry. Despite its humble appearance, there was a good amount of tender white meat mixed in with string beans, green and red peppers and eggplant. I liked how the veggies were all still vibrant in colour and texture. For the curry itself, I asked for medium and it turned out to be very flavourful. Definitely spicy, with good amount of Thai basil and smooth coconut milk, this was a good curry. Too bad there was so little rice to enjoy it with. I would say the food here is quite decent, if not small in portion size. Mind you, it was still reasonably-priced considering the location. Worth checking out if you have Thai food cravings in West Van.

The Good:
- Very friendly service
- Okay prices

The Bad:
- Portion size is modest at best
- Tight squeeze of a dining room

Les Faux Bourgeois (Part Deux)

It's been over a year since we last visited Les Faux Bourgeois. During that time, the place has emerged from being a little French bistro located in an odd location to one of Vancouver's dining destinations. A combination of good food and reasonable prices, it is no wonder that Les Faux has claimed a spot on many top-10 lists. With so many accolades, the place is very popular and there is nearly no chance of getting a table as a walk-in. Thus, much like last year, I had to make a reservation far in advance. The main reason for the re-visit was due to Elaine's birthday. She had not tried Les Faux before and despite my hesitation to do too many repeats, I was more than happy to oblige since I really like the place.

Les Faux fits into the same category of reasonably-priced French restaurants such as Salade de Fruits, Bistrot Bistro, Twisted Fork, Pied-à-Terre, Mistral, Jules and La Brasserie. Unlike Le Crocodile, one can dine at these places and have money left over for important things like fuel and Loonies for parking. Good thing that Les Faux is located where it is, no pay meters to be found! As mentioned, the place is small while being quaint. With that being said, if you do decide to stay a bit longer, the seats are not all that comfortable and you are really close to the next table. As for our table, it was nowhere near the window; thus I had to use my flash. Costanza originally thought they had reserved a window seat for us; however, I reminded him that I'm really not all that important! In fact, I think Aaron McArther and Elanie Yong got the best seats at the back. Yah, being on TV has its advantages. Actually, Aaron and I have played hockey a few times together. Maybe I should've played the "I know this local celebrity" card...

Anyways, we decided to split 3 appetizers starting with the Calamari with tarragon aioli. Sure, not really a "French" dish per se; yet it was on the daily specials and it sounded good. In reality, it was good. It was fried perfectly with a crispy, non-oily coating. The squid itself was tender while not being mushy. Although the squid was flavourful on its own, the tarragon aioli was a nice mild-tasting accent. The only thing I would've liked to see was maybe some acidity in the mayo. Although the Moules et Frites was not really an appetizer, we ordered it as such. Advertised as a spicy charred tomato & scallion broth, it was very tomatoey; but not really all that spicy. Lots of fresh chunky tomatoes provided freshness and the charring added depth. Curiously, big plump mussels were mixed in with small, emancipated ones. I guess it is the luck of the draw... The frites were pretty good. Very crisp, well-seasoned and not oily. A tad on the starchy side; but very good nonetheless. Our last appie was the classic Escargots. Served atop 3 croutons, the escargots were not very flavourful. I would go as far as calling them bland. Sure, there was enough butter and some garlic; but the whole dish seemed to be missing salt. Moreover, I found the snails themselves to be on the rubbery side.

When it came time to order our mains, Elaine and Costanza took my suggestions based on my last visit. Hence, Costanza had the Steak Frites. Originally, he wanted his steak medium; but both the server and I convinced him to have it medium rare. You see, in this version, they were using a hanger steak, which is the meat directly above the diaphragm. It is very flavourful; but can be tough if overcooked. It turned out to be a good decision since it was perfect and as tender as it could be. Laced in a full-bodied and well-balanced red wine shallot jus, there was no shortage of flavour. The same wonderful frites took up the rest of the plate. Too bad Costanza had his fill from the Moules et Frites. No matter, I just ate all the frites he couldn't handle! Elaine opted for what I had last time which was the Duck Confit. In a noticeably smaller portion than last time, the confit was just as good though. Tender, well-seasoned meat with a crispy skin, this is one of my personal favourite versions of this dish in Vancouver (with Pied-à-Terre being a close 2nd).

Viv ended up with one of the specials for the night. Good thing we had the earlier seating because the Veal Chop sold out shortly afterwards. The generous portion of veal was cooked perfectly. I found it to be tender and full of meat flavour. Accompanied by chantrelles and chive mashed potatoes, this was a hearty meal that Viv could not finish. I had the other featured item on the specials board being the Pot-au-Feu. Now, if you are totally confused why there is a chicken breast in the picture, I don't blame you. Normally, this dish is made of beef. And honestly, I wish it were beef since the entire thing was bland. Sure, it isn't supposed to be a flavour explosion, I get that. However, a little salt would've done wonders. Despite this, the chicken was still decently moist for white meat.

For dessert, we all shared the Vanilla Creme Brulee and Chocolate Gateau. With a beautifully torched hard sugar top, it had all the earmarks of a great brulee. We found it to be a bit too sweet and the custard to be a bit thin. But overall, it was fine. As for the Chocolate Cake, it was more of a ganache than anything. The sweetness was quite muted and the dark chocolate was able to shine with the desired bitterness. After it was all said and done, Elaine and Costanza remarked that the meal was pretty solid all around. For the prices they charge, it is no wonder Les Faux remain popular as ever. Sure, Le Croc is better; but that is really comparing apples to oranges. If you have a craving for French food on any ol' day, Les Faux certainly fits the bill.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Generally well-executed food
- Decent portions

The Bad:
- Tight dining room
- Hard to get a reservation

Northern Delicacy

When Viv told me that we should all go to the beach, I thought that was a great idea. Little did I know that the place she spoke of was Centennial Beach. What's the big deal you wonder? Well, Centennial Beach is in Tsawwassen. We live in Burnaby. Yup, that is not very close at all. Fine, after all, it is a nice beach with a killer kid's playground. Of all the times Bubbly and Chill have tried to get us out to visit them in Tsawwassen, the one time that we do head out there, they're out of town. LOL. Try getting us to head out there again anytime soon! So after building and rebuilding a sand castle (my daughter wrecked it twice), we were famished. And guess what place lies in between Burnaby and Tsawwassen? Yes, that's right... Richmond. The equivalent of traffic hell, it is a place that I want to avoid but cannot live without. You see, there is a lot of food in Richmond. And I love food. Period.

Therefore, we found ourselves in Richmond looking for food. It brought us to Aberdeen Centre, specifically Northern Delicacy. With large Terracotta statues outside, it is hard to miss. Right below lies Fisherman's Terrace, near Tropika & Master Hung and adjacent to Guu, you can see my point about food in Richmond. There is no shortage of it, albeit of an Asian persuasion. After we finished ordering, I had to take my son to the washroom. Nothing usual you might think; but the darn washroom is out of the restaurant, past Guu, down a long corridor, another corridor after that and into a room that would rival a sauna. Not convenient! It's amazing that upon returning to our table, 2 dishes had already arrived. Either the food comes out fast or that trek to the washroom was long. We started with the Xiao Long Bao. A bit on the smallish side, the filling was quite tasty (lots of meat flavour) despite the modest amount of juice. The skin wasn't really all that thin; yet was easy to eat. I would say these are above average XLB.

Our first noodle dish was the Tan Tan Noodles. In addition to the usual peanut-based sauce, this particular version had crushed black sesame seeds on top. Although the whole bowl of noodles became quite goopy after awhile, the flavour profile was pretty nice. No absence of peanut flavour and the nuttiness from the black sesame gave an extra oomph to the noodles. For the kiddies, we got the Tender Chicken Noodles, or should I say just "Tender Noodles". You know the expression, "Where's the Beef?", how about "Where's the Gai (Chinese for chicken)?". There must've been only 10 tiny pieces of chicken for the entire bowl of noodles. They were indeed tender; but how can anything be hard to chew if it is in the size of a tic tac? The broth was very muted (probably the intention) and there was plenty of veggies though. Noodles were on the softer side. We also got an order of the Braised Pork Shank since it looked so majestic in the menu. When it arrived, it was like getting a McD's cheeseburger. You see it didn't look anything like the picture since it was small. Fortunately, it was flavourful and the skin was delicious. The meat was a little on the dry side though.

The last dish was the 4 Seasons Green Beans. We were quite disappointed in the portion size of this dish. It was no bigger than what you'd find at late night da lang (at other Chinese restaurants). Furthermore, the beans were oil-blanched way too long. They were soft and devoid of any crunch. On the plus side, the beans were tasty with a touch of spiciness. I found that the use onions was far too liberal and it overwhelmed the flavours a touch. Meh. The food was okay here as well as the decent XLB. However, I found the prices and smallish portion sizes to be a sticking point. It does not make me want to return anytime soon. Not that anything was terrible. It's just that there are so many other options available nearby at a lower price point.

The Good:
- Comfortable digs
- Lots of choice
- Lots of parking

The Bad:
- Pricey for what you get
- Food is okay; but not spectacular