In-N-Out (Fisherman's Wharf)

For me, the best burger for the price has got to be In-N-Out. Only available in California, Utah, Arizona and Nevada, the thing that sets In-N-Out apart from the countless other fast food joints is their commitment to freshness. Nothing is pre-made, pre-cut (well, the tomatoes and lettuce I suppose) or frozen. The final product reaps the rewards of such dedication to quality. Sure, there are better burgers out there; but not at this price. It has been a full year since my last In-N-Out burger. In the meantime, I have yearned. The In-N-Out b"urge"r is something that is almost unbearable. So much so, I briefly considered making the 6-hour trek from Portland (back in August) to Redding for a taste.

I had originally planned to meet up with Greyelf for some XLB action after I arrived at SFO. But due to a flight delay and the usual other things we must do at the airport, I had to skip it. No matter, the backup plan was to tag along with Kim to the Wharf for that In-N-Out "urge". After arriving at our hotel on the corner of Geary & Jones, we hiked it a good 3 kms. Hey, it was a nice day and honestly, why not burn off some calories? This was only the beginning of 4 days of eating.

Kim and I ended up sharing 2 burgers and an order of fries. Starting with the basic in the Hamburger. It's nothing that will "wow" you; yet that is not the point of it all. The patty isn't exactly moist either. However, the freshness of the components make for a solid burger at a really low price. Of course a visit to In-N-Out is not complete without getting something "Animal Style". Thus, Kim got the Double-Double Animal Style. For those who have no clue what this is, it's the addition of pickles, extra spread, grilled onions, and mustard fried onto each meat patty. Yummy? Yes! Extra charge? Nope... See what I mean? In-N-Out is a good deal. The extra moisture and messiness from the additional ingredients help make the burger even better. As for the fries, they're pretty good - crisp, not too oily and starchy. Pretty fresh eats for prices that are better than McD's. That is what sets In-N-Out apart from all the rest. Too bad I don't live close to one. I guess it's all for the better. I don't want a whole new wardrobe that reads "XL".

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Fresh everything
- No charge Animal Style

The Bad:
- Good, but not outstanding (a bit too much hype sometimes)
- Locations only limited to California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada

Foodbuzz Street Food

So here am I again at the Foodbuzz Blogger's Festival. Unlike last time, I have company, namely Kim, Mijune and TS/JS representing Vancouver. After arriving in San Francisco, Kim and I already had some In-N-Out Burger as well as some eats from Boudin Bakery. We made a good decision to skip any more food so we could actually have an appetite for the Street Food event at Fort Mason. It didn't hurt that we walked more than 6 kms too! With so much walking under our belts, we decided to take the provided bus to the event. We met up with Mijune and TS/JS, who made their own way down to the event. The one thing that left a lasting impression from last year was the outstanding Porcetta sandwich from Roli Roti. And guess what was on the rotisserie at the entrance? You guessed it. That is what we hit first! I'm not sure if it qualifies as "healthier"; but the pork used in this sandwich has more meat than other variations. Thus, it has somewhat of a chew still intermingling with the melt-in-your-mouth fat. What completes the whole darn thing is the extremely crispy cracklings. The ciabatta-like bread does a good job holding everything in; however, it could be a bit softer. The accompanying fingerling potatoes roasted in the rendered pork fat drippings were soft and flavourful (not to mention glistening!).

Before I could even finish stuffing my face with the fabulous sandwich, Mijune and Kim made a beeline to the next stand where we found some fusion food. A Korean Taco of sorts from Namu, there was rice, beef, tomatoes, green onions and spicy mayo on 2 pieces of nori. Reminiscent of the ones you'd find at the Roaming Dragon in Vancouver, these were a bit difficult to eat due to the chewy nori. Getting past that, they weren't bad. Nothing mind-blowing; but decent. Then we hastily moved over to Tacolicious for one each of their Shortrib Taco and Roast Pork Tacos. Much like last year, the shortib taco was quite good. Tender and moist with cilantro, onion and a squeeze of lime, what's not to like? I much prefer this one over the pork. For some reason or another, there was one at 4505 Meats. So far, we'd avoided any lineups; but this time lining up was well worth it. Served on a heavenly butter bun was a Pork Loin brined in jalapeno pickling liquid crusted with cornmeal sandwiched in a butter bun. Served on the side were the fabulous Chicharrones that we had last year. If the porchetta sandwich was the best; then this was a close second or even first, depending on who you ask. For me, it was all about the bun. I have a personal love for soft buns... er... and this one was melt-in-your-mouth soft. Possibly a bit too soft for the sandwich; but I didn't mind. Good contrast between the crunchy pork loin and beans. Unlike some other versions of chicharrones, these ones are more like puffs and that suits me fine. Lightly dusted with seasoning, these were addictive.

Okay, there was much more food to talk about; but frankly, it wasn't really to my liking and really, I'd much rather just talk about the ones I did like. Of course there was dessert in the form of ice cream and once again, Mission Minis. However, I was far too full to eat anymore. Once again, thanks to Foodbuzz for putting together such a fun opening event to the 2010 Foodbuzz Blogger's Festival. It is with regret that I most likely won't be attending next year's event since Foodbuzz's Featured Publisher's terms have changed (which are no longer beneficial for Canadian bloggers).

Hen Long Market

If you have been reading this blog lately, you will notice that I've been eating quite a few Banh Mi. Hey, I absolutely love the Vietnamese sandwich. The combination of a French roll with possible ingredients such as pate, Vietnamese ham, Vietnamese headcheese, cucumbers, pickled daikon/carrots, butter-mayo, fish sauce, cilantro, green onion and hot peppers really work together. Moving away from the classic Banh Mi, we also have variations which include meatball, roast pork, satay meat and chicken. Now, there are many places to get this sandwich all over Vancouver. Not a difficult thing to find really. However, as we go further into the burbs, not only is it more elusive, it can be downright nasty. So far in Surrey, I've tried a few; but have yet to be impressed. Next up is Hen Long Market. I have known about it for quite some time; however, it is not exactly a convenient place for me to visit. Screw it, I'll just make time to go, even if it meant using all my lunch hour just to pick it up.

Now Hen Long is actually an Asian market kicking it ol' school if compared to T & T. They re in the process of building a new modern market next door. So stay tuned... For now, you got your dry goods, meat, bakery, BBQ and Banh Mi counter. There are only 5 different subs to choose from including the classic Special (or cold cut). Consisting of pate, Vietnamese ham and headcheese, pickled daikon/carrots, cilantro, green onion and butter mayo, this is as good of a Banh Mi that I've had. Very similar to Ba Le before they started baking their own bread. The bread here is crispy on the outside and soft/airy on the inside. I also got the Vietnamese Ham and it was basically the same with just ham and no other meat. This was the cheapest at $3.00.

For curiosity sake, I got the BBQ Pork as well. And it was basically a Banh Mi with Chinese BBQ pork. Although it was an okay sandwich, I personally didn't prefer it. Something about BBQ pork and Banh Mi don't mix. The pork was very sweet and savoury and it did not work with the rest of the ingredients, essentially overwhelming everything. Lastly, I got a Roast Pork. If you guessed Chinese roast pork, you are right. Actually, I liked this sandwich. Imagine fatty roast pork with pieces of cracklings strewn throughout combined with the usual condiments. I guess they can be considered a Vietnamese-Chinese version of the porcetta? Well, for $3.50, that's a pretty good deal on a fairly filling sandwich.

Good. In fact, really good Banh Mi. It's not only good for Surrey, it's good for all of the GVRD. Definitely gives Ba Le and Tung Hing a run for its money. Prices are pretty standard compared to other places. Not really encouraging people to make the trek out here for it necessarily; but if you live nearby or are in the neighbourhood, it's definitely worth checking out.

The Good:
- Probably the best Banh Mi in Surrey (so far...)
- Generous with the fillings

The Bad:
- For now, it's an odd location within a tight supermarket
- Parking is a bit lacking during peak times

Master Hung BBQ

In what would only be a breather in my 20 hour day, Vandelay and I headed to Richmond for some eats. You see, my day started off at 7:00am and was not going to end until 3:00am the next morning. A full day of work, then off to Tsawwassen for a hockey pool and immediately afterwards, a hockey game in North Vancouver. There was really no reason we should have stopped in Richmond for food. After all, Bubbly was preparing some pasta for all the poolies at the draft. Yet, when Vandelay indicated that he wanted to carpool and would be available for some eats, I knew what I had to do. Although it took me on the scenic route from North Delta back to Vancouver and on to Richmond, I could not pass up an eating opportunity. The question was where to eat? No shortage of good food in Richmond. No shortage of bad drivers either. It is indeed a catch-22. Good food in lieu of hazards to ones' vehicle. Well, we ended up traveling to a relatively calmer location on Garden City and Blundell for a quick bite at Master Hung.

Not to be confused with Chef Hung, this restaurant is known for its excellent BBQ items. Of course, the first order of business is to try those items out. We got the 3-Item BBQ Platter consisting of BBQ Duck, Roasted Pork and BBQ Pork. Luckily, we got the duck breast. Hence, it was meaty and easy to eat. The flesh was moist and the fat mostly rendered. Furthermore, I could taste the duck as it was not over-seasoned with salt. Very well executed BBQ duck, no complaints here. Although the roast pork arrived pretty much cold, it was still very pleasant to eat. The skin was crispy without being chewy and there was a good fat-to-meat ratio. The meat was very tender and moist while also not over-seasoned as well. I could definitely taste the roasted pork. This was executed much better than many larger restaurants. And with the BBQ Pork, you guessed it, was also very tender and moist. The exterior had a nice glaze with some charring. There was also a good mix of fat and meat as well.

To compliment our meat dish, we got an order of Wonton Noodles. The noodles were decent with a nice bounce and chewiness. The broth exhibited nice balance between salty and sweet while providing some depth as well. I'm a bit biased towards all-shrimp wontons, so I'm usually pretty critical of pork & shrimp wontons. However, in this case, I was okay with the ones here. I liked how the pork was slightly chewy while still moist. The wontons were well-seasoned too. One minor issue. I asked for no green onions and as you can see, they did it anyways. The green onions showed up in our bowl of Liver Congee as well. Is it just me or Chinese restaurants forget or simply don't give a damn about special requests? Anyways, the congee base itself was slightly thin and bland. It wasn't exactly watery; but it definitely lacked depth. It resembled home-cooked congee more than a restaurant-type version. The liver was cooked perfectly and in fact, was probably marinated in baking soda. It had a pronounced "bounce" texture, not the grittiness we normally associate with liver. Both Vandelay and I thought the food was pretty solid, especially the BBQ items. Naturally that would be an expectation since it is in the name. If it weren't located so far away, I'd probably come here for the BBQ alone. And I'm not saying this to avoid Richmond. The traffic in this area is much less apparent.

The Good:
- Excellent BBQ items
- Friendly proprietors
- Good portions

The Bad:
- As with most places in Richmond, limited parking spots

The Buffet @ River Rock Casino

Sounding like a broken record or merely just a shoddy CD player made in China, I seem to chime the same tune over and over again. "A buffet is never the best option to experience good food". Really, it isn't; but I seem to visit one every now and then. Of course, some are done for blog purposes like Kisha Poppo and Sui Sha Ya. Others are just out of plain stupidity such as Kawawa. Then we have others that remind me of my childhood (see: Royal Fork and Uncle Willy's). Yup, none of the aforementioned restaurants are on anybody's culinary radar. Maybe for quantity only. Even with tempered expectations, it is still very hard to "like" buffet food unless the ingredients are top quality such as seafood (especially served cold since it cannot further cook and become like rubber). In the GVRD, we find very few of these types of buffets other than the Sunday brunch variety such as The Hotel Vancouver, Pan Pacific, Waterfront, Sutton Place and Metrotown Hilton. Yes, we can certainly get seafood at these places; yet at a cost of $30.00+. With that in mind, I finally made it out to The Buffet at the River Rock Casino. With so few non-Asian buffet options in the GVRD, we can now look to the casinos.

Much like any other casino buffet, the layout of the restaurant is designed for that purpose. On an adjacent wall to the entrance, we find the Hot Food stations. At the very start, there is a mix of items which included Candied Yams, Garlic Mash Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Broccoli, Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Shanghai Bok Choy, Pesto Penne, Rigatoni in a Cream Sauce, BBQ Ribs, 5-Spice Chicken, Braised Brisket and Basa with an Orange-Tarragon Cream. Believe it or not, the most memorable item from this section was the mashed potatoes. Yup, not exactly a ringing endorsement of the food; but the potatoes were very creamy and garlicky. Predictably, the pastas were overcooked (sitting there in the sauce); yet the pesto was quite nice. Ribs were okay, quite tender while not really being all that BBQ'd. Brisket was not good, very dry and bland. Basa was decent, still moist and tender while the sauce was quite mild. Directly after this selection of food came the Roast Beef. We found the beef to be quite chewy and lacking flavour. I guess we shouldn't expect a better cut of meat considering it was lunch?

Since the River Rock is in Richmond, there was a large Chinese Food section. Too bad it really wasn't all that good though. There were 2 soups consisting of Hot 'n Sour and Cream of Corn. Both were forgettable. Then there were Potstickers, Steamed Chicken Legs, Spring Rolls, Sesame Balls, Stir-Fried Beef, Orange Chicken, Soy Rice Noodles, Ma-Poh Tofu, Fried Rice, Gai Lan and freshly made Onion Pancakes. Everything, as expected, was overcooked. Beef was tough, chicken was dry and veggies soft. I guess we can't blame them since it is a buffet. But I've had better Chinese at Panda Express. No joke! Reason being is the food we got here was both unappetizing to look at and poorly executed. When the thought of "I can do better than that" creeps in, then there is a problem.

We skipped the Salad Bar and went for the hot food first. We returned later to discover the usual stuff. You know, Spring Mix, Potato Salad, Pasta Salad, Coleslaw, Bean Salad, Thai Noodle Salad, Pig's Ear... Pig's Ear?!?!? Yes, and add to that Seaweed Salad and Marinated Tripe too. Definitely a Chinese influence for sure. The rest of my table (who were non-Asian) stared at me in disgust as I gleefully chewed my tripe and pig's ear. I even dangled it in front of them to make my point. Yah I know, I'm immature... Anyways, all of the items in the salad bar seemed and tasted fresh. The Dessert section followed the theme of Chinese items integrated into more common sweets. Smack dab in the middle of it all is a Chocolate Fondue with various fruits and marshmallows. It was not really all that memorable since the chocolate was quite sweet and rather runny. Therefore, the chocolate never really adhered to the fruit. It looked more like fruit with chocolate sauce on the bottom of the plate.

As for the other items, there was Bread Pudding, Cheesecake, Strawberry Flan, Cream Puffs, Various Petit Fours, Cheesecake, Creme Caramel, Apple Strudel, Chocolate Brownie, Lo Poh Beng, Cream Swirl Cake, Lychee Jelly, Moon Cake and Sticky Rice Balls with Red Bean. Okay desserts in general; but nothing extraordinary, which pretty much sums up this buffet. Mostly subpar with a few highlights. Certainly not worth $16.95; but okay when discounted (20% off for a group 10 or more).

The Good:
- Nice digs
- A good variety of food
- Good service

The Bad:
- Food is pretty ordinary
- Layout for the buffet is scattered and cramped for the hot food section

Kisha Poppo (Richmond)

Alright, consider this scenario. We're in Richmond. We didn't get into a car accident. We didn't get cut-off. We got a parking space without incident. We're in a Japanese restaurant. The restaurant is full. Other than the staff, I'm the only Asian person present. Tell me what is the most strange thing that happened? Well, it can probably be all of the above except for being in a Japanese restaurant. However, it doesn't bode well if I am the only Asian at a Japanese restaurant in Richmond! Despite the repeated warnings from many different people, I have done the unthinkable. Yah, Kawawa was bad and so was Sui Sha Ya; but Kisha Poppo has often been grouped into that same category of Japanese AYCE that really should be all-you-shouldn't-eat.

Well, there are really some good reasons for this visit. Really! Honest! First, everyone pretty much agreed on Japanese AYCE. Second, there are very few Japanese AYCE joints I haven't blogged about. Third, I was the only Asian in the group. So what's the harm in going to Kisha Poppo? I guess we were going to find out... I ended up ordering only a modest amount of Tuna
Sashimi because no one else wanted to have any. I guess that was a good decision on their part because it was pretty average. I've had much worse, so this was actually passable. It was soft like tuna usually is; but not overly mushy. It was quite bland though. We also got some Nigiri and again, I practically ate all the tuna and salmon. Surprisingly, the salmon looked pretty good with a nice sheen. It was not particularly flavourful; yet it did have a fresh texture. Predictably, the rice was sub par being quite dry and bland. Amusingly, I've never seen tamago and inari be so popular before at our table. Oh yeah, they're cooked items... Although I did get a lot of "what the heck is this???" when referring to the Inari. I was surprised anyone touched it when I remarked it was tofu skin...

Now to the rolls... I know, I know, we have a "safe" selection of California Roll, BC Roll, Futomaki, Oshinko and Tekka Maki. Once again, I had to be the closer and finish up the remaining futomaki and BC roll. Apparently, they were too strange compared to the Cali roll. The rolls were pretty standard fast food Japanese fare which really didn't offend (except for the same sub-par rice). However, they weren't the most aesthetically pleasing things to look at. They seemed to be rolled haphazardly and probably in advance. Okay, here we go, one of the most popular items of the meal... Gyozas! I know, for those Japanese food connoisseurs, you are probably rolling your eyes right now; but please bear with me, we had some newbies and they were trying their best. These gyozas were fried up very nicely; however, they were greasier than the floor at Mr. Lube. Furthermore, the filling was loose and really mushy. I didn't like them particularly. It didn't help that we weren't supplied with any dipping sauce for them either.

Another popular dish was the Chicken Katsu. Fried chicken on a stick slathered in sauce. Not particularly the one thing we'd identify with Japanese food. Whatever, looking past that, they were actually quite good. Fried up crispy with moist chicken, we tried to order more. But every time, we got like one instead of the 4 we ordered. Honestly, I'm not sure how they messed this up really. I know since it's AYCE, you can keep ordering it until you get the requested amount; but if that takes a total of an hour, then what's the point? Moving on... Something that I thought would be popular really didn't materialize. No one seemed interested in the Tempura. Yah, they weren't missing much anyways. It was quite greasy with a bit too much batter. In fact, the veggies inside were just plain slimy. I really didn't enjoy eating this.

One dish that got a lot of play was predictably the venerable Teriyaki Chicken. Of course it did since you'll find it in most bento boxes. I must admit that this one was quite good. The chicken was fried up crispy while still being moist and tender. As you can see, it is not slathered in an obscene amount of teriyaki sauce either. Universally, this dish was well-liked and we had to order more. In addition to the aforementioned items, we got most of the other lunchtime AYCE offerings and honestly, they were okay. Despite the fact that Kisha Poppo is not somewhere I'd personally eat at again, it is an option for those looking for Westernize Japanese food. I say this only because there are worse places such as Sui Sha Ya and Kawawa. But again, if you really must do AYCE Japanese, go to Ninkazu or Tomokazu.

The Good:
- Food is edible (I'm lowering my expectations here)
- It's a fairly comfortable dining space
- The hot food was hot and the cold food was cold

The Bad:
- Food is edible; but not really all that good either
- Service is sparse
- Some items are a bit greasy

Sunshine Diner

There is an app on the iPhone that specifically deals with planets and constellations. My son is completely fascinated with it. With that in mind, we felt that a visit to the Planetarium would be a good call. And why not? You got your planet show with "Harold" and various displays that deal with space. Looks great on paper doesn't it? While on our way to the "mushroom" as we referred to it when we were kids, lunch was in order. I didn't give it much thought since we were rushing out the door. Thus, it was the "drive around until you spot something" routine. Hey, we spotted a lot of stuff; but none were open until 11:30am. We were getting pretty flustered and resisting hard not to visit White Spot (been there too many times). I'm glad my son didn't see it, he would've nagged us until we would give in. Driving down that same block, the Sunshine Diner caught our attention. With "Elvis" at the front door and colourful red and white decor, it sure looked inviting. I stopped, parked the car and grabbed the family to a random food adventure. Diner food... Now that's something my kids should eat.

Without even looking at the menu, I really liked this place. C'mon, there's Elvis! Furthermore, you got booth seating, jukebox and retro decor. The place looks like a diner. Seems to have the whole Johnny Rockets thing going on. As expected the menu consisted of breakfast, burgers and sandwiches. Although my son already had pancakes earlier, he wanted to have them again. Wow, that's really boring. No matter, that is something he'd eat and that's good enough for me. We got the Pancake Breakfast for him and his sister to share. It came with eggs and sausage (or bacon or ham) as well. Although he was eating them willingly, I thought the pancakes could've been fluffier. The eggs were scrambled perfectly. And I mean perfectly. Fluffy and barely cooked, this is a lot harder to do than it looks. The sausage was also very good, it was meaty and not fatty at all. Good meat flavour too.

Viv went for the Clubhouse and even though it is a simple sandwich, this one was done right. Bacon was crispy and lean, veggies fresh, real chicken breast and real cheese, what's not to like? Fries were crispy too. For me, I had to have the Mushroom Burger. It's a diner right? Gotta go for the burger... As you can see in the picture, it was loaded with mushrooms, pickles, cheese, lettuce and tomato. The patty was moist despite not being juicy. The burger tasted great with lots of meat flavour except the pickles were much too salty. Take that out and it would've been much more balanced. Naturally, by virtue of being a diner, the food ain't gonna knock the socks off anyone. However, there is definitely good diner food and bad diner food. I would say this is good diner food since it wasn't greasy, overall execution was good, prices fair, friendly service and pretty welcoming environment.

The Good:
- Cool decor
- Generally well-made food
- Okay value considering location

The Bad:
- Pretty standard fare, not much innovation