G-Be Izakaya

For some time, it only looked as if EBO would be the only in-house restaurant at the Grand Villa Casino. Suddenly, not only has a high-end Chinese restaurant (Grand Dynasty) opened up, a few days later, G-Be Izakaya appears. Another venture from the Gyoza King Group, G-Be tries to capture the gambling crowd much like Grand Dynasty next door. In fact, they share common restrooms. Since the gambling crowd are predominantly Chinese, it is no wonder that their menu has significant Chinese influences. As usual, I convinced Pomegranate to join me on this food adventure. I promised him a real Izakaya
experience; however, after looking at the menu, I wasn't so sure. Mixed with familiar items were Chinese Dim Sum on their "Yumcha" order sheet. Uh... Isn't there a Dim Sum place right next to them already?

Whatever the case, I opted to skip most of the Dim Sum items since it was not really what we were here for. Starting with the something familiar, we got the Sockeye Salmon Tataki. Although the fish itself was quite fresh, the sear on the outside was not aesthetically pleasing and neither was the texture. It was as if the searing temperature was too low. We also added 2 slices of Hawaiian Red Tuna since our server recommended it. She said it was very nice and indeed it delivered. The texture exhibited freshness and it was naturally flavourful. Now, when I was looking at the menu, I was on the lookout for my favourite item - Ebi Mayo. An exhaustive search yielded something a bit different. We ended up with the Basil Mayo Crispy Shrimp. Coated with corn flakes, the shrimp were really crunchy. That in itself made this dish a winner. Add the nice basil mayo and this was definitely different; yet good at the same time.

Continuing with the theme of breakfast cereals used as a coating, we got the Goma Miso Crispy Chicken Karaage. We were thinking what would they use next? Lucky Charms? Uh... ew... Never mind. As for using Rice Crispies in this case, it was a success. Well, that was predictable. Anything with Rice Crispies works. Ignoring the fact that the Rice Crispies probably absorbed a tonne of oil, each piece was a delight to eat. Lightly crispy on the outside while tender and moist on the inside, it went well with the nutty and salty dip. For kicks, we went for some sushi rolls with the Triple Seafood arriving first. A combination of snow crab meat, scallop, avocado, sprouts wrapped in nori and topped with spicy salmon. It could be possibly the physical size of each piece in combination with the spicy sauce that resulted in everything getting a bit lost. I could barely distinguish each ingredient.
The same could be said about the Asia Spicy Roll as well. This consisted of tuna tempura, cucumber, burdock root, sprouts and avocado wrapped in soy paper topped with spicy tuna. I figured I would at least taste the burdock root; but not really. Again, the same sweet, spicy sauce dominated the roll. Let me make this clear though - the spicy sauce was actually quite nice and the ingredients were pretty good, it's just very one-dimensional. With all that in mind, I did like the texture of the rice. It was firm and chewy

Now for what was probably the most disappointing dish of the meal - the Tuna Tataki. For reasons unknown, each slice was unappetizingly thick and to compound the problem, the exterior was seared too much. Look at the picture. The fish is overcooked! It should be nearly rare. In this case, it was hard and not pleasing in texture at all. The flavours were okay I suppose; yet that couldn't save the dish. Probably one of the worst versions of Tuna Tataki I've ever had. Now if you remember my visit to Zakkushi, I had the infamous Bukkake Udon. Now this time around, I got to share a Bukkake Udon with Pomegranate... In fact, it was a Kamaage Shirasu Mentaiko on Bukkake Udon. What it really means is shirasu fish and spicy cod roe udon. As expected, the udon turned out to be quite fishy with the shirasu, cod roe and bonito. Personally, I didn't mind it much since I like that type of fishy flavour. Pomegranate really didn't care for it. Hence, he only had a partial Bukkake and he didn't even clean it up.

For our last dish, we chose something that we thought were Japanese gyozas. However, if you look at the picture, they are definitely more like Chinese dumplings. Listed as Steamed Pork Gyozas with Seafood, we really didn't expect the final product. Nothing particularly wrong with the dumplings themselves. The filling was good while the skin was the right thickness and texture. A pretty good "choy yok gau". It's just not a gyoza in the typical sense, although "gyoza" in Cantonese does means dumpling. Okay, I hate to say it... But my beloved Gyoza King has produced a restaurant that I was very "meh" about. The food in general was pretty average with a few exceptions. We both loved the decor and the service. However, we believe that the combination of Dim Sum and Izakaya is too much of a stretch, especially with Grand Dynasty right next door. If one wanted Dim Sum, go eat over there. G-Be should focus on Izakaya-dishes only and even with that, there needs to be some serious refining as well.

The Good:
- Attractive decor
- Excellent service
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- Execution issues with some items
- Please don't mix Dim Sum and Izakaya together

Taste Good Wonton Seafood Restaurant

As much as I like Alleluia, there comes a time when it just gets a bit boring, not to mention nothing really to blog about! That is the case with the Saturday hockey group. I am no longer a regular with this pickup hockey. I only make it out a few times a year as a sub. Of course I love the fact they go out to eat afterwards; but it's Alleluia or bust with these guys. Much like the time I coerced them into going to Silver Tower, I suggested we do something different again. For me, the most interesting place to try was Taste Good Wonton, formerly Wonton King. Interesting you might ask? Considering there is a massive sinkhole the size of Wesley Snipe's back taxes in front of the restaurant, I would call that more than interesting. The only way into the parking lot at this moment is to drive in the opposite direction on Marine Drive from Fraser. I can only imagine how this is affecting business.

When we approached the door and tried to open it, we found it to be locked. I suppose that the restaurant is taking precautions against robberies or shootings? I did intend to shoot; but with my camera of course. Well, they opened up and let us in. I guess we don't look very threatening after all. Strangely, the lone server gave us the dinner menu which did not list any wontons whatsoever. The place is called Taste Good Wonton right? I resorted to snatching a takeout menu to see the available wonton noodles and congee. So guess what I ordered? Duh. Wonton Soup. And did they taste good??? Well, they did taste alright; yet I would hardly say they were good. Made of half pork and half shrimp, the wontons were overly chewy for me. The pork was a tad too chewy and the shrimp were overcooked. The soup base itself was on the lighter side lacking depth. Max Power decided on the classic Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee. The best way to describe the effort here is acceptable. The congee itself wasn't exactly thin; yet it wasn't that thick either. Depending on personal tastes, the congee was either underseasoned or just right. Lastly, there was a decent amount of salted pork and duck egg.

Mr. Vain had the BBQ Pork and Wonton Noodles. He gave me a sample of the noodles and they weren't half-bad being slightly chewy. Of course, these were the same wontons and broth, so nothing new to report about that. Crazy Goalie had almost the same noodles except with BBQ Duck instead of BBQ Pork. Probably since we were there near closing time, the BBQ'd items were pretty dry. I wouldn't hold that against them as such then. Chunkylover73 ended up with what he always orders - Brisket & Flat Rice Noodles. Too bad they ran out of flat rice noodles; hence he had to get wonton noodles as as well (with brisket). Same story with the soup, noodles and wontons while the brisket wasn't bad. It had a good amount of fat though.

Lastly, I wouldn't just come here and have the wontons alone... So I added an order of the Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice. Hey, this was pretty good. There was a good amount of tender chicken, moist salted fish nestled in nicely fried rice. The rice had a bit of bite while not being too dry either. Lots of salted fish taste and good "wok hay". That was a pretty good finish to an otherwise pretty average meal. Of course we shouldn't expect much at 2:00am; but when a restaurant is named "Taste Good Wonton", the wontons better be good. Alas, these were not.


The Good:
- Open late
- The one stir-fried dish we had was pretty good
- Service was decent

The Bad:
- Didn't try the dinner menu; but the wontons and such are average
- Prices are relatively high

Tay Do Deli

I'm sure it is not lost upon many people who read this blog regularly that I love Banh Mi. I would eat them in a boat. I would eat them with a goat. I will eat them in a rain. And in the dark. And on a train, in a car and in a tree. They are so good, so good, you see! Wait, that's Green Eggs & Ham... Okay, there are no green eggs in a banh mi; but certainly ham. If there were green eggs, I'm sure Fraser Health would pay them a visit. Anyways, my search for the best Banh Mi has led me to a little place called Tay Do Deli. Located on 104th near 137th, I only found out about the place on my way back from Hen Long.

Since I was making a visit to The Hockey Shop nearby already, it was only natural that I tack on an eating adventure as well. After taking a slap shot to the ribs, it occurred to me that I might need a new chest protector. Too bad they cost #$)*#$)*# amount of money. $600??? Egads... I don't need any protection if I have already lost an arm and a leg from the purchase! No wonder I don't pay league fees... Fortunately, Banh Mi are not expensive. So at the very least, I can save some money for those expensive hockey gear purchases. With any Banh Mi joint, the yardstick is the Combo (or Cold Cut or Special or whatever it is called). Consisting usually of pate, Vietnamese ham and headcheese with pickled daikon/carrots, cucumber, hot pepper, cilantro, butter-mayo and fish sauce, this is probably my favourite sub. This version had a good amount of meat, discernible pate and crisp veggies. The bread was a bit denser as I would've like; but all-in-all, a decent Banh Mi.

Since there were so many choices, I decided to try a few more out including the BBQ Pork. Unlike the one from Hen Long, this is not actual Chinese BBQ pork; rather, it processed pork. Typically, this is really sweet and it was the case here. Pretty good though. For my 3rd sub (yes, 3rd...), I tried the Charbroiled Pork. I would have to say this was my favourite, even more so than the Combo. Stuffed with as much meat as they could fit into the bun, this was a satisfying sub. The meat was not exactly moist; but it wasn't dry either. Lots of flavour. It went well with the pickled veggies. From the best to the least favourite was the Meatball sub. Generally, the meatballs in Banh Mi are on the softer side; yet these ones were some really mushy balls. I don't like mushy balls... Each bite was like eating pate gone wrong. Furthermore, there was not much flavour too them. Usually there are lots of onions, not in this case. In spite of the meatball sub, the rest were quite decent with a good amount of meat. Again, I would've liked an airier bread; but that is my preference. On a side note, I'll say it again, if you are slightly adventurous, skip Subway and get a Banh Mi. It's cheaper and much tastier.

The Good:
- They don't skimp on the meat
- Lots of choices
- Friendly operators

The Bad:
- Bread is a bit dense
- Still inexpensive; but costs a bit more than other Vietnamese sub joints

Joey Burnaby

It's true, Polka King has a new squeeze. All this time, we were wondering about him. MIA for most of the summer and totally MIA during fall, we figured something was up. I hinted at a possible Polka Queen in his future last time when he did not join us for food at Cattle Cafe. However, after finally meeting her, Polka Queen just didn't seem appropriate. Rather, we shall call her Polka Dot. Since Polka King didn't want to head into Downtown or thereabouts for food; he wondered if there were any late night joints in North Burnaby. ROFL... Yah right. Thus, we ended up heading to Joey Burnaby, which just opened not too long ago in the old location of the Shark Club. For those who didn't know, it closed down shortly after a shooting on the premises. Any type of shooting worries Polka King and I assured him that we would be safe. The only shooting he'd have to worry about is my DSLR with external flash blinding him while he eats.

Although Joey would not be our first choice, it was in fact, one of the few options we had in this area, other than Cactus Club, Boston Pizza or Knight & Day. I can put up with Cactus Club; but no BP or K&D thanks very much. Joey has really grown up since the mid-90's. You see, it used to be Joey Tomatoes. Think East Side Mario's. It was a family-orientated restaurant primarily serving North American Italian fare. Reinvented and following the Cactus Club/Earl's formula, we now have plenty of glitz, attractive decor and staff with more upscale food (which isn't cheap). No matter, as I have stated before, we shouldn't merely discount these places just because the perceived value isn't there. They service their target clientele and the food is only a part of the overall experience. With that acknowledgment, the food has to be at least acceptable since the place is a restaurant after all.

Polka King and Polka Dot ended up sharing the Tandoori Chicken flatbread and the Lobster Ravioli. Normally, I'm quite apprehensive with ethnic cuisine offered in a North American restaurant. However, the tandoori chicken was not bad. Of course it really wasn't tandoori chicken in the authentic sense; but it was tender and had a surprisingly nice kick. The bread was light and crispy. Since they were sharing the ravioli, the server had their order split into 2 smaller dishes. A nice touch. Much like the last time where Gordo enjoyed this particular dish, they enjoyed it as well. Definitely creamy.

As for my food, I got the Bacon Cheddar Burger with fries. The burger was surprisingly large and actually not bad. The meat wasn't exactly moist; but the other ingredients made up for it. I particularly liked the crisp pickles and fresh lettuce. I normally like the skinny fries at Joey. This time, they were not very crisp, so I was only moderately satisfied. Milhouse, trying to watch his figure, decided on the Viva Salad consisting of roasted chicken with sundried cranberries, avocado, apples, feta with a honey balsamic vinaigrette and cilantro. According to him, a salad is a salad. However, with that established, the ingredients need to be fresh, proteins cooked correctly and a right amount of dressing. As you can see, the veggies were fresh, the chicken was a bit dry while he thought there was just enough well-balanced dressing.

Lionel Hutz and Truditini shared the Ahi Tuna Salad with seared rare ahi tuna, mango, amorosa tomatoes, fresh mint, peanuts, crispy noodles with a chili lime dressing. The tuna was beautifully cooked while all of the components were fresh and the dressing was just right in terms of balance and amount. They also shared the Panang Prawn Curry Bowl with stir-fried with vegetables in a red coconut curry cream with thai basil and peanuts. Prawns and veggies were cooked properly and there was just enough sauce to taste which was not overpowering either.
On another visit after hockey, I was able to try one of their more intriguing items on the menu being the Lobster Grilled Cheese. With all the strong flavours, the lobster is only a textural component of the sandwich. In terms of a grilled cheese, it is crispy, buttery and cheesy. However, I found it to be a bit too salty. A good grilled cheese, it just didn't need the lobster. Honestly, we were all pretty surprised at the decent eats considering Joey is a chain restaurant and there is definitely style over function. Of course not everything will be good and that is a given at any restaurant; but for the stuff we did try, it was acceptable given the venue.

The Good:
- Lots of style
- Diverse menu, some good items
- With this visit, service was excellent

The Bad:
- Not cheap
- If you don't prefer style over function

Fasttrac Fusion Meals on Wheels

What a day. It first starts off with a meeting in Burnaby and ends up with another one in Ladner. For those who are unaware, trying to get out of Ladner towards Vancouver during rush hour is an exercise in frustration. You see, Northbound traffic through the George Massey Tunnel is reduced to one lane. Thus, you have 4+ lanes merging into one. Not a fun exercise to say the least. Of course, with all my whining about bad drivers, what did I end up doing? I forgot that the carpool lane turning towards the tunnel from HWY 17 is usually backed up past the overpass. So I drove up to the front thinking I could just merge into it. Wrong. I had to sheepishly signal and hope some nice motorist would let me in. I know, I know. They probably think I'm skipping the line. I apologize. I have become what I most despise.

So I ended up taking the Oak Street bridge rather than the connector due to my inherent fear of traffic jams. Bad decision, the traffic was worse in Vancouver. But the one bright spot was that I finally got to try Fasttrac Fusion at the corner of Cambie and 49th. This cart has eluded me so far due to its location and operating times. Somehow between the time it began operating until now, they have gotten rid of their yakisoba and replaced it with fresh rolled sushi. Interesting. Well, I decided to get 3 cones to try out including the Spicy Scallop, Boston and Alaska. At $3.85, the cones are priced fairly since they are quite large with plenty of filling. I found the rice to be pretty decent with a nice chewiness. Of the 3, I liked the Boston cone the best because it was less wet than the spicy scallop; yet more moist than the dry Alaska cone. Overall, I found the cones to be quite good.

I also got a Chicken Teriyaki Bowl and it was alright. Rice was good being a bit dry which goes well with wet items. The veggies were vibrant and still crisp. However, the chicken was overcooked. This can probably be attributed to being the end of the day. With that being said, it was still very edible. I liked the sauce. There was just enough and not too salty. For me, the food can be described as serviceable. In other words, it does what it sets out to be - a quick lunch option for students who are arriving or leaving from Langara. It's too bad they don't have yakisoba anymore; but apparently it wasn't selling. Nice to see that they changed up on the fly to try something different.

The Good:
- Nothing over $5.00
- Friendly proprietors
- Sushi cones are interesting

The Bad:
- The rolls take some time to make, but then again, you wouldn't want pre-made ones either.

King Mongolian Grill

I'll have to admit it. I've never pay much attention to Mongolian restaurants. For some reason or another, I do not find them all that interesting. C'mon, it's merely a bunch of meat, veggies and noodles cooked up on a large grill. Sure, it's neat to look at; but isn't it a glorified form of U-Grill and the sort? However, if I look at it from a different perspective - as in that it is a generally inexpensive filling meal - then it gets a bit more attractive. I'm sure you've noticed that "fast food" joints are creeping up dangerously close to $10.00 for a complete meal. Hence, people who are a bit more health-conscious look towards food like soup noodles, sushi, teppanyaki and Mongolian-type grills. Hey, when I'm in a food court, I usually go straight for U-Grill or Koya. Although, the downside of U-Grill is that it can get pretty pricey if one wasn't paying attention.

Now where some places will charge you by the gram for the amount of food you choose, King Mongolian Grill in PoCo lets you put as much into a bowl without making a mess for only $6.50. Now that is easier said than done. Akin to the first Tuesday of every month at Chong Lee Market, the place was a madhouse with people all over the place grabbing things. The food station looked like an aftermath of a food fight while there was no real ordering system in place. Bubble Girl and I had to literally guess what we should do. We were really impressed that the cook remembered whose bowl was who's. At one point, there was a line of 10 bowls of raw ingredients waiting to be cooked. I actually went up for seconds and automatically triggered the All-U-Can-Eat option for $11.50. Again, I'm not sure how they keep track. I guess it would be the honour system. I'm sure Geighis Khan would not be impressed. LOL...

So the actual protocol is to grab a bowl, select your meats, veggies and noodles, then head over to the sauce station (although the sauces looked quite watered down). Once you have chosen your sauces, leave the bowl for the cook to grill it. Once grilled, they will bring it to you. If you do the AYCE, then just repeat as many times as you want. For me, I only went twice. There is only so much I can eat! Seriously! And what I got was something that is very similar to U-Grill, but cheaper and with many more sauce options. Since everything is essentially cooked all at once on the hot grill, some things will be more cooked than others. Hey, it ain't perfect; yet ultimately it is a filling and relatively healthy meal. Their lunch special for $6.50 allows one to fill their large bowl with whatever they want to the brim and then some. Hence there was stuff all over the place and floor. Seeing how there were so many teenagers in here, even they know that this is a pretty good deal. Nice to see that they are choosing this over McD's.

The Good:
- Cheap
- It has got the "choose your own adventure" kinda thing going on
- Stuff is fresh

The Bad:
- Lack of real sense of order... much like Richmond
- Food is pretty average, only to fill you up
- The included "salad bar" looks more like rabbit's leftovers

Dinner @ Grand Dynasty

The mad rush at Chinese restaurants, otherwise known as Chinese New Year, is an annual tradition for many families. This is where large tables of people pig out on too much food. Really, it is intentional. When there is too much food, it is an indication of good fortune. Normally, we do the New Year's Eve dinner; but it fell on a weekday and frankly we were all too tired to go out. We ate in instead. However, we did go out for the New Year's dinner instead. Trying to break away from the usual places, we decided to try out Grand Dynasty's dinner service. We had already done Dim Sum a few weeks back and came away impressed at the quality of food and service. On the other hand, all of that came at a cost. Well, I'll tell ya, dinner is equally expensive. No matter, if the quality is there, then the price is merely representative.

As expected, the place was packed. There were several set meals available; yet they did not seem all that attractive to us. In the end, we ordered a la carte dishes which actually ended up costing more than the set meals. One of the items we selected seemed to throw one of the managers for a loop. Apparently the Peking Duck might have been a bit ambitious for the kitchen on such a busy night. He checked with the kitchen and they were game. I must give them kudos for that since it came out perfectly. With a beautifully roasted appearance, the whole Peking duck was served table-side. As fatty as the skin can be on Peking duck, a lot of the fat was actually rendered and we liked how there was some meat attached. The accompanying crepes were a little different than what we were used to. Pan-fried until there was colour and topped with sesame seeds, they were slightly oily; but soft from start to finish.

Now the next item could possibly elicit some negative feelings from some - the Shark's Fin Soup. I'm fully aware of the ethical ramifications of this and honestly, I'm not using this blog to be political about it. And that is the extent I will talk about it. So as for the soup, the broth was light; yet had nice depth at the same time. It was just thick enough with a silky texture. There was a decent amount of shark's fin along with chicken and Yunnan(?) ham. After that, the second course of the Peking duck arrived. All the meat from the duck ended up in the Duck Lettuce Wrap. This dish exhibited good "wok hay" or high heat caramelization from wok-frying. Good colour, not wet and a slight smokiness while the veggies retaining their crunch, this was a textbook lettuce wrap. We particularly liked how the lettuce was neatly separated (while still intact) and in big pieces. Made for easy wrapping and eating.

We also ordered a large Live Crab prepared in cream sauce with some wonton noodles underneath. The crab was really good. It was meaty and fresh. Now since it was live, you'd expect it be such; however, not all crabs are created equal. There are such crabs that are so emancipated, there is more water than meat in the shell. As for the sauce, it was decent; yet was a bit bland. I will cut them some slack because we had asked them to omit the onions which would've probably added both flavour and another level of sweetness. We thought the noodles were disappointing because there was so little of it for the hefty price tag. Of course with all this, we needed a plate of veggies and opted for the Pea Shoots with Crabmeat. This was an expertly prepared dish. The shoots were high quality and cooked perfectly. I particularly liked that there was no pool of water at the bottom of the plate - a clear indication of high wok heat and possibly good drainage before plating. Whatever the case, it was an example of care put into the dish. Moreover, the crab sauce on top was silky, flavourful and full of meat.

For our last dish, we went for the Fook Chow Fried Rice. It is essentially a fried rice base with a starch-thicken sauce on top consisting of chicken, shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, dried scallops and gai lan stems. This was a solid fried rice. Quite mild tasting actually. Probably could've used a touch more seasoning; but that is nitpicking. In terms of the entire meal, it was satisfying and well-executed. This was impressive considering how busy the place was. In fact, the food came out lightning fast. As with Dim Sum, the service was attentive and courteous. And again similarly with Dim Sum, the prices are definitely on the higher side. However, that is the price we have to pay for a "fine-dinning" Chinese restaurant which has solid food and great service.

The Good:
- Good execution
- Excellent service
- Nice, if not tight, dining room

The Bad:
- Really tight dining room
- Pricey