Mamak Cafe

*Restaurant is now closed*

"You haven't been???" remarked Vandelay as he was suggesting lunch spots in Downtown. I admit it. It's true. I have been so busy lately! Although there has been plenty of literature about Mamak Cafe, I either chose to ignore it or I just didn't remember. Hence, it was right in front of my face while I was next door at Meat & Bread and I still didn't clue in. Well, to be fair, it is not exactly an easy place to spot. You see, it is inside Pub 340. And to top it off, other than a few small pieces of letter-sized paper stuck to the window, no one would even guess there was Malaysian food to be found. In fact, Pomegranate joked that he was there with his buddies and didn't even notice the place.

Once inside the pub, there is a small designated area at the entrance specifically for Mamak. Mind you, there is the option to sit in the pub itself and be served the same food. Depends on your fancy. For me, I chose option one since the last thing I need are inebriated individuals questioning my picture-taking. We decided to order some items to share starting with the Roti Canai. I have to say that this is one of the best versions I've tried in Vancouver. Flaky, chewy and crispy without being oily, the roti was further amped by the outstanding sweet curry dip. I liked the thickness of the dip as well since it easily adhered to the roti. We also got an order of the Chicken Satay to share. Nicely charred while not completely overcooked, the chicken benefited from the tasty peanut dip. The dip was a good combination of nutty and sweetness.

The first of our main was the Laksa. As you may know, there are not many places to get a good laksa in town, with probably one of the most popular being Bo Laksa. For me, it was good; but it didn't wow me. The one here didn't wow me either; but it came close. The fragrant coconut broth was darn tasty. It was probably a little heavy on the coconut milk; but personally I like that. Combined with perfectly cooked noodles and ingredients, I enjoyed it very much. Next up was another Malay classic in the Nasi Goreng. Presented a bit differently than I am used to, it was missing the fried egg, shrimp chips and fried chicken. The frozen veggies were a bit odd for me as well. Ultimately, it did taste okay with only a moderate amount of spice. I did like the perfectly cooked shrimp.

Lastly, we had the Beef Rendang. It was also very coconutty and easy on the spice. Sure, this dish is not supposed to be that spicy; but for me, it was a bit too mild. Despite this, there was still hints of the many spices that make up this dish. The big chunks of meat were both good and bad. Good, because there was lots of beef. Bad, it was a bit hard to eat. I guess it's a catch-22. Too small and it might turn out really dry. Whatever the case, this was still a good dish and went well with the perfectly cooked rice. As we were finishing up, there was a certain level of satisfaction at not only the food; but at the final cost. The food is reasonably-priced here for the quality and level of execution. Sure, it's got this odd-location, ethnic-food-thing going on which makes it unique. But if we look past that and focus solely on the food. It is pretty good and that is all that matters.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- It's got a good dive-like quality to it
- Very friendly chef and staff

The Bad:
- Strange location for some people
- Limited menu

Commune Cafe

*Restaurant is closed*

Being able to stay in a hotel room in one's hometown is somewhat of a treat. It's like getting away without really going anywhere. No planes, trains or automobiles. Well, not really. I did drive and ended up paying an exorbitant fee for parking. The attendant might as well wear a mask since it's highway robbery. I digress. Anyways, back to the hotel room. It was our annual conference in Downtown and I was lucky enough to be provided with a room at the Sheraton Wall Centre. Hence, I could "relax" all I wanted and still be around for the second session of activities the following day. Well, our relaxing was a bit too aggressive and we barely were able to wake up for breakfast. Let me rephrase that. I was able to wake up for breakfast, Snake Eyes struggled. And the best thing for that is a good meal to start the day. No fruit, no croissants and certainly no granola. I suggested the Commune Cafe since they had real food such as breakfast sandwiches and omelets. Furthermore, they only use natural free-range meats & eggs, organic produce, milk products and 100% sustainable locally-sourced seafood. Snakes Eyes seemed content on that idea and off we went. As we walked into the place, the long shared table is front and centre. Well, the place is named Commune Cafe. Why not a communal table? Simple colours, simple decor with a no-nonsense approach, Snake Eyes and I liked the place without even trying any food. Of course that would be a tragedy in every shape and form for myself, so...

Not knowing what to order, I merely asked for the 2 most popular breakfast sammies. The first one we got was the Turkey Sausage & Egg. This sausage was the star of this sandwich and everything complimented it. Not rocket science for sure in making a breakfast sandwich; yet, it was good and reasonably-priced at $4.00 (this is Downtown, so that's not bad). Since one sandwich is never enough food for me, I also had their version of a McD's Egg McMuffin with Bacon & Egg, cheese and tomato. Again, it ain't complex to make one of these; but it was good. Love the tomato in it which added freshness to an otherwise collection of heavy items. Snake Eyes went for the Ham & Cheese Omelet served with toast and tomatoes. The omelet was a bit on the watery side; however, that is much better than being overcooked. So in that regard, it was soft and fluffy. Again, for $6.00, this was also reasonably-priced.

Now fate would have it, I was contacted by the Commune Cafe shortly after my visit for breakfast. Apparently, they have an all new dinner menu and invited a few people to try it. Well, I was planning on revisiting the place for dinner anyways, so that worked for me. I was lucky enough to be seated across from Mijune (Follow Me Foodie) and we shared most of the items that came our way. However, I let her have most of the desserts. I knew that was a prerequisite for sitting close to her! We started off with the Cheese Plate which consisted of Stilton, Goat Cheese and Aged Cheddar (all sourced from Les Amis du Fromage). It is accompanied by walnuts, celery sticks, crostinis, pickled grapes, sesame crackers and an apple-raisin chutney. Again, not a complex dish by any means with great cheese and condiments. Next up were 2 Sangak Flatbreads starting with the Tomato & Bocconcini. Resembling a pizza Margherita, there were fresh tomatoes, the right amount of cheese and pesto atop a whole wheat sangak bread. This was not bad. Definitely tasted the freshness and of course the ingredients are a natural match. The bread was crisp on the outer edges and slightly chewy everywhere else. The second sangak flatbread was the Bacon & Caramelized Onion. Nothing ground-breaking here since the marriage of smoky bacon and sweet caramelized onions works if done correctly. In this case, there was full strips of tasty bacon with cooked onions. Yah, it wasn't really all that caramelized as you will notice the pale colour. The white sauce was apparently a bechemal which really had no impact. Yet, I still enjoyed this flatbread.

Our last appetizer was the Hummus & Flatbread. Unlike the hummus at Nuba, this one here can almost be considered chunky. It was served warm and it went well with the chewy sangak. It was really mild-tasting with only minor hints of garlic and lots of olive oil. I didn't mind it; but personally, I like my hummus with more kick. Moving on, we were presented with the House Cured Gravlax with a salad of fennel, crispy shallots, arugula with beets and horseradish crème fraiche. I decided to eat the components separately at first and that was a total mistake. Although the salmon was nicely cured, it was quite salty. Then I tried the fennel salad and it was slightly bland. Ah. Eaten together, it achieved some balance. Mijune wasn't a huge fan of the dish; but I found it to decent. Maybe I am a sucker for gravlax? Although, we did both agree that the horseradish crème fraiche did not have any impact at all.

The next item was something different. Described as a deconstructed Warm Chicken Waldorf Salad, the plate consisted of Heritage farm leg, celery salad, apples, pickled grapes and candied walnuts. I guess since not everything was not mixed together, it qualifies as deconstructed? Whatever the case, when all of the components were eaten together (hence, reconstruction), the flavours worked in harmony. Not overly dressed like other Waldorfs, the individual components such as the grapes, walnuts and chicken were discernible. I enjoyed this dish very much. We were presented with Steamed Mussels next in a classic white wine, shallot and cream broth. The mussels were mostly plump and perfectly cooked. As for the broth, it was very mild and light. Possibly a bit too light since there was very little in the way of impact in terms of flavour. With that being said, it was not bad per se, it just could've been better. I did like the accompanying bread, it soaked up the broth quite nicely.

By now, I was so behind in my photo-taking and eating, it was hard to keep track of everything. The food came fast and furious! So fast, I almost missed the Sweet Potato Gnocchi with broccoli florets, confit cherry tomatoes, almonds and sage butter. Luckily, Mijune was there to keep me on task. As for the gnocchi, they were very soft, almost a bit too airy. But then again, that is better than too hard... The entire flavour profile was dominated by natural sweetness; yet by little else. This could be more aggressively seasoned to bring some more balance and "pop" to the dish. Presented on a bed of risotto with smoked bacon, peas and preserved lemon, the Seared Salmon was perfectly cooked. The skin was nice and crispy around the edges while the flesh was moist and flaky. For such a simple product, risotto can be a b*tch to cook and execute. It can range from underdone hard to overcooked mushy. This one was done quite well. The rice stayed intact with some bite left while the rest of it was definitely creamy with a good combination of the bacon and peas. The preserved lemon was a nice addition since it cut the richness of the dish.

Now for the main attraction... The Berkshire Pork Belly served with braised red cabbage,
baby baked potato and apple sauce. Appearing very much like Chinese roast suckling pig, this was a beautifully-produced piece of hog. This was a such a simple execution; but it worked. The skin was crispy while the meat and fat were melt-in-your-mouth sinfulness. The braised cabbage satisfied the vegetable quotient while the baked potato added even more food to an already rich product. The apple sauce was a nice idea; but didn't provide much else. The last of our entrees was the Braised Beef. I guess they really did save the best for last because damn, this was fantastic. Super tender and completely melt-in-your-mouth, this has been better than many other versions from other more expensive restaurants. Simply presented on mashed potatoes with winter root vegetables and a rich red wine jus, this was my favourite dish of the night. The jus was quite flavourful. It could've used a little less red wine since that was quite dominant. Despite this, it had depth and was very "meaty" for a sauce.

After all this, we were presented with a large dessert platter consisting of Brownies, Cranberry Pecan Orange Raisin Cookie, Fruit Salad, Carrot Cake, Chocolate Torte and Biscotti. For me, I liked the Carrot Cake the most. It was was a mish mash of ingredients that included carrots and nuts. Hence it was very crumbly. No matter, I liked the textures. The icing was fairly sweet; but wasn't too much so. As for the Chocolate Torte, I liked the semi-sweet filling; but the pastry itself was quite hard and dry. This was only okay for me. I did like the Cookie though, it was a good combination of flavours which set it apart from the norm. I liked how it was still soft. The Chocolate Brownie was not bad. Although it was very chocolaty, it was not sweet at all. For me, I don't like overly sweet treats, so this worked. There wasn't much in the way of textures other than chewiness. I won't say much about the Biscotti because I had nothing to dip it into. From what I tried it was dry and hard. And the fruit salad was a fruit salad. It was very fresh though. Our last dessert was a classic Creme Brulee. If you look closely, you'll see how thick the burnt sugar top is. It was a bit hard to break actually. Beyond that, the custard was not too sweet and really smooth. A few tweaks and this would be good. In general, the food was pretty decent considering the prices. Sure, there were hits and misses; but that is normal. The dinner items were a bit surprising for a place that resembles a hip cafeteria. With the reasonable pricing, I have no problem hitting up Commune Cafe for eats if I am ever in the area.

*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Eats are good for the price
- Minimalistic; yet cool dining space

The Bad:
- As the name suggests, there are not a lot of separated seating
- Some refinement needed; but considering the prices, I ain't complaining

Shin Ya Shanghai Cuisine

*Restaurant is closed*

The Xiao Long Bao. A tiny package of bursting hot yumminess. Well, at least it should be a steaming hot dumpling full of soup and meat preferably with an ultra-thin dumpling wrapper. You see, there are many places that offer the XLBs; but to find one that is made right is another story. One of those inevitable places is at Cantonese Dim Sum. But, the XLB is Shanghainese, not Cantonese. Hence, the final product at Dim Sum is far from satisfactory. Do yourself a favour. Do not order XLB from a non-Shanghainese restaurant. And even with that out of the way, not all Shanghainese restaurants do it right either.

We have all the usual suspects: Shanghai River, Chen's, Suhang, Shanghai Wonderful, Wang's, Lin, Shanghai Village, Top Shanghai and the sort. Yet, none of these reside out in the Tri-Cities area. To think of it, there really aren't any great Shanghainese restaurants out there. And don't even start with Lucky Gate... However, there is one place in the unlikeliest of locations - Henderson Centre. Wait, the ghost town masquerading as an Asian shopping mall??? Yah, that one. You'd think that an Asian mall in Coquitlam would easily succeed right? Not if the ace-in-the-hole anchor store decided to not participate. Much like the USA with the League of Nations, Henderson Centre is lacking firepower. T&T was the rumoured lead tenant; but that never materialized. From there, all the shops started to fail and at his moment, the occupancy is dismal. There are more empty shops than stores. But there are a few bright spots such as Maxim's and Kirin (being a bright spot is a matter of personal opinion that is).

Shin Ya Shanghai Cuisine can be considered a bright spot for their Xiao Long Bao. These freshly made in-front-of-your-eyes dumplings (much like Wang's) are steamed to order. Lots of tasty (hope it's not MSG) broth with tender pork and a relatively thin dumpling skin, these are nearly in the same league as the big boys. Now, as for some other items, the Potstickers are in the "okay" category. A little thick with the dumpling wrapper and possibly a bit heavy with the veggies, they are passable; yet do not hold a candle to the XLBs. Continuing on carbing up, the Stir-Fried Sliced Rice Cake is none-too-oily and seasoned with just enough dark soy to taste. It's soft enough to chew with a good mix of veggies while the pork is a tad tough.

As you haven't noticed, a diet full of Shanghainese food would fail the Atkin's diet. So, more carbs it is... The Shanghainese Fried Thick Noodles are also easy on the oil and soy. Plenty of crisp cabbage with the same chewy pork. This is an above-average attempt at this dish. Let's have one more hit of carbs with the Beef Filled Pastry. Sorry, this is a complete fail. First, the entire thing is too doughy and thick. Second, biting into it is akin to striking oil. Think XLBs; but replace the soup with oil. Yuk. Not good. Take a pass on these discs of death. Yet, this is the only thing that we will not eat again. Most are decent and considering the price, a steal. Sure, it's a food fair stall and you're eating out of Styrofoam containers. I personally don't mind since the XLBs are pretty good and honestly, I will gladly make the trek back.

The Good:
- Pretty good XLBs
- Inexpensive
- Since the mall is dead, you can always get a seat

The Bad:
- Other food is only okay compared to the XLBs

Saint Street Grill

I remember a time when I couldn't wait for my birthday. Hey, it was a time of gifts, cake and fun. What kid wouldn't like a new supply of toys or new clothes... uh... okay, just the toys then. How things change when we grow up. Now my birthday is nothing but a number to me. Sure, it is special in some ways; but honestly, that number just keeps going up and quite fast I might add. With every passing year, it would appear that I grow more old and wiser. Apparently, Viv thinks that the maturity stalled somewhere. Hey, am I the only one? What's wrong with playing loud offensive rap music in the SUV? Oh right, my kids shouldn't be listening to that stuff... Maybe Viv's got a point.

Anyways, it was indeed my birthday and we originally didn't have any plans. However, my parents were wondering and alas, we decided to go out and celebrate anyways. What was I thinking anyways? Not go eat on my birthday? Have I lost my mind? Well, that could be a by-product of this age thing. So luck would have it, my birthday fell on a weekday. That meant we really couldn't go too far and out too late since the kiddies need to go to bed. Hence, we ended up heading over to Saint Street Grill in Port Moody. With walls adorning an eclectic mix of framed art situated in a 70's lounge environment complete with reddish hue lighting, this unassuming spot from the outside cannot be accused of being bland on the inside. Trendy? No. Original? I'll say.

We got some appies to share starting with the Grilled Caesar Salad. It consisted of a whole grilled romaine heart, shaved asiago and herb puff pastry stick drizzled with house made dressing. I thought the romaine was nicely grilled with some charring which provided smokiness. I would've preferred a bit more asiago for impact, although the dressing was pretty good with a nice level of saltiness. If I had to compare, it is somewhat similar to the one at CRU except made a notch below in terms of flavour. Next up was the Crab Cakes consisting of crab, carrot, green onion, corn and orange zest with kafari lime leaf wasabi aioli. This was also pretty good. I particularly liked the sweet pop from the corn and the understated citrus from the orange zest. Somehow, the crab was not lost in all of the ingredients. Rather, I could still taste the natural salty-sweetness. In fact, the aioli was quite muted as well. Probably intentional. Our final appie was the Coconut Prawns sauteed with coconut milk, lime, ginger and fresh cilantro. A zucchini salad with soya sesame chili dressing and toasted peanuts was served on the side. We felt this was the most successful of the appies. The coldwater prawns had a nice snap while there was a pronounced coconut milk and lime kick. Yet, the best part of this appie was the zucchini salad. It was crunchy with nice Asian flavours, in particular, the sesame oil and toasted peanuts.

Although they offered to make something specifically for the kiddies, we went ahead and got them a regular dish to share. I'm always up for trying another dish! So we got them the House-made Gnocchi which are parmesan basil scented in a vine-ripened tomato sauce. We found the gnocchi to be quite large. I feared that it would either be too doughy or too soft. It was neither being somewhere in between. With basil hidden in the gnocchi itself, there was flavour even without the sauce. Yet, the sauce was a nice compliment with the tartness of fresh tomatoes finishing off with some sweetness. When it arrived, the Westcoast Hot Pot did not look like what we had envisioned. Rather than being in a "hot pot" per se, it was cooked in a pot then served on a deep square glass plate. There was actually quite a bit of nicely cooked mussels, scallops, prawns and salmon in a sesame ginger cilantro lobster broth. The broth was very light; yet flavourful at the same time. In no way was it fishy. Instead, there was a natural sweetness from the seafood. Underneath lay a bed of vermicelli noodles which soaked up more of the sweet broth.

Viv ended up with the Breast of Duck with maple butter and cinnamon orange jelly. We all thought the duck was cooked perfectly being tender and moist. The maple butter was quite sweet. The perfectly cooked rice would've been better if it wasn't soaked in the sauce. The jelly was a nice compliment to the duck, although it was used conservatively since it was quite sweet as well. My mom loves lamb more than I do, so I gave her first dibs on the Lamb Shank braised in pineapple curry jus. Overall, the shank was probably not as moist as we wanted it to be; but it was still sufficiently tender. The picture doesn't do it justice since it was a fairly large shank. As for the jus, it was slightly sweet with only a minor hint of curry. I felt that it could've used a bit more savoury elements to compliment the gamy lamb.

For myself, I had the Bison Ribs which are hickory-smoked, then slow roasted in a caramelized onion molasses demi-glace. Although it was only a modest amount of meat, the richness of the cooking method, along with the mashed potatoes and veggies ended up to be quite filling. Unlike the usual BBQ sauces we find on ribs, the one here was much more unique. There were elements of smoke and sweetness with depth while exhibiting very little in the way of tartness. The meat itself was fall-off-the-bone tender. There were some dry portions; but not inedible. All the veggies were perfectly cooked being vibrant and crisp. Ultimately, I liked this dish; yet I wouldn't say I loved it. In fact, that would probably summarize my feelings about the Saint Street Grill. It was alright, especially considering its location. Not sure if I'd necessarily drive out to Port Moody exclusively for a meal; however, if I were in the neighbourhood, it is a an option.

The Good:
- Decent eats out in Port Moody
- Personable and friendly service
- Eclectic

The Bad:
- Expensive (but there is an Entertainment discount)
- Alright for Port Moody; but may have a hard time competing in Vancouver
- Not sure about the red lighting

G-Be Izakaya

*Restaurant is closed*

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