Campagnolo

Ever since Gigi (Ho Yummy) told me about her experience at Campagnolo, I was a bit hesitant in trying it out. You see, she implied that it could be a Filet-O-Fish meal. Now, if you have no clue what I'm talking about, you can refer to this post. Essentially, it stems from the fact that after a unsatisfying meal at the former Feenie's, Costanza and I went to McD's for some Filet-O-Fish. From then on, any meal that lacked enough "food" became a Filet-O-Fish meal. Despite the fear of not-enough-food, I've always had it on my radar. Originally, Viv and I had planned to visit Campagnolo in late January. Vandelay was nice enough to grace us with a $100 gift cert and hey, I wanted to used it ASAP! However, Chris & Sarah (Eating is the Hard Part) were going to be in town the following month and Kim had earmarked Campagnolo as the restaurant we'd all dine at. Well, no probs, we could postpone our meal for a month. After all, the more the merrier! And it became even merrier with the presence of thebinster as well. He initiated much thoughtful discussion that really got me thinking. Actually it hurt my brain. I can't do food and think too hard at the same time. LOL...

Since Campagnolo does not take reservations unless you have a group of 8 or more, we had to arrive just as they opened at 5:00pm to ensure a table. I made sure we got the corner table away from most people since there would be 3 cameras flashing away. Yes, the food paparazzi... Looking over the menu, there wasn't much doubt as to what Viv and I wanted to try - the $45.00 "alla famigla-style" meal. Similar to La Quercia, it offers up a few dishes from everything section of the menu for the whole table to share. Only caveat is that you need 3 or more diners. Hey! We do have that! Now it didn't take much convincing for the others to buy in and off we went into a mad rush of never-ending food. From the Antipasti section, we were first presented with the Beet Salad consisting of shaved celery and radish, beets, olive oil, ricotta and mint. Especially with the celery, there was a pronounced fresh and crispness to the salad. In fact, even the beets has some bite, which was a welcomed change. The mint added another level of refreshing; yet the salad as a whole was very mild. Next up was the Beef Carpaccio with salsa verde, herb & lemon focaccia. Unlike most other beef carpaccios I've had, the meat was not exactly melt-in-your-mouth. There was a little bit of chew left, which was not necessarily a bad thing. It was still very tender. The texture actually gave it some body. A squeeze of lemon in combination with the salsa verde, Parmesan and herbs resulted in a veritable flavour explosion. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, the texture of the beef was necessary for it to hold up to the multitude of flavours. For our last appie, we were served the Crispy Ceci. A signature dish of sorts, it consists of fried chickpeas, chilies, mint, citrus and arugula. I quite liked the fried chickpeas. I can imagine myself popping these as snacks with a cold beer while watching a hockey game. They were crispy, flavourful and nutty. As for eating it in a restaurant, it was a bit awkward to eat with utensils.

As an interlude, we got a cutting board with 3 types of Salumi including Saucisson Sec, Soppressata and Chorizo. A little bit tart and full of flavour, my favourite was the saucisson sec. I found the chorizo to be only mildly spicy while the soppresseta was peppery. A nice little bite before we headed off to the pizzas. We started with the classic Pizza Margherita with fior di latte mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil. The crust was not exactly thin while not thick either. Somewhere in between, it was nicely brown with some crispy portions. It was slightly chewy and held up well to the fresh ingredients. Lots of flavour with hits of fresh basil, this was a very good pizza margherita. Next, it was the Pizza Carbonara topped with smoked provolone, bacon, cremini mushrooms, onions and a whole egg. Either it was the time between finishing off my slice of the first pizza or it was soggy to begin with, the crust on this one did not hold up to the ingredients. Despite this, it didn't really matter because I still liked the pizza; but not as much as the margherita. This ended up to be a mild tasting combination despite the bacon. Well, much like a carbonara pasta, the flavour profile is not supposed to be bold flavours anyways. Dependent on what slice you got, the flavours were different, as in my case. I got the slice with the egg and all I tasted was egg (although I love egg, so that didn't matter much).

Now onto the pastas... At this point we were amazed that anyone could eat more food. So, the first one I tried was the Linguine with BC mussels, white wine, lemon, butter and parsley. I found this pasta to be textbook. The pasta was al dente while the flavours were simple. Garlicky and buttery with a touch of wine and lemon, I enjoyed it. Next up was the Tagliatelle with pork ragú, basil and pecorino romano cheese. Right away, the first thing I noticed about this pasta was the significant "porkiness" to it. For me, I love that since it is a natural umami flavour. Combined with the cheese, this ended up to be quite a flavourful pasta. The tagliatelle was al dente; yet for me personally, it could've been even more so. Our last pasta was the Ricotta & Spinach Gnudi in a simple tomato sauce with fresh basil and cheese. These balls of "filling" are named as such because they are essentially "nude" without the pasta. Hence, we are only eating the insides of a ravioli without the ravioli. These soft little nuggets were lucky recipients of the outstandingly fresh tomato sauce which had a prominent fresh basil flavour. I liked how the tomato sauce did not have to rely on excessive salt to achieve flavour. I also enjoyed that it was just tangy enough without being too acidic. The only thing I didn't like was the texture, it was a ball of mush.

Now onto the meats starting with the Polderside Chicken with black lentils, parsnip and red Swiss chard. The roasted chicken with the skin-on was moist and juicy. The natural sweetness of the chicken and the jus provided all the flavour needed in this dish. For me, I liked the black lentils as they provided a nice chewy textural contrast to the soft chicken. Up until now, it could be argued that the meal could be seen as practically flawless. Of course, by virtue of stating this, you know what is coming next... The Red Wine Braised Beef was somewhat of a flop. Atop soft polenta and accompanied by kale, marrow and salsa verde, the beef itself was a little dry. That in itself was not a big deal since it was a lean piece of shank; however, the main issue with this dish was the lack of flavour. The braising liquid was too thin and lacking in depth, which in turn didn't add much to the already mild polenta. Moreover, there was not enough salsa verde to make any impact. I did like the kale though, it was cooked perfectly and was probably the most flavourful item on the dish.

Our last meat dish for the meal was the Fresh Fish of the Day, which happened to be trout. It was served on a bed of farro, golden beets, sliced radish and topped with salsa verde. The trout itself was prepared perfectly being moist and flaky. Much like the braised beef, this dish suffered from blandness. Once again, there was not enough salsa verde to make much of an impact. Now, in addition to our 3 appies, salumi, 2 pizzas, 3 pastas and 3 meat dishes, we also got 3 sides. My personal favourite was the Broccoli with anchovies, garlic and chillies. I particularly enjoyed the fact they included the broccoli stems. That, in my opinion, is the best part since it has a bite to it. The still crisp, yet completely cooked, broccoli was absolutely delicious due to the perfect marriage of the salty anchovies, garlic and cheese. In some ways, it tasted like a salty Caesar salad. Next was something that looked very familiar... The Fried Cauliflower Florets with fresh bacon and parsley could pass as Najib's Special at Nuba. Appearance-wise they are similar; but the taste was slightly different. The unmistakable aroma of cauliflower emanates from the very first bite. For me, that is a very nice aroma. Add bacon and yes, I loved it. It was soft while still maintaining a nice crunch. Another excellent side. Okay, for our last side dish, we were presented with Smashed Potatoes with lemon, lemon zest and chives. Cooked, smashed, then pan fried with the lemon, these were some tasty taters. The combination of the caramelization from the pan fry with the lemon zest and seasoning made these spuds a bit different from the ordinary.

Okay, at this point we had a lot of food left on the plates. I mean, we all love to eat; but honestly, this was a lot of food! Of course, we didn't even get to the desserts yet! And yes, we had 3 desserts to share. I got to try the Chocolate Panna Cotta first. It rested a piece of shortbread and topped with chocolate ganache. Orange segments, hazelnuts and mint were served on the side. Texturally, it was a bit heavier than a typical panna cotta. Attribute that to the chocolate. It really wasn't sweet at all (even with the ganache), in fact it had a slight bitterness to it (due to the use of dark chocolate). The accompanying orange was a natural compliment (like Terry's Chocolate Orange) while the hazelnuts added a textural contrast.

I gave the Apple Tart a try next and this was served atop puff pastry, topped with pastry cream, caramel and sugar crumble. This dessert had all the classic flavours such as the tart apples, sweet caramel and crunchy crumble; however, it was only okay for me. Maybe it was too normal? It wasn't bad per se, it was a tad dry and unexciting. Mind you, the last dessert I got to sample was probably the best of the bunch. The Pear Bread Pudding was excellent. Each moist piece of bread was slightly sweetened with a vanilla pear sauce. The aromatic pears on top was what put it over the top. It was finished with a dollop of vanilla creme fraiche. This is another example where a dessert doesn't have to be very sweet to be absolutely delicious. Wow. That's all I have to say about this meal. For $45.00 each, that was a tremendous amount of food. For 6 people, we got 2 each of the appies, 1 salumi plate, 2 pizzas, 3 pastas, 1 chicken dish, 1 trout dish and 2 braised beef dishes, 1 each of the sides and 3 desserts. Did I need a Filet-O-Fish afterwards? No, what I really needed was a bottle of Pepto. Now quantity is one thing, quality is another matter. The meal started off strong and got even stronger as we reached the meats. It fizzled out a bit there and then was rescued by the excellent sides. The desserts were pretty good despite my indifference with the apple tart. Naturally, not everyone can justify spending $45.00 per person, so there is also a $35.00 option that doesn't include the meats. Seeing how this meal went, I think the $35.00 version would suit most people just fine. For all the items we tried (and that was a lot of the menu), most were very good and hence, I would no doubt gladly return for another meal sometime.

The Good:
- On average, very good food
- Excellent service (but they did witness our inccesant picture-taking)
- The sharing menu is a good value

The Bad:
- The proteins weren't bad; but paled in comparison to everything else
- No reservations, and it gets packed (which is good for them!)

Habit

*Restaurant now closed*

"No Chinese". That's what Gadget Girl firmly stated when queried about the eats after hockey for Friday. Hey, I have no qualms with that sentiment. As I have stated over and over again, wonton noodles after hockey is fine and dandy; but it is hardly the first choice. In recent months, wonton noodles have been our only choice. All of our games are after 11:00pm. Terrible for our sleeping patterns and murder on our dining plans. Our original destination was 5 Point; but that was kiboshed since the response from the hostess regarding a table for 7 was "slim-to-none". Furthermore, the place is darn loud and dark. Don't know about you, I like to see and hear the people at my table. What we didn't have was a backup plan. Looking across the street, Emilicious and I briefly entertained the thought of Kwong Chow Congee & Noodle House. Nah. Gadget Girl would kill us. She may look sweet and innocent; but we know better! Luckily for us, only 5 blocks away lay Habit Lounge, sister restaurant of The Cascade next door.

We sent Emilicious out first to snag a seat while I waited for Gagdet Girl. She drives as fast as a Corolla on #3 Road. However, it was frickin' cold, so I hightailed it to Habit and merely relied on leaving her a message. Much like always, when we finally settled in, I waited for everyone to make their decision before I made my order. Hey, no duplicates! My standard response? "I'm having what you're not having!" The one item that really stood out was the Habit Poutine. A artery-hardening concoction consisting of crispy fries, cheese curds, braised beef and jus, this was a fan favourite. There was so much beef and cheese, this was more filling than all the entrees we ordered. I really liked the squeaky cheese curds, there was a good mix of slightly melted and "as-is" pieces. The ample and tender braised beef gave the poutine body and richness. However, the jus ended up to be quite light and watery which made the entire thing a bit soggy. As if this wasn't enough food for me already, I also ordered the 2nd worst-dish-for-my-health in the Pork Belly. Consisting of a large piece of pork belly atop a white bean casserole with braised kale, this was another heavy dish. There was good and bad regarding the pork belly itself. It was quite tender on the inside with a bit of the fat being rendered. However, the exterior was a little tough and overdone. The braised kale was perfectly cooked as with the beans.

Milhouse was debating whether to have something healthy vs. something cholesterol-ladened. Well, the Habit Burger with Pemberton Meadows beef & Fraser Valley pork, bacon and caramelized onions was too enticing to pass up. Make no bones about it, this was one big burger. He could barely fit it in his mouth. He remarked that the patty was moist while the bacon and onions complimented each other. The "healthier" option that he didn't order was the Steelhead Club. Gadget Girl ended up with it instead. The dish was nicely plated and very colourful consisting of a pan-seared steelhead trout, avocado, tomato, lettuce, red onion and cucumber yogurt. The trout was perfectly cooked being moist and buttery soft.

Sweet Tooth was hungrier than usual. She ordered the Squash Gnocchi and ended up skipping dessert! The horror! Well, the gnocchi itself was naturally sweet, so I guess it was "dessert-like"? Although the gnocchi was pillowy soft, the slightly crisp exterior created a nice contrast of textures. The accompanying parts of the dish consisting of mushrooms, zucchini, corn, kale, shaved Parmesan with sage brown butter was what really brought it all together. Emilicious went for something we thought was simple which ended up to be complex. The Grilled Cheese consisted of aged white cheddar and brie with an option to add truffle oil. Naturally, she said yes to the truffle oil. Oh boy. We could really smell and taste the oil. The combination of the brie and the earthiness of the truffle oil made for a very strong taste. Emilicious felt a bit overwhelmed by all of the components and commented how heavy it was. For me, I liked it as it is. Mind you, I only had one bite.

Silent Bob had the Chicken Club and man was it large. I had to slouch down to take this picture since there was not other angle possible. Lots of tender chicken combined bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and avocado, it was much like the burger - very tall. Overall, most of the food was solid with generous portions at reasonable prices. I think Milhouse summed it up best, "we got good food, great ambiance and it costs less than Cactus Club". Enuff said.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced considering everything
- Good portions
- Laid-back ambiance

The Bad:
- Mostly heavy-items on the menu
- Food is generally not bad; but could use a few tweaks

Golden Swan (Reboot)

"Hey, I was at Golden Swan the other day for Dim Sum and they ran out of food!" That's what I heard from someone in the changing room before we took to the ice for late night hockey at Brit. Ran out of food? What's up with that??? Well, I've already heard the rumours; but I wasn't aware they had already gone through with the sale. Upon further investigation, the story is that the owners of Golden Swan were given an offer they couldn't refuse, so they sold the business to the people behind Golden Ocean. Hence, there were changes to both the kitchen and the front-of-the-house. Low and behold, where was I going to eat with the restaurant changing hands that week? Fate would have it, Guy Smiley was going to have his baby one-month there. Perfect! I can see for myself what sort of impact the change might or might not have on the place.

So it was a normal Saturday dinner service for the restaurant to a 3/4 full house. We had 6 tables for the one-month dinner in a cordoned off area of the restaurant. As per usual, we were served an Appetizer Platter to start. This particular plate included Smoked Fish, Marinated Jellyfish, Sliced Beef Braised Beef Shank, Surf Clam and Vegetarian Goose. Honestly, this was not a good start to the meal. Everything was bland beyond belief. The jellyfish had a nice snap texture with no flavour while the vegetarian goose was even more bland. Normally, the bean curd skin on this would be fried, this one was not. Hence, it was mushy. Some people might like this version. I for one do not. The smoked fish was very light in colour and predominantly sweet. At least it had some form of flavour. The surf clam was inexplicably served as is. No marinade nor a wasabi dip. I'll just let you guess how the beef tasted.

Next up was the Stir-Fried Snow Peas with Scallops & Baby Sea Cucumber. This was a well-executed dish. The seafood was not overcooked while the veggies were crisp and vibrant. I wouldn't go as far as calling the dish bland; but it was definitely mildly seasoned. The same could be said for the Pea Shoots with Conpoy. Normally, dried scallops are quite potent in terms of both salty and sweetness. I guess they didn't put much seasoning into the oyster-based sauce. However, this was not necessarily a negative since there was sufficient flavour for the dish. The pea shoots themselves were fresh and perfectly cooked with a nice crunch while still being soft.

With any of these types of set meals, there is soup. In this case, it was Shark's Fin Soup with fish maw. Yes, I know the moral debate over shark's fin and once again, I will reiterate that this blog is not a forum for political debate. I'll leave it at that... Anyways, the broth itself was quite good. It had depth and a natural sweetness (from chicken). However, the flavour was somewhat tainted by a pronounced fishiness from the fish maw. It wasn't exactly that bad; but it is worth noting. From one standard dish to another, we have the Lobster in Consume. The lobster itself was quite meaty and sweet. It was fried up nicely being just barely cooked. The sauce was flavourful without being salty; yet there was just too much of it. The lobster was literally swimming in it. Then again, it was the lobster we were eating, not the sauce, so no big deal really.

As for the requisite poultry, we got the Huang Fei Gai or Royal Chicken. The name behind this dish is quite interesting. The name directly translates as the Emperor's subsequent wives after his first. So I guess Royal Chicken works and I guess any other name would just sound rude. Essentially a poached chicken in concentrated consume, this is typically more flavourful than say, a Hainanese Chicken. This particular one wasn't too bad. A little dry in parts while tender in others. It had a nice sweetness to it with a little bit of seasoning. So usually, the steamed rock cod would come next; but that is becoming increasingly rare because we have depleted the rock cod stocks way too much. Hence, alternative fish are used instead. In this case it was Steamed Whole Tilapia. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Tilapia due to it's mushy-like texture. With that being said, this one was steamed beautifully and I didn't mind the texture much.

Our next dish was the Baby Bak Choy with Mushrooms and Bamboo Pith. First of all, the bak choy was cooked nicely and neatly arranged. Vibrant and not overcooked at all. I found the sauteed mushrooms to be fantastic. Full of flavour and earthiness, these provided enough flavour for the rest of the components. Good thing too since bamboo pith is quite mild. It is mainly for the texture - where they are soft while having a slight bite. Just like clockwork, we have the "filler" dishes at the end of the meal starting with the Fried Yee Mein. Unlike the crappy version we had at Kirin City Square, this one was nicely done. With enough heat, the noodles had some caramelization which in turn provided a somewhat smoky-sweet flavour. The noodles were dry (as they are intended to be) and none-too-oily. This was a textbook fried yee mein. Lastly, with the noodles, comes the rice. This was the Yeung Chow Fried Rice. Commonly known as the BBQ Pork and Shrimp Fried Rice, this was an average attempt. The rice was sufficiently dry; but it was closer to crumbly more than whole grains. I did like the abundance of ingredients; yet it did little to add to the flavour. This rice could've used a bit more seasoning. Just like the noodles, it was not oily at all.

So despite the meal not be completely representative of a regular dinner here, it did provide somewhat of a snapshot of the new setup. Of course, I still have to do a re-visit to see how the Dim Sum service is like. It couldn't be much worse than my last visit. For this dinner, the consensus was that the food was not too bad; yet could use improvement. I will cut them some slack since it was the week of the changeover. With that in consideration, there weren't drastic difference and some tweaking, Golden Swan should remain a popular spot for Chinese food.

The Good:
- Ingredients are fresh and good quality
- Service seemed quite good; but it was not a usual dinner though
- Food came out fast

The Bad:
- A bit hit and miss
- That parking lot is woefully insufficient
- Gotta work on those washrooms

Kirin (City Square)

Although we've been to the City Square Kirin countless times for Dim Sum and weddings, we've never had a regular dinner here. Well, there are a few reasons for this. When we did live relatively nearby, there were so many other choices of eats in Downtown and around. Besides, back then I seemed to be on a Chinese cooking kick and made it at home a lot. Viv just didn't want to eat Chinese food over and over again. Furthermore, Kirin isn't exactly a cheap place to merely have a meal. In my opinion, one can get quality Chinese food at bigger portions for less from a number of restaurants around town, particularly on the Eastside. And that doesn't necessarily mean going to dives either! Now the reason we were out at Kirin for dinner was due to Viv's aunt being generous and treating everyone (2 tables worth!).

We started with a slightly stripped-down version (compared to weddings) of an Appetizer Platter consisting of Smoked Salmon, Vegetarian Goose, Fried Chicken Knees, Jellyfish and Beef Shank. Everything was solid with the exception of the chicken knees. They were very small (no meat attached) and fried a bit too long. Next up was the Hot & Sour Soup. Even before we tried it, I was prepared for the worst. You see, the best hot & sour soups are usually not found at restaurants such as Kirin. Now, I must concede that the ingredients were both top notch and plentiful. However, the soup was sorely lacking in spice and tartness, which essentially negates its existence. Once again, we have something that is made for the masses. Mild and safe.

Something I didn't expect to arrive was the Lamb Hot Pot. Personally, I love lamb. Too bad not everyone has the same passion. Thus, I never really get to eat it at a Chinese restaurant since the food is shared. Flavourwise, the dish wasn't too gamy due to the good amount of ginger. Most of the pieces were tender with a few exceptions (which is normal). Of course, the thing that makes the lamb sing is the fermented tofu sauce. Now for the worst version of Fried Yee Mein I've ever seen. The most popular version of this dish involves soy, mushrooms and noodles. For some inexplicable reason, they put large chunks of eggplant into the mix. This only helped make this dish extremely wet with the noodles disintegrating on contact. Very poorly executed.

It's a good thing that the next dish, Bird's Nest was good. Lots of properly cooked shrimp, squid, chicken and snap peas presented in a crispy taro 'bird's nest". My son loved it... the crispy taro that is. Yah, like he would eat any of the other items. This was probably the best dish of the night. One dish we had to order in advance was the 8 Treasures Braised Duck. It's a whole duck that has been roasted, deboned, then stuffed with eight different ingredients (hence, 8 Treasures), then braised. The result is usually a smoky, rich flavoured moist duck with a delicious stuffing. In this case, the duck was indeed smoky, tender and flavourful. Maybe a bit too much flavour in the form of salt. You see, the duck is already marinated and roasted. Adding more flavour in the form of stuffing may put it over the top. It looks like they overseasoned the stuffing and the result was a pretty salty duck. Don't get me wrong, it was good, just too much flavour. Couldn't even taste the duck.

Another decent dish was the Silky Tofu and Enoki. The fried tofu and enoki were wok fried in a oyster-based starch thickened sauce and served over broccoli. Each individual component was done right and the sauce was a nice balance of sweet and savoury. Last dish of the night was Gai Lan with fish slices (which we believed was Basa). The gai lan was fresh and cooked just right exhibiting that crunch when bitten into. Not much in the way of seasoning; but that is a good thing in this case. The fish was fine, possibly a bit overcooked.

This was a really telling visit at Kirin City Square. For the longest time, I've held Kirin in high-esteemed since they did offer up some of the best Chinese food in town. However, with recent visits, I'm not so sure anymore. In fact, considering the prices, I would even go as far to say it is downright disappointing. I mean, if the food we ate this time was served at a dive, I would be somewhat forgiving. However, we're eating at a Chinese equivalent of fine dining... with the prices to back it up! One would expect a certain level of execution and consistency. So sadly, I have to conclude that Kirin City Square is no longer a no-brainer when it comes to Chinese food.

The Good:
- Generally, the service is very good
- The place is nice, including the washrooms
- A large menu

The Bad:
- Quality of food doesn't justify the price
- Inconsistent execution