Judas Goat

After a whole week of endless eating due to several restaurant visits for the Vancouver Foodie Feast, Mijune and I were not really all that interested in eating anymore. I know, that sounds impossible. Well, to be honest, that is impossible when it comes to us. Hence, when I queried Mijune about dinner, she was more than happy to join me for more eating. My thought was to try out the relatively new Nicli Antica Pizzeria on Cordova. Now, that seemed like an easy thing to do since we were in Downtown already. However, finding parking was an epic fail of epic fails. First, all the closer parking spots were taken. Second, we tried to park farther away; but as we were about to get out of the car, we already spotted the spare change paparazzi. Hey, I do realize there are people less fortunate than us; but I'd rather hand out something productive rather than spare change. I digress. So when we did find parking, my change got stuck in the meter! And the next space, the same! I lost 2 bux that way! Finally, we parked 2 blocks away and found out that there was an hour wait... FML... Okay, finding a place to eat in Gastown shouldn't be too hard can it? So, why not wandering into Blood Alley and try out Judas Goat.

Ah yes, this place was on my radar when it first opened; but totally forgotten after that. Hey, it worked for us. We weren't that hungry and they conveniently had 2 spots left. Now, when we say we weren't hungry, I guess that is all relative. I went to the washroom and let Mijune do the ordering. Upon my return, I found out we had 9 dishes coming! I'll say it and I'll say it again... Eating with Mijune is hazardous to one's health! Anyways, our first item was the Bacon and Egg Pintxos (which are little bites eaten at bars). A simple construction of a crouton, tomato relish, fried quail's egg and crispy bacon, this was a satisfying, if not expensive bite. I liked the smoky and crispy bacon; yet would've liked to see the egg cooked a little less. Next up was the Beef Tongue with salsa verde. You'd think a day eating balls and nuts, Mijune would not need any tongue... Um... So, the tongue itself was very soft and moist... Mijune seemed to enjoy that... I liked the contrast between soft tongue and the crunchy bread. The salsa verde provided a nice tang which helped cut through the richness of the meat; yet the drizzle of olive oil didn't seem necessary in my opinion. It just made it greasy.

One of the most popular items at Judas Goat is the Marinated Beets with spiced ricotta and rosemary honey. Texturally, the beets were good, walking the line between being soft while maintaining a bite. There was a gentle sweetness from the honey while the ricotta was a nice compliment. Naturally, a beet salad won't elicit incredible excitement; but this was solid nonetheless. Another set of recommended dishes involved foie gras. The first was Duck Confit & Foie Gras Terrine served with crostinis and pickled onions. The terrine was actually quite dense with a small piece of foie in the middle. With that in mind, there wasn't much in the way of foie other than one bite when we reached the middle. The meat was slightly chewy and dense while exhibiting a salty duck flavour. The pickled onions were necessary to balance this saltiness. I didn't mind the terrine; but I liked the Foie Gras on Toast with Green Apple much more. Despite missing the green apple, it was still quite good. With really smooth foie mousse atop a crispy piece of toast, it was a nice textural contrast as with the crisp apples. However, it would've been even better with more tartness if it were green apple. It would've cut the richness even more so.

Now the next item sounded good on paper - Maple Sugar Sablefish. However, it just didn't do it for me. Sablefish or black cod, is not an easy fish to mess up. Due to it's oily makeup, it usually remains moist despite the level of cooking it is exposed to. However, this one was a bit mushy while the maple sugar really didn't have the impact I was looking for. So what we essentially got was a $9.00 set of mushy bland fish on toast. The next item was a roller coaster ride of sorts. The Gambas al Ajillo, or prawns rolled in citrus aioli with a garlic and shallot crust were nothing special with the first one I had. Well, it did taste good due to the natural sweetness of the prawn combined with the crust and aoili; but it was mushy (not a pleasing texture for prawns). However, the second one was fantastic. Combined with the garlic and slight tang from the aoili, the sweet prawn has an understated snap. Then the third one was something in the middle. If we average it out, then it was pretty decent.

Unfortunately, the last dish was probably the worst of them all. Call it bad luck because most of the other items were quite good. The Cold Smoke Salmon with Pear Relish sounded really good; but the salmon was far too salty. Even the sweet pear relish could not help balance it out. I tried putting copious amounts of it to no avail. This and the sablefish didn't do it for us; yet all the other items were pretty good. Now, this all comes at a price though. We ended up spending $90.00 on what amounted to snack food. And we didn't even have any booze. I must admit that the small little place has its charm and some of the dishes were interesting; however, the cost can quickly add up. Depending what your cost threshold may be, Judas Goat could either be a neat experience or one that is just not worth it.

The Good:
- Interesting offerings
- Weird location, but neat and fun

The Bad:
- Can get expensive
- A sardine can has more space

Seasons in the Park

Whenever a restaurant is perched up high on a mountainside or right near the water, it instantly becomes popular for its location alone. Sometimes, the food is almost an afterthought. If you think about it, the trend now is to "decorate" restaurants with such attractive staff and ambiance, we forget that we're actually there for the food. That would be true for places like Cactus Club, Moxies, Joey and Earl's. To be fair. some of the food at the aforementioned places are actually good (albeit expensive). Now, getting back to the restaurants with a view... There are many to choose from in the GVRD: Salmon House on the Hill, Fraiche, Horizons, Aqua Riva, 5 Sails, Cloud 9, Monk McQueens, Bridges, Stonegrill, Provence Marinaside, Cardero's, The Teahouse and Seasons in the Park to name a few. For those who are familiar with these restaurants, some of them do not necessarily serve "great" food. Rather, it would be "alright" food with a view.

We've been to Seasons in the Park on several occasions in the past with varying degrees of impressiveness. Seeing how we've never had brunch there before, we bundled up the family on a Sunday. As if Irish eyes were smiling down on us, the sun was out and it couldn't have been a better day to be at the park. Well, maybe a warmer day that is. So, we started by sharing the Crab Cake & Risotto. You know how some crab cakes seem like more filler than anything? Not so with this one. Loaded with sweet, fluffy crab and a crisp exterior, this was a well-executed dish. The risotto was an afterthought since we didn't even notice it to tell you the truth. It could've been just very soft as well. The arugula on top and the olive olive with balsamic reduction very understated which let the crab shine. For our second appy, we went for the standard Mussels and Frites. Bathed in a coconut curry broth, these mussels were pretty good. Each one was open and plump while the broth was very fragrant. The accompanying fries were crisp and came with a garlicky aioli.

For myself, I had the typical West Coast thing in the Smoked Salmon Benedict. With perfectly poached free-range eggs and a lemony Hollandaise, this was another solid offering. Love the ikura on top, it looked pretty. Everything went well with each other from the just-enough light Hollandaise to the crisp English muffin to the slightly wilted spinach. Surprisingly, my mom went for the heaviest dish in the Steak & Eggs. The steak was cooked a perfect medium-rare as evidenced in the picture. It was sufficiently tender as well with a nice meaty flavour. The Cabernet demi-glace had a rich red wine flavour which naturally compliments the meat. As for the scrambled eggs, they were slightly past fluffy; yet were still quite good.

Viv ended up with the Corned Beef and Sweet Potato Hash. A combination of cubed corned beef, sweet potatoes, onions and Swiss Cheese, this was something different. Personally, I'm not convinced with the use of sweet potatoes since the hash becomes quite heavy and overly sugary (especially with the onions). However, it was good in its own ways, particularly contrasting the savoury corned beef. The entire thing was topped with 2 perfectly poached free-range eggs and Hollandaise. Viv could only eat less than half of this since it was so filling. For the kiddies, we got them the French Toast, which the restaurant nicely split up for them. The brioche French toast came with banger sausages and fruit compote. The kids, like me, are suckers for brioche since it is soft and sweet to begin with. Add more egg to it and it is almost melt-in-your mouth requiring little chewing. The French toast was solid; however the star of the whole thing were the wonderful sausages. They were meaty while not fatty with a pleasing texture.

Lastly, my dad had the BC Salmon Burger with rémoulade, coleslaw and salad. A fairly simple item which basically depends on the correct execution of the salmon. In this case, the salmon was overdone and dry. Not terrible by any stretch of the imagination; however, it is not the way I like my salmon done. The salmon burger withstanding, our brunch at Seasons was pleasant and generally very good. We found the prices to be very reasonable considering the quality of the food and the awesome view. I guess it helped that it was nice and sunny too. The service was okay, with a few lulls in between (they were busy though). So in terms of brunch, the view wasn't the only highlight, the rest of the experience was solid as well.

The Good:
- Outstanding location and view
- Decent eats
- Reasonable prices

The Bad:
- Won't set the culinary world on fire; but it holds its own
- Parking will cost you

Ocean Ave Fish & Chips

In my series of revisits of restaurants past (as in blogged a long time ago), it has brought me back to one of my first posts. Ocean Ave is an unassuming place in one of the many strip malls along Scott Road on the North Delta side. Not known for its culinary diversity, Scott Road is littered with chain restaurants and good Indian restaurants. So, to actually find something different is a rarity. It was 2 years ago since I last has the fish & chips at Ocean Ave. At the time, I declared it as the best fish & chips I've had up until that point. Of course, that has since changed; but it was still high on my list. Now let's see if that continues to hold true...

Unlike last time, I decided to try a few more items. And yes, I ate it all! I started with their Seafood Chowder and arrived piping hot. And I mean really hot! Due to its thickness, the soup retained much of the heat down to the last drop. It was mostly sweet and "floury-tomotoey". There was quite a bit of seafood and veggies in the soup; yet curiously no potatoes. Not sure if could be called a chowder in that case. Despite this, it was a satisfying and hearty soup (not chowder). As part of the large meal I ordered, the Coleslaw arrived in a separate bowl. I found it to be quite good with just the right amount of dressing which had a nice tartness. The cabbage and carrots were shredded into a proper size which gave it crunch while still being able to be adequately flavoured.

Now as for my Seafood Combo, it included cod, oysters, scallops and sauteed prawns. For what it's worth, the oysters and scallops were good. Nothing to write home about; but they were the right texture, not fishy and fried crispy. With that, it met expectations. The sauteed prawns were slightly greasy; yet again, cooked correctly with nice flavour from the peppers and onions. The star of the plate is still the fish. Just like last time, the piece of cod was thick, moist and just cooked. The batter was not exactly the thinnest; but it was light and crunchy while not being oily. The tartar sauce was not bad, I personally would like more zing. However, I guess that is what the lemon wedge is for.

Finally, the meal is so big, the Fries also arrived on a separate plate. Like the other fried items, the fries were not oily and sufficiently crispy. There was still a nice potatoness on the inside. These were above-average fresh cut fries. In fact, Ocean Ave is probably still one of the places I would put on my list when it comes to fish & chips. The owner-operators are very friendly and it is definitely an honest business. It's not the sexiest choice such as Go Fish or Pajo's; but it is substantially less expensive and good in its own ways.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Good portions
- For fried food, it's not that oily

The Bad:
- Stick with the fish & chips, other items not so much

Asian Jazz

Boy. Have I ever been avoiding this restaurant. The reason? Well, this restaurant used to be Delta Wonton House before they closed and was replaced by Asian Jazz. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary many might think. Not so fast. I had a chance to try DWH before it closed and gawd, they had probably the worst wonton noodle soup ever. The soup was like saltwater and the wontons were gritty and cold while the noodles were a soggy mess. I was none too impressed. I guess many others shared the same sentiment since it bit the dust shortly after. Now, why would I avoid the new restaurant? You see, I had some suspicions. On Urbanspoon, there were "reviews" on Asian Jazz that were exactly the same people who gave the "thumbs up" to DWH. Coincidence? I think not. Hence, I really wondered if they were just the same people with a revamped name and menu. Despite this, I finally made it out to the place and dragged Pops along with me.

One look at the new menu and to many, it might send them running for the hills. When they claim to be a fusion restaurant, they weren't kidding! Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisine all in one place... Yah, it didn't seem promising; but hey, I'll give anything a chance! Besides, I really liked the renovations. The place looks spiffy now. So for myself, I went for the Wonton Noodles as a means to exorcise the one I had before. And despite being pork wontons, they were decent. The meat had a nice bounce texture and tasted good. The wonton noodles were slightly overcooked; yet still had some chewiness. Surprisingly, the soup base was very acceptable. It had some depth with a good balance of flavours. It looked the part too. For my second item, I went for the Teriyaki Chicken with rice. I thought the chicken was cooked perfectly. Crisp on the outside and very juicy on the inside, it was lightly sauced. It had a peculiar taste that didn't seem very Japanese; but it was pleasant enough to eat. Now the one fault of this dish was the rice. Rather than using Japanese short-grain rice (which is sticky and chewy), they merely used Jasmine rice. That in itself provided the wrong texture and essence.

Pops went for their Lunch Combo where he was able to choose any 3 items from a list. He went for Chicken Chow Mein, Ginger Beef and Tso's Spicy Chicken. Although this was a very typical North American Chinese combo, the food was actually quite acceptable. The chicken was extremely moist with a slightly spicy sweet glaze. As for the beef, it was crisp and quite gingery. The chow mein was pretty textbook and not too oily. A huge amount of food for $10.00. On a return visit, I finally got to try the Unagi Fried Rice, which they didn't have last time. You know when something is good? When you can't stop eating it. Well, this was the case here. The rice was perfectly chewy with a good amount of caramelization from the hot wok. Plenty of diced unagi and sweet corn made for a sweet and savoury mix. For research purposes, I also ordered the Pad Thai and you know what? It was not too bad if you weren't expecting authenticity. The noodles were al dente and mixed with plenty of ingredients (not sure of the green peppers though). However, tastewise, it was too sweet. It had a certain "Chinese" chili taste to it. But it was acceptable. Well, well, well... Although the food won't blow anyone away, it is relatively decent across the board. Authenticity aside, the prices and portion sizes are good. A much better spot than the original Delta Wonton House.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Good portions
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Don't expect authenticity here

Lully's Sandwich Cart

*Cart is now closed*

Quick. If some random person asks you where one would find a good Montreal smoked meat sammie, what would you say? La Belle Patate comes to mind. So does Estrella's in Langley. Don't even start with Kaplan's because that is more to do with corned beef. Besides, they are really stingy with the meat. As you can clearly see, there are not a whole lot of choices. So it is not much of a surprise that one of the newer food carts to hit Downtown serves up - you guessed it, Montreal smoked meat sandwiches. Formerly known as Panda Fresh out on Pacific Blvd, the outfit has been reincarnated into Lully's.

So on a blustery day in Downtown Vancouver, I made my way out to the cart on Granville in between Georgia and Dunsmuir. While the meat was being steamed, I chatted with the operator and he told me that the meat was brought in from Montreal. As much as some people would cry foul since they do not make their own meat, I don't really care, as long as it is good. So yes, they don't make any of the ingredients, from the pickle to the bread to the meat. However, I must say I enjoyed the sandwich. The meat was fatty, tender and substantial. There are 3 sizes to choose from and I only had my eye on the Jumbo Stack, which is a 12 oz monster of a sandwich. Naturally, this doesn't compare with the Woody Allen at Carnegie in NYC; but we're not in NYC and that is too much meat anyways. For $10.00, I thought it was a fair price for the size of sandwich. Moreover, it was an enjoyable to eat. Sure, they didn't "make" anything, they merely assembled the sandwich. But I don't care, it was satisfying nonetheless.

The Good:
- Decent value
- It's a good sandwich (if you like this kind that is)
- Really nice operator

The Bad:
- They didn't "make" it, if that really matters to you

Nao Sushi

Ack! I really, really do not like meetings after work. Well, who does? I'd much prefer going home to relax and if I have time, blog a little. However, I had to be at this meeting. Given that, I accepted that I would be home much later. Luck would have it, Apu sends me an email asking if I could play goal for his hockey team the same night. My first thought was to decline the request since I had no interest in extending my day any longer than it was already. Yet, there were a few things pushing me towards playing. First, it was nearby at Planet Ice Delta. Second, it coincided with the end time of my meeting. Third, he promised to go eating with me afterwards and would convince Milhouse as well. Okay, okay... The first 2 reasons were inconsequential. If you know me, he had me at "eat". It truly completes me...

So after tying 4-4, we were mulling around the locker room trying to figure out where to go. As much as a juicy burger and beer sounded good; it just didn't seem like the healthy thing to do. Thus, we settled on Japanese food, in particular Nao Sushi. It was on the way home for all of us; yet it was near closing time. So we hopped in our cars and made it quickly over just in time for last call. With not much time to think, we ended up with a bunch of items starting with Salmon & Tuna Sashimi. Nothing amiss with the fish here. Nice big slices that were fresh and naturally sweet. We got the Deluxe Assorted Sushi to share as well. It was comprised of 1/2 Tekka, 1/2 Salmon Roll, 1 piece each of Tamago, Red Tuna, Ika, Salmon, Hamachi, Ika, Amaebi, Unagi, Hokkigai, Masago, Chopped Scallop and Uni Nigiri. Once again, there was nothing bad to say about anything in this combo. The items were fresh and prepared correctly. Furthermore the rice had a nice chewy, while not dry, texture to it. This is quite the feat since it was near closing time.

We got 2 cooked dishes as well starting with the Teri-Beef Don. Now, if you are wondering where the goupy teriyaki sauce is, there ain't any. And that is completely fine with me. Unlike other "Japanese" restaurants, the teriyaki beef is cooked with sauce rather than being doused in sauce afterwards. The result was a nice caramelization of the beef and onions. It went well with the perfectly chewy rice. To counter-balance the healthy, we needed to get an order of the Assorted Tempura. We can't help ourselves! Despite the appearance of a heavy batter, the tempura was surprisingly light and crisp. It wasn't that oily either. I guess it was healthy after all...

Fine, back to the sushi... We went for the Rainbow Roll. Not trying to sound like a broken record; but... the different slices of fish were fresh while the avocado was bright and of the right texture. Add good sushi rice with a nice bite and flavour, you have a solid roll. Lastly, we got a Spicy Tuna Roll. To some, the extremely melt-in-your-mouth tuna may be a turnoff; yet the texture was purely intentional. Prepared in that fashion, the fresh tuna was soft and spicy. Of course, the same good sushi rice added some chewy texture while the small piece of cucumber added a slight crunch.

As we were waiting to pay, there was a discussion about Japanese-run restaurants. In the sea of Japanese restaurants in the GVRD, there is only a small percentage that are truly authentic. Then there is an even smaller percentage of those that are actually Japanese-run. With that being said, that doesn't necessarily guarantee good food either. However, Nao Sushi is an example of an authentic Japanese-run restaurant. The food quality was very good, while the prices are definitely reasonable considering everything. We will be back.

The Good:
- Solid food
- Reasonable prices
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- Portions are modest in size

Always Seafood Restaurant

With a string of really late games on Friday night, we find ourselves searching for those restaurants that are open past midnight. To further complicate things, as per usual, everyone lives in different parts of the GVRD. So there is never a really central location, let alone a place that is open late. To satisfy those who live on the West side of Vancouver, we headed out to Honolulu Cafe on Main Street. That would've been fine if it was open. They close at 1:00am, so we were outta luck. In fact, SD Sushi Gallery upstairs had closed too. Fortunately, the restaurant directly below was open. In fact, it closes at 4:00am! Formerly Accord Restaurant, Always Seafood Restaurant seemed a bit empty when we walked in. An hour later, it was completely packed. Don't people have to sleep? Wait, that would be us too. Wow, and we were out until 3:30am the previous week at Gigi's! Like any Chinese restaurant, Always has all the usual stuff including "da lang". This type of late night meal consists of smaller dishes of food served with plain congee. It actually took a little while to get any service. Kinda strange since there were 3 servers on the floor. Wait, I forgot, this is a Chinese restaurant, where service is only a rumour...

So when we did get to order, we ended up picking one dish each. I ordered in Cantonese and the manager was so impressed, he threw in the congee! I knew my Cantonese-ordering skills would come in handy! So, we started with the Fried Squid. These were wok-tossed in green chilis, garlic, green onion and salt. There was a nice kick to them; however, the squid itself was too soft. There was none of the good chewiness we associate with squid. Okay, the next dish, I secretly love. Don't judge me, it's the Sweet & Sour Pork. Milhouse ordered it like he usually does. It elicited much humiliation and laughter. Hey, don't knock the dish, it may be very "North American"; but it is indeed a real Chinese dish. When done right, it's tasty. This one was nearly tasty. The pork itself was fried nicely in big chunks; but the sauce was not very flavourful. Now the next dish is a da lang classic being the Fried Silverfish. Don't be alarmed here, it's not the same creepy crawlies found in kitchens. Rather, they are actual small fish that are coated with flour and fried. Then, much like the squid, are wok-tossed in salt, garlic and chili flakes. This is best dumped directly into a bowl of congee. It adds both flavour and texture. These ones were good, if not modest in quantity.

The award for the oiliest dish had to go to the Satay Beef. It arrived glistening like a pubescent male's forehead. Further examination led to a pool of oil at the bottom of the plate that would make lard jealous. It made for a really greasy eat. Despite the flavourful tender slices of beef, I personally didn't enjoy this dish. In fact, it seemed a bit heavy on the MSG, which would explain the intense flavours. On the topic of greasy, the 4 Seasons Green Beans were crying out for some Oxy. Well, it was expected since restaurants typically deep fry the beans first before stir-frying. The beans turned out to be a little overcooked; but once again, there was great flavour and good caramelization.

Emilicious ordered the Black Bean Clams and frankly, I'm not a huge fan of ordering this in a restaurant. It's not that I don't like it, I just find that there is not a lot of food for the price. The dish ends up to be mainly shells and a few precious pieces of clam meat. With that being said, I really like this dish otherwise. In fact, I made it at home recently, for roughly the same price; but with 3 times the amount. I know, I know, a restaurant needs to cover their overhead and operating costs... Anyways, this dish was prepared correctly with every shell open. The black bean sauce was thick enough and exhibited that salty garlicky flavour we look for. Gordo ended up selecting the biggest dish of the meal with the Soya Fried Noodles. Once again, this was greasy. However, this dish is supposed to be somewhat greasy otherwise the noodles would stick together and the wok as well. Other than that, the noodles were pretty good with a chewy texture and good caramelization.

The last dish was Mo Po Tofu. This is usually better with rice; yet both Gadget Girl and Sweet Tooth both wanted to order it. Hey, we can make any food work for us! It just became mo po tofu congee, which was actually quite tasty. In addition to being tasty, the tofu actually had quite a kick. The first bite was pretty normal and then the heat kicks in. We liked how they were not conservative with the spice. Lastly, the tofu itself retained its shape and integrity, even after we picked it up. Okay, I realize that da laang is not supposed to be a filling meal. After all, it is a form of late night tapas. However, for the prices, I felt that the dishes were meager in size. Furthermore, the use of grease here is horrendous. Add a huge dash of MSG and we have a prototypical greasy Chinese joint. I'm not sure of their regular dinner service; but if this is any indication of their food, it is a bit troubling. I realize that Chinese food ain't exactly the healthiest thing out there. With that being said, liberal use of oil and salt/MSG turned me off.

The Good:
- It's open until 4:00am
- Lots of flavour and spice

The Bad:
- Overly greasy
- Overly salty