Green Lemongrass

Quick. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear these 2 words: Restaurant and Richmond? If you answered stolen parking space, you are partially right; but there is a better answer. The correct answer would be Chinese restaurant. If you had that in mind, then you realize that the plethora of Chinese restaurants completely overshadow everything else. Sure, there are Japanese restaurants as well; but that would the extent of diversity you'd find here. However, housed in a little building that resembles the shack from Gilligan's Island resides Green Lemongrass Vietnamese Cuisine. Sharing the same parking lot issues as its bigger Chinese restaurant neighbours, the place looks really out of place amongst more modern buildings. As for the limited parking spots, you'll probably be better off parking somewhere else. The lot is narrow and always full.

Meeting up with Rich Guy for lunch, the place was completely packed. No matter, Rich Guy was having a bit of difficulty finding a parking spot, so waiting was a given. I wonder if he lost his parking spot to anyone? So when we got down to ordering, I stupidly picked 2 different salad rolls. We started with the regular Salad Rolls. These were pretty good. With just the right mix of shrimp, pork, vermicelli, lettuce, beans sprouts and perfectly textured rice paper wrap, it was texturally pleasing. However, the peanut dipping sauce was a bit unbalanced with too much hoisin. We also got the Phnom Penh Salad Roll partly because it had sausage in it. Wait, that didn't come out right... Anyways, it was a combination of sausage, pickled carrots, onions, lettuce and mushroom. It could be eaten without any of the dip since it was flavourful in itself, albeit dry.

Now the obligatory Phở đặc Biệt with all the meats. The first thing that struck me was the very flavourful and aromatic broth. It had a good amount of meat taste and full of body. My suspicious pointed towards MSG. Shortly after my meal, it was confirmed when I was craving a really large Big Gulp. The noodles were done perfectly; but the meats were not to my fancy. They were coarsely sliced and not tender at all. That itself ruin it for me. I don't prefer my meats to be chewy.

Rich Guy ended up with the Lemongrass Chicken. Hmm... What's up with this dish? Even without Viv, we have it on the table... again! Anyways, there was plenty of tender, charred chicken on perfectly cooked rice accompanied by a fresh salad. Everything on the plate was good except that the chicken was sorely lacking in lemongrass flavour. It was as if it wasn't there at all. Too bad really. In fact, the food as a whole was not bad; but the Pho was disappointing. Too much MSG and chewy meats. I'll take a pass.

The Good:
- Good portions
- Friendly, if not sparse service
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- Tight parking lot + Richmond = disaster
- Pho has too much MSG and the meats are chewy

Coma Food Truck

*No longer operating*

Awhile back, Dennis Pang of Popcorn contacted me about trying out one of the newest food trucks in Vancouver. For those who don't know, Popcorn is a new social media and promotions agency that helps restaurants increase their exposure. It was to try out Coma Food Truck which is much like the Roaming Dragon where it goes from site to site daily. You can get their location via Twitter every day. Also much like the Roaming Dragon, there is a Korean slant to the food, albeit more towards the Korean side of things. Since I was helping out with the Foodie Feast, everything was put on hold until afterwards. Well, afterwards arrived and I actually had time to seek out Coma.

So for my one free item, I decided to go for the Bibimbap. Regularly $6.99, I found this to be a good value since the bowl is actually quite substantial in size with plenty of ingredients which included daikon, carrots, zucchini, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, ground beef, fern brakes, gochujang and a sunny-side egg. Well, everything was vibrant and had all the right textures, including the rice (which was not mushy at all). Mixed together, it was a satisfying meal. I personally could've used more gochujang; but that can easily be requested. Included with the Bibimbap was a small bowl of Miso Soup. Sure, miso soup has all the excitement of white paint; but this one was different. It had a pronounced spicy kick and it was chalk full of enoki, wakame, tofu, tempura bits and green onion. Not bad for a throw-in.

Beyond the Bibimbap, I decided to sample 2 more items at my own cost starting with the Korean Style Chicken Nuggets. For $4.99, compared to other street food offerings, this can be considered a good value. These are essentially deep-fried chicken thigh meat which is then tossed in a spicy sweet sauce. Despite its sweet 'n sour appearance, it does not taste like sweet 'n sour pork. Rather, it has more of a kick and a richer flavour. I liked this and couldn't stop eating it. However, the one thing I would've liked is a slightly less thick batter. Lastly, I picked up an order of the Stuffed Seaweed Rolls. These consists of sweet potato noodles, carrots and onions stuffed into nori, then coated with tempura batter and fried. These were only okay for me. Possibly since I really love meat. I believe these are supposed to be served with a yuzu soy dip, which would've provided the much needed flavour because none of the ingredients are actually that flavourful. However, the dip was left out of my order. Therefore, I really didn't get a true sense of this dish. Served as a side to the chicken nuggets was pickled daikon. I liked the size of the chunks as it afforded a lot of crunch and texture. Very appetizing.

I know I totally ignored the Mexican fusion part of the menu. Hey, I can only eat so much! Therefore, I probably have to find them on Twitter again to give their "burrito" and "quesadilla". They certainly sound interesting; yet questionable at the same time. As for the items I did get to try, they were mostly good and offered up a decent value. I found the bibimbap particularly good since it was a large portion and well-priced. So at the very least, the Korean part of the menu seems to be pretty decent. The only issue is that they do not have a consistent location, which is not their fault. With the limited amount of street vendor permits offered by the city of Vancouver, they are forced to roam around location-to-location.

The Good:
- Good value
- The Bibimbap is both big and good
- Decent amount of choice

The Bad:
- No consistent location (not their fault though)

Il Giardino

As long as I can remember, I have watched cooking shows. This was especially true during summer holidays when there was nothing much else on TV other than cooking shows and soaps. I mean, who would like to spend all day watching soap operas? Geez, like how many tragedies do Bo and Hope go through on Days of Our Lives... Uh... I mean, so I've heard... So... those cooking shows were a staple of my daytime viewing. Hence, I have always had a love for food. Long before the Food Network or the Cooking Channel, my attention was squarely on the Galloping Gourmet, Wok with Yan and of course Umberto Menghi. He has been and still is one of the first Celebrity Chefs on the West Coast. So it's really strange to me that I've never visited Il Giardino. Therefore, I gathered up the troops for lunch. Since Rich Guy is in town, he was a natural choice. Vandelay, Whipping Girl and Pomegranate rounded out my eating army...

We shared 2 appies starting with the Salmon Carpaccio. Dressed in a soya vinaigrette, we could not get much of the natural salmon flavour. Rather, the soy completely overwhelmed the delicate fish. The individual components were fine, it just didn't work together. Our second appy was the Steamed Mussels with a white wine and garlic broth. These were some pretty plump mussels in a well-balanced broth. It had the perfect amount of wine so that it didn't overwhelm everything else. It was quite garlicky though; but no one seemed to mind that. The fresh tomatoes and basil added some brightness to the dish.

For his main dish, Rich Guy had the Braised Veal Cheeks in a rich demi-glace. There was a pronounced red wine flavour to the sauce; yet it wasn't dominating. The cheeks themselves were so tender, they felt apart on contact. As with any cheeks, it had the desired gelatinous texture. The accompanying veggies were vibrant and still crisp. Pomegranate and I were eying the Braised Lamb Shank; but due to my "no duplicates" policy, I let him do the honours. He was a victim of a foodgasm after his first bite into the soft, moist, gelatinous flesh of the lamb shank. Of course I took a sample and indeed it was foodgasmic. The rich red wine reduction was very strong while not being too strong at the same time. The braising liquid successfully penetrated (is that an intentional Freudian slip???) the meat which helped flavour the shank evenly.

Of course no visit to Il Giardino would be complete without pasta. Thankfully, Whipping Girl fulfilled that quota by ordering the Rabbit Ragu Parppadelle. With a generous amount of meat atop perfectly al dente pasta, there was not much to complain about this dish. The Ragu was nicely balanced and rich while not heavy. I particularly liked that it was the right consistency. It flavoured the pasta without being watery. However, for some reason or another, I felt the parppadelle I had at Cioppino's had more "wow" factor. Yet, that is splitting hairs since both are superior pastas. For myself, I went for the Baked Black Cod in a beautiful lobster lemon butter reduction. As much as it is very hard to mess up black cod (aka Sablefish), it can be done. So, I can honestly say that this fish was perfectly prepared. Each flaky piece was moist and buttery. The fatty flesh was further enhanced by the aromatic lobster lemon butter. A sauce so simple had layers of flavours starting with the butter, then the zing of lemon and finishing off with a aromatic lobster flavour that cannot be mistakened. Once again, the veggies were perfect and I liked the somewhat firm white beans on top.

Although the black cod was a great dish, it was not the best dish at the table. That belonged to Vandelay and his selection of the Porcini Risotto with Roast Quail. One bite into the perfectly cooked risotto was a OMFG reaction on my part. The intense earthiness from the mushrooms exploded in my mouth and danced on my tongue. The flavour lingered and only relinquished its grasp when it felt like it. By then, I was munching on a piece of roast quail and that in itself added a certain umaminess to it. On that note, the one thing we could ascertain from this meal was that Umberto has still got it. Sure, he wasn't cooking in the kitchen. Rather, he was roaming the dining room floor. I love it when a restaurateur is actually present at his/her establishment. And that establishment is classy. Traditional classy, not the Yaletown glitzy type though. Suited us fine because the food was fantastic and the service equally so.

The Good:
- Almost flawless execution
- Excellent service
- Classy

The Bad:
- Even for lunch, it was pricey, dinner is even more so
- As observed, not a particularly young crowd present (which is a positive for some)

Hapa Umi

*Transitioned into another Hapa Izakaya*

Confusion. I think that is the best word to describe what people are faced with when it comes to Hapa Umi. With the Hapa name attached to its latest venture, many people expect much of the same. You know, a hip place with hot staff and a wide selection of small dishes for all to share with a side of drinks. Yes, that would be so true if we were thinking along the lines of an Izakaya. But Hapa Umi is not an Izakaya. In fact, the menu reflects somewhat of a fine dining slant complete with fine dining prices. So when I gathered up the boys to try the place out, they were expecting Izakaya. As we walked into the place, it had all the earmarks of Hapa, However, one look at the menu and Constanza pipes up, "Where's the Ebi Mayo???". Um, there is none. He looked utterly dejected since that is his favourite item from Hapa. Hey, I don't blame him, it is my favourite as well! Undeterred, we decided to order a bunch of items to share, although it really didn't seem like a sharing place. There we go again, it's not an Izakaya. Stop thinking that!

So we started with probably the most famous item on the menu - the Award-Winning Ocean Wise Chowder. This version beat out all others at the 2010 Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown. We ended up getting 2 orders split into 4 bowls. The boys were happy about that since they could start eating without needing to wait for me to take photos. It's not a thick chowder per se; yet it does have lots of chunky items that make it hearty. From the perfectly cooked potatoes to the large pieces of scallop and halibut to the wonderfully crisp croutons, the soup is indeed quite good. The broth is a combination of cream, dashi and a proper dose of seafood flavour. The bacon bits add some smoke and saltiness; however, I personally found them a bit too hard. Next up was the Fraser Valley Duck Tataki prepared sous-vide and sauced with a sake, soy, red wine marinade and dijon. I found the duck itself to be naturally flavourful while the sauce was understated. Rich Guy thought it was a bit chewy; yet that is understandable since the duck is practically raw. I didn't mind it so much because it was good quality duck.

Normally, on the menu, there is a chilled oyster appy; but for today there was a Tempura Fried Oyster in lieu. We gave this one a try and
it was pretty straight forward. Kudos for the fresh oyster and the light tempura. Pretty textbook version of fried oysters. The Albacore Tuna and Sockeye Salmon Sashimi was the highlight of the meal. You might wonder how pieces of raw fish can be a "wow" item. Well, if you know your sashimi, you will realize this is a cut above your regular sushi joint. As Vandelay remarked, it was extremely fresh in appearance and in taste. The tuna had the texture of fish only found at Tojo's. It was soft; yet a good soft (not mushy, retaining a level of texture). The salmon was equally as good, again exhibiting a texture that can only be experienced by eating it, not through words. We also got 2 orders of maki starting with the Spicy Tuna. So you might be wondering what justifies spending $8.00+ on a common sushi roll? Well, a good sushi roll depends on the ingredients, the sushi rice and the construction. This particular one was pretty much solid in all 3 areas. Nothing mind-blowing but solid nonetheless. Once again, the tuna was very high quality as with the rice.

Similarly, the Dynamite Roll was also well made with large prawn tempura. It was quite evident that this was made with high quality ingredients as well and carefully constructed. However, as Costanza summed it up, it was an expensive dynamite roll. For the main dishes, we shared the AAA Alberta Beef Tenderloin first. It came with mushroom ankake, vegetable chips and garlic ponzu. We ended up with this since they were out of the beef tataki. Apparently, the previous restaurant was designed with a complete lack of storage facilities; hence the limited menu and certain items selling out. We asked for the tenderloin to be prepared medium rare and it arrived that way more or less. The beef itself was quite good and so were the mushrooms. A solid, if not pretty standard dish for the price. We shared the Sablefish Wakasayaki next. Marinated in soy, sake and dashi and served with sembei-crusted asparagus, kabocha chips and arugula gel, it looked visually appealing. The sablefish itself was prepared nicely while the other components were spot on. However, the sablefish seemed to lack any distinguishing flavour. Sure, you never want to overwhelm delicate fish; but a bit more marinade would have helped. The arugula gel was beautifully presented and could've alleviate the lack of flavour, if it wasn't permanently dried to the plate. Maybe there needed to be more? Or it could've used more moisture? For the parts we could scrap off, it was pretty nice, especially with the delicate fish. I really liked the asparagus, the rice cracker added a nice crunch.

Lastly, we got 2 sides to go with the entrees. The first was the Takikomi Gohan which consisted of rice, veggies and bacon. It was a bit on the dry side; but it isn't supposed to be wet either, so no real issues with that. I did like the bacon, it added the necessary saltiness. It could've stood for even more flavour in my opinion. As for the second side, there was no need to change anything. The Yuzu Pommes Puree was fantastic. Very rich and buttery and full of flavour which was well-balanced, we could only have a little bit each. Light, this is not. But oh so good. Now we didn't end up going for dessert. Too bad really since the word is that they are pretty good. Now, the buzz around Hapa Umi has been rather mixed. I truly believe it is a result of this confusion over what the restaurant represents. Once again, it is not an Izakaya. Being associated with the name Hapa is a double-edged sword. It is a great brand name to flaunt; but then people have this image which is hard to shake. Hence, when one opens up the menu and experiences sticker shock while being perplexed as to where their Hapa favourites have gone, negative thoughts possibly creep in. Therefore, the food may be judged from an unfair perspective. There is considerable overhead for its location and operating costs. With that being said, even if one looked at Hapa Umi from a fine-dining approach (due to their prices), it is a bit expensive. I expressed my concerns and it appears that they are aware of this and they are still going through growing pains. Once the dust settles, we might get a better picture of what Hapa Umi represents.

The Good:
- Kudos for style points
- High quality Sashimi
- Despite what others have said, food is fine

The Bad:
- Pricey
- Flavours are delicate (much like most Japanese food); but for some, it might be too delicate
- It'll be hard for people to shake their preconceptions of the place since it has Hapa in the name

Yellow Chilli

Way back when, we'd often visit Bombay Palki for their lunch buffet out on 128th at 72nd. Of course, a buffet is never the optimal way to experience good food; but this one wasn't bad. Furthermore, many of the curries were practically the same as the one off the menu. Well, I suppose the one off the menu would be served hotter and wouldn't be sitting around. But you get the idea. Then, all of a sudden, the buffet was removed from the menu. Furthermore, suspicious "reviews" showed up on Urbanspoon extolling the virtues of the restaurant by first time users. Then the restaurant changed their name to Sohi's Incredible Indian Cuisine. That didn't last long and now we have the Yellow Chilli. Nikita had already tried the new buffet they had there and suggested that I give it a try.

Walking into the place, it sure didn't seem like anything had changed other than the name. But to be honest, they really didn't need any renovations, the place was pretty clean and inviting anyways. The one good thing about a buffet is that you can start to eat immediately and so we did. In addition to green salad, raita and a few desserts, there was rice, Papadum, Saag Paneer, Aloo Mattar, Dahl Makhani, Goat Rogan Josh, Mango Chicken, Butter Chicken and Tandoori Chicken. For my first dish, I gave a few items a try starting with the Butter Chicken. Although a bit lukewarm, it was not bad. It was pretty creamy with only a touch of tomato. The white meat was tender and not overcooked. I give them kudos for including Tandoori Chicken; however, it was a tad dry. On the positive side, the chicken was marinaded evenly and it did taste good. What I really liked was the Goat Rogan Josh. There was a complex mix of spices with cloves and ginger standing out. The goat was tender and had the desired gelatinous texture to it. It went well with the freshly-made Naan. It was nicely blistered and a good combination of chewy and soft.

I went up for another plate to try some of their other items despite being quite full already. Starting from the top left clockwise, we have the Mango Chicken, Aloo Mattar, Saag Paneer and Dhal Makhani. Surprisingly, the Mango Chicken tasted like... mangoes! It was slightly on the sweeter side, but the creaminess of the sauce went well with the nann. While not trying to sound boring, the other 3 items were pretty much standard, not being offensive or particularly memorable. It probably has something to do with the fact they are meatless... LOL... Whatever the case, this has been one of the better Indian buffets I've had in the last little while. There is no comparison between this one and Urban Masala down the street. The buffet at Yellow Chilli exhibits much better execution. My only wish would be more customers since the food gets kinda cold otherwise.

The Good:
- Everything in the buffet looks and tastes like it should be
- Reasonably-priced
- Comfortable dining space

The Bad:
- Lack of customers for the buffet, food gets cold

Noodle Island

After an exhaustive day of shopping, I really only wanted to go home. While I can easily shop for clothes and be out of a store within 10 minutes, Viv can take 10 times as long easily. We already hit the outlets, Ross, Fred Meyer and now Target. The only reason we didn't end up at Wal-Mart was that she suddenly realized the total amount spent exceeded $600.00 in only a 5-hour period. And that was only on clothes... for the kids mostly! They'd better thank us for this... someday. Gawd, I sound like my parents! Thus, we hightailed it out of there and made our way to the border. Of course we had to eat before heading straight home. Nothing too fancy and definitely nothing too expensive either. So we decided to drive through Fleetwood and stop off at Noodle Island. Advertised as a Vietnamese restaurant, we were curious to find items like Broccoli and Beef on the menu. Oh well, trying to be everything to everyone?

Well, we weren't here for that so we stuck with the Vietnamese food staring with the Banh Cuon with are rice noodle rolls filled with ground pork and wood ear mushrooms topped with Vietnamese ham, fried onions and served with a fish sauce dip. Also on the side was blanched bean sprouts, pickled daikon/carrots and a green salad with cucumber. For $6.95, the was a fair amount of food. As for the rolls, the noodle itself was made with too much water; thus it fell apart when we tried to pick it up. I did like the tasty filling though. Of course I would have the Pho, in particular the Pho Dac Biet (with everything). Once again, there was a good amount of food for the price. Lots of noodles and tender meat. No complaints there. The broth was on the blander side; yet was still not bad exhibiting some aromatics.

Viv had the Vermicelli Bowl with pork patty and spring rolls. Despite being crispy with a nice filling, it was too bad they used wheat wrappers for the spring rolls. The pork was predictably sweet and salty with nice charring. The picture doesn't do it justice because the bowl was very large. Yes, for whatever the food lacks in execution, it is completely made up in quantity. The prices aren't necessarily cheap; but you do get a lot of food. Considering its location, Noodle Island is an okay choice if you are not too picky about your Vietnamese food (or available Chinese food too in this case...).

The Good:
- Large portions
- Okay food
- Pretty good service

The Bad:
- Food is only okay
- Not expensive; but not exactly that cheap either

Moxie's (West Broadway)

*This location is closed*

The dreaded chain restaurant. For many food enthusiasts, it is the anti-thesis of creativity and good taste. Think of it. A chain restaurant mainly exists to provide a predictable product that will suit many different tastes and preferences. In that case, this is actually a good thing because not everyone is interested in dining at a hole-in-the-wall, certain ethnic restaurants and "fine-dining" establishments. However, these chain restaurants are walking a fine line these days. The prices seem to be rising dangerously close to fine-dining and the food is being influenced by Asian cuisine. Personally, I happen to like Cactus Club despite being one of the more prominent chain restaurants in Vancouver. With that being said, I still find the prices to be quite high.

There has been an explosion of restaurants that fall into the "Cactus Club" formula, namely Earl's, Joey and Moxie's. I've been to them all except for Moxie's until tonight. Why? Well, let's just say the first time I visited this location, I got a moldy bun - not cool. Hey, I'm willing to let that go, it was probably a one-off. Now Moxie's was not always a hip place with modern decor and attractive staff. Along with Joey's, it used to be a family-friendly restaurant. Now Moxie's has gone upscale and the prices have gone up accordingly. Boss Woman wasn't really all that hungry and went for the Calamari. Reminiscent of the one they serve at Cactus Club, this one was pretty good. The squid was tender with some bite and the breading was crisp. The accompanying tzatziki was a little weak; but it did the job. For awhile now, I've been on this Yam Fries kick. This has probably been my 5th order of this in the last month. And this one was one of the better ones. The fries were the right thickness and came out very crispy. Nothing worse than soggy yam fries. There were 2 dips - curry mayo and garlic aioli. I liked the aioli more, the curry just didn't seem to work for me. Trying to offset my unhealthy appie, I went for the Maple Glazed Salmon with pineapple salsa and wild rice pilaf. The dish looked pretty enough with bright, fresh colours and great ingredients. It's too bad that they totally overcooked the salmon. It was quite stiff and dry. The sweet salsa somewhat saved the dish a bit; but when the protein is not done right, it is a fail. I did like the perfectly cooked rice and asparagus though.

Now Gadget Girl ended up with the Salmon & Prawns Capellini and if you were wondering about the salmon... yes, it was overcooked as well. In fact, it was probably more cooked than mine. However, the prawns were perfect and so were the al dente noodles. The citrus butter and fresh basil gave the dish balance as there was some freshness and savoury elements. They enjoyed the pasta despite the dry salmon. Milhouse has been resisting temptation and has stuck with salads as of late. Apparently, he is trying to acquire that perfect figure. Uh... Okay... But he gave in this time in the form of the Pancetta and White Cheddar Veal Burger. He found it sufficiently interesting enough to try it. I don't blame him, it did sound very different than the regular burgers we often see. Well, the description on the menu, for once, translated to a great burger. The meat was nicely charred while still being moist and juicy. The combination of white cheddar and pancetta provided a very different taste. Too bad the fries were your typical run-of-the-mill variety. I suggest substituting for the yam fries for an extra charge.

As expected, Sweet Tooth opted to have dessert. Her choice was the Callebaut Chocolate Espresso Mousse served with biscotti and whipped cream. Resembling a pile of turd, the dessert didn't look promising when it arrived. However, it wasn't bad. Not too heavy nor sweet, there was some coffee hints in the mousse. It actually need the whipped cream for more sweetness. It was decent, along with the rest of the food actually. Typical chain restaurant fare from the cookie-cutter mold which employs a nice space, attractive servers, safe food and high prices. Does the job when looking for late-night eats.

The Good:
- Nice decor and nice staff
- Predictable
- Open late

The Bad:
- Predictable
- Pricey