Song Huong

It's the NHL playoffs and this is most certainly the most wonderful time of the year. Think of it. We get to sit back with a bunch of friends and watch the Canucks attempt to win their first Stanley Cup. Yah, laugh if you want; but I am a die-hard Nux fan and I need to believe. It will eventually happen right? Hopefully in my lifetime! Now here is the thing. The Canucks were scheduled to play game two against the Hawks; however, we had our own league game to play! For the love of... Fine, we'll play our game and hopefully catch the last period afterwards. Luck would have it, the rink we were playing in had a view of the big screen TV at the bar. So during the game, I would "watch" at every stoppage in play. That concerned my team greatly since I am the goalie. I really should be paying attention! We ended up losing 1-0. That didn't bother me really, I just wanted to get outta there! And that is where another problem arose. Where could we go that had the game on while grabbing a bite to eat. Not a big issue right? Well, try getting into a pub or bar when there was still a period to play. Not a chance. So we had to choose a non-traditional place to watch the game and get our eats too.

Enter Song Huong. Yes, that is right. Pho and hockey. A natural combination! Well, not really. However, I remembered the last time I had the Bo 7 Mon at Song Huong, they had the hockey game on their big screen. We figured it wouldn't be a busy place and indeed it wasn't. Practically empty, we got our choice of seats. Naturally, we sat at a table with a perfect view of the TV. We got down to ordering and I started with a plate of the Bánh Cuốn. This is very similar to the Chinese rice noodle roll except for the filling. Traditionally, the bánh cuốn is filled with ground pork, wood ear mushrooms and spices. I found this version to be very good. The rice noodle had the perfect texture of being soft while maintaining its integrity and texture. Dipped into nước chấm, this was a very pleasing dish while the Nux and Hawks were locked in a close game. Unlike last visit, I got to try other items other than the Bo 7 Mon (beef 7 ways). Since a few people were having the Pho already, I went for the Bún Bò Huế. Unlike a traditional Pho, the broth in a Bún bò Huế is spicy with a few more aromatics such as lemongrass and chilis. Unfortunately, I found the broth here to be slightly underwhelming. It tasted like they used the regular beef broth and added some chili oil. Nothing wrong with the broth itself, I actually drank all of it. However, it was not as flavourful as other versions of Bún bò Huế that I've had. I did like the plethora of meat on top, particularly the pork knuckle and pork blood. The sliced beef shank was a tad on the chewier side though.

Gadget Girl, Silent Bob, Sweet Tooth and Emilicious all had a variation of Pho. So I only ended up taking a picture of the prettiest Pho, which was Gadget Girl's bowl. Looking like your typical bowl of Pho, there was a decent amount of meat in a darker-tinted broth. It may have been dark; yet it wasn't as "heavy" in flavour as it looked. That was not necessarily a bad thing since that could be overwhelming. As a group, everyone thought the broth was decent, if not pretty standard. Much like the beef shank in my bowl of noodles, some of the meats were not as tender as we would've liked. All-in-all, the pho can still be considered good. With everyone having Pho, I was afraid that was it for variety. Leave it up to Milhouse to save the day. He went for a rice dish instead - the Lemongrass Chicken and Pork Cake on Rice. This was a pretty standard offering with nicely charred chicken and a tasty radioactive orange pork & egg patty. Gordo was not too hungry and went for a plain ol' Salad Roll. He ordered in fluent Vietnamese which totally surprised me. It was a good salad roll with everything proportionate and fresh. However, we weren't really paying much attention to the food since the game was on. We ended up winning which made us all happy. The food was decent as well, so we were a joyous bunch. With that being said, there are better places for Pho; but this place is more than acceptable.

The Good:
- If you didn't want Pho, there is Bo 7 Mon
- Reasonably-priced (as with many Vietnamese restaurants)
- Service is decent

The Bad:
- Not necessarily a bad per se, but there are better places to get Pho, I would definitely come here for the Bo 7 Mon since it is not readily available
- Typical washrooms...

East River Seafood Restaurant

As we transition from Winter late night Wednesday hockey at Brit to early Sunday morning hockey, that only means one thing - more eating! Yes, it's true. When hockey ends at noon, the eating options greatly increase as opposed to hockey ending at 1:00am in the morning. The usual suspects were there including Kaiser Soze, JuJu and Gordo. However, we have sadly lost RBC to Ontario. Our sincere condolences. Now he has to cheer for the Maple Leafs... May there be mercy on his soul. Anyways, it was nice to play during the daytime again and once finished, the discussion of where we would go to eat inevitably came up. In all honesty, I came ill-prepared and really didn't have much of a clue. The only thing I could think of was East River for Dim Sum. The boys seemed to be cool with that, except for Gordo. Something about family commitments... Pfft....

Due to the ridiculously limited amount of parking spaces for all the businesses near the corner of Kingsway and Knight, it took a bit of time to park. I got a space first and walked into the restaurant. Kaiser Soze arrived next and we proceeded to wait for the host to give us a number. Now, this is a somewhat precarious situation. It seems almost every time I wait for either my name to be taken or be issued a number in line, someone decides that I'm invisible. Yes, that is the life of a lineup at a Chinese restaurant. It appears that people think it is good form to bypass those who are actually in line. Hence, I employed the block-out maneuver to make sure I got to speak with the hostess first. How can waiting in line be so stressful? Imagine how Kent's Kitchen and T&T used to be like prior to installing ticket number machines... So we got down to ordering and for the life of us, we couldn't find the Haw Gow (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings). We finally found something similar and it turned out to be what you see in the picture. They were really large and in a different shape. It turned out to be pretty good with a thin and nicely steamed skin. The half shrimp/half shrimp mousse combined with some sliced gai lan stalk had a pleasing texture. It was lightly seasoned where we could still taste the ingredients.

Predictably, we also got the Sui Mai. These were also quite good with a combination of pork and a little bit of shrimp. The pork had the desired bounce-like texture while not being over-seasoned. A solid, if not unspectacular version of this Dim Sum staple. Inexplicably, JuJu ordered the Xiao Long Bao. For me, I'm a great believer that a specifically Shanghainese dish should not be ordered in a Cantonese restaurant. It's never done right. Predictably, these were sub-par. With skin that was too thick and barely any trickle of juice, these were essentially typical pork dumplings. I don't blame them for this since this is not their specialty anyways. JuJu also likes Rice Noodle Rolls and decided to get both the shrimp and the beef. This reminds me of the time when a friend of ours did the ordering at Victoria Restaurant and decided to get 8 orders of the rice noodle rolls because he "liked" them. Dude, it's like almost $6.00 per order there. Suffice to say, we don't do Dim Sum with him anymore... So at the very least, 2 orders is acceptable, especially at the prices East River charges. These rolls were solid. The rice noodle itself was extremely delicate, possibly too delicate since they were hard to pick up without falling apart. However, I'll take that over thick, hard noodles any day. The shrimp was crunchy and sweet while the beef "mousse" was tender and had just the right amount of green onion.

Presented in an "avant garde" manner, the Shrimp Spring Rolls reminded me of the ones from Bing Sheng. Hey, it is only a simple deviation from how they cut them; but it is more appealing nonetheless. Besides looking good, these spring rolls were fantastic. Yes, it is pretty hard to mess up spring rolls; however, these were served piping hot and crunchy. Not oily at all, the filling was almost all whole pieces of shrimp which were seasoned in a manner than made them extra tasty. Hope it wasn't MSG... The Blackbean Spareribs were pretty tasty regardless if there was MSG or not. Let's just be honest with ourselves, there was probably MSG in it. It was properly seasoned and the hint of peppers on the top added something extra. I would've preferred more minced garlic though. However, taste is only one part of this dish. Texturally, the pork was probably a tad on the softer side; but then again, that is better than too chewy.

As for the Beef Meatballs, I thought the texture was leaning towards the softer side as well. I hate to use the term "fluffy"; but these balls were very light and airy. One thing I didn't like was the clumps of green onion. It detracted from the overall flavour. Nothing worse than green spots on your balls! Lastly, we got a filler dish in the Chicken Rice Hot Pot. We found the rice to be perfectly cooked where it was slightly dry and chewy. This is the desired texture from a hot pot where the rice takes on a nutty aroma. The boneless dark chicken meat was tender and adequately seasoned. I loved the addition of wood ear mushrooms, it added a nice crunch. This was a fitting end to a pretty unexpected meal. We were not holding out much hope since Dim Sum at Kam Wah Loong a few stores down was pretty average at best. We are not sure who would go there over East River, since there is no contest. The quality and execution of the food is excellent for the price.

The Good:
- Quality Dim Sum for a reasonable price
- Decent selection
The Bad:
- Extremely narrow seating
- Naturally, service is indifferent

Thai Cafe

Last year during Hats Off day along Hastings, Viv and I were able to sample some food from various restaurants including The Pear Tree. Man, I still remember those yummy scallops! Thai Cafe was another place we got to try and ever since, it has been on my hit list of restaurants. It has taken me almost a year to try the place out because of one fact - the kids. Yes, I have a better chance at surviving a jay walk across #3 Road than my son eating something spicy. So when we had a chance to grab a quick lunch without the kiddies, we headed over to Thai Cafe. This little unassuming place is a neighbourhood favourite. In fact Viv's coworker, who lives nearby, raves about the place much like many others.

As with most Thai restaurants, they have their lunch specials which include rice, spring roll and soup. Seeing how 2 dishes would not satisfy both my appetite and curiosity, we went for 3. As mentioned, each dish included a Spring Roll. Well, they were crispy, hot and had the familiar vermicelli and veggie filling. Other than being slightly on the greasy side, there were no complaints. For our first "dish", we had the Red Beef Curry. Unlike many "Thai" restaurants, this was fairly spicy. We actually asked for medium, so you can take a guess how hot it would be if you choose the "spicy" option. I felt there was a good balance between the coconut milk and spice. I'm not a huge fan of places that put so much coconut milk into a curry, it becomes too thick and one-dimensional in taste. The bamboo shoots and peppers still had texture while the beef was tender to chew.

To further perpetuate the "standard Thai dishes" meal, we also got the Chicken Green Curry. It was a little on the watery side; yet that was not really an issue. As mentioned, I'd much rather have a balanced-tasting curry than a thick one that has far too much coconut milk. After all, the sauce will be eaten with rice anyways, so thickness is not as much of an issue. Much like the red curry, the flavours were balanced. We particularly liked that there was a good amount of heat that didn't overwhelm.

Lastly, the best dish of all was the Pad Thai. We really dislike the ketchupy version that is commonly found at "Thai" restaurants in town. The one here was one of the better ones I've had lately. The noodles were perfectly chewy while all the usual ingredients were present such as pressed tofu and pickled turnip. There was a slight kick and tartness from the tamarind. I would return just to have this again. For such a small little outfit hidden among the shops along Hastings, this was indeed a surprise. While we were there, the place remained busy throughout lunch hour. And why not? It's reasonably-priced and the food beats many of the well-known "Thai" restaurants in town.

The Good:
- Not watered-down
- Friendly people
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- With all little neighbourhood gems, the seating is tight

Hog Shack Cook House

Honestly. Rain again? I know this is typical Vancouver; but it is getting ridiculous. Not only has it kiboshed any chance of a clean car, it has washed out our softball practice last week and now a softball game too! Do you know how this affects my eating out? That means I cannot go out with my softball team for eats after! Why the rain? WHY? To further hammer the point home, it was sunny the day before and sunny the day after. It's like we were getting the proverbial bird from Mother Nature. Wait. Why can't we go out and eat anyways? Softball is merely a conduit. Eating is the real reason I play anyways! So when Bear and Milhouse suggested that we go for food despite the rain, I was game. In fact, we knew that Hot Chocolate would be more than happy to join us as well. Her email was pathetic and sad - indicating her need to cook dinner for herself... What really made her happy was our choice of restaurants. It was as good as anytime to head out to Steveston to hit up the newest Southern BBQ joint - The Hog Shack Cook House. Hot Chocolate lives in Richmond and this was right up her alley.

Before I blab any further, we need to be clear on a few things. Real Southern BBQ meats are cooked from a raw state over many hours. Thus, the meat is generally on the drier side while exhibiting a whole lot of smokiness and burnt portions. What we normally see here, such as at Montana's, is the parboiled version. Sacraligious to those from the Southern United States, this would make most BBQ purists cry. However, I personally like the boiled-then-BBQ'd version. Yes, hurl tomatoes and cow patties at me if you wish (well, maybe not the cow patties); but that is what I like. With that being said, I don't mind the dry method as well. It's just not my first choice. So please be aware that I'm going to compare apples-to-apples here. The Hog Shack slow cooks their meat, much like Memphis Blues. So this is the angle where I will compare from. Let's throw BBQ Etc. and Ozark's into the mix too.

Since we had 4 people, it was quite obvious what we would order, no other than Allan's Mammoth Platter. It consists of Baby Back Ribs, St. Louis Side Ribs, Pulled Pork, Brisket, Dino Beef Bones and BBQ Chicken Legs. It also includes a choice of 6 sides. I gave the Pulled Pork a try first and it was relatively "wet". What I mean is the meat itself was not dry or stringy. Add in a good amount of BBQ sauce and it was pretty decent. I only wish there was a bit more smokiness to the BBQ sauce (but the meat has enough smoke to make it up). We dug into the BBQ Chicken Quarters next. I personally prefer dark meat over white meat, especially when it comes to BBQ since it is generally less dry. Although not necessarily juicy, the chicken was still relatively moist and a bit smoky. We found the BBQ sauce to be more vinegary than anything. But then again, the smokiness of the meat made up for it. Next, I gave the St. Louis Side Ribs a go and they were predictably dry. Again, this is a personal preference issue here. The ribs are supposed to be dry, not juicy. Therefore, if this is what you are looking for, then you might be disappointed. With my expectations aligned with what the product, I can say it compares closely to Memphis Blues. I would even go as far to say it is less dry than Memphis. Also as expected, the Baby Backs were slightly less dry. In this case, they are far less burnt than the ones at Memphis, which would mean more edible meat. The smoky meat went well with the vinegary BBQ sauce.

In terms of the ribs, our favourite of the bunch was the Dino Beef Bones. They were really large and despite the charring and some burnt portions, all of the meat was edible and not too dry. In fact, the meat still retained some fat and tendon which gave the meat a desirable gelatinous texture. The best thing on the plate that didn't have bones was the Brisket. With enough fat to create a traffic jam in your arteries, the meat simply melted in our mouths. Very buttery and delicious to eat. Once again, if I needed to compare, this is far more tender and juicier than Memphis, BBQ Etc and Ozark's combined. Some might say they didn't trim the meat enough; but that suited us just fine. As for our sides, we got Corn Bread, Yam Fries, Hand-cut Fries, Mash Potatoes, Veggies and Baked Beans. We found the corn bread to be a bit crumbly while being moist. It was not too sweet which was fine by us. The fries, in my opinion, were slightly disappointing. They were not as crispy as I would've liked. The mash potatoes were pretty standard while the veggies were steamed perfectly. The baked beans were okay with a bit of smokiness and a rich sweetness.

We were satisfied with the Mammoth Platter; yet not necessarily wow'd in any way. Well, not until we were presented with a complimentary plate of Burnt Ends. OMFG. Universally, all of us were blown away by the rich smokiness of the burnt brisket ends. Chewy on the outside while still easy to eat on the inside, these bites combined with a generous dousing of BBQ sauce were a veritable flavour explosion. You know something is good when you want to eat more. This was the case here. By now, we were stuffed beyond belief; but Bear (our resident dessert fiend) decided we had to get dessert. Fine, so we shared 2 desserts starting with the Peach Cobbler. Honestly, we weren't expecting much. However, the cobbler turned out to be pretty darn good. Sure, they didn't use fresh peaches since they are not in season; yet that didn't detract from the moist "cake". It was not too sweet and we could definitely taste the nutmeg. The scoop of ice cream had cinnamon on top and that added another hit of flavour as well.

For our second dessert, we went for the Lemon Ice Box Pie. Essentially a whipped lemon cheesecake, this was also surprisingly good. By using fresh lemon zest and juice, the dessert was light and even refreshing. The slight bitterness from the zest helped temper the sweetness. Although most of the food didn't blow our minds, burnt ends and dessert withstanding, the food was quite solid. Of course it depends on personal preference because if you don't like your meats on the dry side, then go to Montana's. Otherwise, the Hog Shack does offer something similar to Memphis Blues. And again, it depends on your tastes as to which one is better.

The Good:
- Burnt ends are friggin' fantastic
- Desserts are surprisingly good
- Lots of choice

The Bad:
- Meats are on the drier side
- Sides need work

Peking Restaurant

Although I can easily cook up some Chinese food at home, there are certain items that taste better in a restaurant. Anything stir-fried for instance doesn't really turn out right with the measly BTU available on a residential stove. Furthermore, making your own Dim Sum can be somewhat challenging since there is so much variety. I mean you can do it, assuming you do only a few items. Hence, I have wished all along that there would be some good Chinese food near where we live. By default, Wah Lun is probably the best of the bunch. Yes, there are better; but I'm referring to the location rather than comparing it to the best in town. Now if I really want to get lazy, there is North Burnaby Wonton a few minutes away; however, let's not consider it to be good food. A long time ago, we had visited Peking Restaurant which is on the same block at Pho 101 and Sushi Town. What a totally underwhelming experience that was. When home-cooking is better than what they served, one wonders why people eat there at all. So fast-forward 6 years and we finally are willing to give it another try, albeit for Dim Sum.

When we first arrived, the place was pretty empty. Was this an ominous sign? Well, not really, it did begin to fill up later. The first item to arrive was the Fried Squid. Let's just say the batter on this version was different. They used a tempura-like batter that was already seasoned with salt. Although it was not exactly the traditional way of preparing it, the squid was tender and the batter was crisp. No harm, no foul. As for the Haw Gow, it was barely acceptable. The dumpling skin was far too thick and gummy. I mean, you can tell just by looking at it. The shrimp filling was marginally better. I wouldn't exactly call the shrimp cold-water crunchy. Rather, it was just shrimp that was cooked decently. Not much in the way of flavour either. These were definitely frozen dumplings.

The Sui Mai were barely passable as well. With no shrimp whatsoever, these consisted of minced pork only. The texture was a little soft; but not completely a lost cause. The lack of any other ingredient made this a very one-dimensional tasting dumpling. Furthermore, they didn't do anything to make it look appetizing. Just pale pork, that's it. Remember when I mentioned about restaurant food that passes off as home-cooking? Well, the Black Bean Spareribs were a good example of that. With so much black bean sauce that the spareribs began taking on a shade of black. Furthermore, the ribs had the tenderness of cow hide. So basically, I was gnawing on shoe leather that was over-marinaded with salt.

Of course, whenever I go for Dim Sum (without people that are squeamish), I get the Bible Tripe. Now this was a decent dish. The tripe was soft while still having some chew and there was no gaminess at all. There was hits of ginger and green onion while exhibiting not a whole lot of salt. That maybe a good thing for people who don't like it too salty. For the kiddies, we got the Beef Congee. Well, it turned out to be for our daughter only since my son didn't really appreciate the plethora of minced beef. The best way to describe it is "home-cooking". It wasn't especially thick nor was it really that flavourful. Hey, that can be a positive since it means they didn't use a whole lot of MSG. They apparently didn't use a whole lot of meat tenderizer either since the beef was slightly gritty. As a backup dish of sorts, we got the Fried Rice Noodles with Beef since we know our son would eat it for sure. Well, when we got it, I was worried that he wouldn't touch it. You see, it was very dry. I must give them kudos for not making it too oily since that is usually the complaint about the dish. But it was lacking moisture so much that the noodles were hard. There was not a heck of a lot of flavour either. The one acceptable thing about the fried noodles was the ample amount of beef. It wasn't super tender while it wasn't exactly chewy either.

Another kid-friendly item was the Steamed BBQ Pork Buns. Unlike the ones we regularly see in a Cantonese Dim Sum establishment, the bun itself was something you'd find in a Shanghainese restaurant. I guess with a name like Peking Restaurant, it would be expected. So the "closed" bun was a bit stiffer than the fluffly "open" Cantonese bun. Now once we split the bun in half, it revealed lots of BBQ pork and I mean lots. It wasn't too fatty; yet it was predominantly sweet, maybe a bit too sweet. Lastly, we had the Loh Mei Gai or sticky rice steamed in lotus leaves. It was not really all that sticky; rather, it was on the mushier side. The large amount of ground pork filling probably contributed to the excess moisture that made the rice soggy. Moreover, I found the pork filling to quite oily too. It did taste alright though. Just a bit of savoury elements from the pork and flavour from the leaves seasoned the rice.

Alright, it is painfully obvious that the food here is marginal at best. It is surprising considering it is within the GVRD. Sub-par Chinese food can't really survive unless it is North American Chinese food. That type of Chinese food does have its clientele. The Dim Sum in general was very unsatisfying. Again, I feel bad being so blunt since it is a family-owned restaurant and I'm sure they are trying their best to earn a living. I don't want to negative for the purposes of being negative. However, I don't see the point in going out to eat and spending your own hard-earned money if one could probably do better cooking it at home. And honestly, I have made some of these items at home and not trying to sound arrogant, they were significantly better. But for some reason, the place has been here forever and people do eat here. So maybe I'm just too spoiled with good Chinese food.

The Good:
- Staff are inviting and friendly
- Inexpensive

The Bad:
- For authentic Chinese food, it is sub-par

La Patisserie (Vancouver)

The Chinese bakery. We all know the kind. BBQ Pork Buns, Pineapple Buns, Cocktail Buns and Egg Tarts are some of the familiar items in the display cases. The hallmark of this type of bakery is that you can get a lot for very little. Consider that most bakeries and pastry shops charge a pretty penny for baked goods, the Chinese bakery is a bargain. However, as the years go by, there seems to be more and more "chic" Chinese bakeries. Yup. You remember those dingy bakeries with burnt baking pans? Well, there are some of those left such as New Town in Chinatown; but it is increasingly clear that people are beginning to tolerate higher prices. Hence, a place like St. Germain can exist. Or an ol' favourite such as Maxim can reinvent itself and charge more for smaller (not as good as before) buns.

Of course this is all a lead in to La Patisserie. The name probably confuses more than it explains since it appears to be a French bakery in print. However, that is not even close. La Patisserie is your typical Chinese bakery with a few twists and a whole lot of high prices. If I weren't in the neighbourhood, I would've not even considered driving this far for pastries. After walking out of Red Star next door, I wandered into La Patisserie and immediately went into sticker-shock. Similarly, when looking over the prices at the MCL showroom, I was about to walk on out. But you know me and food... So I decided to pick up some items anyways.

Starting with the BBQ Pork Bun, I immediately noticed that the bun itself was airy and soft. In fact, it required very little chewing. The filling had a nice rich colour while being balanced between savoury and sweet. Furthermore, the BBQ pork was only slightly fatty. Much of the same could be said about the Pineapple Bun. Employing the same airy and soft dough, the bun was predictably light. The "pineapple" topping had a nice crusty quality to it and it totally messed up the table (which is a good thing). Normally, when I do go for Chinese buns (that didn't come out right), I never get the Coconut Custard Bun. However, the one here looked enticing and I just had to try it. I promised to only eat half and share the other half with Viv. Ultimately, I ended up eating all to myself. Yes, I don't like to share my buns! The little pockets of custard hidden within the twisted bun was a surprise in each bite. Nothing like a creamy surprise in a bun! Er... Yah... I really liked this one.

My daughter really loves "Gai Pai" or Chicken Pie, so I got it for her. Personally, I used to like it; but for some reason or another, I don't really eat it anymore. This particular one was jam-packed with chicken, ham and mushrooms in a thick sauce. Rather than a flaky crust, the Chinese version is sweet and dense. She seemed to like the pie. I am indifferent, it's just a chicken pie to me. Another favourite with the kiddies is the Egg Tart. Despite its plain Jane appearance, these tarts were very good. The tart shell was extremely flaky, making a mess everywhere. It wasn't too thick, which allowed for a good amount of the silky semi-sweet filling. We ate this warm and it was evident care was put into making this.

Lastly, I got another classic in the Curry Beef Pastry. These consists of curried ground beef and onions encased in puff pastry. Looking like a pizza pop, these buttery treats were crispy on the outside with a good amount of mild curry beef on the inside. Another solid offering. However, all this "quality" came at a price. In fact, try over $20.00 worth. Seeing how I struggle to spend over $10.00 anywhere else for Chinese bakery items, this is very expensive. Sure, the pastries were made with care and were in fact really good. However, I guess it is truly up to the individual if they think the price tag is too high or worth it in the long run.

The Good:
- Things are made with care
- Quality
- Buns have lots of filling (not what you think!)

The Bad:
- Expensive
- Limited choice