Bombay Joe's

*This restaurant is closed*

Another meeting in Ladner means another opportunity to seek out interesting eats. Now, that is easier said than done. Generally, diversity in Ladner is equivalent to a speck of pepper in a bowl of salt. Other than a few Japanese restaurants, there is only singular (if that) representation of other ethnic food. I've already tried the sole Vietnamese restaurant here, so I thought why not try the only Indian restaurant as well. Located in a new development in quaint Ladner Village, Bombay Joes is a little place that serves up Indian food with a twist. Fortunately, I had eating companions this time around in Snake Eyes and Surfer Girl. More food to try and a little less conspicuous for my picture-taking. Surfer Girl and I arrived first. Since there was not a whole lot of time before our meeting, we ordered the food and Snake Eyes would just have to eat it.

We started with a few appies with the first being the Samosa. Unlike the ones I normally snack on from the many places in Surrey, these looked more like turnovers. Appearances aside, they were pretty good. Like a turnover, the pastry was actually flaky as opposed to crispy. We liked the potato filling, it was far from bland being quite spicy. What really amped up the flavours was the wonderful tamarind sauce. It added a nice tart zing. For me, one item really stuck out on the menu - the Butter Chicken Poutine. Now, I went in with reasonable expectations. C'mon, it's an altered French-Canadian dish served in an Indian restaurant. Just think how Hong Kong-style cafes butcher Western food (in a good way that is... sometimes...). So the fries were your typical frozen starch covered variety (seemed like Costco to me) and the cheese was just plain ol' mozzarella. So what needed to bring this together was the butter chicken sauce itself. And in this case, it delivered. The sauce was not overly creamy while still exhibiting elements of wonderful fattiness. Moreover it had a nice spicy tang that was quite well-balanced. In the end, it was fun to eat; but I'd stick with a regular poutine. On that note, the Butter Chicken itself was equally good, except there was big chunks of tender chicken. I personally like this style of butter chicken where it is creamy; but not in a way that it becomes mild. There was a nice balance of tomato, cream and spiciness.

With every main entree, it comes with Roti. Normally, I much prefer naan since it is softer and more airy. Seeing how roti is unleavened, it is naturally more dense. However, I found the roti here to be just slightly dense. It was quite easy to eat and I didn't miss the naan really. Well, we did get an order of Naan just to compare though. For once, I would've done okay without the naan and just stuck with the roti. From its appearance, the naan looked "weak". It was pale and didn't exhibit much charring on the outside. Taking a piece to sample and it didn't get much better. It was indeed airy and almost fluffy; but that shouldn't be the predominant texture. It was too soft all around and needed more cooking on the exterior in a tandoor. I'm not sure if they have a tandoor on premises because the naan didn't look like it was prepared in one.

For our next main, we had the Lamb Korma. Normally, korma is one of the milder offerings and this one was no exception. It was so mild that not many of the usual flavours announced themselves. I'm not saying the korma wasn't good, in fact, it was more than acceptable. The lamb was mostly tender and not too gamy while the sauce was very creamy. It's just that none of the usual flavours such as the cashews jumped out at us. Lastly, I ordered the Cast Iron Chicken partly because it warned that it is "not for beginners". That almost seemed like an outright challenge! Apparently, in the description, it claims one must have a cast iron stomach to eat this spicy dish. Well, I hardly have a cast iron stomach; but I'm up to most spicy challenges. Looking much like a spicier version of chicken tikka, this offering was quite spicy. Now it wasn't blow-your-socks-off spicy; but I ended up eating it all since Surfer Girl and Snake Eyes backed off after the first bite. Not sure eating this entire dish was a good idea though since I had a hockey game later at night. Now I wouldn't want to pull a Luongo and take a "break" during the game... Well, to tell you the truth, it almost ended up that way. It really did a number on my stomach! TMI? Whatever the case, I really liked the spiciness. It wasn't spicy to the point that I couldn't taste the other flavours either, so this was a balanced hot dish. In fact, most of the food was pretty solid considering where this restaurant is located. Besides, there is no other Indian restaurant nearby, so there really is no comparison.

The Good:
- Some unique dishes
- Mostly good food
- Friendly staff

The Bad:
- It ain't cheap
- The place is extremely small

YEW Restaurant & Bar

*Restaurant is closed*

Once again, we were faced with finding a kid-friendly place to celebrate my mom's birthday. As mentioned many times, chain restaurants are not one of our preferred options. With the prices they charge these days, we might as well do some fine-dining or near fine-dining. Seeing how we had just visited EBO lately, the hotel restaurant seemed like a good idea. Of course, not are all made equal. There are some that exist merely to provide food and little else. So we really wanted to avoid those. Hence, we figured YEW at the Four Seasons would be a good bet. Think of it. One of the nicer hotels in town should in theory offer up a solid dining experience. I guess we'd just have to see if that would be true in reality. As we were just about to go, both my dad and son were not exactly feeling all that well. So we ended up to be a table of 4 rather than a table of 6. Darn. Less food = less pictures. Oh well, that just meant we had to eat more to make up for it. LOL...

As we were led to our table, it was very apparent that this was a kid-friendly restaurant. We could clearly see half of the tables were families. Excellent. Exactly what we had hoped for. In fact, much like EBO, the kids eat for free. Even better. When you have places such as Milestones charging $10.00 for their kid's meals, doing simple math, you quickly realize that it actually could cost more to eat there compared to places such as EBO and Yew. So remember my comment about eating more? Well, seeing how there was a combo price for all 4 appetizers from the cooked seafood bar, we got them all. We started with the Crab Cake, which was a fried ball of crab, cilantro and ginger. The balls were crispy with lots of fluffy crab meat. The sweet crab went well with the red pepper aioli. Next up was the Scallop Tempura with nori and a soy-chili dip. The tempura batter was light and crisp while the scallop itself was meaty. The soy dip was very light and only exhibited a moderate amount of spice. We were indifferent about this appie.

Our next dish was Calamari fried with capers and lemon. On the side was a smoked paprika aioli. Once again, there was good evidence that their deep-frying skills were good since the calamari was crispy. The squid itself was tender; but they could've let up on the batter. It was slightly too thick. The dip was a nice compliment to the calamari. It was smoky as advertised while not overpowering. The fried lemon was an interesting addition even though it wasn't really that good to eat. For our last appie, we had the Sauteed Prawns in garlic and chili finished with lemon and basil. It rested on a bed of fennel and squid ink. The prawns were cooked perfectly being crisp with a nice snap. There was a bit of spice and some smokiness. It was a tad on the salty side; but it couldn't be accused of being underseasoned. Not sure how the fennel or squid ink tied into this, but they were both interesting.

For our mains, Viv decided on the Seared Ahi Tuna with roasted little gem tomatoes, eggplant puree and cilantro chermoula. Although the fish was prepared nicely rare in the middle, the entire dish was far too salty. The exterior of the tuna was salty. The tomato was salty and the chermoula was salty. It would've been okay if only one item was salty since it could be balanced out by everything else. However, if every component on the plate is too aggressively seasoned, it becomes difficult to eat. My mom had the Surf & Turf consisting of beef tenderloin, butter poached lobster, cauliflower puree and sweet peas. She asked for medium-rare and it was closer to medium. The meat itself was super tender. Easy to cut and chew. The cauliflower puree was kinda bland while the peas were indeed sweet. The poached lobster was done perfectly. It was sweet and buttery with a fresh lobster snap - probably the best part of the dish.

For myself, I had the Duck which consisted of a roasted duck breast & crispy leg. It was served with braised endive, heirloom beets and an orange-star anise jus. I found the breast portion of the duck to be very tender and moist. It had a nice gaminess to it. The crispy leg was exactly that with nicely rendered skin and well-seasoned meat. The silky sauce was sweet with a hint of licorice from the star anise. The beets were a on the softer side while the endive suffered from over seasoning. It was just as salty as the items found of Viv's dish. Now for the most important meal of all... My daughter's Spaghetti! Hey, this is the reason we ate here in the first place. So as mentioned, kids eat free when accompanied by a paying adult. The spaghetti was fine. The noodles were cooked a little longer. I'm sure it was intentional for the kiddies. The fresh pasta sauce was good and my daughter enjoyed it.

At this point, we were thinking of dessert. I wasn't exactly sure what to order and how much. Then I noticed on that the desserts on their menu were tapas-style. Cool. Smaller portions which cost significantly less. $3.00 for one or $8.00 for 3. This way, we could try more without ordering too much. So we ended up sharing 6 desserts. I knew Viv was going to be skeptical of the idea of 6 desserts, so I ordered it while she was in the washroom. LOL. She had no choice! Since it was my mom's birthday, they also included a complimentary dessert for her. In fact, all of our desserts were on the house. So for our first dessert, we had the Lollipops consisting of white chocolate filled with matcha cheesecake. We liked how these were interactive and fun to eat. The cheesecake was actually quite good in texture and taste. I wasn't a huge fan of the meringue on the outside. I guess it had this Baked Alaska thing going on. We would've liked a more prominent matcha kick though. Next we had the Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulee with pineapple compote. This was really smooth and not overly sweet. We could taste the vanilla; but it was somewhat muted by the delicious sweet pineapple compote. We didn't mind though since it added a refreshing; yet sweet kick to the brulee. Personally, I would've liked a bit more torch action on the top.

Moving along, we had the Raspberry Parfait which was accompanied by lemon creme and hazelnut crumble. For a parfait, this was an interesting presentation. I found the deconstructed plating whimsical. However, call me a purist, I didn't feel like I was eating a parfait. Maybe that contributed to my indifference towards this dessert. It had all the components such as the fruit and cream; but I just wanted it all in a cup instead. Now dessert wouldn't be dessert without chocolate right? So naturally, I selected the Chocolate crunchy bar with candied hazelnuts and caramel sauce. This was a high-class candy bar. For me at least, the candied hazelnuts were the highlight of the dessert. The sweet crunch added the necessary texture to the smooth chocolate. I found the dessert as a whole not crazy sweet despite the notoriously sweet ingredients.

When we were presented with our selection of dessert tapas, we were a bit confused since the parfait didn't look like a parfait. Hence, we originally thought the Strawberries with whipped white chocolate ganache and coconut meringues was the parfait. Hey, it looked more like a parfait than the parfait itself! This was a light offering, particularly after the chocolate bar. Once again, the dessert wasn't excessively sweet. The strawberries and sauce was a nice contrast to the smooth rich ganache. The last dessert was the Egg Tart consisting of duck egg custard with ginger and sugar. This somewhat reminds me of a cross between a Chinese egg tart and steamed milk custard. I found the custard to be rich and full of depth. It could be partially attributed to the use of duck eggs since both the whites and yolks are richer. I could definitely taste the ginger which helped temper the sugar content. The tart shell itself was thin and slightly hard. All-in-all, a good tart.

The dessert tapas was a real treat since they were universally above-average and we could share them. We were also pretty pleased with most of our appies, especially since they were not expensive. However, there were some issues with the mains. There was far too much salt used in many of the items and that ruined what could've been a very good dish. After all, other than the steak, the proteins were cooked perfectly. A few tweaks and things will be alright. The fact that they are kid-friendly (with free kid's meals to boot) and are reasonably-priced, I am willing to do a return visit.

The Good:
- Kid-friendly (and they eat free too)
- Love the high ceiling and spaciousness of the dining room
- Service is attentive

The Bad:
- Most of our mains were overseasoned

Northern Tadka

*Restaurant is closed*

I was so impressed with my meal at Taste of Punjab that I was revving to do a return visit the very next week. Motoring down 96th, I was well on my way when I noticed another new restaurant... Yah, I got food ADD. Can't help it. So much so, I almost got whiplash from my sudden head jerk towards the right. Where the old Jim's Hideaway used to occupy, stands a new Indian restaurant. Okay, I know, I know. Much like Richmond needs another Chinese restaurant, we find another Indian restaurant in Surrey. Okay, before you lose interest and stop reading, stay with me here. I do concede that another post about an Indian restaurant in Surrey might sound repetitive; but there is the possibility of finding a gem. The new restaurant is Northern Tadka. Located in the same plaza as Mr. Pickwick's and Chicken World, it still hasn't completely rid itself of Jim's Hideaway. In fact, the entrance is still splattered with "Jim's" on the frosted glass.

If you are wondering why the place is called "Northern" Tadka, it is because the food served here is Northern Indian. Specifically from the Punjab region. Much like other ethnic cuisine, there are many regional cuisines that we aren't familiar with since it is easier to group it all into an "Indian", "Chinese", "Italian" and so on "restaurant". Fortunately for most, Northern Indian cuisine is the most prevalent in the GVRD. You know, the Butter Chicken, Tandoori Chicken and Aloo Golbi type stuff. Seeing how I can only eat so much (I do have my limits you know), I decided to visit this place 3 times before I wrote about it. For the first visit, I went for one of my favs being the Lamb Vindaloo. I am daring to put myself out there by saying that this was one of the best vindaloos I've had recently. The first thing that struck me was the heat. This was no wussy version. There was a kick of spice that made itself known and lingered for a bit. However, it did not overwhelm the rest of the flavours. Unlike some vindaloos, I could actually pick out some individual spices taste wise and visually. Of course, there was the signature tartness from the vinegar. The only thing that could've been better was the lamb itself, it was slightly tough. Included with the lunch combo was 2 pieces of Tandoori Chicken. It was aesthetically-pleasing with the usual red colour and nice charring. One thing I can't stand is dry tandoori chicken and I have to say that this was far from that. The exterior was flavourful and smoky while the chicken meat inside was actually tender. This was well-executed.

On my second visit, I went for the classic in the Butter Chicken. Arriving steaming hot and pleasing to the eye, I dunked the accompanying Naan into the sauce. I thought the sauce was well-balanced being creamy while not overly so. There was an obvious tomato component that did not intrude on the rest of the flavours. As for the naan, it was soft and warm with a nicely charred exterior. And for a third visit, I went for the Lamb Korma. Very much like the vindaloo, the sauce was slightly chunky. There was discernible pieces of cashews and what looked like paneer. However, to the best of my knowledge, there is no paneer in korma. So was it clumps of yogurt? Whatever the case, the "chunkiness" of the korma did not compromise the flavour. In fact, I found the entire dish to be well-balanced with nice hits of cream, nuttiness and a hint of spice. Personally, I would've liked it spicier; but that could be easily rectified by requesting it when ordering. The standard dessert for all of the lunch specials is Galub Jamun aka as the sugary sweet ball of death. For me, I'm not a huge fan of this since the sweetness level borders on instant diabetes. So not much to say about it. Otherwise, the many items I have tried on 3 separate visits have confirmed to me that Northern Tadka has some pretty solid eats. Prices are reasonable and the people are very friendly.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Reasonably-priced
- Pretty good service

The Bad:
- Restaurant is pretty large, not sure if the wait staff can do adequate coverage when busy

Crystal Elephant Range Restaurant

*Restaurant is now closed*

Fear. We all experience it. As much as we try to fake it, there are things in this world that make us squirm. For my, skydiving, bungee jumping, driving along #3 Road and parking at Yaohan would certainly fit into that category. Another fear of mine relates to eating. Predictable, I know. Whenever, I see fusion food, it makes me uncomfortable. However, there are times where the food surprises me and everything is good. Now fusion is one thing; but how about combining completely different cuisines at one restaurant. Try Italian and Thai... ??? Yah really. When I spotted Crystal Elephant Range and noticed the strange combination, it elicited ideas of driving away fast. Really fast. But wait. I need to give it a chance don't I? What is the worst that can happen? Fine, I needed to see for myself. Situated in the old location of Tony's Pizza and Pasta, it is very much like the old restaurant, except they added Thai food (and some Chinese and hamburgers... ???). Okay, after looking at the menu, I got a clearer picture of the place. It turns out that Tony used be at the Chili Club in Vancouver, so that's where the Thai food comes into play. As for the Italian, Maria does that part. So it's like 2 restaurants in one.

Okay. Since I wanted to give this place a fair shake, I had already planned in my mind to visit it at least 3 times before I wrote this post. For my first visit, I decided to go for something out of left field and choose the Wonton Soup. And you know what? It was not half-bad. Consisting of pork and shrimp wontons, I ate the whole thing without much incident. The pork had a nice bounce texture and it was well-seasoned. The broth was not exactly a traditional wonton soup base. Rather it had napa cabbage in it. Once again, it was fine being more on the sweet side. For reasons unknown, I went for their Thai lunch special which was the Sweet & Sour Chicken served with rice and a spring roll. Well, I really do not have much to say about it other than it was a sweet & sour chicken dish with tender chicken slices and fresh crisp veggies. Not something I would normally order, so I do have a bias against it. Ultimately, I was indifferent.

On my second visit a couple of days later, I went for the Chicken Satay. Wow, for $5.95, this was a very huge dish. The picture doesn't do it justice because the skewers of chicken were really, really big. They used dark meat with the skin on and that resulted in an excellent product. The meat was moist and well-seasoned with curry. The accompanying coconut curry dip was fantastic. Slightly sweet with a nice kick, this had the right consistency and clung to each piece of meat perfectly. Very good satay. Of course that wouldn't be enough food right? So I got the Pad Thai as well. Now if you are looking at the picture and freaking out, I don't blame you. It certainly didn't look like any pad Thai I've ever had before. No preserved turnip, no pressed tofu and really no tamarind or enough spice. Why you might ask? Well, I have the answer straight from the chef's mouth. You see, even after my first visit, the proprietors chatted me up. Being one of the few Cantonese-speaking customers in the area, I guess I was "refreshing". So I discussed with Tony the reasons why the pad Thai came out the way it did. Once again, it was due to the clientele in the area. They don't like spice, they don't like tamarind, they don't like fish sauce etc... Hence, the pad Thai resembles more of a Pad See-Ew instead. With that in mind, it was pretty good in that respect, it just wasn't a pad Thai in the traditional sense. With that being said, Tony would happily make a real pad Thai if one wanted it.

As if this wasn't enough food to write a post, I went back for a third visit with the full intention of trying out a pasta as well. Hold a moment though. I won't only eat one item. That would be a waste of a visit; thus, I started with the Tom Yum Goong. First of all, like many of the items I've tried so far, there is a twist of sorts. The usual items were there - fish sauce, galangal, lime, cilantro, lemongrass, shrimp and mushrooms. That made for a flavourful, if not a tad salty broth. However, the overall flavour profile was altered with the addition of green and red peppers (and some napa cabbage...). I wouldn't say it was a bad per se; but it was not very traditional tasting as a result. As for my pasta, I got the Spaghetti with meat sauce. Nothing fancy nor modern; but it was solid. The pasta was al dente and there was just enough sauce to coat the noodles. It was slightly tart with a touch of sweetness. It could've used a bit more salt; but with the addition of Parmesan, it alleviated that issue. So what has 3 visits taught me about this "fusion" restaurant? Well, the people are very nice and so are the prices. I honestly can't say it is necessarily authentic; but then again, what are the demographics out here anyways? Hence, they don't really need to be authentic since the clientele may not go for it. On the other hand, you could ask them to make it more "authentic" if you prefer. However, if you do not have lofty expectations, it does the job.

The Good:
- Generous portions
- Inexpensive
- Friendly people

The Bad:
- Authentic it is not

Red Star Seafood Restaurant

"Let's go for dinner at Red Star", exclaimed my parents out of nowhere. Okay, that may not sound much like a new idea since we all know that Red Star is one of the best Chinese restaurants in Vancouver. However, with my parents at least, this was somewhat of a shocking declaration. You see, they have been really good customers of Victoria Seafood Restaurant for many, many years. As such, they do not really deviate from the usual very often. Yet, with my constant praises regarding Red Star finally got to them. I do believe they are actually open to going to somewhere other than Victoria for dinner. No offense against Victoria. They do serve up some good Dim Sum (albeit expensive); but their dinner is not really up to snuff in relation to their prices. I think they realize this since they are now charging 20% for their food at the moment. Okay, enough about Victoria, onto Red Star.

Alright, lemme get this out of the way right now. For those who want to point out that I just did the Foodie Feast which featured Red Star, I do not expect any preferential treatment and do not want free food. In fact, I made a reservation not in my name. Hence, they didn't even know I was eating there until part way through. And yes, we paid for our meal; but they did give us 10% off. Also, some of the pictures are from a previous visit since they look much better (due to lighting, not the actual final product). So there, enough with the disclaimers... Onto the food! We started with the Peking Duck (2 courses). One thing that you'll immediately notice is the relatively thinner layer of fat with the Peking Duck. The reason for this is that the duck is specifically raised for Red Star. Hence, the skin will be more meaty; rather than fatty. Still not healthy; but a bit better nonetheless. The second course of Peking Duck was the Duck Lettuce Wrap. That's what they do with the rest of the duck meat once the skin has been carved. In some instances, some restaurants offer a third course consisting of a duck bone soup or a thick soup with duck meat. The lettuce wrap was prepared really well. The components stayed crunchy with no residual liquid at the bottom of the plate. A clear indication of enough wok heat (or wok hay).

One dish I wanted my parents to try was the Modern Fried Rice which employs wild rice rather than the standard white rice. Added into the mix are chicken, celery, egg, crab meat and compoy. This is no ordinary rice in terms of ingredients and price. What I like most about this fried rice is the texture. Unlike regular white rice, wild rice is chewier and does not clump up. This results in a drier fried rice that has plenty of texture. Add in the premium ingredients and there you have a CRA winning dish. My dad particularly liked it since it was "healthier". If any Chinese food can be considered healthier, I guess it is a bonus. So I guess it was fitting that our next dish was not exactly a low-calorie item. Typically, Peking Pork Chops are fatty and deep-fried. These were pretty much that; however, these were done properly. The pork was tenderized to the point it was very easy to chew while still retaining a meat texture. The sauce itself the right thickness where it clung to each pork chop without leaving a watery mess at the bottom of the plate. The flavour was well-balanced with a good combination of tart, savoury and sweet. A well-executed dish.

Duck skin and fried pork chops, not necessarily part of a low-calorie diet. Hence we got some fish. I guess it didn't hlep that it was fried as well. The Black Cod Hot Pot consisted of several large pieces of cod with whole garlic cloves, shiitake mushrooms and roast pork. The fish was cooked perfectly. It was moist, flaky and stay intact mostly when picked up. Just the right amount of starch-thickened sauce coated each piece. It was garlicky and rich. For our last dish, we got the Pea Shoots with sea cucumber, shiitake mushrooms and goose webs. The pea shoots were really fresh and high quality. They were cooked perfectly being tender while still having a crunch. I liked how there wasn't a pool of water at the bottom of the plate. This is a clear indication they did not water blanch it first. Furthermore, that also means there was good wok heat as well. The one thing that could've been better with this dish was the preparation of the webs and sea cucumber. I found them a smidgen underdone. Call it personal taste, I like them to be on the softer side. Other than that, the meal as a whole was very good. While we were there, the place was packed from start to finish. This is no coincidence. Compared to meals I've had recently at Kirin City Square and Victoria, there is no contest as to which one is better.

The Good:
- Properly executed food
- High-quality ingredients
- One of the few restaurants in this class to have their own in-house BBQ

The Bad:
- Expensive
- Really cramped seating