Pho An

I often wonder if we are really scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to late night eats in East Van. Yes, there are many options left in Downtown and Richmond; but it appears not everyone is open to heading to those destinations. Hence, we resorted to visiting a completely random Vietnamese joint on Kingsway. I honestly wouldn't have known this place existed or that it was open late if I hadn't driven by it one early morning. I took a mental note and saved it for an emergency. So much like breaking the glass to pull the fire alarm, I did so by suggesting we eat at Pho An.

The first thing I noticed when we arrived was the brightness of the place. Unlike many Pho joints in town, I didn't have a problem with lighting for my pictures. That's good too. Didn't want to use the flash. Drawing attention to myself during late night eats can sometimes be unnerving. Gordo, Milhouse and Sweet Tooth all ordered Salad Rolls to start. They felt bad for me and let me try some. Aw... such nice people! Sadly, these rolls were a complete fail. From the lack of ingredients (they only used shrimp and lettuce) to the entirely too loose wrap-job, there was nothing much good about them. No one could even keep them together in order to use the dip. At the very least, the dip was a good balance between hoisin and peanut.

For myself, I settled on the Pho Dac Biet; however, the picture is of Gordo's bowl of beef and meatballs. I got lazy and just took one picture of the Pho. As you can see, the bowl of noodles is somewhere in between meager and sparse. Sure, the price ain't expensive; but the amount of meat and noodles was not exactly overwhelming. The meats were good though, sliced thinly and easy to chew. The beef broth itself was on the lighter side. I didn't get too much meat flavour. It was on the sweeter side.

Milhouse decided to do the BBQ Pork & Spring Roll Vermicelli Bowl. I should've ordered this instead. So much more food at roughly the same price as my Pho. He remarked that the meat was tender and well-seasoned. The spring roll was pretty good despite the use of a wheat wrapper. Pho An is pretty much a place of convenience. It's open late and when there is not much in the way of choice, it fits the bill. However, there are much better places for Vietnamese food during regular hours.

The Good:
- Open late
- Friendly owners

The Bad:
- Food is mediocre
- Pho is meager in size

Taste of Punjab

While we were at Frasers Bistro, I was tipped off about Taste of Punjab out in Whalley. Well, it really wasn't new to me since I pass by the place often. However, I merely brushed it off as another Indian restaurant in Surrey. However, Mary and Jeremy kept raving about their food, especially the spinach-stuffed naan. Okay. Fine. I will have to see for myself. And I did go all-by-myself... I tried to get Mijune to go; but she is apparently a very busy woman and all. From her tweets, it appears she is always eating. Go figure eh? Busy with 5 Guys in fact. She apparently likes 5 Guys more than In-N-Out. Well, imagine the tweet I did in response...

Anyways, I ended up eating alone and went for the Lamb Biryani. This particular version was thoroughly mixed with peppers, onions, tender lamb and spices. I asked for spicy and it delivered in that respect. I wouldn't say it was tongue-numbing; but it might be too much for some people. Despite being spicy, I still could taste the other components. I thought the rice was perfect in texture as it was chewy in an al dente type of way. I really enjoyed this dish. As a side, I got the Spinach & Cheese Naan. This was also very good. I found the naan to be warm and soft with the right combination of spinach and cheese for flavour. I liked how the filling did not compromise the texture of the naan. However, I would've liked the exterior of the naan to be a bit more charred.

Seeing how this visit didn't give me enough of a sample to adequately make up my mind, I went again. But, Mijune finally decided to join me and that allowed us to order a bit more food. She is awesome to eat with since she has a bottomless pit of a stomach. So we decided to go with our server's recommendation of the Chicken Jalfrazie which is a combination of boneless chicken marinated with fresh ground spices sauteed with tomatoes, peppers and onions. From the colour and smell, it was obvious that there was the usual Indian spices of turmeric, coriander and cumin. It was moderately spicy which gave the entire dish a yellow curry-type of flavour profile, except the other components added an almost "Chinese" slant to it. You see, Chinese curry is yellow and has peppers and onions in it; thus the similarity. This was a good dish, especially with the tender chicken; but it wasn't remarkable. In addition, we shared the Dinner Combination that included Lamb Curry, Butter Chicken, Dal Makhani, Basmati Rice, Raita, Kheer, Saag and Tandoori Chicken. I thought the lamb was extremely tender, to the point it required very little effort to chew. It had a richness to it and the usual Indian spices were present (such as cumin and coriander); but it had very little impact. I found the butter chicken to be somewhat flat. The sauce was a bit thin and the flavours to be muted. I neither found it creamy nor tomatoey. It was somewhere in the middle, which is not necessarily a bad thing if people like that. The chicken itself was in very large chunks which kept it tender. I really enjoyed the lentils. They were creamy and there was no shortage of flavour. The same could be said about the saag. Again, the familiar Indian ingredients resulted in a creamy spinach concoction which was delicious. Too bad there was no paneer. I love paneer! The one thing that kinda brought the whole combo down was the tandoori chicken. To be fair, it was the breast and we were expecting it to be dry; but it was really dry. Furthermore, it wasn't really all that flavourful either. I loved the colour and the slight char; but it didn't translate into any impactful flavour.

We also had a side of regular Naan and as you can see, there wasn't significant charring. That in itself didn't make the naan bad; but I just personally like it with more colour and slight burnt portions (sorta like Neapolitan pizza). Now, with all my criticisms about the food, you might think I don't like the place. On the contrary, I still think the food is more than acceptable. I particularly like the friendly people who run the place. However, with that being said, there is still plenty of choices in Surrey for good Indian food.

The Good:
- Friendly staff
- Extensive menu
- Clean and comfortable

The Bad:
- Food is a bit hit and miss (you need to know what to order)

Latitude

*Now El Camino*
Over a month ago, I quickly did a same-day post about my meal at Mis Trucos. Was it because the food blew me away and I just had to write about it quickly? Well, not really. Although the food was not bad, that was not my inspiration. Rather, it was the playoff series with Chicago that got me going. Believe it or not, Viv and I were at dinner missing out on Game 6. Turns out that I got home in time to see the Canucks lose in OT. That capped off 2 blowout loses including the game prior. They did come back to win Game 7 in dramatic fashion thanks to Alex Burrows. Now here we are in the Stanley Cup Finals and after building a 2 games to none lead, the Canucks got their lunch handed to them via an 8-1 drubbing. No matter, it's only one game. A loss is a loss. Now, it is time to move on. I have confidence that they will return to their winning ways and that is why I had to post this in a relatively expeditious manner (however, they go on to lose again 4-0 in game 4... deja vu anyone?). Therefore, this post had to go up now since I really don't want to talk about this when the playoffs are already over! So, after the depressing loss, Bear, Milhouse, Emilicious and Hot Chocolate met up with me at Latitude for some after game eats. It was normally our softball night and we've been so conditioned to eat out afterwards, there is always and empty feeling if we don't.

We ended up at Latitude since it was somewhat central to everyone and it wasn't Asian. Yah, we're a bit tired of the Asian food thing; but that is almost an inevitability in Vancouver. There really are so many more Asian food options compared to everything else. Somewhat removed from all the "action" along Main Street, Latitude serves up mainly Latin-inspired food in a hip dining space. We decided to mostly share everything except for the Arepas, which are small round white corn pockets filled with choice of ingredients. Not conducive to sharing, we ended up having one each. I went for the Chorizo with avocado and confit tomatoes. This was a messy proposition. Everything was falling and dripping out. I didn't mind though, it had a nice kick from the meaty chorizo and a cooling effect from the smooth avocado and tart tomatoes. I found the corn "pancake" to be dense while still easy to eat and crisp on the outside. Emilicious had the Wild Prawns with arugula and smoked paprika mayo. It was bursting with crunchy prawns and mayo which made it as messy as my arepas. She really liked the smokiness and thought everything worked well together. Milhouse and Bear both had the Braised Beef with black bean, queso blanco and tomatillo salsa. They seemed to like it; but didn't say much about them. Hot Chocolate had the Smokey Pulled Pork with feta, pickled fennel and jalapeno. She as well thought it was pretty good with a good combination of flavours.

After the arepas, we shared a few items starting with the Baja Fish Tacos served with cabbage, chipotle creama, pickled sweet onion and red salsa. I really like the fact the fish was fried rather than being grilled. This way, the taco was much less wet and the crispiness of the fish added texture. Personally, I would've liked more heat in the taco; but in the end, it was flavourful enough with the pickled onions. Next up was the Calamares which was served with a citrus aioli. The squid was fried pefectly with a light crisp exterior while being tender on the inside. The batter itself was quite mild while the aioli didn't add much in the way of flavour. For me at least, it went so much better with the smoked paprika mayo that accompanied the Chickpea Fries. The flavour of the paprika mayo was more intense and impactful, which in my opinion helped with the flavour-challenged calamari. The chickpea fries themselves were not as crispy as I would've imagined. Rather, they were "cardboard-like". Personally, that was a texture that I did not enjoy; but again, chickpeas have their limitations as to their texture. I did find the inside to be quite good though. It was well-seasoned and fluffy. We also shared the Chicken Wings "Anillo de Fuego" because it was on special. Hey, we'd never pass up a daily special! Initially, we were expecting hot wings and nothing else; but we were pleasantly surprised that their house hot sauce which was quite good. There was a nice balance of smoky, sweet and tang which really amped up the perfectly fried chicken wings. And about those chicken wings, they were big, moist and juicy. There were 12 of them and it sure looked more than 1 pound. Strangely, a few nights prior, we had "1 pound" of wings and there were only 8 (and roughly the same size too) at the Thirsty Penguin.

After all the appies, we shared 2 entrees. The first was the Boneless Beef Shortrib served with Colombian papas chorreados and onion gravy. Despite being fork tender, the shortrib was dry and stringy. It was okay still. Just not as moist as we expected. The gravy was alright. I found it to be slightly sweet with only a modest amount of salt. This was a very mild tasting dish. The papas were pretty good being super soft on the inside while nicely roasted on the outside. Interestingly, we could all see the cheese on the potato; but it didn't have much of an impact. An okay plate of food, if not unmemorable. Lastly, we had the Paella de Mariscos consisting of smoky tomato saffron arborio stew, prawns, mussels, fish and chorizo. We found the rice to be slightly overcooked; but it wasn't short on flavour. Plenty of smoky and savouriness from the chorizo with a touch of the sea. We didn't detect any strong saffron essence though. For $20.00, we felt this was a tad expensive considering the size of the dish (although it did have a decent amount of ingredients).

By virtue of having Bear at the table, he exerted his sphere of influence which resulted in Emilicious and I sharing an order of Tres Leches Cake. As the name suggests, it is cake that is soaked in 3 types of milk - evaporated, condensed and cream. We both thought this cake was a winner. Prepared correctly, the cake was not soggy despite the generous soaking of milk. It had a nice consistency and texture while being only slightly sweet due to the condensed milk. However, what really put the cake over the top was the smashed candied walnuts. It added another layer of flavour as well as a crunch. Good textural and flavour contrast.

Milhouse and Bear ended up ordering the same dessert being the Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding. Man, they make it hard for me! Ordering the same thing again!!! Anyways, I gave the bread pudding a try and I found it to be rather dry. Furthermore, I didn't get much in the way of banana. In fact, the chocolate flavour was not really all that intense either. At the very least, that resulted in a modestly sweet dessert, which I prefer. Although I really liked the Tres Leches Cake much more. Overall, it was a fairly decent meal at relatively reasonable prices. As always, there were some highlights and some not so memorable items. That's normal for any restaurant. Latitude is a decent option for late night eats and drinks along Main Street. Maybe we all need a drink after the the back-to-back deja vu loses to Boston. Hey, they came back to win the Chicago series, so you never know. Keep the faith, that's all we can do anyways.

The Good:
- Decent drinks
- Food is not bad
- Hip interior

The Bad:
- Very limited menu
- Very limited space inside

Argo Cafe

For the longest time, I've had Argo Cafe on my "to eat" list. Problem is, it is only open during breakfast and lunch on weekdays. Secondly, for the times I could go, no one wanted to go with me... especially Rich Guy. Yes, his disdain for dives is almost legendary. Leave it up to Vandelay to save the day. Not only is he a willing participant, he suggested we go. So with this opportunity, we made it out to this lunch time favourite on Ontario Street. The place has been around since 1954; but in 2004, Chef Denis Larouche and brother in-law Kirby Wong transformed the menu into something I would call affordable gourmet diner food. Now, this is not necessarily a foreign concept anymore with the newer joints such at The Red Wagon. However, Argo Cafe has to be one of the pioneers of the concept in the GVRD.

The regular menu is pretty much standard with items such as burgers, pasta and sandwiches; however, the daily menu is where it's at. With almost gourmet items at reasonable prices, this is the main draw here. For myself I went for the Argo Plate. It included a soup, which was Turkey & Beef Borscht. Slightly tart, somewhat sweet and full of beets, this was a pretty typical non-sour cream version of borscht. I thought it was pretty appetizing. I only wished it was served a hotter temperature. Vandelay ended up with the other soup of the day - Creamy Tomato Dill Barley & Chicken Soup. As advertised, it was creamy. Not really all that tomatoey though. I could barely detect any dill and all of the ingredients were in little bits. Despite all this, I still thought the soup was pretty good.

Now back to my Argo Plate. It was basically a mix grilled that acted as a sampler. From left to right, we have the lamb chop with peppercorn sauce, meatloaf, beef short rib and coconut curry chicken. Served on the side was mashed potatoes and fresh veggies. The highlight of the dish was surprisingly the chicken. It was moist and the coconut curry was fantastic. The curry was well-balanced with rich coconut milk and mild spice. Very aromatic and tasty. I also liked the short rib, it was fork tender and the accompanying gravy had a nice richness to it. I liked the lamb chop; but it could've stood to be more rare. As for the meatloaf, I found it crumbly and kinda strange. As you can see, the veggies were vibrant and not overcooked. Vandelay went for the Spaghetti Carbonara. It was very creamy, thick and smooth. No egg clumps anywhere. Also, there was just the right amount of baconess. Moreover, the noodles were not overcooked (not quite al dente either). This was a solid carbonara.

Lastly, we shared a Boneless Beef Short Rib Sandwich topped with wasabi, cheddar cheese and balsamic reduction. Just like the short rib in the Argo plate, the meat was super moist and tender. I thought the "horseradish-like" effect of the wasabi added a unique kick to the sandwich. In a strange way, it complimented the tart/sweetness of the balsamic reduction. This cut the heaviness of the short rib. I would've preferred if they used something more creative than a hamburger bun though. Although the food didn't necessarily blow us away, it was thoroughly solid at a reasonable price. Definitely a little gem in a hidden location. It won't be for long though. It'll be featured on the Food Network in the fall.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Interesting menu items
- Got that cool divey thing going on

The Bad:
- For those who don't like dives...
- Can get busy (which is good for them)

Countryside Chinese Restaurant

We all know where to find great Shanghainese food here in the GVRD - in Richmond. I'm sure you're waiting for the Richmond punchline right about now; however, there is really nothing to joke about here. Indeed, if you wanted great Xiao Long Bao and the sort, Richmond is money. Take your pick from Shanghai River, Shanghai Wonderful, Top Shanghai, Dinesty (technically a Taiwanese restaurant), Chen's and No. 1 Shanghai. Now, if you wanted to find good Shanghainese food elsewhere in the lower mainland, it is really a crap shoot. If I had to pick the best of the bunch, it would be Lin in Vancouver.

Now when it comes to Burnaby, we are left with only a few options including Tasty Village and Xu's (formerly Wang's). Well, there is one more that I know of and it is barely in Burnaby. Located on Edmonds, Countryside is not exactly a true Shanghainese restaurant; but it indeed serves Shanghainese dishes. It used to be a different restaurant around 5 years ago; however the name escapes me. So on a Sunday morning, we loaded the kiddies into the car and headed off to for some grub. I know this has no bearing on the food; but the back parking lot and the side street are really sad looking. It just has this "you-better-worry-about-the-car" look to it. I didn't really care though. That's what insurance is for. Well, that and I was hungry. Food trumps safety anytime right? I think I'll never be able to talk Rich Guy into trying this place out...

So of all things, we started with the Salty Donut. Sure, it goes well with the sweet soy milk that Viv ordered; but the real reason we ordered it was that the kiddies love it. The thing was quite crispy; yet at the same time really dense and chewy. Kudos for making their own, too bad it was not exactly good either. We also got a bowl of the Chicken Noodles for the kiddies as well. This was a substantial amount of noodles and tender chicken meat. There was so much chicken, it was enough for 3 bowls at Northern Delicacy. It's too bad the soup base was completely bland. It was as if they used the residual flavour from boiling the chicken meat (maybe it was?). For ourselves, Viv and I got the Ja Jeun Mein (dry noodles with meat sauce). I have to say this was a really dark looking meat sauce on top. What made it strange was the flavour. From the looks of it, we didn't expect it to be super sweet, which it turned out to be. It was almost like eating noodles with a candy sauce on top. We would've much preferred a much more savoury sauce with a bit of kick. On a positive note, the noodles were al dente.

Continuing on the carbfest (typical of Shanghainese food), we got the Green Onion Pancake Roll with Sliced Beef Shank. As evidenced in the picture, the pancake was far too thick and doughy. In addition, there was not enough hoisin sauce. To me, it felt like eating plain undercooked dough. This was an extremely poor attempt. Hey, a meal like this cannot be without the Xiao Long Bao right? Well, it almost turned out to be since the menu didn't really have the proper description in both Chinese and English. I had to resort to asking verbally if they had it. Well, in all honesty, I could've done without them. The dumpling skin was far too thick and at least one XLB was punctured. There was only a modest amount of soup inside and it was bland as well as the meat.

Lastly, we had the Potstickers which were the Taiwanese version (being long and narrow). I found these to be a bit greasy; yet at the same time, cooked perfectly with a crispy bottom. Unlike the XLBs, the pork filling was very flavourful being sweet and somewhat savoury. However, there was far too much onion, which completely dominated the flavour profile. Viv, who loves onions, didn't enjoy the taste. The food as a whole is probably on the bad side of average. It's too bad really since this is an honest-to-goodness family operation. I was hoping for more; but I can't sugar-coat it. Maybe I'll come back for dinner, the table next to us had some pretty good looking dishes.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Friendly server (only one though)
- Rear parking lot (scary though)

The Bad:
- Food is pretty average
- Tight seating arrangements

Flame Stone Grill

*Now Closed*

Cheap eats. When we look at this from a Vancouver perspective, it usually involves eating at a Chinese greasy spoon. Wait. To be fair, I could throw in Bon's Off Broadway, The Famous Warehouse and joints like that. Better yet, let's just head to Prime Time Chicken... However, what if I were to ask of a place where you can get cheap eats in a non-sketchy environment? Well, I found such a place in X-Site out on Hastings. Most of their items around and under $10.00. In fact, the food is more than passable too. Consider their daily features are under $8.00 and you really have a deal. Think of it. You can't possibly get that kinda pricing at any of the chain restaurants. So when I heard that X-Site had 2 sister restaurants, I knew there were some food adventures to follow. The 2 restaurants are LA Grill in Richmond and Flame Stone Grill in Port Moody.

Seeing how much I love driving to Richmond, we went to Port Moody instead. In fact, we took the whole family including the grandparents. When we walked into the restaurant, they sure seemed to fit in since most of the restaurant was occupied by seniors. You know the food is a good deal when there are a bunch of seniors finishing up their meal at 6:00pm. Seeing how there is no kid's menu here, we ended up getting an order of Garlic Cheese Bread and Chicken Strips for the kiddies. The best thing about the cheese bread was the bread itself. It was thick, soft and crispy on the outside. I personally would've liked more garlic flavour (more spread in this case) and for to have the cheese melted/burnt a bit more. Normally, chicken strips in most restaurants are the frozen Sysco-type. Nothing wrong with that other than being slightly generic. The ones here were house-made with chicken tenders from the breast meat. They were fried up perfectly with the meat being moist with well-seasoned batter.

For myself, I started with a Clam Chowder. When it arrived, I was surprised at how big it was. Not only was the bowl really large, the soup was filled to the brim. If I had to describe this clam chowder, I would say it most resembles the type you'd find at an Asian-run fish 'n chip joint. Neither creamy nor clammy, this was more of a flour-thickened soup than anything. For a "cream" soup, this was acceptable, it just ain't a clam chowder. While I was looking through the menu, I was not really in the mood for a burger. You see, this would be the 3rd burger I would've had in the last week. Kinda boring and not really all that healthy. The reason I ended up with the Havarti Burger was directly related to having a bit of diversity for this meal. In the end, it wasn't a bad decision since the burger was pretty respectable for the price. The beef patty was cooked with a nice char and it wasn't overly dry. Lots of cheese and 2 perfectly crisp bacon strips made it a solid burger. I like that they serve boiled potatoes with sour cream rather than fries. It is a change of pace from the regular.

My dad went for the Blackened Salmon and it was very much like the dish Viv had last time at X-Site. Once again, there is a decent amount of food for the price. The salmon was nicely prepared. It was moist and flaky. I would've preferred some more spice though. Viv decided to try the special of the day being BBQ Chicken and Beef Rib. In the end, she wished she didn't. The chicken leg was dry and the BBQ sauce was weak. It exhibited very little smokiness and tang being mostly sweet. The beef rib was moist in some parts; yet it was mostly dry and tough. The beans were okay though, they had a rich sweetness to them. For my mom, she had the 6 oz NY Steak. She asked for it be medium-rare closer to the rare side. And it came out exactly as such. It was seared nicely and super tender. A really good steak that would probably cost double the price anywhere else. It came with the same rice, potatoes and green salad as the salmon with the addition of garlic bread. Usually, the steak comes with a glaze; but my mom chose for it to be served on the side. I ate half of the steak and didn't feel it needed any more seasoning. It was meaty and full of flavour.

Alright. Flame Stone, much like X-Site won't necessarily out duel the chain restaurants in terms decor, ambiance or even overall food execution (however, some dishes will surprise you). However, if you consider the prices and portion sizes, many concerns can be overlooked. If you take advantage of their daily specials, there are not many places that can beat the value that this place offers.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Food is surprisingly decent
- Large portions

The Bad:
- Food won't win any culinary awards