Brit's Landing

*Now Salty's*

Sometimes, when there is a location where restaurants come and go like Canuck bandwagon jumpers, one has to be nervous. After all, why do restaurants not succeed here? That would be case of Brit's Landing. This is the third version of a fish 'n chip joint in the last couple of years. At first, it was the longtime tenant, the Sea Shanty. Then it became the Dock House and shortly afterwards, what we see now as Brit's Landing. Apparently, there are new owners. With some subtle renovations, the interior is still mostly the same. In fact, the lady who served me is the same as before. So at the very least, they kept the staff.

When it comes to fish 'n chips, there are not many choices in North Delta. We have Ocean Ave, Saturday's and if we stretch it a bit, Mr. Pickwick's. I've been to them all and Ocean Ave is the best of the bunch by far. Saturday's and Mr. Pickwick's cannot even be called fish 'n chips in my opinion. So lucky for me, it happened to be All-You-Can-Eat Wednesday on my visit. Not that I was that hungry; but the AYCE price was even cheaper than their regular menu. To change it up a bit, I went for their AYCE Fish, Shrimp and Chips for $15.00 (AYCE Fish 'n Chips is $12.00). When my order arrived, there was more than enough to feed a hungry person. In order to eat more, one would have to be really hungry. I started with the fried shrimp first and they were actually quite good. Within the crunchy breading, there was cold-water shrimp. Although, I did find the cocktail sauce to be too sour.

The fresh-cut chips were hot and crunchy. It was a little on the dry side; but not overly so. The cod fillet was large and flaky. It was fried up crispy on the outside and wasn't too oily. The batter was pretty minimal. It did start to get slightly soggy on the bottom of the piece of fish though. Yet, that really didn't bother me that much. I found the tartar sauce to be acceptable. It was on par with places such as C Lover's and Pajo's. So all-in-all, it was a pretty satisfying AYCE meal even though I didn't put in a second order. I'm still not convinced that the food is significantly different from the previous place, if at all. However, that is not a bad thing really since the food was decent the last time around. Brit's Landing does the job for a reasonable price. I would say it ranks a very close second to Ocean Ave (in terms of North Delta that is...)

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Food is what you'd expect, no more, no less

The Bad:
- Batter on fish could've been more crisp
- Nit-picking here... the cocktail sauce needs improvement

Ogenki Ramen

Ramen ramen everywhere, especially along Robson and over there. We have good, bad and fakes, why oh why, are people in Vancouver so baked? Wait, scratch the last comment, that has nothing to do with food... or does it? Anyways, for some reason or another, Ramen fever has taken over Vancouver in the past couple of years and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. Take Benkei for instance. It grew from one location to 4 in one year. It is true most of the best ramen joints reside along the Robson corridor; however, we are increasingly seeming a trend of ramen shops far way from the epicentre. Places like Menya, Q Go, G-Men, Takano and Kawawa are either in Vancouver or the burbs. Now a relatively new place has opened up next to its next door sushi neighbour. Ogenki Ramen boasts a Japanese chef who has been at the business for over 20 years. However, the place is clearly not Japanese-owned. This was quite evident when I tried ordering a Chashu Rice and the server did not know what that was. She actually had to go to the kitchen to ask!

Okay, with the authenticity of the place out of the way, Uncle Willy and I got down to ordering some grub. We started with the Gyoza which was a sign of things to come... They seemed to have almost "deep-fried" the darn things because it was browned in places where it shouldn't have been. The result was a very greasy dumpling that was not even all the crispy on the bottom. Furthermore the filling was skimpy and one-note in flavour. Remember the Chashu Rice? Well, the server eventually figured out what it was and I probably wished she hadn't. The rice itself wasn't bad per se being chewy while moist. However, the chashu was not right. The edges looked like it had "microwave-damage". It was hard, discoloured and dry. So very wrong. Furthermore, the sauce was a very sweet teriyaki which didn't go with the rice nor meat.

Uncle Willy had selected the Karaage Miso Ramen with the karaage served on the side. I must admit that this was pretty good. The meat was very moist, juicy and flavourful while the exterior was crisp. However, the darn things were greasier than Luongo's hair. It could've been good; but ultimately the grease was a turn-off. As for the ramen itself, it was actually not bad. I would say it was a touch past al dente. The miso broth was not really all that flavourful. We found it lacking depth. But in the end, it wasn't horrible either. The egg a bit strange though. It was a cross between a Taiwanese tea egg and an Ajitama egg. Not bad actually. Just strange.

What was even stranger was that my noodles in the Genki Ramen (in Tonkotsu broth) was actually perfectly al dente. And actually, the tonkotsu broth was acceptable. I wouldn't say it had an incredible amount of depth; but it did exhibit a level of silkiness. It wasn't particularly bursting with flavour; yet it wasn't bland either. I'm not sure why they dumped the karaage into my bowl and not Uncle Willy's. It became waterlogged and unappetizing. The chashu was slightly better than the one I had in the rice because it was not damaged by the microwave. Too bad it didn't particularly taste like anything. There is an option to choose fattier meat though. With everything taken into consideration, the food at Ogenki Ramen is mediocre at best. Uncle Willy summed it up best, "it's okay for Main Street, but certainly not compared to the big boys in Downtown".

The Good:
- Service was pretty friendly despite not knowing what they serve on the menu
- Fairly spacious for a ramen joint

The Bad:
- Mediocrity at its best
- Chef is authentic; but nothing else is

Nahm Thai Bistro

"You can't get real Thai food here anyways", exclaimed Grayelf while we were dining at New Age Chinese Cuisine. I completely agree. For as much as our food scene is full of Asian cuisine, most of it is tailor-made to the majority of diners. For instance, there are not a whole lot of people who can put up with the heat level from places such as Alvin Garden, Hotluck and Spicy Legend. I personally like spicy and even some of the offerings from the aforementioned restaurants destroy my tastebuds. Hence, imagine those who cannot take heat. So if you find watered down Thai food in Vancouver, don't hate. Just understand the restaurants are there to make money. Not to satisfy a small minority of people. With that in mind, finding good local Thai food is sometimes even more difficult as we head into the burbs.

So imagine my curiousity when I found out about a new Thai bistro on 102nd and Whalley Ring Road. Not since the closure of Full Moon Laos-Thai has there been Thai food in this area. Luckily for me, Toolman was interested in joining me which would mean only one thing - more food! Well, and good company as well I suppose (this is just in case he is reading this!). Upon our arrival, we were pleasantly surprised that they had lunch specials. Initially, by the looks of their website, there didn't appear to be any. We ended up ordering 3 items to share starting with the Pad Thai with prawns. It arrived with lots of properly cooked prawns, pressed tofu, turnip, egg, ground peanuts and sprouts. So in terms of ingredients, it was legit. However, much like many Thai restaurants in the lower mainland, the sauce was ketchupy. Despite this, we still enjoyed it since the noodles were al dente and there wasn't an overabundance of sauce. We also had a couple of curries starting with the Chicken Green Curry. We found it to be very mild and somewhat creamy from the coconut milk. There was plenty of chicken meat and basil which made it pleasant, if not unexciting, to eat. As for the Beef Red Curry, it had much more impact. It was significantly spicier (but still mild for us) and thicker with much more coconut milk. There was plenty of tender slices of beef with crunchy slivers of bamboo shoots and green peppers. We thought this curry was quite good.

Lastly, each lunch special included rice (except for the Pad Thai) and a Spring Roll. I mean, what can I say about it... The spring roll was packed with cabbage and carrots while being fried up perfectly crisp. It wasn't too oily either. Pretty decent, much like the rest of the food. I'm sure some purists will do the "it's not authentic thing" again; but frankly I think that is unfair. Much like what Grayelf believes, I think that these Thai restaurants are only offering up what will appeal to the locals and what will keep them in business. If we look at Nahm Bistro from this point-of-view, it is a pretty solid place for Thai food in Surrey at a reasonable price in a pleasing environment complete with great service.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Pleasing and modern decor
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- If you insist to be the authenticity police, yes, there is ketchup in the Pad Thai
- Modest portions

Barcelo's Flamed Grilled Chicken

If you listen to the TEAM 1040, amidst the whining about NHL officiating and the constant broken ankles from Canuck bandwagon jumpers, B-Mac extols the virtues of "Flame-Grilled Chicken Time" brought to you by Nando's. Yup, that's the chain of restaurants that offer up spicy (if you choose to) flamed grilled chicken. Hey, as much as it is expensive, I do have the occasional craving for Peri-Peri sauce. However, did you know that there is a similar place out there that hails from South Africa? Barcelo's is the name and flame-grilled chicken is its game. With its first ever location in Canada, it seems to be moving in on Nando's flame-grilled chicken monopoly. Down to the ordering at the counter, choosing your sides and how hot you want your chicken, Barcelo's is very much like Nando's except with the addition of beef burgers. But wait a sec. There is one more significant difference. Try lower prices.

I decided to go for the Half-Chicken meal with 2 sides. At $12.50, it is a full $2.00 less than Nando's. That is roughly the savings you'll see across the board here. I went all out and had it Supa Peri, which is their equivalent of Extra Hot Peri-Peri at Nando's. Since they flame grill their chicken to order, I had to wait approximately 15 minutes. No matter though, I much prefer freshly made food than something that has been sitting around. When it did arrive, it was a substantial amount of food. It wasn't a small half-chicken. Nicely charred on the outside without being burnt and smothered with hot peri sauce, there was also no absence of flavour either. I dug in and the meat was very moist including the breast. Smoky, spicy and zesty, this could give Nando's a run for their money. In fact, I really liked it. Considering that it was cheaper, this would have a leg up on Nando's (sorry for the pun).

The first of my 2 sides was the Spicy Rice. I'm not sure if it was really all that spicy. But with my tongue tingling from the Supa Peri sauce, nothing would be spicy in comparison. I did like how it was served piping hot and the rice was the perfect texture (chewy and completely separate grains). For my second side, I opted for the ol' standby being the Fries. Although the fries were nothing to get excited about (being generic fries), they were cooked up perfectly. They were golden brown and very crispy. Inside each fry, there was still an appreciable amount of potato as well. All-in-all, a very solid first experience at Barcelo's. I would definitely say that considering the prices, it ranks above Nando's. I think the food quality is roughly the same and in fact, it was probably better on this visit. My biggest complaint with Nando's has been their pricing and Barcelo's seems to have alleviated that problem. I'm curious to see how well this location does and if any more will open. If one opens up close to me, I would probably pick up their family dinner pack quite often.

The Good:
- Reasonable-pricing
- Moist, flavourful flame-grilled chicken
- Inviting and clean dining space

The Bad:
- Despite the fast-food ordering, it isn't fast food (I personally don't care though)

Save-On-Meats Coffee Shop

There was a time when East Hastings between Cambie and Main would be the hub of activity in Vancouver. With such stores like Woodward's, Golden Crown, Army & Navy (still going strong) and Save-On-Meats occupying the heart of the action, people would make it a point to head to the Downtown Eastside. Then sometime during the late 80's the place began to deteriorate with stores closing one-by-one. In the more recent past, the area is beginning to experience a form of revival, first with the new Woodward Condo development, the opening of Acme Cafe down the street and The Charles Bar. Sadly, last year, Save-On-Meats and its coffee shop closed for what seemed like forever... until last month. The iconic flying pig is once again lit up in bright neon as Mark Brand (of Boneta) has revived this Vancouver institution.

The meat shop is back and so is the coffee shop, albeit with a bigger menu and retro diner look. Milhouse and I took advantage of our proximity to Save-On-Meats after Sunday morning hockey at Brit. Kaiser Soze refused to join us since he considered it too sketchy of an area. And he's Chinese??? We managed to snag a parking spot nearby and without any wait, we got 2 seats at the counter. There was a friendly greeting from the staff despite the bustling activity within the restaurant. Milhouse decided to start with a Vanilla Shake and I wholehearted agreed with him. This was my chance to try it without ordering one myself! It was thick, blended well with hard ice cream and milk. It was a solid shake with real vanilla bean in the ice cream. For his main, Milhouse had the Clubhouse consisting of their in-house rotisserie chicken, bacon, tomato and lettuce on focaccia. As much as it is difficult to get excited about a clubhouse sandwich, at the very least, all of the ingredients were fresh. The real chicken meat was plus. As for the fries, they were pretty generic looking and tasting. They were fried perfectly crisp though.

For myself, I had to get the Save-On-Meats Burger. For $6.00, it consisted of a bacon cheeseburger and a side of fries. Take that McD's! This was actually a pretty decent burger; but the patty itself was very loose, in a meatball sub kinda way. It was moist though and had a nice char to it. With crisp, thick bacon, cheese and fresh tomatoes and lettuce on a toasted bun, there is not much to complain for the price. However, the 2 dishes didn't seem like a big enough sample size in terms of the food. Thus, I also got an order of the Meatloaf. When Milhouse tried a piece, he said there was some taste to it and yes there was. We believe that this meatloaf was a blend of beef, pork and lamb. It was slightly gamy and mostly stiff. It was on the drier side and needed the gravy. I found the gravy to be a little light; yet it did its job. I really liked the buttery mash potatoes and the nicely prepared peas and carrots.

As if this wasn't enough already, I also felt the need to try the Fried Chicken. I found the fried batter to be hard rather than crunchy. Furthermore, I felt there wasn't enough seasoning either. It was decently moist inside though. In the end, the food wasn't necessarily the draw here. Don't get me wrong, it was a respectable diner experience. However, I'm pretty sure most people will be nostalgic while loving the quirky location. And with such reasonable prices, there is not a whole lot to complain about.

The Good:
- It has got history
- Reasonable prices
- Friendly people

The Bad:
- Other than the burger, the food is hit and miss
- Well, some people might be turned off by the location (I'm not...)

Yamato Sushi

For me, the Urbanspoon top-100 restaurants list is more about popularity than good food. Sure, there are legitimately great places included in that list; but more often than not, most of them are not there due to great food. Yet, I have to admit that it is at the very least, a starting point for someone who is unfamiliar with the culinary scene in Vancouver. With that being said, the best places to eat are still the ones that locals go to. This leads into one of the newer members of the top-100 list - Yamato Sushi. Seemingly out of nowhere, Yamato is nearly in the top-50. That piqued my interest and only a visit would give me a clearly picture of the place. Meeting up with Vandelay for lunch, we were lucky to get a table in this extremely small hole-in-the-wall on Davie Street. For those who care, this place is Chinese-run. Vandelay and I are of the opinion that the food does the talking, not the perceived people who make it.

We started with the Assorted Sashimi consisting of Atlantic salmon, sockeye salmon, tuna, tai, mackerel and hokkigai. At first, I thought the presentation looked a little flat and upon further inspection, it was. As you can clearly see, it is missing the daikon underneath. No matter really, just an observation. We thought the sashimi as a whole was more than acceptable. Aesthetically, texturally and taste-wise, there was nothing amiss. Next up, we had the Assorted Tempura consisting of ebi, sweet potato, zucchini and carrot. I thought the liberal use of tempura batter would've affected the final product; but in the end, it was crispy and light. We particularly liked the ebi since they were large, cold-water crunchy and sweet.

After that, we had 2 rolls starting with the Yamato Roll consisting of avocado, tamago, cucumber and unagi on the inside with avocado, tobiko and sesame seeds on the outside. The roll was finished off with a drizzle of sweet mayo and teriyaki sauce. I thought the sushi rice was a bit dense-like in texture; yet still acceptable. I would've liked more flavour as well. As for the roll itself, it was fine. It was on the softer side due to all the mushy ingredients. With that being said, it had a good rice to ingredients ratio. I didn't need to dip it into soy sauce/wasabi since it had enough flavour on its own. We were planning on only getting one roll; but when Vandelay spotted the Spider Roll for only $5.95, we had to get it. Normally, a soft-shell crab roll is easily pushing $10.00. Despite the price, the roll was stuffed full of a large fried soft-shell crab. It was fried perfectly with a light crisp exterior while still being fluffy soft inside. The dense rice was somewhat of an annoyance; but there was plenty of crab to offset it.

Now as if this wasn't enough food for use, we also got the Chicken Yakisoba. Arriving on a sizzling hot plate, this was a pretty large portion for the price. I found the noodles in need of a bit more flavour. It would've been nice to have some pickled ginger on top for some zing. There was plenty of chicken though. However, the one thing that was the downfall of this dish was the ample use of oil. I found it greasy. Lastly, we had the Oyako-Don which was an extremely substantial portion for $5.95. It wasn't a typical oyako don; but it was chock full of chicken, egg and evenly sauced rice. I did find the rice to be rather soft though. Despite that, it was an enjoyable and satisfying interpretation of an oyako don. So as you can clearly see, the draw here is mainly value and above-average food. Sure, it isn't an "authentic" Japanese restaurant per se; but really, how many are in Vancouver? If one was looking for decent eats with good prices and large portions, Yamato does that job well. Yah, the place is small and it's best not to linger too long. As we ate, we noticed many people getting take-out. I'm pretty sure Yamato is not a top-50 restaurant in terms of the best places to eat in Vancouver; yet it is definitely a good option for those who are not picky.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Large portions
- Above average "Japanese" food

The Bad:
- Not a place to hang out for long, small and cramped
- May upset the authenticity police

Ruby Chinese Restaurant

As much as online comments about a restaurant give insight into the establishment, there are often some that really stand out. You know the type. It's either glowing (which indicates someone related) or it is incredibly negative (ie. worst meal of their life). Just like scores from figure skating, it's best to throw out the highs and lows. This is the situation that we faced when we wanted to venture out for Dim Sum in PoCo. Yah, it's not the hotbed for Chinese food; but hey, Rainbow Butterfly was not half-bad. We figured, why not, let's give Ruby Chinese a try despite the warning from one diner who claimed it was "the most terrible Dim Sum that they ever tasted". Pretty damning eh? A warning perhaps? Or was it a challenge for a food adventure? Yah, it was the latter.

So we packed up everything and loaded the kiddies into the SUV and headed out on a glorious sunny day to Downtown PoCo. When we walked in, there were other Asians present, so that was a good sign. Little did we know, these were either holograms or Asians who really had low expectations for their Dim Sum! I have to declare right now that this was one of the worst Shrimp Dumplings (Haw Gow) we've ever had. Looking beyond the thick and overcooked dumpling skin, there was a shrimp filling that would offend most people. First, the small shrimp were full of veins. That didn't make for an appetizing nor texturally pleasant experience. Second, the shrimp were not cold-water crunchy; rather, they were rubbery. Third, the binding agent was a goopy mess which looked like a combination of pork fat and filler. Hence the whole thing fell apart once bitten into. And let's not even get into the taste.

Continuing on with the same bad shrimp was the Shrimp Spring Rolls. These sad things were woefully greasy and overcooked. The shrimp inside had begun to take on a "dried" appearance and texture. It is probably due to the poor wrap job and the small shrimp. Lowering my standards a bit, the Sui Mai was somewhat acceptable. The chunks of pork were chewy, maybe a bit too chewy though. Once again, there was too much pork fat. Yes, I realize that is what acts as both the binding agent and for flavouring/texture. However, with really large chunks of flavourless fat, it becomes a huge turnoff. Furthermore, these dumplings also fell apart on contact.

Okay, after 3 dishes, we were already wondering what we got ourselves into when suddenly we got a dish that was not readily recognizable. If you can believe it, despite not looking remotely like it, this was the Stuffed Eggplant. With all the lovely colour of eggplant sucked out by over-steaming, this was not appealing to look at. One bite and WTF? Gritty pork??? Where's the fish or shrimp mousse? Texturally and flavourwise, this was an utter disaster. Futhermore, any black bean flavour was washed away by the steaming process. We left this as is and didn't bother with it for the rest of the meal. Finally, after that, something edible arrived in the Black Bean Spareribs. The meat was actually the right texture being soft while retaining a nice chewy texture. There was also a decent amount of black bean flavour. It could've stood for more garlic since it was mostly a one-note dish.

You won't believe it. The next dish was okay as well! Wow, a 2-dish winning streak! But you know that is just the kiss-of-death. Anyways, the Satay Tripe had the right texture. It was super soft with some bite left. It was not gamy - a clear indication of proper cleaning and prep. However, the whole dish was lacking flavour. Sure, I could taste something; but tripe is not exactly flavourful on its own. Hence, they needed to add more satay sauce. Okay, here is the when the good stops again. The Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll was purely laughable. The rice noodle was far too thick and as stiff as a pubescent teen surfing the internet. Moreover, the tiny shrimp (once again) were not the desired cold-water crunchy texture. And to top it all off, the sweet soy was bland as can be. The soy is supposed to
be watered down; but they took it a step too far. It was no longer able to flavour anything.

The same soy also didn't help the Chicken Rice much either. It was better off that the soy wasn't used extensively anyways because the rice itself was wet. The chicken, mushroom and sausage on top helped moisten the rice too much and most of the top was soggy. The chicken itself was white meat and it was mostly dry. And yes, it was none too flavourful as well. It's as if they didn't even marinate it. A very poor attempt all around. Lastly, we had the Egg Tarts. The first thing we noticed was the predominant tart shell. It seemed to overwhelm the egg. And about that egg filling, it was cracked. In fact, if I had taken a picture of both tarts, the other one would've looked worse. Also, yes there was only 2 tarts. Very unusual number. Generally, there are 3 or 4, not 2. The tart shell ended up to be quite flaky; but the filling was too sweet.

Alright. I am a loss for words. And that is not very common for me either! How can Dim Sum in the GVRD be so poor? And why are there Chinese people eating here? I've had better Dim Sum in Portland of all places. Sure, the food isn't very expensive at only $2.75 per dish; however, we were not really all that motivated to eat it all. Viv was only eating it because she was hungry. Otherwise, she had no intention of putting herself through this experience. I hate to be so negative. Really! However, the food on average was extremely poor in terms of execution and quality of ingredients. I know some might attribute it to its location in PoCo. Yet, there is Rainbow Butterfly only 5 minutes away. Furthermore, Kirin and Kam Ding are only 10 minutes away. I think this time, I should've listened to that poor review on Urbanspoon...

The Good:
- Cheap
- Friendly owners
- Spacious

The Bad:
- Sub-standard ingredients
- Poor execution