Facing East Taiwanese

When Goose first moved down to Seattle, particularly Redmond, for employment in the high-tech industry, Asian food was only an afterthought. I remember him taking me to Noble Court for Dim Sum in 1999 and it was completely forgettable. To be fair, I was trying to hold up Vancouver standards for Asian food in a completely non-Asian place. Fast forward over 10 years later and the Asian food scene in Seattle, specifically in Bellevue has improved dramatically. With more and more Asians moving into the Emerald City and its suburbs, there are more legit places to go for Asian food. Hey, even the world-renowned Din Tai Fung decided to put a location at Bellevue Square. So after a relatively decent noodle experience at Boom Noodle (honestly, it was not bad with all things considered), I set my sights on Facing East Taiwanese Restaurant. That's right. Not only was I going for Chinese food in Bellevue, I was aiming for a specific type of Chinese cuisine. With all the Taiwanese joints available in the GVRD, you'd think it would be nuts for me to head to Bellevue for such food.

Well, I went in with an open mind and considering all the great reviews it gets, I did have high expectations. First of all, we had to try their drinks. Bubble tea and Taiwanese cuisine seem to go hand-in-hand. Well, just like what others have said, the drinks were very good. Rather than substituting sugar for flavour, the drinks here tasted like its description. For instance, the Mango Slush was like drinking a mango, while the Pineapple Slush was the same. The drinks were blended until smooth; yet there were still desirable chunks of pineapple in our slush. As for the Red Bean drink, I didn't ask Goose about it. Besides, I'm not a huge red bean fan (LOL).  

According to many of the reviews, the "must have" item was the Pork Burger. Reminiscent of many modern takes on an Asian pork belly slider, this was the real deal. Encased within a soft mantou was a large piece of melt-in-your mouth braised pork belly. There was a little of everything in there to tickle the tastebuds including white sugar, ground peanuts, pickled mustard greens, cilantro and a touch of sweet hot sauce. Combined with the inherent flavours of five-spice, soy and ginger from the pork belly, it was a veritable flavour explosion. This is really a must order. The next dish might seem odd to some people - Silky Tofu with Aged Duck Egg and Dried Pork Floss. What? Well, for the uninitiated, the preserved duck egg is indeed the black thing on top. The whole dish is finished with dried pork fluff and a thick sweet sauce. The result is something that is very tasty. The silky tofu acted as a blank canvas for the other flavours. The preserved egg has a unique sweet umaminess to it and when combined with the sweet sauce and saltiness of the pork floss, it created another flavour explosion.

Another suggested dish was the 5 Spice Fried Chicken with Basil. This is somewhat similar to salty peppery chicken except for the obvious addition of 5 spice powder. There was still some salty, peppery and spicy thing going on except with the addition of more flavours and of course basil. In this case, they used breast meat which made for slightly drier chicken and less flavourful in my opinion. This was probably one of the more average items we had at the table. Another appie was the 5 Spice Beef Wrap. In this version, it was really a wrap as the menu description implies. It was almost like a cone with thin slices of beef shank, onions and cilantro. I found that there was an overwhelming amount of cilantro and onion, where that was all I tasted. The pancake itself was very thin and crisp. Again, this was only okay for us. When at a Taiwanese restaurant, I guess the Beef Noodle is mandatory. So yes we got a large order with thick noodles. It arrived it a really large bowl with lots of beef broth. I found it to be pretty decent with some meat flavour, somewhat sweet and a small hint of spice. The noodles were al dente while the beef and tendons were super tender.

While reading up on Yelp, another one of the recommended dishes was the Spiced Pork Stew over Rice. I got the large order and it was a fair-sized portion for $4.95. In fact, most of the items on the menu are priced reasonably. This was a pretty solid dish. In fact, my son ate it, so it must've been good. I found the rice to have a good texture whereby it was soft while not being wet. The stewed pork was super moist and flavourful and when mixed into the rice, there was just the right amount of seasoning. Of course, the familiar taste of soy, 5-spice, rock sugar, ginger and garlic were quite apparent. For some strange reason, I added the Pork Chop on Rice even though we already had a pork and rice dish. We universally agreed that it was unnecessary since there was more than enough food already and the fact it was quite "meh". The pork chop was not really all that moist or tender. Furthermore, it was not really all that flavourful either. It exhibited some of the same spices as the stewed pork; but there was not enough to make the rice tasty. Served on the side was pickled mustard greens, half a tea egg and Shanghai bak choy.

For our requisite veggie dish, we had the Four Seasons Green Beans. Despite the appearance of very little ingredients and lack of colour, the beans were seasoned properly. Lots of garlic, onions, salt, sugar and a touch of spice made up for the lack of flavour from the pork chop. The beans could've stood to be a bit less cooked since they were slightly soft. At least we made use of the plain rice with this. In fact, the 3 Cup Chicken was another dish that went well with the plain rice. These were some of the largest pieces of chicken I've had with this type of dish. Consequently, the chicken was moist and tender. As for the seasoning, there was a good balance of flavours including a good amount of zing from the Shao Xing wine and aromatics provided by the whole cloves of garlic and fresh basil leaves.

As we were finishing up our meal, it was quite obvious there would be plenty of leftovers. I guess I forgot we only had 4 adults eating along with 3 kiddies. However, we kept eying the endless stream of the Fresh Mango with Shaved Ice passing by us to literally every table. Well, when in Rome... So we ended up with a small order, which was still plenty for us. The large is just plain massive. Atop a big pile of shaved ice was big chunks of ripe mangoes topped by mango juice and condensed milk. Despite its appearance, it was not very sweet. Rather, it was a refreshing end to a surprisingly good meal. We went in with high expectations and Facing East mostly lived up to it. Of course it isn't a mind-blowing experience (rarely anything is); but it was solid and considering the location, it is both authentic and a good value.

The Good:
- It can give Vancouver Taiwanese restaurants a run for the money
- Reasonably-priced
- Good portions

The Bad:
- Service is hurried
- Long, long lineups
- If you thinking parking lots in Richmond are insufficient, you haven't seen nothing yet

Lunchbox Laboratory

After a failed attempt at snagging a Cubano at Paseo due to the crazy ass lineup, we were in search for other eats. No fear though, I came prepared. Our backup plan was the Lunchbox Laboratory, which was suggested quite awhile back by Inspector Gadget. It has since moved from its original location and now occupies digs which are more spacious and modern. I never got a chance to visit their old place; but from all indications, the new place is not as divey nor has as much character. That was not a major concern for me since I had my son in tow and we were starving. So what's the deal with the Lunchbox Laboratory that I'd actually use up one of my meals during my brief stay in the Emerald City? Well, it is consistently rated one of the best burgers in Washington and in fact, the country. They only use Kobe Beef and organic kaiser buns from Essential Bakery. With that in mind, it somewhat explains the premium price on their burgers.

With window seat acquired and stomachs growling, we set down to ordering. I paid my respects to Dick's Burgers (even though I'm not a big fan) by going for the Homage to Dick's Deluxe which consisted of American cheese, honey-cured bacon, lunchbox onions and top secret burger sauce. One bite into the burger and that's when the grease started to flow. This was totally expected since Kobe beef ain't diet food. With oil and sauce dripping from the burger down my arm, I took bite-after-bite of seriously moist beef. It was more greasy than juicy per se; but the meat was not dry at all. I really liked the crisp bacon, it was low on the fat and heavy on the flavour. The bun was easy to eat and generally held the burger together until near the end where it disintegrated. 

For my side, I had the Mac 'n Cheese, which I promptly passed to my son. This was one seriously flavourful mac 'n cheese without the reliance on salt. It had a sharp cheddar taste while exhibiting some blue cheese hits. This was seriously cheesy and rich. For my actual side, I had the 3/16th Skinny Fries which were closer to crisps than fries. They were very crunchy and had no potatoness left in them. I did like them though, they were crispy all the way to the last one.

Viv ended up with the Smoker. No, she wasn't standing outside hacking a butt; rather, it was a burger consisting of Havarti cheese, honey-cured bacon, smoked pepper mayo and she substituted balsamic onions in place of the lunchbox onions. I gotta say good call on the balsamic onions. They added an oomph that really cut through the heaviness of the meat. And in the spirit of the sign out front which exclaims "6 pieces of bacon is just normal", there seemed like that much in her burger. For her side, she had a Caesar salad. A salad? Like that would really help cut down the fat of this meal. Anyways, for good measure, I added another side of Tater Tots because the table beside us seemed to be enjoying them. And I can see why, they were fried up perfectly crisp while being soft on the inside. Such simple pleasures in life. Burgers in general can be simple as well; but not here. The meat is rich, the toppings are tasty and plentiful. Health food this is not and cheap it is not as well. For me, I appreciate the quality of the ingredients that go into my food and the meat is indeed good here, as well as everything else. However, I can see how some people could be turned off by the pricing.

The Good:
- Moist Kobe beef
- Lots of quality toppings
- Comfortable digs

The Bad:
- Some people may not see it as good value
- Well, it's greasy (but I like it)

Boom Noodle

*Restaurant is now closed*

Out of nowhere, Viv thought it would be a great idea to head down to the States on the Canada Day long weekend. Well, that is not really a stretch except we were going to head to San Diego a little over 3 weeks anyways. Whatever. I offered up little resistance since we had Nexus and heading to Seattle meant we could do more eating! So, changing up things this time, we decided to head down after dinner. Since we had a relatively early dinner, Viv thought it would not be a good idea to not eat something before bedtime. Hey, I ain't gonna argue with that brilliant idea. Checking up on the late night dining spots in
Bellevue (we were staying at Goose's house), Boom Noodle caught my eye. Now, when one finds out it is a place where you can get Pho, Ramen and Yakisoba, it might send shivers up some peoples' spine. I was curious though and especially with one kid in tow, we needed kid-friendly late night eats.

Located in Bellevue Square, Boom Noodle is right next to its sister restaurant, C Sushi. With a hip decor and attractive non-Asian staff, it appeared I was heading straight down a path of noodle hell. However, we stuck with it and went about our ordering. I decided to go for the Shio Ramen as a comparison to what we have in Vancouver. And you know what? It was actually not bad. I gotta admit that I was expecting something less. It had all of the usual components such as bamboo shoots, corn, shiitake mushrooms and naruto in a chicken-pork broth. I found the broth to be rather salty; but then again, it is shio. It had lots of flavour and depth. The noodles were perfectly al dente and remained chewy throughout. Although there were some moist chunks of chashu, the leaner cuts were a bit stringy. It did have a nice meaty flavour though. I'm not afraid to admit that this was a decent bowl of ramen, even when compared to the ones we have in Vancouver. I also added a Soy Marinated Egg and it was more or less what is offered at most Japanese ramen shops.

For my son, we got him the kid's Chicken Pho. For $4.00, this was a very good value. Equivalent in size to a small pho at most other Vietnamese joints, this was more than enough food for him. I tried the broth and it was actually quite light (it could've used more salt). Despite the lack of initial flavour, it was high on fragrance, this was not a traditional beef pho broth (it is beef-chicken broth); but it was good in its own ways. There was a nice lemongrass note to it and natural sweetness. Add in the usual cilantro, lime, basil and sprouts with al dente noodles and again, I am not afraid to admit this was more than acceptable. Moving away for soup noodles, we also tried the Yaki Udon consisting of marinated chicken, fresh mushrooms, cabbage, red chilies, dancing bonito flakes. We omitted the chilies so my son could actually eat some. Even without the chilies, the udon was flavourful. I thought the udon itself could've been less wet and soft. Otherwise, the cabbage was crisp and the fresh shiitake added much Earthiness. Lastly, we had a side of Kimchi and this was a bit too sour. It had a moderate amount of spice and was crunchy though. Okay, I'm not afraid to put myself out there. It is so easy to pan a place like this since it does not look like or is run like an authentic noodle joint. But let's be honest here, all this talk about authenticity and "who" runs the place is plain silly if we do not focus on the food. For me at least, it was more than acceptable for a reasonable price.

The Good:
- The noodles are surprisingly decent
- Reasonably-priced kid's menu
- Non-typical noodle joint decor (although it is still spartan)

The Bad:
- Prices are on the higher side for noodles; but it is okay considering all factors
- The authenticity police will be sure to make an arrest (even though it was close enough for me)

Makoto

Authentic Japanese-run restaurants. If that sounds more like a joke to you than a statement, then you're probably well-versed with the Japanese food scene in Vancouver. It is true. In such a large city with predominant Asian influences, there are very few Japanese-run Japanese restaurants. And considering the plethora of "Japanese" restaurants, that is really too bad. Now, if you read this blog often, you know my ranting about how Vancouver deserves the restaurants it gets. What I mean is, that most people are not really all that concerned about authenticity, so a restaurant is not necessarily all that interested either if there are customers and they make a profit. I accept this and I am generally not crying foul about authenticity unless the food is not fit to eat. With that being said, I still enjoy a Japanese-owned and operated restaurant. The ones that I have been to are Ajisai, Tojo's, Takarabune, Octopus' Garden, Fuji and Toshi. Another one to add on the list is Makoto stashed away on Rumble in Burnaby South.

It's a small place run by some friendly people. We were greeted warmly and it felt very comfortable right away. As for the food, we started with the Salmon Sashimi, which at first, concerned us. When it arrived, the salmon had very little colour. However, one bite into the flesh, our fears were alleviated. It was fresh and very sweet. How looks can be so deceiving. Well, I should of known this since the pigment in the flesh is a result of what the salmon eats and is not indicative of the flavour per se. Next, we had the Volcano Roll, which looked much different than its description in the menu. What it turned out to be was a fried roll consisting of spicy tuna with scallops and tobiko topped with lots of sweet mayo and black sesame sauce. As a result, the roll was very wet and soft. Texture aside, the combination of flavours was quite good though. I really liked the sweetness of the scallops with the aromatics of the black sesame. We ended up ordering 2 dishes that the kiddies *might* eat starting with the Chicken Yaki Udon. I know a plate of fried noodles is not exactly the most exciting thing to talk about; but this was very good. The udon was perfect. It had a nice chewiness and bite to it while not being overly doused with oil. There was a good amount of moist chicken meat, crunchy snow peas, mushrooms and carrots with a small topping of pickled ginger. It was seasoned just enough so it was neither too salty or sweet. The kids loved it too and I ate the remaining portion of it since it was so good.

As for the "backup" dish, we opted for a rice bowl in the Oyako Don. This was a substantial amount of food with lots of tender chicken and nicely cooked egg on top of chewy rice. Now, it is always a welcome sight when the rice is properly drizzled with mirin and soy. However, there was so much in this bowl, the rice was completely soaked and becoming wet. The flavour was good; but there was just too much of it. Hence, it was very sweet in the end. Lastly, we got the Assorted Tempura for the kiddies. Let me rephrase that. We got the tempura batter for them. They are not so hot on the fried veggies; rather, they feast on the batter only. Maybe I should just ask for tempura bits next time... This was good as well - crisp and not too oily. From what we had, I can say we were happy with our meal. Nothing mind-blowing; but definitely a step above the generic Japanese restaurants that litter the Vancouver landscape.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Friendly owner/staff
- Not dirt cheap; but reasonably-priced considering the food quality

The Bad:
- Again, it's not exactly cheap; but it is fair for the quality of food
- The place is very small, difficult for a large group

A Taste of Ukraine

As I have said over and over again, for such a diverse city, Vancouver is pretty much dominated by Asian cuisine. Although there are many Italian and Greek restaurants to choose from, there is little else in terms of diversity. And let's not include North American food in this mix. It almost seems like other ethnic cuisine are under-represented. In a city as large as Vancouver, those "other" cuisines are indeed not very prevalent, even when there is a significant population of certain ethnic groups. For instance, according to the statistics for Vancouver, there are over 200,000 people of Eastern European origin. But then when one looks at the available restaurants that serve Eastern European food, there aren't many. If we break it down even further and focus on Ukrainian food, it gets even smaller. Heck, the most recent Ukrainian eating experience I had was from a co-worker who made authentic borscht. And no, it's not like what a Hong Kong style cafe serves. Now, I'm not going to profess that I know much about Ukrainian food. Heck, look at the options we have here. Other than perogies, cabbage rolls, borscht and kovbasa (kielbasa) sausage, I haven't had much "Ukrainian" eats. The last time I even had such food was from Hunky Bill's at the PNE (which I've done for many, many years...).

Since last year, a little shop that opened up on St. John in Port Moody has piqued my interest. A Taste of Ukraine didn't look like much; but there was some good words from reliable friends. Seeing how I was hungry and with no one to eat with, it seemed like as good of a time to grab some take out. Now, if one wanted to eat in, there are 2 tables available. For me, I grabbed a few items and headed home anxiously. Naturally, I got some Perogies with Kielbasa. There were 2 kinds of perogies - cheddar cheese & potato and sausage & potato). The first thing I noticed about the perogies was the ample filling which was not dense. I found that the cheese perogi was simple in taste while flavourful at the same time. The fat from the pan fried kielbasa provided a certain level of smokiness and flavour as well. As for the sausage itself, it was meaty with a nice sear. There was not too much sausage in the other perogi; hence it was not as flavourful. I much preferred the cheese one.

Continuing on with my "tourist" approach to Ukrainian food, I had one each of the Pork Cabbage Roll and Beef Cabbage Roll. Due to the nature of the meat, the pork roll was more tightly packed than the beef. As for the filling as a whole, there was lots of it and it held together. This could be a bit dense for some people; but I liked how it didn't fall apart while I was eating it. I found that the rice was cooked just right where it was not mushy nor too hard. With the sour cabbage combined with the tart tomato sauce, there was a level of zing as well as a hint of pepper. I thought these were good and well-priced (they were huge!).

Lastly, as I was paying, I noticed a tray of various Piroshki. I ended up getting a Meat Piroshki just to try. I found the bottom of the piroshki a little overcooked but it didn't affect the taste nor texture very much. It was okay, I found the meat to be a bit dry and tasteless. Maybe if this was a fried piroshki, it would've been more interesting. However, other than that, the perogies and cabbage rolls were fantastic. I'm definitely going to hit them up again to try some other items.

The Good:
- Well-priced
- Large cabbage rolls

The Bad:
- Not really a bad; but it's most take out, don't plan to eat-in

Pho 24 Express

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away... Okay, it wasn't in another galaxy and it wasn't really that long ago; but for Polka King, it seemed like a different reality. You see, he is an accountant by trade and when we last visited Gold Train Express out on Kingsway, there was some very strange mathematics at play. Hence, he was perturbed to the point of never returning. Oh and the large neon sign proclaiming "fresh washrooms" concerned him as well. Fast forward almost 3 years and here we are heading to the newest addition to the Gold Train family - Pho 24 Express, also on Kingsway. Now, 3 years later, we also see less and less of Polka King because he is so infatuated with Polka Dot. Well, I don't blame him really. She is a lot better looking than all of us and would you blame him for hanging out with her more than us? Besides, we had more than enough willing participants for our after-hockey-eats. Unbeknownst to him that we were heading to a place affiliate with Gold Train Express was Milhouse. He was with us last time and he has not forgotten as well. Emilicious willingly joined us since she doesn't mind the location out near UBC. Apparently, their math skills are more sharp out there. Sweet Tooth, Gordo and Apu rounded out the group.

Now if there was any doubt of its affiliation with Gold Train, the abundance of neon on the outside was a dead giveaway. Hey, at least it is easy to find... Sweet Tooth had a hard time deciding what she wanted and eventually settled on the Spring Rolls. We loved the presentation. It appears more and more places are cutting them diagonally, which makes them look "fancier". Despite appearing overfried, these were not greasy and crispy according to Sweet Tooth. It was nice to see that they were not made with wheat wrappers nor made to look like Chinese spring rolls. Since that was not enough food for her, she tacked on a Salad Roll as well. Also "artistically" plated with open ends, the roll itself was pretty standard. As for the dipping sauce, it was too peanutty. There was not enough hoisin sauce which made the sauce bland and one-dimensional. Milhouse suggested that we merely squirt some hoisin in ourselves. I guess we could've done that.

Now Apu, Gordo and Emilicious all had Pho in some shape or form, so there is no point in describeng them all. The corresponding picture is of Emilicious' Pho Tai (with the addition of vegetables). I tried some of the broth and to me, it was predominantly sweet and with a definite MSG slant. Not a bad broth per se, just not enough meat flavour and savoury elements. The meats were tender and plentiful while the rice noodles started off a bit clumpy before loosening up in the hot broth. For myself, I had an X-Large Bun Bo Hue. Maybe this is an unfair comparison; but I didn't find it any bigger than the large at Pho Tam. In fact, it was smaller. On the menu, it stated that there was beef, Vietnamese ham and pork's leg. There was definitely a lot of ham and tender beef; but I didn't see any pork's leg. The noodles were plentiful and cooked just right. I found the broth acceptable where it had some spice and sweetness. I didn't get any hints of lemongrass though. Milhouse went for the Bun Bo Nuong, Cha Gio and Nem Nuong (grilled beef, spring roll and marinated pork on vermicelli). This was also pretty standard stuff with the same spring rolls and meats. Nothing Earth-shattering; but solid nonetheless. This was pretty much our experience here (with proper mathematics). Decent for late-night eats.

The Good:
- Open late
- Food is okay
- Prices are okay

The Bad:
- Food is okay
- Is the X-Large really that much larger?

Docker's Diner

*Restaurant is closed*

For the longest time, JuJu has been wanting to head to Docker's Diner for some breaky after Sunday morning hockey. Fate would have it that we would be going the very week he misses hockey. Oh well, them the breaks. I'm not sure if I want to see his reaction when we see him next. It's almost like cheating on him food-wise. Well, not all was lost since Mijune was going to make a cameo appearance on my Sunday food adventure (but due to scheduling issues, she didn't make it...). And this was somewhat of an adventure. Located on Powell Street, Docker's Diner is not in the usual places we would go get Breakfast. For us, Powell Street is a thoroughfare to bypass the traffic on Hastings. Hence, anything on the street itself is just a blur as we are traveling to our destinations.

Well, for today at least, we stopped and headed into Docker's Diner. What can I say, it looks like a diner on the outside and it looks like a diner on the inside. Nothing fancy, except for the nostalgic pictures adorning the walls. Kaiser Soze decided to go for the standard Breakfast, which included 2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 strips of bacon, hashbrowns and 2 slices of toast for $5.45 tax inclusive. Not a bad deal in my books. As you can clearly see, it was a standard breakfast. Although the bacon was crisp and the sausages cooked right, the hashbrowns were a bit too hard in some places though. Another breakfast item was the Omelet special consisting of spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms. Overlooking the obvious overcooking of the egg (this is a diner), the omelet itself was very bland. All of the ingredients do not lend itself to flavour; thus there was a lack of seasoning.

For myself, I had the Roast Beef Sandwich served open-faced. When it arrived, I have to admit it scared me a bit. With a copious amount of pale lumpy gravy, it didn't look all that appetizing. Despite its dry appearance, the roast beef was actually very tender. But the gravy was as bad as it looked. It was bland and unappealing. The mash potatoes were more starchy than creamy, which I didn't mind except the gravy didn't help things. I really like the bread though, it was really soft and the crust was removed. Milhouse went for lunch menu and had the California Clubhouse with fries. The twist is the imitation crab in place of turkey for this sandwich. He thought it was alright since there was nothing amiss. The fries were your typical frozen krinkle-cut; however, they were decently crisp. So as you can tell by the photos, the food is pretty simple and honest here. It is advertised as home-cooking and I guess they are exactly that. Expectations cannot be too high. I really wish I didn't order the roast beef sandwich because if I didn't, my overall impression would be more favourable. But since I did, I would say the food is passable, especially at the prices they charge. The one thing that is an intangible is the real people that work there.

The Good:
- Cheap
- Real people, real service

The Bad:
- Food is average