Public Lounge Eatery

* Restaurant is now closed*

Seriously. Is it the food equivalent to writer's block? I really couldn't think of anywhere to eat after hockey on Friday. Of course, much of that had to do with trying to satisfy locational and type of food concerns for the team. But really, there must be places open late for eats right? Well, Gordo came to the rescue when he suggested Public Lounge Eatery on Main which also happens to be his brother-in-law's joint. Open until 1:00am, it fit within our schedule since we wouldn't be out of the ice rink until 11:00pm. There was one sticking point though - it's a tapas place. So what's the problem you may ask. Well, tapas usually an excuse for small portions and high prices.

Well, the good news about the menu at PLE is that only a few items are $10.00 and over. We ended up splitting up into 2 tables because the place was pretty full and not really all that big either. So Milhouse, Apu, Boss Woman and myself ended up sharing a some dishes starting with the Dill Hummus with pita. Right away, we noticed that the portion size was in line with the price of $6.00. This was a good start literally and figuratively. The hummus had a nice texture that was smooth yet not over-processed. We really didn't notice the dill too much; yet we did get good hits of lemon and garlic. The one thing that could've put this over the top would be toasting the pita. It was a little cold and hard.

Next up was the Chorizo Pizza with cremini mushrooms on a pita crust. To put some scale into the size of the pizza, imagine it smaller than a small (roughly 6"). So at $10.00, it certainly was not exactly cheap. On the other hand, the flavour made up for the lack of size. The tomato sauce combined with dry-cured chorizo made the pizza very zesty. There was the right amount of toppings and cheese, so every bite had texture and taste. The crust itself was fairly crispy and thin. Loved the fresh basil on top - only wished there was more of it. Now for the same amount of money, we thought the Roast Back Ribs a much better value. With 6 really large and meaty ribs, this could've been a main entree if there were a side or two. These ribs were moist and fall-off-the-bone tender. The maple BBQ sauce was sweet with a bit of tang. We felt that the ribs themselves could've used a bit of salt. Other than that, this was a real crowd-pleaser. These were never advertised as BBQ ribs and in a way, most of us preferred it this way. Of course authentic BBQ would mean smoking or cooking them for a long period of time from a raw state, which would render them dry. Good for BBQ purists; but we like it this way instead.

Then we had something most Chinese people would cringe at - Anthony's Wontons. True, ordering wontons in a non-Chinese restaurant can usually mean 2 things: overpriced and not good. Well, at $8.50, this was not exactly cheap. Remember, we cannot possibly compare a wonton noodle joint with a place such as PLE. Just like you cannot compare it with Bao Bei or Terracotta. Not the same. So yes, it would be expensive if we say compared it to spicy wontons at Chinese restaurant. There was roughly a $3.00 premium paid here. Yet, the place is trendy, washrooms are clean and there is infinitely more booze choices other than Tsing Tao. Ultimately, the wontons were good. We were all Chinese and we all liked them. It was a balanced combination of pork and prawn with some water chestnuts. The wontons themselves were slightly bland; however, the sesame oil soy vinaigrette added the necessary flavour. Lastly, we had the Frites with pepper & truffle oil and aioli served on the side. These were fresh cut and fried until crispy. Well, most of them were, some of the larger fries were not as crisp. I didn't get much truffle oil; but the aioli was quite good.

Since the place is quite small, we had to split up into 2 tables with Gordo, Emilicious and Sweet Tooth sharing their own dishes. Gordo ordered the Carnaroli Risotto with wild mushrooms, parmigiana and pinot gris. For me, I found the risotto to be overcooked. I'm not sure if this was the intention or not since they formed it into a cylinder. Furthermore, it was very salty albeit very cheesy as well - this goes hand-in-hand though. Lastly, they got Antipasto for 2 consisting of beets, brie, spicy salami and artichoke hearts served with crackers. I didn't get to try any; but they said it was pretty standard stuff. In general, most of the food we tried was pretty decent except for the risotto. Combined with reasonable prices (as reasonable as tapas can be) and a lively environment, Public Lounge Eatery is a good place to meet up with friends for some spirits and some food to snack on.

The Good:
- Relatively reasonable prices for tapas food
- Lively fun atmosphere
- Decent eats

The Bad:
- As with any tapas-type joint, some portions are small
- The place is tiny, better limit your group to 4 people or less

Sun Sui Wah (Main Street)

A long time ago, there was this little Chinese restaurant in a little strip mall on the corner of Main and 32nd that was famous for its Roasted Squab and quality eats. That was the humble beginnings of Sun Sui Wah back in the late 80's. Now, Golden Harvest Restaurant stands where the iconic Sun Sui Wah used to call home. We would go there often since it was pretty close to where we lived in Oakridge. Even back then, the prices were on the higher side; but it didn't matter since the food walked the walk. With most successful businesses, expansion was inevitable. After the opening of their Richmond location, they moved into their new custom-built building on Main and 23rd. Even then, they continued to produce good food at both locations. Hey, I experienced it first hand. My parents were regulars and we'd go for Dim Sum and Dinner once a week at the Richmond location and sometimes the other restaurant. However, there have been rumblings about the consistency of their food in recent years. Well, for me, I thought it was a good time for a revisit, with Dim Sum up first. We chose the Main Street location this time because it was convenient for Marshmallow. Yup, she's back from Taiwan for her yearly Summer visit. Joining us were Sexy Nurse and Mailman.

Due to timing issues, we didn't get there until 1:30pm, which was a blessing and a curse. It allowed us to get a parking spot in their eternally full parking lot and to secure a table as well. On the other hand, we had to deal with hungry kids and hungrier adults. That was probably the reason we ordered enough to feed twice as many people. Note to self: do not order food when you haven't eaten all day. It appeared we ordered almost everything off the first page of the checklist. In some instances, we had 2 orders of the same item. The first dish to arrive was the Beef Rice Noodle Roll which looked quite stiff on the plate. It turns out that it was stiff and far too thick. Furthermore, the filling was haphazardly strewn on the inside so some parts had no beef at all. As for the beef itself, it was quite good being soft while retaining some chew.
There was no overabundance of green onions which allowed the beef to taste like beef. So with the same rice noodle, the Soy Fried Rice Noodle Rolls were predictably not good. They were very thick and doughy. Furthermore, whoever prepared this butchered it. After the initial large pieces on top, everything underneath were in little bits. To compound the problem, the noodles were terribly over-seasoned. They were far too salty. After this, everything came fast and furious. The next thing I could photograph before everyone dug in was the Blackbean Spareribs. It was only a modest portion; but each piece was meaty and had very little in the way of fat or cartilage. The meat itself was tenderized just enough to make it easy to chew while still exhibiting a nice bite. There was no absence of seasoning either, the dish was quite garlicky.

From the looks of it, I knew the Bean Curd Skin Roll would be a fail. The bean curd skin had this extremely dry appearance. One bite into it and yep, it was hard to chew. They had fried the bean curd skin too much and/or didn't steam it long enough. It was too bad really since the filling was very good. It was a mix of tender ground pork, shrimp, carrots, cilantro and bamboo shoots. I really liked the various ingredients in the filling since it gave some textural and flavour contrasts. Moreover, the filling ended up to be rather light and not too dense. Next up, I offered some balls to Mailman and he was more than happy to take them. These were the Beef Meatballs that is... This was actually quite good. There was a just the right amount of water chestnuts which added a nice texture. The meat itself was smooth while retaining a resistance at the same time. I also thought that there was a decent amount of meat flavour (which is easier said than done for this dish due to the tenderization process).

On the other hand, the texture of the Daikon Radish Cake was subpar. It was far too soft and as evidenced in the picture, it did not really stay intact after the pan-frying process. However, I must say that they did a good job of cooking it since the exterior was really crispy and helped alleviate the mushiness of the cake to a degree. Texture aside, I thought there was a good amount of daikon and seasoning which made it taste good without the need for hot sauce or anything like that. For once, I was ever so happy that my fellow dining companions actually enjoy eating offal. Consequently, we got an order of the Tripe & Tendon as well as the Bible Tripe. I thought the tripe & tendon were executed perfectly. The tendon was in good size pieces and stayed intact through the steaming process. While they were intact, the tendon was also soft enough to easily chew. As for the tripe, I liked how the pieces were on the larger side. For me, it just seems like I don't have to pick up as many pieces when it comes around. Each piece was tender with a slight bounce to it. In terms of flavour, there was some curry hints combined with a whack load of garlic. This was a very good dish. The bible tripe was also good, if not a little less well-executed. Mixed in with the larger pieces were a whole bunch of little itty bitty ones that were impossible to pick up or eat. We gave up on those pieces. For the ones we could pick up, the texture was bang-on once again - easy to chew while exhibiting a slight resistance. Flavourwise, there was ample ginger and green onion as well as seasoning.

Continuing on the offal theme, we got an order of the Duck Tongues. Yes, it is true, we eat the tongues too. And yes, there is something to eat as well. It is not meat per se; rather it is gelatinous and a bit fatty. Parboiled and then steamed with an oyster sauce base, it rested on some fried taro fries. The tongues were good while the taro was basically inedible. They were very hard and dry. Moving along, since we already had tongues, we'd have to get to the other end of the animal right? So we had the Chicken Feet (or Phoenix Talons as it is affectionately named in Cantonese). Now, the trick here is to fry the feet first and then steamed them along with seasoning. It is very important not to overcooked the feet in the frying and steaming process. If so, then the skin starts to shrivel and separate from the gelatin underneath. Furthermore, the gelatin could possibly start to "melt" away, which leaves the diner with not much to eat. The ones here were a bit overdone as evidenced in the picture. Not horribly; yet the skin was hanging off a few pieces. Otherwise, it was okay and it did have lots of flavour from the oyster based sauce and garlic.

Now for the standard that Dim Sum is judged by - the Haw Gow (or Steamed Shrimp Dumpling). First off, these were steamed too long. The dumpling skin was already showing degradation with parts literally "melting" away. There were holes in the skin on several dumplings. Suffice to say, the skin was wet. The filling was not bad though. There was plenty of cold-water shrimp that had been well-seasoned while still retaining some natural sweetness. Now for the biggest fail of the meal - the Beef Shortribs. These were so under-tenderized, it would've taken a grinder to break down the meat. I tried my darnedest to chew through the meat and I basically ended up swallowing big pieces. It's really too bad because the flavour was pretty good. Lots of garlic and a bit of black pepper, it would've been great with rice (except for the oil slick, which is normal for shortribs). Maybe we were really that hungry or we were just plain nuts; but we ordered enough Mini Lo Mei Gai (sticky rice steamed in lotus leaves) for everyone to have one each. These were pretty good. The rice was soft and glutinous as expected. It was slightly wet around the the "sauce" of ground pork, shiitake and Chinese
sausage.

As if that wasn't enough carbs for everyone, how about a hot pot of Chicken Rice? This was Jeckyl and Hyde in one pot. As it is clearly evident, there was a lot of tender dark boneless chicken meat on top of the rice. Disappointingly, the rice itself was an epic fail. It was super soggy. Imagine adding some sweet soy sauce to it and then it got even soggier. There were a few more dishes we had such as the Ja Leun and Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll; but it was much of the same issues like the Beef Rice Noodle Roll. As for the Fish Maw with Shrimp Mousse and Silky Tofu with Shrimp Mousse, they were fine. However, with the pricing and "class" of Sun Sui Wah taken into account, the Dim Sum service was not exactly that impressive. If it were at a lower end joint, it would be acceptable; but not here. I had already heard some rumblings about the declining food quality and to finally experience it myself was disappointing since this was one of our "go-to" places before.

The Good:
- Spacious dining room (not during a wedding though)
- Underground parking (which is usually full, so can be a bad too)
- The service we got was not bad

The Bad:
- Food quality does not stack up to cost (for Dim Sum)
- And yes, it is not cheap

Suika

Alright. We are a persistent bunch. Last time we tried to visit Suika on a Monday after softball, it was closed due to a "staff meeting". As Bear put it best, "What kinda staff meeting closes a restaurant for dinner???". I'm not sure; but there must've been a good reason? Whatever the case, I made sure it was open this time by calling ahead. No epic fails this time around. We got a free parking spot and almost even got a table immediately. Persistence pays off. The newest venture from the people who brought us Kingyo, this little place on West Broadway brings the Izakaya experience to Fairview. The next closest Izakaya, other than in Downtown, is Hapa on Yew at Cornwall.

After organizing our thoughts about which dishes to order, we started with the Torotoro Cha-Shu consisting of roasted and then braised pork served in with the cooking liquid. The pork was super moist and literally melted-in-our mouths. It disintegrated on contact. The sinful pork fat added another layer of flavour that worked well with the sweet soy braising liquid. The only thing that they could've paid more attention to was the slight portion of unmelted fat when they reheated the pork (at the lower left of the plate). Bear noticed the Teriyaki Chicken Pizza and in his mind, envisioned something really special. Unfortunately, it was exactly what the description implied. It was a thin pita-like crust with marble cheese and pieces of teriyaki chicken. Nothing inherently wrong with it. In the end, it was tasty; yet it was really uninteresting. We though the addition of something that added
colour and/or texture would've really made this a better dish.

Now Boss Woman is not really into the raw stuff, so we tried to stay away from ordering any. However, there was no way around it when we got the Deluxe Suika Box. Although disappointing to her, I was secretly loving it since I prefer the raw stuff. Included in the box starting on the bottom left moving clockwise was Hiya-Yakko, Lotus Root Kinpira, Pickled Veggies, Tuna Tataki, Cream Cheese and imitation lobster on melba toast, Salmon Tartar, Tomato Kimchi, Black Cod Salad and at the centre, Kazunoko (herring roe). As large as the box may look in the picture, it is best to be shared by a maximum of 2 people along with other dishes. The highlights from the box were the herring roe (it was crunchy and fishy in a good way), salmon tartar (very smooth, sweet and well-seasoned), tomato kimchi (tangy, aromatic from the sesame oil and a nice pop of flavour) and the tuna tataki (prepared properly, sweet and fresh). You'll notice that I didn't include the tofu as on of the highlights. Well, we actually had a whole plate of it in the Tori-Yakko, which is the same as the box except with fried marinated chicken. If we look at the individual components of the dish, the chicken was very good. It was tender, flavourful and had a nice texture. The chili oil was tasty with a nice balance of spiciness, sweet and savoury elements. The tofu itself was smooth and went well with the other ingredients. However, we felt the tofu was too cold. Okay, I know it is supposed to be cold; but it was really, really cold. After we left it for a little while and came back to it, the dish was much better.

Now for one of the standards - the Ebimayo. This was a good portion of large fried prawns accompanied by an obscene amount of chili mayo. However, that didn't take away the fact it was a good dish. The batter was crisp and light (despite how it looks) and the prawns had the desired snap texture. There was only a modest amount of chili which was fine by us since it didn't overwhelm anything. In the end, there was so much mayo, we used the rest for the Chicken Karaage. It went well with the large pieces of crispy fried chicken that was super juicy and moist inside. It was sufficiently seasoned that we really didn't need to use the salt on the side. With a squeeze of the lemon, combined with the chili mayo, it was delicious.

Something that caught our eye right away on the menu was the Chinese Poutine. Described on the menu as French fries topped with spicy ground pork sauce, mozzarella, chili oil, sansho and minced cilantro, this could've been a disaster. And it really wasn't. I was all ready to hate this because it reeks of fusion gone wrong. However, the poutine worked. The pork sauce was sweet and savoury with a bit of a kick. The meat was moist and not gritty while there was a good amount of melted cheese (not cheese curds I know). Now we all know that Izakayas are not exactly the best places to get full (and neither is the intention of such an establishment). So we got 2 filler items starting with the Asari Yaki Udon. This was stir-fried with Manila clams and citron pepper. This was a very mild yaki udon where the noodles were still chewy while the ingredients didn't make much of an impact. Despite this, it was a pleasant dish nonetheless.

For our second filler, we got the Kakuni Bibimbap served in a hot stone bowl. It consisted of rice, stewed pork belly, sweet dried shrimp and scallions. This was a winner and probably my favourite dish of the night. It was a good mix of flavours including the wonderfully prepared pork belly which added richness and depth to the perfectly cooked rice. The rice was still chewy; yet didn't develop much of a "crust" from the hot stone bowl. Lastly, we decided to try the Matcha Brulee which was frozen then torched on top. We loved the flavour, it was not too sweet and had a nice green tea essence. However, the frozen creme brulee was rather icy and didn't have a nice consistency. It didn't mean we didn't like the dessert, it could've been just a bit better with the texture.

In the end, the food did all the talking here at Suika. Much like its bigger brother, Kingyo, the quality is top-notch. The service was also very friendly and attentive. There is obvious care and thought put into the food. Of course the cost can quickly add up since the portions are modest (you'll need 3 dishes each at least to be full assuming you are eating it for dinner). But as they say, quality comes at a cost.

The Good:
- Friendly and attentive staff
- Care is put into the food
- On average, execution is good

The Bad:
- Can get pricey if you order lots
- Seating isn't exactly comfortable

Pho Gizmo

*Restaurant is now closed*

Have you ever noticed that there is a severe lack of Vietnamese restaurants on the West side of Vancouver? Is it due to the high rent? Clientele? To the best of my knowledge, there is probably around 10 places to grab Pho to the West of Ontario Street. One of these places is tucked right in the Safeway complex on King Edward and Oak Street. Pho Gizmo is the name, Pho & Bubble Tea is their game. Yah, not a conventional combination and really not a good idea when Dragon Ball is across the street. But whatever, I wasn't here for a bubble tea anyways. The place is small though, much like a bubble tea joint. Seating arrangements are made to maximize the amount of customers dining at the same time. Hence, there is a good chance you'll be really close to the table beside you. For me, that doesn't matter since I'm too busy taking pictures of my food. Ha! It might freak out the person beside me though...

As for food, I went for the usual Special Pho or better known as the Pho Dac Biet. It was a reasonable portion with a decent amount of al dente noodles and tender meat. I found the broth to be on the lighter side. I didn't get much in the way of meat flavour; yet it was aromatic while leaning towards the sweeter side. At the very least, it didn't exhibit much MSG. A respectable bowl of Pho considering the location. Of course that wouldn't be the only thing I ate, so I also got a Cold Cut Banh Mi. This wasn't bad as well. The bread was crunchy and actually quite airy inside. As evidenced in the picture, there was no absence of meats and ingredients. I wouldn't say the flavours hit me with much force; but it was still a very satisfying sandwich considering that this is not a Banh Mi joint. Furthermore, there is not much in the way of Banh Mi on the Westside period. So that brings us back to my original point. Since there as many Vietnamese restaurants as one can count on 2 hands on the Westside, Pho Gizmo does the trick. Of course there are better; yet not close by. I do have to note that the service was quite good and at one point, was "served" by the kid (with help from the mom of course).

The Good:
- Convenient location with lots of parking
- Decent eats considering location
- Inexpensive

The Bad:
- Seating arrangements are tight
- There is better Pho elsewhere; but not close by

Victory Seafood Restaurant

*Note - Change in kitchen staff may make this post outdated*

As much as I give Richmond a hard time, it is never about the food. There are so many options for Chinese cuisine, it almost seems like you're in another country (much like the driving). However, with an Asian population that is nearly at 50%, the number of good Chinese restaurants in Burnaby is surprisingly few. If we only count the larger Chinese restaurants, they only include: Fortune House, Top Gun, Grand Dynasty and the "customers are dirt" Po King. Now we can add another to the mix in Victory Seafood Restaurant located in Crystal Mall. Occupying what was once Victory Travel, the restaurant is large lengthwise and with little in the way of obstructions, is perfect for wedding banquets. My parents had their eye on this place for awhile since it had been under construction. Little did we know that our random dinner would be on their opening day. With that in mind, we had realistic expectations and were willing to cut them some slack since a restaurant is never at full-operation until at least a month later.

With that in mind, we were quite forgiving of the haphazard service. They were trying their best and were profusely apologizing for any mistakes. On a side note, that is refreshing for a Chinese restaurant. It seems that some places do not care about their customers and almost feel it is a privilege to eat at their establishment (such as Po King). My personal feeling on this is as the older generation is displaced by the newer generation of Chinese patrons, these type of "good value, bad service" Chinese restaurants will need to either buck up or risk losing a large portion of their customers. I digress. So, the whole family made it to dinner tonight at Victory and upon entering the place, we were graced with a dining space that was both spacious and classy (complete with table linens and cloth napkins). We decided to go for their set meal for 4 and added an extra dish for good measure. The first item was the Appetizer Plate consisting of jellied pork hock, jellyfish and sliced braised beef shank. I found the sliced pork hock to be good in both texture and flavour. The jellyfish was slightly on the chewier side while still having a nice snap. It was properly marinated with enough soy, white pepper and sesame oil. The beef shank had a nice gelatinous quality to it; yet it was slightly on the sweeter side.

Since it was their first dinner service, the expedition of dishes was slightly out-of-whack and the Chinese-Style Beef Tenderloin showed up next. Despite the name, it is rare that actual beef tenderloin is used. Rather, it is usually top sirloin marinated until it is tender. This was almost a perfect balance between tender and still maintaining a beef texture. It was cooked medium-rare and the sauce was tangy with a hint of Worcestershire. The Fish Maw & Crab Meat soup arrived next and was easily divided into 6 bowls (so if you actually had 4 people, you'd get 2 extra bowls). Although the soup was slightly thin, it was seasoned nicely. There appeared to be some depth while not being salty or overly sweet. There was a good amount of fish maw and crab as well. On the topic of crab, the Crab with Fried Rice arrived next. Normally, the crab is prepared with green onion and ginger in starch-thickened consomme; but we omitted the green onions. Despite this, the sauce was still very flavourful and had the right consistency. The crab was meaty and fresh while the star of the plate had to be the fried rice. It exhibited plenty of wok heat both in flavour and texture. Loved the abundance of egg in it too.

The strangest item of the dinner had to be the Stir-Fried Sea Cucumber, Celery and Wood Ear Mushroom. The individual components of the dish were fine with the sea cucumber being soft while still intact, the celery being crisp and the wood ear mushrooms being crunchy. However, they used hoisin sauce as the main flavouring agent and for me, that really didn't go. It was too sweet. A simple oyster-based glaze would've sufficed, especially with a delicate product such as sea cucumber. Our last dish was the Black Bean Spareribs served in a pumpkin squash. This was an interesting dish which probably needs a bit of tweaking. The squash could've used a bit more cooking and the spareribs could've used a tad less baking soda. Otherwise, it was fine in terms of flavour.

As part of the meal, we got dessert which was the Lychee, Dates and Almond Sweet Soup. Normally, I am as happy to see a Chinese sweet soup as I am happy about a prostate exam. You see, most places put so much sugar into these soups that it is practically impossible to eat it. Not this one. I found the soup to be only semi-sweet while still exhibiting depth. They used only a conservative amount of pian tong or Chinese brown sugar. Lastly, for the kiddies, they gave us Mango Pudding. It was the typical gelatin-thickened mango-like tasting pudding; but with slightly more mango flavour. My daughter liked it. And really, we liked our meal as a whole too, especially considering it was their first dinner service. Even without cutting them some slack, it was better than average. We also really appreciated the staff and management there since they seemed genuinely interested in pleasing each and every customer.

Click here for Dim Sum Post

The Good:
- Excellent service
- Above-average food
- Spacious and nicely decorated interior

The Bad:
- It ain't cheap
- It's located in Crystal Mall which means parking lot from hell