Pho Long

It seems that the good weather we've been having has finally caught up to Summer Sunday morning hockey (you can tell this was written like a month ago...). For the longest time, it seemed like an extended Spring up until the end of July. I don't mind the cooler temperatures; but the rain. Even for a Vancouverite born and raised, this was getting a bit ridiculous. So with the warmer weather, the ice rink looked more like the Golden Gate Bridge (covered in fog). Well, at the very least, I had an excuse for letting pucks by me... So after our game, I had the bright idea of going for a steaming hot bowl of Pho. Hot Pho on a warm Summer day. Oh why not? They do it all the time in Vietnam right?

I suggested we meet up at a place I've been to lots - Pho Van. When we arrived, it was apparent that the name had changed to Pho Long. However, the laughing cow was still on the yellow awning as well as the menu (which still read Pho Van incidentally). The neon lights were still there, so were some familiar faces on staff and also the big screen TV. Now on that TV, they were playing the Vietnamese version of Dancing with the Stars. That was quite interesting. It was like watching the US version; but with Asians. Very strange; but the ladies were attractive and some of the outfits... When did a bikini suddenly pass for a ballroom dance outfit? Oh right, I should be talking about the food...

So Kaiser Soze finally decided to join us for food since we were nowhere near the Downtown Eastside. He went for the Pho and it was a pretty decent portion. Noodles were al dente while the meats were tender. Problem being was that the broth was extremely light and only slightly sweet. It had no depth whatsoever. That was the problem with my Bun Bo Hue as well. It may have looked flavourful; but the soup was very flat. No spice and no real hit of anything. I could only detect the faint taste of lemongrass. Ultimately, it was bland. Too bad really. The noodles were good while the meats were plentiful. The perfectly cooked pork knuckle was a nice surprise though (since many versions of Bun Bo Hue here do not have it).

Milhouse went for the Vermicelli Bowl with grilled pork and spring roll. Once again, the portion size was more than generous. In fact, we were marveling over how large the spring roll was. Maybe we were marveling too much so, it got awkward... Size is one thing though. The spring roll was not good. It was stiff (I'm using the wrong adjectives here...) and instead of being crunchy, it was hard. Er... The grilled pork was good though, it was only a tad dry and quite flavourful. However, that can't describe the rest of the food we had. Definitely quantity over quality here for sure. Not necessarily a bad thing if you are hungry and don't have a lot of cash on you.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Low prices
- Lots of neon

The Bad:
- Soups are bland
- Overall execution is average

#1 Beef Noodle House

Poor Emilicious. She had her wisdom teeth pulled and all she could eat for the time being were soft mushy things. That would mean congee, noodles, soup and smoothies. Not exactly a wide range of food and not particularly interesting either. Due to the late ending of our Friday night hockey game, the options for this type of food (especially a place I've never been before) was somewhere between zip to nil. Therefore, we ended up at a place I've been to many a time - #1 Beef Noodle House. Fortunately, I haven't blogged about in nearly 3 years, so it was a good time to do a re-visit. At first, I was a little concerned about the parking situation since we had a table of 11 people. You see, this parking lot of 20 spaces or so services 4 restaurants. Usually, the only choice of parking is over a block away behind a forest. Fortunately for us, it was so late, all the other restaurants were closed and all the parking spots were available.

Strangely, we were seated at the same table that I have sat at for my last 3 visits. However, unlike those past visits, I went for something totally different starting with the Preserved Duck Egg with Tofu. If I had to compare this with a recent version, then this was a miss. I much preferred the one I had at Facing East in Bellevue. The main reason for my indifference was due to the sauce. It was salty and one-dimensional, it killed everything. Think about it, the tofu and egg are pretty standard, so the sauce is what brings it together. For my main, I tried one of their hot pots with the Sesame Oil Chicken Hot Pot. It came steaming hot on a chaffing dish, 2 sides and noodles. If compared to the one I had at Kalvin's, this one was several notches below. The soup did have enough flavour (in particular the ginger); yet it lack depth. There wasn't a strong sesame oil presence as well. On the other hand, the chicken was quite good though being cooked just enough.

Milhouse ended up with the Salty Peppery Chicken with Fried Rice. The pieces of chicken were moist and juicy while definitely salty. However, it wasn't really all that peppery though. Still decent nonetheless. That went for the fried rice too. It was chewy with enough seasoning. Other than that, it wasn't very exciting. Gordo surprisingly ordered the Curry Brisket with Rice. Honestly, that is not a dish I would normally consider at a place such as #1 Beef Noodle. Surprisingly, it was not bad. The brisket was tender and not too fatty. Furthermore, the curry had a nice consistency from the coconut milk. It was sweet and savoury with a unexpected kick. Alright, a visit to #1 Beef Noodle is not complete without ordering the Beef Brisket Noodles right? Well, I let Gadget Girl do the honours since I've had a few times already. And much like the other times, there was plenty of tender beef shank. Wait. Beef shank? Yes, although they call it beef brisket on the menu, they in fact use shank. Why do this keep doing this? I have absolutely no idea. They really should change the menu description because most people can tell the difference between brisket and shank. As for the noodles, they are pretty good except they were a bit past al dente this time around. Probably the weakest part of the bowl of noodles was the soup. By no means was it bad. In actuality, it is one of the better ones in town. With that being said, it could use a bit more depth.

Now the whole reason we were here was due to Emilicious' predicament. So keeping inline with her "soft foods" requirement, she had the Hot & Sour Soup with Noodles. Much like Gadget Girl's noodles, these were slightly past al dente as well. The hot & sour soup had a nice consistency while not really having a lot of impact. It was neither very hot nor very sour. It was sort of in the middle. Decent, not great. That would be the same description of Ginseng's order of Boiled Pork Dumplings. The dumpling skin was a tad doughy while not too thick. The meat filling was not gritty; yet a bit on the bland side. Basically, it was your typical boiled dumplings. And really, the meal as a whole was pretty typical of #1 Beef Noodle House. Nothing more than expected and nothing less either (well, the curry was better than we thought it would be). It is safe to say it is not the best TBN in town; however, it is a decent option and especially late into the early morning. Not our first choice if there were more places open. At the very least, at this time, there are available parking spaces.

The Good:
- Open late
- Pretty good drinks
- Okay food

The Bad:
- Absolutely no parking available during peak hours
- It's beef shank, not brisket (which doesn't bother me, but they should change the English menu descriptions)

Pair Bistro

*Restaurant is now closed*

With all the great bistros we have in Vancouver, there are some that get lost in the shuffle. It is especially true if they are not situated at a central location. Pair Bistro out on 10th at Alma would not be the usual choice for many people partly because where it is situated and also the fact it is not really that well-known either. Hey, if it weren't for Mijune, I would be one of those people! Heck, I've driven by this place so many times and probably walked past it too! Shows how observant I am... Meeting up for a meal with Costanza and Elaine, we were seated on the small outdoor patio. Funny how we seemed to attract all types of insects as a few bees were very interested in our food. But it wasn't as funny as the spider that kept sliding down on its web from the front awning. I swear it was trying to sample all of our dishes! Wait, that would be me too. Am I an annoying spider??? Well, Viv does say I'm too busy with my hands... Er... TMI!

As for the aforementioned food, we were first presented with a small Amuse Bouche consisting of watercress, sour cherry dressing and tomar cheese. This was very simple and light with a bit of peppery notes, zing and nuttiness from the cheese. For her starter, Elaine decided on the Wild Mushroom Latte topped with truffle oil and asiago tuille served on the side. This tiny cup of soup really packed quite the flavour punch. It was as if we did a face plant into the ground from the Earthiness provided by the mushroom and truffle oil (as stated by everyone at the table). For me, I thought woodsy would be a better description. It felt like I was licking the bottom of the forest floor, in a good way that is. It was actually the right size due to the creaminess. Not sure if one could have a bigger serving of the soup. On the topic of creamy, the Saltwater Chowder with Gallo Mussels, Savoury Clams, Wild Boar Bacon and Chilliwack Corn Potato Cream was visually appealing and rich. The cream "soup" was really thick and sweet. There was so little of it, I'm not sure if it qualified as a soup or chowder. It was more like a creamy sauce which benefited from sweetness of corn and the smokiness of the boar bacon. The Mirepoix (without the onions) was vibrant and still slightly crisp. Love the use of mussels and clams in the shell. They were plump and sweet.

Costanza ended up with a First Nations classic in the Native BC Bannock Bread with cottage made preserves and cedar jelly. I've had many versions of bannock including my own and I'd have to say this one was pretty darn good. It was fried perfectly (not being too greasy) with a dense, yet still fluffy interior. These were served pipping hot and went well with the jelly. We only wished we had more jelly! This was a very filling "appetizer" and really should be shared with others. Can't imagine dusting that all off and then being able to eat a whole meal! Wait, I forgot, Mijune could probably do that. As if that was filling enough, Viv's Fraser Valley Duck and Apricot Pate was equally heavy for an appie. Served on the side were dried figs and apricots as well as La Baguette artisan bread on another plate. Not that the pate was particularly heavy, rather, it was a fairly large portion with plenty of accompanying bread. The pate was pretty smooth with the occasional apricot which gave out a nice sweet burst and a touch of texture. There was a delicious duckiness which was not gamy. The dried fruit was disappointing though. It was very hard to chew through the fig since it was quite hard and dry.

Moving onto the mains, I had the Peace Region Bison Ribs with wild blackberry BBQ sauce, Chilliwack corn bread and radish slaw. The slow braised ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender. Now, to be accurate, they weren't melt-in-my-mouth tender though since bison ribs would never achieve the same texture as pork. Think tender beef brisket or shortrib, except more moist and you'll get the idea. Even without the BBQ sauce, the meat was flavourful and rich. I found the BBQ sauce to be quite mild and slightly sweet which didn't interfere with the meat. I'm not sure if this was the intention, but it worked. As for the corn bread, I loved the sweetness, yet wasn't that thrilled with the dryness. If it were a tad more moist, it would've been perfect. Although the slaw was crisp and fresh, it could've stood for more acidity.

Viv opted for more meat, in addition to the pate, in the form of The Burger. It was tantalizingly described as naturally-raised grass fed 1/2 pound of Pemberton Meadows Beef with smoked cheddar, wild boar bacon, foraged mushrooms, organic greens and roasted garlic with a Pair pickle. And it arrived as advertised, majestically large with sea asparagus peaking out from underneath the greens and above the large beef patty which was moist and juicy. The onion in the burger patty added a nice sweetness and texture while the boar bacon could've stood to be done more crispy. It was rather fatty and chewy. I really loved the bun, it was soft, crisp and airy. The accompanying thick-cut fries were crisp outside while soft and potatoey on the inside. Reminded me of Red Robin actually, but better (duh...). We were not sure what was served as a dipping sauce for the fries though. It looked like chipotle mayo, but it had no real flavour and was quite watery.

Without even being prompted, Costanza and Elaine ordered the Feast Platter for a PAIR. I was secretly hoping that they would! Such cooperative dining companions. Even better because I got to try everything! Damn, I really am a spider, with my hands in everyone's food! Anyways, the first item I tried was the rosemary pepper crusted Wapiti Elk Medallions finished with a chocolate & sour cherry jus. The elk was cooked perfectly medium-rare which allowed it to remain moist and tender. There was plenty of meat flavour without being gamy. The jus was quite mild with just a hint of tart and bitterness. Up next was the Maple Hills Farms Free Run Chicken which was prepared as a roulade stuffed with UBC spinach & foraged mushrooms. It rested on apple cidar glazed veggies and finished off with wild flower honey & sage demi. I found the chicken itself to be super moist and juicy. Although the overall flavour profile wasn't smack-in-the-mouth impactful, there was enough subtle hints of sweetness from the stuffing and sauce to season the meat. The still crisp veggies underneath were very good. Good combination of sweetness and acidity. The one blip in the platter was the Sockeye Salmon. I realize it is a bit difficult to prepare sockeye salmon so that it remains moist, however, this piece was dry and bland. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't terrible. In fact, it was a beautiful piece of fish. Too bad really. The last item on the platter was a Wind Dried Salmon Candy resting on a bed of UBC field greens. The flakes of salmon candy were moist and sweet. It went well with the fresh greens.

After a decent amount of food (with some of it heavy), we decided to share 2 desserts. Costanza and Elaine chose the Blackberry Galette served with peppermint ice cream. Although the pastry was flaky and crisp, the blackberries were far from sweet. In fact, they were quite sour. Add in the peppermint ice cream with the sourness and the whole thing really didn't work. Fortunately, the dessert Viv and I selected was much better. We swore that the server said it was a Sour Cherry Creme Brulee, but we didn't get a sense that it was. Maybe we heard wrong? Whatever the case, the custard was not too sweet and indeed custardy. The best thing was the caramelized sugar topping. It was thin, crunchy and smoky sweet. It was perfectly executed. The small piece of biscotti was crumbly and soft, which suited us fine because we didn't have coffee to dunk it into. Apparently, our server forgot Viv's coffee. Costanza got his though. However, the service overall was fantastic - attentive and courteous. The food in general was pretty solid with a few gems. Pair Bistro should definitely be in consideration when one wants a solid meal at a place not subject to any hype.

The Good:
- Courteous service
- Quality ingredients
- Quaint little place

The Bad:
- Not expensive, but not exactly cheap either (higher priced than other comparable bistros)
- Seating is slightly tight due to the small dining space (hence bistro...)

Peaceful Restaurant

Seemingly never destined to visit Vancouver, Guy Fieri rolled into town with his triple-D's crew a month ago. From all reports, he went to such places as The Red Wagon, Save-on-Meats, Fresh Local Wild and Peaceful (among others). Wait. One restaurant kinda sticks out like a sore thumb. Yah, that would be Peaceful. Considered the "better" of the 2 hand-pulled noodle houses on Broadway, it has often taken a back seat to Sha-Lin in terms of publicity. Well, that would be until the airing of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in the new year. Other than hand-pulled (or cut) noodles, Peaceful dishes up both Szechuan and Shanghainese fare in a tiny shop only a few stores down from the aforementioned Sha-Lin. When I say tiny, I mean small enough to make Subway look spacious.

Despite this, we almost instantly snagged a table. We were lucky though. A lineup soon developed that was 10 people deep. So why is this place so darn popular? Well, for starters, they were awarded the Gold CRA for the best Beef Pancake Roll. At first, I was a bit skeptical. C'mon, how good can a green onion pancake roll with beef be anyways? Well, I ended up eating my own words and a very good pancake roll at that. Normally, my biggest complaint about this item is the thick, dense pancake which often exhibits an unappetizing gumminess. Not here, not even close. The pancake was crisp, flaky and not the least oily. It had a nice pan-fried appearance and was uniform in shape. I found the roll to be the perfect balance of tender beef shank, scallions, hoisin and light pancake. This is one Chinese Restaurant Award-winning dish that I wholeheartedly agree with. Another one of their popular items is the Spicy Marinated Cucumbers. Once again, it didn't disappoint. The cucumbers were fresh and very crunchy. The crisp texture was a party in my mouth while the dressing had some spice. Once again, there was a nice balance of soy, sesame oil and chili pepper flakes.

Now the love-in with the food came to a grinding halt of sorts with the Chili Garlic Pork Belly. When I ordered it, our server warned me that the pork belly would be very fatty. That didn't concern me because this dish is typically not for the health-conscious. However, the versions I've had so far consist of thinly sliced pork belly. This one had slices that were far too thick with very tough to chew pork rind. That was probably a result from it being thickly sliced. Moreover, the thick slices made the pork belly unappetizing and chore to eat. It's too bad really since the flavours weren't bad with plenty of minced garlic, red chilis and a vinegary dressing. Okay, back to the good stuff... The Chicken and Mung Bean Noodle Salad was a table favourite with a nice combination of perfectly textured noodles (chewy), tender chicken and just-cooked spinach. I found the peanut dressing to be just the right consistency and the perfect combo of peanut, chili sauce and soy. There was a nice kick to balance the sweet and savoury elements of the dressing. We noticed a few tables with Xiao Long Bao on their table and decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, they looked much better than they ate. First of all, the dumpling wrapper was far too thick and was actually quite difficult to chew through. Second, the meat filling was a bit odd with certain flavours and ingredients (like greens) not normally found in XLBs. Lastly, the amount of soup in the dumplings ranged from a little to none-at-all. In fact, some had popped. I will cut them some slack because they don't specialize in XLBs, but they were no good nonetheless.

Now for something they ARE known for - the fresh hand-made noodles. Our first order was the Shanghai Fried Cutting Noodles. These noodles were "cut" from a block of dough, hence they are usually thicker and chewier (if cooked al dente). This was indeed a fine plate of fried noodles. Each thick strand was toothsome and attractively chewy. There was just the right amount of soy to flavour the noodles without being salty. The accompanying cabbage was wonderfully crunchy and sweet. My son couldn't get enough of these noodles (which means it must be good). Our second noodle was the Szechuan Spicy Beef Noodles in Soup. Hidden underneath the beef brisket and spinach lay a deceptively large amount of hand-pulled noodles. These were slightly past al dente, yet it was not terribly so. These were also very good and the freshness really shone. The soup had depth and was mildly spicy. Despite its appearance, the falling apart beef brisket was quite most and tender. It was a touch on the dry side due to the lack of fat.

Lastly and the most surprising dish of all was the Chili-Garlic Eggplant. This was by far the tastiest item of the meal. With each perfectly cooked piece of eggplant coated in a silky starch-thicken sauce which was a vinegary, spicy, salty and sweet, we couldn't stop eating it. In fact, we cleaned the plate. The crunchy bamboo shoots and wood ear mushrooms really added a nice textural contrast to the soft eggplant. This was a good end to a mostly solid meal, pork belly and XLBs notwithstanding. And what can I say? I think Guy Fieri got it right this time around. The food at Peaceful (if you order the right items) is "money".

The Good:
- Good hand-made noodles
- Despite the lack of servers, service is still friendly fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin
- Outstanding beef & green onion pancake roll

The Bad:
- Not the most comfortable place to sit
- Friendly servers, just not enough of them

The Place

Normally, any discussion on the best Xiao Long Bao in the GVRD would involve such places as Shanghai River, Shanghai Wonderful, Chen's, Lin and Suhang. Notice that most of them are in Richmond. Seeing that was the case and Costanza had a hankering for XLBs, I went into panic mode. I honestly didn't want to drive all the way to Richmond. And it had nothing to do with the traffic or potential parking spot theft either. It really had to do with the been-there-done that phenomenon. We really needed to try somewhere else. But where? Well, eventually we found the place. Really, literally it is called "The Place". Located on Granville near 64th, it is your typical hole-in-the-wall.

Be sure to bring cash and also be prepared to order by number if you don't speak Mandarin and/or Cantonese. After some strange hybrid ordering on our part (we used a combo of number and Cantonese), we ended up starting with the Nanjing Salted Duck. This was a fairly large portion for the price where the duck was meaty and flavourful. It was a touch salty in parts (hence the name), but overall it wasn't too much so. The texture of the meat was very good. It was soft while still exhibiting some resistance. Now the Hot & Sour Soup was less successful. Although the soup itself had a nice silky consistency and was filled with plenty of ingredients, it was far too sour. In fact, we didn't even get much spice since the vinegar completely overwhelmed all of the other flavours. It's too bad really because I could sense the broth was pretty good even with the over-acidic qualities.

Now for the main event - the Xiao Long Bao. We actually got 3 orders since Costanza's son could eat a whole steamer by himself (which he did). Similar to everywhere else these days, the XLBs were freshly made behind the counter. However, there was no flashy open kitchen nor any plexiglass display area. It was merely one person making them discreetly. Yet, the final product was far from reserved. Rather, it was in-our-faces (literally) with a considerable amount of flavourful soup. As the picture clearly demonstrates, the XLBs were so full of broth, it was "spreading" out. Sure, the dumping skin was not very uniform nor really ultra-thin, but it wasn't a big deal really. The hot, meaty broth was very good without being salty. The meat was slightly gritty, yet not overly so. It was well-seasoned. Overall, a very impressive XLB with all factors considered.

Another equally delicious item was the Stir-Fried Hand-Made Noodles with Vegetables. The thick flat noodles were perfectly al dente as with the crisp vibrant spinach and cabbage. There was just enough sauce to coat the noodles without making them soggy. The sauce itself was not too oily and had a nice caramelization from the high wok heat. It's too bad that the same couldn't be said about the Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup. I personally didn't mind it too much because I like it spicy, but the rest of the table though it was too tongue-numbing from the Szechuan peppercorns. They felt it covered up the beefiness of the broth. It is quite possibly a matter of taste here since they were comparing it to the Taiwanese version which would be different than the one here. The noodles were al dente and equally as good as the previous dish. The beef shank, however, was quite dry and lacking flavour. On the other hand, the Chili Eggplant was outright a flavour explosion. With perfectly cooked eggplant which was soft while still retaining a bite and bathed in a spicy sauce, we had to get some rice to take advantage of the it. Viv thought that the sauce was slightly too acidic, but I thought it was fine. There was plenty of spice, tart, sweet and savoury going on.

For some odd reason, we made an error in our order. We somehow got the Pan Fried Beef Pastry rather than the pancake wrap. Our bad though, I guess ordering by number confused us. It turned out to be a good mistake though since the beef pastries were pretty good. I've had many of these before and they have been mostly fatty and frankly disgusting. Not here. The meat was moist, flavourful and not very oily. This allowed the outside to stay crisp while the dough on the inside was only minimally affected by the moisture. Lastly, after a bit of a wait, the BBQ Duck Pastry arrived. When we dug into it, we quickly realized why it took so long. They had actually made these from scratch and it really showed. The pastry was flaky on the outside and the darn thing was very hot! There was a good amount of duck flavour which was very appealing. However, I felt that a bit more seasoning would've made the pastry "pop" in our mouths. Whatever the case, the food in general made our mouths happy. Considering the price point, we were satisfied with the portions and execution. Naturally, there are other restaurants that serve up better food on a dish-by-dish basis, but they are more expensive and are not located in Vancouver. Besides, I'd return for the XLBs alone. I realize they are far from perfect, yet the abundance of tasty broth is almost unparalleled in Vancouver.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- XLBs are good in their own way
- Some pretty good dishes

The Bad:
- No frills here, only come here for the food
- Although service is friendly, it will be sparse when it gets busy
- Place is tiny