Thai by Thai

Have you ever driven by a restaurant that never seems to have any customers? You know, the one that looks a bit shady and remains empty every hour of the day. It is even more obvious when there is an empty parking lot in front too. How do they stay in business? Or is serving food not their "main" reason for existing... Well, for the past 7 years, I have passed by this Salvadorean joint which could pass for a VCR repair shop (in looks and in terms of business potential). Finally, after all this time, it closed and a Thai restaurant has taken over. I was pretty happy with this development because it meant another food
option and the fact there is are only 2 other Thai restaurant in the area (which are Crystal Elephant and it barely qualifies as a Thai restaurant! There is also Sandar's). Before I even knew it was open, I got an email from a reader suggesting I give it a try. Well, I didn't need much convincing!

Since the place has been only open for about 3 weeks, the parking lot was empty like it was before. Let's hope it doesn't stay empty for long. Apparently, the place is run by Manop, who was a long-standing chef (over 20 years) of the Thai House Group. This was quite evident in the food except with a few subtle differences. When I decided to order 2 meals for lunch, the nice fellow there was a bit taken aback. Well, I need to sample more than one item right? I started with the Spicy Pad Thai which was served with the daily soup, one spring roll and green salad. Much like the Thai House, the pad thai here was saucy. Now, before people get up in arms about this, I really didn't mind it since I was not expecting anything less. Furthermore, there was a decent amount of spice and the rest of the components were cooked properly. I wasn't a huge fan of the spring roll though. It was really dry on the inside which made the entire roll a bit tough to eat. However, on a subsequent visit, it was perfect, so I guess it was a one-off.

For my second dish, I had the Beef Red Curry. There was plenty of crunchy bamboo shoots and peppers intermingled with basil and tender beef within the balanced curry. There was a mild spiciness to the otherwise smooth tasting sauce. As mentioned, I made another visit within a week to try out at least one more item to get a feel of the place. The friendly server suggested I try the Basil Chicken prepared Thai style, which meant a nicely fried egg graced the mound of rice.
Interestingly, such a simple addition made this so much more enjoyable to eat. I guess it adds a little something something to an otherwise pretty common Thai combo. As for the basil chicken stir-fry itself, the veggies were vibrant and crisp while the chicken was moist and caramelized. The dish was mild with only subtle hints on heat.

As with my other visit, the meal included soup which was a veggie Tom Yum this time around. Wow, this was really flavourful with huge hits of lemongrass and fish sauce. It was very fragrant and a touch spicy. I just wanted to keep drinking it. In fact, I don't really care if there is nothing to blog about if I do any subsequent return visits. This is the best Thai restaurant in the North Delta area. Mind you, the closest competition nearby doesn't even come close... Sure, to some, the food does bear a striking resemblance to the Thai House with a few tweaks (after all, the chef did work there for over 20 years). However, you can request for more authentic preparations (and the spice level) of every dish. And besides, they must cater to the local tastes to stay in business.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Friendly owner/chef
- Bold flavours (and can be more spicy on request)

The Bad:
- As with most ethnic restaurants, they must cater to the local tastes first to survive

Bo 3 Mon @ Le Petit Saigon

For many, visiting a Vietnamese restaurant involves slurping some rice noodles bathed in a slow boiled beef broth. Add a dash of sriracha, sprouts, lime, chili pepper and basil - sounds pretty standard eh? Well, much like most of the ethnic cuisine in this city, it is what you call the "tourist" approach to food. We are mercy to whatever the restaurants want to serve us. That is why we see an over-representation of certain items on menus. One particular meal that we are only beginning to see in more Vietnamese restaurants in Vancouver is Bo 7 Mon or "Seven Courses of Beef". Normally served only during a celebration such as a wedding, it certainly is a feast. Having already tried the Bo 7 Mon at Thai Hang (more like Bo 5 Mon), Song Huong and the Surrey location of Song Huong (again, Bo 5 Mon), it was time to go for Bo 3 Mon.

So when Karl suggested we meet up to do the Bo 3 Mon at Le Petit Saigon with Rey, Anita and Grayelf, I was there with bells on. Now, I've been here before; but I did the regular Pho thing (in the sweltering heat no-less). Fortunately, it was not as hot this time around. Not surprising since the summer we've had so far has been nothing but a rumour (I know, this is an old post!). Now, we weren't going to merely share a Bo 3 Mon, so we ordered a whole bunch of things starting with the Bo Tai Chanh or beef tartar. At first, they were worried that we were ordering this dish. They reiterated that it was raw and we kept nodding in affirmation. Even with that, the lady seemed concerned. LOL... Anyways, the flavour of the tartar was intense with hits of acidity, fish sauce, sweetness and herbiness. However, the beef itself was not exactly that tender. It required quite a chew which I was not a big fan of.

After this, we then moved onto the Bo 3 Mon. With any of the beef meals, there was the requisite plate of veggies and herbs consisting of sprouts, pickled carrots, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, basil and perilla. The trick to enjoy this meal is to take the beef and wrap it with the veggies, herbs and vermicelli in a rice paper sheet (which you soak in hot water). All 3 courses of beef arrived on the same plate consisting of Bò lá Lốt and a double order of Mỡ Chài. The Bò lá Lốt is the one in the middle and is beef wrapped in lot leaves (similar to grape leaves). The predominant flavouring for the beef is lemongrass and fish sauce which are quite evident in the flavour profile. On both sides, we had the Bò Mỡ Chài, which is essentially the same sausages wrapped in caul fat. All of the sausages were moist and flavourful (and quite filling too). We were full from sausages! Er... right...

By virtue of ordering other beef dishes, we created our own Beef 7 Ways meal (of course missing the some of the other dishes). We got the Bò Nướng Vĩ or Grilled Lemongrass Beef. The menu stated that it would be grilled table side; but I guess due to space limitations, it was served already grilled. I wasn't particularly fond of this one. The beef was chewy and really didn't exhibit much in the way of any flavours. This could possibly be due to the lack of charring and caramelization. Lastly, we had the Bò Nhúng Dấm or rare beef cooked in a vinegar broth hot pot (at the table). And once again, although the beef looked really good, it was chewy when cooked. I experimented with undercooking it and overcooking it with the same result. I guess it is the meat they use since all of it was chewy. One thing I must note is the Mam Nem (fermented anchovy dipping sauce) was not bad. It was sweet, salty and had the nice sharpness of raw garlic. I love this sauce in general and probably could drink it as a beverage. With that being said, I still like the one from Song Huong more. So basically, this was a self-created beef meal that ultimately had 6 courses. It was not bad in general; however, I do prefer the ones from Song Huong and Thai Hang more.

The Good:
- Friendly staff/owner
- If not looking at this meal, the rest of the food is pretty good

The Bad:
- Just like last time, it can get warm in there
- Bo 3 Mon is a bit pricey compared to Song Huong

Sub Garden

Sometimes, I get into these moods. You know, the type where you are indifferent as to what to eat. Believe it or not, there are times I really don't know what to eat and frankly, don't have the energy to look for something new. When that happens, I usually end up going somewhere I've been before or just grab something from Subway. However, if I was going to spend money on a sandwich, it might as well be unique. I had to use up a few brain cells; but ultimately, I found a place in the back of my mind. I remember that there is this sub place right next to Anastasia which I pass by all the time.

Walking into the place, it reminded me of the Sandwich Tree with it's homey-type decor. Hey, I don't mind ol' skool, after all, a snazzy interior doesn't necessarily translate to good food (see: Brown's Social House). I ended up going for two 6" subs. I went for the standard Pizza Sub as my first choice. There are several bread options and I decided on the herbed roll. It was pretty good with the usual pepperoni, salami, tomato sauce and cheese. I liked the bread, it was soft while able to hold up to the ingredients.

As for my second sandwich, I went for something a bit different - Jerk Chicken. A opposed to most places offering "jerk chicken", this one was quite flavourful and spicy. It probably would've benefited from being reheated since something about cold jerk chicken doesn't appeal to me. However, all-in-all, some pretty good sandwiches from a place I'd never think of even visiting. Definitely better than Subway, it's worth a try.

The Good:
- Home-made quality to it
- Some unique choices
- Reasonably-priced for the quality

The Bad:
- Not somewhere you would linger, best to get takeout

Koon Bo

Normally, when a restaurant receives numerous accolades from the print media and yearly awards, there are some lofty expectations. More often than not, these places also are well-known and are easy-to-locate. If we use this model, then Koon Bo does not fit the mold of an award-winning restaurant on the surface. Located in a very non-descript plaza on the corner of 41st and Fraser, one could easily miss it if they didn't know about it. That was the case for many of my softball teammates when I suggested we head to Koon Bo after our tournament at nearby Memorial Park. For me, this was not my first visit. I had been here many years prior and had 2 good food memories: their Hand Shredded Chicken and Peking Duck. It's no wonder I remembered the shredded chicken because it has been one of the CRA-winning dishes among others.

Naturally, we started with the Hand-Shredded Chicken Salad consisting of chicken meat, pickled vegetable, jellyfish and wonton crisps seasoned with sesame oil, soy and sweet chili sauce. As simple of a dish this may seem, it was truly delicious. There are many places that make their own version; but the flavour balance of the one at Koon Bo is hard to beat. There was the sweetness from the chicken and sweet chili and the salty tartness of the vegetable combined with the myriad of textures provided by the chicken, jellyfish and crisps. Another signature dish here is the Honey Garlic Pork with Fried Tofu. Bear had spotted it at another table and it made him a happy camper when he found out we had ordered it. Hey, do bears camp? I digress. The honey garlic pork consisted of cut pork chop served in a fried wonton wrapper bowl with fried tofu around it. We all agreed that this has got to be one of the better attempts at honey garlic pork. The pork was moist with a slight resistance and crispy on the outside. It was bathed in a honey garlic sauce that was very well-balanced. It wasn't super sweet and had good hits of garlic. The fried tofu was interesting in that it was a mixture of tofu and veggies. The outside was super crispy while the inside was soft and delicious.

And much like last time, we got the Peking Duck served in 2 courses. We started with the crispy duck skin with crepes. Much like the one at Red Star, the duck skin was crisp with very little in the way of fat. It made it easy for everyone to eat without needing to navigate around the chunks of fat. The crepes were thin and quite good; but they were a bit hard to separate with some tearing apart. For the second course, the Duck Lettuce Wrap was also very good. It was a very large portion and there was a clear indication that they did not skimp on the duck meat. There was easily enough filling for all the lettuce cups and more. The filling was slightly on the softer side and a tad salty. Otherwise, it was meaty with plenty of flavour. Dr. No Share (formerly Dr. 911) shockingly decided to get in on our dinner by sharing with us. I guess he couldn't resist the dishes we had ordered. For his choice, he selected the Peking Pork Chops. This was another well-executed dish with perfectly fried pork chop pieces which were moist and tender. I particularly liked how they cut the pork chops into eater-friendly sized pieces. The sauce was practically flawless in viscosity since it clung onto each piece of meat without creating a pool at the bottom of the plate. It was the right balance of sweet, tart and savoury.

For our one requisite veggie dish, we got the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with garlic. At this point, it was merely predictable that they would execute this item to perfection. The pea shoots were vibrant, cooked just enough and seasoned properly. The pea shoots exhibited the desired crunch and chewiness while being completely cooked. Definitely enough wok heat since there was no pool of water at the bottom of the plate. Instead of ordering plain white rice, we opted for Milhouse's favourite being the Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice. The rice was exactly the right texture being chewy with a nice bite. It wasn't dry though while still showing off the obvious wok heat it was prepared in. It was seasoned just right as well with enough saltiness from the fish.

Lastly, we had the Special House Fried Noodles. Yah, this is not really a dish one would necessarily order at Koon Bo; but we all had agreed on one rice dish and one noodle dish. In the end, it was actually pretty good with plenty of shrimp, chicken, squid, BBQ pork and bak choy on top of crispy noodles. The sauce was plentiful and flavourful which was a positive and a negative because the noodles got a bit soggy. Still a good plate of noodles nonetheless. In fact, Koon Bo was exactly as good as I had remembered. It was pretty much a consensus at our table that the food was delicious and well-executed. Sure, not everything was perfect; but there were no duds. The prices were a tad high for this class of restaurant and the service is pretty basic; yet we'd gladly return for some of their specialties.

The Good:
- Well-executed food, especially their specialties
- They can actually backup their many accolades

The Bad:
- A tad pricey
- Pretty tight squeeze

Dream Sushi

*Restaurant is closed*

Another weekend and another set of softball games. 3 at least and possibly a 4th (if we made it to the finals). The day started off on the wrong foot (or hamstring) since I was pretty sore from the hockey game on the previous night. I was able to make it through the game with considerable discomfort. In order to last the day, I needed drugs. No not that type of drugs; but legal ones. As we headed off for lunch, my intention was to grab some muscle relaxant and Tylenol. Well, that wouldn't be necessary since Bear whipped out his stash and began explaining what each pill was about. Wow. To think I knew Bear... Turns out he's a pusher! Well, it benefited me because I felt pretty good after the medication.

So this was just before our lunch at Dream Sushi, which was conveniently located not far from the softball field. Yes, the place is Chinese-run, for those authenticity-seekers. Again, it doesn't matter if the food is good. Just because it is Japanese-run, doesn't mean it is automatically good. Trust me, there are a lot of authentic Chinese restaurants in town that are not very good. So the reason we ended up here was due to my cousin recommending the place. Word is that the portions are generous and the food is decent (for a Chinese-run Japanese restaurant that is). For myself, I decided to go for the Dinner Set and started with the Salmon Sashimi. Well actually I started with a miso soup and green salad; but honestly, there was not much to say about them. Now the sashimi was another story. It was actually quite good. Arriving in large slices, the texture and appearance were good. The sashimi was surprisingly sweet and flavourful.

Next to arrive was the Tempura consisting of one piece each yam, green bean, mushroom and squash. It was fried up nicely with a crisp exterior which was lightly battered. It was not greasy and each item retained its texture. I liked how they added grated daikon into the tempura dip. For my main, I had the Chicken Curry which had a surprising kick. I say surprising since Japanese curry is usually more sweet than anything. It was indeed on the sweeter side; but it almost appeared to have some form of Chinese-influence. The pieces of chicken were tender and plentiful while the rice was the desired chewy texture.

To change things up a bit, I decided to share a Peking Duck Roll with Wendal (no, not Clark). And as the name suggests, the roll consisted of duck and cucumber in the middle with a piece of Peking duck skin on the outside then drizzled with mayo and teriyaki sauce. In terms of flavour, the roll wasn't too bad. There was duck flavour and sweetness. However, it would've been even better if the sauce was hoisin (or at least a stronger hoisin presence). The skin on top was not crispy at all, which was a bit disappointing since that is the best feature of Peking duck. I'm pretty sure it was BBQ duck, not Peking duck since they neither have the facilities or really the time to make Peking duck. What they should have done was torch the skin on top of the roll. Moreover, we found the rice on the gummier side. As for Bear, in between trying to push drugs, he ordered the Spinach Gomae to start. It was a freakishly large portion that could've easily made 3. It was the typical non-Japanese version with the sesame dressing on top. With that in mind, it wasn't too bad. There was plenty of roasted sesame flavour without too much sweetness. The spinach was a bit chewy though.

Inexplicably, both Judes and Milhouse ordered the Miso Ramen. Despite what you think, the surprising thing about it wasn't because this was not a ramen joint. Rather, it was really warm outside. Hot noodles on a warm day? Well, I've done it before and I guess that's what they do in South Asia... Besides, it turned out to be actually decent since there was realistic expectations. Considering that there is a "ramen" joint across the street that isn't impressive bodes well for the ramen here. I tried some of it and the soup base was quite flavourful with a rich miso taste. It wasn't bursting with meat flavour by no means; but decent nonetheless. The noodles were perfectly al dente as well; however, the chashu fat was a tad chewy. The weird-looking egg would make most ramen connoisseurs cringe; yet it was good in its own ways.

Sienna decided to order the Tuna Maki and it arrived on the same plate as Wendal's Spinach Maki. As you can clearly see in the picture, there is much more filling that rice. Too bad the rice was gummy like the Peking Duck Roll (of course it was, same rice!). Hot Chocolate (who we referred to as Hotter Chocolate since she had a new sexy hairdo) went for the Chicken Udon. Not the most interesting of selections; yet it was quite good with a flavourful broth and al dente noodles. She remarked that there was lots of tender chicken as well. As evidenced in the food, there are some authenticity issues here. Yet, does it really matter? I mean, most people that visit this place are happy with the value and overall food quality. Who are we to tell them otherwise?

The Good:
- Large portions
- Reasonable prices

The Bad:
- The place is tiny

Stan's Pizza Joint

I'll admit it. Despite the many pizza choices available in my neighbourhood, I get lazy and just settle for Domino's. I'm not dissing Domino's, it is just not very creative. I'd much rather do Hot Oven instead. Another option that I finally got to try was Stan's Pizza Joint. It actually took a birthday party for me to sample the pizza. Seeing how we were at Confederation Park, Vandelay ordered pizzas from Stan's (which is nearby). Despite sampling from the 6 different pizzas he ordered, I was not quite satisfied. You see, by the time I got to the pizzas, they were cold. We were too busy riding the miniature train over and over. Hence, I really needed to sink my teeth into some fresh slices to get the full meal deal. So a bit later, Viv and I ended up ordering 2 pizzas and some pasta from Stan's.

I noticed that they had pulled pork as a topping and immediately jumped on that. At least that was something interesting. Thus, for our first pizza, we had Pulled Pork and Tomato. The pulled pork was sufficiently tender and meaty while not over-seasoned. As mentioned, it was a nice departure from the typical toppings found at most pizza joints. We found the crust to be pretty standard a la Gigi's, Sunrise Pizza and the sort. It was not heavy nor thin, it was somewhere in between and not greasy. We liked how it was brown and crisp on the bottom. For our second Pizza I went for Pepperoni and Sausage which was again pretty typical. However, the ample amount of cheese (which wasn't too greasy) and liberal application of meat made for a good pizza.

Now to get a sense of their other offerings, I tacked on a few orders of their Lasagna and Meatballs. As for the lasagna, it was again pretty typical of a pizza joint offering. The noodles were intermingled with a meaty tangy sauce with plenty of baked cheese on top. Now the meatballs were another story. These were, without a doubt, the worst meatballs I've ever had. And I've eaten a lot of balls! Uh... As you can clearly see in the pictures, the meatballs were burnt. These things were basically inedible. I mean for heaven's sake, they already killed the cow once, why freakin' murder it again??? Honestly, for the person who prepared these and decided to pack it up for a customer to bring home needs a cooking lesson. It is totally inexcusable to serve food that cannot be chewed and digested. Man, these meatballs bring back memories of Kawawa! Okay, meatballs aside, the pizzas were pretty decent and the 2-topping mediums for $7.99 were a good value. The lasagna was okay too considering the price. But it is really too bad the only thing we can take from this meal was the terrible meatballs.

The Good:
- Pizza is decent
- Specials offer good value

The Bad:
- Worst meatballs we've ever had... can't believe they served them!

Feastro the Rolling Bistro

*Food truck no longer in operation*

Long before the food cart craze hit Vancouver, the gourmet food truck, where one could find mobile restaurant quality food, was already in existence elsewhere. I had already encountered something similar in San Francisco, where Spencer on the Go was offering gourmet French food. It's been on the Food Network, so it definitely has a following. Now, we have Feastro the Rolling Bistro direct from Sunshine Coast. Setting up its new digs on Thurlow at Cordova, it strives to offer up gourmet food from a catering truck. It is definitely different than most of the other Vancouver street food offerings since it isn'texactly cheap, but the quality of ingredients are high.

With that in mind, I went for Steve's Famous Seafood Chowder which was a rich and creamy concoction consisting of fresh shrimp, scallops, salmon, tuna and oysters served with grilled baguette. The bowl of chowder was so thick with cream and fresh seafood that I could literally stick the spoon in the middle and it would not ever tip over. The thick chowder benefited from the ingredients and had a sweet seafood essence further heightened by plump corn and dill. Although it was not cheap, it was certainly worth the money. I actually didn't hog the whole chowder to myself. I ended up sharing that and a plate of Salmon and Chips with Viv. The salmon was moist and sweet with a crunchy breading that was not greasy. However, the fries were completely oil-logged and not visually appealing. It didn't go down well either. I'm thinking that this may have been a one-off (should've gotten the yam fries instead). Love the subtle tartar sauce though.

Of course we couldn't visit Feastro without one of their tacos. Okay, lemme get this straight first - the tacos here are their twist on the Mexican specialty. Don't expect Al Pastor, Carnitas or my personal favourite, Lengua here. No need to flame them though, they are not a Mexican taco truck and never claim to be. With that in mind, the most interesting one we came across was the Prawn & Grilled Prosciutto Taco. And as the name implies, it consists of the aforementioned ingredients accompanied by organic greens, sour cream, salsa and crispy green onions. I thought the taco was quite pleasant with a nice sweet snap from the prawns and the saltiness from the prosciutto. Despite the appearance of a soft taco, the whole thing held together as we ate it.

Marshmallow decided to go for 2 different tacos, which was a relief for me! Her first was the Sockeye Salmon Taco on a bed of mesclun greens and topped with mango salsa and crispy green onions. She remarked that the salmon was moist and flaky which was complimented by the sweet salsa. A light and refreshing taco. However, I really couldn't get how little actual fish there was in this $8.00 taco. Lastly, her son had the Steak Taco, also on a bed of greens topped with some type of onion marmalade, sour cream and crispy green onions. The boy was sure hungry and attacked it like a neanderthal. Well, it was for the better since the meat was slightly chewy. Other than a grunt of "good", I wasn't sure of the final verdict. However, for the items we did try, they were quite good (fries withstanding). In fact, I can see why they are the "rolling bistro". The food is a cut-above most other cart offerings. With that though, there are higher prices. But I guess you do get what you pay for.

The Good:
- Quality ingredients
- It's pretty gourmet for street food

The Bad:
- Pricey
- Tacos are not very big for the price, especially the fish