The Fray

*Restaurant is now closed*

Tops, Knight & Day, Denny's and fast food joints. What do these have in common? Heart attack food? Open 24 hours? Desperation eats? Yah, pretty all of those traits and more... That, essentially is what we are facing as eating destinations since our freakin' league games are so late. In fact, over the next 2 months, no games are earlier than 10:00pm. Most are going to be after 11:00! I think it is time to change leagues. So when I got an email from The Fray hoping I'd pay them a visit in the next little while, it seemed unlikely. They do open until midnight, but their last call is at 11:00pm. For us, the only time we could even possibly make it there in time was our 9:00pm game coming up. We miraculously made it by 10:45, a full 15 minutes prior to last call. How did we achieve this? Simple. Gadget Girl and Emilicious actually made it out of the changing room within 20 minutes (as if you haven't already guessed, this is a co-ed league, and no, we do not change in the same dressing room!). Even more amazing was the fact that Milhouse made it out at around the same time. Normally, he likes his long, hot showers... uh...

On looks alone, I really liked the concept and vibe of the place. The first thing that caught my attention was the table arcade game that boasted classics such as Ms. Pacman, Galaga and Space Invaders! The North wall was adorned with various board games which we could play at our leisure. Way cool. But most rad of all was the Grown Up Activity Sheet at each table. Consider it a localized scavenger hunt with items such as a hoodie, old-school Chuck Taylors and a blogger with a digital camera... hmmm... Anyways, we decided to share some appies as a group and sorta quasi-shared some mains as well. Gadget Girl decided on a salad for herself. Apparently, she wants to maintain her girlish figure, much like Milhouse. Despite covering a good part of their menu, the owner decided to treat us to 3 bonus appies. And were we glad he did because we wouldn't have had the good fortune of trying the Freaky Potatoes. These house made rosemary-infused thin chips were graced with green onions, bacon, cheddar, hot sauce and sour cream. A complete hit with our table, these had it all - texture, spice, cool, salty and cheesy.

Next up were the F-Bombs. No, Milhouse wasn't reliving the choice words he had during the game or nor was it myself going into a tirade about Richmond drivers either. Rather, these were their rendition of Devils on Horseback. Instead of prunes, these were bacon-wrapped figs finished off with a balsamic reduction. For all intents and purposes, the same "sweet mixed with salty-smokiness" still applied. As such, these were pretty well-received. However, my personal favourite had to be the Portobello Fries. These panko-encrusted fungi were a textural delight. The super crunchy exterior gave way to a perfectly cooked mushroom "fry". Not much in the way of seasoning though, other than the truffle aioli which added a double-dose of Earthiness.

Moving past the comped items, we had the Duck Fat-Fried Chicken. That's right folks. Not a misprint. The chicken drumsticks were fried in duck fat. Due to the richness of the fat, the exterior of the drumsticks were fried to a golden crisp. Wonderful texture with the rendered chicken skin which became a thin layer of crunchiness. With that being said, we would've liked to see the chicken meat cooked a little less. Served on the side were Parmesan sour cream dip and Nước chấm. I preferred the sour cream since it actually adhered to the meat. The Vietnamese fish sauce dip had a hard time penetrating the chicken meat.

Our last appie was the Pulled Pork Sliders served on a purple yam bun. Not sure if these were really the purple yam buns, but in terms of texture, they were indeed dense. Probably too dense and really should've been toasted. Furthermore, the pork was a tad dry and it required a good dousing of BBQ sauce. The sauce itself was thin and lacking in smokiness. Overall, these sliders were probably the weakest of the appies we tried. Moving onto the mains, the first thing that stood out on the menu was the Fat Bastard Pork Belly. This was a fairly large piece of belly with a crispy crackling on top. The fat did not exactly melt-in-our mouths and the meat was a bit chewy. It was accompanied by horseradish slaw, caramelized apple rings and pork jus. This dish has potential if the belly could be prepared differently.

The Mac and Cheese also caught our fancy and it was pretty decent. I would've preferred a touch more sharpness and some more of the rich bechamel sauce. The radiatore pasta was al dente and it really held onto the sauce well. The crumb topping added a nice crunch. Although it didn't blow our socks off, this was way better than the one I had at the Mac Shack (or maybe because the Mac Shack was just not very good in general). Milhouse once again went for a burger in the form of the Fray Burger. I gave it a try and the Pemberton beef patty was actually quite moist and flavourfully seasoned. It had a nice sear too. The lettuce and tomatoes were fresh, however, the bun was too dense for my taste. Overall, a solid burger. Now, with Sweet Tooth in attendance, we had no choice but to order a few desserts. I gave the Chocolate Espresso Brownie a try first. On the menu, it was incorrectly printed at $14.95. At first, we thought it had gold flakes or something. Turns out it was only $5.95. Curiously, the outside of the brownie was more moist than the inside, which was dry (probably due to the chocolate sauce). We didn't get a huge hit of espresso, but the brownie was indeed chocolaty.

If the brownie got mixed reviews, the Orange Panna Cotta was unanimously given thumbs up. It was silky, not overly sweet and bursting with flavour. It was very fragrant and refreshing. Furthermore, it was a relatively large portion. This was a satisfying end to a somewhat uneven meal. Most of the appies were pretty darn good (except for the pulled pork sliders), the dinner entrees needed some refinement, the burger was solid and as mentioned, we liked the panna cotta over the brownie. So in essence, they were batting at .600, which is above average. So assuming you pick the right items, the Fray is a pretty neat place to hang out and grab a bite (especially the appies).

The Good:
- Very cool concept with the retro games and such
- Some interesting menu items with equally interesting names
- The appies are generally pretty good

The Bad:
- For the entrees we tried, some tweaks are needed

Tasty Indian Bistro

When I thought I had finally tackled all the Indian restaurants along Scott Road, there have been some openings and closings as of late. Tasty Sweets decided to close up shop at their old location and move into a swank dining space along Scott Road. Walking into the place, one would confuse it for Joey or one of the Glowbal restaurants. Very impressive. Now, I won't lie. I wasn't the biggest fan of Tasty Sweets when I visited the place 2 years ago. Maybe it was an off day? People swore the food was good, including my Indian friends. For me, it was just plain salty. So when a bunch of people wanted to go for lunch, it looked like a good time to tackle quite a few items for a re-evaluation of sorts.

Although we had all picked one dish each (which we were going to share), Snake Eyes let the "eyes-bigger-than-his-stomach" phenomenon get the best of him (maybe change his nickname to that?). He decided to have an order of the Veggie Samosas all to himself. Well, clearly by the picture, it was quite a bit of food for an appetizer. Accompanied by a chickpea curry and chutneys, he struggled to even finish one. I gladly helped him with it and they were pretty good. I really liked how they were not greasy while still crisp on the outside. The inside was mildly spiced and flavourful. Loved the chickpeas too, really nice texture (soft, yet not mushy) and flavourful once again. For our mains, the first to arrive was the Chicken Tikka Masala. This was very flavourful bordering on salty, but without the sting. There was a decent amount of spiciness to go along with the smooth curry. The abundance of onions and green peppers added another layer of flavour. The only weak part of the dish was the chicken. It was a bit stringy.

Since a few people at the table didn't prefer lamb nor goat, we had to settle on more chicken dishes, such as the Chicken Korma. Lately, I've had a few kormas which were bordering on bland. This was not such the case here. In fact, it was aggressively seasoned much like the tikka masala. It was very creamy with a touch of spice. The familiar flavours were there such as cumin and coriander. Not sure about the nuts though, I didn't really taste any (could be the aggressive seasoning). Moving onto some more poultry with the ever-so-standard Butter Chicken, it was
unlike my previous visit at their old location. It was not stingily salty. However, that didn't mean it was bland either. Once again, it was bursting with flavour. It was more creamy than tomatoey, which suited me fine. The entire dish was quite mild in terms of spice while the chicken was very tender and plentiful.

To break the monotony of eating chicken, I suggested we order a Fish Curry. Buried beneath the curry was a generous helping of moist fish pieces. It appeared to be Basa. I really liked this curry since it was a departure from the 2 previous creamy offerings. Rather, it was more spicy and had a rich flavour from all of the ingredients. Once again, it was aggressively seasoned. Surprisingly and probably the most popular item was vegetarian. The Mutter Paneer was a lot creamier than some of the other versions I've had lately, but that didn't detract from the dish. I'm not about to list out all of the ingredients in this curry because I probably couldn't pick them all out. But what I can tell you is that there was a nice balance which went really well with the rice and Naan. And about that naan, well, it was much better than my visit to their old location. There was a nice char on the the one side while the bread itself was soft with some elasticity.

Based on the dishes we tried, we were satisfied with our visit to Tasty Bistro. We were probably more impressed with the decor than anything. The food was definitely better than the last time (at their old location). However, one thing that only changed slightly was their aggressive seasoning. Obviously there was a good amount of sodium used (in more than one form I'm speculating). According to the amount of salt I use when I cook at home, for something to taste that flavourful, there must've been no holding back here. To be fair, most restaurants use salt and fat liberally because it makes the food taste good. And why do we eat out? So we can eat tasty food right? So I don't blame them here. In the end, the food was very tasty (as their name suggests) and since it goes with rice and naan, it's alright to have flavourful sauces.

The Good:
- No lack of flavour here
- Oustanding decor
- Good amount of parking spots

The Bad:
- Pretty aggressive seasoning (if you don't like that)
- Pricier than other Indian restaurants nearby

Tableau Bar Bistro

The last time we were at Hubbub, Whipping Girl complained that I never call her out for eats anymore. She seemed genuinely hurt. I felt really bad. She has been a willing eating companion all this time and for the last little while, I totally forgot about her. I didn't call. I didn't text. Heck, I didn't even creep her on Facebook... er... So when I already lined up lunch with Vandelay, I also included Whipping Girl. She was very happy with this development, especially since we were heading to Tableau. Any menu with Moules Frites makes her extremely happy. Much like Charlie Sheen and escort agencies... #winning! Gawd this joke is getting old. Anyways, Donna Chang also decided to join us despite the fact she was expecting her second child at any minute! Now that is dedication. I guess she wanted to experience real food before being subjected to hospital fare.

We agreed on a few appetizers to start and to Whipping Girl's dismay, the Moules Frites was one of them. She wanted to have it all-to-herself. Sharing was not her intention. Oh I see, she was thinking it was a parking spot in Richmond... Anyways, the mussels themselves were plump and cooked perfectly. However, the broth was missing something. Sure, it had sweetness and fennel. Furthermore, it seemed to have enough salt as well. Oh right, it was devoid of acidity. In that sense, it was flat and didn't have any pop. On the other hand, the Grilled Calamari was quite impressive. Served atop a chickpea, red pepper, red onion and arugula salad flanked by tapenade, the squid rings were perfectly tender. Moreover, we could really taste the smokiness from the grill.

Originally, we were only interested in sharing 2 appies until we noticed the Poutine offered as a side. Then of course we had no choice but to order it! The fries were crispy and starchy while the cheese curds were mostly melted, hence we had a hard time determining if they had any squeak or not. With one of the less melted pieces we didn't experience any squeak, so we could only assume they weren't in general. The demi-glace was silky, flavourful and rich, bordering on salty (according to the others). I didn't think the demi was exactly all that salty, but they had poured so much on top of the poutine, it may have been too much.

Finally getting to the mains, I went for the Steelhead Trout with quinoa & almond, lemon and brown butter sauce. The trout was seared beautifully with a crisp skin while the flesh was flaky and moist. I liked how they weren't shy about seasoning the fish. Some might find it salty, but I enjoyed it. The quinoa, almond and raisin salad underneath had a nice firm texture. The flavours were well-balanced with the sweetness from the raisins, saltiness of the fish, acidity from the lemon and for good measure, a healthy dash of pepper. Vandelay went for the Garganelli Pasta served with pork & beef meatballs, kale and tomato sauce. We thought this was a well-executed plate of food. The pasta was al dente while the tomato sauce tasted fresh and well-balanced. I loved the meatballs, hence Vandelay shared his balls with me... They were meaty without being dense and full of flavour.

Donna went for the other pasta being the Pappardelle & Mushroom Pasta consisting of leeks, toasted pine nuts, herbs and Padano cheese. Predictably Earthy and creamy, this was a pleasant plate of food. It was probably a bit too conservatively seasoned and could've used a pinch more of salt. The pasta was quite nice though, it was perfectly cooked. Now, for all her excitement about joining us for lunch, Whipping Girl settled on the Burger and Fries. Hey, I'm not knocking burgers (I love burgers), I just want to continue my ridicule of Whipping Girl. Maybe she might not want to join us for lunch anymore... So, the positives first - the meat was moist and peppery. Furthermore, the ingredients were fresh. As for the negative, the whole thing was very salty (and believe me, I love salt, but this was too much).

Despite the seemingly inconsistent seasoning across all of the dishes, the food was above average. Sure, it didn't blow our socks off, but it is rare for any restaurant to do so. We found the service to be decent considering the busy lunch rush. Our server did his best to accommodate our needs. For me, the high ceiling at the front was nice, especially with all the natural light. Found it kind of weird walking directly in front of the kitchen when heading to the washrooms though. Now, if we take into account the reasonable pricing given its Downtown location, Tableau is a decent option.

The Good:
- Love the high ceiling and ambiance
- Reasonable pricing given its Downtown location
- Well-executed proteins

The Bad:
- Inconsistent seasoning
- Seating is a bit cramped at some tables

Khyber Pass

*note: not sure if it is still open*

If one was to sample the very best Afghan food in the GVRD, it could easily be done in a couple of days. You see, there are only 3 major Afghan restaurants in town. Sure, there are other places that serve Afghan-type dishes, but as for full-blown Afghan food, you don't have much choice. So it comes to no surprise that I've been to all of them including this current post. The grand-daddy of them all is the Afghan Horseman, which I visited when it was still on Broadway. The other is Afghan Chopan out in Surrey. Now to complete the trifecta, a bunch of us decided to try out the newly opened Khyber Pass (formerly Red Fort). Originally, it wasn't our intention of dining at Khyber Pass. We wanted to eat at Aree Thai, but they were having an open house on that night. The reason we ended up at Khyber Pass was due to the work of Fmed and Karl. I merely just came along for the ride. Oh and something about Ben leaving for China...

Since we had made a reservation for a large group, they had set up a special menu of sorts. This way, we got to try a little of everything. The first thing to arrive was a Spring Roll of sorts filled with peppers and onions. Served on the side was a tamarind chutney which was appetizingly tart. The roll itself was a tad greasy, yet it was crisp and the ingredients were still vibrant. Next up were multiple plates of the Mantoo and Ashak. These were very similar except the mantoo were meat dumping ands the ashak were vegetarian. Both were topped yogurt and tomato sauce. These were pretty good with the dumpling skin being thin and easy to eat. The flavours were mild and I swear there was cumin in the meat dumpling, but our server said there was none. Maybe I imagined it? Whatever the case, due to my bias towards meat, I preferred those over the veggie dumplings.

Next up was the Bouranee-Banjann or eggplant with yogurt sauce. The eggplant was cooked until it was super soft and practically melted in my mouth. Despite this, it wasn't mush pre se either. There was a good level of tartness mixed in with the spices. The dish was quite oily though. Then we were presented with a special item not found on the menu - Braised Lamb Shank. Although hardly chewy, the lamb shank could've stood for more cooking time. It did not exhibit that desired gelatinous fall off the bone, melt-in-your mouth quality. Furthermore, the rich colour of the sauce did not translate into bold flavours. I found it to be flat and only somewhat herby.

Whenever there is sauce, rice is inevitably a side dish. The Qabili Palau confused me for a moment when I dug into and discovered there was no meat! Usually, there is some form of meat buried below. So this was a plain version of Afghanistan's national dish which consists of long grain rice topped with carrots and raisins. I found the rice to be perfectly cooked exhibiting a chewy texture. Of course the carrots and raisins made for a sweet tasting rice that was good on its own. It was a touch oily though. Okay, no meat in the Qabili Palau? No problem! How about all 3 types of kebabs and why don't we make it 3 plates each? Uh... I like meat, but that was too much food! Imagine that, too much food. I don't say that very often. So we started with the Chicken Kababs which wore a nice char on its exterior. That added a nice smokiness to the moist meat. By virtue of being chicken, the depth of flavour of the meat itself did not compare to the Tikka Kababs. It is quite obvious from the picture that each chunk of lamb was super moist and juicy. Hence, there was a lovely gaminess which was further amplified by the considerable charring of the exterior. There was a good hit of garlic as well.

After trying the lamb kebabs, it was almost anti-climatic when it came to the Seekh Kebabs. I guess it didn't help that these were chewy and somewhat gritty. After 2 moist, tender and juicy kebabs, the beef was a letdown. On the other hand, the beef was probably the most seasoned of the 3 meats. It was flavourful with a combination of ground beef, onions, tomatoes and coriander seed. Thus it had more of kick of spices unlike the lamb and chicken, which were more mild. However, there was considerably less charring with the beef which took away from the depth of flavour.

I gotta say, it was a real treat to try so many items from the menu. I'm not sure if they cooked more food since our original reservation was larger, but we had enough for twice the amount of diners. We only paid a modest $20.00 per person for all this food. Again, this may not be indicative of what a regular meal would cost due to our initial reservation. If I had to compare the food here to the other 2 Afghan restaurants I have been to in Vancouver, Khyber Pass would be comparable. Personally, I like Afghan Chopan more for now and since I haven't been to the Afghan Horsemen in a while, I'll need to wait for a revisit to comment. I'd have to say Khyber Pass is in the top 3, albeit, there are only 3 large Afghan restaurants in the GVRD (at least to my knowledge and at the time of this blog post).

The Good:
- We probably got preferential treatment, but they were very attentive though (possibly over-attentive...)
- Looking over the regular menu, prices look reasonable

The Bad:
- Awkward location with an equally awkward dining room

Dunn's Famous

Convincing my teammates to head out for Friday late night eats has never been all that difficult. Usually, they are quite enthusiastic and in fact, are dismayed if we didn't. Hence, we have sampled some of the best late night eats Vancouver has to offer. However, with the available options dwindling, we have been looking towards places that are either far away or located in Downtown. Now, whenever I suggest Downtown, it's like I just mentioned the name Voldermort. Emotions such as fear, anger and worry start to arise. Much like a drive in Richmond I suppose. But honestly. Late night eats in Downtown Vancouver is nothing to be afraid of. First of all, the parking is generally plentiful and free around midnight. Second, there is practically no traffic other than the major thoroughfares. Furthermore, there is much more selection of restaurants to choose from. So my compelling case for heading Downtown did not fall on deaf ears this time. In addition to the aforementioned points, the mere mention of Dunn's Smoked Meat piqued everyone's interest. It was like the call of the wild. Okay, okay, for those purists out there, I do realize that Dunn's is more of a "touristy" joint, much like Carnegie Deli in NYC. But with the complete lack of legit deli sandwiches in this city, let's just not even try to compare this to NYC or Montreal. Cuz we're not either of those cities. As the wise Bertuzzi stated, "It is what it is...".

And much like my prophecy, almost everyone got rock-star parking in front of Dunn's. We had originally rushed on over because we thought last call was at midnight, yet they told us it was 12:30am when we got there. No matter, gave us more time to look over the menu. Which incidentally does not only consist of smoked meat sandwiches. There are burgers, hot dogs, pastas and other entrees available. None of which we were particularly interested in since we were here for the smoked meat. Miss Y was originally supposed to join us and she would've probably ordered a burger... Well, we went for their specialties starting with Dunn's Poutine. This was an impressive-looking plate of food with Kennebec potato fries (similar to those found at White Spot), gravy, melted cheese curds and a whack-load of minced smoked meat on top. This was pretty good except we were not convinced with the finely minced meat. It was hard to eat and I didn't think it had enough impact. Now one poutine wouldn't be enough right? So we got the Peppercorn Poutine which is a variation of their Quebecois Poutine except for peppercorns in the gravy. This was met with only lukewarm praise. Again, the fries were while there was an even gravy and cheese ratio. However, it was not as flavourful as we would've liked, considering it was supposed to be peppercorn.

Now onto the main event - the smoked meat! Gordo had the Super Giant Montreal Smoked Meat with 8oz of hand-sliced beef brisket (medium in this case) on light sourdough rye bread. Although it would never be confused with something found at Carnegie Deli in NYC, it was "big enough". As expected, the meat was very moist and flavourful due to his choice of medium (the best choice IMO). Now, for informational and comparison's sake, I have included a picture of Giant Montreal Smoked Meat also with medium meat. Emilicious has a smaller appetite and she was content with only 6 ounces. She did, however, substitute Onion Rings for the fries. These were big and crispy, we liked them. Now FYI, the next picture represents an 8 oz sandwich with lean meat. Ginseng and Lionel Hutz were looking out for their health and decided against medium or fatty. Again, personally, I would not order lean, but it is an option though. Milhouse and Sweet Tooth settled on the Famous Dunn's Rueben consisting of Montreal smoked meat double stacked on dark ryewith sauerkraut & melted Swiss cheese. This was an impressive-looking sandwich with plenty of meat and an equally large amount of bread. It could've been toasted a bit more since it was becoming quite soft at the end. Sweet Tooth remarked that there could've been more sauerkraut as she didn't notice it much. We were all pretty happy with their side coleslaw as it looked and tasted fresh with a nice zing and crunch (loved how it was the non-mayo type too).

For myself, I wanted to order something original at the table, so I chose the Combination (in which I selected smoked meat and free-run chicken). Naturally, the meat was solid, however, I really didn't care for the chicken. It was dry and tasteless. I did like the light sourdough rye though, it held up to the meat and stayed intact throughout. On the side, I substituted a Seafood Chowder for the fries. Normally, there would be mussels in the soup, but they didn't have any. This was decent for what it was. It was packed with large chunks of salmon, clams, potatoes, carrots and celery. After I finished the soup, I was stuffed. In fact, we were all pretty satisfied. Sure, the food didn't blow us away, but the meat was solid nonetheless. Both Emilicious and Gordo have been to Dunn's in Montreal and they thought this location was pretty close (not exact, but close enough). Again, we are fully aware there are better independent delis in Montreal compared to Dunn's. But, we're not in Montreal.

The Good:
- Surprisingly nice dining space
- Portion-to-price ratio is fair considering the location (sandwiches only though)
- Smoked Meat is pretty solid (remember, we're talking about Vancouver here, not Montreal!)

The Bad:
- Not really a bad, but I believe Estrella's in Langley had a comparable smoked meat as well
- Looking over the rest of the menu, some of the non-sandwich items are getting up there in price (but I'll cut them some slack because rent is probably expensive and we didn't even try the entrees)