Preston's

Okay, if you pay close attention to the first picture of this post, you'll notice that there is something peculiar. Yes, the red carpet! Why is there a red carpet leading into Preston's? Honestly, this picture was taken during the grand opening way back in June 2010. Now, I'm not normally a "grand opening" type of person since it usually involves large crowds and it really doesn't offer up any indication how an actual meal would be like. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying grand openings are not important. To a restaurant, this is the best way to create buzz and a splash. We must remember - a restaurant is out there to make money and who can blame them for doing whatever they can to promote themselves? In fact, some of their offerings that night were pretty good (some not so much). This prompted me to plan an actual visit. Well, more than one and half years later, the time had finally come. With Whipping Girl, Costanza and Chill, I was ready to tackle some of their grub.

From what I could remember, the highlight of the grand opening was the Calamari. Thus, I had no objections when Costanza wanted to share an order. The grilled squid had the perfect texture - chewy while still delicately soft. The smokiness of the grill helped add a nice caramelized flavour to the naturally sweet flesh. The accompanying tapenade really completed the dish by offering up a different form of saltiness. This is probably their best dish by far (compared to everything else I've tried). Costanza went for an item he had once before which was the Crispy Halibut Sandwich. The cornmeal-crusted BC halibut was served on a brioche bun along with tarragon tartar. I really liked the cornmeal crust, it was very crunchy and added a nice texture to the sandwich. However, the halibut was a bit dry (even for halibut). The tarragon tartar was not as impactful as we had hoped, but then again, we could've just asked for more. We both love brioche buns, but this one was too dry and combined with the dry halibut, it was not that appealing. We loved the large side of crispy yam fries though.

Whipping Girl and I shared a few items, which was awesome in my books. The Steak Bites arrived first and were mostly tender with a few larger pieces that required more effort to chew. We felt the hoisin & ginger glaze was a touch too sweet though. Even when dipped into the side of mustard, it didn't help cut through the sweetness. The Pork Sliders were pretty
disappointing. The bun was a touch too dry while the meat needed much more BBQ sauce. Furthermore, the coleslaw was barely there, hence, I didn't get a sense of the flavour nor the texture. There were enough good components here to make a good pulled pork sandwich, it just needed some tweaking.

The one dish that needed just a minor tweak was the Seafood Linguine. With a good amount of mussels, clams, prawns, scallops and salmon bathed in a white wine cream sauce, shaved Parmesan and fresh basil, all of the components were there to make a good dish. This was especially true with the al dente linguine too. What was wrong then? There was no flavour in the sauce. Sure, it is supposed to be subtle, but it was far too subtle. Lastly, we had the Preston's Poutine which boasted Quebec Cheese Curds and Rickard's Red Gravy. Again, there were some good components at play here. The gravy was nice - not too salty, yet flavourful at the same time. The cheese curds were not necessary the type I like, but there was plenty of it and it wasn't offensive. The fries were the weak link though. Too generic for my tastes. If they were more "fresh cut-like", then we'd have a winner. If you have been noticing a trend here, you are right. The food has potential here, considering the decent components. However, we felt a few tweaks were needed to put the food over the top. With that being said, the food wasn't bad. Combined with attentive service and a fancy decor, Preston's is safe place to visit if one wasn't in the adventurous mood.

The Good:
- Nice decor
- Pretty good service
- Okay lunch pricing considering everything

The Bad:
- Although there are some really good components, the final product needs some tweaking
- Dinner pricing gets up there, you can eat practically anywhere

The Famous Warehouse

"Gangster shot at the Sheraton Wall Centre" was the headline in the newspaper. Oh that's just great. One day later, we were supposed to attend a conference there. Well, I guess after that, it would probably be the safest hotel out there due to the attention it received. I knew one thing was for sure: we weren't going to eat at the hotel restaurant! Despite this, I heard the food is to die for... Sorry, bad joke. Where we did end up eating lunch, which was The Famous Warehouse,
should've been a crime within itself. Everything on the menu is only $4.95. Seems like an unreal steal of a deal eh? Makes you think of the Ikea commercial where the lady thinks she got something cheaper than it really was. "Start the car!"

The most popular item it seems is their burgers, so there was no choice to what I would order despite 2 other burgers at the table (apparently they weren't going to share!). I chose the Mushroom Jack Burger consisting of premium Alberta beef, tomato, lettuce, pickle, sauteed mushrooms, gravy, macho sauce and Monterey jack on a brioche bun. Considering the price, this was a decent burger. I found the beef rather juicy for being cooked all-the-way-through. It was nicely seasoned as well. I liked how they didn't skimp on the ingredients despite the low cost. Hence, it was a solid burger that had good textures and flavours. Only thing I would've liked was a more moist bun. Seeing how everyone was already having their peppered fries, I substituted mine for the Warehouse Poutine. Unfortunately, mine was a little bit cold by the time it arrived. For a non-traditional poutine (see the cheese), it was okay. The gravy had enough flavour while the fries were a touch limp. I think if they omitted the pepper, the poutine would've been better since that is all I could taste.

Ma had the Mama T's Crunchy Mac 'n Cheese (is that ironic?). Boy this was a large portion for the price (notice the trend?). Arriving with 2 large pieces of focaccia, this was a concoction of cheddar, mozzarella, alfredo, cornflakes, thyme and a Parmesan crust. This was decently cheesy with a nice contrast of textures. Once again, not bad for $4.95! Another item at the table was the Crispy Chicken Caesar Wrap. This was stuffed with fried chicken strips, crisp romaine, maple bacon, Parmesan cheese within a red tortilla. Although a wrap is hardly something to rave about, it was indeed solid. The chicken was moist and crispy at the same time while there was just enough dressing. Didn't hurt that there was crispy bacon either. All of us were pretty satisfied with our meals and that was not taking into account of the cost either. Of course when you start adding extras and ordering booze, the price starts to climb. Yet, if you stay conservative, eating at the Famous Warehouse could cost you about the same as going to McD's.

The Good:
- Cheap (everything is $4.95)
- Food is more than acceptable (even when not looking at the prices)
- The service we got was good

The Bad:
- If you start adding extras or like to booze it up, it is no longer that cheap

House of Tofu Soup

Here I was. Back at the scene of the crime. Almost 2 months after I first injured my knee in hockey, I was playing with the same group when it occurred. I held no ill will towards the individual who caused it because he's a good guy. But deep down inside, I was channeling Ron Hextall into my body... Okay, I didn't actually give him a 2-hander, rather, I merely played on the same side which meant less chance of it happening again. This was, in fact, my 3rd time playing hockey since coming back and my knee has been fine. As for my conditioning, well, that was another matter. Halfway through the session, I was struggling big time. When I got home, I was in no mood to cook and with frigid temperatures, it was as good as any time to head out to House of Tofu Soup.

Located along the North Road Korean "town" corridor, as their name implies, HoTS specializes in hot stone tofu soups. Not the prettiest of dining spaces, it does the job with the bare minimum. As with most Korean meals, we were presented with a variety of Banchan to start. From the bottom (clockwise), we had kimchi, seaweed, pickled radish & onion and mashed potato salad. These were pretty basic and a bit underwhelming. The seaweed was limp and bland while the potato salad had a weird texture. I guess using Idahoan instant mash potatoes would be the reason why. Although the kimchi was slightly sweet, it still had some good heat and crunch. Since we came here for the Tofu Soup, we got an order with a mix of seafood and meat. Arriving bubbling hot, a freshly cracked egg went into the soup. This was extremely satisfying with soft, slippery tofu pieces, beef, whole shrimp and clams. We went for mild and it had just a hint of spice to go with a good balance of sweet and savoury. The seafood added an extra kick of flavour which was pleasant to the tastebuds. This really hit the spot considering the temperature outside.

Since their menu is pretty simple, we struggled to find things we wanted to order and I guess for no other reason than the process of elimination, we got the Goon Mandu (fried dumplings). These were certainly fried alright. They were very crispy and glistening. However, I wasn't a huge fan of the filling though. It was mealy and dry where the meat was not even discernible. Furthermore, the whole thing needed more seasoning. However, we do realize that, much like other dumplings, the dip provides most of the flavour punch, which was the case here. As for our other dishes, we got the usual stuff starting with the Dolset Bibimbap. The darn thing came burning hot, which partially helped
counteract the slightly wet rice. In fact, the stone bowl was so hot, it was able to form an excellent rice crust (which the kiddies loved). The ingredients looked fresh and provided the textural crunch to the rice.

Lastly, the other usual dish was the Japchae which was a pretty large portion. There was plenty of tender beef and veggies (in particular, broccoli). This would've been a pretty solid dish if it weren't so wet and greasy. I thought the flavour was in good balance, neither being too sweet (which it can be) nor too salty. Overall, we enjoyed our meal here despite its shortcomings. I think if one stuck with the tofu soups and didn't deviate much the other menu items, it would definitely hit the spot (even in the summer).

The Good:
- Satisfying tofu soup
- Friendly, if not sparse service

The Bad:
- Other than the soups, everything else is mediocre (well the bibimbap was not bad)
- Not a place you'd want to linger
- What a tiny parking lot, if it's full you're SOL

Fraiche

My cousin Sal from San Francisco has all grown up. She's about to be married! With the limited amount of time and logistics, Viv and I booked our flights for San Francisco sans nos enfants. That's right, we ain't bringing the kids for the wedding. That means more sleep and more eats! So, possibly disappointed in not seeing her nephew since he was one and not ever even meeting her niece, Sal decided to take a short trip into Seattle and then drive up to meet us for lunch. Wow, that's dedication. Naturally, she had to pick the coldest week so far to visit. Lovely. At least she gets to see snow. For some odd reason, she and her fiance did not have any desire for Asian food (despite the obvious places to eat around here). Therefore, I thought long and hard about a place to eat that had good food and something touristy. I briefly considered Salmon House on the Hill since it holds a place in my heart (not the food, but the restaurant itself). You see, my uncle worked there in the 80's and we would frequent the place quite often. Moreover, that was where Viv and I had our first date as well. Sentimental, good view, yet not necessarily great food (decent, but not great). Then I remembered Fraiche which had an even better view and supposedly better food. Keep in mind, we went for brunch and that is only a partial sample of their eats. But then again, the view is so spectacular during a sunny day...

So Sal decided to start with the Caesar Salad, which was lightly dressed. So much so, she thought they had forgotten the dressing. This was to her liking though since she doesn't like her salad slathered with too much moisture. The crunchy lardons added the much needed saltiness to the crisp romaine. Originally, we were both seduced by the mention of a Squash and Lobster Bisque, however, there was some miscommunication and it was in fact, unavailable.
Scrambling to find a replacement, I merely rattled off the first thing I could remember from the menu being the Arugula Salad. Imagine how I felt when my main had the same salad as a side... Doh! At the very least, the actual salad had thin slices of apple underneath, some frisee and a Parmesan crisp on top. The salad was quite refreshing and light. The apples provided some sweetness to balance the bitterness and peppery notes. As for my main, I had the Chorizo and Leek Omelet. There was a bounty of mild chorizo spilling out of the fluffy omelet. The leeks and carrots were still slightly firm, which added a nice crunch, as well as a pleasant rawness. I loved the fried cubed potatoes. They were super crisp and I suspect they fried it twice.

My dad had the Smoked Salmon Benny which was served with the same potatoes and the same arugula salad. Not a negative by any stretch of the imagination. Just pointing out the arugula... I guess I shouldn't have ordered the salad! So as you can readily see in the picture, the free-range eggs were perfectly runny and aesthetically-pleasing. The English muffin was toasted nicely crispy which held up to the egg yolk and Hollandaise. And about that Hollandaise... It was very good. Good consistency and well-balanced with a nice hit of lemon while still buttery enough.
For my mom, she went for the meat (like she always does) in the Steak and Eggs. This was prepared a bit differently than typical versions. Rather than scramble eggs, the grilled flat iron steak was topped with 2 fried eggs and a demi-glace. The steak was prepared a perfect medium-rare and was quite flavourful. Getting a bite of each component made for a tasty eat.

Sal ended up with the Lobster Quiche which yes, came with the same arugula salad. Argh. Why did I order a whole plate of it??? The slice of quiche was a fairly healthy portion that she struggled to finish. It was quite heavy with lots of lobster essence as well as chucks of meat. It wasn't the fluffiest of quiches, yet it wasn't incredibly dense either. The crust was buttery and flaky. Her fiance decided to go for the Pemberton Beef Burger with caramelized onions, house smoked bacon, aged cheddar and fries. The fries were crispy and appeared to be double-fried. The burger itself was not bad, but the beef was not exactly juicy. It probably had something to do with it being cooked all-the-way through. He never had the choice to have it done any other way (probably not ground to order). In the end, he still liked it.

With everyone practically covering most of the brunch menu, Viv was left not many other choices. Hence, she opted for the Grilled Chicken Sandwich. In addition to the crisp lettuce and tomato, there was a spread of truffle mayo on the crunchy bread. This was actually quite strong and added a good amount of flavour to an otherwise mild piece of chicken breast. It was, however, grilled nicely and remained moist and tender. Lastly, for the kiddies, they shared an order of the Brioche French Toast served with maple syrup, Chantilly cream and fresh berries. If you are wondering where all these accompaniments are in the picture, they were served on the side since my son only likes syrup. As for my daughter, she had everything. I swiped a piece of the French toast from my son and I don't think he even noticed. He's so disinterested in food, I often wonder if any of my genes are in him! As for the toast, it was pillowy soft and there was just enough egg soaked in. I personally loved the egg-on-egg thing going on. As we were finishing up, everyone soaked in the sunshine (which has been a rarity) and the gorgeous view. In terms of the food, it was solid, particularly for a brunch. If I had to compare, it probably comes out ahead to Salmon House on the Hill in terms of food and view (since it is higher up), yet it comes at a higher price point as well.

The Good:
- Outstanding view
- Food (brunch in this case) is above-average
- Service is attentive

The Bad:
- Solid experience, but it comes at a cost

The Sea House Fish and Chips

Seeing how I hurt my knee, Friday hockey was been put on hold for a month. Thus, I could actually celebrate Viv's birthday for once. Yes, I can't believe she has not done a Lorena Bobbitt on me all these years... However, I didn't have anything planned for her actual birthday because I had already made arrangements for the following day (since I was expected to play my league game prior to my injury). So when Costanza called asking if we wanted to go for some fish 'n Chips, I left it up to Viv to make the decision. Hey, I wasn't really sure if she wanted to go for fried fish on her birthday. Surprisingly, she was game considering where we were going. Hey, no offense to the Sea House, but it isn't typically a place someone goes on their birthday.

No matter, food is food and it really doesn't matter where we find it. The Sea House is a family-run fish 'n chip joint that is more function than flash. Hence, it is reflected in the prices. For $10.95, I was able to score a 2 piece Halibut & Chips which included coleslaw and a choice of soup or soft drink. With the Chinese in me taking over, I went for the Clam Chowder because of the perceived value compared to carbonated water. The chowder reminded me of the ones one would find at a Hong Kong-style cafe. You know, the type that does not have any clam taste and employs starch as a thickening agent. Not a "New England" style of clam chowder for sure, but okay for what it was. Now, I can't be as kind with the Halibut & Chips though. The fries were actually pretty good being slightly crisp. The halibut, on the other hand, was overcooked. As you can see in the picture, the flesh was no longer flaky, rather it is just plain dry and stringy. Too bad really. Also, I wasn't a huge fan of their tartar sauce either. Flavourwise, it was fine with a slight tang. It was just too runny. I liked the coleslaw though, it was tangy, crunchy and easy on the mayo.

On the flipside, Viv's one piece Cod & Chips was excellent (a real deal at $5.50 including soup!). I realize that cod is a much more forgiving fish when it comes to cooking time, but it really was better. The fish was moist and flaky while the batter was light and crispy. On that note, it appears that the batter had a high starch content. Costanza wanted to change things up and had the Fried Prawns Dinner. With a dozen perfectly fried prawns, this was actually a substantial meal. Well, not to Costanza apparently... He wanted to order another of fish and chips! I guess that is how he maintains his round figure... Back to the prawns, they had a nice snap and the batter was light and crispy.

Finally, guess what my son had? Yes, a Grilled Ham and Cheese... at a fish 'n chip joint. Does he aspire to be like Miss Y? Order something completely off the charts at a restaurant that specializes in everything but. Well, what can I say? It was a grilled ham and cheese with processed cheese and ham. Toasted up nicely though and well-priced at $4.25. My daughter did the right thing and had the kid's fish 'n chips with a glass of apple juice. Great value at $2.95. Sums is all up though. You can eat well for spare change here and despite the overcooked halibut, most of the other food is more than acceptable especially for the price.

The Good:
- Cheap!
- The food is pretty decent (despite my overcooked halibut)
- Friendly family-run operation

The Bad:
- I've had better fish 'n chips, but not at this price
- Parking lot is pretty insufficient for the amount of businesses

Empire Chinese Cuisine

"Let's go to Aberdeen Centre", exclaimed my mother-in-law while we were dim summing at Phoenix Garden. Uh... Head to Richmond? And with my mother-in-law??? Oh great, why don't you just strap me to the front of a courtesy car driving down #3 Road will ya? At least it would be a quick death. "We'll do it next week", replied Viv. Fine, at the very least, that meant eats in Richmond and it is usually a tasty proposition. Yes, I do give Richmond a hard time about the driving and parking issues, as well as the general inconsiderateness, but the food keeps luring me back. So with that in mind, we headed to Empire Chinese Cuisine in search of Dim Sum. From the looks of the decor, the place looked legit. Bustling with activity and full of patrons, we were eager to try the food.

It surely started off in fine fashion with the Shredded Chicken and Jellyfish Salad. There was a good mix of crunchy jellyfish, tender and slightly gelatinous free-range chicken, pickled vegetable, cucumbers and carrots on a bed of fried wonton strips. I found the seasoning to be spot-on with just the right amount of sesame oil, white pepper and soy. Good balance of flavours and textures, especially the crunch from the veggies. Then the meal started to mostly go downhill from here. The Shrimp Mousse Stuffed Eggplant was plain gross. The shrimp mousse had a mushy, unfresh texture and worst of all, it tasted spoiled. We surmised it was made the day before and it started to degrade. In fact, there was a sourness to it. Very unpleasing. Too bad since the eggplant was fine and the sauce was quite good as well.

In what we can consider a reprieve from the previous dish, the Shrimp Spring Rolls were pretty good. Nicely plated and aesthetically pleasing, these were crunchy, hot and not greasy. Furthermore, the whole shrimp filling was crunchy and very garlicky. As usual, my son loved it. Well, the fried portion that is... From the good, we go back to the bad with Ja Leun (or Rice Noodle Roll Wrapped Donut). First of all, the donut was sweet. That is not typical for this dish. Considering the accompanying sauces were already sweet (hosin and sweetened soy), that is a double-dose of sugar. Secondly, the donut itself was dense and too crunchy. This was a textural and flavour flop. Then we had one of our favourites - the Black Bean Spareribs. Well, this one in particular was far from being close to what we normally expect in a well-made version. For the prices at Empire, this was a meager offering. Not much in the way of good rib pieces, it was mostly cartilage. In fact, we had quite a few rib ends which were not tender at all. Either it was an unlucky grab of pieces or they didn't use very good ribs to make this. In terms of flavour, there was not much. Despite the peppers and garlic on top, the ribs were bland. Furthermore, they used too much starch in the marinade, hence there was this film on the meat which was gooey and unappetizing.

Another one of my personal favourites is the Bean Curd Skin Roll. This usually consists of pork and sometimes mushrooms, shrimp and bamboo shoots wrapped in fried bean curd skin and steamed with an oyster flavour based sauce. This was pretty much how it was prepared except for one thing. The sauce was so thick, I could pick it up with my chopsticks. No joke! When one can do that, there are serious problems with the sauce. Obviously, they put far too much starch in it and even after some steaming, it still didn't dilute. The worst thing of all was that it didn't even have much flavour. As for the roll itself, it wasn't too bad though. The pork filling had texture while still being tender and there was a good amount of shrimp as well.

Without even commenting on the Chicken Feet, it is clear from the picture that some pieces were falling apart. Despite this, the texture was still okay. The feet weren't overfried, thus, there was still a good amount of gelatin underneath. I think that they did only a light fry on the feet which would explain the moistness of the skin and gelatin. Once again, despite the appearance of pepper and garlic, the predominant taste was of sweetness and little else. Seemingly with the same sauce, the Tripe & Tendons were quite sweet as well. It wasn't like the dish didn't taste good, but when every bite is one-note, it gets a bit uninteresting. Yet, the worst thing about it was the textures. Normally, tripe and tendons need to be cooked until tender because the raw product is tough. In this case, they must've cooked it too long because it was melt-in-our-mouths soft. Of course soft is a whole lot better than chewy, but there was hardly any chew at all. Unfortunately another fail.

Arriving with a whole white shrimp, the Haw Gow (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings) were some of the smallest ones we've seen in the GVRD. Of course size is one thing, taste is another. Overall, the haw gow were decent with crunchy whole shrimp (a touch heavy on the sesame oil) and an okay dumpling skin. It was slightly on the thicker side though. In the end, we couldn't get over the cost-to-size ratio. Of course we also got the Sui Mai (in this case it was a Scallop Sui Mai) to go with the haw gow. Oh man, we didn't like these, I don't even know where to start... First of all, the scallop on top was woefully overcooked, chewy and didn't taste fresh (well, of course it was frozen, so it was too be expected). Then, the pork filling was chopped up in such big pieces and not properly tenderized. Moreover, there was not enough pork fat to moisten the dumpling. Hence, it was chewy and kind of hard to eat. Then, worst of all, the whole thing didn't have much in the way of seasoning. All I could taste was pork flavour and unfresh scallops. Not appealing at all.

Moving along, we had the Steamed Free Range Chicken Rice. By virtue of being steamed and not baked, the rice didn't exhibit that dry nuttiness which we come to expect from a clay pot. Despite this, the rice was still chewy and not mushy. The free-range chicken was actually quite meaty and moist. There was a decent amount of Chinese sausage, green onion, ginger and soy flavour since the chicken was wok-fried first before being placed atop the rice. This also acted as a negative though because the rice became quite oily due to the residual grease from wok-frying the chicken first. Due to its meager size, we didn't think it was worth $7.95. After this, there was a pleasant surprise. The Egg Tarts arrived and that was our last dish of the meal. Normally, food expedition at Chinese restaurants are as random as a lineup at T&T Supermarket, yet they got it right here by serving us dessert last. And unlike many of the mediocre offerings, this was very good. The tart shell was flaky, airy and buttery (or lardy). The egg filling had a smooth texture and was only slightly too sweet. If I had to compare, this would be one of the better egg tarts I've had a dim sum service in awhile (probably on par with the ones we had at Phoenix Garden).

So our meal finished off on a good note which left a better taste in our mouths. On the other hand, the meal as a whole was unacceptable considering the price and the fact there are so many other good restaurants nearby. For the life of us, we couldn't understand why the place was so packed. Some of the dishes weren't very fresh and in fact, some where not served very hot either. Of course there is much worse Dim Sum out there, but everything is relative. In relation to its direct competitors which are only steps away, Empire would not be one of my choices.

The Good:
- Nice decor
- Good amount of parking
- Service isn't bad

The Bad:
- Expensive for what you get
- Food is sub par considering where it is located
- Tables are pretty close together