The Charlatan

"Never give up, never surrender". That was the line from the Star Trek spoof Galaxy Quest. For those who haven't watched it, I suggest you do. Now that line from the movie pretty much sums up my hockey team's resolve. You see, when we fail to eat at a restaurant for a variety of reasons, we try, try again. This was such the case with The Charlatan. About a month ago, the place was packed and we had no hope in the world in getting a seat for 7 people. So we ended up going across the street to Sake Maki instead. This time around, we only have 4 and we were heading out much later, which increased our chances. We did get seated right away, however it was around the bar area where the tables were more fit for 2 than 4. Definitely cozy and really, easier to share (which suited me just fine). However, I'm not sure why I got stuck with Gordo beside me while Milhouse got Emilicious...

We did end up starting with something to share in the Salt & Pepper Wings. With exactly 12 pieces, it was easy to divvy up among 4 people. These wings were pretty meaty and were not too dry. I wouldn't classify them as juicy, but much better than most places. The skin was crisp and nicely rendered from the frying. The salt and pepper was a touch uneven where some wings were more flavourful than others. Yet, that is understandable since it is hard to adhere to a non-sauced surface. We liked how the order of wings included a side of blue cheese dressing and veggie sticks (they also brought us a side of hot sauce as well). Since the late night menu features a variety of burgers, we all decided on a different one each and share. The Pulled Pork Burger caught my eye and it arrived majestically with a house-made beef patty, pulled pork, jalapenos and red cabbage slaw on a brioche bun. Although the jalapenos basically overwhelmed everything else, I personally didn't mind it. For a change, I could say my burger had lots of flavour. However, the tang from the pickle, red cabbage and jalapenos were a touch overkill with the acidity. The beef patty itself was on the drier side, but the rest of the ingredients made up for it. I found the pulled pork to be moist with a sweet BBQ sauce. Now the best part of this burger as with all of the other ones was the awesome brioche bun. It was soft, not dry and was strong enough to stand up to the ingredients. One of the better brioche buns I've had with a burger in some time. The side of fresh-cut fries was massive and quite good. They were crispy and thin without losing its "potatoness".

I had initially substituted the fries for a Poutine (which they forgot), so I actually ended up with a double order of fries. Okay, I'll put myself out there and say that this poutine was pretty good. First of all, it started with the right base being the fresh-cut fries. Too many places get lazy and use generic frozen fries which essentially ruins the dish regardless of the gravy and cheese curds. And on the topic of gravy and cheese curds, they were solid here. The gravy was thick while not being clumpy and it provided just enough flavour without being salty. To top it off, the cheese curds were fantastic. With only a few melted, we could get that desired "squeak". One of the better poutines we've had in awhile. Emilicious ended up with The Charlie which consisted of BBQ sauce, caramelized onions and Danish blue cheese. I was indifferent with this one because the sweetness of the BBQ sauce and onions really didn't let the sharpness of the blue cheese come through.

Milhouse went for the Lamb Burger with tzatziki, goat's cheese and roasted red pepper. This wasn't bad where the lamb was not that gamy while the tzatziki and goat's cheese made it rich and creamy. Lastly, Gordo had the Bacon Cheeseburger with smoked white cheddar and thick cut bacon. I really liked this one because the bacon was fried until it was super crispy. Combined with the smoky cheddar, this apparently simple burger worked. Despite the dry patties, somehow, we still liked our burgers as well as the fries. It ain't gourmet food, but for late night eats, The Charlatan came through.

The Good:
- It's lively and noisy (in a good way)
- Despite the dry burger patties, the burgers were on the whole pretty good
- The service we got was good

The Bad:
- Depending on your seat, it can be cramped
- We liked the burgers but the patties could've been cooked just a touch less

Full House

*Restaurant is now closed*

My mom reads the Chinese newspaper religiously. Even when she is away on vacation, we have to pick up paper so she won't miss any issues. As such, she often scans the gazillion restaurant advertisements for potential family eats. This time around, she spotted Full House Chinese which had just opened up on Cambie next to New Town Bakery. Some of the set meals (at a discounted price) caught her fancy and suggested we give it try. You know me, I would rarely pass up an eating opportunity, let alone when someone else is paying. However, it was a game night for the Canucks. Food or hockey on TV? Wow, that's like choosing between bacon and tripe. Both are so good! For me at least... Well, not to fear, they actually had the game on at the restaurant to both my surprise and delight.

As mentioned, we went for their set meal for 4 and added an extra dish for the heck of it. We began with the Fish Maw & Crabmeat Soup which was pretty average at best. The fish maw was not soft enough. So much so, it could've passed for pork rinds. Furthermore, Viv thought that the flavour was a touch stale. I didn't think so, but there was certainly a strong fish maw
taste. In terms of the crab meat, we really needed to look hard to find any. But the worst thing of all with the soup was the considerable amount of MSG. The darn soup was so flavourful, it was a dead giveaway that they used too much sodium. Next was the Chef's Special Free Range Chicken which was not bad. There was a decent amount of meat for a generally lean type of chicken. As expected, the meat was on the chewy side, yet not so much that it wasn't easily eaten. The skin was gelatin-like, however, there wasn't any gelatin underneath it. There was a drizzle of wok salt oil on top for flavour and we did appreciate the grated ginger and green onion on the side (which was mostly ginger).

The item we most looked forward to was the Lobster and Vermicelli with Ginger and Green Onion Hot Pot. The whole thing was presented in a large and deep hot pot which housed a modest-sized lobster and a lot of flavourful vermicelli. Although on the drier side, I liked the vermicelli since it was not soaked in sauce and still retained a nice chewiness. It was also seasoned just enough so it didn't suffer the fate of the other dishes. Our extra dish was the Fish and Tofu Hot Pot which arrived sizzling hot. It certainly looked good with large pieces of fried basa and tofu. It had a rich colour and the sauce appeared thick and flavourful. And yes, the sauce was flavourful... with a considerable amount of salt and MSG. When I took a bite into the fish, it was moist and flaky, yet wow... the sodium stung my tongue. I have a high tolerance for salt, but this was far too much. It was too bad really because the fish was cooked right and so was the silky tofu.

Included in the set meal was the Shrimp & BBQ Pork Fried Rice, which we requested to be prepared without green onions. I must give them props for doing so, which they substituted lettuce instead. As for the rice itself, that was a different matter. It was clumpy and many of the grains were broken. Furthermore, it was slightly bland (which was good since everything else was salty). There was no absence of lean BBQ pork and shrimp which made up for the subpar rice. With the Sauteed 3 Kinds of Seafood & Veggies, the MSG/salt monster reared its ugly head once more. When I put one of the basa filets in my mouth, the sodium literally killed my tastebuds. I couldn't taste anything else. Was there a sale on MSG and salt or something? As for the positives, the fish was cooked perfectly as with the squid. The shrimp, however, was a touch soft and didn't have much of a snap to it. The celery and snap peas were good though, vibrant and crunchy.

For our last dish, we had something familiar with a twist. Normally, fried pork chops are accompanied by some sweet and sour sauce. This version was the Pork Chops in Lemon Sauce. Unfortunately, this dish was a fail. First of all, the pork was not tenderized properly, so it was dry and mealy. Secondly, the batter didn't adhere properly and ended up clumping up becoming gummy. Lastly, the sauce had no impact. It was more floral than anything. No zing or zip. Somewhat surprisingly, we were not presented with the standard sweet red bean soup. Rather, we got a Sweet Yam & Ginger Soup with wolfberries. Don't get me wrong here, it wasn't anything mind-blowing, but it was at the very least different and was a much needed counterbalance to the salt content of the entire meal. As you can clearly ascertain, the saltiness of our dinner left a bad taste in our mouths - literally. I was wanting a Super Big Gulp so badly while we were eating! Now I wouldn't classify the food as horrible, yet it was certainly not appealing either. I suppose this would be the type of place for those wanting decent value and don't mind a ton of MSG and salt. For us, it was more of a been there done that, not interested in coming back type of experience.

The Good:
- Fair pricing
- Good portions
- Free parking at the back

The Bad:
- MSG/salt overload
- Food was greasy
- Although service wasn't bad, it was very sparse

Manzo Japanese Restaurant (Itamae)

I love Izakayas. It is no secret if you read this blog often enough. As much as it isn't supposed to be a "meal", we often find it as such in Vancouver. For some odd reason, most of my Izakaya forays seem to include Vandelay and Rich Guy. To change it up, Miss Y graciously accompanied me to Manzo Itamae in Richmond. Hey, I don't mind this arrangement because Miss Y looks a whole lot better than Rich Guy and Vandelay (sorry guys...). As with any Chinese-operated Izakaya/Japanese restaurant, we need to go in with reasonable expectations. There will be certain liberties taken on certain dishes and the menu will included things normally not seen in an Izakaya. However, with that being said, Izakayas are already "different" than the ones we find in Japan anyways. Miss Y spent a significant amount of time in Japan and she basically echoed this sentiment. In fact, she doesn't believe that there are any Izakayas in Vancouver that can truly represent the real thing. Then again, we deserve the restaurants we have because they appeal to the taste of the locals.

For our meal, we started with the Ankimo (monkfish liver) which was served with the usual chili daikon radish and ponzu sauce. Often referred as the foie gras of the sea, this is probably the best way to describe the texture and taste of ankimo. It is more stiff and less buttery than foie. Furthermore, there is a definite seafood flavour as well. There was nothing amiss with the actual liver in our order, however, the ponzu was slightly too acidic. Next, we had the Salmon Sashimi Salad. This, to us, was pretty average. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't terrible, it was just "meh". The salmon was a touch soft while the dressing didn't offer up any impact. We probably would've enjoyed it more if there was a vinaigrette of some sort.

For me a visit to an Izakaya would not be complete without an order of Ebi Mayo. I liked how they did not use too much batter on the large shrimp. They were fried perfectly where the exterior was crisp while the meat still exhibited a snap. Therer appeared to be a chili mayo, but it was more sweet than anything. Another one of my favs is the Takoyaki or octopus' balls. Before the giggling starts, this was not really what you think. Rather, it is mix of batter with pieces of octopus formed into a ball and cooked in a specially made mold. Usually, it is topped with sweet mayo, unagi sauce and bonito flakes. In this case, the sauce appeared to be a sweet chili mayo concoction with lots of bonito flakes/shreds and ginger. Despite the colour, it wasn't spicy, rather it was mostly sweet and tangy. The takoyaki itself were fluffy and overall, it was enjoyable.

Other than the Ankimo, which was one of the featured items for Fridays, we had the other one being the Pork Ribs. These were some pretty meaty ribs with few bones. The meat was mostly tender except for a few parts. We would've liked to see more char (although there was some char in spots) since those were the most flavourful parts. We liked how there was a good amount of spice. An intriguing item on the menu was the Phyllo Duck Rolls. They arrived golden brown and steaming hot. I liked the disintegrating flaky phyllo on the outside because the opposite would be soggy undercooked phyllo. There was a decent amount of moist, tender duck inside with a bevy of veggies. I found the entire thing a touch bland and lacking in texture. If there was some crunch, it would be made more of an impact. With that being said, we didn't dislike this dish either.

Onto the fillers, we started with the Korean Shortrib Bibimbap served in a hot stone bowl. For me at least, this was a fail. First, the rice was extremely wet and even the hot stone bowl couldn't save it. In fact, a rice crust didn't even materialize. As for the shortrib, it was pretty bland with only a touch of sweetness. It was also wet, which only compounded the issues with the rice. We didn't end up finishing the rice and frankly, I really had no interest in eating any more of it in the first place. For our second starch-ladened dish, we had the Yaki Udon. Compared to the bibimbap, this was a roaring success. Well, relatively that is. I thought there was a good balance of flavours of savoury and sweet. With a proper amount of cabbage and carrots, there was a good crunch to go with the chewy udon noodles. Moreover, the fry pan or flat top was hot enough to produce some caramelization and kept the dish from being wet at the same time.

As I am writing this post, I must admit at being torn about Manzo. The prices are quite high if we compared it to other Izakayas. Furthermore, there are some which will cry foul that it is not a true "Japanese" run operation. Yet at the same time, most of the dishes were above average. In addition, we found the service to be top notch and attentive. They changed our dishes like 5 times! In the end, Manzo is an okay place to satisfy your Izakaya-cravings.

The Good:
- Spacious
- Good service
- Adequate parking lot

The Bad:
- Expensive
- For some, it lacks authenticity

Nu Greek (Gastown)

Vandelay is always in the know. When I need a restaurant tip, he's the man. I often wonder why he doesn't write a food blog of his own. It would be pretty killer. For now, he remains a man of mystery, only joining me for the occasional meal. And after that "meal", we were walking back to my car in Gastown when he insisted that we stop by Nu Greek. Uh... dude, Nu Greek isn't anywhere near us. Well, shows how much I know. He motioned over to where the former So.Cial et Le Magasin sandwich shop used to be. It turns out that Harry Kambolis has set up a more comprehensive form of Nu Greek Street in Gastown (except with seats). Wait, "isn't that Harry himself at the counter and Chef Robert Clark as well", I thought to myself (see picture). You see, the reason behind it was that we had stumbled upon their soft opening week.

From their selections, I decided on 2 pitas with the Octopus being the most interesting. Unlike some of the other offerings, the octopus was not pre-cooked since it can become rubbery otherwise. Normally, one could walk out of the store within minutes of ordering. However, with the octopus, good things come to those who wait. If you've ever had octopus before, it can be rubbery. In this case, they did a great marination job and it came out tender as could be with a hint of lemon. With lots of red onion, tomato, lettuce, dill, thick tzatziki on an oregeno pita, it was definitely solid eats. Similarly to the pita wraps I tried at Nu Greek Street, the pita was the star of the show. It was thick, soft and served warm. With a dash of oregano, it only added to the multitude of flavours.

For good measure, I got a Chicken Souvlaki also instead of the lamb because Viv isn't a huge fan of it (I was bringing one home for her). Again, much like the one from their food cart, the chicken was nicely marinated and spiced. However, she found the meat to be on the drier side and a bit chewy (and little in quantity too). Despite this, the wrap was still good due to the aforementioned pita and fresh ingredients. Forgivable since it was their soft opening. When they work out all the kinks and officially open, Nu Greek in Gastown offers up a quick delicious bite for a reasonable price.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Quick eats, but unlike a food cart, there is a place to sit
- The pitas are indeed very good

The Bad:
- One pita may not be enough for someone who had a healthier appetite

Onyx Steakhouse & Lounge (White Rock)

It is no secret that I love to eat. Duh. Furthermore, it is quite obvious that I can chow down on a considerable amount of food. Therefore, it would not be a stretch for me to order more than one or even two items for myself just for variety's sake. When Viv joins me for a meal, it helps lessen the need to eat more by myself. However, Viv doesn't really eat a lot anymore. Yes, there was one time at band camp... uh... er... I mean there was one time she devoured 4 dozen wings all by herself. That was then and this is now. So last time we were treated to a meal at Onyx in Port Moody, she was only able to eat a modest amount of food. Since I had a standing invitation to try the White Rock location, I needed to enlist a more prolific eater. Someone who could demolish as much food as I could and maybe more. The search for this person was an easy one - go get Mijune. Yes, she might look like a lightweight, but as her body of work illustrates, more often than not she eats considerably more than me. How she remains so thin is a mystery...

As we settled in and took a look at the menu, the manager gave us the green light to order whatever we wanted. Oh man, I could see Mijune's eyes light up. This was going to get ugly. And so it began... with 3 appies starting with the Onyx Famous Cheese Toast. Cut into long strips or fingers, the cheese toast was crunchy and surprisingly not very greasy. The melted cheese consisted of grana padano, asiago, Swiss, provolone and white cheddar. Although cheesy, it was a bit difficult to differentiate the flavours. In fact, a bit more greasiness and a touch more seasoning would've went a long way in providing more flavour impact. Next up was the Escargot with house-made gnocchi, mushrooms and demi-glace. I first dug into the large gnocchi and it was quite dense. I prefer dense gnocchi, but this was unfortunately too doughy for my tastes. I do give them kudos for making it in-house though. On the other hand, the escargots were good. They had a pleasant texture and the rich demi-glace coated each and every one. We would've preferred a bit more seasoning though. With a small crank of the salt mill, that was all it need to put it over-the-top. The enoki and button mushrooms along with the shallots in the demi-glace added a nice aroma. Our last appie was the Crab Cake with avocado creme fraiche and celeriac slaw. This was not a crab cake in the literal sense. Rather, it was deconstructed with the binding agent (bread crumbs) on the top and the "mayo" (which was the avocado creme faiche) on the bottom. Hence, there was no cooking per se in terms of pan frying. With this method, there was no crispy exterior other than the bread crumbs on top. However, this allowed the cake to be much lighter and highlight more of the crab. As such, I enjoyed the fluffy, sweet and savoury crab which was further spiked with flavour by the smooth avocado creme fraiche which exhibited a nice acidity. As for the slaw, it was crunchy with some tang.

Moving not the mains, we shared a 10oz Filet Mignon which was prepared perfectly. And when I say that, I mean it. Look at the picture, it was evenly grilled medium-rare. Furthermore, there was a nice char and crust on the outside. The steaks at Onyx are Black Angus Signature Reserve dry-aged a minimum of 40 days. From the last time at their PoMo location, the tenderness of the steak was evident. It was no different this time. The meat cut and chewed easily. Since beef tenderloin is not as flavourful as some other cuts of meat (like prime rib and striploin), the accompanying bacon mushroom demi-glace was a welcomed finishing touch. The rich demi-glace had body and was able to flavour all of the meat. And besides, bacon + filet mignon is always a great combination. As with all of their a la carte meat offerings, a large dill batter onion ring finished the plate. We also added a Lobster Tail for good measure (how could we not?) and it was done to perfection as well. Served with a side of melted butter on a chaffing dish, the lobster had a nice snap and the addition of some garlic on top only helped bring out the natural sweetness. To change it up a bit, we decided to give Baby Back Pork Ribs a try. We opted for the chipotle blueberry BBQ sauce with a side of the peach BBQ sauce. From the first bite, it was apparent that the ribs were not parboiled. Instead they were cooked from raw. Now this is a personal preference issue. I know many people who prefer that their ribs not be boiled first because it could lose flavour and texture. Alternatively, some like it fall-off-the-bone tender and don't really care about the supposed "blasphemous" boiling technique. For me, I don't mind the parboiling because I like it to fall-off-the-bone. With that being said, the ribs here were chewy, but not so much so it wasn't incredibly hard to eat. Meat aside, what I really liked was the BBQ sauce. Normally, blueberries lack acidity or punch to make for a good BBQ sauce base, but with the addition of chipotles, that was the one thing that brought it all together. The sticky, thick sauce had it all - sweet, savoury, spicy and tartness.

With all this food so far, we didn't need 5 sides right? Well, with Mijune, how could we not? First up was the Truffle Lobster Mac & Cheese. I had this at the PoMo location and there was one major discrepancy - much more lobster meat. Normally, this would not be a bad thing. However, most of it was claw meat (which has a spongy texture) and it really didn't add anything to the mac & cheese. It was completely understandable why the claw meat was used in the mac & cheese. After all, lobster is expensive, no one in their right mind would use exclusively the tail meat (unless the dish cost 3 times more). Otherwise, the mac & cheese was creamy and rich with only a modest hint of truffle. We had high hopes for the Bacon Almond Brussel Sprouts and ultimately it fell flat. Loved the bacon on top, it was smoky, crispy and just plain awesome. The brussel sprouts? Not so much. It was merely boiled where it lost all of its vibrant colour and texture. If the sprouts had been either cooked less or actually deep fried, we would be singing a different tune.

When I first laid eyes on the Bacon Creamed Corn, I was perplexed. Where was the cream? Looking closely, there was only a modest amount of fresh cream. Definitely not what I was expecting, yet it was probably my favourite side. The corn niblets had a nice snap which let out a burst of sweetness which was balanced nicely by the good amount of bacon. As I took more bites, I could understand the lack of cream. Too much would've made this particular version too heavy. I liked how I could keep eating it without feeling too bloated. From one creamed item to another, we had the Panko Almond Creamed Spinach. This was my second favourite side of our meal. The spinach was not mushy and still had a considerable amount of texture. This was the key since spinach can easily be overcooked and become a big pile of goop. Unlike the corn, the creamed spinach was indeed very creamy. If they added more cheese, this would've made a good dip. Our last side was the Organic Yam Gratin which was predictably heavy. We thought it resembled more like scalloped yams (because the crust on top wasn't all that prevalent nor cheesy), yet that didn't mean it wasn't any good though. The yams were soft, sweet and laced with creamy richness.

Believe it or not, we almost dusted off all of our dishes (except a small portion of the mac 'n cheese and yams, while we didn't really touch the brussel sprouts). Of course we had to share 3 desserts too right? Blame Mijune. We tried the Apple Crisp first and again, they really should have named it differently (much like a few items we had). Maybe an apple pie of some sort would've been more appropriate because there was nothing crispy about this. Again, that wasn't a huge deal since I liked the dessert despite the name. The apples were plentiful, tender and nicely textured. The whole thing wasn't too sweet and hey who doesn't like a big scoop of ice cream on top (was a bit icy though). Next up was the same 2 desserts I tried at the PoMo location. I swear the Chocolate Sticky Toffee Pudding was even sweeter this time around. I realize that toffee is mostly sugar, but I couldn't have more than a few fork-fulls of it. There was nothing inherently wrong texturally or conceptually about the dessert other than the stinging sweetness. Lastly and mercifully (because I was so full), we had the Creme Brulee Trio consisting of Bailey's, Tahitian Vanilla Bean and Dark Chocolate. The torched sugar crust was a touch thicker than the one I had in PoMo, while the custard was pretty much the same. A touch on the denser side, the custards were not overly sweet with the chocolate being my favourite. It reminded me a of a rich thick version of chocolate mousse. The Bailey's was spiked pretty aggressively which I didn't mind while Mijune wasn't a fan of it. Cheap drunk... Overall, I would say that the meal was mostly good with a few duds (brussel sprouts and the gnocchi). However, with the shear amount of items we had (thanks Mijune...), the batting percentage was pretty good and that is all we can really ask for.

The Good:
- Pricing is alright if compared to restaurants of the same genre
- Our steak was done perfectly, which is important for a steakhouse

The Bad:
- Maybe some of the menu items should have different names to reflect the actual product
- I find the pricing reasonable, but for some, it is probably considered pricey