Pho Quyen

The first Sunday morning hockey game of the season. Ah yes, that signals the start of good weather. Wait, why are we inside playing hockey??? Duh, because it's like A/C! I can't really understand why we ever played roller hockey in the summer though. Try adding hot to hotter... I digress. So the game was pretty much inconsequential, partly because I did my best impersonation of a beached whale and really, the game was only impeding the road to eats. As such, Kaiser Soze and JuJu accompanied me for our inaugural eating escapade of the summer hockey season. Unfortunately, both were in a rush and we needed to find fast eats which didn't involve a drive-thru. We went for the standby which was good ol' Pho. Seeing how we had hit up almost all the nearby places, we headed up to Fraser to try out Pho Quyen.

Seemingly always appearing to be closed, the place does not looking inviting. Not to worry, the dark exterior only hides the bustling activity inside. Despite the decent size of the restaurant, the rectangular tables were somewhat small and for 3 guys, it was cramped seating. It was also a challenge to fit everything we ordered as well. If it were solely up to JuJu, we would've had twice the amount of food! I think he should meet Mijune... So we started with a couple of appies including the Fried Chicken Wings. These were not exactly what I expected, but they were good nonetheless. Consisting of only the middle portion of the wing, these resembled fragrant soy wings than the typical fried version. With the light fry job, the meat was tender and moist while the skin was still somewhat soft. There was no need for the sweet fish sauce since the wings had plenty flavour of its own already. For our second starter, we had the Grilled Pork Salad Rolls. These miniature rolls were pretty good. The rice wrapper was perfectly moisturized (first time I've used that word in food!) where it was neither dry nor too wet. Inside lay rice noodles, crisp lettuce, basil and nicely grilled pork. It was quite strange we got the same sweet fish sauce as a dip rather than the hoisin peanut sauce though.

Kaiser Soze ended up with the Pho Dac Biet which was decent in portion size. The broth was pleasant tasting falling more on the sweeter side. We did appreciate that they were conservative with the MSG. The noodles were al dente and not clumpy while the plentiful meats were good quality and tender. Seeing how the obligatory Pho was already ordered, I went for the Bun Bo Hue. Despite the absence of the pork knuckle, there was still plenty of tender pork and beef. As with the Pho, the lai fun noodles were al dente as well. At first, I didn't have much in the way of expectations for the broth, yet it turned out to be quite decent. There was an obvious hit of lemongrass and there was enough chili oil to add a good kick. Unlike the Pho broth, this was heavily salted.

JuJu didn't go for anything soup-based and had a Vermicelli Bowl consisting of grilled pork, shrimp, bo la lot and shredded pork. This was a healthy portion which was good, but the meat was dry and overcooked. Furthermore, the much hyped-up shrimp skewer ended up to be pretty standard. In the end, this bowl was probably the only thing that was not that great with our meal. Pho Quyen can be categorized as "above-average" Vietnamese food and surely a potential place to re-visit. We just wished it actually looked open from the outside!

The Good:
- Flavours are pretty spot-on
- Fair pricing for the portion size

The Bad:
- For a relatively large restaurant, the tables are super small
- Service is good, but it is hard to flag someone down

Rod's Kitchen and Grill

To say that there is a black hole of eats around the Production Way Skytrain station would be an understatement. Let's see... There's a Subway in the Mac's and a Megabite Pizza... Oh, and let's not forget Sushi Kaku... ew... At the very least, there is Costco across Lougheed Highway. Hold on a moment, there is one place that might be potentially the best of them all - Rod's Kitchen and Grill. Okay, it's all relative when I say "best of them all". I had noticed the place many a time while driving past it on my way home. It wasn't until faithful reader Lotusrapper reminding me in a comment on Sushi Kaku, that prompted me to actually try out the place. Joining me was Big D and Slick who are always on the lookout for good food.

By virtue of being located amongst corporate offices and warehouses, Rod's serves as a typical lunch spot. It is neither fancy nor does it want to be. However, the prices of their burgers seemed a bit pricey considering... To compare, Burger Burger offers up similar (and better I might add) fare for almost half the price. So, I decided to go for their most expensive one being the Bullseye consisting of a homemade patty, bacon, cheese, onion ring, lettuce, tomato and of course Bullseye BBQ sauce on a brioche bun. Okay, the burger was impressive to look at, but it was pretty average. The main issue was the patty. It was dry and far too dense. That was too bad since the rest of the components were quite good. For my side, I went for the Animal Fries, which were a take on In-N-Out's version. This was pretty mediocre with lettuce and tomato on top of the fries with gravy.

Slick had the basic Classic Cheeseburger with Poutine on the side. With fewer components than my burger, the dry patty became even more apparent. It was like gnawing on rubber. The Poutine was okay since the fries were good and the gravy as well. As for the shredded marble cheese on top... not so much. Big D had the Yodeling Mushroom and that somewhat moistened the burger a touch. Yet again, the dry patty struck and it was beginning to annoy us. He was pretty "meh" about the poutine. We were all pretty indifferent about our burgers at Rod's. They're not bad, yet not outstanding either. A few weeks later, I returned to try out their Clubhouse and it was outstanding. It consisted of fresh lettuce and tomato, ham, crispy bacon and tender grilled chicken slices. The fresh cut fries (without any stuff on top) were pretty good. For a lunch place that serves the businesses nearby, Rod's goes a bit beyond standard fare. If they could alleviate the dry burger patty problem, we would have a real gem.

The Good:
- Good on them for making things fresh
- Also good on them for daring to be different from the run-of-the-mill lunch joints

The Bad:
- Not as cheap as you would think
- Burger patties are dry and dense

Chad Thai

Here we go again... Eating with Mijune. Some would think that I'm a lucky guy - pretty lady, lots of food and great banter. However, be careful what you wish for. The byproduct generally involves bloating, discomfort and an increasing waistline. That's right. Mijune is a pusher. A pusher of food that is. "No no, I'm really full, I can't eat another bite". "Oh c'mon, you can do it! Let's order 10 desserts!". It's a death wish I tell ya. I'd have better luck avoiding drug dealers on Hastings more than I could say no to Mijune. So there we were. At Chad Thai. Looking over the menu. She wanted to get everything. Oh my poor stomach...

To start things off, we had the Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad) consisting of shredded green papaya and carrot with lime and tamarind juice, dried shrimps, green beans, tomatoes, fresh chili and peanuts. Right off the bat, the spice level was to our liking. No wimpy flavours here. However, the heat was just enough that it worked well with the other components such as the tartness of the lime and tamarind, saltiness of the dried shrimp and crunch of the peanuts. The really large dried shrimp and hint of fish sauce provided a nice bite as well. Up next was another classic Thai salad being the Larb or Laap (as on their menu). This version was made up of ground pork with lime juice, red onions, green onions, coriander, ground chili and pounded roasted rice. There was a choice between pork and chicken where pork won hands down. For me, chicken ends up being dry and bland. Due to the cooking process associated with this salad, the ground pork was not exactly moist, but it was flavourful. This was due to the good use of crushed chilis which provided a good level of heat. Again, this was balanced by the use of salty fish sauce, acidity of lime and sugar.

One item we've never tried before was their Tom Yum Noodle. We've had Tom Yum soup many times, yet never as a soup noodle. This was a Laksa/Pho hybrid which really worked. The aromatic coconut milk combined with a good level of spice and fish sauce made for a party in my mouth. Add in plenty of tender chicken pieces and al dente noodles, we went for seconds immediately after we finished our initial bowls. Onto a curry item, we had the Beef Penang Curry. It was comprised of peppers, kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil and ground peanuts in panang curry with coconut milk. Compared to some of the other dishes, this was relatively mild. However, beyond the initial coconut milk hit, there was a underlying spice that hit at the end. The beef was both plentiful and tender.

Usually, I shy away from Thai stir-fried dishes because they are not that interesting in the grand scheme of things (or so I thought). However, our server suggested we try the Pad Gra Pao which was a combination of stir fried ground pork with green beans, garlic, fresh chili and Thai holy basil. Just from looks alone, there was good wok heat where little moisture sat at the bottom of the plate. The diced green beans were vibrant and crunchy while the chunks of ground pork were moist. Once again, there was a good amount of heat which was balanced by an equal amount of savoury and sweet. We requested that it be served with a fried egg - Thai-style.

Our last dish of the meal (other than desserts) was the Pad Thai with tiger prawns. As you can clearly see in the picture, there was no ketchup used. I have nothing against the ketchup version because it can be okay if that was the expectation. However, I just have a personal preference to the traditional one made with tamarind. In addition to tamarind, there was the usual ingredients such as tofu, salted radish, egg, chives, bean sprouts and ground peanuts. This had to be one of the better attempts at Pad Thai I've had in a while. The noodles were still chewy and laced with a multitude of flavours including the tartness of tamarind, spiciness of the chilis and nuttiness from the ground peanuts. Add in a the crunch from the turnips and bean sprouts along with big pieces of pan-fried tofu, there was no absence of different textures too.

Now a meal with Mijune would not be remotely complete without dessert right? It's like autobody shops and Richmond... Anyways, we had the Black Bean Dessert first and yah yah, that is not necessarily a favourite of mine nor Mijune's personal favourite either. With that being said, it was fine with firm beans with aromatic coconut milk. It wasn't very sweet, which made it more appealing. Lastly, we shared some housemade Coconut Ice Cream with cashews and palm seeds. I give them props for attempting their own ice cream when it would be easier to just serve it from a tub. However, I found the ice cream to be quite icy. It was more like ice milk rather than ice cream. With that being said, the flavours were nice and it wasn't incredibly sweet either. I particularly loved the addition of palm seeds. Overall, the food at Chad Thai was impressive. The spice level was not wussy-like and neither were the flavours. The food was not watered-down and execution was spot on. Who would've thought that some of the best Thai in the city would be found at this little place in North Burnaby? *Note - we did not pay for this meal other than the tips*

The Good:
- Flavours were not watered down
- Good default spice-level
- Super friendly proprietors

The Bad:
- Spice-level could be too high for some
- Seats are at a premium

Vancouver Foodie Tours: Guilty Pleasures Gourmet Tour

With so many great places to eat in Vancouver, it can be somewhat overwhelming, especially for those unfamiliar with the city. Sure, one could do what I do and plan their day (or trip, if you were a tourist) solely around eating. However, to make it easy, a food tour could do the job. Granted, there are many to choose from and I have yet to try any other than the ones offered by Vancouver Foodie Tours. So I won't go into the discussion of which one is the best. Rather, I can only speak of my personal experience regarding my latest invite. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of going on the inaugural Vancouver Foodie Tour of Granville Street. At the time, that particular tour was sponsored by Downtown Vancouver and it was priced far below cost. Then I followed this up with the Richmond tour and more recently (last year), the World's Best Street Eats Tour. Although they are no longer sponsored, the prices are still reasonable considering everything involved.

With the Richmond and Granville tours are not operating at this time, there are 2 choices including the food carts and the new Guilty Pleasures Gourmet Tour. I was invited to experience this tour (at no cost to myself) by Michelle Ng (who runs Vancouver Foodie Tours). We started this tour at the Downtown location of Kirin. Now, if you read this blog on a consistent basis, you know my thoughts about Dim Sum in Downtown. With that in mind, the tour is based in Downtown and for what it's worth, there are only 3 choices for upscale Dim Sum. Therefore, Kirin is not a bad choice. We had 2 items here starting with the Sui Mai. The shrimp and pork dumpling was quite good. With large whole crunchy shrimp and bouncy pork pieces, the sui mai hit all the right textures and flavours. A dollop of XO sauce made this a tasty bite. Our second item was a Mini Lo Mei Gai or sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. Within the dried scallop-topped sticky rice was a concoction consisting of pork and shiitake mushrooms. This was also very good with moist rice and a filling which was both plentiful and not devoid of seasoning.

After Kirin, we made the stroll over the Sutton Place Hotel where we paid a visit to the Sutton Place Wine Merchant. Here we were served a glass of Domaine de Charberton Bacchus (local winery in Langley) which was accompanied by some crisps and pepper jelly. Although it was nice to sample wine and take a look at nice selection at the store, this was a peculiar addition to the tour. It seemed like too much time to kill at a venue which we really didn't need to be at for more than 10 minutes. However, once we crossed the street and headed over to Ensemble Tap, I knew we were in for a treat. That "treat" happened to be Dale MacKay's Top Chef winning Pulled Pork Sandwich paired with a glass of Red Truck Ale. For those who have been living in a cave or are not from Canada, Dale MacKay was the winner of inaugural Top Chef Canada competition. He opened up Ensemble Tap as a more casual spot to compliment his finer dining establishment Ensemble, which is located only a block and a half away. As for the pulled pork sandwich, I liked it the first time I had it at Ensemble. Since the pulled pork was prepared in a pressure cooker, there was no expectation of any smokiness (such as being prepared in a smoker). However, the pork was still moist and flavourful with a hint of horseradish. The side of Red Truck Ale didn't hurt things either.

Once we finished up at e-Tap, we made the walk onto Granville Street to visit ShuRaku (which was in the original tour). Part Izakaya, part sushi bar, this hybrid Japanese restaurant serves up little bites to go with their extensive sake selection. As such, we got an overflowing serving of Granville Island sake to go with our 2 bites. The first item was the Agedashi Tofu which was fried up beautifully crisp with just enough "sauce" for a touch of salty-sweetness. Then we had probably the best little bite on the tour being the Spicy Wild Salmon Tartar on a tempura crisp. The only bad thing about this tasty morsel was that there wasn't more. After this, our tour ultimately ended at what is regarded as the best gelato in town - Bella Gelateria. We had a combination of Salted Caramel Gelato and Meyer Lemon Sorbetto. I've had both of these flavours before and this was a fitting end to our tour. The gelato was smooth and creamy with a good hit of flavour while the sorbetto was refreshing and balanced.

As with any type of food tour, there is a premium to be paid for a carefully planned and organized itinerary. Hence, for $69.00, some people might expect more food. However, there was enough for me considering it was my "lunch". As for the restaurants involved, they were all worthy choices except for the stop for wine. I found that slightly perplexing and unnecessary. But then again, I'm not a huge wine person. All-in-all, it was a pretty fun experience with eats, plenty of laughs and interesting information given out by Michelle in the 3 hour tour. *Note - this food tour was comped*

*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*

The Good:
- Interesting experience for visitors and locals alike
- Restaurant lineup is solid

The Bad:
- Not sure about the wine stop, maybe something else would be better?

Vancouver Foodie Tours

Chef's Kebab

A long time ago, I had visited a Filipino restaurant in Surrey where a peculiar "incident" occurred. As I was snapping photos of my food, an "RCMP" officer who was short and tubby approached me and flashed his badge. He questioned why I was taking pictures of my food. Uh... because I want to??? When did it become an indictable offense to do so? Is it illegal to ogle my Tocilog? Wait, that does sound a bit disturbing... Well, it turns out that this "officer" wanted to treat me to lunch after he found out I was doing it for my blog. Right... I hear it is an offense to impersonate an officer too. Well, that restaurant is long gone and was replaced by another joint that has now become Chef's Kebab. As I was running really low on time for lunch, I decided to drop by for some takeout. They tried to convince me to eat-in, but I assured them, that I really was in a rush. Too bad really since fresh food is always the best choice (duh). Maybe, I had fears the "officer" might return?

I ended up getting the Lamb Kebabs for obvious reasons (see name of restaurant). These were a mixture of ground lamb, onions and spices. These were not very gamy, for those who care about that. I think the bevy of spices masked the gaminess. I would say these were pretty good since they were quite moist. This was a large amount of meat for an order of kebabs. For my main, I went for the Goat Curry and it was fantastic. The portion size was so large, it could've easily passed for 2 orders. There was lots of tender goat which had the desired meaty-gelatinous quality to it. The curry was mild, yet not lacking in flavour. I really should've chosen rice for this since there was so much sauce. Instead, I went for the Naan and it was of the chewier variety. To be fair, it sat in tin foil for about 8 minutes before I ate it, so it probably lost some of its crispiness on the outside.

On the topic of fair, I decided to go for an eat-in meal several months later. This time around, I went for the classic Butter Chicken with 2 orders of naan. As evidenced by the colour, the sauce leaned towards the tomato paste part of the butter chicken spectrum. I didn't mind it as the sauce had a nice consistency and was not devoid of flavour. The spice level was quite mild, yet I could definitely taste the spices. I appreciated that they used tandoor-cooked chicken on a skewer. The texture and flavour of the chicken was quite nice. As for the naan, it was nicely chewy with a touch of crispness on the outside (which I expected compared to the takeout). However, I found the naan in general to be pretty thin and flat. Based on my 2 visits here, I would say the food is pretty decent and while the prices are pretty standard, the portion size makes it a good value.

The Good:
- Good portions
- On my visits, the food was prepared fresh
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Location isn't the best
- Pretty small place, best to keep it to a small group

Montgomery's Fish & Chips

In reference to the previous day's post, you really didn't believe we were satisfied with sharing a tray of steamed shellfish and a bowl of watery clam chowder for a meal right? So in addition to more Whales Tails for the kiddies, we went for some more eats in the food court at Lonsdale Quay. Staring right us from our table, which ironically was the same one we sat in the day before (no exactly staring us directly, we could see it through the All Day Cafe), was Montgomery's Fish & Chips. Hey, stay on the seafood theme right? And besides, why not some good ol' fried goodness to go with our "healthy" steamed shellfish? As I was lining up to order, I noticed their daily specials and decided to get both. The first was their Prawn & Chips. Although the 6 prawns didn't look all that substantial, the good amount of fresh cut fries made up for it. The fries were crisp and none-too-oily. As for the prawns, they were fried perfectly being crunchy and moist. The batter was not too thick and crisp as well.

I also got 2 orders of their 1 Piece Cod and Chips. Admittedly, the cod was rather thin and wasn't all that filling either. Granted, it was only $7.15 and in a touristy market. However, it was fried nicely though with a thin batter which was crispy and minimally greasy. The cod was moist and flaky. In the end, the grub did the job and didn't break the bank. Of course there are many other fish 'n chip joints to choose from around town. Yet, Montgomery's benefits from location and a steady stream of customers.

The Good:
- Batter light and crispy
- Prices are okay considering everything

The Bad:
- For our order at least, the fish was quite thin

Screaming Mimi's

*This restaurant is now closed*

While we were munching on grub from Sharky's Chop House and Sausage Emporium at Lonsdale Quay, I kept wondering about the big tray of steamed clams and mussels at the table next to us. I was pretty sure they were from Screaming Mimi's at the other side of the market. I made it a mission to try it out the next time we were in Lonsdale Quay. Well, how about the very next day? Somehow, when I mentioned the steamed seafood to my mom, she wanted to go. So on this return visit, we headed over to Screaming Mimi's for some steamed shellfish. For the heck of it, we decided to give their Seafood Chowder a go. We asked for a cream version and somehow we ended up with this milky tomato broth. I'm sorry to say it wasn't very good. Lacking in seafood flavour and depth, it tasted more like a vegetable soup with some clams more than anything else. Furthermore, it was watery and lacked any form of richness or tang.

Onto what we were really here for - Steamed Mussels and Clams. The deal here is if you order 2lbs, you get an extra 1/3rd pound as a bonus. Despite sounding like a lot of food, the nature of shellfish means there is more shell than meat. We were expecting this and with the relatively reasonable pricing (around $8.00 per pound) with all things considered, we were okay with it. With a sprinkle of seasoned salt and served with a side of melted butter and lemon, this was more a novelty than anything else. We enjoyed it, but didn't love it. However, it is a pretty neat way of sharing some shellfish in a market on a sunny day.

The Good:
- Decent pricing with all things considered
- Interesting way to eat in the market

The Bad:
- Of course with any form of shellfish, it won't be filling (you just have to expect that)
- Clam Chowder needs work