Red 6

Will travel for food. In fact, will travel long distances and into seemingly dangerous places for food as well (such as walking the length of the TL in San Francisco). That is how I roll. Good eats over personal safety. However, one thing I seem to overlook are restaurants that reside close by. Maybe I take it for granted or possibly they just don't seem all that interesting. Heck, I even make the trek out to Richmond over restaurants located a few blocks from where we live. Yah, that's right, I really do put food ahead of my own well-being (in this case, it would be my car's health). So to keep it local and preferably inexpensive, we descended on Red 6 Restaurant. Okay, the place is nothing much to look at from the outside. And it doesn't get much better on the inside. This is a prototypical family-run joint that keeps things simple. How simple? The whole menu consists of single serving build-it-yourself hot pots. Granted, it is a hot pot, but it is not a hot pot with chaffing device though.

With the kiddies around, it meant only one thing - Chicken Udon. Yup, a go-to item of sorts, especially in a Japanese restaurant. Of course, this being not a Japanese restaurant, it was a bit different. The udon sat in a homemade chicken soup which was actually quite flavourful. I'm pretty sure there was MSG in there, but it was tasty nonetheless. For myself, I had the Curry Beef with a side of noodles. This was also very flavourful and we were certain that MSG helped in that regard. There was plenty of beef mixed in with enoki mushrooms, tofu puffs and napa cabbage. The beef was not exactly chewy, but had a "rough" texture to it. The noodles were pretty good being chewy and thick.

We also had the Seafood Hot Pot in a hot chili broth. Although the seafood was limited to mostly crab stick and fish balls, there was no denying the massive amount of food for one person (there was some shrimp and mussels too). The broth was not really all that spicy, yet there was a decent amount of seasoning though. Lastly, we had the Dumpling Hot Pot in a Thai broth. First off, there was nothing really Thai about the broth other than the red chili peppers. I'm sure they wanted to emulate a Tom Yum soup, but it was not even close. No problem though since that would be an unreasonable expectation for a joint like this. I found the broth to be rather one dimensional in flavour being tart with only slight spice. The large dumplings were not bad consisting mostly of chives and pork. Food aside, the one thing that Red 6 does well is offer decent value. For as low as $6.99, someone could leave full with little damage to their wallet. On the other hand, the food is not complex and could be easily replicated at home. It really depends on one's expectations. Personally, I thought it was an okay place to grab a quick cheap meal.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Decent portions

The Bad:
- Food is neither complex nor "restaurant" quality
- It's a family-run operation with the teenage son on the floor, he tries his best, but service is very sparse

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar

The lack of Southern-inspired restaurants in Vancouver is not surprising. First of all, our Northern location doesn't exactly scream out "bayou". Secondly, there are not many people immigrating from Louisiana to the GVRD. Lastly, due to our demographics, the dominant cuisine would of course be Asian. However, there are few places that try their best to serve up Southern cuisine. The last one we went to was a mitigated disaster (Crawfish King). Service withstanding, the food was not very good. That left a bad taste in our mouths literally and figuratively. It was especially disappointing for Hot Chocolate since she loves her Southern eats. In fact, she is our resident expert on the stuff. Therefore, our visit to Chewie's Steam & Oyster Bar was a redemption of sorts (to rid our memories of Crawfish King). It is worth noting that Crawfish King did attempt to reach out through a PR firm. I respectfully declined as this happened well after a month had transpired from that fateful meal. I give them credit for trying to rectify their problems.

Once again, the meal was preceded by our Monday softball game which we lost handily. We were famished, but the search for parking spots and the eventual 30 minute wait for a table made us extra hungry. Hence, I ended up sharing a bunch of food with both Judes and Hot Chocolate. First up was the Buttermilk Biscuits with a Cajun honey butter drizzle. Although, on the menu, it stated herb butter which I'm pretty sure it wasn't. We were more than happy with the substitution because the sweet, spicy and sticky concoction really livened the biscuit. As for the biscuit itself, it was soft, warm and really satisfying. The same drizzle adorned the Southern Fried Chicken which I shared with Hot Chocolate. She sampled it first and all I could hear were sounds of delight (no, not that kinda sounds!). I finally got around to eating (after picture-taking) and yes, that fried chicken was fantastic. I got the white meat and it was succulent and juicy. The 2-day buttermilk marinade really shone. The outside was super crisp and remained adhered to the chicken until the last bite. Despite being mild-tasting, the chicken benefited from the drizzle which would not be out of place on some waffles. The freshly made mash potatoes (which we watched being made while waiting for our table) was chunky and rustic (not creamy nor over-processed) while the green beans were perfectly crisp.

The second dish that I shared with Hot Chocolate was the Soft Shell Crab Po' Boy with lettuce tomato, pickle and Creole remoulade. There was plenty of fried crab in the sandwich, yet it was so fried, it was more like a crisp. We do realize that there is not much to a soft shell crab, but it did seem a bit too fried. Despite this, we still enjoyed the sandwich due in part to the airy baguette, fresh veggies, crunchy pickle (not too salty) and fantastic remoulade (a good hit of spice). The accompanying Kennebec fries were good being crispy and lightly seasoned. Just for curiosity's sake, I got a side of Fried Okra as well. These were coated with crunchy cornmeal which stayed intact on each and every piece of okra. Naturally, the okra was a touch slimy (which is normal), however, the crunch from the exterior made up for it. The accompanying spicy Creole remoulade added a nice kick.

On the topic of kick, Judes had the BBQ Shrimp and Grits which was plenty spicy. It wasn't a burning tongue spicy though. Rather, it was a slow rumble which really added a lot of flavour. The shrimp were really large and cooked perfectly. They exhibited the requisite snap and tasted darn good (in a shrimpy kinda of way, if that makes sense). As for the grits, there was lots of texture, which I know some people prefer. For myself, I would've liked it to be a touch smoother. The spice level was exactly the same with the Gumbo consisting of shrimp, chicken and andouille sausage. The flavours were rich and the spiciness of the sausage added another layer of flavour. Milhouse and Boss Woman both had the Jambalaya, which was a fairly large portion served in a cast iron pan. Mixed in with the nicely cooked rice (retaining a nice bite) was house smoked chicken, andouille sausage, prawns and tasso ham. Once again, there was a good amount of spice from the Cajun seasonings in addition to the sausage and ham (more like spicy smoked pork).

Bear opted for the Cochon de Lait (Pulled Pork Po' Boy) which was of a decent size. Nestled within the airy baguette was plenty of moist pulled pork which was mostly sweet (and not spicy). Although the meat was smoked, it didn't exhibit much smokiness. Bear thought it was a good sandwich at a reasonable price. Being the dessert fiend that he is, he couldn't resist ordering the Caramel Custard Bread Pudding with black currents, brandy maple glaze and vanilla whip. Unlike many bread puddings which are too bread-like (I know, that sounds contradictory, but stay with me) and dense, this one was more pudding-like. This was to Bear's liking and mine as well. The brandy maple glaze was sweet without being overwhelmingly sugary. We loved the obvious brandy hint as well. This was a fitting end to a redemption meal. Good Southern food, which exorcised the demons of Crawfish King. What really made it legit was that Hot Chocolate went away already planning her return visit.

The Good:
- Not shy with the spices
- Carefully prepared eats
- Great service

The Bad:
- Place isn't very big, which leads to usually a wait for a table (which is good for them!)
- Parking in the area really sucks (which is not their fault...)

Volcano Sushi

The dreaded backup restaurant. You know, the one that you have to settle for because Plan A was an epic fail. It's those types of places where you always keep in your back pocket if nothing else comes to mind. That was the case when the hockey team tried to visit Via Tevere on its opening week. Imagine the hostess' reaction when I requested a table for 12 considering the place was packed. I'm surprised she didn't just laugh at me. Well, maybe she was laughing inside, but she held it together. The chances of us getting a table before they closed was as good as Sean Avery getting a hot blonde girlfriend. Wait... Scratch that. What gives with that anyways? I digress. So we made an executive decision to grab eats somewhere else. Lionel Hutz chimed in with a nearby place called Volcano Sushi.

Yah, most of us were pretty familiar with the place. Formerly Wonton Noodles, Volcano Sushi cannot be missed while driving down Hastings due to the flaming awning (no, it's not on fire). Fine, we decided it was close enough and with a bunch of hungry people, we weren't going to be really that choosey. With a brief cameo appearance, Polka King joined us for eats. It probably had a lot to do with Polka Dot's presence (I guess she could keep an eye on him). Along with Gordo and Sweet Tooth, we decided to share some grub. The first item to arrive was the Gyozas. If they called these anything but gyozas, they would have been some really good dumplings. Unlike typical gyozas, the filling consisted of pork, shiitake, cabbage and carrot. Normally, there is only cabbage, pork and onion. With all that being said, the dumplings were fluffy with a moist filling and a thin wrapper.

Since we had 5 people sharing, the best bang for the buck was one of their sushi combos. We went for the largest one being the Titanic. Ominously named, this consisted of sashimi, nigiri and choice of 2 specialty rolls. As evidenced in the picture, the Sashimi was vibrant and aesthetically-pleasing. Nothing wrong with the salmon, tuna, toro, hokkigai or Ika, yet the ebi was not as buttery as we would've liked (but that is nit-picking). As a result, the Nigiri (sockeye salmon, tuna, Atlantic salmon, chopped scallop, ungai, tako and ebi) was good as well. We did notice the rice was strong on the vinegar by itself, but it was okay when combined with the fish. The texture was slightly gummy. The best thing about the sushi platter was the 2 fried ebi heads. I absolutely love head! Er... Luckily for me, no one wanted any, so I got head twice! Uh...

Anyways, for our 2 specialty rolls, we got the Dragon and Vancouver. I would say that both rolls (if ordered a la carte) are not bad for the price ($8.95). Pretty standard stuff really. The rolls were neither offensive nor memorable either. For a filler dish (if we actually needed one), we had the Oyako Don. The rice itself was prepared nicely being chewy with the right amount of moisture. However, everything else was way too salty. The vermicelli was soft and salty while the chicken and egg were salty as well. We could've done without the plethora of fatty chicken skin as well. Lastly, we had the Assorted Tempura which was quite greasy with slightly thick batter. It was okay.

Emilicious had the Chiraishi Don which had a decent assortment of sashimi. Naturally, it was on par with what we had in our platter. She was a bit more sensitive to the vinegary sushi rice than we were. She was pretty indifferent with her food. In the end, Volcano Sushi did the job for a reasonable price. Sure, it ain't great Japanese food, yet it is acceptable. I guess that is all we can hope for in a backup restaurant.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Decent portions

The Bad:
- Seating arrangements are somewhat tight
- Service is a bit slow

Novo Pizzeria and Wine Bar

After our good experience as Via Tevere, we were still craving Neapolitan-style pizza. Seeing how there were not many left for me to try, we headed over to the former location of Incendio, which has now become Novo Pizzeria and Wine Bar. This time around, it was the softball team, not the hockey team (although Milhouse, Lionel Hutz and Bear are on both, just like me). With a fairly large group, it looked to be a good way to try many different items. Thank goodness too, if it were only myself and Mijune, we'd be trying the same amount of food for the both of us! Now, despite the absence of Mijune (who has joined us for meals before), I still did the "share food with more than one person routine" to get more variety.

So I shared a Calamari with Chill first and it was pretty good. It was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The batter was a bit crumbly though. We particularly liked the gremolata on top as the lemon zest provided a nice bitterness. The dip was mild and slightly greasy. Dark Helmet (use the Schwartz!) decided to try the Sicilian Meat Balls (hmmm... how ironic... "my Schwartz is bigger than your Schwartz!) consisting of currants, pine nuts, reggiano and marinara. The pine nuts were a nice addition to the moist meat balls. The meat was slightly loose and seasoned quite well (the cheese added another layer of saltiness). That and the full-bodied tomato sauce (with good freshness and zing) made for a flavourful dish.

Milhouse, Boss Woman and Bear were nice enough to share several dishes with me starting with the Gnocchi, which were pan fried with warm sage butter. These were dense and doughy. I generally like it more dense, but these could've stood to be less so. However, the wonderful pan fry add a nice crisp texture while adding a smokiness/nuttiness from the butter. There was just enough sage for flavour without being too herby. For our second pasta, we had the Sausage Orecchiette with Swiss chard, fennel pollen and toasted bread crumbs. The orecchiette was perfectly al dente and laced with plenty of meaty sausage. The fennel pollen really came through and complimented the sausage. There was some spice, which added another layer of flavour and welcomed crunch from the toasted bread crumbs. We liked this pasta a lot.

Being a pizza joint, we naturally had some pizzas to share as well. The first to arrive was the Calzone. Unlike a typical calzone, it was open-
face (which meant it was a pizza... duh...) consisting of buffalo ricotta, Italian sausage, fiore di latte and marinara sauce. As the picture suggests, there was good leoparding which added a nuttiness to the crust. However, I felt the dough wasn't salted enough. Furthermore, the crust could've stood to be less soft (I realize that the middle should be soft, but the entire pizza was on the softer side). With that being said, the pizza itself was fine as a whole. In fact, the outer crust was chewy and smoky/nutty. We also had the Prosciutto & Arugula pizza (not pictured) and it was pretty much the same except not as soft. It probably had something to do with the drier ingredients.

Bubbly ordered a pasta for herself being the Fettuccine Bolognese. This was a healthy portion with lots of slow-cooked moist meat. I found the pasta to be past al dente and quite soft. There was plenty of sweet onion hints in the bolognese, yet not much in the way of any tomatoness. Despite all of its shortcomings, it was not a bad plate of pasta. Chill went for something totally different from everyone else with the Grilled Chicken Focaccia. When I asked Chill about it, his response: "it is a chicken sandwich...". Yes, I saw that and no, that wasn't very descriptive. It sort of reminded me of our meal at Pied-a-Terre. I was able to squeeze more information out of him this time around. The chicken was moist will the other ingredients didn't wilt. The focaccia was grilled nicely being crisp on the outside while still soft on the inside. Ultimately, everyone left satisfied with their meals. Nothing was particularly outstanding, yet nothing was below-average either. Therefore, that would qualify as a decent restaurant experience overall.

The Good:
- Attentive service
- Nice dining space
- Decent eats

The Bad:
- Pizza dough could be seasoned more
- Pizzas could be more flavourful

Re-Up BBQ (Westminster Quay)

Back when Re-Up was a single small food cart off to the side of the VAG (Vancouver Art Gallery for those who were thinking otherwise!), I remarked that their pulled pork sandwich was good except that it lacked something. That something was a real BBQ/Smoky taste since it had been vacuum-packed, reheated and then served. Hey, not much they could do about it since a food cart is pretty restrictive as to what can be done (especially their tiny and shiny little cart). Well, Re-Up has finally opened up an actual food stall in the River Market at Westminster Quay. They have also expanded their menu to include other meats and sides.

I mentioned this to Whipping Girl in hopes she would join me for lunch. It wasn't meant to be as she flatly declined. And she wonders why I begin to forget her sometimes! Never fear because Rich Guy was near. Literally. I gave him a last minute text and he was actually not too far away. he hightailed it over to the Quay in order to meet me for lunch. Now that's a dedicated eater! Dedicated is one thing, but as many of you know, he likes the "finer" things in life. Hence, he was a bit taken aback at the food stall/basic seating arrangements. For me, I could even eat in a washroom if needed, so it didn't bother me (well, maybe not Chinese restaurant washrooms though...). To get a taste of everything they offered, we shared the 3 Meat Platter (with the addition of ribs to make it 4 meats) which included Chicken, Ribs, Pulled Pork, Brisket and 2 sides (Chili & Biscuit). This came out to $30.00 + $2.00 for the extra ribs.

Starting with the positives, the BBQ Chicken leg was smoky and relatively moist. By virtue of being dark meat, it was not dry. The large buttermilk Biscuit was also pretty good being crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The Chili was a nice combination of beans, red pepper and corn which made for a multitude of textures and flavour. It had a nice sweetness and kick. The addition of cilantro sour cream really added a brightness and cooling effect which tempered the spiciness. As for their signature item, the Pulled Pork, it was smokier than the one I had at their food cart, yet also drier. I did enjoy their BBQ sauce which exhibited a good balance of tart, sweet and spicy.

Now for the bad... The Ribs had a really significant bark on them which was good and problematic at the same time. Where the bark was not too thick, it was tasty and had a nice chew. However, at the end of the rack, the bark was so thick, it was inedible (which meant one full rib was wasted). If we didn't look at that part, the ribs were okay. What was less than okay was the Brisket. It was really dry and a bit mealy. Part of the problem could be the cut, as it was quite lean. If there wasn't a good amount of BBQ sauce on it, it would've been difficult to eat. When we initially went to pick up our order, we were a little confused at our plate since it didn't look like $35.00 (including tax) worth of food. However, after we finished, we were full, so I think the plate they use is far too small and it makes the amount of food look miniscule. As for the BBQ items, some were good while the rest were unimpressive. I had high hopes and it ended up to be mostly so-so.

The Good:
- Balanced BBQ sauce
- Good chili

The Bad:
- Meats are pretty dry (except for the chicken)
- It's a food stall, tables are hard to come by when busy

Olympia Pizza

It was poor planning on my part. We had just finished up our Friday night hockey game and I suggested we go try out Chewies in Kits. Let's see, small restaurant. Friday night. Non-existent parking in the neighbourhood.... Equals a 2-hour wait AND money in the meter (which was going to waste since we going to leave). Seeing how this would not work out for us, we quickly hightailed it to another eating destination. But where? For some reason or another, I was not at the top of my game. You see, I've been lazy and well, there were no backup choices... Well, except for one - Olympia Pizza. Yes, it ain't the sexiest of choices. However, the food is predictable and the place has been around forever. So we made our way over and had to pay the meter AGAIN. Do the meter maids really check at 9:00pm at night all the way out there anyways???

Whatever, we fed the meter anyways and headed into the restaurant. Someone suggested we share everything to which I gleefully agreed to. We started with the Calamari which arrived on a large plate. We found it to be pretty good with tender squid rings in a light and crispy batter. It wasn't oily at all and properly seasoned. The thick tzatziki had a good combination of lemon and garlic with the cucumber. Next up was the Keftedes which arrived in a healthy portion with classic Greek accompaniments - rice, potatoes and salad. These were rather flat which probably led to the meat being dry. Despite this, the "meatballs" were seasoned nicely with a good onion hit without being salty. There was a good char and caramelization on the outside. The rice had a good bite and was not in any way soggy while the roast potatoes were soft with a noticeable lemon zing. However, the outside of the potato was quite hard.

Naturally, being the lamb-lover that I am (wait, that didn't sound good...), we had the Arni Psito (roast lamb). Again, It arrived as a pretty large portion with a good layer of fat on the outside. This probably helped keep the meat moist and tender (which it was). The meat fell off the bone and had the soft lamb texture that makes roast lamb yummy. Furthermore, the meat was well-seasoned (not salty though) with good hints of garlic. Onto another classic Greek dish, the Moussaka was slightly out-of-balance. As evidenced in the picture, there was a fairly thick layer of bechemal sauce on top. We felt there should have been a bit more of the other ingredients (layers of eggplant, potato and ground beef). Now that didn't mean it didn't taste good though. Once again, it was well-seasoned (bordering on salty). The bechamel had a nice consistency while the eggplant was nice and the beef was moist.

Lionel Hutz thought it would be nice to try something different in the Greek Ribs which were marinated in lemon and spices then charbroiled. As expected, this was not the fall-off-the-bone version. They were a bit dry with a chewy texture. It was still easy to eat though with a pronounced lemon pepper kick. These were alright, but definitely different. For variety purposes, we decided to go for the large Olympia Lasagne featuring a rich layer of sour cream. This was indeed a large portion with lots of melted cheese baked on top. The lasagne was typical of these types of restaurants with a wet meat sauce in between layers of soft pasta. I liked the sour cream as it added a certain richness to the dish. Moreover, it somewhat alleviated the good amount of salt (which was quite a bit).

Lastly, we split a medium Meat Lover's Pizza (yes, this was a lot of food for 6 people). Where is Mijune when you need her? Again, much like the lasagne, the pizza was pretty typical for a restaurant like this. The crust was crunchy and semi-thick. As for the abundance of meat toppings and cheese, the whole pizza became very greasy. Furthermore, it was salty as a result from the different types of meat. We weren't huge fans of it. As for the rest of the food, it was not bad, especially for late night. We've had better elsewhere, yet it was exactly what we expected and I guess that is not a bad thing necessarily.

The Good:
- Pretty standard fare, no surprises
- Service was decent
- Portions were good

The Bad:
- Not cheap
- Very well-seasoned food, sometimes being salty

Crepe Delicious (Coquitlam Centre)

It's pretty clear that I'm not exactly a sweets guy - that includes little treats to full-on desserts. I mean, I don't mind the occasional macaron or lemon tart. It's just that I much prefer snacking or nibbling on savoury bites. Give me an appie platter and a cold beer and I'm happy. So imagine my apprehension when Crepe Delicious contacted me about trying out some of their offerings. I asked myself: "self, would this even be a worthwhile experience?". I took a look at the menu and there were some savoury choices as well... Oh fine, why not, I'll give it shot. Now, unlike some people (Mijune), I cannot eat 4 desserts, let alone one all by myself. So I brought the whole family, including the kiddies.

My daughter (who is aspiring to be mini-Mijune) had the Tuttie Frutti without the Nutella. The crepes were freshly made right in front of our faces. Therefore, they were naturally fresh and warm. I wouldn't classify the crepes as the super thin variety, but they were not rubbery. I also wouldn't say they were fluffy either. The best way to describe them would be somewhere in between (still very easy to eat). The fruit was fresh and if we hadn't excluded the Nutella, there would've been some extra sweetness to balance off the tartness of the strawberries. We also had a savoury crepe being the Mediterranean consisting of tomato, lettuce, peppers, red onion, black olives, mozzarella, feta & Greek dressing. If you can imagine, it was like eating a Greek salad of sorts (without the cucumber) within a crepe. Okay I guess, but I much prefer dessert crepes (if I actually had a preference for desserts that is...).

Lastly, I had the mother-of-all-crepes in the New York. It was literally a slice of cheesecake with Nutella and strawberries in a crepe topped by dulce de leche. To say this was sinfully sweet would be an understatement. The cheesecake was pretty standard being NY-style (naturally). It was a bit difficult to eat in terms of getting everything in one bite though. In the end, we were pretty satisfied with the items that we tried. Their crepes were consistent and nothing was out-of-the-ordinary (pretty standardized because it is a chain).

The Good:
- Crepes are relatively light
- Lots of choice
- Ingredients are fresh

The Bad:
- Pricey