Darband

Streets with specific ethnic eats - there are quite a few of those in the GVRD. Indian restaurants along Scott Road, Chinese on every street in Richmond, Italian on East Hastings, Vietnamese on Kingsway... The list can go on and on. One more is the Korean expressway AKA North Road. But wait a minute... What's this? A new Persian restaurant, amongst Kimchi and Bibimbap? Shouldn't this be located on the North Shore??? Well, only one way to find out... Gather the troops and attack the food! So Rich Guy, Slick and Big D formed the eating machine for this adventure.

I needed the troops too since the Kebab Combo #4 caught my eye (for only $43.95!). It consisted of 1 x Tenderloin Beef, 1 x Chicken, 2 x Koobideh and 2 x Ground Chicken. Also included were 4 plates of basmati rice and a Salad Shirazi to start. This was a refreshing way to start the meal. Although it wasn't a true version of the salad, we didn't care. As mentioned, we all received a plate of basmati rice with a side of butter. It may seem like a small addition, but the butter adds both texture and flavour. I would've liked to see more saffron rice as it was only sparingly sprinkled on top. Then we were presented with a large platter with all of our kebabs. From left to right: Beef Tenderloin, Chicken, Koobideh & Ground Chicken (alternating) and Tomato. The beef tenderloin was fork tender while the chicken was nicely charred, yet a bit dry. The koobideh and ground chicken were processed enough so the meat was not gritty. There was a good onion hit from both of the kebabs. The only thing I would've liked to see was a touch more charring on the kebabs other than the chicken.

For the heck of it, we also got the Lamb Shank with Baghali Polo. The lamb was super moist and wasn't gamy at all. The meat had that fatty gelatinous texture which makes lamb shank tasty. The accompanying braising sauce was fatty and flavourful. For this dish, the rice was laced with plenty of dill and Lima beans. We were pretty content at the conclusion of our meal. Was everything perfect? No. But it was still quite good especially for the price.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Good eats
- Friendly family restaurant service

The Bad:
- Meats (other than the chicken) could've used more charring
- A better mix of saffron rice would've been nice
- Not sure if they had A/C or not, but it was warm in there

The Fat Dragon

*Restaurant now closed*

Generally, our eating adventures are dictated by the location of our games. For instance, if we are playing in South Vancouver, we naturally head to Richmond. So what to do when we play at Strathcona? Other than Phnom Penh, most of the other restaurants in Chinatown are closed. We could go to Downtown, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try one of two places: Cray Cafe or The Fat Dragon. Now after our Crawfish King debacle, no one on the softball team was overly excited about another crawfish adventure. Fair enough. Worked out for me because I was looking forward in trying out the Asian-inspired BBQ at The Fat Dragon (from the people of Campagnolo). In particular, the smoked half pig's head. So I did a hard sell to my softball team about the place. Yes, it is located right near Oppenheimer Park, but there was still light out. Yes, it's an Asian-inspired BBQ, yet why not try new things? And I really wanted some head. I mean the Pig's Head... Milhouse and LuLu Bomber ended up sharing head with me. Man, there is no way to make this sound right...

As we made our way there, Boss Woman was very adamant that I close all the windows and lock the car. Okay, the area ain't exactly Oakridge, but it's not that dangerous! Once inside and looking through the menu, we spotted the Bao Buns section in the menu and for $2.50 each, we were all enticed to try a couple each. Hey were were already getting head, why not some buns too? Sorry, it was too easy... Anyways, I got one each of the Slow Smoked Beef Deckle and the Crunchy Squid. The beef deckle (which is the fatty piece of meat on a prime rib) was moist and tender with a nice bark. There was some crunch from the cabbage as well as the caramelized peanuts, but it could've stood for more peanuts. Furthermore, we all felt it needed more punch in flavour. This could've been possibly be attributed to the Crunchy Squid Bao which was a fan favourite. The crispy squid was a perfect compliment to the soft bao. The scallion, coriander and special smoked chili salt added a good combination of flavours which were bolder than the beef deckle bao. However, they could've eased up on the scallions as there was far too much of it.

Dark Helmet was mesmerized by the Thick Cut Szechuan Peppercorn Cured Pork Belly when he first spotted it on the menu. Look at the picture. I don't blame him. That is a man's wet dream right there. A half-a-pound of it rested on white bread drizzled with meat drippings. I took a good sample and the pork belly was beautiful. It was moist and dry at the same time. Huh? Yes really. The exterior had a desirable firmness and "candied" texture to it while the inside was sufficiently soft. In terms of flavour, there was only a slight spice with a predominant soy slant. We could've used more heat and a touch more sweetness to balance out the flavours. Gyoza King went for the Jalan Alor Chicken Wings which numbered six whole wings (including the tip). These Malaysian-inspired wings were definitely ethnic tasting. For some reason or another, I got the hint of five-spice, but there is typically no five-spice in jalan alor wings. Maybe it was the combination of flavours which emulated the taste. There was definitely some kick to the wings, which were slightly dry.

Boss Woman went for a couple of items starting with the Smoked I-San Style Pork Hot Links served with cucumber & coriander relish. These reminded me of the Thai Sausages I had at Maenam, except these were meatier and juicier. What really made this dish work was the sweet relish. It balanced out the savoury spiciness of the sausages . As a side, she had the Stir-Fried Noodles with Smoky Drippings. If there was a money dish here, this would be it. For something so simple, it was good. The noodles were slightly soft, but we really didn't care since the smoky drippings added both body and a depth of flavour. Mixed with the grated ginger and onion, the noodles were brightened up a bit (which was needed since the fat was so rich).

Bear and Hot Chocolate also had the noodles and they thought it was a highlight of the meal. They also shared an order of the Crispy Beef Ribs with soy-brown sugar glaze, fried garlic & scallions. I wasn't able to try any of these, but Hot Chocolate found her first rib to be rather salty, but then subsequent ones to be fine. At first, Bear thought they were a bit pricey, but the portion size was actually pretty good. Much like Hot Chocolate, he thought the ribs were a touch salty, but nothing out of the ordinary for soy-based Asian-fusion seasoning. They were not as dry as he expected, but the description was probably meant to clarify that there was no sauce. The texture of the meat was in-between, so he couldn't tell if they were boiled a bit first or slow cooked first then tightened up with some heat. In the end, they both liked the ribs. Dark Helmet had side of Long Beans with sambal and smoked almonds. These were crunchy with a kick. They were saucy but not salty.

Okay, enough with the various plates of food. The one thing I was here for was the Smoked & Roasted Half Pig's Head with bean sprout kimchi, cracklings, grated ginger & scallions, lemon wedges and iceberg lettuce cups. Now the visuals of the head was quite dramatic at our table. For Milhouse, myself and LuLu Bomber, we just dug in. The meat was super fatty, smoky and moist. The garnishes were pretty important in cutting through the grease. When made into a lettuce wrap, it was quite enjoyable to eat. Lots of different textures and flavours going on in one bite. However, with the copious amount of fat, there was a limited amount of actual edible meat. Definitely a novelty item which would fall into the category of "been there, done that". We all agreed that it was a good idea, at the very least, to try The Fat Dragon. We didn't go in with any prejudices and hence the meal was definitely interesting.

The Good:
- Something definitely different
- If you don't go in with an "Asian" bias, then some of the flavours really worked

The Bad:
- The prices are slightly high considering the location
- Portion size varies from okay to small

Sandy La

Not too long ago, I was driving down Victoria Drive and noticed that Nancy Wonton House had closed up shop. In fact, renovations were taking place for a new restaurant. The new place bore the name of another female - Sandy La. Okay, I'm not really sure it is named after anyone at all, but it does make one wonder what happened to good ol' Nancy... Let's not speculate. LOL... So the good news is that place retained its late night hours which really suits our hockey team just fine. I'll say it and say it again - for such a large city, Vancouver sure doesn't have a great selection of late night eats.

Actually, we only had a small group consisting of Myself, Milhouse, Emilicious and Sweet Tooth for eats this time around. But that didn't stop us from ordering 6 dishes from their "da lang" menu (or Chinese late night). Hey, we figured from the small portions we've received from other da lang joints, 6 would be just enough. The first dish to arrive was the Black Bean Clams. The clams were plump and cooked nicely with only one not open. There was just enough black bean sauce to flavour the dish. The sauce was salty enough and garlicky. The classic da lang dish, Fried Silverfish, arrived in a heaping mound. This was a sign to come as to the portion size. Now, for those who are alarmed at us eating silverfish, don't worry. These are not the same crawly things found in your kitchen. Rather, they are little fish that are battered and fried, then wok-tossed with salt, chilis and garlic. This particular dish was executed beautifully. The fish were crispy and flavourful, going really well with the plain congee.

With similar seasonings and preparation, the Fried Tofu was somewhat less successful. The tofu itself was fried nicely being crisp on the outside while retaining some tofuness on the inside. However, the wok-toss seemed to be lacking as the pieces of tofu were tasteless. For our meat dish, we had the Chinese-Style Beef Tenderloin. Now let's get real here - rarely do we ever see actual beef tenderloin used in this dish, even at higher-end Chinese restaurants. Rather, it could be any cut of meat that has been pounded and tenderized (baking soda). Well, this one could've used a bit more tenderizing in a few pieces as they were quite chewy in the middle. With that being said, most of the other pieces were tender and just cooked. The proper amount of sauce clung onto each piece affording them with a sweet, slightly tart flavouring.

Continuing on the sweet n' sour theme, we had the Sweet & Sour Fish which arrived in a radioactive red tinge. The fish, which I believed to be Basa, was in large pieces. This probably helped in keeping it moist and flaky. The sauce itself was mostly sweet with only a hint of tartness. Lastly, we got some veggies in the form of Tong Choy (or water spinach) stir-fried in the usual fermented tofu. Yes, it doesn't sound all that appealing, but the two ingredients seem to go hand-in-hand. Again, this was a healthy portion which featured nicely cooked tong choy (which was still crunchy). Despite the appearance of enough fermented tofu, the whole dish lacked enough impact. Now impact in flavour was one thing, but portion size is another. Although these dishes were part of the late-night "smaller" size menu, they were plenty big. We had more than enough for the 4 of us and the prices were reasonable. Sure, not everything was perfect, but as I say over and over again, nothing is (especially when dealing with a restaurant kitchen where there are many variables). The food was more than acceptable. The service was "okay". It is rare to experience "warm & fuzzy" service at Asian restaurants anyways. It was sparse though as we had some trouble flagging servers down. At the very least, the experience was decent enough for us to consider returning to try their noodles and congee.

The Good:
- Good portions
- Reasonable pricing
- Decent food

The Bad:
- Sparse service
- A bit greasy (but what Chinese food isn't?)

Pink Pearl

Oh man. The mother-in-law wanted to go for Dim Sum again... Usually, I need to get myself mentally prepared to endure that 2-hour torture. Okay... breathe deeply. Accept that there will be a lot of yelling. A LOT of yelling. At her husband, at us, at the wait staff and even random strangers. Accept that there will be a lot of complaining. About the food, her husband, the guy who sold her a new couch, random people and why not, the whole world. A LOT of complaining. Accept that people in the restaurant will be staring at our table. A LOT of staring. From people around us, from my kids (wondering who is this crazy woman at our table), from people at the other end of the restaurant and probably from the kitchen as well. Okay, I was ready. Ready for the ordeal. The destination? Hell. Er... I mean Pink Pearl. After a kitchen fire (ironically) that closed the place for nearly 2 years, it is back up and running. This Vancouver institution used to be one of the only places for Dim Sum, but with so many better choices, it has been mostly forgotten.

We arrived just as it opened which meant that the push carts were not running yet. Hence, we ordered off a checklist with only the regular Dim Sum available. We had to wait until 10:00am to order the specialty dishes. It would've been nice if they had put that information on the sheet... More on that later. So I'll start with the standard - Haw Gow (steamed shrimp dumpling). As evidenced in the picture, the skin was somewhat wet and in fact, broke apart on one of the dumplings. The whole shrimp filling had a nice bounce texture, yet was pretty bland in terms of seasoning and natural sweetness. The Sui Mai (shrimp & pork dumpling) were large and full of well-marinated pork, crunchy shrimp and shiitake mushrooms. The pork benefited from a good amount of fat to achieve its bouncy texture. Some people might find it off-putting though. In terms of flavour, it was also quite mild and could've used some more seasoning.

Next up was the Beef Meatballs which were also quite large. I would normally make a "ball" joke here, but at this point, my head was hurting from all the yelling. Most importantly, I was hiding my head from complete utter embarrassment. I'd rather suffer the yelling from Dragon Lady at Po King than this! In fact, I would like a puck to the head instead. I think I got a concussion from all that yelling. Oh right, and the beef meatballs had the desired bouncy texture with a touch of chewiness. It was also quite mild with a good amount of crunchy water chestnuts and just enough cilantro. With a similar beef filling, the Beef Rice Noodle Roll was not bad. The rice noodle was fairly soft while the beef was plentiful and tender. I know this is a minor issue, but the darn thing was plated haphazardly with a pathetic sprig of yau choy on one side.

Off to some more daring eats (to some, not us of course!) was the Phoenix Talons (aka chicken feet). These had a good texture which featured soft skin with plenty of gelatin and soft cartilage underneath (sounds yummy eh?). The flavours were discernible too with a good amount of garlic and sweetness. For our obligatory offal dish, we got the Steamed Bible Tripe (omasum tripe) with ginger and green onion. It had a chewy texture that was still tender enough to eat comfortably. There was no need to gnaw at it. The pieces of tripe were quite large and not gamy at all. However, I found it bland as none of the seasoning and other ingredients seemed to have any impact (despite being in plain view on top).

Onto Viv's favourite - the Stuffed Eggplant. This was a large portion consisting of bouncy shrimp mousse which was well-seasoned. It could've been toned down a tad since it overwhelmed the natural sweetness of the shrimp. The eggplant was soft while not mushy. Okay, the award for worst dish of the meal had to go to the Scallop & Shrimp Dumplings. These pathetic things were not very fresh tasting. The shrimp were overcooked and rubbery. Moreover, the dumpling skin was hard and dry, yet at the same time, the dumpling was wet. Very strange textures going on. We weren't sure if these were freshly made to begin with. However, that is just speculation. On a positive note, the scallops were okay though.

As my son was still waiting for the curiously absent rice noodle rolls (which we ordered when we first got to the restaurant), we got something to keep him busy in the Spring Rolls. These were not the modern all-shrimp version, rather, they were completely ol' skool with pork, wood ear mushrooms and bamboo shoots. There wasn't a lot of filling per se which actually made the spring rolls light. They were not greasy and were very crisp. Now, we really didn't get the Egg Tarts near the end of the meal. As usual, it arrived mid-meal (if you look at the picture of the beef meatballs, you'll see it on the table). So consider it a sweet intermission of sorts. Can't really blame the restaurant as these are baked in batches and need to be eaten fresh. These were pretty good with a flaky shell which exhibited a good level of "bakedness" (much like some people on 4-20... ahem...). The egg custard was smooth and quite sweet.

We already decided to settle the bill since the Soy-fried Rice Noodle Rolls had not arrived even though we had ordered it nearly an hour prior (apparently, the dish is not available until after 10:00am). Well, as we were paying, it showed up. Just like we suspected, they waited until there were a few orders before they prepared it. Our dish came out with several others on the same platter. Now, that is an efficient way to cook, yet not a great thing for the waiting customer. At the very least, give us the heads up or put down on the menu that the item is only available after 10:00am. Leaving us guessing and annoyed is not the way to go. The noodles were not bad. It could've been fried a bit longer for some colour and caramelization. At least there wasn't too much grease. So the newly reopened Pink Pearl doesn't deviate much from the old version. Food is pretty average, but serviceable. There are the faithful that will keep the place full, I'm not one of them though.

The Good:
- Large facilities
- Large parking lot

The Bad:
- Food is pretty average
- Service isn't bad, could be better though

Fraser BBQ & Fresh Meat

Picking up where we left off with my Chinese BBQ adventures, the next place up for discussion is Fraser BBQ & Fresh Meat. This was sort of random since I really wasn't planning on picking up any BBQ meats. I was merely driving down Fraser on my way home when I noticed it. I did my best bad driving impression and made a quick lane change right into a parking spot. Yes, I do realize I was being hypocritical... Anyways, I'm not sure if they are affiliated with Galaxy Bakery because they share an open space with them. Oh yes, I also wandered over and picked up some buns too. Talk about random. From no food to lots of it to take home!

Naturally, the first item I selected was the Roast Pork. Due to the lean cut of meat, the pork was not all that moist. There wasn't any belly meat left, so it would be difficult to compare against places like HK BBQ Master (since they only use the belly). The crackling wasn't exactly crunchy though, it was slightly chewy. Originally, I wanted to get a few pounds of BBQ Pork. They had apparently ran out, so I settled on BBQ Pork Ribs instead. If these were any indication of the BBQ Pork marinade, then we had a winner. The sweet syrupy glaze afforded the ribs a nice colour and char while adding the necessary flavour. The ribs were cooked nicely where the meat was still moist and tender while the outside had a chewy sweet bark.

Lastly, I got a whole BBQ Duck (since it was on special to get a whole duck, so Chinese of me...). The duck was moist and meaty. Most importantly, it was not salty, not even the thigh portion (which usually gets the bulk of the marinade). The skin on the duck was aesthetically pleasing in colour and appearance. I tried a piece right away and the duck skin was nicely rendered. Moreover, the wing portion was edible, unlike some other places where the drumette is merely a throw-away piece. Other than the Roast Pork (which was the lean portion, not their fault), the ribs and duck were pretty good. Definitely above-average.

The Good:
- Glaze for the pork ribs is good
- BBQ Duck well-prepared
- I asked for 2 pounds and I got 2 pounds

The Bad:
- Roast pork was so-so (but it was lean meat though)

Golden Swan (ChineseBites Dinner)

Recently, I was approached by Raymond Chow about joining him and other bloggers for meals at Chinese restaurants in order to highlight signature dishes. The rationale behind this is that many Chinese establishments do not have a Net presence. In fact, many of them exclusively advertise in Chinese print media. In that sense, they are not reaching out to over half of the population (and those who don't read Chinese!). On his site, ChineseBites, he hopes to bring awareness to authentic Chinese cuisine to everyone. The initial intention was to pay for our meals (or at least part of) at the restaurants we eat at as a group. However, as expected, many of the restaurants decided to comp our dinners. Not really a surprise since this serves to promote each restaurant at their best (and of course we'd get good service... duh...). Therefore, I've personally decided that my posts about these dinners will not be a "review" per se (not linked to Urbanspoon), rather they will be about my experiences with these recommended dishes.

So first up was Golden Swan out on Victoria
Drive in Vancouver. They changed ownership last year with the owners of Golden Ocean buying them out. In addition to Raymond and myself, others at the dinner were Kevin, Rick, Alvin and Louisa. Like many Chinese set meals, we started off with the Golden Swan Appetizer Platter consisting of Smoked Salmon, Beef Shank, Shrimp, Mock Goose and Honey Garlic Spareribs. This was pretty typical and nothing was amiss. I did like the beef shank as the slices were thick, yet at the same time, the meat was moist with definite hits of five spice. Next up was a beautifully plated dish named Soft Tofu in Japanese Style. Huh? Yah, that's what I thought too. Something got lost in translation. Whatever the case, the dish consisted of delicately sliced silken tofu fanned carefully around the plate. At the centre, there was a stir-fried mix of edamame, corn, carrots, shiitake and preserved radish. The vegetarian mix was still crisp and vibrant while the silky sauce was mild. The one thing that kept this dish from boredom was the preserved radish. It provided crunch and saltiness.

Next was another nicely plated dish - Sauteed Geoduck and Scallops with Sweat Peas. Now this is usually a pretty common combination of ingredients, however, they added different herbs including lemongrass. Hence, the flavour profile was completely different. There was a certain aromaticness to go with the natural sweetness of the seafood and crunchy snap peas. One thing of note, there was no "Geoduck" in the dish, rather, they were sea cucumber innards. Moving along, the next dish to arrive was the Sauteed Beef Tenderloin with Chayote in Black Pepper Sauce. The chayote was still crunchy while cooked all the way through. With the addition of strawberries, it further accentuated the sweetness of the dish. Naturally, the sweetness was accented by the a mild amount of black pepper. The chunks of beef were tender, yet still meaty in texture. However, I found it to be rather salty.

Majestically golden brown, the House Special Salty Chicken was presented in a clay pot. This was cooked in a salt crust which was removed just before serving. I asked if they had quickly oil blanched the chicken first because of the crispy skin. Apparently they did not, so this was achieved via the baking process. The chicken was moist even with the white meat. I found it to be only moderately salty despite the salt crust. Next was definitely not a fan favourite at our table. The Egg White Custard with Almond Milk was a white blob of food which neither had enough flavour nor texture to maintain our interest. There were bits of Asian pear that only served to add to the overall sweetness of the dish. There wasn't enough crunch to alleviate the mushiness of the blob.

Elegantly plated was our next dish - Angel Hair with Tiger Prawn. The fried prawn was doused in a ketchup, sweet chili sauce and garlic concoction accompanied by some angel hair pasta. Yes, some fusion thing going on here. However, it was not anything dissimilar to items found at a Hong Kong style cafe. I found the sauce to be rather sweet with the prawn being cooked perfectly. Our last savoury dish was the Lobster, Scallops, Shrimp with Rice on Lotus Leaf. I've seen this dish many times before, however, not with shrimp and scallops. Me thinks that we got the royal treatment here (duh...). So everything was prepared carefully. The scallops and prawns were just cooked while the lobster was fried beautifully. The rice at the bottom soaked up some of the flavour from the seafood as well as the sauce. The addition of corn along with Chinese sausage, mushroom, tobiko and green onion added pop to the rice.

Onto dessert, Kevin was hoping for Baked Tapioca Pudding and his wishes came true. What really made this dessert was the excellent crunchy topping. Normally, the topping is thin, much like the one found atop a Pineapple Bun. This one was much thicker and had more impact. The tapioca pudding had a nice texture and the addition of lotus paste was nice. Surprisingly, the dessert wasn't too sweet which suited me just fine. Last and certainly not least was the Durian Rolls. That drew some reaction since durian can be quite pungent. If you've ever come across the actual fruit, it can quickly overwhelm. However, since it had been processed and baked into a flaky pastry, there was only flavour (which can be an acquired taste). It was definitely sweet with a certain fruit gaminess to it. I personally liked it. And on the topic of like, if I had to do my own signature dish choices, I would think that Soft Tofu and the Salty Chicken were the most interesting of the bunch. Nice meal thanks to ChineseBites. I look forward to our next meal.

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