Portland Craft

I really like Portland. I really do. The eclecticness of the place including the cuisine and craft beers puts Vancouver to shame. Hey, Vancouver has a lot of places with beer too, but far too many serve only Tsing Tao and Asahi (if you know what I mean). Hence, when I spotted a new joint out on Main Street called Portland Craft, it piqued my interest. By sheer coincidence, Gordo approached me one day and suggested we try it since it his brother-in-law has part ownership. And to make things more strange, another friend of mine asked me the same thing. So we actually knew both partners of the place. Naturally, this puts us in a slightly "biased" position, however, if you read this blog regularly, you'll know that I'm pretty upfront about my experiences regardless of the situation. So we paid for our meals with the exception of the desserts which were comped. I'm not going to comment on the service because it would obviously be good for our party.

Formerly the Coppertank, the place still bears its old name at the top of the front facade. The room is open with a very high ceiling. We were seated upstairs where we got a great view of the entire restaurant. The atmosphere was naturally bar-like with people munching on snacks with their brews. And about those brews, they do have a wide selection that originates from... Portland of course. I got one of them being the Hopworks Rise Up Red. It was smooth with a bite at the end. For eats, Milhouse and I decided to share some items starting with the Pig and Pots. This was essentially braised pork belly, roasted shallots with crispy fingerling potatoes and a side of Dijon. Arriving on a plate with thick slices of fatty belly, our arteries began to harden before we even took a bite. By virtue of being so thick, the belly wasn't exactly that soft. In fact, the crackling was on the chewier side and hence, there was some effort involved in eating it. I liked the sweet glaze on it though. The potatoes were nice with a slight crispiness on the outside and starchy goodness on the inside.

One item that I had to have was the Spot Prawn & Cheddar Grits because well, I love shrimp & grits! The good thing about this dish was the grits were creamy with some texture. It was well-seasoned with herbs, cheese and had a good consistency (not too thick nor watery). There was a slight kick from the jalapeno as well. The accompanying piece of sausage was good as well as being meaty and not overly fatty. It had a nice snap to it. The one thing that was not good were the spot prawns. These were obviously not fresh prawns which meant the meat was soft and mushy. It was too bad because this could've been a good dish. Lastly, we had the Hefeweizen Beer Battered Rainbow Trout, which arrived as a sort of fish n' chips. The batter was crispy and light, albeit a bit greasy. The trout was nicely done being flaky and moist. I liked how the green beans were just barely cooked maintaining a crunch. The same fingerling potatoes as the pork belly completed the dish. I wasn't sold on the smoked paprika and roasted garlic mayo dip as a more traditional tartar sauce would've worked better.

Gordo was feeling ambitious and had 4 items all to himself starting with the Salt n' Pepper Wings served with a side of celeriac and carrot slaw. These were good. The wings were fried crisp with the fat nicely rendered. There was a salty peppery thing going on with them in a mild fashion. The meat itself was not juicy per se, but it wasn't dry either. The one thing that really amped these up was the hot sauce on the side. That was killer. He also had the Sumac Spiced Potato Chips which were light and mostly crispy. The sumac added a certain tartness which kept the chips from being heavy. For his main, Gordo had the Portland Craft Burger with a house made 6oz patty with basil, aged cheddar, pickled beets and a side of their house fries. I found the burger patty to be moist and a touch crumbly (in a good way though). It was slightly greasy, but then again, that's probably why it was moist. There was still considerable meat texture and I liked the addition of onions in the patty. The bun was a good balance between being soft and dense enough to hold up to the ingredients. The fries were the fresh-cut variety and could've been crispier. His 4th dish would be a dessert, which came later.

Emilicious and Sweet Tooth decided to share the Put a Bird on It which was really hop-fried buttermilk chicken on a Belgian waffle served with watermelon and gravy. The pieces of chicken were moist and fried perfectly. Crunchy outside and not dry inside, a good combination. As much as the waffle was okay, a thicker one (which would stand up to the chicken) would've been better. The thin waffle was already becoming soft as it hit the table. The side of gravy was mild and thick, yet personally, I would've liked to see a maple bacon glaze or something like that. Gadget Girl had the Scratch Personal Pizza which was a bacon mushroom. The crust was thin, crispy, well-charred and held up well to the copious amount of toppings. Not a bad pizza for this type of establishment.

As mentioned, Gordo had 4 plates and his last was the Stout Chocolate Lava with hazelnut brittle and vanilla ice cream. Okay, there is no way of sugar-coating this... It was terrible. The cake was very dry and mealy. Furthermore, we didn't get much of a chocolate hit despite the visuals. On the positive side, the brittle and ice cream were good. For good measure, we tried the Sugar-Dusted Donut Bites (which usually has only 5, but they gave us 6 so we could all try it) with rose whipped cream filling. These were more like a cream puff than a donut and we liked it that way. They were light, airy and crisp. The cream was not heavy nor too sweet which kept the whole dessert very easy to eat.

As you can probably ascertain, the meal was a bit up and down. There were some high points as well as some low ones. We liked how they are trying to be a bit different with their menu and approach. However, some refinement is needed, especially with specific dishes. One thing is for sure though, the place is great for grabbing a brew, hang out with friends possibly having some eats with it. It reminds me a little like Bitter where the drinks are at the forefront, while the food plays second fiddle.

The Good:
- Variety of craft beers
- Nice room
- Good vibe

The Bad:
- Food needs refinement

Bauhinia

*Restaurant is closed permanently*

Miss Y is a pretty smart gal. She is currently finishing up her Masters degree at UBC. However, much like Superman, she has a weakness. It is pretty apparent that sense her of direction is her kryptonite. She is so bad with directions, she gets lost in her own driveway. So when we had a game at Oak Park (where we've never played before), she asked for directions to the place. Well, I guess my directions sucked because she showed up in the middle of the 2nd inning. On another note, I had the best game of the year in terms of hitting. Kinda strange if you ask me since I had a really sore shoulder/back in the morning. It prompted me to consider not playing. But after taking some Robaxacet (geez those pills are tough to swallow), I was as happy as a clam. Does that mean I have to take that every game? Hello addiction? So after the game, we once again headed to Richmond for eats. I was remarking to Milhouse that Richmond is so much more calm at night where I don't need to worry about any bad drivers. Seemed like I spoke too soon as some Lexus IS in front of me was doing the Electric Slide down Garden City Way. Then we got onto the topic of rude people, who don't wait for people to get out of an elevator before barging in or people who stand and/or walk right in the middle of a parking aisle without considering there are cars that need to get through. And just right on cue, as we were pulling into the parking lot of Bauhinia, 2 women were walking smack dab in the middle of the aisle, completely unaware of us being right behind them. Ah yes... Richmond. If there weren't so many good eats here, I'd avoid you like One Direction.

Now you might be wondering why we picked Bauhinia (or maybe not, but this paragraph starter sounded good). Well, it was on the recommendation of Choobee. Originally, she wanted to go here for lunch instead of Nooch Snack & Chill, but I figured that we would not be able to put a dent on the menu. And about that menu... One would be hard-pressed in finding anything as diverse as the one here. Boss Woman, Milhouse and I decided to share some dishes starting with the Curry BBQ Pork, Ham & Shrimp Fried Rice. The grains of rice were somewhat broken in appearance, yet had a good chewy and dry texture. For some odd reason, the dish wasn't very hot in both temperature and spice level. It only looked flavourful. Next was the Stir Fried Rice Vermicelli w/ Shredded Chicken Hot Platter which was served in a mini wok rather than an actual hot plate. This was our favourite of the bunch since there were good textures at work. The chewiness of the noodles combined with the crunch from the veggies and the airiness of the pork fluff made this dish almost "salad-like".

We weren't that enthused about the Seafood Paella though. We weren't expecting authenticity considering the type of restaurant, however, the rice was hard and wet at the same time. Furthermore, the flavour was one-note and the seafood was overcooked. Milhouse ordered an extra plate of noodles being the Stir Fried Japanese Noodle w/ Shredded Pork & Spinach Hot Platter. It was pretty typical of an Asian noodle dish. The noodles were al dente while the flavours were mild. It didn't have much of an impact with us. For myself, I wanted to try their Lobster Bisque. I didn't find that it was that rich nor much in the way of lobster flavour. It was more creamy tomatoey than anything else. With that being said, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't a lobster bisque.

Bam Bam and Pebbles went for the classic Minced Beef and Egg on Rice. We liked the fact the beef was hand-chopped rather than ground because it was texturally and aesthetically pleasing. The sauce was quite mild and despite the plentiful appearance, the dish could've used more of it. Hot Chocolate had the Curried Beef Brisket which was of the coconut milk variety. Hence, it was smooth and not spicy. It was very mild in flavour. The brisket was moist and fork tender. Lastly, Bear had the Baked Pork Loin Cutlet with spaghetti. I thought the pork loin was fantastic. It was moist, juicy and still slightly crisp on the outside (despite the sauce). At first, I thought there was too much sauce, but in the end, it was the right amount. It tasted pretty typical of a watered-down ketchup base. Bam Bam and Pebbles went for the same dish except with rice. Personally, I like that version more. Something about the rice soaking up the sauce and a bit easier to eat. Being the last customers in the restaurant, we ended up keeping the only server there past her working hours. Despite this, she was nice and attentive. Overall, the food was not bad with some dishes being better than others (pretty normal).

The Good:
- Lots of choice
- Nice dining space
- Service we got was good

The Bad:
- A bit more expensive than other similar restaurants
- Food is not bad, but nothing particularly more special than anywhere else

Top Cantonese

Costanza has random food cravings every now and then. Quite a few times, he's had the hankering for XLBs where he would gorge on them. His son could eat 2 whole steamers all by himself. I guess like father, like son. So when he called asking if we would go for Peking Duck (because he had a craving), we obliged. He queried where the best Peking duck would reside in the GVRD. A few places came to mind, such as Koon Bo and Red Star, yet both did not satisfy our criteria. Since we would be with all the kiddies, Koon Bo would be far too small and cramped. Red Star, with their purposefully farmed Peking duck, would be far too expensive. Hence, we settled on Top Cantonese, which was near his house. For a fleeting moment, we considered Come Along, but that would end up as a suggestive blog post on my part.

On the topic of suggestive, our server suggested we try their special Winter Melon Soup and we obliged. Deep down inside, I knew this wasn't going to be a regular winter melon soup... And it really wasn't because there was a bevy of seafood including shrimp, crab, conpoy along with mushroom, chicken, duck and cucumber. The soup was served in a whole winter melon within a really fancy container. The soup was light and only relied on the natural flavours of the ingredients. Considering the whole point to this dinner was to have the Peking Duck, it was a bit disappointing. The skin was pale, salty and had an oily deep-fried consistency to it. In the end, it wasn't horrible, yet it wasn't great either. At the very least, the layer of duck fat was not too thick. As for the pancakes, they were thick, yet soft at the same time.

The next dish was almost redundant in terms of aesthetics and the copious amount of shrimp chips (my kids loved that). Sad to say that the Crispy Chicken was plain terrible. It was obviously refried where the meat was like chicken jerky while the skin was shrived and unappealing. Most of the meat was inedible and quite salty. The shrimp chips were good though... Next up was the Seafood Bird's Nest which was interestingly plated using a fried wonton wrapper basket. Usually, the nest would be constructed using either shredded potato or taro. I didn't prefer the wonton wrapper nest as it had a dense texture (since they layered the wrappers). As for the dish itself, it was prepared nicely. Laying atop the well seasoned and crunchy celery were large scallops, prawns, Basa, geoduck, sea cucumber innards and squid.

Onto a meat dish, we had the Peking Pork Chops, which was a fairly large portion. The chops were pretty thin and crispy, yet sufficiently moist. There was just enough syrupy sauce that was thick and sweet. It could've used a bit more tartness though. With so many fried items, we were guilted into ordering a veggie dish being the Pea Shoots with garlic. Well, it wasn't exactly that much healthier because it was stir-fried... So yes, it was somewhat greasy, but it was good though. The pea shoots were tender with a slight crunch. The dish was well-seasoned with lots of minced garlic. With most orders of Peking Duck, there is usually at least one more course (or sometimes 3 courses in total). This one was only 2 courses and it came with the standard Duck Lettuce Wrap. There was a good amount of duck mixed in with the crunchy veggies. I thought the water chestnuts could've been diced a bit smaller since they were somewhat difficult to eat. Also, the duck exhibited the same saltiness found in the duck skin. However, the dish itself was not bad.

Our meal at Top Cantonese was somewhat strange in my books. If one looks at Top Cantonese based on its decor and price point, it is dangerously close to Chinese fine dining. However, it is not. The dinner as a whole was hit and miss. With the price we paid, there wasn't a whole lot of wiggle room for complete misses, like the Crispy Chicken. Hence, I would probably head over to other restaurants nearby for food which would be equivalent or even slightly better (considering the prices) food execution. I really guess we should pay a re-visit to Come Along for dinner...

The Good:
- Clean and upscale decor
- Good service
- Parking lot (albeit small)

The Bad:
- Food execution not on par with prices
- Expensive

Fatty Cow Hot Pot (ChineseBites Dinner)

*Restaurant is closed*

Fresh from our first ChineseBites dinner at Golden Swan, we headed to our 2nd destination which coincidentally is located only a block away. Generally, hot pot and Summer go together like a no-way stop and Richmond. However, with A/C and a group of fellow bloggers (Kevin, Rick, Alvin, Romina and Janice), we were committed to having a good time. The fact that it was comped would be another reason to not complain. As per usual, I won't comment on the service because it would naturally good (duh...). Now one thing I do know is, from my previous visit to Fatty Cow (which was on my own dime), the service was above average for a Chinese restaurant.

For a hot pot joint, Fatty Cow is clean, modern and fully equipped. That means the restaurant is designed for hot pot with induction burners built into the tables with exhaust fans above. In addition to hot pot, they have a regular menu as well as late night until 1:00am. For our dinner tonight, it was strictly AYCE hot pot with a few "extras". We decided to go with 2 different broths consisting of Peanut and Spicy Szechuan. For me personally, it was the spicy broth all the way where I really didn't even need to use any of the dipping sauces including the sweet & spicy soy which was laced with a pile of cilantro. The stuff came fast and furious starting with the meats consisting of Fatty Beef, Pork Belly, Pork Cheek and Rib-Eye. All were sliced thin and were not frozen. They were fresh in both colour, texture and taste. I particularly liked the pork cheek as it has a touch of chewiness.

Being a "premium" hot pot joint, all their Meatballs are made in house. As a result, the meatballs are never frozen and obviously had a fresher taste and texture. However, overcooking them would essentially negate the freshness - better keep an eye on those balls! The Wontons and Sui Gau were also made in-house, but they were served frozen. This way, they did not stick together or become a complete mush while sitting on the plate waiting to be cooked. These were pretty good with a flavourful and meaty filling which was not-gritty. Something that was not really our favourite was the Frozen Cubed Beef. It was super chewy, even when barely cooked. Now hot pot would not be complete without some offal right? At least for me! I gleefully checked off Omasan (bible tripe), Pig's Blood, Pig Intestine, Pig Stomach and Chicken Hearts. All were pretty much as I expected. I think I ended up eating most of it... On the same plate as the chicken hearts was Marinated Sliced Beef and Basa Slices. The beef was tender while the fish was flaky.

We also got a variety of seafood including previously frozen White Shrimp. These are pretty common at AYCE hot pot restaurants. They were fine for what they were. If cooked properly (just barely done), the meat would have a good snap while being sweet. Cook too long and the meat gets all chewy. Much like my last visit, the fresh Oysters were absolutely humungous. Even after cooking, they were still a chore to eat. The Salmon Trimmings were also fresh. Although these were boney and required some effort to eat, these are the best parts of a fish. The meat is generally fattier and remain moist even through overcooking. The Kiwi Mussels were the standard pre-cooked frozen variety.

As a bonus, since we were invited to this meal, we were presented with some pretty large Steamed Live Scallops on the half-shell. These were a real treat because they are expensive and more importantly, they are naturally sweet with a wonderful texture - a bit chewy, yet not hard to eat. Lastly, as another treat, we got 2 live Lobsters! Yes, they were trying to impress, but could you blame them? And of course, it was a pleasure to eat since they were fresh. Of course this meal was above and beyond the regular AYCE menu, which made it extra special. However, based on my previous visit, the AYCE portion had not changed. The quality is still there and so are the other features that make Fatty Cow one of the better Hot Pot joints in town.

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

Power Lunch @ Market

*Restaurant is closed*

While watching Trevor Bird on Top Chef Canada, it renewed my interest in Market located in the Shangri-La Hotel. Why? Well, Trevor used to be the Chef de Partie at Market prior to opening Fable with fellow contestant Curtis Luk. Okay, it is ironic that I would be interested in Market since Trevor basically lamented the restrictive arrangements of working in a corporate environment. For those who are unaware, Market is only one of many restaurants around the world opened by Executive Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Hence, any chef that works in the kitchen at one of these restaurants are restricted in terms of input and creativity. Now that doesn't mean the isn't any good. On the contrary, the menus are often designed carefully and executed by well-trained staff.

Viv and I had tried their tasting menu awhile back and were happy with the food, especially considering the relatively reasonable prices. The theme of reasonable pricing is further exemplified by their Market Power Lunch which offers a 3-course meal for $29.00. There is a choice of 2 plates from the appetizer and main sections and 1 plate from the dessert portion. Well, I finally got to check it out with Mrs. Spray Bottle, Hot Mama and Pops. Hot Mama decided to start with the Seared Scallops with caramelized cauliflower and caper-raisin emulsion. As clearly shown in the picture, the scallops were beautifully seared with good caramelization while remaining plump and sweet. The smooth emulsion provided a nice balance to the dish. The "crispy" cauliflower added a bit of textural contrast.

For myself, I had the Beef Tartare with crispy onion rings. This was a good version since the meat was super tender and aesthetically pleasing to look at (unlike the one at Onyx). That is very important when dealing with raw meat. In terms of taste, there was a slight kick and crunch from the pickles. Surprisingly, the star of the show were the onion rings. They were super crunchy and not greasy. They were great on their own, but combined with the tartare, it added that textural contrast. Mrs. Spray Bottle went for the Frisee and Crispy Lardon Salad with mustard vinaigrette. The basic elements were there for a classic frisee salad, however, it was not as good as the other 2 appetizers. First of all, we personally would've preferred a poached egg since it would have more runny yolk. And secondly, the dressing was not very impactful. The duck fat (?) croutons added a nice crunch though.

For their main, Hot Mama and Mrs. Spray Bottle both had the Angel Hair Pasta with asparagus and shiitake mushrooms. This was a well-executed dish consisting of al dente angel hair pasta (which is very difficult to do), pesto and Earthy mushrooms. There was an underlying heat that did not disrupt the other flavours. Pops went for the most filling dish being the Market Burger with black truffle dressing, brie and French fries. To everyone's surprise, the burger arrived with 2, count' em 2 large patties. These patties were nicely grilled and were moist. The truffle dressing was not too overbearing while the melted brie made the burger quite buttery. Combined with the crisp veggies within a soft brioche bun, this was a good burger. As for the side of fresh-cut fries, they were of the double-fried variety which yielded crispy spuds which would've been good dipped in mayo. I guess we should've asked for some eh?

For myself, I had the Crispy Snapper Sandwich with black olive tartare sauce. This was an absolute monster of a sandwich with 2 large pieces of fried snapper within a ciabatta bun. The snapper was super moist and perfectly fried. However, the batter was somewhat oil-soaked and greasy on the bottom side of the fish. Now that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the sandwich though because the black olive tartar sauce was like a creamy tapenade which added a different flavour to a pretty "normal" sandwich. I found the bun to be rather hard, which essentially destroyed the fish every time I bit into it.

Moving onto dessert, I went for the Peanut Butter Bar with salted caramel ice cream. The bar was super smooth which started off chocolaty and had a peanutty finish. It wasn't super sweet, which suited me just fine. The salted caramel ice cream was definitely sweet. I liked the crunchy pieces underneath. Everyone else had the Market Cheesecake with crispy strawberries and rhubarb sorbet. The cheesecake was smooth and cheesy while the sorbet was sweet with bits of rhubarb. Nothing particularly exciting about this dessert, yet it was solid nonetheless. Bottom line, it was an enjoyable meal. Considering its location, the decor, service and generally well-executed food, $29.00 is a very reasonable price to pay.

The Good:
- Reasonable-pricing for lunch
- Generally good execution
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- As with last time, food takes a bit of time to arrive (I guess they want to make it right)
- I do realize it is lunch and the price point is relatively low, but not sure if a sandwich should be on that menu

Thien Kim

I had a dilemma. There was this standing invite from the Poor Italian rolling out their new menu on a Sunday afternoon. What's the big deal you ask? Well, it would be a few hours after morning hockey! So really, what's the issue here? I would starve for 2 hours before the tasting! Therefore, I had no choice. I had to go eat lunch despite needing to eat immediately after. Hey, if Mijune can do it, why can't I? Oh right, I'd become the second coming of the Michelin Man. Apparently, my metabolism doesn't even come close to hers. Well, I didn't really want to think of the consequences, rather, I just needed nourishment. Therefore, not only did I need something light, it needed to be fast (since I didn't want to be late for the tasting). Again, a Pho joint came to the rescue. In fact, the place is mostly known for its "got Pho?" moniker (real name is Thien Kim).

Joining me were Milhouse and JuJu, who are always in search for nourishment, which benefits me greatly! As such, we got 3 appies to share starting with the Fried Chicken Wings. These could've passed for ones from Church's as they were completely covered with batter. Nothing particularly wrong with them since they were crisp and juicy. It just didn't look like wings I've seen at most other Vietnamese joints. It was served with a sweet chili fish sauce. On the other hand, the Spring Rolls looked familiar and legit (with the use of rice flour wrappers). In fact, these were very good with a moist and flavourful filling (and more fish sauce). The outside was very crispy and not that greasy. These were good, yet the Grilled Pork Salad Rolls were even better. Despite being rolled haphazardly and really loose, the rolls were delicious. The grilled pork had a nice char while still being moist. It had really good flavour which was accented by the soft rice noodles and crunchy veggies. The rice flour wrapper was perfect with a nice elasticity.

Onto the mains, JuJu had the Beef Stew with Egg Noodles. I gave it a try and the soup was rich and fragrant. We suspected a good amount of MSG was used. The beef was both plentiful and tender while the egg noodles were al dente. JuJu seemed to enjoy his bowl of noodles while sweating up a storm. For myself, I went for the standard being the Pho Dac Biet or everything but the kitchen sink Pho. Again, the broth seemed to be flavourful in an MSG type-of-way. Hey, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing as the broth was tasty. It was more on the sweet side though. I found the portion size to be quite good with plenty of meats. The meats were tender and the noodles were al dente. Nothing much to complain about, in fact, I enjoyed every bite.

Mihouse decided against getting any soup noodles to my utter joy. Why? More variety! He opted for Minced Pork and Spring Roll Vermicelli Bowl. Much like our order of spring rolls, his was just as good. Admittedly, there was an ordering snafu since we doubled-up on the spring roll! As for the rest of the stuff, it was pretty standard with the "ham" being a bit salty.

Originally, I wanted to have a "less-filling" meal so I'd have room for the sampling at the Poor Italian. But in the end, the food was pretty good at Thien Kim and I couldn't help myself. Not only did I finish my entire large bowl of Pho, I had my fair share of the spring rolls, salad rolls and chicken wings. Yes, I really did channel my inner-Mijune. Well, the fact that the food was above-average didn't hurt either.

The Good:
- Food is above-average
- Portions are good
- Service is friendly

The Bad:
- Service can be overextended at times