Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria

There was a time back in University that Anducci's would be on our regular rotation of eats. Think of it, a bunch of hungry students who may or may not really care about quality - mostly an eye for quantity for a reasonable price. Now, that's not to say Anducci's wasn't any good. In fact, for a time there, it was. But for some reason or another, they changed the formula a few times for the worse. The portions got smaller, food quality went downhill and prices went up. This was a recipe for disaster. In the not-too-distant-past, Anducci's closed their Cameron location and a fire finished off their Hastings one (they also previously had locations in Guildford and in the Admiral Pub). Now, emerging from the ashes and in partnership with Alex Tung, Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria is riding the wave of the Neapolitan-style pizza trend into Burnaby. Personally, Neapolitan-style pizza is my favourite form of the pizza. The thin crust, leoparding, flavourful tomato sauce (usually, but not exclusively San Marzano tomatoes), mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella, but again, not exclusively) and fresh basil are the simple, yet tasty ingredients on the classic Margherita. The pizza should have a crispy outside edge that is a little burnt with the pizza getting progressively softer into the centre. It should be chewy, not soggy though.

I took the opportunity to visit Cotto with Marshmallow (who was back for her yearly visit from Taiwan), Elaine (without Costanza, who was choked to miss this meal) and Viv (with the kiddies). This way, we could order lots and see what the menu was about. We started with an order of Calamari which was a modest portion, yet for $11.00, it was okay for this class of restaurant. The pieces were very crisp and not greasy. Furthermore, the squid was tender without being mushy. We found the batter to be slightly salty, but it was nicely offset by the tart marinated tomatoes. Next came a flurry of pizzas with the classic Pizza Margherita arriving first. The crust had great colour in the form of leoparding (the random burnt spots), hence, there was a nuttiness which combined well with the properly seasoned dough. The centre of the pizza was a bit softer than we would've liked, yet it wasn't soggy. The tomato sauce had great flavour in the form of tartness and enough salt.

Now with all that flavour from the basic Neapolitan-style pizza, it was only natural that the Pizza Carne (consisting of cured meats) would be on the saltier side. This pizza was actually less soft in the centre, which we enjoyed. It was indeed salty, but I didn't mind it since I love eating meat. On the topic of meat, we also got the Pizza Polpetti and it was topped with a considerable amount of ingredients. Thus, the pizza was more moist and definitely could not be picked up by hand. On that note, people have to realize that the more toppings means the pizza will be more "wet". We found the meatballs to be moist and not greasy at all. They were flavourful and went well with the tangy tomato sauce. Lastly, we had the Pizza Prosciutto with Arugula which was a pretty standard combination of ingredients. With that in mind, the pizza was still quite good since there was a good balance of meat, sauce, cheese and greens.

To get some variety, we also got 2 full orders of pasta which were roughly $20.00 each. Half-sizes are around $11.00. I really liked the Carbonara with a 63 degree egg. When mixed into the pasta, there was just enough "sauce" for both texture and flavour. The pasta was perfectly al dente, it was chewy with a nice resistance and remained that way until the last bite. There was plenty of pork cheek bacon which was cut into thick bits. They were meaty and helped add both aromatics and savouriness. For our second pasta, we had the Tagliatelle Bolognese. It a slightly smaller portion than the carbonara, probably due to the less wide pasta and the inclusion of more meat. In fact, the bolognese was very meaty indeed with a rich cheesy tomato sauce. At first, we were a bit taken aback at the portion size considering the pastas were $20.00+. However, when you compare the prices to places such as Earl's and Cactus Club, you will quickly see that they are pretty much on par. At the same time, the prices aren't exactly cheap either.

So how does Vancouver's (technically Burnaby) new entry into the Neapolitan pizza craze stack up against the competition? I would say Cotto is above average. I thought the pizza crust was seasoned properly with good leoparding. The middle could've been a touch less soft, yet the ingredients were pretty good. The pastas were not bad, however, I can see some people not liking the portion-to-price ratio. For me, it seems pretty standard for this type of restaurant. The place is definitely an upgrade from the old Anducci's though.

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

The Bad:
- Not cheap, but then again, in line with chain restaurant pricing
- The centre of the pizza could be a touch less soft

Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House

A long time ago, in an AYCE not so far away, there was Japanese food, Korean BBQ and at one point hot pot. Wow, all that in one place? Yes, the place was called Shabusen (no, not the one in Downtown). Located on the top floor on the corner of Granville and 14th Ave, it served to offer a lot of food for a reasonable price. Was the food any good? Well, that depended on one's expectations. If one was expecting high quality food, then they best move along. However, if one only wanted quantity with some decent items here and there, then this was your place. I have to admit that I paid my fair share of visits in the day to the old Shabusen. Sure, I don't do buffets as much as I used to due to many factors. One of which is I just can't stuff myself silly for no apparent reason. So when it closed earlier this year, I was a bit surprised since it did pretty good business. Not to fear because an almost carbon-copy of a restaurant has risen from the ashes of Shabusen.

JuJu had been mentioning AYCE Korean for quite awhile now as an eating destination after Sunday morning hockey. Milhouse and I figured that heading to Kyo would help satisfy JuJu's cravings. However, we were a bit nervous as JuJu is Korean... Well, he was one ticked off Korean when we met up with him at the restaurant. He had arrived first and was completely ignored for a good 10 minutes. Awesome, just like most other Korean restaurants! LOL... So we stood there waiting and waiting. Finally someone acknowledged his existence and we eventually got a table. We got down to ordering and before we knew it, food was coming at us fast and furious. We decided to try all 3 meats available for the Korean BBQ including Beef, Spicy Pork and Chicken. Considering Kyo is not an authentic Korean restaurant, the meats were fine. It was a treat to have "a real Korean" (as JuJu stated) cooking our food for us. You know what? There was a difference. The meat was cooked perfectly and there was barely anything stuck to the grate as he masterfully did his thing.

A bunch of little items showed up next including the Spinach Gomae. This was a typical version found at these types of restaurants being sweet and saucy. However, there wasn't too much dressing and the spinach was blanched nicely. The Sunomono was okay with chewy noodles and a slightly too sweet dressing. The Spicy Agedashi Tofu was fried crispy while the sauce didn't have much kick, it was rather sweet. Lastly, the Bean Sprouts had a nice crunch with lots of sesame oil. Up next was our order of Sashmi (Spicy Salmon, Salmon and Tuna) which was limited to 8 pieces each person. That was totally understandable since many AYCE joints don't even offer sashimi for lunch. These poorly and thinly cut slices of fish were sub par. I found the tuna fishy and not texturally appealing. It didn't help that the tuna was still slightly frozen too. The salmon was tasteless while the "spicy salmon" was truly laughable because the sauce tasted more like peppery plum sauce. It truly didn't go with the fish nor was it spicy either. We also got a bunch of Nigiri as well consisting (from front to back): Seared Salmon, Ebi, Inari, Chopped Scallop and Salmon. The seared salmon was okay being buttery and soft. The sushi rice was acceptable with some chewiness. It was a touch dry and only had a hint of vinegar.

The Maki Sushi was okay for an AYCE. Not pretty to look at and pretty blah to eat, at the very least, it didn't offend. Now the same couldn't be said about the Sushi Cones. Yes, they were a little loosely wrapped, but the filling was plentiful. The problem? The sushi rice was warm. And I don't mean luke warm. It was "like just cooked rice" warm. Not really that appealing and a bit concerning when you combine raw fish with warm rice. Moving along with the gluttony, we got the Beef and Chicken Teriyaki. As expected, the syrupy sweet Teriyaki sauce adorned both plates. The beef was thin and tender while the chicken was cooked just right being moist and tender. The Gyozas were not bad being fried up crisp and with good colour on the bottom. The dumpling skin was thin which held a filling that was a good mix of moist pork and cabbage. We had 2 rounds of the Chicken Wings with the 2nd order being juicier than the first. Both times the exterior was crispy and the meat well-seasoned.

The Tonkatsu was fried perfectly with crunchy breading that was not greasy. The pork was moist and tender while there was just enough sauce on top. Lastly, the Tempura consisting of yam and veggies were oil-soaked and only crispy on one side (the side that was facing up). The batter was actually quite thin, but it became soggy due to the grease. Now, if you can imagine, there were a lot of things to pick on with the food at Kyo. After all, it is an AYCE Japanese and Korean restaurant. Many purists would just cringe. However, it is what it is. Considering the price, expectations need to be reasonable. Generally, the food was acceptable except for the some items. Is it something I would frequent? Of course not. Ultimately, if there is a big group of people, who are not picky, and need to have fixed food costs, then Kyo does the job.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing considering location, variety and edibility of the food
- Decent selection of items
- Fairly comfortable dining room

The Bad:
- Food is predictably so-so (yet okay for AYCE)
- Service is not really a priority there

Top of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant

Gimmicks. You know, those little (or something big) things that attract people to make a purchase of some sort. Generally, these gimmicks tend to overshadow the actual product itself. It is quite possible that the product is not really all that special... Hey, it's marketing and many people fall into that trap everyday. How about a crappy plastic clock if you sign up for a Visa? Or a cooler bag when you get a Vancouver Sun subscription? Oh, and the best one of all: "if you call within the next hour, we'll double your order of GLH!". Oh the gimmicks... Generaly, I consider myself savvy in this respect, but even with that being said, I occasionally fall victim to gimmicks too. Call it human nature, or possibly by being a man, I get distracted with shiny things.

So going into our brunch at Top of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant, I already knew the view would probably be the most attractive feature of the place. Yet, we went in with an open mind to see if anything else was worth remembering. We arrived early and they were still setting up most of the food. I contemplated on tackling the Salads and Cold Seafood first since they were ready. In actuality, I only went for the seafood... Salad? Pffft.... If you look closely at the small picture on the bottom left of the first box, you'll see a plate of herring. Well, halfway through the meal, it was replaced by cocktail shrimp. Little did I know, this would be the theme of the entire meal - appearing and disappearing food. So if you were not lucky to pass by the buffet while that particular dish was there, you'd never see it again. Good for variety, bad for those who want to try every item. The obligatory plates of Sushi were pretty average at best and only served for variety purposes.

Onto the hot food, we had the standard breakfast meats, Eggs Benedict and waffles. Notice the slight browning on the top of the Benedict, that actually messed up the texture of the sauce (which was actually weak). The egg was poached perfectly runny, but the English muffin was too crunchy. Moving along, there were some spring rolls and Chicken Wings. I liked the wings as they did have a kick (along with a good balance of salty and sweet) and were not terribly overcooked either. They were rather greasy though. The Crab Legs were a crowd pleaser but they were dry and salty. The Short Ribs were a touch dry and quite sweet while the Fried Butterfly Shrimp were crispy (so I heard because when I went back for some, they were gone and to be never replenished).

The new stuff consisted of some Poached Salmon with couscous & tzatziki. The dish lacked flavour, however, the salmon was not overcooked. Another fish item was the Seafood Stuffed Sole. The sole was cooked nicely while the seafood filling was mushy. There was good flavour from the good hits of lemon. Seeing how the kitchen staff (and the whole staff in general) were predominantly Asian, it was no surprise that the Fried Rice was pretty good. Oh and the side of Gai Lan next to it too. There was some corn and roast potatoes in the buffet line, but I didn't bother with them. While we were eating, we saw some people with huge scallop shells on their plate. At first, we thought they were steamed fresh scallops. To our dismay, they were only shells holding a Kiwi mussel with some little scallops in a starch-thickened cream sauce.

There were 3 stations on the inside portion of the buffet line that consisted of Soups, Omelet Bar and Pasta Bar. The soups were Manhattan Clam Chowder and Cream of Mushroom. I'd have to say that it was a good cafeteria-style clam chowder, but hardly representative of the type of establishment TOV intends to be. The cream of mushroom was not bad as it was very Earthy and rich. There was also a carving station with a well-prepared Prime Rib. It was mostly medium-rare (not pictured). Lastly, a decent-sized spread of Desserts met us at the end of the buffet. Theses were pretty typical cakes and little bites found at these types of Sunday brunches. Nothing really stood out. And really, that is probably the best way to describe the food. It was pretty darn average. The main attraction is truly the view and to a lesser degree, the good service we received. Consider it a $42.95 buffet which includes the $15.00 ticket up to the observation deck at Habour Centre. In that case, it is really a $27.95 buffet.

The Good:
- Great view
- Good service
- Wide selection of food as it changes frequently

The Bad:
- Food doesn't measure up to the class of restaurant it is trying to portray
- Dishes change often, therefore, you will miss out on some items

Yu Kee BBQ Kitchen

Ever since I can remember, more often than not, there would be some form of Chinese BBQ item on the table for dinner. Fast forward to the present, I seem to be continuing the tradition. Well, possibly because I'm lazy and have one less dish to worry about... However, being located in North Burnaby, there aren't any Chinese BBQs nearby. And I would prefer to avoid T&T. It's okay, but never my first choice. Hence, I've been trying out various places which are somewhat in the vicinity. So back to my search for the best Chinese BBQ in town (so far it has been HK BBQ Master), it brought me to a lil' place tucked in the Killarney Market shopping complex. Yu Kee doubles as a small Chinese restaurant as well as a full-service BBQ. They got all of the meats - hot and cold. I decided to go for the "big three" in terms of BBQ'd meats being the BBQ Pork, BBQ Duck and Roast Pork.

The BBQ Pork was juicy and moist. It had a nice "bark" on it which was flavourful and sweet, however, there was an absence of any charring which lessened the BBQ taste. For some odd reason, the pork had an aftertaste which was "porky" in a gamy sort of way. Not a huge problem, but I would've preferred a more uniform flavour. It could've been the lack of glaze on the outside too. The Roast Pork was pretty good. This may have been partially due to the use of pork belly. The meat was moist and the fat was gelatinous and melted in my mouth. It was well-seasoned and melded well in the roasting process. The crackling was crunchy and easy to chew.

Although the BBQ Duck was pale and didn't look promising, it turned out to be solid. The duck was meaty with nicely rendered skin. The meat was seasoned evenly while being moist and tender. As per my usual statement: "it is not as good at HK BBQ Master". Yet, really what is. But due to location, I would say Yu Kee is a decent choice for those living in the Fraserview/
Killarney neighbourhoods.

The Good:
- Decent
- Lots of parking
- Standard pricing

The Bad:
- Well, of course there is better, but not really nearby

Kibo

Every 2 weeks, a group of us (Kevin, Rick, Alvin, Grace, Romina and Janice) have been trying out specific Chinese restaurants featuring their signature dishes. These meals have been comped and host by ChineseBites. So far, we've been to Golden Swan and Fatty Cow Hot Pot. However, this particular meal would be the week right after Fatty Cow and it wouldn't be a Chinese restaurant. In fact, we weren't featuring any Chinese signature dishes. Huh? Okay, there will be the occasional meal that will deviate from our original mandate due to common ownership of restaurants. Our meal this time around was at Kibo in Yaletown. Occupying the former location of Charlie's (which lasted like a couple of months), Kibo is a hybrid of Miku, Minami and Hapa Izakaya. The decor is definitely Yaletown and the waitresses are definitely Hapa-ish. One look at the menu and it has similar elements as Miku with a dash of the original menu at Hapa Umi (however, at substantially lower pricing). So unlike the other ChineseBites meals, I am going to treat this like an actual post as we tried practically everything on the menu.

As such, they came at us with a good amount of food. The first to arrive was the Negi Toro, reminiscent of the one from Hapa. It was served with toasted crostinis. The tuna belly was processed until smooth with just the right amount of scallions. There was a big hit of sesame oil (possibly a smidgen too much) as well as some spice (tasted like srirracha). It was topped with garlic chips and more scallions. There was a good contrast between the soft tuna and the crusty bread. Next up was the Kibo Sashimi Set which consisted of red tuna, salmon and hamachi. The large slices of fish were fresh and neatly presented. The addition of sauces made it possible for us to eat the sashimi with little-to-no soy sauce. At $24.00, this plate was not cheap, yet the quality and large cuts of sashimi justified the price.

Moving away from seafood, we were presented with the Beef Carpaccio, which I could smell from quite a distance away before it was set on our table. The Parmesan dressing with a hit of wasasbi was quite potent, yet welcoming at the same time. I found it to be creamy and cheesy with only a bit of heat. As for the slices of beef, they were a touch chewier than I would've liked. I think it needed to be sliced even thinner to achieve that melt-in-your-mouth effect. From meat, we went back to fish along with some greens in the Kibo Salad. It consisted of a mix of greens with red onion topped with mango, tuna and avocado. The ingredients were top-notch and prepared carefully. The dressing was tart and sweet with a touch of spice. Hey, it was a pretty good sashimi salad.


The next dish was something that I haven't had for quite awhile. Consisting of tempura fried fish cake tubes filled with cheese, Chikuwa Cheese is one of my favourite Izakaya offerings. This reminded me of the one I had at Gyoza King. The batter was crispy and light with little grease while the chikuwa was not overdone. It was chewy, yet moist at the same time. The choice of cheese was perfect as it was melted completely, yet didn't ooze out. Presented neatly on a long dish was the Aburi Kibo Sush Set. This should not be confused with the one you'd find at Miku/Minami as these were not seared rolls. However, there is one item on the menu that is essential the Aburi Salmon Oshi found at Miku/Minami. Although these were good, in terms of sushi rice (it had a nice bite with hints of sweetness and rice vinegar). and ingredient quality, I still personally love Miku/Minami more for seared sushi. From left-to-right, there was the Tuna, Salmon (2 types), Hotate and Ebi.

Moving onto some grilled items, we had the Japanese Short Ribs. These were predictably sweet due to the marinade. There was a good char on the outside which caramelized the flavours. I found the ribs to be a touch chewy, yet that is generally the case for short ribs (unless you put baking soda on it, which they would not do here). The next item was not my favourite - Bacon Ebi. The premise behind the dish was promising with a large ebi wrapped with smoky bacon. However, since it was grilled, it did not achieve any crispiness. Rather, the bacon was chewy and fatty, which made the whole thing hard to eat. I would've preferred the whole thing to be fried, hence the bacon would be a crunchy coating on the outside of the ebi. On the positive side, the ebi was very good with a nice snap.

We moved onto the "roll" portion of our meal next starting with the Hamilton Roll consisting of ebi tempura, avocado and cucumber on the inside with alternating slices of tuna and salmon (Atlantic and sockeye) on top. The entire thing was finished off with a special sauce This was a neatly constructed roll with a large crispy prawn inside. The ingredients were good while the balanced sauce was quite nice. The next one to arrive was the Volcano Roll that deep-fried with tempura batter. On the inside, there was a combination of spicy tuna and avocado. Since the roll was essentially "cooked" in the deep-frying process, the tuna was also cooked. For me, I'm not a huge fan of cooked tuna in any of my sushi because the texture becomes dense and mealy. I would've preferred something else inside (like prawn perhaps). With that being said, the roll itself was fine with a crispy exterior and a bit of spice.

Hey with any array of specialty rolls, it would never be complete without the standard right? Hence we got the ever-so-popular Dragon Roll. This familiar offering consisted of ebi tempura and cucumber in the middle with a good amount of unagi and avocado on the outside. A drizzle of unagi sauce completed the dish. Nothing particularly exciting about the roll, yet it was good nonetheless. The large ebi was once again crispy with a nice snap while the ample amount of unagi and avocado provided another layer of salty-sweetness as well as a smooth texture. Continuing on the theme of ebi tempura and avocado, that was the same sushi base for the Mango Roll. Again, the ebi was large, crispy and had a nice snap. The avocado was ripe and soft, but not mushy. The generous slice of mango on top was visually appealing and tasty. It was ripe with a good amount of sweetness combined with the usual mango tang. Hiding underneath the mango was somewhat of a surprise - smoked salmon and basil. This actually "saved" the roll for me since a mango roll is well, a mango roll. The salty smokiness of the salmon with the herbal addition of the basil added a unique flavour.

Moving away from rolls, we got the Kibo Beef which was BBQ Angus beef seasoned with a Chef's sauce. The beef was prepared a beautiful medium-rare. It was buttery soft and sat on a bed of shiitake mushrooms, asparagus tips and green beans. We weren't sure what was exactly in the Chef's sauce, but it was sweet with some Asian elements (like soy). Yet another meat dish was the Rack of Lamb which was described on the menu as Australian rack of lamb with an Asian twist. We were trying to figure out what the Asian twist was about. We could clearly see some mustard seed and taste an obvious hit of cumin. Did this qualify as an Asian Twist? Not sure, at the very least, it was prepared by an Asian... Maybe that was the twist. No matter, we didn't really care since the lamb was super moist and tender. A few chews and it was ready to swallow. The flavour was quite nice as it wasn't too strong and allowed the lamb to shine. With that said, the meat was not gamy.

Lastly, we were presented with the Seafood Dobin. Yes, a soup as the last course. Hey why not? Turned out to be one of the highlights. It consisted of a seafood broth with clam, salmon, shiitake and enoki mushrooms served in a teapot. The broth was a good balance between the salty miso and the natural sweetness of the seafood. Furthermore, the mushrooms added a welcomed level of Earthiness. This was a very concentrated and tasty soup. Obviously, by now we were pretty stuffed and naturally the service was fantastic (they invited us after all!). To be frank, I was a bit skeptical of the place before our visit. Think of it, another Asian fusion restaurant in Yaletown... But the the food is generally pretty solid, if not a bit "safe" and the prices are reasonable when we do direct comparisons with other similar restaurants located in Downtown.

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

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing considering the food and the location
- Generally well-prepared eats
- Spacious dining room

The Bad:
- Food is good, but it isn't necessarily something new nor pushing the envelope (but I'm sure they are catering to the masses)
- Location is away from the Yaletown "action"