Cactus Club (Coquitlam)

Recently, I participated in the Chevy Spark event where we drove one of those micro cars around doing a semi-Amazing Race sort of challenge. Boy, it was pretty embarrassing asking complete strangers to help us with our tasks! What? Who wouldn't want to be photographed filing their nails??? Yah, imagine asking some random person to do that! In the end, we finished last due to a time-consuming detour. No matter, we all were winners because everyone got some gift cards and lunch at Dockside. However, Viv and I scored (no, not like that!) since we won a $150.00 gift card to Cactus Club. Well, I guess I scored because that would be a reason for a foodgasm. So what to do with it? Go eat of course! We gathered up the family including the grandparents and high-tailed it to the Coquitlam Cactus Club. Technically, we are closer to the Brentwood location, but the lack of parking and the long lineups were not something we wanted to deal with. Honestly, there is not even remotely enough parking for both Cactus Club and Boston Pizza at that location (even if most of the cars there are for Cactus Club... LOL). Although Cactus Club does not give the appearance of a kid-friendly joint, there were pencil crayons and colouring sheets for them.

We started with 2 appies being the Thai Wings and Dry Ribs. I remember when Cactus Club would have their wing special and we'd go nuts with several dozen for each person. At times, the wings would be moist and sometimes it would be fried far too long. I guess with Chef Feenie at the corporate helm, consistency has gotten better (we've had the wings a few times in last little while and they have been good) as the Thai wings were crispy on the outside and still sufficiently moist on the inside. I wouldn't classify them as juicy, but for non-Asian prepared chicken wings, these were not dry at least. The Thai glaze was just barely clinging on each wing (which is the right amount) and had a nice balance of sweet, spicy and salty. The Dry Ribs lived up to their namesake and were pretty dry on the outside. They were not that dry on the inside where there was some meat juices (or was that fat) flowing still. They were pretty typical, but did the job and went well with the Ugly Ale.

For my main, I went for one of my standbys whenever I'm at Cactus Club being The Burger. A Rob Feenie creation, it consisted of a seasoned certified Angus chuck patty, aged cheddar cheese, cured bacon, sautéed mushrooms and red pepper relish. It may not sound like anything that interesting (and in fact, it isn't), but it was a solid burger nonetheless. The patty was substantial and moist while the bacon was thick and all of the other ingredients were fresh. My dad had something lighter in the Fish Tacos. I've had these before and again, a very solid offering. Let's not get into the authenticity debate and where we can get these cheaper. For what they are, they are prepared nicely. The fish was not wet while the fresh ingredients kept it light.

Viv had the Shortrib Sandwich with caramelized onions, beef jus and Emmental cheese on toasted sourdough, which was pretty much consistent with the other times I've had it. Essentially an upscale beef dip, the shredded short rib wasn't exactly moist (a bit dry this time), but it was easy to chew. When dipped into the "gravy", any dryness issues were alleviated. Yet another sandwich I've had before was the BBQ Duck Clubhouse with pan seared chicken and crisp prosciutto on pecan fruit bread. As like last time, the meats were a bit dry and chewy, so it wasn't the easiest thing to eat, but the flavours were nice - sweet and salty.

My mom had the biggest meal of the bunch being the Four Mushroom Sirloin consisting of a 7oz Certified Angus Beef with shiitake, portabello, button and crimini mushroom demi. The sauce was flavourful, woodsy and rich. It went well with the creamy mash potatoes. As for the steak, it was not as tender as we would've liked. Yes, we realize that sirloin is generally not as tender as striploin or tenderloin, but this was a bit too chewy for our tastes. It was prepared a perfect medium-rare though. For the kiddies, they split an order of Chicken Tenders with honey mustard dip and sea-salted fries. Please note that the picture is only a half-order since they literally split it in half (even the odd numbered chicken strip). The chicken was moist while the panko breading really made it crunchy. Despite not appearing to be a kid-friendly establishment, they did a pretty good job accommodating the kiddies. In fact, we had a good time at Cactus Club (it didn't hurt that most of it was paid for either...). Despite my aversion to chain restaurants, I will say it and say it again, Cactus Club does a good job (even though it ain't cheap).

The Good:
- Generally good eats
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- Pricey
- Food was pretty good except some proteins were either dry or chewy
- Menu could use an update

TacoFino Cantina

As most people can see for themselves, food carts are the latest rage in the Vancouver food scene (among other fads...).  The variety, accessibility and sometimes good value (some are way overpriced) allow people to experience various types of food in one shot.  Not satisfied with a filling wrap from Mangal Kiss, I made my way over to TacoFino (another recommendation by Whipping Girl) for 2nd lunch (Merry and Pippin would be proud...). Originally from Tofino, hence the name, the good folks here serve up California-style fish tacos.  So for those seeking authentic Mexican fare, better best move along.  For me, I don't really care, as long as it tastes good.

I went for 3 starting with the Fish Taco consisting of a piece of tempura battered ling cod with chipotle mayo, shredded cabbage and salsa fresca on a fire toasted flour tortilla. This was money. First of all, the fried fish was super crispy yet still moist and flaky inside. The crunch didn't stop there because the tortilla was crispy as well. It held up well to the ingredients. I really liked the Tuna Ta-Taco as well. There was no shortage of barely seared sesame-soy albacore tuna in a soft corn tortilla. There was a mix of wasabi-ginger mayo, shredded cabbage, mango salsa and wakame salad as well. On my first bite, I got a good hit of sesame oil from the soy as well as the wakame salad. The bits of jalapeno added a nice spicy zing. The basically rare tuna acted like a blank textural canvas for the other flavours.

Lastly, I decided to try a non-fish taco being the Pork Gringa with melted cheese, sour cream and mango salsa. Although this was not bad, it paled in comparison to the 2 fish tacos.  I found the meat to slightly dry.  The sauce had plenty of depth, spice and flavour.  And who could complain about the plethora of melted cheese?  Okay, once again, Whipping Girl was right.  Why do I even doubt her?

The Good:
- Fresh ingredients that work well with each other
- Vibrant flavours and textures

The Bad:
- A little pricey for the size, but then again, every other food cart is charging more

Mangal Kiss

Last summer (2011), we walked past Mangal Kiss on our way to Feastro the Rolling Bistro. For a microsecond, I considered trying out one of their wraps. But no, I wasn't going to eat more than I could handle. Yes, I do have my limits! Besides, how good could a wrap be anyways? Well, it turns out that that I seemed to have missed out according to Whipping Girl. She spent the next year harassing me about trying the place out since it is one of her favourites. Fast forward to late Summer (2012), I finally relented and met her at the VAG (the art gallery!!!) for some Mangal Kiss. I

I got the featured Lamb Kebab consisting of ground Peace River lamb, lettuce, cucumbers, radish, daikon, fresh mint, hummus and sweet pepper & harissa aioli all wrapped in a pita. One bite and the textures and flavours hit me like the HST on a car purchase. The crunch from the greens, daikon and radish added both a brightness and necessary textural contrast to the moist lamb and soft pita. The fresh mint added an extra hit of brightness that complimented (as mint does) the lamb. The lamb itself was super moist and flavourful. The onions and spices really amped up the flavour with sweetness and a slight kick.

Whipping Girl isn't a huge fan of lamb and opted for her standby being the Fraser Valley Rib-Eye with hummus, tahini, purple cabbage, beets, pickled turnips, pickles, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, spice moroccan carrots, radish and tabbouleh. This was an attractive and colourful array of ingredients which danced on my tongue like someone playing DDR. The balance of acidity, sweetness and savoury elements were accented by the herbiness of the tabbouleh. The rib-eye was nicely charred and moist.  Alright.  I'll admit it.  Whipping Girl is right.  Mangal Kiss is everything she said it would be and more.

The Good:
- Pronounced flavours
- Good value

The Bad:
- Limited choices (but they specialize in one thing and do it right)
- Long wait time

Tap & Barrel

Emilicious has taste, she really does.  Take the location of her new pad - down on the South side of False Creek.  The development there has been brisk and all the usual services have followed suit.  Sure, there is Save-On-Foods, Canadian Tire, Bestbuy, Home Depot, London Drugs and Urban Fare joining the party, but for me, I'm more interested in the new restaurants!  Luckily for me, Emilicious is a bonafide foodie (even though I'm not a big fan of that word) and she has been doing some food scouting.  Hence, it was her call for after- hockey Friday eats.

Destination: Tap and Barrel, located in the former Olympic Village right near the really large bird statues...  Boy, they give me the creeps...  Even before we even had a chance to sample the food, we were impressed with its location right on the water.  With Gordo, Milhouse and Lionel Hutz, we were determined to eat everything that was unhealthy.  Well, there wasn't anything considered "healthy" on the menu anyways (well maybe a salad...).  On that note, we started with the Bacon Chips.  Yes, that's right, chips made out of large, meaty slices of bacon!  Served with house made chunky ketchup, these were exactly what I would've imagined them to be.  Despite eating what was essentially fried bacon, they were not greasy and they really did eat like a chip.

Feeling a bit guilty eating bacon chips, we moved onto some vegetables in the form of Quebec St. Poutine.  Yes, it's a stretch, but potatoes *are* vegetables.  The fresh cut fries were somewhat crisp, but really how would we know when there was so much red wine gravy on top?  I would've preferred less myself, yet everyone else disagreed.  Heck, what do I know?  The gravy was thick and a bit clumpy with a definite kick of red wine.  There was only a modest amount of cheese curds and most of them were completely melted.  More curds and less melted please!  Okay, more veggies please, in the form of the Infamous Sticky Yam Fries with burnt marshmallow fluff.  The fries on their own were pretty good.  They were crisp, not greasy and naturally sweet (with a smokiness from the deep-fry).  As for the marshmallow, I was indifferent.  I found it too sweet, yet as the same time, interesting and gooey...

Okay, back to the meat...  The Southern Fried Chicken Wings were pretty darn good. They were breaded and fried just enough that the exterior was crunchy while the meat was moist.  The spiced honey drizzle was the kicker, it added a sweet stickiness that had some zip.  These were a table favourite.  Okay, with the looming bacon shortage, we thought that the some peanut butter and bacon dip would be in order.  It went with the Original T&B Monster Pretzel along with the other dip (grainy mustard).  The warm house-baked pretzel was fairly soft and went well with the mustard.  I'm not exactly sure if the peanut butter & bacon was a natural fit with the pretzel, but then again, I liked the dip on its own.  It was sweet, crunchy, and slightly spicy.  So it really should go with anything!

Lastly, we shared 2 pizzas. First was the Roasted Pork Belly with soft cooked eggs, caramelized onions and smoked mozzarella. Despite being on the mild side, we really liked this pizza.  The fatty pork belly was a treat while the runny eggs added a welcomed creamy messiness to the crisp thin crust pizza.  As mentioned, there could've been more impact with the flavours as there was enough sweetness, but lacking in saltiness.  The second pizza was the Local Wild Mushrooms with smoked mozzarella, baby arugula and truffle oil. Without even taking a bite, there was an intoxicating aroma of truffle oil.  Therefore, combined with the mushrooms, the pizza had considerable Earthiness to it.  This was a pretty decent pizza where the bitterness of the arugula complimented the other ingredients.  Once again, the pizza could've benefited from some more salt.  However, in general, we enjoyed the food that we ordered.  Combined with a lively atmosphere and killer location, Tap & Barrel could be a regular hangout for Emilicious...

The Good:
- Nice location with view
- Lively atmosphere
- For what we ordered, it was both unique and appealing

The Bad:
- Although we enjoyed our food, nothing could be considered health food
- Parking is an issue

Grand Dynasty (ChineseBites Dinner)

From the moment that Grand Dynasty opened its doors in late 2010, I've enjoyed their generally good food and nicely appointed dining room.  In fact, I was there for Dim Sum during their opening week and even then, I was impressed with the food quality and service.  I returned on Chinese New Year to try out their dinner service and it was equally as good. Now all of this didn't come without a cost, literally.  The place is pretty expensive, yet there is no immediate competition nearby.  I guess by virtue of being located in the Villa Casinos complex, there will be a steady stream of customers (those who won money or those drowning their sorrows).  The last time I visited the place was part of the CRA signature dish tour and honestly, it was less than impressive.  Maybe my expectations for the place were too high?  Well, I returned once again for some signature dishes, with ChineseBites this time around.  Joining me were the usual crew of Rick, Janice, Kevin, Grace, Diana and Queenie with Ann and Dave.

We started with 2 versions of their Pan Fried Jumbo Prawns.  The first was the Salted Duck Egg Yolk and the second was the House Spicy Sauce.  Reminiscent of the golden crab at Ken's, the salted egg yolk sauce was quite mild while still exhibiting a creamy understated saltiness.  Interrupting the smooth sauce were bits of onion and garlic.  The prawn itself was meaty and naturally sweet.  As for the house spicy sauce, it appeared to be mainly sweet chili sauce with the addition of more garlic.  It was sweet with a slight kick.  Next up was the Boiled Live Lobster in Superior Broth.  The sliced lobster meat was presented on a platter which included blanched flowering chives and bean sprouts.  The broth was heated in a hot pot atop a portable gas burner.  It was subsequently ladled onto the lobster, hence cooking it (ever so gently).  Naturally, the fresh, barely-cooked lobster was sweet and exhibited a beautiful bounce texture (except for the claw meat).  The broth was mild with a good hint of ginger.  For such an exquisite offering, I felt that there should have been more "lobster" flavour though.

The Baked Chicken Stuffed with Sea Cucumber was a dish that came completely out of left field.  First, we thought it was roasted duck.  Second, we expected it to be stuffed with sticky rice. Nope.  It was indeed a roasted chicken with sea cucumber segments and snow pea tips. The chicken itself was moist and benefited from a good brine.  It had a rich roasted flavour which was evident from the beautiful exterior colour. The sweet onions helped balance the overall flavours.  As for the sea cucumber, it was prepared properly being soft and gelatinous.  The dish as a whole was nice, yet seemed to be missing something.  I personally would've liked something added to the filling such as roasted pork for some impact (sea cucumber is not really an impactful stuffing).  After those unique dishes, we were presented with something more familiar in the Live Jumbo Ling Cod Hot Pot.  Essentially a glorified "Banh Nam Bo", this was definitely better than the ones you'd find on a regular Chinese menu.  I loved the rich colour and resulting flavours.  There was just enough sauce that had a good balance of salty and sweetness with a hint of dried orange peel, lots of roasted garlic, shiitake mushrooms, roasted pork and ginger.  The cod itself was indeed jumbo and really meaty.  It was fried up beautifully where it was moist on the inside while a touch crisp on the outside.

Naturally, with most multi-course Chinese meals, there would be a vegetarian offering.  The Sauteed Wintermelon and Pumpkin with Wild Mushrooms filled that quota. A mix of shiitake, button and oyster mushrooms lay atop fanned out slices of wintermelon and pumpkin.  For me, the pumpkin was more like golden squash (which was quite hard and undercooked).  The mushrooms benefited from good wok heat which added both good caramelization in flavour and appearance.  The entire dish could've used less salt though.  We finally got our sticky rice (which we thought would be in the baked chicken) in the form of Deep Fried Chicken with Sticky Rice.  I wasn't a huge fan of this dish as the rice was hard and dry (with dried shrimp and Chinese Sausage).  The accompanying sauce with shiitake and garlic didn't do much to alleviate the dryness either. The rice crust on the top was fairly crisp though. As for the chicken, it was surprisingly moist and had hint of 5-spice.

We ended the savoury portion with the Live Lobster & Seafood with Crispy Rice in Soup. The broth had a relatively more pronounced seafood/lobster flavour than our first soup.  It mild, yet sweet and the seafood was just cooked.  The crispy rice added a nice crunch to the soup (yah, crunch in a soup...).  Finally, for dessert, we were presented with the Shredded Coconut Creamy Tart and Black Sesame and Coconut Pudding Cake. I found the tart to be rather crumbly and lacking in flavour while the pudding had a nice texture and aroma. Overall, a pretty solid meal that was lacking a bit in the "wow" department.

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

The Good:
- Generally solid eats
- Upscale decor
- Generally good service (as experienced in past visits, this one doesn't count)

The Bad:
- Pricey

Rio Brazilian Steakhouse

I'm not afraid to admit it - I love meat.  In fact, I consider myself a meatatarian.  So when Samba closed its doors due to a building makeover, it made me sad.  Okay, I know there are those who couldn't stand the place.  I can't deny that on a bad day, Samba plain sucked.  Overcooked and salty meats...  who likes that?  And at a hefty pricetag of close to $40.00 a person, I can definitely see people steering clear of the joint.  Yet, on a good day (when the meats are fresh out-of-the-grill), one would experience juicy, flavourful, medium-rare cuts of meat. For that, I always went when it just opened for lunch and dinner and got all the meats on the first go-around.  Most times after that, the same cut (which was not fully consumed) would be placed back on the grill (which would lead to overcooking and saturation of flavours).  Okay, enough of my babbling...

So when Mijune suggested I join her and Cassandra at Rio Brazilian Steak House for some rodizio action (not what you think!), it didn't take me more than a millisecond to say yes.  In actuality, Cassandra was invited to try the place out and we just tagged along to help her with the copious amount of all-you-can-eat meat (again, it is not what you think!).  Before the meat-fest, we made our way to the Salad and Hot Food Bar.  What?  Salad???  Yah, I didn't really eat much of that.  It would only serve to fill the portion of my stomach reserved for meat. Wait, that's all my stomach!  I did sample their hot food though.  It consisted of 4 chaffing trays with Mussels and Shrimp, Meatloaf, Palm Oil Poached Cod, Seafood Risotto and Plain Rice. By virtue of sitting in a warming tray, the mussels and shrimp were overcooked and dry. The same could be said about the meatloaf.  I'm not sure if it was the intention or not, but there was little in the way of filler (such as egg and breadcrumbs).  Hence, it was mostly lean, dry meat which was both crumbly and hard.
On the other hand, I did enjoy the oil poached cod.  It was moist and flaky.  However, the seafood risotto did its best impression of wallpaper paste.  I give them kudos for trying to serve risotto, but I think it was ill-conceived since it was not going to get any better by sitting in a warming tray.

Already sitting at our table were some "appetizers" which included Fried Banana, Chips and Parmesan & Tapioca Biscuits. The best of the bunch was the fried banana as it was done nicely with a crunchy breading.  The fresh chips were somewhat soft and not all that crispy while the biscuits were quite salty. As with any Brazilian radizio, the requisite green/red cards were placed at each setting.  Green means keep bringing me meat and red implies "stop, I'm in a meat coma".  On that note, onto the meats (all 21 varieties in fact!).  We started with the Beef Ribs where our server sliced off a generous portion of the cap. The meat was fantastic.  It was moist, rich and super tender.  Mijune offered to share her rack, er..  I mean her portion since she wanted to save space for the rest of the meats.
 
After that, the meats came at us fast and furiously.  The Cubed Beef was dry and chewy, yet well-seasoned.  The Bacon-Wrapped Chicken was beyond well-seasoned being salty.  However, the chicken itself was moist while the bacon was crisp.  The house-made Sausages were grilled up nicely with a beautiful exterior.  Inside, the meat was moist, tender and quite greasy (hence being moist!).  The meat was well-seasoned with fennel and caraway seeds.  Although the Sirloin arrived a wonderful medium-rare, the meat itself was chewy and hard to eat.  Arriving on a wooden cutting board (much like the beef ribs), the Pork Side Ribs were were fatty and moist.  They appeared to be parboiled prior to BBQing which resulted in a tender, yet not-so-smoky flavour.  Once again, they were a bit too aggressive with the salt.
 
Smokiness was not a problem with our next item, which were the Smoked Sausages.  These were not made in-house and resembled a typical smokie.  Nothing particularly wrong with that though since there was a nice snap while the meat was fatty and moist.  Back to the chewy meats, we had the Pork.  By appearance alone, we already knew it would not be tender since it looked dry and overcooked.  And yes, it was salty as well.  Continuing the ride on the salty train, we had the Bacon-Wrapped Tenderloin.  It was tender as its namesake implied, yet it was cooked too long and salty due to both the seasoning and bacon.  On the other hand, the Chicken Drumsticks were not that salty and were quite tender.

From the beef ribs up to this point, there wasn't much to rave about until the Roast Pork majestically arrived.  The cracklings were on point.  They were crispy, airy and surprisingly light - really well-executed. The pork itself could've been more moist, but was not bad considering the previous meats.  Due to its size, the roast pork was not salty and in fact, exhibited a rich roasted flavour. And then we went back to salty, dry meats with the Buffalo.  Due to the natural leanness of the meat, we were expecting it to be somewhat chewy.  It didn't help matters that it was overcooked though.
Even the Chicken Hearts were overdone, but at the very least, they were still somewhat tender due to its inherent texture.  However, the Lamb was practically rare.  It was a fatty cut where combined with the doneness of the meat, it was not tender at all.  At least it wasn't too salty since it wasn't overcooked.  Yet, the Parmesan Pork was super salty due to seasoning and the cheese.  And since pork needs to be cooked all-the-way-through, it was dry.

As if on cue, the Roast Boar arrived to give us an intermission of sorts from the dry, chewy meats.  The meat was moist and fork tender exhibiting a roasted essence.  Okay, intermission over, onto the Picanha Tips (or tri-tip) which were *sigh* dry and chewy.  Yes, salty too. *sigh* And the Skirt Steak, overcooked and salty (am I a skipping CD or something?).  Flank Steak, chewy - yes, salty - yes...  Unidentified piece of meat - I'll let you have one guess...  If you said dry, chewy and salty, it proves you've been reading this whole article...  Going in a different direction, we had some Salmon instead of red meat.  As evidenced in the picture, it was cooked too fast and at too high of heat which lead to the protein "leaking" from the flesh.  Not a huge deal because it *is* BBQ after all.  The meat was a bit dry, but not horrible either.

Moving onto the sweets portion of the meal, we tried the "Grilled" Pineapple dusted with cinnamon.  I put grilled in quotations because nothing about the pineapple screamed out grilled.  The explanation we got was that customers didn't like charred pineapple and the cinnamon was there to add colour.  Um okay...  Alright, now a real dessert...  The Papaya Smoothie was really refreshing and our favourite dessert of the meal.  The "custard" was smooth and only semi-sweet.  I normally do not like papaya, but I liked this.  Next up was the Pudim de Leite Condensado or the Brazilian version of Creme Caramel.  I noticed some air bubbles which meant it was cooked at too high of a heat, yet at the same time, I didn't mind it.  The custard was rich and smooth and only somewhat sweet. Lastly, we had a Brazilian Chocolate Mousse type cake.  It was not really chocolaty enough for our tastes and it was pretty sweet.

Okay.  To put it bluntly, the majority of the meats we had were poor quality, dry, chewy and salty.  Even though there were some gems, such as the beef ribs, pork ribs, roast pork and boar, they couldn't make up for the the rest of the meats.  I give them kudos in trying to bring Brazilian rodizio back to Vancouver.  I also applaud them for offering up a mind-boggling 21 choices of meats.  Furthermore, their pricing at $15.95 for lunch (add $1.00 for weekends) and $29.95 (add $2.00 for weekends) can be considered reasonable for the amount of food offered.  However, they really must focus on the quality of the food rather than merely quantity.  They could easily eliminate half of the meats and people would not even notice.  Lastly, they need to ease up on the salt.

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

The Good:
- Lots of meats
- Reasonable pricing considering everything
- Comfortable dining space

The Bad:
- Majority of the meats are poor quality and chewy
- Overuse of salt