Afghan Horsemen

It's no secret that Vancouver is known for its culinary diversity...  in Asian food.  When it comes to every thing else, there are a decent amount of Greek and Italian restaurants, but not much else.  One particular cuisine, that is as rare as a safe lane change in Richmond, is Afghan food.  One could literally visit all the Afghan restaurants in less than one week.  And some stretch the genre.  I've been able to blog about Afghan Chopan in Surrey and the now defunct Khyber Pass, yet not the granddaddy of them all - The Afghan Horsemen.  Hey, I've been here several times in the past, but that was way before this blog existed. 

Since Afghan food is best when shared, Viv and I met up with Costanza and Elaine for some carnivore-action. To get a taste of everything, the best course of attack was to get a couple of their platters.  We got one each of the Horsemen's Special Platter and Kebab Platter Delight.  To start, we were presented with Whole Wheat Pita Bread accompanied by Humus and Sabzi Mast and Salata with Feta Cheese.  The pita was served soft and warm, yet I wasn't a huge fan of the humus nor the sabzi mast. I didn't find them all that flavourful.  The humus was garlicky and had some texture, yet there was little else.  The sabzi mast was very mild, but it was smooth.  The first platter to arrive was the Horsemen's Special Platter consisting of Boneless Chicken Shish Kebab, Lamb Shish Kebab, Lamb Shoulder, Baked Rice, Baked Eggplant, Dolmah (cabbage roll), Pakawra (batter fried potatoes), & Chaka (sour cream & yogurt dip). 

Oddly enough, when the Kebab Platter Delight arrived, it appeared to have almost double the amount of meat of the other platter.  Therefore, we were perplexed that it was only $4.00 more.  Whatever the case, the lamb was moist and exhibited a nice roasted appearance and flavour.  It was fatty and gelatinous with a nice bark.  The kebabs were nicely charred and moist (except the beef was slightly dry).  The rice was a disappointment as it was bland (where there weren't enough sweet raisins or carrots).  Texture was okay though.  We found the potatoes to be crunchy with kick, yet very greasy.  Usually, it is about here that I might compare Afghan Horsemen to another restaurant.  Well, the only other equivalent is Afghan Chopan, which is probably a bit better due to more developed flavours.  However, Afghan Horsemen is still okay considering they are the only large Afghan restaurant in Vancouver proper.

The Good:
- Unique dining experience
- We got good and attentive service
- If you like meat...

The Bad:
- Can be an expensive meal depending how much you order
- Flavours seemed to be underdeveloped
- Greasy

Minato

A long time ago, Viv and I had some mediocre Japanese food at Minato. I think that was like over 10 years ago. If you could imagine, we were in no rush to return. Hence, the decade-long wait to visit it again. So why did we come back? Well, we were looking for a Japanese restaurant near Oakridge that would accommodate 6 people comfortably. I'm not sure how we ended up all the way down on the corner of Broadway and Oak because it ain't close to Oakridge! And why did we need to be close to Oakridge? Well, that is where the Lego Store is located! Yes, I...  er... my son really loves Lego, especially Ninjago. Thus, we've spent a fortune on the stuff. So much so, my son has nowhere to put it in his room. But I really want that Epic Dragon Battle... er... I mean he really wants it. Really! Oh, there is Viv rolling her eyes again.

Okay, so with low expectations, we went ahead and ordered a bunch of things. The first to arrive was the Spicy Tuna. Despite not looking particularly appetizing, it wasn't bad. There was a lot of sesame-peanutty flavours going on in addition to the spiciness. The portion was a bit small while the fish was pretty average. That would pretty much describe our plate of Sashimi as well. Again, not looking particularly aesthetically pleasing, it more or less did the job without anything to remember good nor bad. We weren't huge fans of the Tai though. It was very hard to chew (yes I know it is generally not the most tender of fish).

We got one each of the BC Roll and a roll I have no name. For some reason or another, I neglected to jot it down and it doesn't exist on the menu! Well, as you can see in the picture, it is a dynamite roll with spicy tuna on top. Didn't really matter what they were because the sushi rice was pretty average. It was on the gummier side and was pretty bland. Not horrible sushi rolls, yet not great either. The Assorted Tempura arrived with 3 large ebi. Despite being crispy and hot, I found the tempura batter to be over-aggressively applied. Hence, it was quite the chore to eat it. At least it wasn't greasy. The Tonkatsu Don was a fail in our books. Although it was a fairly large portion, there was not much to like about the dish. First of all, the rice did not benefit from any sauce penetrating the surface of the pork chop. Therefore, the pork chop was super salty and sweet while the rice was plain. The pork chop itself was not tender at all. It was as if they never tenderized the meat.

With that dish not appealing to the kiddies, it was fortunate we also went for an order of the Yakiudon. This was actually not too bad considering that the colour looked a bit off. This could've been partially attributed to the lack of sauce. Now the absence of moisture wasn't all bad since the noodles didn't become too saucy or wet. But then again, the whole dish got kinda sticky and starchy. There were lots of moist chicken and the noodle to vegetable ratio was good. This was probably the best item we had for the meal. Now that probably says it all about Minato. If a yakiudon is the best part of a meal when there are so many other things to eat (especially sushi and sashimi!), then that is not really a good thing. This is probably the reason why Viv and I haven't been back for over a decade. Minato benefits from their location as it is a convenient place during weekday lunch hours. With so many businesses around, including Vancouver General Hospital, it can afford to be mediocre and still survive. For me, there are so many better choices around.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Convenient for the lunch time crowd
- It's edible

The Bad:
- Mediocre Japanese food (or AKA Chinese-inspired Japanese food)
- Lack of parking (for those who drive there)

Po King

*Restaurant is now closed*

Really?  Po King? Yup, Big D was super confused at my lunch suggestion.  He loathed the idea of being yelled at and made to wait for a table (at the table) when the previous patrons are still there eating!  He was also perplexed that I would suggest such a preposterous food adventure.  If you've read this blog from the first year, you'll know that my previous experiences at Po King were not the best.  In fact, my family frequented the place for about half-a-year.  However, even with such loyal customers, the owner (aka Dragon Lady) did not see fit to treat us right.  The last straw was when we asked for all-of-our-dishes to be made without green onions.  Now, with previous visits, they ignored our requests and we merely let it go.  But this time, we just had to say something.  We did and the male manager was almost willing to do something about it.  However, the owner vetoed it and in fact, took a stroll past our table and saw the green onions in all of our food and decided to brush it off. So we left, vowing never to return.

Well, never say never right? With a food posse by my side, I built up the courage to do the unthinkable - a return visit with the potential of being verbally abused.  The brave souls included Big D, Slick, Headcase, Gordo and Mr. Mom. And also please excuse the quality of the pics because I tried to take them as fast as possible.  Last time, Herbie the Lovebug got scolded for taking photos!  Even with all the bad service and owner-initiated abuse, the food has generally been decent and a good value at Po King.  That was pretty apparent with the Haw Gow as they were massive. They were full of whole shrimp which had a very good snap texture as well as exhibiting a good amount of sweetness.  Other than the wet dumpling skin, they might want to be more careful with the shrimp shells as 3 of our dumplings had some.  The Sui Mai were equally large, but were pretty lousy.  They were overly dry and bland with meat that was chewy (in not a good way).  Furthermore, there were large chunks of unchewable fat.

The theme of large continued with the really massive Beef Meatballs.  We considered ordering 2 steamers, but in the end, there were enough balls to go around... Um...  Anyways, the meat was moist, but curiously soft and devoid of bounce.  Hence, it was a ball of mushy meat, which was in need of more green onion, as it was bland.  Great, here I am asking for more green onions...  Deja vu!  The Steamed Pork Spareribs were practically spilling out of the plate since there was so much of it.  Only a modest amount of soft pumpkin hid underneath.  As for the ribs, they were meaty and bouncy where the fatty and cartilage pieces were kept to a minimum.  The dish itself was super-flavourful, maybe too flavourful.  Yes, there was a wealth of MSG used. Strangely, it didn't seem like they used enough of it in the Bean Curd Skin Rolls. The ground pork filling was pretty plain (with not much to go with it), really stiff and dry.  The lack of sauce also compounded the problem.  At the very least, the bean curd skin was okay in texture as it wasn't over-fried.
 
Moving onto some fried items, we had the Spring Rolls. Bucking the all-shrimp trend, these were filled with the usual ground pork and mushrooms.  However, there wasn't enough of it which led to a spring roll without substance.  That also meant that the spring roll wrapper was folded a few more times.  The result was a dense interior which 
negated the overall crispiness of the exterior.  The Fried Glutinous Dumplings were also pretty crispy on the outside.  The layer of glutinous rice flour was just thick enough without being a chore to eat.  The filling was a bit weak though.  The ground pork was mealy and dry while there was little in the way of any flavour.  With all this food, we really should've had a bigger table, we had to resort to stacking the steamers to make everything fit. It's awesome to have such dedicated eaters who have big appetites!

We got an order each of the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll and the Beef Rice Noodle Roll (not pictured).  The rice flour noodle was pretty soft while the filling was somewhat sparse.  When there was filling, it was good though, having a snap and being well-seasoned. When the Fun Gwor came calling, none of us answered...  Except for Mr. Mom.  He would learn to regret that decision as the dumplings were gawd-awful.  The rice flour exterior was a bit thick and gummy while the filling sucked.  Period.  It was dry, bland with very little meat and worst of all, it had a stale quality to it.  Not saying it was stale, but it just tasted so.  We made him eat the rest...  LOL...  Continuing on with the dry theme, we had the Loh Mei Gai or sticky rice. We found the rice to be rather mushy while dry at the same time.  Yes, that was a strange combination.  Compounding the problem was the very dry meat filling that was devoid of flavour as well.

Now onto the wild and wacky part of Dim Sum, otherwise known as offal and feet.  In particular, Chicken Feet or Phoenix Talons (which are supposed to sound better?).  Anyways, these were not bad as they were soft while the cartilage underneath was gelatinous.  The skin was intact and once again, they were a bit heavy-handed with the MSG.  At least the garlic flavour really came through. Dim Sum is not complete without tripe in my opinion, so we got an order each of the Bible Tripe (not pictured) and Honeycomb Tripe.  The bible tripe was pretty standard with a nice chew while being tender.  It was rinsed enough where there was no hint of gaminess.  It was plenty seasoned but we couldn't get any hints of 
the ginger or onions.  The honeycomb tripe was done nicely as it was soft with only a modest bite.  There was a noticeable garlic hit as well as MSG.  It was also rinsed well as the gaminess was kept to a minimum.

Lastly, we had the Egg Tarts (somewhat near the end of the meal) which were pretty good.  The flaky and buttery (or lardy) tart shell gave way to a soft semi-sweet egg custard.  It was served warm and we all liked it.  That was a nice end to a roller-coaster meal.  When there was a high, it was pretty good, but where there was a low, it was pretty crappy.  The service was actually acceptable and the prices didn't hurt our wallets.  Of course, it really helped that we came on a weekday because it might be different if the boss lady was around.  Yet, I need to call it as it is - it was an average experience.

The Good:
- Well-priced
- Large portions
- Lots of parking

The Bad:
- Some dishes were overloaded with MSG
- Hit and miss
- Luckily we avoided the boss lady...

Indochine Kitchen + Bar

For all the great things to eat in Vancouver, it can be confusing for tourists that a plate of chicken wings can be spoke of so highly.  For those who do not know what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the chicken wings at Phnom Penh.  Something seemingly so simple, that should be easily replicated, consistently ranks as one of the best eats in town.  For me, I love the wings and yes, I will agree with general consensus.  But what happens when Phnom Penh is packed (which is a common occurrence)?  Well, that is what happened to Whipping Girl recently and I suggested she head to Indochine as a back-up plan.  Funny thing is - I've never been there!  So to right a wrong, I offered it as our late night eats after Friday hockey.

Arriving around 10:30pm, the place was hopping with a youthful and boisterous crowd.  With its modern decor and attractive staff, this could be considered the anti-thesis of Phnom Penh.  To cut to the most important part, we'll go straight to the Garlic Butter Chicken Wings.  Sure, there are other places in town that do this dish, but never replicating the ones found at Phnom Pehn.  The version at Indochine was pretty good.  The exterior was crisp while the meat was juicy and flavourful.  It was not as heavy on the MSG as Phnom Penh, yet spicier.  Of course, it came with the lemon & white pepper dip, which added a nice acidity.  Not as good at Phnom Penh, but good nonetheless.  Milhouse, being the health-conscious person that he is, went for the Black Pepper Poutine to start.  Consisting of ground beef, black pepper gravy, cheese curds and a fried egg atop fries, this was a heavy appetizer.  I thought the gravy was pretty good with meatiness and pepperiness.  The egg was nice textural addition to the dish, but I would've liked to see some cheese not completely melted.  Furthermore, the fries were pretty dense and generic.  Something more fresh-cut looking and texturally would've made this even better.

We also tried the Black Bean Escargots served with garlic toast.  Honestly, I didn't get a whole lot of black bean flavour except for some saltiness.  It was more buttery and garlicky like a typical Escargot Bourguignonne.  However, this didn't really bother us as it was well-prepared and the crunchy garlic toast went well with the escargots.  Mr. Blueberry went for the Lemongrass Chicken with Rice and it was served bone-in, which is typically more flavourful, yet more difficult to eat as well.  The meat was moist though while flavourful from the marinade and good char.  We also got the Lemongrass Pork Chop with Rice, which was more or less the same except with a thin small pork chop.  We felt the meat could've been a bit more substantial.  We appreciated the fried egg on both plates, but the one with the pork chop was done poorly. 

Moving along with another Vietnamese specialty, the Luc Lac Beef was pretty decent as well.  The tender morsels of beef were bathed in an impactful garlic butter soy sauce which was on the saltier side.  The side of tomato fried rice was atheistically-pleasing as well as pleasant tasting (had a nice chewy texture as well).  Moving away from Vietnamese cuisine, we had the Coconut Red Curry with beef brisket.  The dish was served piping hot consisting of tender chunks of beef brisket and moist potato cubes.  However, the actual curry was thin and quite weak.  There was very little coconut milk and spice.  The flavours were flat and undeveloped.  We didn't dislike the dish, but was the weakest of the bunch.  

Trying to eat healthier and possibly show Milhouse a thing or two, Gadget Girl had the Mango & Avocado Salad.  It was more or less a typical salad with a balsamic vinaigrette.  It was fresh and pretty large in portion size.  In fact, we were pretty pleased with most of the dishes in terms of taste, portion-size and price point.  Considering the decor and type of service, we thought the prices were actually quite reasonable.  The only thing that might bother some people is the boisterous and rowdy clientele during late night.  In that case, go for lunch or an early dinner instead.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Nice decor
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- Gets a bit rowdy during late night
- Not really all that spacious, the servers do a pretty good job navigating it though

Recipe to Riches (Season 2)

Here we are again.  Recipe to Riches has returned for another season.  As much as I was a little surprised at the winning recipe from last year, we must understand that it is a popularity contest.  Furthermore, the product must be reproduced easily and be appealing for most people. Superstore is a business after all.  They didn't get into sponsoring Recipe to Riches to lose money.  So here is my take on the season 2 and the winning recipes from each week.  I will offer my bold predictions as to the where each will rank and which one will win.  Of course, what I think means absolutely nothing since the winner will not be chosen on taste alone. Week one saw an on-a-whim concoction by Jason Keary which consisted of random available ingredients. Although the Mini Cheesy Bees' Nest did not perform as well as the butterscotch tart, I was rooting for it to win because it was different.  It appeared that Galen Weston agreed and anointed it the winner of week 1.  The actual product was made into mini "tarts" and topped with a considerable dollop of raspberry coulis.  I thought that the flavour profile of the nest was like cheesecake.  The cream cheese was soft with a noticeable zing while the coulis only added to the "cheesecake" taste.  I didn't get much of the mozza cheese on top as it was only modestly applied.  I dunno, the excessive amount of coulis kinda destroyed this product.

Week 2 was Savoury & Snacks where we saw Stephen Childs' Chiptole Chili Slams take home the $25,000. I was disappointed to see that they did not keep the polenta "cups".  They gave way to a predictably more production-friendly "pie" or "pop" cornmeal shell.  After baking them as per the instructions, I took some pictures where it look remarkably like a hybrid between a McCain's apple pie and a Pilsbury Pizza Pop.  One bite and bam, that smoky chipotle kick settled in.  I was ever-so-happy that they didn't wimp out in that respect.  There was no mistaking this was chili.  It was so flavourful, I forgot it was vegetarian.  The pop from the sweet corn was a nice treat.  With a thick consistency, the chili did not leak out nor did it soften the crisp cornmeal exterior.  Despite the visuals, the shell was not dry and it didn't feel unhealthy.  I really didn't mind this product.

Week 3 saw a rich rendition of the typical brownie by Tracey Rigden. The Salt-Kissed Dulce de Leche Brownie was extremely decadent with its firm texture, substantial layer of chocolate fudge and caramel-like dulce de leche (which is derived from heating condensed milk slowly).  It wasn't as sweet as it looked, but it wasn't tame either. I liked the combination of flavours and unlike caramel, the dulce de leche was not super sweet.  The salt was good, but it seemed too salty to me, rather than amping the other flavours.  In the end, I found myself going back for more even though I am not a real sweets guy. However, we found the amount of brownie and the cost a bit much for this product.  This is my front-runner to win it all.

Probably the most flamboyant contestant would be thanks to Jackie Koh.  I think I was more interested in watching her operate during Week 4's episode more than the recipe itself.  And true to the product, her fiery persona was exeplified in her meatbsalls. The Triple "S" Korean Meatballs had an attractive reddish appearance that gave way to very moist meat.  It was not hard to tell why the meat was moist though with the amount of fat that oozed out during baking and just merely sitting on the plate.  One bite and the spice hit quickly and lingered.  I wouldn't classify it as burning hot, but definitely surprising for a product found on a supermarket shelf.  However, the most prominent flavour was sugar.  Ack.  Far too sweet and greasy.  I wanted to like these, but they need a little work.  

It was a matter of time when we saw our first fusion recipe being the Butter Chicken Lasagne.  To think of it, I've seen butter chicken poutine, pizza and wraps.  Why not in a lasagne?  This was the brainchild of DJ Rick Matharu. If you think about it, butter chicken is merely a sauce with some chicken in it.  Therefore, it is a versatile product which technically could be used to top pasta, mashed potatoes, vegetables and even other meats, such as steak.  So to make it into a lasagne, it is not that crazy.  As for taste, it truly did taste like a mild version of butter chicken.  There was a decent amount of spice for a mainstream product.  The chicken was decently tender (for being cooked for some long) while the ricotta, combined with the sauce, was a bit wet and pale-looking.  Interestingly, I thought the best part of the lasagne was the mushrooms.  Every little nugget emitted an Earthiness which was a little surprise.  I enjoyed eating the lasagne, but it was a bit too saucy.

Week 6 saw something that didn't really resemble a Candy nor Chocolate win the $25,000. Don Harquail's Triple Nut Toffee looked more like a whole dessert rather than a bite.  However, after one bite, I was overwhelmed by the massive amount of butter.  The explosion of butteriness combined with the nuts and crunch from the graham cracker was a textural pleasing, yet curiously one note.  I did enjoy the rich toffee sweetness, but it got pretty boring fast as I couldn't eat more than a couple of bites.  Not bad, but not enough to win it all.

The final week saw a new category being condiments & dips.  Personally, I would've liked to try the hot sauce because I put that stuff on everything.  However, I was intrigued with Cathy Ferguson's Montreal Deli Dip.  As remarked on the show, the darn thing didn't look all that attractive.  But I do like corned beef sandwiches, so I was anxious to try it out. I plunged a mini-Breton into it and it nearly broke.  The dip was pretty thick when cold (due to the cream cheese).  There was a tart, tangy, meaty and creamy thing going on with the dip.  I gotta be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of it.  I heated it up and it was slightly better with a runnier texture and the sugars were activated. But in the end, a rueben as a dip? Nope.

Now in terms of what I personally liked, this is how I would order them:

1. Salt-Kissed Dulce de Leche Brownie
2. Butter Chicken Lasagne
3. Chipotle Chili Slams
4. Triple Nut Toffee
5. Triple S Korean Meatballs
6. Mini Cheesy Bees' Nests
7. Montreal Deli Style Dip

Voting starts on December 5th and the finale will be aired on December 12th. Good luck to the contestants!