Top 40 Things to Eat in Vancouver... for now...

I've never been a fan of lists, especially ranking which are the best restaurants and the best things to eat.  After all, food is highly subjective.  The fact of the matter is: people have varying tastes and furthermore, each and every restaurant is different.  Comparing all of them and suggesting which one is the "best" is quite hard to do.  Now when you separate them into categories, it becomes more representational.  But then again, I do admit "best of" lists can be a rough guide.  Whether people agree with it or not is another matter.  Therefore, it has taken me over 4 years of eating and blogging to come up with my personal Top 40 Things to Eat in Vancouver.  I never felt the need to do a post like this earlier because it was important for myself to actually eat every individual item personally.  A list based on others is okay too, but this is my blog and I wanted it to be representational of my own tastes.  Yes, it is eerily similar to another list from a local publication.  Hey, I'm not going to knock it, they do a good job in what they do.  I'm just giving my 2 cents about the best things to eat from my point-of-view.  And yes, this list will change eventually, as I eat more and new things are introduced.  So here goes (oh and yes, feel free to disagree because I'll probably disagree with myself once I eat even more things!).

Moules et Frites @ Carthage Cafe	Smoked Meat @ Estrella's
Pizza Margherita @ Pizzeria Farina	Aburi Salmon Oshi @ Minami/Miku
Shrimp Taco @ Sal Y Limon	Porchetta @ Meat & Bread
Fried Chicken Wings @ Phnom Penh	Kan Poong Ki @ Hee Rae Dung
Chicken Rocket @ Golden Pita	Burnt Ends @ The Hog Shack
Beef Pancake Roll @ Peaceful	Toroniku Shio Ramen @ Hokkaido Ramen Santouka
Tuna Ta Taco @ Tacofino	Lamb Shish Kabob Shisklik @ Mangal Kiss
Pineapple Bun @ Lido	Pulled Pork Pancakes @ The Red Wagon
Puffed Foie Gras @ Diva at the Met	Macarons @ Soirette
Roast Pork @ HK BBQ Master	Jamaican Patty @ The Patty Shop
Purin @ Cake-Ya	Lemon Basil @ La Chocolaterie
Shredded Chicken Salad @ Koon Bo	Croissant @ Chez Christophe
Moules et Frites @ Salade de Fruits	Beef Jerky @ Bee Kim Heng
Lamb Popsicles @ Vij's	Fried Chicken @ Chewies
Sushi @ Sushi Hachi	Ebi Mayo @ Hapa Izakaya
Alla Famiglia Dining @ La Quercia	Shrimp Dumplings @ Western Lake
Xiao Long Bao @ Dinesty	Cutting Noodles @ Peaceful
House Special Crab @ James on Hastings	Gelato @ Bella Gelateria
Banh Mi Dac Biet @ Au Petite Cafe	Lobster Oil @ Pink Peppercorn
Pho @ Pho Tam	Smoked Meat Poutine @ La Belle Patate

Hadi's

Consider it a personal challenge - I often like to seek out obscure restaurants.  Yes, ones that not many people have heard of and really would never visit either.  Why?  Well, location for one.  Some are located in purely industrial areas, far away from civilization and inaccessible to most.  Secondly, the lunch-only hours effectively eliminates people who do not work nearby.  So what use are these posts then???  Well, as informative as I intend to be, this is my personal blog and really, I can blog about whatever I wish!  LOL...  So the latest "hidden and totally obscure restaurant" is Hadi's which is right off River Road in Delta.  It is your typical industrial area lunch spot which is frequented by its regular customers.  The cuisine here can only be described as "diverse".

Let's start with the Wor Wonton Soup shall we? Well, it looked like a wonton soup, but the soup base was sadly a mix between Knorr and other non-wonton soup seasonings.  The noodles were actually decently chewy though and the veggies were crisp.  As for the wontons, well, they were the all-pork variety and they more or less did the job.  Next up...  How about a complete Turkey Dinner with a side of Chicken Chow Mein???  Huh?  Well, you see, they have a cafeteria type of setup where you can choose different items for your plate.  Well, who said you can't have chow mein as a side to a traditional turkey dinner?  I think that's what we had all the time at our turkey dinners when I was growing up!  I think there was also some Chinese BBQ items and sometimes Sweet n' Sour Pork too! That's CBC for you (Canadian-Born-Chinese).  Well, the turkey dinner was okay.  The meat was kinda dry and the gravy was a bit watery.

Hey, let's go to Greek food now shall we?  The Chicken Souvlaki didn't really look the part and neither did it taste the part either.  It was slightly dry and hey, why not a side of stuffing with it... Honestly, the safest thing to order was a Bacon Cheeseburger.  And it delivered.  It was large with a moist patty and crispy bacon.  Fries were crispy too.  That hit the spot.  And it appears that many other people come to Hadi's to hit the spot as well.  I guess the large portions and wide range of food is the main draw here.  Or is it because there is nothing else around to eat?

The Good:
- Large portions
- Friendly lunch ladies
- Diverse menu

The Bad:
- Not expensive, yet not that cheap either
- Don't expect gourmet cooking here

Sunshine Cafe

Needing to grab a quick bite before my hockey game at the Richmond Oval, I decided to eat at Crystal Mall.  Uh...  Crystal Mall and Richmond on the same day and within 30 minutes of each other?  Did I have a death wish?  Am I a masochist?  Did I lose my mind?  Do I hate my car that much?  Well, I must admit, there are good eats to be found at Crystal Mall, so I can't avoid it on the account of a crappy parking lot right?  Well, I didn't park in the lot after all, so that negated some stress.  Furthermore, the eating destination was Sunshine Cafe, which is located on the outside of the mall.  Hence, parking in that deathtrap of a circle wouldn't have made sense anyways.

I met up with Viv and the kids (they arrived separately and parked at Crystal Mall!) and quickly ordered.  The first dish to arrive was the Szechuan Beef Noodles which was actually decent.  The noodles were al dente while the broth was spicy enough, yet it was a touch thin lacking depth.  The beef shank was moist, but could've stood for more braising as it was slightly chewy.  For the kiddies, we got them the Fried Chicken with Noodles.  The salty, peppery chicken had a good dusting of five spice which result in plenty of flavour.  However, the crispy chicken was somewhat dry.  This could've been alleviated with bigger chunks of chicken.  As for the al dente noodles, it sat in a mild broth that was flavoured by a good amount of pickled vegetable.

For myself, I decided to try the Railway Pork Chop set meal.  I wasn't a huge fan of the soggy fried pork chop.  Although it was tender and flavourful (albeit really sweet), the texture was off-putting.  The rice wasn't much better either as it was really mushy.  I would've also liked to see the pickles with more impact as well.  Lastly, I got an order of the Taiwanese "Burger".  This popular item is actually a slice of stewed pork belly stuffed inside a mantou with sugar, pickled mustard greens, cilantro and ground peanuts.  This one had a really large slice of pork belly which didn't have an appealing colour, but was moist and flavourful regardless. However, I found the burger plain and short on sugar. Not sure if this was the best pre-game meal one could have before hockey, but it was acceptable with some "meh" elements.  Okay for a quick meal, but not really somewhere I'm dying to do a return visit.

The Good:
- Okay pricing
- Decent portions

The Bad:
- Overall, the food was "meh"
- Small and cramp

Hee Rae Dung Korean Chinese Restaurant

If you're into Asian cuisine, it is a good bet that you've heard of Indian Chinese food.  2 more popular restaurants serving the cuisine are Green Lettuce and Chili Pepper House.  And what exactly is Indian Chinese food?  I would say it is a spicier version of Chinese cuisine that has similarities to Szechuan cooking.  Now what I asked if you've ever heard of Korean Chinese food?  Much like Indian Chinese food, where ethnic Chinese settled in Calcutta, Korean Chinese food has its roots in Incheon (where ethnic Chinese settled there). And I'm sure there are those out there that are well-versed in this type of cuisine as well.  But... It really doesn't get a lot of play because it is not really all that visible (albeit you can find some of the dishes at some Korean restaurants).  The lack of visibility can be partially be attributed to the absence of dedicated Korean Chinese food.  The last place I found a good selection of dishes was the now gone Da Rae Oak.

While I was breakfasting with JuJu at Jimmy's Place in Burquitlam, we had passed by Hee Rae Dung Korean Chinese Restaurant.  Seeing how JuJu is Korean, he was intrigued.  Well, I invited him to join Gordo, Viv, Rich Guy and myself for a meal there, but something about him working...  Normally, I generally have a plan of attack when ordering dishes.  Obviously we wanted to try the "must try" items as well as a good representation of the entire menu.  Well, due to my busy schedule, I didn't really do any research with the menu and just resorted to ordering 2 combos.  Problem being...  there were some duplicates!  Albeit slightly different.  So I apologize for the repetitive nature of the food!

Typically, a side of pickled daikon, black bean paste and onions are served as a side to a Chinese meal in Korea (as we had here).  Officially starting off our meal, we got a big plate of the Kan Poong Ki or Spicy Fried Sweet & Sour Chicken.  I've had this dish a few times before, but this has been the best hands down.  The large chunks of dark meat were fried up beautifully crisp on the outside while retaining a juiciness inside.  Bathed in a mildly spicy sweet and sour sauce (just barely clinging to each piece), we kept going back for more.  Next up was another classic Korean Chinese dish being the Ja Jang Myun (Noodles with Black Bean Sauce, onion and pork).  For those familiar with Northern Chinese cuisine, this is a version of the popular Ja Jeun Mein.  Although there was plenty of sauce, the flavours were mild with natural sweetness from the onions.  The noodles were soft while maintaining a certain chewiness.  Continuing with more noodles, we had the Jjam Bong or Spicy Noodle Soup with vegetables, shrimp, squid and scallops. Although the visuals didn't point towards a flavourful and spicy broth, it really was. There was a slow rumbling spiciness that hit in stages and lingered afterwards. The seafood was cooked nicely, noodles were al dente and veggies crisp. These 3 dishes belonged to Combo B which only set us back $27.90 (and these were large portions).

As part of Combo E (yes, I see the irony with ordering combos B&E...), we started with the Yang Jang Pi which was a large platter of seafood, seasoned beef, veggies and noodles with a spicy mustard sauce. This definitely looked better than it ate.  Not that it was bad necessarily, but there was a bit too many onions and not enough noodle.  Next was the Ra Jo Ki or Spicy Chicken with Vegetables.  Essentially a wetter version of the Kan Poong Ki, it was slightly less spicy and crispy.  Lastly, we had the Family Ja Jang which is a larger version with the addition of seafood.  The flavours were slightly different due to the seafood and a bit more moist due to it being stir-fried.  Nice.  What a pleasant meal and pretty decent value to boot.  I think Hee Rae Dung and I are going to be real good friends.  Now get me more of that spicy sweet & sour chicken!

The Good:
- Really large portions
- Awesome spicy sweet & sour chicken
- Something "different"

The Bad:
- Expensive, but okay considering the portion size
- The servers were nice enough, but we never saw them

Battle of the Breakfast Sandwiches

I literally grew up eating McD's. No joke! I remember eating it often and I even got the occasional lunchtime delivery at Elementary school. Yes, there were some envious classmates and even the teacher stole some of my fries. I'm not sure if this was the healthiest of diets, but hey, I loved it. One of my favs is the McMuffin. Something so simple, which could be replicated at home, I always seem to crave it. However, there are so many other fast food breakfast sammies out there and they never seem to measure up. So I decided one day to compare all of them to see which one reigns supreme!

The English Muffin with sausage at BK tries to emulate the classic from McD's but it fails miserably. First of all, the muffin is not toasted which meant it would spongy and cold. Secondly, the folded scrambled egg has only one texture (rubbery) and does not have that contrast between the white and yolk. The sausage is meatier than the one from McD's which meant a bit less fat. It is also saltier too. The Croissant version is better since the "bun" is soft and buttery.

The sandwich at A&W is probably my least favourite since they use a regular hamburger bun. Now that is not unusual since Triple O's does the same, but the fact there is no sauce, it makes the whole thing really dry. Furthermore, it stretches out the ingredients which makes the sandwich feel like it doesn't have much substance. I don't particularly like how they prepare the egg since it ends up looking more like a fritatta.

From Triple-O's, we have the classic Sunny Start. I remember downing 3 of these easy as a kid at White Spot. I'm sure my parents were horrified with needing to order 3 of them. This is obviously the most expensive of the fast food breakfast sandwiches. It consists of a fried egg, processed cheese, bacon (or sausage) and Triple-O sauce on a regular hamburger bun. The thing that makes this better than the A&W sandwich is the bun. It is much softer and less dense. Therefore, the other ingredients are actually discernible. Furthermore, they don't skimp on the bacon and as with any White Spot sandwich, there is an obscene amount of Triple-O sauce.

From probably one of the unhealthiest breakfast sammies to the healthiest, I got the 6-inch Breakfast Sub from Subway consisting of a microwaved egg omelet with choice of cheese, meat and veggies. I went for ham along with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, pickles and olives with Southwest dressing. This was easily the largest of the sammies while also being the most bland (despite the dressing). It is also probably the healthiest despite the cheese and the dressing. Although it still might be close calorie-wise. Although it filled me up, there was less satisfaction eating it than the others.

Mona Pizza

Ever since he got his Honda Pilot 3 years ago, Costanza has been lamenting the fact that there was never an HID headlight option. For those who are unfamiliar with the term HID, think Xenon headlights or those-really-bright-annoying-lights-coming-towards-you-while-driving-at-night. Yah, those lights... Well, for awhile there, if your car did not come with them, the only option was to pay $1000.00 for a conversion kit. Now, for a low price of $58.00, you can install your own. So with my recent experience with installing them, he came over for some HID action (does that sound strange?). Of course with the boys in the garage, there was only one way we'd get dinner (you see, both of us do the cooking, the wives do not...), get takeout. Or in this case, order pizza from a nearby joint.

Seeing how we'd already tried Hot Oven and Stan's, we opted for another place nearby called Mona Pizza. I've always wondered why it was called "Mona". I assumed that was the owner's name. Nope. With a picture of the Mona Lisa on the wall and Mona herself eating a slice of pizza on the box, it was quite obvious where they got the name. Now the only question left was: would the pizza be a work of art or a fraud? Well, to get to the bottom of this, we ordered 3 pizzas starting with the Sausage, Mushroom and Ground Beef. It was quite obvious by looking at the pizza that it wasn't going to be very oily. In fact, we barely noticed any oil on top or at the bottom of the pizza. Take that Pizza Hut! In the end, the pizza was slightly dry because of it. As you can see, there was a generous amount of toppings and a decent use of cheese. Usually, with the liberal use of toppings, the pizza would be fairly salty. Not in this case though, it was bordering on slightly bland. The crust was slightly doughy while crisp on the bottom and all around the edges. It stood up well and there were no soggy parts.

Other than the pepperoni pizza we got for the kids, our second one consisted of Capicola and Green Peppers. Again, whenever there is capicola, one would expect some spice. Not really, it was quite muted. Decent pizza, yet hardly memorable either. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go back to Hot Oven. However, with all things considered (including price), Mona Pizza does the trick if someone wanted to get some pizza to watch the game or something.

The Good:
- Decent value
- Fair amount of ingredients and cheese
- Not greasy

The Bad:
- Middle of the road North American pizza