Tai Fang Noodle Company

Despite my inherent bias towards frozen Dim Sum, I still occasionally pick up some just for convenience. Hey, even though my grandma showed me how to make potstickers right down to the pleating, I really don't have the time to make it from scratch. Hence, I put up with the mediocre stuff found in the display freezers. The next place up to bat for frozen Dim Sum supremacy (is that an oxymoron?) is Tai Fang Noodle. And why is it this place? Well, I was on another one of my forays into Crystal Mall (why do I keep torturing myself so...) and it just happened to be there along my jaunt over to Pine House.

After perusing the decent selection of frozen dumplings, I settled on the basics. I decided to try them out immediately and put them into the steamer. Oh, despite the picture of all the dumplings on one plate, they weren't steamed together since they all have different cooking times. Starting with the Haw Gow (shrimp dumpling), these were a pretty decent attempt for frozen stuff. The skin was predictably thick while the filling was actually quite good. The whole shrimp had a nice snap and were quite sweet. Not bad really. The Sui Mai were okay taking into account that there was no shrimp. Hence, the success of the dumpling rested on the shoulders of the pork. It was more or less the bounce texture we normally look for, however, it was pretty one-dimensional in flavour since there was a meager amount of shiitake mushroom too.

Now the trickiest dumpling to do right, even when fresh is the Xiao Long Bao. Imagine the challenge at hand with a frozen one. So with that in mind, reasonable expectations must be employed. Otherwise, there will be a lot of bitching and whining. Well, I'm pretty sure most would have predicted that the dumpling skin was thick. Beyond that, the meat filling was actually quite good with a good hint of ginger while being non-gritty. There was also a small amount of soup which was a pleasant surprise. The nice lady threw in a bag of their freshly made Lai Mein or hand-pulled noodles into my order. I cooked these up that night and they were pretty solid. Well, I made sure I didn't overcook them. Remember, fresh noodles take significantly less cooking time. They were chewy and yes, tasted like they were freshly made. I ended up tossing it in a spicy-soy sesame oil concoction. Worked out quite well. So how does this place compare to the other recent frozen Dim Sum joints I've visited? I would say Tai Fang is pretty much on par with Best Dim Sum and Sun King. Not necessarily great, but does the job for what it is. I'm just not sure I'll be back anytime soon since it is in the circular mall from hell named Crystal.

The Good:
- Decent value
- Dim Sum holds its own for being frozen
- They got fresh noodles

The Bad:
- It's still frozen Dim Sum, not the best way to experience it
- It's in Crystal Mall

Pho Capital

Don't you just love the windshield flyer?  You know, the piece of advertisement that is placed underneath you windshield wiper?  Yes, the one that gets wet in our rain and becomes pulp.  Or how about not noticing it until you start driving and then it becomes a distraction.  Should you stop to remove it or continue driving down the road with "Lose 20lbs in one month!!!" staring you in the face?  Well, I normally curse these flyers as much as a terrorizing drive through Richmond.  However, I did a double-take at the one we received after our meal at Hee Rae Dung. A new Pho place on North Road eh? And 20% off too???  Can you say a sale on frozen duck at T&T?  I went there with bells on!  Fail though because they were closed due to some building issue.  Drat.  Undeterred, Viv and I returned on the same night I got back from Black Friday shopping.

Viv went for a small bowl of Pho and once again, we had the discussion regarding the difference between a large and a small bowl.  More often than not, the only difference is the size of the bowl and the amount of broth. Anyways, the broth was quite flavourful in terms of sweetness and meatiness.  It goes without saying that there was a good amount of MSG in it, but at the very least, this was one of the more powerful Pho soups I've had as of late.  The noodles were nicely texture while the meats were sliced thin and tender. My large Bun Bo Hue was anything but.  There seemed to be much more soup than noodles.  In terms of the amount of meat, it was acceptable, but there was no pork blood nor knuckle.  Once again, the broth was in-my-face with definite flavours of lemongrass and shrimp paste.  In fact, there was a real pungent seafoody thing going on because of the shrimp paste.  A bit overpowering yes, but I liked it.  In terms of heat, it was quite mild.  The noodles, as little of it as there was, were slippery and not overcooked.  The meats were good, especially, the large chunks of cha lua.

If we thought the soup noodle were modest in portion, the Lemongrass Chicken with Fried Egg on Rice was absolutely huge.  On a large plate, there was a good amount of chewy rice topped with 2 massive deboned chicken legs which were attractively charred.  The flavourings were a touch sweet for our tastes, but it added a richness to the dish.  Despite the conservative portions with the soup noodle, the rice dish made up for that.  We struggled to finish it.  After this visit, I would say that Pho Capital is better than the nearby Pho 99.

The Good:
- Lots of flavour (although it can be partly attributed to MSG)
- Friendly people
- Rice dish was massive

The Bad:
- Heavy on the MSG
- Soup noodle portions are modest

Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2013 Media Event & My Picks

Let's get to the point.  I've been pretty clear about my feelings about Dine Out. Back in my University days, I thought it was great.  Hey, I could visit some of the best restaurants in the city for a reasonable and set price.  Well, as my dining out got more intense and diversified, my opinion did a complete 180.  Maybe I got picky or I come from a specialized perspective. Hence, to be fair, most people enjoy Dine Out because it is an opportunity to experience restaurants that they would normally not consider (or visit many during the event).  Besides, for those who study all the set menus in depth, there are gems to be found.  So with that in mind, I attended the Dine Out Vancouver 2013 Festival Media Event at the Vancouver FanClub, where 8 of the participating restaurants served up little bites as a preview of their full Dine Out menu.  Of course, it is generally very difficult to judge the food under these circumstances since it is essentially a cocktail party where everything is not prepared as it would be in the actual restaurant.  But, then again, it is literally a "taste" of what is to come.

Without further ado, I will go straight to my favourite dish of the night from The Observatory being the Red Wine Braised Pemberton Meadows Beef Short Ribs with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, baby carrots and crisp turnip.  The beef was super moist and practically melted in my mouth while the green pea tinted (?) mashed potatoes was fantastic.  Loved the red wine braising sauce as it was flavourful and rich. Directly adjacent was the offering from Forage - Game Terrine with IPA mustard, housemade pickled vegetables and pickled walnuts on a crostini.  Despite the overly crunchy crostini (forgivable given the venue), the terrine was gamy in a good way while the pickles added a necessary acidity.  Another memorable item was the Sustainable BC Scallop with apple cider-infused beet puree and micro kale salad from the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts.  Seared with an attractive colour, the scallops were plump an sweet.  I liked the tang from the beet puree as it livened up the dish.

On the second floor of the FanClub, there was Edible Canada and its offering - Roasted Canadian Grangeland Leg of Elk with bone marrow, crispy grits and Hunter sauce.  The lean cut of meat was naturally going to be somewhat chewy but it was cooked rare enough that I could eat it with few problems.  I enjoyed the flavours as it was quite rich (and a bit heavy), yet the fried grits was a little dry (but again, forgivable under the circumstances). Another one of my favourites of the night was from Market by Jean-Georges which was the Grilled Berkshire Tenderloin (pork chop in the Dine Out menu) with steamed mushrooms and XO Sauce. At first, I was thinking with my Chinese hat on and was apprehensive about the XO sauce.  In the end, I liked it for what it was.  It was seafoody and had a kimchi quality to it while the pork was beautifully prepared (sous-vide first then pan-seared).

Over at the Hapa Izakaya table, there was the Scallop Tartare on a wonton chip.  When I saw it, I knew I would like it.  The scallop was sweet and nicely accented by the mustard-mayo which had a slight bite.  The wonton chip added a nice crunch to the soft ingredients.  Next door, Cibo offered up a Duck Liver Toscana with housemade pickles.  I personally love duck liver, especially in a pate.  However, in this case, I was disappointed to not get enough of it to savour.  It was spread quite thin.  Yet, the little bursts I did get were smooth and tasty, especially with the little zing from the pickles. Lastly, the host venue, the Vancouver FanClub offered up count'em 5 dishes to sample.  There were 3 mini-sandwiches consisting of Smoked Chicken, Smoked Beef Brisket and Pulled Pork.  Of the 3, I enjoyed the chicken the best (surprisingly) as it was moist and indeed smoky.  Although the toasted bun didn't make or break the sandwich, I would liked to see something less generic.  Another tasty treat of the night was the Tiger Prawn Corn Dogs.  Despite the creative name, it was really a fried breaded prawn, yet it was a good fried prawn.  The batter was super crunchy while the prawn had a nice snap.  Lastly, I tried one of their Mini-Donuts drizzled with caramel (the other with chocolate) and it was moist and warm.  After a few return visits to my favourites of the night, I was stuffed and could not eat no more. Well, actually I could, but I saved myself for further eating for the next few days.  Anyways, for further information, go visit the Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2013 website.

Now, after thoroughly going through all of the Dine Out menus, I've narrowed down some highlights.  I based these on several factors including my own personal experiences (if applicable), price point and of course menu items.  So here they are in no particular order (except for price point):

$38.00 Menus

With Lee Parsons at the helm, Bacchus Restaurant & Lounge is never a bad choice.  It continues here with a solid menu consisting of Chicken Liver & Cognac Parfait and Mushroom Velouté  as appies.  Entrees include NY Striploin, Duck Confit and Salmon.  The Ginger & Cardamom Crème Brûlée sounds exotic tasting.

 

Poor Italian Ristorante is generally perplexingly expensive considering its location.  I like the food there, but the cost is a real eye-opener.  However, during dine out, their menu looks to be pretty solid with some solid appies and good choices of entrees including Sablefish, Seafood Pasta, Slow Cooked Beef, Braised Lamb Shoulder and Veal Tenderloin.

Oru at the Fairmont Pacific Rim offers up Beef Tenderloin or PEI Coldwater Lobster as entree options and 3 dessert choices.  The appie that caught my eye is the Duck and Rabbit Terrine.

Assuming the ride up the gondola is included, the menu at the Observatory on Grouse Mountain is a good value.  Wild Sockeye Salmon highlight the appies while the Braised Short Rib not only sounds good, it was good (during the media event).

Much like the Poor Italian, La Terrazza’s prices can be downright scary.  But during Dine Out, their menu at this price point looks good with Lobster Bisque and Strozzapreti Bolognese starring in the appies while either a Striploin or Salmon highlighting the entrees.

With my recent positive experience at The Hart House, I am interested with their menu which includes a Beef Carpaccio as an appie while the Sous Vide Beef Short Rib catching my fancy.  The two desserts of Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake and Honey Buttermilk Panna Cotta sound safe and classic.

High above in West Van, Fraiche combines the rare feat of offering up a view with good food.  Their menu looks solid with Lobster Salad and House-Cured Duck headlining the appies with Sablefish, Sole and Loin of Lamb as choices for entree.  Desserts, on the other hand, look weak.

Another one of my favourites is Chambar and their menu seems to be pretty stacked (not sure about portion size though).  A Mushroom Soup and Yellow Fin Carpaccio look good for appies while their popular Moules et Frites is offered as an entree along with a Duo of Beef and Arctic Char. The Frozen Lemon Souffle looks interesting as a dessert.

$28.00 Menus

The Water Street Cafe has a promising menu at a lower price point which includes a Fanny Bay Oysters as an appie option.  The highlight of the entrees is the Whole Fresh Atlantic Lobster (for a $10 surcharge), however, at no extra cost, the Duck Confit sounds good. With 3 dessert options, there should be something for everyone.

The Teahouse at Stanley Park offers up an interesting option where their dine out menu is exactly the same for lunch and dinner, but lunch is only $18.00.  I think that is a fantastic deal considering its location and the choice of Beef Bourguignon Vol au Vent, Albacore Tuna and Duck Confit as entree options.

The same could be said about Seasons in the Park as they offer up the same menu for $18.00 during lunch (with a nice view).  Beef Carpaccio highlights the appies while the choice of Short Ribs or Salmon for an entree makes it a good value.

While we are on views, the Salmon House on the Hill has a pretty good menu for its price point.  Grilled Prawns are the star of the appies while you have a choice of Salmon, Chicken Penne or New York Striploin as an entree. Decent-sounding desserts too.

I recently had brunch at Forage and came away impressed with the food quality in relation to their prices.  The same could be said for their dine out menu.  I had the good fortune of trying their BC Spot Prawn Seafood Chowder and am glad to see it on the menu.  With Pork Belly and Salmon as entree options, I wouldn’t hesitate to give this place a look.

There is no hiding my love for EBO at the Delta Burnaby.  My love continues with their menu which features Wild Mushroom Soup and Rice-Crusted Tuna with Dungeness Crab in the appie section.  Entrees include Salmon, Duck Confit and Grilled Lamb Chops. The Chocolate Pot de Creme looks like an interesting dessert.

I’ve only been to Catch 122 Cafe & Bistro for lunch, but their Dine Out dinner menu doesn’t seem to have any weak dishes.  All 3 of their appies sound tasty – Prawn Bisque, Duck Confit Ravioli and Avocado Tequilla Sorbet. Entrees consist of Beef Side Ribs, Steelhead Trout and Rabbit 3 Ways.  Even their desserts sound fantastic with Triple Chocolate Terrine, Stick Toffee Pudding and PBJ Ice Cream Sandwich!

$18.00

The award to the best deal goes to the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts – Bistro 101 for their inexpensive, but loaded menu consisting of Scallops, Seafood Cake, Trout, Duck or Short Rib.  This will be booked up quickly. Available for lunch and dinner.

Indian Star (Port Coquitlam)

Before I ever walk into a restaurant, I generally take a quick picture of the front.  This way, when people are searching for the place, they have a sense of what it looks like from the outside.  However, there are times I get distracted, forget or it just ain't practical to take a picture (like people are staring at me...).  This was the case when I met Rich Guy for eats at Sang Thai.  While we were eating, I told him to remind me to take a picture before we left.  Well, apparently we could give Dory a run-for-her-money in the memory department.  We left without doing so!  That only meant one thing - I'd have to return.  But not to the same restaurant, but across the street at Indian Star.  It is kinda ironic because the reason we went to Sang Thai was because we couldn't find Namaste (which became Indian Star).

Since we wanted to try a variety of dishes, we went for the lunch buffet at $10.95.  There were 2 stations with one being the cold items and the other being the hot.  Also, there was a pot of Chai, which was a welcomed compliment for the food.  While Rich Guy was helping himself to the salad, I went straight for the hot food.  Pffttt...  Salad...  Anyways, there was Butter Chicken, Beef Curry, Eggplant Bartha, Tandoori Chicken, Mixed Veg, Dal and Pakoras. I gave the Butter Chicken a shot first and it was full of large chunks of breast meat.  It was neither too dry nor really moist either.  I found the sauce on the tomatoey side with a good helping of sodium.  It did have a good consistency though and was somewhat creamy. Next up was the Beef Curry which was mild, yet once again salty. The beef was on the chewier side as well.  Despite the salt, the flavours were pleasant though.

Moving onto some vegetarian offerings, I had the Eggplant Bartha, which was smooth and also quite mild with a sweet onion finish. (probably intentional as it is a buffet).  My only wish for this dish would be more peas. The Dal was equally mild and slightly sweet.  It had a nice texture and consistency though. Back to the meats, I tried the Tandoori Chicken and predictably, the dark meat was more moist than the white meat.  It was quite flavourful though, yet was missing a good char (the question is... do they have a tandoor on site?).  With the arrival of the Naan (served tableside because it would turn hard in the warming tray), from its appearance, we suspected there was no tandoor (or they need to char things more).  All-in-all a pleasant enough meal at a reasonable price.  On top of that the service was quite attentive and friendly.  The only question is: which buffet is better, the one here or The Bombay?

The Good:
- Inexpensive buffet
- Decent eats
- Good service

The Bad:
- This is only based on the buffet, but the meats were a bit dry (but it is a buffet afterall)
- And again, take this with a grain of salt (sorry for the pun), but the food is salty

Jade Garden Kitchen

Ever since Black Friday, I vowed not to do any Boxing Day shopping at all this year.  No way was I subjecting myself to torture such as lining up in the cold, battling crowds and lining up to pay.  A regular day in Richmond yes, but for me I wanted no part of it.  "Let's head out to shop on Boxing Day!", Viv exclaimed.  Aiya! "And we're bringing the kids along too...".  Double aiya!  I'd rather be stuck waiting at the passport office on Saba Road in Richmond during a snow storm with crying kids than shop on Boxing Day with them.  Fortunately, the shopping was limited to non-popular stores such as Canadian Tire and Michael's, with a small dose of Superstore and Walmart well after the morning rush.

Of course, by virtue by being out, we needed nourishment sometime down the line and since we were in North Van, we headed over to a small Chinese restaurant that served Dim Sum.  Yes, Dim Sum and the North Shore go together like manners at a Stupidstore, but I'm a curious creature, so off we went in hopes there would not be any curious creatures in our food.  Other than Westview Oriental, there are not a lot of Dim Sum choices in North Van, other than Jade Garden Kitchen.  And even with that, the selection is limited.  One could choose from Shrimp Dumping and Sticky Rice Warp...  Spell check anyone?  What we did start off with was the Stir Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic.  This was a well-prepared dish where the tender shoots were just cooked maintaining a mild crunch.  There was good wok heat as well as just enough seasoning.  Next up was the Black Bean Spareribs which was also well-prepared.  I personally liked the use of dark soy which gave the meat some colour.  The whole thing was garlicky, mildly spicy and plenty flavourful bordering on salty. The meat itself exhibited a nice bounce texture from proper tenderization.

Looking a bit pale, possibly due to new oil, the Shrimp Spring Rolls were crispy, yet the shrimp filling was disappointing. Lacking in whole shrimp pieces, the shrimp mousse filling was mushy and tough at the same time.  Not a pleasant texture at all.  That would be the same for the Shrimp Dumpings, er.. Shrimp Dumplings I mean.  Small in size and devoid of any texture, the dumplings were most likely of the frozen variety.  The dumpling skin was thin, yet chewy.  The filling was mushy, bland and wet.  This was a very poor attempt at a haw gow. Moving onto the Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings).  These were pretty basic being comprised of pork without any shiitake mushrooms or shrimp.  Hence the flavour was predominantly pork, where the meat was not bouncy at all. At least they were visually-appealing...

Moving along, we had the BBQ Pork Buns (mercifully spelled correctly on the menu...) which were pretty average. The bun itself was a bit dense with a filling that was acceptable.  A little pale-looking and sweet, but not too many fatty pieces.  Lastly, we had my son's favourite dish being the Soy-Fried Rice Noodle Rolls.  Naturally, these were not made in-house, so the success of the dish rested its preparation. In that respect, it was pan-fried nicely with good colour and an acceptable amount of grease.  The noodles were soft and there was enough sweet soy caressing each piece. In the end, the meal did the job considering where we were.  But for better Dim Sum, I would personally cross into Vancouver.

The Good:
- Personal and attentive service
- Clean and comfortable (awesome washrooms)

The Bad:
- A bit pricey
- Okay for North Van, but pretty average nonetheless

Izumi

After a relaxing day of Black Friday shopping (yes, believe it or not), we set out to meet Goose and Mrs. Goose for some eats.  Much like last year, Goose suggested we hit up a Japanese restaurant near our hotel in Kirkland.  Really?  A good authentic Japanese restaurant in a strip mall in Kirkland???  Well, I guess we shouldn't second guess Goose as his suggestion of I Love Sushi last year was a hit.  And much like I Love Sushi, the prices at Izumi are on the higher side.  Although we noticed that they weren't as scary if we ordered a la carte as opposed to the full meals (which included, green salad, sunomono, miso soup and rice).  We weren't sure if the roughly $5.00 to $7.00 premium was worth it. So we ended up getting almost everything a la carte and adding bowls of rice to the meal.

We started with a good portion of Tonkatsu which was a relatively moist pork cutlet.  It wasn't juicy per se, due to the lean nature of the meat, yet was surprisingly not dry.  The panko breading adhered to the meat and was really crispy and light.  We liked having the tonkatsu sauce on the side as it didn't drench the cutlet.  Next was the small serving of Tempura.  What it lacked in portion size was made up by its quality.  The batter was light, crispy and not greasy.  Furthermore, the ingredients were top-notch.
Although the Chicken Teriyaki was a healthy portion, I wasn't that fond of it.  The chicken was rather dry and hard. I did like the mild-tasting sauce (despite the massive amount of it) as it was not too sweet nor too syrupy.

Mrs. Goose had the Sashimi Meal which was served in a boat.  Since it was the full meal, it included all the sides.  Not wanting to raid her meal, we ordered the Large Assorted Sashimi which was essentially the same without the extras (and the nice serving vessel). The slices of fish had a nice sheen and were fresh-tasting..  Textures were right and so were the flavours.  We also got a few rolls including Hotate, Spider and Futomaki. The Hotate Roll was good with big chunks of sweet scallop.  I liked the sushi rice as it was chewy with good flavour.  The Spider Roll was fantastic as it was packed full of crunchy soft-shell crab.  The Futomaki was well constructed and also good.  At this point, we were wanting more and got another order of the Tonkatsu just to make sure we didn't leave hungry.  That pretty much sums up our meal at Izumi - very solid eats which are generally served in modest portions.  Prices are not too bad except for the full meals which get dangerously close to $20.00.  Yet all-in-all, a surprisingly authentic Japanese restaurant in an odd location.

The Good:
- Authentic Japanese food
- Well-prepared
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- Modest portions
- Full meals are pricey 

Serious Pie

You'd think that we would not have time for lunch on a day like Black Friday.  C'mon, what's more important?  Shopping or eating???  Besides, with 8:00pm Thursday night store openings, most people had finished their Black Friday shopping by Friday.  Well, we were still doing some morning pursuing at various stores at Southcenter...  Wait.  No.  I was actually there returning some items for Viv.  For the love of...  returning stuff on Black Friday???  Geez, she owes me!  So after standing in line at Kohl's for 30 minutes to return women's shoes, we headed into Downtown Seattle for some Serious Pie.  One of the many Tom Douglas establishments, the wood-fired pie follows in the style of Neapolitan pizza (except probably more hearty).

We started with the Marinated Lacinato Kale Salad with chilis, parmigiano and pine nuts.  It was not as scary as it sounded (well at least to us that is).  The leaves were hearty as expected, but due to the copious amount of Parm, we were distracted by the salty-cheesiness to realize it was Kale.  The addition of peppers provided a nice kick. We decided to share 2 pizzas with the Sweet Fennel Sausage with peppers and provolone arriving first.  It turned out to be a fantastic choice (Costanza's recommendation since he's been here before).  The crust was nicely charred with a certain level of nuttiness.  The dough was seasoned mildly which allowed the rest of the flavours to come through, in particular, the moist flavourful sausage.  We would've liked more impact from the tomato sauce, but it wasn't a hinderence either.
 
Next up was the Soft Cooked Free Range Eggs and Pork Belly was a mild and understated pizza as we suspected.  The whole thing was more a textural delight rather than flavour explosion.  The runny egg was fantastic while the abundance of arugula provided a peppery brightness.  The thin slices of pork belly became almost of an afterthought.  We could tell it was there, but it provided not much flavour nor texture. Despite this, the pizzas were both good in terms of the thin crust and the leoparding (which was just right without burning the whole pizza).  In the end, I was pretty impressed with the pizza here.  The plethora of quality toppings combined with a good crust made me want to return.  And that pretty much says it all...

The Good:
- A decent amount of toppings
- Nicely charred crust
- Pretty good service

The Bad:
- Communal seating is cramped
- Parking in the area stinks