Jaleo by José Andres

Earlier in the day, we had hit up Todd English Pub for a late lunch because we couldn't check into our rooms at the Cosmopolitan (even though it was past 3:00pm).  Completely bloated from our heavy meals and the fact we had 2 taps at our table, dinner seemed in our distant future.  However, we needed some nourishment before we hit the town.  Seeing how we had no car because Budget gave it away (still bitter about that), our dining options were limited.  Hence, we settled on Jaleo by José Andres right within our hotel.  Being a tapas joint, it seemed like a good fit since we weren't all that hungry.  But those would be words that we learned to regret...

To go with our vino, we got a few items to share starting with the Chistorra Envuelta En Patata Frita (slightly spicy chorizo wrapped in crispy potato).  These small bites were pretty good consisting of meaty chorizo which was only a touch spicy, as advertised.  The thin potato wrapper only covered part of the sausage and added a light crunch.  While we were waiting for our second item, we noticed a server carrying some shoes on his platter.  Snake remarked, "are they serving sneakers now?".  Well, indeed they were because the Croquetas De Pollo arrived in... you guessed it, a sneaker.  Not to worry, there was no musty odor nor strange flavours.  These chicken croquettes were lightly crispy on the outside which yielded to creamy interior that tasted strangely like cream of chicken (in a good way though).

Next up was another chicken dish being the Pollo A La Parrilla En Su Glasa Con Aceite (grilled marinated chicken served with garlic sauce).  Although charred nicely with a smoky essence, I found the chicken to be rather dry and lifeless.  It was flavorful though, yet one note in flavor being quite salty.  This was probably my least favorite dish of the meal. Dining on tapas is generally an unfulfilling proposition due to portion size, so a small serving of mussels only compounds the problem. Sure, it looks impressive, with shell and all, but in reality, there is very little to eat. The Mejillones Al Vapor (steamed mussels with bay leaf, lemon and olive oil) was just that.  With that being said, it was prepared nicely though.  The mild broth was not all that noticeable, but the lemon did come through as well as the slightest of spice.  It must be noted that the mussels were barely cooked which helped retain a nice texture and natural sweetness.

Onto something more substantial, we had the Carne Asada Con Piquillos ‘julián De Lodosa’ (grilled skirt steak with piquillo pepper confit. The steak was grilled a beautiful medium-rare and was sufficiently tender.  The pepper confit added plenty of flavour in the form of tart and sweetness, yet once again, they were a bit heavy handed with the salt.  The Pulpo A Feira Maestro Alfonso was much more mild consisting of boiled octopus with pee wee potatoes, pimentón and olive oil.  The small morsels of octopus were tender while maintaining some chew.  As mentioned, there was only a modest amount of seasoning, which helped highlight the natural sweetness of the octopus.  Despite the aggressive dusting of paprika, it did not really impact the flavours.  I really liked the pee wee potatoes as they were soft, yet not mushy.

For our last dish, it was a whopping $26.00 for a small dish of  Fricandó De Carilleras De Ternera Y Puré De Patatas Al Aceite De Oliva or  veal cheeks and morels with olive oil potato purée.  Definitely quality over quantity as the meat was melting tender. The rich, silky sauce had depth while the smooth puree was smooth and sinful.  This was very good, if not completely overpriced.  Yes, I do realize we ate at a celebrity chef restaurant on the Strip.  Therefore, we shouldn't have had sticker-shock.  However, even with us conceding that the food was pretty good, the value was just not there.

The Good:
- Nicely prepared small plates
- Energetic vibe
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- Expensive, even for a Celebrity chef's restaurant on the Strip
- Not really comfortable seating arrangements

Todd English Pub

It is no secret that Las Vegas is pretty much a playground for tourists alike.  There is a little of everything including my favourite pastime - eating!  Yes, there are other things that could interest me, but really, it's all about the food now.  Imagine the possibilities for eats, considering we had rented an Escalade from Budget a good 8 months ago.  You see, we had a group of 6 people and a large vehicle was necessary.  Well, that came to a crashing halt at the rental car counter...  No, they did not have an Escalade for us and apparently it doesn't seat 7 people, despite it saying so right on the Budget website.  Last time I rent from them!  Anyways, that limited our eating possibilities.  Therefore, we ended up at Todd English Pub in Crystal Mall (the irony) for lunch since we were staying at the Cosmopolitan.  For pub food, the menu seemed diverse and overly expensive (even for a celebrity chef's restaurant in Las Vegas).  Whatever, we were famished and weren't too picky.

We started with the beer on tap right at our table.  Yes siree Bob, we could pour away, at the comfort of our table.  Of course booze pairs up well with pub food, so we started with 2 appies.  The Duck Buns consisting of shredded duck, hoisin sauce and scallions were fantastic.  I wasn't holding out too much hope for these, but in the end, the mantou bun was soft and warm while the duck was moist (with a touch of crispiness) and plentiful.  What brought the whole thing together was the rich hoisin sauce.  It seemed liked they jacked it up by further reducing it.  Next we had the Fried Oysters which were barely cooked.  That ensured their soft texture and retention of moisture.  On the outside, the light crispy batter was not intrusive nor was it greasy.  Nicely done. 

As for our entrees, I went for the Lobster Roll which had 3 separate toasted buttery garlic bread halves stuffed full of nicely cooked lobster.  I didn't particularly like the side of coleslaw as it was wet and full of red onion, which killed all of the other flavours.  The bag of kettle chips were crunchy, yet seriously salty.  Chill had the Burger which was meaty and somewhat moist.  It was decent with a soft bun and fresh ingredients.  However, the wedge fries were super salty and not crunchy at all.  They were slightly oil-logged as well.  Vandelay ended up with the Mini-Sliders with caramelized onions and skinny fries.  The sliders were not bad with similar qualities as the burger, but the amount of onions overwhelmed so much so, I couldn't taste the meat.  The skinny fries were crunchy, yet a bit dry and once again, super salty.

Costanza had the 1/2 Pound of Brisket with challah and black truffle mayo.  The brisket itself was meaty and tender, yet a touch dry.  When combined with the bread and mayo, it was fine though.  Snake went for the Fish n' Chips and it was cooked nicely more or less.  However, the batter was quite thick.  It was crunchy though.  Overall, we found the food to be mediocre considering the prices.  However, the appies were really good though.  I guess if one was to get some small dishes with their brew, it would be okay.  But for a full meal, there are better places along the strip at that price point.

The Good:
- Interesting menu items
- Love the tap at our table
- Appies were fantastic

The Bad:
- Food is generally "meh"
- Expensive
- They love their salt

Hei Lum Mun Seafood Restaurant

I'm sure many of you have heard of "mommy brain".  You know, when moms are so busy with everything, their mind has no more room to remember little details?  Well, combine that with Daddy brain and the result was a fail of epic proportions.  Consider this scenario: Gordo rents some ice time so that we could bring our families for a skate and possibly hockey.  So I get the kids suited up and pile them into the car.  Head over to Killarney and wait, wrong rink.  Rush over to Hillcrest.  Still wrong.  Go back to Killarney, still nothing. Well, the session was booked for Britannia...  We suck.  Since we missed the darn thing, there was only one thing to do: eat! Being that we were near Victoria Drive, we headed over to Hei Lum Mun (formerly Li Garden).

We started with an order of Chinese Salty Donut which was really crunchy.  It appeared to be refried, but then again, it could've just been fried too much.  It was greasy, yet ultimately passable. The kids loved it and well, I wasn't going to question it.  On the other hand, the Shrimp Spring Rolls were not greasy at all being crunchy and hot.  The shrimp filling was mostly mousse with only a few pieces of actual shrimp.  Hence, there was not that much snap.  Moreover, we found it to be rather salty.  With the deep-fryer working it, we got the Stuffed Eggplant next. This was a good dish.  The eggplant was just cooked, so it wasn't mushy nor was it Styrofoam-like (if it weren't cooked).  The shrimp mousse filling was bouncy and was well-seasoned.  For once, the black bean sauce tasted like black bean.  Too many restaurants water this down so it essentially becomes a flavourless brown glaze.

When the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) hit the table, we were impressed at its size.  They were massive and fit snug into the bamboo steamer. Although the dumpling skin was on the thicker side, it wasn't hard to eat.  As for the filling, it was a mix of shrimp mousse and whole shrimp.  There was a good bounce, yet modest with the snap.  The flavours were mild and sweet with not much in the way of sesame oil.  Equally large, the Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings) were pretty good.  The pork had the requisite bounce texture while not being fatty.  There was ample amount of snappy shrimp and flavourful shiitake mushrooms in the mix as well.  The dumpling as a whole was quite juicy and moist, however, we suspected there was a good amount of MSG as the flavour was quite intense.

To balance out the meal, and due to the fact my daughter loves it, we got an order of the Pea Shoots with Bean Curd Skin and Ginko Nuts. This particular version was cooked in a broth, so for those alarmed at the amount of moisture on the wok-like serving plate, it was intentional.  Hence, the flavours were very mild with a touch of sweetness.  The pea shoots were cooked properly, being soft with a bit of crunch. As evidenced in the picture, the portion was quite large.  Going with another kid's favourite, we had the Lo Mei Gai (sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves).  This was a well-prepared dish with moist and slightly chewy sticky rice with plenty of filling.  The ground pork was not too fatty and was well-seasoned.  The fact that my kids ate it meant it was good (they can be rather picky!).  Onto something for me (not the kids, well not yet at least), I got the Curry Tripe & Tendons.  A pretty self-explanatory dish consisting of offal, this was also well-executed.  There were large pieces of both items which had the right textures.  The tripe was tender with a good amount of chew left while the tendon was soft yet maintained its shape and texture.  The flavours were balanced between savoury and sweet with garlic and a hint of curry.

Another staple of our Dim Sum adventures is the Steamed Pork Spareribs.  I got an order here and it was pretty good.  Sure, there were a few cartilage pieces, yet on average, most were meaty. It was chewy in a good kind of way, where it didn't seem too over-tenderized.  Flavours were okay with it being mild with a garlic hit and some spice.  Continuing on Dim Sum "must-order" dishes, we had the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll.  The noodle itself was rather thick and dense, yet not overly rubbery.  It was actually quite soft.  As for the shrimp filling, it was sufficient and texturally on point.  There was a nice snap with just enough seasoning so it wasn't bland.  We finished off with the Steamed Sponge Cake which wasn't very good.  It was too dense and far too sweet.  Being a bit dry too, it was hard to swallow.  I think I was too ambitious when I yelled out,  "I can't swallow this!".  Um yah...  I wouldn't order this again.  Yet, if we ignored this item, the food was pretty decent, considering the price points.  In addition, the service was above-average for this type of Chinese restaurant.  Hei Lum Mun succeeds in being a less-busy option for Dim Sum on Victoria Drive.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Decent eats
- Decent service

The Bad:
- Some items could use refinement
- Food expedition can be slightly slow

Trees Organic (Gastown)

Awhile back, on the Taste Vancouver Food Tour (Gastown edition), one of our stops was Trees Organic.  Much like many of the other stops, we were given a itsy bitsy sample of their wares.  Honestly, I was not able to gauge whether the cheesecake we tried was really good or not.  I *thought* it was good, but needed to confirm it.  In my personal opinion, it is really not fair to the restaurant nor potential readers for me to assess food on one small bite, whether it be on a food tour or a cocktail event.  Hence, I added Trees Organic to my very long list of "to visit" restaurants.

Making my way down there on an early-morning weekday during the holidays, the place was our oyster.  I went for a Mocha to go with my slice of cheesecake.  Well, I'm not the most educated coffee drinker, so I can only say that it did the job and wasn't overly bitter nor strong.  Then again, with the addition of chocolate and sugar, that probably didn't hurt the cause.  As for my cheesecake, I had the Orange Cranberry with whole fruit scattered on top.  As I dug into the side of the slice, it was quite obvious that it had suffered refrigeration degradation where it was rubbery and hard.  When I took a few more bites into the middle, the heavy cheesecake was smooth, semi-sweet and firm.  This is the type of cheesecake that I like.  The tart cranberries and candied orange added a sweet tartness that complimented the whole package.  The graham crust was moist and not too dense which I also liked.

Also on the table was The Sin consisting of Belgian chocolate and cherries.  I didn't actually get to try this cheesecake but from all accounts, the cheesecake was probably fresher since it had a more uniform texture. Honestly, I'm still not convinced I got the full meal deal here.  So until I visit again, I will have to reserve judgement on the cheesecakes.  Maybe I need to return on a busier day to try a "fresher" cheesecake.  For now, the one I tried was decent, yet unspectacular.

The Good:
- A variety of interesting cheesecakes
- I liked the texture and taste in parts of my cheesecake (the middle)

The Bad:
- It was probably a bit old, but my cheesecake didn't have a "fresh" exterior

Golden Swan

I'm sure it is not lost upon many of you that I've been revisiting restaurants that I originally tried earlier on in the life of this blog.  No, I'm not running out of restaurants, rather, some of these establishments have gone through ownership changes such as Golden Swan.  I've been there for dinner 3 times since the change, but have never been back for Dim Sum.  Therefore, this was as good as any other time to do another visit.  Joining us was Goose, Mrs. Goose, their kids and the grandparents, which would ensure a large array of dishes.  Also, with the ever-rare push carts hawking their wares, it would be easy to over-order (which we did...).  So, not much has changed since the ownership change in terms of decor, but I heard some of the kitchen staff and front-of-the-house are different.  One thing that hasn't changed are the pushy Dim Sum ladies trying to get you to order something you don't want (they might look into changing that...).

The first item to hit the lazy Susan was the Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings) which was aesthetically-pleasing, but the chewy and fatty pork made the dumpling unappealing.  It was on the blander side as well.  Too bad really since the ample shrimp was sweet and had a nice snap as well as the bits of shiitake mushroom.  Next up was the Lo Mei Gai (sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves) where the rice was chewy yet moist.  There was a considerable amount of filling which was full of tender, flavourful ground pork and shiitake mushrooms.  A dish I normally do not order, but did this time (due to the power of suggestion of the Dim Sum cart lady) was the Beef Short Ribs. The reason I avoid this particular item is that the meat can be pretty chewy and fatty.  Not in this case though as the ribs were meaty, tenderized enough and not too fatty.  However, the entire dish was lacking in flavour with little in the way of black pepper, garlic or even salt.

When the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) were placed on the table, we were surprised to find 5 of them in the bamboo steamer.  I've always made the argument that a family of 5 would always lose during Dim Sum because 4 is the magic number of items on a plate.  I'd better stay away from here to maintain my family of 4!!!  These were pretty good with a thin dumpling skin which was a bit wet.  This was due to the shrimp filling being moist (and probably too wet).  The filling itself was sweet and mild with a nice snap.  But it could've done without the extra moisture.  Onto another shrimp dish was the Shrimp Mousse- Stuffed Eggplant. Once again, the shrimp filling was moist and wet, er...  sorry, no other way to put it!  On the bright side, no one would complain that the filling was dry or lacked texture.  The filling was barely cooked where the shrimp had a nice snap.  There was just enough seasoning to accent the natural flavour of the shrimp.

When the "offal & congee" cart passed by, they didn't need to sell me on their wares like a Sham Wow at the PNE Showmart.  I immediately motioned for both of the items.  The Assorted Offal was a bit pale for my tastes, but this was obviously not the rich stewed version.  Hence, the flavours were not developed, neither were the textures.  The tripe was chewy and hard while the tendon and lung were acceptable.  The Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee was much better as it exhibited a "home-made" quality. It was really thick and had a rich slow-cooked flavour.  I'm sure there was some MSG, but it wasn't too heavy.  There was an ample amount of ingredients, but the egg was in little bits as it was cooked in the congee and dissolved (hence the rich flavour).  The salted pork was shredded to bits and was mostly a garnish despite being plentiful.

Another item I cannot do without at any Dim Sum meal is rice noodle rolls.  Therefore, we got both the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll and the Ja Leun (Salty Donut Rice Noodle Roll). The rice noodle was quite thick, yet still soft.  The large cold-water shrimp were crunchy, hence devoid of any natural sweetness.  Despite this, the rice noodle roll was good.  As for the Ja Leun, the salty donut was too dense and not really all that crispy, which negated what makes the dish good (which is a contrast of textures).  On the topic of textures, the Fried Squid was not as crispy as we would've liked. This could've been due to the time it sat on the push cart until it got to our table.  The large cuts of squid were meaty and sweet with a significant amount of chew (yet not being chewy per se).  I liked how the batter was not oversalted, hence we could actually taste the mild squid.

From squid to feet, in particular Duck Webs and Chicken Feet, we had them both.  I remember my grandma once saying that eating them would make me run faster.  I fail to see the logic when eating copious amounts of fowl feet would make me fat, thus making me run significantly slower!  Anyways, both were pretty good with mostly intact fried skin and a decent amount of gelatin and soft cartilage underneath.  For our "fillers" we had 2 hot pot rice offerings including the Meat Patty with Egg and Cured Meats and Taro. The rice took awhile to arrive since they actually cooked it in the hot pots.  Hence, the rice was chewy and nutty.  The meat patty had a good bounce and had a good balance of flavours.  The cured meats (Chinese sausage and pork belly) were pretty standard while the taro was a bit perplexing to me since it was starch on starch.

We had a few more dishes that were not particularly exciting (yet still decent), but I'll skip directly to the Egg Tarts, which incidentally we got at the end of our meal (which is rare at Dim Sum).  They were hot out of the oven with a flaky shell, but curiously pale in colour.  The egg custard was a bit stiff and somewhat bland. When we got the bill, it was not as bad as we had expected given the amount of food we had ordered.  Overall, the food was alright with some highlights.  However, my pick would still be Western Lake a few blocks down.

The Good:
- Still has push carts, if you like that
- Acceptable eats at decent prices
- Pretty good selection

The Bad:
- Pushy cart ladies
- Acceptable eats, but better down the road
- Parking is definitely an issue

Sandy La

After the first time we visited Sandy La, we were curious how their wonton noodles, congee and rice & noodle dishes fared.  You see, we only did the late night (da lang) menu and unlike some people (Mijune), we really couldn't order any more food.  Seeing how we had another late league game (when has 11:00pm ever been considered prime time anyways???), choices were limited.  Fortunately, with a 3:00am closing time, Sandy La was an available option.  Readily accepting the challenge for really late night eats was Sweet Tooth, Lionel Hutz, Milhouse and Gordo.

Okay, let's get right to it.  The Wonton Noodles sucked goat nads.  The noodles themselves were undercooked, slimy and doughy.  And for the wontons...  they were the all pork type and they were cold.  The texture was not bouncy at all and they had no flavour. Since the noodles were woefully undercooked, the raw taste seeped into the soup. I actually hated this bowl of noodles (which I didn't bother eating). Okay, at the very least Preserved Egg and Salted Pork Congee was more acceptable. It was thick and mildly seasoned.  There was a general lack of ingredients where I had to dig to find them.  The salted pork was okay though as it was shredded and salty.

Gordo went for his standby, being the Curry Beef Brisket on Rice.  When it arrived, he remarked that there was insufficient sauce for the amount of rice.  When he asked if he could get more sauce, the server flatly refused. The reason was that the cook would have to make some sauce especially for him.  Okay, and the problem was?  Yes, it is an inconvenience, but he couldn't eat 1/2 of his dish because there was barely any sauce.  Would that be his fault?  Just sayin'.  As for the dish itself, the flavours were mild while the beef could've stood to be more tender.  On that note, Lionel Hutz had the Beef Brisket on Fried Rice Noodles (and since he arrived later, he asked for more sauce ahead of time).  This was a fairly large portion, as you can see in the picture.  Since they used the same beef brisket, it was on the chewier side.  The sauce itself was once again mild and a touch greasy.

Milhouse wanted something healthier and got the Black Bean Beef on Deep Fried Noodles.  Arriving glistening and in a large enough portion for 2 people, it had healthy written all over it.  I tried the dish and it was alright.  There was plenty of black bean flavour and the beef was sufficiently tender.  The veggies were vibrant and crunchy.  However, the noodles could've been crispier. Lastly, Sweet Tooth went for the Ma Po Tofu on Rice.  This was another lackluster offering where it was pretty bland.  The ground pork and tofu were fine in terms of texture, but the dish was not spicy nor was it flavourful in general. As you can ascertain, this return visit to Sandy La was disappointing.  What a total contrast to our first visit.  Therefore, if we ever eat here again, it'll strictly be the da lang or at the most, a set meal.  Best to skip the wonton noodles.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Reasonable pricing
- Open really late (or is that early?)

The Bad:
- Wonton noodles suck
- Some execution issues
- Not really helpful staff