Pho Rex

Fresh from a visit to Mai's out in Walnut Grove, I was curious as to the other Vietnamese offerings in Langley.  Seeing how I was in the area anyways, I decided that a visit to the highly-rated Pho Rex (according to Urbanspoon and Yelp!) was in order.  I wasn't exactly clear why the place is named as such.  Maybe they had dinosaur-sized portions?  Possibly the owner is named Rex? Hmm...  by the looks of the crown atop the "E" in the name, possibly some form of royalty?  Well, at least it is more original than a number such as Pho 99, Pho 101, Pho 66 or Pho 69 (well, probably not the last one...). 

H-Boy and I started with a Salad Roll which was constructed neatly where it was filled with the usual ingredients including basil.  This little addition did wonders for the flavour of the roll.  I found the dip leaning towards hoisin more than peanut. Of course we had the Pho Dac Biet as well. We found the broth to be clean with a mild meatiness.  It wasn't particularly sweet nor salty, rather it tasted somewhat "natural".  The noodles were good and so were the meats. Since we already had the Pho, I went for something different in the Bun Bo Hue. Notably absent was the pork knuckle and pork's blood, but I personally didn't mind and hey...  we were in Langley...  The broth had a noticeable lemongrass hit as well as shrimp paste.  It was sufficiently spicy while the meats were plentiful and tender.

Lastly, we shared the Lemongrass Chicken on Rice which was fantastic.  The chicken was aesthetically-pleasing while being super moist and flavourful.  And I mean flavourful, bursting with lemongrass and savoury notes.  Moreover, there was just enough char to add another layer of flavour.  When it was all said and done, we were impressed with the food here.  It was both cheaper and better than Mai's in our opinion.  Definitely a good option out here in Langley.

The Good:
- Above average eats
- Friendly people
- Okay pricing (compared to Mai's)

The Bad:
- Not the biggest place, but then again, that is common for this type of restaurant
- Friendly people, but not overly attentive

Texx Big Burger

For a relatively large North American city, Vancouver is not endowed with great burger joints.  Sure, there are some good ones such as Romer's, Moderne, Splitz, Burger Heaven and Stackhouse.  And I'm not going to include Fatburger or Five Guys because they are not unique to Vancouver since you can get them practically everywhere.  Not that I don't like them, I just want to focus on local joints.  Of course there is also the very respectable The Burger at Cactus Club and the ones from Vera's, but I would like to leave the big chains out of this (Romer's and Splitz aren't big enough chains yet to earn that distinction).  Now, other than Burger Heaven, all of the aforementioned joints are quite polished and some have an upscale slant.  

Enter another player in town, Texx Big Burger out in Surrey.  Decidedly simple and basic in decor, this joint serves big, fresh burgers at a reasonable price.  I picked up a few items including a Bacon Cheeseburger for Mrs. Spray Bottle.  For $6.99, it included many optional toppings for no extra charge including grilled onions and sauteed mushrooms.  This was a well-constructed burger with a moist, but not oily patty with crispy bacon, fresh veggies and a bun that held up to all the ingredients.  Their Fresh-Cut Fries were starchy while being crispy.  Loved how they did basically dumped all of it in the paper bag a la Five Guys style.  That was a lot of fries for $1.99.

But really...  I wasn't here for anything else other than the Super Texx Big Burger ($21.99).  This monstrosity consisted of 3 x 10oz patties with bacon, cheese and all the optional toppings one could handle.  Despite the novelty of it all, this was actually a very tasty burger.  The meat was super moist, meaty and flavourful without being oily.  Yes, the bun got a bit soft with all the ingredients, but it still held up.  I thoroughly enjoyed this burger.  And if you can finish this in-store within 30 minutes, it's free! Even if it wasn't free, I'd gladly pay for it.  Possibly the best burger I've had in town (for the price) up to this point.  I take back my comment about no good burger joints.

The Good:
- Fresh, moist burger patties
- Reasonable pricing considering what you get
- Charismatic owner who cares about the customer

The Bad:
- Kinda basic operation, if that matters to you

Burnaby Palace

When a Chinese restaurant is filled with 90% non-Chinese customers, what would be your take?  Is it: a) a Westernized Chinese joint? b) It is located in a small town? c) It's not in Richmond? d) It's name starts with "PF"? Well, the restaurant we decided to visit satisfied "A & C" at the very least.  For over 25 years, Burnaby Palace has busily been serving up Chinese food, where I had apparently never felt the need to check it out.  Well, after driving by it countless times, it was about time (actually I've been here before, but it was for a wake and no, I wasn't going to blog about it!!!).  So I convinced my parents to join me even though my mom indicated that it wasn't exactly catered to us.  Nevertheless, she actually doesn't mind Westernized Chinese food occasionally. 

When we arrived the place was packed and they ended up opening up the 2nd floor.  We started with an order of the Crispy Chicken which arrived in a very dark shade of brown.  Despite the appearance of being cooked too long, the chicken was still somewhat moist (with some dry spots).  We liked how it wasn't salty either.  Next we sampled an order of Sweet & Sour Pork because we knew it would be a big seller here.  The good-sized pieces of pork were meaty with very little in the way of fat.  Thus, it wasn't as moist as we would've liked, but it was hardly dry either.  The sauce was on the milder side, yet balanced as well.

For the kiddies, we got then the House Special Fried Noodles which were dressed with a good amount of mild starch-thickened sauce.  The plethora of toppings were prepared properly with tender squid, crunchy broccoli and snappy shrimp.  Since they advertise themselves as a Mandarin restaurant, we opted to try the Mandarin Orange Beef.  The batter on the strips of beef was crunchy while on the thicker side.  The sauce was very sweet with some spiciness.  There was a distinct taste of black vinegar which added a syrupy tartness to the dish.

Lastly, we had the Fried Fish with Cream of Corn Sauce.  We requested the sauce to be served on the side to preserve the crispiness of the fish.  It turned out to be a very light crunch on the outside, giving way to a slightly gummy batter on the inside.  The fish was moist and flaky though. Not a bad finish to a relatively okay meal.  Keeping expectations reasonable, there was nothing particularly bad about the food.  In fact, some dishes were quite good.  However, if you were looking for Chinese food that was more along the lines of Kirin and Red Star, you'd better move along.  But if you desire Westernized Chinese food, then Burnaby Palace is a good option.

The Good:
- Attentive and friendly service
- Acceptable eats (considering everything)
- Not too heavy with the MSG

The Bad:
- A bit pricey
- Not traditional Chinese food, if that matters to you

4 Brothers' Pizza

I've had it.  Playing sports usually means I get to eat out with the team afterwards.  But with certain groups, either nobody wants to go out or it is the same ol' restaurant over and over again (like Alleluia on Saturday nights).  Thus, I decided to eat late night all by my lonesome.  But wait, I wasn't planning on being that creepy guy at 2:00am taking pictures of his congee in the corner.  No way!  I would only do such a thing during daylight hours... Therefore, I decided to head to 4 Brother's Pizza for some slices instead.  I went for 3 for variety reasons and honestly, I could eat that much.
 
Of course I had to get the Beef and Blue Cheese as a comparison to Uncle Fatih's and it was naturally different.  Although the crust was thin and crispy, it was noticeably less airy than Uncle Fatih's.  To state whether it was better or not as good would be completely subjective.  I can definitively say I liked the crust.  As for the topping, it was very similar with bits of crispy beef and blue cheese dressing.  I would've liked to see more dressing as it wasn't very impactful.  I did like that the pizza was not salty at all.  My next slice was the Capicollo and it did not disappoint in the spice department.  Combined with the cheese and mild tomato sauce, it created a zesty concoction of flavours.  I liked how the entire slice was covered with meat.

Lastly, I had the Ham & Pineapple which was pretty standard in taste.  It did have lots of pineapple which added a good amount of sweetness.  The ham was lean and completely covered the slice.  I didn't really notice the tomato sauce very much, but then again, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.  Hey, for 2 bucks a slice and open until 3:00am, 4 Brothers did the trick.  I'd hit it up again for some slices when I'm all alone.

The Good:
- Priced right
- Crispy thin crust
- Decent amount of toppings

The Bad:
- Sauce could've had more impact

Burnaby Empty Bowls Fundraiser

In anticipation of attending the Burnaby Empty Bowls Fundraiser, I'd like to draw attention to the wonderful event for a worthy cause.  On Thursday, April 18th, 2013, the 7th annual fundraiser (at the Hilton Metrotown Hotel) will benefit the less fortunate in the community.  Bites for the event will be prepared by celebrated local chefs, including Chef Scott Jaeger of The Pear Tree Restaurant, Chef Tong Lim of the Hilton, Chef Alana Peckham of the Hart House Restaurant, Chef Daniel Craig of EBO Restaurant, and Baker Jack Kuyer of The Valley Bakery.  Tasty samplings will also be created by the Burnaby School District's ACE-it Culinary Program, led by renowned culinary instructor Steve Wade.  If you would like to attend and support a good cause, visit their website to buy tickets.  See you there!

YM Food Ltd

Whenever I need to shop for Chinese groceries, I tend to go with T&T despite the relatively higher prices compared to markets in Chinatown, Crystal Mall and Richmond.  Blame it on convenience factor and in the end, predictability.  However, since we were already in Richmond, I decided to brave the Public Market for once. Thinking back, I don't think we've ever really shopped at the Market.  We've only been here for eats and that was a long time ago.  While perusing the meats and other items for hot pot, I came across YM Food Ltd which featured Chinese BBQ.  There and then, I decided to try them out since I really didn't think I'd be back anytime soon. Reason?  The parking lot.  Heck, when has there ever been a good experience in an Asian mall parking lot???

Anyways, I decided to go for the big 3 starting with the Roast Pork. It was fairly lean, hence it wasn't exactly fatty and moist.  However, the skin had a decent colour and was crunchy without being hard.  Next up was the BBQ Pork which featured a nice bark where it was "stiff" in texture while exhibiting sweetness.  The meat itself was a little dry, but the overall texture was not chewy. With an appealing roasted colour, the BBQ Duck was, in my mind, prepared beautifully.  The fat was nicely rendered while the skin was not soggy.  The meat, including the breast, was super moist and flavourful without being salty. Not bad.  Not bad at all.  I wouldn't put it in the same class as HK BBQ Master, but really, there are not a lot that qualify.

The Good:
- Decent BBQ
- I asked for 1 pound and I got more or less that

The Bad:
- Parking sucks (but that is a given right?)

Congee Noodle King

Believe it or not, my first ever post on this blog was Congee Noodle King.  Yah, not the most exciting place, but hey, I like the food there.  And much like the first post, the same crew was here for this re-visit.  After all these years, Milhouse, Lionel Hutz, Polka King, Emilicious, Gordo Gadget Girl, Mr. Blueberry and Sweet Tooth (along with Polka Dot), have continued to stuff their faces on my food adventures.  Kinda nostalgic and brings a tear to my eye...  Wait, I think that was just some dust on my contact...  So what's so good about CNK?  Well, as the name implies, they specialize in congee and wonton noodles.

As such, Gordo and I decided to split both of those aforementioned items. I gave the Wonton Noodles a try first and yes, it was as good as I remembered.  Now, we've been back to CNK quite a few times since 2008, and I have to say the noodles were spot on every time.  As exemplified in the picture, the all-shrimp wontons were large and texturally on point with a pronounced snap.  The noodles were chewy while the soup was flavourful (with hits of sweetness and shrimp shell) and clean.  A very solid bowl of wonton noodles.  Onto the Preserved Egg and Salted Pork Congee, it also did not disappoint.  It was thick and remained mostly so until the last drop.  There was no absence of ingredients with large chunks of preserved egg and tenderized pork slices.  The pork itself was not really all that salty though.

As a side, I decided to add a plate of Assorted Offal which included tripe, brisket and tendon atop boiled lettuce.  I found the tripe to be too soft, but then again it was late in the day, so it could've been sitting around.  The tendon was good though while the brisket was quite meaty and slightly chewy.  Flavourwise, there was depth since the stuff had been sitting in the braising liquid for quite some time.  Milhouse, being the health conscious person that he is, got a side of Salty Donut to go with his congee.  I took a sample and it was obviously not fried to order (but I wasn't expecting it to be either) and was a quite dense.  It was no longer that crunchy either.  But when dunked into the congee, it really didn't matter too much.

Polka King (in a cameo appearance) and Polka Dot shared 2 items including the da lang portion of the Sweet & Sour Pork.  Exhibiting a shade of radioactive red, the pieces of pork were meaty and fairly moist  The exterior was crunchy in spots while the sauce was mostly sweet.  At least there wasn't too much sauce though.  They also had the Seafood Fried Noodles which was topped with an appealing array of ingredients.  Polka Dot found the noodles a bit bland while the cornstarch gravy was slightly thick and a bit slimy. Although the seafood was cooked quite well. The fish and scallops were cooked perfectly and still moist in the centre.  The squid, on the other hand, was a bit chewy. The Shanghai bok choy was a bit stringy and were cut into slightly too large pieces. One half of the noodles were crispy and surprisingly not burnt.

Lionel Hutz ended up with the Rice Noodles with Brisket. He thought it was okay where the texture and firmness of noodles was fine.  The taste and texture of the meat was okay, but he has had better. Moreover, the vegetables seemed to be fresh.  Mr. Blueberry went for the Yeung Chow Fried Rice which exhibited good wok heat.  It had crunchy shrimp and was well seasoned.  He thought it was exactly how it should be.  And really, most of the food was predictable and more than acceptable, especially for late night eats.  In fact, I find their wontons to be some of the best in the city.  Definitely a solid choice for congee, noodles and Cantonese fare any time of the day.

The Good:
- Reliable eats
- Good wontons and congee (like the name says)
- Open late

The Bad:
- Service is lacking in attentiveness