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It seems that "getting a good deal" is something that is harder and harder to come by. Sure, we can merely go for a bowl of Pho and consider a good value, but is hardly a deal anymore. So when Whipping Girl mentioned that there was this great lunch set meal at Sura, I was skeptical. Korean food AND in Downtown? Yah, what kinda deal were we looking at? Apparently there are 2 set meals with one being $15.00pp and the other $20.00pp. Okay, that doesn't seem like much of a deal price-wise, but please stay with me.
We went for the $20.00 menu and it started with a Green Salad. Hey, it was a green salad. And in the words of Forrest Gump, "that's all I have to say about that". Right behind it was the Dong Chimi, which is a type of kimchi in a brine. The veggies were crisp, pickled (of course) and a bit spicy. A refreshing way to start the meal. Arriving at the same time, we got the Tang Pyeong Chae. Consisting of mung bean "noodles" (not really noodles, but I'll call them that here) and a bunch of julienned veggies, this was dressed in a nice sesame vinegar dressing. Good textures and properly seasoned, I could've eaten more of that, but... then the Japchae was placed on our ever-shrinking table space. This was a well-made Japchae with chewy noodles with just the right amount of veggies and tender meat. It was not greasy and balanced in flavour (not too sweet).
Next, we got 3 dishes of Banchan including Kimchi, Kong Jang and Cucumbers & Carrots with black sesame. The kimchi had a nice crunch, yet could've been spicier in my opinion. I liked how it wasn't too salty. I enjoyed the soy beans as they had a nice bite with a rich sweetness. The cucumbers and carrots were okay, not as crunchy as I would've liked. However, there was a nice sesame hit, which I personally love. On a side note, they had asked us during the meal if we wanted a refill of the Banchan - very attentive and generous. Now, with almost no room left on the table, they crammed the Jeyuk Bulgogi onto the edge. Their attempt at artistic plating may have seemed weird, but the pork was prepared quite well. There was a good ratio of meat to veggies where the pork was moist, spicy and sweet. The depth-of-flavour was apparent as well. We both received a bowl of rice to go with this and the rest of the meal.
Yes, this was only halfway! Next time, we swore to get a bigger table because the Kimchi Pancake was practically on top of other plates. Not sure why they used such a big plate... Despite being on the softer and wet side, the doughy pancake had a wealth of flavour thanks to the kimchi. I felt it was quite greasy, but what Korean pancake isn't? The scallion/veggie-to-pancake ratio was good as there was crunch in every bite. Moving alone, we had the Galbi Jjim, or beef short ribs. We found these to be quite sweet from the marinade and the accompanying glaze. The meat was definitely tender while slightly dry at the same time. With that being said, it was not hard to chew at all and each piece was meaty.
Even before we could even dig into half of our food, the Sweet & Sour Fried Fish arrived. Man, was this a large portion considering the amount of food we already had on the table! This was an appetizing dish with crispy battered fish dressed in a thick spicy sweet and sour glaze. There was a nice contrast between the crunchy thick batter and the flaky moist fish. I'm usually not a huge fan of this type of dish, but I liked this one. Now, I didn't really like the Squid Salad though. As you can clearly see in the picture, it was super hard to find the squid. At first, we didn't even know what the darn thing was. Far too many greens on the plate and little-to-no squid made this a fail. And even when we found the squid, the pieces were so small, we didn't get a sense of the dish. The only thing we could pick out was the nice spice.
You think we were done? No way, there was more! Next we had their version of Bossom. Instead of being wrapped in a leaf, the pork belly was atop a slice of pickled daikon and topped with what we believed was doenjang. First off, the pork belly was cooked just right as it was melt-in-our mouths tender, yet the fat and skin had a gelatinous texture. The combination of acidity, saltiness, spice and sweetness created a balance of flavours. After that, we had a classic being the Tang Sooyuk or Korean-style sweet & sour pork. Unfortunately, the pork was far too lean and hence was really dry when fried up. The exterior was crisp and not greasy, but the dense pork killed the dish. Too bad really since the sauce had a nice tartness to counteract the intense sweetness.
Mercifully, since we were full and the table had no room left, our last dish was the Doenjang Jjigae or fermented soy bean paste and vegetable stew. Bam! There was the intense flavour that hit us when we took a sip. The combination of the salty paste, dried anchovies, garlic and onions created a firestorm of flavour. That was a great end to the savoury part of the meal as we had one last thing being the Rice Punch. A light refreshing way to end a glutinous meal. All this was had for $20.00pp and to think the $15.00pp meal is practically the same. This, my friends is what you call a deal.
The Good:
- More hits than misses with the food
- We got good service
- The lunch special set meals are a great value
The Bad:
- Even with a bigger table, there still isn't enough room for all the food
- Great value, but they could've staggered the food a bit, as we were overwhelmed
When Gawa Sushi opened up in North Delta, I was wondering if we would finally have a decent Japanese restaurant that was an alternative to Minori (good, but small portions), Akari (okay, but pricey), Nordel Sushi (ew...), Tokyo Express (average) and Hatto (double ew...). Nope, Gawa just provided the same mediocre stuff. *sigh* Wait, what's this? Kami Japanese at Strawberry Hill? With a snazzy dining space and fusion menu, I was a bit skeptical. My first visit consisted of a Chirashi Don (yes again...) and it was pretty good. It was a large portion of chewy flavourful sushi rice topped with lots of nicely textured sashimi. That inspired me to do several return visits just to make sure.
On my second visit, I had Combo C (bottom right clockwise, there was Ebiyonnaise, Reno Roll, Sashimi, Nigiri and Spicy Love Roll). The Ebiyonnaise featured a airy and crispy batter where the shrimp had a light snap. The drizzle of lemony mayo was flavourful and garlicky. Cut into big slices, the Sashimi was not overbearing to eat since each slice was not too thick. There was nothing amiss with the raw fish as the textures were good and the flavours were clean. With the Nigiri, there was a good fish-to-rice ratio. Again, nothing wrong with the salmon, toro and ebi. The rice itself was not bad having a mild sweetness and slight vinegar hit. Texturally, it was chewy and only slightly gummy. The Spicy Love Roll, lived up to its namesake as the buttery soft tuna on top had a kick while the tobiko provided a nice pop. The inside
was essentially a dynamite roll consisting of ebi tempura, imitation crab and avocado. I liked how they used a minimal amount of rice as the roll was not very heavy. Lastly, there was the Reno Roll which included cream cheese, avocado, imitation crab and salmon which was battered and deep fried. The drizzle of house sauce was similar to teriyaki being sweet and savoury. I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese in sushi, but this was just enough. I also got a Chicken Don and it was decent. The rice was chewy while the veggies on top were not wet. The chicken had a nice charred flavour and was sufficiently moist. My only wish would be more sauce.
On another visit, I tried the Assorted Tempura which was plated with effort and care. In the end, it was a nicely executed dish where the tempura batter was uniform and light. It was crunchy all the way through and not greasy at all. Each piece was carefully cut and were cooked just right. The ebi had a light snap and was naturally sweet. Only complaint was the dipping sauce, it was a tad too sweet. In addition, I tried their Katsu Don which had the same chewy rice as the chicken don. There was enough sauce to flavour the entire bowl, yet didn't drown the rice either. It was sweet with some savoury elements. Unfortunately, the katsu was on the drier side and the exterior was not crisp in the least.
Lastly, I had the Chicken Yakisoba and it was pretty saucy, but not excessively. With the amount of sauce, the noodles were really sweet and slightly wet. But I did appreciate the touch of tartness which cut through the sweetness. There was lots of moist chicken throughout. After 3 visits, I've developed an appreciation for Kami, not because it is outstanding, but because it is better than the rest in the area (combination of price, quality and decor). And sometimes, that is all that counts.
The Good:
- Above-average eats
- Modern decor
- Friendly people
The Bad:
- They did say fusion, so don't expect super-authenticity
- A bit higher priced that other Japanese restaurants in the area (except for Akari)
There is no other way to say it, but I love Chili. There is also no other way to say it, but it can be an airy and bloated experience as well. But I braved that reality and accepted the responsibility of being one of the judges in the 26th Annual Canadian Festival of Chili & BBQ out in Langley at the Cascades Casino (parking lot). With over 30 participants, I was going to need some Pepto or some alone time on the porcelain throne (TMI?).
We were there to judge CASI (Chili Appreciation Society International) Chili which can only be Texas-style chili. They don't mess around here because this type of chili must adhere to strict guidelines (no beans or any other material other than ground or cubed meat). So with scoring card ready, some palate cleansers (carrots and celery) and a whole lot of spoons, we set forth to try 16 different Texas-style chilis. We were given specific criteria to look for in a good chili such as smell, consistency, texture, taste and finish. Hey, they don't mess around!
Essentially, there were 2 versions of the Texas-style Chili - ground and cubed. The ground meat type is the one most people associate with chili and as simple as it may seem, getting the texture right is important. I found that most of them were quite moist with a good meat chew. Some were spicier than others while some were more mild, yet still flavourful from the addition of more cumin. As for the cubed type, depending on the size of the cut, it was almost like a stew. Naturally, this version would offer up some more meat texture and more chew as well.
After 16 samples, most of us braved the Home-Style Chili cook off where there were no rules. Hence, there were a host of ingredients including corn, chickpeas, mushroom and of course various beans. Some were quite interesting and stretched the definition of chili. I found the several versions of chili verde a nice departure from the usual. I personally like spicy food and found that some were too mild for my tastes. But then again, my stomach would probably disagree vehemently. At the end, we had sampled 18 of these home-style chilis.
Don't worry if you missed the chili competition because on June 23rd, 2013 (that's today), the BC BBQ Championship runs from 11:00am to 2:00pm with pork butt, brisket, chicken and ribs competing in order on the hour. So what are you waiting for? Make your way down to Cascades Casino in Langley for some Sunday meat action!
Despite its popularity, I've never jumped on the cupcake bandwagon. Sure, I'm not a huge fan of sweets, but that doesn't mean I don't mind having my cake and eat it too. Besides, my daughter loves cupcakes and that automatically makes me obliged to buy them. So I finally decided to check out Cassia Cupcakery after numerous inquisitive near visits. Yah, I drive by it all the time and never felt the urge to stop and find parking. I did this time...
Similarly displayed like Cupcakes and with familiar flavours, I was hoping that Cassia would woo me over to the cupcake world. I picked up some minis including (from top and clockwise) 2 Red Velvet, Lemon, Vanilla with Chocolate Frosting, Cookies and Cream and Pink Vanilla. Okay, let me cut to the chase. For the price I paid, I expected, at the very least, good cupcakes. Sadly, these were far from moist and the flavours were quite weak. I didn't enjoy the frosting as it was heavy and sweet. On the positive side, they did look pretty.
I also got 2 full-sized cupcakes to make everything fair. Both were chocolate with the one on the left being Peanut Butter and the one on the right being Strawberry White Chocolate (I think... not sure because I couldn't even eat a bit of the frosting). Being bigger cupcakes, they were not as dry, but they were hardly moist. The frostings were just too cumbersome to eat. And to think that I thought Cupcakes were hard to swallow. I take that back. Alas, not only did this visit to Cassia Cupcakery not woo me over, it turned me off.
The Good:
- They're pretty
- Vegan options
The Bad:
- Cake dry
- Frosting heavy and greasy
There are those restaurants that you know about because they are either highly visible from the street and/or highly hyped by advertisements and social media. Hence, there are no surprises when someone mentions them by name during a conversation. But there are some restaurants out there that barely anyone knows about unless you live nearby. Embarrassingly enough, I've lived near The Hop & Vine Taphouse (have you heard about it???) for around 7 years and as much as I knew about it, I never dared to walk in. Honestly, from the outside, it doesn't even look like a restaurant. It took an actual invite to their Man vs. Meat Father's Day Long Table Dinner to get me into the place.
Much like the one I had at The Pumphouse, there would be 5 courses with accompanying craft beer pairings. For $40.00 plus taxes and tip, you can't get much of a better deal than that. We started with the Chopped Salad consisting of grilled sweet & spicy pork loin served on chopped salad, crispy wonton strips and ginger dressing. The flavours were nice with a sweet gingery thing going on, yet it wasn't that spicy. As for the pork, it was pretty dry. This was paired with Two Beers Evolutionary IPA which I found to be quite smooth going down. Next up was the Italian Involtini which was a free-run chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella & wrapped with prosciutto atop a Parmesan risotto. I found the chicken to be really dry even with the cheese. The prosciutto was good though with a nice chew and saltiness. As for the risotto, it was overdone and quite salty. However, the pop of the sweet peas was nice. This was paired with an Odin Freya's Gold Kolsch Style Ale which had a lemony bite.
Onto the 3rd course, we had the Sticky Asian Baby Back Ribs glazed with an Asian BBQ sauce atop Asian slaw. Unlike the previous 2 proteins, this one was done right with moist ribs which still had a wonderful chew. The BBQ sauce was a bit sweet, spicy and just a touch of savouriness. The slaw was crunchy with a noticeable sesame oil hit, but could've used more acidity. This was paired with Two Beers Forester IPA which was my personal favourite as it just had "hit-me-in-the-face" initial taste. Doing it's best Montreal smoked meat impersonation, the Braised Smoky Beef Brisket with cabbage, onions and mustard, was fantastic. It was buttery soft while maintaining a bouncy bite. Eaten with the sweet cabbage, onions and a touch of mustard, it was a party in my mouth. This was paired with an Odin's Gift Ruby Ale. I found it to be full-bodied with some fruity notes.
Finally, for dessert, we had a Chocolate Cupcake with maple bacon frosting. For a taphouse, I gotta give them props for making one moist cupcake. It wasn't particularly chocolaty (despite the colour) while being only semi-sweet. There was just enough bacony sweet frosting to add some punch to the cupcake. This was paired with an Alameda Papa Noel Olde Ale which went well with the cupcake because of the chocolaty notes. As much as the meal started off slowly, it picked up and ended off on a high note. Sure, there were some issues with some dishes, but for $40.00 with 5 pints of beer, there was not much to complain about - other than staggering home afterwards...
The Good:
- C'mon, for $40.00, this was a steal
- You get to meet some new friends
The Bad:
- Some proteins were dry
There we were, finishing up our meal. Along with the bill, the dreaded (not-a-real-Chinese thing) fortune cookie awaited us. One-by-one we opened our non-nonsensical fortunes, until it got to me. One crack of the crunchy cookie and *GASP*, it was empty! I had no fortune! What did it mean??? FML! Yes, that was at the end of our meal at Chengu Szechuan Bistro. Fortunately (what an ironic word...), our meal turned better than my cookie. We ended up here because our initial plans didn't work out as Guu Kobachi was more packed than a car returning from the outlet malls. They were nice enough to serve us even though we arrived at closing.
What caught our attention at first was the Peking Duck plastered all over the front door. Peking Duck? At 10:30pm after hockey? Sure, why not! For $38.00, we got a whole duck with 2 courses. The first course was the crispy skin with crepes. This was surprisingly good with an attractive colour and crispy skin. The layer of fat was not substantial while the meat was moist and soft. The crepes were a touch on the chewier side, but okay nonetheless. Now the order of Xiao Long Bao were not okay. The dumpling skin was far too thick and doughy while the meat filling was mealy and bland. We were willing to give them a pass on this one since they are not a Shanghainese restaurant. However, with Dinesty nearby, no XLB is safe.
Onto another good dish, we had the Szechuan Green Beans. Normally, this dish is more often than not prepared mild. Not here. It was spicy and really had a pop in our mouths. The beans still had a bite even though they were cooked through. There was evidence of good wok heat since the bottom of the plate was dry except for the bits of ground pork, chilis and onions. Something surprising was the spice level of the Shanghai Fried Noodles. Normally, this dish is very mild with little in the way of veggies except for cabbage. The prawns were plump with a snap while the chicken was a bit dry. The dish as a whole was in need of some salt and possibly could've done without all the vegetables as it made the noodles wet.
Lastly, the second course, being the Duck Lettuce Wrap, of the Peking Duck arrived. The stir-fried filling was pretty legit with big chunks of duck, water chestnuts and onion. The flavour was mild, yet effective while there was a good balance of crunch and meat. However, we needed more than the 6 provided lettuce cups and each additional was 50 cents (pretty steep). Despite our initial concerns about being a "fusion" restaurant, Chengdu surprised us with a well-made Peking Duck and Szechuan Beans. Sure, the XLBs were not great, but they're not a Shanghainese restaurant. There was enough here to warrant another look.
The Good:
- Surprisingly good Peking Duck
- Friendly attentive service
- Modern decor
The Bad:
- A tad pricey, but it's Downtown afterall
- It's nit-picking, but a leaf of lettuce for 50 cents?
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It seems that "getting a good deal" is something that is harder and harder to come by. Sure, we can merely go for a bowl of Pho and consider a good value, but is hardly a deal anymore. So when Whipping Girl mentioned that there was this great lunch set meal at Sura, I was skeptical. Korean food AND in Downtown? Yah, what kinda deal were we looking at? Apparently there are 2 set meals with one being $15.00pp and the other $20.00pp. Okay, that doesn't seem like much of a deal price-wise, but please stay with me.
We went for the $20.00 menu and it started with a Green Salad. Hey, it was a green salad. And in the words of Forrest Gump, "that's all I have to say about that". Right behind it was the Dong Chimi, which is a type of kimchi in a brine. The veggies were crisp, pickled (of course) and a bit spicy. A refreshing way to start the meal. Arriving at the same time, we got the Tang Pyeong Chae. Consisting of mung bean "noodles" (not really noodles, but I'll call them that here) and a bunch of julienned veggies, this was dressed in a nice sesame vinegar dressing. Good textures and properly seasoned, I could've eaten more of that, but... then the Japchae was placed on our ever-shrinking table space. This was a well-made Japchae with chewy noodles with just the right amount of veggies and tender meat. It was not greasy and balanced in flavour (not too sweet).
Next, we got 3 dishes of Banchan including Kimchi, Kong Jang and Cucumbers & Carrots with black sesame. The kimchi had a nice crunch, yet could've been spicier in my opinion. I liked how it wasn't too salty. I enjoyed the soy beans as they had a nice bite with a rich sweetness. The cucumbers and carrots were okay, not as crunchy as I would've liked. However, there was a nice sesame hit, which I personally love. On a side note, they had asked us during the meal if we wanted a refill of the Banchan - very attentive and generous. Now, with almost no room left on the table, they crammed the Jeyuk Bulgogi onto the edge. Their attempt at artistic plating may have seemed weird, but the pork was prepared quite well. There was a good ratio of meat to veggies where the pork was moist, spicy and sweet. The depth-of-flavour was apparent as well. We both received a bowl of rice to go with this and the rest of the meal.
Yes, this was only halfway! Next time, we swore to get a bigger table because the Kimchi Pancake was practically on top of other plates. Not sure why they used such a big plate... Despite being on the softer and wet side, the doughy pancake had a wealth of flavour thanks to the kimchi. I felt it was quite greasy, but what Korean pancake isn't? The scallion/veggie-to-pancake ratio was good as there was crunch in every bite. Moving alone, we had the Galbi Jjim, or beef short ribs. We found these to be quite sweet from the marinade and the accompanying glaze. The meat was definitely tender while slightly dry at the same time. With that being said, it was not hard to chew at all and each piece was meaty.
Even before we could even dig into half of our food, the Sweet & Sour Fried Fish arrived. Man, was this a large portion considering the amount of food we already had on the table! This was an appetizing dish with crispy battered fish dressed in a thick spicy sweet and sour glaze. There was a nice contrast between the crunchy thick batter and the flaky moist fish. I'm usually not a huge fan of this type of dish, but I liked this one. Now, I didn't really like the Squid Salad though. As you can clearly see in the picture, it was super hard to find the squid. At first, we didn't even know what the darn thing was. Far too many greens on the plate and little-to-no squid made this a fail. And even when we found the squid, the pieces were so small, we didn't get a sense of the dish. The only thing we could pick out was the nice spice.
You think we were done? No way, there was more! Next we had their version of Bossom. Instead of being wrapped in a leaf, the pork belly was atop a slice of pickled daikon and topped with what we believed was doenjang. First off, the pork belly was cooked just right as it was melt-in-our mouths tender, yet the fat and skin had a gelatinous texture. The combination of acidity, saltiness, spice and sweetness created a balance of flavours. After that, we had a classic being the Tang Sooyuk or Korean-style sweet & sour pork. Unfortunately, the pork was far too lean and hence was really dry when fried up. The exterior was crisp and not greasy, but the dense pork killed the dish. Too bad really since the sauce had a nice tartness to counteract the intense sweetness.
Mercifully, since we were full and the table had no room left, our last dish was the Doenjang Jjigae or fermented soy bean paste and vegetable stew. Bam! There was the intense flavour that hit us when we took a sip. The combination of the salty paste, dried anchovies, garlic and onions created a firestorm of flavour. That was a great end to the savoury part of the meal as we had one last thing being the Rice Punch. A light refreshing way to end a glutinous meal. All this was had for $20.00pp and to think the $15.00pp meal is practically the same. This, my friends is what you call a deal.
