Kwong Chow Congee Noodle House

Recently, I've been playing drop-in hockey at Hillcrest Community Centre because I needed more practice.  After every game, Milhouse, Gordo and I have made our way over to Kwong Chow for some late night eats.  If you can believe it, I've been doing this without a camera or any intentions of blogging about it.  However, this week was different.  Apparently, Stripes figured out that I was the food-blogging goalie.  Hence, he wanted to join us for eats as well.  Therefore, to give him the full-meal deal, I decided to lug out the DSLR.

Keeping inline with its namesake, almost all of us had the Wonton Noodles.  For me, I find it quite competitive with the other good wonton noodles in town (which include Congee Noodle King, Congee Noodle House, Ho Yuen Kee, Michigan, Neptune, MaxNoodle).  The soup base itself packed lots of flavour while the noodles having that chewy "just barely cooked" quality.  As for the large wontons, they were comprised of large chunks of crunchy shrimp and a bit of pork filler.  We ended up sharing 2 dishes starting with the Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice.  This was not bad as there was proper wok heat where the rice was dry and chewy.  There was plenty of salted fish and moist nuggets of chicken which added plenty of flavour.  We also had the Rice Noodles with Bak Choy & Beef which arrived as a fairly large portion.  The noodles were lightly fried up (with only a modest amount of oil) where they were soft without falling apart.  The starch-thickened sauce had a nice consistency and was generally quite mild while the beef was properly tenderized and the Shanghai bak choy was still crisp.

On the following Thursday, we made our 4th straight visit after hockey (must be some kind of record for me).  I ended up going for their other specialty being the congee, specifically the Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee.  Sadly, the broth was not thick enough and became watery shortly after my first few spoonfuls.  Despite the good amount of preserved egg, the salted pork was shredded to the point it was almost not there.  Furthermore, I didn't get much flavour from the broth or the pork itself.  Much like last time, we ended up sharing a few things including the Sweet & Sour Pork.  It was a modest portion consisting of small chunks of pork.  There was a mix of fatty and meaty pieces which were fried up crunchy, yet with chunks so small, we really didn't get much meat texture.  As for the sauce, it was quite balance between tart and sweet.

To get some veggies in our pathetic diets, we got the Gai Lan with Beef.  We found the gai lan to be a bit overcooked lacking the usual crunch.  On the other hand, the beef was properly tenderized where it was easy to chew while still maintaining a meat texture.  It was overseasoned though being quite salty. Overall, from all the visits, we agreed that Kwong Chow is a decent place for late night eats.  However, the nearby Congee Noodle House is probably a better choice.

The Good:
- Open late
- Good wontons
- All around acceptable eats

The Bad:
- Congee is too watery
- Food is acceptable, but CNH is better

Fung Sing Cafe

Restaurants open, restaurants close.  But with Asian restaurants, there is seemingly a revolving door of name changes.  Sometimes, they don't even change the name such as the case with Golden Pizza & Sandwich.  It is a Vietnamese restaurant that kept the original name of the previous restaurant.  This is not the case with Fung Sing Cafe on Hastings as it was Sun Yee Cafe before.  However, it is still a Hong Kong-style cafe and was our choice of eats after Sunday morning hockey.

Seeing how I had another hockey game later in the day, I decided to load up on calories by ordering 2 meals.  I started with the DIY Soup Noodle with a lobster broth and rice noodles topped with brisket and sliced fish.  The lobster broth was not exactly screaming out with flavour, but I did get some essence.  It was somewhat thick which was almost bisque-like, yet in the end, it was not bad.  The rice noodles were plentiful and nicely chewy while there was plenty of veggies on top.  I found the brisket to be quite fatty which meant the meat was moist.  The basa was cooked just right being flaky and soft.  For my second item, I had the 2-Item Combo consisting of Ox Tongue and Chicken Steak with black pepper sauce.  It was accompanied by al dente spaghetti and frozen veggies (except for the broccoli).  The thinly- sliced ox tongue was soft and fatty while the chicken steak was juicy and fried a golden brown.  I found the black pepper sauce to be flavourful and mild with a nice consistency.

Not to be outdone, JuJu ordered 2 items as well starting with the Stir-Fried Flat Rice Noodles with Beef.  It arrived with an aesthetically-pleasing caramelized dark soy colour where the dish was not that greasy.  The beef was tenderized beautifully as it had a nice chew while being tender.  The dish was seasoned just enough where it was flavourful without being salty.  His second dish was the Baked Spaghetti Bolognese.  For those unfamiliar, you can't confuse this with the real Italian dish.  Sure, there is beef, carrots and onions, but that is where the similarities ends.  In this HK-style cafe version, there is star anise and plenty of sugar.  The one here was pretty typical with a nice thick consistency with a good balance of sweetness and savouriness.  The noodles were not only al dente, I found them to be a little dry.

Milhouse wimped out again (much like the time at Jules) and had only one dish - Yeung Chow Fried Rice.  It exhibited good wok heat where the rice was dry and nutty.  There was ample amount of BBQ pork, crunchy shrimp and fluffy egg.  The rice was really flavourful and after awhile was pretty salty. "Not bad" was pretty much our sentiment about the place.  Everything met our expectations without exceeding them.  Service was decent considering the place was packed.  Although the prices weren't exactly high, the portion sizes were quite modest.

The Good:
- Decently prepared eats
- Although sparse at times, the service was not bad
- Lots of choice

The Bad:
- Prices aren't high, but portion size is not huge either
- Really cramped seating, smallest booth we've ever sat in

Pho Nhuận

The first time I had visited Pho Nhuận was on a hot Summer day and no, they did not have A/C (or did not turn it on).  Thus, I ate pretty quickly and hightailed it out-of-there faster than the one of Mason Raymond's rushes fizzling out.  I think I was soaked in sweat when I left (that's how they eat it in Vietnam right???) This time around, Milhouse, Kaiser Soze and JuJu joined me after Sunday hockey.  And much like last time, it was a warm day.  Yup, they didn't have the A/C on either.

Seeing how Kaiser Soze and JuJu went for Pho, I decided to try the Bun Bo Hue.  Thankfully I did because the broth was pretty tasty with hits of lemongrass, savouriness and a good level of spice.  The pork blood and knuckle added some legitimacy to the bowl as well.  Unfortunately, there was a puny amount of noodles and meat which marred what would've been a pretty good bowl of Bun Bo Hue.  As if I had a premonition, I had ordered a Lemongrass Chicken and Fried Egg on Rice as well.  I easily dusted this off after my really modest portion of noodles.  The broken rice had a nice softness to it while still having some chew.  The one piece of chicken was flavourful with hits of sweetness and lemongrass.  However, it was a tad dry in places.  The fried egg was nice and runny.  Once again, the portion size was not exactly large.  

AND on top of that, I shared a Banh Mi Dac Biet with Milhouse.  I really wasn't a huge fan of the bread as it was dense and not that crusty.  The meats were okay, yet there was far too much butter-mayo which made the inside wet.  That was the same complaint by JuJu and his Meatball Banh Mi.  The meat was moist enough, but there was just too much moisture which softened the already not-crunchy bread. Milhouse tried the Dry Noodles at my urging and he cursed me for doing so.  I said it would be like the one found at Phnom Penh, but it was nothing like it.  The noodles were slimy while the soy dressing was too sweet and lacked the savouriness compared to Phnom Penh.  

And finally back to the Pho, it was also a modest portion in terms of noodles and meat.  Nothing particularly wrong with them though. As for the broth, it was pretty light despite the rich hue.  Not a whole lot of meatiness nor many distinguishing flavours.  With that being said, it wasn't bad either. Overall, this revisit was pretty much a mirror image of my first time.  The food was generally okay and serviceable except for the Banh Mi.  However, I found the Bun Bo Hue a real highlight.

The Good:
- Good Bun Bo Hue
- Serviceable food

The Bad:
- Smallish portions
- Either A/C is broken or they don't use it
- I know it isn't their specialty but don't eat the Banh Mi

Delta Lion Pub

Sometimes, there are places one tries to avoid despite its proximity.  As much as I could easily eat at the Delta Lion over and over again, I just never did feel like it. More often than not, I'd just grab a bowl of Pho at Stanley next door.  Heck, I've been to the Subway in the same complex many times over rather than eat at the Delta Lion. It's not clear why I am so apprehensive.  Well, with Ma treating, it was about time I tired the place out.

I decided to try the Pulled Pork Poutine first.  Unfortunately, all of the cheese curds were completely melted, hence, I couldn't tell if they were squeaky or not.  However, there was lots of it and it was stringy.  The fresh-cut fries were not as crispy as I would've liked, but they were decent considering many places use the frozen Sysco variety.  The thick gravy was okay, but could've used more punch as it was very mild.  As for the pulled pork, it was dry and lifeless.  It could've used some sort of moisture or sauce for both texture and flavour.  I was surprised to see a wood-burning oven in the kitchen and my Margherita Pizza benefited from it.  It wasn't exactly Neapolitan-style nor was I expecting that.  For a thin crust pizza, it had all the important components: crunchy thin crust, an adequate amount of cheese and fresh tomatoes.

Ma had the Beef Dip and it arrived with a bun that was paler than a Vancouverite in December.  The bun was soft though as well as the roast beef.  The dip resembled my gravy where it could've used more meat flavour.  Duffman had the Burger and it was pretty standard, except that was some of the most pale lettuce we've seen in a while.  It did the job though.  So should have I been avoiding the Delta Lion all this time?  Well yes and no.  Nothing was terrible, yet nothing was really good either.  It did the job though, if you want some grub with your beer.

The Good:
- Spacious
- Decent pizza from a wood-burning oven

The Bad:
- Food is pretty average

Maruko Japanese Noodle House

*Restaurant is closed*

How much ramen does one street need?  Well, an endless supply of course.  Welcome to Robson, where a ramen shop can be found on one end to the other.  I've been to all of them except for one and you know what that means - I've going to try it.  So I enlisted the help of my ramen buddy Snake (we went to Marutama last time) for some noodle action at Maruko, situated near Hon's and Miko.

I ended up getting the combo which included a BBQ Pork Onigiri to start.  Similiar to a musubi found in Hawaii, this one here was fried and filled with shredded pork.  I enjoyed the non-greasy crispiness on the outside, yet, the pork was rather dry and lifeless on the inside.  For my main, I got the Shio Ramen which included bamboo shoots, nori, chashu and egg.  Although the broth was not super rich, it did have good flavour.  I didn't find it overly salty while it exhibited depth.  The noodles were al dente while the egg was pretty good.

Snake had the other combo which included a Roasted Pork Don.  The rice was chewy while the pork was fatty and tender.  It exhibited a nice roasted appearance and taste.  For his main, he opted for the Spicy Miso Ramen which was a good combination of salty and spicy.  Of course it wasn't overly spicy, but there was a slow rumble.  The chashu were in thick slices and a bit pale looking.  However, they were fatty and super moist.  It practically melted in our mouths.  It had a nice roasted pork flavour as well.

Since ramen never fills me up, I got the BBQ Chicken Don for good measure.  It was a fairly good portion of the same chewy rice and plenty of juicy chicken pieces on top.  Although there was good flavour with enough sauce seeping into the rice, I found the chicken lacking a BBQ essence.  I guess a bit more charring would've helped. Not trying to sound repetitive, but Maruko joins the rest of the bunch as being an above-average ramen experience.

The Good:
- Super friendly service
- Decent eats
- Relatively spacious

The Bad:
- Soup base tastes good, but could be richer
- Super friendly service which can be a bit excessive

Dim Sum @ Grand Dynasty

Sometimes, Dim Sum with the Mother-in-Law is akin to a full body wax a la Steve Carell (in the 40-year old Virgin).  Hence, I was in the process of making my appointment at Stripped Wax Bar when Viv appealed that it was her mom's birthday.  Oh fine, we'll go for Dim Sum.  Maybe she'll be on her birthday best behaviour and only yell at one waiter this time...  Due to the nature of this Dim Sum meal, we decided to head over to Grand Dynasty because of its "higher class" dining.  Sounded good to me since I haven't been back for Dim Sum since its opening.

We started with a slightly different version of the Baked BBQ Pork Buns.  These are known as Gwai Fei Bao where the top of the bun has a layer of sugar which offers up sweetness and a slight crispiness.  This version was good as the dough was soft and airy while the BBQ pork filling was tender and exhibited a good balance of sweet and salty.  The kids were starving so it was a blessing their favourite item, Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice) showed up early.  Unlike the mini ones found in most Dim Sum services these days, this was an ol' skool honking huge one.  Hence, it was more moist with a lot of filling.  The ground pork was tender while the ample amount of dried shrimp added a nice aroma.  However, with so much filling, it did make the entire thing a bit wet.

Moving on, the food came fast and furious where we literally ran out of room on the Lazy Susan (like it always does at Dim Sum).  The Steamed Spareribs arrived in a good portion size where the meat was chewy in a good way.  It consisted of generally meaty pieces where it was bone rather than cartilage.  There was also very little in the way of fatty chunks either.  The dish was well-seasoned with some spice and plenty of good pork flavour. Our next item was very different being the Steamed Italian Black Truffle Dumpling.  It was a combination of mushrooms and of course, black truffle.  Hence, it was super Earthy with a nice gingery hit.  The skin was thin and chewy while the whole dumpling was pleasing in texture.

Onto the most important item, the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumpling) was pretty good.  The filling was sweet with a wonderful snap while exhibiting just the right amount of moisture.  Hence it was juicy, but not wet.  The dumpling skin was thin and pleasantly chewy.  Adding to the natural sweetness was a noticeable amount of white pepper and sesame oil.  Furthermore, the inclusion of diced gai lan stalks afforded some brightness and colour.  Of course we also had the Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling) which was comprised mostly of shrimp.  Hence, there was a predominant sweet snap to the dumpling.  With so little pork, I really didn't even notice it.  Therefore, the flavour profile was mostly sweet without any real meatiness nor savouriness.

Normally, we don't order lobster during Dim Sum, but it seemed like a good idea since it was offered on the menu for a fixed price.  Sure, it wasn't a big lobster, yet for $20.98 it seemed like a decent value.  The Sauteed Lobster in Superior Sauce with noodles was in fact a pretty good deal.  The nicely prepared lobster sat atop al dente wonton noodles which were caressed by a flavourful and balanced sauce.  The lobster itself was actually decent in size.  I don't have anything in common with my Mother-in-Law (thankfully...), but we both like offal, so I ordered the Steamed Beef Tendon.  It was prepared just right where the texture was soft, while not completely melted into a mush.  There was plenty of minced garlic which tasted good, but I found that they used far too much salt.

We ended up getting both the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll and the Beef Rice Noodle Roll as well (beef not pictured). In terms of the rice noodle, it was thick and somewhat doughy.  Not bad by any stretch of the imagination though.  The shrimp filling had a nice snap where it was curiously bland (I guess that is what the soy sauce is for).  I liked the beef filling more as it was tender with some bounce while exhibiting balanced flavour with a good hit of dried orange peel.  Moving onto some fried items, we had the Fried Glutinous Rice Dumplings.  The layer of processed glutinous rice was thin, crispy on the outside and of the right consistency.  With the addition of cane sugar, the colour was interesting while the flavour was sweet.  The filling had a good amount of shrimp which was accented nicely by the crunchy preserved vegetable.

My poor son had to wait nearly to the end for his favourite dish being the Shrimp Spring Rolls.  I guess it was worth it because they were really good.  There was a lots of crunchy well-seasoned shrimp packed within the crunchy wrapper.  He ended up eating half of the dish (he needs to learn to share...).  Lastly and surprisingly, the Egg Tarts were served at the end of the meal (a major feat for a Chinese restaurant). These were also very good being semi-sweet and silky with buttery and flaky tart shell. Although I've had some shaky dinners at Grand Dynasty in the past year, this visit for Dim Sum was very good.  It is on the pricier side, but you do get the quality to back it up too.

The Good:
- Well-made and well-executed
- Nice dining space
- Decent service

The Bad:
- Pricey
- Nice dining space, but still cramped

Kam Gok Yuen

Way back when, Chinatown was the place to be.  It was the only place where you could buy groceries, eat Dim Sum and wonton noodles. Oh how times have changed. Most younger folk would rather flock to Richmond instead.  With that in mind, Milhouse and I decided to take a stroll down memory lane (sans the spitting) after Sunday hockey.  We decided to check out a classic being Kam Gok Yuen.  Now this is a place we haven't been to in over 20 years!

We ended up sharing 3 items beginning with the BBQ Pork and Duck Rice.  It was of a decent portion with plenty of meat.  We found the BBQ pork to be quite good where it exhibited that almost jerky-like exterior which was sweet and firm.  It gave way to a soft, yet meaty interior.  The BBQ duck was rather salty, but it had a nice texture where it was tender and a bit chewy at the same time.  The rice was nicely sauced with the braising liquid from the duck.

Next up was the Wonton Noodle. Consisting of pork and shrimp, the modestly-sized wontons were okay.  The shrimp had a nice snap, yet the pork was a bit too soft for my liking.  Flavourwise, it was sweet with a nice sesame oil hit.  I found the noodles to be slightly past al dente where it was not chewy anymore.  The soup was really mild and bordering on bland.  The Preserved Egg and Salted Pork Congee was pretty good despite being thickened with starch.  It was silky and thick with just enough salt.  There was plenty of preserved egg and nicely-sized pieces of real salted pork. So with basic sample of the food at Kam Gok Yuen, we found it to be fine considering its ol' skool roots.  Nothing fancy, but it does the job.

The Good:
- Okay eats
- Ol' skool for sure

The Bad:
- Okay eats, but of course there is more progressive stuff elsewhere