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I'm sure you are familiar with my usual yammering about Pho Tam being the "best" Pho in the GVRD. Naturally, food preferences are subjective and really, it might not be the best for some people. Nearly 5 years since my last blog post about the place (I've been there many times since), I thought it would be a good idea to see if Pho Tam is still the best. Gathering up the troops including Big D, Slick, JuJu and Red Light, we set out to not only have a great meal, but to visit the Hockey Shop as well (hey, we all play hockey!).
Sticking with the usual, we went for the combos which included a choice of large noodle soup and either a Spring Roll or Salad Roll. As seen in the picture, the spring roll was constructed with a rice wrapper (bonus points for them) which was fried until super crispy. The filling was meaty and not over-processed. It had a good mix of fish sauce, carrots, onions and wood ear mushrooms. As for the salad roll, it consisted of rice noodles, pork, sprouts, lettuce and meaty shrimp. The rice wrapper was soft while still chewy. However, I found the pork a touch too dry. Also, the dipping sauce was a bit too much on the hoisin side.
Onto the main event, JuJu and I shared 3 items starting with the Pho Dac Biet. There was a good amount of meats including tender brisket, moist rare steak, meatballs, tendon and tripe. The broth was solid as usual with a nice balance of sweetness to go with the natural meat flavours. This time around, I found it less strong as before and it was harder to pick out the individual flavours. Next, we had the Bun Bo Hue, where it was lacking pork knuckle and blood. With that being said, the broth was pretty good though. It was purposefully spicy with mild hints of lemongrass. Unfortunately, the noodles were too soft and broke apart easily. Again, the meats were plentiful and on point.
Lastly, we had the Lemongrass Chicken and Short Ribs on Rice. This was a generous portion of chewy rice topped with fatty and tender short rib. It had a nice char and was well-seasoned. The chicken also sported a char but the meat was quite firm and lacking moisture. It was nicely marinated though as it had a noticeable lemongrass hit. So what's the verdict? Well, Pho Tam is still a solid place for Pho, but I believe (with all of the other places I've visited in the last 5 years) that the competition has closed the gap considerably. In fact, subjectively-speaking, some people will think other places may have the best Pho in town.
The Good:
- Large portions
- Solid eats
The Bad:
- The competition has caught up IMO
- Parking lot insufficient, but you can park at Safeway and get half of your parking validated
Too much of a good thing would be the best way to describe my participation as a judge for the #MacChallenge YVR. I think I'll refrain from any mac n' cheese for the foreseeable future (unless it's tasty... sorry, can't help myself). There was one pleasant by-product from the whole exercise though. On my final visit for some mac n' cheese, it brought me to Kessel & March. Since it was around dinner time and I had Sean, Adrian & Jeremy with me, we decided to have an actual meal (this was after trying 2 other mac n' cheese entries earlier).
The first plate was the Chicken Liver Pate with orange marmalade and homemade toast. Smooth and creamy while purposefully sweet with hints of brandy, the pate was expertly prepared. As much as the pate was very good, believe it or not, the one thing that was the veritable icing on the cake was the wonderful toast. Crunchy and fresh, it was the ideal accompaniment. Next, we had the Farmhouse Terrine with mustard and gherkins. The pork terrine was meaty with just enough fat. It was mild tasting where it could've used a bit more salt. However, the sweet onions added the necessary counterbalance to the peppery notes. The dollop of mustard was more than for show as it was spicy and impactful.
We then had a dish I originally sampled during the East Village Tasting Plates - Sardines on Toast. Seemingly a simple dish, it would prove to be my favourite and it was no different this time around. With thick filets of sardine, salad cream, celery and radish on crunchy homemade toast, there were big flavours and textures at play. The fish oils along with a balanced amount of sweet and saltiness, it was a party in my mouth. With even more toast (we didn't mind), we had the Mussels with fennel, chorizo and tomato in a white wine sauce. The large buttery honey mussels were bathed in a sweet and spicy broth. The wine had been cooked down nicely where there was some bite from the tomatoes.
For me, I had to order the Lamb Sirloin with crispy polenta and rapini. The meat itself was a beautiful medium rare (closer to rare, which I personally prefer) where it was meaty with a slight chew. The green "sauce" on top was a good balance of herbs, acidity and salt. It added a brightness which livened up the dish. The crispy slab of polenta was more than bystander where it was a study in contrasting textures. It was not too soft either where it still had a bit of firmness. Lastly, we shared some Lemon Tarts. Unlike many other versions I've had, this one featured a crumbly tart shell. The lemon curd was more tart than sweet (which is my personal preference). It was really creamy and an overall nice dessert. This was ultimately an enjoyable meal that left me thinking about my next visit. With a simple, focused menu, Kessel & March succeeds in offering up carefully prepared eats at a reasonable price.
The Good:
- Small, quaint place with friendly owners
- Carefully prepared food
- Reasonable pricing
The Bad:
- It is indeed small, large groups may be a challenge
- Limited menu for those who want variety
While rummaging through the mess otherwise known as my desk, I found my current Entertainment book. Heck, I think I've only used 3 coupons so far! With precious months already gone, I decided it was time to use those pesky "not really interesting" deals. So it was as good as any time to do a revisit to Kyoto Sushi, which was at one time was known as the "best sushi restaurant" in Surrey according to the Now. Um... and why was Tokachi left out of this discussion? Depends on the voters right?
Another reason I decided on Japanese was that Bunny insisted on it. Do bunnies eat raw fish??? Apparently this one did because we did order some. But to start, there was the usual Miso Soup and Sunomono Salad (as part of the bento). Nothing much to say about the miso other than it wasn't overly salty. As for the sunomono, it was too sweet and the noodles were gummy and lacking texture. The small ebi had a nice meaty texture though. We ended up with the Volcano Roll consisting of ebi tempura, cucumber and avocado with spicy tuna, spicy mayo, unagi sauce and fried yam straws on the outside. The roll itself was okay, but there was a tad too much rice and the sauces were a bit much. Hence, the saltiness hid the other flavours.
Arriving as an impressively large portion, the Ika Karaage look more like Indian Pakora. With a mix of fully battered pieces and some that lost most of its coating, the squid was somewhat chewy. With that being said, it wasn't tough though. There was enough seasoning where we didn't really need to use the side of mayo. To get a variety of items, we got the aforementioned Bento E consisting of Chicken Teriyaki, Tuna and Sockeye Sashimi, Gyoza and California Roll. We found the chicken to be too thin and dry, yet not over-sauced. While the tuna was decent, the salmon sashimi was terrible. It was rubbery and dried out on the outside, indicating it had been sitting around for awhile. Although fried up nicely, the gyoza was too dense inside and out. Completely butchered, the California Roll was ugly and the rice was dry and flavourless.
If that wasn't enough food, we had the sizzling hot Chicken Yakisoba. Now this was a decent dish. The noodles to veggie ratio was just right while there wasn't an excess amount of moisture. Hence, the noodles were chewy and the veggies were crunchy. The caramelization from the hot iron plate ensured depth of flavour. Unlike the teriyaki chicken, the chicken atop the noodles was moist. Lastly, we had the Prawn and Veggie Tempura. The batter was crunchy and not overly greasy. With a buttery snap, the prawns were good while the veggies were just cooked. Overall, this was a hit and miss meal. When there was a hit, it was pretty good, but when there was a miss, it wasn't even close. Hence, it is essentially a crap shoot as to what your experience will be like.
The Good:
- Friendly people
- Okay pricing
- Large portions
The Bad:
- Epitome of hit and miss food
- For a Japanese restaurant, no excuse for crappy sashimi or poorly constructed rolls
Alright, I'm not afraid to admit it. In the early days of this blog, on some occasions, I did not sample enough items at certain restaurants that would give a true sense of the food. I learned very quickly that not only was that unfair, it was really not that useful of a post. Case in point, I visited Pepperoni Cafe and only tried their sandwiches but not their signature item - the pizza. So consider this righting a wrong as I ordered 2 pizzas (one specialty and one build-your-own) and the aforementioned sandwich.
Seeing how the place is named Pepperoni Cafe, I had to get their Super Pepperoni with a layer of pepperoni, layer of mozzarella, another layer of pepperoni and Parmesan. As you can imagine, with all that pepperoni, the pizza was both greasy and salty (but that was to be expected and we didn't mind). The crust was right in the middle of being thick and thin. It was soft with a light crunch on the outside. I also got a Ham & Pineapple which sported a good amount of ham and cheese. Due to the absence of grease (as compared to the previous pizza), the crust was slightly drier, yet still chewy and soft on the inside. Decent pizzas which are definitely different than the many cheaper ones found along Scott Road.
I did end up getting a sandwich, but I'm going to refer back to a recent visit where I had the Pizza Sub. The whole wheat bun was nicely toasted being warm and soft with a crunch. The plethora of meat with only a modest amount of veggies ensured that the sammie would be savoury and flavourful - a good alternative to Subway and/or Quiznos. So there you have it, a representative post on Pepperoni Cafe. Sure, it is more expensive than nearly all of the other pizza joints along Scott Road, but at the very least, it appears the ingredients are a notch above.
The Good:
- More quality ingredients that the competition along Scott Road
- Enough meat and cheese
The Bad:
- More pricey than the rest
Nikita wanted to meet up for eats. She wanted to go for Indian, specifically a dosa. A what? If you've never had one, I don't blame you because there are not a whole lot of places to get one in the GVRD. Most people associate Butter Chicken, Naan and Tandoori Chicken as representative of the entire Indian cuisine. However, that is specific to the Punjab region in Northern India. The dosa, which is a fermented lentil flour crepe, is mainly found in the South. These light and crispy crepes are often stuffed with a variety of fillings.
Ironically, we met up at Mayuri almost exactly 5 years since the last time we went. For kicks, we sat at a different table... Rebels that we are... So it was no surprise that Nikita ordered a Potato Curry Dosa served sambar along with coconut and zinger chutneys. Unlike our last visit (it was thick and chewy), the dosa was thin, light and crispy. It was very sparsely filled with a mild potato curry (need much more of it). We realize that there shouldn't be a tonne of filling, but this was almost non-existent. At least it wasn't very expensive. On the side, there sambar (lentil stew/soup) and the aforementioned chutneys.
For myself, I started with an order of Paneer Pakora. These cheese patties were coated with a fairly thick chickpea flour which was crunchy and not heavy. It was a nice textural contrast to the soft paneer. The accompanying tamarind chutney was tart and only semi-sweet with a hint of fennel. I was only going to eat 2, but ended up eating 4. Probably not a good idea because they were pretty soaked with oil. Second, I had the Palak Paneer which arrived a vibrant green. Hence, it was more spinach than creamy. We didn't mind it, but it was very light and watery (and bland too). The result was not the typical richness that we were used to. As you can see, our revisit was okay, but hardly memorable. When at Mayuri, stick with the dosas, but order 2 because you might need it to be full.
The Good:
- Light and crispy dosas
- Okay pricing
The Bad:
- Not enough filling
- Stick with the dosas
If one wanted to get a roti in Vancouver, it is not a stretch to say that it wouldn't be a very difficult task. After all, there are so many types where it transcends many different Asian cuisines. However, when we are more specific and are in search of a Trinidadian-style Roti, it gets much more difficult. The first place that comes to mind is Rehanah's in Port Moody. I remember there used to be a place on 4th Ave, but that is long gone. Interestingly, you can it also at D Roti Shak in New West. Big D, Slick and Foodie Girl joined me to check it out.
We decided to share a few appies including the Phulourie (split pea flour fritters) with a side of homemade tamarind sauce. These were only every-so-lightly crisp while being quite dense and chewy. They were topped with a impactful tamarind sauce that was equal parts tangy and sweet. Next, I attempted to cut an order of Doubles with very little success. The filling of chickpeas had a noticeable, but balanced spice level which was sandwiched in between 2 fried fluffy bara. I liked the purposeful amount of tamarind which added a nice tang and sweetness.
Big D decided on the Chicken Curry atop beans & rice. The large chunks of chicken were a bit firm, but not stringy. It was bathed in a moderately spicy curry that displayed its composition proudly. We could easily see the chili pepper, garlic and onions which equated to plenty of flavour. However, it was a bit on the saltier side (which was okay since there was so much rice). Slick had the Goat Curry and I thought it was the better of the two. First of all, the goat itself was nicely tender and rich. Second, the curry had more depth (due to the meat) with noted classic curry hits in particular coriander.
Of course we couldn't get out of there without trying the Shrimp Roti (because it is in their name...). As for the roti itself, it was thin, slightly chewy and soft. The contents were very mild with only minor curry hints. I found the shrimp a bit salty and on the meatier side. There was only a modest amount mixed with potato and chickpea. It would've been even better if there was more spice. "Pretty good" was our sentiment after it was all said and done. Definitely an option for something different if one was in the area.
The Good:
- Something different
- Really friendly owner
- Decent eats
The Bad:
- A one-man show, so be prepared to wait
- Roti could use more filling (protein that is)
Richmond, oh Richmond... I tried to avoid you like a salad bar, but you reel me back with your alluring eats. I know the risks, the stress and frustration, but I simply cannot resist. There we were, heading across the Oak Street Bridge when I was just about to take the Garden City exit and we were greeted with a Japanese sport-compact cutting me off with fervor. Was this a sign of things to come (actually, I got cut off leaving Richmond as well...)? Well, we were there to try out Old Buddies on the recommendation of Mijune. Apparently, this is from the folks of Ho Yuen Kee complete with the lure of enormous wontons.
Pebbles was especially excited because she just could not believe the description I gave her about those aforementioned Wontons. When the double-order hit the table, she was in full foodgasm by just looking at them. That foodgasm was taken to the next level as each bite revealed a sweet crunch from the massive shrimp. Although there was some pork filler, it was minimal and didn't detract from the wonton. We decided to get another one of their specialties being the Peking Duck. With an attractive hue, the crispy duck skin was only a touch fatty with a decent amount of meat attached. We found the crepes to be a touch dry though.
The second course was the Duck Lettuce Wrap which arrived in a generous portion. There was large chunks of moist duck nestled among crunchy veggies. The wok heat could've been a bit more intense, but the flavours were still good without being salty. We liked how the lettuce was cut into manageable-sized cups without being hacked to death. Next, we had to get their other specialty - Lobster with Sticky Rice. The lobster itself was fried up expertly where the meat still was moist and bouncy. It was naturally sweet where the sauce added just enough saltiness. I would've liked to see more sauce as the rice underneath was a little bland, yet was texturally on point.
For our token veggie dish, we got the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic. This was the beneficiary of good wok heat where the shoots were fully cooked while still maintaining a vibrant crunch. There was a bevy of garlic whereas the grease was minimal. I liked how it didn't rely on salt for flavour impact (the garlic did the job). Lastly, we had the Peking Pork Chops which were also good. Each piece still had some crispiness on the exterior while being tenderized properly (slight bounce and tender). The sauce clung to each piece adding hits of sweet, salty and tartness (from the black vinegar). Overall, we were pretty pleased with the entire meal, especially the wontons. Taking everything into consideration (price, service, food quality and portion size), Old Buddies might be put on regular rotation for eats in Richmond.
The Good:
- Probably some of the best wontons in town
- Surprisingly good service
- Overall good food
The Bad:
- A touch pricey (but the wontons were a steal)
- Parking issues (common to all restaurants along Alexandra)
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