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I had a great time enjoying eats and beverages out on the patio at Cielos with Pops that I totally forgot that I left my camera in his car (he drove...). Hence, there I was preparing to attend Latin Flavours while frantically looking for my camera. When I finally figured out it was not in my possession, I had to resort to my old 60D. Finally, I could justify my purchase of the 6D to Viv! So that meant I had to trek all the way out to White Rock again to retrieve my camera. Not wanting to waste such an effort, Miss Y and I decided to check out Deluxe Beach Restaurant out on Marine Drive in the process.
Trying to maximize variety, we decided to try their Seafood Tasting consisting of Pancetta Prawns, Lobster Guacamole, Tuna Ceviche and Smoked Salmon. We found the Pancetta Prawns to have a meaty snap while being naturally sweet. However, it was salty due to both the pancetta and sweet soy reduction. The Smoked Salmon was not overly dry while being adequately smoky. It was "okay". We did like the Lobster Guacamole mostly because of the lobster. It had a sweet bouncy texture as evidence of proper preparation. However, the guacamole was rather ordinary needing more acidity. Lastly, the Tuna Ceviche was fresh and bright with a nice sesame oil finish. Again, it need more acidity as the flavours were flat.
For my main, I went for the Kobe Burger with smoked cheddar, pancetta, shiitake mushrooms, tomato relish, caramelized onions and dijon. Served on the side was a berry salad. I found the meat to be moist while not overly fatty. It was a rather thick patty, hence, the burger had a meatiness to it. The combination of ingredients seemed to work as there was a little of everything including the saltiness from the pancetta, Earthy hits from the mushrooms, the sweetness from the onions and acidity from the relish and dijon. I particularly liked the toasted brioche bun as it was airy soft while holding up to the ingredients.
Miss Y went for the Paella consisting of chorizo sausage, tiger prawns, saffron, arborio rice and oven dried tomatoes. Um... if this was a paella, then Vancouver house prices are cheap. This was more like an overcooked risotto than any paella I've ever had. This was wet and starchy rather than creamy while the rice was soft. There was a nice aroma of saffron though and the prawns were on point. But really, $30.00 for this "paella"??? You gotta be kidding me. If we ignored the paella for a moment, the other items weren't bad. However, the prices are really high, even considering its location.
The Good:
- Right on Marine Drive in White Rock (albeit with no view)
- We received really good service
The Bad:
- Overpriced
- What kind of paella was that?
For some reason or another (you can probably guess...), my Richmond Dim Sum adventures have been rather sparse in the last few years. Despite the fact there are quite a few I have yet to visit, it hasn't prompted me to make much of an effort. However, I have come to the realization that if I am out to find the very best Dim Sum in the GVRD, I must try all of them, no matter where they are located. So please join me in my quest to finally hit all of the Dim Sum joints in Richmond that are missing from this blog... I really should redo my car insurance for a lower deductible as well...
So anyways, to start things off, we decided to try out Golden Paramount. Our first dish was the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) which arrived as a set of 5. That was a good thing as they were rather small. Yet, quality made up for the lack of quantity as the shrimp filling exhibited a buttery moist snap. Despite the over abundance of bamboo shoots, the flavour was neutral due to proper rinsing. Hence, there was an appealing sweetness with a hint of sesame oil. With 5 instead of 4, we should've known that they did things differently here. If that didn't tip us off, the Black Sesame Egg Tarts sure did. In an unattractive shade of dark black, the tarts ate much better than they looked. Flaky and butter, the tart shell was filled with a fairly dense custard that was plenty aromatic with black sesame.
Continuing with the strange, we had the Spring Rolls filled only with shredded daikon. Although it was a disaster waiting to happen (moisture from the daikon), the spring rolls turned out okay. With a golden and crunchy exterior encasing tender slivers of well-seasoned daikon, it was much better than expected. With that being said, we were still longing for the shrimp version. Moving onto another fried item, we tried the Fried Dumplings. We found the glutinous rice shell to be just a bit too thick where it made it cumbersome to eat. However, the exterior was plenty crisp while there was an adequate amount of filling. There was a noticeable dried shrimp flavour which overwhelmed most of the other ingredients.
Yet another interesting take on a Dim Sum classic was the Bean Curd Skin Rolls. Typically, these are filled with ground pork and an array of ingredients such as wood ear mushroom, bamboo shoots, shrimp, shiitake and/or carrots. For this one, it was a bunch of loose ground pork with a bevy of celery. Therefore, the texture was very off while the dominant flavour was of celery. We didn't like this very much. Talk about different, even their Beef Meatballs were a little strange to look at. It was mainly just processed beef without any greens (such as cilantro or green onion). Not aesthetically-pleasing nor diverse in flavour except for some notes of dried orange peel. Texturally it was good though with a nice rebound.
We ended up getting an order of the Singapore Fried Noodles to make sure we filled our bellies. Turns out that we needed to order more food since the portion size was miniscule considering the nearly $15.00 price tag. But just like the haw gow, quality reigned supreme. As you can clearly see, there was more ingredients than noodles (and why couldn't they have just added more noodles???). Lots of lean BBQ pork, crunchy shrimp and crisp veggies accenting the chewy well-seasoned noodles. Our order of Steamed Black Bean Spareribs looked a little dark, yet in the end, the flavours were okay being predominantly salty without any garlic. The meat was somewhat bouncy and chewy where cartilage and fat was kept to a minimum.
With a fluffy exterior, the BBQ Pork Buns had a good meat-to-bun ratio. Despite looking pale and lifeless, the BBQ pork filling was savoury with some sweetness. The meat itself was lean and diced into manageable-sized pieces. Arriving in a pretty standard number of 3 (since many things were not typical already), the mini-Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice) were also interesting to look at on the inside. With a shade of white that would make mayonnaise look tanned, the sticky rice was quite bland. The diced pork filling included bits of shiitake and strangely, bamboo shoots. I liked the textural crunch, but not so much with the flavour as it really didn't belong
Of course I had to get my order of offal in the Steamed Tripe with dried scallop sauce. With alternating pieces of honeycomb tripe which were in different shades of brown, the dish really did have a particular flavour. I wasn't convinced that the "scallop sauce" went well with the tripe. It was a combination of gamy with seafoody... The tripe was tender though with a slight chew. Lastly, we had the Sui Mai, which were pretty small. One bite and wow, the darn things were at least 50% comprised of shiitake mushrooms. Great flavour, but it completely dominated the profile of the dumpling. Even though the textures were bouncy, the flavours were not in balance. As you can probably ascertain, our experience here was different - sometimes good, other times were a bit strange.
The Good:
- When something was good, it was a hit
- Okay service
The Bad:
- Different interpretations didn't work all the time
- Sparse service
Roast chicken. It can't be that hard to do right? Well, yes and no. Roasting a chicken isn't necessarily difficult, but a juicy and tender chicken is not a given. Take typical supermarket versions for instance, you can get a juicier piece of shoe leather at times. There is one exception though, being Costco (with their brined, then rotisseried fowl). Actually, there has been suggestions that the aforementioned Costco chicken rivals a pricier version at the Homer Street Cafe. With Emilicious singing the praises of the place, I had to see for myself what this was all about.
Conveniently open until Midnight, Homer Street Cafe was just the right fit after Friday night hockey. Milhouse, Bear, Emilicious and Gadget Girl were all willing to partake in the chicken feast. We initially had earmarked a salad as one of the starters, but Emilicious talked some sense into us and we ended up changing it to the Maple Butter Pork Belly. Good thing too as these little nuggets of joy were sinfully delicious. Firmly crispy on the outside while meaty and somewhat fatty on the inside, these were glazed with a sweet maple sauce. It was a nice compliment to the savouriness of the belly. Next up was the Chicken and Smoked Pork Hock Terrine with pickled veggies and grilled soda bread. The rustic terrine featured nuggets of moist meat mixed with carrot, onions, gelatin and wine. Hence the flavours were meaty, sweet and tart. Although the bread was nice, we would've liked something more contrasting in texture.
Onto the main event, we shared the Whole Rotisserie Chicken with pee wee potatoes, colelsaw and chicken jus (for $32.00). This was not a small chicken as the breast meat was substantial. With an aesthetically-pleasing golden-brown and nicely rendered skin, this was a tasty chicken. Not only was the dark meat juicy and moist, the breast meat was not dry at all. It was brined so the there was enough flavour on its own. However, the jus was pretty solid as well with a natural chicken essence. It was thickened so it wasn't watery and seasoned without being too salty. The side of potatoes had soaked up the drippings and were only salted enough to enhance the flavour. They were fork tender, yet were firm enough that they didn't break on contact.
Of course a chicken would only go so far with us hungry folk, so we also tried their featured pasta being the Chicken Pesto Penne. I found the pasta to be mostly al dente while enveloped in a very creamy and rich sauce with only a modest hit of pesto. The flavours were mild while the addition of spinach provided some different textures. The big chunks of chicken were mostly white meat and were on the drier side. Next, we had the Lemon Baked Halibut with saffron, spelt berries, zucchini and basil puree. Although Gadget Girl thought the fish was a little overdone, I found it acceptably moist and flaky. It was lacking in seasoning though and the lemon didn't really come through. However, the berries underneath did add both a chewy texture and the necessary tart and sweetness. We felt the basil didn't add much to the dish.
We also got 2 sides including the Sautéed Crimini Mushrooms with fried sage. This was another solid suggestion by Emilicious as the flavours exploded. In addition to the wonderful Earthiness of the mushrooms, there was a buttery garlic hit as well as the herbiness of the sage. Lastly, we went for the Charred Broccolini with with golden raisin and sunflower seed gremolata. These were cooked just enough that they maintained their crunch and vibrancy. We didn't get much of the flavour from the other ingredients as they didn't adhere to the broccolini. Alright, this is what I'm going to say about the chicken at Homer Street Cafe - it is really good. Is it better than a Costco chicken? Yes, but not twice-as-good. So why is it so much more expensive you ask? Well, unlike Costco, I get to eat this chicken right there at a nice restaurant in Downtown while being served. You can't really compare.
The Good:
- Really tasty chicken
- Nice vibe
- Attentive service
The Bad:
- Other items were okay, but not as good as the chicken
- Not the most spacious place
Steve, who helps run the Canadian Festival of Chili and BBQ each year in Langley, was the first person to alert me to this new little Vietnamese joint on Hastings called Mr. Red. I'm not really sure why they are named that way but my guess is either someone is called Red or that it refers to the Red River Delta in Vietnam. Whatever the case, you won't merely find the cookie-cutter menus you see at most other Vietnamese restaurants in town. The menu has a Northern influence, much like the more extensive one at Mui Ngo Gai.
However, before we could meet up there, JuJu, Kaiser Soze and Milhouse decided it was best we try the place out after Sunday hockey first. We ended up sharing a few appies including the Phở Cuốn (rice noodle roll) filled with stir-fried beef and basil. These featured soft, yet chewy rice noodle encasing beef that was meaty where it wasn't chewy. The basil really came through as it added a nice aroma and flavour. We also had the Fried Chicken Wings which were tossed in honey and topped with sriraccha. The wings weren't exactly moist, but they weren't dry either. They were sweet with a slight kick.
Milhouse had the Xôi Xéo Pâté & Gà (sticky rice) and it was freakin' fantastic. With a moist while not wet chewy texture, the rice was topped with soft mung bean, pate, chicken, dried squid and fried shallots. This was a textural and flavour delight, particularly topped with the pickled daikon and carrot (as well as a splash of the pickling juice from the peppers and garlic at the table). Kaiser Soze had the Bánh Mì Bò Kho (beef stew with baguette) which featured large pieces of shank. It was tender where it was not too soft either. The stewing liquid had depth and was plenty flavourful with just a hint of spice and the essence of star anise. The crusty bread was perfect for dipping.
JuJu and I decided to share the Bánh Mì Pâté and it was a great decision. Loaded with impactful pate (the most I've seen in a banh mi) and drops of Maggi, this was a flavourful sandwich. The bread itself was on point too being light and crusty. There was enough of the other ingredients such as the pickled veggies and cucumber to add some brightness. For my main, I tried the Bún Gà Dặc Biệt (special combination of vermicelli, chicken, pork balls and dried mushroom in soup). I found the broth to be well-seasoned without being salty. The noodles were a touch soft while the amount of chicken was not really enough. The meatballs were nice though being meaty. For me, there was far too much cilantro and onions.
JuJu had the Stewing Beef Noodle Soup and much like my bowl, it was plenty flavourful. However, the chunks of beef were disturbingly fatty with very little meat. He ended up leaving most of it in the bowl as he couldn't eat it. On other visit, I met up with Sean and Steve (finally). We ordered everything to share including a bunch of appies. We got the Bánh Bột Lọc Lá Chuối (tapioca dumplings wrapped in banana leaves) first and they were definitely bouncy and a bit chewy. I liked the filling as there was larger chunks of meat that tasted appealingly good with a balance of sweetness and savoury.
In addition to some repeated dishes from last time, we also tried the Bún Bò Huế and Phở Bò Viên. Although the bun bo hue didn't look at that flavourful, one sip of the broth and that was not the case. There was a good spice level with a hint of aromatics. I would've liked to see more lemongrass though. The meats were sliced thin and tender while the chunks of pork blood as well as pork knuckle (albeit removed from the bone) was a nice surprise. As for the Pho, I found the broth to be clean and straightforward. That meant the flavours were not out-of-balance, rather I got the meatiness as well as the usual ingredients such as onion, sugar and a touch of anise.
Lastly, we had the Crab Spring Rolls which were super crunchy with a thin layer of rice paper wrapper. It was obviously freshly made since the texture was on point as well as taking some time to show up at our table. Inside, the filling was on the softer side but did have a nice sweetness accented by fish sauce. This was a nice finish to 2 really impressive visits to Mr. Red. I strongly urge people to try the place out because the food is carefully prepared and a bit different than the usual.
The Good:
- Something different than the usual
- Lovely people
- Overall above-average eats
The Bad:
- Not very big and kinda warm inside
- Despite advertised on the menu, I never got the fried donut that is suppose to come with each bowl of noodles
Sometimes, eating is stripped down to its main purpose - a means of subsistence. Instead of going for the "best" or at the very least "popular" eats, I find myself going for something convenient. That was the case when I found myself down at International Village and in need of nutrition. Looking around the uninspired array of options, I settled on the ol' standby being Vietnamese. Hey, it is usually the right combination of ample food and low prices. In actuality, I've tried Kim Son before, but I really had no recollection. Was that a bad sign? Only one way to find out...
I decided to try their Special House Pho which didn't look like much served in a takeout plastic bowl. Ah, but looks can be deceiving... In reality, the darn thing was stuffed full of noodles and tender slices of meat. However, the whole thing fell flat because the broth tasted like they used a whole tub of star anise. It was far too liquorice-tasting and the fact they didn't skim the grease made it even worse. Naturally, I ordered a second item in the Lemongrass Chicken with rice. Okay, this one was quite evidently large with a massive pile of chicken atop fluffy chewy rice. With a nice char and equally good flavours, the chicken was unfortunately very dry and chewy.
While we were nearby at Taishoken Ramen, JuJu and I decided to pay Kim Son a visit for some takeout (good for me since 2 dishes is not a good representation). Regrettably, I went for the Salad Roll which was not very good. The rice paper wrapper was a bit too chewy and the shrimp were not properly de-veined. Furthermore, there was only rice noodles and iceberg lettuce to go with the shrimp. As for the dipping sauce, it was as if they forgot to add anything but hoisin. I also got the Grilled Pork and Spring Rolls with rice noodles. The processed patty was sweet and a bit rubbery, but better than the chicken at least. I wasn't a fan of the spring rolls as they were dense and hard. There was more wrapper than filling. As you can clearly understand, the food at Kim Son serves a purpose - to fill one's belly. In terms of actual good food, well, not so much.
The Good:
- Large portions
- Cheap
The Bad:
- Food isn't very good
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