Rainforest Cafe

Promises.  We are taught at an early age that when we make a promise, it is imperative that we keep it.  I guess that doesn't apply to politicians or used car salespeople...  So when Costanza promised his oldest son that we'd visit The Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney, he had to keep it despite all the warning signs - such as high prices, mediocre food and indoor thunderstorms.  I tried to convince him to make up an excuse or something, but that would be breaking a promise wouldn't it?  But, but...  anything for good food right?  Negative.  Off we went to The Rainforest Cafe for lunch on our first day at Disneyland...

We shared the Spinach & Artichoke Dip as an appie.  It was pretty standard consisting of a cream cheese and mayo concoction with spinach and artichoke.  I found it slightly thick, but all the better to dip the tortilla chips into.  Nothing particularly exciting though.  For myself, I went for the Taste of the Islands consisting of Caribbean Coconut Shrimp, Blackened Tilapia topped with
a mango salsa and Dynamite Scallops and Shrimp. I found the coconut shrimp to be decent with a crunchy coating.  However, we were not convinced that the cumin tamarind dip was a good compliment (as it was too tart).  I thought the tilapia to be prepared properly being flaky and moist.  The mango salsa could've used more acidity for impact though.  I was not a huge fan of the scallops and shrimp as the "sauce" was a watery salty mess.  The seafood was okay though except for the rubbery scallops.

I added the Creamy Clam Chowder as a starter for my main (which was $1.00 less than ordering it individually).  It wasn't particularly creamy, yet the broth was thick enough without being watery.  Although the clams were large and tender, there was no seafood flavor present.  This was partially due to the abundance of salt (which made the soup almost inedible) that masked everything else.  Viv had the Blue Mountain Chicken Sandwich which was acceptable in a general sense.  The peppers were particularly impactful with plenty of tang and sweetness.  The chicken itself was a bit dry though.  There was nothing terrible about the sandwich, but hardly anything to get excited about either.

Costanza had the Rainforest Burger with a thick beef patty topped with a fried onion ring, lettuce, tomato, pickles and
cheese on a toasted bun. Although it was decently moist and meaty, it wasn't particularly flavorful.  Despite the toppings, there was little impact.  Furthermore, the fries were pretty generic and weren't particularly crispy either.  Their second item was the China Chicken Salad. It was basically a green salad with a sweet dressing and lots of overcooked chicken.  It wasn't really all that appetizing as the dressing didn't really flavor all of the ingredients properly.  It was pretty much watery and bland.  Worst of all, the chicken was terrible being chewy and tough.

Of course we cannot forget about the kiddies as this visit was essentially for them.  Trust me, it certainly wasn't for me!  I think my palate regressed with this visit...  I digress.  So my son went for something incredibly exciting in the Rainforest Rascals (mini-cheeseburgers) with fries.  Well, at the very least, the burgers were decent in size and not too dry.  But the same couldn't be said for my daughter's order of Grilled Chicken with apple slices.  The 2 pathetic pieces of meat couldn't be any chewier.  Man, they killed the chicken once, but they really finished it off in their kitchen.  She didn't even attempt to eat any of it.  In fact, none of us could eat it.  To top it all off, there was not flavor to speak of.  At the very least, the Mac n' Cheese was not half bad as it was a big portion of soft (but not mushy) noodles in a mildly cheesy sauce. Now back to that promise...  I think in this case, Costanza should've taught his son a lesson in what a white lie is all about...

The Good:
- Kid-friendly
- Lots of choice
- Decent portion sizes

The Bad:
- Food just ain't good
- Expensive
- They focus on the gimmicks more than the food

Curry House

Having already made a Northerly detour to try out Bottega Louie, no one was particularly interested in traveling far for dinner.  Heck, even I didn't want to get back on the freeways, especially during rush hour!  So we did something that was purely out of convenience - eat at a restaurant just outside our hotel.  Oh, the humanity!  Has my culinary adventures sunk to a new low?  In fact, it was at a place that we scoffed at while walking over to the nearby Target when we first checked into our hotel.  Pfft...  Curry House, we won't eat there!  Well, we did and little did we know, the place features Yoshuku cuisine with an emphasis on Japanese Curry.

For those unfamiliar, Yoshuku cuisine is Japanese-interpretations of various dishes such as pasta and Salisbury steak.  Hence, you won't find sushi or the usual Japanese dishes here. Oh and Japanese curry is typical more sweet than a traditional Indian curry.  Viv started things off with the standard being the Chicken Katsu Curry with dark meat and mild sauce.  Naturally, it was on the sweeter side, but not overly sweet.  We could still taste the curry and a touch of spice.  The katsu was crunchy while juicy and moist on the inside.  For myself, I had the Hamburger Steak with spicy curry sauce.  It was only marginally more spicy than Viv's mild.  The steak was really moist and tender with a good char on the outside.

Elaine had the Menchi Curry which was essentially a hamburger steak coated with panko and fried.  It was also juicy and tender with a crispy (not greasy) exterior.  She went for the non-spicy curry and it was definitely more sweet than the one (due to the lack of spiciness, leaving it one-note in taste).  Costanza went for the Spaghetti with a buttery soy sauce.  The pasta was firm with a slippery and mildly salty sauce.  For me, I personally like the combination of butter and soy as it had this salty smoothness with a touch of sweetness.  The squeeze of lemon was necessary as it lightened things up with acidity.

For the my son, he had the Appetizer Platter consisting of Popcorn Shrimp, Fried Shrimp, Fries and Onion Rings.  The popcorn shrimp was not exactly crunchy where the exterior was soggy.  However, the shrimp had a nice sweet snap.  The panko-coated fried shrimp was very crunchy, yet a bit dense.  Texturally, the shrimp was buttery with a slight snap.  A big soggy, the fries were also quite salty.  On the other hand, the onion rings were crunchy, well-seasoned and easy on the grease. Costanza's kids ended up sharing the Sesame Chicken with mild curry sauce.  The chicken was appealingly fried where it was golden and crispy while juicy inside. We weren't sure about the teriyaki with the curry though.  It was rather sweet on sweet.  In the end, the curry overshadowed the teriyaki as it was the more dominant flavor.

For curiosity's sake, Costanza decided to try the Fried Curry Bun. It looked more like a donut when it arrived, but it didn't eat like one.  We found it dense, yet marginally crispy on the outside.  The filling was fairly thick and mild.  We weren't huge fans of it as it was heavy-on-heavy.  Yet, we really didn't mind the other dishes, especially the curries.  Definitely a surprise as we didn't hold out much hope for the place since we were unfamiliar with it.  In the end, it accomplish more than merely filling our bellies as a restaurant based on convenience.

The Good:
- Something different from regular Japanese restaurants
- Friendly service
- Decent eats

The Bad:
- Stick with the curries as some of the other items we had were so-so

Bottega Louie

With the first leg of our trip over and done with, we were now in fabulous LA.  Sadly, this was going to be more for the kiddies than anything else.  Hence, more Disneyland and less gastronomical delights for moi.  Joining us in LA was Costanza and Elaine (with their 2 kiddies), and before we descended into theme park purgatory, I suggested we head over to Bottega Louie for some eats and sweets.  I think Costanza and I were on the same wavelength as he readily agreed to navigate the wonderful freeways of LA for our latest eating adventure.

As if our minds were in sync, we both wanted the Lobster Hash.  The Porchetta Sandwich also caught his eye, so I ended up getting the that as he ordered the hash.  With squishy potatoes and perfectly poached eggs, the hash was amped up by the silky and rich Hollandaise.  It was mild on the acidity while high on the butter content.  Surrounding the hash were little nicely poached nuggets of lobster.  As for my sandwich, the cubes of pork were fatty and moist.  It was accented by the sweetness of the caramelized onions as well as the peppers.  The brined caper aioli added the necessary saltiness.  What brought it all together was the salt and pepper topped brioche bun.  It was soft, yet dense enough to stand up to the ingredients.

Elaine decided to be the healthiest of the bunch by trying the Kale Salad with Taylor Farms organic baby kale, cherry tomatoes, garlic herbed croutons, Parmigiano Reggiano & buttermilk dressing.  With tender kale and the creaminess of the dressing along with the saltiness of the parm, this was a pleasant, if not typical salad.  Viv opted for the Smoked Salmon Benedict with poached eggs, smoked wild salmon, crème fraîche, red onions, sautéed greens & Hollandaise sauce on a potato pancake.  Once again, the eggs were runny while the Hollandaise was silky.  As much as the potato pancake was a nice departure from a type of bread, it didn't provide much in the way of a textural contrast.

For the table, we decided to share 2 pizzas including the Margherita and Sausage.  We found the crust to be well-charred and appealing in appearance.  The pizza dough was crunchy throughout the outside while being chewy and well-seasoned.  I particularly liked the fresh tomato sauce as it was vibrant and tart.  With high-quality EVOO, the aroma was definitely apparent.  For the sausage pizza, there was no shortage of meat.  The kiddies shared the pizza as well as the Mac n' Cheese.  With a cheesy firm crust on the top, it gave way to relatively firm noodles on the inside.  The sauce was creamy and slightly greasy, yet surprisingly mild on the cheesiness.

For dessert, Viv and I decided to go big or go home, so we had the Raspberry Napoleon.  Each buttery layer was crispy and consistent.  As for the filling, it was creamy and purposefully sweet.  This was a surprisingly refreshing dessert.  We also had 3 Macarons consisting of Mango, Raspberry and Lemon.  I thought the textures to be on point with a crispy and light exterior giving way to a soft chewy interior.  The flavours matched their description in a natural tasting manner without being overly sweet. Elaine and Constanza went for the Pannacotta, Chocolate Eclair and Raspberry Beneight.  I liked the creaminess and zing from the pannacotta which was accented by the crispy white chocolate balls.  The dark chocolate mousse underneath was more like a ganache being thick and smooth.  We really liked the beneight as it was soft and moist with a sweet filling.  The eclair was rather dense, but chocolaty.  In reality, this was only 5% of their total inventory of sweets as their display ran the whole length of the building (and then some).  What a treat to start off our visit to LA!

The Good:
- Huge selection of sweets and pastries
- Decent eats
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- Pricey (of course)
- Can get really busy during peak times 

Nong La Cafe

Despite hailing from Vancouver, it is not lost upon me that there are not a whole lot of great bowls of Pho to be found in West LA.  My first night here was not supposed to start with a Vietnamese meal.  In fact, we were trying to hit up ROC and their supposedly great XLBs, but they closed early for July 4th.  Hence, we decided to try Nong La Cafe next door.  They were pretty busy and we were only able to snag a table outside, where the lighting was bad and nowhere for my bounce flash to bounce off of...  Yes, woe-is-me... #firstworldproblems

With thicker than usual rice noodles (Northern version?), the Phở Đặc Biệt otherwise looked pretty typical.  The noodle themselves were chewy while the meats were not as soft as we would've liked.  As for the broth, it was quite sweet and had a particularly strong licorice hit from the abundance of star anise.  Despite this, no huge complaints about the entire package as it was decent.  I went for the Bún Bò Huế and it was mildly spicy with not much lemongrass essence.  There was a lack of lai fun noodles where I was left a bit hungry at the end.  On the other hand, the noodles were pleasing being slippery with a rebound texture.  Sliced a bit thickly, the beef shank was rather chewy.

For the kiddies, they split the Lemongrass Chicken with Fried Egg on Rice.  The 2 breast portions were relatively moist while mildly seasoned.  I could get a slight sense of lemongrass, but it could've been more apparent.  The rice was fluffy and soft while the fried egg was nicely runny. Personally, I would've liked to see dark meat here as it would've been more succulent.  Since I was still hungry, I got a Bánh Mì as well.  I found the bun to be overly dense albeit crusty.  The pate was plentiful and smooth with far too many whole peppercorns.  That in turn made it too peppery and a bit hard to eat.  Although Nong La did the job in filling our bellies, we weren't sure if we actually liked the food.  It wasn't bad per se, but hardly impressive either.

The Good:
- Friendly service
- Clean
- Vietnamese food where there isn't a whole lot of choice

The Bad:
- Something lacking with each dish
- Skimpy with the noodles

Hamaei

Most times, it is so easy to go out for Japanese food.  I mean, we can find one (or  many more) in any given neighbourhood.  This even applies to the 'burbs, even smaller places like Ladner and New West.  But when "authentic" and "Japanese-run" are added to the criteria, then the list shrinks considerably.  In fact, less than 5% in the entire GVRD fit this description.  So when Viv and I felt like some carefully crafted sushi, we took the drive all the way to North Van.  No, not the ones littering Lonsdale, rather, we visited Hamaei.  This little place is easily missed being tucked behind the McD's just off Westview at Hwy #1.

A few of Viv's co-workers swear by this place and as we arrived late on a weekend, there was still a lineup.  Hence, we ending up sitting at the bar with the kiddies (my daughter was mesmerized by the sushi chefs).  We started with the Assorted Sashimi consisting of tai, ika, hotate, tako, Atlantic salmon and 2 types of tuna.  After our first few pieces, it was pretty obvious the quality of the fish meant the natural flavours and sweetness really came through.  Suffice to say, everything had a nice sheen and textures were on point.  Next, we had a 4 pieces of Nigiri including tai, salmon, hotate and unagi. By virtue of sitting at the sushi bar, I was pleased to see that no microwave was used to warm up the unagi, rather, they used a toaster oven.  Again, everything was good including the nicely textured sushi rice which rode the fine line between chewy and still being moist.  It was also properly seasoned.

At Hamaei, they don't do specialty rolls with special sauces and such, so we ended up with the classic Chopped Scallop Roll.  As much as I don't mind glizty rolls, going back to the regular means simplicity with not much to hide mistakes.  In this case, the roll was well-constructed where it ate without falling apart while not being too firm.  Inside, the buttery scallops were accented by the pop of fish roe.  One dish we weren't overly impressed with was the Grilled Marinated Black Cod.  Despite its beautiful appearance, it was really salty.  Even with the addition of lemon, grated daikon and ginger, it could not cut through the salty sting.  In terms of texture, it was soft, yet a touch past that it was no longer buttery-flaky.

With my son's aversion to the raw stuff, we had to get some other cooked items.  Therefore, we ordered an Appetizer Tempura comprised of 2 ebi, zucchini, golden squash and yam.  Although the batter was relatively crispy, it was a touch heavy on the ebi.  Regarding the ebi, it was meaty, but overcooked where it was a bit chewy.  Also, the yam was undercooked where it was still a bit crunchy.  We ended with the Nabeyaki Udon (also for the kiddies) with tempura served on the side.  This was simple, yet enjoyable with a flavourful dashi broth where the bonito really came through. Overall, we enjoyed our meal at this little gem in North Van.  Of course, nothing can ever be perfect and this was the case here.  The sushi was really good while the cooked items were so-so.  However, for some real sushi, Hamaei is a solid choice not only in North Van, but for all of the GVRD.

The Good:
- Good quality sushi and sashimi
- Carefully prepared
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Tiny place, prepare to wait
- Cooked items are average

The Little District

In my opinion, most restaurants fall into a large category smack dab in the middle of awesome and terrible.  Hence, it is highly subjective whether people like them or not.  For me, the true test of how much I like a restaurant is if I go back shortly afterwards. This was surely the case when we headed over to The Little District after hockey.  Previously, I was only able to sample 3 items off their appealing "Southern-inspired" menu and came away loving their deep-fried pickles.

On the topic of Deep-Fried Pickles, I enthusiastically hyped them up to Emilicious, Sweet Tooth and Milhouse.  Lionel Hutz, probably being pickled himself, wasn't overly excited to eat them...  But for the rest, they were equally impressed as these turned out as good as last time.  The firm, crunchy breading spiked with dill clung onto each house-made spear even after our initial bites.  Pleasantly tart with only a purposeful amount of saltiness, these were appropriately accented by the spicy mayo.  I'll go out on a limb and say these are the best deep-fried pickles in Vancity.  Onto another dish I tried last time, Sweet Tooth had the Fish Tacos featuring battered cod and apple slaw topped with Spanish paprika mayo.  The cod was flaky and moist while coated with a lightly crispy batter.  However,  as with before, the amount of radicchio overwhelmed all of the other flavours where there was far too much bitterness.

Emilicious had a hard time deciding what to order, so she ended up sharing 2 items with me (I wasn't complaining!).  We started with the 2 piece Chicken and Waffle consisting of Southern fried chicken, country gravy and waffle.  Oh man, this was one rich and sinful creation.  I've had quite a few chicken and waffles in the past few years, but this one was on point.  Beginning with the light and fluffy (a bit crumbly though) waffle, it was bathed in a spicy and full-bodied gravy with bits of sausage.  The 2 pieces of fried chicken thigh were succulent and juicy with a crunchy batter that had proper adhesion to the meat.  With a drizzle of syrup, this dish had the right flavours and textures.  Next up, we tried the Oyster Po' Boy with friets.  For $12.00, this was a significant amount of food.  Within the soft and slightly crusty bun lay 3 plump large oysters that were cooked just right (juicy and not chewy) with a crunchy breading.  The side of friets were lightly crispy and potatoey inside.

Milhouse decided to go for the Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese which we watched being prepared in the kitchen (we sat near it).  It reminded me of the movie Chef where copious amounts of butter was used (a good thing!).  Hence it turned out crunchy and buttery with ooey gooey cheese strings with each bite.  As for the soup, it came in a bowl that was big enough to feed 3 people.  Thick and in a bright red hue, the soup ate more like a sauce with little chunks of fresh tomato.  It tasted fresh too with a bright acidity evened-off with an appropriate amount of sweetness.  Lionel Hutz ended up with the Fourteen Buck Chuck consisting of a steak burger with caramelized onion, mayo, house relish, onion rings, tomato and red onions with cheddar.  Although the burger looked menacing, the beef patty was not dense.  Rather, it was lightly formed where the meat still had texture, but remained moist.  The toasted sesame bun was airy, yet held up to the ingredients.

Lastly, with Sweet Tooth around, we couldn't get out of there without trying the Open-Faced Apple Pie with vanilla ice cream.  This was a unique take where the "crust" was essentially fried pastry that was light and crispy.  It was topped with an apple compote of sorts that featured a noticeable tartness from lemon juice.  I found it too tart, but the sweet ice cream did balance it off.  As for the apples, they were too mushy for my tastes.  If they were more firm, that would've been better texturally.  However, looking beyond the dessert, all of the other dishes were appealing and filling at a reasonable price.  The Little District can easily be missed by even locals, so I guess it is a hidden gem of sorts - one worth discovering.

The Good:
- Food you want to order and eat
- Large portions
- Reasonable prices

The Bad:
- Super narrow place with even narrower washrooms
- Health food?  Nope