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All the warning signs were there... Bad reviews on Urbanspoon, Yelp and whatever else one could read on the internet... But with one push of a button, I bought a Groupon for Big River Brewing Co. in Richmond. Why the insanity? Well, it was due in part to convenience as I was going to watch Penguins of Madagascar at Riverport anyways. Secondly, my curiousity sometimes gets the best of me. But most important of all, I wanted to save $48.00 despite the great potential for bad eats. Shame on me...
To begin, we got an order of Salt & Pepper Wings and Hot Wings each. Firmly crispy on the outside while still surprisingly moist on the inside, the salt & pepper wings should've been named naked wings. It was as if they forgot to seasoned them. They were super bland where even the dip didn't help. The hot wings were better due to the toss in hot sauce. In that sense, these were decent since the meat was not dry (like the salt & pepper wings). Being a brew pub, I got a pint of the Pale Ale and it was on the lighter side and hoppy. It was okay and of course it went well with the wings.
My son ended up with the Big River Classic Burger with bacon, cheddar and all the fixins'. If you look at the picture, you will see the most pathetic mass of bacon on top of the patty and cheese. The humanity! This garbled up and undercooked (as in not crispy at all) bacon was so hard to eat, my son choked on the gristle and had to spit it out. As for the burger patty, it was dense and overly smoky in flavour. Viv decided on the Blackened Cod Tacos with guacamole, lime cumin slaw, pea shoots and fresh lime. The fish was indeed smoky and seasoned, however, one piece was pretty overdone while the other was decent. The tacos were okay but the huge soft tortilla was hard to handle with things falling out constantly. Also, the pea shoots didn't seem to go with the mix of ingredients.
My daughter had the kid's meal consisting of Chicken Strips and Fries. Nothing much to comment about the Sysco/GFS-type chicken strips other than they were crispy and a bit dry in the middle. As for the fries, they were horrible. They were undercooked where the potato was dense and unappealing. Also, there was enough residual grease to moisturize her dry hands. For myself, I had the 8 oz. Striploin Steak Teriyaki with rice pilaf and pan-fried veggies. I asked for medium-rare and it done to my liking. I liked the aggressive char, but for some reason, they managed to make a potentially flavourful steak completely bland. I had to resort to using salt. Soggy and also tasteless, I ignored the rice while the veggies were doused in a offending amount of oil. Uh... Yah... Serves me right for buying that Groupon... Food is no good and especially for the price (even the discounted price, heaven forbid the people who paid in full). Lastly, we found the service friendly enough, but highly inefficient and unattentive.
The Good:
- Um, its location for people at the bowling alley and/or theatre?
- People who want craft beer?
The Bad:
- Food is no good
- Service is inattentive (but friendly enough)
- Expensive for what you get
When one thinks of seafood, the usual suspects would normally include lobster, crab, oysters, prawns, mussels and especially on the Westcoast, Salmon. Seafood tower anyone? Mmm... seafood tower... But c'mon, what is the fun in eating such boring things? Um... actually... Wait, I gotta stick to the story. Okay, much like how Jan played second (or even third) fiddle to Marsha in the Brady Bunch (if you even know what that is), certain sea-dwellers are often ignored as delicacies. Akin to offal, these under-utilized species in the culinary world are highlighted by Executive Chef Frank Pabst of Blue Water Cafe during their Unsung Heroes seafood festival. Along with a few others, I was invited to try the entire menu for the event in February.
To start things off, we were served a trio of items including the Herring Roe prepared as a taramosalata served with grilled flat bread. As expected, the mixture was aromatic in a fishy and salty manner. This was offset by the slight tang of lemon juice and the drizzle of olive oil. Not to be outdone, the pillowy soft flat bread was a nice compliment as it didn't detract from the smooth texture of the taramosalata. Hidden beneath crunchy fingerling potato chips, the fried Smelt was coated in a light tempura which was delicately crisp. The smelt itself was soft and moist. What really brought this dish together was the fantastic oyster remoulade. Creamy and briny with a slight tang from the diced pickles, this added another essence of the sea to the dish. Since the Sturgeon Liver was unavailable for our meal, White Sturgeon Caviar was substituted in its place. I wasn't upset at this development as these were buttery with the usual saltiness.
Our next three dishes included the fantastic Sea Urchin mousse atop calamari crackers with ponzu jelly. It didn't disappoint as it was smooth, sweet, briny and purposefully salty. The ponzu jelly added some acidity while the squid ink crackers were thinly crispy. Despite all of the other ingredients, the uni was still able to shine. Next, we had the steamed Gooseneck Barnacles served with saffron aioli and kaiso salad tossed in a soy mirin dressing. After the obligatory giggles and Instagram pictures, we finally settled in to eat some of these suckers. After removing the outer "skin" (which elicited even more nervous laughter), the barnacles were chewy with a rebound texture. They were sweet, briny and juicy. As pretty as the little drops of aioli appeared, we would've liked more of it as it was aromatically tasty. With a nicely crisped skin, the Herring was dressed in a sweet and sour marinade atop Napa cabbage. The flavours were bright and acidic which was accented by a fresh crunch from the cabbage.
Continuing on, we tried the Sea Cucumber innards with shiitake mushrooms, green daikon, edamame, wakame, tofu, turnip puree and ginger dashi. These were buttery and sweet where the cooking process was flawless. The flavours were clean with mild hints of tartness from the turnip puree and sharpness from the ginger dashi. Prepared in an "escargot style", the Whelk sat in a beautiful and silky garlic parsley nori butter. Texturally similar to conch, the little sea snails were appealing chewy. With an abundance of butter and herbs, the salty creaminess enveloped each nugget. The acidic tomatoes were strategically added to break up some of the heaviness. At first, we were concerned with the Jellyfish congee with beef tongue, snow peas, bean sprouts, garlic chips and hoisin dressing. Why? Well, sometimes Chinese-inspired dishes fall flat. Not this one though as the congee was thick and well-seasoned. On top, the mixture of all of the ingredients was dressed in enough sesame oil that it gave the entire dish a wonderful aroma. Furthermore, the textures were on point as the jellyfish was crunchy as well as the peas.
We had 2 more dishes before dessert including the grilled Octopus accompanied by chickpea panisse with smoked olives, marinated eggplant and tomato sauce with Kurobuta pork. Sadly, the octopus was squishy and overly soft rather than having a snappy chewy texture. With the tentacles being the beneficiary of the smokiness from the grill, the other pieces were underseasoned. However, the tart and acidic sauce made up for that. Of course, the pork cracklings didn't hurt things either. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of Mackerel, but I enjoyed their version with beluga lentils, spicy red onion marmalade and sesame seeds. The fish was expertly prepared where the buttery fish oils created a sensation for taste and smell. Sweet and acidic, the marmalade didn't mask the natural fish essence.
Of course we couldn't end the meal without dessert (and since Mijune was there, she'd have a fit otherwise). First off, we had a plate consisting of Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Mousse. Creamy and airy light, the dulce de leche was purposefully sweet where it was nicely contrasted by crunchy bits underneath. That was the same with the airy mousse as the chocolate almond slivers added a light crunch. This was also not overly sweet where the flavours really popped with the addition of the tart raspberries. When I spotted the Chestnut Cheesecake, it brought back memories of Chinese chestnut cake. However, this was not remotely close as it was light and was influenced only slightly by the chestnut puree. Again, the essence of the chestnut came through due to the restraint with the sugar content. Lastly, I sampled the Vanilla Ice Cream with quince. This was a simple, yet refreshing offering with the smoothness of the ice cream combined with the sweet bits of quince. And there you have it, an almost complete rundown of the Unsung Heroes menu. With prices ranging from $9.50 to $15.50, instead of heading to an Izakaya, head down to Blue Water with some friends and share some expertly-prepared little bites.
*All food, beverages and gratuities were complimentary*
The Good:
- On point execution
- Interesting ingredients (to a degree)
- Wonderful dining space
The Bad:
- For some, the ingredients are not that unusual
- Portions are a bit small, need to order more
Sometimes, I think the circle of life can be exemplified in many ways. Case in point, it seems like I am doing exactly what my parents did when I was young. No, I'm not talking about the nagging and various rule enforcements. But I guess I am finding myself doing that! Aiya! For me, it comes back to food (like that is a surprise). We seem to be settling into a pattern of doing Dim Sum every weekend just like my parents. So I guess there will be many re-visits in the future. For this food adventure, it brought us back to Cindy's Palace with the company of Costanza and family.
Beginning with the healthiest options, we had both the Deep Fried Dumplings and the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings. Described affectionately as greasy grease balls by one of Viv's co-workers, the deep fried dumplings weren't overly oily in this case. The exterior glutinous rice shell was thin, hence there was a light crispiness that wasn't overwhelmed by too much doughiness. Inside, there was a serious lack of filling. However, it was okay though with mild moist ground pork with bits of water chestnuts. We found the fried taro dumplings to be sub-par as the were, in fact, greasy grease balls. They were oil-logged where the exterior was not crispy, especially on the bottom. Once again, the filling sported moist pork with water chestnuts, except bathed in a Portuguese-type sauce.
Up next, the Bean Curd Skin Rolls looked like they had been sitting in a tanning salon a bit too long. They were in a deep shade of brown and as a result, the texture was quite chewy and dry. Consequently, the bean curd skin did not soak up much of the sauce which made the entire roll dense and mealy. Inside, the filling wasn't overly moist either and was also mildly seasoned. This was a total miss in our opinion. For the kiddies, we got a double order of the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice). These were wrapped in banana leaves where the sticky rice adhered to the them like glue. Hence, we had a heck of a time scraping off the sticky rice. I'm not going to speculate why they stuck on so much, but I have an idea or two. Other than that, the rice was on the wetter side with only a modest amount of ground pork filling.
On the topic of filling, the BBQ Pork Pastries were sorely lacking in BBQ pork. Hence, there wasn't much to distract us from the dense and slightly underdone puff pastry. For me, I found the pastry to be greasy with the taste of fat. Normally, the sweet BBQ pork filling would be there to balance the flavours and textures off with some sweet meatiness. This wasn't the case. Another poorly executed dish. Next up, the Pork Sparerib Rice Hot Pot arrived smoking hot. Compared to the last few dishes, this was pretty good. The rice was cooked in the hot pot where it was nutty and chewy. On top, there was plenty of meaty pieces of sparerib with very little fat and cartilage portions. Texturally, the meat was chewy with a rebound texture. It was well-seasoned where I got a decent amount of garlic.
Onto the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll, it was stuffed with a good amount of filling. In fact, I don't even remember the last time there was so much shrimp in a rice noodle roll. I found the texture to be somewhere in between having a moist snap to a meaty bounce. The rice noodle itself was a bit thick, yet at the same time, it was not overly dense. For the kiddies, they couldn't go without the Salty Donut Rice Noodle Roll. Something about sticking a fried piece of dough in there... They really should make a version with bannock... Fusion anyone? Anyways, the salty donut was not overly dense, yet was not all that crispy. It had completely softened up from the moisture. We liked how the roll was plain though as we didn't have to painstakingly pick out the green onions for the kiddies.
Interestingly, they stuck some wasabi in the Shrimp Spring Rolls which offended my son. Hey, there was no humanly-way possible we could pick out the wasabi! Actually, this never make sense to me as the wasabi kills the shrimp flavour in my opinion. Whatever the case, the shrimp was decent in a manner similar to the rice noodle roll, expect with wasabi... Outside, the wrapper was crunchy and easy on the grease. Thankfully, the BBQ Pork Buns were typical, so we didn't have to worry about anything offending anyone. The buns were fluffy where it wasn't dense nor overly wet. Inside, there was enough filling (unlike the pastries) where the meat was lean and the sauce was easy on the sugar.
Onto the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings), we found the skin to be on the chewier side. It wasn't thick per se, but there was a slight lack of moisture. With that being said, this was a whole lot better than being too wet and broken. Inside, the shrimp filling had a moist snap with some meatiness. Whatever they seasoned it with was totally obliterated by the massive amount of sesame oil. Completing the ying and the yang, we had the Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings) which were mostly just pork dumplings. Therefore, the flavours were pretty one dimensional being "porky". Textures were okay though with plenty of meatiness (not hard when it's primarily pork) with some rebound. I liked how they went easy with the amount of pork fat.
To make sure we were full, as if we didn't order enough already, we got a plate of the House Fried Noodle. This was an okay dish with noodles that weren't all that crispy. It wasn't a result of the sauce either as the noodles were soft to begin with. Other than that, the seafood and chicken were done right with proper textures. I know this is nitpicking, but they could've thrown in some slices of carrot and/or used gai lan as the whole dish was lacking colour. On the other hand, the XO Daikon Radish Cake exhibited plenty of colour with a nice deep fry. Hence, each piece was lightly crispy, albeit quite greasy. There was plenty of XO essence including spiciness and the taste of dried shrimp.
Lacking colour, the Beef Meatballs arrived in a rather pale shade of almost grey. This was possibly due to the overprocessing and marinating of the meat. Texturally, it was soft and a touch mushy. It was lacking in the rebound meatiness we often associate with this dish. Flavourwise, it was okay though where there was a balance of flavours including the good ratio of greens to meat. Lastly (yes, no dessert...), we had the Steamed Bible Tripe which was more or less fine. They were a bit on the softer side, but still retained some bite. There was enough ginger and green onion to add flavour and to mask any gaminess that may have existed. Overall, this revisit was a bit up and down. There were a few good dishes, but as a whole, the meal was underwhelming. Despite the generous portions, Cindy's needs to step it up in terms of consistency.
The Good:
- Fairly large portions
- Decent pricing
- Food comes out pretty quick
The Bad:
- Hit and miss
- Owner and/or manager yelling at employees in front of customers makes it extremely awkward
Another weekend meant another serving of Dim Sum. But wait, what's this? The kids were complaining about "Dim Sum again"... Geez, #firstworldproblems right? Hey, I don't remember having such a sentiment when I was at their age. Talk about being spoiled and having too much choice! Therefore, I took a stand as their father and stated we were having Dim Sum no matter what. They'd have to suffer through multiple plates of yummy food as punishment. Yah, that'll show them. Such entitled little brats!
Since the kids were not feeling it for Dim Sum, I started them off with a bowl of Sliced Beef Congee. This was a fairly watery broth that was more home-style due to the lack of seasoning. In fact, the beef was bland as well. Texturally, it was sufficiently tender due to being marinated (with the exception of seasoning). At the end, the whole bowl was just a watery mess. We got an order of the Salty Donut to go with the congee and it appeared to be re-fried. Despite this, the exterior was nicely crisp while not particularly pleasing to look at. Inside, it was on the doughier side, but it was not chewy nor dry.
I guess once they started eating, the kiddies got into it and had no problem downing the BBQ Pork Buns. Sadly, these were really small with barely any filling. The filling itself was not sauced enough, hence being dry. It wasn't overly sweet though, but that was made up completely by the sweet bun. Texturally, I found it rather dense and lacking in fluffiness. Due to the thin exterior layer, the Custard Buns were softer and more moist. Inside, the custard was semi-sweet where it was a touch mealy. A bit more moisture would've gone a long way in creating a silkier texture.
Texture was the operative word for the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) as it was really strange. Beyond the chewy dumpling skin, the shrimp inside did not exhibit much shrimp-like attributes. Due to the over-processing of the meat, the shrimp had a gummy-like feel which was rather rubbery. Furthermore, I could not pick out any real flavours other than salt. The Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings) was not much better as there were big chunks of inedible pork fat strewn throughout each piece. They needed to process it more into the meat. About that meat, it didn't have much of a rebound texture, rather it was on the chewier side. The little bits of shrimp inside were woefully overcooked and rubbery.
Oddly enough the large shrimp in the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll exhibited the desired snap texture. However, they were obliterated by the excess amount of salt. I could not even taste the soy sauce as it was overwhelmed by the seasoning. As for the rice noodle itself, we found it soft and slightly wet. With that being said, it was pretty good in relation to others we've had. Also texturally wrong, the Pan Fried Daikon Radish Cake was too wet and soft. Hence, when I picked it up, it fell apart on contact. Possibly a more aggressive pan-fry could've helped the cause. Futhermore, there was a lack of seasoning where I had to use copious amounts of hot sauce.
One dish that was impressive was the Stuffed Eggplant with Black Bean Sauce. We found the eggplant to be fried just enough where it was soft while not overly mushy. Moreover, the shrimp mousse filling was bouncy with bits of shrimp accenting the airy mousse. The best part was the sauce as it looked and tasted like black bean and garlic. With more garlic than black bean, the Steamed Spareribs were plenty garlicky. Too bad it was super salty as well because the dish would've been spot on otherwise. Texturally, the ribs were meaty with very little fat and cartilage while having a rebound.
For my offal dish, we had the Steamed Bible Tripe with ginger and onion. This was mild-tasting with good hits of ginger and green onion. I thought the tripe was on the chewier side and could've used a touch more tenderization. However, I would take this over mushy any day. Lastly, we had the Egg Tarts prepared in store-bought tart shells. Naturally, this meant that they weren't flaky nor light. As for the egg custard, it was super watery and overly sweet. This was not very good. In the end, I guess I should've listened to the kiddies as the Dim Sum at Lougheed Wonton was below-average. Should've went for burgers instead...
The Good:
- Cheap
- Service efficient, yet not very attentive
The Bad:
- Dim Sum subpar
- Service efficient, yet not very attentive
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