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Like the hyped-up expectation of the new Star Wars movie, we see another installment in the ChineseBites trilogy. For the longest time, it seemed a squeal was not in the works, but alas, we are back with some more food adventures. No, Disney didn't swoop in and buy CB out, but here we are again. This time it was the Summer menu launch at Pearl Castle Richmond. Most of the same cast has returned including Amy, Sean, Diana, Grace and myself (Rick too, but not in attendance). We welcomed some new cast members including Joyce, Eating with Kirby, SeaPotato and Mashed Thoughts.
We were served an array of Bubble Teas including 3 that could pass for multi-coloured Minions (did Universal buy CB out then?). The 3 in the back row with cotton candy (pink one destroyed due to impatience... LOL) were Sunset Love, Blue Sky and Young Girl's Dream <insert joke here>. In front (L to R), they were Pudding Milk Tea, Coconut Red Bean, Peach Lemon Green Tea, Green Tea Red Bean, Traditional Black Tea, Wintermelon, Green Latte, Fresh Taro Green Milk Tea and Roasted Rice Latte. I had the Peach Lemon Green Tea and it was refreshing, lightly sweet and tart.
Onto the food, it came fast and furious starting with the Taiwanese Sausage and Fried Fish Cake. I've had both dishes before on previous visits and these were on point once again. Beyond the chewy exterior skin, the meat inside the sausage was juicy and sweet. The accompanying dip added the necessary balancing saltiness. In big slices, the plump fish cakes were fried just enough that the outside was crispy while the inside was not dried out. The light dusting of 5-spice added the typical flavours while not being overwhelming.
Next, we sampled the Fried Tofu with sweet soy dip and kimchi. Firmly crunchy and remaining adhered until the last bite, the batter was nicely seasoned. The extra toss of 5-spice added the usual aromatics as well as a shot of flavour. Inside, the tofu remained soft and silky. Presented as abalone mushrooms, we surmised that these were actually Deep Fried King Oyster Mushrooms. The mushrooms were served with 2 dips including a house special sauce and seafood sauce. Similarly to the other deep fried dishes, the mushrooms were the beneficiary of a firmly crunchy exterior. Yup, the 5-spice was there once again and also a good amount of salt. I liked the house special sauce more as it seemed to have this sweet and salty thing going on.
This was the calm before the food storm as everything starting arriving all at once. I took a scoop of the Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice (which happens to be one of their new menu items). The dish was definitely kissed by enough wok heat to create a nuttiness as well as caramelization of the ingredients. There was plenty of cold-water shrimp, pineapple and unfortunately slivered white onions. I felt the onions were too large in size and undercooked. The Kimchi Seafood Udon was plenty impactful due to the amount of kimchi. This resulted in a heightened spice level as well as moisture. There was actually only a modest amount of udon hidden within the kimchi and well-prepared seafood.
A visit to a Taiwanese restaurant would not be complete without an order of the 3 Cup Chicken, so it was no surprise to see it at the table. The ample amount of succulent dark meat was glazed with the usual flavours. I thought it could've used a bit more tang, but in the end, there was more than enough impact from the caramelized sweetness as well as sesame oil. Strangely, I was drawn to the side of vermicelli and ended up eating 2 more portions from other plates. Based somewhat on the same dish, the Garlic Sauce Chicken was several notches up on the impact scale. The chicken was tender and slightly crisp on the outside where it was coated with lots of minced garlic. In addition to the pungency of the garlic, there was a noticeable level of spice.
We then were presented with the Milk Seafood & Pork Hot Pot. This simple-sounding dish was actually pretty much as described. The broth was super milky and lightly creamy. It almost took on an almond milk-type flavour with a balanced sweetness. There was a good mix of ingredients like Napa cabbage, white shrimp, kiwi mussels, assorted meatballs, fatty sliced pork and mushrooms. Consisting of the same base ingredients, the Curry Coconut Seafood Hot Pot was much more rich and thicker in viscosity. Naturally, with coconut, it was more aromatic and fatty while the spice level was quite muted.
Continuing on with the ridiculous amount of food, we had 2 classics including the Wonton with Chili Sauce. Although the sauce itself was good with a nice mix of chili oil, soy and sugar, the wontons themselves were pretty average. I guess the thick dumpling wrapper inhibited the overall texture as wontons are usually delicate. On that note, the filling was somewhat gritty as well. On the other hand, the Original Taiwanese Beef Noodle was on point. It consisted of the classic wide flat noodles that were toothsome. The chunks of beef were fatty and tender while adequately spiced. As for the broth, it was flavourful enough with hits of anise and sweetness while not being overly salty.
Getting close to the end, we tried 2 more of their new items including the Marinated Pork with Rice and the Marinated Chicken with Rice. Both items were similarly presented and prepared. However, I enjoyed the chicken version more because it was moist and succulent while sporting a sweet soy marinade. The rice underneath was chewy and on the drier side, which was a good thing as it went well with the wet ingredients. As for the pork chops, the flavour penetrated as much as the chicken, but the meat itself was more dry. It was still tender, but naturally less juicy than the chicken.
The most powerful dish of the night was the Spicy Incense Hot Pot complete with seafood, meatballs, pork slices, chili peppers, chili oil and Szechaun peppercorns. Tongue-numbing and spicy, the heat level wasn't overpowering. By the same token, it did have considerable impact. The last dish I tried was the Vegetarian 3-Spice King Mushrooms on Rice. Similar to the fried mushroom appetizer, this was a stir-fry consisting of a sweet and savoury glaze. By testing out much of the menu, it was pretty clear to me that the food was more-than-acceptable. From past experiences, this particular location has been consistently the best out of the 4 and it was clearly on display for this meal.
*All food, beverages and gratuities were comped*
The Good:
- Consistent food
- Good portion-to-price ratio
The Bad:
- Love those Richmond parking lots
- Busy
I've always been a fan of the Fast & Furious move franchise. Sure, the fact that there are some pretty cool cars involved probably didn't hurt. However, the more recent movies have dared to be bigger and more outrageous than the last. With the untimely death of Paul Walker, I was pretty interested to see how they would deal with it in the 7th film. But Viv didn't really feel like going so I convinced Miss Y to tag along. The last one she watched was Tokyo Drift, which happened to be the perfect lead-in to Furious 7. Of course we went for eats beforehand at nearby Nao Sushi.
We decided to start off with a couple orders of Oysters on the half-shell. These were actually quite good with no bits of shell anywhere to be seen. Furthermore, they were briny, sweet and of a good size. With a squeeze of lemon, this was as simple, yet enjoyable starter. Continuing on the mollusk theme, we got the Asari Butteryaki featuring plump clams in a buttery broth. Each and every large clam was open (no bad ones) where they benefited from mildly salty broth. It was buttery, but not overly so. Again, not an overly complex dish, but good nonetheless.
Moving onto the Appetizer Tempura, it featured 2 ebi along with green pepper, yam and eggplant. Although the batter was a touch heavy on some pieces, it was nonetheless crispy and surprisingly light. They also did a good job draining the grease. Next, we had the Grilled Cuttlefish which was not overly charred. Personally, I prefer a more aggressive char for appearance and an added smokiness. With an appealing chew, this ate nicely with a squeeze of lemon and a side of mayo.
Onto the Deluxe Assorted Sashimi, it arrived in a large boat with nicely sized and sliced pieces. They didn't skimp on the content as there was salmon, albacore tuna, hamachi, hokkigai, ebi, maguro, uni and fried shrimp heads. The highlight was the crispy heads and the small piece of sweet uni. So far so good until we reached our 2 sushi rolls (Natto Roll and King Crab Roll). The rice was pretty crappy being dense and mushy. Unfortunately, this had to the worst prepared sushi rice I've had in a long time. Beyond the rice, the rolls weren't terrible, but disappointing nonetheless.
Lastly, we had the Chicken Kamameshi served in a sizzling hot pot. Featuring chewy rice with a crispy crust, there was a significant amount of fairly tender chicken. With the addition of the pickles, there was a nice balance of sweet, salty and tartness. This was a good end to a relatively decent meal. Interestingly, the sushi rice was a complete bust (in epic proportions). This is no small problem since sushi represents a large portion of the menu.
The Good:
- Decent eats
- Fair portions
- Okay pricing
The Bad:
- Not sure what happened, but the sushi rice was terrible
- Service depends on which server you get
From the very beginning, we've either gone to Red Robin or White Spot for our kids' birthdays. Especially early on, I guess they weren't very adventurous, hence the Pirate Pak served as the celebration of another year gone by. This time around, my son was psyched to go for Korean BBQ (as this is one of his favourite meals). We decided to head to the ghost mall (aka Henderson Centre) in Coquitlam and visit Koreana. Somehow this place survives despite the demise of almost everything else that has once occupied space in the mall that never really became a mall.
We ended up ordering the dinner for 5 which included the customary Banchan consisting of bean sprouts, kimchi cabbage, spicy cucumber and spinach with tofu. Curiously missing was the stewed potatoes. Nothing much to say about the little plates other than the kimchi was pretty good with an appealing colour and crunch. There was a nice spiciness to go with just the right amount of tartness. Next up, we had the Goon Mandu (fried dumplings) which were prepared a golden brown. The exterior was rather firmly crunchy while the inside featured a fairly dense filling of pork, ginger, onions and cabbage. I found these a bit too heavy for my liking.
Onto the next dish, we actually substituted Japchae for the included seafood pancake. There was a better chance the kiddies would eat this over the heavily green onion-laden pancake. This was actually quite good with chewy noodles that weren't glistening with too much oil. Although sweet, there was enough savouriness to balance the dish out. Also, there was no shortage of ingredients including tender slices of beef. For our included soups, we got one each of the Soft Tofu and Spicy Tofu. Naturally, the spicy broth was more impactful. It was mostly salty and spicy without much depth. There was a considerable amount of soft tofu and chunks of beef that made the soup quite hearty.
Moving to the main event, we were presented with a plate consisting of the Beef, 2 types of Beef Short Ribs, Spicy Pork and Chicken. As much as this didn't appear to be much, we didn't end up finishing all the meat. We found the grill to be somewhat inconsistent where half of it was ineffective. Only portions of the meat were actually seared. With that being said, the meats were decent quality being tender. Lastly, we got their version of Dakgangjeong with lemon. They actually served out dish to another table, but the server was very apologetic about it. We enjoyed the spicy sweetness of the dish including the bitter lemon rind. The chicken itself was moist enough, but the batter was a bit thick and doughy. Although not without flaws, we found the food at Koreana more than acceptable. Naturally, it wasn't cheap and the service was a little hurried (much like any other Korean restaurant).
The Good:
- Decent eats
- Spacious seating
- Lots of parking (because the mall is dead)
The Bad:
- Pricey
- Service is sparse as expected
As if eating a bowl of ramen, a side of Gyu Don, sharing some chashu and half of a ramen burger wasn't enough for lunch, Steve suggested we hit up Straight Outta Brooklyn NYC Pizzeria for kicks. Honestly, if we were attempting to emulate a day in the life of Mijune, we would fail miserably. We just don't have that type of pedigree or more accurately, that type of metabolism. In fact, I think ours are probably the reverse. Whatever the case, we each decided to try a different slice of pizza.
For myself, the White Pie was calling out to me with its combination of mozzarella, smoked provolone, grana padano, ricotta, garlic and oregano. It turned out to be a good choice as there was a wealth of flavours despite its unassuming appearance. There were definite hits of real minced garlic, saltiness and background smokiness from the provolone and the crust itself. Vandelay had the standard being the Margherita. Being a simple concoction, the pizza was good with subtle flavours. The tomato sauce was not particularly noticeable while the whole basil leaves added that classic taste. I personally would've like to see them added after baking.
Steve had the Spicy! with capicollo and salami piccante. This one did live up to its name with some heat from the toppings. It wasn't too much in our faces to cause much of a problem, but it wasn't bland. As for the crust, it was super thin (living up to its Brooklyn-style namesake) and crispy. It was so crispy, that we could pick it up without needing to fold it. There was a sufficient amount of browning underneath and on the edges for a bit of nuttiness. With all things considered, I can see why Vandelay has this place on weekly lunch rotation. For a reasonable price, one can get well-made thin-crust pizza that sets itself apart from all the other slice pizza joints.
The Good:
- Thin, crispy crust
- Impactful toppings
- Reasonably-priced
The Bad:
- Pretty much take out, not a whole lot of seats
- Limited ready-made selection (but can be good too to keep things simple)
I love burgers, I really do. There is just something about meat in a bun with various things like cheese, bacon and mushrooms to make it even tastier. However, in recent times, burgers have become gourmet and have even the very definition of a burger has been challenged. We've seen the Korean-style "burgers" made with rice "buns" at Kobob (which I didn't mind), but the availability of a ramen burger at Ramen Koika piqued my interest. I met up with Steve and Vandelay to check the place out.
Before we got to the burger, we naturally tried some actual ramen first. For myself, I had the Black Garlic Ramen. I found the broth to be fairly light-tasting and thin. However, the addition of black garlic oil and toasted garlic amped the flavour quotient. It was aromatic and subtly impactful. I went for the "hard" noodles and they were toothsome as advertised, even while sitting in the broth until the end. The thick slices of fatty chashu were a disappointment though as the texture did not match the visuals. The meat was actually on the chewier side and slightly dry. For my side, I had the Gyu Don which looked lifeless and pale. Now this did had matching visuals and taste. The rice was not sauced nearly enough while the meat was not particularly tasty nor appealing. Large, barely cooked slivers of onions did not help the cause either.
Vandelay ended up with the King's Ramen (carrot, cabbage, mushroom, green onion, bean sprouts, shredded pork, seaweed, mamboo shoot and soft boiled egg) which featured a curiously cloudy chicken broth. It was lightly sweet and savoury. Being a chicken broth, we weren't expecting any flavour explosions, but with that in mind, it was still quite light. Being cloudy, the broth wasn't particularly clean-tasting either. The noodles were toothsome though while the egg was a touch overdone. It had a soft centre, but was trending towards hard-boiled. Steve decided on the Smoky Kara Spicy Miso Ramen with hard noodles as well. It was somewhat thick with the unmistakable taste of miso. It wasn't that salty though where there was a certain nuttiness and smokiness to the broth. There was a definite lingering spice that wasn't overwhelming.
We also shared an order of the Delicious Chashu Pork Belly and it was pretty good. Deep fried and completely fatty, this was a sinful treat. The meat was curiously more tender in this application. The deep-fry helped caramelize the fat and meat which resulted in some pretty rich flavours. Now onto the Chashu Burger, let's just say ramen noodles should remain in broth. The "bun" was super dense and mealy. I couldn't actually get it down because the texture was so unappealing. Similar to my ramen, the chashu was meaty and fatty. I thought the teriyaki sauce and mayo was a natural combination which was fine. But that ramen bun really did suck. As for the other items, they were decent, but not extraordinary. Definitely serviceable if in the area though.
The Good:
- Diverse menu
- Decent service
- Serviceable ramen
The Bad:
- Ramen bun is no good
- Limited tables
Posts
Like the hyped-up expectation of the new Star Wars movie, we see another installment in the ChineseBites trilogy. For the longest time, it seemed a squeal was not in the works, but alas, we are back with some more food adventures. No, Disney didn't swoop in and buy CB out, but here we are again. This time it was the Summer menu launch at Pearl Castle Richmond. Most of the same cast has returned including Amy, Sean, Diana, Grace and myself (Rick too, but not in attendance). We welcomed some new cast members including Joyce, Eating with Kirby, SeaPotato and Mashed Thoughts.
We were served an array of Bubble Teas including 3 that could pass for multi-coloured Minions (did Universal buy CB out then?). The 3 in the back row with cotton candy (pink one destroyed due to impatience... LOL) were Sunset Love, Blue Sky and Young Girl's Dream <insert joke here>. In front (L to R), they were Pudding Milk Tea, Coconut Red Bean, Peach Lemon Green Tea, Green Tea Red Bean, Traditional Black Tea, Wintermelon, Green Latte, Fresh Taro Green Milk Tea and Roasted Rice Latte. I had the Peach Lemon Green Tea and it was refreshing, lightly sweet and tart.
Onto the food, it came fast and furious starting with the Taiwanese Sausage and Fried Fish Cake. I've had both dishes before on previous visits and these were on point once again. Beyond the chewy exterior skin, the meat inside the sausage was juicy and sweet. The accompanying dip added the necessary balancing saltiness. In big slices, the plump fish cakes were fried just enough that the outside was crispy while the inside was not dried out. The light dusting of 5-spice added the typical flavours while not being overwhelming.
Next, we sampled the Fried Tofu with sweet soy dip and kimchi. Firmly crunchy and remaining adhered until the last bite, the batter was nicely seasoned. The extra toss of 5-spice added the usual aromatics as well as a shot of flavour. Inside, the tofu remained soft and silky. Presented as abalone mushrooms, we surmised that these were actually Deep Fried King Oyster Mushrooms. The mushrooms were served with 2 dips including a house special sauce and seafood sauce. Similarly to the other deep fried dishes, the mushrooms were the beneficiary of a firmly crunchy exterior. Yup, the 5-spice was there once again and also a good amount of salt. I liked the house special sauce more as it seemed to have this sweet and salty thing going on.
This was the calm before the food storm as everything starting arriving all at once. I took a scoop of the Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice (which happens to be one of their new menu items). The dish was definitely kissed by enough wok heat to create a nuttiness as well as caramelization of the ingredients. There was plenty of cold-water shrimp, pineapple and unfortunately slivered white onions. I felt the onions were too large in size and undercooked. The Kimchi Seafood Udon was plenty impactful due to the amount of kimchi. This resulted in a heightened spice level as well as moisture. There was actually only a modest amount of udon hidden within the kimchi and well-prepared seafood.
A visit to a Taiwanese restaurant would not be complete without an order of the 3 Cup Chicken, so it was no surprise to see it at the table. The ample amount of succulent dark meat was glazed with the usual flavours. I thought it could've used a bit more tang, but in the end, there was more than enough impact from the caramelized sweetness as well as sesame oil. Strangely, I was drawn to the side of vermicelli and ended up eating 2 more portions from other plates. Based somewhat on the same dish, the Garlic Sauce Chicken was several notches up on the impact scale. The chicken was tender and slightly crisp on the outside where it was coated with lots of minced garlic. In addition to the pungency of the garlic, there was a noticeable level of spice.
We then were presented with the Milk Seafood & Pork Hot Pot. This simple-sounding dish was actually pretty much as described. The broth was super milky and lightly creamy. It almost took on an almond milk-type flavour with a balanced sweetness. There was a good mix of ingredients like Napa cabbage, white shrimp, kiwi mussels, assorted meatballs, fatty sliced pork and mushrooms. Consisting of the same base ingredients, the Curry Coconut Seafood Hot Pot was much more rich and thicker in viscosity. Naturally, with coconut, it was more aromatic and fatty while the spice level was quite muted. 
Continuing on with the ridiculous amount of food, we had 2 classics including the Wonton with Chili Sauce. Although the sauce itself was good with a nice mix of chili oil, soy and sugar, the wontons themselves were pretty average. I guess the thick dumpling wrapper inhibited the overall texture as wontons are usually delicate. On that note, the filling was somewhat gritty as well. On the other hand, the Original Taiwanese Beef Noodle was on point. It consisted of the classic wide flat noodles that were toothsome. The chunks of beef were fatty and tender while adequately spiced. As for the broth, it was flavourful enough with hits of anise and sweetness while not being overly salty.
Getting close to the end, we tried 2 more of their new items including the Marinated Pork with Rice and the Marinated Chicken with Rice. Both items were similarly presented and prepared. However, I enjoyed the chicken version more because it was moist and succulent while sporting a sweet soy marinade. The rice underneath was chewy and on the drier side, which was a good thing as it went well with the wet ingredients. As for the pork chops, the flavour penetrated as much as the chicken, but the meat itself was more dry. It was still tender, but naturally less juicy than the chicken.
The most powerful dish of the night was the Spicy Incense Hot Pot complete with seafood, meatballs, pork slices, chili peppers, chili oil and Szechaun peppercorns. Tongue-numbing and spicy, the heat level wasn't overpowering. By the same token, it did have considerable impact. The last dish I tried was the Vegetarian 3-Spice King Mushrooms on Rice. Similar to the fried mushroom appetizer, this was a stir-fry consisting of a sweet and savoury glaze. By testing out much of the menu, it was pretty clear to me that the food was more-than-acceptable. From past experiences, this particular location has been consistently the best out of the 4 and it was clearly on display for this meal.
