Tapenade Bistro

Joyce has been a fellow blogger and friend since we both began blogging around 7 years ago.  I started roughly half-a-year before she did and we attended our first ever restaurant tasting together as well.  Since then, we've been to many of the same events and have recently worked together for the Chinese Restaurant Awards blogger's choice category.  But all this time, we've never actually gone out on a "double-date" where we brought our better halves.  Well, it finally happened...  in Richmond no less, at Tapenade Bistro.

We got things going with 2 appies including the surprisingly good Grilled Vancouver Island Octopus with capicola, fingerling potato salad, carrot & citrus emulsion and pickled mustard seeds.  Tender with an appealing chew, the octopus was lightly seasoned where it could've used a bit more salt.  However, the rest of the ingredients picked up the slack with nice hits of acidity, sweetness and saltiness.  There was a hint of smokiness which we never did figure out from where.  Although not a major issue, the cold capicola slices seemed a bit lifeless (maybe a slight sear?).

Next, we had the appetizer portion of the Salish Sea Mussels in a Moroccan broth consisting of harissa, piperade, preserved lemon and mint.  As much as this was a pleasantly aromatic and somewhat spicy concoction, it could've been even more so.  The flavours were probably more conservative so that it would appeal to a wider audience.  As for the mussels themselves, they were fairly plump and cooked just enough.  We also added a side of hand-cut Kennebec Frites with aioli.  These were hot, crispy and almost fluffy inside.  They were aggressively salted and were fine on their own, even without the aioli.

For my entree, I had the Oven Roasted Halibut Filet with faro risotto, wild mushroom, grilled leek, Swiss chard and rhubarb.  Without exaggeration, this piece of fish was prepared almost flawlessly being flaky and moist with a crispy sear.  In addition to the perfect execution, the fish itself was fresh (which helped the cause as frozen halibut has a habit of drying out) and well-seasoned.  Underneath, the faro was toothsome while the chard was barely kissed by a hot pan.  As for Viv, she chose the Bouillabaisse consisting of Salish sea mussels, fresh fish, saffron & tomato broth and rouille on a crostini.  We found the broth lightly tomatoey while mild all-around including only a background briny essence.  The seafood was mostly on point except for the overcooked salmon.

Mr. (as Joyce likes to call him) had the Seared Albacore Tuna with chickpea panisse, roasted peppers, green olive, crudité vegetables and smoked tuna aioli.   This was a bountiful dish with expertly prepared tuna that was uniformly seared with a buttery soft rare centre.  With a sprinkle of salt, this was simple, yet naturally flavoured.  Interestingly, the chickpea panisse almost had a polenta quality. Joyce ended up with the 8 oz Heritage Angus Flank Steak with gratin potatoes, smoked bone marrow, broccoli, aged cheddar and braised shallot.  Although the steak itself was beautifully medium-rare and sufficiently tender, there was a piece of sinew that made things chewy.  We couldn't detect any smoked bone marrow in any components of the dish (we suspected the demi-glace).  The potato pave was neatly constructed with tender layers, but a bit more cheese and cream would've added a bit more moisture.


For dessert, I had the White Chocolate Panna Cotta with aerated chocolate, honey comb, blackberry and chocolate sable.  Light and creamy while not overly stiff, the panna cotta played second fiddle to the rest of the ingredients.  The firm crunch of the chocolate sable cookies was pleasing while the honeycomb added a crispy sweetness.  Viv decided on the Clafoutis with rhubarb, hazelnut streusel and buttermilk ice cream.  Although appearing quite large, the clafoutis itself was pretty shallow.  Good thing too as it was dense and thick.  It wasn't particularly sweet, but the ice cream and streusel helped in that regard.  This was probably my least favourite of our 4 desserts.

Joyce opted for the Lemon Tart with basil crème fraiche, strawberry curd and brown butter shortbread.  Although the shortbread crust was buttery and slightly nutty, it could've been more firm.  Inside, the lemon curd was appealingly tart while on the denser side of creamy.  The drops of basil crème fraiche were nice while the strawberry curd drops were tasty, but strangely not strawberry tasting.  A minor complaint would be the chewy dehydrated strawberry slices. Mr. went for the Brown Butter Financier with chamomile, honey yogurt, kumquat marmalade and crushed pecan.  The cake itself was on the denser side, yet exhibited a decent moistness with a crispy exterior crust.  It wasn't overly buttery, but there was a certain nuttiness, especially with the pecans.  We loved the marmalade as it was not overly sweet nor tart.  Overall, I was pretty surprised with the food (especially the mains) at Tapenade.  Not sure why it took so long to try it.

The Good:
- Generally on point proteins
- Decently-priced for the portion size
- Fairly good service

The Bad:
- Desserts were okay, but lagged behind the mains
- Service was pretty good, but was a little stretched when there were more customers

Pallet Coffee Roasters

Let's face it, as much as Groupon can be heavily criticized for an array problems, there are certain businesses that benefit. I'm not talking about the ones on their last breath because no amount of promotion can bail out a sinking ship.  If the coupon can bring awareness to a spot that actually serves up something good, then it can be a win-win situation.  This is especially true for places like Pallet Coffee Roasters (from all reports, great at what they do), where their location is somewhat hidden.  Honestly, I would've never visited the place without a Groupon (no, I do not get paid to say this).

We ended up dropping by for lunch since the last time we tried visiting the place, it was after 2:00pm and their sandwiches were unavailable.  To begin, we both had the Cafe Mocha in a medium size.  Obviously, a mocha isn't necessarily the best way to judge coffee, but we were in the mood for it.  With that being said, it was good being only purposefully sweet with a nice hint of chocolate. We still got the espresso hit in the background. As for the sandwiches, we began with the Beef Brisket constructed of bianca pane, remoulade, beef brisket, gruyere, caramelized onions and arugula.  This was surprisingly good with moist and tender beef slathered with enough creamy remoulade to make things a bit messy and adding some zing.  The added sweetness from the onions and nuttiness from the gruyere provided more layers of flavour.  What brought it together was the soft bread with a touch of chewy-crunchiness.

With a milder approach, the London Club featured organic sourdough, mayo, chicken breast, organic egg, ham, tomato, romaine, and mozzarella. Soft and tangy, the sourdough had a firm crust which helped hold the ample amount of well-salted egg salad in place.  Since the ingredients were more complimentary than overbearing, the subtle smokiness of the ham and brightness of the tomato were discernible.  This was a good sandwich, but the brisket was much more impactful.  We ended off with 2 pastries including the Double-Baked Almond Croissant.  This was fairly sweet with generous amount of almond filling.  Crispy with obvious laminated layers, the croissant itself was light and airy despite the double bake and filling.

Our second pastry was almost the same as the first being the Double-Baked Chocolate-Hazelnut Croissant.  This was just as sweet, if not more, than the almond croissant.  There was the unmistakable aroma of butter and hazelnuts to go along with the Chez Christophe chocolate.  In the end, I was pretty happy that I had purchased the Groupon.  Otherwise, we wouldn't have stumbled on this neat little place that serves up good eats to go with their coffee.

The Good:
- Solid all-around
- Low key vibe

The Bad:
- Sandwiches are a bit pricey (but good ingredients)
- Not the most obvious of locations

Pho Hoa (Kingsway)

With all the new Pho joints strewn throughout the GVRD, it is easy to sometimes forget one of the originals.  Yes, I'm talking about Pho Hoa (aka the McD's of Pho).  Recently, Pho Hoa has fallen on hard times where location after location has closed (making way for Pho Boi).  As much as I tend to dismiss Pho Hoa publicly, it does hold a place in my heart.  No, it isn't food, rather, Viv and I would frequent the place when we first started going out.  So I guess we returned mostly for ol' times sake because the place didn't look like it had been updated since.

I got the standard Pho Dac Biet and although I specifically said I wanted cilantro, they omitted everything from the broth.  Actually, for our entire menu, it appeared no one really understood what we wanted (like water and a knife).  Back to the pho, the broth was somewhat clean and pretty mild.  It wasn't bursting out with any discernible flavours.  With that being said, it didn't offend.  Noodles were okay while the meats did the job.  For Viv, she went for the Grilled Pork & Spring Roll on Vermicelli.  Inconsistently charred, the pork was super fatty and not appealing.  It did exhibit a smoky sweet taste where there was sufficient caramelization.  As for the spring roll, it was pretty standard but a tad greasy.

For the kiddies, they shared their favourite being the Lemongrass Chicken with Rice.  We added a fried egg on the side.  This was actually not bad with a well-marinated and juicy piece of deboned chicken leg.  The char was a bit more uniform here where there was smokiness to go with the sweetness.  We also got the Banh Mi Dac Biet for good measure and it was more or less decent with crunchy bread.  There was a enough ingredients including a good splash of fish sauce. Oh well, I guess we knew what to expect from a visit to Pho Hoa...  But at the very least, it was serviceable and for us, a walk down memory lane (although this lane needed some upkeep).

The Good:
- Predictable
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- So so
- Staff were okay, but didn't really understand what we wanted

International Summer Night Market

Believe it or not, I've never visited the original International Summer Night Market in Richmond.  No, and it has nothing to do with being located in Richmond either... I've been to the other one countless times, but have only a half-hearted attempt to show for the ISNM.  But with an invite and free parking in hand, I gave it another go.  Also invited was Sean, which was a huge relief as there was no way I could finish all that food by myself (really!).

Before I even got my bearings after parking the car, the gluttony began with the Hurricane Zucchini Fries and Yam Fries by J&J The Original Potato Fries.  With only a light dusting of batter, they were able to crisp up the zucchini despite its water content.  However, for the parts we didn't eat immediately, it did get soft.  That wasn't an issue with the yam as it was crunchy from start to finish.  For both, there was more than enough seasoning that accented the natural flavours.  Next up, we sampled the deep fried Green Onion Pancake from New Style Green Onion Cake.  As their namesake suggests, this was not like the traditional pan-fried version.  Rather, it was almost waffle-like in texture with only a smattering of onion.

Also from the same booth, we had their Banana Spring Rolls which were served as a sweet interlude prior to more savoury eats.  This was simple, yet a well-executed spring roll that was crunchy, easy on the grease and filled with sweet ripe banana.  After this, we were hit with a wall of food including the Deep Fried Stinky Tofu by and Taiwanese Pork Sausage by Taiwan Traditional Snacks (Lu Gang Lao Jie).  I thought that the pungency of the stinky tofu was just right with an appealing sharpness.  As for the sausages, they were meaty with a touch of fat and of course were typically sweet.  Along with these, I tried both the Sesame Sauce and Tomato Sauce flat noodles from Cold Steamed Noodles. These featured soft rice noodles that were bathed in a significant amount of sauce.  I much preferred the tomato version as it had more of an impact with a slight tang to go with the dominant sweetness.

Continuing on, we got one of the standards of any night market being the Potstickers from Top Wok.  These were masterfully seared where the bottom of the dumplings were super crispy and browned.  The wheat wrapper itself was a touch thick, but not overly doughy.  Inside, there was a good mix of juicy pork and veggies which was accented by the sweet soy.  Moving onto something Japanese, we dug into the Okonomiyaki from Cocoro doused with a considerable amount of sauce and some mayo.  This was soft and almost fluffy which contrasted its appearance.  Since it was devoid of any meat, the whole thing also ate light.  Despite the amount of sauce, it didn't taste over-seasoned with only a moderate sweetness.

Acting like a palate cleanser, we were presented with one each of the fresh Watermelon and Pineapple Juice from All About Ice Cream served in the fruit itself.  I've had these before and I definitely prefer the pineapple more due to the sweet acidic juice.  As much as the watermelon was refreshing, it didn't have the impact of the pineapple.  Looking at the picture and to the right of the fruit, we took a bite into the Chicken Strips from Chicken's Breading Fav (don't understand this name though!).  We were presented with both the regular and a herbed version.  These were definitely juicy with a lightly crispy breading on the outside.  Onto something related, but a bit more interesting, we tried the Chicken & Waffles from Mother Clucker's (love this name!).  With an Asian twist (nori, bonito, chili mayo and sweet chili mayo), this was rather tasty.  The waffle was nicely crisp while the chicken strip benefited from crunchy breading.  Personally, I could've done without the sweet chili as it was the dominant flavour.

I'm a big corn fanatic, so when we were able to customize Corn on the Cob from Fresh Roasted Corn with a variety of salts and seasonings, I started to salivate (even though I was getting full).  As simple as corn on the cob can be, the ear I had was masterfully prepared where it was just cooked with sweet bursts of juice from each niblet.  I had a combination of garlic powder, salt, cayenne and Parm which elevated the natural flavours as well as adding a nice kick.  From there, we proceeded to try both the Lamb and Chicken Skewers from Xin Jiang A Fan Ti Halal BBQ.  These were pretty addictive with enough seasoning to tickle our tastebuds.  There was spice and saltiness to go with the natural sweetness of the meats.  It was pretty cool to watch them being made as they were seriously getting an ample charring from the grill.

Of course a visit to the night market wouldn't be complete without some BBQ Squid Mix from Lao Er BBQ.  Consisting of both squid rings and tentacles, the mix was grilled with a mildly-flavoured satay sauce.  As much as I enjoyed the texture of the squid (being chewy with a slight bounce), I didn't get much impact in terms of taste.  Maybe the sauce did not caramelized onto the squid itself.  From squid, we went to Deep Fried Oreos served with ice cream (something I've had at the PNE before) from Cocoro.  Yes, the various things subjected to a light batter and then deep-fried has been nearing ridiculous levels.  However, I didn't mind the oreos as they became soft and warm with the trademark sweet icing and chocolate cookie.  This one was almost a carbon copy of the one from the PNE.

Continuing on with the sweets, we got the impressive-looking Fruity Ice complete with watermelon, fruit cocktail, banana, red bean, ice cream and condensed milk.  As you can imagine, this was fairly sweet due to the condensed milk, red bean and ice cream.  When mixed together, it didn't get much milder as the ingredients completely flavoured the ice (which melted quite quickly due to the temperature outside).  With the same sticky and sweet condensed milk, our Green Tea Fried Mantou from Amazebuns was more than adequately sweetened.  However, due to the blank canvas of the fried mantou, the sugariness was spread out somewhat.  Generously sprinkled on top, the green tea was noticeable and slightly bitter (which counteracted the sweetness).

Although we'd already had several rounds of dessert, the gluttony did not end there.  The good news was that we had something lighter and not sweet.  Over at Mr. & Mrs. Poppins Popcorn Bar, we sampled the Truffle Parmesan Popcorn and Sweet Seaweed Furikake.  Lightly popped with a buttery crunch, the popcorn was dressed in enough seasoning for impact.  Back to the sweets, we headed over to Soy Boy for their home-made Sweet Tofu Pudding with honey cubes, sweet purple potato balls and grass jelly.  This was surprisingly one of my favourites of the night as everything was fresh and only lightly sweet.  Even the ginger simple syrup was not sugary, which afforded me the opportunity to enjoy the dessert without getting sick of it.

The most visually-striking item at the ISNM had to be the Flower Cotton Candy by Sugar Twist Cotton Candy.  Yes, the darn thing wasn't cheap, but seeing how much time and effort was put into creating the candy art, one can understand.  Now as much as the final product was super-impressive to look it, eating it was like typical cotton candy.  Now I couldn't end off my night of eating with cotton candy could I?  So I made one last stop at Golden Sand Club for a plate of their Deep-Fried Capelin Fish (the ones with a tonne of eggs).  Despite the indifference of the staff and substantial wait time, it was ultimately worth it as the little fish were crunchy and well-salted.  Inside, the meat was moist and yes, it was filled with the delicious roe.  Okay, we stopped eating at this point.  We were really too full to try anything else despite the little voice inside my head saying otherwise (or was that Mijune's voice?).  Although the ISNM lacks the merchandise booths of the other night market (as well as being smaller), it makes up for it with the layout of the food stalls.  There is much more room to maneuver as well as the lack of an entrance fee.

*All food and drinks were complimentary*

The Good:
- Layout allows for easier walkability
- No entrance fee

The Bad:
- Smaller with less merchandise
- Less food stalls too 

International Summer Night Market
12631 Vulcan Way
Richmond, BC

Bao Down

While I was in Miami a couple of years ago, I was planning to visit Sayaka Kitchen.  Sure, it was featured on Triple-D's and that was one reason I even knew about the place, but I was really curious about their Bao Buns (a bit repetitve as bao means bun...).  Now I never made it out there, yet it made me curious as to why there wasn't something like that here in Vancouver.  Yup, we can find Bao all over the place in the GVRD, however, most are authentic Asian restaurants.  Well, look no more, as Bao Down has come to town.

Meeting up with Sean, we decided to try nearly all of their Baos except for the vegetarian option (I wonder why?). To start, I tried the Jaws consisting of coconut-crusted Ocean-Wise Vietnamese catfish, kimchi tartar sauce, Food Pedalers microgreens & cabbage in a Thai Vinaigrette.  I found the catfish to be prepared beautifully with a crunchy shell.  Inside, it was flaky and moist.  Creamy and zesty, the tartar sauce went well with the fish as well as the slightly acidic salad.  Next up was the YVR with sesame-seared albacore tuna, wasabi mayo, baby pea shoots, avocado, sweet soy and double smoked bacon.  As evidenced in the picture, the tuna was seared lightly, hence sporting an appealingly rare centre.  It was buttery and soft which contrasted the crunchy bacon.  I didn't get much of the wasabi while the smooth avocado added a certain creamy brightness.  I felt this bao was missing something.

Onto something not from the sea (unless you think like Jessica Simpson), we tried the Bao Chicka Bao Bao with fried lemongrass and garlic marinated free-range Fraser Valley chicken breast, crispy garlic, palm sugar & fish sauce glaze, fresh cilantro, garlic scape mayo, pickled carrots and scallions.  Hidden beneath the ingredients was a large piece of chicken breast that was neither dry nor juicy.  Crispy and nicely soaked with a sweet and salty glaze, the chicken was further accented by the aromatic mayo and acidic carrots.  Appropriately named, the McDowell featured some familiar ingredients such as AAA Alberta beef patty, cheese, special sauce, onion, pickle and crisp lettuce.  Yes, think Big Mac in bao form.  You know what?  It did taste like a Big Mac where the patty was well-charred while still moist.

Back to the fish, we tried their other featured bao being the Mahalo with Ocean Wise tuna poke, crunchy taro sticks, shiso, BBQ pineapple salsa, avocado and jalapeno buttermilk slaw.  Similar to the YVR, this bao was very subtle in taste.  In fact, I had a hard time discerning any flavours other than the pineapple and herbal shiso.  The poke could've used a bit more soy in my opinion.  I enjoyed the fresh creamy avocado though.  We then moved from delicate to outright in our faces with the Two Worlds Collide!!! featuring star anise & ginger braised Paradise Valley pork belly, chicharon and crispy pork belly with hoisin glaze, carrots, daikon, scallions and gochujang.  It was indeed a contrast of textures as the braised pork belly was super soft and fatty while the crispy belly was crunchy (albeit rather dry and hard).  I definitely got the sweet hoisin hit as well as the background anise from the braised belly.  Interestingly, the gochujang was not noticeable.

Last but not least, we limped into our last bao (cuz we were full duh!).  The Flip Side was constructed of sweet soy marinated & grilled Paradise Valley pork loin, crispy garlic, pickled carrots & radish with shoyu fish sauce dressing.  I guess this was an attempt to emulate Filipino BBQ pork.  Although it wasn't as charred as I would've liked, the flavours were there.  As with all of the bao, they were a bit on the lukewarm side.  If they were served steaming hot, I think it would've gone a long way in achieving that pillowy soft texture associated with Chinese mantou.  From all the bao we tried, I thought they were not bad.  Of course some were better than others (and that is subjective) where the pricing was fair in my opinion.  Unlike others have remarked, I thought the 90's music blaring out was on fleek (LOL) as it brought me back to my youth.

The Good:
- Fair pricing
- Interesting combinations
- Loved the 90's tunes

The Bad:
- Bao were a bit cold and stiff
- Flavours could've been more bold