Van Van Izakaya

Sometimes our ChineseBites dinners become more like RandomBites (ask Alex Burrows).  Let me explain...  As much as the overall theme of ChineseBites is to try some of the best Chinese food that Vancouver has to offer, we sometimes stray into other types of cuisines.  Call it affirmative action when it comes to our tastings.  So off we headed to Van Van Izakaya located in the old Maruko Ramen.  In addition to a host of other bloggers, I was seated at a table with Eating with Kirby, Amy and Diana.  Since we were pretty hungry, we kinda went nuts with the menu.

We started slow with the Raw Octopus with wasabi accompanied by nori.  Modest in portion, but appropriately priced at $3.80, the chopped octopus was predictably chewy.  However, it wasn't too chewy where there was a slight rebound texture.  It was dressed in a good amount of wasabi that led to an immediate hit.  There was some natural sweetness to go with the crunchy and tangy pickles.  Next up was the Chicken Gristle Karaage (which was actually deep-fried chicken knees).  These were fairly small where the overall texture was dry and crunchy.  They were tossed in a good amount of salt where some pieces were overly-dressed. Although I've had much better versions of fried chicken knees, I kept eating them for some odd reason.

Moving onto one of my favourites at any Izakaya joint was the Ebi Mayo, but in this case, they were called Battered Prawns with garlic chili mayo.  As such, I wasn't surprised that they didn't resemble any other version I've had before.  These were lightly battered, yet extremely crunchy and firm.  Interestingly, there was a drizzle of chili oil which made the flavours a touch more spicy than usual.  Also, there was a smear of sweet balsamic underneath which was didn't really go in my opinion.  Hidden underneath some greens, the Beef Carpaccio with balsamic reduction, mayo and parm was pretty good.  The thin slices of beef were moist and tender while the amount of seasoning was just a tad short.  A sprinkle of salt would've gone a long way in making this dish better.

We then decided it was time to gamble with our food. No, we didn't order raw chicken or something like that, rather, we had the Russian Roulette Octopus Balls (Takoyaki).  Yup, one of the 5 balls was super spicy while the rest were regular takoyaki.  I found them to be pretty soft and loose.  They weren't bad per se, but they didn't stay intact either, including the spicy one (which gave away the surprise).  Flavourwise, they were okay with just enough dressing for a sweet savouriness.  Arriving in a cast iron plate, but not sizzling, the Beef Shortribs were attractive in colour with some charring.  When dipped into the accompanying sauce, there was a good balance of sweet and savoury with a touch of spice.  However, the meat itself was a bit chewier than usual.

Served on a cast iron plate as well, the Pork Jowl was quite good.  Presented in fairly large strips, the pork cheek retained its moisture where the meat was succulent and had that classic rebound texture.  Most pieces sported a nice sear as well. It was mildly flavoured, but benefited from the squeeze of lemon.  We moved onto the plate of Sashimi next consisting of tuna, scallop and salmon.  Although not sliced particularly well, the sashimi was decent enough.  I thought the salmon was the best item on the plate being buttery with a some chew.  The tuna was fine, but cut poorly as some parts were rather jagged.  Scallops were okay being soft and naturally sweet.

With what was universally agreed as the worst dish of the night, the Korean Pancake was unappetizing.  Sure, it wasn't the classic version served in a cast iron plate, but whatever this was, we didn't like it.  Despite lacking the grease we normally find in this dish, it was probably one of the main issues.  You see, the pancake was doughy, heavy and quite dry.  Also, the lack of meat made for uninteresting flavours and texture. On the other hand, I didn't mind the Japanese Pancake as the egg was fluffy and light.  Obviously, it was a completely different style than the Korean pancake, but nevertheless, it was remarkably better.  There was quite a bit of mayo on top that I personally didn't mind, but some thought it was too much.

Continuing on with the gluttony, we had a relatively small item in the Jellyfish.  Texturally, it was on point being crunchy with only a touch of chew.  However, I didn't prefer the consistency of the sauce as it was thick and the whole dish ended up to be clumpy.  Moreover, there was too much tang which completely took over the flavour profile.  Completely different than the chicken knee version, the Chicken Karaage was quite good.  Prepared with large pieces of leg meat, the chicken was succulent and juicy.  It was well-seasoned where the mayo on the side wasn't even necessary.  Although it looked pretty, the lemon rind bits emitted a rather bitter taste.  Despite this, the dish was probably one of the better ones of the meal.

For curiousity's sake, we got an order of the Poutine featuring Japanese Curry and melted mozzarella cheese on generic fries.  I didn't have a problem with the frozen fries per se (since it would be too much to ask for fresh cut fries at an Izakaya), but they were not crispy enough.  As for the sauce, it was sweet and somewhat spicy with a curry kick.  It was okay, but missing something.  Another solid item was the Grilled Whole Squid with teriyaki sauce.  It was attractive and appetizing in appearance.  In fact, it ate just like it looked with tender pieces of squid that still had an appealing chew.  There was just enough sweet saltiness from the sauce underneath while there was a dollop of mayo on the side.

We ended off with 2 of the bigger items including the Chopped Raw Tuna Rice Bowl.  I found the rice chewy but somewhat dry.  However, mixed in with a splash of soy and tuna, it was fine.  This was fairly decent where the tuna was soft and somewhat naturally sweet. Unexpectedly, the Tonkotsu Ramen was acceptable given the venue.  It would have never be confused with the best in town, but the broth did exhibit a creaminess and natural pork flavours.  On the other hand, it was strangely clumpy (which lessened the appeal).  I found the noodles to be fairly al dente while the large slices of roast pork to be sufficiently tender, if not quite lean.

For dessert, we ended us sharing all 4 offerings including Green Tea Soy Milk Pudding, Strawberry Daifuku, Black Sesame Ice Cream and Green Tea Ice Cream.  The one I liked most was the pudding as it was light and mildly sweet with the essence of green tea.  It was a bit on the thinner side though.  Soft and sweet from the red bean, the daikfuku was also quite good.  The other 2 were pretty standard versions of ice cream.  Since we virtually ate almost everything off the menu, it was pretty clear that it was a hit and miss.  However, with very reasonable prices, VanVan appeals to the value-driven customer.

*All food and gratuities were complimentary*

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Decent variety

The Bad:
- Hit and miss

The Rolling Dough

Other than Hot Oven Pizza, the take-out/delivery pizza joints in my area are rather uninspired.  In fact, they consist of Domino's, Panago, Pizza Hut and Fresh Slice.  Yup, the usual stuff when we think of ordering pizza.  So when I spotted the new Rolling Dough on Bainbridge at Lougheed Highway, I was intrigued if it could provide another option.  Walking into the place, there were a few tables and bar seating if one wanted to eat in.  For me, I was all about the take out.

I decided to get 2 medium pizzas to including my standard being the Meat Lover made with ham, pepperoni and spicy Italian sausage.  Being a thin and stone-fired pizza, the crust was super crispy and well-browned on the bottom.  Hence, it was pretty easy to eat 3 or 4 slices by myself.  There was no shortage of ingredients where the spicy sausage really came through.  In fact, that is all we tasted.  With a modest amount of mildly-tangy tomato sauce, the pizza ate quite dry.  Our second pizza was the Ham & Pineapple which also sported a good amount of toppings.  With the ample pineapple, it was rather sweet.

On another visit, I decided to try their Dim Sum Pizza which was presented as a calzone.  With ingredients such as cheese, pineapple, chicken and onion, I failed to see what dim sum had to do with this thing.  I found the flavours lacking as it was merely sweet and cheesy.  The thin crust was nice though as it didn't eat heavy.  I also got a personal-sized Pesto Chicken with roasted chicken breast, roasted artichoke hearts, black olives and feta cheese.  Again, there was no absence of toppings, but the pesto got completely overwhelmed by the salty olives and tart artichoke hearts.  After these 2 visits, the pizzas at the Rolling Dough were okay with an appealingly crisp thin crust.  However, the flavours were a bit out-of-balance.

The Good:
- Crispy thin-crust
- Ample toppings
- Nice owner

The Bad:
- Unbalanced flavours
- Expensive

Windjammer Fish and Chips

There we were, standing in the Britannia parking lot looking confused.  Yes, that is not a stretch with myself, Milhouse and Kaiser Soze...  But the reason for this was the indecisiveness as to where to eat after Sunday morning hockey.  It was too hot for ramen or pho (although I personally didn't mind) and no one wanted brunch.  Fine.  Then I suggested we just take a stroll up to The Drive and stop at the first place that caught our eye.  That wasn't very hard as it was literally around the corner in the form of the Windjammer.

Operated by the former employees of the old Windjammer located on Main, the place did offer up some familiarity.  I remember visiting that place a few times when they were right beside Bellagio Gelato (bleck!).  For myself, before any fish n' chips arrived at the table, I had the Clam Chowder.  I was warned by our server that it may be on the milder side and so it was.  I had to dump some ol' salt n' pepper to bring it up to my liking.  Even with that, I found the broth itself to be lacking in any brininess and richness.  As for my main, I went for the 2 Piece Halibut n' Chips.  For $12.00, I was pretty pleased at the portion size.  The pieces of halibut were fried just enough that the meat retained its moisture and flakiness.  On the outside, the thin layer of batter was crunchy albeit a touch greasy.  The side of fries were firmly crunchy with very little potato texture left.  I personally didn't mind it though.

Milhouse decided on the 2 Piece Sockeye Salmon n' Chips which he could barely finish.  Luckily I persuaded him to stay away from the 3 piece since salmon can be rather dense.  It was exactly as we expected being firm and filling.  However, it wasn't overdone as it was flaky and still moist.  The batter did lack flavour though and the tartar sauce didn't help matters.  It was a bit watery and devoid of acidity.  Kaiser Soze opted for the $7.50 special being the 3 Piece Cod n' Chips.  Sure, the pieces weren't exactly big, but for the price, it was a fair amount of food.  Just like our orders, the cod was flaky and moist with a super thin layer of batter. Overall, we were pleasantly surprised with our random food adventure.  The food was above-average and at a fair price.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Decent eats

The Bad:
- Tartar sauce is weak
- Clam chowder is so-so

Ramen Danbo

On what turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far, we decided to go for Ramen.  In fact, we went to the newly opened Ramen Danbo.  Yup, the place was as warm as a toaster oven, but we wanted ramen and stuck with it (despite beads of sweat running down our foreheads).  We were intrigued by their promise of authentic Fukuoda-style tonkotsu ramen where essentially only 3 types of broth were offered (all based on the same tonkotsu base though).

To start things off, we split an order of Gyoza which were crisped up with an appealing colour. I found the dumpling skin to be appealingly thin and chewy.  Inside, the pork, cabbage and scallion filling was moist and not overly dense.  As a baseline, Milhouse went for the Yakibuta Chashu Pork Ramen since it was essentially the classic tonkotsu ramen with extra pieces of chashu.  Made with specially-treated water, the pork broth was silky, slightly spicy and full-bodied in flavour.  Ultimately, the final product was determined by our own personal preferences as we could choose the firmness of the noodles, fattiness of the meat, amount of lard and spice level.

For myself, I had the Negi-goma Tonkotsu Ramen with fresh scallions, toasted sesame seeds and white sesame oil.  Interestingly, I didn't notice any sesame seeds at all, but the aromatic sesame flavour still came through thanks to the oil.  We all agreed that this was more impactful than the classic broth.  I went for the fatty chashu and it was buttery and really did melt-in-my-mouth.  I wasn't so fond of the egg as it was overdone.  As for the noodles, they were thin and chewy similar to Chinese shrimp egg noodles.  Since, the serving was pretty modest, I added a Yakibuta Takana Rice as well.  This was not bad with chewy rice and fatty tender pork.  However, there wasn't enough of it in my opinion since I felt as if I was eating mustard greens rice.

Lastly, Kaiser Soze went for the Blazing Hot Rekka Ramen with Ichimi Togarashi red pepper imported from Japan.  Claiming to be 5 times spicier than the regular ramen, I definitely felt the heat.  It wasn't unbearably spicy though as I could still taste the pork broth.  Since the menu at Ramen Danbo is pretty simple, we almost sampled everything they offered.  From that, we were happy with the broth, but the thin noodles were not our fancy though.

The Good:
- Silky and flavourful broth
- Focused menu
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Modest portions
- Noodles were not our favourite

Pizzeria Ludica & Game Room

Generally, eating out with a bunch of friends can be loads of fun.  Imagine the combination of great food, entertaining company and a lively atmosphere, what can be better?  Well, I guess if we were in Vegas or something it would be atmosphere x 10.  Well, what happens when you've run out of things to talk about when an awkward silence comes over the table?  Make some dirty jokes?  Well, that doesn't really work on Gadget Girl...  But how about some board games and Neapolitan-style pizza?  Yes, that is much more of her fancy.

We ended up going to Pizzeria Ludica and their selection of board games for our team year-ender. During our first attempt at playing a game, we were "hosted" by one of the staff, who gave tips and even got us going.  She came back to check on us every now and then.  We started with some simple items including an order of Olives.  Pretty standard with a mixture of green and black olives that were a nice snack.  We also got the Caprese Salad that was somewhat overdressed and looked murky.  Despite this, it didn't taste overdressed as the balsamic was not overpowering and in fact, a bit sweet.

With the perfect amount of 3, Milhouse, Emilicious and I shared the Meatballs.  These were moist and meaty with very little filler.  They were mildly seasoned, where the tomato sauce did all the heavy lifting.  Tart and acidic, the sauce was spiked with fresh basil.  Although the sauce was not particularly rich, it had enough fresh-tomato flavour to make up for it.  Next, we got the Italian Sausage Linguine.  Not completely evident in the picture, there was a good amount of sliced Italian sausage on the other side of the plate.  Combined with green peas and a zesty tomato sauce, this dish was not longing for impact.  It was a touch salty though.

Of course we couldn't ignore the pizza, so we ordered the basic Margherita.  With a decent amount of leoparding, the pizza crust did exhibited some nuttiness and smokiness.  The crust was pretty crispy throughout and chewy and tender in the middle.  I found the tomato sauce to be somewhat tangy while well-seasoned.  Not a bad effort.  We were able to sample Sweet Tooth's Spinach and Ricotta Pizza because she left without it.  This was not bad with plenty of spinach and creamy ricotta.  With a smattering of artichokes, there was a certain tanginess.  Due to the ingredients, the crust was a bit more wet in the middle.

For dessert, Milhouse and I shared the Tiramisu.  Unfortunately, this was not a very good version of the Italian dessert.  First of all, the ladyfingers were a bit dry and lacking coffee flavour.  Inexplicably, on the bottom, there was a super sweet layer of caramel that totally threw the flavour profile of the dessert off.  The creamy and light marscapone cream was good though. Dessert withstanding, the rest of our eats was serviceable enough, especially while enjoying some cool board games at the same time.

The Good:
- Lotsa fun games to play
- Serviceable food
- Solid service

The Bad:
- Food is serviceable but not remarkable
- Eating and playing games can get messy

Tasting Plates Cambie Village (presented by Vanfoodster)

After a few forays into the burbs, I was invited to participate in another Tasting Plates.  This time around it was in the familiar Cambie Village.  With most restaurants located in a concentrated area, it meant less driving and more time eating!  Seeing how I haven't connected with Sexi Mexi in awhile, she was my plus one for the night.  Good thing too as she added some legitimacy as she spoke flawless Spanish with the owner of Las Tortas.

The tasting plates started right away at the registration point of U & I Thai complete with a show featuring Thai dancers.  We were presented with a plate consisting of a Fish Taco with Thai sauce (whatever that is) and Green Curry with Chicken and rice noodle (but I got tofu for some reason).  With dense and chewy flatbread, the taco was not really that appealing texturally.  In fact, the fish was a bit mushy and devoid of any flakiness.  However, the green curry made up for everything being creamy and spicy.  There was definite flavours including coconut, galangal, shrimp paste and the aforementioned spice.  Strategically, we decided to hop on over to the farthest 2 restaurants to avoid the crowds.  We hit up Solly's Bagelry where they generously presented us with a platter of goodies including Cheese Danish, Apple Honey Rogoleh, Cinnamon Bun, Chocolate Babka, Potato Knish, Feta Cheese Boureka, Lavash, Sesame Bagel and Wild Sockeye Lox Shmear.  My favourite of the bunch was the potato knish as it was soft, warm and comforting.

We then strolled over to the nearby Edge Cafe for a collection of bites starting with the Cherry Tomato Stix with cream cheese.  We then moved onto a trio of items including West Coast Seafood Chowder, Butter Chicken and Pesto Chicken Sandwich. By far our favourite was the chowder as it was creamy without being thickened.  There was a significant amount of wild salmon which added a certain natural sweetness and appealing fishiness.  The butter chicken was a bit too mild for our tastes but the cilantro did add some aromatics.  As we were leaving, they sent us on our way with a White Chocolate Chunk Cookie.  Heading back to the start, we endured a short lineup for Pronto.  We ended up sitting outside to enjoy the trio of Baked Polenta with wild mushroom ragu, Meatball with pomodoro sauce and Crostini with gorgonzola walnut pesto.  Of the 3, I thought the meatball was the best where it was moist while still meaty.  The sauce was nicely tart and acidic that helped add both flavour and brightness.

Moseying down to Las Tortas, we were served a Tamataco consisting of slow roasted pulled pork filled tamal, chipotle salsa and cactus pico salad in a soft corn taco shell.  I enjoyed the tamale as it was moist while sporting a good amount of tender meat.  The combination of toppings added a certain brightness that was a little on the mild side.  Sexy Mexi thought it was okay despite not being served in the proper manner.  After this, we crossed the street and ended with dessert at the new location of Rain or Shine Ice Cream.  We had one each of the Blueberry Balsamic with seasonal berry compote and waffle cone pieces and Coconut Chocolate Chunk with vegan chocolate sauce.  Once again, the blueberry balsamic did its thing being sweet but nicely balanced by the impactful balsamic.  I thought the coconut chunk was good with mild aromatics, but it didn't stand a chance against the blueberry.  This was a nice end to a well-balanced Tasting Plates with enough savoury items to go with the sweet.